A Record Of A Mortal's Journey To Immortality

by S.H.A aifu

A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, how will he successfully traverse the path of cultivation and become an immortal? This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with

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"Amuse myself with you? Over a trifling grade-six demon core?" Han Li raised his brow and wore a mysterious smile.

"Humph, if it were the core of a common grade-six demon, it wouldn't be worthy of our attention, but the demon core of a Lightning whale is an exception. Furthermore, you discredited Brother Fan's demon core as soon as you appeared. I feel this deserves some consideration." The cultivator surnamed Sun finally broke his silence with a cold tone. He was an old man with a fierce expression.

Han Li chuckled and calmly said, "You took a long time before you managed to kill that Thunder Whale. It had exhausted most of its demonic power before you managed to kill it. Unless its demon core had its power replenished, it doesn't have much intrinsic quality. It seems you two haven't killed many high-grade demon beasts, otherwise you would have known about this."

When he heard this, Cultivator Fan and Sun exchanged a glance. They couldn't help but wear a hesitant expression.

The white-haired old man cautiously said, "Even if the matter about the demon core is true, why have you come here? Fellow Daoist Fan clearly used an illusion technique to conceal this place. Has your esteemed self come here specifically for us?"

"A trifling illusion formation is beneath my notice. As for you, this is the first time I've come to this sea, so there is no way I came for you specifically. My mood is quite good today, so I've been polite. But if you ask any more questions, I won't be interested in answering them. My previous conditions still remain. Are you willing to trade a map with me? I don't plan on staying here any longer." When Han Li finished speaking, his face stiffened.

Han Li's tone wasn't loud, but it heavily shook the hearts of the cultivators in the pavilion.

When they realized Han Li was such a mysterious character, his bold tone inspired fear in them and none of them replied. The beautiful green-clothed woman examined Han Li for a moment before suddenly asking, "From your tone, it seems you aren't a cultivator from our Five Dragon Seas. Did your esteemed self come from the Great Jin? Do you know Senior Xiang?"

"You know Fellow Daoist Xiang?" Han Li stared at the woman and narrowed his eyes. He did feel somewhat surprised.

When she heard this, an odd look appeared in her eye. She stood up, curtsied to him, and spoke to him with a most respectful tone, "Senior Xiang has visited my island for a time. He had given me cultivation guidance that has greatly benefited me. If you two are acquainted with each other, could you also be a Deity Transformation-stage Senior?"

"A Deity Transformation-stage cultivator?"

The others that heard this, each jumped up in a start.

Cultivator Fan and the harsh old man both wore a trace of terror from the words they said before.

Han Li seemingly ignored the action of the other cultivators. Rather, he turned his attention to the woman and frowned, "Since you've recognized this, I won't keep it hidden. When did you last see Fellow Daoist Xiang?"

The woman smiled and answered, "This junior had last seen him two hundred years ago. I had yet to condense my Nascent Soul. If it weren't for his guidance, I fear I would still be lingering at Core Formation stage."

Two hundred years ago was around when Xiang Zhili and the others discovered the spatial node.

Han Li's thoughts quickly churned and in the blink of an eye, he determined her words to be true. With an eased expression, he said, "Since you know Fellow Daoist Xiang, that is good. Take this demon core and give me a map."

Han Li raised his hand and tossed the rare demon core in his hand over to her.

In her joy, the woman raised her arm and summoned the core into her hand. She bowed in thanks and immediately took out a faint green jade slip before sending it over to Han Li.

Han Li caught it and promptly read through it with his spiritual sense. After he compared it with the information Xiang Zhili left behind, he instantly found the location of the spatial node. It wasn't too far from this place. He should arrive within a month's time.

"Very good," he nodded with satisfaction. Then using a tone of unquestionable authority, he commanded, "Now, I have a few questions for you. Listen well."

As of current, he has achieved the highest state of existence in the mortal realm. There was nothing in this world that scared him apart from an encroaching lifespan.

The green-robed woman naturally agreed.

In the following moments, his mouth moved, but he seemingly uttered not a word. The woman's beautiful eyes quickly stirred, and when Han Li ceased his voice transmissions, she immediately responded to them in kind.

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin and lowered his head in contemplation.

The other cultivators didn't dare to even breathe in this stifling atmosphere and remained still in place. They feared if they disturbed this Deity Transformation-stage senior, they would be provoking a huge problem.

As if something came to mind, Han Li raised his head and chuckled, "I have things to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave. Go ahead and continue." Then, he waved his sleeve and in a flash of azure light, he suddenly disappeared.

Once Han Li vanished, the cultivators remained motionless, still in awe of Han Li's presence. Eventually, the cultivators let out a huge sigh and looked at the Thunder Whale's demon core in the woman's hand with envy.

It was rather good luck to be able to acquire a Thunder Whale's demon core with a map and a few words.

The green-robed woman noticed their gazes and calmly put away the demon core. Then with a chuckle, she said, "Fellow Daoists, since the Senior has departed, let us continue!"

The scholarly man let out a sigh and wore a wry smile, "Fairy Bi, there is no need to hurry! Rather, I didn't think that you had previously befriended a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. It seems we've been disrespectful!"

The woman shook her head and answered with a faint smile, "That was something that happened long ago when I was still a Core Formation cultivator. How could I dare say I befriended him. Senior Xiang had only given me a few pointers at the time."

"Even if it was only a few pointers, you had something of a relationship to a Deity Transformation cultivator. It is something that people could only dream of." Cultivator Fan spoke with a tone of admiration, but then he frowned and bewilderedly asked, "But oddly enough, why would these pinnacle existences from the Great Jin come to our Five Dragon Seas? Could it be that something great has occurred?"

The old man chuckled and said, "That is possible. However, since a Deity Transformation cultivators are involving themselves, how would we hope to participate. If we're not careful, they could end us with a flip of their hand. It'd be best not to make any careless inquiries. If we were to anger a Deity Transformation cultivator, hehe."

When that was said, the others' expressions changed and they nodded.

As for what they truly thought, only the heavens could know.

As these cultivators made guesses about Han Li's objective, he had already flown thousands of kilometers away in an azure streak.

The green-robed woman's answers had given him a rough understanding of the Five Dragon Seas. There were no Deity Transformation-stage cultivators in the area, so the last of his worries were extinguished.

With Han Li's current cultivator, he could fly at inconceivable speeds if he were to use all his power but that would stir up the worldly essence Qi and cause his lifespan to slowly decrease. As such, Han Li flew an ordinary speed rather than hurrying.

A month later, He arrived in front of a foggy sea area without any complications.

He looked at the white mist in front of him and he frowned, deciding to fly into it without any hesitation.

After flying through it for almost two hours, he came to a sudden stop.

He looked around him and held his hands in an incantation gesture and raised them, uttering "Break".

Two dense bolts of lightning flashed and struck at the air, releasing resounding booms of thunder. The nearby mist warped and twisted before eventually scattering and releasing a clear area several kilometers wide.

There was a small island below him with a few buildings on it.

When Han Li saw this, joy lit up on his face and he muttered, "Old Eccentric Xiang and the others weren't lying. They clearly left behind disciples to watch over the spatial node. If I had taken another two hundred years of time, there might've not been anyone here."

As he was talking to himself, three streaks of light flew up from the small mountain and directly towards Han Li.

Han Li remained calm, waiting in the air with his hands held behind his back.

The light faded away to reveal three middle-aged cultivators, one woman and two men.

They were all at Core Formation-stage.

The three took a look at Han Li's face and they all greeted him with a smile.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han! Under orders of Martial Ancestor Xiang, we've been awaiting your arrival for a long time!"

"You are disciples of Fellow Daoist Xiang? You've seen me before?" Han Li's expression stirred.

"We are indeed his disciples. Our master left behind a portrait of your likeness. That is how we recognized you." One of them respectfully answered.

Han Li nodded and smiled, "Yes, these past years must've been hard on you. I won't treat you unfairly. In the future, I'll have my own disciples guard this place on your behalf. You don't need to be trapped here."

When the three heard this, they were overjoyed. They soon invited Han Li down to a building below, but Han Li shook his head, wanting to first take a look at the spatial node.

The three immediately agreed and brought him off to the side of the island.

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After flying for five kilometers, the three remained silent. Han Li swept his spiritual sense in the space in front of him and he increased his speed as if he detected something.

After flying for a moment more, the party eventually came to a stop.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and he saw a giant ball of grey light in the air. He felt a chill spread throughout his body.

The ball of light appeared to be mostly round and half a kilometer in diameter. Although it appeared dim and vague, it also appeared unfathomably deep. A halo of light slowly turned within it

Although Han Li already knew the answer, he took a quick breath and asked, "So this must be the spatial node?"

This time, the woman from the trio answered, "Yes, Senior! This is the spatial node that the master and the others entered. In order to maintain the stability of the entrance, the master and the others spent much strength to place a peculiar seal on it temporarily. This way, not only will the spatial node's stability be preserved, but it will also minimize its spatial fluctuations, preventing the cultivators from the Five Dragon Seas from noticing."

When she mentioned Xiang Zhili, her face turned somewhat sad. The three clearly understood what it meant for Xiang Zhili's primal soul lantern to be extinguished.

So it was like that. I was wondering why the spatial fluctuations of this area were so weak. Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others have sealed it." Han Li couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the ball of light in the air.

But when the three Core Formation cultivators saw this, they glanced at one another as if signalling to one another.

"There was something that I wish to tell you, Senior." A male cultivator hesitantly said.

"What is it?" Surprised, Han Li looked at him.

"We protected this place for over two hundred years. Although Master Xiang sealed the spatial node, it began to fluctuate for small amounts of time since a hundred years ago. Each time, the intervals between fluctuations became increasingly shorter. Since several years ago, it had already begun to fluctuate once a year, each time lasting half a month."

Alarmed, Han Li's expression faintly changed, "So it was like that! You mean that saw the seal on the spatial node won't last much longer."

The other man of the trio explained in a solemn tone, "I'm afraid it is so. According to the trend, after a hundred more years, the spatial node will become unstable, given that it doesn't disappear. I fear that Senior won't be able to enter the node as easily as Master Xiang and the others did."

"In a hundred years? That quickly?" Han Li's expression became unsightly.

"This was merely something we concluded after some thought. Perhaps it is unfounded." The female cultivator quickly added with a smile."

Han Li mulled over his thoughts and slowly said, "I can only stay here for a few years and find out for myself. I had better properly investigate the spatial node. I won't be leaving for some time."

Xiang Zhili's disciples naturally didn't raise any opposition to the matter and repeatedly called out to him.

Soon after, Han Li waved his hand and had the three first return to the island so that he could stay there alone.

In the blink of an eye, only Han Li remained in front of the huge ball of light.

His expression grew varied as he continued to stare at it. The words the trio had said left him deeply worried.

As Han Li pondered, his face grew sullen, 'If those three were right, then I would have to enter the spatial node within a hundred years. It will be rushed and the danger of failing will certainly be higher. But if I don't take this opportunity, I may never find another way to enter the Spirit Realm, even if I had another thousand years. The old eccentrics have been searching for one for a long while and didn't hesitate to enter one as soon as they found one. I had already given them most of the information I had on spatial nodes. They didn't have much hope of finding another spatial node they could use.'

Han Li remained underneath the huge ball of light for nearly a whole day before returning to the island.

When Han Li returned, the three disciples had already cleaned out the largest of the buildings for "Senior" Han's use.

When Han Li saw this, he was very pleased. With the addition of their service of guarding the spatial node, he presented to them each a magic treasure and several bottles of medicine pills.

The Core Formation cultivators were overjoyed and expressed their ranks.

Soon after, Han Li used the Myriad Distance Talisman to tell Nangong Wan and the others to dispatch several reliable Core Formation cultivators to the island, also requesting Tian Qin'er to accompany them.

With Tian Qin'er cultivating with the aid of Han Li's medicine pills, she now spent most of his time researching spell formation and restrictions. She was already astonishingly talented in the field and now that she spent even more time, she has made significant gains. Her mastery over spell formations was now far beyond that of Han Li's.

He feared he would need the woman's spell formation knowledge for his journey into the spatial node.

Afterwards, Han Li kept watch over the huge ball of light almost every day for some time. Then he would return to the island and contemplate over the changes he observed.

After a year, Tian Qin'er and three Core Formation cultivators had finally arrived at the island.

Han Li immediately released the three Core Formation cultivators originally guarding the island and assumed direct control of the area.

Although Tian Qin'er was struck at late-Core Formation stage, Han Li specifically gave a bottle of the Returning Sun water, allowing her more opportunities to condense a Nascent Soul.

When Han Li saw she finally arrived, he immediately brought her to look at the spatial node and see whether or not the seal could be strengthened, giving him more time to prepare.

Unfortunately, despite her inconceivable mastery over spell formation, she hadn't touched upon the subjects involving spatial power. After several months of strenuous research, she eventually found a method to gradually strengthen the seal.

However, this method only had a thirty percent chance of success in stopping the entrance from collapsing.

Although the odds weren't very high, he had no other options and could only give the method a try.

As for the rare materials it would require, Han Li could only journey throughout the Five Dragon Seas to find them.

This took him about six years with his abilities.

In this time, he discovered that the situation was exactly as Xiang Zhili's disciples had described. The spatial node would fluctuate every year with each interval in between decreasing and each successive fluctuations becoming increasingly violent.

As a result, Han Li's original joy from entering Deity Transformation had completely disappeared.

When Tian Qin'er finished her extremely complex spell formation and added another layer of seals on the spatial node, he began to ponder whether or not he should use the opportunity to scour the mortal realm of particular defensive treasures and techniques in preparation to enter the spatial node.

But several days prior from when he planned to leave, a sudden flash of light occurred from outside the sea mist and it arrived at the edge of the mist in an instant.

The light faded to reveal a silver-robed woman of peerless beauty. She appeared in her twenties with a fine brow and an exquisite nose. Her eyes shined brilliantly with silver light faintly stirring inside them.

She examined the mist in front of her a moment and flipped her hand, producing a jade slip. She read through it with her spiritual sense and wore a smile.

"This should be the spatial node that the Heavenly Devil Sect juniors mentioned."

The woman muttered to herself. Knowing where the spatial node was, her body moved and flew towards in a streak of silver light.

The sea mist roiled and it completely concealed her from sight.

Currently, the island in the mist was no longer guarded as the day Han Li arrived. While Tian Qin'er was placing down the seal on the spatial node, she had also placed several profound spell formation nearby the small island. They possessed more than enough power to trap a Nascent Soul cultivator for a time.

As a result, the silver-robed woman was caught off guard and ran into the formations as soon as she arrived at the island.

When the restrictions were activated the countless lightning birds appeared in the nearby air and swooped down towards the woman. At the same time, a dense barrage of wind blades and ice spikes shot at her.

The silver-robed woman was startled, but she soon let out a cold snort and raised her hand.

An icy white wind suddenly blew out from her body, soon violently expanding in size until the winds blew all around her, creating a violent storm of awesome momentum.

Rolls of thunder erupted from the sky and the storm completely swept away all of the attacks, completely shattering them before they could touch her.

Such loud movements drew the attention of the four Core Formation cultivators stationed on the island, and in their alarm, they flew up from the island to figure out what was happening.

The silver-robed woman looked at all the cultivators that flew up from the island and couldn't help but show her hostility.

She raised her hand to the four cultivators as if she were about to launch something at them.

At that moment, the woman suddenly heard Han Li's voice at her ear, "Fairy Feng, please show mercy! My subordinates were only following my orders. I hope you don't take offense."

"It's you?" When the silver-robed woman heard this, her face greatly changed, but she was slow to lower her hand.

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"Why are you here? Have you reached the Deity Transformation Stage as well?" This silver-robed woman was naturally none other than the tenth grade phoenix Han Li had encountered many years ago, and she wore a rather strained look on her face.

She had personally witnessed Han Li progress from the mid-Nascent Soul Stage to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, and he was now at the Deity Transformation Stage. Wasnt's he progressing a little too quickly?

After all, there were over 100 late-Nascent Soul cultivators in this realm, but only a handful of Deity Transformation cultivators in total.

"Hehe, you've also reached the Deity Transformation Stage, haven't you? I don't know how you found out about this place, but you must be here for the spatial node as well. In that case, I think we should work together. After all, it's not our first time helping out one another," Han Li chuckled as he transmitted his voice to her.

Just as his voice trailed off, the lightning and fire that was violently bombarding the gel-force winds abruptly vanished, and the restriction nearby seemed to have deactivated of its own accord. The four Core Formation cultivators down below had naturally also heard Han Li's voice transmission, and their faces immediately paled in unison after learning the fact that this woman was a Deity Transformation Stage demon beast. All of them hurriedly stood off to the side and adopted respectful demeanors, as if they had come here with the sole purpose of welcoming the silver-robed woman.

The Ice Phoenix was silent for a moment before suddenly raising her eyebrows and shooting a glance at the four Core Formation cultivators. She then transformed into a ball of silver light and flew toward the island down below.

Han Li's four subordinates heaved internal sighs of relief in unison as they hurriedly flew along behind her, following her to the largest pavilion on the island.

The woman looked into the distance to find an azure-robed young man standing at the entrance to the pavilion, looking at her with a smile on his face.

He was none other than that detestable human cultivator whom she had last met over a century ago.

The silver-robed woman wore an unfriendly expression as she stopped over 100 feet away from Han Li, and interrogated, "You sure are fast to have reached this island before me, Fellow Daoist Han. Where's the spatial node?"

Han Li smiled before waving a dismissive hand toward the four Core Formation cultivators, and all of them immediately departed from the scene.

Only then did he slowly reply, "You're already here, so why are you in such a hurry? The spatial node isn't very far away from here. How about I lead you to it after we have a quick chat?"

"I have nothing to chat with you about. Do you really think you can intimidate me just because you've reached the Deity Transformation Stage as well?" The woman's expression cooled even further and despite what she was saying, her voice really was tinged with a hint of wariness.

"You're looking for the spatial node, which means you're also trying to ascend to the Spirit Realm, just like me. I think we can work together," Han Li proposed with a calm expression.

"You want me to work together with a human cultivator like you?" A deriding sneer appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face.

"I'm sure you already know about what happened to Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others. Otherwise, you wouldn't have appeared here. You possess spatial abilities that allow you to tear open and traverse through spatial rifts as you please. Those abilities will be very useful in the face of the power of the boundary between realms in the spatial node. You've also witnessed my abilities, and I trust that you'll agree that my abilities are not inferior to yours. I also possess two Divine Spirit Treasures, so there's no way that I'll drag you down. If we join forces, it will be much safer than either one of us entering the spatial node on our own. Otherwise, you saw what happened to Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others. I heard that Old Devil Che entered another spatial node; he didn't leave behind a soul lamp, so we don't know what happened to him, but the spatial node that he accessed is even more chaotic than this one, so I'm not too optimistic about his chances of survival, either..." Han Li persuaded in an unhurried voice.

A cold light flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes as she retorted, "After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, my lifespan has increased by more than twofold. I can remain in the human world for tens of thousands of years without any concerns. Why would I be in such a hurry to ascend to the Spirit Realm?"

"That may be true, but do you think that the spatial node will wait for you for tens of thousands of years? If you miss out on this one, do you think you'll be able to easily find another in the future?" Han Li stroked his chin as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"What are you trying to say?" The silver-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Nothing, really. I only wanted to inform you of the fact that this spatial node will only be able to maintain itself for about 100 years before it collapses and disappears. If you're confident in your ability to find a more suitable spatial node through which you can access the Spirit Realm, then just pretend like I didn't say anything," Han Li chuckled.

The silver-robed woman faltered slightly before a skeptical look appeared on her face. "How can there be such a convenient coincidence? You're not lying to me, are you?"

Han Li wasn't in a hurry to force the issue. Instead, he changed the subject, and said, "You'll know whether I speak the truth or not if you stay here and observe this spatial node for a few days. I have to leave for now and search for some methods to ward off the power of the boundary between realms. I'll be leaving one of my female disciples here, so you can speak to her if you have any instructions. Of course, if you can instruct my disciple in my stead while I'm away, then I must thank you wholeheartedly on behalf of my disciple."

"You're going to leave this island? It appears that you really are planning to access this spatial node soon. So be it; seeing as your offer does sound sincere, I'll stay here for a while. However, if I find out that you've been lying to me, I'll leave immediately!" The Ice Phoenix was slightly taken aback to hear this, and she only nodded reluctantly after a long period of contemplation.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic that she had agreed to cooperate with him. Thus, he immediately raised a hand to send a streak of fiery light flying into the air, which disappeared in a flash.

It was a voice transmission talisman.

After that, he began to make some small talk with the silver-robed woman. However, she didn't seem to be keen on making conversation with Han Li, and she merely gave a few clipped replies before falling silent.

Han Li remained unfazed by her aloof demeanor, but he had also relinquished further attempts to strike up a conversation.

After a short while, a streak of white light approached from the direction that the spatial node was in before descending beside Han Li. The white light faded to reveal a slender yellow-robed woman with a set of gorgeous features. She was none other than Tian Qin'er.

"Tian Qin'er pays her respects to her master!" Tian Qin'er extended a respectful bow before standing off to the side.

"So that's your disciple? Eh? Is that... the Dragon Cry Physique?" The silver-robed woman turned her gaze toward Tian Qin'er, upon which a surprised look appeared on her face.

Han Li smiled as he said, "It is, indeed. My disciple is female, yet she possesses a physique that should be unique to men, and it's truly a curse rather than a blessing for her. I had heard the glacial essence cultivated by the Ice Phoenix race extremely useful for cleansing one's essence as well as to balance the energies of Yin and Yang within one's body. I was hoping that you would be able to bestow a few drops of this essence upon my disciple so she can lift the curse of her own physique and restore her potential to pursue the Great Dao."

He hadn't mentioned Tian Qin'er's Dragon Cry Physique much, but behind the scenes, he had spent a vast amount of time researching this physique, and this was the only potential method of rectification he had discovered. As such, he was naturally unwilling to give up on this rare opportunity.

"Hmph, a few drops? You sure dare to dream! Our race's glacial essence is extremely valuable; how could be I possibly give a few drops to a human on a whim? Maybe I'll consider it when I'm in a good mood someday," the silver-robed woman scoffed.

Instead of reacting in an angry manner, Han Li gave a hearty laugh instead before turning to Tian Qin'er with a meaningful expression. "Of course. Qin'er, make sure to listen to this senior. Fellow Daoist Phoenix will be staying here on this island for a while, and you'll be responsible for catering to her needs during that time."

After hearing that a potential cure for her Dragon Cry Physique had been found, Tian Qin'er's eyes immediately lit up, and she hurriedly agreed to look after the silver-robed woman to the best of her abilities.

The Ice Phoenix glared coldly at Han Li, but didn't say anything.

The rest of the process was quite simple.

Han Li let the Ice Phoenix to the spatial node in person, then remained on the island for a further half a month. After verifying that the silver-robed woman harbored no ill will toward Tian Qin'er, he left the small island and flew into the distance as a streak of azure light.

Mid-flight, a small azure cauldron emerged from his sleeve. "Fellow Daoist Han, are you really planning to join forces with this Ice Phoenix?" The projection of a small child abruptly materialized atop the cauldron.

Han Li turned to the small child with a rather surprised look. During recent years, the small child very rarely emerged unless if he were requesting for some materials or pills from Han Li. As such, Han Li was quite taken aback by his sudden emergence.

"That's the plan. She possesses extremely powerful spatial abilities that will be very useful once we enter the spatial node," Han Li replied.

"That's true. The Ice Phoenix race hasn't inherited the bloodline of the true phoenix, but they have inherited its spatial aptitude. With her assistance, it'll make the journey slightly safer. However, shouldn't you free me from the Heavenvoid Cauldron first before you leave the human world? Have you forgotten about that?" the small child asked.

"Of course not. Speaking of which, it's been many years since I gave you that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. Isn't it about time that you gave me your observations?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he diverted the conversation to another topic.

"I've indeed managed to glean some of the contents of that half-page. I can't guarantee whether that information is correct or not, and I'm unable to put it into practice in the human world. After all, if anyone were to attempt to craft an immortal talisman in a world with such scarce origin Qi, they would be completely sucked dry long before the talisman could be successfully crafted. Are you sure you want to see my observations?" the small child asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course. I also plan to take back the half-page as I'll be studying it once I get to the Spirit Realm as well," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"If that's the case, then here it is." The small child stomped a foot onto the lid of the cauldron without any hesitation. The lid lifted itself slightly to release two balls of spiritual light, one of which was yellow while the other was green, and both were caught by Han Li at once.

They were a yellow wooden box and a green jade slip.

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After opening the wooden box, Han Li discovered that it contained the half-page that he had requested. He then injected his spiritual sense into the green jade slip, and even though there was no way for him to immediately master its contents, it didn't appear to be fake.

Han Li stowed away the two items before turning to the small child with a smile, and he said, "You've upheld your promise, so I naturally won't go back on my word, either. I'll begin using a secret technique right away to slowly sever your avatar from the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, this process will most likely take several decades, so you'll have to exercise some patience, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky."

"Of course. I'm happy with any arrangement as long as you can free me before your ascend." The small child seemed to be quite content with Han Li's promise, and the projection slowly disappeared.

A short while later, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a burst of green light, which swept toward the small cauldron.

The cauldron rapidly shrank within the azure light before being swallowed into his mouth.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Nascent Soul that was meditating within Han Li's body abruptly opened its eyes and waved its little hand, upon which the tiny azure cauldron appeared before it.

The cauldron was then tossed into the air, following which the Nascent Soul made a hand seal. Azure light immediately radiated from its body, enshrouding both the cauldron and the Nascent Soul within, creating a murky expanse of light that made it impossible to see what was going on inside.

Meanwhile, Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he accelerated slightly, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

After a while, a mysterious cultivator appeared at various cultivation sites all over the human world, and he specialized in collecting rare treasures, secret techniques, and cultivation arts. These items were either related to spatial abilities or possessed extremely powerful defensive properties.

However, this mysterious cultivator had a set of extremely lofty standards, and there were very few items of that nature that actually appealed to him. Furthermore, he came and left extremely quickly, altering his appearance and attire as he traveled from one place to the next. If he set his sights on an item, he would either forcibly purchase it or bypass any restriction guarding the item before disappearing without a trace.

The extent of everyone's knowledge about this mysterious cultivator was that he was unfathomably powerful, and even Nascent Soul cultivators were like powerless infants in the face of his astounding might. Thankfully, this mysterious cultivator was only interested in collecting treasures, and refrained from attacking people unless it was unavoidable.

As such, even though the sects and powers that had lost those items were extremely unwilling to part with them, they could only concede to their bad luck, and none of them dared to try and track down this unfathomably powerful being.

In contrast, normal cultivators were completely oblivious to the existence of this mysterious cultivator.

Thus, one year flew by after another.

One day, 70 years later, on the peak of a nameless mountain, a mysterious cultivator stood with a blank expression while two elderly men glowered at him from the air above.

The mysterious cultivator was a middle-aged scholar dressed in a set of inky-black robes.

The two elderly men facing him were an early-Nascent Soul cultivator and a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator respectively.

"I don't care who you are, but if you don't want to get hurt, then you better hand over the Shimmering Golden Ring that you stole. For you to be able to steal the ring despite all the restrictions we set around it indicates that you're at least a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator; why would you stoop to such a lowly act of thievery," an elderly man with bushy eyebrows interrogated in a cold voice.

The mysterious cultivator hadn't been traveling very quickly, so they were able to chase him down with ease. However, they were quite perplexed to find that they were unable to glean this man's cultivation base. As such, they refrained from attacking immediately, hoping to test him with their words first.

In response, the mysterious cultivator merely raised a hand and sent something flying toward the elderly man who had just spoken.

The latter faltered slightly before reflexively catching the object, only to find that it was a storage pouch.

A perplexed look appeared on his face.

"The Shimmering Golden Ring is very useful to me, so I'm willing to pay for it with the spirit stones in that pouch," the mysterious cultivator said in a flat and slightly coarse voice.

The elderly man was initially started by the immense number of spirit stones in the pouch, but a furious look then appeared on his face as he roared, "Nonsense! The Shimmering Golden Ring is the most important treasure of our sect! We won't sell it to you no matter how many spirit stones you offer!"

"In that case, I'm afraid I can't help you any further. I won't be returning this treasure," the mysterious cultivator continued in an indifferent voice.

"Hmph, then I'll just have to take back our treasure along with your life!" the other elderly man with a pair of slanted eyes harrumphed coldly. He then opened his mouth and blasted forth a streak of red light, which hurtled toward the mysterious cultivator's head at an alarming speed.

The man was clearly unwilling to return the treasure, so the mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was planning to take it back by force.

However, an incredible turn of events unfolded!

The mysterious cultivator didn't summon any treasures; he merely waved a hand through the air, and a burst of grey light swept up into the air.

As soon as the red light was struck by the grey light, the former immediately receded to reveal its true form, which was a small crimson sword that was several inches in length and shimmering with a cold light.

This sword was currently trapped within the grey light, seemingly having lost the ability to move.

The elderly man who had unleashed the flying sword was both shocked and enraged to discover that he had completley lost his connection with the sword. The elderly man beside him could see that something was amiss, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, letting loose a loud cry as a golden rectangular object was hurled forth.

The object swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive golden brick that came crashing down viciously like a small mountain.

The mysterious cultivator seemed to be quite intrigued by the sight of this golden brick, and he slowly raised his other hand toward it.

An even larger burst of grey light swept forth, crashing directly into the golden brick.

The grey light had only just washed over the surface of the brick, upon which its spiritual light faded, and it rapidly shrank, having also lost the ability to move.

The mysterious cultivator then waved a hand through the air again, and both the crimson sword and the golden brick descended toward him.

The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man was truly getting quite flustered now, and he immediately made a grabbing motion toward the mysterious cultivator.

A massive white hand abruptly appeared above the black-robed scholar before crashing down with devastating might. He was clearly trying to put an end to this mysterious cultivator's life!

However, the cultivator down below merely flicked a finger toward the massive white hand.

Golden light flashed, and a burst of sword Qi swept through the white palm, slicing it cleanly in half and reducing it to specks of white light that disintegrated into nothingness.

The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man's face paled upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, the mysterious cultivator brandished the two treasures in his hands before looking up at the two elderly men with a cold expression.

"If you think I'm offering too many spirit stones, then I'll take these two treasures as well. Are you willing to make the exchange now?"

The elderly men's hearts sank in unison. It was completely incredible to them that this mysterious cultivator could take their treasures from them as if he were merely taking candy from a baby. Just what was that unfathomable grey light?

Neither of the elderly men dared to give a reply.

The mysterious cultivator chuckled upon seeing this before tossing the two treasures into the air and flying away as a streak of azure light.

The two elderly men faltered upon seeing this before hurriedly recovering their lost treasures. They then glanced at the streak of azure light in the distance before turning to look at one another.

After a while, the elderly man with bushy eyebrows hesitantly asked, "Senior Martial Brother, should we give chase?"

"Give chase? Do you want to die? He's clearly just spared our lives. If we continue to pester him, he might change his mind," the other elderly man heaved a resigned sigh.

"But the Shimmering Golden Ring is our sect's most important treasure! What are we going to tell the rest of the sect if we can't recover it?" The elderly man with bushy eyebrows was still unwilling to give up.

"We'll just tell the truth; we encountered someone far too powerful for us to oppose, so we had to let him go. This is the nature of the cultivation world. The strong can impose their will upon the weak as they please, and nothing can be done about it. Come to think of it, the Shimmering Golden Ring didn't always belong to our sect, either; our martial forefathers plundered it from another sect. We can only concede our bad luck now that it's been taken away from us as well. Let's go back. The sect still needs us, so we can't throw away our lives likes this." The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man gave a wry smile before departing back the way they had come from.

The bushy-browed elderly man was rooted to the spot for a long while before heaving a resigned sigh as he also departed from the scene.

High up in the air a long distance away, the mysterious cultivator suddenly stopped after flying for tens of thousands of kilometers.

A series of crackles and pops erupted throughout his joints as he grew taller by around an inch. At the same time, azure spiritual light surfaced over his face, warping his appearance into that of a young man with a set of ordinary features.

This man was none other than Han Li.

He rustled a sleeve and a golden ring abruptly appeared his hand. He gently waved the golden ring, and countless projections were summoned.

"Not bad. In terms of defensive ability alone, this treasure ranks among the top three that I've collected during these past years." A pleased smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"It's about time you went back, Fellow Daoist Han. Otherwise, you'll be in complete despair if the spatial node suddenly collapses before you get back," the voice of a small child chuckled from within his sleeve.

"There's no need to remind me of that, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky; I was just preparing to make a trip back to the island. I've obtained some treasures and secret techniques during these past years, but there are only about four of five that are actually useful. Most of them are very renowned, but they certainly don't live up their reputations; they'll be next to useless once I enter the spatial node." Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he spoke.

"That's rather overly critical of you, Fellow Daoist Han. You're comparing the normal ancient treasures of your human world to spirit treasures like your Eight Spirit Ruler, so they'll naturally be quite lackluster in contrast. In any case, they're better than nothing. Besides, during your travels, you've managed to derive more insights from that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome as well. Perhaps these things will be able to save your life in your time of need," the small child disagreed.

"Perhaps." Han Li gave an absentminded reply as he clenched the fingers on the hand hidden up one of his sleeves before releasing them again.

Unbeknownst to the Endless Sky Beast, the most significant acquisition he had made during the past years wasn't one of the treasures or secret techniques he had obtained, and nor was it the insights he had derived from the Golden Jade Tome. Instead, it was something else...

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During these past few decades, Han Li would consume Dragon Scale Fruits, which he had prepared in his storage pouch in advance, at regular intervals. As such his strength had exceeded the upper limit of human cultivators a long time ago.

He had planted the Dragon Scale Fruit in the Devilfall Valley, and it was among the spirit medicines that the humanoid puppet had begun to deliver to the spatial pocket.

However, Han Li was didn't consume one of these fruits every single day. Instead, he had one every half a month. The medicinal effect of the fruit wasn't very strong, but if he didn't absorb the medicinal effect in time, it would slowly build up within his body. If this trend were to continue for several decades, his body wouldn't be able to handle the backlash, even though he had mastered the third layer of Brightjade Arts.

The Golden Wyrm King was only able to consume one Dragon Scale Fruit per day as wyrms possessed far more powerful bodies than normal demon beasts.

Due to the fact that Han Li had spent most of his time in seclusion preparing for a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, he wasn't able to dedicate much time to refining this fruit; only around a dozen years or so. After that, he stopped and began to focus wholeheartedly on cultivating his Azure Essence Sword Art instead.

Prior to arriving at the Five Dragon Seas on this occasion, Han Li had deliberately filled an entire storage pouch with ripe Dragon Scale Fruits.

As such, he had a steady supply of this fruit during his journey throughout the human world in the past few decades, and he was able to cultivate the Bone Tempering Art that he had unintentionally obtained, thereby allowing him to refine the medicinal effect of these fruits.

As a result, Han Li was astonished to find that the Dragon Scale Fruits and the Bone Tempering Art created an extraordinarily effective combination. The Bone Tempering Art had initially to be quite difficult to cultivate, but with the assistance of the Dragon Scale Fruits, Han Li was able to make rapid progress, mastering several layers during the short span of a few decades.

If he were to inspect his internal condition now, he would find that not only had his bones become noticeably thicker, they had also taken on a faint golden hue, similar to the color of his skin when he activated his Brightjade Arts.

In terms of strength, he was now able to easily lift massive rocks that weighed several tons without using any magic power.

What came as even more of a pleasant surprise to Han Li was that consumption of Dragon Scale Fruits also seemed to be quite conducive to the cultivation of the Brightjade Art. As such, as he was cultivating the Bone Tempering Art, he mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Art as well.

Due to this observation, he speculated that the Bone Tempering Art most likely really was somehow related to the Sacred Provenance Plate; perhaps it had even been created based on the Brightjade Art.

Otherwise, this cultivation art wouldn't act in such a complementary manner with the Brightjade Art.

After mastering the fourth layer of the Brightjade Art, he was able to cultivate several of its accompanying Buddhist secret techniques. When used in conjunction with the Brightjade Art, these secret techniques were extraordinarily powerful, and further contributed to enhancing his combat prowess.

While consuming the Dragon Scale Fruits, he would always conceal the Heavenvoid Cauldron temporarily to prevent the Endless Sky Beast from discovering this secret.

Otherwise, it would be very suspicious if he were able to bring out Dragon Scale Fruits on a regular basis.

"So once full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light is achieved, it becomes grey. That's rather strange. I thought that it would become five-colored light. Now that you've achieved full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light, I can use its five-elemental power to subdue five-elemental treasures. As your cultivation base continues to improve, as will the power of your Divine Essencefused Light, so there won't be any need to specifically cultivate it. This is quite a rare ability and even cultivators of a higher level will find it quite difficult to handle this power," the small child suddenly remarked.

"I didn't think that the Divine Essencefused Light would turn into such a monotonous color, either. While I was cultivating it in the past, it did indeed produce five-colored light, and it only changed into this color after I reached full mastery." Han Li was also stroking his chin with a rather perplexed look on his face.

He had been wondering about this for a long time, yet never articulated this internal query. Now that the small child was raising this question, his own confusion also rose to the surface.

"Hehe, this cultivation method was created by a cultivator of this world, so it's not really surprising that it can undergo some strange transformations," the small child said with a nonchalant chuckle.

"That's true. As long as the power of this Divine Esencefused Light isn't hampered in any way, it doesn't really matter that it's color has changed." Han Li nodded with a smile in agreement.

"Hehe, that's the best way to think about it. Looks like you're really planning to ascend to the Spirit Realm soon, Brother Han. In that case, I won't be returning to the Five Dragon Seas with you. Let's part ways here." As soon as the small child's voice trailed off, a ball of azure light shot forth from within Han Li's sleeve, revealing itself to be none other than his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

A crisp ringing sound erupted from the cauldron, following which the lid was lifted slightly. A burst of grey Qi flew out, transforming into a small child that was several feet tall.

"You can already leave the Heavenvoid Cauldron? I thought you'd still require some more time." Han Li was rather surprised to see this.

"I've been working on the restriction that's bound me this entire time as well, so the remnants of the restriction is no longer enough to confine me," the small child replied.

Han Li recomposed his surprised expression before asking, "I see. Are you planning to stay here, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky? Why don't you go back to the Heaventide Prairies or go somewhere else? This continent is actually nothing more than a massive island, so it really can't compare to other places with cultivation foundations."

"I'm just an avatar of my true body in the Spirit Realm, so there's no need for me to cultivate too quickly; cultivation resources are completely pointless to me right now. I've decided to stay here on this continent because I've discovered the aura of one of my brethren recently. Even though their bloodline isn't very pure, I've still decided to grace them with my presence," the small child explained calmly.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face, and he said, "I see. I must congratulate you then, Fellow Daoist."

"Haha, I didn't think that I would encounter one of my brethren here in this human world. In this case, I won't accompany you on your journey any longer, Fellow Daoist Han. I'll be taking my leave now."The small child cupped his fist in a salute before transforming into a burst of greyish-white Qi and disappearing into the distance.

He had left without so much a single trace of hesitation.

Han Li was rooted to the spot for a long while as he gazed into distance in the direction that the demonic Qi had disappeared in.

After a long while, Han Li murmured to himself, "With this demon beast here, this continent's peaceful days are most likely over. That doesn't have anything to do with me, though."

After that, he also disappeared into the distance as a streak of azure light.

Two years later, a streak of azure light flew over the misty seas of the Five Dragon Seas, disappearing into the mist in the blink of an eye.

When Han Li appeared in the sky above the island, around a dozen or so cultivators immediately emerged to meet him.

Han Li faltered slightly as a cold light flashed through his eyes, but his expression immediately eased at the sight of a familiar lithe and graceful figure.

"You've finally come back, Han Li." The alluring figure flew toward Han Li, reaching him in the blink of an eye as she appraised him with a smile so beautiful that everything in this world paled in comparison.

"Why are you here on this island, Wan'er? I wasn't planning to make a trip to the Scattered Star Seas soon."

This person was none other than his Dao Companion, Nangong Wan.

"I was concerned about the spatial node, so I came to have a look. I've been waiting here for several decades now!" Nangong Wan replied with a smile.

"Several decades? Sounds like you arrived not long after I left," Han Li chuckled.

"That does appear to be the case. I also met Fellow Daoist Phoenix." Nangong Wan also chuckled with an amused expression.

"You met her already?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Of course I have. Not only that, but we've become really close friends in the past few decades," Nangong Wan replied with a cunning smile.

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this.

Nangong Wan glanced around them before suggesting, "Let's go and talk on the island."

Han Li naturally wouldn't object to this and he nodded in response. Thus, they flew toward a pavilion on the island along with the group of cultivators that had emerged to greet him.

As soon as the two of them took a seat in the hall of the pavilion, Nangong Wan dismissed all of the other cultivators, allowing only Tian Qin'er to remain behind.

"Qin'er, how is your Dragon Cry Physique?" Han Li asked.

"Thank you for your guidance for these past years, Master. Fellow Daoist Phoenix bestowed a few drops of glacial essence upon me, so my physique has been completely cured. I'm now preparing to progress to the Nascent Soul Stage," Tian Qin'er replied with a grateful expression.

"That's good to hear. Looks like the efforts I expended won't be in vain, after all." A joyful smile appeared on Han Li's face in response.

"Qin'er, go and invite Fellow Daoist Phoenix here. Tell her that your master has returned, and that we have pressing matters to discuss with her," Nangong Wan instructed in a warm voice.

"Yes!" Tian Qin'er immediately nodded before departing from the pavilion.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, and even though he didn't say anything, he immediately aimed an inquisitive glance toward Nangong Wan following Tian Qin'er's departure.

"I heard that you've been searching for ways to minimize the hazards involved in entering the spatial node; have you found anything?" Nangong Wan suddenly asked.

"My search wasn't entirely fruitless, but the items that I found are rather disappointing." Han Li shook his head with a slightly dejected look.

Nangong Wan's brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Looks like you'll have to join forces with Fellow Daoist Phoenix to ensure the best chance of success, then. There's no need for you to be overly concerned. After all, you possess two Divine Spirit Treasures and you've achieved full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light. No ordinary cultivator can compare to you. I also have a treasure with powerful defensive properties with me here for you to take on your journey."

"What kind of treasure could this be?" A rather peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

Nangong Wan smiled and was just about to say something when she suddenly closed her mouth.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside the hall, following which a silver-robed woman strode in.

She was none other than that Ice Phoenix!

Nangong Wan immediately rose to her feet upon seeing her, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she said, "Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Phoenix. My Dao Companion and I were just discussing your joint venture into the spatial node."

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"There's no need for him to enter the spatial node with me, is there?" the silver-robed woman asked in an indifferent voice as she sat down in a chair.

Nangong Wan was completely unfazed by the silver-robed woman's aloof response as she continued, "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Phoenix. The spatial node is extremely perilous and entering it alone would be akin to suicide. I'm sure you've seen how unstable this spatial node has been in the past few decades, and it's most likely close to collapsing."

"It's not impossible for me to enter the spatial node with him. However, I have a condition that he must agree to before I can work together with him." The silver-robed woman glanced at Han Li with a peculiar look in her eyes.

"What's your condition?" Han Li was rather curious now.

"I still don't fully trust you, so if I were to enter the spatial node with you, we have to set restrictions on each other prior to entry. In that case, if one of us falls into trouble, the other side must assist them with all their might. Otherwise, neither of us will be able to leave the spatial node alive. I'll only agree to join forces with you if you agree to that condition," the Ice Phoenix replied.

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he immediately agreed, "I have no objections to this condition. In fact, it also puts me at ease."

In contrast, the silver-robed woman was rather taken aback by Han Li's quick response, and she aimed a cold glance at Han Li before continuing, "In that case, I have to leave this place for a while to make some preparations. This spatial node can last at least three more decades, so I'll come back to meet you here in exactly 30 years. I hope you won't change your mind by then."

The silver-robed woman departed as soon as she finished her sentence, not giving Han Li any time to state his opinion.

Han Li's brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything. It was instead Nangong Wan who rose to her feet to accompany the Ice Phoenix out of the pavilion. It appeared that Nangong Wan had something to say to her alone.

After the two women exited the hall, Han Li fell into deep thought, seemingly contemplating the suggestion the Ice Phoenix had just raised.

After a short while, he raised his head just as Nangong Wan returned to the room.

"Looks like you'll really be departing in 30 years." A hint of dejection appeared in Nangong Wan's beautiful eyes.

"My main concern now is that this spatial node will collapse soon, and you won't be able to reach the Spirit Realm even if you progress to the Deity Transformation Stage," Han Li sighed with furrowed brows.

"That's not a problem. This isn't the only spatial node in this world and I've already taken the Returning Sun Water. If I can reach the Deity Transformation Stage, my lifespan would be far lengthier than that of the average Deity Transformation cultivator. I'm sure I'll be able to find another spatial node in the human world during that time," Nangong Wan replied in a gentle voice.

She then made her way over to Han Li and slowly lowered herself into Han Li's arms.

Han Li wound his arms around her exquisite body, and was slightly entranced as he inhaled her faint fragrant scent.

Neither of them wanted to say anything as they basked in each other's warmth. The light spilling in from the window cast their shadow onto the ground, and it appeared from that shadow that they had already combined as one.

After a long while, Han Li asked in a gentle voice, "By the way, Wan'er what's that defensive treasure you were talking about earlier?"

Nangong Wan reluctantly freed herself from Han Li's embrace as she smoothed down her palatial dress, and asked, "Do you recall the golden box I found in that underground cave during the Trial by Blood and Fire?"

"Golden box? Oh, yes, I do recall that box."

"The bloody restricted area was actually the hidden abode of an ancient cultivator, and that golden box contained the restriction badge that would grant one access into the tallest tower at the center of the restricted area. Even with that badge, one would still have to at least be at the late-Nascent Soul Stage to enter that area and be unaffected by the strange restrictions there. Once I reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, I immediately traveled to the State of Yue to venture into this tower and obtained the inheritance of this ancient cultivator. Aside from that, I also discovered the remains of a cultivator within a certain restriction in the tower. He had clearly ventured into the tower without a restriction badge, and had fallen there as a result. The treasures that he was carrying were all quite extraordinary, so he must've been quite a powerful cultivator in his heyday. One of those treasures would most likely be very helpful to you, so I brought it along with me," Nangong carefully explained. As she spoke, she patted a storage pouch hanging from her waist to produce a ball of shimmering six-colored light, within which a silver talisman could be seen.

"This talisman is what you were referring to?" Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity when he saw this item, but he was unable to put his finger on where he had seen it before.

"I'm not sure who refined this talisman, but let me show you its ability first." Nangong Wan smiled as she tossed the silver talisman into the air, then made a hand seal as she chanted in her beautiful voice.

An incredible scene ensued.

The silver talisman suddenly transformed into a burst of silver light as it flew toward Nangong Wan, enshrouding her entire body under a silver light barrier.

Silver light was flashing violently on the barrier, and the barrier itself was rumbling incessantly.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to this initially, but as the rumbling became more and more pronounced and relentless, he discovered that it was drawing more spiritual Qi into the hall, thereby increasing the spiritual Qi density in the surrounding area.

Han Li stirred as he narrowed his eyes upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a wisp of colorful spiritual light surfaced within the hall before surging toward Nangong Wan in a frenzy, disappearing into the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

The silver light barrier began to flash erratically as layers of barriers began to materialize around Nangong Wan, each of which was a different dazzling color.

A few moments later, six layers of light barriers had taken shape.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li upon seeing this, and he exclaimed, "That's the Six Divine Talisman!"

"The Six Divine Talisman? Is that what it's called? Do you recognize this talisman?" Nangong Wan was slightly taken aback by Han Li's reaction, but she continued to make hand seals.

The six layers of light barriers instantly transformed into a six-colored suit of armor that adhered tightly to her body. Exuberant spiritual light was shimmering over the surface of this suit of armor, creating quite a spectacular sight to behold.

"I think I do. Even though I haven't seen this talisman in person, I've seen descriptions of it in a tome from one of the Great Jin's sects. The Six Divine Talisman is a kind of talisman than draws upon the world's origin Qi in the surrounding environment rather than drawing power from the cultivator's magic power," Han Li replied with bright eyes.

This was one of the three secret talismans of the Heavenly Talisman Sect, and he had been trying to get his hands on the refinement method for this talisman for a long time. However, he has been unable to find any leads on it, so he could only give up. Could it be that the remains that Nangong Wan had found belonged to that elder of the Heavenly Talisman Sect? Was that also the reason why Xiang Zhili had entered the bloody restricted area?

A string of thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind, but he found them to be rather implausible in the end.

He didn't delve on these thoughts for much longer as he made his way over to Nangong Wan and began to carefully inspect the suit of six-colored arms she had donned.

Aside from her limbs and head, the suit of armor had covered virtually Nangong Wan's entire body. Furthermore, its surface was quite smooth, and the fainty shimmering runes on the armor lent it a sense of mystery and intrigue.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, he was able to easily detect the fearsome spiritual power imbued within the suit of armor.

"This is most definitely the Six Divine Talisman, but according to the description I saw on that tome, this shouldn't be the extent of the talisman's power; you haven't unleashed its full power yet, have you, Wan'er?" Han Li asked.

"You're right, I've only unleashed a tenth of its power," Nangong Wan replied with a smile.

"Good. This talisman will indeed be very useful for my venture into the spatial node. By the way, did you find the refinement method for this talisman on the remains of the cultivator you discovered in the tower?" Han Li asked.

"No, I only managed to find this talisman," Nangong Wan replied with a shake of her head.

Han Li was slightly disappointed to hear this, but after thinking about it, he shook his head and chuckled, "Forget it, I was too greedy there. It's already very fortunate that you were able to discover this talisman."

Nangong Wan gave Han Li a warm smile before patting the suit of armor around her body, following which it reverted back into its talisman form.

She then opened her mouth and expelled a burst of red light, which enveloped the talisman before sending it flying toward Han Li.

Han Li accepted the talisman without any objections.

During the coming days, Han Li stayed on the island and cherished his remaining time with Nangong Wan.

Both of them knew that regardless of whether Han Li would be able to successfully ascend to the Spirit Realm, this would most likely be the only remaining time they had together. In the future, it was quite possible that they would be separated forever, and the chances of them reuniting were quite infinitesimal.

As such, both of them cast aside all inhibitions and enjoyed their time with one another to the fullest.

However, three years later, Han Li and Nangong Wan were enjoying some tea on a scenic mountain when Han Li's expression suddenly changed.

He rustled his sleeve, and a jade talisman emerged before landing in his hand.

It was none other than a Myriad Distance Talisman.

Han Li immediately cast his gaze toward the talisman in his hand.

Even though the message on the talisman was quite brief, it was enough to bring an elated expression onto Han Li's face.

The message had been sent to him by the humanoid puppet, informing him that the Profound Goddess's Palm had finally borne fruit.

One year later, a streak of azure light flashed into an obscure ravine within the Devilfall Valley's inner valley.

Han Li stayed within the ravine for several months before departing once again.

Time flew by and 30 years flashed past, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Within the misty seas, a group of cultivators in different attire gathered below a massive ball of light.

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Han Li stood below the ball of light, looking up with a solemn. Nangong Wan stood beside him in silence.

Everyone else was also completely silent, and they seemed to be waiting for something. Among this group of people were Tian Qin'er, as well as Shi Jian, who had already become the Thousand Bamboo Sect Master.

After a long while, Tian Qin'er couldn't help but ask, "Master, will Senior Phoenix Really come here today? It'll be quite troublesome if we can only lift the seal after noon."

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Phoenix sent me a message a month ago, so she'll definitely arrive today," Han Li replied without even turning his head.

Tian Qin'er fell silent again and continued to wait upon hearing this.

A short while later, Han Li abruptly turned his gaze toward a certain patch of mist.

Everyone else also turned their attention in the same direction.

A heavenly cry soon rang out from that direction, following which the mist tumbled and surged before revealing a snowy white Ice Phoenix that was several tens of feet in length.

The phoenix only flapped its wings several times before reaching Han Li and the others, upon which it transformed into a silver-robed woman amid a brilliant flash of spiritual light.

The woman turned to Han Li with an indifferent expression, and asked, "I'm not late, am I?"

"Of course not. You can lift the seal now, Qin'er. Fellow Daoist Phoenix, we can set up each other's restrictions now." Han Li issued an instruction to Tian Qin'er before turning to the Ice Phoenix with a smile. He then disappeared into the mist as a streak of azure light.

The silver-robed woman raised an eyebrow before following him as a streak of silver light. Nangong Wan remained standing on the spot, looking at the direction that the two had disappeared in with a hint of concern in her eyes.

At this moment, Tian Qin'er and a dozen or so other cultivators rose into the air, where they assembled in a strange formation directly beneath the massive ball of light. After that, spiritual light flashed as they produced a series of formation plates, formation flags, and various other types of treasures.

Following an instruction from Tian Qin'er, all of these cultivators raised their formation tools in unison. Scintillating light radiated forth as the formation tools released either pillars or wisps of light, all of which disappeared into the ball of light up above.

Tian Qin'er and the group of cultivators then set about lifting the restriction around the spatial node.

Time slowly passed and as the restriction was gradually loosened, the ball of light that had previously been quite blurry and indistinct became clearer and more dazzling. Furthermore, its color also transformed from a dull grey into a scorching white, making it appear as if a new sun had surfaced over the misty seas. In the face of such piercing light, even a great cultivator like Nangong Wan was forced to narrow her eyes and look away.

Meanwhile, Tian Qin'er's group of cultivators had already closed their eyes and were manipulating their formation tools through the use of their spiritual sense alone. Right this moment, a large hand suddenly appeared on Nangong Wan's shoulder. At the same time, a warm male voice sounded beside her ear. "Are you still worried?"

Nangong Wan's body stiffened before relaxing as she put on a rather forced smile and turned around. Han Li was standing behind her, appraising her with a smile on his face.

"I definitely am still worried, but we're defying the natural order by pursuing the Great Dao anyway, so there are bound to be hazards involved. Have you and Fellow Daoist Phoenix already finished setting up restrictions?" Nangong Wan asked in a gentle voice after heaving a faint sigh.

"Yes. Both restrictions are very secure and cannot be lifted by anyone aside from their respective casters. Looks like we won't have to worry about the other person plotting against one another now," Han Li replied with a wry smile. "Hmph, as long as you don't try anything, I have no reason to plot against you." White light flashed behind Han Li, and the silver-robed woman emerged from a spatial rift. "Fellow Daoist Phoenix, I'd advise you not to use your spatial abilities now; you should conserve your magic power so we can better deal with the hazards present within the spatial node." Han Li's brows furrowed.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that both of them had set restrictions on one another, but the Ice Phoenix's enmity toward Han Li seemed to have been curbed slightly, and she replied in a slightly more amicable manner, "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."

Han Li smiled and didn't offer a response. He stepped forward and stood beside Nangong Wan as they both looked up at the seal being lifted overhead. The silver-robed woman had also fallen silent.

Around 15 minutes later, when the ball of light in the sky had reached its most dazzling point, a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted. The white light receded and the ball of light in the sky suddenly transformed into an inky-black hole. It was like the bottomless gullet of a giant beast with not even a single hint of light to be seen within. Han Li and the silver-robed woman both stirred upon seeing this, and she said, "Let's go, Fellow Daoist Han."

Silver light then surfaced around her body as she slowly hovered toward the black hole.

Han Li's lips twitched as he patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist. Silver light immediately flashed from within as a second "Han Li" emerged. It was none other than the humanoid puppet. Han Li raised his hand and imprinted his palm onto the humanoid puppet's head like lightning. An inky black Nascent Soul emerged from the humanoid puppet's head before disappearing into Han Li's body.

Han Li then pointed toward the puppet, and brilliant silver light abruptly erupted from its body. The puppet shrank rapidly amid the silver light, reducing itself to a tiny little wooden puppet in the blink of an eye.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li whipped his other sleeve through the air, and two tiny blue cauldrons emerged along with a ball of three-colored flames. "Wan'er, these treasures won't be very useful to me after I pass through the spatial node. You'll most likely have to face many more tribulations here in this human world, and I can only leave these items behind to assist you, so please accept them." Han Li swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, sending a burst of azure light sweeping forth, which pushed those four treasures toward Nangong Wan.

After that, Han Li rose into the air and flew toward the Ice Phoenix as a streak of azure light.

Nangong Wan gritted her teeth and waved a slender hand through the air, drawing the four treasures into her grasp. She then stood on the spot and looked up at Han Li's departing figure with a set of slightly pale features.

At this moment, the Ice Phoenix stopped in front of the unfathomably deep black hole. After Han Li caught up to her, she asked, "Aren't you going to speak with Fellow Daoist Nangong for a while longer? I'm not in a hurry to enter this spatial node, so you can spend some more time with her if you want."

The Ice Phoenix was putting on a rare display of thoughtfulness.

Han Li took a deep breath before replying in a calm voice, "That won't be necessary. Wan'er and I have already said everything that needs to be said long before this. We just need to focus on passing through the spatial node now."

He then laid a hand over the top of his own head, and azure light flashed as a miniature azure cauldron emerged. He then gently stomped a foot into the air down below, and green light flashed as a green ruler abruptly appeared amid the projection of a silver lotus flower.

Following a nonchalant flap of his sleeve, a silver talisman shot forth and transformed into a tight-fitting suit of three-colored armor that settled over his body. Immediately thereafter, 72 small golden swords short forth from various parts of his body, transforming into fragments of golden light that revolved around him.

At the same time, Han Li flipped his hands over to produce a shiny golden ring and a small jade umbrella that was around several inches in size.

A hint of surprise flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes upon seeing this before she shrugged her shoulders in an unhurried manner, sending a dozen or so streaks of white light flying through the air, which transformed into a series of long translucent feathers.

The feathers swirled through the air before descending to form a white barrier that shielded the Ice Phoenix within. At the same time, silver spiritual light revolved around her body, manifesting a mystical image of countless birds revering a single phoenix. What was most surprising was that she then opened her mouth to expel a semi-transparent ice ark.

The ark was already several inches in size as soon as it emerged from her mouth, and it swelled drastically thereafter, reaching a length of over 100 feet.

The silver-robed woman's body swayed as she drifted onto the ice ark before turning to Han Li as she said, "This Heaven Puncturing Ark is a top-grade defensive treasure that finally took shape within my body after being nurtured by my glacial essence for over 10,000 years. It should be able to protect us and save us a lot of inconvenience during the initial phase of our journey."

Han Li didn't waste any time with formalities as he also immediately strode onto the ark. He stood beside the silver-robed woman with a calm expression, and said, "Seeing as you have such a potent treasure, allow me to give you a hand."

A large swath of grey light immediately surfaced from Han Li's body as he spoke, following which a dark shadow flashed, and a completely mundane and nondescript miniature mountain appeared.

The miniature mountain was only around 10 feet in size, and before the Ice Phoenix was able to figure out what it was, it had already emerged from the expanse of grey light and landed securely on the ice ark.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal, and a vast expanse of grey light erupted from the mountain, enclosing the entire ice ark within.

The silver-robed woman didn't know what this grey light was, but she could tell that it possessed extraordinary properties. As such, she summoned a silver light barrier from the ice ark which combined with and fortified the grey light emanating from the miniature mountain.

The ark then shot forth into the black hole, and disappeared in a flash. Everyone down below looked on with wide eyes, staring intently up at the spatial node with unblinking gazes.

However, everyone was soon disappointed. Following Han Li and the Ice Phoenix's entry into the spatial node, the condition of the black hole remained completely unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened. Nangong Wan finally withdrew her gaze as she issued a calm instruction to Tian Qin'er. "Qin'er, station a couple of disciples here, and get everyone else to go back. There's no point in having too many people remain here."

"Yes!" Tian Qin'er extended a respectful salute and organized for two Core Formation disciples to remain here before returning to the island with Nangong Wan and the others.

After a month, no changes to the entrance of the spatial node were observed, and Nangong Wan instructed Tian Qin'er to seal the entrance with a formation spell again. She then left several disciples behind to guard the entrance while everyone else returned to the Scattered Star Seas with her.

Han Li didn't leave a soul lamp for everyone, so no one knew whether Han Li had already passed through the spatial node and emerged on the other side, or had followed in the footsteps of Xiang Zhili and the others, perishing to spatial storm and the power of the boundary between realms present within the spatial node.

This was exactly why Han Li was unwilling to leave a soul lamp behind. After all, it was always better to have some hope rather than be plunged into complete despair.

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Han Li lay on the ground in a completely still manner, experiencing the uncomfortable heat rising up from the ground while calculating the time in his heart.

If he wasn't mistaken, he had already been lying here for three months based on the timing conventions of the human world.

There were currently three suns and four moons in the sky, and Han Li knew that during the night, all of those suns would also convert themselves into moons. When daytime arrived, all of those moons would then transform into scorching suns one by one, until there were seven suns hanging in the sky.

This meant that there were constantly seven celestial bodies of light hanging in the sky. The difference was that temperatures were unbearably hot during the day, and freezing cold during the night.

From his observations, it appeared that the days and nights in this place were extremely long; roughly three times the length of the days and the nights in the human world. The temperature difference between daytime and nighttime was also absolutely staggering, and he would most likely already be dead if not for his special constitution.

This place was naturally no longer part of the human world, but was it the Spirit Realm? Han Li couldn't be sure.

The spiritual Qi here wasn't very abundant, seemingly not too different from the amount of spiritual Qi produced by a normal spirit vein in the human world, and furthermore, he had arrived here completely by accident. As such, he had no idea whether he had actually reached the Spirit Realm.

Thinking back to the events that had taken place within the spatial node, an expression of lingering fear appeared in Han Li's eyes.

But then again, if it weren't for the accident that had taken place on the final stretch of the journey, Han Li had no confidence at all in his ability to withstand the relentless waves of spatial storms that had appeared in the end. After all, most of his protective treasures had been destroyed, including even his Eight Spirit Ruler. If it weren't for the fact that his Spiritform Talisman had activated in the nick of time, he would've most likely been reduced to nothingness in the spatial node already.

However, his current situation wasn't very optimistic, either.

When he had just exited the spatial node and appeared in this place, he had been forcibly separated from the Ice Phoenix, and the restrictions that they had set up in each other's bodies were beginning to take effect. Thankfully, he had mastered a vast array of secret techniques, and one of them allowed him to forcibly repress this restriction. Otherwise, he would already be dead from magic power backlash.

Even so, the residual power of the restriction was still wreaking havoc within his body, relentlessly destroying his meridians and bodily structures. If it weren't for the fact that the Wood Birth Bead's immortal body ability was constantly repairing his bodily structures, his body would've been reduced to a pile of mush already.

At present, there was one burst of power constantly destroying his body while another burst of power was relentlessly repairing the damage that was being done. This was naturally an extremely painful process. During this time, not only was he unable to draw upon any magic power, he was also unable to move even in the slightest. Furthermore, the destructive power was inflicting damage at a slightly faster rate than the regenerative power.

As such, his body would still be destroyed eventually if things continued like this.

In this dire situation, Han Li was forced to expel all of his treasures and store them into a storage pouch, then use a secret technique to dispel his Nascent Soul. In doing so, the enormous amount of power created by the dissipating Nascent Soul would inject itself into his body, thereby enhancing his regenerative ability.

However, the price he had to pay for this was that he wouldn't have so much as a single shred of magic power within his body for over 100 years, and nor would he be able to use any spiritual power or spiritual sense.

Even if a cultivator of a higher caliber than Han Li were to make a rough examination of his body using their spiritual sense, they would only regard him as a mere mortal, and they wouldn't be able to detect that anything was amiss unless they conducted a more thorough examination.

The consequences were quite dire, but the effects of unleashing this secret technique were also very potent.

During the past three months, the remaining power of the restriction had finally completely disappeared, and most of his meridians had been healed.

According to his estimation, it would only take him a month or so before he would be able to walk again.

With that in mind, he turned his head to the side with great difficulty, only to be greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of barren grey sand stretching as far as the eyes could see, with not even a single blade of grass in sight.

He was currently situated in a bleak desert, and most of his body had been covered by this strange type of sand, making him appear as if he were a deceased corpse.

The suns in the sky were gradually reduced from three to two, then to one, and it finally appeared as if dusk was approaching.

However, as opposed to closing his eyes and settling in for another freezing night, Han Li's eyes abruptly widened as a faint blue light flashed through his pupils.

A short while later, a series of sharp cries suddenly erupted from the sky above. Immediately thereafter, one black spot after another appeared in the air, amounting to a total of over 20 dark shadows, all of which came swooping down rapidly toward Han Li.

Even though Han Li was unable to inject any magic power into his eyes, he was still able to clearly make out the appearances of these black spots with his astonishing eyesight.

They were a group of strange black birds with falcon heads and bat bodies. Each and every one of them was around four to five feet in size. They all had a pair of sharp claws growing from their respective abdomens, and their black fleshy wings were fully spread to create a sinister sight to behold.

These birds flew extremely quickly, and had plummeted to an altitude of just over 300 feet in the blink of an eye. It appeared they were targeting Han Li as prey for their next meal.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes and his four limbs remained completely still, but he suddenly turned his head and inhaled sharply.

A small clump of grey sand abruptly materialized into a ball before flying toward Han Li.

Just as the ball of sand was about to fly into his mouth, Han Li blew out a gentle gust of wind, upon which the ball of sand began to hover beside his mouth as if it were completley weightless, rotating on the spot without traveling any further downward.

At this moment, the flock of birds was only just over 100 feet away, and Han Li felt as if he could already catch a whiff of the putrid nauseating scent of rotten blood and gore wafting out from within their beaks.

Han Li's face remained expressionless, but his depressed chest suddenly bulged as he blasted out a gust of strong wind into the ball of sand.

The ball of sand was immediately dispersed into countless specks of azure light that shot forth into the air, striking the first few birds among the flock amid a series of dull thumps.

The birds that had been struck let loose shrill cries of agony before fleeing away into the distance. However, they only managed to fly for about 100 feet before collapsing to the ground with blood gushing from their bodies, clearly having been severely wounded by Han Li's innovative attack.

An incredible turn of events then unfolded.

Upon catching sight of their wounded companions, the rest of the birds completely lost interest in Han Li, flying toward their injured companions instead before tearing them into shreds in the blink of an eye. After that, all of them flew away in contentment with a chunk of their companions' flesh caught between their beaks.

Thus, Han Li was all alone in this vast desert once again.

His expression remained unchanged, as if he were already accustomed to such occurrences. However, the contemplative look in his eyes suggested that he was in deep thought about something.

A while later, the final sun in the sky also gradually darkened as it transformed into a moon.

Han Li had witnessed this spectacle countless times already, yet he was still struck by a sense of awe and wonder at the sight of the seven moons in the sky.

All of a sudden, a slightly bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face, but unfortunately, he was unable to do anything aside from turning his head slightly to the side.

After a short while, a faint rumbling intermingled with the sound of thundering horse hooves erupted in the distance. It appeared that there seemed to be a large group of travelers approaching.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and a hesitant look appeared on his face as he tried to decide whether he should act to intentionally catch their attention.

If he didn't make a sound, it wouldn't be easy for them to discover him, given the fact that most of his body was obscured by the sand of the desert.

However, Han Li didn't have to grapple with this dilemma for very long as a crimson fist-sized bird had appeared about three hundred to four hundred feet above Han Li, letting loose a clear cry that was audible for several kilometers.

It was clearly sending a message to the group of travelers.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this. The bird was at too high of an altitude for him to try and replicate his sand attack, so he could only wait in silence.

As expected, only a short while had passed before the ground beneath him began to tremor, seemingly as if something were traveling toward him.

Following a burst of low roars, a few knights riding on a type of strange beast stopped far away from Han Li, looking at him from afar with cold expressions.

Han Li turned his gaze toward these "people".

They were dressed in a rather strange way, but they definitely were humans.

Han Li was quite relieved to see this.

The group of knights was comprised entirely of men who appeared to be between 20 to 40 years of age. Some of them wore full suits of shiny armor while others were wearing nothing aside from a few faintly shimmering slabs of bones that covered their vital regions. However, all of them were holding an extremely heavy-looking club-like weapon each. These weapons were much thicker on the end than they were in the hilts, and there were many sharp spikes protruding from them, giving them a very sinister and dangerous appearance.

What was even more intriguing to Han Li was that all of these men were riding massive azure wolves as steeds. Each and everyone one of these wolves had a single straight black horn growing on their heads, and were clad in thick slabs of armor. They were each over 20 feet tall with burly musclebound bodies, putting on a very intimidating display even in stillness.

As Han Li appraised this group of people, the knights on their monstrous steeds also seemed to have arrived at the conclusion that Han Li posed no threat to them. As such, their expressions eased, yet they still showed no intention of approaching him.

One of the men, who appeared to be over 40 years old with a deep scar on his face, suddenly turned to a young man beside him and said something. The young man immediately pulled out a round white disk before spurring on his wolf steed to approach Han Li.

The young man stopped several tens of feet away from Han Li and said something that was completely unintelligible to him. The lack of reaction from Han Li brought a frown to the young man's face, and he gently waved the round disk in his hand toward Han Li.

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A pillar of azure light with a diameter comparable to that of a large bowl shot forth from the round disk.

Han Li's expression remained calm as he allowed the light to shine on him.

On one hand, he lacked the ability to take evasive measures, and on the other hand, he could sense that this beam of light was for detection purposes rather than an attack unleashed against him.

The pillar of light receded, but the round disk itself suddenly began to glow with brilliant light. The young man looked down at the disk before suddenly yelling to the people behind him with a stunned expression.

His cry of surprise created a stir among the group behind him as well. The man middle-aged man with the scar on his face yelled a few questions at the young man before also turning to Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes after hearing the young man's answers.

The middle-aged man then made his way over to the young man beside atop his giant wolf steed. He then asked Han Li a few questions, but Han Li naturally had no idea what he was saying.

The middle-aged man stroked his chin before switching to another language. Han Li stirred slightly upon hearing this language. Even though it was still unintelligible to him, it sounded somewhat familiar, as if it were similar to a certain type of ancient language used in the human world.

The middle-aged man was ecstatic to the see the change in Han Li's expression, and he hurriedly switched to a few more languages, in response to which Han Li continued to shake his head with difficulty.

The middle-aged man was at a slight loss for what to do now. He hung his weapon down the side of his massive wolf steed's body before pulling out a yellow wooden box and removing its lid.

A thumb-sized yellow bead was revealed within, and it was shimmering with faint spiritual light.

A slightly reluctant look appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he looked down at Han Li again. He then turned his gaze back to the bead with an indecisive expression before finally gritting his teeth, seemingly having arrived at some kind of decision. Immediately thereafter, he flipped over a hand and a peculiar ring appeared over his palm. There were a few types of runes carved onto its surface, and a pea-sized green jewel had been embedded into the ring.

The man pressed the bead down onto the jewel, upon which scintillating light abruptly erupted from the bead.

The man then immediately tossed the jewel toward Han Li without any hesitation. As soon as this object came into contact with Han Li, it disappeared into his body without a trace.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and his heart jolted as a burst of cold energy suddenly emerged from the bead, flowing directly toward his brain. If he still had his magic power, then he could naturally expel this object at a whim. However, that was not the case, and he was completely immobilized, so he was powerless to do anything.

Thankfully, this group of people didn't seem to bear any ill will toward him, and Han Li wasn't overly flustered by this development.

The burst of cold energy swirled through his brain before disappearing. However, Han Li was suddenly struck by a sharp headache as a vast stream of information tried to forcibly inject itself into his mind.

Even though Han Li was unable to release his spiritual sense out of his body, there was no doubting the fact that it was extremely powerful. As such, his expression only changed slightly before his spiritual sense absorbed all of this information, thereby instantly allowing him to master a foreign language.

This language was none other than one of the tongues spoken by the middle-aged man earlier.

The man was rather surprised to see Han Li absorb the bead with such ease, and he asked, "You can understand what I'm saying now, right? Who are you and why are you here? This place is really deep into the Azure Sifting Desert; no normal person would ever come here."

"Azure Sifting Desert? I've never heard of it. Truth be told, I ended up here due to an accident, and the method through which I arrived was rather special, so I don't know what this place is. I'm only an ordinary mortal and I don't have any valuable information to offer. You may call me Han Li," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"A special method? Did you also come here through a spatial rift? Don't be alarmed, this is an area that's rife with spatial rifts, so it's often the case that complete strangers would be swept here from vast distances away." The middle-aged man seemed to have already grown accustomed to such occurrences.

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this. He had devised an entire story to try and mislead these men, but it appeared that he wouldn't be able to use this story.

"Hehe, you don't look like an ordinary mortal. In any case, as long as you're not the human form of some beastly being, your origins don't really matter to us. However, your situation is rather perilous at the moment. The scorpion tide season will be coming up in the Azure Sifting Desert in a few days, and if no one saves you before then, you'll be dead no matter what tricks you have up your sleeve. How about signing a contract with our Heavenly East Enterprise? We can take you with us, but you have to serve our enterprise for 20 years in return. You'll only be able to leave after you serve your 10-year stint with us." A hint of a sinister smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

Han Li only hesitated momentarily before agreeing, "20 years? Alright, I'll do it."

"Alright, then sign this blood curse contract." The man laughed heartily before gesturing toward one of his companions.

The knight pulled out a thick stack of paper and picked one at random, then bit open his finger and wrote some things onto the paper with his blood. He then jumped down from his giant wolf steed and made his way over to the middle-aged man.

The latter accepted the piece of paper before showing it to Han Li.

However, Han Li's brows furrowed as he stared at the sheet of paper, and he didn't say anything, even after a long while.

A thought suddenly occurred to the middle-aged man, and he asked, "Have you not seen a blood curse contract before?"

"This is indeed the first time I've seen one. Can you tell me what it does?" Han Li replied truthfully.

From what he could see, this was not a contract; it was clearly a talisman.

He recognized all of the runes on the talisman as they were an ancient type of runes used in the human world. However, this was the first time he had seen these runes used in this combination, and it created a rather peculiar sight to him.

"You haven't even seen a blood curse contract before? Did you come over from the east? So be it, let me tell you about this thing. It's very simple; if you agree to the contract terms and willingly drip a drop of your blood essence onto the contract, then it will take effect. If you try to revoke the contract, the power of the blood curse would take away part of your soul, and you'll wish that you were dead! Hehe, this contact was invented by the Blood Curse Sect, and unless you possess the abilities of a god, you won't be able to escape its power after you sign it," the middle-aged man explained patiently.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face. He still hadn't figured out how this blood curse contract worked, but he could tell that the runes used weren't very complex at all.

Even though he couldn't decipher them right away, he would definitely be able to do so once given some time. Furthermore, from the level of complexity of the runes, it appeared that this contact would only be able to bind Foundation Establishment cultivators. Cultivators at the Core Formation Stage above would be completely exempt from its effect.

Even though he couldn't muster up any magic power, the enormous energy within his Nascent Soul had been injected into his body, so there was no way that this blood curse could bind him; its power would most likely be dispelled as soon as it entered his body.

This item was rather similar to the Underworld River Page used by the elderly man with the Fu surname in the human world. Of course, there was no way that the two could be compared to one another.

The Underworld River Page could even bind Nascent Soul cultivators to a certain extent, whereas this blood curse contract was most likely something used between mere mortals. Furthermore, it sounded as if this was a commonly used item around these parts.

A series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind as he read through the contract terms. These people were indeed extending a helping hand toward him, but he had to work for them for 20 years.

"I agree to the contract terms, but I can't move at the moment," Han Li replied, but he feigned a reluctant expression, making it appear as if he were scrambling for an excuse.

The middle-aged man chuckled coldly as he waved a hand toward the knight that had drafted the blood curse contract. "Give him a hand, Little Seven."

The knight who had just been referred to as Little Seven placed the blood curse contract on Han Li's chest before grabbing onto one of his wrists. In his other hand, he held a sharp dagger that was several inches in length, and he slit Han Li's wrist without any hesitation.

However, a metallic clang rang out as the dagger struck Han Li's wrist, and his skin remained completely unscathed.

Everyone was shocked to see this. The knight who was holding the dagger was completely rooted to the spot.

The middle-aged man came to his senses before a serious look appeared on his face, and he asked, "Did you cultivate the Profound Armor Technique or the Vajra Arts? Have you mastered the second layer already?"

"I've cultivated the Vajra Arts, and I've mastered the third layer already." Han Li gave a calm reply upon hearing this, but he was ecstatic internally.

He was finally able to verify that this was indeed the Spirit Realm as only a mortal of the Spirit Realm would be aware of the existence of the Vajra Arts.

The middle-aged man exhaled to recompose himself before tossing a short sword toward Little Seven as he said, "The third layer, eh? That means you can already fight low-grade demon beasts. Looks I've really stumbled across a treasure. It's no wonder that Little Seven's mortal dagger can't hurt you; try my Golden Luster Sword. Even though it's only a low-grade spirit tool, as long as you don't activate your Vajra Arts to try and defend yourself, it should still be able to draw blood."

"A spirit tool?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Little Seven caught the sword before drawing it from its scabbard, upon which a burst of golden light instantly erupted forth. Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this.

It appeared that this so-called spirit tool was seemingly no different from an ordinary treasure. Could it be that even mortals of the Spirit Realm could use treasures?

However, upon closer inspection, Han Li finally noticed the only point of difference; there was a golden spirit stone embedded onto the hilt of the sword. This spirit stone was a mid-grade metal-attribute spirit stone, and it was around one fifth the size of a spirit stone in the human world.

Just as he was contemplating these thoughts, Little Seven pulled out a beasthide glove before slipping it onto his hand. Only then did he grab onto the hilt of the sword with his gloved hand. Runes flashed over the surface of the glove, and there were also pea-sized spirit stones of different colors embedded into the glove.

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As soon as his gloved hand closed itself around the hilt of the Golden Luster Sword, the light shimmering from the sword receded, but it suddenly began to give off an even more dangerous and menacing aura.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he truly was quite surprised.

After donning this glove, this mortal truly was able to use this so-called spirit tool. This was a completely mindblowing concept to him.

He had heard that the most exceptional mortal cultivators of the Spirit Realm could even combat cultivators in battle, but the demon beast hadn't told him about these spirit tools.

If these spirit tools really were comparable to the treasures of the human world, then it really was no surprise that mortals could slay low-grade cultivators in this world.

Just as Han Li was reeling internally from his bewilderment, Little Seven raised the Golden Luster Sword, and inched it toward Han Li's wrist again. On this occasion, he was clearly being a lot more careful and precise.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he slowly activated his cultivation arts.

The Brightjade Arts and the Vajra Arts were the same cultivation art, but one was cultivated using the spiritual power within one's body, while the other was cultivated by forcibly injecting spiritual power from the outside world into one's body.

In the past, Han Li had naturally cultivated the Brightjade Arts, but due to the fact that he was unable to muster up any magic power, he could only employ the use of the Vajra Arts instead. Furthermore, he had been lying when he told the middle-aged man that he had only mastered the third layer of the Brightjade Arts. With the assistance of the Bone Tempering Arts and the Dragon Scale Fruits, he had already mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts.

As such, if he didn't intentionally decrease the power output from his Vajra Arts, the Golden Luster Sword still wouldn't be able to inflict any damage upon him.

As the blade of the sword made contact with Han Li's wrist, the sword faltered slightly, but it was finally able to slice through his skin and draw blood in the end.

The knight hurriedly picked up Han Li's other hand, dipped his finger into his own blood, then used this finger to write a few peculiar runes onto the blood curse contract.

As soon as those runes took shape, they disappeared into the sheet of paper without a trace. The knight turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "All of you have to do now is think about the terms of the contract again, then express approval of the terms in your heart."

Han Li did as he was told.

As a result, brilliant crimson light suddenly erupted from the blood curse contract, and all of the runes seemed to have sprung to life. All of them flew up from the contact before disappearing into the bodies of Han Li and the knight.

Meanwhile, the blood curse contract self-combusted and was burned into nothingness within a ball of green flames.

"Haha, Brother Han, you belong to our Heavenly East Enterprise from this day forth. Little Seven, carry Brother Han onto a carriage. He's currently unable to move, so he won't be able to ride on a wolf beast." The middle-aged man's demeanor toward Han Li suddenly became a lot more benevolent.

Little Seven clambered onto his wolf steed before riding off toward the rear of the party in search of a carriage. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man began to chat with Han Li as he wore an amiable smile on his face.

Only then did Han Li discover that this man was named Zhang Kui, and he was the leader of the Heavenly East Enterprise's first guard squad. They were passing through this Azure Sifting Desert as they were transporting some important cargo. The Azure Sifting Desert was quite a vast desert, and several months was required for their squad to get from one end of the desert to the other.

Just as the two of them were making small talk with one another, a colossal creature suddenly approached them from the distance. That Little Seven was riding on his wolf steed in front of the giant creature, seemingly leading the way.

Only after the creature drew closer did Han Li discover that it was a massive tortoise that was around 40 to 50 feet tall, and roughly 70 to 80 feet in length.

There was wooden carriage set up on the tortoise's back as well as a seat toward the front end of its shell. There was a thin grey-robed elderly man sitting on that seat, and it appeared that he was the coach driver.

The massive turtle stopped in front of the group of knights, and the carriage door was opened from the inside. A slender figure emerged from within, revealing herself to be a young woman who appeared to be 15 to 16 years of age, wearing a green dress. She had a round face with a set of sweet and adorable facial features.

The young woman glanced at Han Li before smiling as asked, "Is he the one, Uncle Zhang?"

"Xiang'er, this is Brother Han, and he's already one of us now. It's just that he's unable to move at the moment, and all of the other carriages contain cargo, so I'll have to trouble you to look after him." The middle-aged man was speaking to the young woman in a very polite and respectful manner.

"I see. I'm happy to look after one of our own. Get him onto the carriage," the young woman replied with a smile. Even though she was still quite youthful, she was already displaying a hint of seductive feminine charm.

The middle-aged man expressed his gratitude toward this Xiang'er before waving a hand toward his companions. Two knights immediately dismounted from their wolf steeds and dug Han Li out of the sand. One of them was carrying his legs while the other had his hands hooked under Han Li's armpits as they carried Han Li up the tortoise along a rope ladder.

The young woman entered the carriage first, following which the two knights also arrived at the entrance. Han Li glanced at his surroundings and took in the entire carriage.

The carriage was very spacious, able to house a dozen people with ease. Aside from Xiang'er, there were also three other young women sitting in the carriage, all of whom appeared to be between 12 to 17 years of age. All of them were quite pleasing to the eye, and they didn't appear to be ordinary people.

There was only a chair and a few benches in the carriage, all of which had been stabilized to the ground, so the carriage appeared rather empty.

It was no wonder that the middle-aged man would arrange for Han Li to stay here.

In the end, Han Li was laid down on of the long benches in the corner of the carriage. The yellow hide of some unknown beast had been spread over the bench, and it was quite warm and comfortable to lay down on.

Immediately thereafter, the two knights exited the carriage, not taking the opportunity to steal so much as a single glance at any one of the girls in the carriage.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this. However, he was naturally not going to delve any further into this observation. Instead, he merely gave the girls a smile before closing his eyes to rest and recuperate.

In reality, he didn't have a single trace of magic power within his body, and his meridians were yet to be fully healed, so there was no way for him to actually cultivate. However, he had stayed in this godforsaken desert for several months, getting baked during the day and freezing during the nights while his body was destroyed and repaired from the inside, so he really was feeling quite exhausted.

The four young women in the carriage were all looking at Han Li with curious expressions while discussing quietly among themselves.

Even though they were speaking in extremely low whispers, their conversation was naturally unable to escape Han Li's extraordinary sense of hearing.

"Sister Xiang'er, what kind of injury has that man been afflicted with? How is he completely unable to move?"

"Who knows? Uncle Zhang told me that he'll get a cultivator to come and have a look at him soon."

"Tsk tsk, looks like Uncle Zhang holds this man in extremely high regard; it's not easy to employ the services of those cultivators." "I'm not sure about the details, but Uncle Zhang tells me that this man is a rare talent with extremely strong potential. Otherwise, he wouldn't be letting him stay in this carriage with us."

"A rare talent, is he? Why do I not get that feeling? He looks really ordinary."

Han Li pretended to not be able to hear their conversation as he lay on silently on the beasthide bench.

At this moment, the giant tortoise began to move again. Even though it was traveling quite quickly, it was doing so in a stable manner, and Han Li could only detect a few minor bumps here and there during their journey.

However, the giant tortoise came to an abrupt halt a short while later.

From the sounds of the commotion outside, it appeared that the tortoise had caught up to the rest of the squad.

The middle-aged man outside delivered a loud instruction, upon which the entire squad set off once again.

Even though Han Li was unable to witness the scenes outside the carriage for himself, he could tell that there were at least 200 to 300 people outside.

The four young women discussed among themselves for a while longer, but they eventually grew bored upon seeing the lack of reaction from Han Li. As such, they moved on to other conversation topics, and on this occasion, they made no effort to keep their voices down.

"I heard that the cargo being delivered by the Heavenly East Enterprise this time is imperative for the safety of An Yuan City; that's why the city lord was willing to spend an absurd amount of spirit stones to hire us to deliver the cargo from so far away. Otherwise, we wouldn't normally accept orders from a secluded city like theirs."

"But why has the mistress gone ahead to An Yuan City first without taking any one of us? That's rather strange."

"Heehee, let me leak some insider information to the three of you; the mistress is traveling to An Yuan City in person, firstly because the cargo that we're delivering this time is very important, and secondly, she's heading there to welcome the fifth young master home."

"The fifth young master? You mean the mistress's son that was sent away to cultivate more than 10 years ago? Didn't they say that the fifth young master possesses a spiritual root and was accepted as a disciple by a cultivator? Why would he be in An Yuan City?" Xiang'er exclaimed.

"I'm not too sure about that. I heard this information from the mistress herself."

"I heard that the mistress has always heavily favored the fifth young master because he possesses a spiritual root. In that case, it's no wonder that the mistress was so eager to travel to An Yuan City."

The four young women were chatting spiritedly among themselves while Han Li lay silently on the bench, looking as if he had already fallen asleep.

All of a sudden, the eldest girl in the carriage, a young woman in a blue dress, suddenly adopted a serious expression as she exclaimed, "Who's there?"

The other three young women's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, a male voice sounded from outside the carriage.

"It's me, Nan Qizi. I was sent here by Benefactor Zhang to inspect the condition of Benefactor Han."

The young woman's expression eased slightly as she replied, "Oh, my apologies for my rudeness. Liu'er pays her respects to Daoist Priest Nan Qizi. Please come in."

She then cast a reflexive glance toward Han Li, upon which her expression abruptly stiffened. It turned out that Han Li's eyes were already open, and when she turned her gaze toward him, their eyes just so happened to meet, and there was a hint of a smile on his face.

At this moment, Xiang'er had already opened the carriage door to reveal a yellow-robed Daoist priest and a white-robed elderly man.

The Daoist priest appeared to be over 30 years of age and there was faint azure light shimmering on his face, which was a clear indication that his magic power had reached a certain level. In contrast, the white-robed elderly man had a head of grey hair and a face that was riddled with wrinkles, giving off the appearance of a frail geriatric.

"Old Man Fu? Why did you come here as well?" Xiang'er appeared to be quite surprised to see the elderly man.

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The elderly man coughed before replying, "I had no choice in the matter. Zhang Kui insisted on getting me to come here as our newest member is apparently a cultivation prodigy who's already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts despite his young age."

"The third layer of the Vajra Arts?! Him?" Xiang'er's eyes widened with shock.

"Don't be rude, Sister Xiang'er; invite Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and Old Man Fu into the carriage," Liu'er instructed.

Xiang'er immediately stepped aside to allow the two men into the carriage as she apologized, "Ah, please forgive me for my rudeness."

The Daoist priest merely smiled in response before entering the carriage. In contrast, Old Man Fu heaved a faint sigh before slowly making his way into the carriage as well.

At this point, the light in the sky was already beginning to fade, yet the squad was still traveling full speed ahead with no intention of stopping at all.

"This is the man that Benefactor Zhang was referring to, right?" The Daoist priest turned his gaze toward Han Li as soon as he entered the carriage.

"Indeed, I am the new recruit that Brother Zhang was referring to. I appreciate your visit, but I'm afraid that you'll most likely be powerless to remedy my condition as well. I'll be able to recover after a few months of rest and recuperation," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

Nan Qizi wasn't irked by Han Li's rejection. Instead, he merely put on a faint smile, and said, "Hehe, you've already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, so your powers are not inferior to mine. However, there are many differences between cultivators and body refinement warriors like you. Perhaps I'll be able to find a way to reduce the time required for you to make a full recovery."

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

Even though his spiritual sense was unable to leave his body, thereby rendering him unable to ascertain the Daoist priest's cultivation base, in such close quarters, Han Li was still able to determine that this man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In the human world, all cultivators looked down on mortals as if they were mere ants, and even Qi Condensation cultivators despised mortals as if they were an inferior species. However, this Foundation Establishment Daoist priest was the first cultivator he had encountered in this world, and he was conversing in such a polite manner with a "mortal" like him. This type of interaction struck Han Li with a rather peculiar feeling.

It appeared that the Endless Sky Beast hadn't been exaggerating about the power of the mortals in the Spirit Realm.

With that in mind, Han Li nodded with a polite smile, and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you to conduct a thorough examination."

Nan Qizi nodded with a smile before raising a hand to reveal an azure bracelet around his wrist. He laid his other hand on the bracelet, upon which a copper mirror appeared in his hand.

Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this.

That bracelet appeared to be a storage treasure, one that was clearly of a far higher caliber than his storage pouches. If even a Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed such a treasure, then they were most likely very prevalent here in the Spirit Realm. As such, it was most likely the case that storage pouches weren't used at all in the Spirit Realm.

Aside from his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads, Han Li had stored all of his treasures into his storage pouches prior to dissipating his Nascent Soul. After that, he had buried those storage pouches along with his spirit beast pouches over 100 feet deep into the ground.

As a safety precaution, he had also opened a few of the spirit beast pouches to release his Gold Devouring Beetles, Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, and Weeping Soul Beast to dwell underground, and he had commanded them to guard his storage pouches.

As for that Armored Earth Dragon, Han Li didn't even take it with him to the Spirit Realm. Instead, he had left it with Nangong Wan.

As such, aside from his Immortal Vanquishing Beads, the invisible Spiritform Talisman, and his Law Destruction Eye that could be hidden within his body, all of his treasures had been left in the desert, including his Heavenvoid Cauldron and Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. He was unable to use any magic power at the moment, so those treasures would be useless to him. Carrying those treasures with him would only get him killed, so he would simply have to recover them after he regained his ability to use his magic power. The desert was an extremely barren place, so his storage pouches should be safe there, particularly with his spirit beasts looking after them.

As for that mysterious little green vial, Han Li had thought about it for a long while before deciding to keep it with him. The vial had no features to suggest that it was anything out of the ordinary, so it would simply be regarded as an ordinary vial even if someone were to discover it.

Nan Qizi was naturally unaware of what Han Li was thinking, and he was certainly oblivious to the fact that Han Li was a Deity Transformation cultivator. As such, he merely asked a few questions to assist in making his diagnosis before waving his copper mirror toward Han Li.

A swath of azure light flew forth from the mirror, enshrouding most of Han Li's body. Nan Qizi then closed eyes, appearing as if he were trying to sense something through the use of the treasure in his hand. After a while, a hint of surprise appeared on the Foundation Establishment cultivator's face. A short while later, he opened his eyes again and appraised Han Li with a rather peculiar expression.

"What is it?" Han Li asked.

"Benefactor Han, I suggest you take better care of yourself. I can see that many of your meridians are damaged, which suggests to me that either insufficient spiritual Qi was injected into your body during your cultivation of the Vajra Arts, or you didn't have enough pills to assist you during that process. Us humans don't have powerful bodies from birth like demon beasts do, so we have to be extremely careful when refining our bodies. Thankfully, the damage is not irreversible and your meridians appear to be healing. However, such injuries are indeed quite difficult to recover from, and I don't have any effective treatment method I can suggest, nor any suitable pills I can offer. The only thing I can do is to craft a few pain-killing talismans for you to make the recovery process easier to bear," Nan Qizi replied with a wry smile.

"Then I'll have to thank you in advance for your efforts," Han Li said with a smile.

"Hehe, seeing as Daoist Priest Nan Qizi has already examined you, it doesn't really matter whether I have a look or not. However, that Zhang brat asked me to come, so I can hardly leave without doing anything," the white-robed elderly man mused.

"You're far too modest, Benefactor Fu. The Profound Golden Needle Techniques passed down in the Fu Family have saved countless lives, and even many cultivators have benefitted from it. I'm sure you'd be far more capable than I am when it comes to remedying Benefactor Han's condition," the monk replied modestly.

"I'm just an in-name disciple of the Fu Family, so I know nothing about the Profound Golden Needle Techniques. You have far too high an opinion of me, Daoist Priest Nan Qizi." The elderly man shook his head in response.

Nan Qizi merely chuckled and stepped aside.

The white-robed elderly man stepped forward and took his place by Han Li's side.

He raised a hand and grabbed one of Han Li's wrists, then raised his other hand into the air as several streaks of golden light shot forth.

The golden light revealed themselves to be thin golden needles that embedded themselves into Han Li's body.

Han Li was completely unable to move a moment ago, but as soon as those needles entered his body, he sprang up into a sitting position like a jack-in-the-box.

"Liu'er get something for him to lean on." The elderly man issued a calm instruction to the girl in blue.

"Yes, Old Man Fu. Xiang'er, grab some blankets and tuck them behind his back," Liu'er instructed.

Xiang'er faltered slightly upon hearing this, seemingly quite reluctant to use her blankets as a backrest for Han Li, but she still did as she was told in the end.

Meanwhile, the elderly took a seat beside Han Li, closing his eyes as he laid a hand over Han Li's wrist to examine his pulse.

Han Li looked at the elderly man in silence, and he could sense a feeble flow of energy rapidly traveling through various parts of his body.

If it weren't for the fact that spiritual sense was extremely powerful, it really would've been quite difficult to detect that flow of energy.

The elderly man seemed to have sensed Han Li's scrutiny, and he opened his eyes to find Han Li looking at him with a hint of a smile on his face.

At this moment, Xiang'er had already carried a stack of blankets over to them. Before the elderly man had to say anything, she had already tucked the blankets behind Han Li's back.

Han Li rested his back against the blankets, and was greeted by a faint fragrant scent as he extended words of gratitude toward Xiang'er.

In response, Xiang'er merely gave a clipped reply that was neither cold nor pleasant.

Han Li paid no heed to her attitude as he continued to scrutinize the elderly man.

At this moment, Old Man Fu waved a hand through the air, and another golden needle appeared in his palm. This was one slightly longer than the ones already embedded in Han Li's body.

The elderly man expertly tightened two fingers around the needle before his arm transformed into a blur as he rapidly pierced the needle into various parts of Han Li's body in quick succession.

Han Li felt as if countless acupoints in his body had been pierced in unison.

A throbbing sensation then began to flow through his limbs, and Han Li discovered that he was able to slowly raise his arms.

Everyone drew a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this. Not only were the four young women's eyes filled with admiration, Nan Qizi was also quite impressed.

"As expected, the Profound Golden Needle Techniques of the Fu Family really are quite extraordinary!" the Daoist priest chuckled.

"It's nothing much. All I did was temporarily restore a certain degree of mobility to his limbs. However, you still can't use any strength or your meridians could be ruptured on a large scale," the elderly man warned with a stern expression.

"Thank you, Old Man Fu!" Han Li was ecstatic as he flexed his fingers.

He had learned similar needle techniques in the human world, and he had thought himself to be somewhat of an expert in this art, but he couldn't even hold a candle to this Old Man Fu. It was amazing to think that someone really could create such miracles with needle techniques alone.

However, his heart jolted upon hearing the cautionary words that the elderly man extended toward him.

Upon verifying that Han Li was indeed able to move his limbs again, Old Man Fu waved a hand toward Han Li, upon which golden light flashed and all of the needles extricated themselves from within Han Li's body before disappearing up the elderly man's sleeve.

Han Li slowly lowered himself down from the bench and took a few tentative steps.

"That's all I can do for you; you'll have to recover your meridians on your own. I still have some matters to attend to, so I won't stay here any longer." The elderly man rose to his feet and prepared to depart.

Nan Qizi nodded upon hearing this, and he pulled out several talismans before waving a hand through the air. All of those talismans then transformed into streaks of azure light that disappeared into Han Li's body.

Immediately thereafter, the Daoist priest also stood up to leave.

Thus, the four young women accompanied them out of the carriage before closing the door again.

At this moment, Han Li had sat down in a chair with his eyes closed, seemingly experiencing the effect of the talismans within his body.

The four young women glanced at one another after returning to the carriage before Liu'er suddenly smiled, and asked, "Brother Han, have you really mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts?"

"I was merely lucky," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

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"You appear to be no more than 30 years of age, yet you've already reached such a high level of mastery in the Vajra Arts. It's no wonder that Leader Zhang holds you in such high regard, Brother Han," Liu'er praised with a hint of a smile on her face.

"You're far too kind, Sister Liu'er. By the way, I've already signed a blood curse contract, but I don't actually know much at all about the Heavenly East Enterprise. Would you be able to tell me about it?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Looks like you're not from our Heavenly Origin Region, Brother Han. Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking such a question," Liu'er chuckled with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Why do you say that? Is the Heavenly East Enterprise quite renowned in these parts?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Renowned? That we certainly are, Brother Han. Ours is one of the three largest enterprises in the entire Heavenly Origin Region, and we have branches in several hundred cities. Our main branch has even been set up in the Heavenly Origin Sacred City," Liu'er replied with a slightly smug expression.

Unfortunately, none of that meant anything to Han Li, who had just ascended to the Spirit Realm.

In his mind, several hundred cities wasn't a lot; any small country in the human world could easily consist of several hundred cities. However, it appeared from Liu'er's boastful tone that this was already quite an achievement. Han Li didn't know whether that was because she simply hadn't seen any truly powerful organizations or if cities here were a lot larger than they were in the human world.

In any case, he pretended to put on a mildly impressed expression as he nodded, and said, "I see, our enterprise is indeed quite large in that case. I heard from your discussion earlier that we were traveling to An Yuan City; may I ask where that is and how long it'll take for us to get there?"

"You sly man, you were eavesdropping on our conversation!" a young woman in a red dress chuckled.

Han Li cleared his throat in a rather speechless manner. They had been conversing in such a loud voice that it would've been quite difficult not to "eavesdrop" on their conversation.

"Don't be rude, Sheng'er. Please don't take her words to heart, Brother Han. Sheng'er is quite young and she bears no ill will." Liu'er scolded the girl in red before turning to Han Li with an apologetic look.

In her eyes, even though Han Li was only a new member of their Heavenly East Enterprise, he was a man with immeasurable potential and would surely become an integral member of their enterprise in the future. As such, she naturally wanted to avoid irking Han Li.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he was just about to respond when the carriage tremored slightly as the giant tortoise came to an abrupt halt.

Liu'er's expression faltered before she immediately yelled, "What happened, Uncle Wang?"

"Our Crimson Spirit Sparrow up ahead discovered a group of Sandbug Beasts, and they seem to be onto us," the elderly coach driver outside replied.

"It's just a group of Sandbug Beast, just deploy some people to chase them away. We're already going to be late, so we have to make haste." Liu'er seemed to be rather displeased.

"The problem is, one of those Sandbug Beasts has evolved into a low-grade insect beast and attained intelligence, so it could spell trouble for us if we don't kill them," the elderly man replied with a wry smile.

"A low-grade insect beast? That is indeed a little troublesome, but Leader Zhang has already mastered the fifth layer of the Tyrant Tiger Arts, hasn't he? In that case, it shouldn't be an issue for him to slay that insect beast with the Golden Luster Sword that the mistress bestowed upon him," Liu'er analyzed.

"You're indeed correct, Liu'er, but this insect beast has a few mutated insects beast guarding it, so it would be quite risky even for Leader Zhang to face them," the elderly coach driver replied in a hesitant voice.

"Mutated insect bests! That really is a little dangerous, but don't we have Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and the other cultivators? Just get them to take care of this matter," Liu'er instructed after a brief pause.

"Leader Zhang has already requested for their assistance, but was turned down. The cultivators are all from the Goulou Mountains, and they're unwilling to attack unless the insect beasts attack them first," the elderly man sighed.

"We really are in some trouble, then. I said from the various beginning not to hire those cultivators from Goulou Mountains. They're always restricted by this rule or that regulation," Sheng'er scoffed as she wrinkled her nose with disdain.

"Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and the others are not to blame. Most of the cultivators on the Goulou Mountains practice insect-manipulation arts, so it's simply bad luck that we encountered insect beasts rather than other types of beasts. I'll release the thing that the mistress left with me before she departed so we can give Leader Zhang a hand. You go an inform him of this, and I'll go to see him soon." A grim look appeared on Liu'er's face.

"With that thing, we'll definitely have no problems dealing with the insect beasts." The elderly coach driver seemed to have been greatly relieved upon hearing this arrangement.

"Big Sister Liu'er, are you really going to release that thing? The mistress will punish you if something goes wrong." Xiang'er was rather concerned in contrast.

"Don't worry, that thing has already been tamed by the mistress, and possesses a certain degree of intelligence. Its power is comparable even to that of low-grade demon beasts, let alone a few mutated insect beasts." Liu'er gave her a confident smile before striding out of the carriage.

"I have a bad feeling about this. I'm going to have a look." Sheng'er bit down on her lower lip before also departing from the carriage.

Xiang'er and the last girl glanced at one another before wry smiles appeared on their faces. Neither of them said anything, but they seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another as they also exited the carriage.

As such, Han Li was the only one left in the carriage.

He sat in his chair and narrowed his eyes with a contemplative look on his face.

A few moments later, the thunderous roar of a tiger that was filled with a sense of violence and bloodlust erupted from nearby.

Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this before slowly rising to his feet and making his way toward the carriage door.

After pushing open the door, Han Li strode out of the carriage in an unhurried manner, standing on the edge of the giant tortoise's shell as he looked into the distance.

The light of all seven moons in the sky was illuminating their surroundings, so Han Li was able to see everything around him with great clarity.

He could see that their band of carriages stretched for around 500 meters, and there were over 30 of these giant tortoise beasts situated at regular intervals down the line.

Most of them were carrying massive cargo crates that were no smaller than the tortoises themselves, and all of them also had four or five armored guards standing on their backs. At the same time, there were also knights riding atop giant wolf steeds traveling on either side of them, making sure that they were very well guarded.

However, none of those giant tortoises caught Han Li's interest.

Instead, he was more intrigued by a cuboid object that was around 20 feet tall enshrouded under a glistening black cloth. At this moment, the middle-aged man, the four young women, and Nan Qizi were all standing around this object.

Low beastly snarls could be heard coming from beneath the back cloth.

Furthermore, there were runes shimmering over the surface of the cloth, indicating that it was a low-grade treasure.

At this moment, Liu'er was holding a badge in her hand, from within which swaths of blue light were radiating forth.

Even though they were situated quite far away, Han Li could see everything they were doing with perfect clarity through the use of his Brighsight Spirit Eyes. As such, he was able to catch a glimpse of a green bracelet on Liu'er's hand, which had tiny shimmering spirit stones embedded onto its surface.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It appeared that these so-called spirit tools could only be used by mortals if they had an external power source. Seeing as they had spirit stones embedded into them, it was clearly the case that they would lose their efficacy once the spiritual Qi within those spirit stones was exhausted.

Just as Han Li was pondering this notion, the black cloth seemed to have absorbed sufficient blue light, and it suddenly disappeared as a vast expanse of black smoke, revealing an intricately crafted silvery beast cage within.

Inside this cage was a crimson tiger beast.

From its outward appearance, this beast appeared to be no different from an ordinary tiger, aside from the fact that its fur was as crimson as blood. However, all of the bystanders were struck by an involuntary sense of fear as they cast their eyes toward this beast.

At the sight of so many people standing around its cage, a vicious light abruptly flashed through the beast's eyes. All of a sudden, it pounced violently without any premonition, crashing heavily into the cage, causing the entire structure to tremor violently.

Everyone's expressions changed as they retreated involuntarily.

Liu'er took a deep breath before raising her badge again, upon which crimson light began to surface over the badge.

Strangely enough, as soon as the tiger beast caught sight of this red light, the ferocious gleam in its eyes immediately disappeared, and it lay down at the center of the cage like a tame kitten.

Zhang Kui and the others were all greatly relieved to see this.

Right at this moment, the clear cry of a bird suddenly rang out from afar, and it was as if it were trying to transmit some kind of message.

A grim expression appeared on Zhang Kui's face as he yelled, "Those insect beasts have sped up and have already surrounded us. Everyone, prepare for battle, but don't stray far away from the carriages; let them come to us. I'll lead a group to slay that low-grade insect demon. None of these other insects have any intelligence, so once that thing dies, all of the insects will disperse on their own."

His words sent a stir throughout the entire squad.

All of them began to converge toward the giant tortoises that were carrying cargo, and all of the knights had drawn their blades as they sat atop their massive wolf steeds with wary expressions.

Meanwhile, Liu'er issued a command, and someone opened the cage to release the tiger beast.

The elderly coach driver turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "Brother Han, you're yet to recover from your injuries, so it's best if you return to the carriage for your own safety. These Sandbug Beasts can't jump and the carriage is constructed from Heavy Iron Wood, so you'll be safe in there."

"Thank you for your words of caution. I haven't ever seen Sandbug Beasts before, so I want to see them for myself. If it gets dangerous here, I'll be sure to return to the carriage," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

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"Hehe, in that case, this old man won't dissuade you any further, Brother Han." The elderly coach driver chuckled and kept quiet.

Han Li smiled and looked around him once before. Then he stood up from the tortoise without another word.

Because the giant tortoise was at the center of the caravan, it had stopped in place. The other tortoise carriages also quickly gathered around it.

Not long after, over thirty tortoise carriages circled around one another.

The soldiers mounting large wolves gathered together in a group numbering over fifty, creating a defensive perimeter around them. A large man with a scarred face was leading them, and strangely enough, the young blue-robed woman was mixed among them with a crimson tiger crouched at her side.

Bird cries sounded from a distance and seemed to be growing closer and more fervent as time passed by. Several small crimson birds soon appeared and continuously circled in the air. The scarred man harshly shouted, "Prepare to fight! Have the tortoises lay down in full defensive positions!"

With that said, the tortoise drivers cracked a whip above the tortoises' heads, and the tortoises each slowly crouched down, then withdrawing their head and legs into their huge shells. They appeared the same as large azure boulders.

The sound of quaking earth sounded from far away with large clouds of dust spitting out from the ground and surging towards them.

The scarred man's face turned icy and he wordlessly waved his hand. The cavalrymen raised their wolf tooth clubs in a trained manner.

When Han Li saw this, a trace of surprise appeared from his face, but before he could think more of the matter, he saw something that left him surprised.

The scarred man suddenly tossed a green medicine pill into his mouth, soon letting out a large yell after. Yellow light circulated through his body and thin yellow fur spouted forth from his skin, turning his irises into a deep green.

Afterwards, he knocked his feet against the wolf he mounted, and the wolf immediately shot forward with a roar.

The other cavalrymen hadn't undergone such a strange transformation, but by circulating their own techniques, light shined from their bodies and they followed after their leader in a fearless charge.

Several tens of cavalrymen swept up a dust cloud as they charged forward.

'What's going on? Could it be this person is a metamorphosed demon beast? Impossible, he would have to be a demon beast at a metamorphosed stage. He can't be such a high-grade demon cultivator.

And from the soldiers' lack of reaction, this sight is common in the spirit realm. It appears that I'll need to spend more time in the spirit realm to understand it. Regardless, the scarred man's transformation and those so-called spirit bodies are something I've never heard of in the mortal realm."

In his surprise, his thoughts quickly churned, quickly discovering there were quite a few differences in this world compared to the mortal realm.

At that moment, the scarred man let the troops over a kilometer away from the caravan to meet the roiling dust clouds. Soon after, sounds of battle and shouts followed, but only the central part of the dust clouds was stopped. The sides split off and continued to charge in the direction of the caravan.

In the blink of an eye, dust drifted over the soldiers and concealed them.

"Attack!"

It was unknown who let out the first shout, but following that, the guards that remained at the caravan raised their bows and began to release their arrows.

A rain of arrows launched from the caravan.

Muffled thuds sounded as the arrows landed and the dust cloud's momentum was greatly slowed. But soon after, the clouds rolled away as several black silhouettes pounced from the dust to reveal yellow worms that were three meters long.

They each appeared quite flat and had massive mouths on their heads. They also had a pair of antennae waving around from the top of their heads,

These were the so-called Sandbug Beasts.

When Han Li saw them, this face faintly changed. He exterminated countless such demon beasts during his time in the Scattered Star Seas, but they were far more deadly and powerful than the current worms before him.

As soon as the worms appeared, the sound of tearing winds sounded, followed by the glint of a dozen arrows piercing into the worms. But apart from one arrow striking at one of their mouths, the rest of the injuries didn't seem to be lethal. Rather, they only further incited the worms. Regardless of the blood leaking from their bodies, they pounced onto the nearest tortoise.

The four guards on the tortoise remained calm and brandished their blades to meet the attack.

It was clear they cultivated a peculiar technique. Although they weren't able to defeat the worms in one fell sweep, each of their strikes left long gashes on the worms' bodies, forcing them to the ground.

For a time, the huge worms twitched on the ground, suffering from their heavy injuries.

But then, more giant worms emerged from the dust clouds, slowly trickling out in an unending streak. In the blink of an eye, the caravan found themselves surrounded.

Naturally, a huge battle erupted.

Shouts and dancing blades were abruptly mixed together, scattering blood in the air.

At the center of the tortoise carriage, Han Li was in the most defended position, but apart from him and the carriage driver, there was no one else present. The three young women with him had disappeared at an unknown time.

Having no need to worry about his safety for the time being, Han Li looked at the surrounding battle at his leisure.

But a while later, he unconsciously frowned.

It was as the old carriage driver said. Because of the worm's giant size, there was a limit to how high they could jump. Most of them could only jump at the side of the tortoise shells, not over them, granting the guards a prime opportunity to strike.

As a result, the guards have had a massive advantage since the beginning.

But due to the overwhelming number of worms, the yellow clouds have yet to disappear. It was impossible to see through their true numbers, but in such a short amount of time, over three hundred worms have attacked the caravan.

Although the worms' movements were clumsy, they each had rough hides and thick flesh. Even with a dozen slashes, the worms could continue to attack so long as none of their vitals were struck.

The increasing numbers of worms meant that it was impossible to maintain a tight defense. Eventually, a few of them managed to jump over the tortoises and injure the guards.

If one wasn't able to dodge out of the way, a guard would lose an arm to a huge worm's mouth. If a worm came from behind, it was possible to lose one's head. And when they managed to jump on top of the tortoises, they were also able to use their thick antennae as ferocious weapons.

As time went on, the situation for the caravan worsened.

The only peaceful areas were the several tortoise carriages at the center of the caravan, where Han Li happened to be.

Han Li's gaze wandered for a moment and he turned his head, looking at another nearby carriage.

It was the carriage that Nan Qizi and a few other cultivators entered a moment ago.

As Foundation Establishment cultivators, it should be easy to kill off these trifling insect beasts, but they've yet to perform the slightest action. These cultivators had no intention of taking action.

Han Li frowned and turned back, continuing to watch the battle with a calm expression.

At that point, over twenty of the guards were either dead or gravely injured by the worms, and the guards that remained began to appear exhausted.

There would only be more casualties as time went on.

If the scarred man didn't return with the cavalrymen soon, the caravan may not last much longer.

However, Han Li wasn't worried about himself.

Although Han Li wasn't able to use any magic techniques and his meridians weren't healed, he did cultivate the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts. His body was incredibly durable. The teeth of the worms wouldn't be able to harm him.

Moreover, he possessed two Immortal Vanquishing Beads, something that could gravely injure Deity Transformation-stage demon cultivators if he caught them off guard.

As such, Han Li was able to observe the battle without worry.

"Not good. Elder Sister Xiang'er, the situation looks bad. We should quickly act." A young woman's clear voice sounded from behind him.

Han Li's expression stirred as he slowly turned around.

One of the back of the huge tortoise, Xian'er and the other young women had suddenly appeared. The three were holding onto a set of small flags. The red-clothed woman with an anxious expression, the youngest amongst them, was the one who spoke.

The young green-robed woman said, "It is no matter. There is still time. Let us quickly place down the Minor Returning Spring Formation. Although we are missing Elder Sister Liu'er, we'll be able to hold it up for some time." The three then quickly stood in formation and took out a cloth the size of a basin. They placed it on the ground to reveal a meter-large spell formation diagram.

Han Li watched this with an odd expression on his face.

At that moment, the three women raised the small flags in their hand and revealed the bracelets around their wrists that were embedded with spirit stones.

As the three chanted, the small flags and bracelets lit up and their wrists trembled. The three flags suddenly pierced into the formation diagram and emit faint spiritual Qi fluctuations as it scattered white light around it.

The white light swept past the surrounding guards and disappeared into their bodies.

As a result, the guards were immediately reinvigorated. Not only did their exhausted appearances vanish, but an immense strength burst forth from their bodies. Their originally heavy weapons became nimble in their hands, flashing with cold light as they cut down the worms once more, gaining the advantage.

When Han Li saw this, his mouth switched and he coldly smiled.

The Returning Spring Formation was a simplified version of the mortal realm's Origin Essence Formation. Those affected by the formation may feel as if their energy was restored and may feel overwhelming power, but in truth, they are burning away their inner essence and shaving away at their lifespan. From how quickly the guards recovered, they spent around twenty or thirty years of their lifespan.

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Under the spell formation's effects, the situation reversed. It appeared they could hold out for a while longer.

But just as Han Li was wordlessly watching the battle, something unexpected occurred.

Following a loud bang, an explosion occurred near the three women. A demon beast with a serpent's body and a human head shot out from the sand.

The demon serpent had a head of sickly yellow hair and a hideous woman's face. A pair of delicate infant-white arms emerged from its side, each holding a meter-long bone spear. Black Qi wrapped around the spears, revealing themselves to be low-grade magic tools.

As soon as the demon serpent appeared, the three women controlling the formation turned pale with fright. The demon serpent turned to look at the women in charge of the formation and flashed a malevolent smile and wordlessly waved her spears. Three black lights streaked from the spear and flew towards the women.

The three were quick to react. They immediately recovered from their shock and took out the flags from the formation, hastily waving it in front of them.

Several crackles sounded as a wave of mist suddenly appeared in front of them.

The black lights flew into the mist, resulting in three large explosions. The mist scattered from the strike but managed to block the attack for Xiang'er and the white-robed woman. However, the red-robed woman's mist was far weaker. When the black light struck the mist, her body trembled and she flew out into the air, away from the mist's protection.

The red-robed woman knew things were far from good and she turned deathly pale. For a time, she wasn't able to control her own body.

When the demon serpent saw this, it smashed down its tail and its body blurred, arriving below her with its spear held out.

The other two women yelled out but they weren't able to protect her.

In the following moment, the woman was about to be stabbed by the glowing black bone spear.

But at that moment, a piercing sound whistled through the air. A white object struck the spear with strange accuracy.

Bang. The spear was pushed a half-foot away, brushing past the woman's clothes. The woman was left deathly pale with her brush from death, but she used the opportunity to regain control of her body. With a flip, she nimbly landed on the ground.

The white object was an unremarkable stone.

The demon serpent was surprised, but malevolent glint flashed from its eye and with its other arm, it released a chain of stabs.

However, yet another whistling sound shrieked through the air. This time, a stone didn't strike the spear but pounded towards the demon serpent's head.

The stone clearly carried an immense strength. If the attack truly struck the serpent, it might not shatter its skull, but it would be enough to leave it dazed at the very least.

The demon serpent was enraged and had no choice but to turn its head to the side and use its spear and block the oncoming stone.

But with a muffled thump, the serpent felt a huge force knock against its hand, forcing it back several steps. Enraged, it turned to look in the direction where the stone came from.

A young man was looking down at it from the top of a nearby tortoise carriage. He was fiddling with a similar stone in his hand.

It was Han Li.

The red-robed woman had now arrived next to her companions in a blur and let out a sigh of relief.

Having been foiled twice, the serpent felt immense rage and opened its mouth to release a black poisonous mist towards the three women.

But then, Nan Qizi's voice sounded from one of the carriages, "Evil creature! You dare?!"

Soon after, the white light shot out from the carriage window. It circled once in the air before cleaving at the demon. It was a crystalline sword that was several inches large.

When the serpent saw this, its expression changed and it ceased spitting its poison. It rushed to toss the spear in its hand with all its strength at the carriage it came from. It then twisted its body to duck into the sand.

When it saw more cultivators appear, it didn't dare to fight and immediately flee.

As for the spear, it was aimed at Han Li.

Obviously, the demon thought to take revenge on the mortal that thought to ruin its fun and express its resentment.

When Han Li saw the black light coming towards him, he wryly smiled. Not only did he not use the stone in his hand, but he also stood still in place.

Boom. The spear struck Han Li accurately, and he was sent flying over thirty meters away, leaving a large hole in a carriage's container he fell on. The crash resulted in twinkling blades falling out from a carriage's storage.

"Ah!"

When the three women saw this, they let out a cry of alarm. As for Nan Qizi, he let out a yelp from a neighboring carriage.

Afterwards, Nan Qizi's small sword circled in the air before turning to him.

At that moment, the red-robed woman shook her flag and scattered her protective mist, then running over to the container.

"Brother Han, are... are you alright!?" She worryingly cried out.

A trace of worry also appeared on the other two women's faces.

"I am well. However, my body can't seem to move." Han Li spoke out with a wry chuckle.

The three women were relieved to hear this and exchanged a glance. They all jumped on top of the giant tortoise in question and looked at the damaged container.

They saw Han Li lying down on a pile of spears and sabers with town robes. He appeared helpless, but there were no obvious injuries.

The three were overjoyed and dragged him out in a joint effort.

"Brother Han, thank you for saving my life!" The red-robed woman gratefully said.

Han Li chuckled and casually answered, "It wasn't much. It only took a slight effort. However, the attack has left me helpless. I'll have to lay down for a moment longer."

A trace of surprise appeared on his face and Nan Qizi smiled, saying, "There is nothing wrong. The Vajra Arts is worthy of being of the five great body refining techniques. You are already so strong after cultivating the third layer. That evil creature's magic tool wasn't what harmed Benefactor Han, but the exertion of the rock throwing has caused some injury to your meridians. It should be healed with some rest."

"I am glad!" The red-robed woman said with joy.

Nan Qizi smiled and looked at the formation diagram that no longer glowed with light. He chuckled and said with a deeper tone, "How could this humble Daoist lie? However, the situation will turn for the worse now that you've stopped driving the Minor Returning Spring Formation."

When that was said, the three's expression vastly changed and they hastily looked around them. They saw that the guards have become exhausted once more without the aid of the formation, and they have resumed taking casualties.

"Damn. We've only brought one copy of the formation diagram. We've used all the power from our formation flags to block the demon serpent. We won't be able to activate it again." The white-robed woman cried out.

The other two looked at each other in dismay.

"That is truly troublesome!" The Daoist priest frowned. As they thought of a plan, they suddenly heard the sounds of battle around them stop. Suddenly, the guards let out a resounding cheer.

The women looked around in surprise. They saw that the huge worms were jumping off the carriages and fleeing in a panic. They seemed to have lost all their previous mettle.

"It is done! Sister Liu'er and the others must've defeated the insect demons." The green-robed woman said with a grin. The other two also wore pleasant expressions.

As expected, several tens of cavalry were returning to the caravan, leaving dust clouds in their wake.

Out of the fifty-some cavalry that went out on the attack, only about thirty managed to return. Furthermore, many of them were injured and stained with blood. It was clear they had a desperate battle.

When the wolf-mounted cavalry returned, the large scarred man tossed something on the ground. It was the head of a huge worm, but its body was entirely golden.

The blue-robed woman leading the crimson tiger appeared entirely without injury.

When the two saw Nan Qizi and the three women surrounding Han Li, they revealed a trace of shock.

At that moment, one of the guards gave a detailed explanation of what happened.

The scarred man soon let out a bellow, it appears that I've made the right decision to take you into our organization. As soon as you joined, you already saved Quan'er. If something truly happened, I wouldn't have the face to see the mistress."

When the blue-robed woman heard this, she looked at Han Li with a friendly face.

Han Li simply smiled back and said nothing else.

Since they repelled the Sandbug Beasts, the troops needed to rest. After half a day, they resumed their journey.

The rest of the way was remarkably peaceful. After three days, the caravan left the Azure Sifting Desert and was met with an endless grassland. It was incredibly flat.

With this, the speed of the caravan increased several times as the tortoises could walk with bigger steps.

As for Han Li, he remained still on his back, unable to move. He later noticed that the banter from the caravan instantly went silent after they entered the grassland.

In addition, the four women sitting the carriage looked at the grassland with an uneasy expression, faintly betraying a sense of dread.

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Han Li leaned against the side of the carriage, sitting across from the four women. He was able to clearly see their unease.

He already swept his gaze past the grasslands outside the carriage several times, but he found nothing out of the ordinary. It appeared similar to any ordinary grassland.

Han Li felt somewhat baffled, but he showed none of this on his face, nor did he say anything. After all, he didn't wish to reveal his lack of understanding of the spirit realm as it could arouse suspicion.

But during these days, the four women treated him with a much friendlier attitude. From his act of saving Quan'er, the red-robed woman, they began to enthusiastically call him Big Brother Han.

Han Li didn't find the name suitable, but because the women were so young, he found it difficult to be too cold with them. During this time, he spoke much with the girl Quan'er in particular.

Instead of making brazen inquiries about the Spirit Realm, he asked many questions about the Heavenly East Enterprise.

During these discussions, he came to know that the mistress she mentioned was a regional manager of several cities in the Heavenly East Enterprise and the daughter in law of the head of the organization. Normally, one would address her as Mistress Fang.

The Heavenly East Enterprise's master had three sons. The mistress was officially wed to his second son. They were rather affectionate of one another, but due to an unfortunate accident, her husband died over twenty years ago, but he was survived by two young children: a boy and a girl. As such, what should've been governed by the couple was now left entirely by the widow.

As for the four in the carriage, they were the mistress' personal servants that she adopted from a young age. As a result, the four held an extremely deep admiration of the mistress.

As for their journey to the remote An Yuan City, Lady Fang came here partially for the big business in the city, but it was mostly for her son. Since they found spirit roots in her son at a young age, he joined a cultivation sect located in An Yuan City. They had sent a message hinting that there was a matter that required Mistress Fang's assistance.

As Mistress Fang still kept her son close in her heart, she made the journey personally and even abandoned that caravan she was traveling with to hurry on her way to the city.

In her eyes, with the number of men in the caravan and the few cultivators escorting them, nothing significant could happen to them.

She couldn't have expected a hoard of low-grade demon worms and a demon serpent to attack the caravan in the Azure Sifting Desert.

When Han Li heard this, he began to make indirect inquiries about the master of the Heavenly East Enterprise.

After all, founding such a large organization wasn't something an ordinary person could do. Han Li was stunned by what he found out.

The master of the organization was a mortal who lacked physical strength, nor did he have any spirit roots. How was such a mortal able to create such a large business.

As doubts filled Han Li's mind, Han Li asked an indirect question about it, but as careless as the red-robed woman was, she didn't give a proper answer.

When he saw this, he didn't question her any further and promptly changed topics.

As this went on, Han Li managed to understand a few things, but he had even more questions as well, leaving him somewhat gloomy.

Although the grasslands appeared to be far more expansive desert, the caravan quickly passed through it in a little over a month but it still hadn't reached the end.

During this time, the guards and cavalry remained highly vigilant and fearful. Even the several cultivators that hadn't emerged during the desert would periodically take turns patrolling the air above the caravan.

These Goulou Mountain cultivators also appeared to be treating this duty with great care.

Although these people appeared ready to face a great enemy, the caravan managed to leave the grasslands after another half month of travel and emerged into a hilly area.

The soldiers and cultivators instantly felt relief after leaving the grasslands, and the caravan's original banter immediately returned.

Even the young women in Han Li's carriage let out a sigh of relief after leaving the grasslands.

The young green-robed woman patted her chest in relief and sweetly smiled, "So we didn't attract the wolves of the plains. Although that wasn't my first time through them, I still feared for my life.

Liu'er sighed and fearfully said, "Not only was Elder Sister Xiang'er scared, but the entire caravan was holding their breaths. If our luck was any worse, we could've woken a beast tide and that would be the end of us. The plains are truly a deathtrap. Although it is rarely seen, there are a few merchant enterprises that encounter it."

Quan'er tilted her head and added, "That's right. I heard that An Yuan City didn't hesitate to spend a fortune to our enterprise for over a hundred rare spirit tools and a huge number of weapons to deal with a beast tide."

The white-robed woman bafflingly said, "Strangely enough, the city isn't large and it wasn't recently built. How could it place an order for so much equipment? That many spirit tools is something only a mid-sized city would be willing to spend."

The blue-robed woman shook her head and lightly said, "It doesn't come as a surprise. Even if a group of powerful beasts didn't migrate near them recently, the city encounters a massive beast wave every thousand years. Against a massive joint attack of so many beasts, they wouldn't be able to easily block it."

"That's right. Liu'er's words are reasonable." Quan'er pursed her lips in a smile.

Han Li sat in his seat and meditated. But when he heard their conversation about the beast tide, his face began to stir.

He recalled what the large scarred man Zhang Kiu mentioned in the Azure Sifting Desert, a scorpion wave. Could these two things be somehow related?

But after that, the women dropped the topic and quickly spoke about other things. Although Han Li felt curious, he continued to circulate the Varja Arts and slowly mend his meridians.

With that time to mend and the additional undying effects of the Wood Birth Bead, his meridians recovered at a pace far quicker than he anticipated. As of current, his body was in mostly good health. With another month, there shouldn't be a problem at all.

As such, with the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts cultivated, he suspected that he would be able to win over late Foundation Establishment cultivators, given his understanding of mid and low-grade magic techniques. As for Core Formation cultivators, he would only find out after he's given it a try.

Of course, this was assuming that the abilities of low-grade cultivators in the spirit realm were the same as those in the mortal realm.

After they left the plain, the caravan arrived at its destination after two days, a stone city with an unordinary presence.

Looking at it from a distance, one could tell that the stone walls were over a hundred meters tall with a thirty-meter-tall stone tower placed every three hundred meter interval on the wall. It appeared quite imposing.

There were also delicate designs carved onto the walls as if they were unfamiliar talisman characters, adding another layer of mystery to the city.

Han Li was speechless at the sight of it.

The city wasn't comparable to any small city. In the mortal realm, it could be said to be a massive city.

But then, Han Li took notice of a few large armored soldiers patrolling the walls. There were also ballistas placed on top of the towers with giant metal arrows ready to fire.

Each arrow was over ten meters long and shined with white light as if they were each low-grade magic tools.

Such astonishing weapons would likely be able to kill even Fellow Daoist cultivators.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight and began to ponder as the caravan arrived at the city gates.

There was not the person outside the city gates. They were pitch black and sealed tight. There was a large troop of soldiers on top of the gates though, looking down at the caravan with cautious expressions.

The scarred man Zhang Kui rode his wolf up to the gate and wordlessly tossed an item in his hand up to the gate. It was a golden medallion.

The soldiers stirred up on the gate as a middle-aged man in silver armor closely examined it. Afterwards, he took a look at the caravan and commanded, "Open the gates and inspect the caravan. They belong with the Heavenly East Enterprise."

Once that was said, the soldiers began to shout with a few of them running down to open the gate.

A short moment later, the metal gates slowly opened to reveal tens of fully armed soldiers running out in formation.

The silver-armored middle-aged man was the last to arrive. He walked up to Zhang Gui and vigilantly looked him, "Are you their leader?"

Zhang Kiu calmly answered, "I am Zhang Kiu. You should've received the city lord's token. We carry the goods that were ordered by the city."

"I've received the order, but it is a peculiar time. We'll need to have a few of our esteemed cultivators to examine your caravan before we can let you in.

Zhang Kui readily agreed to their request, "So you fear demon beasts sneak among us. We'll comply with your search of course."

The middle-aged man nodded and turned out, calling out in the direction of the city, "Good. Mister Li, Master Huang! Please inspect them."

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A calm man's voice spoke from the city gate, "By command of the city lord, we will assist Officer Zhao. We will naturally offer our services."

A white-robed Confucian scholar and a monk of azure Buddhist robes walked out from the city gate. The voice belonged to the scholar.

Officer Zhao didn't dare to neglect the cultivators and hurriedly thanked them with a smile.

The scholar took out a mirror while the monk took out an alms bowl. After a brief chant and incantation gesture, they tossed the magic tools into the air.

Suddenly, the magic tools began to circle in the air. The lens spouted out an azure mist, covering an entire tortoise. As for the alms bowl, it released a yellow light and began to sweep past the wolf cavalrymen.

In a short span of time, the light from both the magic tools quickly swept through the entire caravan, thoroughly scanning each person present.

In the blink of an eye, the thirty carriages and two hundred people were inspected without a problem found.

"Good, you can all enter the city. Ah yes, I must tell you something. Mistress Fang has already made a contract with the largest inn in the eastern city, the Cloud Ease Inn. You may head there after you deliver your goods." Officer Zhao's expression relaxed and he didn't make matters more difficult. After having his say, he waved his hand and signaled them to enter.

Zhang Kiu saluted him before leading the caravan into the city.

After passing through the gates, Han Li discovered that the city was far larger than he expected.

At a glance, the city had an innumerable amount of buildings. He couldn't see the end of them. In addition, the city was well planned when it was constructed. Although the buildings were of different styles and materials used to build them were highly varied, they were evenly arranged with ten meter wide stone roads lined between them.

Such a large city was naturally bustling with excitement. The streets were filled with people where it was nearly overcrowded.

Han Li was stunned at the scene, but he soon discovered most of the people on the streets carried a weapon on them and wore heavy expressions.

When the blue-robed woman in the carriage saw this, she sighed and muttered, "It seems the matter about the beast wave is true. Otherwise, the villagers outside wouldn't have all rushed into the city. There is a large pressure on An Yuan City."

When Han Li heard this, he came to a sudden realization.

With so many people, it would be difficult for the caravan's tortoises to make it through. Fortunately, Officer Zhao had already considered the matter and sent several soldiers to clear a path for them. They forcibly dispersed the crowd to make way.

Even so, the tortoise carriages moved slowly. After travelling for almost two hours, they eventually made their way past ten streets and arrived at a street with rarely few people, stopping in front of a decorated archway that was several stories tall.

Behind the archway were several heavily guarded storehouses with many armed attendants standing nearby.

The following process went exceedingly smooth. The Heavenly East Enterprise handed over their goods to the storehouse officials for inspection. Afterwards, Zhang Kiu received a certificate from them and led the caravan to the west side of the city.

Now having restored his ability to move, Han Li made a sudden proposal to Zhang Kiu when they were halfway to the inn. He wanted to explore the city for a bit before meeting back with them.

When Zhang Kiu heard this, he frowned. Then after some thought, he agreed and said, "Junior Martial Brother Han, you've yet to meet the mistress and have yet to officially enter the organization. I won't restrict you much, but you should take note that many shady characters are now present in An Yuan City. It isn't very safe, and there can't be much worth seeing in this small remote city. If you have matters to attend to, I hope you'll return to the inn quickly when you're done."

Zhang Kiu may have a fierce appearance, but he spoke with tactful words.

Han Li smiled and agreed. Then, he nimbly left them, turning a street corner and disappearing from sight.

Zhang Kiu looked in the direction that Han Li disappeared and stroked his chin, wearing a pensive expression.

"What? Does Benefactor Zhang think that Brother Han won't return?" Standing at his side, Nan Qizi asked him with a smile.

Zhang Kiu wryly laughed and said, "I'm not worried about that, he already signed the blood curse contract. It's only that Junior Martial Brother Han seems to be a person with a deep history. He's rather mysterious."

Nan Qizi smiled and added, "He is so young, yet he was able to cultivate such an astonishing body refinement technique. It is impossible that he came from humble origins. And from his bearing, it is obvious he isn't from the Heavenly Origin Region like us."

"Oh, I know that as well. But so long as he doesn't have a relationship with any of the other great powers in the Heavenly Origin Region, our Heavenly East Enterprise won't interfere even if he had a problematic history. If we properly nurture this person, it is possible for him to cultivate the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts. In that case, he will certainly turn into Mistress Fang's strongest soldier." Zhang Kiu's expression turned heavy

Nan Qizi glanced at the scarred man with a mysterious smile, "The fifth layer of the Vajra Arts? If Benefactor Zhang truly thinks that, he will an existence on even grounds with Core Formation cultivators."

Zhang Kiu chuckled, "I am holding my hopes rather high. From how young he is and his current cultivation, the possibility of cultivating to the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts still exists. With some luck, he will far exceed common body refiners like me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so eager to have him sign a blood curse contract in the Azure Sifting Desert."

"That's reasonable. Alright, enough of that person. The goods have been delivered. That means that Mistress Fang's contract with me and my martial brothers have been fulfilled. We will now take our leave." Nan Qizi bowed to them and uttered a few words of farewell.

"Oh? You won't visit the mistress again? In that case, I hope your travels go well!" Failing to keep them any longer, Zhang Kiu bid them a respectful farewell.

The Goulou Mountain cultivators promptly left.

A soldier to the side looked at the departing cultivators and sadly said, "It is truly a pity. If our enterprise was able to have our own cultivators, it would be great."

The scarred man sighed, "It is wishful thinking to have our own cultivators. Although our Heavenly East Enterprise is one of the three great merchant unions in the Heavenly Origin Region, we still struggle to acquire spirit stones every year. It isn't enough to hire cultivators all year round. And Qi Condensation cultivators possess about the same strength as body refiners like us. There isn't much use in employing them. Foundation Establishment cultivators use an astonishing number of spirit stones year-round as well. It is only when our enterprise has a large order that they are willing to spend spirit stones on them. As for Core Formation cultivators and above, that is something that we can't even consider. High-grade cultivators require rare materials or magic tools that are far beyond what we can afford. Even if our enterprise manages to somehow foster a mid-grade cultivator, they will eventually leave."

"That is so. Even body refiners like us will immediately depart to dangerous areas when they finish their cultivation, in search of rare medicines that can create spirit roots. After all, when one becomes a cultivator, nor only can they cultivate immortal techniques, but their lifespan increases as well. Over the years, it is impossible to know how many funerals we've held for body refiners, yet they still journey outside." The soldier sadly sighed.

Zhang Kiu then waved his arm, "Enough of that. This has nothing to do with ordinary people like us. Let us return to see the mistress."

The soldier immediately shut his mouth.

Thus, the party immediately set off, quickly immersing themselves in the busy streets.

At that moment, Han Li was standing on a street, looking at the seven blazing suns in the sky and letting out a gloomy sigh.

Ever since he left the Azure Sifting Sands and entered the grasslands, he immediately sensed the astonishing spiritual Qi in the air.

The spiritual Qi in this world was several times greater than what he found in the mortal world. If he was able to find a suitable place of cultivation, it was possible that the spiritual Qi could be over a dozen times greater.

It is a pity that he already dissipated his Nascent Soul. The Ice Phoenix's restriction is still present on his body, so he wasn't able to absorb any spiritual Qi, leaving him helpless in this regard.

He then set his sights on the road and looked around him as he walked forward.

The stores on the streets were about the same as he would find in the mortal world, with nothing out of the ordinary.

But suddenly, he stopped and looked at a store in front of him. After some hesitation, he entered and looked around.

There were tables made of sandalwood that shined with the cold light glinting off the weapons they displayed. This was a store that specialized in weapons.

It wasn't very large, only having two attendants, but there were many customers that visited this store to begin with. Naturally, the two were mortals.

When Han Li entered, he saw that despite the store's unremarkable exterior, business was treating them quite well and his heart stirred.

When one of the attendants was finished dealing with another guest, he took notice of Han Li and hastily rushed over to him with a smile, "Customer, do you see something you like? Take a look at this gold plated nine ring saber. It was forged from black iron. Not only can it cut through metal, but it is rather heavy. It is an ideal weapon for dealing with wolves."

The attendant noticed Han Li was eyeing a large ringed saber. It was pitch-black and appeared remarkably heavy.

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"I don't have much strength. How could I use such a heavy weapon?" Han Li withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

"Then how about this crescent sword? It is refined from pure copper. Not only is it light, but it is also quite durable. It is a rare high-quality flexible sword."

"It is too short for me. It'd be inconvenient to use." Han Li rejected it at a glance.

"Too short?" The shop attendant's smile froze as if he wasn't sure how to reply.

Han Li took several steps to the side and pointed to an item on the table. "What is that over there? That looks interesting?"

The item he pointed at was a soft pitch-black rope that was as thick as a thumb.

When the attendant saw this, he hurriedly explained, "That is the Young Dragon Rope. It is refined from metal threads and is specialized for binding. It can trap low-grade demon beasts of extraordinary strength with ease."

"Let me take a look at it."

Han Li took the item into his hand and shook it. Woosh. The black rope turned into a perfectly straight stick.

When the attendant saw this, his eyes widened.

He attended to countless customers for this weapon shop so he did possess some judgment. Those who can control rope to that degree can't be ordinary. As he determined Han Li was most likely a body refiner, he couldn't help but wear an expression of respect.

Han Li waved it a few more times and frowned. "This is quite good, but it is still a bit too thick. Do you have anything thinner?"

The attendant muttered to himself for a moment before answering with an embarrassed expression. "Something thinner... I'm afraid this store doesn't have anything like that."

Then, a rough voice suddenly spoke from behind him, "Oh, you want something thinner? I have something like that. I can let you take a look, but the price won't be cheap."

Han Li's expression stirred and he slowly turned around. There were two large men in leather robes standing behind them. One of them had a lofty stature and hair that reached down from his shoulders, giving him a dangerous aura. The other had a sickly complexion and had shriveled skin.

The larger man carried a long spear on his back and a huge bag as well. The shriveled man carried a meter-long wooden box in his hand and wore a mysterious expression.

Han Li's face lit up when he saw that the two wore rings embedded with spirit stones, but these rings were much cruder than Zhan Kiu's and their spirit stones were somewhat smaller as well. There were body refiners with spirit tools.

Having recognized who these people were, Han Li faintly smiled and said, "So long as the item is suitable, the price will be no matter."

The shriveled man gave Han Li a probing glance and smiled, "Good, but let's not talk here. Please follow me to a quiet place and we'll continue there."

"That will be no problem," Han Li said with a nod. He then followed the two out of the shop.

The two appeared quite familiar with the area and soon arrived at an unremarkable alleyway after a few turns.

There was no one there and it was completely silent.

When the three stopped, the "This place will be fine. Little Brother Xin, take out the item for him to see."

"Of course, Big Brother Bao!" The large man readily agreed and grabbed the bag from his back, giving a big shake.

Clangs sounded out as a large pile of items formed on the ground. There was an assortment of items from bottles to beast hides and horns.

The shriveled man bent down and took a palm-sized wood box into his hand.

"Take a look at this. This is an earth wyrm tendon that we acquired after killing it with a few other body refiners. Not only is it thin, but it is also incredibly durable and fully flexible. It is rather easy to withdraw and extend."

"An earth wyrm?"

Han Li didn't know what kind of demon beast this earth wyrm was, but it appeared to be a kind of low-grade demon beast. However, he didn't reveal his confusion on his face when he opened the box.

He saw a thin yellow object tightly wrapped into a ball by a red rope.

Han Li bluntly tugged at the red rope and tore it to pieces.

With a pop, the ball of beast tendons flung out and shot at Han Li's face.

Han Li raised his hand, but it appeared he was too slow. Nevertheless, he managed to grab an end of the tendons with his fingers and instantly turned it soft and limp with a twist of his fingers.

Then, Han Li brought it before his eyes and noticed it was six meters long.

When the shriveled man saw Han Li's swift actions, he couldn't help but exchange a glance with the large man.

At that moment, Han Li was giving the wyrm tendon a thorough examination.

Having killed a myriad of low-grade demon beasts in the past, he was able to tell the characteristics of the tendon at a glance as well as how it could be used.

He fiddled with it a moment longer before shaking it with a single hand.

The tendon blurred as it twisted and danced through the air. Then, it coiled around his arm to form a faint yellow bracelet.

With that, he rolled his sleeve over it where it was well concealed.

Han Li looked at the two and said, "It isn't bad. It truly is a rare material from a low-grade demon beast. Although this item isn't very useful to cultivators and is most suitably used as a bowstring, it is quite useful towards me. So long as you aren't too greedy, I'll agree to your price."

The shriveled man's harsh face broke out in a smile and he chuckled, "It appears you really are a body refiner. In that case, we'll settle the bill with spirit stones. I want thirty spirit stones for that tendon!"

"Thirty spirit stones? That's a bit high, but I'll pay it. Take it."

From his conversation with Liu'er and the others, he learned that although gold and silver were still used as currency by mortals in the mortal realm, body refiners used spirit stones for notable transactions as they used large numbers of spirit stones in their spirit tools.

However, the low-grade spirit stones in the spirit realm weren't nearly as large as those in the mortal realm.

Regardless of what the spirit stones were used for, mid and high grade spirit stones were treated with the most importance. After all, top-grade spirit stone veins were possible in this world due to the greater density of spiritual Qi, but most of them belonged to a few high-grade cultivators and superpowers.

Even so, thirty low-grade spirit stones was still a bit much for a minor material from a low-grade demon beast.

On the day Han Li hid all of his storage pouches and treasures in the desert, he hadn't forgotten the significance of spirit stones in the spirit realm. For the sake of carefulness, he left behind a dozen mid-grade spirit stones on his body just in case.

Now, he reached into his robes and tossed a yellow spirit stone over to him.

The long-haired man took a step forward and caught it. After he looked at it, he nodded with satisfaction.

When the shriveled man saw this, he smiled and took out a small leather pouch. He poured out seventy spirit stones from it and used a beast hide on the ground to wrap them up before tossing it to Han Li.

The shriveled man chuckled and said, "Here is your change. Since you are so straightforward, how about we join together if there is a chance?"

"Perhaps there may be an opportunity in the future. But I am preoccupied for the time being, so I must take my leave." Han Li saluted the two with a smile and calmly walked away.

When Han Li departed from the alley, the large man looked at the mid-grade spirit stone in his hand and took another look at the alley entrance. An ominous glint flashed from his eye and he softly said, "Big Brother Bao, his face is unfamiliar and he is quite wealthy. Should we...?"

The shriveled man's face sank and he said, "Don't think about it. Didn't you see he wasn't wearing any spirit tools? Body refiners who do this are either too poor, or they feel their cultivation is too high for normal spirit tools to be of assistance. Which one do you think he belongs to?"

The large man hesitated and doubtfully said, "This man can't be poor since he was able to take out a mid-grade spirit stone, but why did he buy that wyrm tendon from us?"

The man surnamed Bao was silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh, "Brother Xin, are you certain he bought the tendon to be used as a weapon? He might've bought it as material to create a particular spirit tool. Currently, An Yuan City is overflowing with body refiners from the outside. There is no lack of those possessing fearsome talent. Although we aren't weak ourselves, it's best that we don't risk it. After all, we only have one life."

The shriveled man's words seemed to calm down the large man surnamed Xin, but soon he wore an embarrassed expression and said, "Big Brother's words are reasonable. I am being too greedy for spirit stones, but in the upcoming beast tide, if we don't have low and mid-grade spirit stones to replenish our spirit tools, we'll be put in danger."

Having already thought of the matter, the shriveled man said, "What are you afraid of? The city lord will surely employ all the body refiners in the city to deal with the beast wave. They'll give us a sum of spirit stones of course. So long as we save enough, we'll be able to preserve our lives."

When the large man heard this, his spirits were roused. "That's right. According to the agreement between the three sovereigns and the seven demon kings, cultivators at the Core Formation stage and above aren't allowed to assist large cities in blocking beast waves. If they wish to protect the city, who else do they have to rely on aside from us?"

The shriveled man sighed, "So long as you know. In truth, the agreement also stated that the beast wave can't have any demon beasts higher than grade five as well. It is hard to say who has more to gain from the agreement."

The large man then remained silent in thought.

Not long after, the two put away the items on the ground and walked back to the main street where they disappeared into a sea of people.

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When Han Li departed from the alley, he continued his stroll.

Not long after, Han Li eventually discovered his main objective for departing from the Heavenly East Enterprise, a store that specialized in selling records.

Han Li walked into it without batting an eye.

The bookstore was on the larger side and was abundant with books, covering topics ranging from astronomy to miscellaneous topics.

But since it was a bookstore for mortals, it didn't contain any jade slips or records of cultivation.

Han Li only had eyes on the records that were useful to him, particularly those covering the customs and circumstances in the spirit realm.

It is only with this that he'll be able to take his first step into understanding the spirit realm.

He bluntly scooped up several books and picked out a map of the nearby surroundings.

As Han Li didn't have any gold or silver on him, he could only pay using a low-grade spirit stone. The store owner was overjoyed by this and hurried back to give him his change in silver.

With the books in hand, he sought out a restaurant and sat in an unremarkable corner. After ordering a few common dishes, he began to look through the books.

Although Han Li's spiritual sense wasn't able to leave his body, he still possessed his amazing memory. Despite how impressively thick a few of the books were, Han Li calmly flipped through them at astonishing speeds and imprinted each and every word in his mind.

During this time, his face remained unphased, but he continued to turn through the books with an understanding of everything he read.

Let alone anything else, merely the detailed descriptions relating to the spirit realm's circumstances left him shocked.

The Heavenly Origin Region that the Heavenly East Enterprise mentioned was actually one of the human territories ruled by one of the three human sovereigns, the Heavenly Origin Sage.

The other territories that were occupied by humans are the North Sky Hegemon's Black Tortoise Mirror, and Emperor Heavenwonder's Heavenly Spirit Region. These two sovereigns were respectively known as the 'Hegemon' and 'Spirit Emperor'. The human body refiners originated from the Heavenly Origin Sage, and later founded the Confucian school as well, earning him the name of the 'Scholar Emperor'. He ruled over the Heavenly Origin Region and had the social customs that were most similar to Han Li's mortal realm.

This was quite fortunate for him.

The three human clans occupied a vast region, containing anywhere from several hundred settlements to over a thousand.

According to the book, a city of a hundred million people was considered a small city in the spirit realm. Other large cities far exceeded the land and scope of An Yuan City. Heavenly Origin City in particular where the Heavenly Origin Sage resides was nearly the size of a small country.

However, Heavenly Origin City was also the most ordinary of the three human capital cities.

The Hegemon's Black Tortoise City was constructed on the back of a tremendous huge tortoise known as Can Ling. It was a huge city that could slowly move through the sea. And the Spirit Emperor's Heavenly Spirit City was even more miraculous. It was built on a tree over fifty kilometers wide. It was said to be able to reach the Immortal Realm.

When Han Li read this, he was shocked as one could imagine. But what amazed him even more was what he read next.

According to the record's introduction, in addition to the region of the three sovereigns, there were also the neighboring lands of the seven demon kings. The demon clan and the human clans could be said to have a half friendly half hostile relationship.

The reason why this was the case was that the area the three human sovereigns and the seven demon kings ruled over was only a small drop the sea known as the spirit realm.

The land outside their domain was ruled by the clans of other creatures.

Most of these creatures were indigenous to the spirit realm. There were also countless types ranging from savage ancient beasts to giants and even pseudo humans. In addition, there were also other creatures that arrived at the spirit realm by ripping open spatial tears. Although there aren't many of these clans, they were a powerful force that was hostile towards humans and demons alike. They also possessed their own unique abilities, allowing them to rival humans and demons in power.

In addition to this, there were also many powerful individuals in the spirit realm as one might expect. There were the mythical beasts of legends, fearsome existences like true dragons that could ignore the laws of the world.

Although many vastly powerful characters emerged from the demons and humans, they were only capable of having a standing the spirit realm. Although humans and demons viewed each other with hostility normally, when they faced an even larger threat, they had no choice but to cooperate.

This led to an official founding of the lands they controlled.

In the past, many extraordinary individuals emerged from the human and demon clans, joining together to erect an exceedingly large spell formation, covering the territories of the humans and the demons.

It is said the spell formation is profoundly powerful and was passed down from the Immortal realm. It was said to target extremely powerful members of the foreign creatures. The more powerful they were, the more they were restricted by the formation, rendering them unable to enter the areas affected by the spell formation. However, the formation also wouldn't have any effect on low and mid-grade demon beasts.

This immense spell formation had over ten formation cores spread throughout the regions of humans and demons.

The book hadn't mentioned where the formation cores in the demon territories were located, but it did mention how they were located at the three human capitals. Unless they were all destroyed, the spell formation protecting the humans would remain.

Considering how important the formation cores were, they must surely be placed in important areas of the demon territories as well.

If a powerful foreign creature wished to invade the territories of humans and demons, they would have to face the combined power of the ten powerful formation cores.

By relying on this powerful Immortal formation, the human and demon clans were able to prosper and hold a place in the spirit realm.

As for the other areas in the vast realm, humans had never delved too deeply into the world. There were only descriptions of how there were countless lands and distances.

At that point, a trace of doubt appeared in Han Li's mind. Since the region occupied by humans in the spirit realm was so small, then how were cultivators ascending from the lower realms able to accurately land in the region controlled by humans. It would've been incredibly dangerous if he appeared in an area outside the grand Immortal formation.

Han Li felt puzzled, but the book hadn't mentioned anything else so he could only set the thought aside for the time being.

After going through a few descriptions from the book, Han Li discovered that demons as a whole were more powerful than the human clans, but the humans seemed to possess more powerful cultivators.

As a result, the two clans formed an odd equilibrium and the three sovereigns and seven kings agreed to a defensive pact as well as several other treaties.

One of these agreements noted that high-grade cultivators couldn't arbitrarily suppress low-grade demon beasts of remote areas and couldn't participate in defending human cities from periodic beast waves. In addition, demons couldn't pillage humans at will and they needed to establish territories where humans could gather and be protected.

When the humans and demons divided their land, the territories of the humans and demons were mixed to a vast degree. Although they chose areas most populated by humans and demons, there were still large numbers of either race that lived in other areas.

The high-grade human and demon cultivators naturally had no problem with this and decided to move them.

However, demon beasts that have yet to gain sentience and ordinary human mortals weren't able to easily move long distances. They could only continue to live on their original lands and accept the rule of another clan.

From the beginning, there would be wanton slaughter of either side, and war was waged several times. After much turmoil, another agreement was eventually passed.

Of course, the book in Han Li's possession only detailed the most important points and hadn't mentioned them in detail. As for matters relating to the beast wave, he picked out a book for that in particular.

The so-called beast waves would occur when ordinary beasts would reproduce in too great a number. Since high-grade individuals couldn't interfere as a result of previous agreements, every period of a few years, the demons and humans had no choice but to slay one another to protect their own lives.

However, if there were human settlements in the region, low-grade demon beasts could lead the beast wave into a human settlement in a half-suicidal charge.

As a result, apart from a few large cities in particular, most human cities would periodically encounter a beast wave.

Although there weren't many true attacks on human settlements, each beast wave would leave a huge number of casualties in their wake.

Because of this, low-grade body refiners and cultivators had their fates tied together. While ordinary mortals would die, it was also a time for cultivators and refiners to break through their bottlenecks and be honed in powerful characters.

With both disaster and fortune simultaneously occurring, the high-grade human cultivators tacitly allowed the beast waves to continue and held no intention of altering the agreement with the demon clans.

Each beast wave on a city didn't follow a strict schedule, but there were two types of beast waves that were most commonly seen. They would be the wolf waves from grasslands and serpent waves from other regions.

The two types of beasts had powerful reproductive ability and were bound to launch a beast wave every hundred years or so.

If a city were to encounter two or more types of beasts in a beast wave, it would be considered a grand beast wave with far greater danger. In the past, all the breaches into human cities seemed to have occurred with grand beast waves.

Therefore, if the city knew a grand beast wave was about to occur, the higher echelon of the city would be struck with fear and do their utmost to gather together the nearby body refiners and low-grade cultivators in preparation for the upcoming battle of survival.

When Han Li saw this, he sighed and slowly closed the book.

There was without question that the city was going to experience another beast wave. Furthermore, with the grasslands being so close to the city, it will be a wave of wolves. However, the nervousness of the city revealed that this was a grand beast wave.

He silently picked up the cup of watered wine before him and he narrowed his eyes in thought.

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Since he entered the spirit realm, Han Li didn't have much interest in the beast wave, but now that he knew it was related to restoring his magic power and breaking the Ice Phoenix's restriction on his body.

And the beast wave was just about to happen!

According to the Soaring Sky Beast's incarnation, Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation-stage cultivators suffer a minor tribulation once every three hundred years. Although he no longer had his magic power, the presence of his cultivation still existed. Who knew when tribulation would strike him.

If tribulation for a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator truly struck him, he would surely perish with his trifling cultivation at the fourth stage of the vajra arts and lack of magic treasures.

When Han Li thought of this, his expression turned sullen.

The best way to settle this matter was to quickly find the Ice Phoenix and mutually remove the restriction from one another.

When they encountered mishaps from inside the spatial node, the Ice Phoenix was able to act first in escaping from the spatial node as a result of her innate spatial abilities. She should've already made it somewhere in the spirit realm. Knowing the power of the restriction he placed on her, she should've found herself in a similar situation as himself.

In a place as large as the spirit realm, he wouldn't be able to find her in a short amount of time even if he had his magic power. Within three human realms and seven demon lands, there are actually many characters that possess abilities at the level of Deity Transformation.

Now that he didn't have any power to defend himself, it was only wishful thinking to journey off to find her, so he would have to come up with other ways to restore his magic power and save himself.

As a current, he couldn't absorb even a thread of his spiritual power and there wasn't a single secret technique he could use. Cultivating magic power once more would be an impossible task. Seeking out the aid of other high-grade cultivators would also be out of the question. As he possessed many secrets, it would only be courting death.

As Han Li sat in his chair, his expression wavered.

His gaze shifted and he muttered with a gloomy expression, "It seems my only choice is to tread the original path."

In the coming month in An Yuan City, Han Li thought long and hard about how to restore his original abilities. He managed to think of a feasible method in half a month, but it wasn't good by any means and it would take some time. And with his unfamiliarity with the spirit realm, he hesitated to use this method.

But now that he was coming to terms about understanding the spirit realm, it appeared he had no choice but to use this method upon some further deliberation.

He would have to cultivate the only technique he could cultivate, the Vajra Arts, to grand completion,

According to what records said about the technique, when one cultivated the technique to the seventh layer, one's flesh body was overbearing enough to compare with a Nascent Soul cultivator. In that case, he would be able to use the sheer power of his body to dispel the Ice

Phoenix's restriction.

When that point comes, it should be a simple matter to cultivate magic power and condense a Nascent Soul.

Although it is said that condensing a Nascent Soul regularly takes a hundred years, with his magic power restored, he could return to the storage pouches he buried in the desert. With the aid of the many spirit medicines it contains, the process will be sped up several times.

In one word, the first step to returning his abilities would be to dispel the restriction placed on his body and then condense his Nascent Soul.

He reckoned that if a minor tribulation were to strike him, it should be in three hundred years. But that was only a guess. If he wished to preserve his life, he would have to cultivate the Vajra Arts as quickly as he could.

The Soaring Sky Beast had previously told him just how difficult it was to cultivate the Vajra Arts.

Even in the spirit realm where the spiritual Qi was incredibly dense, there were very few mortals that could cultivate the Vajra Arts to completion.

Even if a normal person possessed exceptional talents, they still wouldn't dare to be confident.

But Han Li was by no means a normal person. Not only did he cultivate from being a mortal to a Deity Transformation cultivator, causing his unwavering determination to far exceed those of a common cultivator in the spirit realm, but he also consumed the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, the Dragon Scale Fruit, and many other spiritual medicines. His body was already far stronger than normal. Particularly because of the Dragon Scale Fruit and the Bone Tempering Arts, his body was already on part with that of an ordinary demon beast.

When he arrived in the spirit realm, the massive amount of magic power from dissipating his two Nascent Soul not only saved his life, but they also increased his body's capacity by another level.

With all of these things together, it was no wonder Han Li felt confident.

As of current, the only thing for him to consider was the inhuman pain he would suffer while cultivating this technique and the amount of time for him to take.

Because there were so many low and mid-grade demon beasts roaming around areas far from the city, it would be unwise to cultivate alone. Furthermore, cultivating the last several layers of the Vajra Arts would need battle experience for him to increase his odds of making a breakthrough.

In that case, there was no harm in remaining with the Heavenly East Enterprise for a time. If he truly felt they were an inconvenience, he would simply leave.

As for the blood curse contract that was placed on his body, the blood curse would be cleanly refined by his body from its sheer vital essence.

Having come to a decision, Han Li was done for the time being. He took his books and left the restaurant. Then, he found a secluded area and crushed his books with his arms.

Under the huge force, they turned into a cloud of paper shreds that floated to the ground.

Next, he went around the city to find a blacksmith store. He examined the shop and handed the tendon over to a blacksmith. Afterwards, he pointed to a few other materials in the shop, uttered a few soft instructions, and gave the blacksmith two low-grade spirit stones.

When the ironworker heard Han Li, he was stunned, but he soon took the two spirit stones and nodded with a smile.

Han Li left with a smile and flagged down a carriage being pulled by a horse-deer creature of sorts.

He didn't care about the animal's origins or whatnot. He simply tossed the driver a silver piece and muttered the words 'The Cloud Ease Inn'. Then, he entered the carriage and took a brief moment of rest.

Beast carriages were being driven by docile animals throughout the city. After all, in a city of this scope, it would be odd to not have any carriages to speak of, as if it would take hours to walk from one district of a city to another.

The carriage he was riding was rather beautiful. It was clear the carriage was used to transport those of wealthier families rather than commoners.

Han Li's action angered the carriage driver at first, but when he saw the silver piece, he hesitantly drove off to the eastern part of the city.

Han Li slept for a short while before he heard the carriage driver say, "Sir, we've arrived at the inn!"

Han Li slowly opened his eyes and wordlessly walked out of the carriage.

He saw a large expanse of pavilions and courtyards with a particularly large building right in front of him. It hung a huge sign that wrote the words "Cloud Ease Inn" in golden letters.

To the sides of the building, there was a row of huge stables constructed from wood, housing all sorts of strange beasts and their carriages. Strange animal cries would occasionally sound from them.

Han Li swept his sights past them and quickly arrived in front of the large building gate. He called out to a group of waiting young servants waved towards one of them.

The servant quickly reacted and immediately ran over.

"Esteemed guest, did you call me out to board here?"

"The Heavenly East Enterprise should've checked in here. Do you know where they are?" Han Li calmly asked, tossing him a piece of silver.

When the servant took the silver, he grinned and said, "Hehe, so you're looking for those of the esteemed Heavenly East Enterprise. I will guide you."

Soon, he brought Han Li through the back of the building and passed through several courtyards.

The servant led the way and enthusiastically explained, "There are many esteemed guests from the Heavenly East Enterprise, so they've filled up all of the west courtyards where we have the inn's finest rooms..."

Han Li listened to the servant's words with complete indifference.

But before they reached the courtyard, a youth walked past them and saw Han Li. He yelped and approached them with a wide smile, "Brother Han, you've returned! Very good. Brother Zhang has told us to bring you over to the mistress as soon as we saw you. Please follow me." He then casually grabbed Han Li's arm.

Han Li raised his brow and casually shook his shoulder, strangely shaking off the man's grasp.

The youth was stunned when he saw this.

Han Li smiled and calmly asked, "So it was Brother Luo. Is this mistress you were talking about, Mistress Fang?"

The youth was a cavalryman of the Heavenly East Enterprise known as "Young Seventh".

The odd look on the youth's face disappeared and he answered with a smile, "Of course I was talking about Mistress Fang. She heard about you and is quite curious about you. She wants to see you."

Han Li said with a casual tone, "As a member of the organization, I will follow her orders. I will have to trouble you to show me the way."

"Of course, of course." From how his grip was shaken off, he realized Han Li possessed abilities far beyond his. As he didn't dare to do something else that was disrespectful, he obliged with a smile.

Han Li eventually sent away the servant and followed the youth surnamed Luo to the east courtyard.

On the way, they saw many guards and cavalrymen and greeted them.

After making several turns and passing through a dozen large courtyards, they finally arrived at a small isolated courtyard.

It was rather elegant and peaceful nearby. There were two large unfamiliar guards standing guard at the gate without weapons.

When Han Li walked over to the two, the two large men swept an icy gaze past him.

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Han Li looked at the two with narrow eyes.

The two clearly weren't ordinary body refiners as demonstrated from the chilling pressure of their gaze. He did sense the two appeared to be stronger than Zhang Kui.

"Elder Brothers, I am Brother Han, who recently joined the enterprise. The mistress mentioned she wished to see me."

The shorter of the two glanced at Han Li and said, "Ah, you are the person who cultivated the Vajra Arts to the third stage. You do appear young, but is that from taking a medicine pill to maintain your appearance?"

The words contained were actually rather rude.

"If you two feel that way, then consider it to be true." Han Li's heart jumped, but he maintained a smile on his face.

The larger of the two then snorted and harshly said, "I don't believe you truly cultivated the Vajra Arts to the third layer. I'll be testing you, don't take offense." With a cold glint shining from his eye, he grabbed Han Li's wrist.

Han Li raised his brow but didn't avoid the large man's hand. When the man touched his wrist, he sensed the man's fingers turn exceptionally cold and release a huge force squeezing his wrist.

Han Li wore neither a scowl or a smile, but his eyes turned sullen.

Under the man's force, Han Li's wrist glowed with a layer of faint golden light, but it soon disappeared. Soon, Han Li remained still and allowed the man to do as he wished.

A short moment later, the large man exerted a large portion of his strength but Han Li still remained nonchalant. Eventually, the man's face revealed surprise, and he hesitated for a moment. But rather than letting go, he took a deep breath and shined black light from his fingers, exerting even more strength on Han Li's wrist.

The smile Han Li wore on his face finally vanished and he snorted, giving a casual shake of his twist.

The large man suddenly felt a vibration run through his fingers as his body became numb. Then with a frightened cry, he felt a huge force travel through him as he flew into the air.

As Han Li wore an emotionless expression, the large man was flung into a stone wall nearby. Just as the man was about to have a messy impact, the other guard suddenly pounced ten meters to quickly catch him.

But just as the shorter guard caught his companion in midair, his expression vastly changed and he reached out to grab him with his other hand.

A large thump sounded, followed by two softer thuds.

Although the shorter guard was able to catch him, he staggered back eight steps and his complexion was pale.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced at the shorter guard.

Even against the huge force Han Li released, the shorter guard was still able to catch his companion. The shorter guard's body refinement technique must be the greater of the two.

The youth surnamed Luo was left stunned.

The two men at the gate were Mistress Fang's personal bodyguards. Although they normally didn't mingle with the cavalrymen, they possessed brilliant body refinement techniques to the point where Captain Zhang Kui held them in secret admiration. When the confident cavalrymen thought to test their skill against them, they all suffered a miserable defeat.

As for Han Li who recently joined them, he was able to turn them pale with a flick of his wrist. They weren't able to resist in the slightest.

Was the third layer of the Vajra Arts alone able to produce this much strength?

Youth Luo's expression wavered at the slightest.

He couldn't have known that most of Han Li's strength actually stemmed from the many Dragon Scale Fruits he consumed over hundreds of years and Bone Tempering Art. Otherwise, even as powerful as the third layer of the Vajra Arts may be, he would only be able to produce enough strength to rival the two men. Besides, in truth, Han Li cultivated the Vajra Arts to the fourth layer.

The shorter guard circulated his inner body techniques several times before eventually swallowing his frustration. With a calmed expression, he said, "Brother Han possesses exceptional abilities. We concede defeat. Please head in." He couldn't help but look at Han Li with a trace of respect.

As for the taller guard that Han Li tossed, his expression turned unsightly.

Han Li smiled and gave them a short salute before casually strolling in.

Youth Luo naturally didn't have the qualifications to follow him and could only wait outside.

When Han Li saw that the main gate to the courtyard building was shut and thought to knock on it, he heard a woman's sweet voice sound from within.

"Young Sir Han, please come in. I've been waiting on you for quite a while."

Han Li blinked twice and calmly walked in, not feeling particularly surprised.

When he went in, his expression stirred.

He was surprised to see several people in the room.

In the master's seat across from the door sat an azure-robed woman in her thirties. Her skin was fair and her beauty was still present. Behind her stood a blue-robed man that was in his mid-twenties. He bore a strong resemblance to the woman.

Sitting across from the woman was an embroidered-robed man with a young face and grey hair. He wore an indifferent expression.

Sitting at his side was a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman.

They seemed to know what happened outside the courtyard gate and looked in Han Li's direction when he entered.

The azure-robed woman had a trace of delight on her face and the blue-robed youth appeared curious. As for the embroidered-robed man, he was wearing a frown and the young pair simply looked surprised.

The azure-robed woman stood up and curtsied him, "Young Sir Han, I hope you don't take offense. My bodyguards tested you on my orders. I simply wished to know if the third layer of the Vajra Arts was as fearsome as the rumors said. The technique is widely spread, but it is one of the most difficult body refining techniques to cultivate. Very few people break through to the second layer, let alone the third like you."

Han Li casually asked with a smile, "I am already a member of your enterprise. I can't take offense over a trifling test. Are you pleased his by my performance?"

Although he planned on concealing himself in the Heavenly East Enterprise as an insignificant character, he didn't mind revealing a portion of his true strength.

As of current, Mistress Fang was looking at him in a favorable light.

When she heard Han Li's reply she sweetly smiled and said, "The third layer of the Vajra Arts far exceeded my expectations. You've opened my eyes. Ah yes, I should give Young Sir Han an introduction. This is my son, Pan Qing. He is cultivating Immortal techniques under the Golden Jade Sect. These three are Immortal masters, fellow sect members of my son."

"So they were Immortal masters!" Han Li saluted them.

Although his spiritual sense couldn't leave his body, it was still quite sharp and sense their cultivation at this distance. They were all at Foundation Establishment-stage and above. However, the youth and the other young pair appeared to have achieved Foundation Establishment recently as their spiritual Qi was still quite weak. As for the embroidered-robed man, his magic power was quite dense so he should be at false core stage, the peak of Foundation Establishment.

With the abilities Han Li showed previously, they didn't dare to treat him light and returned the greeting.

The embroidered-robed man even smiled and said, "Although I haven't cultivated body refinement techniques before, my master fought against a high-grade body refiner in the past. It is rumored that person was able to slay several grade six and seven demon beasts by himself. I originally believed them to be fanciful tales, but from what Brother Han displayed, I am convinced they are true. But from the force Han Li displayed, it shouldn't only be a result of the Vajra Arts but his nature or divine power as well."

This person was quite experienced to see some oddities from Han Li's immense strength.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to reveal the Dragon Scale Fruit and all else. He gave a simple explanation, "Brother Qin is quite sharp. Some of my power comes from an innate nature."

The embroidered-man nodded, feeling that most of his suspicions had disappeared.

Following that, the embroidered man said nothing else. Rather, Mistress Fang had a friendly chat with Han Li, but when she asked about his origins, Han Li gave a vague answer.

Mistress Fang didn't pursue the matter when she saw this and instead informed him that Pan Qing and the others were to assist An Yuan City with the beast wave on orders from their master. The upper echelons of An Yuan City had ties to the Gold Jade Sect. The sect would send out low-grade cultivators to use the beast wave as an opportunity to make breakthroughs. The Foundation Establishment cultivators were likely sent for this reason as well.

Of course, the Gold Jade Sect wasn't the only sect that sent disciples over to the city. There were at least a dozen more.

When the men of the Heavenly East Enterprise entered An Yuan City, they were also conscripted to fight against the beast wave as per law. As such, Mistress Fang had Han Li act as Zhang Kui's second in directing the guards.

When Han Li heard her, he nodded in agreement after brief consideration.

When Mistress Fang saw this, she wore a satisfied expression and had Han Li depart. According to what she said, the beast wave could start at any time. Furthermore, it would be a grand beast wave consisting of several types. It would be best for Han Li to rest and hone his spirit.

Han Li smiled and promptly left the room.

When the door was shut, Mistress Fang's smile vanished and was replaced with hesitation.

The embroidered-robed man stroked his chin and asked, "What? Does Mistress Fang feel this person is a rare find and has changed her mind?"

Mistress Fang frowned and openly expressed her thoughts, "That is so. This person is young, yet holds his current cultivation. If he were nurtured, I suspect that he will become an existence on the level of Old Fire. Otherwise, I would've gone with the original plan and have Zhang Kui or the Liu Brothers follow you on your journey after the beast wave."

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The embroidered-robed man shook his head, "I've already seen Captain Zhang and the mistress' Liu Brothers. If Brother Han wasn't here, we would use either of them, but now that we have a more suitable candidate, we will have to make the more reliable choice. After all, he completed the third layer of the Vajra Arts; he has nothing to fear from the attack of low-grade spirit tools, and his immense strength will make him even more suitable for the journey. If we were to take someone else, the odds of defeat will be greater. If we startle those demon beast guards, we won't get a second chance. Mistress, could it be you don't wish for Junior Martial Brother Pan to achieve Core Formation?"

Mistress Fang sighed and she said with a tone of helplessness. "Senior Martial Brother Qin's words are reasonable. Even if this person has as much potential as 'Old Fire', I feel like Qin'er's Core Formation will possess far more potential."

The embroidered-robed man felt relief and he smiled, "Lady Fu is quite a sensible person! The breakout of this beast wave turned into an exceptional opportunity. It appears those demon beast guards aren't involving themselves. When the time comes, we might be able to escape from them. That's why although we need a body refiner, he won't necessarily be needed. So long as the matter succeeds, I won't treat him unfairly and make sure he doesn't harbor a grudge against you."

"Immortal Qin's magic power is quite strong. After you acquire it, there should be no problem in Core Formation. In the future, I hope you'll look after my son." When that was said, she smiled and didn't directly address him.

The man glanced at the blue-robed youth and warmly said, "Hehe, Junior Martial Brother Pan's aptitude is no less than mine. If I can achieve Core Formation, Junior Martial Brother should have no problem with the item in hand. The mistress should feel at ease."

Pan Qing saluted his Senior Martial Brother with a deep expression and uttered words of thanks.

As for the pair sitting next to the embroidered robed man, they glanced at one another with a knowing smile.

During this time, the atmosphere in the hall became rather friendly.

Han Li couldn't have known that his first contact with humans in the spirit realm already involved him in a scheme.

It was unknown if he was cursed by the heavens or just had bad luck. In case he knew about this matter, he would've simply found himself not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

A few trifling mortals and Foundation Establishment cultivators thought of using him, a Deity Transformation cultivator. They were beyond reckless. Even without his magic power, he had methods of easily killing them.

But as he was kept in the dark and intended on remaining with the Heavenly East Enterprise, he left the courtyard and went to see the large scarred man.

Not long after, Han Li was appointed a hi second in command but there were others that weren't convinced.

But when Han Li revealed a portion of his immense strength, he alarmed them and kept them quiet.

Because Han Li was given his own room, he didn't have to mingle with the others.

In the following days, he began to grasp the chant for the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts.

According to the Brightjade Arts, It would be much smoother if he could cultivate using the magic power present in his body. But now, he would have to cultivate the Vajra Arts by infusing spiritual Qi into his body.

He had no choice but to familiarize himself with this strange method before starting his cultivation.

Three days later, Han Li left the inn and disappeared half a day.

Apart from those with a discerning eye, most people hadn't noticed that Han Li was gone.

But on the seventh day, Han Li was sitting cross-legged on his bed when he suddenly heard huge bell clangs from outside the room. The sound loudly droned and faintly shook the inn.

Han Li opened his eyes in shock.

The rumbling clangs repeated without end and was soon followed by resounding horns, crying out to the city one after another.

Han Li frowned and wordlessly walked out.

The west courtyard was already scrambling into action. The guards and cavalrymen were walking out from their rooms with weapons and armor in hand. Their expressions ranged anywhere from excitement to fear and worry.

As panicked voices sounded through the courtyard, Zhang Kui walked through with an icy expression and loudly rebuked, "What is there to panic about? It is only a beast wave. It hasn't reached us yet. Return to your rooms and properly rest yourselves. When the time comes, rest will only be a delusionary thought."

When the soldiers heard the large man, they all calmed down and obediently returned to their rooms.

Han Li saw this with a smile.

As Zhang Kui held his position as the guard commander for over ten years, his reputation was as high as one would expect.

Zhang Kui glanced over at Han Li and said, "Junior Brother Han, follow me to observe and size and scope of the beast wave. Let's see how it compares to what we expected."

Han Li quickly replied, "Brother Zhang, I am ready to follow."

In truth, although he didn't take this beast wave to heart, he was indeed a bit curious.

He wasn't about to refuse an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

When the two walked onto the street outside the inn, he discovered there was something amiss. The bustling streets no sparsely had anyone. There were only a few wanderers and their movements were all flustered.

There were several beast carriages on the street, but they were in a mad rush. There were also horned wolves, the same that the Heavenly East Enterprise cavalrymen rode. However, the ones who rode them this time were wearing the armor of city guards. They were rushing through the city, loudly declaring martial law on the city as a result of the upcoming beast wave.

They were not only drafting body refiners and soldiers, but common mortals were to stay put in their residences. If they were outside and hindered the efforts of resisting the beast wave, they would be immediately executed.

When Han Li and Zhang Kui rode two horned wolves to the nearest wall, there was a large purple-robed man standing at the top of the southmost tower in the city. He looked outside the window with one hand pressed against it and the hand held behind his back. He silently looked in the distance with a sullen expression.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened and a soldier covered in azure bone armor quickly entered. He kneeled behind the azure-robed man and softly reported, "City Lord, we've verified that the beasts gathered in three waves: the Jade Grassland's Azure wolves, the Black Tomb Mountain's Crimson Pythons, and the Leocon Beasts."

The large purple-robed man sighed and he worriedly said, "So it is an attack by three beast types. Very troublesome. If they were other beasts, it would've been fine, but azure wolves and crimson pythons only join beast waves every three hundred years. Not to mention these astonishing numbers, the Leocon Beasts will make things more troublesome as well.

They will attack the weakest point of our city. Although we already prepared bows and crossbows, they fly too quickly so common arrows won't be effective."

"Didn't you place an order from the Heavenly East Enterprise for exploding crystal arrows, Sir? We should be able to hold our own against them. Besides, we have cultivators assisting us. They will be a powerful force to defend the skies. With their assistance, the hawks shouldn't be a problem." The armored soldier consoled.

The purple-robed man commanded, "We can only hope to rely on them. Arrange the cultivators together and have them keep watch on the hawk's actions. We will have the soldiers and body refiners join forces in dealing with the wolves and pythons. Ah yes, quickly bring our forces to the ready. Have our guards take turns standing guard."

"Yes, Sir!" An armored soldier yelled and went off to execute his order.

The large purple-robed man was the An Yuan City Lord. He looked out his window with a heavy expression.

Han Li stood on top of a segment of the city wall and looked at the distance. Although he appeared calm, his heart was shaken.

He saw yellow earth tens of kilometers from the city turn azure. An azure sea spanned as far as he could see. Upon closer inspection, he could make out the silhouette of wolves within them. Their eyes were green and their bodies were azure. Their bared fangs created a savage appearance.

The number of wolves were too many to count. They could no longer determine how many hundreds of thousands there were.

Apart from the wolf howls, there were the sounds of other beasts mixed in. They sounded in some sort of pattern as if they were communicating with one another.

Zhang Kui's face turned somewhat pale, but he gripped his hands in a fist and muttered, "Fortunately, the most common beast are the azure wolves. If we encountered red, yellow, or even the rare silver wolf, I fear that An Yuan City wouldn't be able to survive the beast wave."

"Silver wolves?" When Han Li heard this, something suddenly came to mind.

In his surprise, the scarred man explained, "What? Has Brother Han never seen silver wolves before? They are several times harder to handle than other wolves. A common silver wolf is a match for a dozen azure wolves. In the last beast wave, I was lucky enough to see several of them. Their fearsomeness is fresh in my memory."

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Han Li felt his heart roil.

When he heard him mention 'silver wolves', he was instantly reminded of Silvermoon.

She was a giant silver wolf that hailed from the Silvermoon Wolf Clan. Perhaps the silver wolves were of the same clan.

But regardless of whether this was true, it was no use to him in his current realm. He could only set aside the thought in the back of his mind.

Zhang Kui solemnly said, "If it were only common wolves, we wouldn't have anything to fear with our high walls, but unfortunately, they are being led by intelligent low-grade demon beasts.

They are also mixed with variant beasts that are halfway to becoming a demon beast. While the variant beasts don't possess the same inconceivable abilities as demon beasts, they are still far more fearsome than any ordinary beast. The size, power, and vicious far exceed their ordinary kind. At the very least, an ordinary low-grade body refiner wouldn't be able to take one alone."

"How troublesome! Are there many of these variant beasts in the wave?"

Zhang Kui pondered briefly and doubtfully said, "There is about one variant beast in a thousand."

"A thousand?" Han Li swept his eyes past the azure beast sea and couldn't help but wryly laugh.

Even if he couldn't guess their number, they numbered in the millions at the very least. There should be several thousand variant beasts among them. And with no Core Formation cultivators guarding the city, those numbers could prove fatal.

After taking another look, Zhang Kui sighed, clearly discouraged by the sight, and said, "Alright, let's go to other areas and take a look at the other beasts."

Although Han Li followed the large man through the city, he still wore a smile and asked, "What, Brother Zhang worries the city defenses won't hold?"

Zhang Kui replied with an anxious expression, "I am worried, yes. I've seen several beast waves in the past, but never against a city that was just established in the last thousand years. Against a grand beast wave like this one and with our lacking preparations, they should be able to breach our defenses.

Furthermore, this beast wave also has Leocon Beasts. Although there won't be too many of them, they will all be grade one demon beasts. As we won't be able to protect against them, they will be a large threat to the city.

"Are Leocon Beasts so fearsome?" A glint flashed in Han Li's eyes and his voice carried doubt.

"Leocon Beasts aren't considered strong amongst the rank of demon birds, but they carry a formidable toxin that can kill ordinary people. Unless they approach us, we will only be able to attack them from afar. And even worse is how nimble and quick these birds are. While they may be lacking in strength, they are unable to suppress them as they attack the weakest points in the city's defense.

With a tone of surprise, Han Li asked, "How did this lack of aerial power come to be? Could it be the An Yuan City Lord didn't know this matter would be so critical?

From what he came to know, all positions of secular power within the city belonged to mortals.

"Even if he knew about it, what could he do? I heard the last beast wave to attack the city left disastrous damage. Their numbers were almost exhausted. Being able to restore their defensive strength to this level had already exhausted the city lord's influence. The other nearby cities also lent them a few weapons and soldiers. There is nothing else he can do about the air."

When Han Li heard this, he was at a loss for words.

Not long after, Han Li followed Zhang Kui to another side of the city wall and saw rows of meter-long pythons forming a red beast sea. It appeared even more fearsome than the sea of wolves.

The only good news to hear from this was that these snakes weren't venomous. As such, their defenses were more lax towards them.

As Han Li gazed at the sea of pythons from a distance, he would occasionally spot pythons that were several times larger than the others and he inwardly gasped.

These variant pythons were over thirty meters long, no smaller than a crimson wyrm. They could easily devour a man. And because the hoard of crimson pythons was larger than the azure wolves, it was only natural there would be more of variants.

After looking at these two beast hoards, Han Li felt some regret at not being able to see the Leocon Beasts.

According to what the Zhang Kui said, the hawks were perched at a concealed area. They wouldn't show themselves until it was time to attack.

As Han Li looked at the distant pythons, he suddenly asked, "Why haven't the beast hoards launched their attacks?"

"The beast hoards are led by intelligent demon beasts. They won't attack us of their own accord. They will be certain to cooperate with the other two demon hoards in a joint assault and strain our forces. Normally, something like this will only occur for another day. Let's go. We need to lead the Heavenly East Enterprise soldiers to the center of the city in preparation for orders. If we are lucky enough to make a breakthrough or comprehend something, it may be worth it to put ourselves in danger." Zhang Kui let out a cold laugh and led Han Li back to the inn.

As expected, the guards at the inn had received orders from An Yuan City and were preparing to move out. They were already gathered together.

The Gold Jade Sect cultivators were asked for their presence earlier and had already left.

Without any hesitation Zhang Kui immediately shouted and commanded the two hundred soldiers of the Heavenly East Enterprise to move out, marching out of the inn in a powerful display.

When they arrived on the street, they saw private troops and body refiners head in the direction of the palace, but most of these groups were nowhere as large or formidable as the Heavenly East Enterprise. Their numbers ranged anywhere from five or six to a dozen.

As Han Li traveled together with the others, they caught quite a bit of attention, particularly with the fifty mounted horned wolves.

After all, the horned wolves were one of the many beasts that were tamed by the humans of the spirit realm. Each one was meticulously raised from birth, completely erasing their savage nature. As they were able to exhibit greater power when joined together with cavalrymen, their price was considerably high.

Only a business as overbearing at the Heavenly East Enterprise had the ability to purchase so many trained horned wolves for their guards.

All the people on the streets were heading in the direction of a huge plaza near a city wall. The city was facing the hoard of azure wolves.

Tens of thousands of empty-handed strong men, a few uniformed troops, and scattered body refiners were already gathered together. There were even a few mounted horned wolves there, but their numbers didn't match the cavalrymen of the Heavenly East Enterprise. Surrounding the plaza were a few fully-armed An Yuan City guards keeping order.

A silver-armored middle-aged man stood at the other end of the plaza. He was speaking with a Confucian scholar and a Buddhist monk at his side.

When Han Li saw this person, he recognized him as the officer he had seen watching the gate.

The scholar and the monk were the two cultivators that inspected their troops. The silver-armored middle-aged man had some sort of skill to keep behind the two cultivators.

At that moment, the silver-armored man noticed that enough people had gathered together and he waved his arm.

The soldiers behind him roared, utter a string of orders that were already prepared.

The first order was to organize a division of cavalrymen. Afterwards, a group of land tortoise carriages rushed into the plaza, carrying a large quantity of weapons and some armor. They began to distribute them to the strong men.

As for the body refiners, they didn't hold common weapons in their eye and they stood in place with a detached gaze.

For the time being, private troops such as Han Li and the lone body refiners remained to the side.

Then, the private troops and body refiners were bewildered by the long wolf cries outside the city. They were resounding and harsh as if brimming with violent energy.

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he heard this. The myriad of wolf howls soared through the heavens like rumbling thunder.

The body refiners were better off with only changes in expression, but the commoners felt overwhelmed as the scream filled the world.

But that was only the start. They soon heard hissing and strange bird cries from other directions.

Although these sounds weren't as overwhelming as the wolf howls, they still sent shivers down people's spines.

At that moment, gongs sounded from all the city walls at nearly the same time. A man's voice then filled the air. It wasn't particularly loud, but it reached the ears of everyone in the plaza, "Be Careful, the beasts have begun to move." It was a sound transmission that came from a grey-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator riding on a flying sword. There appeared to be other flying cultivators giving warnings throughout different districts of the city.

Suddenly, an uproar rose through An Yuan City and squads of idle soldiers sprung into action. They immediately scaled the walls, manned the ballistas, and readied themselves for battle.

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Following a brief stupor, the weapon distribution process was sped up following a loud instruction from the middle-aged man clad in silver armor.

Someone finally also began to organize Han Li and all of the new body refinement warriors into groups.

Due to the fact that a battle was imminent, all of the body refinement warriors, who were normally quite uncouth and uncooperative, had set aside their egos for the greater good. Thus, it only took a short while for the roughly 200 body refinement warriors present to be split up into a dozen or so groups.

The Heavenly East Enterprise also had over 200 members, so they naturally formed a branch of their own.

The young and inexperienced mortals remained as a backup squad, and weren't deployed right away. Instead, body refinement warriors and trained warriors were deployed onto the city wall to assist the soldiers of An Yuan City.

Perhaps it was because the group of people from the Heavenly East Enterprise were too eye-catching, but they were chosen to be among the first batch of warriors deployed onto the city walls.

As such, Han Li and the other members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were sent to one of the four city walls, having been assigned the duty of guarding that city wall with the soldiers who were already stationed there, of which there were more than 1,000.

Han Li stood on the city wall and cast his gaze into the distance. The pack of azure wolves had already stopped howling and were slowly converging toward them. There was no end in sight to their vast numbers, making it appear as if a set of azure plains were traveling toward the city.

The collective rustling from countless wolf paws scratching against the ground was audible even from their perch on the city wall, creating quite an intimidating symphony that struck all of the onlooking warriors with an indescribable sense of pressure.

Many of the soldiers had already paled with fright. However, no one felt the need to deliver a motivational speech or an address to lift everyone's spirits.

If the city fell, their families would all be reduced to prey for these vicious wolves. As such, even though they were absolutely petrified, there was no way that any of them would back down. Thus, the low-level military officials on the city wall merely issued a few instructions to prepare for the upcoming battle before everyone waited in silence.

The wolf pack didn't appear to be moving very quickly, but they were slowly becoming clearer to everyone as they approached.

The most noticeable wolves within the pack were those mutated wolf beasts that were almost twice as large as normal azure wolves.

These huge wolves were dispersed in various locations all over the wolf pack, and even though their fur retained their original azure hue, their eyes had turned from black into a rather unsettling green color. Through those menacing green eyes, a hint of spiritual nature could be gleaned.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this. Those mutated wolf beasts were going to be rather troublesome to deal with. Furthermore, there were also a great number of them. At this moment, Han Li was standing next to a giant of a man who was around 20 feet tall, and both of them were situated behind the An Yuan City military official that was responsible for guarding this wall. This was a suggestion raised by Zhang Kui, who had experienced several Beast Torrents. He knew the importance of commanders during these perilous events, so he had sent these two to protect the military official. After all, if this official were to fall, the situation on this entire city wall would be plunged into turmoil.

The huge man standing next to Han Li was also a body refinement warrior from the Heavenly East Enterprise by the name of Du Xiao. He was using a rather strange cultivation art that made his body grow to a massive size while also granting him immense strength and power. The bigger he became, the more astonishing his strength would be. Apparently, he had already practiced that cultivation art to an extremely high level. Prior to Han Li's arrival, he was the most powerful warrior among Heavenly East Enterprise.

Back when Han Li was given the role of deputy squad leader, he was one of the people who had challenged his authority.

However, following a demonstration of strength where Han Li had picked up a massive rock weighing several tons before hurling it into the air with ease, Du Xiao had conceded his inferiority and bowed to Han Li's authority.

At present, Han Li was wielding what appeared to be an ordinary thick blade in his hand. Meanwhile, Du Xiao was carrying a custom-made mace that was around 20 feet in length, and each of them was standing on either of the aforementioned military official.

The official appeared to be around 30 years of age with a slightly thin build. He wore a suit of metal armor and even though his facial features were quite mundane and nondescript, he had a pair of bright and piercing eyes and a naturally intimidating aura.

Even though he was only an ordinary official in the army, he was also quite a powerful body refinement warrior.

That wasn't anything to be perplexed about. After all, most body refinement warriors among the mortals of the Spirit Realm chose to join the armies of their respective cities. There was no lack of fearsome individuals among them who had cultivated their body refinement arts to the extreme, and even high-grade cultivators had to be wary of them.

Just as Han Li was appraising the torrent of azure wolves approaching the city in an expressionless manner, a series of low yet explosive thumps suddenly erupted from behind him. Immediately thereafter, over 100 crimson fireballs, each of which was several tens of feet in size, flew forth from a certain point within the city, crashing viciously into the wolf pack that was only several kilometers away from the city walls.

Thunderous booms rang out in rapid succession as hundreds of balls of flames exploded among the wolf pack, creating a scene of absolute carnage. Even though these were only normal flames, these wolf beasts were only normal beasts themselves, so they were completely defenseless against this scorching fire.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this before he turned to glance back toward a certain direction behind him.

There, on a vacant patch of land not far away from the city wall, over 100 catapults had been set up side by side.

There was a large horde of warriors placing spherical crimson objects onto the catapults before these objects were launched in unison following a loud command. As these objects were launched through the air, they transformed into giant fireballs, arcing through the air before landing among the wolf pack on the other side of the city wall.

Countless more azure wolves were instantly reduced to charred carcasses.

After just two waves of these attacks, close to 20,000 azure wolves had been slain. Just as Han Li was feeling slightly surprised by the destructive power of these catapults, the attacks suddenly stopped and no further waves of fireballs were launched following the second wave.

Just as a contemplative look had appeared on Han Li's face, the wolf pack in the distance began to let loose a series of vigorous howls, as if they had been enraged by the previous two waves of attacks. All of the mutated wolf beasts began to lead from the front, and the entire wolf pack began to accelerate.

The scratching of countless wolf paws on the ground had turned into a thunderous rumbling, and the wolf pack covered a distance of around 500 meters in virtually the blink of an eye before launching ferocious attacks against the city walls.

One azure wolf after another sprang into the air, digging their sharp claws into the smooth surface fo the city wall. Their claws were able to embed themselves around an inch deep into the wall, and they were able to gallop up the wall using their claws as makeshift climbing holds.

Following a series of loud instructions from the military officials atop the city walls, all types of arrows began to rain down like a torrential storm, striking and felling countless azure wolves.

The mortals of the Spirit Realm were a lot more powerful than those of the human world, and their destructive power was naturally also quite immense.

However, there were simply far too many azure wolves attacking the city walls. All of them ignored their fallen comrades as they attacked the wall in a maddened frenzy, and it didn't take long before some wolf beasts made it to the top of the walls.

The human warriors on had been eagerly awaiting for their arrival, and as soon as one azure wolf clambered onto the top of the city wall, it would be met by three or four spear or halberd weapons at once, instantly puncturing its vitals before it had any chance to wreak further havoc. Arrows fell like rain while the clanging of countless weapons intermingled with the war cries from the human warriors as well as the howls of the oncoming wolf beasts.

Meanwhile, Han Li refrained from engaging in battle. He merely followed the military official that he had been tasked with protecting as the latter strode back and forth along the city wall, barking vehement instructions at his soldiers.

In his eyes, the ordinary azure wolves appeared to be quite ferocious, but they didn't actually pose a substantial threat to the city. The truly arduous battle was still yet to come.

On another city wall that was being attacked by crimson pythons, it was too far away for Han Li to be able to clearly discern what was happening, but the sounds of battle ringing out from that direction suggested that the crimson python beasts had also begun to launch their assault.

The battle commenced at noon and continued well into the afternoon, enshrouding the entirety of An Yuan City in an aura of blood and gore.

The light in the sky was beginning to dim as one sun disappeared after another, gradually being replaced by their moon counterparts.

However, the assault from the wolf pack showed no signs of stopping, and had instead become even more violently and ferocious. As beasts that hadn't yet attained intelligence, they would only begin to tap into their full potential at the height of their bloodlust.

The calm expression worn by the military official that Han Li was guarding had begun to darken. After just half a day of battle, a third of the normal soldier's on the city wall had already perished. There were even 20 members of the Heavenly East Enterprise that had fallen in battle.

Right at this moment, two sharp wolf howls erupted from the rear of the azure wolf pack. The mutated wolf beasts that had disappeared into the pack once the assault against the city had commenced had finally revealed themselves once again.

These massive wolves were easily 50 to 60 feet tall, and they galloped as fast as lightning. The arrows fired by ordinary soldiers were almost completely ineffective against them, and they raced up the city wall as fast as the wind. The soldiers stationed atop the city wall naturally immediately lashed out with their weapons, but these giant wolves simply sprang up high in the air in the response, leaping over their soldiers before turning around to attack them from behind.

As soon as these mutated wolf beasts entered the fray, the number of casualties within the human camp immediately spiked drastically.

A few mutated wolf beasts had also made it onto the city wall that Han Li was situated on, and around a dozen soldiers were slain in the blink of an eye.

The military official immediately instructed the body refinement warriors of the Heavenly East Enterprise to combat these wolf beasts, while the normal soldiers continued to ward off the normal azure wolves.

Sure enough, Zhang Kui and the group of a dozen or so body refinement warriors were able to quickly contain the situation.

However, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from a group of soldiers nearby, following which two mutated wolf beasts sprang over the patch of the city wall that was closest to the military official. As soon as they descended atop the city wall, the two massive wolf beasts swept aside the soldiers in their way and pounced toward the military official.

They were intelligent enough to know that this armored man was the leader of the humans, and had even set up a diversion that allowed them to launch a surprise attack against him.

"Piss off!"

Du Xiao let loose an almighty roar as he swung his mace toward the oncoming wolf beasts with astonishing might.

These mutated wolf beasts possessed far more powerful bodies than normal azure wolves, but there was no way that they were going to survive a direct attack from such a devastating mace blow.

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Just as the first wolf beast was about to be steamrolled by Du Xiao's huge mace, an incredible turn of events suddenly unfolded.

A burst of faint azure light suddenly radiated from that wolf beast's body, following which it shrank down to the same size as a normal azure wolf.

As such, the mace merely glanced past above its head, completely missing its target. A vicious light flashed through the azure wolf's eyes as its speed suddenly increased by twofold, allowing it to rapidly skirt around Du Xiao as it pounced toward the military official.

"That's a demonic wolf!"

The military official's expression changed drastically at the sight of the azure wolf's bizarre transformation, and he immediately drew his longsword without any hesitation.

White spiritual light then flashed from a spirit tool ring on his finger, and the longsword transformed into a swath of sword projections that shielded his body within.

It turned out that this seemingly nondescript military official was carrying a low-grade spirit tool with him.

In the face of the barrier of sword projections conjured up by the low-grade spirit tool, a hint of disdain flashed through the oncoming wolf beat's eyes. It merely raised its two front paws before swiping them rapidly through the air several times, upon which azure claw projections were sent hurtling toward the official from all directions.

As soon as the claws projections struck the barrier of sword projections, the latter was destroyed almost without any capacity for resistance amid a series of loud booms. In contrast, the azure claw projections were only slowed down minutely before continuing to descend toward the military official.

The military official unleashed a resilient swing of his sword in response, but he knew that his resistance would prove to be completely futile, and his face had already turned deathly pale in the face of impending death.

Right at this moment, a humanoid figure suddenly swayed beside him as another person rushed into the inescapable net of claw projections. The figure let loose a cold harrumph, and even though it wasn't very loud, the military official felt as if a bell were tolling directly beside his ear, completley jerking him out of his horror and despair.

The figure then raised a hand, and a swath of golden light met the oncoming claw projections.

An earthshattering boom erupted as all of the azure claw projections were shattered into nothingness by the golden light.

The military official was ecstatic upon seeing this, and only then did he catch a clear glimpse of his savior. It was none other than the other man who had been deployed to protect him, Han Li.

Han Li was currently in the process of slowly withdrawing a fist that was shimmering with golden light. At the same time, he was appraising the azure demonic wolf that was hovering in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner.

The demonic wolf had stopped itself cold in its tracks, and was staring at Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in its eyes. All of the azure hackles on its back had stood up on end, and it seemed to be extremely wary toward Han Li.

The demon beast was unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base, but its keen instincts told it that this human was extremely dangerous, seemingly capable of posing a threat to its life. As such, it was rather hesitant about how to proceed.

After missing with his attack and allowing the demonic wolf to skirt around him, Du Xiao was given a massive fright, and he hurriedly turned around before appraising the demonic wolf with a grim expression.

Thus, the demon beast was sandwiched between Han Li and Du Xiao while the other body refinement warriors from the Heavenly East Enterprise were also converging toward it, clearly trying to completely surround it.

The demonic wolf aimed a wary glance at Han Li before abruptly turning and pouncing toward Du Xiao as a streak of azure light.

Du Xiao was quite startled by this abrupt attack, and he reflexively lashed out with his mace.

However, the demonic wolf had no intention of engaging it in battle. It merely sprang up over his head before jumping down from the city wall and disappearing into the wolf pack again. Aside from the one that had been slain, all of the other mutated wolf beasts had also fled the scene.

Han Li remained standing on the spot, expressing no intention to give chase.

Even though he had lost all of his magic power, he still couldn't muster up any interest in pursuing such a pitifully weak low-grade demon beast.

The military official had just brushed shoulders with death, and he immediately extended genuine words of gratitude toward Han Li.

"Thank you for saving my life, Brother. If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be a dead man already."

Han Li merely sighed and waved a hand in response. "I may have saved you, but there are other demonic wolves appearing in other locations. The situation doesn't seem to bode well for us."

"How could this be? How could there be so many demonic wolves in this one pack?" The military official hurriedly scanned his gaze across the city wall, upon which his face paled once again.

The city wall that they were situated on had suddenly descended into complete turmoil, and thousands of azure wolves had already rushed onto the city wall. In the air above them, there were several glowing demonic wolves hovering in the air, overseeing the proceedings.

Not only was the military official plunged into despair upon seeing this, even the hearts of the normal soldiers and members of the Heavenly East Enterprise had completely sunk. Could it be that this city wall really was going to be breached by this wolf pack?

The same harrowing thought surfaced in everyone's hearts.

Just as all of the human troops on the city wall were about to be overwhelmed by the relentless torrent of oncoming azure wolves, the sound of a horn being blown suddenly rang out from atop the city wall, following which several hundred powerful body refinement warriors suddenly rushed out from behind them.

All of them wearing bone armor of different styles while wielding a diverse range of weapons, all of which were low-grade spirit tools!

As soon as they rushed onto the city wall, they tore through the torrent of azure wolves like tigers running through a herd of sheep. With each and every swing of their weapons, at least one azure wolf would be felled, and all of them were completely powerless to resist.

Even though the mutated wolf beasts were more troublesome to deal with, they were given special treatment as several body refinement warriors ganged up on them at once, and they were also being felled without being able to offer much resistance.

The demonic wolves hovering in the air flew into a thunderous rage upon seeing this, and they were just about to do something when a dozen or so body refinement warriors took the initiative, flying into the air to engage these demonic wolves in battle.

Right at this moment, another long wolf howl erupted from within the wolf pack at the foot of the city wall.

All of the demonic wolves hesitated momentarily upon hearing this howl before fleeing into the distance, refraining from engaging the body refinement warriors in battle.

All of the remaining normal azure wolves also began to retreat after hearing this loud howl, fighting to clamber down the city walls just as quickly as they had come.

The body refinement warriors continued to give chase, but most of the wolf beasts still managed to escape.

Thus, the entire wolf pack began to retreat, and the first day of battle drew to a conclusion. Both sides had suffered severe losses, but all in all, the human army had won the day. The azure wolf pack had suffered over 100,000 casualties while most of the human troops had survived the assault. The only downside was that they had expended a large number of arrows and defensive tools in the process. As such, it was difficult to say with conviction who had gained the upper hand following this opening exchange. At this point, seven moons had already surfaced over the night sky. The collective light from the seven moons shone down from above, illuminating the countless wolf carcass piled up at the foot of the city wall.

In the distance, the wolf pack was howling up at the moons. However, their howls were filled with grief and sorrow rather than ferocity and bloodlust.

The massive wolf pack slowly retreated into the distance under the cold moonlight before disappearing into the night.

Only then did the soldiers on the city wall heave a collective sigh of relief. All of them collapsed to the ground without even bothering to tend to their injuries, and some had already fallen asleep from excessive exhaustion.

Even the body refinement warriors were feeling quite exhausted after such an extended arduous battle, and they were also planning to take a rest."Don't lie down here; this is not the place to sleep. There will be other soldiers coming up to replace us soon. We've withstood the first assault, so we should be able to rest for a couple of days before the next wave of attacks. Once the next group of soldiers arrives to take our place, we can all return to our respective residence and take a good rest. For now, all of you have to get up and continue to stand on guard. We have to be prepared in case the wolf pack decides to suddenly turn around and launch another attack." The military official still didn't dare to let down his guard.

All of the soldiers and members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were ecstatic upon hearing that they'll be relieved of their duties soon, and all of them forced themselves to shrug off their exhaustion and get up again.

Han Li had barely done anything during the entire battle, so he naturally wasn't really tired. He was standing atop the city wall, seemingly in deep thought as he looked at the departing wolf pack.

Zhang Kui made his way over to Han Li with a smile as he said, "Brother Han, it's all thanks to you that we were able to force the demonic wolves away. Otherwise, today's battle could've ended very badly for us."

He was holding his Golden Luster Sword and his entire body was stained with blood, clearly having slain many azure wolves during the battle.

"I didn't do much. The wolf pack was going to retreat anyway," Han Li replied with a calm expression.

"That may be the case, but if it weren't for your intervention, we would've suffered far heavier losses before the wolf pack retreated. No one else would've been able to force back a demonic wolf so convincingly on their own had they been in your place. Even with this Golden Luster Sword, I would have, at most, a 30% chance of defeating a demonic wolf." A wry smile appeared on Zhang Kui's face as he produced an intricately crafted scabbard before carefully sheathing the Golden Luster Sword.

Han Li shot a glance at this spirit tool just as Zhang Kui was about to stow it away. He already knew that these so-called spirit tools were actually just special treasures designed by cultivators for body refinement warriors to use. The spirit tools didn't require the user to possess any magic power of their own, and dew upon energy from spirit stones instead.

Spirit tools were quite powerful, but using them required the expenditure of a large number of spirit stones. As such, not every body refinement warrior was able to use such tools.

However, even the most powerful spirit tools couldn't compare to a true treasure, so they weren't very appealing to high-grade body refinement warriors. They were of the opinion that the best weapon they could attain was a powerful physical body. In that aspect, the thought process of body refinement warriors was quite similar to that of demon beasts.

Just as Han Li was pondering these thoughts, Zhang Kui suddenly said something that sent a slight jolt running through his heart.

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"Brother Han, you've only mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, right?" Zhang Kui suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask, Brother Zhang?" Han Li answered his question with one of his own.

"Well, it's just that I don't think a normal body refinement warrior who has mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts can force a demonic wolf into retreat. Looks like you truly are destined for great things, Brother Han!" Zhang Kui gave Han Li a final meaningful look before departing.

Han Li looked on at his departing figure, and stroked his chin as a faint smile appeared on his face.

Zhang Kui was clearly implying something with his words. Not long after this, a large group of An Yuan City soldiers was led by a low-level military official as they scaled the city wall. The members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were finally relieved of their duties.

However, they naturally couldn't return to the inn. Instead, they were organized to stay in a cluster of stone cabins near the plaza where they had gathered several days ago.

Almost everyone fell asleep as soon as they entered the cabins. Han Li wasn't tired at all, but he still stayed in his cabin and meditated on his bed.

A tranquil and uneventful night passed by.

The next morning, thunderous beastly roars erupted in the distance once again. Not long after that, the second day of battle commenced on the city walls.

This battle seemed to be even more fierce than the one that had taken place the day before, raging fro early morning all the way into the night. Groups of backup soldiers were summoned out of the stone cabins one after the other, then hurriedly dragged onto the city walls to provide reinforcements. Within the span of a single day, three or four groups had been taken from the area of the plaza that Han Li was situated in alone.

The beast hordes only retreated when night fell once again.

When Han Li emerged from his stone chamber that night, he was greeted by the sight of the soldiers who had just been relieved of their duties and were returning to the plaza.

It appeared that around 70% to 80% of all of the troops deployed had been killed in battle, and the small proportion that remained were all covered in blood. Most of them were carrying injuries, and some were even missing limbs.

They were in a much more sorry state than Han Li's group from the day before.

By this point, many other people had also made their way out of the nearby stone chambers, and they were also stunned by what they saw. Some of them immediately began to enquire about what had taken place during the battle earlier today, and only then were they informed that a type of small wolves that resembled leopard cats had appeared among the wolf pack attacking the city today.

Not only were they extremely nimble and agile, they were capable of blasting their fur through the air like porcupine quills. These strands of fur were infused with lethal poison, and one would quickly lose the ability to move after being struck by them. If timely treatment wasn't administered, the victim's condition would then quickly deteriorate, ultimately leading to death.

No one had ever seen or even heard of these small wolves before, so they were most likely a new breed of mutated azure wolf beasts. Such occurrences weren't common during Beast Torrents, but they weren't considered to be overly remarkable, either.

Every time a new breed of mutated beasts appeared, the humans would be caught off guard by their unique attributes, and suffer heavy casualties as a result. However, these new breeds of mutated beasts would be eliminated very quickly through natural processes. Otherwise, there would be far more breeds of mutated beasts in the wolf pack than there actually were.

These small mutated wolves had appeared large numbers during the battle that had just taken place, killing most of the troops that had been deployed to guard the city wall. If it weren't for the fact that the group of spirit-tool-wielding body refinement warriors, known as the spirit squad, had intervened on numerous occasions, it was quite possible that all of the troops deployed today would've been completely wiped out.

Everyone listened with heavy hearts to the harrowing recounts delivered by the soldiers who were fortunate enough to have returned alive.

Everyone was struck by the impression that this Beast Torrent appeared to be far more perilous than past Beast Torrents had been rumored to be. In the face of such fearsome beastly foes, their confidence was beginning to waver.

Han Li looked with narrowed eyes for a while before returning to his stone cabin. His expression remained completely unchanged throughout this entire process.

In reality, he was feeling just as unfazed as he looked.

Even if An Yuan City really did fall, it wouldn't be an issue for him to escape from the Beast Torrent with his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads.

As for the other people in the city, he wouldn't be able to save them even if he wanted to, so he certainly wasn't going to try to be a hero and bite off more than he could chew.

However, with the ferocity of the assaults that these beasts were launching against the city, it would perhaps be their turn to guard the city wall again soon.

As things turned out, Han Li was spot on with that guess. On the morning of the third day, when the sun had just barely risen over the horizon, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were summoned to gather on the plaza.

When Han Li appeared on the plaza in a calm manner, he discovered that there were several hundred other burly men already present on the palace in addition to the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise. A small portion of these men were body refinement warriors, and there was no lack of individuals among them who were carrying spirit tools such as spirit rings or spirit bracelets. All of the knights on their wolf steeds were also present at the scene.

These people clearly comprised the most powerful troops this city had to offer.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly before he joined the crowd in an unhurried manner.

A short while later, close to 1,000 people had gathered on the plaza, and the person who had summoned them was none other than that middle-aged military official clad in silver armor.

He delivered an address to everyone, informing all of the warriors present that the situation on the other battlefronts was quite dire, and that their services were required in order to reinforce the city walls.

This piece of news came as quite a surprise to everyone.

They were aware that the azure wolf beasts had been very troublesome to handle during the past couple of days, but who would've thought that the situation on the other battlefronts would be even more dire? Thankfully, all of the people gathered were seasoned warriors and they were able to quickly compose themselves before climbing onto the beast-drawn carriages that had been prepared for them in advance, which then sped toward the other side of An Yuan City.

Aside from a few knights who were on patrol, there was not a single pedestrian to be seen on the streets within the city.

As such, the beast-drawn carriages didn't have to contend with any traffic congestion, allowing them to travel full speed ahead. After just over two hours, the carriages had arrived at the foot of the city wall on the other side of An Yuan City, following which everyone quickly disembarked.

There were already a dozen or so military officials waiting for them nearby, and they immediately swooped on Han Li and the others like hungry vultures, squabbling with one another as they fought to choose the best warriors for themselves. After all of the warriors were split up, they were led to their respective watchtowers.

Thus, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise had naturally also been split up. There were only seven or eight normal guards from the Heavenly East Enterprise who had been assigned to Han Li's group, while Zhang Kui, Du Xiao, and all of the other powerful body refinement warriors had been all been split up.

The man leading Han Li's group was a heavily-bearded middle-aged military official. From the silver armor that he was wearing, it appeared that he was an official of the same rank as the man whom Han Li had been tasked with protecting three days ago.

This man was very benevolent and hospitable toward body refinement warriors like Han Li. In particular, he treated the three spirit-tool-wielding warriors in their group in an extremely respectful manner, and it was quite clear that he was relying heavily upon them.

Aside from the few members of the Heavenly East Enterprise in the group, no one else was aware of how powerful Han Li was, so he naturally didn't attract the attention of the military official.

Han Li obviously wasn't going to strut around boasting about his own powers, either. He merely followed everyone else in silence as they climbed up onto the city wall.

The scenes that greeted everyone up there were quite distressing.

The smooth city wall had been completely ruined, as had the watchtower they had been assigned to, and everyone wore grim expressions as they appraised the carnage around them. What was even more disconcerting was that azure ground had been completely stained black, and a putrid rotten smell was wafting through the air, striking everyone with the urge to empty the contents of their stomach! A man wearing a spirit bracelet inspected the inky-black substance on the ground with a grave expression before remarking, "This is snake venom."A bitter smile appeared on the heavily bearded military official's face as he confirmed, "That's right, it is indeed snake venom. Over 400 of our soldiers have already lost the ability to battle due to the effects of this snake venom."

"If I recall correctly, crimson python beasts don't possess any venom, isn't that right?" an elderly man who was also carrying a spirit tool asked with a perplexed look.

"You're also correct, Brother Li. Normal crimson python beasts are indeed devoid of venom, but a mutated breed of winged pythons have appeared this time. They're around the same size and appearance as a normal crimson python, but they're able to fly for short periods of time using their wings, and they can blast this type of black venomous mist out of their mouths. As soon as anyone comes into contact with this venomous mist, their skin and flesh will immediately rot away. The venom is even strong enough to dissolve through rock and stone. I've already sent people up here to wash away the venom several times. Otherwise, even breathing would be a health hazard up here," the heavily-bearded military official explained.

"Crimson python beasts all possess immense strength; now that they can also breathe venomous mist, they'll be very troublesome to deal with," someone within the crowd mused with a concerned expression.

"If it weren't for the fact that these crimson python beasts are so formidable, the higher-ups wouldn't have deployed all of you here. I heard that a new breed of mutated wolf beast also seems to have appeared among the azure wolf pack." The military official stroked his beard with a grave expression.

"Why aren't those cultivators taking care of the azure wolf beast? All of them specialize in unleashing large scale attacks that can wipe out large hordes of beasts at once. In the past, they've always formed the backbone of our resistance against these Beast Torrents?" someone else in the crowd asked.

"Don't forget that those Leocon Beasts haven't appeared even once yet during this Beast Torrent. Those cultivators have to be reserved for combating more demon beasts that are more fearsome. If those demon beasts appear after they've expended all of their magic power on lesser beasts, then there would be no hope left for our An Yuan City," the military official gave a forlorn reply.

Everyone began to look at one another with concerned expressions after hearing this reply. It appeared that An Yuan City's future wasn't a very optimistic one.

The military official could see the pessimism creeping into his troops, and he immediately offered some words of encouragement. "Alright, there's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The mutated winged pythons are only able to expel one blast of venomous mist at a time. After that, they have to rest for a while. Furthermore, from our observations during the past couple of days, we've deduced that those mutated pythons have lost almost all of their ability to battle. The instructions I received from my higher-ups were to ask all of you to focus most of your firepower on those mutated giant pythons. It's very difficult for normal soldiers to harm them at all, and all of the damage done to this city wall have been inflicted by them. If you can hold off those giant pythons, we're confident in our ability to combat the normal crimson python beasts."

"Hehe, seeing as we've already come here, we'll naturally be sure to lend you our assistance. However..." The man with the spirit bracelet was just about to say something, when a loud cry suddenly erupted in the distance. The cry sounded like a mix between the crow of a bird and the roar of a beast, but also resembled neither of the two at the same time. It was an extremely unsettling cry that caused the listeners' blood to churn within their veins.

The man's words came to an abrupt halt as a strained look appeared on his face.

The same expression also appeared on everyone else's faces.

"The Leocon Beasts are finally here!" a body refinement warrior murmured to himself as he unconsciously tightened his grasp around the weapon in his hand.

At this moment, Han Li was standing alone in a corner, inspecting a low-grade spirit stone that was sitting in his hand. His expression was extremely tranquil, as if he hadn't heard that unsettling cry at all.

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Sure enough, a short while later, several hundred black spots suddenly appeared in the distance. These black spots were all flying rapidly toward the city, and they were responsible for emitting those ghastly cries.

The humans on the city wall immediately reacted as they adopted a defensive formation, preparing to engage the oncoming enemies.

Almost at the exact same moment, over 100 streaks of light of different colors flew out from a tall building at the center of the city. All of those streaks of light then hurtled directly toward the approaching black spots in the distant sky.

The cultivators in the city had finally sprung into action.

Most of these cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but they were flying quite quickly atop their respective treasures. The cultivators managed to reach the city wall before the Leocon Beasts did before hovering in the air.

The two people leading the group consisted of a bald brawny man standing atop a round disk, as well as that brocade-robed man from the Golden Jade Sect.

Both of them had reached the False Core Stage, which was the highest cultivation base among all of the cultivators present.

The black spots in the distance were only several kilometers away from the city wall now, but they suddenly stopped and began to circle around indecisively in the air at low altitudes.

At this point, the people on the city wall were already able to discern the true appearance of these black spots. They discovered that these were all demon beasts with leopard heads and falcon bodies. All of them had a pair of white and yellow feathered wings each, and their eyes were gleaming with purplish-red light, while their bodies shimmering in all manners of exuberant colors, presenting a very beautiful sight to behold.

These demons beasts were only several feet in size each, and they were quite petite and graceful in flight. Judging from their outward appearance alone, they didn't look all that threatening at all.

However, all of the cultivators in the sky wore extremely grim expressions, seemingly quite wary of these demon beasts. In the distance, a few short and sharp cries rang out from among this pack of Leocon Beasts. Immediately thereafter, a vast cloud of dust and debris appeared in the distance amid bursts of loud piercing screeches.

One crimson python after another began to emerge from the ground below before raising their heads and extending their forked tongues. All of a sudden, a tumbling and writhing sea of crimson had appeared before the city wall with no end in sight.

All of the warriors standing atop the city wall drew a collective sharp intake of breath upon witnessing this ominous sight.

It appeared that they had truly hit the jackpot this time. They had only just arrived to provide reinforcements and they were being attacked by both Leocon Beasts and crimson python beasts. Thankfully, the cultivators were present to deal with the most troublesome Leocon Beasts. Otherwise, they wouldn't stand a chance against this latest Beast Torrent.

Just as all of the body refinement warriors on the city wall were feeling slightly relieved by the presence of the cultivators above the city wall, two demon beasts, one large and one small, suddenly shot forth through the air, flying toward them from the distance.

The smaller of the two demon beasts was only around a foot in size, and its entire body was enshrouded under a barrier of shimmering blue spiritual light. As if flapped its wings, the sound of indistinct thunderclaps could be heard. The larger demon beast had a vicious purple light gleaming in its eyes, and it was several times larger than a normal Leocon Beast, yet its size was the only feature that set it apart from its brethren.

Right as those demon beasts revealed themselves, three python beasts also emerged from the crimson sea down below, one of which was rather small while the other two were much larger.

The largest of the trio was over 100 feet in length with massive thick scales running all over its body. I also had a pair of crimson coral-like horns growing on its head, and it bore a strong resemblance to a crimson wyrm. The second-largest python was covered entirely in inky-black scales. At the same time, it possessed three identical triangular heads, all of which appeared to be extremely vicious and menacing.

As for the smallest among the trio, this was the demon beast with the head of a man and the body of a snake. It had a pair of arms, attached to which were a pair of hands that were each holding a bone spear. This was none other than that snake demon that had once attacked Han Li in the Azure Sifting Desert.

These five demon beasts were clearly the most powerful beings among this latest Beast Torrent, but they seemed a little hesitant. All five of them glanced at the city wall before communicating through a series of screeches and loud cries. Immediately thereafter, they returned to their respective brethren and disappeared again.

All of a sudden, all of the Leocon Beasts in the air and the army of crimson pythons on the ground seemed to have received the same instruction, spurring them on toward the city wall in unison amid bursts of thunderous rumbling.

The Leocon Beasts were far faster than the crimson pythons on the ground below, so they naturally reached An Yuan City first.

All of them began to let loose loud unsettling cries once again as green demonic mist began to emanate from their bodies. In the beginning, only a faint layer of mist had been emitted. However, this quickly transformed into a dense cloud of mist that enshrouded all of the Leocon Beasts within.

Thus, a vast expanse of demonic green mist around an acre in area took shape within the blink of an eye, surging forth like a formidable wave.

The bald False Core cultivator no longer hesitated upon seeing this. He let loose an almighty roar of rage as he led the charge toward the demon beasts, followed by all of the other cultivators behind him.

Prior to even making contact with the green demonic mist, all of the cultivators raised their hands into the air in quick succession to blast forth a series of talismans.

A string of loud boom erupted in rapid succession as countless balls of lightning and fire of different colors exploded after entering the green mist.

Thunderous explosions rang out incessantly, forcibly dissipating the green mist through the might of the explosions.

The human cultivators then immediately summoned their treasures without any hesitation.

Flying sabers, flying swords, magic beads, Buddhist staves, short dagger; all manners of weapons appeared in the air before hurtling toward the green demonic mist.

At the same time, the green mist up ahead tumbled and surged violently as countless demonic feathers short forth, raining down upon the oncoming treasures like a torrential storm of green light. The Leocon Beasts appeared to be capable of holding their own against the attacks from the human cultivators.

Upon seeing this, all of the human cultivators began to make hand seals and chant incantations, manipulating their treasures to tear through the storm of green light. However, there seemed to be no end to the demonic feathers flying out from within the green mist, and none of them human cultivators dared to advance any further, seemingly quite wary of this green mist. Thus, a fierce impasse ensued in the air above.

At this moment, the crimson pythons had also finally reached the foot of the city wall.

The crimson pythons split up into groups of a dozen or so, each of them biting onto one another's tails to create interconnected chains over 100 feet in length. These chains of crimson pythons coiled before springing up into the air like massive arrows, traveling toward the summit of the city wall at alarming speeds. After rising into the air, the crimson pythons all separated once again before swinging their bodies viciously toward the soldiers standing atop the city wall.

By employing this tactic, they were able to completely disregard the obstacle posed by the tall city walls.

Most of the warriors who had been deployed to this city wall had fought crimson python beasts before, but very few of them had witnessed such an innovative strategy being employed by these pythons.

As such, they were caught completely off guard, and were scrambling to set up retaliative measures.

In contrast, the ordinary An Yuan City soldiers seemed to have already predicted such an occurrence. All of them immediately gathered into groups in an orderly manner, with the front rows of soldiers raising their shields to form barricades while the soldier's behind them attacked using their crossbows.

It appeared to be quite an effective strategy.

The massive crossbows on the city wall were also shooting arrows that were around 10 feet in length each, sending them flying through the air at alarming speeds.

Cold light flashed as one crimson python after another was skewered by the massive crossbow arrow before they had a chance to scale the city wall. With just a single arrow, over 10 crimson pythons were felled at the same time.

Following a brief period of panic, the body refinement warriors also managed to recompose themselves before springing into action, wielding their weapons as they sliced through one python after another with ease.

All of them possessed powerful bodies and astonishing strength, so normal python beasts were completely powerless against them.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained completely rooted to the spot on the city wall, but a cold light flashed through his eyes several times in quick succession, following which all of the pythons beasts pouncing toward him were sliced into a dozen or so sections.

Python blood rained down from above.

With his current level of mastery of the Vajra Arts combined with his usage of the Blinking Sword Art, he was able to unleash miraculous attacks, even though he was only wielding an ordinary saber in his hand.

Not only was he swinging his saber through the air at astonishing speeds, his attacks were completely soundless and imbued with devastating power. Even a low-grade treasure would most likely be sliced in half by one of his saber strikes, let alone these ordinary python beasts.

As such, Han Li paid no heed to the norma crimson pythons that were raining down from above, turning his gaze instead toward the swarm of pythons in the distance.

He was rather interested in those three snake demons.

However, right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly erupted nearby, followed by a burst of anguished human howls.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning his gaze toward the source of the commotion.

Around 100 feet away from him, an astonishingly massive mutated python had managed to force its way onto the city wall. As soon as it landed, it immediately bit off the upper half of a soldier's body with its cavernous mouth, then sent another body refinement warrior flying into the city wall with a powerful whip of its tail.

The body refinement warrior's chest had completely caved in as a result, and the only thing that awaited him was death.

At this moment, a ferocious green light flashed within the python's eyes as it turned its gaze toward Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he glared coldly at the giant python before swaggering over to the beast in a nonchalant manner.

The python seemed to have sensed that Han Li was quite dangerous, and it arched its body before springing forth like lightning, opening its cavernous mouth again to try and swallow Han Li whole.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he slowly raised his saber. All of a sudden, his saber disappeared into an untraceable blur as he swung it through the air toward the giant python's head.

The oncoming python's body came to an abrupt halt, following which countless geysers of blood erupted from its head as it separated into several pieces.

The seemingly nonchalant attacks unleashed by Han Li had completely dismembered the formidable giant python. Han Li glanced down expressionlessly at the python's headless carcass before turning to leave.

However, right at this moment, a startling turn of events suddenly ensued!

The rear half of the giant python's headless body suddenly twisted before viciously sweeping toward Han Li like lightning.

The python was using up all its remaining strength in that single strike, and its body was hurtling through the air like a devastatingly powerful whip, trying to fell Han Li in one fell swoop.

All of the soldiers and body refinement warriors nearby all let loose cries of alarm upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a dull thump rang out as Han Li struck the python's tail with a shimmering golden fist, punching a massive hole into its body and sending it flying in the process. However, the front half of the giant python's headless body twisted around at an unimaginable angle and also crashed toward Han Li with fearsome might.

Han Li's expression darkened as he raised his saber, and his body swayed as he rushed toward the giant python, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

Piercing cold light flashed through the air, following which Han Li appeared behind the python's body before slowly turning around.

Blood gushed forth from the giant python's body like crimson rivers before it fell to the ground, having already been sliced into seven or eight pieces. The python was well and truly dead now!

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Only the short span of a few breaths had passed since the giant python pounced toward Han Li to the moment that it was completely dismembered. All of the soldiers and body refinement warriors that were preparing to step in and help were all completley and utterly dumbstruck. At the same time, they were ecstatic to have such a powerful ally on their side.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Han Li was most definitely no ordinary body refinement warrior. With a man of his extraordinary talents on his side, they were going to be a lot safer. Thus, all of them were feeling quite reinvigorated as they continued to slay the ordinary crimson python beast around them.

The battle was becoming fiercer and fiercer, and more and more of those mutated giant pythons were beginning to appear.

Han Li didn't know about what was happening elsewhere, but on the stretch of the city wall where he was situated, he had already slain five or six mutated giant pythons on his own.

He had learned his lesson from the first mutated giant python he had slain, and he now made sure to dismember all of them into a dozen or so pieces. That way, there was no chance that they would be able to launch a sneak attack against him.

As such, the other body refinement warriors and soldiers could focus solely on combating the normal python beasts, and their jobs were made a lot easier.

Unfortunately, the other sections of the city wall didn't have a fearsome warrior like Han Li among their ranks.

Amid birds of loud hissing and violent tremors, one mutated giant python after another clambered onto the city wall, destroying large sections of the wall with reckless abandon using their massive powerful tails. Aside from some body refinement warriors who were wielding heavy weapons, no one else could withstand so much as a single strike from these insanely powerful brutes, and the battle became extremely arduous for them.

However, the ease with which Han Li was killing giant pythons seemed to have attracted the attention of the swarm of pythons down below. All of a sudden, a series of crimson figures shot into the air, and three giant pythons appeared on the city wall at once. As soon as they descended, all of them pounced toward Han Li with unbridled ferocity.

Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, but a cold smile then surfaced on his face as he hurled his saber toward one of the oncoming pythons.

In the face of an ordinary saber like this one, a giant python normally wouldn't even need to take evasive measures as there was no way that he blade could slice through its armor-like scales. However, Han Li had hurled the saber with astonishingly immense force, making it just as destructive as the most powerful spirit tools. The saber flashed through the air as a streak of cold light, sinking into the python's head before emerging from its tail, slicing the python cleanly in half lengthwise!

Han Li's body then swayed, and he suddenly manifested two humanoid figures, as if he had used a doppelganger technique, and both of them rushed toward the other two giant pythons.

A series of dull thumps rang out in rapid succession. Golden light radiated from the humanoid figures in unison, completely inundating the massive bodies of the giant pythons.

The two humanoid figures then suddenly combined as one again, and the golden light also faded thereafter.

The two giant pythons were revealed, slumped to the ground, unable to move so much as a single inch.

In that split second, Han Li had shattered every single bone within these pythons' bodies into dust, thereby completely immobilizing them.

All of the nearby soldiers immediately rushed over to land the killing blows upon seeing this.

After losing three mutated giant pythons to Han Li at once, the swarm of pythons knew better than to target him again. As such, no more giant pythons appeared on their section of the city wall.

Not only did everyone else in that section heave a collective sigh of relief, Han Li was also happy to be left to his own devices. Thus, he slowly strode over to the spot where he had previously been standing before looking up at the battle taking place overhead.

At this point, the impasse between the cultivators and the Leocon Beasts had finally been broken.

All of a sudden, the stream of demonic feathers erupting from the green mist came to an abrupt halt, thereby indicating that those projectiles were not actually in unlimited supply.

The human cultivators were ecstatic upon seeing this. However, before they had a chance to attack with their treasures, the expanse of demonic mist up ahead suddenly began to surge violently amid a sharp cry, following which the mist began to manifest into a certain form. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a gargantuan Leocon Beast with its entire body covered in green feathers and a ferocious expression its leopard head. It spread open its wings before rushing toward the group of human cultivators with devastating might.

All of the cultivators were very alarmed to see this. Even with two False Core cultivators among their ranks, they didn't dare to oppose this enemy head-on as they had no idea how powerful it was.

Thus, everyone temporarily dispersed and withdrew their treasures to better protect themselves.

However, a startling turn of events then unfolded.

After rushing past the group of cultivators, the giant Leocon Beast made no effort to attack any of them. Instead, it plummeted rapidly toward the city wall down below like a shooting star.

"Dammit, we've been had! Hurry up and stop that thing!" The brocade-robed man from the Golden Jade Sect flew into a thunderous rage upon seeing this.

All of the other cultivators also came to their senses as they activated their treasures to pursue the giant Leocon Beast.

However, the gargantuan beast down below completely disregarded the attacks being launched at it, and it was intent on flying toward the city wall at full speed.

A short while later, a section of its body had been scattered by the pursuing treasures, but they had also reached close to 100 feet away from the city wall. The gusts of gale-force winds being swept up by its gigantic wings were threatening to throw the normal soldiers direct off the city wall.

Han Li looked up at the giant beast up above, and his calm expression finally cracked.

It turned out that this massive Leocon Beast was descending directly toward the section of the city wall that he was defending.

In the face of such a devastating attack, even mid-grade cultivators would be unable to take it head-on, let alone normal body refinement warriors.

Even though he had mastered the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, he wasn't fully confident that he would be able to emerge unscathed in the face of this attack.

As such, he immediately rustled his sleeve to produce an inky-black bead. However, a hesitant look then appeared on his face.

The Immortal Vanquishing Beads were the only protective treasures he had for combating powerful enemies, and it would be a waste to use one of them now.

Furthermore, by his estimations, he would definitely be able to survive this attack, having mastered the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, and he would only be severely wounded at most.

After processing this train of thought in the blink of an eye, a grim look appeared on Han Li's face as he stowed away the bead in his hand again. At the same time, he showed no intention of taking evasive measures in the face of the colossal beast descending from above. Instead, he took a deep breath and clenched his fists, following his entire body took on a shimmering golden hue.

He then let loose a loud cry before crouching down slightly, then aiming a devastating punch into the city wall underfoot.

Even though this was an extremely powerful strike, it was almost entirely inconsequential in the face of the massive Leocon Beast. Before the attack had a chance to unleash its power, Han Li had already been inundated by a sea of green mist.

The massive Leocon Beast crashed heavily into the city wall.

An earthshattering boom rang out, and even though the city walls had been fortified through a special construction method, there was no way that they could withstand an attack comparable to one from a Core Formation cultivator.

Thus, the city wall was immediately shattered, the entire structure completely crumbled.

As for the ordinary soldiers and body refinement warriors on the city wall, they didn't have to worry about this as they had already been crushed into mincemeat by the descending massive Leocon Beast.

However, even though the giant Leocon Beast was dispersed after crashing into the wall, waves of suffocating green mist began to spread in all directions. As soon as a human was swept up in this mist, they would immediately let loose bloodcurdling cries before falling to the ground. Before long, they would be transformed into a series of green corpses.

As such, all of the human soldiers who had originally intended to provide reinforcements were hurriedly backing away in horror instead.

Almost at the exact same moment, a loud cry erupted from within the glacial mist, and large hordes of Leocon Beasts poured forth from within, joining all of their crimson python beast allies. The crimson python beasts seemed to be immune to the effects of the green mist, and they swarmed into the city through the section of the city wall that had just been destroyed. An army of crimson pythons flooded into An Yuan City, and there were hundreds of mutated giant pythons among them.

An Yuan City had been breached, just like that.

The human cultivators in the air above were horrified to see this, yet that bald False Core cultivator was unwilling to give up. He raised his ax treasure high above his head, and roared, "Seal up that opening! We can still save this city!"

"Forget about it! It's already too late, Brother Wang. Even if the city wall hadn't collapsed, An Yuan City was already a lost cause anyway. It was only a matter of time before their defenses were breached," the False Core cultivator from the Golden Jade Sect suddenly interjected before casting his gaze toward the city with an indifferent look on his face.

"What do you mean by that? Huh? What are those things?" The bald man faltered initially upon hearing this, but he quickly caught sight of something, upon which his expression became extremely strained.

In the distance behind the swarm of crimson pythons, a vast expanse of yellow mist had appeared. A loud rumbling sound akin to that of countless thundering horse hooves could be heard coming from within the mist.

"Th... Those are Sandbug Beasts! They must've come from the Azure Sifting Desert. An Yuan City is being attacked by for waves of demon beasts at once; there really is no hope for them," a more experienced and knowledgeable cultivator exclaimed.

All of the other cultivators' expression darkened upon hearing this.

Even a large city would struggle to cope with such a devastating assault, let alone a small city like An Yuan City.

"It's impossible to save the entire city, so let's focus on other objectives instead. I have someone that I need to save, so I'll be taking my leave now." The brocade-robed man suddenly cupped his fist in a salute to everyone, then called the young female and male cultivator to from the Golden Jade Sect to him, before all three of them flew toward the city.

"I didn't think that a seventh city in our Heavenly Origin Region would be conquered so quickly by these Beast Torrents. There will definitely be people sent from Heavenly Origin City to ask about what happened here. Once they arrive, just tell them the truth. I'll also be taking my leave." The bald man delivered a few instructions with a wry smile on his face before also departing. However, he was traveling away from the city.

All of the other cultivators glanced at one another before also dispersing.

Some of them were returning to the city to save their loved ones while others flew away from the city like the bald man.

At this moment, the yellow mist in the distance had also reached An Yuan City, and a series of massive Sandbug Beast each around 10 feet in size emerged from within. All of them had pairs of vicious crimson eyes and sets of sinister facial features.

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In the face of the combined attacks from these four types of demon beasts, An Yuan City was completely razed to the ground.

A small proportion of mortals managed to escape under the protection of some body refinement warriors, but most of them ended up in the bellies of the demon beasts.

However, the hordes of beasts only wreaked havoc within An Yuan City for about three to four days before departing.

The Beast Torrent had officially come to a conclusion.

It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence for small cities of this scale to be destroyed by Beast Torrents, but the high-grade cultivators of Heavenly Origin Cities were still alerted in the end, and a large group of people was deployed to assess the incident.

Of course, all of that was only going to happen further down the track.

Two days after the departing of the beast hordes, spiritual light flashed in the distance, and several cultivators descended upon the section of the city where the city wall had been destroyed.

The spiritual light receded to reveal three cultivators; they were none other than the cultivators from the Golden Jade Sect, and the trio was led by the brocade-robed man with the Qin surname.

The three of them were currently scouring the landscape down below as if they were searching for something.

"That man is most likely already dead. You saw how powerful the combined attack from the Leocon Beasts was, Senior Martial Brother, why do you still insist that this man could be alive?" the young man from the Golden Jade Sect couldn't help but ask.

"You may be unaware of this, but the Vajra Arts is vastly different compared to normal body refinement techniques. After mastering the third layer of the Vajra Arts, even a mortal would be able to cleanse their essence and bolster their bodies to such a degree that they would be able to withstand a full-force attack from a low-grade treasure. The attack from the swarm of Leocon Beasts was indeed powerful, but it wasn't solely directed toward him, so if he had activated his Vajra Arts in advance, there's a good chance that he would've survived. What we're trying to do now requires the assistance of a powerful mortal like him. If it weren't for the fact that I was too far away from him at the time, I would've definitely stepped in to save him." The brocade-robed man shook his head with a grim expression in response.

The young male cultivator was still rather skeptical, but he didn't state any further objections.

However, the female cultivator among them suddenly broke her silence. "Even if that man did survive, this place as been ravaged by those beasts for such a long time; he's most likely been eaten already. How could he possibly still be alive?"

The brocade-robed man's lips twitched as a wry smile appeared on his face, and he replied, "That's also a possibility. It's just that it's really difficult to find a suitable candidate for the task we're about to undertake, so I don't want to give up any opportunity, no matter how slim the chances are."

"Oh? May I ask what you need me to do for you, Immortal Qin?"

An indifferent voice suddenly rang out from beneath a pile of rubble down below, followed by a resounding boom as the rubble was forcibly scattered in all directions. After the dust and debris settled, two humanoid figures, one tall and one short, was revealed.

The three cultivators in the sky faltered initially upon seeing this before the brocade-robed man exclaimed with elation, "Han Li!"

The two humanoid figures down below were none other than Han Li and a little girl who appeared to be around four or five years old. Even though her clothes were rather dirty and ragged, it was still quite apparent that they had been made from luxurious and expensive materials.

The little girl was very adorable with porcelain-like skin and a pair of large black eyes. However, those eyes were filled with a hint of horror as she grasped tightly onto Han Li's robes with her little hand and pressed her own body against Han Li's leg.

"I'm glad to see you're alive and well, Brother Han. May I ask who that little girl is?" the brocade-robed man asked with a smile before the three cultivators descended together.

"I don't know who she is, either. On the day that the city was destroyed, she and a few body refinement warriors fled to this place, but were surrounded by a pack of wolf beasts. Everyone else perished to those wolf beasts, but I could bear to see this little girl die, so I saved her on a whim." Han Li looked back at the little girl with a resigned expression

Even though he had taken a direct attack from that massive Leocon Beast, he had shattered the city wall below him in advance, thereby allowing him to fall and buffer the impact. As expected, with the defensive properties of the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, he only sustained some minor injuries.

However, due to the immense impact of the attack, he unintentionally managed to break through the bottleneck in his Vajra Arts.

Back when he was in the human world, he was unable to advance any further in the Vajra Arts, and this was exactly because of that bottleneck.

However, he could sense that he would only have to cultivate for around half a year now before mastering the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts.

As such, he decided to hide beneath the rubble and only emerge after the crisis had been averted. As such, he encountered this little girl, and was drawn into saving her. However, the events thereafter weren't as simple as he made them out to be.

At the time, in order to avoid having the location of his hiding spot revealed, he killed over 100 beasts in the surrounding area, making sure that there were no beasts left in the general vicinity before returning to his hiding spot beneath the rubble with the little girl. The entire process had been a rather arduous one.

Furthermore, if it weren't for this little girl weighing him down, he could've already departed from the city a few days ago. He was confident that he would be able to sneak past the hordes of beasts if he were on his own, but the little girl was like a beacon that was sure to draw widespread attention from the hordes of beasts in the city, so he decided to continue waiting beneath the rubble.

The aura of mortals was very strong in this city, so it was enough to obscure the aura of the little girl.

The commotion in the city had died down a couple of days ago, but Han Li decided to wait for a while longer as a safety precaution. He was just about to emerge from his hiding spot when the three cultivators from the Golden Jade Sect arrived on the scene, and he had overheard the entirety f their conversation.

As such, he decided to reveal himself, and the three cultivators were given a massive fright during the process.

After all, it appeared that Han Li was completely unscathed when all of them had thought that he would at least have been severely wounded, if not dead. The brocade-robed man was naturally ecstatic to see this, yet he was also quite alarmed by Han Li's power. Without even realizing it himself, he had unconsciously adopted a polite tone of voice, clearly regarding Han Li as an equal.

"You're a very kind man, Brother Han. Seeing as this little girl had a personal squad of body refinement warriors to protect her, she's most likely not just some ordinary little girl. Have you tried asking about her origins, Brother Han?" The brocade-robed man inspected the little girl with a rather intrigued expression.

"She won't tell me anything aside from the fact that her name is Dai'er." Han Li heaved a resigned sigh.

"Haha, she must've been warned by the adults in her family against revealing too much about herself. That's not a problem, though; we just have to find all of the prominent figures that managed to escape from An Yuan City, and someone should be able to identify her. Getting back to you now, Brother Han; you sure are full of surprises. I didn't think that you would be able to survive that Beast Torrent completley unscathed," the brocade-robed man praised.

"I was merely lucky. You appear to be looking for me, Immortal Qin? How may I be of assistance?" Han Li could tell that the brocade-robed man had been trying to dodge this question earlier, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"I'll have to tell you about this sooner or later, but this isn't the place to talk, Brother Han. How about I take you to where the rest of the survivors from An Yuan City are situated?" the brocade-robed man asked with solemn expression following a brief pause.

"Sure. Perhaps some of this little girl's loved ones would be among them," Han Li replied.

"That would be best. I'll take Brother Han on my treasures; you take this little girl, Junior Martial Sister." the brocade-robed man instructed.

The young female cultivator nodded before making her way over Han Li. She put on a benevolent expression and extended a hand toward Dai'er.

The little girl was very adorable and the female cultivator had fallen in love with her at first sight.

However, the feelings of affection clearly weren't mutual as a fearful look appeared on Dai'er's face at the sight of the approaching female cultivator. She abruptly hid herself behind Han Li's back, avoiding the female cultivator like the plague.

The female cultivator's expression stiffened, and a slightly awkward look appeared on her face.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

The brocade-robed man also faltered initially upon seeing this, but a smile quickly appeared on his face as he said, "It's alright, I'll carry both of them on my treasure. Ths little girl must've been through a lot, and it appears that she only trusts Brother Han."

Han Li nodded in agreement and grabbed the little girl before setting her on his shoulder.

The brocade-robed man brought out a small sword, which swelled drastically to several tens of feet in size before hovering in the air.

His body then swayed as he hovered drifted onto the sword. Just as he was about to turn around and extend an invitation toward Han Li, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

"Does your treasure have a protective feature, Fellow Daoist Qin? If so, could I trouble you to activate it? Dai'er is quite young and I'm afraid that she won't be able to cope with the strong winds during our flight." The voice had come from directly behind the brocade-robed man, and he hurriedly turned around with a surprised expression, only to find that Han Li was standing on his sword with him!

He had somehow managed to board his sword while completely escaping his notice.

The brocade-robed man forced a smile onto his face as he said, "So you're proficient in aura concealment secret techniques as well, Brother Han."

"It's just a little trick I learned," Han Li replied indifferently.

The brocade-robed man took a final meaningful glance at Han Li before turning around and making a hand seal. Yellow light abruptly shimmered from the flying sword underfoot, manifesting a faint light barrier that shielded all three of them within before the sword flew into the distance as a streak of yellow light.

The other two young cultivators also followed closely behind them.

It didn't take long before the three streaks of light had disappeared into the distant sky.

Half a day later, three streaks of light descended toward a set of undulating hills.

On the ground below, there was a vast expanse of tents and wooden huts, as well as other types of makeshift structures set up, extending for a stretch of several kilometers.

"You're back, Senior Martial Brother Qin. Oh, and you found Brother Han as well!" As soon as the three streaks of light descended in front of a certain wooden cabin, a blue-robed young man rushed over to them with an elated expression.

"Thankfully, our trip wasn't made in vain. Is the mistress in the cabin?" the brocade-robed man asked with a smile.

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"Mother is currently discussing some things with Leader Zhang. Please come in, Senior Martial Brother Qin!" The blue-robed young man extended a salute to the brocade-robed man before nodding to acknowledge Han Li.

Han Li had a rather good impression of this young master from the Heavenly East Enterprise, so he also nodded politely in response before setting the little girl on her shoulder back down onto the ground.

As soon as her two feet landed on the ground, the little girl clung tightly onto Han Li's robes again as if she were made of glue.

Even though Han Li had already anticipated that this would happen, he still heaved a resigned sigh upon seeing this. As such, he had no choice but to take this little girl into the wooden cabin with him.

The cabin was a makeshift one, so it wasn't very large in area, only around 70 to 80 feet in size. However, it had been kept very clean and orderly, and there was even a set of intricately crafted sandalwood furniture sitting within the cabin.

The beautiful Mistress Fang was sitting in the main seat within the cabin while conversing with Zhang Kui about something. There were also six other people standing off to the side with their hands clasped behind their backs in a respectful manner.

There was a pair of grey-robed men, who were none other than the guards that had been taught a lesson by Han Li a while ago, as well as Liu'er and the three other young female servants.

"You're finally back, Immortal Qin. I was planning to send Leader Zhang out to look for you... Eh? You also brought Deputy Leader Han back with you? Looks like I won't have worry about sending out a separate search party for him now. Also... isn't that City Lord Zhao's granddaughter?" A surprised expression appeared on Mistress Fang's face as she caught sight of Han Li and the little girl that was clinging to his robes.

Everyone else was also quite surprised to see the duo, and the four young female servants were naturally quite elated to see that Han Li was safe and well.

"City Lord Zhao? Are you referring to the city lord of An Yuan City?" the brocade-robed man asked.

"Which other city lord could I be referring to?" Mistress Fang asked with a rather peculiar expression.

"With the body refinement techniques that City Lord Zhao has cultivated, he's no less powerful than a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even though the city has been destroyed, he should've managed to survive that ordeal. I'm sure he would be overjoyed to see his beloved granddaughter. Is City Lord Zhao or any members of his family here?" the brocade-robed man asked with a contemplative expression.

"I think a butler and a few servants of the Zhao Manor are living nearby. I'll send someone to look for them right away." Mistress Fang smiled in response before assigning the task to one of the grey-robed guards standing in the cabin. She didn't seem too interested at all in asking about why this little girl was with Han Li.

After everyone had taken a seat, Mistress Fang's brows furrowed as she mused, "I really am quite surprised that you were able to remain completely unscathed in the face of the Beast Torrent, Deputy Leader Han. However, I can't help but feel that something is amiss. Why would four different hordes of beasts attack a small city like An Yuan City at the same time?"

"That's really hard to say; perhaps it really was just a coincidence. In any case, that's not something for us to worry about. The seniors from Heavenly Origin City will be investigating this incident," the brocade-robed man replied with a shake of his head.

Mistress Fang nodded, and said, "You're right, Immortal Qin. If An Yuan City had 100 more Foundation Establishment cultivators as reinforcements, we would've been able to withstand this Beast Torrent."

"It would've been impossible to recruit the assistance of so many cultivators. Even though there are countless cultivators in our three regions, virtually none of them would be willing to assist a city full of mortals. They would be taking a big risk and stand to gain nothing from it, so there really is no incentive for them to step in. In fact, aside from the several large cities directly controlled by cultivators, no other city has the right to set up any cultivator markets. This the reason why Beast Torrents are never a problem for those large cities. Millions of low-grade cultivators are present in those cities at any given time during the day, so no beasts would dare to attack them," the brocade-robed man replied in an indifferent manner.

Millions?! Han Li knew that there was a staggering number of cultivators in the Spirit Realm, but he was still stunned to hear that just a single city could be inhabited by so many cultivators.

"Indeed, the Heavenly Origin Region is extremely vast, and mortal cities only account for a tiny area within the region, so it's only natural that immortals wouldn't pay any heed to them." Mistress Fang heaved a forlorn sigh.

In response to the slightly accusatory tone in Mistress Fang's words, the brocade-robed cultivator could only give a wry smile.

Everyone was aware of the conflict between mortals and cultivators, and the subject wasn't something a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like him could comment on.

Right at this moment, someone delivered a report from outside the wooden cabin.

"Mistress Fang, City Lord Zhao's butler is here. Would you like me to take him inside?"

"Of course, please invite him into the cabin," Mistress Fang immediately replied.

"Yes!" The door was opened from the outside and three people strode in.

One of them was the grey-robed guard while the other two consisted of a slender young woman and an elderly man with a head of snowy white hair.

As soon as these two entered the room, the expression on Dai'er's little face changed drastically.

"It really is the young mistress! This is great! Are you alright, Young Mistress Dai'er?" The young woman immediately rushed over to Dai'er and crouched down beside her as tears welled up in her eyes.

The little girl also let go of Han Li's robes for the first time as she threw her little arms around the young woman and burst into sobs.

"Thank you for recovering our young mistress, Mistress Fang. Master would have my head on a plate if the young mistress had gone missing." The elderly man was also very elated, and he hurriedly extended a grateful bow to Mistress Fang.

"I was not the one who rescued her, it was Deputy Leader Han who saved Young Mistress Zhao's life," Mistress Fang conceded truthfully.

"You have my eternal gratitude, Young Master Han. I'll be sure to report this matter to my master so he can issue you a handsome reward for your efforts."

"There's no need to thank me; I only bumped into your young mistress by chance. You can take her away now." Han Li waved a hand in response.

The elderly man extended some further words of gratitude before taking his leave along with Dai'er and that young woman, who appeared to be a servant.

Dai'er wasn't clinging onto Han Li's robes anymore, but she was still looking at Han Li with a forlorn expression in her large eyes as she led out of the room by the young female servant.

The little girl was like an adorable little puppy, and Han Li was suddenly struck by a childish impulse as he put on a theatrical grimace for her.

The little girl immediately burst into laughter at the sight of Han Li's comical expression, and she finally departed from the cabin with a sweet smile on her face.

The brocade-robed man had been keeping an eye on Han Li this entire time, and he suddenly said, "Looks like you've grown quite fond of that little girl, Brother Han. Even if City Lord Zhao managed to escape with his life from that Beast Torrent, the entire city was destroyed and most of its population was slain by those beasts. Regardless of what excuses he has to offer, he's still going to be held accountable for this incident. It looks like the Zhao Family is in a rather precarious situation."

"What does that have to do with me? I'll let the Zhao Family worry about themselves." Han Li cast an indifferent glance toward the brocade-robed man in response.

"Hehe, looks like I was overthinking the issue. Mistress Fang, seeing as Brother Han is back now, shouldn't we be discussing that matter with him?" the brocade-robed man chuckled before suddenly turning to Mistress Fang.

Mistress Fang faltered initially upon hearing this before quickly returning to her senses. She adopted a rather respectful expression, and said, "Of course. We'll be requiring Young Master Han's assistance in this matter, so of course it's necessary to discuss things beforehand. I'll have to trouble you to lend Immortal Qin a hand on this occasion, Young Master Han."

"I'm happy to hear what you have to say. As long as the task is within the realm of my abilities, I can certainly consider lending my assistance to Immortal Qin," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin.

Mistress Fang took a brief moment to organize her thoughts before continuing, "Here's the gist of the matter; my subordinates and I unintentionally discovered something that can increase a cultivator's chances of reaching the Core Formation Stage..."

Han Li listened expressionlessly, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, in a forest that was several thousand kilometers away, a ball of purple light was rapidly flying through the air. Behind him were two flying beasts, one large and one small. The larger one was astonishingly massive, while the smaller one was shimmering with blue light. They were none other than the two leaders of the beast hordes that had appeared at An Yuan City a few days ago.

Up ahead, a humanoid figure was flashing through the air amid the ball of purple light, and it appeared that it was a man flying atop a treasure.

All of a sudden, the purple light up ahead tremored, and the light faded to reveal a purple-robed man. The rectangular object beneath his feet was rapidly plummeting downward, and it appeared that he had lost control over his flight instrument.

The two flying beasts behind him were naturally ecstatic to see this, and they caught up to him following just a few flashes. One of them flapped its wings ad countless streaks of yellow light shot forth, converging toward the purple-robed man like a torrential storm of light. Meanwhile, the smaller of the two beasts opened its mouth, and a loud thunderclap immediately rang out as a piercing arc of blue light erupted from within.

An urgent look appeared on the purple-robed man upon seeing this, and he let loose an almighty cry as he abruptly stomped both feet down onto his dysfunctional flying instrument. Thus, the speed of his descent was increased by severalfold as plummeted from the sky like a shooting star, thereby allowing him to just barely evade the oncoming attacks before disappearing without a trace into the forest down below.

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The two flying beasts weren't in a hurry to give chase upon seeing this. Instead, they began to circle around in the air above the forest while emitting a series of strange cries.

Moments later, a streak of red light hurtled over from the distance, reaching the two flying beasts in the blink of an eye. The light then receded to reveal a young woman in palatial robes who appeared to be just over 20 years of age. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and there was a malicious look in her eyes.

"Has he finally exhausted his supply of spirit stones? You two really are useless; how has it taken you two so long to pursue a mere body refinement warrior? If it's not for the fact that I have to restrict my magic power fluctuations, I'd have captured him myself long ago." The young woman looked at the forest down below with a cold expression before turning her gaze toward the two flying beasts in a displeased manner.

The two intimidating Leocon Beasts were all horrified by the displeasure in the young woman's eyes, and both of them began to tremor uncontrollably.

"Hmph, I can't allow the bloodline of our race to fall into the hands of the human race. No matter what price I have to pay, I must take that little girl back with me. Once I capture that City Lord Zhao, I'll be able to interrogate him for her whereabouts." The young woman looked down once again, but she showed no intention of taking action. Instead, a rather peculiar expression appeared on her face.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom erupted from within the forest nearby, followed by a string of ferocious cries. It sounded as if a fierce battle had broken out in that section of the forest.

The young woman and the two Leocon Beasts hovered silently in the air, seemingly waiting for something.

After a short while, the commotion in the forest came to an abrupt halt, following which three balls of black Qi and a ball of yellow Qi rose up into the air and flew directly toward them.

They were none other than the three snake demons that had led the army of crimson python beasts a few days ago, as well as a massive Sandbug Beast that was around 40 to 50 feet in size.

The snake demon with the head of a human was currently holding a half-dead human in its hands; it was none other than the purple-robed man who had just plummeted from the sky not long ago.

His entire body was stained with blood, and one of his arms had also gone missing, rendering him completely powerless to resist.

The four demon beasts made their way over to the young woman before placing respectfully the man before her on a cloud of demonic Qi and backing away thereafter.

"Well done, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for this." The young woman nodded with a content look after verifying that the purple-robed man was still alive.

The snake demons and the massive Sandbug Beast all let loose low cries in unison, seemingly overjoyed by the prospect of the reward they had been promised.

The purple-robed man had regained his consciousness at this point, and he was stunned to see the young woman standing in mid-air before him. "Impossible! You're an eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beast; how did you manage to enter our Heavenly Origin Region?"

"Eighth grade demon beast? I guess you can say that. However, I'm the one asking questions here, not you. Listen up, I want to know the whereabouts of a certain person. If you tell me where they are, I'll grant you a quick and painless death. Otherwise, I'll pull your soul out of your body and find the answer I seek using a soul search technique. I don't need to tell you how painful the latter option will be for you, right?" The young woman held herself in a graceful and refined manner, but her words were extremely cold and cruel.

The purple-robed man's grim expression darkened even further.

"You're clearly a prominent figure among the demon race, yet you're interrogating a mere body refinement warrior like me? What information could I possibly offer that would be of interest to you? Perhaps there's been some kind of misunderstanding and I'm not the person you're looking for, Senior?"

A cold light flashed through the young woman's eyes upon hearing this. She raised a slim finger, and a thin beam of red light shot forth, puncturing the purple-robed man's shoulder in a flash.

The man let loose a howl of agony, and the smell of burned flesh wafted through the air as a small hole appeared on his shoulder.

"Didn't I say that I was the one who was going to be asking questions? If you make the same mistake again, I'm going to chop off all of your limbs," the young woman threatened expressionlessly.

Only after a long which did the purple-robed man manage to recover from the excruciating agony shooting through his shoulder, and he said through gritted teeth, "I understand, Senior. Please tell me what you'd like to know."

The young woman looked at the purple-robed man with a cold expression, and said, "It's quite simple; I want to know the whereabouts of a little girl named Dai'er. Don't tell me you don't know her; she's your only granddaughter."

"Dai'er! You're from the Black Phoenix Race!" the purple-robed man exclaimed.

"Correct. Looks like you knew all along that Dai'er had the bloodline of our Black Phoenix Race. If it weren't for the fact that you're constantly hiding in your city with your granddaughter like a cowardly turtle, I wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of deploying such a massive Beast Torrent to attack your An Yuan City. The entire city's been destroyed, but I still haven't found your granddaughter, so I can only come to you for answers," the young woman revealed with a cold smile.

"I knew it. There was no way we could've kept the Black Phoenix Demon King in the dark," the purple-robed man murmured as the final trace of hope faded from his eyes.

"It's good that you know your place. But then again, you humans sure are brave; not only did you send someone to seduce the Young Master of our Black Phoenix Race, you even dared to sneak the bloodline of our holy race back to your human race. Do you really that the Black Phoenix Race won't be able to do anything just because you fled back to the three regions of the human race?" The expression on the young woman's face gradually cooled even further as she spoke.

"My daughter has already passed away because of Dai'er; what more do you want?" The purple-robed man also cast aside all inhibitions as he gritted his teeth with an expression of resentment and fury.

"What do we want? We want to take Dai'er back to our Black Phoenix Palace, of course. Even though she's half-human, she still has the bloodline of our holy race running through her veins, so she can't be allowed to remain with you humans. I'm glad that your daughter already died; it saves me from having to hunt her down myself. Now tell me where that little girl is!" The young woman seemed to be losing her patience.

The purple-robed man glowered at her for a long while before spitting through gritted teeth, "I don't know!"

The young woman's expression remained completely unchanged, and it seemed that she was not surprised in the slightest by the man's answer. However, her body then swayed as she flashed through the air toward the purple-robed man, then grasped her five slim fingers over the top of his head.

"Take one final look at this world; you'll cease to exist in a moment," the young woman said in a cold voice before blue light flashed from her fingertips.

The purple-robed man's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he entered a state of complete sensory deprivation...

After a while, a dried corpse that had been reduced to only several feet in size plummeted from the sky and disappeared into the forest down below.

"Things are a little more troublesome than I expected. I didn't think that man would be so stubborn and patriotic; he gave orders to his subordinates to execute his granddaughter if they don't meet up after 10 days. Who would've thought that he could be so cruel? Looks like rather sacrifice his only granddaughter for the sake of the human race than see another high-grade demon beast rise up among our Black Phoenix Race. Thankfully, he's just a body refinement warrior. If he were a cultivator instead, perhaps he would've developed into quite a formidable figure. So this means that he wasn't actually with his granddaughter on the day that An Yuan City was destroyed. Are you sure none of you saw the person I'm looking for on that day?" The young woman suddenly turned to the demon beasts beside her with a cold and interrogatory gaze.

The demon beasts glanced at one another before letting loose a string of strange cries in an extremely respectful manner.

The young woman's brows furrowed upon seeing this. All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over and a crimson bead appeared over her palm. She then made a hand seal and chanted something before opening her mouth, upon which a small ball of blood essence was expelled onto the bead as a layer of blood mist.

A burst of crimson light immediately appeared over the surface of the red bead. The young woman stared at the bead with an intense unblinking gaze. Only after a long while did she close her eyes with an exhausted expression on her face, but she quickly opened her eyes again.

"The person I'm looking for isn't dead, and she hasn't left this area. I don't care what methods you employ, but you have to find her for me within three days. If you can't do that, then there's no reason for you to continue to exist in this world. However, I am a fair individual who hands down punishments and rewards in equal measure. You've captured the lord of An Yuan City, so you'll naturally be rewarded for your efforts. You can take these pills and consume them now; they'll save you several centuries of arduous cultivation. If you can find the little girl, I'll have an even better reward waiting for you." The young woman flicked a finger, and several white pills shot forth, flying toward the group of demon beasts.

The demon beasts hurriedly opened their mouths with overjoyed expressions before swallowing the pills and letting loose a series of elated cries. After that, they transformed into balls of demonic Qi and sped away into the distance.

"How annoying; if it weren't for the fact that using my spiritual sense and magic power could attract the attention of high-grade human cultivators, I wouldn't have to ask those idiots to do my bidding. I can't stay here anymore; I have to go back as quickly as possible after taking care of this matter." The young woman heaved a faint sigh before raising a hand. Red light flashed, and a handkerchief-like treasure enshrouded her entire body before she disappeared on the spot as a plume of azure smoke.

Not long after she vanished, one of the seemingly ordinary trees in the forest down below suddenly warped and transformed into a black-robed elderly man with a set of sinister facial features. The man was holding a dried corpse in his hands, and it was none other than the corpse of the purple-robed man.

"I didn't think I'd see the Demonic Maiden of the Black Phoenix Race here. Looks like her cultivation base is far superior to mine, and I most likely wouldn't have been able to escape her notice if it weren't for the fact that she's really wary about releasing her spiritual sense. Who would've thought that someone with the bloodline of the Black Phoenix Race would be dwelling in An Yuan City? Haha, this is a brilliant opportunity for me. This body will be quite useful for me." the elderly man chuckled before tossing the dried corpse into the air. He then rubbed his hands together before raising them over his head.

A burst of grey mist suddenly obscured the entire dried corpse, following which an incredible scene unfolded.

The dried and shriveled corpse suddenly began to expand like a rehydrating sponge, rapidly reverting back to its original form. Even the dismembered arm had grown back once again.

"Hehe, with this body, I'll be able to find that little girl first, and then..."

"And then what?"

Just as the black-robed man was chuckling to himself, an icy cold voice suddenly sounded from behind him. His expression immediately changed drastically, following which he immediately shot forth into the distance as a streak of grey light like a rabbit that had just had its tail trodden on. In his haste to escape, he had even abandoned the dried corpse that he had just rejuvenated.

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Following a fierce cry, a jeg of black flames shot forth, transforming into a glistening inky-black bird that was around 10 feet in size.

The bird was able to cover a distance of over 300 feet simply by spreading its wings, upon which it appeared directly behind the elderly man and pounced.

The black-robed elderly man was clearly no ordinary cultivator, either; he knew exactly what was happening behind him without even turning his head, and he immediately let loose an almighty roar. He swept a sleeve behind him while laying his other hand over the top of his head. A small grey flag and a green jade fan immediately appeared behind him in unison, transforming into two robust barriers of light, one grey and one green, which shielded the man's body within.

However, an incredible turn of events then unfolded!

As soon as the massive black bird crashed into the light barriers, it transformed into a vast expanse of surging black flames.

The seemingly robust light barriers were immediately reduced to nothingness by these black flames, as if they were papier-mache structures. Immediately thereafter, the protective spiritual light around the elderly man's body was instantly incinerated by the black flames as well, transforming it into an unsettling pitch-black color.

The elderly man didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before his body and his Nascent Soul were reduced to ashes within the flames.

The black flames then swept up into the air, transforming into a huge black bird again before flying back the way it had come.

At this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly proliferated from several hundred feet away beside the purple-robed man's body. A lithe and graceful figure then emerged, seemingly out of thin air, before waving a hand toward the approaching black bird.

The bird immediately transformed into a plume of black smoke that disappeared into the bracelet around her wrist.

This person was none other than the young woman from the Black Phoenix Race who had just departed.

She took a cold glance toward the distance where the elderly man had perished, then cast her gaze toward the corpse hovering before her, and a deriding sneer appeared on her face.

"To think that a pathetic Dark Corpse Valley Nascent Soul cultivator would dare to follow me when he's no match even for my spirit beast! He's not entirely useless, though; the Corpse Transformation Technique of the Dark Corpse Valley is quite intriguing. I can make use of this rejuvenated corpse for myself," the young woman murmured to herself before opening her mouth. A fist-sized ball of black light immediately shot forth from within, then disappeared into the purple-robed man's body in a flash.

The young woman immediately made a hand seal thereafter and began to chant something.

A few moments later, a layer of black light abruptly surfaced over the corpse before disappearing again.

The purple-robed man's body swayed before it landed on its two feet in front of the young woman. However, its eyes were completley blank and devoid of any soul.

The young woman flipped a hand over, and that crimson bead appeared once again. She raised a hand, and the bead flew directly toward the purple-robed man, only for him to open his mouth in a robotic manner before swallowing the bead.

A hint of surprise appeared on the young woman's face upon seeing this. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but didn't say anything.

Almost at the exact same moment, the purple-robed man before he adopted the same expression that was on her face, and he opened his mouth to speak in her stead in an identical voice to the one he used when he was still alive. "Not bad. As long as no Nascent Soul cultivators appear, there should be no one who can notice anything amiss with this body. It can act as my avatar and take care of everything for me."

The women giggled to herself in a rather unsettling manner before vanishing on the spot again.

The purple-robed man was left standing by himself in the middle of the forest.

After a while, the man suddenly began to walk away, and disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye.

Thus, peace and quiet quickly settled over this area again, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the same time, in Mistress Fang's Wooden Cabin, Han Li had already heard her description of the duty that was to be assigned to him, and he currently wore a contemplative look on his face.

"So you're asking me to accompany Immortal Qin to a demon beast nest to secure a Seven-Leaf Yin Blood Clover, but a restriction has been set up on the only passageway leading to the spirit herb. As such, you need a powerful body refinement warrior to break that restriction, is that correct?" Han Li asked in a slow voice.

"That's right, Brother Han. Even though cultivators like us can also forcibly break through this restriction, there's a good chance that the guardian demon beast there will notice us if we were to use our magic power, and it'll consume the herb itself rather than allow us to take it. As such, we can only enlist the help of a mortal without any magic power. Of course, I won't be asking you to take this risk for me free of charge, Brother Han. I'll be sure to reward you handsomely after the event," the brocade-robed man replied in an earnest voice.

"A handsome reward, eh?" A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's right. Have you heard of our sect's Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, Brother Han? The water in the pond possesses some kind of incredible power. It isn't very useful to us cultivators, but it's extremely beneficial for mortals cultivating body refinement arts. It can stimulate the entire body and assist one in making a breakthrough. Of course, this effect is only applicable once per person. After you use it once, it won't work again no matter how long you bathe in it. This is why many body refinement warriors are quite friendly with our sect, and there's no lack of high-grade body refinement warriors among them. If you can help me secure this spirit medicine, my martial brothers and I will request for an opportunity for you to bathe in that pond. What do you think, Brother Han?" The brocade-robed man turned to him with an expectant gaze."The Nine Profound Brightjade Pond? That's the first time I've heard of it." A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's no surprise, seeing as you seem to have come from a faraway land, Brother Han. Our Golden Jade Sect isn't an overly large sect, but all of the body refinement warriors in the surrounding area are aware of our sect and our pond. You'll only have to ask around to verify the authenticity of my offer," the brocade-robed man said with a smile.

Han Li fell silent again upon hearing this. Only after a long while did he ask, "I'll only be responsible for breaking the restriction, right? My services won't be required in any other areas?"

Han Li was expressing a degree of interest toward the offer, and the brocade-robed man was ecstatic to see this. "Of course. We're requesting for your assistance specifically to break that restriction; you can leave everything else to myself and my martial brothers. The Beast Torrent has just subsided, so the number of normal beasts around the demon beast nest must've suffered a sharp decline. This will be the perfect opportunity for us to infiltrate the nest and take the herb."

Han Li nodded with a contemplative look upon hearing this. In all honesty, if any reward other than a chance to bathe in the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond had been offered to him, he would've turned down the proposal. After all, there really was no reason for him to help a few Foundation Establishment Stage juniors secure some spirit herb. However, this was a reward that could help him make a breakthrough in his body refinement arts, and that was a very tempting prospect as it would save him over 10 years of arduous cultivation.

For Han Li now, he had to get stronger as soon as possible in order to bolster his chances of survival in this world, so the opportunity to completely master the Vajra Arts was a very tempting one indeed. For a formation spell master like him, any restriction set up by some low-grade demon beasts would surely pose no challenge at all. "Alright, if you can convince me that I'll be assured of an opportunity to bathe in the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, then I'll agree to secure the herb with you." Han Li had made up his mind, so he cast aside all pleasantries and cut straight to the point.

This brocade-robed man had clearly already detected that he was no ordinary body refinement warrior, so there was no need for him to hide anything anymore.

The change in Han Li's tone of voice came as a slight surprise to both Mistress Fang and the brocade-robed man. However, Mistress Fang was an extremely intelligent woman, and she quickly grasped the reason behind Han Li's shift in demeanor. Even so, she merely smiled while remaining, refraining from making any interjections."It's understandable that Brother Han would want a guarantee from me. Bring out that thing." The brocade-robed man laid a hand on the storage bracelet around his wrist, upon which a white jade pendant appeared over his palm.

The pair of young Golden Jade Sect cultivators also brought out identical items.

The brocade-robed man collected all three jade pendants before handing them over to Han Li.

"What's this?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he glanced at these jade pendants.

"An incantation seal has been cast onto these jade pendants, so they each contain a wisp of our souls within. These pendants were all made in pairs, and if any sect disciple departs from the sect, the other pendant has to be left in the sect. That way, if we encounter any trouble or life-threatening danger, the seniors of our sect will be able to track us down using these pendants. Of course, if these pendants were to be destroyed, our cultivation bases would be negatively affected as well. I'm offering them to you now as a sign of good faith and sincerity. If you still don't believe me, then I can't really do anything else to try and convince you."

"I trust you, Brother Qin. We'll do as you say." Even though Han Li was unable to release his spiritual sense, his eyes had been cleansed countless times by the Brightsight Spirit Water, so even without any magic power injection, he could see the spiritual power imbued within the jade pendants. As such, it appeared that the brocade-robed man was telling the truth.

Thus, he pocketed the jade pendants with a faint smile on his face.

Even if these jade pendants turned out to be counterfeit after all, he could easily take care of a trio of small fry like them if they were to try and revoke their promise.

The three cultivators were all overjoyed that Han Li had agreed to this proposal. Thus, they decided to set off for the spirit herb the day after the next, and after chatting for a while longer, all of them departed from the wooden cabin.

Han Li was settled into a nearby wooden cabin that was slightly smaller so he could rest and prime himself into his best condition.

A night and a day passed uneventfully in the blink of an eye, but when night fell again on the second day, this makeshift human settlement suddenly erupted into activity.

This as because the lord of An Yuan City had appeared completely unscathed in their settlement. This development naturally created a stir throughout the entire encampment.

Even Mistress Fang left her wooden cabin to visit City Lord Zhao in person.

After hearing about this, the image of Dai'er flashed through his mind before his heart settled into tranquility once again. She would be safe now with her grandfather.

However, not long after that, someone was sent to Han Li's cabin.

It turned out that City Lord Zhao was planning to take his granddaughter to a friend of his in Heavenly Origin City, but Dai'er insisted on seeing Han Li again before she left.

City Lord Zhao also seemed to be interested in thanking the savior of his granddaughter in person.

As such, Han Li made his way out of the wooden cabin after a brief period of contemplation.

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The purple-robed man put on a benevolent expression at the sight of Han Li, and said, "So you're Han Li. I must thank you for saving my precious Dai'er. If you'd like any reward, feel free to state it, and I'll do my best to satisfy you."

At this moment, Dai'er was with him, as well as several of his body refinement warrior subordinates. They were all standing at the entrance to the encampment, seemingly as if they were preparing for a long journey.

Dai'er held onto the purple-robed man tightly with one of her small hands while she stared intently at Han Li. Even though she hadn't said anything, the expression on her little face seemed to be a little off somehow.

"I have no intention of asking for a reward. I merely happened to stumble upon your granddaughter, and anyone in my place would've done the same thing," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"Hehe, I'm not a man who's used to owing people favors. How about this? I heard that you've mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts; a friend of my forefathers also just so happens to be using the same cultivation art, and he's already mastered the sixth layer. I have something of his from many years ago you can take this item and seek out his descendants. Perhaps they'll be able to provide you with some useful cultivation insights." The purple-robed man laughed heartily before handing a seemingly nondescript short sword over to Han Li. His lips then twitched as he communicated a location and the name of a certain person to Han Li through voice transmission.

Seeing as this could potentially benefit his cultivation of the Vajra Arts, Han Li accepted the short sword after only a brief hesitation.

As such, City Lord Zhao bade farewell to Mistress Fang and everyone else before climbing onto a giant wolf steed with Dai'er.

However, right at this moment, the seemingly tame wolf suddenly reared up, springing to an altitude of over several tens of feet up into the air, as if it had been frightened by something.

The purple-robed man was slightly startled by this sudden development, but he clenched his legs tightly against the sides of the wolf, and faint black light flashed, following which the giant wolf became tame and docile again.

Everyone else was also rather surprised to see this, but no one paid it much heed.

After all, these giant wolf steeds were feral creatures by nature, so it wasn't uncommon to see them thrown tantrums from time to time. Instead, all of them were extending words of admiration toward City Lord Zhao at his ability to control the wolf with just a clamp of his legs.

However, Han Li's expression changed minutely right when the black light flashed between the purple-robed man's legs, but he quickly composed himself again.

As the purple-robed man rode off into the distance, everyone else began to disperse. Only Han Li remained standing on the spot for a long time with a grim and indecisive look on his face.

"There's no mistaking it; that was definitely corpse Qi. But why would it try to take Dai'er away? So be it, I'll help her again just this once." The image of the adorable Dai'er clinging tightly to his robes surfaced in Han Li's mind again, and he heaved a faint sight before making his way toward the center of the encampment.

Soon, he had disappeared into the night.

After opening up some distance from the encampment, the purple-robed man immediately spurred his wolf steed into a full-speed gallop. His subordinates felt that to be rather strange, but they didn't think much of it as they hurried to keep pace with him.

These subordinates were all body refinement warriors under City Lord Zhao's command. As for the butler and the servants, they were not suited to make such a long journey, so they remained behind in encampment.

After galloping for over over 50 kilometers, a small hill appeared up ahead. A peculiar light flashed through the purple-robed man's eyes as he changed direction and urged his wolf steed to travel toward that hill.

His subordinates were rather perplexed by this, but they still followed along behind him. However, after reaching the summit of the hill, the purple-robed man suddenly tugged on his reins with immense force, causing his wolf steed to stop cold in its tracks.

Everyone else behind him naturally also stopped.

Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

A massive fissure suddenly opened up in the ground beneath one of the wolf's paws. The wolf and its rider were both swallowed into the ground before they even had a chance to cry out.

Everyone else was very alarmed by this development, and they were just about to rush forward to rescue their companion when two bone spears shot forth from the ground, piercing through their bodies like lightning and instantly killing them on the spot.

The final person finally realized that something was amiss, and in his shock and horror, he immediately turned his wolf steed around and fled into the distance. However, a three-headed black python suddenly appeared, sinking its three pairs of fangs into his body before tearing him into three pieces.

The earth underfoot then tremored as two snake demons and a massive Sandbug Beast emerged from underground.

Only then did the purple-robed man turn around with a cold expression, and instructed, "Clean everything up; don't leave any signs behind."

He then jumped down from the wolf steed with Dai'er in his arms. He claimed a cold glare at the giant wolf before abruptly giving it a vicious backhand to the head.

The wolf fell dead to the ground before it could even utter a single sound. Its entire head had been smashed like a watermelon, and its brains and intracranial fluids had spilled everywhere.

"Stupid beast! You almost blew my cover!" the purple-robed man harrumphed coldly.

Throughout this entire process, Dai'er's expression remained completely calm and collected, as if she were looking, but not seeing anything. This was clearly not the proper reaction a girl of her age should be exhibiting toward witnessing such scenes of bloodshed and slaughter.

Soon, the demon beasts had completely consumed the bodies of the knights and their wolf steeds, and it was as if nothing had ever happened in this place.

City Lord Zhao nodded with a content expression upon seeing this. However, he then suddenly raised a hand and a burst of black Qi abruptly appeared. The black Qi manifested itself into a short spear that was three to four feet in length, and it was hurled like lightning toward what appeared to be nothing but thin air.

A loud boom erupted as a shimmering golden fist appeared out of nowhere, shattering the oncoming spear. Faint golden light then flashed as a young man appeared.

He was none other than Han Li!

He had somehow been able to conceal himself this entire time while following City Lord Zhao for over 50 kilometers from the encampment.

"Kill him!" The purple-robed man's eyes narrowed as he delivered a cold instruction.

The snake demons and the massive Sandbug Beast on the hill immediately pounced toward Han Li in unison.

Among them, the snake demon with the human head seemed to have identified Han Li as the one who had foiled their attempt to attack the Heavenly East Enterprise squad, and a furious expression appeared on its face. It let loose a low snarl before hurling its two bones spears through the air. Meanwhile, the three-headed snake beside it sprang into the air as well.

As for that massive Sandbug Beast, it opened its mouth and blasted a jet of green liquid directly toward Han Li.

"No!" Dai'er's expressionless facade finally crumbled upon seeing this.

In contrast, the purple-robed man beside her remained completely expressionless.

In the face of these joint attacks, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face. He clenched his fists before aiming devastating punches toward the two bone spears.

Following two loud thumps, the two bones spears shattered as if they had been struck by sledgehammers, crumbling into broken shards in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, that jet of green liquid had also appeared overhead. Han Li's body immediately swayed without any hesitation, and his body appeared several tens of feet away, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

Thus, the green liquid came spilling down onto the ground where Han Li had been standing just a moment ago.

Large amounts of white foam immediately began to surface, along with a putrid stench that wafted through the air. This green liquid was clearly extremely corrosive.

Right at this moment, the three-headed snake used the green liquid as a smokescreen and pounced on Han Li like lightning.

Han Li seemed to have been caught completely off guard, and both his shoulders as well as his neck were caught between the snake's jaws.

The other snake monster and the Sandbug Beast were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they immediately converged toward him.

Han Li's expression darkened as he let loose a cold harrumph. He grabbed on the of the snake,s heads with both hands, then tore it cleanly away from its body in one powerful motion.

The snake beast was thrown into a blind fury by its excruciating agony, and its other two heads sank their fangs into Han Li's shoulders with even greater maddened ferocity. However, Han Li merely swept his hands gently through the air, and the snake beast's other two heads were also decapitated amid a burst of golden light.

After activating the power of the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts to its maximal extent, even Han Li's bare hands were as powerful as treasures.

Han Li didn't pause for even a single instant as he twisted around, manifesting several projections to combat the remaining two beasts.

Following a burst of ferocious cries, and a brief battle, the blood of the two beasts began to rain down from the sky.

Han Li emerged from the storm of blood with a cold expression. A loud thump then erupted as he appeared over 100 feet away with his hands clasped behind his back and his back as straight as an arrow.

Only then did several sections of dismembered beastly body parts plummet from the sky and crash into the ground, staining the sand down below a crimson red.

Han Li was able to easily slay these three beasts with his immensely powerful body.

"Who are you and why are you using that corpse to try and fool everyone?" Han Li interrogated in a bone-chilling voice as he approached the purple-robed man on the hill. At the same time, a menacing aura emanated from his body, and a layer of greyish-white Qi seemed to have emerged from behind his back. The baleful aura that he had refined using the Brightjade Arts had been reflexively unleashed by Han Li in that instant.

If he were facing a normal opponent, they would most likely be severely debilitated by that baleful aura alone.

The purple-robed had been standing calmly on the spot this entire time, and he didn't bat an eyelid even when the three beasts were slain in quick succession. However, a hint of surprise finally appeared on his face at the sight of the powerful baleful aura emanating from his body.

"After mastering the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, even a mortal can run as fast as the wind and keep pace with one of those wolf steeds with ease, but it's very interesting that you were able to manipulate light angles and your environment to conceal yourself without using any magic power. However, what I'm much more interested in is this baleful aura emanating from your body. There's no way that an ordinary body refinement warrior would possess such an immense baleful aura. Who are you?" the purple-robed man responded in kind.

Han Li's expression darkened upon hearing this. He was clearly not very pleased that his question had been answered with another question. He took a glance at the slightly shellshocked Dai'er, and harrumphed coldly, "Why am I wasting my time bickering with a corpse puppet? Do you want to put an end to yourself or trouble me to do the honors?"

Golden light then flashed all over Han Li's body as he strode toward the hill.

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