Автор: sergey

Han Li stopped at the outskirts of the valley entrance, sensing a dozen threads of spiritual sense repeatedly brush past him.

Han Li calmly waited for a short while and refused invitations from those that recognized him as a high-grade body refiner.

This valley was only one of several entrances from the human side of the Setting Sun Tomb.

Other entrances were sealed by several strange formations by human cultivators. This was the sole entrance nearby and was naturally guarded by a few cultivators from Setting Sun City to make sure nothing happened.

Of the cultivators secretly guarding the entrance, the weakest of them possessed Core Formation cultivation while the strongest of them was at Deity Transformation stage.

As Han Li began to slowly make his way into the valley, he began to recall the information he gathered about the Setting Sun Tomb over the past few days.

At that moment, he was wearing unremarkable grey battle armor underneath his robes. He also carried a covered long spear on his back.

The spear pole was pitch-black, but it was embedded with several azure crystals that sparkled with light.

The head of the spear was a faint silver, but it was unclear what material it was refined from. As for the earth wyrm tendon, it was wrapped around his arm and remained hidden underneath his robes.

Of course, the trump card Han Li relied on the most were the two Immortal Vanquishing Beads he possessed in his storage bracelet. With those two peak treasures in hand, he could protect himself against even Deity Transformation-stage threats.

The valley was incredibly wide. When Han Li walked for over fifty kilometers, the last of the road disappeared.

Han Li stood in place and looked around him with a sigh.

It was incredibly inconvenient for him to be unable to release his spiritual sense. He couldnt determine his direction and could only venture off in a random direction.

In the first few days, he encountered nothing apart from a few small beasts and serpents.

In an area this large, it wasnt particularly odd that he didnt encounter any demon beasts or people.

But five days later, Han Li found himself in front of a dense jungle with no end in sight.

The threes were over a hundred meters tall with dense leaves and branches. It was incredibly dark with beast roars that would occasionally sound in the distance.

Han Li narrowed his eyes for a moment before treading forward. Then after he blurred several times, he appeared behind a large tree.

With the power of Han Lis current body, the Shifting Smoke Steps he cultivated during his time was a mortal allowed him to move as if he was a bodiless ghost, even in a place with such dense vegetation.

If any others were to see this, they absolutely wouldnt dare to provoke Han Li in this place.

As Han Li traveled forward, a silver line shot out with a flash and flicked around a nearby giant tree before returning.

A miserable scream then sounded and the stench of blood filled the air. A six-meter-tall yellow horned bear then emerged from behind the tree and changed at Han Li with a roar.

Han Lis body blurred several times and arrived ten meters away. He continued forward as if he hadnt noticed the bear.

Then with a crack, the huge bear suddenly burst with blood. It had been split into two in the middle of its charge.

The huge tree the bear was hiding behind soon let out a muffled groan before falling to the ground.

Han Lis attack split both the huge tree and the bear. Even now, the silver whip refined from the earth wyrm tendon was still as sharp as ever.

As of current, Han Li had already treaded deeper into the jungle.

Thus began Han Lis path of carnage into the Setting Sun Tomb.

…

Three months later, sharp cries and beastly roars sounded from deep within a mountain range. Following the echo of one giant roar, the entire area became silent.

At the source of the sounds stood Han Li with his arms behind his back. He stood on top of a tree that was over thirty meters tall and wore an exceptionally calm expression.

His surroundings were littered by the shredded bodies of azure apes. There were at least twenty corpses.

The apes all appeared burly and had exceptionally dense fur. They also had fangs that were several inches long, giving them a savage appearance.

However, these ape corpses were either dismembered or had bloody holes pierced in their throats and stomachs.

But what was most astonishing was giant red three-headed demon ape at the top of the tree. A black spear pierced through its abdomen and nailed it to the tree.

Blood flowed from every one of its orifices and its body was riddled with scars. It had only recently died.

Han Li examined the huge ape corpse for a long white and muttered, I havent been here before. The rumors of the Setting Sun Tomb are true. To think I would encounter a Core Formation-level demon beast. He then held his hand out to the spear.

With azure light glinting from his ring, the black spear trembled and flew into his hand.

The huge ape then dropped down from the tree.

With the spear in hand, Han Li blurred as he headed deeper into the forest.

A moment later, silence returned to the area.

A long while later, azure light flashed from a nearby tree to reveal a ball of green light. Past the light was the form of an inch-large person.

This small person wore a long green robe, a curved body, and a picturesque face. This miniature person was clearly a beautiful woman.

She looked in the direction that Han Li left and frowned.

A yellow light slowly rose from one of the bushes to reveal an old man the same size as the green light. As he held a white crutch in his hand, he turned to the woman and grumbled, Tian Ying, why did you attack. He was only a high-grade human body refiner. He should be easy for the two of us to take on.

The green-robed woman glanced at the old man and indifferent answered, Huang Shi, we didnt come here to kill humans and demons. We came here to hunt the rebel and take back their divine blood. Wed best not occupy ourselves with other matters.

The old man shook his head and said, That person has the power of a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator at most. If we attacked him together, it shouldnt take much trouble to deal with him. Our spirit clans are great enemies with humans and demons. We should take all measures to weaken human forces when we can. гeewenvel.com

After a moment of silence, the woman explained, If I was certain we could kill that person, I wouldnt have hesitated. But there was something odd about him, so I thought itd be best to avoid provoking anything hidden.

Something odd? Tian Ying, what did you discover? Huang Shi hastily asked.

The womans gaze flickered and she asked, Do you think that person is truly a body refiner?

Slight confusion appeared on his face. What do you mean? That person used spirit tools to kill a Core Formation-level demon beast, but I still wasnt able to sense any spiritual power from him. What is he if not a body refiner?

The woman slowly said, As you should know, I am a tree spirit. I am able to see through things that others cannot. This persons spiritual sense was immensely powerful, about the same level as ours. According to my knowledge, body refiners cant possess spiritual sense of that level. It is possible he is a Deity Transformation cultivator.

Huang Shi wore an expression of astonishment, An immensely strong spiritual sense? You mean to say that person isnt a body refiner, but a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator?

The woman solemnly said, I didnt say that. I cant sense the existence of spiritual power in his body, but that doesnt rule out the possibility. After all, human techniques are no less inferior than spirits like us. It isnt rare for there to truly be such a secret technique. Our objective this journey is to hunt down the rebel and retrieve their divine blood. We dont want to do anything dangerous and mistakenly arouse trouble.

That is reasonable. If he truly was a Deity Transformation cultivator, we definitely wouldnt be able to kill him. And even if we were to run away, it would still be considered a loss. In that case, humans are actually quite sly. High-grade demons that come across that human will encounter great misfortune. Who would think that a Deity Transformation cultivator was disguising himself as a body refiner. Even similar-grade existences would suffer from being caught off guard. The yellow-robed old man spoke with a trace of schadenfreude.

After a moment of thought, the woman thought of something and asked, Ah yes, Tie Li and Chi Mie shouldve already entered this place. If something happened to them, our elemental spirit clans shouldve sent more people. Do you think they sent a spirit from the water clan?

That is unclear. The water spirit clan is the most mysterious of the five elements, and divine blood is the most important to them. It wouldnt be odd for them to send someone. Huang shi chuckled.

That is so. However, I heard that the artifact spirit clan is sending men to meddle with this matter. The woman said with a hesitant expression.

Anger suddenly welled on Huang Shis face. The artifact spirit clan? They have the face to send men? The rebel were originally from their clan.

If those words are true, then the tool spirit clan believes that have a greater responsibility to kill the rebel. The woman gently replied.

Huang Shi coldly snorted and angrily said, That is nice to hear, but theyre really just after the divine blood.

Enough. Regardless of what is said, the artifact spirit clan understands humans and demons the most. They will be useful in killing the rebel. I reckon that dared to come here because of some relation they have with the humans. I reckon that the human clan have sent men to receive them. We must retrieve the divine blood before they meet. The woman solemnly said.

One is called the Silver Wick Stone. The other is something that I dont know. Youll just have to take a look at it for yourself. The old man opened one of the boxes to reveal a silver fist-sized rock.

He then closed the box and tossed the box in Han Lis direction.

When the beautiful woman heard that name, she cried out in delight. As for the youth, he immediately shouted, Wait, we want that stone! He quickly reached out for it.

An azure mist shot out towards the embroidered box.

When Han Li heard the name of the stone, his expression also stirred, but when the youth made an effort to take ahold of it, his face sank.

With a wave of his hand, a crack sounded and his arm burst forward, extending a meter in length and grabbing ahold of the two boxes.

At that moment, the azure mist continued to pull, dragging Han Li as it attempted to take the box by force.

Han Li coldly snorted and shook his shoulder. Like a spring, his body flew three meters forward and struck the azure mist with his other hand in the form of a golden palm.

In a gust of wind, the golden palm tore through the mist like paper and scattered it.

A high-grade body refiner! The youth had formed an incantation gesture to launch that mist. But after seeing Han Li act, his face changed and he became hesitant.

Senior Martial Brother Qian, please wait, the woman surnamed Lu called out, Lets have a proper talk about it. There is no need to take action. Shopkeeper, this Silver Wick Stone hasnt been sold yet. No matter the price, I am willing to pay double. What do you think?

That wont do. Even if Fairy Lu is a descendent of Senior Huang Liang, you cannot break the rules of my Sky World Pavilion. This isnt an auction house where you can claim things with a higher price. Furthermore, I will be serving those who arrive first. Unless this Fellow Daoist truly doesnt want it, I will not be selling the Silver Wick Stone to someone else. It was unknown whether there were truly rules in place, or if the old man was making things difficult.

Cultivator Lu couldnt help but turn to look at Han Li.

However, Han Li didnt pay her any attention. He was currently opening the other box to reveal a grey rectangular ore. Its surface was as glossy as polished jade, but its dark color also gave a strange sensation.

The youth surnamed Qian looked at Han Li and slowly said, My master is Honored Monk Qiu Long. If you let Junior Martial Sister Lu take that Silver Wick Stone, I will pay you double the price. Let it go. His words were polite, but his voice was harsh as if he thought little of him.

Han Li looked at the grey stone and stroked it with his finger. Without raising his eyes, he said, I will not.

What did you say? The youths expression turned exceptionally unsightly. He didnt think for a second that Han Li would refuse.

Han Li glanced at the youth and calmly said, This item might be precious to your companion, but did you not think I might need it too?

I already said that I am willing to double the price. The youth icily glared at Han Li, his words containing a thinly veiled threat.

Cultivator Lu frowned, but she made no attempt to stop him.

Han Li sighed and muttered, I am not lacking spirit stones. If you are willing to turn away from the matter, I am willing to give you a sum of spirit stones.

Although the two seemed to have much backing and support, Han Li was a solitary figure and was about to head into the Setting Sun Tomb. If he couldnt make a breakthrough and recover his magic power, he reckoned he wouldnt come back. Naturally, how could he care about two Core Formation cultivators? If he restored his magic power and their supporters came after him, he might not be able to win, but he was confident he could escape them.

However, his relentless reply not only turned Tian Xings face pale, but the old man also couldnt hide his astonishment.

Could it be Han Li was someone of great origins? Old Xu thought, After all, he didnt shy away from dealing with the direct disciples of Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Monk Qiu Long.

When the youth heard Han Lis reply, his expression turned hazy.

The woman surnamed Lu had about the same idea as the old man and examined Han Li several times before eventually saying, May I ask for your esteemed name? Who is your master? Perhaps they might know my grandfather!

Han Li smiled and nonchalantly said, I am a traveller with no master or sect. As for my name, I will not speak it.

Cultivator Lu hesitated before taking out a green medicine bottle. She calmly said, Is that so? If you wont tell me, then so be it. However, I have a bottle of Heaven Heart Pills you might want to trade for the stone. The medicine can temporarily expand your spiritual sense. It can make up for your weak point as a body refiner. Itll be useful when making a breakthrough.

When Youth Qian saw this, he hastily shouted in alarm, The Heaven Heart Pills? This is a secret medicine exclusive to Senior Huang Liang. It is too much of a waste to trade it for a trifling Silver Wick STone.

As for Old Xu, his face couldnt help but stir upon hearing this.

As for Tian Xing, he was somewhat at a loss as he hadnt heard of the medicine name before.

Han Lis heart stirred as well and he asked, A temporary increase in spiritual sense? Is that effective to cultivators as well?

Despite her surprise, Cultivator Lu explained, As a cultivator possesses powerful spiritual sense to begin with, its effects are minimal on a cultivator.

Han Li shook his head. In that case, please put the bottle away. I wont be making the trade.

This time Cultivator Lus expression turned unsightly.

Old Xu wore an amazed expression.

The well-known Heaven Heart Pill was no only a superb medicine for breaking through bottlenecks, but it was refused for a trifling spirit tool material. Were it not for the fact the poison in the old mans body rendered the pill useless to him, he mightve broken his own rules and traded with the woman at that moment.

The woman casually put away the bottle. It was clear to see that Spirit Lord Huang Liang doted on her greatly.

In the old mans astonishment, Han Li began to ask the price for the two items.

Feeling somewhat apprehensive over what just happened, the old man had no intention of being too greedy, but he still uttered a price that would be astronomical to a common cultivator.

When Han Li heard this, he nodded and took out a storage bracelet. He swiped his spirit ring over the bracelet and produced a pile of high-grade spirit stones, a sum more than enough for the two items.

These high-grade spirit stones were exchanged for large quantities of low and mid-grade spirit stones he brought along from the mortal realm.

In the spirit realm, low and mid-grade spirit stones held little use towards Han Lis cultivation, so he exchanged them for high-grade spirit stones.

Without saying a word, the shopkeeper received the spirit stones in his bracelet and concluded the trade.

With the two boxes in hand, Han Li made his way to the exit. In his alarm, Tian Xing quickly followed after him.

The youths face wavered for a while, unable to determine Han Lis true identity, he made no effort to block him. However, he had already resolved himself to immediately send men to investigate his identity and see if he was anybody of status.

Cultivator Lu looked at Han Lis back and bit her lip, feeling somewhat gloomy.

As Han Li walked out of the store, he was in a rather good mood, satisfied he could acquire these two items.

Of the two items, the grey stone was considerably more valuable to him.

It was a variant spirit tool material that was incredibly rare.

If Han Li wasnt well learned in spirit tool techniques or if he hadnt read through most of Yu Yang Citys record archives, he feared he mightve not recognized the item.

But to normal spirit tool masters, this material couldnt be considered particularly good. Rather it was inferior to other quality materials. However, it was a wondrous material for the refinement of particular magic tools and treasures.

To a strange character such as Han Li, it was a material with countless optimal uses.

In the following days, Han Li followed Tian Xing through many of the other material shops in the city and collected various other materials before dismissing him. He then sought out an unremarkable spirit tool refinement and rented a forging room before secluding himself in it.

…

A month later, Han Li calmly departed from Setting Sun City and walked for nearly a month before arriving at a huge canyon.

It was the entrance to the Setting Sun Tomb.

The entire valley was several kilometers wide, but the stone and earth within and surrounding the valley was a striking crimson.

There were a few cultivators standing nearby the entrance of the huge valley as well as small groups of body refiners. A few of them were whispering to one another while others quietly meditated. Most of these people were mid-grade cultivators and body refiners. They would only dare to enter the valley after forming a temporary group.

Of course, there would be a few already formed groups that entered the valley as soon as they arrived.

There were also a few high-grade cultivators and body refiners that boldly entered the valley alone.

But regardless of whether one was a body refiner or a cultivator, none dared to venture too high in the air and kept their travel at low altitudes.

If one wasnt stupid, they would know that flying too high into the air would mark yourself as a target, either to demon cultivators or humans harboring malicious thoughts. In addition, there were countless ancient bird-type beasts that lived in the Setting Sun Tomb, turning the sky into a forbidden area.

Han Li examined the spirit tools materials in various stores, passing through at least eight of them but finding nothing to his liking. He let out an inward sigh.

The materials in these stores werent bad, some could definitely be considered high quality. But with Han Lis Vajra Arts about to reach its peak, these materials wouldnt prove very useful to him. If he used them to refine a spirit tool, they would only amount to the level of the golden wyrm sword he made for the fat merchant.

It just wouldnt be useful for him.

Looking at Han Li with a probing gaze, the skinny man Tian Xing quickly asked, What? Were those materials not good enough for Brother Han?

I have no use for those materials. Han Li shook his head, making no effort to hide his disappointment.

If they arent good enough for you, then I will bring you to another place. There are a few peculiar items there. However, I wont guarantee it will have what you want. Worthy of being a local, Tian Xing immediately thought of another place.

Oh? Go ahead. When Han Li heard this, his interest was piqued.

The two left the street and fetched a beast carriage.

But just as Han Li set foot on it, he suddenly heard a dragons roar in the sky, followed by a tigers cry.

Those two sounds overlapped and spread through the nearby air, causing an uproar amongst mortals and cultivators alike.

Han Lis attention also turned to the source of the sound.

Han Li quickly saw a black dot shooting around in the air, quickly arriving above him.

It was a strange three-headed beast with one tiger and one dragon head. It pulled a faint azure carriage quickly through the air. The sounds of the beast quickly faded into the distance.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang left his cave residence. How is that possible? Tian Xing cried out.

Who is that person? Han Li asked.

Tian Xing was startled by Han Lis question and couldnt help but examine Han Li with an odd gaze.

Han Li blinked and chuckled, What? Could it be a flower bloomed on my face?

It appears that Brother Han has come from a place far away.

You mean to say this person is quite famous in Setting Sun City? Han Li frowned.

Tian Xing excitedly explained, Although the city master is a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, the strongest cultivator isnt him, but rather, Spirit Lord Huang Liang who lived in a nearby mountain for over ten thousand years. It is said that he is at the stage where he merged five elements, an early Void Refinement-stage cultivator.

Void Refinement stage! Han Lis heart trembled.

When he became a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, Han Li came to understand the huge gap between Deity Transformation-stage and Void Refinement-stage. In the past few decades in the spirit realm, the high grade of cultivation he heard of was the Integration stage. The three human sovereigns were examples that completed that realm of cultivation.

From what he heard from mortals and other cultivators, he never heard any rumors of Great Ascension or ascension tribulation.

It was as if the highest grade existences in the spirit realm never made an appearance.

Of course, it was possible, he was interacting with the lower rungs of society where such information was sparse.

After they boarded the beast carriage, Tian Xing excitedly gave Han Li some information regarding Spirit Lord Huang Liang, but most of it was regarding his grand reputation.

Han Li listened to it with a smile but said nothing in response.

As a result, the carriage rushed through the city for several hours before suddenly stopping at the end of an unfamiliar street.

Han Li leaped off the carriage and looked around him to find a large store.

The store appeared uncommon.

The door was rather tall and was decorated with provocative gold colors. The words Sky World Pavilion was written on its sign.

The sides of the door were two three-meter-tall iron pillars. There were silver chains that chained red lizard-like creatures to the pillars.

The two creatures immediately stood up when they saw Han Li descend from the carriage and they looked at him with a hostile gaze.

Lets go! Tian Xing looked at the beasts without much care, and fished out a yellow tile, waving it at the two beasts.

The two lizards then let out a strange roar and lazily crouched back on the ground, allowing the two to pass.

When Han Li arrived inside, he unconsciously frowned.

There was only a simple room that spanned over two hundred meters side. Although a few goods were on display, most of the place was empty.

At the corner of the room, there was a staircase with a chair next to it. A sickly old man with a drooping nose sat on it, half asleep as if he werent expecting any guests.

Old Xu, wake up! I brought a customer! Tian Xing bluntly walked several steps forward and shook the old mans shoulder.

A customer? Where? The old man lazily opened his eyes, appearing only half-awake.

Han Li examined the old shopkeeper and calmly said, I heard this store had a few peculiar items so I thought to take a look.

The shopkeepers gaze focused on Han Li for a long while before he broke out in a smile, The customer wants peculiar items? That will be easy. This shop specializes in unordinary items, selling them to those who need them. What are you looking for?

Spirit tool materials! Han Li calmly said.

Yi! We dont get many of those. However, I do have two such items. Do you want me to fetch them? The shopkeeper smiled and then walked up the staircase.

When Han Li looked at the shopkeepers back, Han Li narrowed his eyes and said, This person seems to be a body refiner and an accomplished one at that!

Tian Xing explained, Of course. Old Xu was a famous high-grade body refiner in the past. But a few decades ago, he encountered mishaps in the Setting Sun Tomb. There was a ferocious poison that sapped away all the strength in his body. All he could do was open this shop.

So it was like that! Han Li nodded in recognition.

Tian Xing smiled and thought to ask Han Li about what he thought of the old man when suddenly they heard a beast snarl, followed by a shout, Beasts! Youre courting death!

Two muffled thuds sounded as if something heavy landed.

Han Li and Tian Xing astonishedly turned around to find a man and a woman standing outside. The two beasts standing guard were lying motionlessly on their backs.

Tian Xing yelled out in alarm, but when he heard the beasts whimper, he sighed in relief.

Han Li glanced at the pair that arrived.

Both the man and the woman appeared young. The man was handsome and dignified, while the woman was gorgeous, together they appeared to be a lovely couple. And, they released a spiritual pressure that was quite powerful, signifying that the two were Core Formation-stage cultivators.

With Han Lis sight, he was able to tell at a glance that they were about as young as they looked.

With such dense spiritual Qi in the spirit realm and the addition of large quantities of treasures and high-grade spirit stones, it was far easier to achieve Foundation Establishment and Core Formation than it was in the mortal realm. However, it was still astonishing that such young people could possess that level of cultivation.

When the man saw Han Li and Tian Xing, he swept his spiritual sense past them to find one of them a Qi Condensation cultivator. He harshly yelled, Are you the shop attendants? His words and face contained obvious pride.

As for the ring Han Li wore on his finger, it revealed he was a body refiner, but the youth was disinclined to speak with a body refiner that associated with a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Tian Xing sensed the two were Core Formation cultivators and hastily wore an ingratiating smile, No. This Junior is only a guest that has come on business.

Youre customers? Then where is the shopkeeper! The youth asked with a snort.

Old Xu is upstairs fetching something. He will attend to you in a moment. Tian Xing carefully replied.

The youth paid no heed Tian Xing and turned to the young woman at his side. He said with a warm tone, Junior Martial Sister Lu, well have to wait for a moment. Is that fine?

It is no problem. I reckon that my grandfather is currently speaking with the master. There is no need to rush and bother them. However, does this place truly possess what we want? The gorgeous woman looked around, curious about the empty shelves on display.

This is also my first time coming to this shop. According to my friend, this shop truly has rare and fantastical items. Even if we cant find what youre looking for, we may see something interesting. The young man spoke to her with a fawning tone.

Since Senior Martial Brother Qian said that, I will definitely take a look. The young woman chuckled.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from above. The old man slowly descended while holding two decorated boxes.

Oh? More customers have come. The old man was surprised to see the two, but when he looked outside, his face sank, Yi! It seems youve injured my guard beasts.

Dont worry! Ive only taught them a lesson. There is no risk to their life. Junior Martial Sister Lu is a descendant of Senior Huang Liang. Your guard beasts truly alarmed her, so I had no choice. The youth seemed to know the shopkeepers origins, but his body remained still and his face still calm.

So shes a descendant of the Spirit Lord. I will overlook this only once! The old mans expression faintly changed and his expression remained normal.

Soon after, he was disinterested in continuing to speak with the two and he walked towards Han Li and presented the boxes to him.

Without reaching for the boxes, a glint flashed from Han Lis eyes and he asked, How about Shopkeeper Xu give me an introduction to these two items. They appear quite odd.

The Setting Sun Tomb!

Demon and human alike called this place by that name.

To tell the truth, during ancient times, there werent seven suns, but nine. But when the human and demon clans had first arrived in the spirit realm, an enormous battle swept through most of the races in the spirit realm.

Hundreds of characters with cultivation comparable to those in the Immortal realm battled throughout the spirit realm for an unknown reason.

As a result, not only did the weak perish, but vast lands, mountains, and seas underwent amazing changes, splitting the earth itself and destroying two of the suns.

It was said that one of the suns descended here, resulting in an enormous depression in the ground.

However, flying across this so-called depression would take a high-grade cultivator at least a year to fly through, even by using the full power of their magic treasures. The depressing itself contained countless mountain ranges and tens of giant lakes that spanned myriads of kilometers, not to mention anything of the forests and plains it contained.

It is said that even if ten million cultivators were to enter the Setting Sun Tomb, they would only amount to a drop in a vast ocean.

Such a large region naturally had a few human settlements on its border. One of the more well-known settlements was the cultivator controlled giant scale city Setting Sun City.

The city was constructed close to the Setting Sun Tomb. Although it was about the same in size to other cultivator cities, many mid and high-grade cultivators appeared there, ranking it among the top three cities in the Heavenly Origin Region. In addition to the cultivators there, there were also a large number of high-grade body refiners.

The body refiners possessed strength that was equivalent to the power of Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators, but their number was at least ten times greater.

If it werent for the pitifully few numbers of peak grade body refiners and the Deity Transformation-stage cultivators present in the city, it would be difficult to call it a cultivator city.

But funnily enough, on the other side of the Setting Sun City in the demon lands, there was a city by the same name that was established by demon cultivators.

It was said the demon city was even larger than the humans Setting Sun City.

High-grade demon cultivators gathered there in droves. There were even powerful human cultivators that went over to observe the city from a distance and gave honest descriptions of it.

However, Han Li held little interest towards the demon city.

At that moment, he was walking down one of the streets in the human Setting Sun City and was looking at the tidy tall stores to either side of him with an odd expression on his face.

This was just a common street in the city and the shopkeepers of these stores werent Qi Condensation cultivators, but low-grade body refiners.

The items being sold in this store ranged from demon beast materials to magic and spirit tools. There was a wide assortment of items, but there were no stores that specialized in selling common mortal items.

Not long after Han Li entered the gates of Setting Sun City, he walked down several streets and found a different scene each time.

This city was enormous. Even with a vast number of cultivators and body refiners, a majority of the people in the city were mortals. In fact, they lined the streets and could be spotted everywhere. However, they were all robust men and were exceptionally busy, running errands for cultivators and body refiners alike.

When Han Li turned a corner, he swept his gaze and suddenly found himself looking at a skinny man letting loose spittle on a group of people.

The man was a Qi Condensation cultivator and he was talking down to a group of common mortals. They looked miserable in the face of the cultivators torrent of words.

Do you not know that this fanged beast pounced at my head as soon as it saw me. I, an Immortal master, with a mere sweep of his hand, released my Black Cloud Sword and easily lopped off its two claws. My magic tool can be exchanged for ten mid-grade spirit stones. Although it is only a low-grade magic tool, its might… Huh, who are you? When a hand pressed on the skinny mans shoulder, he hastily yelped and turned around, discovering a young man looking at him with a beaming smile.

Just as the skinny man thought to rebuke him, he noticed that the golden sparkling ring on Han Lis finger. He then wore a forced smile and asked, My name is Tiang Xing. Is there anything I can help you with?

Body refiners that could wear spirit rings werent ordinary folk. They possessed power at mid-grade or higher. They werent someone that a trifling Qi Condensation cultivator could provoke.

My name is Han, Han Li calmly said, I just saw how happy you were chatting and it seemed that you know much about the city. I hoped you could answer a few of my questions or even be my guide for a few days if thats possible.

The skinny mans face lit up and he said, So it turned out that Brother Han has just arrived in this city. Well, you found the right person! While I wont say that I know everything about this city, I did live here for a few decades. But might I ask how you plan on employing me?

Han Li rubbed his chin and bluntly proposed, Ill give you ten spirit stones for each day.

The skinny man took a close look at Han Li and then smiled, saying, That is too little. Please give me a bit more. I am a cultivator too. I can get that number of spirit stones by fetching spirit medicines outside.

Han Li snorted. Although he disliked fussing over little matters, he didnt want the skinny man to be greedy and bluntly said, Ten spirit stones is already much. Lets see you find some spirit medicines outside and not be afraid of being a demon beasts dinner. Ill give you twenty spirit stones and that will be all.

Alright, I agree! You lot can continue talking. This Immortal master and I will be heading out first. Seeing that Han Li was unhappy, the skinny man quickly agreed and waved his hand to the others behind him.

When the mortals heard this, they immediately dispersed.

May I ask where you wish to go? The skinny man cautiously asked while attempting to guess Han Lis strength.

Body refiners and cultivators differed. A body refiners cultivation depended on the hardiness of their body. It couldnt be determined with spiritual sense.

Han Li turned around and spoke without looking at him. First bring me to the nearby spirit tool and materials shops. Give me an introduction to the city as well.

The skinny man quickly followed after Han Li and eloquently spoke, That will be no problem. Setting Sun City has eight main districts. Three of them are occupied by ordinary people. Five of them are the shops and quarters for body refiners and cultivators. However, there are a few differences in these five districts.

In four of them, including this one, everyone can sell and buy as they please. But in the fifth district, everyone must pay a spirit stone to be present there. It is the center of Setting Sun City.

Be it quality spirit tools or top-grade treasures, they are all exchanged in the heart of the city. Most of the large businesses in the Heavenly Origin Region are also gathered there. I heard even spirit treasures are sold there.

Spirit treasures? Han Lis heart stirred, but he maintained a calm expression, I dont care about those. Tell me about other things.

That is so. Information on spirit treasures wont do much for you. On the other hand, these businesses will have many top-grade spirit tools for sale. Ah yes, there is some information you might be interested in, Brother Han. I heard that one of the auction houses acquired a set of martial tools that the Heavenly Origin Sage used back when, calling them the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. They are preparing to bid them off. frewbovel.cm

The set has five items, each a top-grade article equivalent to a cultivators magic treasure. It is said that these spirit tools can be used to cultivate a body refiners body with a different, more powerful strength. This was before the Heavenly Origin Sage cultivated spirit roots and still managed to slay many formidable enemies. When this information spread out, many high-grade body refiners stayed in the city, preparing to join in the auction. The skinnys mans words caused Han Li to stop in his tracks.

The Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment! It truly has such wondrous abilities? Han Li finally showed his interest.

It should prove true. These are words that the auction released. The skinny man pledged, slapping his chest.

After a moment of silence, Han Li asked, When does the auction start?

Although they didnt give any concrete dates, it should be in four months at the latest. The auction doesnt dare to keep so many high-grade body refiners waiting. When the skinny man heard this, his heart trembled. Could it be he came across a stroke of luck? The person before him was a high-grade body refiner. Although he possessed a young face, he might have preserved his appearance with a medicine pill.

As Han Li thought of this, Tian Xing became unconsciously reserved.

In the following moment, Han Li asked a few more questions about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. Furthermore, he also inquired about other areas in the city.

Although feeling somewhat bewildered, the skinny man answered all of Han Lis questions and led Han Li down several streets until they arrived at a store specialized in spirit tools and their materials.

Although he heard that the top-grade items were being sold in the heart of the city, he didnt plan to immediately head there.

Although spirit tools and their materials were considered rare, they were still far more common than materials needed for magic and ancient treasures. It was also possible he wouldnt be able to find suitable spirit tool materials if he looked at a place specializing in selling higher quality goods.

Of course, they would have top-grade spirit tools without a doubt.

When Han Li walked into the store, he felt his spirits roused.

Although he thought about using the dangers of the Setting Sun Tomb to see if he could break through the bottleneck of the final stage, he would need to make preparations or his life would be in danger.

He first planned on refining two top-grade spirit tools that were to his satisfaction, giving him a greater chance of victory in high battles.

But from what he heard about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment, he feared it would be difficult to acquire. He had many spirit stones, but he might not have an opportunity to bid on the items.

It would also attract too much attention to himself. After some further thought, he abandoned the idea of bidding for it and planned on refining his own spirit tools.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede was slightly smaller than the scorpion king, but it was colossal compared to ordinary demon beasts.

When it stretched its ugly head out from the black cloud, it opened its mouth and launched a dense beam of ice.

As the icy light brushed past the air, the sound of tearing space sounded. When the attack struck the huge scorpion, it left a hole three-meters-wide.

The huge scorpion was the result of countless winged scorpions condensed together. Even as powerful as the strike may be, it didnt truly hurt it. The huge scorpion simply let out a piercing shriek and raised its tail to strike at the frost centipede.

A green light shot out and the scorpion tail seemed to stretch a hundred meters forward as if it were an illusion. It arrived above the centipedes head and swung down.

Meanwhile, the huge hole in the scorpion abdomen stirred and it quickly mended.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede didnt appear to mind the attack from the huge tail. The centipedes wings grew transparent for a moment before the entire centipede disappeared.

The scorpion tale shrieked but it only landed past the air.

In a short moment, the air above the huge scorpion warped to reveal giant winged centipede.

Its wings shook once more and its entire body blurred, charging into the huge scorpion and sinking its fangs deep inside.

A ball of icy light blossomed from the huge scorpion, quickly expanding until it covered most of the scorpions body, turning it crystalline.

But then, the light stopped and the huge scorpions body crumbled. Countless scorpions rained down from the sky.

The remnants of the giant scorpion no longer condensed back together. Rather, they scattered in every direction.

In the blink of an eye, the rainbow poison cloud completely dissipated.

When the Six-winged Frost Centipede saw this, it didnt bother to pursue them. It simply opened its mouth and spat out an icy wind. It swept up all the frozen scorpions nearby and brought them to its mouth.

Han Li watched this from a distance, feeling calmer.

He finally realized why the Six-winged Frost Centipede had evolved so quickly. During the time he was away, they devoured countless winged insects. As for those winged scorpions, they seemed to have a history with the centipedes and werent ordinary demon insects by any means. They mustve served as a catalyst after being consumed.

That mustve been why he hadnt seen any other insects after he entered the desert. It appeared that they had cleanly devoured by either the scorpions or the centipedes.

Just as Han Lis thoughts continued, the huge centipede finally finished cleaning off the scorpions and looked down in Han Lis direction with a cold glint shining from its eye.

When Han Li met its gaze, his heart thumped and he faintly felt the thing he worried the most was about to happen.

Suddenly, the Six-winged Frost Centipede let out a hiss and flapped its wings, arriving in front of Han Li above the blink of an eye.

It coldly looked down at Han Li with a hostile gaze.

Its fangs were clearly gnawing against each other.

Han Li wore an odd expression and stared at the insect without blinking. However, he shook his sleeve behind his back and summoned two Immortal Vanquishing Beads into his palm.

The white centipede simply let out a hiss and turned around, suddenly flying off in the distance and disappearing.

The insect treated Han Li as a mere passerby and went off of its own accord.

Han Li sighed in relief and his stiff face finally loosened. He soon let out a bitter laugh.

The insects shocking growth and evolution from four wings to six greatly went against Han Lis expectations.

Although ancient exotic insects werent able to take human form like demon beasts, they were able to develop a level of intelligence.

With such harsh magic power, it naturally thought to sever its spiritual sense connection.

If he still had magic power, he could easily suppress the insect with the restrictions he originally placed on it. But now that he lacked the slightest magic power, all his secret techniques were unusable.

Under these circumstances, it wouldnt be rare for the centipede to turn on him.

As such, Han Li prepared for the worse and fetched his Immortal Vanquishing Beads with cold sweat lining his palms.

To tell the truth, it was fortunate that Han Li had meticulously nurtured the dozen centipedes since they were larva.

The mental connection between the two had become remarkably stable over the past hundreds of years and now that the dozen centipedes fused together, the connection was a dozen times stronger as well. They were unable to easily shake it off.

Just then, the centipedes struggled to break free for a time before eventually deciding to abandon any hostile intent towards Han Li and go on its own way.

Of course, Han Li made no attempt to stop them.

In his current state, he could only watch them while feeling at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry.

Back in the mortal realm, he spared no effort and even used the small mysterious bottle to nurture the insects. Now that they have matured, he could no longer control them.

He felt somewhat depressed over his loss.

However, Han Li took a breath and soon calmed himself.

Although the insect broke free from his control for the time being, when he recovered his magic power, he could make it yield to him once again.

The only problem was in a place as vast as the spirit realm, he might never see it again, or with so many cultivators present, it couldve been captured by someone else of considerable power.

Han Li stood in place lost in his thoughts before eventually shaking his head. Eventually, he turned his mind to the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Weeping Soul Beast.

His face sank as he quickened his steps to a place a few hundred meters away.

He took a look down and wordlessly made a fist. With light shining from it, he struck the ground.

A large boom shook the air, scattering the sand as if a top-grade magic treasure struck it.

A large cloud of dust rose into the air, leaving a large crater beneath it. It was over ten meters deep and over thirty-meters wide.

At the heart of the crater were a storage pouch and three spirit beast pouches.

When Han Li saw the storage pouch was intact, he felt relief. Then he walked over to the three spirit beast pouches.

He grabbed them and wore a pensive expression.

Although he wasnt able to examine them with his spiritual sense, they appeared sealed as he left them. After he weighed it in his hand, he knew nothing was missing from them, apart from the empty pouch that contained the Six-winged Frost Centipedes.

The other two pouches were slightly open. Without looking at them, Han Li could sense the presence of the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Weeping Soul Beast. He could even sense that the Weeping Soul Beast was still soundly asleep.

Han Lis faintly smiled. The last of his worries were gone.

He promptly put away his pouches deep in his robes.

As they all appeared exquisite, they would contrast with Han Lis unremarkable appearance.

However, the shed shell the Six-winged Frost Centipede left behind would be somewhat troublesome.

He frowned and simply punched down to make an even larger hole. Then he tossed the shell into the hole and buried it.

Han Li circled around the area several more times and found no other signs, much to his satisfaction.

Then, he looked in the direction that the black cloud disappeared and wore a gloomy expression. Eventually, he gathered himself and walked off.

Now that he completed his first objective, he needed to journey far away to an area filled with demon beasts. freewenovel.cm

His goal was the border between a demon land and the Heavenly Origin Region.

The border area was a harsh place belonging slightly to both the demon beasts and the Heavenly Origin Region. It was extremely wide and lawless, acting as a buffer between the regions.

Furthermore, demon beasts, savage ancient beasts, and even half-demons on occasion freely roamed the area. The closer one was to the central, the more dangerous it would be.

It was said that mysterious spirit clans made of Deity Transformation individuals or giants that were over a hundred meters tall were seen there. Some even heard the cries of true dragons there as well.

With so many strange rumors, the area was shrouded in a layer of mystery. However, most people didnt take these rumors to heart.

But, it was true that Deity Transformation-level cultivators and demon cultivators did appear here. This inspired fears in the higher echelons of the demon and human clans. If a fight broke out at that level, it could inspire a war between humans and demons. As a result, such fights were prohibited.

These fights could disturb the origin Qi of heaven and earth, causing rivers to flow backward and mountains to collapse.

Even existences on the level of the three human sovereigns and the seven demon kings opposed such a thing from happening.

If something that dangerous were to happen, the area would truly be too dangerous to tread.

As it so happened, the area was never officially developed or claimed by humans or demons. But the border region contained extremely precious spirit veins and medicines. There were even once of a kind spiritual objects that sovereigns and kings would pay a hefty price for.

As a result, large quantities of cultivators and body refiners would gather there.

They wished to test their luck and acquire a few spirit medicines. Some wished to use the slaughter in the area as a means to break through their cultivation bottlenecks. To tell the truth, this served a similar purpose to beast torrents.

However, low-grade cultivators and body refiners didnt dare to tread here as it would only mean death. Most of the life in these areas were vastly demons after all.

Under such circumstances, Han Li eventually made his way there after several years of hard travel.

Yu Yang City was quite a distance away from An Yuan City.

But with the speed of flight on foot, Han Li only needed a year before he arrived near the ruins of An Yuan City.

The journey was quite dangerous, and he even went out of his way to travel through inhabited areas, but the distance between cities was truly far.

Along the way, he had no choice but to kill many wild beasts and a few low-grade demon beasts as well.

Of course, this was because he was travelling alone in the wilderness.

If he were travelling in a group, a few low-grade demon beasts wouldnt dare to attack him.

Although it had been many years since he had been to the ruins of An Yuan City, it hadnt changed by much.

He couldnt see the end to its ruined walls, but it was covered in layers of dust.

Han Li stood in place for a long while as his mind wandered.

He already cultivated the Vajra Arts to the peak of the seventh layer. So long as he breaks through this bottleneck, his cultivation will reach grand completion.

To tell the truth, the speed of his cultivation was far faster than he anticipated.

Since the spirit realms spiritual Qi was far greater than that of the mortal realm, it was already an ideal place for cultivation and with his body altered by many medicines and odd fruits, his bodys potential was at the peak of humankind.

In the past when he left An Yuan City with the Gold Jade Sect cultivators, they entered a demon beast nest. With his abilities, they were able to easily acquire the medicinal plant they were looking for.

In their joy, the cultivators gave Han Li a document guaranteeing his entrance to the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond. After they took back the jade medallions they entrusted to Han Li, they happily returned to their sect.

After they split up, he didnt return the Mistress Fang or the Heavenly East Enterprise as he felt he had become too prominent. Instead, he chose to sneak into other human cities.

Furthermore, the blood curse contract had no effect on him.

His objective was Yu Yang City, one of the closer cities and a holy land for body refiners, as it would prove very useful to his cultivation. As for the short sword that was given to Han Li by the corpse puppet of the city lord, Han Li didnt trust it at all, he immediately destroyed it after his encounter with the demon cultivator.

When he was halfway to Yu Yang City, he was at a crucial point in the consolidation of the Vajra Arts fifth layer. Unfortunately, that was also when he was ambushed by several demon beasts.

Although he managed to kill them, he soon encountered backlash from the Vajra Arts and his cultivation sharply dropped by nearly an entire level.

During his moment of peril, he came across a young merchant named Fatty Fan that happened to carry a few suitable rare medicines.

Since Han Li was saved by these medicines, he felt grateful to the merchant, but he also wanted someone that could help conceal his existence. As such, he followed the Fatty Fan to Yu Yang City and helped him out in secret, expanding his auction house until it was one of the greatest in the city.

And as a spell formation master and possessor of immensely strong spiritual sense, a bit of practice was all he needed to become a spirit tool master.

He continued to stay at Yu Yuan City for several decades.

During this period, he reached the peak of the sixth layer and decided to make a journey away from the city.

In that year, he found out that the Gold Jade Sects brocade-robed man had already entered Core Formation-stage.

When the man surnamed Qin saw that Han Li had already completed the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts, a level that could compete with Core Formation cultivators, he was completely astonished. Nevertheless, he kept his promise and made arrangements for Han Li to use the Nine Profound Brightjade Pool.

By drawing the support of the ponds extraordinary power, he was able to breakthrough the sixth layer bottleneck in a few short days, saving him at least a dozen years of bitter cultivation.

When he returned to Yu Yang City for his next decades of hidden cultivation, he eventually reached the bottleneck at the seventh layer.

To breakthrough the last bottleneck, he couldnt stay in the city and continue the slow method of bitter cultivation. He planned on using the most common method of body refiners to breakthrough a bottleneck.

That was to leave civilization and enter the savage wilderness, breaking through the bottleneck by force by hunting powerful demon beasts.

However, he would need to travel far away and it was likely he wouldnt be returning to the region. As such, itd be best for him to retrieve his treasures at the Azure Sifting Desert.

With his current achievements in body refinement, he could protect himself well enough, not to mention the various treasures he carried on him.

After he rested at An Yuan Citys ruins for half a day, he set forth towards the Azure Sifting Desert.

After a month, Han Li found azure sand and began to tread deeper in the area.

But soon, his face changed and alarm rang through his mind. frewbnovel.com

The desert was too quiet.

Apart from the rustling of desert winds, there was no other sound that could be heard. There shouldve been many beasts present in the desert. Even the few insects on the ground disappeared.

It was as if the Azure Sifting Desert turned into a dead land.

With faint shock on his face, his awareness became heightened to its utmost extent as he tread in the direction that he buried his treasures,

Although the sands frequently shifted in a desert, Han Li had done a bit of a trick when he buried his treasures. He used a particular method of searching for the treasure without using any magic power.

Over ten days later, Han Li arrived at some point in the desert and was dumbstruck when he saw a large white object not far away.

It appeared to be a shed crystalline shell of a large insect.

The shell had six three-meter-long wings and appeared to belong to a huge centipede.

As Han Li looked at the enormous centipede shell, he muttered in shock, The Six-winged Frost Centipede? How was it possible? How could it evolve so quickly?

When he took several steps forward and the centipede shell began to turn in the sand, he shook his sleeve and released a silver flash.

A light bang sounded out.

The silver light struck the crystalline shell and was repelled. It was a rope that sparkled with silver light.

It was the wyrm tendon that Han Li had someone refine before the beast torrent at An Yuan City. Over the past few decades, he used it considerably to much effect in killing many beasts and enemies. Later on when Han Li grasped spirit tool refinement, he hadnt made any changes to it. At his stage of body refinement, ordinary spirit tools had little benefit to him, and he saw no use in changing it as it was easy for him to use.

In any case, under his control, the rope contained the force comparable to a magic tool. As the shell didnt suffer the slightest damage, one could imagine how durable it was.

It was worthy of belonging to a Six-winged Frost Centipede that finally grew six wings.

Han Li swept his gaze past it and then he felt a wave of bewilderment.

He had twelve centipedes, but now there was only one. Where were the other eleven?

Could it be… A thought flashed through Han Lis mind as he considered the possibilities and his face faintly changed.

At that moment, an odd shriek sounded from a distance, followed by rolls of thunder. A roiling black cloud rolled past the sky with flashing lightning and harsh winds.

When Han Li saw this, his lip twitched. When he saw the weather was changing, he couldnt help but narrow his eyes.

Although he wasnt able to release his spiritual sense, the connection he felt in his mind couldnt be mistaken. In the distance, there was a Six-winged Frost Centipede hidden in the changing weather.

However, in the blink of an eye, the connection to his mind became somewhat unfamiliar.

After the Six-winged Frost Centipedes fully matured, they unexpectedly gained the heavenly power of calling upon wind and rain, much to Han Lis astonishment.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede familiarity with manipulating the worldly origin Qi was an entire stage higher than when Han Li still possessed his cultivation. They were on the verge of Deity Transformation power.

Just as Han Li felt astonishment, he suddenly ring a loud buzzing in the air. From the other end of the sky, a large rainbow cloud swiftly rushed toward the black cloud.

Under close examination, his face turned pale.

Within the rainbow cloud were groups of winged scorpions. They were the size of a palm and were stained with all sorts of colors.

As Han Li felt his mouth grow dry, he saw a sixty-meter-long scorpion king in the middle of the swarm.

The scorpion didnt have any wings, but it managed to suspend its huge body in the air with a poisonous mist. It had a thirty-meter-tall tail raised in the air that glowed green.

Han Li felt a chill run down his body.

But under closer inspection, he found out that the so-called scorpion king was actually condensed from countless small scorpions.

The other surrounding scorpions had done the same and wriggled together, converging onto the huge scorpion king.

Before Han Li realized what was happening, a fierce hiss sounded from a distance and the black cloud roiled to reveal a frost centipede that was over thirty meters long. It stretched its hideous head forward.

In that same instant, Han Li felt a faint connection to his mind and heart stirred, realizing what it was. So that was it!

The giant Six-winged Frost Centipede possessed the soul markers of a dozen of the four-winged centipedes. They either somehow fused together, or one of them ate the rest.

Under these circumstances, it created a fully mature Six-winged Frost Centipede.

However, where did these scorpions come from? When he crossed the desert with the Heavenly East Enterprise caravan, they wouldve definitely met their end if they came across the scorpions.

Just as Han Li mulled over his gloomy thoughts, the black cloud and rainbow mist struck one another.

Hissing filled the air and intermittent buzzing. Countless flying scorpions dropped to the ground, frozen by the icy winds that flew out of the black cloud.

However, balls of rainbow poison spat out from the flying scorpions soon consumed a portion of the black cloud, causing the cloud to violently roil.

In the blink of an eye, the black cloud grew sparse, revealing the lower half of the Six-winged Frost Centipede.

Forty years is enough time for a soft baby to turn into a strong man, and for a child with spirit roots to become a low or mid-grade cultivator. But in the scope of an ancient city that existed for over a million years, it may as well happen over the blink of an eye.

When the three human territories were formed, Yu Yang City was the first founded in the Heavenly Origin Region.

Although it was only a medium-grade city and the city lords had no plan for expansion, it repelled every beast torrent easily. Never once did it encounter great danger.

This was because Yu Yang City was one of the most populated cities with body refiners. It carried this reputation throughout the Heavenly Origin City.

It was said that the current Heavenly Origin Sage had cultivated the body refinement technique to perfection in the city, leaving behind a grand history there.

The city housed countless body refinement sects and schools. High-grade body refiners rare in other areas were present in the city in large numbers. At the heart of the city, there was even a sacred tower that stored the collections and experiences of body refinement sects. The collection was so expansive and detailed that it was renowned as one of the best in the region.

With such things located in the city, it attracted more low and mid-grade body refiners each year. Against such a formidable fighting force, a trifling beast torrent posed no threat.

Apart from this, Yu Yang City had a reputation for creating spirit tools on par with Heavenly Origin City. Each year a large number of spirit tools were refined there and purchased by merchants and body refiners alike.

Several auction houses greatly profited in selling rare spirit tools.

These auction houses more or less held a large number of spirit tool master smiths.

The so-called spirit tool masters were akin to pill refinement masters and spell formation masters as a master of their craft.

However, these people were peculiar where they needed to refine body refinement techniques to a certain extent and acquire some understanding of spell formations as well. Furthermore, they also required a naturally powerful spiritual sense.

With these conditions, one can become a spirit tool master. Those who wish to become one would need immense amounts of practice in addition to their natural talents.

The spirit tool masters held by the auction houses were all excellent and produced spirit tools with great power and inconceivable abilities.

Of course, these spirit tools were also meticulously forged. It commonly took several months to refine one, and when their extraordinary abilities were displayed in an auction house, they were sold at sky-high prices.

The Long Xing Auction House was one of the largest in Yu Yang City. They abruptly emerged and created a reputation that rivaled long-established auction houses.

The master of this auction house quickly became someone of considerable status in the city.

But one day in the Long Xing Auction House, a fat man wearing extravagant robes was pacing back and forth in the main hall.

He occasionally looked in the direction of the entrance with worry.

Another moment later, the fat man came to stop and loudly yelled, Feng Er! Go take another look outside and see if Grandmaster Han has arrived.

Yes, milord!

A young man hastily acknowledged his order and ran off, his footsteps quickly becoming faint.

The fat man paced for a moment more. Then, he seemed to tire and sat down, the chain creeping from his weight.

The fat man didnt fear that that chair would collapse. Rather, he simply took a teapot from the table and poured himself a few cups in an easy manner.

Could it be Brother Fans temper is a result of illness? A clear voice sounded from the direction of the door, followed by the owners appearance.

When the fat man saw the newly arrived man, he immediately stood up, and the rolls of fat underneath his chin shook from his laughter, Brother Han, youve finally arrived. Feng Er, that idiot didnt inform me of your arrival.

Dont blame him, I had him keep watch outside.

The person who arrived appeared to be a common middle-aged man. He had creases on his brow and long black facial hair. As he carried a long bundle in his arms, he looked at the fat man with a mysterious smile.

It appeared the two were quite familiar with one another.

Haha, although I know Brother Han never missed an appointment, this matter is quite important. This is related to my efforts in the city for the last several tens of years, so I was quite worried. This is the item that Brother Han personally forged? The fat man looked at the middle-aged mans bundle with excitement.

Thats right. Old Brother Fan should take a look at it. The middle-aged man smiled and handed over the bundle. Then he took a seat at a nearby chair.

The old fat man took the long bundle and began to quickly tear off the cover, revealing a meter-long sword covered in a faint golden sheath. The sword was embedded with three spirit stones of various colors. At a glance, one could tell it was an unordinary spirit tool.

When the fat man saw this, he grasped the sword handle carefully and slowly took it out of the sheath.

A ring akin to the dragons cry sounded and a ball of golden light appeared before the fat man. It turned into a small golden wyrm that twirled in front of him.

The fat man glanced at the light and shook the sword sheath. As soon as the wyrm vanished, a glistening golden sword with a wyrm pattern appeared in his hand.

Marvelous, marvelous! This is the sole top-grade spirit tool that emerged within Yu Yang City within the last hundred years. It possesses the inconceivable ability to take another form. Hehe, with this word, the others wont dare to compete with me. Big Brother Han, youve helped this little brother tremendously. The fat man sheathed the sword and broke out into bellowing laughter.

The middle-aged man sipped on the tea, revealing not a trace of excitement, It was nothing. I was only able to refine the spirit tool because of the materials youve supplied me. Otherwise, I wouldnt have been able to refine it no matter the skill.

Hehe, that is so, Big Brother! Those with empty reputations cant hope to compare with you, The fat man laughed.

There is no need to flatter me. That sword is the last spirit tool Ill make for you. In a moment, I will depart from the city. I reckon I wont return. The middle-aged man spoke with a smile.

The fat man woke up from his glee and hastily said, Big Brother, what are you saying? Why do you want to leave the city? Could it be the subordinates Ive assigned to you? Give the word and I will immediately cut them off and assign you better ones.

The middle-aged man slowly said, In the past, I made an error in my cultivation and you happened to pass by and lend me a hand. I was also unable to safely break through my bottleneck at the time. Now that several decades have passed and I forged all these spirit tools for you while hiding my identity, I have fully paid back your kindness. Now, the Long Xing Auction House has become one of the largest in the city. After you present that sword to the city lord, Im sure it will be the largest for sure. I wasnt able to fully teach my techniques to the apprentices you gave to me, but they know enough to continue your auction house. You should know I fully intend to cultivating body refinement techniques. Forging spirit tools was something I only did in passing. I wont gain anything else from staying here.

Could it be Brother Hans cultivation has reached another bottleneck? When the fat mans heart jumped when he heard Han Lis final sentence.

The middle-aged man simply replied with a silent smile.

The fat man was stunned.

While others might now know of this persons formidable power, the fat man clearly understood it.

Ten years ago, he came across danger and this good friend of his saved him. In a single breath, he killed a dozen low-grade body refiners that invaded his mansion. He displayed fearsome cultivation that was no weaker than a high-grade body refiner. Now that he has encountered another bottleneck, his cultivation will greatly progress after he breaks through it. At that moment, Brother Hans cultivation will reach an inconceivable stage.

Old Brother Fan, it is good that you know. I must thank you for keeping quiet about me and purchasing large quantities of techniques and medicine pills on my behalf. However, we must now part. I can only bid you farewell! With that said, the middle-aged man stood up and saluted him, walking out without turning back.

The fat mans lips quivered, but eventually, he couldnt come up with any words to convince him to stay. He could only watch the middle-aged man walk away with a dim face. reeebnvel.com

When the fat man saved Brother Han, it was the biggest turning point in his life. With all his power, Brother Han supported the nameless merchant until he became one of the leading figures in Yu Yang City. But now that Brother Han felt that he paid back his kindness in full, he walked away without any hesitation.

Naturally, he couldnt tell him to stay.

Outside the Long Xing Auction House, the middle-aged man saddled on a deer-like mount and made his way to the city exit.

Several hours later, the middle-aged man appeared on a cliff many kilometers away from the city. He looked at the tremendous city in the distance and leaped off the deer, sweeping his sleeve past his face.

An inconceivable event occurred.

After his sleeve fell, his facial hair disappeared and his middle-aged face turned young, turning into a youth that appeared to be in his late teens.

He was Han Li, who was last seen with the Gold Jade Sect Cultivators to seize the treasure.

Han Li indifferently glanced at the city walls from a distance and he suddenly turned around. Leaving behind the deer, the strode in the distance.

Not long after, he turned into a black dot on the horizon and disappeared into the wilderness.

If a corpse puppet wont do, then how about me? Suddenly, the air above the corpse fluctuated, igniting a ball of black flames. It then condensed into a young palace-robed woman with a cold expression.

As soon as she appeared, she glared at Han Li. When she recognized him to only be a mortal, her mouth curled in disdain and slowly lifted her hand at him.

Han Lis spiritual sense hadnt detected anything, but from the link with the worldly essence Qi from his current cultivations stage, he was able to sense a kind of indescribable danger.

In the instant the woman appeared, he stopped in his tracts and his expression vastly changed.

As soon as the woman pointed her hand at him, Han Li shivered as he sensed all the hair on his body stand straight.

Ever since he entered the path of cultivation, he hadnt sensed such immense danger approaching him until now.

As if out of reflex, Han Li shook his sleeve, tossing out two round objects into his palm. He quickly held them in front of him and wordlessly stared at the woman.

They were two fist-sized balls, one black and one red. Their surface flowed with twinkling light.

Immortal Vanquishing Beads! And two at that! Who are you!? How do you have those treasures?! The womans face vastly changed upon seeing the two beads. The thread of black flame that rose from her bracelet abruptly disappeared and she shouted out with furious alarm.

When Han Li saw the woman recognize the beads and reacted with fear at the sight of them, he felt a wave of relief.

Hehe, its good that you recognize them, he said with a calm tone, despite the cold sweat that lined his body, fearing the womans cultivation was far beyond what he expected. If the Immortal Vanquishing Beads didnt threaten her, he would be completely out of luck. But even in this case, he was still inwardly cursing.

He believed he would only be dealing with meager demon beast soul thread controlling a corpse puppet, not a Deity Transformation-level demon cultivator.

Why would such a high-grade demon appear outside inside the human city?

Although the Immortal Vanquishing Beads kept her at bay, the slightest carelessness would mean death for him. As someone previously possessing Deity Transformation cultivation, he understood just how powerful she was.

As the palace-robed womans expression wavered, she stared at Han Li with a penetrating sword-sharp gaze. She didnt conceal any of her killing intent.

Eventually, the woman imposingly asked, Do you truly believe that youll be able to kill me with those Immortal Vanquishing Beads?

Han Li remained calm, I might not be able to, but with these two beads, I have a very high chance of gravely injuring you.

Is that so? But a trifling body refiner like you wouldnt be able to escape the blast from using those beads. Do you plan on killing yourself? The young woman sneered.

If I dont use it, I wont be able to protect myself either. I may as well use it. Han Li nonchalantly replied.

Rather than show her anger, the woman smiled and said, Even so, do you truly believe I wouldnt risk a few injuries to deal with a dog like you?

Han Li dryly chuckled and narrowed his eyes, Of course you wouldnt dare. You are in human territories. After you are injured, you wont be able to conceal your demonic Qi. When you flee, you will be pursued by other high-grade cultivators. If I recall correctly, the presence of metamorphosed demon cultivators in human territories is a violation of the agreement. Humans will be able to kill you.

A trifling mortal dares to threaten me? You are quite courageous. The womans voice warped as if the air was shaking and her eyes grew a sparkling violet. A strange devilish energy then wrapped around his mind.

As Han Li stared at the woman, he felt his gaze absorbed by her eyes and his sharp eyes became vacant.

When the palace-robed woman saw this, her heart was overjoyed and she moved her arm to attack.

But at that moment, Han Lis blank face turned into a mocking sneer and blue light brightly shined from his eyes.

A wave of dizziness overtook her sight and huge trembles shook her mind, causing her to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

Grand bewitchment techniques! Y-you know them! Even as powerful as the womans spiritual sense may be, she received backlash from Han Lis spiritual eyes during a moment of carelessness, but she quickly recovered. But at that moment, she looked at Han Li as if she had seen a ghost.

In her astonishment, Han Li gave her a mysterious smile and stood motionlessly in place.

The woman quickly hid the shock on her face and couldnt help but look at Han Li with bewilderment.

Even as arrogant as the woman may be, she realized that Han Li was by no means the simple body refiner that he appeared to be.

The woman looked at the two Immortal Vanquishing and then turned to look at the helpless girl on the ground. With an icy voice, she said, What are you thinking? Weve found ourselves in a deadlock.

After a moment of thought, Han Li said, If you let go of that girl, Fellow Daoist may leave.

Impossible. Daier carries the direct bloodline of our Black Phoenix Clan. I must bring her back. The woman rejected him immediately. freewbnoel.com

When Han Li heard her resolute reply, his heart sank and he became silent.

The young woman also kept silent and the two sides found themselves in a deadlock for a time.

After several gusts of wind rustle past them, only silence filled the air.

Still held by the purple-robed corpse, Daier broke the silence with her soft voice, Uncle Han, please dont fight with Auntie Xiao. I am following her because I want to.

When Han Li heard this, he frowned. As for the woman, she remained expressionless, unsurprised by her words.

Alarmed, Han Li asked with a calm voice, Daier, what are you saying? Do you know who she is?

I know. Auntie Gu used a technique to teach me. The girl raised her small face to reveal a determination that contrasted her age.

As someone with great experience, Han Li found this odd and harshly shouted, A technique? What did you do to her?

The woman brushed back some of her hair and indifferently said, I didnt do anything. There is simply had the Black Phoenix Clans legacy pearl enter her body. A bit of information regarding the Black Phoenix Clan was passed down to her. Of course, there wasnt enough time for her to digest it completely, but she clearly understands her identity as a half-demon.

When Han Li heard this, he suddenly came to a realization.

Although he didnt know the details, a so-called legacy pearl was a treasure refined to contain the experience, techniques, and even soul fragments of past generations.

These items did exist in some capacity in the mortal realm. But the conditions for inheriting such a treasure was extremely demanding. If one wasnt careful, they could perish. But even worse was that the inheritance often failed to completely impart its contents, passing only a tenth of its legacy.

The Black Phoenix Clans legacy pearl must be wondrous in a way he didnt understand to surpass the previously mentioned flaws.

And when the girl fully absorbs the legacy pearl, she will no longer truly be herself.

After a moment of silence, Han Li said to the girl, Think carefully! If you enter the demon clans, you will need to forfeit your identity as a human. In the future, he wont be able to see your family on this side.

The girl shook her head and sadly said, Apart from my grandfather, I have no family. Now that grandfather is like this, there is no point for me staying here any longer. I want to live together with my father.

In that case, I wont force you. Go with her. Han Li sighed and turned around, walking away in large steps, but still holding the beads in his hand.

When the woman saw how quickly Han Li ran off, the woman was startled. As for the girl, she bit her lips to say nothing else as she was still reluctant to part with him.

Han Li appeared as if he was walking, but he traveled at an astonishing speed. In only a moment, he turned into a black dot on the horizon.

The young woman glared at Han Li with resentment for a long while before eventually deciding not to attack. Then with an unsightly expression, she looked at the girl below and said, Daier, lets go. If that person informs high-grade cultivators about our presence, it will be troublesome.

An odd expression contrasting Daiers young age appeared on her face and she softly said,

He wont do such a thing.

The woman shook her head, No human can be trusted. Lets go. With that said, the woman reached out for Daier and summoned her into the air.

With the girl at her side, she commanded the purple-robed corpse to form an incantation gesture and it promptly combusted into black flame and turned to ash. A moment later, the black flame condensed into a ball and was absorbed into the womans body.

The woman raised her hand and a scarf appeared above her head.

It wrapped around them, flashing with black light until the two disappeared into a trail of smoke.

Two days later, in the human camp fifty kilometers away, several streaks of light flew out on their magic tools.

They were the Gold Jade Sect cultivators and Han Li.

They traveled together and would not be returning. But oddly enough Mistress Fang, Zhang Kui, and the others in the Heavenly East Enterprise turned a blind eye to this and made no further mention of Han Li.

It was as if Deputy Leader Han was never a part of the Heavenly East Enterprise.

The purple-robed man put on a benevolent expression at the sight of Han Li, and said, So youre Han Li. I must thank you for saving my precious Daier. If youd like any reward, feel free to state it, and Ill do my best to satisfy you.

At this moment, Daier 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.

Daier held onto the purple-robed man tightly with one of her small hands while she stared intently at Han Li. Even though she hadnt 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 wouldve done the same thing, Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

Hehe, Im not a man whos used to owing people favors. How about this? I heard that youve 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 hes 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 theyll 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 Daier.

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 wasnt 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 Lis expression changed minutely right when the black light flashed between the purple-robed mans 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.

Theres no mistaking it, that was definitely corpse Qi. But why would it try to take Daier away? So be it, Ill help her again just this once. The image of the adorable Daier clinging tightly to his robes surfaced in Han Lis 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 didnt think much of it as they hurried to keep pace with him.

These subordinates were all body refinement warriors under City Lord Zhaos 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 mans 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 wolfs 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, dont leave any signs behind.

He then jumped down from the wolf steed with Daier 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, Daiers 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 mans 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! Daiers 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 Lis 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 Lis 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 snakes jaws.

The other snake monster and the Sandbug Beast were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they immediately converged toward him.

Han Lis 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 Lis shoulders with even greater maddened ferocity. However, Han Li merely swept his hands gently through the air, and the snake beasts 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 Lis bare hands were as powerful as treasures.

Han Li didnt 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 didnt 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 its very interesting that you were able to manipulate light angles and your environment to conceal yourself without using any magic power. However, what Im much more interested in is this baleful aura emanating from your body. Theres 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 Lis 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 Daier, 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 Lis body as he strode toward the hill.

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 mans 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 mans body was instantly incinerated by the black flames as well, transforming it into an unsettling pitch-black color.

The elderly man didnt 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 mans 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 hes no match even for my spirit beast! Hes 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 mans 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 mans 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 womans face upon seeing this. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but didnt 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. freewbne.com

Thus, peace and quiet quickly settled over this area again, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the same time, in Mistress Fangs 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 youre 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.

Thats right, Brother Han. Even though cultivators like us can also forcibly break through this restriction, theres a good chance that the guardian demon beast there will notice us if we were to use our magic power, and itll 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 wont be asking you to take this risk for me free of charge, Brother Han. Ill 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 Lis face.

Thats right. Have you heard of our sects Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, Brother Han? The water in the pond possesses some kind of incredible power. It isnt very useful to us cultivators, but its 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 wont work again no matter how long you bathe in it. This is why many body refinement warriors are quite friendly with our sect, and theres 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? Thats the first time Ive heard of it. A hesitant look appeared on Han Lis face.

Thats no surprise, seeing as you seem to have come from a faraway land, Brother Han. Our Golden Jade Sect isnt an overly large sect, but all of the body refinement warriors in the surrounding area are aware of our sect and our pond. Youll 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, Ill only be responsible for breaking the restriction, right? My services wont 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. Were 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 mustve 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 wouldve 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 Ill be assured of an opportunity to bathe in the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, then Ill 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 Lis 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 Lis shift in demeanor. Even so, she merely smiled while remaining, refraining from making any interjections.Its 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.

Whats this? Han Lis 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. Im offering them to you now as a sign of good faith and sincerity. If you still dont believe me, then I cant really do anything else to try and convince you.

I trust you, Brother Qin. Well 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 Daier 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 Lis cabin.

It turned out that City Lord Zhao was planning to take his granddaughter to a friend of his in Heavenly Origin City, but Daier 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.