Автор: sergey

Arcs of golden lightning violently leaped about ten meters around Han Li, brilliantly setting him ablaze with golden light as if he were a lightning god that had descended upon the world. The cloud of devilish Qi nearby was cleanly wiped away to leave an empty area over thirty meters wide, revealing the azure-robed old man that was previously hidden within it.

Ah! The old man couldnt help but shout as he realized that things had taken a turn for the worse. His body promptly flashed with light as he hurriedly streaked away.

But since Han Li had taken the risk of approaching the old man with lightning movement, he wasnt about to allow him to easily leave. Han Li turned into a blur as he left a string of afterimages in his wake and raised his hands into the air, releasing a ball of purple flame and a streak of golden light.

When the old man saw Han Li move so quickly, he was greatly frightened. Unable to do anything else, he hastily erected a wall of azure light from his shield and the purple fireball burst as it struck the wall of light.

With a crackle, the purple flames rapidly spread across the wall of light, quickly covering the wall in a layer of thick ice and sealing the old mans azure shield within it.

The old man couldnt help but shout in terror, What is this tyrannical technique?

Then, the golden streak of light arrived.

With a crack, the golden streak disappeared the instant it struck the wall, only for it to suddenly arrive in front of the old man.

The old man quivered and unconsciously attempted to lean to the side with all his might. Suddenly, he felt a shock run through his shoulder, followed by unbearable pain.

He quickly glanced at his side in terror and found that his arm had been torn off by the golden streak. If he hadnt reacted as he did, he feared it wouldve been his head instead.

After slicing off the old mans arm, the golden streak circled in the air before shooting into the sky, revealing its true form as an inch-long golden sword.

The old man then turned around and saw a tiny hole in the wall of ice. He found it hard to believe that the golden sword was sharp enough to pierce through both the wall of light and the ice covering it without the slightest resistance.

The old man let out a gasp of surprise from what had happened and his heart was filled with furious alarm.

He quickly slapped a talisman onto his body and sealed the wound from his missing arm. Then he gritted his teeth as he glared at Han Li, wanting to repay him a thousand fold for cutting off his limb. But just as the old man looked at him, Han Li suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Not good! When the old man saw this, he felt his heart drop into an icy abyss. He looked around, only to catch no trace of Han Li, and quickly reached for his storage pouch to release a protective treasure.

However, he was too late.

The old man heard a nearly indiscernible sound from behind him and the light protecting his body was completely broken, followed by a palm covered in purple flames bursting out of his chest. Purple ice condensed around his body and completely sealed him within.

The old man felt sharp pain stab through his body, but he wasnt able to move in the slightest, filling him with complete terror.

Afterwards, Han Li withdrew his hand from the old mans body and enveloped the frozen body in a net of lightning with a casual flick of his sleeve. The lightning ruptured and inch-large chunks of purple ice rained from the sky. Then, a Nascent Soul wrapped in black light suddenly flew out from the scattered ice, attempting to flusteredly escape with instant movement.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this and spat out a bolt of lightning. In an instant, the Nascent Soul was trapped by a net of lightning before it could activate its instant movement.

Han Li smirked with icy intent and formed an incantation gesture with both his hands, ordering the golden net to contract and rupture. Then in the resulting flashes of golden light, the old mans Nascent Soul had turned into nothing.

The old man had launched a sneak attack on Han Li with the scorching halberd, but Han Li responded ruthlessly and exterminated him in only a moment, leaving no opportunity for the other two to rescue him.

When the others saw how Han Li easily deal with a fellow mid-Nascent Soul grade cultivator, they blanched with shock.

Master Wild Sand sent out a few voice transmissions after seeing this. Then, he and Lord Heavenwind withdrew their magic treasures and completely abandoned the battle. After entering the cloud of sand behind them, they disappeared without a trace.

King Glorious Blaze was at a large disadvantage due to his heavy injuries, but with the tenacity of his heavenly corpse body, he was able to receive the attack of the magic treasures without the slightest injury. But when he looked in Han Lis direction, he wore an odd expression and felt ill at ease as a result.

He couldnt help but wonder whether or not he would be able to deal with a similar grade cultivator with such ease even if he were in his peak condition inside his tomb or if he would be able to cleanly deal with their Nascent Soul as well.

Be it Han Lis abilities or his use of them, they both caused King Glorious Blaze to view them with trepidation.

King Glorious Blaze thought to ask if Han Li was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but after taking another look at him, he reaffirmed that Han Li was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. This youth possessed grand abilities that exceeded what his cultivation would suggest.

When King Glorious Blaze thought this, he felt his blood run cold. Fortunately, he had only sent his incarnations to find this person, otherwise, he mightve found himself slain in the exact same manner as that azure-robed old man.

Since he wasnt able to sense his two incarnations after returning to the mountain range, he came to the conclusion that Han Li had killed them and grew even more unconsciously wary of him.

In a moment of hesitation, he thought to have a few words with Han Li when he felt an astonishing change in the sand spell formation surrounding them.

The faint waves of yellow sand had completely disappeared in the distance. Instead, nearly indiscernible grains of black sand had replaced them, similar to the ones that had earlier attacked Han Lis flying swords. The black sand wasnt as densely gathered together as the yellow sand, but they shined with an icy black light and were arranged in the sand cloud with a strange appearance.

Following the appearance of the black grains of sand, ghostly wails sounded out and the black sand rushed towards Han Li and King Glorious Blaze at their center with overbearing momentum.

King Glorious Blazes expression trembled and he hastily called out to Han Li, Not good! That old ghost Wild Sand released the entirety of his Soulfall Sand into the formation. Fellow Daoist, this isnt something that common magic tools can block. Well only be able to block the sand with our own cultivation. However, his magic power will certainly be strained from controlling this much Soulfall Sand and cant keep this up for long. So long as we endure these several attacks, nothing else will come of it.

Both he and Han Li were now in the same boat, and he had no wish for such a powerful ally to encounter mishap. Although Han Li had managed to scatter the black sand the first time with his golden lightning, he wasnt sure that Han Li would be able to block an attack of this intensity.

As Han Li floated in the air, he muttered expressionlessly, Soulfall Sand? From the dense Yin Qi the sand possessed, it seems to be a magic treasure refined with souls. It is no wonder why they possess such might.

When King Glorious Blaze saw that Han Li hadnt made the slightest move to protect himself, he found it odd, but he couldnt afford to pay any more attention to Han Li as the black sand was approaching.

He opened his mouth and spout out fist-sized balls of light grey corpse flames. The flames condensed together into a huge fireball and protected him from the incoming sand. He could only rely on the corpse flames he had cultivated for countless years to block the oncoming storm of Soulfall Sand.

Shortly after, a cloud of black sand covered him. Shining black sand and grey corpse flames flickered with light upon collision and occasionally released explosions of great intensity.

As King Glorious Blaze prepared himself, Han Li was slowly withdrawing from the center of the formation. A moment later, he found that he couldnt move any further away and slapped one of the pouches on his waist with a raised brow, releasing a black streak of light. The black streak circled in the air before landing in front of him to reveal a black monkey that was several inches tall and wore an expression of dissatisfaction.

It was the Weeping Soul Beast that Han Li had forcibly called out. It was in a poor mood from having its cultivation interrupted while it was still absorbing the corpse flames inside the vajra barrier.

But after the Weeping Soul Beast sniffed at the air and swept its gaze all around, it revealed sudden delight.

Without the need for a command from Han Li, it beat its chest and let out a low-pitch whistle. Blinding black light shined from its body and it massively grew in size, transforming into an enormous ape over thirty meters tall. The image of the ghost face could be clearly seen on its back and it moved around the Weeping Soul Beasts body as if it were alive.

Be it King Glorious Blaze who was striving his hardest to block the sand or the other two that were waiting for an opportunity in the distant cloud of sand, they were all shocked upon seeing the astonishing appearance of the Weeping Soul Beast.

Just as they wondered why Han Li had summoned this mysterious spirit beast, the huge ape snorted and released a cloud of yellow light from its nose. The cloud circled in the air and spread out, enveloping both Han Li and the ape inside of it.

The cloud of black sand eventually arrived beside them in overbearing fashion and completely surrounded them. Then, the sand immediately released a mass of dense black Qi around the cloud of yellow light.

As soon as the black Qi was released, the previously-hidden shining black grains of sand were completely revealed from the cloud of sand. When the huge ape saw this, it couldnt help but grin as it puffed out a beam of golden light from its nose.

The beam of light swept past the cloud and absorbed the grains of black sand without the slightest resistance before shooting back into the large apes nose.

Then in the blink of an eye, beams of golden light swept past the cloud of black sand several times and completely scattered it. The clouds Yin Qi was absorbed by the yellow cloud of light and wasnt capable of approaching Han Li in the slightest. The large quantities of black sand and Yin Qi ended up being gradually replaced with yellow light.

Hidden in the cloud of sand nearby, Master Wild Sand and Lord Heavenwind watched all of this unfold with dumbfounded shock.

King Glorious Blaze looked at Han Li and addressed the yellow-robed mans threats by saying, Fellow Daoist, do not be coerced by them. Soon, my reinforcements will arrive. So long as you protect me for a short while, you will have nothing to worry about.

Han Lis appearance was the surprise factor that could tip the scales in the favor of either side.

At the moment, Han Li had his arms crossed with a pensive expression.

When Master Wild Sand heard King Glorious Blaze, an ominous glint appeared in his eyes, but he forced himself to remain still. Although this youth hadnt fully displayed his abilities, Master Wild Sand didnt dare to underestimate after the golden lightning he displayed earlier.

Under these circumstances, he could no longer continue to hide his plan and spoke bluntly, Brother Glorious Blaze, could it be you havent discovered the Seven Devilwind Seeds and three Yellow Earthfiends? In the instant you left your tomb, Fellow Daoist Heavenwind and I placed a spell formation outside of it. Your reinforcements should still be trapped in the tomb.

Although its possible theyll be able to break through it, theyre going to be stalled for at least half a day. Besides… hehe! With that said, he began to let out a cold laugh.

Besides what? King Glorious Blazes heart grew sullen and he glared at the large man while clenching his fists.

Master Wild Sand looked up at the sky and sneered, Besides, its currently almost noon and the eruption of Yin Qi in the earth veins will soon arrive. Brother Glorious Blaze, your Heavenly Corpse Arts will suffer a great loss in power as a result.

King Glorious Blazes expression froze and a faint layer of black Qi appeared around him. With a fierce smile on his face, he furiously said, Good, very good! I didnt think that you knew about both my Heavenly Corpse Arts and the earth veins Yin Qi. However, these are mere superficial details. Ill have you personally witness the might of my Heavenly Corpse Arts.

With no hope of reinforcements, he flew into a fury and began to unleash his strength, unresigned to just sit there and wait for death. Of course, unless he did this much he wouldnt be able to win over Han Li.

King Glorious Blaze promptly spat out a ball of black blood that formed a fist-sized black talisman character before shooting onto his forehead and leaving a distinct mark behind. The talisman character released a black demonic light, causing the old mans body to release roiling grey corpse Qi while he began to savagely roar.

Although Master Wild Sand didnt know what ability he was trying to use, he wouldnt allow him to easily finish. He immediately shouted, Attack! We dont need to hold this off any longer.

After shouting, he stomped on the giant gourd beneath him. The gourd faintly trembled and spouted yellow sand, condensing into a ten-meter-tall flood dragon in the blink of an eye that fiercely pounced towards King Glorious Blaze.

When the other two saw this, they took action as well. A white gale suddenly roared and released over a hundred foot-long wind blades. Each blade shone with dazzling white light and let out astonishing shrieks.

As for the cloud of devilish Qi, it released over ten flying sabers. Each of them glowed profusely with jet-black light, and quickly grew from only an inch in size to three meters as they streaked through the air. Under the concealment of the wind blades, the sabers were nearly undetectable.

Just as these attacks were about to strike King Glorious Blaze, he finished casting his technique.

He howled in rage and his crown flew into the air, hair wildly blowing in the wind as it instantly grew several times longer and turned black-purple. In addition, he crossed his arms as he grew a meter taller, as a thick three-inch-long layer of green fur appeared on his body and viciously sharp, purple-black claws extended from his fingertips. His face quickly turned shriveled and he revealed inch-long fangs, completing his frightful transformation.

King Glorious Blaze had fully revealed his appearance as a ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch.

At the same time he finished his transformation, the sand flood dragon, wind blades, and black streaks had arrived. King Glorious Blazes face warped into a fierce expression upon seeing them appear before him and he spat out a fist-sized golden pearl. The pearl spun in the air before turning into a large golden hand that grabbed the sand flood dragon.

He then held out his claws in violent opposition to the other attacks.

The wind blades and black streaks directly struck the claws and King Glorious Blaze was enveloped in overflowing black and white light from the impact.

A huge explosion sounded out and green light surged around King Glorious Blaze, repelling the wind blades and black streaks with great force.

King Glorious Blaze brandished claws that had strength far beyond steel, displaying a hardness superior to magic treasures. In a single blow, he was able to blow away the combined attacks of the wind blades and flying sabers.

Meanwhile, the large golden hand was grabbing onto the neck of the struggling flood dragon, restraining it for the time being.

As Han Li calmly watched all of this, his expression stirred in surprise. He hadnt expected that King Glorious Blaze would still be able to muster this much strength despite being so heavily injured.

But when Master Wild Sand saw that the sand flood dragon was being restrained, he smiled and pointed at it. The sand flood dragon began to glow with yellow light and suddenly grew still before escaping from the golden hand as scattered sand. The scattered sand then condensed into a ball, trapping the large golden hand at its center.

He didnt stop there and coldly glanced at King Glorious Blaze and Han Li before silently forming two incantation gestures. The yellow sand in the distance began to stir and rushed towards both of them in waves of sand that were over thirty meters tall. The waves of sand would occasionally release echoing ghostly wails as they surged onward.

He had activated the grand formation around them, drawing assistance from its restrictions to kill King Glorious Blaze and Han Li.

In the instant Han Li saw Master Wild Sand looking at him, he immediately came to the conclusion that Master Wildsand planned on dealing with them both in the same move. If he continued to hesitate, he would be killed alongside King Glorious Blaze once the spell formation closed in.

Cursing in furious alarm, Han Li no longer remained idle and took action as well.

With a wave of his sleeve, several tens of golden flying swords flew out and circled around him before transforming into a huge mass of sword streaks and striking at the nearest wave of sand. Then with his other hand, he summoned an ancient purple mirror and began to pour magic power into it, releasing a beam of purple light to strike the sand.

Then a strange scene occurred. The purple light was particularly effective against mist-type creations, but it completely went through the sand without a trace.

Han Li frowned and wore a vigilant expression. The giant swordstreak condensed from his flying swords chopped through the huge wave of sand, leaving a giant hole in it.

As King Glorious Blaze was being attacked by several magic treasures, he saw Han Li move to break the formation and rejoiced. But then he hurriedly shouted a warning, Be careful, Soulfall Sand is specialized in corrupting magic treasures.

Corrupting magic treasures? Han Li was stunned when he heard this.

Just as the sword streak cut open a hole through the sand, a Yin wind blew out from it, carrying specks of black sand all around the huge swordstreak. Then, strands of black Qi shot out from each of the grains of sand, wrapping around each and every one of his flying swords.

As soon as the black strands touched the swords, Han Li felt his connection to the flying swords grow dim as his spiritual sense strands were being forcefully pushed out from them, causing him to gradually lose control.

Han Lis complexion turned cold and he pointed at his flying swords, uttering, Burst.

Pangs of thunder repeatedly rang out and countless arcs of lightning shot out from the swords. They ripped the black threads apart and even opened a large empty space in the cloud of sand.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared deeply into the cloud before wearing an unsightly expression.

At the center of the cloud, there was a dense mass of sand floating in the air. It appeared to be unremarkable, but it was immensely large and wasnt something that could be destroyed in a short amount of time.

During his hesitation, his expression grew sullen and a pair of silver wings appeared on his back. As thunder rang out around him, he suddenly disappeared and blurred over thirty meters away. A scarlet halberd then swept past where he originally stood.

Although he was now a safe distance away, Han Li still sensed its scorching heat and was enraged by the attack. After missing its attack the halberd began return to the devilish cloud in spin.

Han Li raised his head to coldly look at the devilish cloud, and his eyes flickered with blue light. Although the devilish cloud was extremely dense, his Brightsight Spirit Eyes were able to clearly see through it.

The azure-robed old man inside of the cloud returned Han Lis gaze with an alarmed expression. He was greatly surprised by Han Lis use of lightning movement.

Without another word, Han Li flapped his wings and disappeared in a ring of thunder.

The old azure-robed old man was yet again stunned by the sight of this, but as someone who had experienced many battles, he slapped his storage pouch out of reflex and released an azure shield from it.

In the instant the shield moved to protect him, silver light flashed from the side of the devilish cloud, followed by Han Lis appearance. His hands were held in a fist and golden lightning flickered all around him. In a series of thunderous explosions, a layer of golden lightning condensed on his body.

Then with a blur, Han Li once again disappeared from view.

This time, the old man felt his heart drop and instantly opened his mouth, spitting out a sparkling green sword. As soon as it appeared, it flew circles around him in a green streak to protect him.

Still feeling ill at ease, the old man thought to release several more magic treasures, but he suddenly heard thunder ring from his side.

Not good! Han Li shouted in his mind as his heart suddenly dropped. He had intended to avoid the ongoing quarrel but now trouble had come to find him.

From the pressure the three parties emitted, it was clear they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. However, the strength of the grey Qi was fluctuating as if its owner was injured. It appeared the other two parties were moving in for the kill.

Unable to completely avoid them, Han Li steeled his heart and flew to the side. He wanted to see whether or not the three would fly past and ignore an insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.

After Han Li flew for another forty meters, he came to a sudden stop and looked all around him with a bewildered expression.

The cloud of grey Qi soon took the lead and brushed past him. Concealed inside the grey Qi was a pale cultivator wearing a tall crown. When he coldly glanced at Han Li in passing, an odd expression appeared on his face before he continued shooting over a hundred meters away.

Following that, a series of world-shaking tremors erupted around him and a three-meter-wide yellow gourd flew over from three hundred meters away. The mouth of the gourd trembled and a cloud of yellow sand burst out, rushing in the direction of the fleeing grey Qi.

Soulfall Sand! When the figure in the grey Qi saw the incoming sand, he abruptly sped up with a fearful expression in an attempt to avoid it.

Hehe! Brother Glorious Blaze, youre too slow. Accompanied by a wild howl of laughter, a large yellow-robed man with a thick beard emerged from the gourd. The large man then formed an incantation gesture before a huge bang sounded out, as the sky was suddenly covered in a deep yellow cloud of sand, inside of which formation flags could occasionally be seen.

King Glorious Blaze, the cultivator within the grey Qi, was alarmed by the sudden development and hastily shot downward only to be met with the sight of yellow sand. The incoming cloud of sand had already enveloped an area of over a kilometer around him.

King Glorious Blaze came to a stop and gave a menacing glare at the yellow-robed man standing on top of the huge gourd. Their standoff only lasted for a moment before the white windstorm and the black devilish cloud quickly arrived beside him, leaving King Glorious Blaze completely surrounded.

The large yellow-robed man calmly said, Brother Glorious Blaze, when you fought the Grand Yang Sects Mister Song, you were struck by the Sunthrust Ruler and your incomplete heavenly corpse body was heavily injured. And now, you find yourself surrounded. So long as you spit out your heavenly corpse pearl and let us place you under a restriction, well let you live. After all, youve associated with us for a while now, and I would find it somewhat cruel to just scatter your soul.

King Glorious Blaze appeared exceptionally calm after hearing this and coldly said, Master Wild Sand, I knew it was you. Ever since I left that ancient tomb, I had felt a faint sense of unease. It seems you were watching me this entire time. From how you lured me out into this trap, it appears youve been planning this for a long time. But arent you a bit too patient though? You were watching me for ten years while you were scheming. As such, it cant be considered a surprise that I fell prey to you. But do you really think that a trifling yellow sand formation will be enough to stop me? freewenovel.cm

After hearing this, the yellow-robed man replied, It seems my words fell on deaf ears and now we definitely cant allow you to escape. Brother Glorious Blaze, dont blame me for being ruthless. We hadnt expected that you would carry something as important as the heavenly corpse pearl on your person. Also, dont forget that in order to make sure this plan was perfect, I filled my gourd with the Bluecrystal Heavensand that Madam Heavenstone spent over a hundred years refining. If Fellow Daoist truly thinks that you can escape with earth movement techniques, then youre delusional.

King Glorious Blazes expression revealed shock, but after a moment of doubt, he smirked in disbelief and said, Bluecrystal Heavensand? As if Madam Heavenstone would allow you to borrow something as precious to her as her own life! You sure know how to bluff.

Hehe… Master Wild Sand coldly laughed when he heard this and didnt bother to refute it, causing King Glorious Blazes heart to tremble.

Despite the obvious advantage the three devils had, they now found themselves at a standstill. It seemed like they either feared what would happen if he fought with his life on the line or were planning something else.

When King Glorious Blaze saw this, he rejoiced. Before he had fled, he sent a voice transmission for reinforcements and it shouldnt be long before they arrived.

Silence filled the air as the four maintained their standoff.

Apart from these four old eccentrics, there was a fifth person trapped in the yellow sand. That person was Han Li, who had been caught off guard and was trapped in the large sand formation alongside them.

Han Li felt particularly gloomy and had remained silent this entire time, hoping he wouldnt attract any attention. He was currently waiting for an opportunity to slip away when their fight began.

But before he could make his escape, a sharp voice from the cloud of black devilish Qi said, That Junior over there is in the way. Before we finish our business, lets get rid of him first.

The large yellow-robed man glanced at Han Li and dully said, Right. Lets kill the pest before it can become a hindrance.

When Han Li heard this, his heart was set ablaze with anger. It appeared he would have to utilize his last opportunity to lift the Soullock Seal or die.

Without any further hesitation, he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and softly muttered an incantation, causing his face to quickly cycle through the images of five glowing green ghost faces. Then, five egg-sized green balls of light flew out from his body and disappeared without a trace.

While this was all happened, the old devil in the black cloud had already attacked. A portion of the black cloud condensed into a huge black python, which fiercely pounced towards Han Li with a gaping maw displaying its incisive fangs.

When the yellow-robed man and the cultivator within the white windstorm saw this, they didnt bother to launch their own attacks against a meager Foundation Establishment cultivator. But when King Glorious Blaze saw what was happening, his brow faintly stirred and a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

The huge black python quickly arrived above Han Li with its mouth wide open, but then Han Li raised his hand and released a bolt of golden lightning. It struck the huge python whose body trembled before scattering into dust.

Soon after, Han Li began to circulate the magic power in his body and released an astonishing aura, covering his body in sparkling azure light and abundant spiritual Qi.

After easily striking down the python, he looked at the old devils in front of him and calmly said, You four can have your fight, but there is no need to involve me. Im only passing through.

The old devils around him simultaneously looked at Han Li in shock.

At that moment, they realized the cultivator had coincidentally trapped in the spell formation was an existence on par with their own. He was simply concealing himself through some unknown technique.

Did this person harbor any malicious intentions or was he truly only here by coincidence?

The three devils began to ponder about the situation and remained silent as they were absorbed in their thoughts.

King Glorious Blaze felt his heart tremble. Although he knew that Han Li was the cultivator who took the vajra barrier and should be somewhat capable, he didnt expect that he would possess such an impressive cultivation. King Glorious Blazes expression wavered upon this discovery.

Han Li hastily spread his spiritual sense past the yellow sand restrictions and faintly frowned. There truly was some Heavensand inside of it and would need to spend quite a bit of effort to break through it.

After some thought, Han Li calmly spoke to the man standing on top of the large gourd, Fellow Daoist, you shouldve heard me. I dont plan on meddling in your affairs, so you should allow me to leave.

After a moment of hesitation, the yellow-robed man slowly said, Fellow Daoist, could you tell us your surname and why you were in the Snowmound Mountains?

My surname is Han and the mountains were merely along the way. That answer should be to your satisfaction! Han Li answered with a cold and impatient tone.

There was only a limited amount of time before the Soullock Seal would come back into effect so Han Li couldnt remain stuck in this situation for long.

Release the restrictions and allow you to leave? The yellow-robed mans expression turned unsightly. He blinked several times and then said, I fear that wont do. The sand formation isnt easy to release. If we were to relax the restrictions, we would be giving him an opportunity to escape. How about Fellow Daoist bear with it for the time being and we release you after we exterminate this old devil?

King Glorious Blaze chuckled and said, If Fellow Daoist Han believes those three, then you are truly bringing about your own death. After these three kill me, they will certainly deal with you too in order to keep this ugly affair quiet. If you are wise, you will join together with me in order to break the barrier. My cave residence is near here and so long as you help me break this spell formation, you will have nothing to fear from them once we arrive there. If it is to your liking, I can even make a devilheart oath and will compensate you heavily when we leave.

Han Li raised his brow when he heard this as the yellow-robed mans words had left his heart particularly sullen.

It would be best for Fellow Daoist to clearly understand what there is to gain before he takes action. If you help him, dont blame us if we act ruthlessly afterwards. You should understand the might of both parties, not to mention that it will be extremely difficult to escape from our sand formation. Surely, you dont want to die here with him? My conditions are quite simple. You only need to wait here for a little while and when the time comes, we will release you. Im also willing to swear a devilheart oath on this!

Righteous Prevailance Technique… Reincarnation Cycle Arts… Brightjade Arts… Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense through the jade slip and muttered the name of the techniques it contained. These names alone suggested they were Buddhist techniques.

When Monarch Soul Divergence heard the name of the latter, he shouted out in amazement, I heard of that name before! The Brightjade Arts is a very rare technique passed down by vajra protectors in Buddhist sects. It is also exceptionally difficult to cultivate. How was the Feng Clan ancestor able to acquire it? Give me the jade slip and let me see whether it can be used to dissolve baleful Qi.

Han Li was overjoyed to hear this and promptly handed the jade slip over to the bamboo tube on his back.

After that, Monarch Soul Divergence was absorbed in comprehending the contents of the jade slip. As Han Li waited, he began to look for the most valuable items in the Feng Clans secret cave.

He wouldve wanted to loot the entirety of these items for himself, but it was a pity that he had limited space in his storage pouch. Apart from the spirit stones, he would have to carefully choose what he would bring along.

Han Li took away the several magic treasures and a few of the materials and talismans that were useful to him. As for the magic tools, he took three of exceptional quality and left the rest behind.

With that done, he turned his attention to the large pile of jade slips. When he was looking through them with his spiritual sense, he found a technique that interested him. After he had seen all of them, he sat down cross-legged and began to silently meditate the technique that caught his attention.

As time slowly passed by, Monarch Soul Divergence eventually broke the silence in the room, immediately attracting Han Lis attention.

He slowly said, The Brightjade Arts is quite a bit heretical. It is said to be a Buddhist technique, but the cultivation method is overbearing to the point where it can be considered a partial devilish art.

A devilish art? Han Lis heart sank and he asked, What do you mean? Is the technique able to dissolve the baleful Qi in my body?

There is no need to be impatient. The technique will truly be able to resolve your problem, however, the method to dissolve the baleful Qi is somewhat similar to the method of the Devil Dao. You will not be expelling the baleful Qi but refining it for your own uses. This method of cultivation is clearly dangerous as this Qi isnt something that is easily controlled. You should consider the advantages of finding another Buddhist technique! Monarch Soul Divergence muttered for a moment and tossed the jade slip out from the storage pouch.

Han Li caught the jade slip and his heart trembled. He then vigilantly asked, Refine the baleful Qi for my own uses? After I cultivate this technique, wont I be set on the path of the Elder Devils?

There is no worry of that. The Brightjade Arts is truly a Buddhist protector technique and will not set you on the path of the Devil Dao. Although its methods are somewhat extreme and share a few similarities with Devil Dao techniques, it will only have the baleful Qi to assist in your cultivation, it wont have you directly use the baleful Qi to attack others. This way, you will be able to eliminate a majority of its harmful effects despite its overbearing nature. Tch tch! Buddhist sects have truly capable individuals and are even able to fold devilish techniques into Buddhist ones. I reckon they had someone on my level to accomplish this. This is a grand technique that rivals the abilities of even my Great Development Technique. Monarch Soul Divergence said with admiration.

When Han Li heard Monarch Soul Divergence, he felt a wave of doubt and promptly sank his spiritual sense into the jade slip, examining the contents for the Brightjade Arts.

After a moment, he shouted in surprise, Yi! This technique seems quite familiar. Where have I seen this before?

Youve seen this before? Monarch Soul Divergence asked in amazement.

Thats right… Ive remember now! This technique is similar to the demon race cultivation art! Han Li then touched his storage pouch and took out a palm-sized copper plate into his hand. It was the Sacred Provenance Plate1 he acquired from the Scattered Star Seas.

1 First appeared in Chapter 546. Han Li later acquired it from the Venomous Flood Dragon.

Without another word, Han Li began to compare the scripts on the plate and the jade slip.

After a moment, he discovered that the techniques were different, but they clearly stemmed from the same source. Of the two techniques, the Brightjade Arts was far more shallow, but the two gave the same indistinct feeling that something was missing, causing him to feel confused over the matter.

When Monarch Soul Divergence saw Han Li shifting his attention between the jade slip and copper plate, he felt that something was odd and couldnt help but ask, What is that copper plate?

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li sighed and tossed the copper plate into the bamboo tube. Senior, have a look. My aptitude is too poor so I am unable to see how they relate. Perhaps, Senior will be able to clear my confusion.

Monarch Soul Divergence began to examine the technique on the copper plate. These are demon characters. This should be a technique that came from an exceptional demon clan. Let me look…

About a quarter of an hour later, Monarch Soul Divergence came to a clear conclusion. With a decisive tone, he stated, I have a general idea of what is similar. The Buddhist Brightjade Arts is an altered version of the demon clan technique. Furthermore, it is based on the portion of the copper plate that is missing.

At that moment, Han Li finished his thoughts as well and said, So it was like that. However, the last portion of the Brightjade Arts isnt capable of being joined together with the copper plate. It should still be lacking an addition section.

I didnt think that Youngster Han would be able to see that too. Thats right, the set of demon clan cultivation arts could be divided into three sections. The Brightjade Arts are using the most basic body refinement portion of the demon clan technique. As for the copper plate, it details the incantations for the final ability and is missing the middle portion that details the bodily transformations. These techniques are quite extraordinary. How interesting! Three heads and six arms, isnt that the same technique the Elder Devil used? Ive heard that the demon clan were those most in touch with the Elder Devil Realm. It seems the rumors were true. Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled with great amusement.

After hearing that, Han Li added on, Then the technique shouldve been something the Elder Devils passed onto the beast clans. Later, a Buddhist Sect acquired a portion of the techniques foundations and changed it into the current Brightjade Arts. For the devils, demons, and Buddhists to hold this technique with such importance, it seems to have come from a single great origin. Han Li then sank into thought for a long while before sighing and saying, But regardless of the might of the technique, the pestilence demons in my body may soon fail to contain the baleful Qi and I dont have much more time. I will have to cultivate the Brightjade Arts to resolve this crisis as soon as possible.

Monarch Soul Divergence pondered for a moment and said, Yes, it is as you say. Spending more time to find another technique will prove far too dangerous. Furthermore, the yechnique might prove difficult for others, but with the vast amount of baleful Qi at your disposal, it should be much easier to cultivate.

I hope that is the case, but it seems it requires a vajra relic in order to cultivate. Will there be any problems if I attempt to cultivate it?

Didnt you just acquire a vajra relic? This is an opportunity. I mightve not suggested you to cultivate the technique otherwise. Although you would barely be able to use the Feng Clan ancestors crystal relic to cultivate it, it would be far less effective than not using a vajra relic. Once your spirit beast finishes consuming the corpse flames in the vajra barrier, you will be able to finish refining it. I will impart another set of techniques to you for do so, allowing you to cultivate the Brightjade Arts without a problem. When I journeyed in the past, I became very interested in crystal relics and such, I even infiltrated one of the ten great Buddhist sects for over ten years. There is no need to worry too much over the matter, given how much I researched into it. Even if you didnt cultivate the Brightjade Arts, you would need a crystal relic to cultivate other Buddhist techniques for dissolving baleful Qi. And given how widespread Buddhist sects are in the Great Jin, it shouldnt be too difficult to find one. Monarch Soul Divergence seemed to have already given the matter much thought.

After some careful consideration, Han Li felt that there was no problem in cultivating the technique and said, If thats the case, I can be at ease. Since the technique is suitable, I may as well hurry and leave. Ever since I entered these mountains, I felt that something was amiss. This is not a good omen. I better look for a spirit vein to cultivate with.

Afterwards, he swept his gaze through the hall one last time before walking back into the transportation formation and disappearing in a flash of white light.

In the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li was directly flying out from the Snowmound Mountains in a streak of azure light. As he flew, he was discussing with Monarch Soul Divergence about where he could find a spirit vein and secretly cultivate.

After flying over a hundred kilometers, a large world-shaking boom echoed from the air and an entire group of mountains collapsed.

Han Li was caught off guard from the boom and lost balance as he felt a ring buzzing in his ear.

With a vastly changed expression, he turned to look in the direction of the sound. Then, he flew off in the opposite direction with greater speed.

As he flew a dozen kilometers away, he felt astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from behind him. Then, a cloud of grey Qi, a cloud of black Qi and a white windstorm began to tear through the sky pursuing one another as they headed in Han Lis direction. With his current cultivation, they quickly closed the distance to only two kilometers away.

How about it? Do you have any certainty of restraining Devil Glorious Blazes incarnations? If they manage to escape, well end up scaring them all away. One of the two figures sent a voice transmission to the other, speaking with a sharp voice.

The other figure snorted and gloomily said, King Glorious Blazes so-called incarnations are created from soul mending techniques, forcefully refining them until they are obedient puppets. Their intelligence is greatly reduced as a result. Although they possess Nascent Soul cultivation, they are easily handled by cultivators of equivalent strength. It wont be difficult to take them on together. But now that the old devil is releasing his own incarnations by themselves, it will benefit us greatly. Killing them would be the same as cutting off his arms. The voice was deep and low.

Brother Heavenwinds words are very sensible, the sharp voice said, However, I am quite curious about the person those incarnations are chasing. It was enough to make the old devil send men away from the tomb at a crucial moment and lose sight of his objective.

Who knows? Regardless of who it is, they have no influence over our plans. King Glorious Blazes cultivation will greatly decrease when he leaves his tomb. This is an extremely rare opportunity. That old devil is extremely sly and never leaves his tomb for more than a moment at a time. If it wasnt for the trap I set, I fear we wouldnt have any opportunities in the slightest. After all, his abilities are no lesser than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator while he is in his tomb.

The sharp voice sinisterly chuckled and said, If Old Devil Glorious Blaze knew that we have already leaked this plan to the other two noble clans, I wonder what expression he would make. The clans have already invited their sect backers and are waiting for him to take the bait. Besides, even if he manages to escape them through a fluke, well be waiting outside his tomb. It will be impossible for him to escape.

Thats right. Us brothers schemed over ten years for this plot. Furthermore, ever since we laid out the trap, weve always been outside, keeping an eye on his actions and allowing us to move at an opportune time. With him gone, his beloved concubine and his child wont be able to stand against us three. Then, the treasures hes accumulated for countless years and the thousands of corpse soldiers inside the tomb will be ours. And Ive heard that his heavenly corpse body will soon be completed. From his cautious nature, the heavenly corpse pearl for the body should be hidden somewhere in the tomb. So long as we can find it and rid it of his soul, we can also make use of the body to cultivate body hardening and strengthening techniques. It is the ideal treasure for that type of cultivation. The deep voice of Brother Heavenwind spoke with a greedy tone.

The sharp voice said, Hehe! My cultivation technique doesnt emphasize cultivating body strengthening techniques so I have no interest in the heavenly corpse pearl. I only want the thousands of corpse soldiers his tomb contains. With those soldiers, I could become a faction of power without leaving seclusion.

When Brother Heavenwind heard this, he spoke with excitement, But I know what Fellow Daoist Yin would say. Hed only want the Corpse Spirit Arts so that he will be able to control the corpse soldiers with ease. Otherwise, he would have to go and ask us for help to use them!

That sounds right. The owner of the sharp voice then examined the green silhouettes from a distance and proposed, Now should be time to act. Since Brother Wild Sand is closely following after the old devil, there should be no problems. We should take action before something unexpected occurs. Lets quickly get rid of the old devils incarnations and then returning to the tomb to lie in ambush. If we let the old devil make it back, things will turn for the worse.

Yes, it is nearly time. The old devil shouldve left the Snowmound Mountains. Lets set off.

Heavenwind paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.

At that moment, the two green incarnations were violently howling, but soon, they suddenly felt astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from behind them. They couldnt help but to turn around to look.

As a result, they saw a large black mist and an astonishing storm of wind chasing after them. It filled up the entire sky and appeared almost as if it aimed to envelop the two.

…

Han Li was currently standing in front of a stone door behind the waterfall, completely ignorant of the great problem that another party had unintentionally resolved. Although he wouldve been able to easily dispatch of the two incarnations, it would consume the last opportunity for him to lift the Soullock Seal.

His eyes were focused on a corner of the stone door and there was a slight protrusion there with an inch large hole on top of it.

He reached for his storage pouch and took a sparkling silver key into his hand. He flicked his finger and shot it into the hole in a silver streak.

The key smoothly entered, leaving the outer half outside of the hole.

He smiled when he saw this and pointed his finger at the key, shooting out a streak of azure light towards it. Then, the key slowly turned a half circle and the stone white gate begin to glow in a layer of white light. With a faint tremble, the stone doors slowly opened, leaving a small opening for someone to walk through.

Han Li glanced at the opening before calmly heading in.

After walking over thirty meters inside, there was a three-meter-large transportation formation in front of him. There were eight grooves around the spell formation that were completely empty.

When he saw this, he let out a faint smile.

If one didnt have deep knowledge of formations, they would put their spirit stones on all the grooves, resulting in the formations spatial power to completely disintegrate them. Whoever designed this hidden storage was quite shrewd.

He walked up to the spell formation and his eyes flickered several times. His sleeve trembled and five low-grade spirit stones shot into five separate grooves. Then, he struck the spell formation with a spell seal and the transportation formation began to hum.

With Han Lis attainments in spell formations, he could see if there was anything amiss with the formation. He was able to quickly tell that it was safe and then walked into the center of the formation.

White light then wrapped around him and he disappeared from sight.

The distance he was teleported was quite short. As expected, he didnt feel much of a headache from the teleportation due to his strong spiritual sense. Then in a flash of white light, he appeared in a large hall.

He swept his gaze across it and took the entire scene in.

It only spanned about sixty meters long and was made completely out of cleanly cut Warmstone. There werent many things in the hall: two rows of green shelves and three meter-long silver chests.

To Han Lis surprise, the Feng Clans secret cave was quite small.

The wooden shelves were made of precious wood. Its color hadnt changed despite its vast age and it still possessed some sort of fragrance.

An arrangement of over thirty magic tools were placed in one of the shelves, all of them at mid-grade quality or higher. There were several unknown magic treasures mixed amongst them and they appeared exceptionally eye-catching. On the other shelf, there were over a hundred various jade slips that were densely arranged.

He didnt take another look at the magic tools and treasures, nor did he pay any attention to the silver chests. Instead, he walked over to the jade slips.

He swept his gaze past them and casually took one into his hand before quickly sweeping his spiritual sense through it.

His powerful spiritual sense allowed him to look through the jade slips in the time it took to finish a meal. To his surprise, none of them contained anything that was related to Buddhist techniques. freewebnove.com

Could it be that Feng Yue had lied?

Han Li shook his head and tossed the thought to the back of his mind. He had used the Dreamtear Technique to make sure that Feng Yue had been telling the truth. It was impossible for him to deceive him.

After some further thought, his eyes dropped down to three silver chests. Pondering to himself for a moment, he walked over and opened each of them with a wave of his sleeve.

One of the chests were filled with several hundreds of mid-grade spirit stones. Another one was filled with jade boxes of varying size.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them and discovered that they contained rare materials and pills. At a first glance, it was about as valuable as the chest of spirit stones.

After looking through these two chests and failing to find what he wanted, he unconsciously wore a gloomy expression.

After he looked into the final chest, he found various talismans sparkling with light. He immediately expressed disappoint after seeing this, but regardless, he carefully swept his spiritual sense through the chest. Then, his expression stirred and he reached his hand out towards it.

In a gust of wind, an object underneath the talismans flew into his grasp.

It was a scarlet wooden box that was a half-foot long. It had a faint yellow talisman sealing it and the surface of the box was engraved with Buddhist talisman characters.

He glanced at the talisman on the box and saw that it was a common Qi concealing talisman. He tore it off without hesitation and opened the box.

As a result, he saw seven-colored light shoot out from the box. The source of the light was a milky-white thumb-sized pearl.

A crystal relic! Han Li yelped in joy. The crystal relic wasnt the only thing inside of the box. There was also two Buddhist Sect magic tools and a yellow jade slip.

The magic tools were a dharma wheel and a bracelet of golden prayer beads. They both glowed with faith spiritual light. As for the jade slip, it appeared unremarkable but Han Lis interest was completely captured by it.

With a sweep of his hand, he took the jade slip and impatiently shank his spiritual sense into it.

With the brick in hand, Han Li took a closer look at it and swept his other hand past it. With fingertips glowing in azure light, they brushed past the bricks surface and caused it to ripple in white light.

He curled his lips into a smile and nodded.

The brick was consistent with what Feng Yue told him. It was actually a storage pouch in disguise, but it needed to be opened with a specific incantation. If it were opened by force, the items it contained would be turned into ash.

Han Li acquired the incantation from Feng Yue before his death and now uttered it, spitting out a ball of azure light with talisman characters roaming across it. It struck the brick and enveloped it within.

Soon, he formed an incantation gesture with a single hand and quickly pressed against each corner of the brick with his finger. With a light bang, a pitch-black hole appeared on its surface.

He didnt take the risk of sticking his hand into it. Instead, he slapped the bottom of the brick and it trembled with light, causing two items to fly out from the hole. There was a jade slip that was several inches large and a pile of tightly bundled documents.

He easily caught them in the air with a single hand.

After putting away the brick, Han Li paid no attention to the documents and immediately immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip. Not long after, his expression warped and turned sullen.

Monarch Soul Divergence saw his reaction and asked, What is it? Could it be it doesnt contain the location of the Feng Clans secret cave?

Its there, and it even details its exact location. After letting out a long sigh, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and frowned.

Then why are you so gloomy? Could it be the cave is in a dangerous place? As expected of an eccentric nearing the age of ten thousand years, Monarch Soul Divergence guessed correctly.

Han Li sighed and wore a helpless expression, saying, It is possible Ill run into trouble. The secret cave is located deep into the Snowmound Mountains.

Why did the Feng Clan establish it there? Could it be they didnt know there was something strange about the mountains and that cultivators often disappeared? Monarch Soul Divergence spoke with a flabbergasted tone.

Who knows? Han Li said with a wry smile, Perhaps the Feng Clan Ancestor felt that the more dangerous the area, the safer it would be.

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily said, Since they had always used this secret cave, it shouldnt be too dangerous. Theres no point in being too worried.

I hope so! Now that Ive acquired the map, I cant let this go by because of some unknown danger. If this goes smoothly, Ill arrive there in a day.

Afterwards, Han Li put away the jade slip and then picked up one of the documents, flipping through it before yelping in surprise.

He then said, These are the deeds for the Feng Clan properties in the mortal world. They can be said to own the most land in the region.

Is this anything strange? Monarch Soul Divergence asked. The noble clans of the Great Jin and the Immortal clans of the Heavenly South have quite a few differences. Interfering with the mortal world can be considered quite ordinary and it isnt a disgrace to interact with high ranking government officials and the wealthy. Even vagrant cultivators take the initiative to reach out to them for help. Not only does the Great Jin span across a great amount of land, but the mortals living there exist in far greater density than the Heavenly South. As a result, there are fewer desolate areas, and spirit medicines and spirit stones often found themselves in the hands of mortals. This is different in the Heavenly South where mortals occupy far less land and there is much more wilderness. As such, the Heavenly South cultivators dont interact much with them.

Han Li doubtfully said, You mean to say the many sects allow the royal powers of the Great Jin to control their cultivation resources?

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said, It isnt that they allow it. The Great Jin isnt like the Heavenly South where there are many different countries and clans, but rather, a single powerful imperial court has ruled over the Great Jins mortal world since ancient times.

No matter how powerful a cultivator may be, they wont dare to harm mortal affairs, or else other sects and powers will use this opportunity as a pretext to move against them. As a result, the Great Jin court had reached a compromise with many of the great powers in the cultivation world. If I remember correctly, the agreement would dictate that the powers or sects wouldnt pressure or interfere with the mortal imperial court, and would even allow the imperial court to directly hire a few vagrant cultivators in order to preserve the prestige of the court. Of course, the Great Jin imperial family can also nurture a certain number of their own cultivators, but the great sects keep a close eye on them to make sure they dont get carried away.

Monarch Soul Divergence continued, For all of these great powers to acquire cultivation resources and manpower, they had made agreements in secret with the royal family and imperial court. A few particularly powerful officials will likely have been backed by various sects in order to prevent other powers from holding the advantage. Under these circumstances, noble clans began to appear from sects and as a result, noble clans gradually accumulated many mortal properties and became accustomed to interacting with the mortal world. However, these lands should have cultivation resources on them since theyve been so carefully stored away. These are crucial for the survival of any noble clan.

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin in utter amazement.

Since these documents are so important, why were they placed here? Han Li pondered, Did the Feng Clan Master sensed something was about to happen and put them here as a contingency measure?

Thats possible, but this has nothing to do with us, Monarch Soul Divergence stated. Lets not waste our time thinking about this and instead head straight to the Feng Clans hidden storage. Perhaps there could be a Buddhist Technique to dissolve your baleful Qi.

It is as you say, Senior!

Han Li smiled and then put the documents away in a jade box. After making certain of his direction, he flew off on a magic tool towards the Snowmound Mountains.

…

At that moment, in a tomb underneath the Snowmound Mountains, there were two silhouettes enveloped in green Qi. They were kneeling in front of the three stone coffins and remained motionless. Suddenly, two streaks of green light flew out from one of the coffins and they each entered into the silhouettes foreheads.

Go! Kill him and retrieve the treasure! A man spoke from the middle coffin with an imposing tone.

The two silhouettes blurred into streaks of green light and circled the room before flying off.

Alright, Ive acquired the appearance of the person who took away the vajra barrier and gave it to the incarnations. The princes remnant Qi should also remain in the vajra barrier for a short amount of time. So long as this person doesnt immediately leave the Guanning Province, it will be impossible for him to escape.

M… Many thanks… Lord Father! A happy stutter came out from the other coffin.

The man from the center coffin snorted and said, I will leave it be this time, but there had better not be more trouble!

Yes… Next time… this will not happen! The stutter now had a fearful tone.

No further words were spoken from any of the coffins. But after the time it took to finish a meal, a loud bang sounded out. The lid of the middle coffin flew ten meters in the air, and a thin silhouette wearing a crown sat up from it.

My king, why are you…? A sweet womans voice sounded out from the other coffin.

With glowing red eyes, the man said, The veins of Yin Qi in the earth will soon erupt and a temporary leave from the tomb room wont cause me a large loss in cultivation. It is a good opportunity to lend General Ge some aid and dispose of some troublesome characters outside of the noble clans. After I head out, Ill activate all the restrictions in the tomb to prevent any outsiders from entering.

After a moment of hesitation, the woman replied, Yes, your majesty! Please be careful!

Dont worry, my beloved concubine. I will return to the tomb after two days. I wont be leaving much after that. The man nodded and then he stood up from the coffin.

His body blurred several times and then his body became indistinct, turning into a cloud of grey mist and disappearing from sight. It was unknown where he went.

Soon, silence filled the tomb room, only to be interrupted by a womans deep sigh.

…

When Han Li caught sight of Snowmound Mountain, it was already dawn. Without another thought, he rushed into the mountains on his flying magic tool.

Fearing that he would provoke trouble, Han Li concealed his aura and flew at a low altitude, releasing his spiritual sense to only cover a couple of kilometers and carefully watching everything that happened nearby. freewenovel.cm

The location of the Feng Clans hidden storage was near the heart of the mountain and in a well-concealed area.

After flying around for the day, Han Li looked down at the mountains from the air before dropping down on an unremarkable peak, discovering a huge waterfall that was a kilometer tall. The scene was completely the same as the jade slip described, much to Han Lis relief.

After looking at the surging mists of white water, Han Li floated down and formed an incantation gesture. Then he raised his hands and released two streaks of azure light into the waterfall.

A series of muffled rumblings sounded out, followed by the appearance of a three-meter-wide hole in the waterfall. Han Li flew in without hesitation, and soon after, the hole disappeared.

Of course, Han Li didnt know that in the instant he entered the cave, two green silhouettes were pursuing him from five hundred kilometers away. They snarled with rage and bared their pitch-black fangs, occasionally releasing out series of low roars reminiscent of a dreadful two-headed beast.

However, these two silhouettes couldnt have known that a few kilometers behind then, there were two hidden figures coldly watching them. They were whispering to each other with lowered heads.

Chapter 912: A Small Town Inn

Han Li brought the large man to an unremarkable room in the building and laid him on the floor. His body was covered in blue frost, and his eyes were open wide and filled with terror.

Han Li summoned a silver needle in between his fingers with a wave of his hand. He then stooped down and quickly stabbed the needle several times into the large mans head. The large man trembled as a result and turned completely lax.

Han Li formed a hand incantation and he softly muttered an incantation before striking the mans body with several spell seals. The frost immediately disappeared from the mans body and he sat up with blank eyes and stiffly crossed his legs, then waiting motionlessly like a puppet.

With azure light covering his face, Han Li waved his sleeve, releasing several various colored spell flags around him. They surrounded the two, creating a Qi concealing spell formation. After activating the formation, his body blurred and reappeared behind the large man.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the top of the large mans head. At that moment, light brightly glowed from Han Lis body and enveloped the large man.

What is your name and what is your position in the Kong Clan? Han Lis cold and emotionless voice echoed from the light.

The large man listlessly replied, I am Kong Dou. I am the chief of external affairs.

Since when did the Kong Clan occupy Falcon Cloud Village? Where did the original residents go?

Seven years ago, the original residences were all relocated to a town by the name of Snowriver.

What is the purpose of the Kong Clans Grand Assembly?

That is…

After a string of questions, Han Li extracted most of the information he wanted. At the end, he released his grip on the large man and the man immediately fell to the ground. Han Li then took out a medicine pill and forced him to swallow it before striking all the acupoints on the mans body with a silver needle.

A while later, Han Li stood up and muttered, With the Worryfree Needle, his recent memories should be sealed. He wont immediately stir any trouble. It is a pity I cant make use of the Dreamtear Technique because of my lacking cultivation and save myself all this trouble.

Han Li shook his hand and then withdrew the spell flags before walking out of the building. Afterwards, he directly made his way to the villages exit, having completely lost his interest in further participating in the Grand Assembly.

There were quite a few cultivators that were already leaving. As a result, Han Li hadnt attracted any attention from guards at the entrance.

In a streak of azure light, Han Li made his way to the small town that the large man had mentioned.

The small town wasnt very far away from the Snowmound Mountains. Soon, he faintly saw Snowriver Town over the horizon. Snowriver Town was about four times larger than Falcon Cloud Village, but it still barely qualified as a town. When Han Li entered, it was already late and the sky was dark, leaving scarcely few people wandering on the streets. As a result, Han Lis arrival hadnt stirred up any attention.

As Han Li walked through the streets, he slowly released his spiritual sense, in case there were any Nascent Soul cultivators hidden nearby.

As he expected, there were cultivators in the town, but a majority of them were low-grade cultivators. The highest of these cultivators was a Core Formation cultivator that was hidden in a courtyard in the southwest corner of the town. As Han Li stealthily swept his spiritual sense through the town, none of the cultivators detected him in the slightest.

After confirming that there were no threats to him present in the town he concealed his aura and walked down the street, occasionally sweeping his eyes to either side as if he were looking for something.

Soon, he arrived at a wide intersection, what seemed to be the center of the town. Han Li glanced at the sign for an inn and narrowed his eyes before coming to a stop.

The signboard was a meter long and was written with the silver words, Pleasant Arrival. It was a common name for inns in the Great Jin. There were surely several hundreds at the very least, if not thousands. Han Li was staring at the teapot mark at the corner of the sign in particular and his eyes wandered.

After examining it for a short moment, he took a deep breath and looked up at the small inn. Seeing that there was no one around, his figure blurred and in a flicker of faint yellow light, he phased through the inns door as if it werent there.

The main hall of the inn was pitch-black and completely quiet. It was unknown if there were any guests or if they were all sleeping. After some consideration, Han Li closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense, immersing his mind with the image of the inn.

He then silently turned into a gust of wind and disappeared into the darkness.

…

The owner of the Pleasant Arrival Inn was a shriveled old man in his fifties and was among the wealthiest people in the village. After a busy day, he had drawn himself into deep slumber, embracing a young concubine that he had married earlier in the year. But suddenly, he felt an icy bone-chilling wind blow past him, rousing him wide awake. He suddenly opened his eyes and broke out into a cold sweat.

In the pitch blackness, there was someone standing at his bedside, staring at him with cold shiny eyes.

You… Just as he was about to yell, a silver line flashed and his throat turned numb, his voice coming to an immediate stop.

Dont be loud. Although there are no cultivators in the inn, I dont wish to alarm anyone. I only want to speak to you about this item. The silhouette raised his hand and a key shining with silver light appeared in front of the old man.

When the old man saw this key, his body trembled and his body relaxed. Instead, a trace of delight appeared on his face.

The person holding the key was Han Li, of course.

The old man hastily jumped up from the bed and gestured with his hands, attempting to speak but no sound came out from his mouth. Han Li smiled and raised his hand, taking out a silver needle from the mans throat.

The old man coughed several times and eventually regained his voice, then asking, Could you allow me to examine the silver key?

After a moments pause, Han Li handed it over.

The old man took the silver key and examined it for a long while before handing it back to Han Li with both his hands. With a respectful expression, he deeply bowed to Han Li and said, Are you the great Young Master?

You already saw the key, Han Li said, Is there a problem?

None. Since the Young Master sought me out and he has the genuine key, your identity is certain, but… The old man then turned his gaze to the young woman sleeping behind him. frewebnoel.com

Han Li blinked and calmly said, Dont worry, I already put her under a spell before I woke you up. No matter how loudly you shout, she will hear none of it.

That is good, the old man sincerely said, The clan master hasnt contacted me after several years. I am only a mortal, so I didnt know what was happening. I didnt dare to make any inquiries, fearing that I would attract the attention of other cultivators. Now that the Young Master has brought the silver key, I can finally relax. Were if not for the clan head mentioning that you had changed your appearance, I wouldnt have dared to believe it.

Something had truly happened to the Feng Clan. As such, I will need to open the secret reserves and take a few items out. Apart from the clan head, none knows of its location. He shouldve left behind a backup map with you. Give it to me. Han Li spoke bluntly and with a commanding tone.

Yes! Since you have the key to the reserve, you have the qualifications to open it. Just a moment, Young Master! The old man then covered himself in several articles of clothing and led Han Li to the inns rear courtyard.

As a result, the old man grabbed an iron hoe and began to dig at an unremarkable corner of the courtyard. Afterwards, he used his hands to carefully search the soil, eventually finding a stone brick with a common appearance. At that point, he was already covered in sweat.

The old man handed over the brick to Han Li and said, The location of the secret reserve is sealed in here. There is a restriction on it and I am incapable of opening it, but Young Master should be able to!

Of course I do! Han Li gave the brick a few appraising glances and nodded with satisfaction. Then with a stern expression, he commanded, Now that I have this item, you shouldnt stay here any longer. Travel far away and hide your identity!

The old mans expression turned dim when he heard this. Then something mustve truly happened to the Feng Clan! Dont worry Young Master, I will immediately depart in a few days. I wont have the information of Young Master leak out.

Han Li put away the stone brick and took another glance at the old mans dim expression. With a moved heart, he flipped his hand and gave a small azure bottle to the old man. You should know how things stand now. Since youve always remained loyal to the Feng Clan, take this bottle of medicine pills. Although you are only a mortal, the pills will strengthen your body and allow you to live a longer life!

The old man was stunned for a moment before happily replying, Many thanks for your generosity, Young Master!

Han Li waved his hand and expressionlessly said, Alright, Ill be leaving now. Take care of yourself! Then in an azure flash, he disappeared from the inn without a trace.

The old man glanced around him in shock and after a long while, he confirmed that Han Li had left. Then, he lowered his head and blankly looked at the medicine bottle before letting out a sigh.

…

When Han Li left the inn, he immediately flew out of the town and went to find a desolate mountain. After dropping down, he summoned an azure brick with a flip of his palm.

What? Is there a problem with the Firesmelt Crystals? The old man asked with a friendly chuckle.

Theres nothing wrong. These were precisely what I bidded on. Han Li nodded and calmly replied. Then, he handed over the spirit stones, took the gems, and took his leave with a salute.

As Han Li walked away, the old man took a glance at the empty jade box and frowned, his eyes revealing slight doubt.

Soon, Han Li returned to his seat at the auction and in a flash of light, a Firesmelt Crystal appeared in his hand. Han Li looked at the gem with a smile and obvious satisfaction.

The green-clothed woman next to Han Li saw his expression and said, Fellow Daoist must be quite wealthy to spend eight hundred spirit stones on three Firesmelt Crystals!

After calmly looking at the woman, Han Li replied, Thats right. Ive been wanting to buy those crystals for a while. Being able to buy these made this trip quite worth it.

When the green-robed woman saw the glint in Han Lis eye, her heart trembled and she suddenly became unable to say anything further. The yellow-robed woman at her side saw this and her expression changed as if she sensed something. She also said nothing.

After acquiring this unexpected harvest, Han Li began to look forward to the rest of the auction. But at that moment, Monarch Soul Divergence couldnt help but ask, Youngster Han, what do those Firesmelt Crystals have to do with demon cores? How about you give me an explanation?

Senior shouldve already guessed it, Han Li calmly answered, One of the Firesmelt Crystals is actually a grade seven demon core, but after the passage of countless years, its body had turned to that of complete crystal. It now appears no different from a Firesmelt Crystal. Even those with exceptionally powerful spiritual sense arent able to see the difference.

Grade seven demon core? Since one cant tell the difference with spiritual sense or its exterior appearance, how were you able to see through it? Monarch Soul Divergence wasnt particularly shocked, but he still felt somewhat doubtful.

Hehe, this has something to do with the baleful Qi on my body, Han Li calmly explained, In the past, I had personally slain thousands upon thousands of high-grade demon beasts, resulting in the dense baleful Qi on my body. As a result, the baleful Qi on my body began to stir when the grade seven demon core was taken out. Since I handled a great number of demon cores in the past, I acquired a particular method of detecting them.

So it was like that, the old man chuckled, If you truly killed so many demon beasts, then it makes sense to me why you have so much baleful Qi on your body. However, I am quite interested in how you were able to kill so many demon beasts. It seems you have many old tales that havent been revealed to me!

Its nothing. I simply had an opportunity in the past. More importantly, I fear Senior doesnt know the use of a crystalized demon core. Not wanting to mention his years in the Scattered Star Seas, Han Li changed the topic to capture Monarch Soul Divergences attention.

Oh! This is also the first time Ive heard of a demon core turned to crystal, Monarch Soul Divergence said with interest, I do wonder what it can be used for.

The crystallized demon core can no longer be considered a true demon core, Han Li said as he stroked his chin, If it were used during pill concoction, it will turn into a poison that would kill ordinary cultivators when taken. As a matter of fact, this material is an optimal material for refining flying needles. It is said that when a flying needle if crafted from it, the needles speed will be so fast itll immediately strike the enemy as soon as it is released, and most fearsome of all is that a flying needle crafted from this material will be nearly invisible while in flight, allowing it to be an optimal weapon for sneak attacks. However, because it is extremely difficult for crystalized demon cores to be created and there are sparsely few cultivators that can recognize them so they are seldom ever found. If it werent for my baleful Qi, I wouldnt have detected it myself.

As it so happened, Han Li had once read through a jade slip that recorded the refinement method for a flying needle created from a demon core. When he killed Zenith Yins master in the Scattered Star Seas, he had taken a look at this jade slip out of interest and had only just remembered it after he acquired the crystalized demon core.

Ive never heard of this before. It seems there are countless bizarre things in the world. I fear there are no cultivators that have tread through all areas of the mortal world. According to what I know, there are at least six other cultivation worlds apart from our Heavenly South. There are few that can be safely ventured and others that will be dangerous to enter. During my lifetime, I visited two other areas apart from the Great Jin. Due to my decreasing lifespan, I returned to the Heavenly South and desperately researched techniques to extend my life. Monarch Soul Divergences tone turned completely dim and listless.

There is no need for Senior to be so dejected. The cycle of death is something all are equally subjected to. Even if you ascended to the spirit realm, you might not necessarily be freed from the shackles of your lifespan and only be entering a world full of Immortals. But it is extremely difficult for mortals like us to ascend to the spirit realm. There are only a few people that had managed it since ancient times! Something seemed to stir in Han Li as he said this.

Hehe! I am still unwilling to give up. Ive always believed that I am absolutely among the best in the world with regards to cultivation aptitude and intelligence, but at the very end, my soul became trapped in a puppet body and I only slowed down my death. If another opportunity is given to me, I will surely enter Deity Transformation stage without too much difficulty. Monarch Soul Divergence muttered with regret and his voice gradually became softer as he went on.

When Han Li heard this, he felt a trace of sadness deep in his heart. In the past, he established a sect in the Far West and none in the Heavenly South posed to be his match. He was even more illustrious than Han Li and was peerless without a doubt, but he was never able to enter Deity Transformation stage. This pitiful end of his weighed heavily on Han Lis heart. Monarch Soul Divergences current circumstances was a very likely possibility that Han Li could find himself in.

With that thought, Han Lis expression turned gloomy and he didnt say anything further.

The auction proceeded as usual and the items became even more precious as time went on, but there was nothing that caught Han Lis interest. When the auction was bidding the very last magic treasures and pills, Han Li lost his patience and promptly left the auction, attracting a strange gaze from the two women that sat at his side.

After he left, he paid no further attention to the other booths and left the plaza, slowly wandering around several buildings absentmindedly.

When he passed by other foreign cultivators and a few disciples of the three noble clans, he paid little notice of them either.

With slow and steady steps, he gradually made his way to a far more remote area.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li stopped and looked to the side. He was now in front of a building with a white-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator standing inside it. The cultivator was looking around as if he were waiting for someone.

With an expressionless face, Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense around him and found that there were no other cultivators nearby, nor were there any powerful restrictions. The nearest cultivators were over three hundred meters away and wouldnt pay any attention to this area. As a result, he approached the cultivator standing inside the building.

The fierce-looking man was surprised by Han Lis appearance and asked, Does Fellow Daoist have any business here?

When Han Li approached him, he smiled and said, Are you a Kong Clan cultivator?

The large man sized Han Li up and saw that he had a variety of pouches at his waist. Since he didnt seem to be a vagrant cultivator, the large man politely replied, Thats right. I am the Kong Clans chief external affairs attendant. Does Fellow Daoist…

I have a few matters that I must talk about with your clan master. Do you think you could inform him? Han Li asked in a friendly tone.

See the clan master? Im afraid that isnt possible, the large man said with a frown, Our clan master is currently handling important affairs. He cannot casually see a stranger. If it is important, you may as well tell me first.

With a deliberate display of hesitation, Han Li then said, Very well. Just as I left the auction hall, I discovered that there was an item with a problem. I wished to talk about with your clan master.

The auction hall? Something is wrong with your item? The large mans expression suddenly froze and he said, If thats the case, you should bring up the matter with the Fellow Daoists at the auction hall.

It isnt something that the auction hall can resolve. Youll see once I show you the item. Han Li sighed and then he touched a pouch at his waist.

When the large man saw Han Lis action, his many years of experienced caused him to unconsciously place his palm at his waist, but when Han Li flipped his hand, he took out a shining red gem and handed it over to the large man. The large mans suspicions disappeared and his body relaxed. With a confused tone, he said, Isnt this a Firesmelt Gem? Why would you need to see the clan master over this?

Just as he spoke and reached out to take the gem, a wisp of blue flame suddenly shot out from the stone. At such a short distance, the large man couldnt dodge and just as he was about to yell, his head froze and a chill ran down his body. In the next moment, his body was sealed in a layer of frost and he couldnt move in the slightest.

Han Li swept up a wave of blue light from his sleeve, wrapping up the frozen man in it and bringing him deep into the building. He then entered the building with a blur.

After a long while inside the Hidden Fortune Room, Han Li eventually decided to put the Weeping Soul Beast inside his storage pouch while it was still inside the golden bubble. Then, he walked out and shrunk the Hidden Fortune Room back to its original size.

After he went back to the main hall, he returned the room to the middle-aged woman before heading out to the plaza.

At that moment, it was already afternoon and there were nearly half as many cultivators as before. They were all heading in a peculiar stone building to participate in the auction. Without another thought, he moved to join them.

A white-robed cultivator standing at the entrance of the auction saw Han Li and greeted him with a salute, Fellow Daoist, to prevent too many idle spectators, we are charging three spirit stones to participate in the auction.

Han Li smiled and silently pressed his hand against his storage pouch before handing over three spirit stones to the white-robed cultivator. The cultivator smiled back and gave him a palm-sized jade plate, allowing him to enter.

Han Li glanced at the jade plate as he walked through the entrance of the building and saw that it had engraved two hundred and forty-three in silver letters. Aside from that, there was nothing else remarkable.

After walking through a sixty-meter-long passageway, he came across four cultivators guarding a door that shined with white light. When they saw Han Li arrive, they all silently examined him with expressionless faces.

Han Li ignored them and walked past them, opening the gate and entering the main hall.

He then heard a loud mans voice saying, Five-hundred-year-old Phoenix Tail Flower, seven hundred and ninety spirit stones. Is there anyone bidding any higher? No? Then this spirit herb goes to Fellow Daoist One Hundred Thirty. In a moment, please go to the back and pay the spirit stones for the medicine herb.

Han Li clearly saw over two hundred people sitting in the hall. Each of them was sitting in front of a table and had placed down their jade plate on top of it, clearly revealing the shining silver numbers on top of it.

In front of the stone hall, there was a blue-robed middle-aged man with an imposing appearance. As he was speaking, he was holding open a jade box with a bright purple flower inside of it.

The one who purchased this medicine herb was a fat old man. When he saw the middle-aged man verify the winning bid, he stood up with a happy expression and walked over to the side door as if he couldnt wait to acquire it.

Han Li looked at the scene with indifference and walked over to a nearby empty seat.

He sat down in a chair made of pure white stone. Its jadelike appearance and its warm sensation had aroused a bit of interest from Han Li. гeewebnovl.com

This is… Han Li pondered for a moment, recalling the stone materials in his memory only to find that he hadnt seen this material before. His lips faintly curled from his surprise.

Fellow Daoist, is this your first time seeing Warmstone? He suddenly heard a womans voice with a faint giggle.

Warmstone? He turned his head to the side and saw two young female cultivators who resembled each other so strongly they could be sisters. One of them was wearing yellow clothes and the other green clothes, but both of them were indisputably outstanding beauties. The one who spoke was the closer of the two and was wearing green. She saw found it silly how Han Li touched the table.

Little sister, dont speak out of turn, the yellow-clothed woman quickly said, Fellow Daoist, please dont take offense. My younger cousin had just come out from the clan and her words are still rash. I hope youll forgive her.

Youngster cousin? Theyre not sisters by blood? Han Li thought with surprise. But for the two to reach Foundation Establishment stage at such a young age, they clearly had exceptional aptitudes.

With that thought, he smiled and casually said, Its alright. Ive only heard of Warmstone before but this is the first time Ive seen it. Does Fellow Daoist know about this item in detail? It cant be a common material or else I wouldve heard of it before, despite having cultivated in the wilderness all this time.

Warmstone is completely different from the material known as Warm Jade, the yellow-clothed woman explained with a smile, It isnt strange for Fellow Daoist to not know of it as it is a material rarely found in other places. It is only present here because it is a specialty of the Snowmound Mountains. But apart from being warm to the touch and exceptionally white, there is nothing else notable about it. But of course, it is far more valuable that the common jade found in the mortal world.

So it was like that. Many thanks for your explanation. Han Li nodded with understanding and then his expression blanked as he turned to look at the middle-aged man auctioning a top-grade magic tool.

His actions had caused the green-clothed woman to narrow her eyes and curl her lips, betraying a trace of disdain. Just as she was about to say something else, her older cousin shot her a stern glance, causing her to keep her mouth shut.

Han Li completely ignored this and was calmly looking up at the magic tools and spirit herbs being auctioned.

Although the auction was certain to be somewhat lacking considering that it was hosted by local clans, he paid particular attention to it as there was a vast difference in prices between the Great Jin and the Heavenly South. It would serve as preparation for when he would search for rare materials.

After some calm observation, he came to the conclusion that regardless of whether they were spiritual herbs or magic tools, they were significantly more expensive than they were in the Heavenly South. The rarer items were particularly costly.

After some thought, he came to realize that although the Great Jin was over ten times larger than the Heavenly South, they attracted a far greater number of cultivators considering their complete legacies of cultivation. This caused a severe lack of magic tools and medicines in comparison to the Heavenly South.

Conversely, it could also be said that the Great Jin was abundant with resources and would have many rare materials that would never be seen in the Heavenly South and even the Scattered Star Seas. In this auction alone, there were a few medicines and tool materials that he didnt know of.

This was much to Han Lis joy. It appeared that if he paid a visit to the many high-grade market cities in the Great Jin, there was the possibility of acquiring the few rare materials he needed.

Just as Han Li thought this, the blue-robed middle-aged man on the stage called out to bring out the next item a tray with three deep-red gems on it. They shined with a flicking light similar to a blazing flame. It was rather eye-catching.

Three Firesmelt Crystals, the middle-aged man announced with a smile, An ideal material for refining top-grade fire-attribute magic tools. Fellow Daoists, the bid will now start at five hundred spirit stones.

Han Li took a casual glance at them and was about to turn his eyes way, but the crystals then caught his eye and he let out a yelp.

Monarch Soul Divergences voice lazily sounded out from the back of his mind, Youngster Han, from your reaction, it seems those gems have caught your eye.

Gems? It seems there are times that even Senior can be mistaken. Han Li sent out the voice transmission with a chuckle and announced a bid for six hundred spirit stones.

What? There isnt anything particular about these gems. Although my cultivation is gone, my spiritual sense remains. I dont believe Im mistaken. Monarch Soul Divergence said with a doubtful tone.

With a strange voice, Han Li replied, My experience may still be lacking, but I would dare to say there are few in this world that have more experience in demon beast cores than me.

This has something to do with demon cores? Monarch Soul Divergence was stunned from hearing the confidence in Han Lis voice. Were it not for the many years he spent with Han Li, he wouldve believed Han Li to be confused.

After a moment of silence, Monarch Soul Divergence continued, Since youre certain, there must be some reasoning behind it, but I cannot bring myself to believe that there is something strange about those Firesmelt Crystals before I have the evidence. Needless to say, Im not the only one who didnt see anything strange about the gems, even the auction appraisers couldnt find anything exceptional about them, and they are vastly experienced in dealing with rare items.

After hearing Monarch Soul Divergences words of doubt, Han Li smiled and declared a higher bid, forcing the competing bidders to back down.

Happy that the gems were sold for a high price, the middle-aged man glanced at the number on Han Lis jade plate and loudly shouted, Eight hundred spirit stones! The three Firesmelt Crystals go to Fellow Daoist Two Hundred and Forty-Three! Please head to the back of the hall to pay for the item.

When Han Li heard this, he took his jade plate and walked to the side hall.

There was a white-robed Qi Condensation cultivator waiting for him there. When he saw Han Li arrive, he immediately let Han Li to a small waiting room in the rear hall. A short moment later, a servant girl brought him a cup of tea before departing.

Han Li glanced at the cup of tea and left it alone as he calmly examined the room.

Soon, a bald old Foundation Establishment cultivator walked in with a beaming smile.

I am truly ashamed we kept you waiting for so long. Please take a look and see if this is the item you bidded on! After he said this, he handed over a jade box over to Han Li.

Han Li promptly opened the jade box and found three crystals blazing with red light.

With a calm expression, he carefully examined them in his hands and remained silent for a long while.

The womans voice lingered in hesitation before letting out a sigh and saying, Several years ago while your majesty slept, the prince had sent his incarnation to the surface, intending on drawing the power of moonlight in order to refine the treasure. But just as he was about to conduct the master recognition ceremony, a group of mortals suddenly intruded from the outside. Because the prince was absorbing the power of moonlight, a majority of the palaces restrictions remained dormant. As a result, the cultivators went as far as to intruding upon the princes main room. Helpless, the prince could only temporarily halt the ceremony and activate the corpse puppets to help dispose of the cultivators. However, one of them was rather clever and had seen through the princes identity as a corpse monarch and immediately pleaded to be placed under any restriction in exchange for his life. The prince saw some potential in taking him in and placed him under the restriction.

And what does this have to do with the vajra relic? The middle-aged mans voice asked impatiently.

Please calm yourself, your majesty, the woman hurriedly explained, The point is that the old man gave the prince an idea. The old man said that he would be able to easily collect the primal souls of cultivators from the outside world. There would be no need for us to go through the effort of looking for them ourselves.

Oh? Tell me how he would do this! The middle-aged mans voice said with a curious tone.

Its quite simple. That person mentioned that the prince should hand over a rare strange treasure over to him and hide a strand of spiritual sense inside of it. Afterwards, he would sell the item to lone vagrant cultivators and lure them to take the initiative to find the princes tomb.

Naturally, this would be leading them to their own demise, but in case they dont go to the tomb, the princes thread of spiritual sense will find an opportunity to activate the hidden restrictions on the treasure, exterminating the person who is holding it and trapping their soul in the treasure before being brought back to the tomb. However, the treasure must be rarely ever seen and we would have to completely conceal any trace of the princes spiritual sense thread or the corpse flame it contains, or else it would be all for nothing.

The middle-aged man coldly interrupted, There is no need to continue. Surely the prince handed over the vajra relic over to this old man before the treasure was refined to recognize the prince as its master. It is only with the relics Buddhist nature that the prince was able to conceal the corpse Qi.

Thats right, it is truly as your majesty thinks. Because once the prince is recognized as its master, the vajra relic would no longer be able to conceal the corpse Qi and given the large number of cultivator souls that the prince currently requires, he took the risk and handed it over. However, I intentionally instructed the old man to not provoke any cultivators above Core Formation stage and risk having others see through the act, and over the past few years, weve had many cultivators delivered to us without mishaps, but now it appears that person has disobeyed, causing the treasure to be seized and the princes thread of spiritual sense to be destroyed. Well later activate the restriction on this persons primal soul and properly interrogate him.

The middle-aged man coldly snorted and said, How many cultivator souls did you acquire in this minor scheme? I already have General Ge scheming something. Once he is done, we will have a steady supply of cultivator souls delivered to us. There will be no further need to lure those cultivators in.

Is that the reason why your majesty brought General Ge outside a few years ago and returned alone? The woman said with shock.

Yes. General Ge is now impersonating someone, controlling a cultivator clan, and having them work for us. In order to conceal himself, General Ge even manipulated an alliance of clans to exterminate a clan of Buddhist origins. The Buddhist clan elders saw that something was amiss and wanted to inform a nearby Buddhist sect, but I personally exterminated their Core Formation cultivators. Then, General Ge led the other cultivator clans to massacre the rest of their members. The mans voice sinisterly chuckled with a trace of satisfaction.

With a tone of shock, the woman said, Then your majestys plan is…

Hehe! This isnt anything complicated, you were bound to figure this out sooner or later. This was an idea that the Heavenwind Monarch of Fangjian Mountain gave me when he last visited. He had done the same and had yet to be discovered. So long as we are careful, well have no worry for cultivator souls in the next three hundred years. Even if things go awry, we can simply move the tomb and make ourselves scarce. Apart from a few old eccentrics in the Great Jin, who could possibly stop me?

The Heavenwind Monarch? He definitely isnt a simple character. Why would he tell such a secret to your majesty? Could it be he is scheming something? The womans voice now held a tone of worry.

A scheme? Of course, he was scheming something! The middle-aged man angrily said, He took away three Heartblood Pills as payment for what he told me!

Even so, I still feel ill at ease over the matter. There is nothing good to be said about Fangjian Mountains Devil Pair. Perhaps he wants to lure your majesty away from the tomb! Since our three souls are fused together with the tomb, there are few that would be able to defeat us so long as we remain inside it. The woman said with a trace of worry.

The middle-aged mans voice paused for a moment and then he solemnly said, Beloved concubine, your words are reasonable and Ill take action to prevent this. Whenever I leave, I will fully activate the restrictions on the tomb and will be careful when I travel. Neither will I allow the Devil Pair to know when I leave the tomb.

It will be fine so long as you are careful, your majesty, the womans voice suddenly turned sweet, In truth, there should be no reason for your majesty to personally take action. You can simply leave the matter over to me or your incarnations. After all, so long as your majesty is safe, I will be glad to encounter any formidable enemy.

Hehe! You might not know this but for this plan to work, I require all the noble clans of the Guanning Prefecture to be under my control, the middle-aged man patiently explained to the woman, When I last left, I had to deal with that Eccentric Kong without damaging his body. As such, I was lightly wounded and didnt continue to involve myself. And while the other two noble clans didnt have any Nascent Soul cultivators, they did come from unordinary backgrounds. They possess several rare treasures that are effective against heretics like ourselves. I reckon that the two clans had been established by their originating sects in an attempt to monitor me. But since I was dormant for over a thousand years, they had forgotten about me and I am now able to take care of all of them in one go. When these sects discover me and take action, several years will have already passed and I will have broken through to the next realm with the aid of those cultivator souls, allowing me to refine a heavenly corpse body.

Then I must congratulate your majesty ahead of time. After refining a heavenly corpse body, your majesty will no longer be confined to this tomb. The woman said with a happy tone.

The middle-aged man chuckled and said, When the time comes, I will be able to cast a technique to free your soul and the princes from this tomb.

Your majesty, you must also remember we still have to find that vajra relic, the woman reminded, It is a valuable treasure that will be capable of turning you invulnerable for a short amount of time. Dont forget that old monk when released his crystal relic, it took your majesty three days of corpse fire before he could exhaust the relics golden light and kill the monk within. Now that the relic has been turned into a vajra barrier, I fear its might will be even greater.

Beloved concubine, are you confused? The vajra barrier is something that only corpse monarchs at the age of ten thousand years are able to refine. It isnt possible for human cultivators. And besides me, the only other ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch is the Myriad Demon Valleys Primeval Corpse Xiong. Human cultivators wouldnt dare to go there. So long as the Myriad Demon Flag is present in the valley, I fear that none of the great righteous and devilish sects would dare to go near it. The middle-aged man sneered.

That is true! However, that rare treasure is extremely suitable to us. After it is made clear who acquired this treasure, lets send men to reclaim it. The woman gloomily said.

Yes, even if you didnt say it, I wouldve done it regardless. But since that person noticed the princes thread of spiritual sense in the vajra barrier, they must be unordinary. Once the whereabouts of the treasure are found, I will send two of my incarnations to fetch it. So long as he isnt a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, there shouldnt be a problem.

I… I also… want to go! The tall silhouette wrapped in black Qi suddenly broke his silence.

How are you supposed to go out? The middle-aged mans voice turned sullen and he coldly rebuked him, You arent able to withdraw the corpse Qi in your body. Any cultivator will be able to see through your true nature. Speak less rubbish and quickly enter the coffin to cultivate.

The large silhouette grew depressed after seeing this and simply waved his furry green arm into the distance before lying down, but his eyes then pierced through the black Qi as they glowed crimson as if out of anger.

The stone coffin lid then flew back from the ground and sealed the coffin once more.

…

Over a thousand kilometers away, Han Li couldnt have known that killing that meager thread of spiritual sense would provoke such a large problem. He was currently staring at the Weeping Soul Beast inside of the golden bubble as his expression wavered.

And at that same moment as Jin Yuan returned to his own room, his entire body was ablaze in grey flames and instantly blew away into the air as ash. His primal soul remained unharmed inside the flames but it was clearly struck with terror. Soon, he felt as if he were dragged by something, and his primal soul was wrapped in a ball of grey flames before shooting through the half-open window in his room, only to completely disappear without a trace.