With the speed of the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li didn’t have to spend much time to find the region that Lei Wanhe had pointed out. As expected, the location was well hidden by an azure mountain and green rivers.
Han Li stood at the mountain peak above a huge waterfall and took out a sound transmission talisman from his bosom. He softly spoke a few words and then threw it out. The talisman then turned into a stream of fiery light, rushing toward the huge waterfall and disappearing from sight.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the curtain of water separated, revealing a large cave. Then, from within, a slim Confucian scholar who appeared over thirty years old flew out. When he saw Han Li, he immediately gave a warm greeting, “Are you Junior Martial Disciple Han? This one is Master’s eldest disciple, Yu Kun. You can call me Senior Martial Brother Yu!”
After the Confucian scholar said this, he flew down with great ease, arriving by Han Li’s side. He then looked at Han Li with a wide smile.
“I pay respects to Eldest Senior Martial Brother!” Han Li shouted this out of extremely caution.
When this Eldest Senior Martial Brother Yu Kun saw Han Li’s expression and his well-behaved greeting, his smile became even stronger. He said even more amiably, “Don’t call me Eldest Senior Martial Brother. Eldest Senior Martial Brother? That is far too formal! Just address me as Senior Martial Brother Yu. I have already heard of Junior Martial Brother’s situation from Master. Junior Martial Brother Han was actually able to acquire such a large harvest from the Trial by Blood and Fire. That truly was a remarkable feat!” Yu Kun repeatedly praised him.
Han Li played along with a few forced laughs. He didn’t know why this person was so courteous to this in-name disciple; it caused him to be quite uneasy!
“I originally heard that Junior Martial Disciple’s aptitude wasn’t very good. But now, I see you have actually reached Foundation Establishment. This is truly a matter worthy of celebration!”
Yu Kun seemed to have been long aware that Han Li had reached Foundation Establishment. As a result, he hadn’t expressed any surprise toward Han Li’s success in entering Foundation Establishment. However, he still incessantly congratulated Han Li; this caused Han Li to become even more suspicious and vigilant.
“That’s right, Master is still waiting inside the cave for Junior Martial Disciple! It’s better to not let our elders wait for long. Let’s first enter the Green Ripple Cave!” It seemed Yu Kun had just thought of something. After he patted the back of his head, he said this with a chuckle.
When Han Li saw the other party’s expression, the corner of his mouth twitched, but his face maintained a solemn and respectful expression. He agreed at once and flew through the water curtain.
After he passed through the water curtain, a small, naturally-formed valley appeared before his eyes. Not only was it as beautiful as a spring day, but the trees were green and the water clear. Furthermore, there were a few remarkably strange small animals jumping about in an adorable manner!
“This is...?” Han Li’s mind tumbled! The scene before him…could it be that his own master, a respected expert, was fond of raising small animals? The thought barged into Han Li’s mind unexpectedly!
“Hehe! What? Is Junior Martial Brother surprised? You’re not the only one who reacted this way. Every visitor that comes is astonished! However, these weren’t raised by Master but rather are the treasures of Master’s wife! You mustn’t harm them by any means, else the Mistress will absolutely end you!” Yu Kun chuckled, revealing an ‘I already knew you would be greatly surprised’ expression.
“Master’s wife?”
“That’s right. Although Mistress Zan is only at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, the Master dotes on her very much! You must act good-natured and get along well with her.” Yu Kun said this as he shrugged his shoulders.
Yu Kun brought him further into the large cave, where much to Han Li’s surprise, he saw not only his master, Li Huayuan, but also a young, beautiful, twenty-seven or twenty-eight year-old woman!
Nothing needed to be said about his own master’s ice cold face but when he saw Han Li, Li Huayuan revealed a slight smile. Although Han Li thought the young woman was beautiful, how could he dare to look in front of Li Huayuan! He only took a quick look and stepped forward, respectfully saluting, “Disciple Han Li greets Master!”
“En! You’ve come! This is your master’s wife, greet her as well!” Li Huayuan was greatly satisfied with Han Li’s respectful and solemn bearing and pointed to the young woman at his side.
“Disciple pays respects to Master’s wife!” Han Li inwardly sighed. He could only salute to this woman who didn’t seem much older than himself.
“That’s enough, no need to be overly polite!” When the young woman saw Han Li step foward to pay his respects, she said this with a smile. Her voice was soft and pleasant, displaying the sweet temper of a woman from a river village. As expected, she was an extremely dainty woman!
“Han Li, I’ve only heard of the matter of your success into Foundation Establishment a few days ago! To tell the truth, this matter was rather hard for me to believe and amazed me by no small amount!” Li Huayuan said this with a smile and an incomparably gentle tone. This caused Han Li to truly feel overwhelmed by his superior’s favor.
“This was disciple’s fluke. Achieving Foundation Establishment also shocked this disciple!” Han Li’s face was slightly red, appearing as if he were embarrassed.
“Hehe! Great luck also reflects one’s own aptitude. Otherwise, wouldn’t those born with outstanding aptitudes have even greater luck?” Li Hua Yuan shook his head and said this with a smile.
“Ah! This...” Not once did Han Li think he would feel so embarrassed and be rendered speechless!
Chapter 238: Yu Kun's Fearsomeness.
“Humph, this fellow has only been a disciple for a short while; don’t use a lecturing tone immediately upon meeting him!” the young woman said gently to Li Huayuan upon seeing Han Li’s uncomfortable appearance, a trace of laughter in her eyes.
“Okay! Husband knows. No matter what, this good disciple is also my wife’s savior; as his master, I must compensate him well!
Li Huayuan glanced at the young woman with a tender gaze, then turned around and said to Yu Kun standing to the side:
“You can withdraw for now; your master’s wife and I are going to talk individually with your Junior Martial Brother Han. Don’t let anybody disturb us!”
“As you command, Master!”
Yu Kun respectfully replied, then stole an envious glance at Han Li before quietly withdrawing.
“Savior? Reward?”
Now, Han Li was truly stunned; he really didn’t know when these two words had suddenly become related to him! When had he earned a reward for saving someone, and how could he himself not know about it?
Seeing Han Li’s confused appearance, the young woman couldn’t help but laugh and said:
“Lord Husband, why don’t you explain it to him! Your disciple doesn’t know anything yet; don’t let his head be filled with fog!”
Hearing the young woman’s words, Li Huayuan lightly smiled, and explained to Han Li, nodding:
“Han Li! By now you should know the reason why I accepted you as my disciple back then! There’s no embarrassment for me to talk about it; as your elder, I truly did covet your spiritual medicines. Thus, I used the excuse of receiving you as my disciple to take away a half of your portion. Otherwise, you should have received two Foundation Establishment Pills, not just one! However, although I confess that I caused your rewards to decrease for no apparent reason, you could have in turn also used my reputation to your advantage, and people wouldn’t lightly offend you. This could be considered my way of making things up to you. After all, with regards to your natural talent back then, even if you were to have an extra Foundation Establishment Pill, it seemed like your chances of successfully establishing your Foundation were nonexistent!”
Li Huayuan said, his ex
pression nonchalant as if he did not feel that there was anything inappropriate about what he had done!
“But soon after, the situation changed; not long after I obtained these spiritual medicines and was about to refine them into pills that could increase one’s magic power, an accident suddenly occurred while my wife was cultivating, plunging her into danger. Luckily, I hadn’t used your spiritual medicines yet, and thus I was able to temporarily preserve her life. In the few years afterward, I was able to use the remaining spiritual medicines to refine a pill that could save her, causing my wife to finally recover in the past few days! Because of this, when I told my wife about the origins of these spiritual medicines, my wife immediately expressed that I must reward you. After all, her life was preserved solely because of your spiritual medicines. You could also be considered her savior!”
When Li Huayuan talked about the young woman’s life-threatening condition, his expression changed, as if he were reliving the dangerous circumstances of those times. It seemed as if he really dearly loved the young woman beside him.
“After I heard her say that, I felt that what she said was very reasonable, and so I wanted to officially accept you as my disciple before you reached the Foundation Establishment stage. But who knew that before I could make a move, I had already received the news that you had successfully established your Foundation; this really surprised me! After all, I had previously said that as long as you entered the Foundation Establishment stage, I would officially accept you as my disciple. Thus, this could no longer be considered some kind of reward. I could only think of other ways within my abilities to reward you”
Li Huayuan finally explained the whole situation once, causing Han Li to become somewhat dazed upon hearing it.
He never expected that meat pies falling from the sky could actually land on his head; even when he heard Li Huayuan personally say that he would reward him, Han Li still did not dare to believe it. Instead, he could only stand there, stunned.
“What about this? Since it seems you haven’t thought it through yet, you can think about it in your cave for a day; tomorrow morning, you can come to your master and raise a request. You have to think about it carefully; normally your master is not a very generous person, so this is an opportunity that is hard to come by!” the young woman gently said to Han Li, glancing at Li Huayuan.
This caused Li Huayuan to dryly laugh a few times as if he were somewhat embarrassed!
Han Li, who finally regained consciousness, hesitated for a moment. Originally, he wanted to request a cultivation technique, but upon being reminded by his master’s wife, he could not refuse the other person’s good intentions, so he nodded his head and accepted.
Then, Li Huayuan called Yu Kun to give Han Li a tour of the cave.
This Senior Martial Brother immediately agreed with a smile, then brought Han Li and walked out. They had not yet left the large lobby when he had already begun to introduce Han Li to the entire cave.
“Master, your Green Ripple Cave is about a few hundred acres in size; as for rooms......”
The young woman, after seeing Han Li and Yu Kun walk far away, suddenly said to Li Huayuan with a smile:
“Do you think our new disciple can handle Yu Kun’s harassment? Every time I see Yu Kun open his mouth, I feel a headache coming on even if he hasn’t said anything yet! Yu Kun’s long-windedness truly causes many headaches.”
“Yi! Not to mention you, even I have no way of dealing with him! Han Li definitely cannot endure for too long!” Li Huayuan said with helplessness.
“This is also true! But what kind of request do you think this disciple of yours will make?” the young woman suddenly asked as she opened her round eyes. A trace of cunning could be found within them.
“What requests could he make besides pills, cultivation techniques, magic tools, and the sort! If it weren’t for madam’s relentless requests to reward this disciple, I really would not be willing to be so generous.” Li Huayuan had not even handed anything out yet but he already appeared to be in excruciating pain.
“What are you talking about! If you don’t repay his saving grace, the Ice Heart Technique that I cultivate would contain many leaks, and I would not be able to cultivate it to the Great Circle of Completion! Then, in the future, how could I enter the Core Formation stage and spend the rest of my life with you?”
The young woman first gave Li Huayuan a haughty look, but her next sentence was filled with deep affection, causing Li Huayuan to feel greatly moved upon hearing it! He thumped his chest and expressed that he would definitely fulfill Han Li’s requests and that he would not allow any troubles to be left in the way of his wife’s cultivation.
Han Li naturally did not know that the huge meat pie that fell on his head was actually related to the young woman’s cultivation technique.
At that moment, he was following Senior Martial Brother Yu, wandering around, but in his heart, he still felt that the arrival of this kind of good fortune was too sudden! This caused him to feel strangely unsettled.
“Yi, Senior Martial Brother Yu has time to come to this Sword Discussion Hall; how about us Senior Martial Brothers exchange a few magic techniques!”
When Yu Kun had brought Han Li near an extremely large stone room, an extremely buff man just so happened to be walking out of it. When he saw Yu Kun, he carelessly said this. However, his gaze was constantly sweeping over Han Li.
“Who hasn’t heard about the combat strength of Fourth Junior Martial Brother’s Five Elements magic technique? It is the number one under Master’s family! I think I’ll pass and not make a fool of myself!” Yu Kun’s expression first changed upon hearing the man’s words, then laughed and refused.
However, he suddenly turned around and pointed at Han Li while laughing:
“I still haven’t introduced Fourth Junior Martial Brother to this individual; he is the new disciple that Master is going to accept. He is the Junior Martial Brother Han who is soon to become our Eighth Junior Martial Brother!”
“And this is your Fourth Senior Martial Brother Song Meng; you can just call him Senior Martial Brother Song! Everyone come meet each other; after today we will all be Martial Brothers from the same family!”
“Eighth Junior Martial Brother!”
When this fourth Junior Martial Brother heard these words, a radiant light shone out from his eyes, focusing directly on Han Li!
Han Li’s expression did not change, but in his heart, he quietly sighed. This individual was clearly a battle-crazy individual; being gazed at him could not have any good outcomes.
Thus, before this individual even opened his mouth, Han Li spoke first:
“Greetings, Fourth Senior Martial Brother. Junior Martial Brother has just recently entered the Foundation Establishment stage; I ask that Senior Martial Brother take good care of me!”
Having said this, Han Li greeted him.
However, these words from Han Li caused this man to reveal a disappointed expression. He lost interest in Han Li, and after indifferently nodding his head a few times, he didn’t glance at Han Li even once. Then, he coldly walked directly between the two of them, leaving to attend to his own business!
Only Han Li and Yu Kun remained, and they looked at each other in dismay for quite some time.
“Haha, Junior Martial Brother Han, please don’t take offense; Junior Martial Brother Song just has this kind of a strange temper. Although outwardly he appears somewhat cold, in actuality his personality is pretty good!” It was still Yu Kun who recovered first, and with a few sentences he shook off the awkward atmosphere.
Han Li naturally adopted an understanding attitude, and the two of them immediately continued on their way, laughing and talking.
Although the cave was not small, apart from Li Huayuan and his wife as well as that Song Meng, there were no other people in such a large place. Han Li did not encounter any of the other five Senior Martial Brothers. Afterwards, Han Li learned that the other five were all like him and had their own c
aves outside; they would occasionally come to pay their respects to Li Huayuan and his wife.
As for Yu Kun and Song Meng, they had grown up next to Li Huayuan and his wife; as such, they already had very deep feelings for them, so they naturally would stay in this place instead of building their own cave.
As Han Li was idly chatting with Yu Kun, he finally gained some understanding of the other few cultivators; however, he had unwittingly finished touring the entire cave.
This Eldest Senior Martial Brother’s spirits seemed to rise the more he spoke, so he just pulled Han Li and began to walk towards his own room, wanting to continue their extended discussion.
Although Han Li felt slightly surprised, he didn’t mind, and so he indifferently followed him over. After all, this person was the Eldest Senior Martial Brother, so he still had to give him this face.
In the beginning, he was intently listening to this Eldest Senior Martial Brother, hoping to find a few pieces of useful information.
But not too long after, this Senior Martial Brother Yu’s ability to chatter away was revealed to be truly frightening, and Han Li slowly began to experience it firsthand.
The endless flow of words snuck into his head like evil spirits, causing Han Li’s head to begin to hurt, having heard them for numerous hours.
It wasn’t until this moment that Han Li finally realized the truth: the attitude this Eldest Senior Martial Brother had shown when he had come to pick Han Li up was not enthusiasm! It was clearly that a hard-to-find guest had finally appeared to satisfy his addiction to flapping his lips!
After another moment, Han Li could not longer take it, his physical fatigue finally growing too extreme. He hurriedly escaped from the other person’s room, then found a room used to accommodate guests and collapsed.
Hearing this Senior Martial Brother Yu’s verbal attack was truly damaging to one’s soul!
Han Li had completely served this person’s urges! Han Li’s horizons had been broadened; this world actually contained men who could chatter like this!
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 125