Han Li was very satisfied with the old man’s answer and calmly said, “So it was like that. Alright, since you have answered my questions, you may leave.”
“Then us Juniors will hastily set off.” The old man rejoiced at Han Li’s words and respectfully said his farewells before hastily leading the group away.
Although he saw that Han Li wasn’t an evil and vicious character, he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive in the presence of an unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator.
Han Li stood motionlessly in place as he muttered to himself.
A huge war has erupted between the Star Palace and the alliance of the Righteous and Devilish Dao. On the bright side, this war would certainly take up the Nascent Soul eccentrics’ attention. As they were aligned to either side, it would be impossible for them to avoid participating in the war. As such, he would be far safer as they wouldn’t be able to dedicate their time to tracking him or the Heavenvoid Cauldron down.
Conversely, the war would make it rather troublesome for him to return to Heavenly Star City. At the very least, the cultivators entering the city would be thoroughly inspected, especially a Core Formation cultivator such as himself. Furthermore, if a battle were to erupt in the city before he returned, he would be unable to enter. The Star Palace would likely bar any cultivators from entering during that time.
With that thought, he let out a sigh.
In the following few days, he intercepted several more low level cultivators and asked them the same questions, only to receive similar answers.
As a result, Han Li was now floating above the sea, blankly staring off into the distance with a face of hesitation.
He raised his head to look at the blue sky and flipped his hand, causing a small azure bottle to appear.
Han Li helplessly looked at the small bottle. Using the Myriad Year Spirit Milk so soon seemed like an immense waste, but if he didn’t hurry, the Starfall Coalition would launch an attack. His plans of entering Heavenly Star City and escaping to the Outer Star Seas through their transportation formations would then become null.
After a long while of contemplation, Han Li eventually opened the bottle with gritted teeth and carefully poured several drops of thick, transparent liquid into his mouth.
Afterwards, he placed the bottle away and put on his blood-red cloak before suddenly shooting through the sky and disappearing from sight. Half a month later, when Han Li had nearly exhausted his magic power, he took another few drops of spirit milk and continued to hurry on his way through the use of the blood-red cape. As a result, Han Li was able to travel at a speed similar to that of common Nascent Soul cultivators, and greatly reduced his travel time.
Along the way, the few Core Formation cultivators that he came across had mistaken Han Li to be a Nascent Soul expert and steered clear of his path.
As expected, there weren’t any cultivators that dared to even think of bothering a Nascent Soul expert.
Chapter 501: Southclear Island
Inspiring awe in all those who witnessed his passage, Han Li eventually arrived in the nearby seas of the Heavenly Star City. As he was only a few days away, Han Li put away his blood-red cloak and resumed traveling as an ordinary streak of light.
Currently, the Scattered Star Seas were in disarray and it was possible that a Nascent Soul cultivator would be nearby. As Han Li didn’t wish to capture the attention of such a powerful individual, he moved in a more inconspicuous manner. Fortunately, he hadn’t heard any news of the Starfall Coalition appearing nearby. Much to his relief, it seemed he had managed to arrive in time.
He had arrived at the outskirts of the last intermediary island before Heavenly Star City. Although it wasn’t large, it held many cultivators from the Star Palace. It seemed they were the forward sentries for Heavenly Star City.
In the past, the island would have boats of all sizes flowing in and out of its harbor with cultivators and mortals leaving and arriving at the island en mass. But now, when Han Li swept his gaze past the island, he only spotted a few small boats. As for cultivators, he would only occasionally come across them.
It seemed both the mortals and cultivators knew that a war was imminent and meekly avoided the area for the time being. The only cultivators that dared to come to the island were mostly from factions wishing to scour through the rumors.
Having traveled for such a long period, Han Li felt somewhat fatigued and decided to stop over at the island for the time being. Not only to rest, but to visit the island’s market in preparation for his long excursion in the Outer Star Seas. After all, he didn’t know how things currently were in Heavenly Star City. As such, it would be best for him to make his preparations here and avoid any mishaps from catching him unprepared.
When Han Li descended within range of the island, he was able to sense that Southclear Island was on far greater alert than during his previous visits. Just as he entered the scope of the island’s spell formation, he was able to feel the spiritual sense of three Core Formation cultivators sweep past him. They had even lingered on him for quite some time until they had deemed him unsuspicious.
It was clear that the Star Palace was guarding itself against any sudden attacks by the Starfall Coalition.
At that moment, Han Li was calmly heading towards the island’s market.
Southclear Island’s market was in a small city not far from the island’s port, likely for the convenience of any merchants or cultivators that visited. Although the market wasn’t nearly as famous or as large as those on other islands, its variety of goods was unrivaled by any other market. More importantly, its prices were cheaper than in Heavenly Star City. This was because a majority of Heavenly Star City’s goods were directly shipped over from this island.
Han Li didn’t have any time to dawdle. Just as he entered the market, he took out the Bone Sage’s Ninecurl Ginseng pill formula and read through it.
Now knowing the required ingredients by heart, he bluntly began to search through ingredient stores of all sizes.
...
Inside a large room, an ordinary middle-aged cultivator said with a careful tone, “Senior, I am truly sorry! Junior has opened a materials shop for so many years, yet he had never heard of ‘Thousand Leaves Dew’ before. As for ‘Agate Horn’, it is the horn that is grown off of the rare Agate Beast. Few cultivators ever get to see it. I fear Senior will have to go look through other stores or auction halls to see if they have it.”
“This is the largest materials shop on the island. If you don’t have it, then the other shops won’t either. As for the auction halls, I currently do not have the time for them.” Han Li frowned and sat down in the chair across from the middle-aged cultivator. He softly tapped his finger against the side of the chair in annoyance.
The middle-aged cultivator revealed slight embarrassment at Han Li’s words. However, he was being honest when he said that he had no way of acquiring the items that Han Li wanted. As such, he could only continue to ingratiatingly smile. After all, he was in the presence of a rarely seen Core Formation expert; he could not afford to offend him.
When Han Li saw the shopkeeper’s attitude, he knew that he truly didn’t have the two items. With a sigh, Han Li stood up and walked out.
It seemed that he would have to think of other methods to find the last two ingredients for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Fortunately, he was still quite a long way from the peak of Core Formation. As the medicine could only be used upon the formation of a Nascent Soul, he wasn’t in any rush.
Just as the middle-aged cultivator was about the respectfully send Han Li off from the entrance, he suddenly thought of something and hesitated for a moment before saying, “While you might know of its name as the ‘Thousand Leaves Dew’, it may be known by another name.”
A strange light flickered from Han Li’s eyes and he stopped, curiously asking, “Oh? What does that mean?”
The middle-aged man honestly replied, “Not to boast, but this Junior has spent over a hundred years managing
this ingredient store. I’ve seen all sorts of bizarre and rare ingredients. If there is an ingredient I haven’t heard of, it is likely being referred to by the name passed down from ancient cultivators. In current times, it may be known by another title. This was something that I have encountered several times before. This Thousand Leaves Dew might actually be a rather common medicinal ingredient.”
Han Li’s heart stirred. He felt that the man’s words made much sense.
After all, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was an item from legend. It made sense for its formula to be passed down from antiquity. It seems he would have to examine a few ancient records to find out its true identity.
With that thought, Han Li nodded with a relaxed expression and silently left the store.
Afterwards, Han Li sifted through all of his pill formulas suitable for Core Formation cultivators, and made preparations for his future pill refinement. Han Li especially stocked up on the supplementary ingredients that couldn’t be grown with the liquid from his small bottle.
The current journey to the Outer Star Seas would take a long while without doubt. Han Li didn’t wish for his mass creation of pills to fail because of a shortage of common materials, and slow down his own progress in cultivation as a result.
With his current collection of magic treasures along with the aid of a few flag formations, he should be able to handle grade seven demon beasts without question. Naturally, if he were to come across any grade eight demon beasts, he would have no choice but to flee. Once demon beasts reached grade eight, it is said that their wisdom would be far greater than ordinary humans and their bodies are able to take human-like forms. Due to their exceedingly powerful innate skills, they would have a tremendous advantage over Nascent Soul cultivators of the same rank.
Several hours later, Han Li managed to gather everything together and left the market city in the direction of the port.
At that moment, the sky suddenly filled with black clouds, turning the sky into the image of a cloudy night.
A short moment later, a relentless barrage of light shot towards the island from the horizon, leaving roars of thunder in its wake.
Han Li’s expression suddenly change and he hastily strained his magic power, tearing through the sky in an azure streak.
From the pressure being emitted, it seemed that the barrage came from the simultaneous attack of at least a thousand cultivators.
In the following moment, a large formation activated and covered the entire island in a barrier of scarlet light, managing to rigidly block the attack. At the same moment, there were many white clothed cultivators that struck back at the attackers in the sky with their own magic tools.
Han Li bitterly laughed. The Starfall Coalition had moved remarkably quick. They even managed to bring the battle so close to Heavenly Star Island in only a few months.
Heavenly Star City would surely receive news of this sudden battle through specialized means. Now, his current plans of rushing towards Heavenly Star City had been completely ruined.
Extremely vexed, Han Li’s expression fluctuated for a long while before he suddenly stamped his foot on the ground. Then with a series of distortions, his body disappeared from sight.
Although he was disinclined to involve himself in the battle, he still stealthily released his spiritual sense. If he had guessed correctly, the harbor and its surroundings should be quite active.
As expected, many streaks of light soon shot towards Southclear Island’s harbor from inside the island. But as they grew closer, they all disappeared from sight, quietly laying low as they observed the battle unfolding above.
A majority of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, numbering over a hundred, with only about thirty Qi Condensation cultivators mixed among them. As for Core Formation cultivators like Han Li, there were only five or six with the highest ranked cultivator being at the mid Core Formation stage.
Although this person was silently watching from the cover of the hills, Han Li’s spiritual sense was vastly superior to his, allowing Han Li to observe him without being noticed.
While Han Li’s spiritual sense wasn’t as powerful as a Nascent Soul cultivator’s, by cultivating the Great Development Technique, it wasn’t that much weaker either. Since he could even conceal himself from a nearby early Nascent Soul cultivator, it was only natural for him to be able to do this much.
To the best of his knowledge, a majority of Nascent Soul cultivators lingered at early Nascent Soul stage without any hope of advancement. And much to his relief, he couldn’t sense such a monster nearby.
However, since the Starfall Coalition dared to attack Southclear Island, there should be at least one Nascent Soul cultivator in the main host. As such, Han Li could only conceal himself and meekly wait for the conclusion of the battle before stealthily slipping away.
Chapter 502: Questioning
The battle at the harbor didn’t continue for long. As the red barrier released glimmers of light from the impact by the multi-colored barrage, an immense grey radiance brimming with evil Qi suddenly struck it.
With the assistance of the dense bombardment of magic tools and techniques, the great formation eventually began to waver. With a series of booms, the red barrier violently flickered and eventually ruptured with a sharp explosion.
Unknown whether it was due to the formation spell’s might or the Star Palace’s own doing, the fragments of the red light barrier slowly spread through the sky in a final burst of radiance, sowing chaos throughout the ranks of the Star Defiance Coalition. As if having planned for this, the Star Palace cultivators took advantage of the opportunity to escape.
Among the escaping cultivators, there were those that shot out of the harbor at exceptional speed. They seemed to be the high grade cultivators that had remained on the island.
At nearly the same time, over ten streaks of similarly powerful light shot after them in close pursuit. In the blink of an eye, the streaks of light had disappeared without a trace.
It seems the upper echelon of the Star Defiance Coalition wanted to get rid of all of the Star Palace cultivators on Southclear Island in one clean swoop, without allowing even a single to escape.
At that moment, the many cultivators of the Star Defiance Coalition began to slowly descend from the sky. From their clothes, it was clear to see that the group consisted of people from two different sects. One of the uniform consisted of silver robes lined with gold while the other was completely green robes. It appeared that both the Righteous and Devilish Dao were acting together.
Han Li felt quite surprised at how quickly the battle had concluded, but he soon made sense of it. There was a vast difference in power between the defenders and attackers. While the Star Palace had done their utmost, their will alone couldn’t compensate for the sheer lack of numbers.
As Han Li was wondering whether or not he should take advantage of the disorder to escape from the island, an old man flew out from the group of green-robed cultivators. When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past him, he perceived the old man to be an early Core Formation cultivator.
The man calmly flew above the spectators by the harbor and swept his gaze over them. He then said with a deep voice, “Listen well, Fellow Daoists. Under the orders of Elder Wang of the Star Defiance Coalition, I, Enforcer Cang Yunlong, announce that the Star Palace has been routed from the island. In order to to prevent any misunderstandings, I hope none of you will hastily attempt to leave the island. For the next four hours, we will be pursuing the remnants of the Star Palace forces. Everyone may leave after that. I ask that everyone please remain calm. Our alliance only holds malice towards the Star Palace and their allies. We won’t act against any other Fellow Daoists.” Although his voice wasn’t very loud, it was clear and resounding, allowing all of the nearby cultivators to hear him clearly.
The cultivators that were concealed nearby couldn’t help but look at each other. Since no one took the initiative to spread or to stir up any trouble, the following moments were
filled with complete silence.
When Han Li heard this proclamation, he felt relieved. It seemed that in order to win over the hearts of others, they were unwilling to treat neutral cultivators unfairly. If he was going to be somewhat late, then so be it. Even if he were to leave now, it was still uncertain whether or not he would be able to sneak into the city.
Just as Han Li thought this, the green-robed old man wordlessly flew back. When Han Li saw the old man disappear, he didn’t immediately take action.
Perhaps due to the old man’s words or their missions, the other cultivators also didn’t depart from the port. Instead, they closely watched the actions of the Starfall Coalition.
At that moment, the silver-robed cultivators were dismantling the formation in an orderly fashion and started to place down their own formation spell. As for the green robed cultivators, half of them stayed near the harbor on guard while the the others flew right past Han Li towards the center of the island. It appeared that Southclear Island was about to become the beachhead through which the Coalition would launch their attacks on Heavenly Star City.
Seeing these cultivators silently carrying out their orders with such discipline was quite a shock to Han Li. It seemed the Righteous and Devil Dao had long planned for their rise to supremacy in the Scattered Star Seas. After all, training such disciplined cultivators wasn’t a matter of only a mere several tens of years.
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