Du Dong furiously shouted, “Brother Wei, what do you mean? How can you suddenly betray us when we’ve reached this far? Could it be that you’ve forgotten the great kindness the sect master bestowed upon you? Or have you forgotten that you are a disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Sect after having stayed in the Drifting Cloud Sect for so many years?”
Han Li’s heart stirred upon hearing this. But before he could further listen in on their conversation, his expression suddenly changed and he disappeared from his original location.
A group of eight high grade cultivators suddenly entered the cave. Shockingly, there was even a Nascent Soul cultivator amongst them. These cultivators all concealed themselves inside the earth with a barrier of yellow light as if in preparation for an ambush. As a result, the three that were already in the hall remained ignorant of their presence.
Han Li then snuck in behind them and stood at a far corner, observing everything in silence.
These underground cultivators were all familiar to Han Li. They were the group that should’ve been defending the formation from the outside. Even the boy Nascent Soul Cultivator surnamed Lan was among them.
Han Li’s spiritual sense easily penetrated the light barriers of these cultivators, discovering the Core Formation cultivators that he had seen along the way, along with Cultivator Bai’s Dao companion who was now deathly pale. The woman was also carrying an unconscious man in her arms, the long-faced old man surnamed Hu.
Han Li felt his blood run cold upon seeing them. At the same time, doubt began to well up within his heart. The explosions outside had yet to stop as if there were still a battle occuring outside. However, there wasn’t actually a battle going on to destroy the formation; it was all a trap.
At that moment, the dishevel-haired old man slowly spoke from within the golden light barrier, “I know that the Righteous and Devil Dao had discovered an ancient Profound Goddess’s Palm near the Moulan Plains. Although this tree has long shriveled, so long as it is fed with the Wine Nectar of the Spirit Well Tree, it will flourish once more and regain life. As a result, we infiltrated the three sects many years ago as disciples in a reckless attempt to acquire it. At the time, we had even abandoned our plans to topple the three sects. And now even the young master of the Thousand Illusions Sect braved danger to infiltrate here as ‘Fellow Daoist Du’ to give orders for the Righteous and Devil Dao to cooperate.”
Chapter 634: A Plot Revealed
The scholarly man sneered and said, “What? Has Brother Wei become reluctant to leave after the hundred years you stayed here?”
The disheveled-haired old man emotionlessly said, “Of course not, but I have developed a bit of an attachment towards this place, having spent so many years here. After all, to be human is to feel. In these long years, Elder Yun of the Drifting Cloud Sect has treated me as if I were kin. Not only did he impart divine techniques to me, but he even saved my life during critical moments and faced immense opposition in order to grant me authority over the Drifting Cloud Sect. I am incapable of ignoring such kindness. I cannot allow you two to take the Spirit Well Tree away.”
Du Dong smiled instead of growing angry, and sinisterly threatened, “Good, good! Brother Wei must mean to act as a genuine Drifting Cloud Sect Elder. However, you forget what will happen if we are to speak the truth and reveal your identity as a spy for the Heavenly Fiend Sect. Do you think you’ll be able to freely remain?”
The dishevel-haired old man calmly replied, “I don’t need your reminder. I am perfectly aware. Why do you think I am restrained here? I’ve long gathered suspicion from the two Martial Uncles. There is merely a lack of concrete evidence. That is why I was forcefully removed from power in the sect and was trapped in this confined place. Of course, I’ve also received great kindness from the Heavenly Fiend Sect. Since Fellow Daoist Du has shown me Sect Master Xie’s token, I can give you a bit of the Win Nectar even though I can’t allow you to take away the tree. This should be enough to repay the past kindness of the Heavenly Fiend Sect.”
“What? You will only give us the Wine Nectar? I...”
Du Dong expression relaxed and he interrupted the scholarly man, “Fine, just give us the Wine Nectar. With that in hand, we won’t need the Spirit Well Tree. After all, our Righteous and Devil Dao sects possess countless treasures. Although we may not have something like the Spirit Well Tree, we have plenty other types of spirit wells.”
When Cultivator Bai heard this, he glanced at Du Dong in surprise, but after a moment of thought, he remained silent. After all, his orders were all given to him by the Thousand Illusion Sect’s young master. Although he didn’t know when the Righteous Dao Alliance and the Six Devil Dao Sects grew so close, he may as well defer to his judgement on the matter.
Cultivator Wei coldly said, “Since you Fellow Daoists both approve, I will take out the Wine Nectar from the restrictions. But first, I will get the ugly matters out of the way. If you plan to take advantage of when I release the restrictions, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Du Dong chuckled and pledged with a calm expression, “Be at ease, we won’t do something so foolish. After all, this Spirit Well Tree is a trivial affair compared to the Profound Goddess’ Palm.”
The old man then nodded and took out a small white bottle from his storage pouch.
“Prepare to...”
“Prepare to what? To give away our three sects’ most precious asset to our enemies?” Before the dishevel-haired old man could finish, ten sword threads shot up from below the ground in a flash of red light, tightly tying him down.
At that same moment, yellow light flashed from the direction of the cave’s entrance revealing the previously hidden cultivators. They unwaveringly approached Du Dong and Cultivator Bai.
When Cultivator Bai and Du Dong saw this, their expressions greatly changed.
The boy surnamed Lan had appeared behind the restrained Cultivator Wei.
The boy stared at the two with an icy expression and said, “Good, very good. Us old men long knew that the Righteous and Devilish Dao had embedded many spies within our ranks. And since we didn’t have any concrete evidence towards you, we couldn’t cleanly dispose of you. After all, it would be extremely costly if we were to wrongfully kill a Core Formation cultivator. But since you’ve now taken the initiative to reveal yourselves, I no longer need to restrain myself.”
Cultivator Bai’s expression was filled with disbelief and he was at a loss for words.
As for Du Dong, he managed to force a smile despite his pale complexion and ask, “Lan, why are you here? Outside...”
The boy had no intention of concealing his plans and indifferently said, “Do you truly believe that Old Devil Blaze and Scholar Golden Mirror would be enough to take up our full attention? At this moment, they should’ve already been surrounded by my Fellow Daoists from the Drifting Cloud Sect. The sounds of attack from the outside are something deliberately fabricated so that you would obediently take action. Since we wished to deal a blow against the Righteous and Devilish Dao so that they may learn their place, we may as well also wipe our ranks of their spies.”
“What? Those Martial Uncles aren’t outside?” Cultivator Bai’s rigid face instantly became panicked.
The white-clothed woman couldn’t help but ask her Dao Companion with a trembling voice, “Senior Martial Brother Bai, you... you truly were a Righteous Dao spy?” Her face was deathly pale.
When he heard the young woman, the scholarly man’s panic disappeared and he could only bitterly smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t utter any words.
The boy then pursed his lips and imposingly declared, “I am unwilling to bully the weak, so how about you obediently surrender yourselves? Or would you rather this old man use force?”
When the two heard this, their expressions changed.
But at that moment, a streak of white light flew in from outside the cave, revealing the old man surnamed Jiang drenched in sweat. He urgently shouted, “Martial Uncle Lan, b
ad news! The Drifting Cloud Sect’s Senior Cheng sent a sound transmission talisman for immediate reinforcements. His forces were ambushed by the Heavenly Fiend Sect and the Thousand Illusions Sect, and they are currently locked in battle.” When that was said, the cultivators in the room were shocked. Weren’t their three sects supposed to be the ambushers?
The boy was startled by these words and pondered for a moment before loudly cursing.
“You devil child! You actually planned around us. It seems this old man can’t keep you alive.” The boy then shot a streak of fiery light from his mouth, intending on executing the two before him.
But in that instant, the originally restrained Cultivator Meng loudly shouted. His arm grew several times in size and his body glowed with purple-red light as he broke through his restraints and fiercely moved to grab the boy.
From the imposing aura of the flicker purple light covering his fingers, the boy’s skull would most certainly fracture if it were to make contact.
The boy wore an expression of alarm. Having just spat out his magic treasure, he could only suck in his chest and puff out his cheeks in the face of the sudden ambush.
Another ball of fiery red light left his mouth and collided against Cultivator Wei’s purple claw.
Hiss. Like scalding iron against flesh, Cultivator Wei’s hand slowed down as it struck through the red light. The boy took advantage of this opportunity to instantly fly out from the sacred tree’s light barrier in a mist of red light.
“Truelord Heavenfiend!”
The boy gloomily shouted out the title of the Heavenly Fiend Sect Master and wordlessly stared at Cultivator Wei. He then pointed and had his magic treasure revolve around him. It soon transformed into a scarlet python, baring its fangs as if it were alive.
The head of the dishevel-haired cultivator drooped down as if he were unconscious while a lazy, unfamiliar voice uttered from his mouth, “Hehe! I didn’t expect for Fellow Daoist Lan to so quickly recognize me. This Sect Master has long heard of the Child Fire Dragon. However, it is quite unfortunate that I currently cannot truly fight with you.”
When Han Li saw this, he immediately recalled the Greater Possession Technique that Zenith Yin had used on Wu Chou. Although there were a few differing aspects, it was certain to be a similar Devilish Dao technique.
According to what Han Li knew, this technique had to be applied to the target beforehand in a complicated procedure before it could be used. It seemed the Heavenly Fiend Sect master had done this as a precaution before he placed Cultivator Wei inside the Drifting Cloud Sect.
From the sudden turn of events, Han Li’s mind stirred and he recalled something. He spoke to the small fox in his sleeve with a serious tone, “Silvermoon, immediately return to the safe room and transform into my form with grave injuries. We cannot allow others to discover my absence. As for why I am still alive, play it by ear. I will quickly return, just don’t reveal my true cultivation or identity.”
Upon hearing Han Li’s solemn tone, she wordlessly flew into the ground and dug straight back to the safe room.
At that moment, the Truelord Heavenfiend raised his hand and glanced at the small bottle of Wine Nectar before tossing it to Du Dong. Afterwards he regretfully glanced at the Spirit Well Tree before indifferently saying, “Bring that item back. I will hold the Child Fire Dragon down while you escape. But you had best be quick, I can’t give you much time.” Once that was said, he suddenly shot out and appeared by Old Man Jiang’s side. He sinisterly smiled and fiercely struck with his hand glowing in purple light.
Chapter 635: Acquiring Roots
“Shameless!” Seeing that the possessed Cultivator Wei dared to attempt to kill someone in his presence, the scarlet light python in front of the boy trembled and split into countless translucent strands as it shot towards Truelord Heavenfiend.
At that same moment, Old Man Jiang’s expression greatly changed. He hastily spat out a yellow flying sword to protect himself and he flusteredly ran backwards. He didn’t dare to meet the sect master’s strike.
Truelord Heavenfiend strangely smiled and his direction suddenly changed, appearing at the side of the white-clothed woman. His purple claw suddenly moved to grab onto her arm.
The white-clothed woman had been at a loss ever since realizing the scholarly man was a spy. But in a face of Truelord Heavenfiend’s sudden attack, her complexion paled and she tossed the long-faced old man onto the ground without a single thought. Her hands then formed an incantation gesture and an azure streak flew out from her sleeve, attempting to block the incoming attack to the best of her abilities.
Truelord Heavenfiend wildly laughed in response and blurred once more, grabbing onto the long-faced old man that was tossed away. He then formed a fist with his free hand and covered it in turbulent purple light, striking against the incoming fiery red sword threads.
With a muffled groan, the old devil couldn’t help but recoil from the strike. However, he used its momentum to carry the long-faced old man back to his original location.
Though some unknown method, the long-faced old man was somehow roused. He leapt up and said, “Many thanks for Truelord’s rescue!”
“Humph! Don’t be mistaken! If we weren’t currently short on manpower, I wouldn’t have saved a Righteous Dao junior like you. You’ll have to preserve your life with your own skill.” Truelord Heavenfiend coldly snorted and shot towards the boy surnamed Lan in a blur.
This time, he was truly going to tie down the Child Fire Dragon and allow Du Dong the opportunity to escape.
“Go! The outside restrictions have already been sabotaged by me. Its power should only be a tenth of its original. We will be able to easily break through.” The long-faced old man appeared to also be a decisive character. After shouting to Du Dong and Cultivation Bai, he took the initiative to charge towards the Core Formation cultivators guarding the exit.
Du Dong and the scholarly man were delighted by what they heard. With one taking out two white swords and the other enveloping his body in black radiance, the three changed towards the cave exit.
The three sects’ Core Formation cultivators weren’t about to easily allow the three to escape. They all summoned their magic treasures to give them a painful welcome. The cave suddenly erupted into battle between the two sides. With furious shouts and sounds of explosions, various colored lights filled the cave.
When Han Li saw this, he felt that his opportunity was drawing near and decided to take action. With the jade scepter in hand, his body flashed in yellow light. He burrowed into the ground and hastily used an earth movement technique to silently draw close to the Spirit Well Tree’s roots.
Busy with their own battles, the cultivators in the cave hadn’t taken notice of Han Li’s opportunistic actions. As a result, Han Li arrived before a faint golden barrier blocking his way.
A spirited glint appeared in Han Li’s eyes. He raised his hands, releasing a torch of azure light from each of his fingers, and silently pressed them against the barrier. The golden light intertwined with the azure light for a moment and the light barrier began to tremble.
If it were peacetime, the golden barrier’s trembling would’ve long been perceived by the cultivators guarding the Spirit Well Tree. But in the middle of fierce combat, this small movement hadn’t aroused the slightest notice.
A short moment later, his hands had forcibly pierced through the golden light and a trace of joy appeared on his face. The light from his hands surged and he fiercely pulled his hands apart, creating a slender gap in the barrier for an instant.
Woosh. Han Li’s body blurred, reappearing inside before the light barrier mended itself.
Seeing that the Spirit Well Tree’s roots were before him, Han Li wore a rarely seen grin.
Although the trunk of the Spirit Well Tree greatly differed from ordinary trees, it roots were ordinary apart from its exceptionally jade-green color.
A huge explosion erupted from above the ground, followed by the sound of shards of fall
ing earth along with a series of trembles. It seems a fearsome attack had just been used.
In the following moment, Old Man Fu flusteredly said, “Quickly, chase after them. We cannot allow them to escape.” The sound of rustling wind was followed by Truelord Heavenfiend’s hearty laughter.
“Fellow Daoist Lan, how is the power of my Purple Deepscreen Arts? Although I had to use up this body’s blood essence, I was able to easily tie you down for the time being.”
“Old Devil Heavenfield, do you not care for your disciple? Even if your disciple survives, his cultivation will be mostly destroyed.” Although the boy’s voice was detached and emotionless, Han Li could hear a trace of anger in his words.
“My disciple? This traitor? From what I’ve heard, he already considers himself a Drifting Cloud Sect disciple, so I have far less misgivings in using him. Huh? Old Ghost Lan? Where do you think you’re going?!” Truelord Heavenfiend’s voice was extremely calm as he said this, but his voice suddenly shouted out in alarm.
“Humph! I have no interest in tangling down with your incarnation. Those Devil Children cannot be allowed to take a Wine Nectar out from our Dreamcloud Mountains.” The boy’s voice grew more distant as if he had already left the cave.
“As if I’d so easily allow you to leave!” Truelord Heavenfiend shouted as if chasing after him.
In an instant, there was no one else left behind in the cave apart from Han Li. He grew completely at ease, no longer hesitating to take action. He extended one of his fingers shot out a sparkling beam of light. With a spark, a small portion of the root was easily cut through, causing a white liquid to overflow from the opening, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.
Han Li paid no notice to the white liquid spilling out. With his body shining with yellow light, he directly grasped onto the root segment and climbed to the surface.
He swept his gaze past the barrier and spotted a ten meter large hole in the cave with sparkling rocks that were scattered all around.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 341