The puppets cleared away the rubble by blasting a path through it with various-colored beams of light, quickly clearing a way down towards the cave residence that lay beneath.
With a narrow passageway formed, Han Li ordered the puppets to stand guard as he flew inside.
The cave residence remained exactly the same as when he hastily left it. He couldn't make out any signs of entry, much to his relief.
He didn’t come here solely for nostalgia but for the spirit well spring that was located in his hidden room.
Although he already had the jade spirit well as well as the highest ranked spirit well, the Spirit Well Tree, one always had more room for another Spirit Well. Although this spirit well was somewhat small, he naturally wished to bring it along with him since he was already in the State of Yue.
The spirit well spring was intact and emitting strands of white spiritual Qi. Han Li wore a complicated expression as he looked at the spirit well and unconsciously recalled when he had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage and how he discovered the spirit well when he carved out the cave residence. He vividly remembered it as if it had happened yesterday, raising all sorts of emotions in his heart.
Han Li remained in a daze for a short while before recollecting himself. He then grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and struck the spirit well with several magic seals, instantly causing it to glow brilliantly and quake the nearby ground.
Han Li then sat down with with an unchanged expression and formed a strange hand seal as he stared at the spirit well.
Water from the spirit well began to whirl as if an invisible hand was stirring it, causing the water surface to rise and form a profoundly deep black whirlpool. An astonishing wave of spiritual Qi spread throughout the room.
Han Li’s expression stirred. This spiritual Qi was beyond what he had anticipated. But after a short moment, he recovered from his surprise and quickly began to resume the extraction.
The trembling of the nearby ground became increasingly severe and a blinding yellow light began to envelope the spirit well. This yellow light faintly deformed as the spirit well shrank and shined even more brilliantly.
A short moment later, the light faded away and Han Li let out a sigh. The deep yellow, fist-sized ball floated in the air. There was now a huge, pitch-black hole beneath it where the spirit well had been.
Han Li smiled upon seeing this, but his expression suddenly changed and became sullen. The puppets he had placed outside were under attack. Although they had not yet been destroyed, they were at a clear disadvantage and wouldn’t last for long.
Han Li instantly took out a jade box and carefully placed the yellow ball inside. He then flew out as quickly as he could.
Once he arrived outside, he saw several black-clothed cultivators that had surrounded his ape puppets about a hundred meters away. A sullen, grey-clothed middle-aged man wore a puzzled expression as he observed the battle.
Han Li’s sudden appearance instantly shocked the cultivators at the scene and the grey-clothed cultivator shouted for the attack to stop. The black-clothed cultivators hastily ceased their actions and withdrew to the man’s side.
An azure light arrived in midair and faded away to reveal Han Li. He expressionlessly gazed at the several cultivators in silence and revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation in an imposing manner.
The grey-clothed man glanced at Han Li and felt his heart drop. His shock was soon replaced by a smile, “Senior, please do not misunderstand. Us Juniors hold no malice. We merely felt that the spiritual Qi here became abnormal and we curiously thought to take a look. I am the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Yu Hun, disciple of Master Splintered Soul. We do not hold any bad intentions.”
“Master Splintered Soul!” Han Li frowned and felt as if this name sounded familiar. After a moment of thought, Han Li suddenly recalled something.
Wasn’t this the name of one of the Ghost Spirit Sect Nascent Soul eccentrics? He recalled that the Drifting Cloud Sect’s silver-haired old man had mention that this person was ruthless and wasn’t to be trifled with.
As Han Li’s mind wondered, the grey-clothed old man noticed that Han Li reacted to his master’s name and he grew far more at ease. However, he was still apprehensive and forced a smile, “Senior recognizes my master. Could he be an acquaintance of him? I must’ve acted far too rashly. I had no idea that Senior was handling business here, else I wouldn’t have dared to bother you. If there is anything that I may do to assist you, I will do my utmost to obey. Otherwise, I would like to ask for myself to be excused so that I may get out of your way.”
Although the grey-clothed man had an intimidating appearance, he was rather cunning and sly. After asking a few probing questions, he acted extremely deferential. In the end, the appearance of an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator had caused his back to run with cold sweat.
Han Li expressionlessly stared at the grey-clothed man and didn’t respond. Instead, he released his spiritual sense within the scope of a hundred meters and found that there were no other cultivators.
It seems that this party had truly discovered the nearby disturbance by chance, and they had come alone. If that was the case...
Han Li suddenly felt an urge to kill.
Regardless of his previous identity as a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator, he was now a Drifting Cloud Sect elder; he couldn’t possibly release these Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators from his grasp. In addition, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect had once nearly taken his life, and the stifled grudge was still buried within his heart.
There was also the fact that he had entered the State of Yue in secret. If his entrance to the State of Yue reached the ears of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s eccentrics, he would attract their attention, producing nothing but trouble. He didn’t wish for several Nascent Soul cultivators to chase him throughout the State of Yue.
“Yi! This person is...” Just as Han Li prepared his silent attack, an old man amongst the party of black-clothed cultivators suddenly cried out in shock at the sight of Han Li.
Chapter 659: The Disciples of Splintered Soul
A strange glint appeared in Han Li’s eyes. He glanced at the old man and indifferently asked, “What? You recognize me?”
The old man shivered underneath Han Li’s icy gaze and hastily answered, “No, I am mistaken. How could Junior have possibly recognized you!”
“You’ve admitted to be mistaken?” Han Li indifferently rubbed his chin and swept his gaze past the others as if he believed the old man.
The grey-clothed man seemed puzzled as he glanced at the old man. Although he felt it was odd, he couldn’t afford to pursue the matter. He could only think of flattering Han Li and somehow taking an opportunity to flee.
Before any of them could respond, Han Li slowly said, “Since you are Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators and have discovered my trail, you’re just out of luck. I will be taking your lives!” As soon as that was said, Han Li’s expression grew dark and he waved his sleeve, releasing over ten streaks of azure swordlight. As soon as these swordlights left his sleeve, they transformed into over forty swordlights in a blur, and engulfed the black-clothed cultivators in an overwhelming strike.
When the grey-robed cultivator heard Han Li’s voice grow harsh, he knew that matters had taken a turn for the worst. His complexion grew pale upon seeing Han Li’s momentous attack.
Of course, he wasn’t about to submit to death. He instinctively whirled his body, releasing countless stands of black Qi to cover his body. A gold and a silver prong soon flew out from the mist and transformed into a gold and a silver python to guard the front of the black Qi. The grey-clothed cultivator then did his utmost to fly backwards in a streak of black smoke, abandoning the rest of the black-clothed cultivators to their fates.
Apart from the old man, the rest of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were helplessly beheaded by the assault of azure swordstreaks. As the old man was paralyzed from fright, Han Li flicked his finger, launching a slim azure strand from
the sword streaks. It instantly bore into the old man’s body and caused him to collapse on the ground.
When Han Li saw this, he no longer paid any attention to the old man and focused on the grey-clothed cultivator that had fled over a three hundred meters away. Han Li sneered and casually pointed at the swordlights and had over a hundred streaks of swordlight converge together, instantly forming a huge azure sword.
“Go,” Han Li softly uttered. The huge sword trembled and released a muffled hum before launching itself forward at an unfathomable speed. In the blink of an eye, a dazzling explosion of azure light erupted from the black smoke.
The strike from the huge sword annihilated the black Qi and the pythons at the same time. With a wretched scream, the grey-clothed cultivator was rend into a mist of gore.
Han Li recalled the magic treasure and his expression grew sullen as he glanced at the old man lying unconscious on the ground.
After some further thought, Han Li raised his hand and drew the old man’s shriveled body into his grasp. Azure light flickering from his free hand, he pressed it against the old man’s head without any reservations. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, fire flared from his hand and turned the old man into ash.
Han Li floated in the air with his arms held behind his back and wore a flabbergasted expression on his face, “That disciple left behind to the Harmonious Bond Sect, Dong Xuan’er [1], actually formed a core. However, it is truly odd that she would send men after me.”
The old man’s origins were quite complicated. He was once a disciple of the Harmonious Bond Sect, but because he had greatly violated the sect’s laws and feared that his soul would be refined, he changed his appearance and identity. He had remained hidden inside the Ghost Spirit Sect ever since.
Naturally, Han Li didn’t care for such matters. What shocked him was how the old man along with many other Harmonious Bond Sect disciples were sent to frantically search for Han Li by the Core Formation stage Dong Xuan’er. These people were even sent into the Nine Nations Alliance in order to search for traces of Han Li. It seemed the old man had shockingly recognized Han Li due to having seen his portrait before.
At the time, Han Li had been in the Scattered Star Seas and the matter was ultimately left unresolved.
As of current, Han Li felt greatly confused. He wasn’t so vain as to think that Dong Xuan’er fancied him. As such, he felt that there was a deeper reason for her continuous search for him. It was only a pity that the old man’s status at the time wasn’t high and he had no further information on the matter.
After pondering for a moment, Han Li couldn’t think of a reason why Dong Xuan’er would send men to search for him and he shook his head, placing the matter at the back of his mind.
Now that so many years had passed, this matter didn’t affect him in the slightest. There was even less cause for concern since he was now a Nascent Soul cultivator.
With that thought, Han Li dealt with the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators’ corpses and glanced in the direction of the former location of Yellow Maple Valley before departing from the Tai Yue Mountain Range.
Unbeknownst to Han Li, at the same moment he killed the grey-clothed cultivator, a black-robed, shrivelled-skinned cultivator awoke from his meditation with a frown and sighed. He then took out a dull, pitch-black bone medallion from his robes.
The black-robed cultivator fiddled with the bone medallion and glanced at it with narrowed eyes. A stern expression appeared from his face. A moment later, he stood up and walked out of the secluded room.
After walking down a long corridor, the black-robed cultivator arrived in a large hall and he calmly took a seat in a stone chair. With a white flickering light emitting from his hands, he took out a small bronze bell.
A loud clang rang out with a casual swing of the bell. A deep ring continued to reverberate from it, spreading over an unknown distance. The black-robed man put away the small bell and remained still inside his chair.
A short moment later, three Core Formation cultivators hurriedly entered the hall from three side doors, two men and one woman. They differentially stood in front of the old man with their heads faced down with solemn expressions.
“Just now, the light from your Sixth Junior Martial Brother’s life medallion was extinguished. It seems he met a vicious end. Although I don’t know what exactly happened, he was a disciple of me, Splintered Soul. I cannot allow his death to remain unanswered. Find the killer and bring him to me alive. I wish for them to give me the story behind what happen!” The black-clothed cultivator indifferently spoke as if he were discussing a trivial matter.
The three cultivators were initially surprised but they soon saluted him with bowed heads, “As you bid master. We will immediately depart.”
“I hope the next time I see you, you will have already placed the killer in the Immortal’s Hold.” The black-robed cultivator nodded his head and left the hall without another word.
Only the three Core Formation cultivators, the disciples of Splintered Soul, remained in the hall.
After a moment of consideration, the cultivator with a bold and clear appearance orderly arranged, “Fifth Junior Martial Sister, send a voice transmission talisman to the sect branch in the Tai Yue Mountains as soon as you can. Let’s see whether or not they know about Sixth Junior Martial Brother meeting with mishap. If they are unaware, have them send men to investigate the whereabouts of the killer. Junior martial brother Que, your relationship with the side branch master is quite good. See whether or not he can send men to investigate if any unfamiliar high grade cultivators have recently entered the State of Yue.
“Also, we will all send our own competent disciples to investigate the last known location of Sixth Junior Martial Brother and see whether or not there are any clues. Once this information is relayed back, we will set forth together to capture this person. Since he was able to kill Sixth Junior Martial Brother, his cultivation should be high. It is best to be careful.”
The other two cultivators were a middle-aged woman who still possessed beauty, and an eerie scholarly man wearing embroidered robes.
The woman smiled upon hearing him, but the scholarly man frowned and revealed a somewhat unsightly expression. A moment later, he reluctantly nodded.
As if feeling worried, bold-faced cultivator stared at the embroidered-robed scholarly man and coldly said, “Junior martial brother Que, I know that you were on bad terms with Sixth Junior martial brother. However, this matter was personally given by the master. You should know what will happen if you disobey. Don’t forget that Second Senior martial brother brother and Seventh Junior martial brother were also punished for mishandling their affairs.”
The scholarly man wryly smiled and chuckled, “That isn’t the case. Although we didn’t get along, he is dead now, and this matter is now assigned to me by the master. Please be at ease, Third Senior martial brother. I will definitely try my hardest.”
The bold-faced cultivator slowly said, “If Junior martial brother knows how things stand, then let us set off.”
The three then left the hall to attend to their own matters.
Several days later, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had tracked down where Han Li killed the party of cultivators. After further inspection, Han Li’s original cave residence was also discovered.
When the three disciples of Splintered Soul heard this, they rushed to the Tai Yue Mountains with a group of disciples in tow. After entering, they looked at each other in dismay as they stood in front of the large hole where the spirit well used to be.
At that same moment in a land far away, Han Yunzhi and that woman surnamed Liu were hurriedly crossing through a series of towering mountains into the State of Yue.
Chapter 660: Hometown
The Jing Province was located in the northwest of the State of Yue. Because it was a remote region, there were few cities but many small villages, and many small mountains and hills within the province's borders as well as many desolate areas few eve
r came across. As a result, the Jing Province was also home to far more bandits than other provinces, and was also where Jianghu Martial Artists lingered the most. While there had never been a great Jianghu faction that managed to unite the region, this area had produced many formidable characters. Bodyguards and caravan escorts rose in opposition to the many bandits.
One day, on the side of a desolate dirt road, a rather common scene in the Jing Province was taking place.
There were over a hundred brawny men wearing rough clothes, each with black scarves covering their heads, surrounding thirty azure-clothed men with various weapons. The azure-clothed men were in turn protecting the several carriages at their center. It was a scene of a group of bandits fighting a group of caravan escorts.
There were three black-clothed men with similar appearances standing at the bandit’s rear. They coldly glanced at the scene with malice occasionally showing on their faces.
Near the carriages there were several men, young and old, wearing similar servant garbs. They each had a club in hand and wore nervous expressions. Inside the four carriages, there were many women and children wearing magnificent clothes, but the carriage at the very front had a calm middle-aged man wearing scholar’s robes. With his long and glossy beard and mustache, he appeared to lack the strength to knock over even a chicken, but he possessed an indescribable air of authority. None that saw him dared to underestimate him.
The middle-aged scholar was sitting across from a man with blue embroidered robes and a thick, pointed mustache and beard. His arms were thick and he possessed a spirited gaze. He was a rarely seen peak Jianghu expert.
These obviously unordinary characters both wore calm expressions and were the only ones inside the large carriage. Although the two were silent, they were examining everything outside from the half-shut curtains, and occasionally heard bloody wails and clangs from the outside.
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