Han Li’s eyes flickered and he said, “I am the Drifting Cloud Sect’s Han Li!” He inwardly scowled. It appeared this trip wouldn’t prove as simple as he imagined.
The old man didn’t have the slightest intention of validating Han LI’s name and he hastily stood to the side and allowed Han Li into the city.
Han Li nodded his head and he calmly entered the city.
There were far fewer cultivators on the streets of Soaring Heaven City compared to when the trade fair was taking place. Furthermore, all of them wore worried expressions. It seems the news of the losing war had reached their ears.
Han Li directly flew towards his previous residence. If Mu Peiling and Senior Martial Brother Lu still hadn’t left the city, they should be there.
Not long after, Han Li arrived before the building and used his spiritual sense to search for any auras. He found a weaker spiritual Qi fluctuation on the second floor. It should belong to Mu Peiling.
Han Li faintly smiled and silently opened the restriction before entering the pavilion.
Mu Peiling couldn’t help but reveal delight upon seeing him, “My Lord, you’ve returned!”
Chapter 722: The Heavenpeak Sect
Han Li sighed and helplessly said, “Why is it that you and Senior Martial Brother Lu haven’t left as we discussed? I might’ve not returned.” He then took a glance at Mu Peiling and smiled, “But I didn’t think that you’d actually break through your bottleneck so quickly! Congratulations on entering mid Foundation Establishment stage!”
“I broke through by chance half a month ago thanks to the medicine pills my Lord has given me. It wouldn’t have been the case otherwise.” Mu Peiling spoke with great excitement and appeared all the more beautiful for it. Han Li felt his mind shake and calmed down once he stroked his nose.
Han Li then casually asked, “Does your prolonged stay with Senior Martial Brother Lu in Soaring Heavens City have to do with the spell warriors?”
Mu Peiling bit her lip and carefully said, “My Lord already guessed it. Senior Lu and I planned on returning once the trade fair ended, but who could’ve thought that news of the spell warrior invasion had spread before the trade fair concluded. As a Heavenly Dao Alliance Nascent Soul cultivator, he had no choice but to remain and negotiate a plan with the other powers. I also remained behind as a result.”
“In that case, I can’t blame you. But where is Senior Martial Brother Lu —” Han Li suddenly wore an odd expression when he interrupted himself.
Mu Peiling was startled by this sudden stop. Before she realized what Han Li intended, she suddenly heard a young man’s voice from outside the building, “Fellow Daoist Mu, are you there? I am Bai Shujun. I wish to discuss something with you.”
After Han Li swept his spiritual sense past him, he discovered a Core Formation youth with a scholarly appearance that was standing outside the building’s restrictions. Han Li pensively asked, “Who is this? It seems you’ve made friends!”
In the instant Mu Peiling heard the man’s voice, he face instantly paled. She hastily explained, “Lord, please don’t misunderstand. This person is a disciple of a Heavenpeak Sect Elder. We had unintentionally met a few days ago and he had been bothering me ceaselessly ever since. I’ve already said that I am your concubine, but this person has bothered me ever since. I’ll drive him away right now.”
Han Li raised his brow and asked, “So it was like that? Does Senior Martial Brother Lu know of this?”
Mu Peiling was relieved that Han Li wasn’t angry and replied with a sigh of relief, “I’ve already spoke to Senior Lu of this matter, but Senior Lu seemed to recognize this elder of the Heavenpeak Sect. He even seemed somewhat fearful of him. For the time being, he’s left me to fend for myself with regards to his matter. He’s been waiting for Lord to return before dealing with this matter.
After a moment of silence, Han Li coldly smiled, “Oh! Isn’t the Heavenpeak Sect one of the four great sects of the Righteous Dao Alliance? It is no wonder why Senior Martial Brother Lu was so careful in handling this matter. However, this meager Core Formation cultivator must be quite brave to act so imprudently. Follow me out. Let’s see what this Junior intends to do.”
Mu Peiling respectfully replied, “As you command, Master!”
At that moment, Han Li wordlessly climbed down to the ground floor with Mu Peiling closely following after her.
“Fellow Daoist Mu, you’ve finally— Yi! This Senior is...” When the youth named Bai Shujun saw someone leaving the building, he originally believed it to be the woman he fancied. But when he saw Han Li with his profound cultivation, his expression vastly changed.
At that moment, Mu Peiling followed behind Han Li and stood closely behind him. When the youth saw this, his expression wavered several times.
Han Li’s expression grew sullen and he spoke bluntly to the youth, “You are a disciple of the Heavenpeak Sect?”
Displaying an unordinary guile, he regained his calm after only a moment even as he faced a Nascent Soul cultivator like Han Li. He then spoke with a courteous tone, “That’s right. This Junior is a disciple of the Heavenpeak Sect Elder Lu [1]. Could it be that you are Senior Han?”
“Speak! What are you intentions in coming here? Why is it that you bother my concubine without end? You should have some other purpose in performing such a brainless task.” Han Li’s harsh tone had caused a trace of astonishment to appear from Mu Peiling’s face.
Bai Shujun smiled and eloquently said, “Senior is wise! In truth my master wishes to meet you, but since there has been no news of Senior Han, Junior has done this. However, I am truly fond of Fellow Daoist Mu. If Senior would agree to accommodate me, I wouldn’t be able to thank you enough!”
“Can’t thank me enough? What use is your gratitude? Don’t get caught up in your dreams! I have no such habit of giving my own concubines to others. I also have no connection with your Heavenpeak Sect, so why is it that you’ve come to find me?”
Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced in an empty area. After squinting his eyes, he wore a weird smile and suddenly released an astonishing spiritual pressure from his body.
Bai Shujun recoiled several steps with a greatly alarmed expression. Bearing a pressure of what seemed to be a huge mountain, his legs folded and he fell to a half kneel. He hastily attempted to resist, but after his body trembled several times, his knees still remained unsteady.
As he knelt, a white silhouette suddenly appeared in front of Bai Shujin. He gently patted Bai Shujun’s shoulder and suddenly relieved him of the pressure, allowing him to stand once more.
The white silhouette was a white-robed old man with light grey hair and a friendly face. As Han Li examined him, the old man smiled at him and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, please don’t be angry. My disciple has been doing this on my command. How could I meet you otherwise?”
When Han Li saw the old man, the pressure emitting from his body vanished and his expression became calm once more as if it had never happened. “Who is your esteemed self? And why do you wish to see me? If I remember correctly, this will be the first time I ever made contact with you and your sect.”
“Hehe! This old man goes by the name of Lu Weiying, and is an elder of the Heavenpeak Sect. As for why I wish to see you, this is not a convenient place to speak of it. If Fellow Daoist wishes to know why, let us meet later tonight. At that time, Fellow daoist will surely come to know the details.” Showing not the slightest anger, he waved his hand and tossed a green jade slip he had already prepared to Han Li.
Han Li expressionlessly waved his arm and caught the jade slip in an azure mist. After sinking his spiritual sense into the jade slip, he found the details of a location and thought to ask about it, but when he raised his head, the old man had already saluted him and was leading Bai Shujun away.
Han Li frowned. He acted rather mysteriously, but they seemed to misunderstand that Han Li had been hiding in Soaring Heavens City all this time.
Han Li rubbed his chin and felt
this matter to be somewhat unclear. As such, he left the matter alone for now and brought Mu Peiling back into their residence.
After Han Li entered the pavilion, he calmly asked, “Where is Senior Martial Brother Lu currently?” It was as if he had thrown the recent matter to the back of his mind.
I heard that the war situation was dire and Senior Lu went to discuss a countermeasure with the other powers.”
Han Li interestedly asked, “Where are they having this discussion?”
“It is at Soaring Heavens City’s official hall. I heard that only Nascent Soul cultivates affiliated with a superpower are allowed to attend. Does my Lord wish to go take a look?”
“The official hall?” Han Li recalled a huge palace hall at the center of the city that was heavily covered in restrictions.
“Alright, I do wish to see how the matters of spell warriors are being handled. Wait here and don’t go out without a reason.” With his mind set, he departed to where his Senior Martial Brother Lu was located.
The official hall was the towering building built at the center of the city, and was extremely noticeable. Apart from matters concerning the life or death of the Nine Nations Union, it was hardly ever used.
But now that the Moulan had begun another assault since their ceasefire a hundred years ago, the upper echelon of the Nine Nations Union showed no hesitation in opening this hall and convening with cultivators of other powers. After all, with the overbearing invasion of the Moulan spell warriors, it would be extremely difficult for the Nine Nations Union to defend against them alone.
When Han Li arrived in front of the official hall, a guard standing at the front noticed Han Li’s cultivation and asked for his name before reporting it to his superior. Soon, Han Li was granted permission and a cultivator respectfully led him inside the official hall.
There couldn’t be said to be many Nascent Soul cultivators in the meeting, only over a dozen, far fewer than Han Li had imagined. However, Han Li understood that despite the large number of Nascent Soul cultivators that had gathered at Soaring Heavens City, there was no need for each of them to personally attend. They merely had their power’s representative stand in their place.
As for Senior Martial Brother Lu, he was currently sitting on a chair to the left. He smiled when he caught sight of Han Li. Closely sitting beside him was the Child Fire Dragon.
Apart from the yellow-robed old man, Han Li found the others to be unfamiliar. After taking two glances at the yellow-robed old man, he couldn’t help but inwardly sigh. This old man was Martial Ancestor Ling Hu of Yellow Maple Valley!
[1] The Heavenpeak Sect Elder is surnamed Lu, and the Drifting Cloud Sect Elder, Han Li’s Senior Martial Brother is surnamed Lu . They are homonyms.
Chapter 723: Discussion
When Martial Ancestor Linghu spotted Han Li, he didn’t reveal the slightest change in expression. It was unknown whether he was hiding his emotions with his profound shrewdness or that he simply didn’t recognize the past Foundation Establishment disciple.
Han Li’s gaze shifted to the others in the hall. At the center of the hall there was an old man with a purple face and a gorgeous woman in palace robes. When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them, his heart trembled. The two were mid Nascent Soul cultivators, the main representatives of the Nine Nations Union.
As Han Li examined in the other cultivators in the hall, they had examined him as well. A majority of them were surprised by Han Li’s appearance as a youth. Hardly any male cultivators cultivated techniques for maintaining youthful appearances.
The Drifting Cloud Sect Elder Lu called out to Han Li with a smile, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you’ve finally arrived. Have a seat. We were having a discussion with Sect Master Wu about the Moulan invasion.”
The Child Fire Dragon also smiled and kindly nodded his head.
Following suit, Han Li smiled and saluted the other cultivators in the hall before taking a seat by his Senior Martial Brother Lu.
The purple-faced cultivator took a seat across from Han Li and smiled, “So this is the Drifting Cloud Sect’s Fellow Daoist Han. I am the Enlightened Leaf Sect’s Wu Peng. We just heard from Brother Lu that Fellow Daoist had entered Nascent Soul stage only after two hundred years of cultivation. You truly a genius among the cultivators in the Heavenly South. Perhaps you will be met with great success on the Great Dao!”
Although Han Li’s cultivation was still a grade lower than his own, he didn’t dare to underestimate Han Li’s future potential.
“Sect Master Wu is being polite. I only managed to enter Nascent Soul stage from a fluke. I don’t dare to speak of any future obtainments in the Great Dao.” As the Enlightened Leaf Sect were one of the sects that stood side by side with the Flowing Mind Sect in the Nine Nations Union, Han Li didn’t dare to grow overly familiar with him and simply gave a polite response.
As Han Li spoke, his gaze fell onto the beautiful middle-aged woman that stood at the old man’s side. Since the purple-faced old man was the Enlightened Leaf Sect Master, this beautiful woman was likely a cultivator from the Flowing Mind Sect.
As Han Li began to ponder, the purple-faced old man, Wu Peng, sighed and said, “This is the Flowing Mind Sect’s Lady Qi. She will handle matters with regards to the Nine Nations Union along my side. The other Fellow Daoists are...”
The old man gave Han Li an introduction to the other cultivators in the hall. When Martial Ancestor Linghu was introduced, he simply gave a curt response, nothing out of the ordinary.
Han Li’s heart faintly trembled but he simply nodded.
After introductions were finished, Wu Peng’s expression grew tense, “Fellow Daoist Han, you’ve come just in time. We were currently discussing how the vast power of the spell warriors are greatly beyond our expectations. I’ve already heard from the Elder Yu and the others that they’ve already suffered a great defeat. Even two important areas are about to have their grand formations broken by the huge beasts the Moulan control. We have many casualties in the war against the Moulan, including even Fellow Daoist Huan of the Shadowform Sect. He will be the third Nascent Soul cultivator to have perished. There is a pressing need for assistance from all powers due to the overbearing Moulan assault.”
The smiles of all the cultivators present had disappeared once Wu Peng had solemnly spoken. A grave atmosphere immediately filled the hall.
A green-robed old man with a sharp, thin nose sullenly said, “Sect Master Wu, we’ve also have a bit of information ourselves considering we have sent our own disciples out in accordance to the pact. However, we still don’t have concrete information on the true circumstances behind Fellow Daoist Feng’s defeat. Could Brother Wu give us an detailed explanation on the matter?
It is unfathomable that so many Nascent Soul cultivators have fallen in such a short amount of time. Could it be that high grade spell warriors have already begun to take action?”
When Han Li heard this, he took another look at the old man. From Wu Peng’s introduction, he was an elder of the Devil Dao’s Controlling Spirit Sect. He didn’t know whether or not he had a relation to Liu Yu or Han Yunzhi.
Wu Peng responded with an odd expression, “We still don’t have information on whether or not their high grade cultivators are acting in full force. However, Fellow Daoist Feng and Fellow Daoist Xin were verified to have perished in a one on one battle. They were not surrounded.”
When the green-robed old man heard him, he revealed alarm, “Impossible. Even if they were defeated by a mid Nascent Soul stage spell warrior, they would still be able to flee for their lives. Could it be that the Moulan Divine Sages have begun to act?”
Already anticipating his question, Wu Peng readily said, “No, the two were only early Nascent Soul spell warriors. However, they were rather odd. Not only were their spirit techniques far beyond what other spell warriors of the same grade were capable of, they also used an incredibly strange treasure. Just as the two Fellow Daoists manifested their Nascent Souls upon defeat, th
ey were trapped by this treasure and were rendered incapable of using instantaneous movement, leading to their demise.”
The green robed old man felt his breath run cold. He asked with slight disbelief, “What kind of treasure is capable of stopping a Nascent Soul’s instantaneous movement? Is it an ancient treasure? A magic treasure?”
The cultivators who listened had vastly changed expressions. The reason why it was extremely difficult to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator was cause of how easy it was for a Nascent Soul to escape once it manifested. It came as a great shock to the cultivators present that there was a treasure capable of restraining a Nascent Soul.
“Our disciples that witnessed the battle weren’t able to clearly see it. But when it was activated, it momentarily flashed with red-black light and seemed unblockable. Furthermore...” Wu Peng trailed off with a hesitant expression.
The green-robed old man unhappily said, “Fellow Daoist Wu, with matters having reached this far, what is it that you find hard to say?”
The Flowing Mind Sect’s Lady Qi smiled and spoke on behalf of Wu Peng, “It’s not that Brother Wu finds it hard to say. He only hesitates to speak because he feels that the matter is uncertain. Allow me to say it!” As a fellow member of the Nine Nations Union, it was natural for her to assist him.
Han Li grew greatly curious by their words. The others were also more or less waiting for what Lady Qi had to say.
Lady Qi sighed and explained, “The disciples observing the previous battles have noted that the two Nascent Soul spell warriors appeared almost as if they were feeding off the souls of those who died in battle, regardless of whether the souls had belonged to spell warriors or cultivators. As a result, Sect Master Wu became doubtful as to whether these two spell warriors are actually human, instead being some sort of heretical transformation.
But since the two didn’t emit an obvious demonic or ghost Qi from their body, the disciples were incapable of making any precise judgements. Of course, there is also the matter of the sudden appearance of the huge fearsome beasts that appeared amongst the ranks of the spell warriors; it seems to have something to do with the appearance of these new spell warriors. We suspect that the Moulan have begun to collaborate with other powers. This explains how they were able invade the Heavenly South on such a vast scale.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 387