“Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist Han.” Seeing Han Li’s hesitation, Master Sunreach offered an explanation, “There is no harmful intent with the invitation nor will we put you in any danger. We simply want to make use of your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Even if I didn’t invite you, in half a year, all the mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the Heavenly South will receive invitations from the three Great Heavenly South cultivators to meet at the Seven Spirit Islands. If Fellow Daoist Han helps us with this, he won’t need to go later.”
After a moment of silence, Han Li answered with a reluctant tone, “Since Master Sunreach has said this, it seems the matter is truly important. In three months, I will pay a visit to the Seven Spirit Islands.”
Master Sunreach frowned and asked, “Three months? The matter is quite important. Could Fellow Daoist arrive sooner?”
“I fear that won’t do.” Han Li shook his head and said, “I’ve only just returned the Drifting Cloud Sect and I have my own important matters to attend to. I cannot immediately depart from the sect.”
After some hesitation, Master Sunreach agreed, “Fine. Three months will do, barely. My companions and I will be waiting for you when the time comes. And to tell the truth, you may even reap some profit for yourself and gain some benefits for your sect!”
Han Li’s eyes wandered. Before Han Li could make sense of what had Master Sunreach said, he had already bid his leave and loudly yelled a few words of farewell to the cultivators down below before flying out of the great restriction and leaving the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.
Han Li felt somewhat confused about the last words he said about profit. However, he wasn't able to come up with an answer for the time being and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.
...
At that moment, Han Li was facing Eccentric Jin while floating above one of the mountains surrounding the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. The rest of the cultivators were observing at a neighboring mountain peak.
“Must we truly compete in a battle? Fellow Daoist Jin should know your chances of victory aren’t very high.”
After hearing this, Eccentric Jin said with a solemn expression, “I am the Ancient Sword Sect’s Grand Elder. I cannot quietly surrender my sect’s superior standing and our greater share of the mountain’s resources. It also stands to mention that I am rather curious about the abilities of the famous cultivator who only condensed a Nascent Soul a little over thirty years back. If I am defeated, there will be no future need for ranking contests between our sects. Our Ancient Sword Sect will yield to the Drifting Cloud Sect from then on.”
“Fine. Since this is what Brother Jin wants, I will respectfully comply.” Han Li smiled and without another word, he raised his hand, summoning a fist-sized ball of blue flames above his palm.
Eccentric Jin didn’t speak any further as well. He opened his mouth and spat out three streaks of golden light. They were three identical golden swords only about an inch long. In the blink of an eye they began to revolve around his body and suddenly extended to foot-long streaks of light.
When Han Li saw these flying swords, the blue fireball in his hand wavered before suddenly rupturing. A half-foot bird of blue flame burst out from the fireball and released a clear cry.
Chapter 870: Outcome of the Battle
“Go!” Han Li shouted, pointing at Eccentric Jin. The blue flame bird unfolded its wings and shot forward in a streak of blue light.
When Eccentric Jin saw this, anger suddenly appeared on his sullen face. Han Li didn’t release any magic treasures, but simply sent a single firebird to attack; he was looking down on him far too much. But Eccentric Jin’s anger was soon replaced with a smile and he quickly formed incantation gestures to activate his most formidable sword technique, intending to win the battle in a single blow.
Each of the three golden streaks revolving above his head cried out with dragonic roars and suddenly disappeared to be replaced by a golden thread. Not only was it extremely thin but it was also ten meters long.
Then golden light successively flashed in front of Eccentric Jin, followed by more and more golden threads. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred golden threads densely gathered in front of him. They shined brilliantly in a beautiful display.
‘Swordthread transformation!’ A cold glint flashed from Han Li’s eyes and astonishment appeared on his face. Although he knew Eccentric Jin was a sword cultivator, being able to create so many sword threads in an instant was something rarely heard of. He was truly deserving of his title as grand elder of the Ancient Sword Sect.
When the spectating cultivators saw Eccentric Jin make use of this ability, their expressions revealed shock.
The Hundred possibilities pavilion elders couldn’t help but speak amongst each other.
“Spring Thread Execution!”
“The older, the wiser! He wants to finish the battle in a single decisive blow!”
“I suspect Fellow Daoist Han will suffer a bit from his carelessness.”
As for the middle-aged cultivator that arrived with Eccentric Jin, a trace of joy appeared on his face. Lu Luo appeared slightly shaken, but Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lady Brightscent were completely unperturbed.
At that moment, Eccentric Jin loudly yelled and released a string of spell seals onto the sword threads in front of him. Spirit light wildly flashed and the sword threads weaved a huge golden net before moving to envelope the blue flame bird.
The golden net was over forty meters wide and the flame bird was only half a foot long. To the spectators it appeared as if the bird would be destroyed with excessive force, but what followed came as a huge shock to them.
As soon as the blue flame bird and the golden net made contact, an eruption sounded out and light wildly flashed. A lotus of blue light emerged from the flames and began to slowly turn and unfold its petals. The countless golden sword threads attempted to cut the lotus flower down, but all of their attacks were repelled. They simply caused the light surrounding the lotus to ripple.
The cultivators who were familiar with the incisiveness of the Spring Thread Execution were dumbstruck by the sight of this. Eccentric Jin was particularly struck with disbelief and furious alarm when he saw this and hastily commanded the sword technique with his hands.
The several sword threads released a series of flashes before growing even thinner and glowing with blinding radiance. Then, they begun another assault onto the blue light, cutting through the lotus’ surrounding light and making its way to strike directly at the center of the flower.
But then, the lotus petals began to bloom. A cold blue mist of light began to scatter around the lotus and enveloped everything sixty meters around it in a blinding radiance.
Eccentric Jin immediately felt the connection to his flying swords sever. Reeling from the absence of his swords’ presence, he looked over in shock.
A short moment later, Eccentric Jin’s expression turned extremely unsightly. The lotus had already disappeared without a trace, only to be replaced with a huge glacier of blue ice. His three flying swords were sealed inside, incapable of making the slightest movement.
‘Not good!’ Eccentric Jin cursed and slapped his storage pouch, summoning a white jade pendant into his grasp. But before he could activate it, he suddenly heard thunder from behind him.
In Eccentric Jin’s shock, he instantly thought to fly to the side, but the light protecting him was easily shattered in an instant. Immediately after, a palm glowing with blue flames pressed against his shoulder, and he immediately felt half his body turn cold and lose sensation.
“Fellow Daoist Jin! From the way I see it, our battle has already come to an end. What do you think?”
Eccentric Jin grew sullen at being completely restrained in a single move, but he promptly said, “As expected, Fellow Daoist Han’s abilities are great. I concede defeat!”
“Brother Jin was going easy on me!” Han Li smiled and lightly slapped Eccentric Jin’s shoulder before withdrawing his hand.
>
With the slap, Eccentric Jin felt his shoulder warm up and return to normal. He then hastily turned around in alarm and saw Han Li calmly standing three meters away from him. At an unknown time, a pair of silver wings with lightning arcing off of it had appeared on his back.
Eccentric Jin let out a long sigh. Han Li’s amazing ability to use glacial power with such subtlety was truly beyond belief. However, he had heard that Han Li’s main magic treasures were a set of flying swords, and it appeared that his main cultivation art wasn’t ice-attributed. He found it incredibly that a secret technique Han Li casually made use of to be so powerful.
“Youngster Han, you made good use of my advice.” Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled from the back of Han Li’s mind, “But it is a pity that your main cultivation art isn’t ice-attributed given how well you can control the Celestial Ice Flames.”
“Please don’t joke around, Senior. Although the Celestial Ice Flames are powerful, it isn’t to the point that Junior should change his cultivation art.” Han Li calmly responded and withdrew his Thunderstorm Wings. Then, he flew to the huge glacier in a streak of azure light.
With a casual wave of his sleeve, azure mist shot out and dissolved the blue ice, condensing it back into a sparkling blue lotus flower. The lotus then flew back to Han Li and disappeared as it entered his forehead.
As for Eccentric Jin’s three golden swords, they regained their freedom and flew back to him with a weakened appearance. Although they were only sealed in the blue ice for a short while, their spiritual nature had been weakened, much to Eccentric Jin’s gloom.
At that moment, Han Li floated down to the mountain where the other cultivators were watching.
From restraining Eccentric Jin’s flying swords with the lotus of Celestial Ice Flames to using the Thunderstorm Wings to restraining Eccentric Jin directly, Han Li’s easily acquired victory had taken only a single instant, much to the disappointment to the spectators wishing for a grand battle. However, this display caused them to hold Han Li’s abilities in fear. Han Li’s refusal to use a magic treasure only further demonstrated the gap in power between him and his opponent.
When Han Li landed on the mountain, the cultivators all warmly welcomed him despite whatever they truly had in mind.
“Fellow Daoist Han’s abilities are as profound as expected. It is exactly as rumor had it.”
“Congratulations to the Drifting Cloud Sect for becoming the number one sect on the Dreamcloud Mountains!”
The ones speaking were naturally the elders of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. Although their ranking had sank to the bottom, they didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Rather, they spoke with great enthusiasm.
As for the middle-aged man from the Ancient Sword Sect, his expression grew unsightly, but with respect to Han Li’s display of power, he could only force a smile despite not managing to congratulate him. As for Lady Brightscent, she appeared completely unperturbed apart from a momentary display of shock.
Of course, Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo were overjoyed by this outcome. This battle likely cemented the Drifting Cloud Sect’s position over the other two sects for the next thousand years.
The Nascent Soul Elders were now crowding around Han Li and asking him about the abilities he had just used. Appearing as calm as ever, Han Li simply gave a few brief words about the Celestial Ice Flames and Thunderstorm Wings. Of course, the others didn’t dare to further pursue the topic.
A short moment later, Eccentric Jin also floated down from the sky. At this point, he had recovered his composure as if the battle hadn’t occurred and smiled as he chatted with the others. This calm composure caused Han Li to feel a slight trace of admiration towards him.
With the division of the Dreamcloud Mountain’s resources changed, the eccentrics began to exchange their own cultivation experiences and began to trade rare materials that they had no use for. While small-scale trades didn’t capture Han Li’s interest, he had learned much from their experiences, particularly a few things he had overlooked during his own cultivation. This had convinced Han Li that he may as well participate in these meetings in the future as they could prove greatly beneficial towards his own cultivation.
With a majority of the day passed by, the meeting came to an end. Han Li then took the initiative to ask for a tour of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion’s Earth Lung Fire reservoirs. Surprised, Eccentric Pyre agreed. When Han Li saw the unfathomably deep vein of Earth Lung Fire, he couldn’t help but sink into his thoughts.
After a long while passed, the visiting cultivators each bid their farewells and departed from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.
Han Li and his senior martial brothers flew back in the direction of the Drifting Cloud Mountains, but on the way, Lu Luo continuously spoke in high spirits with Senior Martial Brother Cheng about the spirit stone mines and areas that produced other rare resources. These areas belonged to both the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, but soon a portion of them will be handed over to the Drifting Cloud Sect.
Although Senior Martial Brother Cheng wasn’t as excited as Lu Luo, he was also in a very good mood.
Han Li wasn’t interested in the topic and simply smiled as he heard the two speak. But just as they were about to arrive at the sect, Senior Martial Brother Cheng suddenly turned to Han Li and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, this is all thanks to you! Having our sect be the number one sect in the State of Xi had been the dream of our sect elders for many generations. Now that this has been accomplished, I can consider my life to be fulfilled. As I have discussed with you both before, I plan to pass away in meditation. As for the position of the sect’s grand elder, how about I hand it over to Junior Martial Brother Han?”
Chapter 871: Refinement
“Grand elder?” When Han Li heard him, he was dumbstruck.
“That’s right,” Senior Martial Brother Cheng said with a beaming smile. “I won’t hide this from Junior Martial Brother Han. When you were only at early Nascent Soul stage, I had thought to appoint Junior Martial Brother Lu as grand elder and have you support him. But now that you’ve entered mid-Nascent Soul stage and displayed such grand abilities, winning over much prestige for the sect, the title of grand elder rightfully belongs to you. Junior Martial Brother Lu has no complaints with this as the title should be bestowed to the strongest cultivator in the sect.”
After a moment of silence, Han Li replied, “Many thanks for Senior Martial Brother’s kind intentions, but I cannot accept the role of grand elder.”
“Junior Martial Brother Han doesn’t need to be so modest.” Lu Luo wryly chuckled and said, “You’ve already assumed the role in everything but name. You can’t think of having me, an early Nascent Soul cultivator, be the grand elder of the number one sect in the State of Xi.”
“It’s not that I’m refusing out of modesty. I am simply unwilling to hold that title. Senior martial brothers should know that I am a cultivator who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the path of cultivation. For me, the less things to distract me from cultivation, the better. With that in mind, how could I serve as the head of the sect? In the future I will be in secluded cultivation for long periods of time and will be too preoccupied to lead the sect. And the most important point is that I only joined the sect recently. Let alone the low-grade disciples, but I find the Core Formation martial nephews to be completely unfamiliar. I am completely lacking in this regard. I will be fine as an common elder, but the position of grand elder should belong to Senior Martial Brother Lu!”
“But Junior Martial Brother Han...” Senior Martial Brother Cheng frowned and thought to continue when Han Li suddenly interrupted him.
With a stern expression, he gravely declared, “If you pursue this matter any further, you will force me to leave the Drifting Cloud Sect.”
Senior Martial Brother Cheng exchanged a glance of dismay with Lu Luo at Han Li’s unwavering rejection and loss of courtesy. He then said, “Very well, since Brother Han have said
this, we’ll save this topic for another time.”
Han Li’s expression calmed and he slowly said, “Although I will not accept the title of grand elder, I will still look after the sect under the position as a sect elder. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be sure to strive my hardest to have the sect continue to thrive for the next thousand years.”
Senior Martial Brother Cheng could only wryly chuckle and change the topic to what Master Sunreach wished to talk about with Han Li.
Han Li didn’t conceal this from him and gave a brief summary on what he said. At the end, he said, “From Master Sunreach’s words, there seems to be a relationship with the Seven Spirit Islands and the huge whirlpool. Since they’re neighboring the State of Xi, have you heard anything exceptionally strange?”
“Exceptionally strange? Not at all. The current rumors floating around are mostly be true. When the huge whirlpool and the Seven Spirit Islands emerged, we dispatched a group of disciples to personally investigate as they were close to Dreamcloud Mountains and we found that it didn’t differ much from the rumors.”
Han Li sighed and said, “Since that’s the case, it seems I won’t find out until I go meet them. I hope it is as Master Sunreach had said. With the support of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, there shouldn’t be any danger.”
Lu Luo worriedly added on, “No matter how it is said, Junior Martial Brother Han had best be careful. Given that all three of the Great Heavenly South cultivators are meeting together, that matter can’t be ordinary.”
“I will take note of course,” Han Li said with a smile, “However, I don’t believe they’ll put me through anything too strenuous.”
“Actually, since Junior Martial Brother Han entered mid-Nascent Soul stage at such a young age and possesses abilities on par with their own, even the three great cultivators wouldn’t dare to rashly offend you.” Lu Luo chuckled.
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