Han Li was silent for a moment before waving a sleeve through the air, sending an azure jade slip that he had prepared earlier flying toward the man. "Fellow Daoist, would you be able to provide more specific details on where you encountered them? I have a map of the Devilfall Valley's outer valley with me here, would you be able to annotate the spot on the map where you encountered them?"
"The place where we encountered them was already somewhere quite deep into the outer valley." The man hurriedly caught the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it. He then immediately withdrew his spiritual sense before offering the jade slip back to Han Li with both hands.
Han Li raised a hand, and the jade slip flew into his palm as a streak of azure light. He injected his spiritual sense into the slip, and he raised his eyebrows in response to what he saw.
Han Li stowed the jade slip away before giving the three brothers a smile, then turning to the elderly man and the middle-aged scholar as he said, "That place is indeed very close to the inner valley already. Thank you for your assistance, fellow Daoists. Martial Nephew Hou, Martial Nephew Wu, please keep our three fellow Daoists company; I have to be on my way now."
"Of course, Martial Uncle Han!" The scholar and the elderly man immediately bowed to bid Han Li farewell, and the three brawny men also hurriedly followed suit.
Brilliant azure light erupted from Han Li's body and he shot forth into the distance, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.
Only after the streak of azure light had disappeared into the distance did one of the brawny men heave a long sigh, and he asked with an incredulous look on his face, "Brother Hou! Is that really the new great cultivator from your sect, Senior Han Li?"
"That man was indeed none other than Martial Uncle Han. The three of you are very fortunate to have been able to meet him! Martial Uncle Han has become an extremely renowned figure in the Heavenly South Region, yet he very rarely appears before our sect disciples, and even I've only met him on a handful of occasions," the elderly man said with a wry smile.
"Indeed. Martial Uncle Han doesn't interact much with the disciples of our sect. It's been several decades since I reached the Core Formation Stage, and I've only seen him once from afar during the recently concluded ceremony. If it weren't for the sake of our senior martial sisters this time, the grand elder would've most likely continued to stay in his cave abode," the scholar chimed in with a faint sigh.
One of the brawny men faltered slightly before a grim expression appeared on his face as he said, "So that means that the three female disciples in question really have disappeared in the Devilfall Valley? My brothers and I heard some rumors about this recently, but we thought that they were fabricated stories."
"With things as they are now, there's no point in hiding anything. My three junior martial sisters really do appear to be in some trouble," the elderly man sighed.
"But all three of them are Core Formation cultivators; how could they have disappeared like this? Could it be that they ventured into the inner valley?" The brawny man was very surprised to hear this.
"That's most likely the case. It would be best if they were merely trapped somewhere in the inner valley. In that case, Martial Uncle Han would definitely be able to save them," the scholar mused with a concerned look on his face.
"Could it be that these three female disciples have some kind of special relationship with Senior Han? Otherwise, from the sounds of it, Senior Han doesn't seem to be the type of person to willingly get involved in these matters," the brawny man speculated.
"Hehe, I heard that Senior Martial Sister Song has known Martial Uncle Han for a long time. However, I think the main factor behind Martial Uncle Han's decision to enter the Devilfall Valley is the other two senior martial sisters. I hear that Senior Martial Sister Liu is one of Senior Han's in-name disciples, and that Senior Martial Sister Mu Peiling was once Martial Uncle Han's servant. Now that all three of them have disappeared at the same time, Martial Uncle Han naturally can't just stand by and watch," the elderly man revealed with a smile.
The three brawny men were all enlightened upon hearing this.
As these Core Formation cultivators were discussing among themselves, Han Li was already traveling rapidly toward the Devilfall Valley.
He was holding a white jade badge with a contemplative look on his face as he flew through the air.
All of a sudden, the tender voice of a child sounded beside his ear. "Fellow Daoist Han, are you concerned about your disciple and your servant or are you fretting over your inability to glean the contents of this half-page of the Golden Jade Tome?"
Han Li glanced at one of his sleeves before replying calmly, "The three of them have most likely entered the Devilfall Valley's inner valley, and as long as nothing has happened to them, it shouldn't be too difficult to save them. As for the beveled silver text that you taught me, are you sure there aren't some things that you've neglected to mention? How could the contents in this half-page be so difficult to decipher? After all this time, I've only managed to confirm one thing, which is that the page does indeed contain a talisman-refinement method, but everything else is far too profound."
"Hehe, that's only to be expected. After all, this half-page contains a talisman-refinement method left behind by an immortal. If a human world cultivator like you could glean its contents so easily, then I'd be very skeptical toward the authenticity of this half-page. Furthermore, you've only got half of a page to reference, so it's naturally going to be even more difficult to comprehend its contents," the small child chuckled.
"You're right. I'll re-explore this half-page another time." Han Li nodded as the stowed the jade badge away.
After a brief silence, the small child calmly asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, I've already taught you the beveled silver text, and bestowed upon you the refinement methods for the Fire Spirit Threads and the Law Destruction Eye. Isn't it time for you to deliver on your promise to help me transcend my metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation?"
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, I never go back on my word. Once I've taken care of this matter, I'll find an obscure location and help you succeed in reaching the metamorphosis stage," Han Li replied.
"Good, that's all I needed to hear." The small child seemed to be very satisfied with Han Li's answer, and it immediately fell silent thereafter.
Han Li also remained silent as he flew through the air at full-speed, disappearing from view after just several flashes.
Half a day later, at the entrance to the Devilfall Valley, the teleportation formation that the Ghost Spirit Sect erected still stood. However, there was a thick layer of dust over it, indicating that it hadn't been used for many years.
That made sense, seeing as most of the restrictions and countless spatial rifts around the outskirts of the Devilfall Valley had disappeared, and even the outermost layer of restrictions barely existed anymore. Anyone with a cultivation base at the Core Formation Stage or above could easily access the valley through the brittle patches of the restriction, and they wouldn't even have to enter through the designated entrance.
As such, the teleportation formation of the Ghost Spirit Sect was made completely redundant.
Of course, the entrance to the Devilfall Valley was still a place that most cultivators accessed when entering the Devilfall Valley. After all, this was a path that had been trodden by countless cultivators, so it was naturally a far safer path than any alternatives.
However, there were currently five or six cultivators standing near the teleportation formation, all of whom wore different attire, and they seemed to be discussing something.
They were all Core Formation cultivators, and one of them was even a late-Core Formation cultivator. All of them seemed to be preparing to enter the valley together through the entrance.
All of a sudden, the sound of something whizzing through the air rang out in the distance, and the group of cultivators was all startled by this sound as they hurriedly turned toward that direc
tion.
There, they discovered a streak of azure light flashing rapidly through the air. When they tried to get a closer look, the azure light suddenly flashed and disappeared.
Their expressions change drastically, and they unleashed their spiritual sense when the same sound erupted just over 100 feet away from them!
Azure light flashed right in front of their eyes before disappearing into the valley.
Even with so many Core Formation cultivators present, not a single one of them had been able to catch a clear glimpse of what had just flown past them.
All of them looked at one another, only to find their own astonishment mirrored in everyone else's eyes.
That streak of azure light was naturally none other than Han Li in full flight. He had no time to waste with a few Core Formation cultivators, and sped directly into the Devilfall Valley, heading straight toward the spot that the man from the Golden Sea Sect had annotated on the jade slip.
If he recalled correctly, that spot seemed to not be far away from the place through which he had entered the inner valley on the previous occasion with Violet Spirit and the other Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.
Furthermore, Song Yu was good friends with Violet Spirit, so it only made sense that she would know about that place. With that in mind, there wasn't much else for Han Li to consider as he headed toward that direction.
Most of the spatial rifts in the outer valley had disappeared, so Han Li was virtually able to fly at his full speed. At this rate, it took him only over half a day to reach the massive ice rift through which one could access the inner valley.
The streak of azure light revolved through the air before Han Li flew into the ice rift expressionlessly.
Chapter 1183: Blood Moon Spirit Seeking Technique
Several hours later, Han Li finally emerged from the ice rift, but he immediately withdrew the azure light around him and hovered in mid-air amid the bone-chilling winds.
Within the inner valley, his spiritual sense was still quite significantly restricted, so it would be very difficult for him to search through the air with his spiritual sense alone.
After contemplating the situation for a short while, Han Li patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist.
The sound of loud buzzing immediately rang out as countless Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out of the pouch, forming a cloud of golden beetles that revolved in the air above his head.
He rapidly made a series of hand seals and cast several incantation seals into the swarm of beetles in the quick succession. He then sat onto the ground with his legs folded and slowly closed his eyes.
The cloud of golden beetles split up of their own accord, transforming into countless golden flowers that shot forth in all directions, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Han Li had divided his spiritual sense into countless strands to search for the three women.
Given that the three women were only at the Core Formation Stage, and none of them were rash individuals, Han Li's thought process was that even if they had ventured into the inner valley, they wouldn't have gone very far into its depths.
As such, he was only searching through a relatively small area initially. After failing to discover any leads within that area, Han Li flew several tens of kilometers further into the inner valley before releasing his Gold Devouring Beetles again.
As such, Han Li was naturally able to easily discover some traces left behind by the three women on the mountain where the three women had been searching for Illusionary Spirit Herbs. Upon making this discovery through the use of the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li was ecstatic and he immediately headed over to that place in person for a closer inspection.
As a result, he discovered some signs to verify that the three women had indeed entered the inner valley, and that they had stayed on this mountain for a substantial period of time.
However, when he expanded the scope of his search again, there were no further leads to be discovered. In the end, Han Li returned to the summit of the mountain and fell into deep thought.
After a period of contemplation, he suddenly let loose a long cry and all of the Gold Devouring Beetles in a radius of several tens of kilometers came flying back toward him before they were stored away into his spirit beast pouch again.
However, Han Li then immediately pulled out another pouch, from within which 12 snowy white centipedes flew out.
They were none other than his Six-Winged Frost Centipedes!
Han Li made a hand seal and the 12 centipedes dispersed at his behest, transforming into 12 gusts of glacial wind that disappeared in different directions in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, Han Li remained rooted to the spot.
After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li's stirred as he transformed into a streak of azure light and flew back in the direction that he had come from.
A short while later, he discovered a snowy white centipede circling over a certain spot in the air, uttering a low screeching sound as it did so.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he immediately flew over to the snowy white centipede.
He looked down toward the ground, only to discover a long and thin black object down below.
This object was lying in a patch of grass, making it appear as if it were a completely nondescript black branch, so it was no wonder that his Gold Devouring Beetles hadn't discovered it earlier.
Han Li's brows furrowed as he raised a hand, and the branch-like object was sucked into his hand.
He inspected the object carefully, upon which his expression changed minutely.
This wasn't some branch; it was clearly a small section of a feeler. Furthermore, from the glacial Qi that this object was exuding, it was none other than the feeler of a Six-Winged Frost Centipede.
However, Six-Winged Frost Centipedes had pristine white feelers, yet this one was as black as ink, and the dark aura emanating from it was also something that Han Li was very familiar with.
This was none other than Profound Yin Devilish Qi! Furthermore, this devilish Qi seemed to be even purer than that used by Zenith Yin.
Han Li stroked the small section of the feeler and waves of shock surged through his heart.
One had to realize that Profound Yin Devilish Qi could only be cultivated using the Profound Yin Arts, and aside from Zenith Yin and Wu Chou, both of whom had fallen by his hands, most of Zenith Yin's other disciples hadn't been given the entirety of this cultivation art. As such, there was no way that they would be able to cultivate such pure devilish Qi and travel to the Heavenly South Region.
Han Li's expression was quite befuddled as he fell into deep thought.
"Wait, there's something else that knows all of the mantras in the Profound Yin Arts and has cultivated the Profound Yin Devilish Qi! It seems like it would also be able to cultivate this devilish Qi to such a high degree of purity." A thought abruptly occurred to Han Li as a peculiar look appeared on his face.
"Could it be that the Wood Spirit Nascent has also returned to the Heavenly South Region?" Han Li murmured to himself as he looked up into the sky.
He had always hung up on this missing second Nascent Soul.
After returning to the Heavenly South Region, he should've set off immediately to search for this Nascent Soul, yet Nangong Wan was still yet to break out of the ice wall, and his concern for her dissuaded him from embarking on such a long journey.
Furthermore, so many years had already passed and if this second Nascent Soul was able to attain sentient will, then it would've done so long ago. As such, it didn't really matter when he set off to search for it.
As such, he had set this matter aside completely and decided to take a trip to the Moulan Plains several years down the track. However, it appeared that this second Nascent Soul had returned to the Heavenly South Region of its own accord, and was hiding within the Devilfall Valley.
In that case, it most likely had something to do with the disappearance of Mu Peiling's trio, which ironically meant that they
were most likely still safe.
After all, the Nascent Soul had completely replicated his memories and emotions. Even if its personality had been altered after all these years, it was still very unlikely that it would kill those three women in cold blood.
Han Li wore a grave expression as he considered all of the possibilities involved.
After so many years had passed, the second Nascent Soul would've most likely possessed a body of its own already. Furthermore, from the moment that he had entered the inner valley, he hadn't sensed any trace of the Sovereign Devil Corpse, which he had planted a wisp of his spiritual sense into. With that in mind, it appeared that the devil corpse hadn't been subdued by the second Nascent Soul; it had to have been possessed instead.
Countless thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind as he placed himself in the second Nascent Soul's shoes, and the truth was soon made apparent to him.
He stroked his chin and heaved a long sigh.
Right at this moment, the remaining centipedes all flew toward him from different directions, and it didn't appear as if they had discovered anything.
Han Li wasn't very surprised to see this.
The reason why he withdrew the Gold Devouring Beetles and released the 12 Six-Winged Frost Centipedes instead was naturally because Liu Yu was carrying Six-Winged Frost Centipede with her as well. Even though her spirit insects were of a far inferior grade compared to his own, it was possible to find the three women through a connection between the spirit insects.
However, seeing as the perpetrator here was most likely his second Nascent Soul, it would definitely have taken measures to prevent this method from working.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 649