"That is indeed rather troublesome, but that's not the main issue," Han Li said as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What do you mean, Master?" Hai Yuetian was rather perplexed by this.
"The main issue is that I'm not on good terms with the Long Family. If we were facing a normal Body Integration cultivator, I could pay them a direct visit to recover your junior martial brother. Generally speaking, unless they're completely desperate, they wouldn't want to cross another Body Integration cultivator like me. However, the fact that the Long Family is concerned makes things a lot more complicated," Han Li explained in a cold voice.
Hai Yuetian's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.
"However, that doesn't mean I can't recover your junior martial brother. Hehe, I've already crossed the Long Family once, so what'll it matter if I do it again? Besides, they may not detect me anyway. Yuetian, you go back to our Immortal Welcome Palace on your own; I'll return to join you soon," Han Li chuckled coldly as bright azure light suddenly erupted from his body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.
Hai Yuetian could naturally tell what Han Li was implying, and he was both surprised and elated by what he had heard. Thus, he immediately extended a respectful salute, even though Han Li was no longer anywhere to be seen, then rushed down the hill.
A distance of several tens of kilometers was naturally covered in the blink of an eye for Han Li, and he reappeared in the air around half a kilometer away from the Immortal Welcome Palace.
He looked on at the ninth level of the giant palace, and the image of a massive formation blueprint surfaced in his mind. The nine Immortal Welcome Palaces were situated in different places, but according to his observation, the formations set up within them should all be quite similar.
These restrictions were indeed extremely intricate and profound, but with so many powerful abilities up his sleeve, it certainly wouldn't be impossible to infiltrate this place without being detected.
With that in mind, he pondered the situation for a moment before suddenly flipping a hand over to produce a shimmering silver piece of thin fabric.
This was none other than the Thousand Transformation Faces he had obtained from Liu Shui'er in the Vast Glacial Realm.
This was quite an extraordinary treasure, and Liu Shui'er didn't have the heart to ask Han Li to return it after he had saved her and Shi Kun's lives in the Dark Beast Forest, so it had remained with Han Li thereafter.
He immediately tossed the Thousand Transformation Faces forward before flicking his wrist, and a ball of azure light flashed from his storage bracelet, upon which a furry piece of golden beasthide was also tossed forward.
He then made a hand seal before pointing at the two items one after the other, and the Thousand Transformation Faces shuddered slightly before vanishing into the section of beasthide as a ball of silver light.
The golden beasthide rotated on the spot before suddenly hurtling toward Han Li, then vanished in a flash.
At the same time, a low roar erupted from Han Li's mouth, and his face abruptly underwent a drastic transformation.
A layer of long golden fur suddenly sprouted from his smooth skin, concealing his original facial features. At the same time, blue light flashed from his eyes, and his pupils turned into a deep blue color.
He was giving off an indescribably ferocious aura, and he stroked the golden fur on his own face as he murmured to himself, "As expected, the beasthide of this Golden Arm Ape really does work. I should be able to fool the members of the Long Family now."
He then took a deep breath, and black light flashed as two pieces of black veil suddenly appeared over his body.
The two pieces of veil rotated around him before flying toward his body as two streaks of black light.
In the next instant, Han Li's body gradually became blurry and indistinct within the black light before finally completely disappearing out of sight.
Han Li looked down at his own body, which seemed to have turned completely transparent, and he nodded with a pleased look in his eyes.
Of course, using the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman would result in a superior concealment effect, but if he were to use that talisman, it would be difficult for him to unleash his abilities to break the restrictions he would have to face, so he could only settle for something else.
Thus, Han Li flew directly toward the ninth level of the palace up ahead, and he quickly reached his target.
All of a sudden, white light flashed, and a white light barrier appeared before him. Its surface flashed with lightning, and several arcs of electricity began to emerge.
Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he extended a hand out of his sleeve before spreading his fingers, blasting forth several arcs of golden lightning in retaliation.
As soon as the silver arcs of lightning hurtled toward Han Li, they were instantly nullified by the golden lightning in a completely soundless manner.
At the same time, a layer of grey light appeared around Han Li's body, and he passed through the white light barrier as if it didn't even exist.
A human-shaped hole appeared in the white light barrier, but Han Li was still nowhere to be seen. The hole then rapidly sealed at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye and returned to normal in an instant, following which the light barrier itself also quickly vanished.
Moments later, two Deity Transformation Stage guards flew out of the first floor of the Immortal Welcome Place. They then rose up into the air, straight toward the same spot that Han Li had just infiltrated through.
One of the two guards, a young man who appeared to be around 17 to 18 years of age, inspected the surrounding area before murmuring to himself in a perplexed manner, "I'm sure the restriction fluctuations from just now came from here, but there doesn't seem to be anything amiss."
His companion was a thin elderly man with a goatee and short horns, and he suggested, "Perhaps it was only a bird that crashed into the restriction. Otherwise, the reaction wouldn't have been so feeble."
The latter of the two was a demonic cultivator!
"Surely you jest, Brother Gongsun! If even a bird can draw a reaction out of the Immortal Welcome Palace's restriction, then the restriction master responsible for this restriction should seriously reevaluate their craft!" the young man scoffed with furrowed brows.
"Hehe, if it's not a bird, then it could be a spirit beast that strayed away from a nearby market, or perhaps a Body Integration Stage senior unintentionally set off the restriction somehow. In any case, what are we going to be able to do about it? Forgive me for being blunt, but if someone really has infiltrated the Immortal Welcome Palace, they're definitely here to challenge a certain Body Integration Stage senior; do you think that's something that we can stick our noses into?" the demonic elderly man chuckled.
The young man contemplated this notion for a while before suddenly smiling as he said, "You're right, Fellow Daoist Gongsun. Seeing as the restriction here hasn't been damaged, it really would be unbecoming of us to take this matter too seriously."
"Haha, I knew you were a smart man. I have a flagon of exceptional spirit wine; why don't we enjoy it together?" A wide smile also appeared on the elderly man's face now that the young man had given up on the investigation.
Thus, the two of them descended like a pair of good friends, paying no further heed to the restriction behind them.
Elsewhere, a ball of silver flames emerged, then surged forth to incinerate a series of threads of light into nothingness. Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared in front of a certain wall on the ninth floor.
He cast his gaze toward the pristine white wall up ahead to find a series of silver runes of different sizes shimmering incessantly on its surface, presenting quite a mysterious sight to behold.
A grim expression appeared on Han Li's face. These weren't just normal runes. Instead, they were the manifestation of a type of spatial restriction placed on this wall, which would render it immune to the effects of normal se
cret techniques and cultivation arts.
Thankfully, he also possessed some spatial abilities, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to bypass this wall.
With that in mind, Han Li made a hand seal, and a ball of black light suddenly appeared on his glabella. A gash then split open on his forehead, following which a black demonic eye emerged.
The demonic eye seemed to aim a glance at the wall before blasting forth a burst of black light toward it.
A peculiar scene then ensued!
In the instant that the black light came into contact with the white wall, the nearby silver runes suddenly faded into obscurity.
Han Li let loose a low cry, and the beam of black light, which was around as thick as a human finger, abruptly became noticeably thicker.
The white wall up ahead shuddered, and a small black hole that was around a foot in size was punched into it.
A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the black light being emitted from his demonic eye was withdrawn, following which he flew into the black hole, and in the next instant, the hole vanished.
Han Li emerged on the other side and found himself situated within a forest, standing right beneath a huge tree.
What left him feeling quite awkward was that there was a middle-aged man and a beautiful young woman staring at him with incredulous looks in their eyes from less than 10 feet away.
Han Li naturally immediately reacted, heaving a faint sigh as he suddenly lashed out with both of his arms.
Two loud smacks rang out, as his arms suddenly elongated to several times their original length, striking the two people in the room and sending them crumpling to the ground amid a dull thump.
These two were only at the Core Formation Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage, so he didn't kill them; he merely injected a wisp of his magic power into their spiritual sense to knock them out.
After that, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the middle-aged man, and he was instantly drawn into Han Li's grasp.
Azure light flashed from Han Li's face, and he immediately unleashed a soul search technique.
After a short while, Han Li's expression darkened slightly, and he released the man before grabbing the woman and unleashing the same technique on her.
After releasing her as well, he murmured to himself, "So Qi Lingzi really was brought to the Long Family, and that woman is the sister of the Long Family Leader. It's a pity that some of the secrets in the memories of these two were concealed by some secret techniques, so I can only glean very limited information from them."
Chapter 1812: A Grab, a Punch, a Palm Strike
A slightly wistful look appeared on Han Li's face as he spoke. It wasn't a strange thing that secret techniques had been placed on the memories of these two. All major families would take the same precautionary measures with their core members in case of this exact situation.
However, the matters surrounding that woman clearly weren't supposed to be confidential information, so Han Li was able to glean it with ease. Not long ago, a woman that matched the description provided by Hai Yuetian had taken three other people to this place, and after having a conversation with the Long Family Leader, they were taken away to rest.
One of those three other people was none other than Qi Lingzi. However, these two were unaware of where the four of them currently were.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the two unconscious people before him, and he suddenly stomped his foot onto the ground.
A burst of yellow light surged forth, and a pit that was around 10 feet in depth silently appeared. He then swept a sleeve through the air, sending forth a burst of azure light that picked up the two before gently laying them into the pit.
After that, Han Li made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the pit, and a burst of yellow light suddenly erupted from it. Following just a single flash, the pit vanished, and the ground returned to normal with no visible signs at all of what had just transpired.
Only then did Han Li cast his gaze out of the forest, and he discovered that this level was indeed different from the one he was living in.
Outside the forest was a vast expanse of murky white mist, within which the outlines of a city wall could just barely be made out.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body swayed as a layer of grey light appeared around him.
This mist was clearly some type of profound restriction, and part of it fused with the grey light around Han Li, making him appear quite blurry and indistinct as well.
After only advancing for just over 1,000 feet, Han Li reached the edge of the mist, and he discovered that a golden fortress surrounded by walls that were over 100 feet tall lay up ahead, not too far in the distance.
There was a series of white-robed cultivators that either had swords or sabers strapped to their backs standing atop the city walls, and beyond the walls were many buildings and pavilions.
At the very center of the fortress was a giant golden tower that was several thousand feet tall.
Han Li wasn't concerned that these white-robed cultivators would be able to see him, and he cast his gaze directly toward the golden tower.
According to the information he had just gleaned from those two members of the Long Family, the tower was inhabited by the late-Body Integration Stage Long Family patriarch, as well as the family's Spatial Tempering Stage elders. However, right after the Long Family patriarch secured that Giant Atlas Ark blueprint from the auction, he immediately went into seclusion in the tower with several of the formation and tool refinement masters of the family to study the blueprint.
As for the other Body Integration Stage grand elder, he seemed to have some matters to attend to, and recently left the Immortal Welcome Palace. As such, there really was next to no risk of Han Li being discovered.
As long as that Long Family patriarch didn't suddenly sweep his spiritual sense through the entire fortress for no reason, there was no one else here who could detect him.
With that in mind, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer. Black light surged around his body, and he flew directly toward a certain section of the city wall.
One of the white-robed cultivators on the city wall suddenly felt a faint breeze blow past him, and he immediately released his spiritual sense while inspecting his surroundings but didn't discover anything.
A hint of confusion flashed through his eyes, but he then shook his head and seemed to have convinced himself that the breeze had merely been a figment of his imagination.
Unbeknownst to him, an outsider had just passed him by and landed on a pristine white street on the other side of the city wall.
However, strangely enough, he had his eyes closed and stood on the street in a completely still manner as if he were trying to sense something.
After a while, he opened his eyes, and a dark expression appeared on his face. "I can't sense him anymore! Looks like someone must've stepped in to conceal my spiritual sense mark. In that case, I'll have to search through these rooms one by one. It's a good thing that this place isn't all that big, and there aren't that many Spatial Tempering cultivators here, so I should be able to track them down quite quickly."
After that, Han Li drifted forward as an invisible breeze before vanishing into a certain pavilion.
Meanwhile, the elderly woman and the others were seated in a pavilion that was extremely far away from Han Li. They had been joined by a purple-robed elderly man who had just placed a crescent-shaped jade pendant around Qi Lingzi's neck, and he said, "This piece of Moonheart Jade is extremely effective for keeping out one's spiritual sense, so that person won't be able to sense him unless he's extremely close. You can rest easy now."
"Thank you for your kindness, Brother!" The elderly woman extended a grateful curtsey toward the purple-robed man.
Her Dao Companion also wore a grateful smile, while their son remained quite calm and collected.
"You two sure are bold to be crossing a Body Integration cultivator. If it's not for the f
act that Ming'er has activated the True Dragon bloodline, I wouldn't have accepted you no matter what. Even if you're my sister, no exceptions can be made for you. On top of that, you're prohibited from doing anything to that Daoist priest before our father comes out of seclusion. I don't think there's any issue with this, but it does concern a Body Integration cultivator, after all, so I have to consult Father first. If you go against this, then don't blame me for abandoning you," the purple-robed man warned in a stern manner.
"Of course. I haven't seen Father in many years as well, and I want to see him one final time. My Dao Companion and I most likely won't be able to transcend our next major heavenly tribulations, so I'll have to entrust Ming'er to you, Brother. Thankfully, Ming'er's aptitude should be comparable to that of the other young talents of the Long Family after his chronic condition is cured, so he'll definitely be a bright prospect," the elderly woman said with a slightly forced smile and a forlorn look in her eyes.
"You can rest assured and leave Ming'er to me. As for meeting Father, I'm not sure that can be arranged. As you know, the women of our family who insist on marrying someone outside of the family are essentially disowned. On top of that, our father is using the vastly renowned Heartless Dao cultivation art, so there's no way that he'll want to see you again. After everything is taken care of here, you two can leave," the purple-robed man said with a shake of his head, and the woman was quite disappointed to hear this.
Her expression soured even further, and she still wanted to implore her brother to arrange an opportunity for her to meet their father, but the purple-robed man waved a dismissive hand and departed before she could say anything.
Thus, the only ones left in her room were her family of three and Qi Lingzi.
The woman was silent for a long while before speaking in a resentful voice, "Looks like we'll have to do as he says. Take this Daoist priest to the secret chamber."
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1045