If he weren't mistaken, this piece of spirit text was describing the setup method for a profound formation.
The wording was slightly ambiguous, but what was certain was that if he were to completely master the contents of this piece of text, he should be able to set up the entire formation.
The formation wasn't very big, but it was far more profound and intricate than the vast majority of formations Han Li had seen in the Spirit Realm in the past.
If it weren't for the fact that he had been carefully studying the used talismans he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, he wouldn't have been able to understand the contents of that piece of text at all.
After all, recognizing golden seal text runes and mastering a formation inscribed in golden seal text were two completely different matters altogether.
Furthermore, Han Li estimated that it would be impossible for him to completely master this formation unless he studied it diligently for several decades. Even though he was very interested in just what was sealed within the scroll, there was no way that he would waste so much time on it at such a crucial juncture.
Thus, he exhaled as he stowed the golden scroll away into his storage bracelet, and after that, he flipped a hand over to reveal a winding section of reddish-black wood that was around half a foot in length.
The piece of wood was completely devoid of any luster and was constantly expelling wisps of blood mist; it was none other than the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood he had secured at the auction!
After bringing out this item, the storage bracelet on Han Li's wrist continued to flash with spiritual light, and a series of materials appeared in rapid succession.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of these items, and he suddenly tossed the piece of wood up into the air before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.
The flames instantly swept up the entire piece of wood and blood mist and silver flames intertwined amid a string of loud crackles and pops.
Han Li made a hand seal with one hand while reaching out with his other hand, and all of the materials on the ground also instantly rose up into the air before plunging into the silver flames.
Blue light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently at the silver flames in the air and focused the entirety of his attention on it.
He stayed in the secret chamber the entire day, and even his nightly cultivation lessons with Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were conducted through voice transmission as they stood on the other side of the door of the secret chamber.
Seven days passed by, and Han Li finally emerged from the secret chamber.
As soon as he emerged, he accompanied Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Nine Immortal Mountain in the dead of night, then gave them some pills and treasures, and sent them on their way to Deep Heaven City.
He then returned to Nine Immortal Mountain himself, and a few days later, he was paid a visit by Daoist Master Myriad Bone.
Han Li conversed with the Daoist priest for a long time in the hall before the latter departed, and at the same time, a few other vagrant cultivators in the Immortal Welcome Palaces on Nine Immortal Mountain left at around the same time, then disappeared without a trace.
Half a day later, a group of Body Integration Stage vagrant cultivators, including Han Li, gathered at a certain place. Their meeting was quite a brief one and had been held in a secretive fashion, so no one noticed what they were doing.
During the rest of the Myriad Treasure Convention, Han Li frequently visited the markets, purchasing some materials from time to time. During the rest of the time, he met with some other Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists, and also visited some other secret exchange conventions, reaping some rewards during the process.
Dai'er would also come to find him once every several days, and even though she never had anything important or urgent to speak with him about, they would always have an enjoyable conversation before she departed in high spirits.
However, it was still slightly jarring to see Dai'er's appearance, which so closely mirrored that of Nangong Wan.
As the Myriad Treasure Convention was about to draw to a conclusion, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign and Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign sent out people to recruit the vagrant Body Integration cultivators on Nine Immortal Mountain again, promising them extremely bountiful rewards for their services, and they really did manage to successfully recruit a few vagrant cultivators.
Of course, Han Li rejected the offer once more, and several days prior to the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, he departed from Nine Immortal Mountain, disappearing without a trace alongside Bai Guo'er.
Following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, the humans and demons gathered at Nine Immortal Mountain all departed as well, and around a month later, peace and quiet resumed on the mountain with the exception of the group of guards that remained there.
As time passed, all of the rumors that had spread from this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention gradually faded from everyone's memories as well.
...
Four years passed by in the blink of an eye.
On this day, a group of human cultivators suddenly flew from a certain direction toward a secretive and secluded mountain in the Tian Yuan Region. The group was comprised of cultivators of both genders and all age ranges, and they all wore different attire, but there was an azure "Gu" character embroidered on the sleeves of all of their clothing.
There was a clear majority of women in the group, all of whom were extremely beautiful, and this group of close to 100 cultivators descended onto the peak of the mountain.
Some of them immediately set up a simple protective formation, while the rest immediately sat down with their legs crossed on some relatively clean patches on the mountain before closing their eyes to meditate.
This group of cultivators was led by a yellow-haired elderly man, and a young woman in a blue palatial dress.
Both of them were at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and their lips were tremoring slightly as they conversed with one another through voice transmission.
The elderly man glanced up at the sky before transmitting his voice to the young woman. "Family Leader Xiao Feng, this is the Turtle Watch Peak that you arranged to meet that man on, and the agreed time for our meeting is fast approaching; he's not going to go back on his word, is he?"
"Rest assured, Elder Xiao, with that man's current status, there's no way he would revoke his promise. On top of that, prior to this meeting, he voluntarily sent someone to us for confirmation, so I'm sure he'll turn up," the young woman replied without any hesitation.
"That's good to hear. Our grand elder was injured in the primordial world, and following her return, she had to immediately go into seclusion for 100 years, which has resulted in her missing this true spirit ceremony. She's the only Body Integration cultivator of our Gu Family, so without her presence, our prospects in this ceremony wouldn't be very optimistic at all. It's a good thing that you had the foresight to recruit a Body Integration cultivator in advance. Otherwise, our Gu Family may as well spare ourselves the embarrassment and not participate in this ceremony at all," the elderly man sighed.
"Indeed. The results of this true spirit ceremony will decide if and how many members of our family will be able to enter the Spirit Dwelling Cave, and it'll also play a pivotal role in deciding whether we'll receive many other types of benefits, so we can't give up on it no matter what. Our grand elder secured a good ranking for our Gu Family during the last ceremony, and I had thought that with another Body Integration cultivator to assist us, we'd be able to secure a higher ranking, but who would've thought that our grand elder would be forced to miss this edition of the ceremony? Under these circumstances, I'll be happy if we can retain our original ranking," the young woman said with a wry smile on her face.
"That's true. This Senior Han has only just progressed to the Body Integration Stage around 10 years ago, after all, so no matter how
exceptional his aptitude is, there's no way he could compare with our grand elder, who's been at the Body Integration Stage for close to 10,000 years. On top of that, our grand elder possesses a true spirit bloodline, and if she were to activate that bloodline, the gap between the two would widen even further," the elderly man sighed as a wry smile also appeared on his face.
"It's not ideal, but if we don't have any Body Integration cultivators among us, then our performance will be even more horrible during this true spirit ceremony," the young woman said with a dark expression.
"Indeed, all of the top five true spirit families have Body Integration cultivators among their ranks," the elderly man said in a resigned manner.
Both of them fell silent thereafter, and it was as if they had lost the urge to further this conversation.
Time slowly passed by, and around four hours later, a streak of azure light appeared in the distant sky, and a hint of elation appeared in the young woman's eyes upon seeing this. "He's here!"
The elderly man peered carefully into the streak of oncoming azure light through narrowed eyes, but the light was very bright and piercing, and he could only just barely make out two humanoid figures within it, one of which was quite a bit taller than the other.
In the next instant, the streak of azure light arrived in the air above the mountain, following which the light faded to reveal an azure-robed young man, and an adorable little girl who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age.
Chapter 1830: Demonic Projection on the Bleak Plains
The young man was none other than Han Li, who had disappeared for several years following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, and the little girl beside him was naturally none other than Bai Guo'er.
She had already been taken by Han Li as an in-name disciple, and she was entirely dependent on Han Li to repress the glacial poison within her body to ensure her survival, so she naturally followed him wherever he went.
A stir ran through the Gu Family cultivators as they caught sight of the figures in the air above, and many of them conjured up layers of protective spiritual light as they stared up at Han Li with wariness in their eyes.
Han Li cast his gaze downward, and after catching sight of the young woman, he smiled, and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Fellow Daoist Xiao Feng; I encountered some minor troubles on the way here, so I'm a little late."
A layer of azure light then appeared over his body, and it swept up Bai Guo'er before he descended onto the ground near the young woman.
"Not at all, Senior, you've arrived right on time; we were just too early. I must express wholehearted gratitude on behalf of our Gu Family that you came to meet us as agreed. This is Elder Xiao of our Gu Family, and the two of us will be leading our Gu Family during this true spirit ceremony." A hint of elation appeared on the young woman's face as she hurriedly introduced the yellow-haired elderly man to Han Li.
"Pleased to meet you, Elder Xiao." Han Li could sense that this Elder Xiao's cultivation base wasn't inferior to that of Fairy Xiao Feng, and he cupped his fist in a salute toward the elderly man.
The elderly man was still rather skeptical about Han Li's powers, but he naturally didn't dare to show this skepticism, and he adopted a respectful demeanor as he said, "The pleasure is all mine, Senior Han. I've heard much about you during these past few years, and all of us can heave a massive sigh of relief now that you're here to support our Gu Family."
At this point, all of the other Gu Family cultivators had naturally also realized that Han Li was the powerful ally they had been waiting for, and they were quite stunned by his youthful appearance.
"There's no need to be so rigid and formal, fellow Daoists; we are only working together as part of a mutually beneficial exchange. Now that I look at it, the grand elder of your family, Fairy Tian Li, doesn't seem to be present. If I recall correctly, this wasn't what you told me would happen, Fairy Xiao Feng. Could it be that Fairy Tian Li left for the true spirit ceremony ahead of all of you?" Han Li asked as he appraised the surrounding Gu Family cultivators with furrowed brows.
An awkward and resigned look appeared on the young woman's face. "I'm afraid Grand Elder Tian Li won't be able to represent our Gu Family during this true spirit ceremony."
"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his expression darkened slightly. This wasn't what they had initially agreed on.
"Our sincerest apologies, Senior, but our grand elder has been forced to pull out of this ceremony due to an incident. You see..." the elderly man hurriedly began to explain the situation at the sight of Han Li's displeased expression.
"Fairy Tian Li is currently in seclusion to recover from an injury she sustained in the primordial world? I see. It is indeed not a simple task for cultivators of our caliber to recover from injuries. In that case, won't things be a little troublesome for your Gu Family during this ceremony?" Han Li nodded as a slightly concerned look appeared in his eyes.
Fairy Xiao Feng seemed to have considered this matter carefully already, and a solemn look appeared on her face as she said, "Seeing as our grand elder is unable to participate in the ceremony, our agreement for you to improve our Gu Family's ranking during the ceremony is naturally revoked. On this occasion, all you have to do to fulfill your side of the deal is to ensure that our Gu Family's ranking is maintained."
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, but there was still a hint of reluctance in his eyes. "Even so, that'll most likely be quite a difficult task. I've only just reached the Body Integration Stage, after all, so I certainly can't make any promises."
The young woman hesitated momentarily at the sight of Han Li's hesitant expression, then suddenly pulled a storage bracelet out of her sleeve before handing it over to Han Li. "As long as you do everything in your power to assist us, our Gu Family is willing to offer you a sum of top-grade spirit stones on top of what we originally promised you as compensation."
Han Li's heart stirred lightly as he accepted the storage bracelet before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li stowed the storage bracelet away before replying with a smile, "To think that you're willing to offer me such an astronomical sum; looks like it really is very important for your Gu Family to do well during the true spirit ceremony. In that case, I'll be sure to do my best for you."
"Your presence is certainly a very reassuring one for our Gu Family, Senior Han. This place is still around a month's journey away from the Myriad Spirit Platform where the ceremony is going to be held, so it would be best for us to set off right away. Elder Xiao and I will be explaining the specific details of the ceremony along the journey."
"That would be best." Han Li naturally had no objections to this.
Thus, the Gu Family cultivators rose up into the air and flew into the distance in a line with Han Li among their ranks.
...
The Heavenly Horse Plains consisted of a massive section of barren land on the border of the Tian Yuan Region.
It was said that the plains were so vast that even a Deity Transformation cultivator would have to fly non-stop, day and night for around a month to cross through it.
On top of that, this place was rife with sandstorms and completely devoid of greenery and spirit veins, so rarely did cultivators ever visit this place.
Even if there were the occasional cultivators who had no choice but to pass through these plains, they would fly through without any pause.
On this day, there were a dozen or so human cultivators situated deep within the plains. They had arranged themselves into a circular formation with their backs facing one another, and they were hovering at a low altitude.
All of them had summoned their most powerful treasures, which had transformed into bursts of light that enshrouded their bodies, yet they all wore panicked expressions on their faces.
Among these cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation base was a mid
-Spatial Tempering Stage burly man in a set of brocade robes. He was holding a blue bead in one hand and a white flag in the other. He was situated at the center of the formation with an even more pronounced look of shock and rage on his face than that of his companions, and his eyes were constantly darting around the formation.
Right at this moment, a gust of yellow wind suddenly blew past one of the male cultivators in the group, and he reflexively blinked. In that instant, a pristine white hand reached out of the yellow wind like lightning, and the protective spiritual light around the man's body was torn apart with ease, following which the white hand passed punctured through his chest without any impediment.
Before the man could even cry out, a white ice flower had bloomed in front of his chest, and he was instantly frozen into an ice statue, following which the white hand instantly vanished.
The nearby cultivators were all extremely alarmed by this, and they hurriedly unleashed the powers of their treasures to attack the assailant, but all they achieved was reducing their frozen companion into pulverized ice, while his killer was nowhere to be seen.
At the same time, the Spatial Tempering Stage brocade-robed man suddenly let loose a loud roar, and a pillar of piercing blue light erupted from the bead in his hand.
The pillar of light shot forth through the air like lightning, striking the gust of yellow wind in a flash. White light immediately flashed, and an indistinct figure was forced to reveal itself, trapped within the ball of blue light.
Without requiring any instructions from the brocade-robed man, all of the cultivators in the group immediately focused their attacks on that indistinct figure, and their attacks surged forth as a wave of five-colored light.
The figure was instantly torn apart by the five-colored light amid a dull thump, seemingly having been completely unable to offer up any resistance.
Cries of elation immediately rang out, and all of the cultivators were ecstatic to see this.
However, a bewildered look had appeared on the brocade-robed man's face, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion to draw a fragment of the destroyed figure into his hand, only to find that it was a piece of pristine white hard shell. The shell was extremely cold, and rapidly melted into water in his hand.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1056