"No particular reason," Han Li replied with an ambiguous chuckle.
The Long Family patriarch obviously wasn't convinced, but this had nothing to do with him, so he naturally wasn't going to pry any further. Thus, he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li before flying out of the stone pagoda as a streak of golden light.
Following the Long Family patriarch's departure, Han Li returned to the hall, where his two disciples were already waiting for him.
"Have you encountered some trouble, Master? Is there anything we can help you with?" Hai Yuetian asked.
"If it's something that you can help me resolve, then it wouldn't be considered as trouble to me," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.
"If only we had progressed further in our cultivation; we would be of more use to Master," Qi Lingzi said with a shameful expression.
"You two already possess exceptional cultivation aptitude. Otherwise, you wouldn't have progressed to this point in such a short time. It's just that the issue at hand is extremely perilous even for Body Integration cultivators, so it's only normal that you two are unable to contribute in any way. Alright, that's enough of that matter; tell me about the current situation in Deep Heaven City. Have the remnants of the devilish army been wiped out?" Han Li asked with a serious expression.
Qi Lingzi immediately launched into a recount of events in response. "After you went into seclusion, Senior Gu and the others only returned to the city to recuperate for a short while before immediately undertaking a series of tasks..."
After Qi Lingzi had recounted all of the important events that had taken place in the city, Han Li nodded in response before asking about the Ice Phoenix.
"Senior Ice Phoenix seemed to have attained the catalyst for a breakthrough, and she immediately went into seclusion after the devilish army was wiped out. According to her, she'll be in seclusion for at least several months, but no more than a year," Hai Yuetian replied.
"Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix possesses outstanding aptitude with her heavenly phoenix bloodline, so it's no surprise that she's gleaned something during the battle. Stay in the pagoda during this time and make sure that no one interrupts her seclusion," Han Li said with a pleased look in his eyes.
"Yes, Master!"
"Alright, you two can go now," Han Li instructed with a content nod.
"We'll leave you to rest then, Master."
Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian extended a deep bow before exiting the hall.
Just as the two of them had made it to the entrance of the hall, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he instructed, "By the way, don't tell anyone that Fellow Daoist Long came to visit me today."
The two disciples' hearts stirred upon hearing this, and they naturally gave an affirmative response.
Thus, Han Li was the only one left in the hall.
He sat on his chair with his chin resting one of his hands, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.
......
Over half a year later, a group of devilish beings with black Qi surging all over their bodies were attacking a group of seven or eight human cultivators in the air above a certain mountain range.
The two sides appeared to be evenly matched, so the battle was extremely fierce.
All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and a streak of five-colored light appeared before hurtling onto the scene in a flash.
The devils and humans down below didn't know whether this was a friend or a foe, so they all stopped and quickly retreated.
Right at this moment, a pleasant young female voice rang out from within the five-colored streak of light. "I guess it wouldn't be right of me to not give you all a hand."
As soon as her voice trailed off, the streak of light paused in the air above the group of devilish beings for a moment. Immediately thereafter, countless threads of five-colored light came raining down from above, instantly destroying the bodies of the devilish beings.
"Thank you, Senior!"
The human cultivators were ecstatic to see this, but the five-colored streak of light merely continued on its way and quickly vanished into the distance, seemingly completely disinterested in receiving their gratitude.
The group of human cultivators exchanged a few bewildered glances, and following a brief conversation, all of them departed as well.
Not long after that, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up above, and two more humanoid figures appeared. One of them was a fierce-looking burly man in a suit of black armor, while the other was a slender woman in a white palatial dress. Both of their bodies were covered in a thin layer of pink mist, making it impossible to glean their facial features.
"Mistress, would you like me to kill that group of human cultivators?" the black-armored man asked as a hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes.
"There's no need to do that; all we have to do is follow this woman," the woman in white replied with a calm shake of her head.
"But Mistress, we've followed this woman for around a year already, and it hasn't yielded any fruits; could it be that your initial divination was incorrect somehow?" the black-armored man asked in a hesitant voice.
"It's quite common for errors to occur during this type of divination, but I was very successful on this occasion. As soon as I saw this woman, I was sure that she's the one I need to follow in order to find the spirit medicine that'll heal me, or take me to the person who possesses such a spirit medicine; this is certainly much better than stumbling around aimlessly in the vast human territory," the woman replied.
Chapter 2012: Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net
The black-armored man immediately gave an affirmative reply upon hearing this, and the woman swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of pink light, upon which both of them vanished on the spot.
Meanwhile, on a tall mountain in the Spirit Race territory, there were three Body Integration Stage Holy Spirits surrounding a handsome young man.
The young man wore a long golden robe, and was facing the trio in an expressionless manner with his hands clasped behind his back.
There was a huge shimmering golden lotus flower embroidered on the front of his robes that was extremely eye-catching. The mountain down below was riddled with pits and craters, within which there were over 1,000 sets of remains. There were also countless fragments of treasures littered all over the ground, all of which were completely devoid of luster.
"I don't care who you are; you've committed an unforgivable crime by killing so many of our brethren and absorbing their essence! The three of us are going to make sure you suffer a terrible death!" one of the Holy Spirits, a short and stubby elderly man, spat through gritted teeth.
The other two Holy Spirits consisted of a long-haired elderly man holding a green bamboo cane, and a young beauty who appeared to be in her thirties.
All three of them were appraising the golden-robed young man with fiery rage in their eyes.
In contrast with other races, it was very difficult for Spirit beings to attain intelligence. Thus, their population had always been quite low, so every member of the race was held in very high regard. Thankfully, Spirit beings who managed to attain intelligence would immediately attain significant power as well, so even the weakest intelligent Spirit beings were at the Core Formation Stage or Nascent Soul Stage; this was how they had managed to coexist alongside the neighboring foreign races.
This Ancestral Cloud Mountain was quite a renowned Spirit Race settlement, and these three Holy Spirits were the settlement's grand elders.
A few days ago, they had to go out to do something, and when they returned, they immediately discovered that all of their brethren in the entire settlement had been slaughtered, and their essence had all been devoured as well. On top of that, the perpetrator had lingered here even after committing such a heinous deed; how could the three Holy Spirits not be enraged?
The golden-robed young man's aura didn't appear to be all that powerful, but the three Holy Spirits were completely unable t
o ascertain his exact cultivation base. This made them quite uneasy, and they were forced to repress their fury rather than attack him right away.
"Hmph, to think mere spirit servants like you dare to speak to me in such a rude manner. They should be honored to have their essence absorbed by me. I can see that the three of you are far more powerful than the other spirit servants; if you're willing to accept me as your master, I can spare your lives," the golden-robed young man harrumphed coldly.
"Spirit servants? You're from the True Immortal Realm?" the three Holy Spirits exclaimed in a stunned manner upon hearing this.
"Oh? The three of you know about this? Could it be that one of you managed to escape into this lower realm from the True Immortal Realm? That can't be right, you don't possess the power to do something like this; someone must've revealed this information to you. I wonder who was the one that disclosed this to you. Alright, now that you know where I come from, reveal your true forms and pledge your subordination to me. Otherwise, I'll just have to capture you and erase your sentience. It'll be a bit more of a hassle for me, but the outcome will be the same," the golden-robed young man chuckled coldly.
The three Holy Spirits' faces paled upon hearing this, and they exchanged a horrified glance.
If this golden-robed young man really had descended from the True Immortal Realm, then the three of them would be no match for him.
The long-haired elderly man still had a fearful look on his face, but a thought suddenly occurred to him as he yelled, "He's lying! If he really is from the True Immortal Realm, why would he have made such a loud commotion when killing our brethren?"
"Indeed, I've never heard of a true immortal who was able to descend into our realm. Even if he really is from the True Immortal Realm, there must be something wrong with him right now. Otherwise, why would he be wasting time speaking to us? We have nothing to fear!" the woman chimed in with a cold expression.
The golden-robed young man's expression stiffened slightly upon seeing this, and this minor detail didn't go unnoticed. As such, the three Holy Spirits became even more confident in the verdict they had arrived at, and the short and stubby elderly immediately yelled, "Attack! We can't let this insolent bastard leave this place alive!"
At the same time, he made a hand seal to summon a white copper mirror, then waved it toward the young man.
A white pillar of light immediately shot forth, then swept toward the young man as a sea of flames that was over 1,000 feet tall.
The other two Holy Spirits also sprang into action without any hesitation.
One of them swept their bamboo cane forward, and countless green cane projections immediately appeared in the air above the golden-robed young man, encompassing an area that was over 100 acres in size before silently crashing down from above.
Meanwhile, the woman flicked her fingers forward in rapid succession to unleash 10 balls of azure light, which transformed into 10 giant azure birds that flew directly toward the young man.
The three Holy Spirits were unconvinced that this young man was from a higher realm, but they knew that he was definitely extremely powerful. As such, they were unleashing their most powerful attacks from the get-go in an attempt to kill this formidable enemy on the spot.
A cold light flashed through the golden-robed young man's eyes upon seeing this.
Immediately thereafter, he suddenly made a strange hand seal, and a transparent halo abruptly appeared around him, then exploded to create countless golden and silver runes, forming a massive golden and silver barrier that shielded him within.
The cane projections up above transformed into countless massive azure logs that came crashing down from above, while the massive azure birds flapped their wings to unleash tens of thousands of azure wind blades at once. As for the sea of white flames, it completely inundated the golden and silver barrier in a flash.
The young man appraised the ferocious attacks with a derisive look on his face, then pressed a hand against the barrier as he uttered the word "open"!
A burst of loud rumbling rang out as the golden and silver barrier swelled drastically in size. Each and every golden and silver rune on the barrier instantly expanded to several times their original size and also took on a semi-transparent appearance.
All of the giant logs, wind blades, and scorching flames that struck the barrier were instantly repelled without even being able to damage it in the slightest, and the short and stubby elderly man's expression changed upon seeing this as he immediately pointed a finger toward the sea of flames.
A low roar rang out from within the sea of white flames, and several fiery Kirins were instantly manifested. Each of them was as large as a cow, and there were silver spiritual flames erupting incessantly out of their bodies.
Not only did the sea of flames rear up significantly, it also turned silver in color, and the surrounding air temperature spiked dramatically.
The long-haired elderly man and the young beauty exchanged a glance before summoning several treasures each, yet just as they were about to unleash the treasures, the golden-robed young man said in a frosty voice, "Playtime's over; it's time for me to send you on your way."
As soon as his voice trailed off, the humanoid figure within the golden and silver barrier instantly vanished, following which the barrier itself immediately crumbled in the face of the sea of silver flames.
However, not only were the three Holy Spirits not elated in the slightest to see this, they immediately formed a triangle with their backs facing one another before spreading their enormous spiritual sense through the surrounding area.
Moments later, the long-haired elderly man exclaimed in a slightly panicked manner, "What's going on? My spiritual sense can't detect that man at all!"
His two companions remained silent, but the strained looks on their faces clearly indicated that they weren't having any luck either.
Just as the stubby elderly man was about to say something, a loud thunderclap suddenly rang out, following which countless specks of silver light appeared. Immediately thereafter, the golden-robed young man appeared amid a flash of golden light, then made a nonchalant grabbing motion.
The silver specks of light instantly formed a giant net that was several kilometers in size at his behest, and not only did the net encompass all three of the Holy Lords, it encompassed even the giant mountain down below.
Furthermore, the giant silver net seemed to be imbued with some type of special power, as evidenced by the fact that it was giving off a peculiar aura that made the three Hoy Spirits extremely feeble and only able to muster up just over half of their magic power.
"It's a Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net! He really is from the True Immortal Realm! Run!" The stubby elderly man was clearly the most powerful of the three Holy Spirits, and he sprang into action as soon as he sensed the debilitating effect of the silver net. His body swayed before combining as one with the copper mirror in front him, following which he sped away as a streak of light.
The other two Holy Spirits instantly turned deathly pale upon hearing the term "Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net", and they also immediately tried to flee the scene as quickly as they could.
The golden-robed young man chuckled coldly, "You're delusional if you think you can still get away."
Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to reveal a ball of silver light, which transformed into a dozen or so silver threads that connected with the entire giant silver net. He then made a grabbing motion, and the silver net descended from up above, looking as if it had encompassed the entire heavens.
Chapter 2013: Yellow Cloth Puppet
Loud Buddhist chants rang out as countless silver runes surged out of the net in a frenzy, forming a massive starry projection in an instant before plummeting straight down from above.
A rumbling boom erupted as everything within a radius of close to 10 kilometers was inundated by piercing silver light.
The world's origin Qi in the surrounding area instantly became extremely violent,
and grey tornadoes were swept up without any warning, destroying everything in their wake.
The occasional earth-shattering boom rang out within the giant silver net, the dazzling silver light made it impossible to see what was happening inside.
The golden-robed young man controlled the entire giant net with one hand while his other hand was clasped behind his back in a nonchalant manner, seemingly completely unconcerned that the three Holy Spirits would escape.
Only after around 10 minutes had passed did the commotion taking place within the silver net gradually die down, and in the end, everything fell silent. The golden-robed young man swept his spiritual sense downward, upon which a cold smile appeared on his face, and he made a grabbing motion toward the giant net.
The massive silver net instantly crumbled away at his behest, alongside the grey tornados and silver light. It was as if everything had been a mere illusion.
However, the huge mountain down below was clearly significantly shorter than before, and there were three glowing items hovering in the air above the rubble on the mountain summit.
These consisted of an antiquated silver mirror that was around 10 feet in size, a section of bamboo that was over 10 feet tall, and an azure ball of light.
A hint of elation appeared on the golden-robed young man's face upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve downward to release a burst of silver light that drew the items to him in a flash.
"Not bad. After I refine these treasures, they'll be of some use to me," the golden-robed young man murmured to himself with a pleased expression as he carefully appraised the three items.
"However, this isn't going to be enough. If I can get a few more of these, then I'll be able to use more of my powers. Having said, it seems that there are Grand Ascension Stage beings in this Spirit Race, and they'll be quite troublesome for me to face in my current state," the young man mused after stowing the items away.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1161