A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he read the line of text, and he stood up before going downstairs.
Once he reached the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, he was greeted by the sight of Zhu Guo'er seated on a chair beside the pavilion's entrance with one hand supporting her chin, staring off into space in an absent-minded manner.
As soon as Han Li emerged, Zhu Guo'er immediately returned to her senses and hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey.
"Come with me," Han Li instructed before making his way out of the pavilion.
Zhu Guo'er faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on her face, and she hurriedly followed along behind Han Li.
During this recent period of time, Han Li hadn't abused her in any way, but it was very boring for her to stay in the pavilion for days on end, and she felt as if she had been trapped in a cage. Now that she was permitted to leave the pavilion with Han Li, she was naturally ecstatic.
After departing from the pavilion, Han Li hailed a beast-drawn carriage and left Illusion Night City with Zhu Guo'er.
After exiting the city, Han Li swept up Zhu Guo'er in a burst of azure light before flying toward a nearby nameless mountain.
A short while later, Han Li descended onto the mountain, where the man from the Lin Family was already waiting for him.
He still had the appearance of an elderly man, but his grey hair had reverted back to a black color, and a hint of color had returned to his cheeks.
This was clearly all thanks to the Essence Refining Pill that Han Li had given him.
"Is this the junior you were talking about, Brother Han?" the man from the Lin Family asked as he glanced at Zhu Guo'er.
"Indeed. She has a connection to me, so please take her back to the Spirit Realm for me; I'll take her off your hands once I return to the Spirit Realm myself," Han Li replied.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I accepted your pill, so I'll make sure to keep her safe. Brother Long says he's going to implement his plan soon, so I'm going to depart today," the man from the Lin Family said in a serious manner.
"That's a good idea. After all, it would be quite troublesome if you were to get swept up in all of this."
Han Li nodded in response, then turned to Zhu Guo'er before continuing, "You and I must have some type of affinity for us to meet here, so I'll help you return to the human race. This Fellow Daoist Lin is a grand elder of one of the major families of our human race; you'll be in safe hands with him. I'll explain everything to you the next time we meet."
Zhu Guo'er was completely dumbstruck upon hearing this, and she opened her mouth to ask something, but Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light before she could say anything.
Thus, Zhu Guo'er and the man from the Lin Family were the only ones left on the mountain.
"Come on, little girl; I'll take you back with me to the Spirit Realm," the man from the Lin Family said with a faint smile.
"The Spirit Realm" Are you really a human, Senior? Is Senior Han a human as well?" Zhu Guo'er was quite intelligent and immediately drew the connection, but she was still in disbelief.
"Hehe, do you think Brother Han and I would go out of our way to trick a little girl like you?" the man from the Lin Family chuckled.
Zhu Guo'er was very excited to hear this, and she asked, "What did Senior Han mean when he said that I have a connection to him? Would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?"
"I don't know anything about that. Didn't Brother Han mention this to you beforehand?" the man from the Lin Family asked in a slightly surprised manner.
"I only just found out that Senior Han isn't a devilish being; how would I know what kind of connection I have to him?" Zhu Guo'er shook her head with a befuddled expression.
However, she then recalled how Han Li had asked her about her Great Reincarnation Arts, and a series of thoughts began to occur to her.
The man from the Lin Family was rather interested in the relationship between Zhu Guo'er and Han Li, but this wasn't the time to be asking questions. Thus, he raised a hand to release a black flying carriage, which was being drawn by several wyrm-like puppet beasts.
The two of them got onto the carriage, and the puppet beasts sprang to life, drawing the carriage into the distance.
He was concerned that the Long Family patriarch and the others would enact their plan soon, so he was spurring on the beast-drawn carriage as quickly as he could, and they covered a distance of millions of kilometers in just half a day.
Just as the flying carriage was traveling over a winding mountain range, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out within his ears.
"Seeing as you're already here, why don't you pay me a visit?"
As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the flying carriage, and countless pink flower petals appeared before transforming into a giant hand that came crashing down toward the carriage.
A floral scent surged forth, and it was as if the entire sky were falling, affording the carriage no opportunity for evasion.
"Crap!"
The man from the Lin Family was naturally very alarmed by this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal while raising his other hand up into the air.
The puppet beasts that were drawing the carriage raised their heads in unison, then blasted several thick pillars of light of different colors directly upward. At the same time a white light barrier emerged to encompass the entire carriage.
At the same time, a bone blade that was shot forth out of his sleeve amid a burst of black Qi, and it instantly swelled to several hundred feet in length before slashing toward the massive pink hand.
The space in the wake of the giant blade warped and twisted incessantly, as if it were about to be sliced apart.
Even though the man from the Lin Family was currently severely debilitated, he was still a Body Integration cultivator, and his attacks were certainly nothing to be scoffed at.
In the next instant, the pillar of light and giant blade struck the massive hand amid an earth-shattering boom that caused the space within a radius of several tens of kilometers to tremor violently.
The pillars of light were eradicated by a flurry of pink light that was released by the giant hand, and the huge bone blade was also shattered into pieces by a burst of unfathomably enormous force.
The man from the Lin Family immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and he immediately attempted to unleash other abilities, but it was already too late.
The pink light up above swept downward, and the light barrier around the flying carriage was instantly torn apart. The man from the Lin Family immediately felt his magic power become extremely sluggish, and he began to lose consciousness in the midst of the floral scent
Just as he was about to black out, he heard the horrified scream of Zhu Guo'er, and a wry smile appeared on his face.
Half a day ago, he had made a bold promise to Han Li, yet now, he was in severe peril himself.
This thought had only just appeared in his mind before he slumped onto the flying carriage, completely unconscious.
Two hours later, he slowly came around in a dark forest.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he hurriedly looked down to find that he was situated within a floral tree, and his body was enveloped by countless flower petals. It was a very beautiful sight to behold, but his body was extremely feeble, and his dantian was completely empty, as if all of his magic power had disappeared.
His heart sank as he cast his gaze around him, yet before he saw anything noteworthy, an abrasive male voice suddenly rang out.
"Mistress Bao Hua, the human is awake."
The man from the Lin Family hurriedly turned toward the direction that the voice had come from to discover a hideous black-armored man standing atop a hill, looking down at him with a menacing expression.
It was a devilish lord!
The man from the Lin Family had already anticipated this, so he wasn't all that surprised, and he cast his gaze toward another ne
arby tree.
At the foot of the tree was a pink floral tree projection, and as soon as the black-armored man's voice trailed off, a peerlessly gorgeous woman in a white dress appeared.
The woman slowly opened her eyes and cast her gaze toward the man from the Lin Family.
Their eyes met, and the man was struck by a sense of disorientation intermingled with an indescribable sense of devotion. In that instant, he was willing to lay down his life for this woman without a second thought.
Chapter 2075: Entering the Illusion Howl Desert Again
However, as a seasoned Body Integration cultivator, he was immediately able to sense that something was amiss as soon as these emotions welled up in his heart, and he hurriedly bit through the tip of his own tongue.
The sharp pain snapped him back to his senses, but a horrified look appeared on his face as he stared at the woman, as if he were appraising a malicious monster.
"You're a Sacred Ancestor!"
The man's magic power had been completely stripped away, but his spiritual sense was still as powerful as ever. As such, only a Sacred Ancestor would be able to sway his emotions to such a significant extent.
The woman was none other than Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua, who had been following Han Li and the others this entire time, and she said, "Sacred Ancestor? I guess you can call me that. I have some things to ask you; if you cooperate, I'll grant you a painless death, and there'll be a possibility that you'll still be able to reincarnate. If you choose to resist, then I'll have to use some special methods to find out what I want to know, and your soul will be destroyed in the process."
The man from the Lin Family replied with a wry smile, "I'm completely at your mercy, so you can ask me whatever you want."
"I'm glad you can correctly assess your current situation. Now then, release your soul for me," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua said with a breathtaking smile that seemed to make the entire world dim around him, and she pointed a finger toward the man on the floral tree.
A ball of pink spiritual light sprang forth, then transformed into a peculiar flower that vanished into the man's forehead.
The man's expression changed drastically, but after a brief moment of hesitation, he heaved a long sigh and relinquished all resistance as he released his own soul.
He could only hope that the Sacred Ancestor would keep her promise and leave him with a sliver of an opportunity for reincarnation.
In the next instant, the man's eyes became completely dull and lifeless, and several pink flashing devilish symbols appeared on his forehead.
A cold smile appeared on the black-armored man's face upon seeing this.
Around 15 minutes later, the woman raised an eyebrow before making a hand seal, and a burst of light suddenly erupted from the floral tree around the man from the Lin Family, transforming into balls of pink flames that instantly incinerated him into ashes.
Only a speck of white light remained unscathed within the flames, and it rose up into the sky before vanishing at an altitude of over 1,000 feet.
Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua paid no heed to this and made a hand seal before making a grabbing motion, and a pink flower drifted out of the flames.
The flower sped over to her, then vanished into her palm in a flash.
The same pink devilish symbols then appeared on the woman's face, and she closed her eyes before falling completely still.
The black-armored man strode over to her side and stood on guard in an obedient manner.
Around an hour later, she reopened her eyes, and the black-armored man carefully asked, "Did you find any useful information, Mistress Bao Hua?"
"I did. So it turns out that their group entered our holy realm to find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus; that's quite surprising," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua said in a contemplative manner.
"The Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus? I've never heard of those two things," the black-armored man said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"There are no more than 10 people in the entire holy realm who are aware of those two things; even some Sacred Ancestors don't know of their existence, so it's no surprise that you're unfamiliar with them," the woman replied.
"What's so special about those two things? They must be exceptional treasures seeing as these Spirit Realm cultivators are willing to take such a huge risk for them," the black-armored man asked.
Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua seemed to have gleaned the black-armored man's thoughts, and she replied in an indifferent voice, "You don't need to worry about that. Those two items are extremely useful for people of the Spirit Realm, but they're only detrimental to beings of our holy race."
"I see," the black-armored replied with a slightly sheepish smile.
Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua continued, "Now that we know their objective, I now know their planned destination. There's no need for us to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert; we can just wait for them at the destination. I was planning to go and meet some old friends in the holy realm after taking care of this matter, but it looks like I'll have to go and meet them early."
"Regardless of where you go, I'll be sure to remain by your side until my dying breath." The black-armored man immediately made a show of loyalty.
A pleased look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua's face, but a thought then suddenly occurred to her as she instructed, "That little human girl is still useful to me, so don't harm her and take her along with us."
The black-armored man was rather perplexed to hear this, but he hurriedly replied with a respectful bow, "Yes, Mistress!"
The woman nodded before casting her gaze toward Illusion Night City, and a peculiar smile appeared on her face as she swept a sleeve through the air.
Pink flower petals immediately flew out of her sleeve before transforming into a rumbling pillar of wind that rose directly up into the heavens.
The black-armored man immediately made a grabbing motion toward a crater in the ground nearby, then stomped his feet onto the ground, propelling him toward the pillar of wind like a speeding arrow.
A petite figure flew out of the crater and also vanished into the pillar of wind in a flash; it was none other than the horrified Zhu Guo'er.
In the next instant, the pillar of light disintegrated into specks of pink light, and the trio was nowhere to be seen.
Two days later, two Eight-footed Devilish Lizards were lying silently beside a completely nondescript pile of sand on the edge of the Illusion Howl Desert.
There were two humanoid figures seated atop the devilish lizards; they were none other than Han Li and the elderly scholar among the Spirit beings.
Both of them were seated in silence atop their respective Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, seeming waiting for something.
They had been arranged here by the Long Family patriarch to provide backup should it be required, and those two devilish lizards were naturally the ones that Han Li had obtained from the Bai Family.
After a long while, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and several streaks of light came flying toward Han Li's duo from the direction of Illusion Night City.
Both Han Li and the elderly scholar's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and a few moments later the streaks of light landed nearby.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the newly arrived figures, and smiled as he said, "Looks like your trip went quite smoothly."
"Indeed. Without the two devilish lords guarding the Zhao Family, those restrictions naturally posed no issue to us. We obtained a total of eight devilish lizards, so we'll have a spare one in reserve," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear. Now, we just have to wait for Fellow Daoist Long and Fellow Daoist Bai to join us. With their late-Body Integration Stage powers, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to shake off those two devilish lords," Han Li said with a smile, but his gaze strayed over to the Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui again.
The aura emanating from his body seemed to have become even mor
e dangerous, and Han Li couldn't help but be slightly concerned by this.
However, Zhi Shui paid no heed to Han Li at all, as if he were completely oblivious to Han Li's scrutiny.
All of a sudden, the Long Family patriarch suddenly rang out above. "Haha, rest assured, Brother Han; Fellow Daoist Bai and I have already shaken off those two Zhao Family devilish lords."
Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the smiling Long Family patriarch emerged out of thin air alongside a burst of white light.
Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing this, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist Long, where are those two Zhao Family devilish lords right now?"
"They've already been lured into a formation that we set up in advance, and it'll take them at least a day and a night to free themselves," Bai Qi replied.
"Fantastic! Everyone's here, so let's set off right away," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in an elated manner.
"My thoughts exactly, Sister Thousand Autumns," the woman from the Ye Family agreed.
No one else had any objections, and thus, the woman from the Ye Family and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns raised their hands and released a series of devilish lizards.
The Long Family patriarch and the others all flew onto their new devilish steeds, and they quickly sped into the Illusion Howl Desert, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
A day later, two streaks of light, one black and one crimson, descended upon the sand hill where Han Li and the others had been gathered the day before. This was a pair of thin brocade-robed elderly men, and both of them wore furious expressions.
"Their auras seem to have lingered here for a while; they've most likely entered the Illusion Howl Desert," one of the elderly men said with a dark expression.
Chapter 2076: Beast Lord Palace
"I can sense many residual auras here, so it looks like those two were part of a group of people who joined forces to steal our Zhao Family's devilish lizards!" the other elderly man said in a furious manner.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1195