Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Brother.”
Seeing Han Li fly back to them, Liu Le’er rushed forward to welcome him and called out with slight worry.
The might of the battle earlier was significantly intense, and the fox girl had never seen battles at such levels. Although she saw her “Brother Stone” win easily, she still couldn’t help but be scared about it.
Han Li gave her warm smile and shook his head softly while telling her not to worry. After that, he kept the storage pouch in his hands.
With no owner present to hold onto it, the hunched elder’s golden pagoda shone brightly before it shrunk rapidly and fell down with a soft hum and spin.
Gu Yunyue waved her hand and took that golden pagoda. She glanced at Han Li, who was not too far away from her. Seeing that he did not look like he was going to stop her, her heart finally fell back in place as she kept it into her storage pouch.
This golden pagoda was not a weak weapon and could even act as storage. If she could keep it for herself, she would have one more secret weapon when faced with enemies in the future and her strength would increase drastically. However, since the Twin devils of Wind and Cloud were defeated by Han Li, all of the rewards should belong to him. She was fortunate that he allowed her to take it.
“Thank you Daoist Han for stepping in earlier. I knew that you aren’t a normal cultivator, but I didn’t expect myself to still underestimate your capabilities.” Gu Yunyue calmed herself down and took a few steps towards Han Li. Although she appeared to be calm, the hint of respect hidden in the depths of her eyes did not escape Han Li’s notice.
The woman thought that even if she was faced just the horse-faced young man, who was the same level as her, it would still be impossible for her to destroy the other so easily like the man in front of her had. Their Nascent Soul opponents were not even able to escape, not to mention there was also the hunched elder, who was in the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
“Since they wanted my life, I had to send them on their way.” Han Li said with a slight smile.
Hearing this, Yu Menghan, who stood behind Gu Yunyue, pursed her lips with a soft giggle and revealed a soft expression a teenage girl should have. However, her eyes towards Han Li were laced with respect, confusion and a bit of complexity.
In her mind, her master was a really powerful person. Even Perfected White Stone, whom her father had to treat respectfully and politely, did not dare to breathe loudly in front of her master. However, this tall young man who looked extremely dazed when she first saw him was now showing a level of strength that even her master did not have.
The current Han Li was like a mystery box to her. Although she was standing beside him, she felt like they were worlds apart.
“I originally thought we would be able to avoid Sky Ghost Sect’s pursuers after we left Feng Nation’s borders, but I didn’t expect them to arrive so quickly.” Gu Yunyue sighed softly.
“This is nothing. After all, this place is currently part of the Sky Ghost Sect’s territory.” Han Li said casually, his expression void of worry.
“As long as we enter our Cold Fire Sect’s territory swiftly, we should be able to avoid the Sky Ghost Sect’s people.” Gu Yunyue nodded. However, she froze for a second before she glanced at Han Li with a weird gaze.
Although it was only for a second, Han Li still caught it.
Han Li’s expression did not change, but he felt a little moody. In the fight earlier, he had only used a little of his protective spiritual power and his magic fell from the mid-stage Nascent Soul to the early-stage.
Gu Yunyue had probably noticed the change in his aura, thus her expression. To this, he naturally did not need to say too much about it to her.
In the depths of a certain cavernous abode of the Sky Ghost Sect’s.
There were about a dozen thick torches placed along all four walls of the room. The yellowish fire flickered slowly, properly lighting the entire room.
In the center of the secret room, a skinny elderly man with white hair and a black beard was sitting in front of a round stone table. He wore a reddish brown long robe with one hand on the table while his other hand tapped rhythmically on his knee.
His nose bridge was a little taller than usual, the skin around his eyes sunk deeply. His eyes stared straight ahead and his wrinkled, aged and skinny long face appeared to be slightly dark under the dim light of the fire.
And in front of him, there was a copper mirror about the size of a human’s head that showed a different place. In it was a hunched elder’s figure. It was the very person of the Twin devils of Wind and Clouds who survived.
In the mirror, the already hunched elder was hunched even more now. His head appeared to be almost down, the elder did not dare to look up at all.
“With what you said, not only didn’t you manage to bring them back to me. One of you is gone too?” the thin elder asked and stopped his tapping.
His voice was unusually hoarse and made it seem like it was extremely rough.
The hunched elder’s body trembled clearly, as he hurriedly replied, “Senior Uncle Qi, it’s not that we’re incapable. That person is really too strong. He hid his aura and we thought he was a normal person. However, when he stepped in, he suddenly became a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. I wasn’t even able to see his actions clearly when my twelve Cold Fire bone forks were taken by him. Then…”
Before he could finish speaking, the thin elder interrupted him. “His cultivation base is lower than yours, but he managed to take your treasures that easily?”
“Y-Yes. Not only so, this person’s body is also extremely strong. Compared to the dark ghostly figures in Junior Brother’s Hundred Ghost Painting, it was like they were made of paper and mud. They all become dust after hitting him. Even the Swallowing Bones Dark Needles were eaten by him after he sucked them in. He simply chewed them up into pieces,” the hunched elder said as he could not help but tremble, still scared from recalling what happened.
Hearing this, the thin elder’s fingers started to tap on his knees again as he seemed to have sunken into deep thought.
The hunched elder did not dare to look up. However, seeing the thin elder remain silent for a long time, he felt even more scared. He could not help but kneel down, saying with a trembling voice.
“Senior Uncle Qi, everything I’ve said… is the truth. I didn’t lie to you at all.”
The thin elder remained silent and only spoke slowly after a long while. “From what you have said, this person is probably a person with a rare high-level strength cultivation technique. Indeed, he’s not someone you can deal with. Never mind, you don’t have to care about this anymore.”
With that said, he did not even glance at the hunched elder before he waved his long sleeve casually and the image on the copper mirror dimmed and disappeared.
“You dared to kill my Hao’er, so what if you’re a high-leveled strength cultivator? I will still tear you up into pieces to avenge my Hao’er.” The thin elder spat out as he suddenly straightened in his seat, his face warped into an ugly scowl.
After some time, his eyes landed back on the copper mirror. He muttered some chants and made a hand seal before he pointed at the copper mirror.
Like touching calm water, ripples appeared on the copper mirror. With that, another scene was shown again.
In the image, a seemingly buff middle-aged man was hovering above a green forest as he stroked his short beard with one hand. He asked with a smile, “Brother Qi, it’s been a while since we last met. Is something wrong, for you to suddenly contact me?”
“Brother Lu Ya, let’s do away with the small talk today. I do have something to ask of you,” the thin elder said with a hoarse voice, his expression serious.
Seeing that the thin elder was not smiling at all, the muscular man wiped the smile off his face. He said seriously, “Oh? What happened?”
The thin elder sighed, before he told the muscular man all about what happened to Qi Minghao and the Twin devils of Wind and Cloud.
“A**hole, he really deserves death for daring to murder Brother Qi’s descendants!” The muscular man, whose name was Lu Ya, huffed coldly after hearing the entire story.
“I’m currently at the sect and can’t leave for now. Brother Lu, since you’re near Feng Nation, I hope you can step in and help me exterminate this person,” the thin elder said.
“Strength cultivators mainly cultivate their bodies and can easily suppress normal cultivators. However, it is extremely difficult to cultivate and break through their bottlenecks. For this person to be able to reach such a high-level, I’m afraid he isn’t a normal person?” Lu Ya pondered for a moment before he asked.
“From what the sect’s disciples said, this person is the new guest elder that Cold Fire Sect is planning to recruit. Right now, he has yet to be officially accepted, so Brother Lu you don’t have to care too much. You just have to kill this person for me and I’ll repay you with that Essence Spirit Pill as a show of my gratitude.” The thin elder said as he stared straight at Lu Ya.
Happiness flashed in the muscular man’s eyes, although he hid it very quickly. He said, “If that’s the case, I’ll take that person’s life for Brother Qi.”
The thin elder suddenly thought of one more thing, as he added darkly, “Oh right. Don’t kill that Yu lass first. It’ll be best if you can bring her back to me alive.”
Hearing this, Lu Ya froze for a second before he nodded in agreement.