Chapter 1185: Return to the Seven Spirits

Han Li’s words left Mu Peiling and the other two women utterly confused.

Since they hadn’t encountered the black-robed man earlier, why was he suddenly bringing up the Second Spirit Infant?

But Liu Yu still replied respectfully:

“The one who captured the three of us was indeed the Second Spirit Infant that you, Master, had lost. It had also taken over a body and possessed roughly mid-Nascent Soul cultivation.”

As she spoke, a look of recollection appeared on her face.

“A body? Describe what that person looked like,” Han Li seemed somewhat interested.

By then, the two golden lightning flood dragons had already swept away most of the black mist in the vicinity. After circling once, they shot back and vanished into Han Li’s body.

This display of lightning manipulation left the three women inwardly astonished. Although they, with their Core Formation cultivation, could also shape spells into forms, they were far from capable of performing such feats effortlessly like Han Li, who didn’t even move a finger.

After steadying herself, Liu Yu began describing the black-robed man’s appearance in detail.

Han Li listened for only a short while before concluding that the Second Spirit Infant had indeed taken over the Heavenly Fiend Corpse. His expression remained calm, but inwardly, he was quite frustrated. That said, if not for the Blood Moon Spirit-Seeking Art from the Great Divination Scripture, he wouldn’t have been able to retrieve Mu Peiling and the others so easily. This Second Spirit Infant knew him too well—he couldn’t afford to let it grow unchecked, or it would become a major threat.

Once Liu Yu finished, he immediately ordered:

“The three of you must leave this place at once and return to the sect. Since the Second Spirit Infant has already returned to the Heavenly South, I must reclaim it. I will search the inner valley thoroughly again.”

“Uncle Han, that Spirit Infant’s cultivation is no weaker than yours. You should gather more allies before confronting it. Otherwise— Huh? Uncle, your current realm…” The Song woman hesitated, but when her spiritual sense inadvertently swept over Han Li’s cultivation, her expression abruptly changed.

Hearing her exclamation, Mu Peiling and Liu Yu also probed with their spiritual senses and were equally shocked.

“Young Master, have you… already become a Great Cultivator?” Mu Peiling’s lips parted slightly, and it took her a moment to voice her disbelief.

“I forgot you three didn’t know. Half a year ago, I underwent the Great Cultivator ceremony and am now the sect’s Grand Elder. Dealing with a mere mid-stage Second Spirit Infant won’t be a problem, so don’t worry,” Han Li replied with a faint smile.

At this, the Song woman and Liu Yu were overjoyed and hurriedly offered their congratulations.

Han Li smiled slightly but urged them to depart quickly.

This time, the three women had no further objections. After bowing to Han Li, they flew out of the cavern the same way he had entered.

Soon, three streaks of light shot out from the lava lake and vanished into the distance.

Han Li remained in the cavern, intending to wait a few more days.

If the Second Spirit Infant had only temporarily left, it would likely return soon given how secluded this place was. If not, it had either found another hiding spot in the valley or had already left the Fallen Devil Valley altogether.

After waiting six or seven days with no sign of the Wood Spirit Infant, Han Li abandoned his vigil. He left the cavern and released tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, scouring every inch of the inner valley.

Though he failed to locate the Second Spirit Infant, he did uncover many ancient treasures left behind by past cultivators.

While these artifacts no longer held much value in his eyes—far inferior to even imitation spirit treasures like the Three Flames Fan—they were still considered rare treasures in the Heavenly South.

Yet Han Li felt no joy. During his search, he had also found traces of the black-robed man’s activities. Many ancient cultivators’ abandoned caves had been emptied, suggesting the Second Spirit Infant had also collected numerous treasures—and not long ago.

Han Li was now certain that the Second Spirit Infant had most likely left the inner valley, absconding with its loot to who-knew-where.

This realization gave him a headache.

However, upon further reflection, there were still clues to follow.

Given that the Second Spirit Infant’s ultimate goal was to overthrow him, it would now be solely focused on advancing its cultivation to surpass him.

According to the three women, after taking over the Heavenly Fiend Corpse, the Second Spirit Infant had adopted the Profound Yin Art as its primary cultivation method. To push the Profound Yin Demonic Qi to its limits, aside from rigorous cultivation, it could also resort to sinister techniques like blood sacrifices for rapid progress.

But such methods usually came with severe consequences—either endless future troubles, unstable cultivation gains, or even failure to break through current bottlenecks.

Considering this, the best supplementary method would likely be the demonic Qi infusion technique recorded in the Profound Yin True Scripture. By forcibly infusing demonic Qi into the body, a demonic cultivator could potentially break through bottlenecks in an extremely short time.

Of course, like other shortcut techniques, this method carried significant risks—ranging from physical demonization and drastic changes in appearance to loss of consciousness, turning one into a half-human, half-demon abomination.

But the Second Spirit Infant was different.

The body it had taken over was already a demonic corpse, and it also knew the Great Divination Technique, granting it far greater resistance to demonic corruption. Thus, the risks were much smaller.

When the Second Spirit Infant had left him, it was only at the early stage. Reaching mid-stage in such a short time suggested it might have already used this method—especially since the Fallen Devil Valley was where ancient demons had once emerged, making residual demonic Qi in certain areas unsurprising.

Han Li sat meditating atop a mountain for a full day and night, pondering what he would do in the Second Spirit Infant’s position. By doing so, he deduced most of its plans…

“The Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons!”

Han Li’s eyes suddenly snapped open, gleaming with cold light as he muttered the name.

With a surge of spiritual light, he transformed into a green streak and shot toward the horizon.

Two days later, he left the Fallen Devil Valley and raced toward the Seven Spirit Islands at an unimaginable speed.

According to the Profound Yin True Scripture, the demonic Qi infusion technique required about a year to complete the initial stage. He didn’t want to arrive at the abyss only to find the Second Spirit Infant long gone.

At almost the same time, deep within the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, the black-robed man knew his whereabouts might have been discovered by Han Li. But he was in the midst of a critical phase of his ritual and couldn’t afford to abandon it midway.

Moreover, to avoid detection, he had traveled stealthily after leaving the Fallen Devil Valley, avoiding all contact with other cultivators before slipping into the abyss.

Thus, he had missed a crucial piece of news—he still didn’t know Han Li had advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage.

This oversight was understandable. When Han Li had left for the Great Jin, even he had assumed that reaching the late stage would take at least two or three centuries of repeated bottleneck breakthroughs.

The Second Spirit Infant had never expected Han Li to advance to late-stage Nascent Soul in a single, bizarre leap.

As a result, it had calculated Han Li’s travel speed based on a mid-stage cultivator’s flight.

By its estimate, even if Han Li immediately guessed its location and rushed over, it would take two months. Meanwhile, its demonic Qi infusion was in its final stage—just over a month remained until completion.

Though uneasy, the Second Spirit Infant gritted its teeth and decided to take the risk.

If it failed this time, returning to the abyss later would be nearly impossible under Han Li’s vigilance.

Still, it had set a firm deadline—it would stay no longer than a month and a half. Whether the infusion succeeded or not, it would flee the abyss without hesitation.

With a two-week buffer, it should be safe.

Reassured, the Second Spirit Infant focused on absorbing pure demonic Qi into its body.

But Han Li’s late-stage speed was nearly 50% faster than before. A journey that should have taken over two months was completed in just one.

After two more days of flying over the Endless Sea, he reached the Seven Spirit Islands.

Back when the demonic Qi had been suppressed, Wei Wuyan and others had gifted him the Spirit Turtle Island, which he had handed over to the sect.

Now, the island should house some Falling Cloud Sect disciples.

Han Li wasn’t in a hurry to head straight for the abyss. His streak of light bypassed two other islands and stopped directly above Spirit Turtle Island.

Descending, he landed on a small hill and sat cross-legged on a large rock, releasing his powerful spiritual sense.

In an instant, his divine will swept across the hundreds of miles of the island, locating two groups of stationed cultivators.

His lips moved slightly as he silently uttered a few words, then he remained expressionless and still.

Chaos erupted in the two locations on Spirit Turtle Island.

Soon, two groups of over a dozen cultivators flew toward his hill from opposite directions.

Han Li didn’t rise, merely watching them calmly.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered, and a strange expression crossed his face.

The two groups arrived swiftly. Upon seeing Han Li below, they quickly descended and landed.

“Greetings, Grand Elder!”

“Respects to Ancestor Han!”

…

The cultivators bowed respectfully. The leaders were two Core Formation cultivators—a yellow-robed man with small eyes and thick brows, and a woman in her thirties. The rest were at the Foundation Establishment stage.

“So it really is you. I never expected you to reach Core Formation after all these years,” Han Li said, smiling faintly at the yellow-robed man.