In the stone hall on the surface, rumbling sounds echoed incessantly. The disciples of the Masked Moon Sect were still laboriously using their magical tools to strike at a large stone pit several zhang deep in the ground. However, no matter what magical tool they used, each strike only chipped off a piece of rubble about an inch in size. This gradually dampened their spirits as they continued to hammer away.
After several hours, all the male and female disciples sat dazedly on the ground, staring silently at the large pit, their expressions lifeless. By now, they had lost all hope of rescuing their revered ancestor! Everyone began contemplating the terrifying consequences of losing their ancestor and started thinking of ways to secure their own futures.
Just then, a loud boom echoed from outside the stone hall, followed by a violent tremor in the ground, as if something earth-shattering had occurred outside. The disciples were momentarily stunned.
“What happened?” The disciples exchanged bewildered glances. Two male disciples immediately hurried out of the stone hall to investigate.
“Revered Ancestor!” Shortly after, the ecstatic voices of the two disciples rang out from outside. Their voices were so loud that even the disciples still inside the stone hall heard them clearly. After a moment of stunned silence, the remaining disciples rushed out in a swarm.
About ten zhang away from the hall entrance, a large hole about a zhang in diameter had appeared. Standing near the hole was an ethereally beautiful woman in white robes. Her appearance was that of their revered ancestor, though she seemed slightly older. At that moment, the Masked Moon Sect’s ancestor stood coldly gazing into the distance, her expression utterly indifferent. She paid no attention to the two male disciples who had already positioned themselves behind her.
This sudden turn of events doused the disciples’ initial elation like a bucket of cold water, jolting them back to reality.
“Could it be that the revered ancestor intends to hold someone accountable for triggering the restriction?” At this thought, all the disciples couldn’t help but glance at the female disciple from the Masked Moon Twin Jiao. Realizing this, her face turned pale with fear, and she trembled with anxiety.
The woman in white gazed into the distance for a full quarter of an hour before slowly turning around to glance at the disciples behind her. She issued a cold command: “Let’s go!”
…
Han Li leaped swiftly from one large tree to another, his movements as agile as a monkey. He raced down the mountain at a speed no slower than flying on a magical tool.
At that moment, his entire body surged with spiritual power, as if he had reached the thirteenth layer of cultivation. This wondrous feeling of vastly increased power somewhat intoxicated Han Li. However, this extra spiritual energy wouldn’t last long—he estimated it would dissipate in just a few hours.
To escape the underground swamp, the woman with whom he had shared an intimate encounter used a secret technique to temporarily transfer part of her restricted cultivation power to Han Li. This allowed Han Li to leap from the eleventh layer directly to the peak of the Qi Refining stage.
Then, one using the Vermilion Bird Ring and the other using the Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure, they forcefully carved a tunnel through the earth all the way to the surface.
During this process, whenever Han Li exhausted his spiritual power, the woman would silently transfer more energy to him. By the time they emerged from underground, Han Li’s Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure had depleted all its power and turned into waste paper, while the young woman had lost twenty to thirty years of cultivated power—a significant loss.
Speaking of which, the woman’s Primordial Yin Reincarnation Art was truly peculiar!
During the reincarnation cycle, she could transfer restricted cultivation power to a man but couldn’t lift the restrictions herself or transfer power to another woman. Moreover, the amount of power transferred was limited by the man’s cultivation realm. Since Han Li was only at the Qi Refining stage, the transferred power could only elevate him to the thirteenth layer of the foundational cultivation method, unable to push him into the Foundation Establishment stage.
Because Han Li had just received the woman’s power when breaking through the final barrier to the surface, he could still maintain the thirteenth layer of power for a while longer, allowing him to savor this unique sensation a little longer.
“Nan Gong Wan!” Han Li whispered the name in his heart. This was the name he had asked for when parting ways with the woman.
However, recalling her reluctant expression when she told him, Han Li felt a pang of sadness.
He knew clearly that even if he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, let alone the Qi Refining stage, it was impossible for there to be any further interaction between them. After all, their lifespans and statuses in the cultivation world were worlds apart. So, he could only bitterly accept her indifferent attitude when they parted.
Han Li was very self-aware. He knew that reaching the Foundation Establishment stage was somewhat within his grasp, but for the Core Formation stage, he could only look up to it for now! In the entire Yellow Maple Valley, with over ten thousand cultivators, only a handful had reached the Core Formation stage. Knowing his own mediocre aptitude, Han Li had not an ounce of confidence in achieving it.
As Han Li was lost in thought, his expression suddenly darkened. With a “whoosh,” his figure vanished into thin air. A moment later, he reappeared in the same spot, but now holding a storage pouch in his hand. Meanwhile, from a nearby large tree, the headless corpse of a Spirit Beast Mountain disciple tumbled down.
Han Li briefly scanned the contents of the storage pouch, shook his head slightly, and then leaped away.
…
On the afternoon of the fifth day after entering the restricted area, the members of the various sects who had been waiting outside finally took action. Seven Core Formation stage cultivators once again painstakingly opened the entrance. They calmly gazed into the dark passageway, waiting for the first person to emerge.
Clearly, breaking the restriction this time was much easier than five days ago. Once the passage appeared, the seven retrieved their magical treasures, yet the passage remained stable, still leading directly into the restricted area.
Behind them, the more than ten Foundation Establishment stage captains appeared somewhat nervous. After all, this concerned the distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills for the next period, which was closely related to their responsibilities as managers.
Meanwhile, the Masked Moon Sect’s “Eccentric Qiong” had appeared on a large rock nearby at some point, watching everyone with a cheerful smile. It seemed he was also very invested in the outcome of this bet.
Finally, half an hour after the passage opened, a middle-aged Taoist priest walked out calmly. His Taoist robes were covered in dust, with several large tears and bloodstains, indicating he had undergone fierce battles to make it out.
After emerging, the middle-aged Taoist bowed to the Core Formation stage Taoist from the Clear Void Sect and then quietly sat down cross-legged to the side.
Seeing this, the Core Formation stage Taoist glanced at him with a smile and nodded slightly.
Ancestor Li’s expression remained calm and unreadable. However, Eccentric Qiong rolled his eyes and snorted discontentedly.
Next, disciples such as the effeminate man from the Huadao Wu, the ugly man Zhong Wu from Spirit Beast Mountain, the blue-robed youth from Tianque Fort, and the Chen siblings from Yellow Maple Valley emerged from the passage one after another, all bearing wounds of varying severity. Each walked wearily to their respective sect’s elders and sat down cross-legged to rest.
After the time it takes to finish a meal, another large group of disciples emerged. Unlike the lone wolves who came out earlier, these disciples came in groups of two or three. Their expressions varied greatly—some were elated, some despondent, and others looked merely relieved.
With this group and the few who had emerged earlier, over twenty disciples from the seven sects had come out. Yet, not a single disciple from the Masked Moon Sect had appeared, which surprised members of the other six sects. However, Eccentric Qiong, Fairy Nishang, and other members of the Masked Moon Sect remained composed, appearing confident and assured.
Another half hour passed, and aside from two disciples from other sects, still no one from the Masked Moon Sect had emerged. Only one hour remained before the passage closed. At this point, Eccentric Qiong and Fairy Nishang exchanged glances, finally showing slight signs of unease.
A figure flickered at the passage entrance, and a young man from Yellow Maple Valley walked out. This ordinary-looking youth, with neat clothing, was none other than Han Li, who had rushed here after swiftly killing several people along the way.
When the Masked Moon Sect members saw movement at the passage entrance, their faces lit up with joy. But upon realizing it was someone from Yellow Maple Valley, their expressions immediately fell in disappointment.
At that moment, Han Li surveyed the situation outside the passage and slowly walked to his sect’s designated area. Following the example of others, he sat down in the order of emergence. Coincidentally, he ended up right next to the Chen siblings.
Among the six sects, Yellow Maple Valley had a relatively high number of surviving disciples!
Aside from the Chen siblings, there was another elderly man and a young man. Including Han Li, they totaled five people—far more than the three or four from other sects, and especially compared to the mere two from Giant Sword Gate. This couldn’t help but bring a look of joy to Ancestor Li’s face, which now radiated satisfaction.
When the Chen siblings and the other two saw that Han Li, an eleventh-layer disciple, had emerged from the restricted area completely unscathed, they were initially stunned. But then, as if realizing something, they shot him disdainful glances and ignored him thereafter.
Clearly, they all thought Han Li was cowardly, having hidden away without participating in any battles, and assumed he had surely gained nothing.
As the time for the passage to close drew nearer, and still no one from the Masked Moon Sect had appeared, Eccentric Qiong and Fairy Nishang could no longer remain seated. Worry was evident on their faces! This secretly delighted Ancestor Li and the Taoist priest beside him, as it seemed something had indeed happened to the Masked Moon Sect disciples.
Observing all this, Han Li frowned slightly, feeling somewhat surprised. He had clearly escaped the underground swamp together with Nan Gong Wan. Why hadn’t the Masked Moon Sect members arrived yet? He couldn’t help but feel worried for her.
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