“What, is there something wrong with this person? Or is his identity fake?” Seeing the old man’s expression, the burly man couldn’t help but ask in surprise.
“The identity should be fine. Our mole planted within the Miaoyin Sect had long ago copied portraits of their two elders. This person looks exactly like the image stored in this jade slip; he is indeed that Elder Han. Even if he used some secret technique to alter his appearance, he definitely wouldn’t be able to escape the notice of Elder Wang at the port!” The green-robed old man stroked his beard, then raised his hand, producing a faintly green jade slip. He waved it briefly before the burly man’s eyes and then put it away.
“If there’s no problem, why did you make such an expression?” The burly man snorted, somewhat displeased.
“This Elder Han from the Miaoyin Sect isn’t simple. I’m afraid neither of us would be a match for him alone.” After a moment of contemplation, the green-robed old man said something that stunned the burly man.
“What do you mean by that? Isn’t he just an early Core Formation cultivator like us? And a rogue cultivator at that. How can he compare to us, who often receive guidance from the Sacred Ancestor?” The burly man shook his head like a rattle-drum, completely disbelieving.
Hearing this, the old man wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he calmly explained to the burly man, “Guardian Liu, you should know that although the ‘Seven Killers Art’ I cultivate isn’t considered a top-tier technique, it is extremely sensitive to the amount of killing intent a person carries. The killing intent emanating from this person is the heaviest I have ever seen among Core Formation cultivators. The number of cultivators who have died by his hand is definitely not small.”
“What’s so special about that? If I killed a bunch of low-level cultivators, I could easily do the same,” the burly man said dismissively.
“It’s not the same. While you could accumulate some weak killing intent that way, it would dissipate easily after a short time. The killing intent on this person is not only dense and abundant but also sharp and extremely cold. This kind of killing intent can only form from killing too many cultivators of the same level or higher. Unless eliminated by some Buddhist or Daoist secret techniques, this kind of killing intent usually stays with a person permanently.
“Moreover, this person seems to know some marvelous art of concealing aura, so the killing intent he reveals is less than one-tenth of what he actually has. Even so, the weight of his killing intent is truly astonishing! An ordinary cultivator facing him would not only find illusion and soul-confusion techniques greatly reduced in effectiveness, but if caught off guard and enveloped by this killing intent, they would temporarily lose their willpower. At that point, they would be lucky to exert seventy or eighty percent of their full strength. If this person were to cultivate my ‘Seven Killers Art,’ his progress would be rapid beyond measure.” A cold glint flashed in the old man’s eyes as he spoke grimly.
Of course, the old man had no way of knowing that although Han Li had killed very few Core Formation cultivators, he had slain hundreds of fifth-level demon beasts, equivalent to early Core Formation cultivators. The killing intent he carried was far heavier than the old man could imagine.
“Guardian Cang, never mind the killing intent on this person. Do you want to take him as your disciple? Don’t forget he’s also a Core Formation cultivator; he wouldn’t be willing to become your disciple.” The burly man was taken aback for a moment before asking with a trace of doubt.
“Take him as my disciple? Of course not. I’m just a bit interested in the method he used to accumulate such powerful killing intent. There must be some trick to it,” the old man said calmly.
Hearing this, the burly man completely lost interest. Techniques that used killing intent to advance cultivation were probably limited to just a few obscure methods in the entire Scattered Star Seas. Since the technique he cultivated wasn’t one of them, he naturally felt no attraction to the idea.
However, as if recalling something, the burly man casually inquired, “You mentioned the young master is interested in the Violet Spirit Fairy from the Miaoyin Sect? How come I’ve never heard of this? Did the young master give you orders privately?” A hint of suspicion appeared on the burly man’s face.
“Heh! Does this kind of thing require the young master’s explicit orders? You know what technique the young master cultivates, and the Violet Spirit Fairy is a famous great beauty throughout the Scattered Star Seas. If we can facilitate this matter and present this woman to him, we’ll naturally reap great benefits. You should know the young master has already reached the late Core Formation stage. With the guidance and protection of the Sacred Ancestor, I reckon he’ll form a Nascent Soul within a hundred years!” The old man chuckled darkly.
Hearing this, the burly man seemed to have a sudden realization and then excitedly nodded repeatedly.
“Then when do we make our move? It seems the young master is about to end his closed-door cultivation soon,” the burly man said, rubbing his fists together with a fierce grin.
“There’s no need to rush. It’s best to handle this after the upcoming great battle. Only after the Miaoyin Sect realizes the power of our Inverse Star Coalition will it be easier to act. If they still refuse to yield, I’ve heard the Miaoyin Sect moved their headquarters to Celestial Star City for a period of time. We can just find some excuse about them colluding with the Star Palace, and I’m afraid this woman will have no choice but to comply.” The old man spoke unhurriedly with a calm expression.
“Good, let’s do it that way. With only two early Core Formation elders, how dare they try to block a chariot with their arms? Guardian Cang, you are indeed resourceful!” The burly man laughed heartily with great delight.
Hearing this, the old man smiled faintly, feeling somewhat pleased with himself as he thought, “This way, I can use the situation to pressure this Elder Han from the Miaoyin Sect and make him obediently hand over the secret to accumulating killing intent. Killing two birds with one stone!”
Thinking this, the old man narrowed his eyes slightly, a strange expression appearing on his face.
Han Li flew away from the green-robed old man and the others, his escape light arriving above the port in the blink of an eye.
After glancing a few times at the busy Inverse Star Coalition cultivators, he was about to accelerate and leave this place.
But just at that moment, a powerful divine sense suddenly descended from above without any concealment, enveloping Han Li. Han Li was startled but immediately maintained a calm expression, floating motionless in the air.
Just as he had anticipated, it was unlikely that the Inverse Star Coalition would simply let Core Formation cultivators like them pass based solely on a token.
He guessed this was the leading Nascent Soul old monster personally using his divine sense to probe them, to prevent any Core Formation cultivators from using secret techniques to alter their appearance and assume false identities to slip through.
Han Li’s expression was exceptionally calm, not showing a trace of panic. From the beginning, he had never considered using a false identity as cover. Because unless it was one of two or three legendary ancient secret techniques or a few extremely rare treasures, petty tricks like changing appearance couldn’t hide from the scrutiny of those with powerful divine sense.
If he changed his appearance and used a false identity, only to be seen through, it would instead make him appear guilty and suspicious, likely to spoil things by excessive cleverness.
Thus, he preferred to risk the possibility of being tracked by people like Ji Yin later and had been using the identity of the Miaoyin Sect elder all along.
He figured that by the time those old monsters came after him, he would have already reached the outer seas. Even if he was completely exposed by then, it wouldn’t matter much.
Holding this thought, Han Li remained exceptionally calm, allowing the Nascent Soul old monster to probe him with divine sense. Sure enough, the divine sense soon vanished without a trace, just as it had come, not lingering on him for a moment longer.
Han Li let out a long sigh of relief before unhurriedly flying away from the port.
…
Not long after flying out of the port, Han Li immediately flew away at full speed.
Although he didn’t use the ancient treasure, the blood-colored cape, he didn’t intentionally slow down either.
Half a day later, as Han Li was traveling while pondering how to enter Celestial Star City, he suddenly frowned and stopped, casting a doubtful glance at the nearby sea surface.
Suddenly, his expression darkened. Han Li woodenly raised his head to look into the distance, enveloped in a layer of faint cyan light, floating motionless in place.
A short while later, two streaks of light, one blue and one red, shot over from afar like lightning. In the blink of an eye, they arrived before Han Li. The light faded, revealing two middle-aged cultivators.
Silver robes with golden belts!
They were actually righteous path cultivators from the Inverse Star Coalition, both at the early Core Formation stage.
One of them had a fair complexion without a beard and looked like a scholar, while the other had shiny black skin and was a rather robust man.
As soon as they appeared, they coldly stared at Han Li without saying a word. But they had clearly locked onto Han Li with their divine sense, as if ready to strike at any moment.
Han Li’s expression shifted slightly before he asked in a low, slow voice, “Do you two fellow Daoists have business with me? I need to be on my way. If you have no advice to offer, I’ll take my leave first.”
“You cannot leave! You must come with us.” The robust man spoke coldly and expressionlessly, with a tone of command.
Han Li was first taken aback, but then a flash of anger appeared in his eyes. “Have I offended you two? Or is the Inverse Star Coalition so overbearing that you can arrest people at will?” Han Li’s face darkened, showing a trace of coldness.
“Fellow Daoist, there’s no need to be angry. My brother and I are under orders to pursue and eliminate remnants of the Star Palace. Just now, a Star Palace cultivator was injured by us but used a strange escape technique to flee in this direction. And you happen to appear here. As far as we know, the Star Palace has several face-changing secret techniques. Since we cannot tell if your appearance has been altered, we must ask you to cooperate temporarily until we find the escaped cultivator.” The middle-aged scholar spoke quite politely, but his intention not to let Han Li leave was unmistakable.
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