After using the Lightning Evasion Technique to travel a hundred miles in one go, Han Li paused briefly to reorient himself. He then donned a crimson cloak, transforming into a streak of blood-red light that shot through the sky.
By the time he had flown a thousand miles, he spotted a group of tens of thousands of Mulan tribesmen below. A thought crossed his mind, and he halted.
During his time at Falling Cloud Sect, Han Li had discussed the conflicts between Mulan spellcasters and Tiannan cultivators with the silver-haired elder. He knew that although ordinary Mulan tribesmen couldn’t cultivate spiritual techniques, the Mulan spellcasters would still organize groups of young and able-bodied tribesmen into temporary tribes during their invasions. These groups would seize Tiannan’s spirit stone mines and material deposits while the Tiannan cultivators were preoccupied. This way, even if the Mulan spellcasters were eventually forced to retreat, they wouldn’t return empty-handed.
This looting behavior naturally infuriated the Nine Nations Alliance, but they couldn’t spare the attention to deal with it. If they sent too few cultivators to guard these areas, they risked being wiped out by high-ranking Mulan spellcasters. If they sent too many, it would weaken their main forces on the battlefield. The only viable strategy was to wait until the Mulan spellcasters had seized the mines and deposits, then send cultivators to reclaim them and eliminate the Mulan tribesmen in the process.
Unfortunately, the Mulan people cared little for the lives of their ordinary tribesmen. As soon as one group was wiped out, they would immediately organize another, essentially trading lives for these precious resources. Moreover, they often set traps, inflicting heavy losses on the cultivators sent to reclaim the mines and deposits.
After suffering significant losses, the Nine Nations Alliance turned a blind eye to the situation. After all, no matter how frantically the Mulan tribesmen mined, they couldn’t extract much in such a short time. As long as the Mulan spellcaster army was repelled on the main battlefield, these tribesmen would retreat on their own.
The current group had many ox carts and horse-drawn carriages, all heading toward Tiannan. Most of them were young men and women, likely a temporary tribe assembled to plunder Tiannan’s resources.
Han Li hovered above the group, sweeping his powerful spiritual sense over them. There was only one Foundation Establishment spellcaster and three Qi Condensation spellcasters among them—none posed a threat to him.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li suddenly formed a hand seal and vanished into thin air. The next moment, he reappeared inside a dilapidated covered wagon in the Mulan caravan, which was filled with tattered cowhides and mining tools like pickaxes.
With a wave of his hand, Han Li cleared a small space in the middle of the wagon and sat cross-legged, perfectly at ease.
He had thought it through: with all the Mulan spellcasters mobilized, traveling openly as a cultivator back to Tiannan would likely invite trouble. Although his cultivation level meant he had little to fear unless he encountered the top-tier spellcasters, he couldn’t handle overwhelming numbers. Even their group of seven or eight Nascent Soul cultivators had to move stealthily to retrieve treasures!
Besides the spellcasters, he also needed to avoid Wang Tiangu and his group, lest they become fixated on silencing him. Hiding among these ordinary tribesmen, though slow, would allow him to safely exit the Mulan grasslands in two or three days.
No one would pay attention to a group of ordinary tribesmen, and even if spellcasters inspected them, his current abilities ensured he wouldn’t be detected unless a late-stage Nascent Soul spellcaster was involved. Once he reached the wilderness beyond Mulan territory, he could return to Tiannan alone.
Now seated inside the wagon, Han Li could clearly hear the conversations of the Mulan tribesmen outside.
The Mulan language differed somewhat from that of the Tiannan Yan people, but Han Li had studied it beforehand using jade slips. With his powerful spiritual sense, he had mastered most of it in just a day or two, so he could understand their words well enough.
Most of their discussions revolved around how many spirit stone resources they could plunder from Tiannan and whether they might catch the favor of their “Venerables” and rise in status. Their words were filled with reverence and worship for the spellcasters, almost like a religious devotion. To these ordinary Mulan tribesmen, even dying for the spellcasters seemed like an extraordinary honor.
Hearing this, Han Li sighed inwardly. With a flick of his hand, a faint cyan light barrier enveloped the wagon, cutting off all sound from outside.
“Silvermoon, let’s talk about your haul. You seemed quite excited earlier—must have found some good things,” Han Li said calmly, flicking his sleeve. A small white fox shot out, circled once, and landed before him.
“I’m not entirely sure if they’re good things, Master. As you know, I didn’t touch any of the ancient treasures on the first floor because their spiritual energy couldn’t be concealed after using evasion techniques. But on the second floor, where you all fought over the jade boxes—there were originally six, and I took half. Hehe! I actually wanted to take most of them, but I feared taking too few would arouse suspicion, so I settled for three.” The fox crouched lightly, its voice playful.
With that, it spat out three crystalline jade boxes, which landed steadily before Han Li.
Han Li glanced at the boxes, then reached to his waist and produced an identical fourth box.
“Frost Li the Transcendent left six jade boxes in total, and now four are in my hands. This trip was worth it,” Han Li said with a faint smile, running his fingers over the lid of one box.
“But Master, you’re truly bold to act under the noses of so many Nascent Soul cultivators, sending me in secretly. Weren’t you afraid of being discovered?” Silvermoon asked with a hint of lingering fear.
“Hah! What’s there to fear? At worst, I’d just use the Bloodshadow Evasion and flee. Besides, I was about eighty to ninety percent confident. The spiritual light I released to mask your entry worked perfectly—no one noticed anything amiss. I was more worried you’d be detected after retrieving the treasures, but your evasion skills surpassed my expectations,” Han Li replied, glancing meaningfully at the fox.
“Master flatters me. While our Silvermoon Wolf evasion techniques are indeed remarkable, the main reason we succeeded is that these jade boxes themselves conceal spiritual energy. Otherwise, it’s hard to say whether we could’ve fooled those old monsters,” Silvermoon said with a chuckle, unfazed.
Han Li smiled mildly and didn’t press further. Instead, his palm glowed with cyan spiritual light as he applied slight pressure to the jade box. A wisp of white light flickered on the box’s surface but was quickly overwhelmed and devoured by the cyan light.
With a soft click, the lid opened, revealing a pale blue jade slip inside.
Han Li studied the slip for a moment, exhaled softly, and picked it up. With a solemn expression, he immersed his spiritual sense into it.
The little fox watched Han Li’s face intently, its dark eyes darting about with keen interest.
But as time passed, Han Li’s expression remained unchanged—calm and indifferent. Silvermoon blinked in confusion.
After a full quarter-hour, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense, frowning in thought. Moments later, his brows relaxed, and he calmly stored the jade slip without a word about its contents, reaching for the second box instead.
Silvermoon’s curiosity grew, but it wisely refrained from asking.
The second box was opened the same way. Inside lay a small, unremarkable black ring, dull and lacking luster.
“Is this an ancient treasure?” Silvermoon asked, puzzled.
“Unlikely. It doesn’t seem to have much spiritual energy,” Han Li mused, picking it up with two fingers for closer inspection.
“The material is unusual, but it’s probably just an ordinary magical tool. Its exact purpose is hard to say,” Han Li concluded after examining it thoroughly and scanning it with his spiritual sense.
“Just a tool?” Silvermoon’s eyes dimmed with disappointment.
“Don’t worry. If Frost Li the Transcendent deemed it worthy of a box, it must have some special use. It might prove invaluable later,” Han Li said dismissively, unperturbed.
“Master, let’s see what’s in the remaining two boxes. Who knows what other treasures await?” The fox tilted its head eagerly.
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