An hour later, when the palace-dressed maiden gracefully emerged from the Earthfire Hall, the group of men and women who had accompanied her had long grown impatient waiting outside. The three disciples from the Artifact Refining Hall had also obediently remained by their side the entire time. These male and female cultivators all had extraordinary backgrounds, making it impossible for low-level cultivators like them to show even the slightest neglect.
As soon as the maiden stepped out, the young men immediately swarmed around her.
“Princess, how did it go?”
“Was the Bloodthread Silver ruined by that guy?”
…
They bombarded her with enthusiastic questions.
“Everything’s fine. Thank you for your concern, senior brothers. Senior Brother Han has already refined the materials for me without any mishaps,” the maiden replied, brushing aside a strand of hair from her forehead with an elegant and dignified smile, a far cry from the tomboyish demeanor she had displayed with Han Li.
Han Li, who had just stepped out of the Earthfire Hall, couldn’t help but twitch his lips at the sight.
“Heh! You’re quite the sly one, Han boy. You actually managed to coax the origin of the Black Phoenix Feather out of such a young girl. What, are you really planning to go after that island master’s Black Phoenix?”
“Of course. Since I know of a method to enhance the power of the Three-Flame Fan, I naturally have to give it a try. After spending so many rare materials and effort, it would be a waste if the results weren’t satisfactory. After all, ordinary ancient treasures are practically useless against mid-to-late Nascent Soul cultivators. Let’s go. While they stay at the Huangqing Temple for the next few days, I’ll just remain in seclusion to avoid being harassed by these people and delaying my cultivation,” Han Li said indifferently before silently slipping out of the Earthfire Hall and heading back to his residence.
…
Over the next two days, the palace-dressed maiden secretly sought Han Li again, hoping he would refine something else for her. However, Han Li had already hung a sign indicating he was in seclusion and activated a simple restriction at his door. After circling his residence with a pout, the maiden had no choice but to leave in disappointment.
Two days later, the group of young men and women finally departed the Huangqing Temple with the beautiful woman, and the Artifact Refining Hall returned to normal. Han Li occasionally emerged to refine materials, completing his monthly tasks on time, while the rest of his time was devoted to cultivating the King Ming Art.
Month after month passed, and as Han Li consistently completed his refining tasks on schedule, Elder Wei grew increasingly impressed with him. At one point, he even took the time to teach Han Li some special refining techniques and gradually entrusted him with rare materials.
Han Li remained unfazed, continuing to complete his tasks punctually without a single delay. This surprised Elder Wei, who finally acknowledged Han Li’s talent in artifact refining and began imparting more knowledge to him. He also started assigning Han Li less critical parts of the materials he was currently refining.
Before long, Han Li was astonished to discover that all the materials given to him were rare earth-attribute ones. This left him momentarily stunned. After all, aside from a few treasures that relied purely on brute force, it was rare for any magical artifact or treasure to be crafted entirely from earth-attribute materials.
However, none of this concerned him. He continued his unwavering cultivation of the second layer of the King Ming Art, gradually sensing remarkable changes in his body. Around this time, the Gan family outside the mountains suddenly sent him a message: the scholarly man surnamed Yan, who had escorted him into the mountains, had fallen seriously ill and passed away.
“A serious illness? When I observed his body that day, there were no hidden ailments,” Han Li muttered in surprise upon receiving the news. He also recalled the recent appearances of unfamiliar cultivators around the Huangqing Temple, their spiritual senses covertly scanning the premises, hinting at an impending storm.
“I can’t stay here any longer, or I might get dragged into some major trouble,” Han Li concluded decisively, drawing from his vast experience.
From then on, he devoted himself even more diligently to cultivating the King Ming Art.
…
A little over a year later, a minor yet notable incident occurred at the Huangqing Temple: a low-level outer disciple inexplicably vanished. This alarmed several high-level cultivators in the temple, even prompting the attention of the temple’s Nascent Soul-stage elder.
The disappearance of a low-level disciple would normally be trivial among the temple’s thousands of disciples, but this particular disciple had been assisting in refining a critical item for the temple, hence the uproar among the higher-ups.
Now, in the same pavilion where the elder had previously conversed with the beautiful woman surnamed Yu, the elder sat in a grand chair, flanked by two other yellow-robed female cultivators—one in her forties, the other in her late twenties.
“How could a disciple vanish without a trace under our temple’s numerous restrictions? What do you two have to say?” the elder asked coldly, her expression dark.
“Elder, I’ve inspected all the temple’s restrictions, and none show signs of tampering. It seems either a master of formations infiltrated us, or the disciple left on his own,” the middle-aged cultivator replied hesitantly but respectfully.
“A master of formations? Even the great formation masters of the Great Jin couldn’t breach our temple’s defenses overnight. But leaving from the inside wouldn’t be difficult. What was this disciple’s name and background?” the elder frowned, suddenly recalling something.
“The disciple was named Han Li. He was brought to the temple two years ago by Hua Lian from the White Dew Academy, where he was about to enroll as a disciple,” the younger cultivator answered promptly, having already gathered some information.
“Han Li? That’s the same name as the newly recruited elder of the Ye family!” the elder exclaimed in shock.
“Indeed. I was also taken aback when I heard the name. But it’s likely just a coincidence. After all, one is a Nascent Soul cultivator, the other a Qi Refining disciple—there’s no possible connection,” the younger cultivator reasoned.
“A coincidence? While coincidences are common, for someone to disappear during the critical phase of our refining project, and for that person to share a name with our clan’s newly recruited elder… Whether it’s truly a coincidence or not, we must investigate thoroughly. Send word to the capital and inquire whether there’s any unknown connection between Elder Han and this Han Li. Also, summon Hua Lian immediately. I want to question her about how this disciple was brought to our temple—see if the White Dew Academy set some trap for us. And the refining in the Artifact Refining Hall must not stop for a moment. The item we’re refining must be completed within three years—we cannot delay this major task,” the elder commanded expressionlessly, issuing orders one after another.
“Yes, Elder!”
“Understood!”
The two acknowledged and left to carry out their tasks.
Once alone, the elder leaned back in her chair and sighed deeply, closing her eyes wearily.
…
Three months later, at the largest market in Yizhou, Taixing Market, a young man purchased an unidentified ore that had sat untouched in a shop for nearly a century, paying an exorbitant price of 30,000 spirit stones.
Five months later, at the famous Fanchuan Trade Fair in Fanjun, a masked cultivator spent 150,000 spirit stones to acquire three pieces of Fire Tinwood.
Half a year later, in Kaifeng Prefecture, Fengzhou, a mid-sized sect called the Singing Sword Sect reported a theft—a spiritual horn from an Ironhorn Rhinoceros in their collection had mysteriously vanished.
Eight months later, in the first great clan of Qujun, the Zongping Clan, a grotesquely ugly mid-Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly appeared, offering a thousand-year spirit herb and a seventh-grade demon core in exchange for their treasured Five-Light Wood. When the clan head refused and summoned two Nascent Soul elders to deal with the intruder, the ugly cultivator effortlessly encased both elders in massive blocks of ice with his immense power.
Forced to relent, the clan head reluctantly handed over the Five-Light Wood. The ugly man laughed wildly, tossed down the promised items, and left. The two elders were eventually freed but suffered significant damage to their vitality.
Nine months later…
Within just over a year, three figures—a young man, a masked cultivator, and an ugly giant—frequently appeared across southern Great Jin, scouring for rare materials. The young man sought obscure, unknown items; the masked cultivator splurged endlessly at auctions; and the ugly giant strong-armed clans and minor sects into trading their treasures for his spirit herbs and demon cores.
Interspersed with these events were mysterious thefts from the storerooms of mid-sized and large sects.
While the young man and masked cultivator drew little attention, the ugly giant’s forceful trades and the widespread thefts sent shockwaves through the southern Great Jin’s cultivation world.
Enraged, the victimized sects dispatched disciples to hunt down the audacious thief, while the clans pressured by the ugly giant had their supporting sects join the manhunt for the brazen rogue.
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