“If a mere puppet isn’t worthy of conversing with you, then how about this palace mistress?” A spatial ripple suddenly appeared above the earthen mound, and a mass of black flames flickered eerily before coalescing into the form of a cold-faced palace-robed young woman.
The moment she materialized, she cast a hostile gaze toward Han Li. After confirming that he was indeed just an ordinary mortal, a trace of disdain flashed across her lips as she slowly raised a hand and abruptly aimed it at him.
Though Han Li’s spiritual sense couldn’t detect anything, his cultivation had reached a level where he could commune with the world’s primal qi, granting him an inexplicable premonition of danger.
The instant the palace-robed woman appeared, his footsteps halted, and his expression drastically changed.
And when she pointed her hand at him, Han Li shuddered, every hair on his body standing on end.
A sense of intense peril, unlike anything he had ever felt since stepping into the world of cultivation, abruptly descended upon him.
Almost reflexively, Han Li flicked his sleeve without hesitation, and two round objects tumbled into his palm. He swiftly raised them before him, staring silently at the woman in the air.
They were two fist-sized orbs—one black, one red—their surfaces faintly shimmering with mysterious light, exuding an aura of profound enigma.
“Annihilation Pearls! And two of them! Just who are you? How do you possess such treasures?” The palace-robed woman’s face twisted in shock at the sight of the orbs, as if she had seen a ghost. The wisp of black flame that had just ignited on her bracelet abruptly extinguished as she demanded in a voice laced with fury and alarm.
Seeing that she recognized the Annihilation Pearls and even showed fear, Han Li inwardly relaxed.
“Heh, it’s good that you recognize them,” he said coolly, though he had been sweating bullets earlier, fearing her cultivation might far exceed his expectations. If even the Annihilation Pearls posed no threat to her, he would have been doomed. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration.
He had thought this excursion would merely involve dealing with a mere beast’s split soul controlling a corpse. Never had he expected to face a high-tier demonic cultivator at the Divine Transformation realm.
How could such a demonic cultivator appear in human territory?
Though he had momentarily cowed her with the Annihilation Pearls, the slightest misstep could still spell his doom. Having once been at the Divine Transformation realm himself, he knew all too well the terrifying power of such cultivators.
The palace-robed woman’s expression flickered between dark and light, her gaze sharp as blades as she stared at Han Li, her killing intent undisguised.
“Do you truly believe these Annihilation Pearls can kill this palace mistress?” she said icily, her red lips parting.
“Perhaps not, but two of them should have a seventy to eighty percent chance of severely injuring you,” Han Li replied unmoved.
“Oh? But even if you wield such treasures, as a mere body-refining warrior, you won’t escape their blast radius. Are you seeking suicide?” she sneered.
“Not using them means certain death anyway. Why wouldn’t I take this gamble?” Han Li replied nonchalantly.
“Even so, do you think this palace mistress would hesitate to trade minor injuries for your wretched life?” she retorted, her fury giving way to cold laughter.
“Heh, of course not! You’re in human territory. Once injured, you won’t be able to conceal your demonic aura. Even if you escape momentarily, how will you evade pursuit from other high-tier cultivators? Unless I’m mistaken, demonic cultivators above the Transformation stage entering human lands is a breach of the accords—punishable by death on sight,” Han Li chuckled dryly, though his eyes narrowed slightly.
“A mere mortal dares threaten this palace mistress? You have quite the nerve,” the woman’s voice suddenly turned eerie, as if drifting and indistinct, while her pupils faintly glowed purple, exuding a hypnotic allure that seemed to pull one’s soul into their depths.
Han Li, who had been staring fixedly at her, inevitably met her gaze, his sharp eyes momentarily glazing over.
Seeing this, the palace-robed woman inwardly rejoiced and shifted her shoulders slightly, as if preparing to act.
But then, a mocking smile flickered across Han Li’s seemingly dazed face, and his pupils abruptly blazed with blue light.
The woman felt a dizzying wave crash over her vision, her mind reeling so violently that she nearly plummeted from the sky.
“Soul Bewitchment Art! You know the Soul Bewitchment Art too?” Though caught off guard by Han Li’s counterattack via his spirit eyes, her formidable spiritual sense allowed her to quickly regain clarity. Still, when she looked at Han Li again, her face was a mask of shock, as if she had seen a ghost.
Faced with her astonishment, Han Li merely smiled enigmatically, standing his ground without exploiting the opportunity to strike.
The palace-robed woman soon regained her composure, but her gaze at Han Li now held an involuntary trace of wariness.
No matter how arrogant she was, she now understood that this man was far from the simple body-refining warrior he appeared to be.
“What do you want? To stalemate with this palace mistress indefinitely?” She glanced at the two Annihilation Pearls in Han Li’s hand, then at the bewildered girl on the mound, her voice dripping with frost.
“Leave the girl behind, and you may depart freely,” Han Li said after a brief consideration.
“Impossible. Dai’er is a direct descendant of our Black Phoenix Clan. She must return with us,” the woman refused without hesitation.
Seeing her resolute response, Han Li’s heart sank slightly, and he fell into a brooding silence.
The woman opposite him likewise said nothing more, and the two found themselves locked in a tense standstill.
A light breeze rustled past, the whispering leaves the only sound in the sudden stillness.
“Uncle Han, please don’t argue with Aunt Xiao anymore. I’m going with her willingly,” the girl in the purple-robed man’s arms suddenly called out, her voice tender yet firm.
Han Li froze at her words, his brow furrowing, while the palace-robed woman remained expressionless, as if unsurprised.
“Dai’er, what are you saying? Willingly? Do you even know who she is?” Han Li asked sharply.
“Of course I do. Aunt Xiao has already used magic to show me everything,” Dai’er lifted her small face, her youthful features displaying a determination far beyond her years.
“Magic? What have you done to her?” Han Li, with his vast experience, immediately sensed something amiss and barked at the woman.
“There was no need for tricks. This palace mistress merely implanted our Black Phoenix Clan’s Heritage Pearl into her, allowing her to inherit knowledge of our lineage. Of course, she can’t fully digest it yet, but she’s already aware of her half-demon heritage,” the woman replied coolly, smoothing a strand of hair over her shoulder.
Han Li’s expression shifted slightly in understanding.
Though he wasn’t entirely familiar with the specifics of a “Heritage Pearl,” it was likely a treasure crafted from the condensed essence of ancestral memories, secret techniques, and even fragments of past experiences, meant to be inherited by descendants.
Such artifacts weren’t unheard of in the human realm, but their inheritance conditions were notoriously harsh, often fatal if mishandled. Worse, the process was rarely complete, with much of the knowledge lost—inheritors were lucky to retain a tenth of the original content.
Even if the Black Phoenix Clan’s Heritage Pearl had unique properties, it was unlikely to fully circumvent these flaws.
And in a sense, once the girl fully absorbed the pearl’s contents, she would no longer be purely herself.
After a long silence, Han Li finally asked the girl again,
“Are you certain? Once you go to the demon realm, you’ll have to forsake your human identity entirely. You may never see your family here again.”
“Family? Aside from Grandpa, I never had much family to begin with. And now that Grandpa is… like this, what’s left for me here? Besides, I want to live with my father,” Dai’er shook her head, her expression somber.
“Very well. I won’t force you. Go with her, then,” Han Li sighed softly. Without another word, he turned on his heel, the two Annihilation Pearls still in hand, and strode away without hesitation.
The palace-robed woman blinked in surprise at his abrupt departure, while Dai’er bit her lip, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Though Han Li appeared to be walking, his speed was astonishing. Within moments, he had vanished into the horizon as a mere speck.
“Dai’er, let’s go. If that man reports our presence to nearby high-tier cultivators, we’ll be in trouble,” the woman said darkly, her gaze lingering on Han Li’s distant figure before she finally looked down at the girl.
“He wouldn’t do that,” Dai’er murmured, her face betraying an expression far too mature for her age.
The woman shook her head.
“We cannot trust a human. Let’s go.” With that, she raised a hand and made a grasping motion toward Dai’er.
The girl was lifted effortlessly to her side, while the purple-robed man’s body was instantly engulfed in black flames, reduced to ashes in an instant. The flames then condensed into a black orb that shot upward, disappearing into the woman’s mouth.
She then flicked her wrist, summoning a brocade handkerchief above her head, which unfurled to envelop them both.
In a flash of black light, the woman and the girl vanished as if into thin air.
The next morning, far beyond a hundred miles away, several streaks of light soared into the sky from a human encampment, streaking toward a distant destination.
It was the Golden Jade Sect disciples and Han Li, setting off to retrieve their treasures.
None of them would ever return.
Strangely, Madam Fang, Zhang Kui, and the others acted as if nothing had happened, while the rest of the guard team never spoke of Han Li again.
It was as if Vice-Captain Han Li had never existed within the Tian Dong Trading Company.
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