Han Li’s expression darkened as he flicked his fingers toward the three who had just taken flight. Three streaks of sword qi slashed downward. The trio had barely flown a few zhang before being overtaken by the azure sword light, which engulfed them in an instant.
Three agonized screams erupted from within the radiance, followed by bursts of blood raining from the air, filling the surroundings with a thick, metallic stench.
On the other side, the hunchbacked elder, glancing back through the blood mist, was terrified out of his wits. Without hesitation, he channeled all his spiritual power into the mist, boosting his speed by another third in an instant. He was mere moments away from reaching a street dozens of zhang away.
He harbored no illusions of truly escaping Han Li’s pursuit—his only hope was to reach a place crowded with mortals, where his pursuer might hesitate to act openly, buying him temporary reprieve.
But Han Li, who hadn’t moved an inch, merely sneered. With a light flick of his finger toward the retreating blood mist, the crimson thread that had slain Shopkeeper Feng suddenly materialized a zhang behind it. A flash of red light later, it pierced straight through the mist.
A pained howl echoed as the blood mist dispersed, and the hunchbacked elder plummeted from the sky. A ghostly azure hand shot forth, tossing aside the three spirit tools before snatching the elder midair. It then circled back, delivering him to Han Li.
Meanwhile, the crimson thread flickered once in the air before vanishing without a trace, only to reappear before Han Li moments later.
Raising his hand, Han Li allowed the thread to settle into his palm—revealing an inch-long flying needle. Translucent and neither metallic nor wooden, it pulsed with an eerie red glow, fluctuating in intensity.
Han Li examined the needle with satisfaction. The crystallized demon core he had painstakingly refined into this weapon had proven its worth—its speed and stealth capabilities met his expectations perfectly. Moreover, as a treasure, its power could still be enhanced with further refinement.
With a flip of his hand, the needle disappeared, stored within his body. Then, he turned his gaze to the hunchbacked elder, now firmly gripped by the azure hand, his expression unreadable.
The elder’s abdomen bore a thumb-sized hole, his body mostly immobilized by the spectral grip, his face drained of color.
Meeting Han Li’s gaze, the elder forced a trembling smile, his voice sycophantic. “A misunderstanding—this is all a misunderstanding! With your prowess, Senior, you couldn’t possibly be the one we sought. I must have mistaken you for someone else! Please, spare me—I’m from the Kong Family of Guanning! Ask me anything, and I’ll tell you everything!” Desperation laced his words as he scrambled for any plea that might save his life.
But Han Li merely flicked his wrist, sending a talisman onto the elder’s body. Instantly, the man’s pleas ceased, his eyes glazing over in a daze.
“No need for such trouble. I prefer to verify things myself,” Han Li murmured. With a wave, he summoned the spirit tools from the ground into his grasp before turning toward the courtyard.
The azure hand followed, dragging the elder behind him.
Inside the courtyard, a rudimentary illusion barrier had been set up—hardly worth Han Li’s notice. A few hand seals later, the formation shattered, and he strode into one of the houses with the elder in tow.
—
After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li casually tossed a fireball, reducing the elder to ashes—erasing him from the world without so much as a whimper. Seated on a wooden chair, he rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
Using the Dream Inducement Art without regard for the elder’s sanity, he had extracted nearly everything the man knew.
As the elder had claimed, he was indeed the Kong Family’s stationed steward in the capital. A capable man, he had identified Shopkeeper Feng two years prior over a minor incident, coercing him into submission. A mere mortal, Feng had no choice but to comply.
When Han Li used Feng Yue’s jade pendant to contact Feng, the shopkeeper immediately betrayed him to the elder, hoping to curry favor. The elder, ecstatic at the chance to capture the long-sought Feng family heir, personally orchestrated the ambush.
But Han Li had seen through the elder’s crude concealment the moment he left the tavern. Aware of Feng’s betrayal yet unfazed by a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, he played along, riding the carriage to the ambush site—only to crush the conspirators like ants.
None of this surprised Han Li. Had the trap been meant for him, even a Core Formation ambush would’ve been laughable.
What did shock him was another revelation from the elder’s memories.
The Ginseng King Assembly, jointly hosted by the three Guanning families, had just concluded when it was exposed that the Kong Family’s patriarch had been possessed by a demonic entity. The other two family heads, backed by high-ranking sect cultivators, slew the possessed elder on the spot, annihilating even his soul.
With its patriarch gone, the Kong Family plummeted from its leading position to the weakest of the three.
Enraged by his subordinates’ deaths, the Xuan Ye King—previously hidden deep in the Snow Ridge Mountains—unleashed his ancient tomb, raising thousands of tomb-guarding corpse guards, each at Foundation Establishment level. Openly deploying the Yellow Spring Ghost Formation, he marched out of the mountains.
A brutal clash ensued between the three families, their allied high-ranking cultivators, and the Xuan Ye King’s three corpse generals. Though many undead were destroyed, the families also lost numerous low-level disciples to the ghost formation.
Even the Nascent Soul cultivators gained no advantage against the tomb-backed corpse generals. One was severely wounded in the initial skirmish, forcing the coalition to retreat to the assembly’s mountain, where they barely held out behind pre-laid formations.
This outcome stemmed from the allied sects underestimating the Xuan Ye King after ambushing and wounding him. Assuming the injured demon would be easy prey, they were stunned when—backed by his tomb—his power surged to near-late Nascent Soul levels, as if he were an entirely different being. His two generals, both early Nascent Soul, further tipped the scales, crippling one cultivator instantly.
The stalemate lasted over a month until a late Nascent Soul Daoist elder intervened, his overwhelming might forcing the Xuan Ye King to retreat deep into the mountains. The elder, however, chose not to pursue, departing as abruptly as he arrived.
The three families, now wary, withdrew their forces from the mountain’s edge to avoid further retaliation. The Xuan Ye King, equally wary of the late Nascent Soul elder, ceased hostilities, ending the conflict.
Han Li only knew fragments of this, but recalling the Xuan Ye King’s wounded state when they’d crossed paths near the Feng family vault, he pieced together most of the truth, inwardly marveling.
The Xuan Ye King’s ferocity was staggering. After his battle with the Blazing Sands Sage left him gravely injured, he’d somehow recovered enough in such a short time to wage this large-scale assault.
Knowing firsthand how slow spiritual recovery was—even with ample elixirs—Han Li suspected the Xuan Ye King’s Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse King Art or some unique restorative technique enabled his rapid recuperation.
The thought of the corpse king’s abilities reminded Han Li of the Corpse Pearl within him. During his King Yaksha Art training, its effects had been unmistakable—without it, mastering the second layer would’ve been dubious even with the Vajra Relic.
Its potency made him wonder if the Xuan Ye King’s recovery was linked to a similar artifact.
After some contemplation, Han Li set the matter aside, turning to his plans in the capital.
This residence, tied to Shopkeeper Feng, was unsafe—once the man’s disappearance drew attention, investigators would come. A rented temple or monastery would be quieter and less conspicuous than an inn.
Additionally, he needed to visit the local cultivators’ market for details on the upcoming auction.
His mind made up, Han Li left the house without a trace, vanishing into the city.
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