Han Li had indeed flown away from Wuli Valley and was already more than ten miles away. After transmitting his final words, he transformed into a cyan streak of light and departed without looking back.
The current members of the Han family were, in a way, related to him, but the only people he truly considered family were his parents, elder brother, and younger sister. Although the scholar and the burly man had always treated him with utmost respect, Han Li couldn’t bring himself to feel particularly close to them. The generational gap, along with the changes in Qingniu Town and Wuli Valley, made him feel alienated and out of place. However, after this visit to his hometown, the last remnants of attachment in his heart had finally faded. He believed that with the passage of time, even this lingering connection would become insignificant.
Lost in thought, Han Li adjusted his direction and increased his speed.
A few days later, while passing through Lan Province, he decided to make a detour to Jiayuan City on a whim. Upon entering the city, however, he found that it, too, had changed beyond recognition.
Not only had Sun Ergou and the Siping Gang long since vanished, but even the once-mighty Five-Colored Sect, which had dominated Lan Province, had ceased to exist over a century ago, replaced by a newly risen faction called the “Tianyi Society.”
If he remembered correctly, the Five-Colored Sect had once been backed by the Spirit Beast Mountain. However, before the decisive battle against the Devil Dao, Spirit Beast Mountain had suddenly defected and rejoined the Beast Control Sect. Now that the Yue Kingdom was under the control of the Ghost Spirit Sect, the decline of the Five-Colored Sect was hardly surprising.
He wondered whether Mo Yuzhu and her daughter, Ying Ning, had encountered any misfortune. Unfortunately, the events of the past were too distant, and even after making some inquiries, Han Li found no trace of them.
With a sigh, he left Jiayuan City in haste.
As for Sun Ergou, although the Sun family had once pledged allegiance to him, Han Li had never truly demanded anything from them. On the contrary, he had given Sun Ergou many benefits over the years. Unable to find any news of the Sun family, he saw no reason to dwell on it further.
Thus, Han Li departed Jiayuan City with a clear mind and headed straight for Yuanwu Country, intending to pass through it and return to the Falling Cloud Sect. However, just half a day after leaving Jiayuan City, he suddenly paused mid-flight, his expression turning grave.
He turned his head and gazed into the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly.
At the same time, a group of cultivators over two hundred miles away also halted their flight. Among them, two women in white robes exchanged uneasy glances, their delicate faces betraying a hint of tension.
“Elder Sisters, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” asked an elderly man behind them, noticing their expressions.
“Just now, we sensed the target’s position, but the Spirit Infant suddenly stopped moving. We’re not sure if it has detected us,” replied one of the women, her previously languid demeanor replaced by a sharp, blade-like intensity.
“Impossible! Even a Nascent Soul cultivator shouldn’t be able to sense us from such a distance. Could it be that the Spirit Infant reacted to the secret technique you just used?” speculated a burly man, his face paling.
“No, our technique was personally passed down by our master. It only allows us to sense the Wood Spirit Infant’s location unilaterally. Unless the target has reached the late Nascent Soul stage, they shouldn’t be able to detect anything unusual. Even the most powerful Nascent Soul cultivators can only perceive movements within a hundred miles at most. Could it be that the person controlling the Spirit Infant is a late-stage old monster?” The woman surnamed Liu shook her head firmly.
“But Elder Sister Liu, then why would the target—” A green-robed female cultivator among the four Foundation Establishment disciples began to voice her concern.
Suddenly, Han Yunzhi, who had been silently performing hand seals, spoke up in alarm: “Bad news! The Spirit Infant is moving—toward us!”
“What? It’s coming this way? Did it really detect us?” The woman surnamed Liu paled and quickly performed her own seals to confirm.
A moment later, her expression darkened. “The person controlling the Spirit Infant is indeed heading toward us at an incredible speed. It must be a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“Run! We can’t fight this person—we’ll die for sure. The Ghost Spirit Sect’s branch in Lan Province is nearby. Let’s head there. Even though our sects don’t get along, we’re both part of the Devil Dao. Facing an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator, we’ll have to rely on their defensive formations. Besides, the attacker might not dare openly assault a Ghost Spirit Sect branch. Our chances of escape are good,” Han Yunzhi said after a brief deliberation.
“Elder Sister Han is right. Let’s go now, or it’ll be too late!” The green-robed man gulped nervously at the thought of a Nascent Soul cultivator approaching.
“Hmph! Stop panicking! We’ll use the Spirit Unity Technique to combine our power and increase our speed by half. Hurry!” The woman surnamed Liu shot him a cold glare.
The man flinched and fell silent.
Under the leadership of Han Yunzhi and the woman surnamed Liu, the six immediately began casting spells, summoning their magical treasures and connecting their spiritual energy into a single entity. A yellow streak of light shot through the sky, carrying them away at astonishing speed.
Meanwhile, Han Li, his face grim, was already flying toward them at full speed.
He wasn’t entirely sure how powerful his divine sense had become, but with the fourth layer of the Great Development Art, he could easily cover a hundred miles in detail. Beyond that, though he couldn’t perceive everything clearly, he could still sense major movements within two to three hundred miles.
Earlier, he had suddenly detected a strange, faint spiritual energy lingering around him—something most Nascent Soul cultivators would have missed. Though he didn’t know its origin, he knew trouble had found him.
Suspecting it might be related to either the extermination of the Fu family in Yuanwu Country or the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators he had dealt with in the Taiyue Mountains, Han Li immediately expanded his divine sense. Sure enough, he discovered a group of suspicious figures trailing him two hundred miles away.
Though he couldn’t identify them yet, he had already decided to eliminate them. Anyone capable of tracking him couldn’t be allowed to linger. With only two or three Core Formation cultivators among them, killing them would be effortless.
A thick yellow streak fled desperately ahead, while a dazzling cyan light over thirty feet long pursued relentlessly from behind.
Within moments, Han Li had closed the distance to within a hundred miles. The woman surnamed Liu, who had been periodically checking his position, turned pale with fear.
At this rate, they wouldn’t even make it halfway to safety before being caught.
Just as she turned to Han Yunzhi for advice, the latter suddenly whispered with relief, “Look! A group of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators is coming toward us!”
“Ghost Spirit Sect?”
The low exclamation lifted the spirits of not just the two women but also the four Beast Control Sect disciples. Though they didn’t expect the newcomers to stand against a Nascent Soul cultivator, any delay would buy them time.
Sure enough, within moments, the others spotted over a dozen black dots approaching in the distance.
Relieved, the woman surnamed Liu stole a glance at Han Yunzhi, unsettled that her senior sister had detected the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators before her.
There was only one Wood Spirit Infant, and though she and Han Yunzhi appeared as close sisters, they were actually fierce competitors, each hoping to merge with the infant and ascend to greater power.
As the six approached the Ghost Spirit Sect group, their yellow light dispersed, revealing them individually.
The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators, already on guard, spread out cautiously.
A surprised voice rang out: “Oh? Isn’t this Junior Sisters Han and Liu from the Beast Control Sect? What brings you to Yue Country?”
Three Core Formation cultivators—two men and a woman—stepped forward from the black-robed group.
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