Now that he had figured out the cause of death for both, Han Li could only wish his senior brother, who was on his way to the underworld, a smooth journey and an early reincarnation. Without any hesitation, he began searching their bodies.
Since they were already dead, Han Li naturally accepted their storage pouches as his own.
After one thorough search, he found nothing!
His expression grew serious, and he searched again carefully, but still found nothing!
Han Li felt a sudden chill, and all his hairs stood on end. His heart began to pound rapidly.
There was actually a fourth person here—someone who had taken the storage pouches! Although it was highly likely that this person had already left, there was no guarantee they weren’t still nearby, observing him and using the two corpses as bait to find his weaknesses.
Opposite the cliff was a large area of grassland with reeds over a person’s height, perfect for hiding one’s tracks. Han Li happened to be squatting with his back to the grassland, facing the corpses. This made him even more uneasy! Perhaps that person was hiding right behind him.
Han Li remained motionless, still in a squatting position. From behind, it seemed as though he was still focused on the corpses.
But in reality, he was on high alert. He had quietly taken out his magical tools and talismans, and his spiritual sense was silently spreading out, trying to detect any possible sniper.
The results of his spiritual sense exploration didn’t surprise him—everything nearby was normal, with no unusual spiritual energy fluctuations.
This was hardly surprising. If someone was indeed hiding nearby, they would surely be using a “Qi Concealment Technique” to suppress their magical power, making it undetectable. Han Li’s use of spiritual sense to search was merely a way to “beat the grass to scare the snake”—to make any imagined opponent think twice before acting.
And the result was exactly as he had anticipated: either he was being overly paranoid and scaring himself, and there was no one here at all, or the observer, seeing no opportunity, had suppressed their aura and decided not to make a move.
After a moment, Han Li stood up, turned around, and coldly scanned the vast grassland several times. Without a word, he suddenly leaped up and, after a few jumps, turned into a black dot, gradually disappearing into the distance.
When Han Li’s figure had completely vanished without a trace, a rustling sound suddenly emerged from the previously silent reed grass. A slender figure walked out—it was a young girl in fluttering white robes.
The girl appeared young, only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pure and innocent look, her face radiating a naive cuteness. In a place of life and death, such an elf-like beauty appearing was truly unbelievable.
Judging by her attire, the girl was likely a disciple of the Masked Moon Sect!
The girl glanced in the direction where Han Li had disappeared, pursed her lips into a smile, and spoke with an oddly mature tone: “Courage and wit are not bad, but his magical power is a bit lacking, and his aptitude seems to be an even bigger issue—not much potential to tap into. Otherwise, if he manages to survive and get out, he might be worth cultivating!”
“However, judging by the movement technique he used to escape, it seems like a mundane lightness skill, and not a weak one at that. How interesting!” The girl lightly cupped her pointed chin, her large eyes revealing a deeply intrigued expression.
If Han Li had heard these words, he would have been stunned speechless.
Her assessment was too accurate. With just a few words, she had pointed out all his strengths and weaknesses with sharp precision, as if she understood him better than he understood himself.
“I’ll let you off for now. I should focus on my main tasks first! But next time we meet, little guy, it won’t be so easy for you to get away.” The girl wrinkled her nose, creating a playful, shallow wrinkle, and spoke with a hint of reluctance.
It seemed as though Han Li had become a new toy to her, one that held great appeal and made her reluctant to leave.
In the end, the girl pouted slightly, raised her hand, and took out a talisman. With a wave, her entire body vanished amidst a dazzling green light.
If anyone had been present to witness this, they would likely have cursed her for being wasteful, as she had casually used a “Wood Escape Technique” talisman—a rare treasure in the cultivation world that most would treat as a family heirloom, only using it in life-or-death situations to ensure escape.
This was a mid-level, low-grade talisman, after all!
Han Li, unaware of all this, naturally felt no heartache. He had no idea that a woman of significant background had taken an interest in him. He was simply relieved to have escaped the predicament unscathed.
Whether someone had truly been lying in ambush or not, Han Li had no intention of pursuing the matter further. After all, the closer he got to the center, the more enemies he would encounter. Schemes and ambushes would gradually become commonplace.
Preserving his own life and avoiding unnecessary conflicts had become Han Li’s guiding principle.
Moreover, Han Li hadn’t come away entirely empty-handed from the two corpses.
Thinking of this, Han Li reached out his hand, and a nearly transparent ball of thread appeared in his palm. This was what he had grabbed as he left—the thread-like magical tool that had killed the Giant Sword Sect disciple!
Han Li channeled a small amount of magical power into it, and the thread gradually straightened, eventually becoming a nearly ten-zhang-long straight silk thread. Han Li willed the thread to sway for a while and immediately sensed its wonderful utility!
If used well, this could be the perfect weapon for ambushing others.
With its near-invisible properties and its incredibly elastic yet sharp cutting ability, Han Li was confident he could make an enemy’s head roll without them even realizing what had happened.
He wondered what material this thread was refined from. If it were even longer, its uses would be even more boundless!
Driven by excitement, Han Li used the thread to slice over a dozen nearby large trees in half effortlessly. This delighted him—it was even more effective than he had imagined.
Unbeknownst to Han Li, at that very moment, on a grassland not far from the restricted area’s center, two groups of disciples—one from the Hua Dao Wu and one from the Clear Void Sect—had encountered each other in a narrow path and were engaged in a fierce battle.
With about five or six people on each side, they were evenly matched, making them worthy adversaries.
This was the first large-scale life-and-death struggle in this Bloody Trial, with both sides eager to enter the center area first to collect spiritual medicines. If they could eliminate their opponents here, that would be even more ideal!
In the end, the Clear Void Sect’s Daoists proved slightly more skilled. After killing most of their opponents, they broke through into the center area.
There, not only were there various exotic flowers and fruits—natural spiritual treasures—but also powerful first-level demon beasts guarding them, capable of rivaling disciples at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Every time a demon beast was killed and the medicines were collected, new spiritual medicines would eventually regrow, and a demon beast would inexplicably reappear, though not necessarily of the same type as the previous one. This phenomenon puzzled the experts of various sects. Moreover, over the years, disciples could only collect spiritual medicines in the periphery of the center area. Venturing too close to the inner area would trap or kill them due to still-active restrictions and traps. The demon beasts deeper inside were also more troublesome. With their limited strength, these disciples could only stay obediently in the outer areas.
Regardless of whether the Clear Void Sect disciples had taken the initiative and collected the spiritual medicines first, Han Li was now facing the greatest crisis of his journey in the restricted area. At a certain crossroads, he was blocked from the front and rear by one disciple from the Giant Sword Sect and one from the Heavenly Fortress Fort.
The burly man from the Giant Sword Sect was very familiar to Han Li—it was the bearded man who had once glared at him. Now, he was grinning viciously at Han Li, looking as though he was seeking revenge.
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