Han Li had only taken a few steps when he heard someone calling his name from afar.
“Over here, Brother Han!”
Following the voice, Han Li saw Wan Xiaoshan standing beside an elderly man in a blue gown, waving enthusiastically at him.
Han Li smiled and quickened his pace. As he approached the blue-gowned elder, Wan Xiaoshan introduced, “This is Daoist Qingyan from Tai Nan Valley, a close friend of my father. He is co-hosting this Tai Nan Gathering with several other seniors.”
Hearing this, Han Li took a closer look at Daoist Qingyan.
The elder was tall and slender with broad shoulders and long arms. Dressed in a blue scholar’s robe, he carried an ethereal, almost immortal aura. However, his face, mottled with blue patches, was rather startling.
Wan Xiaoshan then said to the elder, “Brother Han is someone I just met outside the valley. Although he’s a rogue cultivator, we hit it off quite well. Uncle, you must look out for him!”
The elder scrutinized Han Li and suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Young friend Han, your wood-attribute cultivation is quite impressive! To have reached the eighth layer at such a young age is rare, even among cultivation families.”
Hearing this praise, Han Li inwardly sighed. Without the massive consumption of spiritual medicines, he would never have reached the eighth layer and would likely still be struggling between the third or fourth. Outwardly, however, he modestly replied, “You flatter me, Elder Qing. I’ve merely been fortunate.”
Daoist Qingyan nodded faintly and said nothing more to him. Instead, he turned to Wan Xiaoshan. “Little one, the rest of your family has arrived. They were quite worried about you and asked me to bring you to them as soon as I found you. Come with me now.”
Wan Xiaoshan’s face fell. “Don’t tell me Seventh Sister and Ninth Brother are here too? I can’t stand their lecturing. Do I have to go?”
Daoist Qingyan sternly replied, “What do you think?”
“Of course, I have to,” Wan Xiaoshan answered dejectedly.
“Hmph! You’ve got quite the nerve sneaking out without telling your family. If you’d run into some unscrupulous cultivators on the way, you wouldn’t have made it out alive!” As he said this, Daoist Qingyan glanced subtly at Han Li.
“This old man is insinuating that I’m one of those unscrupulous cultivators who deliberately approached Wan Xiaoshan,” Han Li thought coldly, easily catching the implied meaning.
“Ah, it’s rare to meet such an unreserved young master, but it seems we must part ways for now. If Daoist Qingyan decides to make trouble for me, I’ll be in deep water,” Han Li resignedly mused.
“Since Brother Wan needs to meet his family, I’ll take a stroll around on my own. Another time, I’ll share a drink with you, Brother Xiaoshan,” Han Li said, cupping his hands in farewell to Wan Xiaoshan and Daoist Qingyan.
“Wait, don’t go yet! I still want to introduce you to—” Wan Xiaoshan began urgently, but Daoist Qingyan pulled him back and cut him off. “Young friend Han has matters to attend to. Don’t trouble him further.”
Seeing this, Han Li gave Wan Xiaoshan a bright smile and turned to continue toward the plaza.
Meanwhile, the young boy, looking as miserable as a prisoner heading to execution, followed Daoist Qingyan slowly toward the pavilions.
Han Li wasn’t particularly angered by Daoist Qingyan’s attitude. After all, any elder would naturally be suspicious of an unknown friend accompanying their junior, especially in a prominent cultivation family like Wan Xiaoshan’s.
Han Li genuinely bore no ill will toward Wan Xiaoshan; he simply wanted to learn more about the cultivation world from him. But with Daoist Qingyan interfering, he had no choice but to seek opportunities elsewhere.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Han Li gradually approached the plaza filled with small stalls.
The cultivators’ stalls were arranged in a sparse “回” shape around the fairly spacious plaza. People browsing and trading items moved in small groups through the pathways between the stalls, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a mundane marketplace.
Though dusk had fallen, the plaza was brightly lit. Most stalls had large, uniformly designed lanterns made of ancient-style bronze, each standing about a meter tall. Instead of oil, these lanterns held fist-sized, softly glowing white stones.
The light emitted by these stones was far brighter than ordinary oil lamps, illuminating the stalls as if it were daytime and making the nearby paths clearly visible. Han Li couldn’t help but marvel inwardly at this ingenious sight.
Despite the late hour, the plaza was even more crowded than before. New stalls had appeared, and the number of people browsing had surged. A large influx of cultivators had entered the area, making it bustling and lively.
Han Li approached the plaza but didn’t enter immediately. Instead, he lingered nearby, observing the cultivators coming and going.
From up close, the appearances and attire of these cultivators were an eye-opening spectacle for Han Li.
Some wore minimal clothing, covering only vital areas, while others were completely covered from head to toe, not an inch of skin exposed—a stark contrast to the former. Even more bizarre was one cultivator who had a masculine appearance but was dressed in women’s clothing, making Han Li feel nauseated. Fortunately, such eccentric individuals were rare. Though many dressed oddly, most styles were still within Han Li’s tolerance.
After observing for a while, Han Li’s expression suddenly shifted, and a gleam appeared in his eyes.
He noticed that every cultivator in the plaza—whether stall owners or browsers—was in their teens or twenties. Not a single person appeared to be over thirty.
Wan Xiaoshan’s words about the Tai Nan Gathering being a quinquennial event exclusively for juniors came to mind. It seemed older, higher-ranking cultivators wouldn’t appear here. Daoist Qingyan was likely only present due to his role as an organizer.
This realization eased Han Li’s mind. After all, dealing with seasoned old-timers would be difficult, and if they wanted to eliminate him, it would be no harder than crushing an ant.
However, even among these so-called junior cultivators, their strength was nothing to scoff at. Cultivators of Han Li’s level were only mid-tier in the crowd, while experts like the blue-clothed man he had encountered earlier were plentiful here. In just a short while, Han Li had spotted five or six such high-level cultivators, leaving him feeling rather inadequate.
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