The Return

Chapter 209: Return

A rumbling noise echoed continuously within the great stone hall on the surface. The disciples of the Moon-Masking Sect were still laboriously smashing at a stone pit several zhang deep with their magical tools. No matter what tool was used, it could only chip off a piece of rubble the size of an inch, leaving everyone increasingly disheartened.

After several hours, all the male and female disciples sat dully on the ground, staring at the pit in utter silence, their spirits utterly dead. They no longer held any hope of rescuing their Ancestral Grandmaster. Everyone had begun to consider the terrible consequences of losing her and was starting to look for a way out for themselves.

Just then, a loud crash came from outside the stone hall, followed by a tremor in the ground, as if a major upheaval was happening outside. The disciples were taken aback.

"What's going on?" They exchanged bewildered glances. Two male disciples immediately hurried out of the stone hall to investigate.

"Ancestral Grandmaster!"

Soon, the ecstatic cries of those two disciples came from outside the hall. Their voices were so loud that even the disciples still inside the great hall heard them clearly. After a stunned exchange of looks, they all rushed out in a swarm.

About ten zhang from the hall entrance, a large hole, one zhang in diameter, had appeared. Standing near the mouth of the hole was a stunningly beautiful woman in flowing white robes. Her appearance was that of the young girl Ancestral Grandmaster, only somewhat older. At this moment, the Moon-Masking Sect Ancestral Grandmaster was staring coldly into the distance, her face utterly indifferent, paying no attention whatsoever to the two male disciples now standing behind her.

This instantly doused the disciples' initial wild joy with a bucket of cold water, waking them up.

"Is she going to hold us responsible for triggering the prohibition?"

Thinking this, all the disciples involuntarily glanced at the female disciple of the Moon-Masking Twin Beauties, whose face turned deathly pale with fear as she came to the same realization.

After gazing into the distance for a full quarter-hour, the white-clothed woman slowly turned her head. She looked at the assembled disciples and issued a single, icy command.

"Move out."

...

Han Li was leaping swiftly from one large tree to another, his body as nimble as an ape’s, racing down the mountain at a speed no slower than a cultivator flying on a magical tool. His body was currently brimming with spiritual power, giving him the full strength of a thirteen-layer cultivation base. This wondrous feeling of greatly increased magic power was something Han Li was beginning to find addictive.

However, this surplus of spiritual power wouldn’t last long. He estimated it would dissipate in a few more hours.

To escape the underground swamp, the woman he had been intimately united with had used a secret technique. She had temporarily transferred a portion of her sealed magic power to Han Li, boosting his cultivation from the eleventh layer to the peak of the Qi Condensation stage.

The two of them, one wielding the Vermilion Bird Ring and the other using the Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure, had then forcibly blasted a tunnel straight up to the surface from underground. During this process, whenever Han Li’s magic power was exhausted, the woman would silently transfer her own power to him. By the time they emerged, Han Li’s Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure had been completely drained of all its power, becoming a useless scrap of paper, while the young woman had lost twenty to thirty years of her cultivation base. It was a devastating loss.

Her Maiden Rebirth Art was truly peculiar.

During the reincarnation cycle, she could transfer sealed magic power to another man, but could not unseal it herself or transfer it to a woman. Furthermore, the amount of power transferred was limited by the man’s own cultivation realm. Since Han Li was only at the Qi Condensation stage, the power she could transfer was capped at the thirteenth layer of the basic technique; it was impossible for him to enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

Because Han Li had just received the woman’s power when they broke through the last layer of rock to the surface, he could still maintain this thirteenth-layer strength for a while longer, letting him experience this peculiar feeling for a bit more time.

"Nangong Wan..."

Han Li silently repeated the name in his heart. This was the name he had asked of the woman before they parted.

But recalling the reluctance with which she had told him her name, he still felt a pang of disappointment in his heart. He was well aware that even if he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, there was absolutely no chance he would ever have any further connection with someone like her. The gap in their lifespans and status within the cultivation world was simply too vast. So, when she had acted so coldly as they separated, he could only accept it with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Han Li was keenly self-aware. He had some confidence in reaching Foundation Establishment, but the Core Formation stage was something he could only look up to from afar. In a huge sect like the Yellow Maple Valley, with over ten thousand cultivators, only a handful had reached Core Formation. With his poor aptitude, Han Li didn't have a shred of confidence.

As Han Li was pondering this, he suddenly frowned. With a whoosh, his figure vanished from sight. He reappeared in the same spot a moment later, but now there was a storage pouch in his hand. At that moment, the headless corpse of a Spirit Beast Mountain disciple tumbled down from a nearby tree.

Giving the contents of the pouch a cursory glance, Han Li shook his head dismissively and leaped away.

...

On the afternoon of the fifth day since entering the forbidden land, the representatives of the various sects who had been waiting outside finally took action. The seven Core Formation cultivators once again strained to reopen the entrance, then stared into the dark, yawning passage, their expressions calm as they waited for the first person to emerge.

It was clear that breaking the prohibition this time was much easier than it had been five days earlier. As soon as the passage appeared, the seven withdrew their magic treasures, and yet the passage did not disappear, remaining stable and open, leading straight into the forbidden land.

The dozen or so Foundation Establishment team leaders standing behind the seven cultivators each wore a slightly tense expression. After all, this concerned the distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills for the next cycle, and these stewards had a significant stake in the matter.

That old eccentric "Grandmaster Qiong" of the Moon-Masking Sect had somehow appeared on a large rock nearby, watching everyone with a grin. It was clear he was very invested in the outcome of this bet.

Half an hour after the passage had opened, a middle-aged Daoist walked out calmly. His Daoist robe was covered in dust and had several large holes and bloodstains, indicating he had endured a fierce battle to make it out.

After emerging, the middle-aged Daoist bowed to the Core Formation Daoist of the Pure Void Sect and then sat down cross-legged in silence. The Core Formation Daoist looked at him with a faint, approving smile and nodded gently.

Ancestral Master Li’s expression remained calm and unreadable. Grandmaster Qiong, however, rolled his eyes and let out a dissatisfied snort.

Next, disciples from the other sects began to trickle out: the effeminate man from Carving Knife Dock, the ugly fellow Zhong Wu from Spirit Beast Mountain, the blue-clad youth from Heavenly Fortress, and the Chen siblings from Yellow Maple Valley. They all emerged from the passage one after another, bearing various injuries. Each wore a look of exhaustion as they walked to the position of their own sect’s elder and sat down to rest.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, a large group of disciples came out. Unlike the lone wolves who had come out earlier, these disciples were in pairs and trios. Their expressions were also a mix of elation, dejection, and sheer relief.

Including those who had come out earlier, over twenty disciples from the seven sects had now emerged. But there was still no sign of anyone from the Moon-Masking Sect. This caused the others to show expressions of surprise. Yet, Grandmaster Qiong, Fairy Ni Chang, and the other Moon-Masking Sect members remained perfectly composed, looking completely confident.

Another half hour passed. Aside from two disciples from other sects, no one else emerged, and there was still no sign of the Moon-Masking Sect. With only one hour left before the passage closed, Grandmaster Qiong and Fairy Ni Chang exchanged a glance, a flicker of unease finally showing on their faces.

A shadow flickered at the passage mouth, and a young man from Yellow Maple Valley walked out. He had an ordinary face and tidy robes. It was Han Li, who had arrived by killing several people in rapid succession along the way.

The Moon-Masking Sect disciples, who had brightened at the sight of movement in the passage, immediately showed their disappointment when they saw it was someone from Yellow Maple Valley.

Observing the scene outside the passage, Han Li slowly walked over to his sect’s position and sat down, following the order in which the disciples had emerged. As luck would have it, he was seated right next to the Chen siblings.

Yellow Maple Valley had a relatively high number of disciples who had survived the forbidden land. Besides the Chen siblings, there was an older man and another young man. Including Han Li, that made five of them. This far surpassed the other sects, which had only three or four survivors each, and especially the Giant Sword Sect, which had a mere two. This made Ancestral Master Li unable to hide his elation, a spring breeze warming his face.

The Chen siblings and the other two were all visibly stunned to see that Han Li, a mere eleventh-layer disciple, had emerged from the forbidden land completely unscathed. But then, as if realizing something, their expressions shifted to contempt as they swept a glance over him before ignoring him completely.

They all clearly assumed that Han Li had been a coward, hiding away without participating in a single fight, and that he certainly had gained nothing of value.

As the time to close the passage drew nearer and nearer, with not a single Moon-Masking Sect disciple having appeared, Grandmaster Qiong and Fairy Ni Chang could no longer remain seated. Their faces were clearly etched with worry. This secretly delighted Ancestral Master Li and the Pure Void Daoist, who felt that something had indeed gone wrong for the Moon-Masking Sect.

Seeing all this, Han Li frowned slightly, feeling a bit surprised. He had escaped the underground swamp with Nangong Wan, so why hadn't the Moon-Masking Sect disciples arrived yet? He couldn't help but feel a bit concerned for her.