An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Acquaintance

Chapter 364: An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Acquaintance

Having made up his mind, Han Li silently flew away from the mountain peak on his magic tool.

Later, when the Qi Condensation cultivators he had spoken with at the White Pool Gathering could not find the “Senior” Han Li anywhere, they were greatly puzzled.

Han Li first went to the Tianxing Sect’s market town to purchase all the materials on the list for repairing the ancient teleportation array. Only then did he head for the Yue Kingdom.

This time, he did not enter the Yue Kingdom by the same route as before. Instead, he took a detour, sneaking in from a very remote border area between the Yuanwu and Yue Kingdoms.

The Yue Kingdom was now under the control of the demonic path. He had no intention of being hunted down the moment he set foot in dangerous territory.

What Han Li did not know was that his caution had once again inadvertently allowed him to avoid a crisis.

At that moment, the demonic path had deployed a large number of personnel to patrol most of the Yue Kingdom’s borders. If Han Li had recklessly returned by his original route, he would certainly have been unable to evade their eyes and ears. An escape battle would have been all but inevitable.

Now safely inside the Yue Kingdom, Han Li chose sparsely populated areas to travel through, and managed to reach the vicinity of the spirit stone mine where the ancient teleportation array was located without incident.

The mine had, naturally, fallen into the hands of the demonic path.

From a distance, Han Li stole a glance and spotted demonic path disciples dressed in green and white attire.

Based on the emerald green ghost heads and pink peach symbols embroidered on their sleeves, he identified them as cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Pleasure Union Sect.

Having identified the demonic path faction occupying the mine, Han Li quietly slipped away, found the concealed underground entrance nearby, and snuck inside.

He easily located the cave that had been sealed off back then. After using a magic tool to shatter the rubble blocking it, he saw the damaged ancient teleportation array once more.

Seeing that the array still existed, Han Li breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Over the following days, Han Li first used a new set of Illusory Formation Flags to completely conceal the secret entrance with an illusion. Then, he set up the improved “Reversed Five Elements Formation” using its flags and formation disk, protecting the cave housing the ancient teleportation array.

This way, even if demonic path cultivators discovered him, he would have time to escape at his leisure.

With no further worries behind him, Han Li began repairing the teleportation array.

According to the detailed instructions in the jade slip, repairing an ancient teleportation array was an incredibly precise task. Even a single barely noticeable misalignment in a single spiritual pattern could cause the entire array to malfunction. Therefore, Han Li’s repair progress was excruciatingly slow.

Seven whole days passed, and the array was barely over half repaired. Then, a major problem arose: the materials he had purchased beforehand were completely exhausted.

Seeing this, Han Li was somewhat dumbfounded.

The materials he had bought were actually a bit more than the list specified, but he had completely failed to account for mistakes and waste during the repair process.

And he was neither a professional artifact refiner nor an array master.

As a result, due to his lack of skill, over half of the materials were wasted on failed repair attempts. Naturally, he had run out.

Han Li sighed softly. It seemed he would have to go out for a while.

He remembered that to the east of the mine, a few days’ travel away, there was a small market town run by some cultivation clan.

Though it was not large, he should be able to buy basic materials like Iron Essence and Crystal Jade there. After all, the core components of the teleportation array were undamaged; he only needed ordinary materials.

His only concern was that, with the cultivation world in such chaos, whether this market town still existed was an open question. If he took a risk and went there only to find the market gone, that would be a wasted trip.

After deliberating, Han Li decided to leave the underground cave that night under cover of darkness, flying directly towards the market town on his magic tool.

He had already made a plan. If the market town was really gone, he would just have to make another trip back to the Yuanwu Kingdom’s market. There was no way he could leave the ancient teleportation array half-repaired.

But to be safe, Han Li decided to travel at night and find a place to rest and hide during the day.

This would minimize the danger.

So, under the cloak of the pitch-black night, Han Li flew eastward the entire night. As the sky began to lighten, he started looking for a place to stop.

Just as he was scanning the area below, his expression suddenly changed. He whirled his head sharply, staring intently in a certain direction.

He vaguely sensed that someone was rapidly flying towards his location, and it sounded like more than one person.

Without a second thought, Han Li stepped on his Divine Wind Boat, diving diagonally downwards. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the night.

He had just concealed his form and retracted his spiritual energy when a dazzling white light streaked silently towards him like lightning.

Behind the white light was a mass of bloody mist several tens of feet in size, filled with the sounds of howling ghosts and weeping wolves, following closely. Further behind was a pink cloud of mist, emitting faint, clear chirps as it also gave relentless chase.

Han Li, hidden in the forest below, paid no attention to the white light ahead or the pink cloud behind. Instead, he found the blood mist familiar! Wasn’t that the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master’s protective demonic art? Could it be him?

Recalling the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master’s fearsome power and his own bitter experience at his hands, Han Li’s expression darkened.

Just as Han Li thought the group would fly swiftly overhead, the white light ahead suddenly faltered. The light converged and stopped, revealing a woman in white standing on a flying sword.

She was tall and slender, wearing a hooded cloak. As soon as she appeared, she spoke coldly to those behind:

“Insects! You have pursued me relentlessly. Do you truly seek death?”

The woman’s voice was bitingly cold, but upon hearing it, Han Li was so shocked he nearly jumped several feet into the air.

“That… that sounded like Nan Gong Wan’s voice! Could it really be her?” Han Li was greatly alarmed!

This woman, with whom he had shared a body-nurturing union, had spoken to him very little. But as the first woman in Han Li’s life, he had long since etched her voice and appearance deep in his memory.

And this voice did indeed sound very similar to Nan Gong Wan’s, though perhaps a bit hoarser. Han Li was still uncertain, a mix of shock and doubt.

While Han Li was reeling in shock, the blood mist and pink cloud that had been chasing her also seemed startled by the veiled woman’s words, stopping without mutual agreement a dozen or so zhang away.

Then the blood mist and pink cloud thinned, revealing the figures within.

The one in the blood mist was indeed the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master, Wang Chan. But when the pink cloud dissipated, revealing a man and a woman, Han Li was utterly dumbfounded.

The man was the effeminate, strangely beautiful man he had seen at Yanling Fort. The woman was Dong Xuan’er, who had been missing for many days and whom Han Li had assumed had long since fallen into the hands of the demonic path.

Dong Xuan’er’s expression was cold and clear. Her former bewitching charm was completely gone, replaced by an air of dignified propriety.

What shocked Han Li even more was that her cultivation had risen from the initial Foundation Establishment stage he remembered to the mid Foundation Establishment stage.

Watching Dong Xuan’er stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the effeminate man, Han Li’s brow furrowed deeply.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master and the effeminate man, meeting the veiled woman’s icy glare, both showed signs of hesitation.

Though the woman had been severely injured in a mutual destruction fight with a Ghost Spirit Sect Core Formation expert and should be powerless to resist, she was, after all, a Core Formation cultivator who had killed countless demonic path cultivators during the battle for the Moon-Masking Sect. If she fought to the death, she might just drag the two of them down with her. That would be too unjust.

Thinking this, the two exchanged glances, but neither made the first move.

Seeing this, the effeminate, strangely beautiful man’s eyes flickered. A smile on his face, he said to the veiled woman:

“On any other day, hearing such words from Senior Nan Gong, Brother Wang and I would naturally flee at the sight. But now… Even if I, as a junior, wished to let you go out of consideration for the ties between the Moon-Masking Sect and the Pleasure Union Sect, this Brother Wang from the Ghost Spirit Sect would not agree!”

The effeminate man’s tone was one of complete familiarity, as if they were all on the same side and anything could be discussed. But he unceremoniously pushed the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master forward, using him as a shield.

Hearing this, Wang Chan was inwardly furious.

However, he was equally skilled at hiding his emotions. Giving the effeminate man a cold glance, he spoke unhurriedly:

“I have heard that among the Pleasure Union Sect’s secret arts, there is a ‘Moon-Devouring Yin Absorption Technique.’ By practicing it, a man can forcibly absorb a portion of a woman’s primordial yin through dual cultivation. Though the amount is not great, with Senior’s Core Formation cultivation, it should be enough to allow this Young Master Tian here to break through from the mid Foundation Establishment bottleneck into the late stage!”

As soon as Wang Chan said this, the effeminate man’s expression changed slightly.

He had never expected that the true purpose of his relentless pursuit of this woman would be seen through by Wang Chan at a single glance. He couldn’t help but feel a flash of shame and anger.

At the same time, the veiled woman’s eyes flashed with a mixture of shame and rage. Gritting her teeth, she spat out:

“Birds of a feather! You’re looking for death!”

As she spoke, she raised her hand, and a vast expanse of white, misty sword light shot towards them, blotting out the sky.

Seeing this, Wang Chan and the effeminate man were both greatly startled. Blood mist and pink light surged forth instantly, and they prepared to retreat at once.

(Chapter End)