A Calculated Kill and an Unexpected Fortune

Turmoil Beyond the Seas: Slaying a High-Level Cultivator

Just as the Core Formation cultivator within the formation slowed down, a dozen glittering, crystalline ice spears shot out of the seawater beside him without warning, hurtling fiercely toward his back.

Elder Gu’s previously clumsy body suddenly regained its agility. With a twist of his frame, he spun around and raised his hand. A massive yellow crescent blade flew from his palm, shattering the ambushing ice spears with a series of sharp crackcrack* sounds before continuing, unabated, toward the direction from which the ice serpent had shot, slashing through the air.

At the same moment, the seawater behind Elder Gu parted without warning, and a blood-red pillar of light shot out. Because of its incredible speed and the short distance, with the formation constraining him, Elder Gu had no time to dodge. His expression shifted slightly, and a brilliant yellow light flared around his body as he braced himself to endure the blow.

The arm-thick blood-red light struck, staggering the Core Formation cultivator two steps forward and leaving him swaying, unsteady on his feet.

But then, a flash of azure light appeared at his side. Han Li had materialized out of thin air, both hands gripping a massive silver greatsword, which he brought down in a fierce, diagonal slash.

Now, Elder Gu was truly alarmed!

There had been no one there a moment ago. What escape art was the opponent using to be so uncanny?

Although shocked, the yellow light around his body surged upward without hesitation, preparing to receive Han Li’s greatsword head-on.

Han Li let out a soft laugh. His figure vanished before Elder Gu’s eyes, and the air around them filled with a series of puff puff sounds. A dozen razor-thin red threads suddenly appeared, stabbing viciously toward him.

“Flying needles!” Elder Gu cried out in alarm.

Naturally, he knew a great deal about these infamous “yin weapons” of the cultivation world.

Immediately, the yellow light around him blazed brightly as he sought to destroy these insidious magical tools before he could be unwittingly ambushed.

BANG! A thunderous crash resounded.

Han Li reappeared behind Elder Gu and brought his sword down in a single stroke. The yellow radiance shook violently. In the next instant, the dozen red threads, like venomous snakes, wormed their way into the yellow glow, piercing several inches deep and still burrowing relentlessly forward.

Elder Gu was shocked and enraged. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he reached into his storage pouch.

He was beginning to understand. Under the combined pressure of the opponent’s formation and this uncanny assault, his severely depleted vital energy made it seem difficult to win by relying on a single magical treasure alone.

But before he could retrieve another item, two streams of blood light, as thick as a thumb, flickered into existence before him. With piercing sharpness, they shot through his protective yellow radiance.

The yellow glow, which had already dimmed and flickered from absorbing the silver sword strike and restraining the flying needles, was easily pierced by these inconspicuous beams of blood light.

Elder Gu’s face turned deathly pale!

But he was, after all, a Core Formation cultivator. The moment the blood light punched through his protective light, he sensed the danger. Abandoning the idea of retrieving any treasure, he threw his body into a desperate lurch to the side.

One stream of blood light grazed his ear, carrying away most of the flesh from it. The other, though it missed his heart, punched a small, gushing hole through his shoulder.

Elder Gu cried out in pain, his legs giving way as he nearly collapsed to his knees.

But Han Li’s offensive was not over. Qu Hun’s towering figure burst from the seawater, raising both hands, from which two beams of blood-red light erupted in rapid succession.

Simultaneously, Han Li, his expression as cold as stone, wielded the silver sword with one hand, transforming it into a massive, dazzling orb of silver light that continuously battered the yellow glow, producing a grating, piercing scrape scrape sound. With his other hand, he produced a thick stack of talismans, instantly unleashing a storm of fireballs and ice shards. A cacophony of colorful flashes and explosions rang out in an unbroken chain.

Having just recovered from the sharp pain, Elder Gu now grew panicked.

He could clearly feel that, under the immense pressure of the formation and the opponent's relentless assault, his "Hunyuan Bowl" was consuming far too much magical power. It could no longer sustain the consumption of his protective yellow light.

In his terror, he was about to use a secret technique to forcibly extract more of his mana when Han Li’s incantation began, cold and clear, before he could even move.

In an instant, the surrounding seawater began to churn wildly, spinning like a vortex. The crushing pressure weighing down on Elder Gu intensified several-fold in a single breath, forcing the last vestiges of yellow light around his body to emit a mournful screech.

Before his disbelieving eyes, the yellow light around him vanished completely. The dozen or so freed flying needles flashed with red light as they instantly pierced through his vital points, passing out the other side of his body.

Elder Gu’s body swayed twice before he collapsed to one knee.

A flash of silver light swept past him as Han Li, silent as the grave, darted by his side. In the next instant, the head of the Six Serenity Hall Elder was sent flying several yards away.

Blood spurted several feet into the air. A thick, cloying scent of blood spread through the area.

Han Li let out a long, deep breath of relief.

But he immediately bounded over to the corpse, using his silver sword to lift the storage pouch from its waist and snatching it into his hand.

At the same time, Qu Hun retrieved the yellow bowl-shaped magical treasure.

Leading Qu Hun, Han Li flashed out of the formation in a few quick steps, summoned the Divine Wind Boat, and immediately flew off into the sky.

After flying only twenty or thirty li, Han Li guided the vessel straight down into the sea below, diving several tens of zhang deep.

He then stowed the magical tool and produced the red gauze that severed all auras, covering himself and Qu Hun with it. At the same time, they both began to circulate the nameless oral formula, suppressing their cultivation and drawing in their breath.

Not long after they finished, a powerful and furious divine sense descended upon the vicinity, scanning the surface of the sea and the sky, searching everywhere.

Although the divine sense examined the area meticulously, it failed to find any trace of Han Li or Qu Hun. The furious spiritual sense swept right past the two of them, rushing off in other directions in an urgent search.

Now Han Li could truly relax.

Of course, he was not foolish enough to immediately surface and reveal himself. Instead, he simply deployed a faint blue protective barrier at the seabed, shielding them both from the seawater. Together with Qu Hun, he sat down cross-legged to recuperate.

They remained hidden beneath the sea for half a month.

In the first few days, the powerful divine sense seemed unwilling to give up, returning repeatedly to sweep over Han Li's hiding spot several times. But each time, Han Li detected it in advance, used the technique to suppress his aura, and forced the search to withdraw in failure.

Now, the divine sense had completely vanished. It had not reappeared for over ten days.

Only then did Han Li dare to begin moving.

He carefully traveled over a hundred li underwater before finally emerging from the sea. Fixing a direction in his mind, he flew off at full speed.

There was naturally no possibility of returning to Kui Xing Island. He would have to find another place to settle.

He had no idea what illicit relationship the two Six Serenity Hall cultivators, Gu and Miao, had with the young man called "Wu Chou," but it was certainly not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself could afford to be caught up in. The best course of action was to get as far away from their spheres of influence as possible.

Still, it was a real pity: the cave dwelling on Xiao Huan Island, the three sets of valuable array instruments, and all the other magical tools he had lost in the conflict. He had indeed taken a massive loss this time.

Han Li laughed bitterly, mocking himself as he flew at full speed.

But then again, compared to the fate of the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the others, who were likely in grave danger, he had at least managed to keep his life. There was nothing much to complain about.

As Han Li was consoling himself, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He took out Elder Gu’s storage pouch.

For the past few days, he had been living in constant fear and anxiety, with no mind to examine this item. Now was the time to see what was inside.

A Core Formation cultivator’s storage pouch shouldn’t be too shabby, right? He hoped it would at least make up for some of his recent losses.

As his divine sense slowly sank into the storage pouch, Han Li was first shocked, then ecstatic to discover seventy to eighty mid-grade spirit stones inside.

This Elder Gu truly had a remarkable net worth! He had actually been carrying so many spirit stones on his person.

Could it be that, like himself, he was also in the habit of carrying all his belongings with him?

If so, then this many spirit stones seemed perfectly normal for a cultivator who had been at the Core Formation stage for many years.

Coming to this conclusion, Han Li finally tore his attention away from the spirit stones and turned his focus to a few other items.

Inside were a small, inch-high yellow jade bottle; two talismans of glittering blue and gold; a single Daoist manual; and a round, blue-glowing orb.

The rest consisted of a variety of miscellaneous, low-value odds and ends.

The Daoist manual was nothing special—a high-level cultivation method called the "Earth Separation Art." While it wasn't an ordinary product, he had no intention of cultivating it.

The two talismans were good finds. One was a Talisman Treasure depicting a small golden sword. The other was an unknown talisman inscribed with a blue flood dragon. Han Li felt a surge of joy.

He took out the blue orb and fiddled with it for a while before finally confirming that it was the inner core of a fifth-grade demonic beast. Naturally, this was also an extremely rare and valuable item.

Finally, there remained only an unremarkable little bottle.

But when Han Li opened the lid of the small yellow bottle, five thumb-sized yellow pills rolled out into his palm.

These pills were not only identical in size but also vibrant in color, even and symmetrical, and they gave off a peculiar, medicinal fragrance.

“Drop Dust Pills...”

Staring at the pills in his hand, Han Li was completely stunned.

Although he had never seen the real thing before, the shape, color, and fragrance of the pills matched the description in The Alchemy Manual he had bought, without the slightest difference. What else could it be?