A Name Resounding – Obtaining the Spirit Root

Chapter 644: A Name Resounding – Obtaining the Spirit Root

“How dare you!” The youth’s brows shot up when he saw an avatar-dwelling foe kill a man right before him. With a flick of his wrist, the rainbow streak in front of him shattered into countless crystalline crimson threads, shooting toward the Heavenly Fiend True Lord.

Old Man Jiang’s expression also shifted drastically. He hurriedly spat out a yellow flying sword to shield his body, then pushed off the ground with both feet and scrambled backward.

He dared not take the swift strike of a sect master head-on.

A strange smile curled across the Heavenly Fiend True Lord’s face. His direction suddenly changed. With a flicker, he reversed course toward the white-robed young woman, his violet claw reaching without hesitation for her shoulder.

The white-robed woman, already mentally shaken by the revelation that the Confucian scholar was a spy, was caught off guard by the Heavenly Fiend True Lord’s sudden ambush. Her face drained of color. Without time to think, she threw the long-faced old man to the ground and formed a hasty hand seal. A streak of azure light shot from her sleeve as she prepared to desperately block his strike.

But amidst a burst of wild laughter, the Heavenly Fiend True Lord feigned the attack once more. His giant hand reversed direction, snatching the long-faced old man from the ground. With a suction force, he pulled the man directly into his grasp. Then his single hand clenched into a massive fist, violet light flashing chaotically, and he struck backward, meeting the incoming fiery red sword-threads head-on.

A muffled groan rang out. The old fiend’s form was forced back two steps. But using that momentum, he carried the long-faced old man and landed lightly back in his original position.

The long-faced old man, apparently having been tampered with in some way, immediately sprang back up and bowed to the Heavenly Fiend True Lord in gratitude.

“Thank you, True Lord, for saving my life!”

“Hmph! If it weren’t for the shortage of hands here and the risk of ruining a greater matter, why would I bother saving a junior from the righteous path? Whether you keep your life depends entirely on your own ability.” The Heavenly Fiend True Lord gave a cold snort, then his form blurred and he shot once more toward the blue-clad youth.

This time, he intended to truly tie down the other party, buying time for Du Dong and the others to escape.

“Let’s go. The restrictions outside were tampered with by me. Their power is less than a tenth of normal—we can break through easily.” The long-faced old man, decisive in killing and action, shouted to Du Dong and the Confucian scholar, then charged toward the group led by the old man surnamed Fu by the stone door.

Du Dong and the Confucian scholar were overjoyed. One released two white flying swords, the other wrapped himself in a layer of black light. The three of them united and struck together.

The old man surnamed Fu and his companions, unwilling to let the three escape so easily, met them head-on with all their magical treasures.

In an instant, the cultivators in the cave split into two groups, locked in battle.

Shouts of rage and sounds of explosion swelled together amidst all kinds of brilliant light.

Watching all this from the sidelines, Han Li judged the moment had come. Without further hesitation, he moved.

He shook the wolf-headed scepter in his hand. Yellow light flickered around him as he quickly employed the Earth Escape technique, silently sinking toward the roots of the Spirit Eye Tree.

At this moment, all the cultivators in the cave were occupied with their enemies. Naturally, no one thought of another person playing the role of the fisherman reaping the spoils.

Thus, unseen and unheard, Han Li reached the base of the Spirit Eye Tree. A layer of faint golden light blocked his path.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He raised both hands, and azure light blazed from his ten fingers. Without a sound, he pressed them against the barrier’s surface.

Instantly, golden light and azure radiance intertwined. The entire barrier trembled slightly.

If this were a normal, peaceful time, the disturbance to this metal-attribute barrier would long since have been detected by the cultivators guarding the spirit tree. But now, with the fighting fierce, naturally no one noticed the barrier’s minute change.

Moments later, seeing his hands had forcibly penetrated the golden light, a flicker of joy crossed Han Li’s face. With a surge of azure light from his hands, he suddenly pulled them apart.

A thin, long crack split open in the barrier.

Whoosh.

Han Li’s body stretched unnaturally, and with a flicker, he slipped inside the barrier. The golden light silently sealed shut again.

Looking at the roots of the spirit tree before him, Han Li’s face revealed a rare hint of delight.

Though the main trunk of the Spirit Eye Tree looked nothing like an ordinary tree, its spirit root shape was similar to a normal tree’s—except that its color was an abnormally vivid emerald green.

A loud explosion came from the ground above. Then a rain of falling debris followed, and even a violent tremor shook the ground around Han Li. It seemed someone had used a powerful technique.

At that moment, the voice of the old man surnamed Fu came from above, frantic and furious.

“Chase them! Don’t let them get away!”

The sound of breaking wind and flying figures was heard. Then the Heavenly Fiend True Lord’s laughter rang out.

“Fellow Daoist Lan, how did you find my ‘Violet Luo Mysterious Art’? Though I’m casting through an avatar, as long as I don’t mind sacrificing some of this body’s essence blood, keeping you occupied for a while is a simple matter.”

“Heavenly Fiend Old Devil! You don’t even care about your own disciple anymore? Even if that beloved disciple of yours survives, his cultivation will be ruined by seventy or eighty percent.” The youth’s voice remained cold and emotionless, but Han Li could still detect a hint of extreme anger within it.

“My disciple? Does that rebellious disciple still see himself as a disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Sect? From what I hear, his words sound more like a disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect. Fine. That does save me a bit of concern. Eh? Old Ghost Lan, where do you think you’re going?” The Heavenly Fiend True Lord’s voice was still perfectly composed, but then it suddenly changed, carrying a note of surprise.

“Hmph! I have no interest in tangling with an avatar. Those little demon spawn won’t be taking the spirit liquid out of our Cloud Dream Mountain.” The next moment, the youth’s voice came faintly from a distance. He had already fled out of the cave.

“Leaving? Not so fast!” The Heavenly Fiend True Lord let out a low roar, apparently chasing after him.

In the blink of an eye, aside from Han Li, there was no one else in the place.

Han Li finally relaxed completely.

Without further delay, he flicked his finger. A slash of azure light, several inches long, shot from his fingertip, flickering and wavering uncertainly.

With a flash of azure, a small section of the spirit root was easily severed. A few drops of milky-white spirit liquid seeped from the cut.

A refreshing fragrance drifted out!

Han Li paid it no mind. Instead, he let yellow light flare around his body, and holding the spirit root, he surfaced through the ground, appearing within the light barrier in the cave.

He swept his gaze around. On one wall, a hole several zhang wide had been blasted open, surrounded by sparkling debris.

So this was the destruction wrought by the Heavenly Fiend True Lord’s strike. Even the restriction-laden, iron-hard stone wall had been shattered with a single blow—truly impressive divine ability. And it was thanks to this that Du Dong and the other two had been able to escape.

Han Li wasted no time. He patted his storage pouch, and a jade-carved box appeared in his hand.

Carefully, he placed the severed spirit root into the jade box, then stowed it away with a solemn expression.

Satisfied, Han Li nodded. Then he prepared to break through the barrier and see if he could catch up to the fleeing man with disheveled hair and his companions.

After all, although he had the spirit root, he still needed a chance to obtain the refining methods for the Clear Ming Spirit Water and the Settling Spirit Pill.

And though the Heavenly Fiend True Lord had temporarily possessed the disheveled old man’s body, the Possession Art could not last long. He would surely be defeated by the youth and wouldn’t have fled too far.

Just as azure light shimmered on Han Li’s hands and he once again pressed them against the barrier, his expression suddenly shifted. A hint of surprise crossed his face.

He frowned slightly, then turned and walked behind the spirit tree.

There lay a yellow meditation cushion and a square stone platform about a foot long. On the platform rested a jade slip glowing with a faint green light.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then carefully swept his divine sense over these items. There were no hidden restrictions on them.

He raised a hand. A patch of azure light shot from his palm, wrapped around the green jade slip, and brought it back into his grasp.

Gazing at the jade slip, Han Li remained motionless as his divine sense began to probe its contents.

After a long time, Han Li withdrew his divine sense from the green jade slip, a look of astonishment on his face. It contained the cultivation technique of the disheveled-haired cultivator and some of his insights on alchemy. The refining methods for both the Settling Spirit Pill and the Clear Ming Spirit Water were recorded within.

Han Li held the jade slip, feeling somewhat confused.

Had this old man surnamed Wei sensed that his own time was near, and thus left this jade slip behind, intending to give it to someone? However, the jade slip had been placed behind the spirit tree without any attempt at concealment, as if left for the Falling Cloud Sect cultivators. Did that hold some special meaning?

Han Li looked at the jade slip, thought for a moment, then took out a blank jade slip from his storage pouch and quickly copied the contents of the green slip.

With his current cultivation, the copying was done in a few moments.

Han Li returned the green slip to its original place and stored the copy in his pouch. Then he strode toward the golden barrier on one side.

Who knew when the cultivators from the three sects would return? It was best to leave this place as soon as possible. After all, he had already achieved the goals of this trip.

No longer needing to worry about being seen, Han Li channeled his spiritual power. Azure light flashed, and he slashed a large opening in the barrier with an azure sword-blade.

In an instant, he was out of the barrier, transforming into a streak of azure light as he shot away.

(Another chapter tonight!)