Fame Shakes the World. A Lie Becomes Truth.

Chapter 652: Fame Shakes the World. A Lie Becomes Truth.

“Become my disciple? I do not take disciples. And do you truly believe I would accept a Foundation Establishment female cultivator as one? For the sake of our slight past acquaintance, I shall overlook this presumptuous act. Conduct yourself well from now on.” Han Li gazed at the beautiful woman who had suddenly appeared before him, his expression icy as he flatly refused her.

“Senior! I…” Upon hearing Han Li’s words, a flicker of panic crossed the woman surnamed Mu’s face, and she hurriedly tried to say something more. But Han Li merely gave a light flick of his sleeve. A sudden gale arose, pushing the woman backwards and forcing the words she had been about to speak back down her throat.

By the time she had steadied herself and looked for Han Li again, the space before her was empty. He had vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, the woman’s face fell into an expression of deep dejection. She stood rooted to the spot for a long time, still unwilling to leave.

After all, this suddenly appearing ‘Senior Han’ was the only lifeline she had left to grasp.

At that moment, Han Li had already appeared within the cave dwelling of Little Stone Mountain. Without hesitation, he headed straight for the insect chamber. There, stored within, were nearly ten thousand Gold Devourer Beetles, their bodies almost entirely of a pure crimson-gold color. These were the beetles that had successfully hatched over twenty years ago, having advanced once more from their Gold-Silver stage.

The silver on the carapaces of these flying insects had now shrunk to tiny pinhole-sized specks. Unless one held them right under their nose and observed closely, it was impossible for the naked eye to detect even a trace of silver light flickering within the gold.

This indicated that these Gold Devourer Beetles were still one step away from the final, completely mature state.

This filled Han Li with excitement, but also a faint hint of disappointment.

Even so, the power of these nearly pure-gold beetles had truly opened Han Li’s eyes. He had once placed a hundred of the tri-colored Gold Devourer Beetles together with a hundred of these newly advanced golden ones. In the space of a few moments, the tri-colored insects had been devoured completely by their slightly larger kin.

Whether in terms of devouring ability or the toughness of their bodies, these new beetles far surpassed the tri-colored ones. Furthermore, as they neared maturity, they began to emit a ferocious aura that made one’s heart tremble. They had also developed a taste for blood and flesh, becoming incredibly bloodthirsty and brutal—a far cry from their previous nature.

He believed that if he had not already placed control restrictions on them, these flying insects would have unhesitatingly turned on him.

Even so, Han Li could faintly sense signs that the new beetles were becoming somewhat uncontrollable.

It seemed that if they evolved one more time, ordinary restriction techniques would be insufficient to control these savage insects, whose true nature had now been revealed.

Thinking this, Han Li nevertheless followed his old methods, once again selecting a batch of the largest Gold-Silver beetles to isolate, feed, and hasten their maturity. He wanted to accelerate their evolution into the mature spiritual insects that had only appeared in the primordial era.

However, judging by the pattern that each advancement took longer than the last, he estimated that without a hundred years, it would be impossible to complete this final step of evolution. But perhaps having this period of buffer time was a good thing; it would give him the opportunity to find a better method for controlling these spiritual insects.

While pondering these matters, Han Li carefully put away the Gold Devourer Beetles in the insect chamber. He then went to the spirit garden, carefully relocating the Spirit Eye Tree and the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng, which had now grown almost as tall as their original forms.

The Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng was nothing to worry about. Although it had lost a significant amount of its vitality recently due to his pill refinement, Han Li had later used the green liquid to restore most of its lost energy. It was now out of danger.

As for the Spirit Eye Tree, after so many years of hastened growth, the day when its rich sap would flow was not far off.

Han Li was quite looking forward to using this sap to refine a large quantity of Clarity Cleansing Spiritual Water. He wondered what wondrous ability would manifest after washing his eyes with it.

Aside from the spirit insects and the medicinal herbs in the garden, Han Li couldn’t be bothered to pack up the other miscellaneous items. He simply flew directly out of the cave dwelling.

As he flew over the spirit garden from a high altitude, Han Li unconsciously glanced down again. The woman surnamed Mu was still standing before the garden, looking towards the stone mountain. Her teeth were biting her lower lip, her face full of unwillingness. She did not notice Han Li, whose presence was deliberately concealed, flying past overhead.

Han Li lightly shook his head. Resolving this matter would be a trivial task for him, but he had only just become a Revered Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect. The last thing he wanted was to give others the impression that he wielded his authority. After all, both the Mu and Yan Clans were not insignificant immortal clans in Xi Country.

Given his shallow relationship with this woman, he had no reason to interfere. He couldn’t just take on any trouble that came his way simply because a former Falling Cloud Sect disciple who knew him asked for help.

When it came to the internal affairs of others’ clans, Han Li truly had no interest in forcing his way in.

Han Li flew away from the Falling Cloud Sect without a sound, arriving before the mountain peak where his new cave dwelling was located.

Gently parting the concealing mist of the formation, Han Li headed straight for the new cave dwelling on the central peak.

He skillfully re-settled the spirit insects and herbs before temporarily handing over the affairs of the dwelling to Silvermoon. Without any further delay, he entered the secluded cultivation chamber and began to condense his Nascent Soul.

During this time, the silver-haired elder and the others also knew that Han Li needed time for the initial condensation of his Nascent Soul, so they did not disturb his cultivation.

One hundred days later, Han Li had successfully condensed his Nascent Soul with immense smoothness, and had also achieved a preliminary unity of mind and soul. Now, if he were to send his Nascent Soul out of his body, he could easily control its every move.

When Han Li emerged from the secluded chamber, Silvermoon, as usual, had transformed into a young woman and was waiting respectfully outside.

However, when she saw Han Li, a strange expression appeared on her delicate face.

“What is it? It seems you have something to tell me. Has something happened?” Han Li frowned as he asked.

“Master, just half a month after you entered the cultivation chamber, that ‘Master Mu’ came looking for you again. She has been waiting on a small hill outside the subsidiary peak for you for several days now.” Silvermoon said with a suppressed smile.

“That woman is truly unaware of her limits. If she wants to wait, let her wait. I’m certainly not going to invite trouble for myself.” Han Li raised an eyebrow, his expression indifferent.

“However, Master, not long after that woman arrived, we received sound transmission talismans sent on behalf of both the Yan and Mu Clans. Since you were in seclusion, I copied and saved them for you. Would you like to take a look?” Silvermoon’s eyes twinkled as she asked tentatively.

“Sound transmission talismans? The Yan and Mu Clans? Could it be related to that woman surnamed Mu? Judging by your expression, you’ve obviously already seen them. Is there a problem?” Han Li stroked his chin, his expression unreadable.

“Hehe! Master truly knows everything without being told. But there’s no need for me to explain; you’ll understand at a glance. You might have a bit of trouble, Master.” Silvermoon said with a light, charming laugh.

“Give them here!” Hearing Silvermoon’s words, Han Li couldn’t be bothered to guess further and directly stretched out his hand.

Silvermoon immediately took out two talismans, one red and one white, and handed them to Han Li with a smile.

Han Li took the talismans without ceremony and gave them a shake. Two balls of light, one red and one white, lit up in his hands.

Han Li immersed his mind into both orbs of light, calmly listening to their contents. But after a moment, a look of astonishment appeared on his face, which was then followed by an expression of great annoyance.

“Hmph! This woman has some nerve. Does she truly believe that because she was my nominal martial aunt for a few years, I would permit such nonsense from her?” After fully hearing the contents, Han Li’s face sank like water, and his voice turned icy cold.

“Of course she knows this will anger you, Master. But although she has little contact with you, she has likely seen that you are not truly heartless. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the courage that day to seek the protection of a Nascent Soul cultivator like you. Besides, even if you were to punish her, she would probably still find it preferable to becoming that ‘Senior Brother Yan’s’ dual cultivation partner.” Silvermoon analyzed, barely able to suppress a smile.

“But she really does have some nerve. She actually went and directly told both families that I had already accepted her as my personal concubine. That’s made the heads of both clans rush to send talismans to apologize. The Yan clan leader even stated immediately that they had no idea she had become my concubine, and that they were already breaking off the engagement with the Mu Clan, hoping I wouldn’t take offense. Since she dared to do this, she must have realized she’d have to face the consequences.” Han Li cast a disapproving glance at Silvermoon as he spoke.

“Master’s intention is…” Silvermoon blinked her bright eyes, a hint of surprise flashing across her face.

“What is it? Now that my Nascent Soul is formed, is it so strange for me to take a concubine? Besides, this woman’s beauty is indeed out of the ordinary. I am a normal male cultivator, after all. What’s wrong with turning a falsehood into reality and experiencing the flavor of dual cultivation?” Han Li suddenly stretched, a lazy expression appearing on his face, though a faint, cold smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“But Master, you have never been one for women. In the past, you refused several such opportunities that were handed to you on a silver platter. Take that young lady Wen, for instance, and even earlier…” Silvermoon was taken aback, her red lips pursed in confusion.

“The past is the past. The present is the present. Back then, my Nascent Soul was not yet formed, and my cultivation was shallow. Naturally, I wouldn’t have had the mind to seek pleasure or take concubines. If I had run into a woman like Wen Siyue now, I certainly wouldn’t have let her off so easily.” Han Li’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in a calm tone, as if he were completely serious.

Silvermoon was stunned by these words, standing there speechless for a moment.

(End of Chapter)