Reputation Spreads, Trail Exposed

Han Li had indeed already flown away from Five Li Gully, and was now over a dozen li away. After sending his final few words via voice transmission, he transformed into an azure rainbow without looking back.

The Han family of the present day, strictly speaking, had some connection to him, but the true family in his heart had always been his parents, his elder brother, and his younger sister.

Although the Confucian scholar and the large man had always been extremely respectful towards him, Han Li still could not bring himself to feel any closeness. The estrangement of so many generations, combined with the changes in Azure Bull Town and Five Li Gully, created a sense of alienation, a feeling of unfamiliarity that was difficult to overcome.

Still, having returned to his hometown once, the last trace of concern in his heart had finally faded. He believed that as the years passed, even this tenuous connection would eventually become insignificant.

Han Li pondered silently, fixed his direction, and accelerated his flying speed.

A few days later, he passed through Lan Province on his journey. On a sudden impulse, he made a detour to look at Jiayuan City.

Upon entering the city, he found that everything had changed. The people were different.

Not only had Sun Er Gou and the Siping Gang long since vanished into thin air, but even the Five Colors Sect, which had once dominated all of Lan Province, had ceased to exist over a hundred years ago, replaced by a newly risen sect called the "Heavenly Unity Society."

If he remembered correctly, the Five Colors Sect had once had backing from the Spirit Beast Mountain, and before the decisive battle with the demonic path, Spirit Beast Mountain had suddenly switched sides and returned to the Imperial Spirit Sect.

Now, the State of Yue was under the control of the Ghost Spirit Sect. Given this, the decline of the Five Colors Sect was only natural.

He wondered if Mo Yuzhu and her daughter Ying'ning had encountered any misfortune. Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and even after making some inquiries, Han Li could not find any news.

He could only let out a sigh and left in a hurry.

As for Sun Er Gou, although the Sun family had sworn allegiance to him, he had never truly asked anything of them. On the contrary, he had given Sun Er Gou quite a few benefits. Having learned nothing of the Sun family's fate, he had no reason to dwell on them.

Thus, Han Li left Jiayuan City, his heart finally unburdened, and headed straight for Yuanwu Country. He planned to cross Yuanwu Country and return to the Falling Cloud Sect.

But just half a day after leaving Jiayuan City, he suddenly paused mid-flight.

He tilted his head, gazing into the distance to one side, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

At the same time, over two hundred li away, another group of travelers also halted their flying light. Two women in white exchanged a hesitant glance, a trace of gravity rising on their jade-like faces.

"Two Martial Aunts! What's wrong? Is something amiss?" an old man behind the two women asked, somewhat nervously, seeing their expressions.

"Mn. We just sensed the other party's location, but the Spiritual Infant suddenly stopped and hasn't moved. We don't know if it has discovered our trail," said the woman with willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix-like eyes. The lazy demeanor between her brows had vanished entirely, replaced by a sharp, blade-like aura.

"Impossible. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't sense something from such a distance. Could it be that when you two Martial Aunts activated your secret technique, you alerted the Spiritual Infant within the restriction, and that's why the other party sensed something wrong?" a seemingly fierce-looking man guessed, his face changing color.

"Impossible. Our technique was personally taught by your Martial Ancestor. It only allows one-way sensing of the Wood Spiritual Infant's location. As long as the other party hasn't reached the late Nascent Soul stage, they wouldn't notice anything unusual. We're hundreds of li apart. Even with exceptionally powerful divine sense, an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator could at most observe everything within a hundred li radius, which is already terrifying enough. Could the cultivator restraining the Spiritual Infant be one of those late-stage old freaks after all?" the woman surnamed Liu shook her head, denying the possibility.

"But, Martial Aunt Liu, then why would the other party..." the green-robed female cultivator, one of the four Foundation Establishment cultivators, still wanted to speak, her face filled with worry.

But suddenly, Han Yunzhi, who had been silently forming hand seals beside them, spoke up in surprise.

"Not good. The Spiritual Infant has started moving. It's flying towards us."

"What? Heading towards us? Has it really discovered us?" The woman surnamed Liu's face lost its color as she hurriedly formed hand seals to sense something.

"The one restraining the Spiritual Infant is definitely coming this way with it, and the speed is astonishing. It must be a Nascent Soul cultivator without a doubt," she confirmed a moment later, her face turning cold.

"Flee quickly. We must never fight this person, or we'll surely die. I remember the Ghost Spirit Sect's Lan Province branch is nearby. Let's head there. Although our sects don't get along, we're both part of the demonic path. Facing this unknown Nascent Soul cultivator, we'll have to rely on their protective formations. Besides, the other party might not dare to openly attack a Ghost Spirit Sect branch. Our chances of escape are good," Han Yunzhi said slowly after a moment of deliberation.

"Martial Aunt Han is right. Let's go quickly, or it'll be too late!" The green-robed man, upon hearing that a Nascent Soul cultivator was approaching, swallowed hard and began to panic.

"Hmph! What's there to panic about? Do you even need to say it? We six will use the 'Spiritual Union Art' to link our magic power. That should increase our flying speed by nearly half. Begin the spell now!" The woman surnamed Liu raised her brows and swept the man with an icy glare.

The man was startled and dared not speak further.

With Han Yunzhi and the woman surnamed Liu taking the lead, the six immediately began to cast the spell. They each activated their treasures and implements, linking their spiritual energy together as if they were a single person, transforming into a beam of yellow light that shot back along their original path at incredible speed.

At that moment, Han Li was on the other end, flying at full speed with a dark expression on his face.

Even Han Li himself was not entirely certain of the exact strength of his divine sense now.

He only knew that when he deliberately activated his technique, with the fourth layer of the Great Derivative Art, his divine sense could envelop a full hundred li radius. Beyond that, although he could not detect every single detail, he could still sense the general movements within two or three hundred li.

A moment ago, he had suddenly felt a hidden, strange spiritual force lingering around him without dispersing. This startled Han Li.

The spiritual force was extremely faint and peculiar. Had his divine sense not been so powerful, an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would have been unlikely to detect it.

Although he did not know the specifics, Han Li understood that trouble had found him.

He guessed that either the massacre of the Fu family in Yuanwu Country had been exposed, or those Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators he had casually disposed of in the Taiyue Mountain Range had stirred up some trouble.

Without a second thought, he dispersed his divine sense in all directions and indeed managed to discover several cultivators secretly following him over two hundred li behind.

Although they were too far away for him to identify who they were, Han Li's killing intent had already been stirred. Without hesitation, he flew towards them.

He would never allow cultivators capable of tracking him to follow behind him. It was better to eliminate them now and avoid future troubles.

After all, they seemed to be only a few Core Formation cultivators. Eliminating them should be effortless.

The six fleeing cultivators, now a thick yellow light, raced for their lives. At the far end of the horizon, a dazzling azure rainbow over ten zhang long, emitting a clear hum, gave chase from behind.

In just a short while, the flying light Han Li had transformed into had closed to within a hundred li. The woman surnamed Liu, who had been intermittently sensing Han Li's position with secret techniques, grew pale and finally showed a trace of fear.

At this rate of pursuit, they would not even make it half the distance to the Ghost Spirit Sect branch before the Nascent Soul cultivator caught up.

In her panic, she turned her jade-like neck to discuss escape tactics with Han Yunzhi, but Han Yunzhi spoke first, her voice low with relief:

"Look ahead! A group of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators seems to be heading our way."

"Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators?"

This low exclamation from Han Yunzhi not only lifted the spirits of the woman surnamed Liu but also brought a flicker of hope to the old man and the other three Imperial Spirit Sect cultivators. Although they dared not hope that the Ghost Spirit Sect force could actually contend with a Nascent Soul cultivator, even a slight delay to buy them time would be a blessing.

An instant later, the others also spotted a dozen or so faint black dots in the distance.

Seeing this, the woman surnamed Liu felt a slight sense of relief. She glanced covertly at Han Yunzhi, inwardly alarmed that her 'Martial Sister Han' had detected the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators much earlier than she had.

There was only one Wood Spiritual Infant. On the surface, she and Han Yunzhi were martial sisters, but in reality, theirs was an 'either-or' relationship. They called each other 'Martial Sister' on the surface, while secretly competing fiercely, each hoping to be the one to fuse with the Wood Spiritual Infant. After all, who would be willing to let go of a chance to ascend in a single leap?

By now, the yellow light the six had been riding arrived before the group of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. The spiritual energy dispersed, and the six cultivators retracted their lights, revealing themselves before the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

These Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had also long noticed the Imperial Spirit Sect group. While they did not immediately make any hostile moves, they spread out and adopted a cautious stance.

"Oh? Isn't this Imperial Spirit Sect's Martial Sister Han and Martial Sister Liu? What a rare guest to have you two Martials Sisters visiting the State of Yue!" A somewhat surprised voice rang out as three Core Formation cultivators—two men and one woman—stepped forward from among the black-robed Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.