Counting the Spoils

After fleeing a hundred miles in a single burst using the Lightning Escape Technique, Han Li paused briefly to reorient himself, then switched to his Bloodshadow Cloak and transformed into a streak of blood light that shot across the sky.

This time, after flying another thousand miles, he spotted a Moulan mortal convoy of tens of thousands below. His mind stirred, and he stopped.

During his time at the Falling Cloud Sect, he had spoken with the silver-haired elder about the clashes between Moulan Dharma Warriors and Heavenly South cultivators.

He knew that, while ordinary Moulan tribesmen could not train in Spiritual Arts, the Moulan Dharma Warriors would still organize able-bodied mortals into temporary tribes whenever they launched an offensive. While the Heavenly South cultivators were too preoccupied to spare attention, these tribes would rush to seize various spirit stone mines and raw material sites in the Heavenly South. This way, even if the Dharma Warriors eventually failed and retreated, they would not return empty-handed.

Such predatory raids naturally drew furious condemnation from the Nine Nations Alliance, but they had no spare effort to address the matter at the time.

If too few cultivators were sent to guard those locations, a high-ranking Moulan Dharma Warrior could easily wipe them out in one fell swoop. If too many were dispatched, it would affect the main battlefield against the Dharma Warriors.

The only feasible measure was to wait until the Dharma Warriors had seized the mines and resource sites, then dispatch cultivators to retake them and eliminate the Moulan mortals in the process.

Unfortunately, the Moulan cared nothing for ordinary mortal casualties. As soon as one batch was destroyed, they would immediately organize another. It was simply a matter of trading lives for those rare resources. Moreover, they frequently set traps to heavily wound the cultivators sent to retake the mines and sites.

Having lost not a few cultivators this way, the Nine Nations Alliance chose to turn a blind eye. After all, in such a short time, even if the Moulan mined frantically, they could not steal away too many resources or spirit stones. And once the Dharma Warrior army was defeated head-on, these Moulan mortals would obediently retreat of their own accord.

The current convoy was filled with ox-carts and horse-drawn wagons, heading toward the Heavenly South. Most of the people were young men and women; it was clearly a small temporary tribe formed to seize Heavenly South resources.

Han Li hovered above the convoy. With a sweep of his powerful spiritual sense, he detected only one Foundation Establishment and three Qi Condensation Dharma Warriors—none capable of threatening him.

He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly formed a hand seal. His figure vanished into thin air. The next instant, he silently appeared inside a shabby leather-canopied wagon in the Moulan convoy. The wagon was stuffed with tattered cowhides and a few digging tools like hoes.

With a wave of his hand, Han Li cleared a small space in the middle of the wagon. He sat down cross-legged without the least hesitation.

His reasoning was sound. With the Moulan Dharma Warriors fully mobilized, for him to return to the Heavenly South openly as a cultivator would almost certainly invite trouble on the road.

With his cultivation level, unless he ran into the very top figures among the Dharma Warriors, he need not fear anyone. But he could not withstand a mob.

After all, even the group of seven or eight Nascent Soul cultivators he had traveled with had to hide and skulk during their treasure hunt.

Besides the Dharma Warriors, he also had to avoid Wang Tiangu and his group, lest they foolishly decided to hunt him down and silence him.

By hiding among this mortal convoy, though the pace was maddeningly slow, in two or three days he could safely leave the Moulan Grasslands.

Surely no one would pay attention to such an ordinary mortal caravan. Even if a Dharma Warrior occasionally inspected it, with his current abilities, unless it was a late-Nascent Soul Dharma Warrior, they would not detect his presence.

Once he entered the wilderness and left the Moulan domain, he could return to the Heavenly South alone.

Now seated inside the wagon, the conversation of several Moulan men outside the carriage fell clearly into his ears.

The Moulan tongue was naturally different from the Yan language of the Heavenly South, but before setting out, Han Li had studied it through relevant jade slips.

With his powerful spiritual sense, learning such things took only a day or two, and he had grasped most of it. So he could understand the words outside.

They were mostly discussing how many spirit stone resources they could plunder on this trip to the Heavenly South, and whether they might catch the favor of the 'Honored Masters' and rise above the common crowd.

From their words, these Moulan mortals were filled with worship and reverence toward those Dharma Warriors, almost to the point of a faith-like devotion.

It seemed that for an ordinary Moulan, even dying for these Dharma Warriors was a matter of great honor.

When Han Li heard this, he sighed inwardly. Then, with a single hand gesture, a thin azure light shield sealed off the entire interior of the wagon.

The voices of the Moulan people vanished instantly.

"Silvermoon, now tell me about your harvest. From how excited you looked earlier, there should be quite a few good things, right?" Han Li sat motionless, but with a flick of his sleeve, the small white fox shot out, circled once, and landed before him.

"Whether they're good things or not, I'm not entirely sure. Master should know—though there were many ancient treasures on the first floor, I didn't touch any of them, because after using the escape technique I couldn't suppress their spiritual energy. As for the jade boxes you fought over on the second floor—originally there were six, but I took half of them. Hehe! Actually, Silvermoon wanted to take most of the jade boxes, but I worried that taking too few might arouse their suspicion, which would be bad. So I only took three." The small fox crouched on the ground, its voice light and cheerful.

Then it opened its mouth and spat out three crystalline jade boxes, landing steadily in front of Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the boxes, reached toward his waist, and pulled out another identical jade box.

"Elder Cang Kun left a total of six jade boxes, and four of them have fallen into my hands. This trip wasn't wasted after all." Han Li stroked the lid of the box and gave a faint smile.

"But Master, you were really bold. To have me sneak in first right under the noses of so many Nascent Soul cultivators—weren't you afraid of being discovered?" Silvermoon sighed with some lingering fear.

"Hehe! What's there to be afraid of? At worst, I could have used the Blood Shadow Escape and fled far away in an instant. Besides, I was eighty to ninety percent sure of success. I used that burst of spiritual light to mask your entry, didn't it work? No one noticed anything amiss. I was a bit worried that you might not be able to conceal your form after retrieving the treasure, and those old monsters would detect you. But it seems your escape technique's subtlety far exceeds my expectations." Han Li smiled slightly, raised his head to look at the white fox, and said with a hint of meaning.

"Master flatters me. Though the escape technique of our Silver Moon Wolf Clan is exquisite, the main reason is that these jade boxes themselves can suppress spiritual energy. Otherwise, I doubt we could have fooled the spiritual senses of those old monsters." Silvermoon's expression did not change; instead, she replied with a smile.

Han Li gave a mild laugh and did not press further. But the hand on the jade box suddenly flickered with azure spiritual light. With a slight force from his fingers, a sliver of white light appeared on the box's surface, but was immediately suppressed and devoured by the azure light.

With a "click," the lid opened easily. Inside lay a pale blue jade slip.

Han Li stared at the jade slip for a moment, then let out a light breath. He picked it up, and with a somewhat grave expression, immersed his spiritual sense into it.

The small fox stared at Han Li's face, its black eyes darting around in clear interest.

But as time passed, Han Li's expression did not change at all. He maintained a calm demeanor the whole time.

Silvermoon blinked, a hint of confusion flickering across her eyes.

A full quarter of an hour later, Han Li's expression shifted slightly as he withdrew his spiritual sense. He frowned in thought for a moment, then his brows relaxed, and he calmly put away the jade slip. He reached for the second jade box without saying a word about the contents of the first.

Silvermoon's curiosity grew even stronger, but she wisely did not press.

The second jade box was opened in the same manner.

This time, inside was a small, exquisite ring. It was black and lusterless, somewhat inconspicuous.

"Is this an ancient treasure?" Silvermoon asked in surprise.

"It doesn't quite seem like it. It appears to have little spiritual energy." Han Li looked it over and did not sound very certain.

Then he reached out, lifted the ring with two fingers, and brought it close to his eyes for a careful examination.

"The material is a bit strange, but it should be just an ordinary magic tool. As for its specific use, it's hard to say." Han Li turned it over a few times, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and made a judgment.

"Just a magic tool?" Silvermoon's eyes showed disappointment.

"Don't worry. Since Elder Cang Kun went to the trouble of placing it in a jade box, it must have some special purpose. Maybe it will come in handy later." Han Li was unconcerned; he showed no sign of disappointment.

"Master, take a look at the other two jade boxes. Who knows what treasures are still inside?" The small fox tilted its head, anticipation in her voice.

(The author stayed up no more tonight. Only this chapter!)