“Those people are your companions?” Han Li examined the medallion in his hand and put it away in an azure flash.
After taking a glance at the others behind him, Gu Tianqi asked with a trace of worry, “These Fellow Daoists are my recent acquaintances. We’ve decided to travel together because we’re aiming to enter the North Night Palace together. Is there something odd?”
Han Li focused his gaze on a young beautiful woman amongst them and coldly smiled, “There is certainly someone amongst you that is amiss.”
“What?” Gu Tianqi asked in surprise.
Han Li smirked and calmly said, “There is a demon mixed among you. Wouldn’t you say that’s a bit odd?”
“A demon?” Gu Tianqi’s expression vastly changed and he quickly turned to look at the female cultivator.
The other cultivators were shocked and unconsciously stepped away from the woman.
She widely opened her eyes and her heart jumped. She hastily explained, “Senior must be joking. I am a disciple of the Shuang Region’s Ning Clan. How could I be a demon?”
When the youth from before saw the female cultivator’s shocked appearance, he hastily spoke out as the others wore hesitant expressions, “That’s right, Senior. Are you mistaken? Fellow Daoist Ning is a true member of the Ning Clan. I’ve seen her several times already.”
Han Li snorted in dismissal, “A trifling soul fragment dares to feign ignorance in front of me? Reveal yourself!” Soon after, Han Li reached out towards her and light flickered from the top of her head. A large azure hand materialized and grabbed her.
As soon as the hand appeared, the shocked woman’s figure trembled and her surprise was instantly changed to resentment. Then, her figure blurred and shot sixty meters high into the air.
Let alone a Qi Condensation cultivator, this speed couldn"t have belonged to a Core Formation cultivator.
Han Li smirked and waved his sleeve, releasing a yellow streak that disappeared in the next instant. In the following moment, it appeared above the woman’s head to reveal a foot-tall monk staff.
Han Li cast a spell seal at the treasure and it blurred, ma.s.sively increasing in size until it took the form of a ten-meter-tall tiger phantom, fiercely pouncing upon her.
The young woman had no time to act. She spouted out black demonic Qi to block the attack.
A huge explosion sounded out and yellow light flickered. The black Qi was dispersed by the strike, offering not the slightest resistance and the staff fell on top of the woman’s head.
The woman shrieked and her body immediately tumbled through the air. Meanwhile, a black silhouette flew out from the woman’s body and circled in the air before darting to the ground.
Then, thunder sounded out and a net of golden lightning appeared above the black figure’s head. Before she could react, the net fell on top of her.
Suddenly, repeated eruptions sounded out and the black demon was no more.
These near-instant actions left the Qi Condensation cultivators dumbstruck.
Han Li waved his hand, having the monk staff shrink with a tremble before summoning it back into his sleeve.
With that done, Han Li tossed a blue bottle in Gu Tianqi’s direction.
The middle-aged man unconsciously caught it.
“The medicine pills should help you pa.s.s through the first. Consider it for a trade for the Soul Stabilizing Medallion.” With that said, azure light flared around him and he flew off, disappearing out of sight in the blink of an eye.
When the middle-aged man awoken from his stupor, he tightly grasped the bottle with a pleasant surprise.
Then, the nearby cultivators cried in alarm. The young woman that had earlier fell was waking up. It appeared Han Li’s monk staff hadn’t left any injuries on her body.
...
With a medallion in his hand, he flew to the North Night Palace. He recalled what had happened earlier with a smile.
The soul fragment of a high-grade demon beast was lingering inside the young woman’s body. From its strength, it appeared to belong to a grade eight demon beast at the very least. The demon was quite shrewd to be able to conceal the soul fragment inside the woman’s body without her knowledge.
If she truly managed to make it into the sect, the demon would’ve been able to slip past using her body.
Since Han Li discovered this in pa.s.sing, he figured he would exterminate the soul fragment as it would take little effort and prevent any commotion from stirring while he was visiting the sect.
‘Could it be that demon beast was sneaking into the sect through such a clever method for the Glacial Quintessence?’
After all, he had heard that the North Night Palace never spread any information of the disappearance of its Glacial Quintessence. There must be a reason why they were covering it up.
As his mind wandered, he flew as fast as a bolt of lightning and soon found himself in a storm with fist-sized hail.
The hail from the storm was sparkling and translucent, pattering against his light barrier with low thuds as if it were made of stone itself.
But at Han Li’s current cultivation, the huge hailstones were beneath his notice.
After flying for an hour, Han Li’s eyes lit up as he saw the hail and snow suddenly disappear around him.
He spotted a city constructed from ice a short distance ahead of him.
The buildings glistened with light from a distance, reflecting sunlight as rainbows. He also spotted a few white clouds sparkling the city.
A trace of amazement appeared on Han Li’s face.
However, his gaze quickly fell onto a huge mountain behind the city.
The mountain was gigantic by mortal standards, reaching thirty thousand meters in height at the very least. But it wasn’t much when compared to Kunwu Mountain.
But what truly surprised Han Li was that the mountain was shaped as a gigantic pillar. It was even covered in sparkling profoundly-deep layer of frost.
If it weren’t for traces of green that emerged from the mountain, he would’ve believed it to be made entirely of ice.
He wasn’t able to see into the mountain even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, but he was able to see a group of sparkling buildings on top of it, what he believed to be the North Night Palace.
Han Li didn’t immediately head over to the city, however.
The area along the way seemed to consist of only common glaciers, but there was an invisible restriction placed between them. As an accomplished spell formation master, Han Li sensed that they were fearsome to behold. Had he imprudently charged into them, he feared he would’ve activated something difficult to deal with.
Furthermore, as soon as he escaped the snowstorm, several streaks of light shot out from the city to meet him.
Han Li raised his brow when he saw this, but a thought flashed from his mind and he looked at the medallion in his hand.
Not only did the medallion guide the way, but it would also allow the North Night Palace to know the whereabouts of the cultivators looking to enter the sect.
As he thought this, the streaks of light instantly arrived before him: a middle-aged man with a delicate expression and two women, all dressed in white robes. The man possessed Core Formation cultivation and the two women were Foundation Establishment cultivators.
When the man took a closer look at Han Li, a trace of alarm appeared on his face and he hastily bowed, “This Junior is the outer palace steward s.h.i.+ Yun. May I please ask your esteemed name and your business coming here?”
When these cultivators saw Han Li emerge from the snowstorm, they knew he was no ordinary cultivator, but they hadn’t expected a Nascent Soul cultivator, let alone an unfamiliar mid-grade one. This caused them to grow nervous.
Han Li calmly answered, “You don’t need to know my name. I’ve only come here to visit a friend, one of your sect elders.”
When s.h.i.+ Yun heard Han Li’s answer, his face relaxed and he asked with a friendly tone, “Could you tell us which elder Senior is talking about? I will immediately make a report.”
Han Li slowly said, “I’ve met Fairy Bai Yaoyi several years ago. Is she present?”
“Martial Aunt Bai? She’s within the sect, but I believe she’s currently in seclusion. I will send a voice transmission talisman to her immediately. Please wait for a moment!” The s.h.i.+ Yun’s face became visibly relieved with Han Li’s answer, and he immediately sent a talisman.
For the time being, Han Li remained still, but his eyes wandered and examined the scenery.
In response, s.h.i.+ Yun blinked and thought to say something, but then a scarlet streak flew out from the snowstorm four hundred meters behind them.
A yelp sounded out from the streak and quickly turned in their direction.
Before the streak arrived before them, the streak let out a hearty laugh.
“Did this Fellow Daoist come to visit our palace? What is his name?”
When the light faded, a pale youth with a headful of gray hair was revealed. His eyes betrayed a profound depth.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and examined the person in front of him. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he discovered that he was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator like himself.
Before Han Li could reply, s.h.i.+ Yun happily took a step forward and respectfully saluted the cultivator, “This disciple respectfully pays his respects to Martial Uncle Bi. Was your journey peaceful?”