Kui Huan was delighted upon hearing Han Li agree to help him. After deciding on a time and place for Han Li to meet his group, he happily departed.
On the dawn of the following day, Han Li activated the restrictions on his cave residence and departed from the medicine garden. He then aloofly flew towards the agreed meeting spot on a flying sword magic tool.
It was quite hilarious. He hadn’t used flying magic tools ever since he reached Core Formation stage; it had been many years since he had last used one. This made it quite difficult for Han Li to find an unremarkable high grade magic tool in his storage pouches. He was unable to find any magic tools that were inferior to this one.
After flying for a quarter of a hour, Han Li arrived at the spot where he would meet Kui Huan, the top of a relatively tall hill.
Han Li wasn’t particularly surprised to see that no one else was here. He had arrived earlier than was arranged.
Han Li casually found a large, clean rock and sat cross-legged on it before meditating and basking in the nearby Heaven-Earth spiritual Qi.
Two hours later when the blazing sun began to appear over the horizon, several black dots slowly flew across the sky towards the hill. Han Li rubbed his nose at their pitifully slow flight and bitterly laughed.
After more time had pa.s.sed, the group of people finally arrived on the hill at what Han Li considered to be a snail"s pace.
“Junior Martial Brother Han, it is quite considerate of you to have arrived earlier than us.” Kui Huan shouted out to Han Li with a beaming smile. His group was currently flying on low grade disc magic tools that the sect distributed to all the disciples in the sect. It was no wonder why they were so slow.
Kui Huan then landed on the hill followed by three other Qi Condensation cultivators. Han Li stood up from the rock and turned his gaze to the other three. “It was nothing, I only just arrived. Are these three Senior Martial Brothers the rest of the party?”
“Hehe, with five people, we can a.s.sume the Five Elements Obscure Track Formation. There are many people, but a lack of spirit stones. These three are Senior Martial Brothers Ma, Xi, and w.a.n.g.” Kui Huan widely smiled as he pointed to the three behind him and gave them a quick introduction.
These three weren’t particularly old. The oldest amongst them was Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g at the age of thirty-five. This man had a confident and scholarly appearance and possessed the highest cultivation among the four, at the eleventh layer of Qi Condensation.
As for the two other youths, one was short and stout while the other had a yellowish face. They appeared to be in their late twenties and both possessed a cultivation at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation.
Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g seemed to possess an unordinary bearing. As soon he was introduced, he widely smiled at Han Li and said, “We’ve already heard about Junior Martial Brother Han. We owe much thanks for your help. If not for you, we would’ve had no means to capture the demon fox.” His eloquent words left quite an impression.
The other two also glanced at Han Li with kind expressions. It seemed they’d gained a rather favorable impression towards Han Li after lending them the spirit stones.
Han Li naturally denied this out of politeness, “Senior Martial Brother is too kind. I merely wished to make more spirit stones.”
The white-robed cultivator surnamed w.a.n.g shook his head and sincerely said, “While these spirit stones can’t be considered much to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to us Qi Condensation disciples, they aren’t such a paltry sum that can be easily lent to a stranger. Junior Martial Brother Han is truly someone that I’d like to be friends with!”
When Han Li heard this, he inwardly nodded and couldn’t help but re-examine this man. Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g’s presence, conduct, and cultivation were all exceptional. He was obviously the leader of this group.
As a result, Han Li smiled and thought to say something else when Kui Huan looked to the sky and suddenly reminded, “Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g, Junior Martial Brother Han, we can talk along the way. If we delay, we’ll reach Greentrack Marsh without much time to catch the Snowcloud Fox. After all, we can’t be away from the sect for too long, and our speed isn’t fast.”
Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g nodded his head and said, “Junior Martial Brother Kui makes sense. We truly have no time to waste so let’s go. If we have an opportunity in the future, let’s have a proper chat.”
The group of five then immediately released their magic tools and took to the skies.
“Yi! Junior Martial Brother Han uses a magic tool that he bought himself. It must be a mid grade magic tool at the very least. Could it be that Junior Martial Brother Han is actually a disciple of a clan?” When the several people took to the skies, they caught sight of Han Li’s flying sword and couldn’t help but shout in surprise.
After all, even if it was a mid grade magic tool, it represented a hefty amount of spirit stones to external affair disciples such as themselves.
When Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g saw this, his face revealed a trace of astonishment. Although he didn’t say anything, a strange expression flickered across his eyes. The other cultivators also appeared quite flabbergasted.
Having guessed that this would eventually happen, Han Li faintly smiled and said, “How could I possibly come from a clan? It’s just that many years earlier during my time as a vagrant cultivator, I made a few spirit stones by using my shallow skill in refining talismans. Were it not for this, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to so magnanimously lend Senior Martial Brother Kui so many spirit stones.”
Their shock soon turned into that of envy instead.
The short and stout Senior Martial Brother Ma wore an expression of shock and curiously asked, “Talisman refinement? I didn’t expect that Junior Martial Brother Han possessed such skill. Since you were able to earn spirit stones, your skill in talisman refinement must be quite acceptable. What grade of talisman can you refine?”
Han Li indifferently answered, “I mostly refine low-elementary grade talismans. While there are two mid-elementary grade talismans I can refine, their success rate is rather poor.”
“Junior Martial Brother Han can actually refine mid grade talismans?” Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g was greatly moved and couldn’t help but take another glance at Han Li.
Han Li calmly said, “That’s right. I can refine the Thunderfire Talisman and the Guardian Talisman. Unfortunately, I only succeed once in every six attempts. It is barely enough to cover the costs of the materials.”
Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g sighed and regretfully said, “Junior Martial Brother Han is far too modest. From what I know, only a minority of external affair disciples of the talisman centric Fire Cloud Mountain are able to refine mid grade talismans. If Junior Martial Brother Han were to rely on this trade, he would be able to acquire an endless amount of spirit stones. Unlike us, who have to wrack our brains everyday for a method to acquire spirit stones.”
When the others heard this, their expressions turned dim. His words clearly touched a sore spot.
“You Senior Martial Brothers value me too highly. It’s not like I can refine any high grade talismans. I would have to spend an entire day inside a market and peddle low grade talismans, not knowing when or even if they will be bought. As such, it isn’t much like you think at all. But from my point of view, your business of capturing Snowcloud Foxes is quite impressive.” Han Li’s eyes stirred as he changed the topic.
Having heard this, Kui Huan’s group glanced at each other and soon bitterly smiled. Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g eventually said, “Junior Martial Brother Han might not know this, but this shady business isn’t sustainable. We won’t be coming back to Greentrack Marsh after we capture this demon fox.”
“Why is that?” Han Li asked in astonishment.
Kui Huan explained, “One reason is that we’ve nearly captured all of the Snowcloud Foxes in the marsh. It is too difficult to find the remaining ones. The second reason is because the Snowcloud Foxes aren’t selling anymore. After all, common Snowcloud Foxes aren’t true demon beasts, and there are far too few female disciples that are willing to purchase one. Senior Martial Sisters with superior cultivations are looking to find a demon beast to become their spirit beast.”
“So it’s like that. It seems you Senior Martial Brothers will have to find another way in the future.” A trace of sympathy was revealed from Han Li’s eyes.
When Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g heard this, he shook his head and said little more.
As a result, the five flew out of the range of the Drifting Cloud Sect’s restrictions and headed straight towards the center of the Dreamcloud Mountains.
“Junior Martial Brother Han, the Greentrack Marsh is a rather neat place. It is located right on the border of the Ancient Sword Sect and our Drifting Cloud Sect. But because this place is somewhat remote and has been plagued by miasma for years, very few disciples ever venture there. As a result, we were able to monopolize the business of capturing the Snowcloud Foxes.
This is a bottle of medicine pills for dispelling the miasma. After we arrive. Junior Martial Brother must take it every so often. Otherwise, you will be constantly vomiting and be plagued with diarrhea.” Along the way, Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g suddenly handed over a small jade bottle to Han Li.
“Many thanks for Senior Martial Brother’s consideration.” Han Li bluntly took the bottle and placed it within his storage pouch. But with his current cultivation, he had nothing to fear from miasma. Who knew if he would actually use the medicine.
After flying for about six hours, they arrived at a tall mountain range. Their eyes suddenly brightened upon seeing a large expanse of verdant valley with trees and shrubbery of all kinds. However, a faint pink fog could be seen amongst the greenery.
“We’re here. Be careful when you descend!” Senior Martial Brother w.a.n.g gave a quick warning before landing his magic tool and showing the way through the miasma.