In the instant the disciple was slain, the other cultivator’s faces grew deathly pale. They began to release each of their defensive magic tools as they stared at Cultivator Bai. For a moment, no one dared to move.
Mu Peiling’s expression greatly changed and she stepped away from Du Dong, releasing her own ribbon magic tool around her. As for Sun Huo, he had recoiled at the sight of this incisive strike and grimaced as his gaze flickered between Cultivator Bai and Du Dong.
Han Li silently slipped to a corner of the room and his gaze continuously swept around. It was unknown what as going through his mind.
At that moment, an imposing aura suddenly swelled from Du Dong. With lines of black talisman characters appearing on his neck, black light suddenly surged from his body as he underwent a sudden transformation. He grew to two meters in height, his appearance became malevolent, and his cultivation surged to mid Core Formation stage.
When Cultivator Bai saw Du Dong’s astonis.h.i.+ng transformation, he couldn’t help but laugh, “Very nice! If the Thousand Illusions Sect were to say they were ranked second in concealment techniques in the Heavenly South, none would dare to proclaim themselves as first. The Greater Sifting Mirage Technique is truly worthy of being your sect’s signature technique.”
“Humph!” The transformed Du Dong merely snorted. He then gloomily swept past the crowd and his eyes stopped on Han Li. A malicious expression flickered from his face.
Woosh. The cultivators in the room only caught sight of the Du Dong disappearing a blur before reappearing beside Han Li. With a wave his hand, Han Li’s light barrier was shattered in an instant and his hand pierced into Han Li’s chest like a bolt of lightning. He then withdrew his hand with a b.l.o.o.d.y heart in his grasp.
Han Li’s corpse fell onto the floor.
“Ah!” When the other disciples saw this b.l.o.o.d.y scene, they shouted out in alarm, believing that they would be next to fall. Their hearts were all struck with terror.
“Huh?” The transformed Du Dong revealed a strange expression as if in disbelief that Han Li had died so easily. He frowned for a moment and glanced at his hand. From the warm and b.l.o.o.d.y heart on his hand, it appeared he had truly killed him.
The scholarly man grew alarmed at Du Dong’s sudden attack, and he furiously shouted, “What are you doing!? You can’t kill these disciples; a few of them have influence. One of them is even a close descendant of Eccentric Heavenvenge. Don’t attack them as you please!”
Du Dong indifferently snorted,“If you can kill one, then so can I. Besides, given how odd that youngster was, it was better to take the initiative to deal with him. Also, this person definitely wasn’t Eccentric Heavenvenge’s descendant. He entered the sect the same time I did.” Soon after, he tossed the heart onto the ground.
The scholar’s expression relaxed and he gravely said, “So long as you realize this, that’s fine! Although I don’t know whether or not Eccentric Heavenvenge’s descendant is male or female, nor do I know what sect they entered, the sects should’ve given consideration to Eccentric Heavenvenge’s might and should’ve allowed them to enter the top ten disciples so that they may use the Brightsight Water. It would be a great inconvenience if they actually died. As for the person I killed, I was well aware of his background, and he definitely wasn’t the eccentric’s descendant.”
“Fine, I’ll refrain from killing the others as I wish. However, you can’t have them casually stir up trouble. I’ll have to properly knock them out for the time being!” With that said, Du Dong began to twirl in place and black radiance suddenly swept enveloped the entire room.
The other cultivators felt somewhat relieved by their words, but a black radiance instantly rendered them unconscious as soon as it reached them.
The scholarly man nodded his head with satisfaction, “Let’s go. We can’t delay here for too long.”
“Alright.”
With those curt words, they immediately walked out the room in large stride.
But when Du Dong walked out, he felt somewhat uneasy and unconsciously glanced down at the heartless corpse. Han Li was lying in a pool of his own blood, dead as could be.
Du Dong couldn’t help but scoff, feeling that he was overly suspicious, and he followed after the scholarly man with peace of mind. Once the two departed, the room grew deathly quiet.
A short moment later, a young woman’s voice filled the room.
“Brother Han, my Fox Enrapturing Arts must surely be above that of the Greater Sifting Mirage Technique! That man’s cultivation wasn’t weak, but he couldn’t tell whether or not he truly killed someone. Truly laughable!”
Soon after that was said, Han Li’s b.l.o.o.d.y corpse began to s.h.i.+ne with faint white light. Eventually, that light turned silver and concentrated into a foot-long, snow-white fox.
Han Li’s voice began to slowly speak from a meter behind the white fox, “It truly is impressive. I find it odd how a wolf like you can be so proficient in fox techniques. However, this might also have to do with their weaker cultivation. Were they late Core Formation cultivators, it might’ve been difficult to fool them. As for the Greater Sifting Mirage Technique, I must admit it is outstanding. I was incapable of telling his true cultivation while he concealed himself.” With a flash of yellow light, he walked out from the stone wall with a wolf-headed jade scepter in his hand.
At an unknown time, Han Li stealthily entered the wall and had Silvermoon stand in for Han Li through an illusion technique. Although she couldn’t maintain the transformed body for long, it was more than enough to fool the two Core Formation cultivators for the time being.
Silvermoon was unconvinced and she curled her lips, “Is this technique truly that amazing? Was Brother Han simply not mistaken?”
Han Li casually replied, “With the Great Development Technique, my spiritual sense is on par with that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Yet, I was still unable to discover anything amiss from him. It could very well be the top concealment technique in the entire world, let alone the Heavenly South.”
Silvermoon tilted her small head, but she didn’t rebut him.
Han Li walked towards the center of the room and gazed at those lying on the ground, noticing that they were all unconscious. His eyes then fell onto the black-robed youth, Meng Di.
Silvermoon seemed to guessed what Han Li thought and she jumped onto the youth and s.n.a.t.c.hed the storage pouch from his waist. She then obediently jumped back to Han Li’s side and delivered it to him.
Han Li accepted it with a faint smile and swept his spiritual sense into it. After taking the jade box containing the Spirit Tempering Pill, he carelessly tossed the pouch onto the youth’s body.
Since this item held little use towards youth at this cultivation, Han Li happily accepted it.
After putting away the jade box, he rubbed his chin and said, “Let’s go. Those two should’ve already arrived at the Spirit Well Tree’s cave. Let’s go and take a look.” After Silvermoon jumped into his sleeve, he flew out the room in a streak of azure light.
At that moment, there were continuous explosions occurring from the outside. When Han Li heard them, a trace of doubt momentarily appeared on his face, but he soon ignored the sounds.
When Han Li arrived at the cave, the stone gate was wide open and was void of restrictions. There were also shouts of furious alarm faintly coming from the inside.
Du Dong furiously shouted, “Brother Wei, what do you mean? How can you suddenly betray us when matters have reached this far? Could it be that you’ve forgotten the great kindness the sect master bestowed upon you? Or have you forgotten how you were a disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Sect after staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect for so many years?”
Han Li’s heart stirred upon hearing this. But before he could further listen on their conversation, his expression suddenly changed and he disappeared from his original location.
A group of eight high grade cultivators suddenly entered the cave. Shockingly, there was even a Nascent Soul cultivator amongst them. These cultivators all concealed themselves into the earth with a barrier of yellow light as if in preparation of an ambush. As a result, the three that were already in the hall remained ignorant of them.
Han Li then snuck in after them and stood at a far corner, observing everything in silence.
These underground cultivators were all familiar to Han Li. They were the group of cultivators that should’ve been defending the formation from the outside. Even the boy Nascent Soul Cultivator surnamed Lan was among them.
Han Li’s spiritual sense easily penetrated the light barriers of these cultivators, discovering the Core Formation cultivators that he had seen along the way, along with Cultivator Bai’s Dao companion who was now deathly pale. The woman was also carrying an unconscious man in her arms, the long-faced old man surnamed Hu.
Han Li felt his breath turn cold upon see them. At the same time, doubt began to well in his heart. The explosions outside had yet to stop as if there were still a battle occuring outside. However, there wasn’t actually a battle to destroy the formation. It was all a trap.
At that moment, the dishevel-haired old man slowly spoke from within the golden light barrier, “I know that the Righteous and Devil Dao had discovered an ancient Profound G.o.ddess’s Palm near the Moulan Plains. Although this tree has long shriveled, so long as it is fed with the Wine Nectar of the Spirit Well Tree, it will flourish once more and regain life. As a result, we’ve infiltrated the three sects many years ago as disciples in a reckless attempt to acquire it. At the time, we had even abandoned our plans to topple the three sects. And now even the young master of the Thousand Illusions Sect braved danger to infiltrate here as Fellow Daoist Du to give orders for the Righteous and Devil Dao to cooperate.”