“Senior!” Han Li stroked his chin and wore an odd expression on his face.
The fat old man was the “Senior Martial Uncle Lei” who had exchanged medicinal herbs for pill formulas. Although he was merely observing the common customs of the cultivation world, Han Li couldn’t help but find this action odd.
As for the gorgeous woman named Nie Yan, he had only met her once as “Senior Martial Sister Nie” before when she had protected the Murong Brothers from “Senior Martial Brother Lu” back during his time at Yellow Maple Valley [1]. Although Han Li didn’t have much of a relations.h.i.+p with her, he had heard much of her apt.i.tude and her beauty both external and within. Back in the past, there had been countless male disciples that had admired her. He didn’t expect that after so many years, she would form a golden core.
Han Li remained silent and examined both Lei Wanhe and Nie Yan with a complicated expression. As this occurred, Lei Wanhe felt puzzled.
Not only did this “Senior” appear excessively young, for some unknown reason, Lei Wanhe found his face somewhat familiar as if he had saw him before. This had come as a shock to him and he began to feel apprehensive.
As Nie Yan looked at Han Li, bewilderment suddenly appeared from deep within her eyes.
Han Li was disinclined from wasting any more time with this silent display and eventually said, “It seems Martial Uncle Lei truly doesn’t remember me. However, the pill formulas Martial Uncle gave to me during that year had been of great help to me.”
When Lei Wanhe heard Han Li call him Martial Uncle, his jaw dropped and found himself at a loss for words. But after he heard him mention pill formulas, he suddenly recalled something and began to astonishedly stutter, “Martial Uncle? Pill formulas! You... You’re...” [2]
When the others heard this, they were also dumbstruck. This Nascent Soul Senior had actually called Lei Wanhe “Martial Uncle”. This had truly sent their minds spiralling into confusion.
But when Nie Yan heard him, she amazedly examined Han Li once more before saying, “You’re Martial Uncle Li’s disciple, Han Li... Junior Martial Brother Han?” The woman’s voice was filled with disbelief.
Han Li felt genuine surprise, “I didn’t expect that Fellow Daoist Nie would remember me.”
While Han Li was unknown during Qi Condensation stage due to his low profile and meager cultivation, truly few knew of him. But ever since he survived the [trial by blood and fire] and successfully became Li Huayuan’s disciple after entering Foundation Establishment, many shrewd individuals had taken notice of him. This “Senior Martial Sister Nie” was one of them.
Once the Six Devilish Dao Sects invaded the State of Yue, his reputation surged throughout lower grade disciples from his achievements in killing so many similar grade Devil Dao cultivators. Although she hadn’t seen his face since then, he had left a deep impression on her. With Han Li’s appearance exactly the same as before, she recalled the famous Junior martial brother Han from the past and unconsciously shouted out his name in shock.
“You truly are Martial Nephew Han!” Lei Wanhe felt his throat turn dry and his mind grew blank.
It was said that any strange events could happen in the cultivation world. Outstanding disciples rising to the same status as a senior was a common occurrence, but for a Foundation Establishment Junior to suddenly reappear at Nascent Soul stage was something that brought an individual as experienced as Lei Wanhe into a stupor.
Han Li glanced around and calmly said, “Martial Uncle Lei, there is no need to be so surprised. However, this isn’t the place to talk. Let’s have a chat as we travel instead.”
Lei Wanhe’s expression wavered several times before bitterly chuckling, “I don’t dare to accept the t.i.tle as Martial Uncle. Since Senior Han has already entered Nascent Soul sage, I am your Junior.” His words still preserved the same respect from the very start.
Regardless of Han Li’s ident.i.ty in the past, his current cultivation was far beyond his own. He didn’t dare to be addressed with such an inappropriate t.i.tle.
The other three cultivators finally realized the relations.h.i.+p between Han Li and Wan Tianhe. After glancing at each other in dismay, weird expressions appeared on each of their faces.
Han Li didn’t pay this much heed. After a moment of silence, he nodded his head, “Since Fellow Daoist Lei says this, I won’t be polite. Let us immediately depart from here. Your speed is all rater slow, so I will be bringing you.
Once that was said, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a small, exquisite item appeared in his hand. Once he flung it into the air, a squarish item appeared before them in a flash of red light.
Under control of spell seals, the Wind Riding Chariot quickly grew larger and appeared over thirty meters wide.
“Get in the chariot!” Han Li bluntly ordered them. Lei Wanhe and the others naturally didn’t have any objections and they all flew into the chariot with a blur.
Once Han Li stepped onto the Wind Riding Chariot, he began to infuse the chariot with his spiritual power. After gently trembling for a moment, it tore through the skies as a streak of white light. With its exceeding speed, it disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.
The speed of the Wind Riding Chariot delighted the others. At this speed, the spell warriors wouldn’t be able to pursue them, relieving them of worry that was on their minds.
As Han Li drove the Wind Riding Chariot, he casually asked, “Fellow Daoists, the State of Fengyuan should’ve already fallen into the grasp of the spell warriors. Why were you there and how did you come to be blocked by a Nascent Soul spell warrior? If that area weren’t so remote, it wouldn’t have been easy to escape even if I took action.”
When the five heard this, they glanced at each other with various expression. The clear leader of their party, Lei Wanhe, hesitated for a moment before answering, “Senior might not know this, but we didn’t act out of our free will. We were under orders from the Nine Nations Union to carry-out an important task. As a result, we were occupied for several days and were present during the Moulan invasion.
Helpless, we could only choose a remote route and fly back, however, we encountered a few low grade spell warriors along the way and had no choice but to kill them. But who could’ve possibly known that there was a Nascent Soul spell warrior that was located nearby. Just as we finished killing the last low grade spell warrior, we were discovered by the old eccentric and were chased down.
Although we knew we weren’t a match, if we scattered, we would’ve only met our end sooner, so we could only do our utmost. It was only by a fluke that Senior Han came our way, else we would’ve met our end.”
As Lei Wanhe spoke with grat.i.tude, he examined this “Martial Nephew Han”. To tell the truth, he still felt as if all that happened was a dream.
When Han Li heard this, he lost interest and indifferently grunted. A short moment later, he then asked, “Fellow Daoist Lei, is my master Li Huayuan still doing well?”
As there was no point in concealing the matter, Lei Wanhe honestly answered, “Senior Han, Junior martial brother Li died a hundred years ago in the war with the Moulan spell warriors. As for his wife, she wasn’t able to form a golden core and reached the end of her lifespan.”
Han Li was slightly shaken by his words and revealed a trace of sadness. He then asked, “Were my Fellow Martial Brothers and Sisters able to form a golden core?”
Lei Wanhe sighed and said, “No, although three of Junior martial brother Li’s disciples had exceptional apt.i.tude and entered false core stage, they weren’t fated to form a golden core.”
Han Li grew silent for a moment. The appearances of Yu Kun, Song Meng, Zhong Weiniang, and the others appeared through his mind. Past events slowly began to appear.
A moment later, he took a deep breath. Since his Martial Brothers and Sisters were unable to form a golden core, he didn’t further ask about them. It was likely that they died during meditation. His time spent at Yellow Maple Valley seemed as if it had all happened in an old dream.
At that moment, Nie Yan suddenly said, “Senior Han, would you happen to be interested in rejoining Yellow Maple Valley?”
Han Li raised his brow and immediately answered, “Return to Yellow Maple Valley? I have no such interest. I’ve already become an elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s Drifting Cloud Sect, and I am satisfied there.”
Disappointment appeared from Nie Yan’s expression and Lei Wanhe’s expression wavered.
As for the other three, they didn’t dare to speak as they were unfamiliar with Han Li.
After a moment of hesitation, Nie Yan then asked, “Would Senior happen to recognize Xiao Cui’er?”
Han Li was stunned for a moment. He asked with an odd expression, “Xiao Cui’er [3]? Of course I do, you know that little girl?” At that same moment, the appearance of that young, strange-spirited girl came to mind.
[1] Chapter 158
[2] In Chapter 236, Han Li traded medicine herbs for Lei Wanhe’s pill formulas. Prior to this, Le Wanhe had a.s.sisted Han Li in getting rid of a few Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivators.
[3] Introduced in chapter 291 while Han Li was guarding the mortal Qin Clan. At the time, Xiao Ciu and her grandfather were Qi Condensation cultivators. For payment of the nameless qi restraining incantation, he had introduced her to his Senior Martial Brother Ma at Yellow Maple Valley as a disciple.