Chapter 388: Crooked Soul’s Devilish Might
After flying about five kilometers away from Minor Expanse Island, Han Li’s expression suddenly darkened, and he stopped his Divine Wind Boat.
“Don’t hide! Reveal yourself!” Han Li spoke calmly while facing forward.
“Yi!” A cry of surprise came from an empty area. With a flash of rainbow brilliance, eight Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared not far in front of him.
“Han Li, in order to acquire Dustfall Pills, you and Crooked Soul killed the Tail Star Island Lord’s disciple and the other cultivators involved. Now, we’ve come as enforcers by order of our island lord. You are to quickly enter our custody so we may deliver you to Island Lord Zhan Tai for punishment!” A late Foundation Establishment cultivator among the group proudly yelled to Han Li.
In order to fool the others, Han Li and Crooked Soul had restrained their own cultivation. As a result, the group had misjudged their cultivation and appeared carefree. Although they were somewhat surprised that Han Li had discovered and ruined their ambush, with their superior cultivation and numbers, they should be able to easily handle them! As a result, they were careless and took a blunt, direct approach.
After calmly sizing them up, Han Li insipidly said, “You are cultivators from Stalwart Star Island? Do you have any evidence that I killed those other cultivators?”
Upon hearing this, a white-haired old man among them was stunned for a moment before sneering and saying, “What? You still wish to quibble against the testimony of the Six United Palace’s Elder Miao? Don’t get your hopes up! Our island lord has already said that you two are extremely crafty and that we are to immediately destroy your cultivation.”
Han Li’s expression slightly changed. With a face covered in a layer of icy intent, he said, “Destroy our cultivation? Does your island lord not intend to resolve this matter with us?”
“Hehe! You two have fled in guilt for several years; the evidence has long been collected. What is there to resolve? Everyone, go! Let’s bring these two back for a reward!” The white-haired old man turned his head, and impatiently called out to the others with wide eyes. Suddenly, the cultivators acted without speaking any further, releasing their magic tools towards Han Li in streaks of overbearing light.
Han Li watched on with his eyes wide open. How was this possibly intending to destroy his cultivation? It seems they were gazing at him with killing intent and intended to elimnate him.
Although he didn’t know whether or not there was something amiss, Han Li had no choice but to get rid these cultivators.
“Crooked Soul, kill them! Don’t allow a single one to escape!” While Han Li’s voice wasn’t loud, it was colder than ice.
Crooked Soul, who had been standing motionlessly behind Han Li, silently stepped forward and released an astonis.h.i.+ng blood-red light. After a moment, his entire body was enveloped in a blinding sphere of light. Then with a soft hiss, a yellow light flashed underneath Crooked Soul’s feet and he shot towards the approaching magic tools.
With several flashes of light, the incoming magic tools’ radiance disappeared, and they were instantly enveloped by a hundred-meter wide barrier of blood-red light, becoming completely sluggish.
Crooked Soul appeared at the center of the blood-red light and expressionlessly formed a hand incantation, spitting out the word, “Restrain!” Suddenly, the magic tools moved forward and shot toward Crooked Soul’s side with complete obedience. With a wave of his sleeve, they disappeared; it seemed he had collected them.
Crooked Soul then expressionlessly turned his attention to the group of enforcers. The scene had left them dumbstruck.
“Core Formation cultivator! He’s a Core Formation cultivator!” With Crooked Soul’s true cultivation unveiled, the cultivator who shouted this turned pale. The others were equally aghast, but two quick-witted cultivators immediately turned around and hurriedly rushed off.
Their leader, the white-haired old man, no longer held a trace of arrogance. Only an expression of disbelief remained on his face.
Acting under Han Li’s orders, Crooked Soul couldn’t possibly allow anyone to escape.
His eyes grew as scarlet as blood while he emotionlessly gazed at the two that were fleeing. He wordlessly raised his hands and shot out scarlet-red beams which moved at an extreme speed. In the blink of an eye, the beams of light had already caught up to them.
One of the cultivators wore a sparkling earth-yellow armor, and the other cultivator was wrapped in an obviously exceptional blue chain of light. But with just the slightest touch of the light beam, both the magic tools and the cultivators were turned to ash, extinguis.h.i.+ng any thoughts of escaping by the other cultivators and leaving their faces deathly pale.
The white-haired old man was terrified and hastily shouted, “Senior misunderstands! This was all a misunderstanding...”
Crooked Soul didn’t pay attention to any of his evasive words. With a tremble of his shoulders, the blood light separated from his body and flew off, forming a large blood cloud above the group of enforcers.
Then with a wave of his hand, he released a streak of purple light that seemed to ignite the blood cloud as if it were a spark striking oil. Suddenly, the sky was filled with purple flame, and the cultivators were suppressed from every direction.
The cultivators below all displayed expressions of despair as they each released their defensive magic tools while strenuously begging for mercy. But under the ice-cold gaze of Crooked Soul, the purple devilflames turned all of the magic tools and cultivators into dust after just a short moment.
Crooked Soul’s figure blurred and reappeared, holding all of their storage pouches in his hand.
Han Li had already fetched the storage pouches of the two who had fled and flew back to Crooked Soul’s side.
“Let’s go! It will become troublesome if any Core Formation cultivators were to arrive!” Han Li looked in every direction before muttering as if he were both talking to himself and Crooked Soul.
After Crooked Soul silently returned to the Divine Wind Boat in a blur, Han Li immediately set off, flying far away as the Divine Wind Boat became a streak of white light.
Not long after, a blue and red streak of light flew over from the direction of Stalwart Star Island, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the area where Crooked Soul had killed the enforcers. Once the blinding radiances faded away, an old man with a devious expression and a middle-aged man that emitted a gray Qi appeared floating in the air.
“It should be here! The Spiritual Qi fluctuations haven’t yet disappeared. It seems the killer left recently!” The middle-aged man gloomily said.
One of the enforcers that had been on duty at Minor Expanse Island was the middle-aged man’s disciple.
When his disciple had died, a soul tablet created from secret techniques had revealed a dark omen. The middle-aged man instantly discovered that his disciple had encountered mishap, but he was currently a guest at his good friend’s Immortal’s cave. They had flown over as fast as they could, but he hadn’t expected that he’d be too late.
After pointing in the direction that Han Li fled, he slowly said, “Island Lord Yuan! He should’ve fled in that direction! I will use the Transient Tracer Technique to investigate for a moment. If we chase after the killer, there is a thirty percent chance likelihood we will be able to stop him.”
“Alright! If we both give chase, we will be certain to stop the killer!” The middle-aged man’s body flourished with grey Qi and revealed a sinister expression.
“According to the collision of Spiritual Qi in the area, it seems the killer should be a Core Formation cultivator. Although he acted alone, there is no way of knowing whether he is accompanying other cultivators. Does Fellow Daoist Yuan truly wish to clash with cultivators of similar strength over a common disciple?” The old man suddenly changed the topic and earnestly attempted to dissuade the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was initially stunned upon hearing this, but he soon replied with a displeased face, “Don’t tell me that my disciple died in vain! If this were to get out, then wouldn’t I be marked as a coward?”
“Hehe, apart from me, who else would know of it? Not only was the killer a Core Formation cultivator, but since he dared to casually kill near Stalwart Star Island, he definitely isn’t someone from the southwest sea. Naturally, there won’t be any drivel spoken about it and as for me, I’m not someone who spouts gossip. As such, so long as we return and say we had arrived too late, then this matter can be laid to rest. Otherwise, you would be doing battle with an unknown cultivator of the same rank for a common disciple. The risk absolutely isn’t worth it!” After chuckling for a moment, he expressed disapproval.
Having heard this, Island Lord Yuan’s fury gradually disappeared, and he revealed a pensive expression.
After muttering to himself for a moment, his expression became calm once more and he cupped his hands to the old man, saying, “Many thanks for Fellow Daoist Qi’s warning. I cannot thank you enough. Let us return! In the future, I will treat that disciple"s clan particularly well and then I will let it be.”
“That would be appropriate! As we are those who pursued the Immortal Dao for such a long time, our lives are even more precious. If we are to brave danger, then it must come at a sufficient price!” The old man said while concealing a sinister smile.
“However, these enforcers were to keep watch on Minor Expanse Island’s Immortal’s cave. How were they able to provoke a travelling Core Formation cultivator into killing them? Could they have some relations.h.i.+p to the two wanted fugitives of the three main islands and the Six United Palaces?” The middle-aged man quickly became perplexed despite much consideration.
“Enough! It has nothing to do with us! Your relations.h.i.+p with the Six United Palaces is too shallow to diligently pursue those two. Since I am Deputy Island Lord and you are the Island Lord, is there any use in blindly worrying about this?” The old man snorted and wore a sour expression.
After hearing this, the middle-aged man faintly smiled.
Afterwards, Island Lord Yuan and the old man chatted for a moment before returning to the island.