The Nascent Soul grew dizzy as the fragrant pink mist gathered around it, and its mind weakened. When the silver lights struck it in quick succession, its body was frozen and completely disabled, rendering it incapable of detonating itself.
The Nascent Soul’s face paled and stared at the white-clothed woman next to Han Li in disbelief.
“Not bad! Your actions have resolved the situation cleanly.” Although he was the one who had ordered Silvermoon to attack, he praised her nonetheless.
Silvermoon smiled and said, “It was all because Master told me to attack at an opportune time. This person only wished to escape and was careless, allowing me to replace myself with an illusion and escape his notice.” Afterwards, she waved to her illusion and it dissolved into a ball of white light.
Han Li said nothing further and smiled. He had the giant net of golden lightning transform into a golden ball that flew into his hand and disappeared without a trace. As for the Aureate Sword Formation, Han Li had already dissolved it and had the thirty-six swords shrink before flying back into his sleeve.
Han Li took this opportunity and calmly looked at the black-robed youth’s Nascent Soul. It tried to curse as loudly as it could, but it lacked the strength to even open its mouth.
Han Li’s expression sank and he sullenly said, “Silvermoon, bring him to the edge of the forest and search him for the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse.” After speaking, he took to the skies and flew towards the other side of the forest.
Silvermoon respectfully answered, “Yes, Master.” Grabbing onto the Nascent Soul, she followed after him. A pink fragrant mist soon scattered across the forest after they left.
About a hundred kilometers away from the island where Han Li battled with the black-robed youth, six streaks of light were making their way towards the island. The one that headed the party was a silver-haired old man, Elder Cheng of the Drifting Cloud Sect.
A red-nosed fat old man following after him asked, “Fellow Daoist Cheng, did you sense correctly? The transportation formation was rather simple. It seems somewhat out of the ordinary for it be able to transport someone so far.”
“I can’t be wrong. I sensed it clearly, and Junior Martial Brother Han should be close to here. Be careful everyone. He should be a devil cultivator at mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. Although we greatly outnumber him, we must be careful with regards to our weaker cultivation.”
At the side, the Child Fire Dragon smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Brother Long has brought along the Divine Bewildering Bell. Even if we are no match, we shouldn’t have a problem escaping.”
Senior Martial Brother Cheng glanced at the grey-robed old man and gratefully said, “That’s true. If it weren’t for Brother Long bringing along such a precious treasure to a.s.sist us, I wouldn’t have dared to bring you all to brave this danger. After all, if the devil cultivator is truly the Yin Sifting Sect Master, we would find ourselves in dire straits.”
The grey-clothed old man smiled and politely said, “It was nothing. In the past, Brother Cheng had done me a great kindness. It is only fair that I exert myself to help. Furthermore, this Yin Sifting Sect cultivator must hold us in little esteem to dare to injure someone so deep within our State of Xi. Naturally, we must show him that the cultivators of the State of Xi are not to be trifled with.”
Amongst the group, a large man with a dignified appearance smiled and said, “However, I am rather curious about your sect’s Fellow Daoist Han. I’ve heard your Junior Martial Brother made a magnificent display of power in the war against the Moulan, even to the point of turning the tide of the war. I hold him in very high regards and wish to become his friend.”
The red-nosed old man chuckled and agreed, “That’s right. I’ve also heard about Fellow Daoist Han’s thunderous reputation lately. I also wish to make his acquaintance.”
“That will be easy. Once we help Junior Martial Brother Han resolve this matter, I will introduce you all. However, I am worried about Junior Martial Brother Han’s safety. That devil cultivator is truly cunning, using that transportation formation to rid him of us. Perhaps something has happened to him during this time while he fought against him alone.”
“Don’t worry. Since he schemed to have Han Li alone, his cultivation can’t be too high or else he wouldn’t resort to such tricks in the first place. With Fellow Daoist Han’s cultivation, there shouldn’t be too great a difference.”
“I hope Fellow Daoist Ji is correct.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng bitterly smiled. From what he saw on the day that Nangong Wan was attacked, he clearly understood that if the devil cultivator wasn’t at late Nascent Soul stage, he was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. He wouldn’t be easy to deal with.
Senior Martial Brother Cheng didn’t wish for such a powerful, newly-joined elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect to immediately suffer from something like this. Fortunately, he was able to sense a trace of Han Li’s existence and was able to calm himself down, knowing that Han Li was still alive.
As the six Nascent Soul cultivators chatted, they slowly drew closer to the small island where Han Li had battled the black-clothed youth and their expressions grew more solemn. Senior Martial Brother Cheng yelped and the party came to a sudden stop.
“Brother Cheng, what’s the matter?”
“Junior Martial Brother Han seems to be flying towards us. I’m not sure whether the matter was already resolved, or...” Senior Martial Brother Cheng didn’t speak any further, but the others naturally knew what he meant. It was possible that he had been captured alive or was running away.
The grey-robed old man calmly said, “Let’s make our preparations. If something truly happened to Fellow Daoist Han, we’ll be able to rescue him.” Soon after, he slapped the storage pouch, taking a small yellow bell in his hand while silently watching his front as he held it. When the others saw this, they all took out their own treasures in preparation for a battle.
Senior Martial Brother Cheng’s expression grew sullen, slight fear betrayed from his face. A short moment later, they saw an azure light flying towards them.
“It"s Junior Martial Brother Han. Nothing happened to him.” When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw the azure light, he sighed with relief and smiled. The other cultivators were astonished to see this. Since Han Li was safe, could it be that the matter with the devil cultivator had been handled?
As the other cultivators pondered over this, the azure light quickly arrived before them to reveal Han Li.
Han Li frowned when he first appeared as if he were worried. But when he saw these cultivators, he forced a smile and saluted them. “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, Fellow Daoist Fire Dragon, you’re here. These Fellow Daoists must’ve also come to help me. I can’t thank you enough for troubling yourselves over me.”
After closely examining Han Li, the grey-clothed old man surnamed Long, humbly said, “Fellow Daoist must be joking. We were too late and there is nothing to help you with. We’re rather embarra.s.sed.” As if headed by the grey-robed old man, they all glanced at Han Li with forced smiles.
When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw that there was no one pursuing Han Li, he couldn’t help but ask, “Junior Martial Brother Han, what happened with the devil cultivator? Did you escape from him?”
Han Li indifferently replied, “I’ve already killed him and disposed of his Nascent Soul. However, he wasn"t the Yin Sifting Sect Master, merely one of its elders.”
Senior Martial Brother Cheng asked with a tone of disbelief, “What? You’ve already killed him? Although he wasn’t a late Nascent Soul cultivator, he should have been at the mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. You really managed to kill him?”
When Old Man Long and the others heard this, they revealed astonishment. Since the devil cultivator was able to injure an early Nascent Soul cultivator in the Drifting Cloud Sect and easily escape, they naturally knew that he was a formidable character. If Old Man Long hadn’t brought the Divine Bewildering Bell, the others might not have been brave enough to come.
Now that they heard that Han Li was able to destroy even the devil cultivator’s Nascent Soul, they were greatly surprised.
“It was only a matter of luck. I just happened to be able to subdue his techniques.” Han Li casually spoke and pondered for a moment before tossing a black object towards Senior Martial Brother Cheng. The old man caught the item and examined it with a grim expression. There was a dense layer of talisman characters on the medallion, and the character for “Sift” was engraved at its center.
Having already guessed what it was, Senior Martial Brother Cheng still asked, “What’s this?”
Han Li faintly smiled and said, “This is the command medallion of a Yin Sifting Sect elder that the devil cultivator left behind. It’s an ancient treasure of some power and should be sufficient to confirm his ident.i.ty.”
The others turned their gazes to the medallion upon hearing this. When they saw how strange the medallion was, they didn’t doubt Han Li’s words.
The others couldn’t help but ask about the details of the battle, but Han Li simply played the matter off. When the others saw that he didn’t feel like talking, they tactfully remained silent. However, they all still intended to befriend Han Li. After all, he was someone who could slay a mid Nascent Soul-stage devil cultivator and there were many benefits to befriending such a powerful figure.
Since the others had come with the intention of helping Han Li, he treated them courteously and chatted with them on the way back.
Halfway back, Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Cheng took their leave from the rest of the group and returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect.
Within the official hall of the sect, the silver-haired old man asked the question that was lingering in his mind, “Did you find the method of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse? I saw that you had a heavy heart on the way back and were forcing yourself to appear calm. Could it be that you didn’t find it?”