From the old man"s strange discovery, there were only two conclusions: either his spiritual sense was mistaken, or there was a cultivator with a spiritual sense far superior to his own — most likely being the foreign cultivator. Regardless of the outcome, neither of them would be good.
For the first possibility, it would cause a loss of face in front of his two juniors and a loss of reputation as well, but the second possibility could lead to disaster.
While he made it appear that capturing the injured foreign cultivator would be an easy task, he was among the cultivators that had partic.i.p.ated in the battle to stop Han Li and held his grand abilities in terror.
The Nascent Soul cultivators who fell in the battle against Han Li had their bodies had turned to purple ice and their Nascent Souls were subsequently frozen over — a scene that remained fresh in the old man’s mind. Even if the foreign cultivator was injured, he reckoned that the foreign cultivator could easily bring him down in mutual destruction.
Since there were no other Nascent Soul cultivators nearby and there was a vague possibility of death, he didn’t have to mind to confirm whether or not the danger was true. In any case, the Grand Immortals and the Saintess will personally deal with this person after the Day of Spirit Release.
With his heart filled with dread, the bald old man sighed and decided against catching up with the caravan. If he were two hundred years younger, he might’ve taken the risk. But now that he was nearing the end of his lifespan, he treasured what time he had left.
The bald old man stared at the caravan as it made its way into the distance as he motionlessly stood in place. As for the pair standing behind him, they both glanced at each other with a bewildered expression, but neither of them were brave enough to ask about it.
...
When the caravan arrived ten kilometers away, Han Li felt a wave of relief. The master of the spiritual sense that had observed them back at the encampment hadn’t followed them.
Although Han Li had quickly responded to the spiritual sense search, he was unaccustomed to his drop in cultivation and withdrew his spiritual sense a bit late. He wasn"t sure if he had truly concealed himself. And given how indiscernible the spiritual sense was, it was clear that the owner cultivated a secret technique.
His heart relaxed a bit for the time being and he continued to conceal his aura, not daring to be careless.
After travelling for over half a day, Han Li felt a wave of relief and began to slowly release his spiritual sense, covering a perimeter of over ten kilometers. Sensing that nothing was out of the ordinary, Han Li summoned the purple-robed old man’s storage pouch with a flip of his hand and poured out its contents in a flash of white light.
Han Li swept his gaze past the pile of items and took a small bottle into his hand. He opened it and took a whiff before shaking his head and setting it aside. Then he took another bottle and did the same as if trying to find something.
Eventually, Han Li opened the lid of an unremarkable green bottle. Before he even recognized what it was, a thread of purple mist drifted out. Han Li’s expression grew sullen and he opened his mouth, spitting out a ball of azure light. The thread of purple Qi wrapped around it and soon, the azure light darkened.
Han Li’s expression changed. Before the azure light became completely corrupted, Han Li forcefully blew on the light and pushed it into the bottle before quickly sealing it.
He then let out a sigh of relief. His actions hadn’t been in vain. He had acquired the remaining agony poison, a rather significant gain. The Ten Absolute Poisons were rarely ever encountered. The Kong Clan must’ve been an exceptional power to be able to possess something as rare as this.
He carefully put away the bottle in his storage pouch and then released a thread of spiritual sense out of impulse, peeking into one of the Red Wolf Tribe’s carriages.
Feng Yue was currently holding a fist-sized pearl with both his hands and meditating with his eyes shut. Black Qi was flowing in from his eyes to the pearl in his hands, causing the pearl to s.h.i.+ne with black light. There was a pile of medicine bottles stacked in front of him, but most of them were opened and there were even a few loose pills were scattered to the side.
Han Li shook his head at the sight and withdrew his spiritual sense.
Although this pearl appeared to be some sort of exceptional treasure capable of absorbing poisonous Qi, it had already reached its limit. The absorbed poisonous Qi would soon be replaced by the Agony Poison deep within his body and his efforts would be in vain. It was simply a delusion to believe that he"d be able to rid himself of the poison in a mere ten days.
With this thought, Han Li closed his eyes and sank into meditation.
...
Eight days later, the road had been peaceful apart from two low-grade Ironhoof Beasts. They encountered the caravan in a moment of carelessness, much to the joy of the cultivators cultivators, but Feng Yue, Han Li, and one other cultivator hadn’t partic.i.p.ated in the hunt.
The cultivator that hadn’t taken action had aroused Han Li’s interest and when Han Li examined him with his spiritual sense, he found that the youth was simply a diligent Foundation Establishment cultivator that was immersed in cultivation.
Han Li quickly lost interest in him after examining him a few more times. As for Feng Yue, he had failed in his many attempts to rid himself of the poison and had grown frantic, despair occasionally appearing on his face. His black hair had gradually turned white as well.
This came as no surprise. He was the sole descendant of the Feng Clan and was completely helpless as the death of his bloodline approached. What he suffered was far beyond what an ordinary person could bear. Now, there were only three days left before he ran out of time.
Anyways, Han Li had finished comprehending the incantation Monarch Soul Divergence had given him two days prior. He had gained much peace of mind as he no longer had any fear of being surrounded by Nascent Soul cultivators.
One day as night approached, the caravan of several hundred people stopped beside a river that was about a kilometer wide and made shelter for the night. The various tribes had raised bonfires all around them and were roasting livestock.
When Han Li heard the sound of flowing water, his heart stirred and he departed from the carriage.
The young woman named Ying Shan had been eating a piece of dried meat when Han Li suddenly emerged. With a face flushed with embarra.s.sment, she tossed the meat to the side and respectfully saluted Han Li, saying, “Sir Immortal, do you have any orders?” Since this was the first time Han Li had emerged from the carriage during the long journey, she had been thrown off guard and was somewhat fl.u.s.tered.
Han Li took a glance at the woman’s dainty face and looked the meat she tossed aside, then saying, “I have none. I’ve meditated enough inside the carriage and thought I’d have a look around.”
“That...” Somewhat at a loss, the woman proposed, “Immortal Han, how about I go fetch you some fresh water?”
Han Li glanced at the river nearby and nodded. “That’ll be good. Although I no longer feel the need to eat, a drink of fresh water will be good.”
When the young woman heard this, she gave a lively response despite the turmoil she felt in her heart and ran to the river with a water sack. When Han Li glanced at her from behind, his heart stirred and he unconsciously smiled.
A short moment later, the young woman brought back the water sack and was holding a piece of roasted meat in her hand. She was panting for breath and offered the two items to Han Li with an embarra.s.sed expression.
With an earnest tone, the young woman said, “Sir Immortal, the roasted meat is quite good. Will you try some?”
Han Li chuckled and said, “Sure! It’s been many years since I’ve eaten something. A bit of food should be interesting.” He then accepted the meat and took a bite, finding the taste to be quite good.
When the young woman saw this, she revealed an adorable expression.
When Han Li was finished with his bite of food, he set it aside and said, “It must’ve been hard waiting at the side of my carriage. You’re partic.i.p.ating in the Day of Spirit Release, right? Extend your hand and let me take look at your spirit roots.”
“Many thanks, Sir Immortal.” When the young woman heard him, she extended wrist with unconcealed excitement.
Han Li grabbed the woman’s wrist channeled a bit of spiritual Qi into her body and pondered for a moment. If his cultivation hadn’t been reduced to Foundation Establishment stage, he would’ve been able to examine her apt.i.tude without touching her.
“Immortal Han, how is my apt.i.tude? Do I have any chance of becoming an Immortal?” The young woman eagerly asked. Her face wore an expression of hopeful excitement.
“You should have no problem becoming an Immortal, but it can be considered destiny that you’ve met me. Take the medicine before the Spirit Release Rites.” Han Li released his grip on her wrist and summoned a small white bottle with a flick of his hand.
“This...” The young woman received the small bottle with complete surprise.
“Although the medicine pill isn’t particularly precious, it will improve your const.i.tution and will aid you on your path to cultivation.” The medicine was a marrow cleansing medicine pill, something valuable to low-grade cultivators but was of little value to Han Li.
“Many thanks for Sir Immortal’s great kindness.” The young woman rejoiced and hastily bowed.
“Stand up,” Han Li waved his hand at the young woman and said, “Perhaps if fate will have, we’ll see each other again in the future. By the way, since this river is so wide, could it be the southern portion of the Heavenly Water River?”
The young woman carefully put and bottle away and said, “That’s correct, Sir Immortal. It is a branch of the Heavenly Water River. It runs over fifty kilometers down before joining with the true Heavenly Water River.
When Han Li heard this, he said nothing else and began to recall all the details pertaining to the Heavenly Water River.
If he remembered correctly, the river was incredibly long, earning its t.i.tle as the largest river in the Endless Sky Plains, and it even reached down to the Jin Empire under the name of the Mystical River.
He couldn’t help but ponder over this fact.
Then, Han Li’s expression stirred and he raised his head to look at the sky across the river with a gloomy expression.
“Quickly inform the tribe elders that there is something flying towards us,” Han Li sullenly commanded, “I don’t know if they as pa.s.sing through or if they’re specifically heading towards us.”
The young woman was startled when she heard this and she repeatedly nodded her head before running to Ying Lu and the other tribe leaders. A short moment later, an uproar was raised and everyone quickly ran away from the river.
Before most of the people could return to the carriages, green light flash from over the horizon and a series of low-pitched cries sounded out, revealing a huge bat covered in green light.
Its sinister and frightening appearance caused the mortals to s.h.i.+ver in fear at the sight of it. The many Soaring Tribes cultivators in the caravan all leaped out at their carriages and looked at it with solemn expressions.