After cleaning himself up, Li Ye prepared to take Nie Tian to the inter-spatial teleportation portal in the central square. Just as they were about to depart, Hu Han appeared.
“Oh, you’re here,” Li Ye said. “I’m going to arrange for Hua Tian’s trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I’ll be back soon.”
“The Void Illusion Mountain Range?” Hu Han seemed surprised as she looked at Nie Tian, her eyes wide. “He’s only at the Lesser Heaven stage. I’m afraid that he’ll be murdered before he can get there.”
Li Ye snorted and said, “He’ll teleport to the heart of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, instead of taking a long journey to get there.”
Upon hearing those words, Hu Han’s eyes lit up, and she said with a pleading tone, “Lord Li, I’ve worked for you for more than a year. I’m recently a bit short of spirit stones, so I’d like to go with him and try my luck in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Plus, his cultivation base is too low. Even if he doesn’t have to travel on foot to get there, it will still be dangerous for him to stay there alone. I can look after him for you.”
Although Hu Han had a.s.sisted Li Ye with equipment forging for a long time, he had never been warm to her.
From what she could tell, Li Ye had never considered her as one of his own. She was also aware that Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial magics, had set up a small teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.
Originally, only the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull had the skills and resources to set up teleportation portals in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.
They had never allowed others to set up new ones in the mountain range.
And they only allowed their own members and those who were attached to them to use the portals.
Pei Qiqi was one of the very few who was both capable and respected enough to have their own portals set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.
Hu Han had long since overheard that Pei Qiqi had established a small scale teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but Pei Qiqi had never allowed others to use it, only Li Ye and herself.
Therefore, when she learned that Li Ye was going to let Nie Tian use the portal, she thought that she might be able to take advantage of the opportunity and tag along.
“You want to go too?” Li Ye frowned.
Hu Han nodded repeatedly and said, “Don’t you worry. I’ll never reveal the location of the portal to others, and I’ll even pay for the trip. Furthermore, if you allow me to go with Hua Tian. I’ll keep an eye on him while we’re there. Should any danger come up, I’ll do my utmost to protect him.”
Li Ye pondered in silence.
As a matter of fact, neither Nie Tian nor Hu Han understood why he had attached so much importance to Nie Tian that he had been willing to vouch for him and include him on their trip to the secret mine.
The major reason was that Nie Tian had been brought to them by Hua Mu, and Hua Mu was sworn friends with his master. He even had a feeling that there was a great deal of mystery between the two of them.
That made Nie Tian different from the others.
After pondering for a while, Li Ye took out a dark-green medicinal pill from within his ring of holding and held it out to Hu Han. “There’s no need for you to pay. If you really want to go, take this Heart Crus.h.i.+ng Pill. You probably already know how it works. If you take it, I’ll allow you to go with Hua Tian.”
The moment she saw the pill, Hu Han’s expression flickered drastically.
She seemed torn with indecision as she asked, “When will you give me the antidote?”
“When the two of you come back.” Li Ye said with no expression.
Hu Han clenched her jaw as she grabbed the pill. Then, after a deep breath, she swallowed it and said, “Okay now?”
Li Ye emphasized, “Remember to keep Hua Tian safe. If he doesn’t return with you, you won’t get the antidote.”
Hu Han gave a bitter smile and nodded in a.s.sent.
“Don’t think ill of me. I just like to be on the safe side. Your cultivation base is way higher than his, and it’s not like you’re in Shatter City. I’d never know if you somehow decided to kill him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.” Li Ye was blunt with his intentions. “You’re right. You’ve worked for me for more than a year, but I can’t say I know you well. No decent and honest person would come live in the Realm of Split Void. Plus, I"ve heard stories about you.”
Hu Han’s face grew grim as she said, “I see. I knew you wouldn’t trust someone like me.”
Li Ye turned to her and said, “You go ahead and wait for us at the teleportation portal. We’ll be there shortly.”
Hu Han didn’t say another word and walked out of the room.
Li Ye waited for her to disappear from his sight, then snorted and said to Nie Tian, “Watch out for this woman, Hua Tian. I’ve heard about some of the stuff that she’s done. She’s not a simple person. If it weren’t for the fact that she had agreed to take one of my Heart Crus.h.i.+ng Pills, I wouldn’t have let her go with you. She can’t do anything to you while you’re in Shatter City, but it’s hard to say when you leave the city.”
“Are you afraid that she’ll kill me?” Nie Tian sounded surprised.
“I can’t rule out that possibility if she hadn’t taken the Heart Crus.h.i.+ng Pill,” Li Ye replied. “You’ve got to remember that there isn’t a single person in the Realm of Split Void who doesn’t have a complicated past, especially a woman like her.”
“Oh, but why do you think you can trust me?” Nie Tian was curious.
“Because Mr. Hua brought you here, and his relations.h.i.+p with my master...” Li Ye didn’t finish his sentence. “Umm… You’re no outsider to me. Let’s just leave it at that. Come on, time to go.”
A short while later, Nie Tian and Li Ye arrived at the grand inter-spatial teleportation portal in the central square of Shatter City, where Hu Han had already been waiting.
On their way to the square, Li Ye had given Nie Tian some advice, along with a green jade bracelet and a map, on which a safe route had been marked out for him.
After Li Ye handed a number of spirit stones to Liu Kang, the Blood Skull member who managed the portal, he beckoned for Nie Tian and Hu Han to step into the portal.
Seconds later, the spell formation was activated, and Nie Tian and Hu Han disappeared in a cl.u.s.ter of blindingly bright light.
In the next moment, the two of them appeared in the small teleportation portal Pei Qiqi had set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.
After switching to another environment, Hu Han suddenly became much more talkative. She shot a glance at Nie Tian and said, “I’ve never seen Li Ye behaving so friendly toward anyone.”
Nie Tian smiled and said, “I’m only here to practice cultivation. I have no interest in exploring. The region I’m going to has long since been fully explored. Therefore, there won’t be any strong spirit beasts or explorers in that region.”
“Okay, I see.” Hu Han looked deeply at him, as if she wanted to see through what was special about him. However, the young man in front her seemed every bit as ordinary as any other.
She couldn’t figure out why Li Ye, who had a high opinion of himself, would attach such importance to Nie Tian.
Hu Han took out a hollow, diamond-shaped stone and handed it to Nie Tian, saying, “Here, take this Sound Stone. You can use it to communicate with me as long as we’re within five kilometers of each other. But if we’re any further apart, they’ll stop working. I’ll try my best to remain within that distance from you while I explore. Should you encounter any trouble, use it to call me, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Nie Tian grabbed the Sound Stone and held it close to his mouth. As soon as he whispered into it, he heard his voice coming out of the Sound Stone in Hu Han’s pocket.
“Remember, be safe.” Hu Han said with a straight face. “If you die, no matter how, I’ll suffer the same fate.”
“Of course!” Nie Tian said, smiling. “I didn’t come here to die. I like living.”
Just as Hu Han was about to turn around and leave, she hesitated. After a moment of pondering, she said, “Forget it. I’ll escort you to the place you’re going to first, in case something happens to you on your way there.”
“Alright," Nie Tian said.
Then, Nie Tian put on the green jade bracelet. When he was enveloped by a green power s.h.i.+eld, he walked out of the cave with Hu Han.
Right before Hu Han stepped out of the cave, a faint red light s.h.i.+eld surrounded her, keeping the poisonous spiritual Qi away.
After Nie Tian showed Hu Han the route on the map, Hu Han led the way for Nie Tian. From time to time, she would unleash her psychic awareness to scan the vicinity, and lead Nie Tian away as soon as they saw any spatial rifts.
The two of them marched cautiously through the Void Illusion Mountain Range. After all, unlike Pei Qiqi, neither of them had mastered any secret magics. They had to be extra careful to steer clear of spatial rifts and spirit beasts.
It took them six full hours to arrive at the the place Li Ye had marked out for Nie Tian on the map.
“This is it. I just checked. As Li Ye said, there isn’t any sign of life in this area. You’ll be safe here.” After escorting Nie Tian to his destination, Hu Han only said a few words, then rapidly left the place.
It was already deep into the night.
Numerous stars were s.h.i.+ning brightly in the sky.
Nie Tian was so eager to refine his vortex of star power with the starlight that he didn’t even take surveillance before rapidly finding a spot and starting to use the Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel starlight from the sky.