When he returned to the cave, he found Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi meditating.
Han Li had no intention of bothering them. Rather, he paused momentarily before slapping his storage pouch, taking out a pile of formation flags and plates, and tossing them into the air.
Multi-colored light enveloped the entire cavern. It was a simple spell formation that had the effects of concealment and detection, allowing an early warning if anybody were to trespass.
The other two turned a blind eye to Han Li’s actions and remained still in place.
Han Li smiled when he saw this and sat down cross-legged at a corner of the cave before joining them in meditation.
Over the span of a day, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi gradually restored their magic power and arose shortly after.
When the two stood up, Han Li’s face stirred and he opened his eyes, asking, “Fellow Daoists, have you recovered your strength?”
Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and replied, “Many thanks for your protection, Brother Han. We have just about restored our magic power.”
Old Man Fu looked at the center of the huge teleportation formation and asked, “Has Brother Han already gone outside to see where we are?”
Han Li calmly answered, “Yes, but I’m not sure. We are in the depths of a giant mountain and are surrounded by a gargantuan restriction.”
Old Man Fu’s eyes lit up and he confidently said, “Since Brother Han is an overseas cultivator, he wouldn’t be too familiar with the famous features of the mainland. I might be able to recognize where we are.”
Han Li chuckled and casually replied, “Oh, is that so? In that case, please ahead and take a look.”
When Bai Yaoyi heard this, her eyes lit up. “From Brother Han’s tone, there seems to be something peculiar about the mountain. Shall I take a look too?”
Han Li nodded indifferently.
As he possessed abilities far greater than the other two, it was only natural that he became their leader.
As a result, they exchanged a glance before flying out from the cave in streaks.
Han Li remained sitting down but flipped his hand to summon the tracking formation plate.
When he looked at it, he could clearly see a white and a black dot.
He narrowed his eyes and continued to watch in silence. Not long after, he raised his brow and put it away in a flash of light.
Following that, light glowed from the stairs and the two cultivators made a return. However, the two now wore an unsightly expression.
“Well, did you discover anything?” Han Li asked with a mysterious smile. Although he wasn’t familiar with the Great Jin, he would know if there was a spiritual mountain as large as what he had seen.
Old Man Fu wryly smiled, “Brother Han, now is not the time for jokes. I’ve never even heard of a mountain that large. We are no longer certain that we’re in the Great Jin.” With that said, his face revealed a trace of worry.
Bai Yaoyi tightly frowned. “That’s right, if this huge mountain was located in the Great Jin, we definitely would’ve heard of it before.”
“Perhaps,” Han Li calmly said, “Although I don’t know much about the outside restriction or the circumstances surrounding the mountain, I am certain that this teleportation formation was something that was placed down by ancient cultivators. The formation could’ve been activated from the battle or even something else entirely. But that isn’t important, for now let’s first refine the Nascent Cultivating Pill and then proceed from there.”
Old Man Fu smiled after a moment of silence and said, “Brother Han’s words are reasonable, the spiritual Qi here is abundant and there is no harm in staying a bit longer. Furthermore, we don’t have anything to fear with Brother Han here. Maybe this is an opportunity?”
Bai Yaoyi was also looking forward to the Nascent Cultivator Pill and nodded.
“Brother Fu, your praise is too much!” Han Li then changed his tone and said, “I’m not sure if you two have noticed, but the outside restrictions have greatly suppressed our spiritual sense, only allowing us to see a couple of kilometers out. I’m not sure how long it would take for us to search through this giant area.”
Bai Yaoyi replied, It is also quite strange how there is no life on this mountain. This doesn’t seem to be a place where we can rest easy.”
Old Man Fu dryly chuckled and said, “Regardless, the spiritual Qi here is abundant, and will be greatly beneficial to refine the pills here. I’ll go ahead and get started.”
The other two raised no objections, and they all placed down a spirit gathering formation and several more protective restrictions before Old Man Fu began the refinement process.
For the time being, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi had remained in the cave and were standing on watch.
After all, the Nascent Cultivating Pill was an item greatly important to them, and they had to be prepared for anything strange happening in the mountain.
…
Halfway up an enormous mountain, the group of Ye Clan cultivators were gathered at a stone pavilion. Most of them were sitting cross-legged with their hands holding spirit stones.
The Ye Clan Grand Elder, the white-robed scholar, floated above and was looking at the stairs in front of him with indifference.
They were constructed of pure white jade. At a distance, it looked as if it were the stairway to heaven.
However, the white steps were nearly twenty meters wide, and as he looked up, he only saw the stairs ascend into a white mist with no end in sight.
Soon, a light flashed from the horizon and streaked over before flying in the direction of the stairs.
The scholar stirred and he turned to face the approaching light.
It arrived before him in the blink of an eye and disappeared to reveal the eccentric with a large head, the Ye Clan’s Seventh Uncle.
The eccentric solemnly said, “Young Third, I’ve already followed the stairs several tens of kilometers and found a decorated archway. It appears to be the Myriad Cultivator Gate from legend, but unless the restrictions sealing it are removed, there is no way to proceed.”
The scholar let out a sigh and said, “If that's true, then over ten thousand ancient cultivators must’ve lived on Kunwu Mountain in the past. We’ll only be able to access their residences after we enter.”
The eccentric looked down to the cultivators resting in the pavilion and frowned, “However, the sealing restrictions are quite unordinary. We should work on dispelling it as soon as we can. We don’t have the time to waste.”
The scholar helplessly said, “Of course, but the magic power of our elders are lacking as of current, and they will need time to rest. We can’t split from them. Though we might be fine, this place can’t be safe.”
The eccentric could only respond with a sigh, “That is so. I didn’t expect that passing through the opening in the seal to Kunwu Mountain would prove so difficult. It is fortunate that we are all at Nascent Soul-stage or someone would’ve surely died.”
The scholar smiled and was about to say something else when his expression sank and he turned around.
“What is it?” The eccentric asked with a puzzled tone.
“There seems to be a sound coming in that direction,” the scholar solemnly replied.
“A sound?” The eccentric circulated the magic power throughout his body and could faintly hear the snarls of a beast. It was feline-like and grew stronger as it went on.
“What? Something is coming!” A glacial light flashed from the Eccentric’s eyes and he flipped his hand to summon an item flickering with silver light.
The scholar looked into the distance with complete focus.
Soon, a purple cloud appeared and was flying in their direction.
In the blink of an eye, it arrived near them and stopped three hundred meters away.
The scholar and the eccentric could faintly see a black figure within the mist along with a pair of scarlet eyes. The eyes brimmed hostile fury.
The eccentric’s bearing sank and he raised his hand, releasing a silver streak from his hand. It disappeared from sight, but at that moment a pair of huge bird talons suddenly emerged from the purple mist. Following a bang, silver light flashed.
A loud beastly snarl sounded out and the huge talons were rigidly grasping onto the object, an exquisite silver blade. It was several inches long and brilliant.
However, the talons did drip with green blood, and the monster was howling with pain.
With an ominous glint shining from its eyes, the purple mist suddenly faded away, leaving only two vicious demon eyes left in sight. But even they disappeared after a few blinks.
Both the cultivator’s air then quickly shifted.
The monster was proficient in concealment techniques! Given how their spiritual senses were limited on the mountain, it would be greatly troublesome to fight it.
The two exchanged a glance before casting their techniques.
The eccentric spat out a yellow flying sword and circled once into the air before expanding to three-meters-long. Afterwards, swordlight flourished from it as it danced in the air and released several streaks of dazzling sword Qi, surrounding a perimeter of thirty meters.
With a cold snort, the scholar shook his sleeve and summoned a small green flag into his hand. He tossed it to the ground and a green Qi rushed out from it, creating a fog that protected the Ye Clan cultivators that were resting nearby.
