"Perhaps he really is as fearsome as my instinctive impression of him suggested. Otherwise, how could he have been so calm and collected in my presence?" Wen Qing speculated.
"If that's the case, then the situation really is quite troublesome. We won't be able to kill him easily, so all we can do is try to recruit him with all our might. But with his immense power, if he were to join the Star Palace, how is Yuling going to be able to control him? Once one of us passes away, he could easily turn on us and take over the entire Star Palace!" A hint of killing intent was seeping out of the man's voice.
"So what you're saying is, we still have to get rid of him! But what if this man is too powerful for us to kill and he ends up escaping? We'll be making an enemy fearsome enemy for Yuling; the consequences of that will be catastrophic." Wen Qing was a little hesitant."Hmph, if we don't think of a way to get rid of this man, he's going to stir up the entire Scattered Star Seas sooner or later. We have no chance of making any further advancements on our cultivation paths, but we can't let the Star Palace fall by our hands. People who we can't recruit to our side must be killed! Even if it's going to be quite risky, we still have to try nonetheless," the man harrumphed coldly without any hesitation.
"You do have a point, but this is an extremely important matter. In my opinion, it's best to think carefully before we act." Wen Qing shook her head, clearly in disagreement with the proposed course of action.
"Are you really that wary of him? If we join forces and use the Divine Essencefused Mountain, there's no way he'd be able to escape!" the man declared in a haughty manner.
"If we join forces and use the Divine Essencefused Mountain, we do indeed have a 7o to 80% chance of killing him. However, he's a very cautious man and most likely wouldn't come to visit our sacred mountain voluntarily. Furthermore, the Divine Essencefused Mountain is extremely useful in defense, but very maladroit when used to attack and pursue enemies. If we really want to catch him off guard, we'd have to use the Divine Essenfused Mountain to enshroud the entire Starry Sky Palace in the exact instant that he teleports back from the outer seas. Only then can we ensure that he won't be able to escape. Otherwise, if he tries to get away, it'll be very difficult for us to kill him," the woman mused.
"I'm well aware of that. I heard you gave him a guest elder badge, right? That's a great idea. If he uses the badge, we'll be able to track his location and get a rough estimate of when he'll return. In that case, it won't be impossible to set up an ambush at the Starry Sky Palace," the man said in a sinister voice.
Wen Qing's brows furrowed and she didn't give a reply. Instead, she suddenly changed the topic and said something that was very surprising to the man.
"Almost all of the past masters of the Star Palace have consisted of a couple. Yuling is already an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, yet she still doesn't have a Dao Companion yet. Only by using the Star Palace's secret pair cultivation technique will she have a high success rate when progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Also, as long as one of the cultivators in the couple is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, the Star Palace will remain a dominant force in the Scattered Star Seas. That was how we were able to become the masters of the Star Palace. There are only two or three Nascent Soul cultivators in the Star Palace of a similar age to Yuling, and she doesn't seem to have developed an interest in any of them. That's rather troublesome. What do you think of that Han brat? If he agrees to marry Yuling, how about we hand over the Star Palace to him? In that case, it would the same as handing the Star Palace over to Yuling. Also, with his astonishing rate of progression, there's a good chance that he'll be able to reach the Deity Transformation Stage. Under his protection, Yuling could also reach that level someday," Wen Qing offered her alternative.
"Have him become Yuling's Dao Companion? That's a good idea. However, this man is already a late-Nascent Soul cultivator at such a young age, so there's a good chance that he already has a Dao Companion, and he could even have a large number of concubines already." The man was still rather hesitant.
"So what even if that is the case? How can any of them compare to Yuling? We're handing over the Star Palace to him as a dowry; it should be apparent to him who's more important. In the worst-case scenario, he'll just have to abandon his concubines or make them his servants instead. This is not an uncommon occurrence in our cultivation world," Wen Qing replied with an indifferent smile.
The man nodded before saying in a solemn voice, "Alright, we'll do as you say, then. But if he turns us down, we'll have to join forces to get rid of him."
A peculiar look suddenly appeared in Wen Qing's eyes as a cold smile surfaced on her face. "Even if he doesn't agree, he won't be able to do anything to us. I have a plan that will make him become his worst enemy. When that time comes, he's going to slowly destroy himself and he won't be able to even think about touching our Star Palace."
"How are you going to do that? Make sure it doesn't backfire on us. The fact that this man was able to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage shows that he won't be easy to swindle." The man was rather surprised to hear this.
Wen Qing chuckled before her lips tremored, transmitting her voice to the man rather than speaking directly to him.
"You want to do that? No, I absolutely won't agree to this!" After listening for only a short while, a shocked look abruptly appeared on the man's face before his expression darkened.
However, Wen Qing paid him no heed and continued to transmit her voice to him. After listening for a while longer, the anger on the man's face gradually disappeared.
When Wen Qing finally concluded her voice transmission, the man fell into deep thought with his narrowed in contemplation.
Wen Qing waited patiently for him in silence with a smile on her face.
After a long which, a decisive look appeared on the man's face as he said, "We'll do as you say. If we don't succeed, then we'll employ other methods. In any case, we have to get rid of the Archsaint of the Six Paths, Wan Sangu, and any other people who could pose a threat to our Star Palace. Only then will we be able to hand over the Star Palace to Yuling!"
"Of course. Both of us still have over 100 years left of our lifespans. That's more than enough to take care of these matters, so we don't have to rush things. Hehe, as long as he wants to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, there's no way he won't fall for this trap." The woman seemed to be very confident in her own plan.
Just as the Heavenly Star Sages concluded their discussion in the cave on the sacred mountain, Han Li was sitting in a peaceful wooden cabin on the Silver Shark Island. He was holding onto the wrist of a thin and frail young woman in his hand, and a wisp of his spiritual power was roaming through her body, searching for something.
This was none other than Wen Siyue's daughter, a young woman by the name of Tian Qin'er.
She was seated on a wooden bed with her legs folded in front of her, and her face was slightly flushed as she raised her exposed arm for Han Li's examination. As for Han Li himself, he sat by the edge of the bed with no expression on his face.
Nearby, Wen Siyue and the graceful man were standing completely still, not even daring to breathe too loudly as they stared at the young woman with concern in their eyes.
Meanwhile, their four Foundation Establishment Stage disciples were standing guard outside to prevent anyone from disrupting the diagnosis process.
Han Li finally released Tian Qin'er's wrist as he said, "The situation is indeed a little troublesome. This poison is constantly engulfing the spiritual power within her body, and it's rushing through her meridians in an extremely unpredictable manner. It's no wonder neither of you were able to do anything about this. You must've fed her a lot of pills, right? Otherwise, she would've perished a long time ago. Even so, pills are only a temporary fix and the spiritual power they offer will only provide more fuel for the poison. If things continue like this, she'll be dead in three months unless the poison is cured."
The couple was stunned to hear this and the graceful man asked in a trembling voice, "Senior Han, even you're unable to eradicate this poison?"
"I only said the situation was a little troublesome; when did I ever say I couldn't get rid of this poison?" Han Li glanced at the man and asked coldly.
"Apologies for my rudeness; please forgive me, Senior!" Only then did the man recall that Han Li was a great cultivator and was not someone he could voice his doubts against. Upon arriving at this realization, a sheen of cold sweat immediately surfaced on his forehead.
Han Li didn't say anything else. He turned toward the young woman sitting on the bed and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
The young woman had been completely silent ever since she entered the room. Her cheeks had been slightly flushed when he had grabbed onto her wrist but aside from that, she was remarkably calm.
This was not the reaction he expected from a normal person! Even most cultivators couldn't pay so little heed to whether they lived or died as she did.
What was even more surprising to Han Li was that he was struck by an indescribable sense of familiarity whenever he looked at her. This feeling was both familiar yet rather foreign, making him wonder if it were just a figment of his imagination. If it weren't for that fact that he had recently progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, thereby significantly increasing the sensitivity of his spiritual sense, he most likely wouldn't even have been able to detect that ambiguous feeling. As for the poison that this young woman was afflicted by, taking care of it was a simple task to him.
Han Li was very perplexed and he fell into deep thought as he stared the young woman before him.
Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion were both also rather puzzled to see this, but they merely looked at one another and didn't dare to disrupt Han Li with their words.
All of a sudden, Han Li shuddered as a thought occurred to him. An extremely peculiar look appeared in his eyes as he appraised this "Tian Qin'er" again.
"Are you well-versed in formation spells?" Much to their surprise, Han Li asked a question that was completely unrelated to the poison that Tian Qin'er had been afflicted by.
The young woman turned to Han Li with astonishment in her eyes upon hearing this, as did Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion.
"Senior Han, how did you know that my daughter is well-versed in formation spells?" Wen Siyue couldn't help but asked.
"There was an acquaintance of mine who was also quite proficient in formation spells and she bore some resemblance to your daughter," Han Li replied as he quickly composed himself. At the same time, a lithe and graceful figure surfaced in his mind.This lithe and graceful figure was of none other than Xin Ruyin, the fiery woman whom he had met countless years ago.
The two of them were actually completely different in physical appearance, but their dispositions were astonishingly similar.
Could it just be a coincidence? Han Li had an unfathomable premonition that this was not the case.
A light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly grabbed onto the young woman's hand before flipping it over to reveal her palm.
There was a small red birthmark at the center of her palm and it was as vibrant as fresh blood.
"Impossible!"
Han Li exclaimed with an astonished expression.
