"So Elder Cheng must've passed away already," Han Li murmured to himself. He stared up at the roof of the cave and seemed to have fallen into the deep thought.
The roof of the cave up above seemed to have been punctured by Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in the past but after 100 years, there were no noticeable signs at all indicating it had been repaired.
The brawny man could see that Han Li was rather absentminded, but he still didn't dare to do anything and maintained a respectful expression on his face.
All of a sudden, Han Li raised a sleeve without any premonition and burst of azure light swept toward the brawny man's head.
The latter's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, but before he could do anything, he had already fallen onto the ground, having been completely knocked out.
Han Li took a glance at the unconscious man on the ground before suddenly flicking his fingers in quick succession, sending several streaks of golden sword Qi flying into the formation behind them.
A loud boom erupted and the formation was completely destroyed. Aside from the large crater that had been left in the ground, nothing remained to suggest that the teleportation formation had ever existed.
Seeing as the formation over in the Scattered Star Seas had been repaired by him, there was no need for the teleportation formation on this side to continue to exist. Otherwise, if someone else possessed a Greater Teleportation Medallion like the did, they would also be able to teleport to the Scattered Star Seas.
Han Li wanted this to be a shortcut that was exclusively available to him and had no intention of sharing it with anyone else. He was already extremely familiar with the structure and construction process of teleportation formations so if required, he could erect the same teleportation formation again in this place at any time.
In any case, with his current staggering wealth, the costs of materials for setting up teleportation formations, which had once seemed astronomical to him, were no longer a problem.
After doing all of that, Han Li reached out and feigned a grabbing motion toward the brawny man on the ground.
An immense suction force dragged the latter's head firmly into Han Li's hand. A flash of light then appeared in his eyes as he began to unleash his secret technique.
After a while, Han Li released his five fingers and the brawny man tumbled to the ground once again. Han Li murmured to himself expressionlessly, "You're lucky that you told the truth. I'm not a man who likes to eat his words, so I won't kill you, but I naturally have to wipe away your memories of seeing me appear from this teleportation formation."
Han Li had unleashed a secret technique to alter this man's memories. As such, he could only recall that an unidentifiable high-grade cultivator had seemingly descended from the heavens before killing all of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators, and the ancient teleportation formation had been unintentionally destroyed by the shockwaves radiating from their battle.
At Han Li's current cultivation base, unless if a Deity Transformation cultivator were to step in, no one would be able to break the restriction that he had set, so he could naturally rest assured.
After that, Han Li released a few fireballs to incinerate the bodies of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators into ashes. Brilliant azure light then erupted from his body, sweeping up the young girl behind him as they shot forth, directly upward.
An earthshattering boom rang out and the roof of the cave that had been repaired by the Ghost Spirit Sect was punctured again. The streak of azure light flashed once, and Han Li had already reached the surface of the ground up above. The streak of azure light then hurtled into the distance, completely disappearing after just a few flashes.
After a while, all of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were drawn to the scene by the massive commotion that had just ensued, only to find the unconscious brawny man, and the limestone cave where he was located, which was in a state of complete turmoil. Unbeknownst to them, a sneak attack that the Devil Flame Sect had planned against the Ghost Spirit Sect had been foiled, just like that. Meanwhile, Han Li was already on his way to the State of Xi.
At Han Li's current cultivation, he was capable of traveling at extraordinary speeds. Even though he hadn't unleashed his full speed, the rate at which he flew was still quite astonishing.
Along the way, Han Li would encounter the occasional cultivator, and all of them felt as if they had only just seen a spot of azure light flash several times in the distance before it had passed them by in the blink of an eye, an observation that left many of them completely dumbstruck.
These cultivators were all naturally given a fright upon seeing this. Some of the cultivators with superior cultivation bases were aware that they had just encountered an unfathomably powerful senior, while the low-grade cultivators began to speculate about supernatural activity, thinking that they had just encountered some kind of monster in broad daylight.
It only took Han Li several days to fly out of the State of Yue and reach the State of Yuan Wu.
After flying for a further two days in the State of Yuan Wu, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, upon which he hesitated momentarily before flying in another direction with Tian Qin'er in two, temporarily altering his itinerary.
Near a secluded mountain on the border of the State of Yuan Wu, a spot of azure light flashed in the distance. A dazzling streak of azure light over 100 feet in length then shot forth and reached the air above the mountain in the blink of an eye, upon which the azure light receded. Han Li and Tian Qin'er were revealed as a result.
Han Li looked down at the mountain peak and a hint of emotion appeared in his eyes. He swept his spiritual sense downward, and a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face.
This was the mountain where Xin Ruyin had once resided in hiding. The mountain itself looked no different compared to how it did back then, but Han Li could sense the auras of many cultivators down below, most of which were at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Stages, but there also appeared to be two Core Formation cultivators among them.
Some of the formation spell restrictions that Xin Ruyin had set up were still in place, creating a dense layer of white mist down below that made it impossible for anyone to see what was going on down below.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he fell into deep thought.
"Master, is something wrong?" Tian Qin'er blinked and asked carefully.
"Not really. It's just that I haven't been here in a few years, and it seems that some welcome guests have settled in this place," Han Li replied indifferently. However, the young girl could see hints of displeasure on Han Li's face, and she immediately knew that it was best not to pry further into the matter.
However, Han Li suddenly turned to her, and asked her something that caught her completely off guard.
"What do you think of this mountain?"
Tian Qin'er was very confused by this question, and she carefully examined the small mountain down below before replying hesitantly, "This mountain? The spiritual Qi here isn't very abundant, but the scenery isn't bad."
"This was the residence of one of my past acquaintances." A hint of disappointment appeared on Han Li's face, but he soon recomposed himself before raising a hand.
A spluttering sound rang out as a crimson fireball abruptly emerged.
Right before Han Li's expressionless eyes, the fireball began to revolve incessantly above his palm, and it began to expand drastically at a phenomenal rate. Within the span of a breath, it had become as large as a washbasin. This was quite a startling transformation.
Han Li looked down with a cold expression before waving his hand through the air, upon which the fireball came hurtling down from above like a shooting star, disappearing into the mist in a flash.
The mist began to tumble violently as a loud boom erupted. A fiery cloud exploded within the white mist as waves of fire surged aggressively, puncturing a hole into the restriction that was over 100 feet in diameter, and this hole was still rapidly expanding, while the mist was reduced to water vapor.
The entire restriction had been destroyed by Han Li with ease using a mere fireball.
The white mist dissipated and the scenes down below were gradually revealed. A series of buildings and pavilions had been constructed on the mountain, yet the bamboo buildings that Xin Ruyin had constructed were nowhere to be seen.
Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this.
All of the cultivators down below had naturally been alerted by such a loud commotion, and all of them instantly discovered Han Li and Tian Qin'er hovering in the air up above.
A dozen or so cultivators immediately rose into the air atop their treasures as they headed straight for Han Li.
However, right at this moment, a clear voice suddenly rang out from down below.
"Which esteemed senior has come to visit our Wing Transformation Sect? My name is Guan Qing, and I apologize for failing to offer a proper welcome." Just as this voice faded, a streak of red light shot forth from the mountain. The red light outsped the Foundation Establishment cultivators down below and instantly reached Han Li. The light receded to reveal a middle-aged man in a set of scholar robes.
This was one of the Core Formation cultivators that Han Li had detected earlier.
From within the tallest pavilion down below, a ball of yellow light also emerged. The yellow light was traveling just as quickly as the streak of red light and quickly reached Han Li as well before revealing a dark-skinned elderly man with an extremely well-built physique.
This was naturally the other Core Formation cultivator.
Only then did the Foundation Establishment cultivators reach converge at the scene, and all of them stayed behind the two Core Formation cultivators with grim expressions on their faces.
"Wing Transformation Sect? I've never heard of it. Is this a newly-founded sect?" Han Li raised an eyebrow as astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from his body, crashing directly toward the two Core Formation cultivators.
The scholar and the elderly man's expressions changed drastically, and they stumbled back several steps before finally arresting their momentum.
"A Nascent Soul cultivator?" the scholar exclaimed.
"Senior, you're a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator?" The dark-skinned elderly man swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which an incredulous look appeared on his face.
Han Li made no attempt to hide his cultivation base and this elderly man had quite a powerful spiritual sense for a cultivator of his caliber, so he was naturally able to detect Han Li's power.
"A late-Nascent Soul cultivator?" The scholar was given another fright as he also swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li.
Meanwhile, Han Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying the two of them expressionlessly.
After the scholar had ascertained Han Li's cultivation base with his spiritual sense, his expression had also become very strained. The two Core Formation cultivators glanced at one another before extending respectful bows in unison, and the elderly man said, "We pay our respects to the esteemed senior! Our sect is indeed a newly-founded one; may I ask for the purpose of your visit, Senior? If there's anything I can help you with, I'll be sure to do my best."
The scholar also wore a respectful look on his face.
This was a great cultivator that could destroy their entire sect with ease, and the two of them were feeling extremely uneasy.
After all, Han Li had just destroyed the restriction down below in an extremely violent manner, and that certainly didn't bode well for them.
Upon seeing their masters concede in such a tame manner and hearing the words "late-Nascent Soul cultivator", the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them were also completely petrified.
After all, to low-grade cultivators like them, late-Nascent Soul cultivators were at the upper limit of power in the human world. It was everyone's dream to be able to reach such a lofty cultivation base.
"Seeing as this is a newly-founded sect, then you should have a Nascent Soul cultivator among your ranks. Where is your master?" Han Li asked coldly.
The elderly man mustered up his courage, and replied, "Our master is Huang Yao the Enlightened, and he left to visit a friend a month ago. The two of us are currently looking after the sect in his stead."
"He's not here? So be it, it doesn't matter anyway. When did all of you move into this place and where's the person that used to live here?" Han Li asked.
The elderly man was slightly taken aback by this question, and he turned to the scholar beside him as he replied, "Our sect moved here 70 years ago. As for the person who once lived here…"
The scholar was also surprised by this question, but without even turning his head, he immediately yelled, "Feng Zhi! Come here; this senior has something to ask you."
Right as his voice fell, all of the Foundation Establishment cultivators turned to one of their members in unison.
This was an elderly man with refined features who appeared to be over 60 years of age.
This cultivator by the name of Feng Zhi also wore a stunned look on his face.
