"You're calling for me, Master?" The elderly man by the name of Feng Zhi hesitated before confirming the situation, in fear that he had misheard.
"Yes, I'm calling for you! Hurry up and get over here! This senior has some things to ask you. Didn't you live in this place before we came here?" the scholar urged in a stern voice, in fear that Han Li would be irked by this slow disciple.
"Yes, I'm coming right away." After confirming that he hadn't misheard, the Foundation Establishment Stage elderly man could only muster up his courage and fly over to the scholar's side.
Han Li turned his attention to Feng Zhi, and asked, "You lived in this place before?"
"Yes, Senior. Prior to joining this sect, I did indeed live in this place, as had many generations of my forefathers," Feng Zhi replied in an uneasy manner.
Han Li nodded before raising a question that came as quite a surprise to everyone. "I see. How did you reach the Foundation Establishment Stage?"
Feng Zhi was also puzzled by this question, but he still hurriedly replied, "My mother encountered a powerful senior many years ago, and he gifted my mother a Foundation Establishment Pill, which allowed me to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage."
"So that means you're Xiao Mei's descendant." Han Li's expression eased slightly.
Feng Zhi faltered momentarily upon hearing this before a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he exclaimed, "Xiao Mei? Could you be referring to my maternal grandmother, Senior? Are you the one who gifted my mother the Foundation Establishment Pill all those years ago, Senior?"
"You're pretty quick-witted, after all." Han Li confirmed this notion indirectly with a chuckle.
"Thank you for your kindness, Senior! I've always wanted to meet you and thank you in person!" The elderly man hurriedly fell to his knees in mid-air with an expression of surprise and elation on his face.
Meanwhile, the scholar and the dark-skinned elderly man were completely stunned.
Han Li allowed the elderly man to extend a salute to him before continuing, "Back then, I was nowhere near as powerful as I am today, and I met your forefathers on several occasions. After that, I encountered your mother and gifted her a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, your cultivation base seems to have stalled at the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage, so it appears your aptitude isn't all that great. You’ve also reached quite an old age now, so your cultivation path will most likely end here."
"My apologies for disappointing you with my mediocre aptitude, Senior," Feng Zhi replied with a shameful blush on his face.
"Hehe, I have nothing to be disappointed about. By the way, how did this Wing Transformation Sect move into this place? This is the place where the master of your maternal grandmother once resided, are you not aware of this? The master of your maternal grandmother was once a good friend of mine." Han Li's expression suddenly darkened as his voice turned cold and forbidding.
The expressions on the faces of the scholar and the dark-skinned man immediately changed drastically.
Feng Zhi's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I am indeed aware of this, which is why I made sure to move the bamboo buildings that Senior Xin once resided in to the other side of the mountain. They've since been kept in their original condition, and I've allowed no harm to come to them. This is one of the conditions I stated before allowing the sect to settle here."
"Is that so?" Han Li turned to the two Core Formation cultivators with a cold light in his eyes.
The scholar seemed to have identified the reason for Han Li's displeasure, and he hurriedly explained, "That is indeed the case. This place is not where our Wing Transformation Sect is actually situated. Instead, it's only a temporary dwelling for us. The reason why so many of our disciples are here is because we have to take care of a few matters in the State of Yuan Wu, so we had no choice but to stay here for the time being. After transferring Fellow Daoist Xin's bamboo buildings to the other side of the mountain, we haven't touched them at all."
"I see. Regardless of all that, this is the past residence for an old friend of mine, and I don't want to see any other cultivators here. I trust the two of you are aware of what you should do next," Han Li said in a cold voice.
The dark-skinned man shuddered, and immediately said, "Of course. We'll move out of this place with our disciples right away."
The scholar nodded eagerly in agreement.
"That would be great. I'll leave you to it, then. Take me to Fellow Daoist Xin's bamboo buildings." Han Li turned his attention to Feng Zhi and asked him to lead the way.
"Right away, Senior." Feng Zhi naturally didn't dare to delay as he gave a respectful reply. He bowed toward the scholar before activating his treasure and flying toward the other side of the mountain.
Azure light erupted from Han Li's body, sweeping up Tian Qin'er within as he flew along behind Feng Zhi.
The scholar heaved a sigh of relief before transmitting his voice to the dark-skinned man as he asked, "Is that man really a late-Nascent Soul cultivator? We haven't made a mistake here, have we? Why is it that he doesn't look like any of the three legendary great cultivators?"
Even from so far away, he still didn't dare to communicate directly with words.
"That should be the case. The spiritual pressure he released just then was several times more terrifying than even our master's. That man is indeed not one of the three legendary great cultivators; perhaps a fourth great cultivator had finally appeared?" the dark-skinned man speculated.
"If that's really the case, then news of this man should've spread through the entire Heavenly South Region already," the scholar murmured.
"Forget about it. No matter who he is, he's definitely someone whom our master wouldn't even dare to mess with. Let's hurry up and evacuate this place. If we're too slow in moving out and he decides to change his mind, we'll be in big trouble," the dark-skinned man said with a grave expression.
"You're right, Senior Martial Brother. I'll start the evacuation process right away. What a pity that we have to give up such a fantastic dwelling, though," the scholar sighed reluctantly.
"Hmph, we're already extremely fortunate. Thank heavens you recruited Feng Zhi into our sect. Without him here, I feel like that man would've destroyed our sect in a fit of rage. How come I didn't know that this disciple of yours has ties with such a powerful senior? Were you aware of this, Junior Martial Brother? And who was the person that lived here in the past? To think that they were once the acquaintance of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator," the dark-skinned man sighed.
"You've stumped me there, Senior Martial Brother. You already know this; I accepted Feng Zhi as my disciple very early on, but that was only because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In terms of aptitude, his is very mediocre, so I didn't pay much attention to him and don't know a lot about him as a result. I did ask him about the former owner of the bamboo buildings here once. After all, the restrictions here are rather crude, but they're very practical and useful. However, Feng Zhi told me that this person was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, so I paid this matter no heed." The scholar was also becoming quite confused.
"A Qi Condensation cultivator and a late-Nascent Soul cultivator; even if this were many years in the past, surely the disparity between them is a little too large." The dark-skinned man was feeling rather speechless.
The scholar could only give a wry smile upon hearing this.
After that, the two of them didn't dare to delay any longer, and immediately led the other cultivators back to the buildings down below. At their behest, the 300 to 400 disciples present all began to pack up their belongings in preparation to vacate this site.
At this moment, Han Li had made his way into a green jade building with Tian Qin'er by his side.
The jade building was very clean and well-maintained, but its age was very apparent.
Feng Zhi led the way, and explained in a fawning manner, "After these bamboo buildings were transferred to this place, I did as I was told by my mother, and cast some spiritual light on them at regular intervals to prevent them from rotting, and also cleaned them regularly."
"That's good to hear." Han Li's lips twitched as he strode into the main hall of the jade building before surveying his surroundings.
If he recalled correctly, this pavilion was the one that Xin Ruyin had once resided in. Everything here was still the same, yet she had already passed away.
Han Li heaved an internal sigh as he turned his gaze toward Tian Qin'er, upon which his heart stirred slightly in response to what he saw.
Tian Qin'er's eyes were completely glazed over as she stroked the bamboo tables and chairs within the hall. As she began to slowly walk around the room, she appeared to have fallen into a trance.
A complex expression flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.
He was silent for a while before waving Feng Zhi away as he instructed, "Leave us alone in this place. I'm going to spend a day here with my disciple, and you can come back again tomorrow."
Han Li's voice was completely implacable, and Feng Zhi's heart stirred slightly as he nodded respectfully before departing. Han Li's body swayed and he appeared in a corner of the hall, where he sat down with his eyes closed and began to meditate, leaving Tian Qin'er to slowly wander Xin Ruyin's past residence.
The next morning, Feng Zhi came to the bamboo building uneasily to meet Han Li again, only to discover that he and his disciple were nowhere to be seen. However, there were two vials of unidentifiable pills left on the bamboo table.
Feng Zhi was ecstatic upon seeing this.
Pills left behind for him by a late-Nascent Soul cultivator were naturally prized treasures in his eyes.
He carefully stowed the pills away and at the same time, he had made up his mind; he was going to maintain these bamboo buildings to the best of his abilities. If this senior decided to visit this place again, perhaps more cultivation resources would be bestowed upon him for his efforts.
Han Li was, of course, oblivious to Feng Zhi's thoughts as he was already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
However, the entranced look in Tian Qin'er's eyes refused to fade. Instead, she was becoming even more absentminded and unsettled.
Tian Qin'er hadn't spoken a single word ever since they left that mountain, but she suddenly said, "Master, why did you take me to that place? Did those bamboo buildings have something to do with me?"
"I couldn't be sure whether they had something to do with you or not, but I can almost be certain now that they are indeed related to you," Han Li replied calmly.
"What do they – "
"Do you believe in reincarnation?"
Tian Qin'er was just about to ask another question, when Han Li cut her off with a question of his own.
Upon hearing this, Tian Qin'er's expression changed drastically.
