The purple-robed man put on a benevolent expression at the sight of Han Li, and said, "So you're Han Li. I must thank you for saving my precious Dai'er. If you'd like any reward, feel free to state it, and I'll do my best to satisfy you."
At this moment, Dai'er was with him, as well as several of his body refinement warrior subordinates. They were all standing at the entrance to the encampment, seemingly as if they were preparing for a long journey.
Dai'er held onto the purple-robed man tightly with one of her small hands while she stared intently at Han Li. Even though she hadn't said anything, the expression on her little face seemed to be a little off somehow.
"I have no intention of asking for a reward. I merely happened to stumble upon your granddaughter, and anyone in my place would've done the same thing," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.
"Hehe, I'm not a man who's used to owing people favors. How about this? I heard that you've mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts; a friend of my forefathers also just so happens to be using the same cultivation art, and he's already mastered the sixth layer. I have something of his from many years ago you can take this item and seek out his descendants. Perhaps they'll be able to provide you with some useful cultivation insights." The purple-robed man laughed heartily before handing a seemingly nondescript short sword over to Han Li. His lips then twitched as he communicated a location and the name of a certain person to Han Li through voice transmission.
Seeing as this could potentially benefit his cultivation of the Vajra Arts, Han Li accepted the short sword after only a brief hesitation.
As such, City Lord Zhao bade farewell to Mistress Fang and everyone else before climbing onto a giant wolf steed with Dai'er.
However, right at this moment, the seemingly tame wolf suddenly reared up, springing to an altitude of over several tens of feet up into the air, as if it had been frightened by something.
The purple-robed man was slightly startled by this sudden development, but he clenched his legs tightly against the sides of the wolf, and faint black light flashed, following which the giant wolf became tame and docile again.
Everyone else was also rather surprised to see this, but no one paid it much heed.
After all, these giant wolf steeds were feral creatures by nature, so it wasn't uncommon to see them thrown tantrums from time to time. Instead, all of them were extending words of admiration toward City Lord Zhao at his ability to control the wolf with just a clamp of his legs.
However, Han Li's expression changed minutely right when the black light flashed between the purple-robed man's legs, but he quickly composed himself again.
As the purple-robed man rode off into the distance, everyone else began to disperse. Only Han Li remained standing on the spot for a long time with a grim and indecisive look on his face.
"There's no mistaking it; that was definitely corpse Qi. But why would it try to take Dai'er away? So be it, I'll help her again just this once." The image of the adorable Dai'er clinging tightly to his robes surfaced in Han Li's mind again, and he heaved a faint sight before making his way toward the center of the encampment.
Soon, he had disappeared into the night.
After opening up some distance from the encampment, the purple-robed man immediately spurred his wolf steed into a full-speed gallop. His subordinates felt that to be rather strange, but they didn't think much of it as they hurried to keep pace with him.
These subordinates were all body refinement warriors under City Lord Zhao's command. As for the butler and the servants, they were not suited to make such a long journey, so they remained behind in encampment.
After galloping for over over 50 kilometers, a small hill appeared up ahead. A peculiar light flashed through the purple-robed man's eyes as he changed direction and urged his wolf steed to travel toward that hill.
His subordinates were rather perplexed by this, but they still followed along behind him. However, after reaching the summit of the hill, the purple-robed man suddenly tugged on his reins with immense force, causing his wolf steed to stop cold in its tracks.
Everyone else behind him naturally also stopped.
Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!
A massive fissure suddenly opened up in the ground beneath one of the wolf's paws. The wolf and its rider were both swallowed into the ground before they even had a chance to cry out.
Everyone else was very alarmed by this development, and they were just about to rush forward to rescue their companion when two bone spears shot forth from the ground, piercing through their bodies like lightning and instantly killing them on the spot.
The final person finally realized that something was amiss, and in his shock and horror, he immediately turned his wolf steed around and fled into the distance. However, a three-headed black python suddenly appeared, sinking its three pairs of fangs into his body before tearing him into three pieces.
The earth underfoot then tremored as two snake demons and a massive Sandbug Beast emerged from underground.
Only then did the purple-robed man turn around with a cold expression, and instructed, "Clean everything up; don't leave any signs behind."
He then jumped down from the wolf steed with Dai'er in his arms. He claimed a cold glare at the giant wolf before abruptly giving it a vicious backhand to the head.
The wolf fell dead to the ground before it could even utter a single sound. Its entire head had been smashed like a watermelon, and its brains and intracranial fluids had spilled everywhere.
"Stupid beast! You almost blew my cover!" the purple-robed man harrumphed coldly.
Throughout this entire process, Dai'er's expression remained completely calm and collected, as if she were looking, but not seeing anything. This was clearly not the proper reaction a girl of her age should be exhibiting toward witnessing such scenes of bloodshed and slaughter.
Soon, the demon beasts had completely consumed the bodies of the knights and their wolf steeds, and it was as if nothing had ever happened in this place.
City Lord Zhao nodded with a content expression upon seeing this. However, he then suddenly raised a hand and a burst of black Qi abruptly appeared. The black Qi manifested itself into a short spear that was three to four feet in length, and it was hurled like lightning toward what appeared to be nothing but thin air.
A loud boom erupted as a shimmering golden fist appeared out of nowhere, shattering the oncoming spear. Faint golden light then flashed as a young man appeared.
He was none other than Han Li!
He had somehow been able to conceal himself this entire time while following City Lord Zhao for over 50 kilometers from the encampment.
"Kill him!" The purple-robed man's eyes narrowed as he delivered a cold instruction.
The snake demons and the massive Sandbug Beast on the hill immediately pounced toward Han Li in unison.
Among them, the snake demon with the human head seemed to have identified Han Li as the one who had foiled their attempt to attack the Heavenly East Enterprise squad, and a furious expression appeared on its face. It let loose a low snarl before hurling its two bones spears through the air. Meanwhile, the three-headed snake beside it sprang into the air as well.
As for that massive Sandbug Beast, it opened its mouth and blasted a jet of green liquid directly toward Han Li.
"No!" Dai'er's expressionless facade finally crumbled upon seeing this.
In contrast, the purple-robed man beside her remained completely expressionless.
In the face of these joint attacks, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face. He clenched his fists before aiming devastating punches toward the two bone spears.
Following two loud thumps, the two bones spears shattered as if they had been struck by sledgehammers, crumbling into broken shards in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, that jet of green liquid had also appeared overhead. Han Li's body immediately swayed without any hesitation, and his body appeared several tens of feet away, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.
Thus, the green liquid came spilling down onto the ground where Han Li had been standing just a moment ago.
Large amounts of white foam immediately began to surface, along with a putrid stench that wafted through the air. This green liquid was clearly extremely corrosive.
Right at this moment, the three-headed snake used the green liquid as a smokescreen and pounced on Han Li like lightning.
Han Li seemed to have been caught completely off guard, and both his shoulders as well as his neck were caught between the snake's jaws.
The other snake monster and the Sandbug Beast were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they immediately converged toward him.
Han Li's expression darkened as he let loose a cold harrumph. He grabbed on the of the snake,s heads with both hands, then tore it cleanly away from its body in one powerful motion.
The snake beast was thrown into a blind fury by its excruciating agony, and its other two heads sank their fangs into Han Li's shoulders with even greater maddened ferocity. However, Han Li merely swept his hands gently through the air, and the snake beast's other two heads were also decapitated amid a burst of golden light.
After activating the power of the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts to its maximal extent, even Han Li's bare hands were as powerful as treasures.
Han Li didn't pause for even a single instant as he twisted around, manifesting several projections to combat the remaining two beasts.
Following a burst of ferocious cries, and a brief battle, the blood of the two beasts began to rain down from the sky.
Han Li emerged from the storm of blood with a cold expression. A loud thump then erupted as he appeared over 100 feet away with his hands clasped behind his back and his back as straight as an arrow.
Only then did several sections of dismembered beastly body parts plummet from the sky and crash into the ground, staining the sand down below a crimson red.
Han Li was able to easily slay these three beasts with his immensely powerful body.
"Who are you and why are you using that corpse to try and fool everyone?" Han Li interrogated in a bone-chilling voice as he approached the purple-robed man on the hill. At the same time, a menacing aura emanated from his body, and a layer of greyish-white Qi seemed to have emerged from behind his back. The baleful aura that he had refined using the Brightjade Arts had been reflexively unleashed by Han Li in that instant.
If he were facing a normal opponent, they would most likely be severely debilitated by that baleful aura alone.
The purple-robed had been standing calmly on the spot this entire time, and he didn't bat an eyelid even when the three beasts were slain in quick succession. However, a hint of surprise finally appeared on his face at the sight of the powerful baleful aura emanating from his body.
"After mastering the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, even a mortal can run as fast as the wind and keep pace with one of those wolf steeds with ease, but it's very interesting that you were able to manipulate light angles and your environment to conceal yourself without using any magic power. However, what I'm much more interested in is this baleful aura emanating from your body. There's no way that an ordinary body refinement warrior would possess such an immense baleful aura. Who are you?" the purple-robed man responded in kind.
Han Li's expression darkened upon hearing this. He was clearly not very pleased that his question had been answered with another question. He took a glance at the slightly shellshocked Dai'er, and harrumphed coldly, "Why am I wasting my time bickering with a corpse puppet? Do you want to put an end to yourself or trouble me to do the honors?"
Golden light then flashed all over Han Li's body as he strode toward the hill.
