Han Li was currently on his way to the Moulan Plains as a streak of azure light.
His objective was naturally to return to the Great Jin so he could secure those Ghost Sifting Banner from the Yin Sifting Sect.
Even though he had failed to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage earlier, what was undeniable was that he had reached the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage. As such, he was feeling a lot more confident about this trip.
If he recalled correctly, following the death of Old Devil Qian, the Yin Sifting Sect should've only had only late-Nascent Soul cultivator left, and that was their sect master. As long as he didn't barge in like an idiot and try to fight the entire sect through brute force, it shouldn't be a difficult task for him to obtain the Ghost Sifting Banners.
The master of the Yin Sifting Sect also seemed to have a vendetta against him as he had slain his Dao Companion on the past.
In that case, taking advantage of this opportunity to kill this man would be killing two birds with one stone for Han Li. Otherwise, he could come back to bite Han Li later.
Prior to progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, it would've been difficult for Han Li to ensure self-preservation in the face of such a powerful foe, let alone attempt to kill him, so he naturally wasn't going to take the risk.
However, he was far more powerful than he once was and he had to obtain the Ghost Sifting Banners anyway, so he naturally wasn't going to allow this man to live any longer.
Han Li couldn't ensure that he would constantly be at the Drifting Cloud Sect. If this great cultivator were about to reach the conclusion of his lifespan and was driven to launch a kamikaze attack against the Drifting Cloud Sect to take revenge before he died, Nangong Wan and the others would be in severe peril.
With that in mind, an intense wave of killing intent swept through Han Li's heart.
He was naturally very disappointed that he had failed to make a breakthrough using the Glacial Flame Cinque Devils, but he wasn't truly distraught as he still had the Divine Essencefused Light as a backup plan.
During this trip to the Great Jin, aside from taking the Ghost Sifting Banners, he also had two other things that he had to take care of. Otherwise, if he were to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light, he would be confining himself to a certain place, and he wouldn't be able to take care of anything in person until he completely mastered the Divine Essencefused Light.
As such, he had to take advantage of this period of freedom to take care of everything in advance.
Among the things he had to do, finding the Puresun Flame Essence and using Glacial Essence to refine the Returning Sun Water was absolutely imperative.
As long as he could refine the Returning Sun Water, his lifespan would increase by a quarter. No cultivator would be willing to give up on something like this that absolutely defied the natural order. To Han Li, who already stood at the pinnacle of all cultivators in the human world, the temptation of this Returning Sun Water was even more immense.
After using a soul search technique on Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul in the North Night Palace, Han Li had discovered some leads about the Puresun Flame Essence. As such, everything was already in place, and he simply needed to set things into motion.
As for the other thing he had to do, it was nowhere near as important in comparison, and he was only going to do it along the way. It would be good if he could succeed, but whether he succeeded or not didn't matter all that much. The second thing that he had to do was to travel to the Hidden Fortune Pavilion and ask them for the secret technique required to refine a spatial pocket.
Back when he had participated in the grand auction in the Jin Empire, the shopkeeper of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had told him that one could use a spatial rift to refine a spatial pocket. At the time, he had been very intrigued and wanted to refine a personal space of his own.
After all, virtually all Nascent Soul cultivators had their own secret cave abodes aside from the cave they were living in that was out in the open. Some of them would even have several of those secret cave abodes, and they would often store their most valuable treasures in there in case some kind of mishap would befall them.
Han Li had always been busy with his cultivation, so he didn't have the time to consider such things.
The reason why Han Li had suddenly thought of this naturally wasn't because he wanted to create a secret cave abode to store his treasures in. Instead, he wanted to create a secure place for himself to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light in.
If he could refine his own spatial pocket and only leave an obscure teleportation formation in the outside world leading into the spatial pocket, as long as he could control the teleportation formation with the spatial pocket, even a Deity Transformation Stage assailant wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
Even if his enemies were to destroy the teleportation formation in the outside world in a fit of rage, with his current powers, it would be simple for him to tear through space so he could emerge from the spatial pocket, as opposed to being trapped in there. In contrast, cultivators capable of tearing through space in the outside world wouldn't be able to find his spatial pocket unless they were aware of the precise spatial incision point.
Han Li had learned about all this through arduous research.
Of course, if that plan failed to eventuate, it wouldn't be impossible for Han Li to find another obscure location to cultivate in. However, that clearly wasn't as safe and secure as a spatial pocket would be.
Having said that, the refinement method of the spatial pocket was known only to the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, so it would most likely be rather difficult for him to request it. But then again, if a great cultivator were to request anything from any power, regardless of how reluctant that power would be to provide it, they would most likely still do their best to satisfy that great cultivator's request.
After all, no power would be willing to make a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator their enemy if they could afford it.
As for why the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had been able to keep this refinement method confidential to this day, that was most likely because the secret technique was more trouble than it was worth, and simply couldn't attract the interest of all of the major sects. Otherwise, Han Li didn't believe that a mere Hidden Fortune Pavilion would be able to keep such an important secret technique confidential for so long.
Of course, he would have to employ some strategies if he wanted to obtain this refinement method.
With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he disappeared into the distance following a few flashes.
Over half a year later, light rain was falling over a certain mountainside town in the State of Yu, which was tens of millions of kilometers away from the Heavenly South Region.
On a bluestone street that was glistening with the falling rain, there were almost no pedestrians. The few pedestrians that were on the street were all hurriedly walking along with umbrellas over their heads, and none of them were eager to linger on the streets.
A yellow-robed man holding a white oilcloth umbrella suddenly appeared on this street.
However, this man was walking in a calm and unhurried manner, as if he were taking a casual stroll in the countryside. His umbrella was tilted forward slightly, and it just so happened to obscure most of his facial features.
However, judging from the fair and supple hand that was holding the umbrella, the man appeared to be quite young, and was not a normal lowly citizen who had to engage in manual labor all day.
Some of the passersby couldn't help but take an extra glance at this man as they strode past him, but he remained unfazed and his footsteps were still unhurried.
Just as he was passing by a nondescript alleyway, he suddenly changed directions and made his way into the alley.
Even though this was a rather deep alleyway, it was quite apparent that the conclusion of this alley was a dead-end with no way out. There weren't even any houses or shops on either side of the valley, only walls that were several tens of feet tall, and it was a place that was rarely frequented by anyone. However, the yellow-robed man paid no heed to all of this and continued to make his way forward.
Just as he was about to reach the conclusion of the alleyway and appeared as if he were about to crash into the stone wall, white light suddenly flashed as he disappeared into the wall.
If a mortal had been present and witnessed such a bizarre scene, they would definitely be yelling at the top of their lungs about supernatural phenomena. However, cultivators would barely pay any heed to this. It was just an extremely simple illusion technique, so there was no need for alarm.
However, if that cultivator were to pass through the complex layers of restrictions beyond this illusionary wall, they would most likely be flabbergasted as well.
This was because there was a gargantuan jade gate over 1,000 feet tall behind those layers of restrictions. After passing through that colossal gate, a white jade staircase would be revealed, with every step hovering in mid-air, leading toward a huge green palace.
White spiritual mist swirled around the palace, and there was a pair of rare spirit beasts circling in the air above the palace in a leisurely manner. There were also many types of peculiar flowers and plants growing on the ground nearby, embellishing this place with their beauty and making it appear as if it were an immortal paradise.
However, if one were to sweep their spiritual sense through the surrounding area, they would discover that even though this place appeared to be quite cavernous, it was actually just a small restricted space. In fact, it was only just over five kilometers in size, but its height of several thousand feet was, admittedly, rather astonishing. However, that staggering height as necessary to construct such a peculiar floating palace in this place.
At the foot of this massive jade gate, there were two rows of warriors clad in golden armor. All of them were around 20 feet tall, and were standing completely stationary with wooden expressions on their faces.
However, among these warriors, there was an armor-clad man with a dark complexion, sitting on a rock beside a pillar. He was currently conversing with the yellow-robed man with the oilcloth umbrella in a lazy manner.
"No matter what you're here for, I can't disrupt the pavilion master when he's entertaining guests. Otherwise, I'll be punished by the pavilion master. Why don't you sit here for a while and have a chat with me? I've on duty here at the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, I've been staying here with these mutes for over half a year; I'm bored out of my wits," the dark-complexioned man chuckled.
This man was a Core Formation cultivator, yet he was only a gatekeeper here. That was quite extraordinary. The two rows of massive warriors beside the gate were merely puppets, so it was no wonder that he was unable to converse with any of them. However, each and every one of these puppets were extremely life-like, and it was very difficult to tell that they were puppets just by looking at them.
The yellow-robed cultivator had already put away his white umbrella, revealing a set of stern facial features. "Cao Fengwei! I'm not here to kid around with you; I really do have an extremely important matter to consult with the pavilion master about. Even if I can wait, that person may not be willing to. If we delay for too long and bring disaster to the pavilion, neither you nor I will be able to handle the repercussions!"
The yellow-robed man was becoming rather enraged.
"That person? Who are you referring to, Brother Zhang?" the armored man asked with a bewildered expression.
"He's referring to me." The voice of an unfamiliar man suddenly interjected from up above.
