Han Li used his spiritual sense to look at the box and then stroked it, only to remain silent afterwards.
Shortly after, he opened the box’s lid and a pitch-black ball flew out.
The ball spun in front of Han Li and then ruptured into a black mist before disappearing.
At that same moment, he felt an itch from his palm.
As his heart stirred, he suddenly raised his hand.
He saw several small strange characters appear on his hand. They were as small as grains of rice.
Han Li glanced at them and shook his wrist. Azure light flickered and the small characters completely disappeared without a trace.
He pondered to himself for a moment and azure light flashed from his body, flying out of his room in an azure streak. He circled once in the air before flying out of his cave residence.
A quarter-hour later, an azure streak arrived above a nameless valley at the edge of the mountain range with dragon-like speed.
Once the azure light faded, Han Li’s figure was revealed.
His eyes flickered as he glanced downward and he slowly descended.
The valley stretched over three thousand kilometers. At the very end of it was a pile of scattered rock.
Han Li landed right in front of it.
When his feet touched the ground, he looked at a huge rock and calmly said, “I’ve already arrived. Fellow Daoists, please show yourselves.”
“Hehe, Senior Martial Brother Yan, I told you so. You can’t use mere invisibility techniques to hide from Brother Han.
“I already knew Fellow Daoist Han’s abilities were unordinary, but I may as well test him.”
After a few giggles, two pleasant female voices chatted near the huge rock.
Afterwards, the mist of grey light blurred and two beautiful young women appeared there.
One of them had snow-white skin and appeared like a goddess. The other appeared dainty and charming. They were Yuan Yao and Yan Li.
The black wooden box he received inside his cave residence was refined from the Soul Nurturing Wood he originally acquired from Heavenvoid Hall. He recognized it at a glance.
Using some mysterious technique, they were able to secretly send it to his secluded room.
Han Li glanced at the two women with an odd expression on his face. He then slowly asked, “So it was you two Fellow Daoists! Lady Yuan, I haven’t seen you since we’ve last met in the Scattered Star Seas. Are you in good health?”
Yuan Yao withdrew her smile and sighed, “Brother Han, are you teasing little old me? Do I and my Senior Martial Sister look to be in good health?”
Han Li sensed an astonishing Yin QI being emitted from their bodies and he frowned, “Ah, my words were mistaken. However, I see that you two aren’t ghosts. There is something odd about you two.”
“Brother Han is right. Back when my Junior Martial Sister saved me and fell into the ghost mist in the Scattered Star Seas, we drew the support of the Umbra Qi to cultivate the Yin Yang Revolution Art. However, this human-ghost dual cultivation art caused us both to become half-human and half-ghost. But in the end, I have no physical body, so I’ve become a burden to Junior Martial Sister Yuan.”
Yuan Yao’s expression changed and she hastily said, “Senior Martial Sister, don’t say that. If you hadn’t helped me, I would’ve been dead already. And you managed to reach this stage as well.”
Yan Li could only bitterly smile and shake her head.
“The Yin Yang Revolution Art?” Han Li frowned.
Yan Li turned to him and said, “Yes, it seems Brother Han knows quite a bit about this technique.”
Han Li sighed, “I do know a bit about it. You’ve lost your right to reincarnate!”
He was quite unfamiliar with her, but from what Yuan Yao said in the past, he held her in admiration.
Yuan Yao smiled at Han Li and said, “In the past, If my Senior Martial Sister and I didn’t jointly cultivate this odd technique, she would’ve already perished in the moral world. As such, I have no regrets cultivating this technique. But Brother Han was also able to ascend to the spirit realm; I admire you quite a bit.”
“The mortal world’s spiritual Qi is lacking and I can’t use common methods of flight in this world. More importantly, why have you appeared here? This isn’t human territory,” Han Li said with an odd expression.
Yan Li wore a blank expression and answered, “Junior Martial Sister and I don’t know either. Two hundred years ago, we completed the Yin Rang Revolution Arts. Just after we entered the Deity Transformation stage, a huge Yin Wind suddenly covered us and directly blew us away from our cultivation area, causing us to lose consciousness. When the two of us woke up, we found ourselves in the earth abyss. We soon came across that ghost matron and became her disciples. Since Yan Li and I stayed here for so long, we came to understand that we were in the Spirit Realm and we didn’t have the opportunity to arrive at the surface.”
When Han Li heard this, he turned silent.
In the mortal realm, many Deity Transformation cultivators were blocked from the spirit realm. Even with their greatest efforts, they weren’t able to ascend.
But when these two women cultivated their cultivation art to completion, they stumbled their way into the spirit realm.
The world was truly filled with bizarre things.
“I also don’t understand how you came to the spirit realm. But you most likely didn’t arrive in the spirit realm because of your Yin Yang Revolution Arts, and caused the spirit flight tower to refuse you.”
“After some investigation, we came to a similar conclusion.” Yan Li nodded.
Han Li raised his brow and said, “Alright, I’m sure we can save talk about the past for another time. There must be another reason why you’ve sought me out.”
Yan Li and Yuan Yao exchanged a glance and grew silent.
A short moment later, Yan Li hesitantly said, “Since Brother Han and Junior Martial Sister Yuan are old friends, I don’t hide this from you. We’ve come to find you because our lives are in danger and we need your help.”
“Preserve your lives? What do you mean, Fellow Daoist Yan? As disciples of that ghost woman, no one in the earth abyss would dare to threaten you.” Han Li said with an odd expression.
Yan Li let out a long sigh and betrayed fear from her eyes. “The one after our lives is the ghost matron herself.”
“Her?! Lady Yuan, is this true?” Han Li felt his heart tremble. Although he sensed they weren’t lies, he asked Yuan Yao for confirmation.
Yuan Yao sullenly nodded, “Brother Han, If we had any other choice, we wouldn’t have risked her discovering us as we sneaked out to see you. Nevertheless, Brother Han doesn’t need to worry about anything. For the matter of the infernal river, she is personally refining a great yin-armored ghost monarch and should not come out for some time. This is our only opportunity to save ourselves. Normally, we wouldn’t be able to leave the earth palace.”
“Brother Han had assisted Junior Martial Sister in the past and acted as her protector while she was reviving my soul. She has spoken of you many times. This time, we have no one else to ask for help. I hope that you’ll be able to save our lives.” With that said, her eyes turned pink and she pulled Yuan Yao towards her and they both saluted Han Li.
Han Li’s expression changed and he shook his sleeve. An invisible force suddenly divided the air.
As they saluted, Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt the nearby air freeze and the two were forced to break their salute.
The two were delighted.
Han Li’s abilities were beyond what they had anticipated, and if Han Li helped them, they would be able to escape.
Han Li didn’t accept their salute. His expression changed for a long while as he hesitated, eventually replying with a deep tone, “The two of you think too highly of me. You should understand my circumstances as well. I am restricted here and do not have the ability to face that ghost. Furthermore, for what reason will she take your life? Have you verified this?”
Yan Li said, “If it truly is a misunderstanding, it would be extremely fortunate. In truth, we personally discovered that the ghost was concealing a calamity heart. I won’t bother with the specifics, but I can tell you that when the ghost matron took us in as disciples, she was thinking of the pure Yin Qi we condensed from cultivating the Yin Yang Revolution Arts. The ghost has a technique that can consume both our souls and Yin Qi, arousing a surge in her cultivation.” As she spoke, she couldn't help but tremble.
“Also, our investigations have found that the ghost matron has also had disciples with ghost bodies in the past who quietly disappeared. This is evidence of our assumptions!” Yuan Yao said with a paled expression.
Han Li went silent for a moment and his gaze wandered, “Even so, you can’t count on me. That ghost matron won’t let me go. Even if I have some value, after I enter the infernal river, my life will be hard to preserve.”
Yan Li smirked and slyly said, “There is no need for Brother Han to worry about this. My little sister already thought of something that only asks from a token effort from you. Furthermore, if Brother Han helps us, he’ll also have an opportunity to escape. We have a method to quickly dispel the mark on your body inside the infernal river.”
“What! You truly have such a thing!” Han Li’s expression vastly changed and his heart was thoroughly moved.
Yan Li sweetly smiled and said, “For something this important, how could I lie to you. Furthermore, I can tell the method to Brother Han ahead of time, and can determine if its true or false.”
Han Li stroked his chin and glanced at Yuan Yao. He then determinedly said, “Good! If the method is genuine, I’ll do all I can in my power and take the risk of helping you two escape.”
