Yuan Yao and Yan Li were quite relieved to hear this, and both of them hurriedly expressed their gratitude.
The elderly man suddenly smiled and clapped his hands together, following which white light flashed, and a semi-transparent white figure emerged out of thin air on one side of the hall.
"Take our guests to the guest room for some rest. If our three fellow Daoists have any requirements, do your best to satisfy them," the elderly man instructed.
"Yes, Master!" The white figure extended a respectful bow in response.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward this white figure, and his heart jolted as he discovered that this being was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage ghost monarch.
Han Li had many questions left unanswered, but he could only leave with this white figure.
After Han Li's trio left the hall, the elderly man withdrew his gaze as a contemplative look appeared on his face.
Meanwhile, Han Li and the others followed his ghostly servant through a series of passageways, past a few smaller halls, then arrived in a courtyard.
The courtyard consisted of a dozen or so stone cabins, and they weren't particularly spectacular or intricately crafted, but they were all quite clean and tidy.
The white figure pointed toward the courtyard, and said in a cold voice, "The three of you can stay and rest here. If you don't have any urgent matters that need to be addressed, I suggest you don't go anywhere else. If you do have something that needs to be taken care of, call for me and I'll get here as soon as possible."
After that, the white figure vanished on the spot, leaving Han Li's trio behind to glance at one another.
"Let's go in and have rest first. We've been traveling non-stop these past few days, so I'm sure the two of you are quite tired as well. We can consider the other matters on hand after we've all recovered some of our energy. In any case, we've got three days to decide, so there's certainly no hurry," Han Li said in a slow voice as he turned to the two women with a smile.
Yan Li forced a smile in response, whereas Yuan Yao's brows remained tightly furrowed.
Thus, Han Li strode into the courtyard first.
He made his way toward one of the stone cabins, and there were no restrictions on the door, so he opened it and walked into the room. The interior of the cabin wasn't very large; only around 70 to 80 feet in area, but it was completely furnished with extremely simple bluestone furniture.
There was even a grass-woven futon sitting in a corner of the room.
Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so formation flags flew forth before disappearing into the corners of the cabin.
An azure barrier of light slowly appeared.
This was only a simple restriction to ward off surveillance. Even though it had no actual defensive properties, at least the elderly man wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.
Han Li took off his shoes in an unhurried manner before immediately falling asleep on the bed.
Ever since he'd entered the infernal river, he'd had to be wary of the ghostly beings that ran rampant in the area as well as the demon monarchs plotting against him, so he hadn't had any good rest to speak of.
Even though he couldn't completely bring himself to trust this elderly man, it wouldn't matter no matter how cautious he was seeing as he was dealing with a Grand Ascension cultivator, so he simply decided to let down his guard for the most part and take this opportunity to rest and recover.
Snores rang out in the stone cabin, and Han Li fell into a deep slumber.
He dreamed of the scenes during his childhood when he'd lived together with his parents and siblings, and he even dreamed of some of his childhood friends.
These people were all extremely familiar to him, but he somehow couldn't glean any of their facial features.
In the air, a pair of gentle and loving eyes appeared in his dream, and those eyes belonged to none other than Nangong Wan, his wife in the human world.
Nangong Wan didn't say anything after appearing in his dream. She merely appraised Han Li with a warm and passionate gaze, and Han Li also looked back at her, seemingly entranced by her beauty…
After a long while, Han Li's eyelids fluttered as he woke up, but the image of Nangong Wan's beautiful eyes still remained in his mind.
He didn't immediately get up. Instead, he lay on his bed, basking in the warmth that that dream had brought to his heart.
After a while, the intoxicated look in Han Li's eyes gradually faded, and he reverted back to his usual calm expression.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but right at this moment, Yan Li's delightful voice sounded outside his door.
"Are you up yet, Brother Han? If so, please come to discuss the matters at hand with my junior martial sister and myself."
Yan Li was speaking in quite a polite manner.
"Please wait for a moment, I'll be coming soon," Han Li replied as he sat up on his bed.
"We'll be waiting in the stone cabin in the middle for your visit, then, Brother Han!" Yan Li chuckled before departing.
Han Li calmly put on his shoes, then raised a hand to conjure up a burst of azure light that revolved around his entire body.
The creases on his robes were instantly smoothed out as a result, and Han Li was also feeling more alert as he strode out of his stone cabin.
Yuan Yao and Yan Li had lived in the same cabin the night before, so they had most likely had a preliminary discussion already.
With that in mind, Han Li made his way into the stone chamber at the very center of the courtyard.
This cabin was around twice as large as the one he was residing in, and there was a stone table, as well as a few stone chairs, inside the room. Yan Li and Yuan Yao were sitting at the table, discussing something in a slightly heated manner.
There was a black flag standing on each of the four corners of the hall, enshrouding the entire cabin in a layer of grey light.
It appeared that they'd set up a restriction in the cabin as well.
"I'm glad you're here, Brother Han, Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I have been racking our brains, trying to come up with the best solution here." Yan Li immediately rose to her feet with a seductive smile as Han Li entered the cabin.
Yuan Yao also stood up to greet him.
"Oh, so it looks like the two of you have indeed already discussed this matter. If you trust me, then feel free to tell me your opinions. My cultivation base may be rather lackluster, but I'm not bad at coming with strategies and ideas here and there," Han Li chuckled.
Thus, he also made his way over to the table, and all three of them took a seat.
"It's actually quite simple; it's naturally a brilliant opportunity for me that Senior Jiang is willing to take me as his disciple, but I'm more interested in returning to the human race to find whatever secret technique or cultivation art that would allow me to recover my human body. No matter how powerful that Chang Yuan Race ability is, it won't be able to resolve my current predicament. However, Senior Martial Sister Yan thinks that this is an opportunity that's not to be missed, and she wants me to stay here under Senior Jiang's tutelage," Yuan Yao sighed in a resigned manner.
"Why are you in such a hurry to recover your human body, Junior Martial Sister Yuan? You can cultivate under Senior Jiang for a while, and when you master the ability that he mentioned, you can then return to the human race to find a way to recover your human body. If you miss this opportunity here, it may never come around again," Yan Li urged.
"If that were possible, then I would certainly jump at this opportunity! However, you and I both know that ever since we began cultivating the Yin Yan Reincarnation Arts, our constitutions have been gradually shifting toward becoming true ghostly beings. Even though we've tried to repress this process with all our might, it most likely won't be long before we truly become ghostly beings. I can't afford to stay here and cultivate some other ability because we simply don't have time to waste!" Yuan Yao sighed in a dejected manner.
"Of course I'm aware of this. That's why I propose that you stay here and cultivate under Senior Jiang while I return to the human race to find a way to recover our human bodies. That way, you can have the best of both worlds," Yan Li sighed in response.
"There's no need to try and placate me, Senior Martial Sister! I'm sure you can read between the lines; his next heavenly tribulation seems to be coming up soon, and I barely have enough time to master that Chang Yuan Race ability with the current deadline. If I agree to become Senior Jiang's disciple, how will I be able to divert my attention to cultivate other things that will help me recover my human body?" Yuan Yao shook her head in a stubborn manner.
"As long as the two of us can be together, so what if we become true ghostly beings? You've witnessed the perils of the Spirit Realm just as I have, Junior Martial Sister; if the two of us recover our human bodies, we may just end up dying again one day. In comparison, it's much better for you to cultivate under and receive the protection of Senior Jiang. After you master the required ability, we can then go find a way to recover our human bodies. After all, even if we transform into ghostly beings, we're still definitely different from true ghostly beings that were never human to begin with. There should be another way to reverse all of this. On top of that, forgive me for being blunt, but Senior Jiang clearly holds you in extremely high regard; if you turn him down, do you think it'll be a simple matter for us to leave this place?" Yan Li continued.
"And what if there's no way to reverse the process?" Yuan Yao countered with a shake of her head.
"Brother Han, what do you think? Please talk some sense into her!" Yan Li could only turn to Han Li for help.
"Alright, so I can understand where the two of you are coming from. Fellow Daoist Yuan is concerned that she won't be able to revert back to her human body in the future, so she doesn't want to cultivate under Senior Jiang, but Fellow Daoist Yan wants her to stay as this is a brilliant opportunity, is that correct?" Han Li analyzed in a calm manner.
"That's right! We've been arguing all night last night, but neither of us has been able to convince the other!" Yan Li replied with a wry smile.
"I can understand your unwillingness to become a ghostly being, Fellow Daoist Yuan, and I can also understand that you want what's best for her, Fellow Daoist Yan. Neither of you are in the wrong here," Han Li said with a smile.
"Brother Han, my junior martial sister and I need someone to help us make a decision, not a mediator." Yan Li furrowed her brows with a hint of displeasure in her eyes.
"Hehe, mediating was never my intention, Fellow Daoist Yan. What I want to say is, it's not impossible for both of these predicaments to be resolved at once," Han Li said with a smile.
"What? Is that true?" A skeptical look appeared on Yan Li's face upon hearing this.
Yuan Yao was also clearly quite taken aback.
