Shi Kun's heart abruptly jolted with shock upon hearing this, and he immediately tossed the leather pouch behind him.
A dull thump rang out, and the leather pouch exploded, revealing a swarm of crimson hornets. The hornets formed a crimson cloud amid an insistent buzzing sound, and they surged collectively toward the young man who had appeared behind Shi Kun.
This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had unleashed a teleportation technique to take himself directly behind Shi Kun.
A faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the crimson hornets flying toward him. There were about 300 to 400 of these spirit insects, and it was quite clear that Shi Kun had dedicated a lot of time and effort to nurture these insects to maturity. Even if a Core Formation cultivator were to face these insects, they would most likely be forced to flee.
However, they were, of course, nothing to Han Li.
He remained standing still on the spot and merely opened his mouth to expel a burst of five-colored glacial flames, which swept up the entire hornet swarm in a flash.
The five-colored glacial flames surged through the air, and the entire swarm of hornets was frozen into a huge chunk of ice that hovered in mid-air in a stationary manner.
Shi Kun was naturally both alarmed and enraged to see this, and he raised a hand to summon an ancient azure mirror. Light flashed from the surface of the mirror, and a pillar of azure light erupted forth at an alarming speed, reaching Han Li in a flash.
Han Li raised an eyebrow and made no effort to evade. Instead, he summoned a grey light barrier around himself, and the azure pillar of light vanished into the light barrier like a sandcastle in the rising tide.
Shi Kun was completely rooted to the spot with incredulity on his face upon seeing this.
Meanwhile, Han Li merely raised an arm in an expressionless manner before pointing a finger at Shi Kun.
An azure thread erupted from his fingertip before vanishing in a flash, and in the next instant, azure light flashed before Shi Kun's eyes. A cool sensation struck his glabella, following which his head was punctured by the azure thread that had suddenly appeared, and his body stiffened as he lost all feeling.
The azure thread then revolved around Shi Kun's body without pause, slicing him up into seven or eight pieces.
His dismembered corpse came crashing down amid a rain of blood, and even his soul had been instantly destroyed by the azure thread.
"Argh!" The middle-aged man let loose an involuntary cry of alarm upon seeing this.
The two other men in black who were engaged in battle against Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi naturally also saw this, and their expressions changed drastically. They felt as if their hearts had been plunged into glaciers, and their expressions suggested that they had seen a ghost.
Han Li turned toward them with a frosty look in his eyes, and their hearts sank even further. One of them immediately summoned a flying saber before jumping onto it to flee the scene.
Meanwhile, the other man in black pulled out a black talisman before adhering it to his own body. A cloud of black mist immediately erupted forth to encompass his entire body, and he also fled for his life in another direction.
As for Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi, one of them was completely unable to fly while the other was so poor that he had no flying treasures at his disposal. As such, they could only look on in frustration as their opponents escaped and cursed loudly to express their distaste.
Right at this moment, Han Li's indifferent voice sounded once again. "Do you still think you can get away?"
As soon as his voice trailed off, a thunderclap erupted from his body, and two bolts of golden lightning sprang forth, reaching the two fleeing cultivators after just a few flashes.
The two were then reduced to dust by the golden lightning before they even had a chance to cry out.
Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were immediately rooted to the spot as the stream of profanities and insults they were yelling abruptly ceased.
Only after a long while did Young Master Hai harrumph, "Qi Lingzi, you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and so is Brother Han; how is there such a huge disparity between your powers? You couldn't take down that man even after fighting him for so long, but Brother Han killed them with just a wave of his hand! Are you too weak or is Brother Han too powerful?"
Qi Lingzi was still reeling from astonishment, but he immediately returned to his senses upon hearing this, and countered, "You're one to talk! You're a mid-grade body refinement warrior, so you should be no less powerful than a Foundation Establishment cultivator; why didn't you take care of your opponent? Besides, I'm so poor that this wooden sword is all I have left, so I'm unable to unleash many of my more powerful abilities."
"Hmph, no matter how I look at it, you can't even compare with Brother Han's pinky finger. Thank heavens I wasn't swindled into joining your Daoist temple. Otherwise, I'd be regretting the decision for the rest of my life!"
Golden light flashed from Young Master Hai's hands, and his golden gloves instantly vanished, only to be replaced by a fan. He gently fanned himself while appraising Qi Lingzi in a smug manner, and Qi Lingzi blushed slightly upon hearing this. He had no counter for Young Master Hai's words, so he could only grumble something unintelligible to himself and pretend he hadn't heard anything.
Young Master Hai was also quite pleased to have earned such an easy victory in his ongoing war of words with Qi Lingzi, and he also fell silent with a content look on his face.
At this point, Han Li had also joined them and stood to the side.
"I am Bai Huaji. May I ask for your esteemed names, fellow Daoists? Thank you for saving our lives. If you hadn't stepped in, my daughter and I would've been killed for sure." The middle-aged man strode over the three of them with his daughter before extending a deep grateful bow.
At the same time, he couldn't help but appraise Han Li with a hint of awe and veneration in his eyes.
After all, Han Li had displayed astonishing power just now, slaying three cultivators of the same cultivation base as himself in the blink of an eye. On top of that, he didn't even seem to have unleashed anywhere near his full power, so he was most likely just as powerful as a Core Formation cultivator.
This was clearly the first time that Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi had been treated with such respect by a cultivator of the same caliber as them, and one of them immediately brushed off the matter in a modest manner, while the other accepted the middle-aged man's gratitude in a smug manner before revealing his own name as well as Han Li's to the man.
Han Li glanced at the two of them before turning his attention to the little girl, Bai Guo'er.
The little girl was standing behind his father in a sky manner, appraising Han Li's trio with a curious look in her eyes.
Her eyes just so happened to meet Han Li's gaze, and she immediately ducked behind her father like a frightened hare.
"Your daughter seems to be suffering from some kind of condition," Han Li remarked as a surprised look appeared on his face.
"You can tell that my daughter has frost poison within her body?" The middle-aged man was also quite surprised to hear this.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, following which he said something that came as a huge shock to the middle-aged man, "I can. The frost energy has already reached deep into her dantian and meridians, and she'll die in three years at most if it's not expelled from her body. However, this isn't just any ordinary frost poison, so it's going to be very troublesome to cure."
"What? You're saying that this kind of frost poison can be cured?" Bai Huaji asked in a trembling voice. He was barely able to believe his own ears.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to reply when his brows furrowed slightly, and he suddenly turned toward a certain direction as if he had discovered something.
Everyone else faltered slightly upon seeing this, and they also turned toward that direction, only to find that there was nothing there.
Young Master Hai closed his fan, and he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Han, you…"
However, right at this moment, white light flashed in the distance, and a streak of white light came flying toward them.
"Ah, it's grandma!" The little girl immediately clapped her hands together with elation at the sight of this streak of white light.
The middle-aged was also ecstatic to see this.
"Is that a Core Formation cultivator? Could this be the Fairy Yue Hua that they had been referring to?" Qi Lingzi asked as his expression changed slightly.
Han Li nodded in response, and his expression remained completely unchanged.
Moments later, the streak of white light appeared in the air above them, and the light receded to reveal a beautiful young woman in a white dress.
"Guo'er, are you alright?" The young woman had an urgent and concerned look on her face, but that was immediately replaced by relief as she assessed the situation down below.
Bai Huaji hurriedly stepped forward to extend a salute, but a slightly perplexed look had also appeared on his face. "Guo'er is fine, Mother. How did you know to come here? Did you hear about what happened?"
"I'm glad you're both safe. I heard from a good friend at the market that you followed three men who resembled the Three Scourges of the Southern Mountain out of the market. The three scourges have extremely bad reputations, so I was quite concerned for your safety and hurried out of the market to track you down. Are these the three scourges?" The woman turned her attention to Han Li's trio, and a cold light flashed through her eyes as she directed a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure directly toward them.
Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were quite alarmed by this, and they involuntarily stumbled back a few steps in the face of this immense spiritual pressure, which had almost brought them to their knees.
Han Li's expression darkened, and he suddenly waved a hand through the air to release a burst of invisible power, dispelling the immense spiritual pressure amid a dull thump.
The woman's heart jolted slightly, and upon closer inspection of Han Li's trio, a hint of surprise appeared on her face. "Hmm? You aren't the three scourges!"
"Mother, these three fellow Daoists aren't the scourges! The three scourges have already been killed, and it's all thanks to them that Guo'er and I are still alive. Also, this is Fellow Daoist Han, and he seems to have a way to expel the frost poison within Guo'er's body," the middle-aged man hurriedly yelled.
"What? He can cure Guo'er? Is that true?" The cold expression on the woman's face was immediately replaced by elation upon hearing this.
"Well, I didn't get the chance to ask Brother Han about the specific details before you arrived," the middle-aged man said with a wry smile.
