"I can't say anything for certain, but it's not difficult to make educated guesses. Aside from a handful of people, who could possess so much power and have so many resources at their disposal? On top of that, not everyone has an inner page of the Golden Jade Tome," the white-robed young man chuckled coldly.
The golden-robed man was silent for a long while before giving a cold harrumph in response. "There's no need for you to be concerned about my exact identity, Fellow Daoist; all you need to know is that I'm the only one who can help you master the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique. All I ask is that after you master the technique, you assist me in transcending my future heavenly tribulations."
"This is a mutually beneficial collaboration, so I'll naturally do my best to ensure your survival after I attain a true spirit body. However, I've already reached the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so I'll need to find a place to begin making a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage after I absorb the yin Qi within this Profound Yin Crystalline Wall. If this Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique really is extraordinary as it's hyped up to be, then I should be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage with no issues at all. After that, I'll venture into the primordial world alone to hunt glacial ancient beasts and devour their demon cores. On top of that, I'll seek out some extreme glacial areas to absorb more yin Qi, and that should allow me to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage within 1,000 years. When that time comes, I can begin preparing to attain a true spirit body," the white-robed young man replied.
"I'm glad you have everything planned out, Fellow Daoist. The devilish tribulation is imminent, so I have to remain behind in my race. Otherwise, I would accompany you into the primordial world. Then again, once you reach the Body Integration Stage and master the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, you should be able to dominate the entire primordial world unless you run into extremely powerful beings from foreign races. The Tian Yuan Continent is extremely vast, so there should be many glacial ancient beasts for you to hunt down."
"I've already attained intelligence, so I naturally won't go picking fights with powerful foreign beings like an idiot," the white-robed young man said in an indifferent manner before falling silent.
The golden-robed man nodded in a pleased manner in response, and he also displayed no intention of saying anything further, but there was a contemplative look in his eyes, suggesting that he was pondering something.
A gust of yellow wind surged toward them from a distance, and not long after that, both of them disappeared into the gust of wind.
…
Two months later, Han Li was seated in a green wooden chair, inspecting an extremely intricate golden wine cup in his hand in an indifferent manner. The person sitting beside him was none other than the Gu Family Leader, Fairy Xiao Feng, and on her other side sat Elder Xiao.
There were many Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul Stage Gu Family disciples standing behind them in several rows, and all of them wore excited looks on their faces.
Up ahead lay a massive circular stone platform with a radius of around 500 meters. The platform was entirely paved with huge azure stones, but it was slightly black in color, indicating that it seemed to have stood for a very long time.
Around the edge of the stone platform was a series of tall formation flags of different colors, each of which was releasing layers of light that enshrouded the entire platform under an enormous light barrier that was over 1,000 feet tall.
Around the Gu Family entourage were groups of other people, consisting of up to a few hundred people for the largest groups, and only around a dozen or so in the smallest groups.
There were around 30 to 40 such groups of people, and among them, the Gu Family entourage was only a medium-sized group. The Gu Family entourage was among the five groups of people who were situated closest to the platform, while all of the other groups could only stand behind those five groups.
Further beyond them, some massive cliff faces could be seen, alongside some large buildings constructed by those stone faces.
This place was an enormous valley that was surrounded by mountains in all directions, and the huge stone platform at the very center of the valley was naturally none other than the Myriad Spirit Platform, where all of the true spirit families gathered every once in 3,000 years for the true spirit ceremony.
As one of the true spirit families that ranked among the top five during the last edition of the ceremony, they naturally had the right to be situated closest to the Myriad Spirit Platform, and as a result, they drew a lot of envy from the lower-ranked true spirit families behind them.
After all, a place in the top five didn't just earn a true spirit family reputation and renown; there were also massive benefits at stake.
However, there were clearly some cultivators from other true spirit families who were appraising the Gu Family entourage in an unfriendly manner.
Even with so many people gathered around the stone platform, the entire area was still completely silent, and everyone seemed to be waiting for something.
Han Li wasn't making any effort to look around as he sat in his chair, but he could clearly sense that there were a few pairs of eyes on him, and the owners of these eyes were all inspecting him with their spiritual sense as well in a display of completely disrespect.
It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, the Gu Family's grand elder, Fairy Tian Li, had failed to appear during this all-important true spirit ceremony, and she had been replaced by Han Li instead, who was clearly a temporary replacement. This naturally drew a lot of attention from the other true spirit families.
In the beginning, Han Li merely ignored the intrusive inspection being directed toward him, but after such a long time had passed, these people still weren't exercising any restraint, so it was quite clear that they were provoking him.
Fairy Xiao Feng had also discovered this, and her expression was becoming more and more strained.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh as a cold look suddenly appeared on his face, and the golden wine cup in his hand abruptly shuddered before crumbling into golden powder without any warning, then disappeared into nothingness.
At the same time, a layer of silver flames surfaced over his body in a flash, and the unfriendly bursts of spiritual sense being directed toward him were instantly retracted upon coming into contact with the silver flames.
Han Li then rose his head and cast a cold gaze toward the individuals who had been sizing him up, and he discovered that they were all Body Integration cultivators.
Two of them were from one of the other top five true spirit families, and this family's entourage was situated closest to the Myriad Spirit Platform. Meanwhile, the other three were from the true spirit families beyond the inner circle consisting of the top five true spirit families.
The three Body Integration cultivators outside the top five true spirit families were only normal early-Body Integration cultivators, so they were most likely only tempted to target him in the wake of Fairy Tian Li's absence.
As for the two people among the top five true spirit families, one of them was the grand elder of the Feng Family, a mid-Body Integration Stage elderly man whom Fairy Xiao Feng had cautioned him about in advance.
He wore a set of green robes and was holding a black cane, and was appraising Han Li with a dark expression.
The Feng Family was ranked fourth during the last edition of the true spirit ceremony, and they had a slight vendetta against the Gu Family. As such, it was no surprise that he was appraising Han Li with such apparent animosity.
Meanwhile, the other person was a cultivator from the Long Family, and he was also appraising Han Li in an unfriendly manner. This wasn't the Long Family patriarch. Instead, it was a black-robed man sitting directly beside him. The black-robed man was also a mid-Body Integration cultivator with a slightly red complexion and a deep purple scar on his forehead, giving him a very ferocious appearance.
This was another guest grand elder with the Hui surname that the Long Family had recruited not long ago. It was said that this man was using a top-grade Devil Dao cultivation art, and he was also at the mid-Body Integration Stage.
As for the Long Family patriarch himself, he had been resting with his eyes closed in his chair this entire time, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
However, as Han Li swept his gaze over the Long Family entourage, he discovered that aside from the black-robed man, there was someone else among them who was also glowering at him in an extremely resentful manner.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he directed his gaze toward that person, following which a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
This was a young man who was standing behind the Long Family patriarch. He had a bright red mole on the corner of his lips; it was none other than Long Dong, whose plans he had foiled back during their journey to the Wood Tribe.
Long Dong had plotted for several centuries, only to encounter an unexpected obstacle in the form of Han Li, and as a result, not only was he unable to obtain the Ye Family's Heavenly Phoenix True Blood, he lost most of his own True Dragon Blood as well, so he was naturally extremely resentful toward Han Li.
In particular, after hearing that Han Li had progressed to the Body Integration Stage, his resentment was intermingled with extreme envy.
If he had succeeded in his plan all those years ago, perhaps he would've been the extraordinary prodigy who progressed to the Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries.
As such, as Han Li cast his gaze toward Long Dong, the latter made no effort to avert his eyes and continued to glower at Han Li with an extremely resentful expression.
In the next instant, the faint smile on Han Li's face vanished, and piercing blue light suddenly flashed within his eyes.
All of a sudden, Long Dong felt a burst of heat abruptly spear into his eyes, following his head was struck by excruciating agony, as if his brain had been stabbed by a sharp spike. He immediately threw his hands over his head and let loose a howl of agony.
The Long Family patriarch abruptly opened his eyes upon hearing this, then reached out like lightning to lay a hand onto Long Dong's arm, following which a ball of golden light appeared before vanishing in a flash.
The agony etched on Long Dong's face disappeared as a result, but after removing his hands from his own head, his face was still twisted in shock and horror.
However, he then immediately came to his senses and extended a deep bow toward the Long Family patriarch. "Thank you for saving me, Patriarch! If not for your intervention, I would've been killed by that man!"
Long Dong glared at Han Li in a resentful manner again as he spoke, but aside from hatred and envy, his eyes were filled with acute horror as well.
It was quite clear that only now did he truly realize just how massive of a disparity there was between their powers.
Instead of paying any heed to Long Dong's words of gratitude, the Long Family patriarch turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner, and asked, "What are our intentions, Fellow Daoist Han? Why did you attack one of my juniors?"
Long Dong's cry of agony coupled with the Long Family patriarch's question naturally drew a lot of attention from the surrounding cultivators.
The blue light within Han Li's eyes faded, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I didn't like the way that he was looking at me, so I gave him some punishment. Is there a problem with that, Brother Long?"
His cold response to Long Family patriarch naturally drew a lot of shock from the nearby onlookers, and hushed chatter immediately rang out in the surrounding area.
"It's indeed true that this grandson of mine is rather conceited, so a slight punishment won't do him any harm." Much to everyone's surprise, the Long Family patriarch displayed no intention of pressing the issue any further, and he merely nodded in an expressionless manner before closing his eyes again, paying no further heed to anyone else.
