The fact that the entire human race only had one Grand Ascension cultivator in the form of Mo Jianli was an indication of just how difficult it was to reach the Grand Ascension Stage.
Han Li had already been blessed with immense fortune during the course of his cultivation journey, but he still wasn't confident in his ability to reach that level.
As such, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus were naturally very tempting to him. Under normal circumstances, he would have agreed to the Long Family patriarch's invitation without any hesitation, but due to his current circumstances, he could only delay in providing a response.
The issue that he was facing was naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha. He and this Sacred Ancestor of the Elder Devil Race were sworn enemies, so he was naturally extremely averse to the idea of venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.
If his identity were to be exposed during his time in the Elder Devil Realm, Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha would definitely hunt him down for destroying that fragment of her spiritual sense back in the human world.
Of course, Han Li was also unwilling to immediately turn down the Long Family patriarch's offer and give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. After all, an opportunity that could increase his chances of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage was an extremely rare one. If he were to give up on it, perhaps he would lose the chance to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. With that in mind, Han Li really was at a loss for what to do.
After contemplating this issue for a while, a wry smile appeared on his face. Of course, this wasn't a predicament that had no solution at all, but the solution would be for him to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.
With late-Body Integration Stage powers and the vast array of powerful treasures and abilities at his disposal, he was confident that he would at least be able to ensure his survival even in the face of Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.
For someone else, progressing from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries was naturally nothing more than an implausible joke, but with all of the unique assets that Han Li possessed, it wasn't a completely impossible task to achieve.
In particular, he still had his agreement with Qing Yuanzi. He had already gathered enough items to fulfill the agreement, and if he could get his hands on the Divine Infernal River Elixir that was sorely sought after even by the four demon monarchs, there would naturally be a much higher chance for him to reach the late-Body Integration Stage.
As long as he could progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the commencement of the journey, he was definitely willing to take a risk. However, if he couldn't achieve such a feat, then he would have to make a decision based on the situation.
In any case, he definitely wouldn't give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus without putting in his best effort.
Having made that decision, Han Li cast aside this train of thought and swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a dozen or so formation flags that conjured up an invisible restriction around the room.
After that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.
The next morning, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao came to Han Li's pavilion to pay him a visit, only to find that it was completely empty, and Han Li and Bai Guo'er were nowhere to be seen.
The two of them could only exchange a wry smile upon seeing this.
Meanwhile, Han Li and Bai Guo'er were already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, racing rapidly through the air on an azure flying carriage.
Han Li was seated with his legs crossed in a corner of the flying carriage, inspecting a tattered book in his hand.
Bai Guo'er was standing at the front of the carriage, holding a formation plate in one hand. There was a layer of azure light flashing over the surface of the formation plate, and it was controlling the flying carriage in its flight.
Even though she had only been with Han Li for several years, she had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Stage through the use of the pills that Han Li had provided her with. As such, she was able to just barely control this flying carriage through the help of the formation plate in her hand.
After flying for close to two hours in silence, Bai Guo'er cast a surreptitious glance toward Han Li, only to find that he seemed to still be completely absorbed by what he was reading. She pouted slightly with displeasure, and asked, "Master, where are we going next? This doesn't seem to the direction that Deep Heaven City lies in; aren't we going to meet up with my senior martial brothers?"
After accompanying Han Li for several years, Bai Guo'er had developed a certain level of understanding of Han Li's personality. On top of that, Han Li had stepped in several times during these past few years to alleviate the pain inflicted on her by her frost poison, so she had become quite close with him.
Han Li didn't even raise his head as he replied, "Oh? Do you miss your senior martial brothers? Do you miss Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi or Senior Martial Brother Hai?"
Bai Guo'er immediately blushed upon hearing the teasing tone in Han Li's voice, and she hurriedly replied, "What are you saying, Master? I don't miss them; I just think that they're very interesting."
She was still quite young, but everyone in the Spirit Realm matured very early, so she was naturally somewhat aware of the nature of certain relationships between men and women.
"Haha, I was only making a joke. Last time we went to Deep Heaven City, I already gave them all of the pills and cultivation arts your senior martial brothers will require in their cultivation, so we won't be visiting them in the next few decades as that would only hinder their cultivation. On top of that, I left your Senior Ice Phoenix back at the cave abode as well, so she should also be able to provide some cultivation instruction to them. In contrast, you have to stay by my side at all times due to your frost poison. Thankfully, you're still at a stage in your cultivation where you can improve solely by consuming pills, and I'm mainly going to be developing some abilities during this time, so I won't need to go into seclusion in the near future. Hence, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to roam all of the human regions and demon territories," Han Li replied.
Bai Guo'er hesitated momentarily, but her curiosity got the better of her in the end, and she asked, "Senior Ice Phoenix would definitely be more than capable of instructing my two senior martial brothers in their cultivation, but why are you exploring all of these places, Master? A few years ago, we explored the entire Xuan Wu Region; are you looking for something?"
A slightly dejected look appeared on Han Li's face, and he sighed, "I'm not looking for something; I'm looking for someone. If she's also ascended to the Spirit Realm, I should at least be able to find some information about her."
"Could it be that this person you're looking for is a loved one?" Bai Guo'er suddenly asked.
Han Li was rather taken aback. "Oh? How did you know?"
Bai Guo'er gave a rather bashful smile before a hint of a curiosity appeared in her eyes. "I made a guess. Whenever my grandmother speaks about my deceased grandfather, her tone and expression are exactly the same as yours just now. Could it be that this person you're searching for is your Dao Companion? Why have I never heard you mention her before?"
"Alright, there's no need for you to pry into my matters. I'm mainly embarking on this trip to search for that person, but also as a journey to consolidate my mental state. I've only recently progressed to the early-Body Integration Stage, after all, so I need to forge a strong foundation before I can try to make further advancements. We're going to the Tian Ling Region next. I heard that the region has become rather chaotic ever since the spirit sovereign's passing, so hopefully we can find some information there," Han Li replied.
"The Tian Ling Region? I heard the spirit sovereign competition to decide the next spirit sovereign is going to be held there in a few years; why don't you participate and take that title for yourself, Master? With your powers, you should have a very good chance," Bai Guo'er suggested with a smile.
"Hehe, what nonsense are you spouting now? How could I possibly have a chance at securing the spirit sovereign position with my lackluster cultivation base? Besides, I have no intention of competing for that position anyway. Alright, focus on driving the spirit carriage; I have to go back to my reading now," Han Li chuckled before ignoring Bai Guo'er and turning his attention back to the book in his hand.
Bai Guo'er still had many questions she wanted to ask Han Li, but she naturally didn't dare to ask them now. As such she pouted with displeasure as she abruptly increased the rate at which she injected magic power into the formation plate, causing it to suddenly accelerate.
However, Han Li paid no heed to this, and it seemed that he had truly become completely absorbed by the book in his hand.
Thus, the azure flying carriage continued onward as a ball of azure light, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
…
During the following two decades, Han Li trekked across all of the three human regions and seven demon territories, occasionally investigating leads that he discovered.
However, following the passage of those 20 years, he suddenly disappeared without a trace from the human race. During this time, there were rumors circulating among high-grade demonic beings that they had seen Han Li on occasions in some of the markets of the demon race.
However, these rumors didn't have any supporting evidence, so they remained as unsubstantiated rumors.
After several more decades, there was truly no further news of Han Li.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, 200 years had passed since the Myriad Treasure Convention. During this time, many major events had taken place in both the human and demon races.
The position of the spirit sovereign was finally claimed by a mysterious female cultivator over 100 years ago. This new spirit sovereign was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but she managed to defeat 11 cultivators who competed with her for this position, three of which were late-Body Integration cultivators.
This naturally created quite a stir among the two races, and it was a popular conversation topic among high-grade beings for a long time.
Even though the new spirit sovereign had only claimed the position not long ago, she was able to get the spirit sovereign's past subordinates to pledge their allegiance to her in a very smooth fashion, and not long after that, order was restored to the once chaotic Tian Ling Region.
Thus, the three sovereigns were complete once again.
Another major event was that the holy island, which was the sacred land of the human and demon races, suddenly declared that the two races would temporarily set aside their differences with the nearby enemy foreign races to form a thousand-year alliance. During the next 1,000 years, not only would there be no battles between these races, they had to provide their assistance to any of the races that were part of the alliance that came under peril.
This announcement naturally created a massive stir as well.
