"Rest assured, Brother Long. As long as we won't have to face any devilish lords from the Lin Family, we won't have to reveal our Body Integration Stage cultivation bases. We'll just take their devilish lizards and immediately get away," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied with a confident smile.
Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family naturally had no objections, either.
After that, everyone began to discuss the finer details of the operation and to ascertain each individual step.
Several hours later, Han Li and the others departed from the cave abode and returned to Illusion Night City.
During the next two months, Han Li continued to cultivate in seclusion in his pavilion, awaiting the arrival of the agreed date.
During this time, he had communicated with the Long Family patriarch on several occasions, and it seemed that everything was progressing very smoothly.
Not only had the Long Family patriarch tempted the Zhao Family into plotting against him, he had lured the two devilish lords of the family into a decision to target him in person.
However, the Long Family patriarch had remained in Illusion Night City this entire time, so he hadn't afforded the Zhao Family any opportunity to attack him.
On this day, Han Li was meditating in his pavilion when a low ringing sound suddenly erupted from his waist, following which a ball of white light emerged, then transformed into a line of text.
A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he read the line of text, and he stood up before going downstairs.
Once he reached the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, he was greeted by the sight of Zhu Guo'er seated on a chair beside the pavilion's entrance with one hand supporting her chin, staring off into space in an absent-minded manner.
As soon as Han Li emerged, Zhu Guo'er immediately returned to her senses and hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey.
"Come with me," Han Li instructed before making his way out of the pavilion.
Zhu Guo'er faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on her face, and she hurriedly followed along behind Han Li.
During this recent period of time, Han Li hadn't abused her in any way, but it was very boring for her to stay in the pavilion for days on end, and she felt as if she had been trapped in a cage. Now that she was permitted to leave the pavilion with Han Li, she was naturally ecstatic.
After departing from the pavilion, Han Li hailed a beast-drawn carriage and left Illusion Night City with Zhu Guo'er.
After exiting the city, Han Li swept up Zhu Guo'er in a burst of azure light before flying toward a nearby nameless mountain.
A short while later, Han Li descended onto the mountain, where the man from the Lin Family was already waiting for him.
He still had the appearance of an elderly man, but his grey hair had reverted back to a black color, and a hint of color had returned to his cheeks.
This was clearly all thanks to the Essence Refining Pill that Han Li had given him.
"Is this the junior you were talking about, Brother Han?" the man from the Lin Family asked as he glanced at Zhu Guo'er.
"Indeed. She has a connection to me, so please take her back to the Spirit Realm for me; I'll take her off your hands once I return to the Spirit Realm myself," Han Li replied.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I accepted your pill, so I'll make sure to keep her safe. Brother Long says he's going to implement his plan soon, so I'm going to depart today," the man from the Lin Family said in a serious manner.
"That's a good idea. After all, it would be quite troublesome if you were to get swept up in all of this."
Han Li nodded in response, then turned to Zhu Guo'er before continuing, "You and I must have some type of affinity for us to meet here, so I'll help you return to the human race. This Fellow Daoist Lin is a grand elder of one of the major families of our human race; you'll be in safe hands with him. I'll explain everything to you the next time we meet."
Zhu Guo'er was completely dumbstruck upon hearing this, and she opened her mouth to ask something, but Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light before she could say anything.
Thus, Zhu Guo'er and the man from the Lin Family were the only ones left on the mountain.
"Come on, little girl; I'll take you back with me to the Spirit Realm," the man from the Lin Family said with a faint smile.
"The Spirit Realm" Are you really a human, Senior? Is Senior Han a human as well?" Zhu Guo'er was quite intelligent and immediately drew the connection, but she was still in disbelief.
"Hehe, do you think Brother Han and I would go out of our way to trick a little girl like you?" the man from the Lin Family chuckled.
Zhu Guo'er was very excited to hear this, and she asked, "What did Senior Han mean when he said that I have a connection to him? Would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?"
"I don't know anything about that. Didn't Brother Han mention this to you beforehand?" the man from the Lin Family asked in a slightly surprised manner.
"I only just found out that Senior Han is a devilish being; how would I know what kind of connection I have to him?" Zhu Guo'er shook her head with a befuddled expression.
However, she then recalled how Han Li had asked her about her Great Reincarnation Arts, and a series of thoughts began to occur to her.
The man from the Lin Family was rather interested in the relationship between Zhu Guo'er and Han Li, but this wasn't the time to be asking questions. Thus, he raised a hand to release a black flying carriage, which was being drawn by several wyrm-like puppet beasts.
The two of them got onto the carriage, and the puppet beasts sprang to life, drawing the carriage into the distance.
He was concerned that the Long Family patriarch and the others would enact their plan soon, so he was spurring on the beast-drawn carriage as quickly as he could, and they covered a distance of millions of kilometers in just half a day.
Just as the flying carriage was traveling over a winding mountain range, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out within his ears.
"Seeing as you're already here, why don't you pay me a visit?"
As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the flying carriage, and countless pink flower petals appeared before transforming into a giant hand that came crashing down toward the carriage.
A floral scent surged forth, and it was as if the entire sky were falling, affording the carriage no opportunity for evasion.
"Crap!"
The man from the Lin Family was naturally very alarmed by this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal while raising his other hand up into the air.
The puppet beasts that were drawing the carriage raised their heads in unison, then blasted several thick pillars of light of different colors directly upward. At the same time a white light barrier emerged to encompass the entire carriage.
At the same time, a bone blade that was shot forth out of his sleeve amid a burst of black Qi, and it instantly swelled to several hundred feet in length before slashing toward the massive pink hand.
The space in the wake of the giant blade warped and twisted incessantly, as if it were about to be sliced apart.
Even though the man from the Lin Family was currently severely debilitated, he was still a Body Integration cultivator, and his attacks were certainly nothing to be scoffed at.
In the next instant, the pillar of light and giant blade struck the massive hand amid an earth-shattering boom that caused the space within a radius of several tens of kilometers to tremor violently.
The pillars of light were eradicated by a flurry of pink light that was released by the giant hand, and the huge bone blade was also shattered into pieces by a burst of unfathomably enormous force.
The man from the Lin Family immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and he immediately attempted to unleash other abilities, but it was already too late.
The pink light up above swept downward, and the light barrier around the flying carriage was instantly torn apart. The man from the Lin Family immediately felt his magic power become extremely sluggish, and he began to lose consciousness in the midst of the floral scent
Just as he was about to black out, he heard the horrified scream of Zhu Guo'er, and a wry smile appeared on his face.
Half a day ago, he had made a bold promise to Han Li, yet now, he was in severe peril himself.
This thought had only just appeared in his mind before he slumped onto the flying carriage, completely unconscious.
Two hours later, he slowly came around in a dark forest.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he hurriedly looked down to find that he was situated within a floral tree, and his body was enveloped by countless flower petals. It was a very beautiful sight to behold, but his body was extremely feeble, and his dantian was completely empty, as if all of his magic power had disappeared.
His heart sank as he cast his gaze around him, yet before he saw anything noteworthy, an abrasive male voice suddenly rang out.
"Mistress Bao Hua, the human is awake."
The man from the Lin Family hurriedly toward the direction that the voice had come from to discover a hideous black-armored man standing atop a hill, looking down at him with a menacing expression.
It was a devilish lord!
The man from the Lin Family had already anticipated this, so he wasn't all that surprised, and he cast his gaze toward another nearby tree.
At the foot of the tree was a pink floral tree projection, and as soon as the black-armored man's voice trailed off, a peerlessly gorgeous woman in a white dress appeared.
The woman slowly opened her eyes and cast her gaze toward the man from the Lin Family.
Their eyes met, and the man was struck by a sense of disorientation intermingled with an indescribable sense of devotion. In that instant, he was willing to lay down his life for this woman without a second thought.
