Chapter 1189: Return to Demonfall

Volume Six: Spirit Treasures of the Heavens

"Are you the Zhao brothers from Jin Hai Sect?" The young man in the center suddenly smiled and asked the three.

"Who are you, sir? Fellow Daoist Hou, what's going on here?" The big man's face showed vigilance.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, don't be rude. This is our sect's Grand Elder! The other is Junior Martial Brother Lin." The old man also spoke, and his words startled the three.

"Grand Elder? Could it be Senior Han from your esteemed sect!" The leading big man blurted out in disbelief.

"That's right, I currently hold the position of Grand Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect. I asked Martial Nephew Hou to invite a few fellow Daoists here; it might have been a bit abrupt," the young man smiled, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth.

This young man was Han Li, who had traveled all the way from the Falling Cloud Sect to the Eastern Yu Nation.

"No, it's our honor to be summoned by a Senior!" The leading big man, surprised, carefully scrutinized Han Li again. Seeing that the other party indeed closely resembled the person from the rumors, he immediately bowed respectfully, showing immense deference.

The other two also hastily followed suit with a bow.

"It's nothing. The three of you are not disciples of this sect, so there's no need for such formality. I heard from Martial Nephew Hou that the three of you once met our sect's female disciples in the valley. Is this true?" Han Li waved his hand and asked calmly.

"Does Senior refer to Fairy Bai and the others? My brothers and I did indeed have a brief encounter with them in the Devilfall Valley," the leading big man was startled when Han Li asked about this but immediately replied honestly.

"Oh, would the three of you mind describing the situation in detail for me!" Han Li asked gently.

"Of course, no problem. Several months ago, my brothers and I entered Devilfall Valley, hoping to find a rare material for artifact refining. We found nothing in the outer valley and were about to leave when we encountered Fairy Bai and two others on the way out. Due to some past events, Fairy Bai and I had met a few times before, so I went up and exchanged a few words. However, Fairy Bai and the others looked anxious, as if they were searching for something. They didn't say much to us and left quickly. My brothers and I then immediately exited the valley and haven't seen the three fairies since," the big man spoke carefully.

"Could you tell me in more detail where you met Martial Niece Bai? I have a map of the Devilfall Valley's outer region here. Please mark the approximate location where you encountered the three of them." Han Li pondered for a moment, then flicked his sleeve, and a light-colored jade slip, which he had prepared earlier, flew towards the big man.

"The place where we met Fairy Bai was quite deep within the outer valley." The big man quickly grabbed the jade slip, explained a few words, and then immersed his consciousness in it. But in an instant, he withdrew and respectfully presented the jade slip to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li raised his hand, and the jade slip transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into his palm. After scanning it with his divine sense, his eyebrow subtly twitched.

"Indeed, it's very close to the inner valley. Thank you for your trouble, fellow Daoists. Martial Nephew Hou, Martial Nephew Wu, please chat with these three fellow Daoists for a while. I'll be going ahead." Han Li put away the jade slip, smiled at the three big men, and then casually instructed the old man and the scholar.

"Farewell, Senior Martial Uncle Han!" The scholar and the old man immediately bowed halfway, and the three big men, not daring to be remiss, also adopted a respectful farewell posture.

A brilliant green light emanated from Han Li's body, transforming him into a dazzling green rainbow that shot through the air, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.

"Old Brother Hou! Is that truly Senior Han Li, the one who advanced to Grand Cultivator in your esteemed sect?" Not until the green rainbow had vanished from the horizon did the other big man, who had remained silent, let out a long breath and ask, seemingly still in disbelief.

"If not Senior Martial Uncle Han, then who else? For the three of you to have met him this time is quite a stroke of luck! You must know that Senior Martial Uncle Han is renowned, but he rarely meets with sect disciples. I myself have only seen him a few times," the old man surnamed Hou also relaxed his expression and said with a wry smile.

"Indeed, Senior Martial Uncle Han doesn't interact much with sect disciples. Although I've formed my Gold Core for several decades, I've only seen him once from afar during a grand ceremony. This time, if it weren't for the matter concerning Senior Martial Sister Bai and the others, I doubt the Grand Elder would have left his cave dwelling," the scholar also spoke in agreement.

"So, Fairy Bai and the two others really did go missing in Devilfall Valley? My brothers and I had heard some rumors before, but we thought they were just groundless speculation," the leading big man asked gravely after being stunned for a long while.

"Given the situation, there's no point in hiding it. Something indeed happened to Junior Martial Sister Bai and the others," the old man sighed.

"Fairy Bai and the two others are all Gold Core cultivators; how could they have easily gone missing? Could they have entered the inner valley?" The leading big man was somewhat surprised.

"Most likely. Hopefully, they are just trapped somewhere in the inner valley. If that's the case, with Senior Martial Uncle Han personally intervening, rescuing them should be no problem at all," the scholar seemed worried.

"Does Fairy Bai have some connection to Senior Han? Otherwise, judging by your previous tone, Senior Han doesn't seem to be someone who likes to meddle in affairs," the leading big man, however, had gleaned something.

"Heh heh, I heard that Senior Martial Sister Bai and Senior Martial Uncle Han have known each other for a long time. But I think the main reason lies with the other two Senior Martial Sisters. I heard that Senior Martial Sister Liu Yu was Senior Han's registered disciple back then, and Senior Martial Sister Mu Peiling is actually Senior Martial Uncle Han's concubine. With all three of them encountering trouble simultaneously, how could Senior Martial Uncle Han not intervene?" The old man smiled faintly.

"So that's how it is," the three big men simultaneously realized, their faces showing enlightenment.

While these Gold Core cultivators were discussing, Han Li had already shot off towards Devilfall Valley.

Enveloped in his escape light, he held a milky-white jade tablet in his hand, his expression contemplative.

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Han? Are you worried about your disciple and concubine, or is it because you haven't fully comprehended the Golden Palace Jade Scroll in your hand?" A faint childish voice suddenly sounded in Han Li's ear.

Han Li's eyes flickered as he glanced at his sleeve, then he replied calmly:

"The three of them have most likely entered the inner valley of Devilfall Valley. As long as nothing truly terrible has happened, rescuing them won't take much effort. However, is there something incomplete about the Yinzhou script you taught me? Why is the content in the jade scroll so abstruse and difficult to understand? Although it's certainly a method for refining talismans, the specifics are a bit too profound."

"Heh heh, that's natural. The content recorded on this jade scroll is originally the Dao of Talismans cultivated by Immortals. If a mortal realm cultivator like you could easily comprehend it, I'd start doubting the authenticity of this jade scroll myself. What's more, you only have half a page of it, so comprehending it will naturally be even more challenging."

The child chuckled softly, stating it without surprise.

"What you say makes some sense. Anyway, there's plenty of time. I'll study it more carefully when I have the leisure." Han Li nodded, then put the jade tablet away again.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I've already taught you the Yinzhou script, and I've also imparted the methods for refining Fire Spirit Silks and the Eye of Annihilation. Shouldn't you help me resist the Transformation Lightning Tribulation now?" The child paused for a moment, then asked calmly.

"Please rest assured, Fellow Daoist Tian Tao. I, Han, will never renege on my promises. Once this matter is resolved, I will find a secluded place to help you successfully undergo your transformation," Han Li replied openly.

"Good, your word is enough." The child seemed very satisfied with Han Li's reply and immediately fell silent.

Han Li also said nothing more. He simply channeled his escape light with full power, and after a few blinks, vanished without a trace from the vicinity.

Half a day later, at the entrance of Devilfall Valley in the Myriad Ridge Mountain Range, the teleportation array built by the Ghost Spirit Sect in the past still stood outside the valley mouth, but it was covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it hadn't been used for many years.

This was understandable. In the past, the outer perimeter of Devilfall Valley was surrounded by dense restrictions and countless spatial rifts. But now, most of the spatial rifts had vanished, and even the outermost layer of restrictions was barely perceptible. Anyone with Gold Core cultivation or above could easily infiltrate the valley through several weak points in the restrictions, without even needing to pass through the original valley entrance.

The teleportation array established by the Ghost Spirit Sect was naturally no longer of any use.

Of course, the valley entrance of Devilfall Valley remained the primary path for most cultivators entering the valley. After all, countless cultivators had traversed this area countless times, making its safety far more reliable than other locations.

However, currently near the teleportation array, five or six cultivators, dressed in various attires, were discussing something.

They were all Gold Core cultivators, one of whom was even a late-stage Gold Core cultivator, seemingly preparing to enter the valley through the entrance.

Suddenly, faint sounds of air being torn echoed from the distant sky. Startled, these few people hastily looked up.

They saw a flash of green light in the distant sky, seemingly an escape light shooting towards them. Just as they were about to focus their attention for a closer look, the green light merely flickered a few times before strangely vanishing.

The expressions of the few people changed drastically. As they hastily released their divine sense to investigate, the sound of air being torn echoed again, just a dozen zhang above them!

A flash of green light, a green rainbow, swept past right under their noses. After flickering a few times, it vanished into the valley entrance.

Among so many cultivators, not a single one could clearly see who the figure in the green escape light was.

The few people exchanged glances, seeing the same look of horror on each other's faces.

The owner of this green rainbow was, naturally, Han Li. He didn't bother with these mere Gold Core cultivators and directly entered Devilfall Valley.

Following the location marked by the Jin Hai Sect big man on the map, Han Li immediately shot off towards it without a word.

If he remembered correctly, that area seemed not far from where he and Zi Ling had followed the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators into the inner valley many years ago.

Moreover, since the woman surnamed Song was a close friend of Zi Ling, Han Li naturally didn't need to overthink it; he would start looking for the three women's traces from that direction.

With Han Li's current escape speed, and with most of the spatial rifts in the outer valley gone and no dangers limiting his speed, he arrived above the enormous ice crevice leading into the inner valley in just over half a day.

With a single swirl of green light, Han Li expressionlessly plunged into the ice crevice.