Chapter 13: Four Years Later

Mo Daifu was very satisfied that Han Li devoted all his time to cultivation. However, he still found Han Li's progress with the unnamed incantation too slow.

In recent years, Mo Daifu's illness seemed to worsen. His daily coughing fits became more frequent and lasted longer. As his health deteriorated, Mo Daifu appeared to grow even more concerned about Han Li's cultivation progress. His repeated urging clearly revealed his inner anxiety.

Mo Daifu evidently placed great importance on Han Li. Not only did he pay Han Li significantly more silver than other disciples, as per their agreement, but his gaze towards Han Li was also peculiar, like he was looking at a priceless treasure, cherishing him immensely.

However, having cultivated the incantation to the third level, Han Li's senses had become remarkably sharp. He inadvertently noticed that behind Mo Daifu's kind and caring gaze, there was an occasional flicker of unsettling greed and longing. These expressions sent shivers down Han Li's spine. He always felt that Mo Daifu, when showing those looks, wasn't seeing him as a living person, but rather as an object. This left him puzzled: what could he possibly possess that Mo Daifu would desire?

"Nothing," he confidently answered himself.

Han Li sometimes even thought he was being overly sensitive from his training, and that secretly harboring suspicions about Mo Daifu was truly ungrateful. Yet, for reasons unknown to him, a sense of caution towards Mo Daifu persisted in the deepest recesses of his heart, growing stronger with each passing day.

A significant problem now confronted Han Li: he had hit a cultivation bottleneck. What was worse, after years of intense training and consuming precious medicine, Mo Daifu's supply of valuable drugs had completely run out. It was clear that Han Li was no prodigy; without the aid of medicine, his cultivation progress had come to a complete halt.

This made Han Li feel very ashamed when facing Mo Daifu. Mo Daifu had poured nearly all his effort and resources into him, creating the best possible cultivation conditions, yet Han Li was unable to meet his expectations. This made it difficult for Han Li to face Mo Daifu and his constant, eager inquiries.

Curiously, for some unknown reason, the highly skilled Mo Daifu couldn't ascertain the specifics of Han Li's cultivation progress, only gaining a slight understanding from feeling his pulse. Therefore, he remained unaware of Han Li's predicament during this time.

Not long ago, feeling restless, Han Li finally confessed his cultivation situation to Mo Daifu. Upon hearing that Han Li hadn't made any progress with the incantation for a year, Mo Daifu's sallow complexion paled slightly, and his usually expressionless face became even more displeased. Mo Daifu didn't blame him, merely telling him that he would be leaving the mountain for a period to find some medicinal herbs, and instructed Han Li to continue training diligently on the mountain, not to neglect his incantation practice.

Two days later, Mo Daifu departed from Seven Mysteries Sect alone, carrying his luggage and herb-gathering tools. After he left, Han Li was the only one remaining in Divine Hand Valley.

His senior martial brother and friend, Zhang Tie, had suddenly vanished two years prior after completing the third level of the Elephant Armor Technique. He had left behind only a letter stating his departure to venture into the jianghu world, causing a great stir throughout the Seven Mysteries Sect. Later, Han Li heard that Mo Daifu had intervened on Zhang Tie's behalf, preventing his recommender and family relatives from being implicated. This sudden disappearance had deeply saddened Han Li for several days. Reflecting on it later, he vaguely felt something was amiss, but being young and insignificant, no one asked him about it, and the matter eventually faded. Later, Han Li suspected that Zhang Tie might have secretly slipped away due to fear of cultivating the fourth level of the Elephant Armor Technique.

After several days of ineffective cultivation within the valley, and being of a youthful disposition, Han Li left Divine Hand Valley and began to wander aimlessly within Mount Caixia. Walking along these familiar yet somewhat strange mountain paths, Han Li felt a touch of emotion. For the past few years, in order to train, Han Li had been confined as if in prison, never once leaving the small valley. He surmised that the other disciples outside had long forgotten about their martial brother, Han Li.

Along the way, he encountered several patrolling disciples who, seeing his sect attire but unfamiliar face, approached him cautiously and questioned him. It took a considerable amount of explanation for him to get away. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Han Li simply chose narrow, winding paths, heading towards secluded areas and steering clear of crowded places. As expected, there were no more bothersome interrogations along the way, allowing him to roam freely and wander further and further. Gazing at the beautiful scenery, so different from within the valley, and listening to the chirping of various small birds, all his worries momentarily faded from Han Li's mind.

Suddenly, faint sounds of clashing weapons and the shouts of many people, some cursing and some cheering, drifted from a relatively hidden cliffside. Such a remote place! So many people gathered! And such intense sounds! Han Li's curiosity was piqued, and he no longer feared being questioned. Following the sounds of fighting, he approached the cliff.

What a sight! He paused, slightly stunned and surprised. Beneath the cliff, completely obscured by trees, over a hundred people were gathered. The relatively small area was packed with them, and even a few individuals were standing on the branches of larger nearby trees, looking on. Within the circle formed by the crowd, two groups of people were confronting each other with hostility. The group on the left was larger, with eleven or twelve people, while the one on the right was smaller, with six or seven. Han Li noticed that everyone there, whether spectators or those in the middle, were all around his age, appearing to be in their teens.

A slight smile appeared on Han Li's face. What a coincidence! Among the large crowd, he easily recognized several familiar faces.

"Wan Jinbao, Zhang Dalu, Ma Yun, Sun Lisong... Oh! Wang Dapang is even fatter than before; it's no wonder his family runs a kitchen—he's well-fed and well-cared for! And this person is... Liu Tietou, tsk, tsk! The formerly dark and sooty 'Black Charcoal Head' has actually become a pale-faced pretty boy!" Han Li also climbed up a tree, calling out the names of the familiar faces below.