Chapter 156: Blue-Clothed Woman

Seeing this, the young man sneered.

"Since I've already taken your attack, isn't it my turn now?" As he spoke, he retracted his shield, then brought his hands together. With a sudden pull to either side, a huge crescent-shaped blue arc blade appeared between his hands.

"Try my Azure Arc Slash!" the young man said ominously. With a whoosh, the light blade shot towards the two people opposite him.

The young man's attack caused exclamations from the onlookers. Everyone could see that the Murong brothers were now completely unable to cast spells, let alone defend themselves.

The youths panicked. After glancing around in confusion, they simply split up, running into the crowds on either side.

"Open!" the young man suddenly shouted.

The flying azure arc, with his shout, split into two in mid-air. Guided by the young man's hand, it also divided into two paths, continuing to pursue the youths.

Coincidentally, one of the youths, seeing that Han Li's magic power was relatively strong among the onlookers, unhesitatingly ran straight towards him, which startled Han Li greatly.

Han Li had no intention of getting involved in this matter. He knew that no matter how arrogant and wild the young man was, he would never dare to openly harm the Murong brothers; at most, he would just scare and tease them. Therefore, Han Li was absolutely not going to be the one to step forward.

Moreover, this youth was exceptionally cunning; wasn't he clearly trying to use Han Li as a human shield? How could Han Li let him have his way? So, with a slight sway of his body, he vanished from his spot, causing the youth to lunge at empty air. Enraged, the youth cursed loudly and had no choice but to continue scrambling away.

With a rumbling sound, the ground in the direction the other youth fled trembled violently, then dust rose, and a man's curses were heard. Clearly, someone hadn't been as wise as Han Li and failed to shake off the role of a human shield.

After the dust settled, a thick, several-zhang-high earthen wall stood opposite. A crescent-shaped groove, several chi long, appeared on the wall. Behind the wall stood a stocky young man of about twenty, carrying a strange wooden crutch, pressing one hand against the wall and cursing loudly. Close behind him was the other smiling Murong youth.

"Lu, what do you mean by this? Didn't you see there were other people here, yet you still attacked! Were you planning to cut me down too?" the stocky young man demanded angrily, one question after another.

Senior Brother Lu snorted, ignoring the stocky youth's accusations. Instead, with a gloomy expression, he fully controlled the remaining half of the azure arc blade, suddenly accelerating its pursuit of the youth on Han Li's side. Judging by the arc's trajectory, it seemed he genuinely intended to leave a mark on the youth.

"Stop!" a young woman's sharp cry came from afar. Immediately after, a blazing firebird descended from the sky, instantly devouring the azure arc behind the youth. It then transformed into a ball of intense flames and vanished.

"Who? Who broke my spell?" the young man surnamed Lu roared in anger, looking up at the sky.

Above everyone's heads, a blue-clad woman had appeared at some unknown moment. Her skin was like solidified cream, her face radiantly beautiful, like a celestial maiden. With a slender, willow-like waist, an elegantly long neck, and dressed in a blue palace gown with her hair styled in a high bun, she exuded an ethereal, transcendent aura that made people hesitant to gaze directly at her.

"Ah, so it's Junior Sister Nie! No wonder someone had such high magic power!" The previously enraged young man surnamed Lu immediately changed his demeanor upon seeing the blue-clad woman. He became refined and courteous, indeed quite graceful.

"Senior Brother Lu, for my sake, how about we end this match here?" the woman in the palace gown said coolly, standing on a magical artifact.

"Heh heh, since it's Junior Sister Nie's wish, then of course, I'll comply," the young man said with a full smile.

The woman in the palace gown nodded, said nothing more, and descended directly from the sky, walking towards the Murong brothers.

"Senior Sister Nie, you came just in time, otherwise we would have suffered a great loss!" The youth who had just escaped danger immediately brightened up and ran over to the blue-clad woman. The other youth also grinned and ran around the earthen wall to join them.

"After you go back, you will reflect on your mistakes, and you are not allowed to go out until you have mastered the ninth layer of your cultivation technique," the woman said blandly, without a hint of emotion, showing no ripples of feeling.

Hearing this, the Murong brothers immediately became dispirited, nodding their heads in agreement.

After dealing with the brothers, the blue-clad woman turned to look at the stocky young man and suddenly broke into a radiant smile, instantly dimming everything around her. Her apricot-shaped lips parted slightly as she said, "Thank you for your assistance, Senior Brother. Otherwise, if anything had happened to Junior Brother Murong, I would have failed the sect!"

"N-no, it was nothing..."

Stunned by her peerlessly beautiful smile, the stocky youth kept foolishly chuckling, his words stuttering.

Seeing the special treatment he received, the men around couldn't help but envy his lucky encounter, greatly regretting that it hadn't been them who had intervened earlier. Their jealous gazes almost pierced him full of holes.

Seeing this, the young man surnamed Lu's eyes flashed with a malicious glint, which he quickly concealed, maintaining his refined and elegant demeanor. Apart from his female companion beside him and Han Li, who watched coldly from the sidelines, no one else noticed his unusual reaction.

Although Junior Sister Chen was also charming and beautiful as a flower, she paled significantly in comparison to the woman surnamed Nie. Therefore, the moment the blue-clad woman appeared, Junior Sister Chen, fearing that Senior Brother Lu would be captivated by her, immediately ran to his side, hugged one of his arms, and glared at the other woman with hostile eyes.

The blue-clad woman naturally sensed the other's unfriendliness but paid it no mind. Instead, as she led the Murong brothers away, she subtly glanced at Han Li, and then her pleasant voice instantly reached Han Li's ear.

"Although your magic power is not weak, I truly cannot condone such self-serving behavior! I hope that when we meet again, Junior Brother, you will have changed."

Han Li slightly furrowed his brow after hearing the blue-clad woman's words. It seemed his evasive actions had been fully noted by her, leaving him with no good impression, perhaps even a rather negative one.

However, he was no saint. If he knew he was being used and didn't steer clear, wouldn't he be an idiot? The stocky youth hadn't acted self-servingly, but now he was targeted by that Lu fellow, and there was no telling when he might end up dead. By then, would this beautiful woman really be able to avenge him? Han Li thought with a sneer.

For some reason, Han Li was completely unimpressed by such peerlessly beautiful women; he found more modest, wholesome girls much more pleasing to the eye. Therefore, he didn't care at all what kind of impression he left on Senior Sister Nie, only wishing she would pay less attention to him.

At this moment, the blue-clad beauty and her group were no longer in sight. Senior Brother Lu, after glaring fiercely at the stocky youth, also left the mountaintop with his female companion. The remaining onlookers, seeing no more excitement, dispersed.

Han Li also departed the area on his artifact, flying all the way back to the Hundred Herbs Garden.

Upon entering his dwelling, Han Li eagerly took out the two jade slips. He selected the duplicate containing the method for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill and began reading it word by word.

Although Han Li's mind was active, his expression remained unchanged. It wasn't until several hours later that he let out a long breath and put down the jade slip. Immediately after, he fell into deep contemplation, pondering intensely.

After a good while, he suddenly stood up with a swish, his brows tightly furrowed, and walked into the herb garden. He began scanning the flowers and plants within the garden, muttering to himself:

"The thirty-one auxiliary medicinal ingredients like Thousand Knot Flowers, Black Peony Grass, and Golden Essence Ginseng aren't a problem; this herb garden has all of them. The only requirement is that they need to be old, several hundred years old. However, the main ingredients—Jade Marrow Fungus, Purple Monkey Flowers, and Heavenly Spirit Fruits—are troublesome! There isn't a single one here, and I've never even heard of them."

Han Li hesitated for a long time, but still decided to ask someone. This person, of course, had to be the old man who was knowledgeable in pharmacology!