Chapter 1795: Blood Soul

The old man and the giant also showed joy upon seeing this.

Suppressing his excitement, Xu Jiao used the same method to remove the talisman from the jade box.

The white-robed man's gaze swept across the two items. After a slight hesitation, he reached out and took the blue jade slip.

After gently placing the jade slip against his forehead, the man closed his eyes.

As time passed, the white-robed man's initially calm and composed expression gradually shifted to one of confusion, then slowly to shock.

Seeing this from the side, the old man Xu Huo and the giant exchanged glances, their hearts filled with a touch of nervousness.

After about fifteen minutes, the white-robed man finally let out a long breath and, with a somewhat dazed expression, moved the jade slip away from his forehead.

"Nephew, what exactly did it say?" the old man couldn't help but ask.

The giant also showed an eager expression.

"Uncle Huo, see for yourself," Xu Jiao said, seemingly a bit more composed. With a complex expression, he tossed the jade slip over, apparently unwilling to elaborate.

The old man raised his hand and took the jade slip, naturally feeling a mix of surprise and doubt. But after a slight hesitation, he also imbued it with his spiritual sense.

Meanwhile, Xu Jiao's gaze fell on the jade box. After a brief thought, he suddenly swept his sleeve across it.

The lid immediately opened on its own.

A dark light shimmered unstably within the jade box, revealing a bright red bottle, several inches long.

The bottle's surface was imprinted with a strange pattern, and it faintly emitted a bloody aura.

"Huh? This seems to be from the clan..." the giant exclaimed, clearly recognizing something with a start.

"That's right, this is our Xu family's ancestral Blood Soul Bottle," Xu Jiao said with a somber expression. "There was originally a pair, but Ancestor Ice Soul took one of them years ago. I never expected them to be reunited today."

"It truly is this treasure," the giant muttered, swallowing hard.

Xu Jiao said nothing further, instead directly instructing the giant:

"Immediately take my token and deploy all the clan's secret guards to surround the peak where the ancestral temple is located. Simultaneously, activate all nearby restrictions; not even a fly is allowed to enter. Also, invite Great Grand Uncle, who is still in secluded cultivation, to come out and wait temporarily in the ancestral temple."

"What?" the giant exclaimed, startled and looking somewhat incredulous. "Deploy the secret guards? And invite Great Grand Uncle?"

"That's right," the white-robed man said, gritting his teeth and speaking unequivocally. "This is a major matter concerning Ancestor Ice Soul. Even if Great Grand Uncle is at a critical point in his cultivation, he must emerge."

"The Clan Leader truly found Ancestor's whereabouts! Good, I'll go at once!" The giant was overjoyed at the news and, without any hesitation, agreed and immediately walked out.

After watching the giant leave the secret chamber, Xu Jiao's gaze returned to the blood-red bottle, his expression becoming uncertain.

A moment later, the old man Xu Huo let out a long breath, having finally finished reading the jade slip, and opened his eyes.

"So that's it," the old man muttered, his brow furrowed deeply. "Ancestor truly went to the Barren World, and even to another continent. But something happened; only a wisp of blood soul, consecrated years ago, was transferred back."

"Aside from the Blood Soul Secret Art, this jade slip only mentions a few other things," Xu Jiao said gloomily. "To find out what truly happened, we must use the 'Blood Crystal' to reawaken this wisp of blood soul. It's fortunate that Ancestor Ice Soul had already prepared a contingency plan back then, first refining the Blood Crystal Coffin and this pair of Blood Soul Bottles. Otherwise, we would truly be helpless."

"Indeed," the old man said, his face showing renewed worry. "However, the jade slip states that once this talisman is removed, the awakening ritual must be performed within a few days. Otherwise, even with the Blood Soul Bottle, that wisp of blood soul will dissipate. After all, the blood soul has been sealed in the bottle for too long."

"Don't worry, we will perform the ritual tonight," the white-robed man said, his eyes flashing.

"That's the only way," the old man replied, then added, "By the way, how should we respond to Senior Han in the main hall? I heard Yu'er say that he has some connection with Ancestor Ice Soul and even voluntarily returned Ancestor's blood soul, so he shouldn't bear any ill will towards our Xu family."

"Hmm, although Senior Han has only recently advanced to the Integration Stage, his divine abilities seem quite formidable, and he is proficient in ancient spell formations," Xu Jiao mused before making a decision. "Perhaps in the future, he could become a great asset for our Xu family to rely on. In any case, we must definitely persuade him to stay at the Xu family for a few more days. After the ritual to awaken the blood soul, we will then find a way to forge a stronger connection with Senior Han."

"Indeed. Then I'll go out and make arrangements," Xu Huo said, nodding, and prepared to leave.

"No," the white-robed man said after a slight hesitation, "to show our sincerity, Uncle Huo and I should go out together."

"That's good," the old man replied after a moment's thought, "For an Integration Stage cultivator, no amount of solemn treatment is too much."

Thus, the Xu family's Clan Leader carefully put away the jade box containing the blood-red bottle, then left the secret chamber together with the old man.

An hour later, in a magnificent pavilion built on a mountain peak, Han Li sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion on the top floor, his brow slightly furrowed in silent contemplation.

A bitter smile played on his lips.

He had originally intended to deliver the item, exchange a few pleasantries with the Xu family, and then take his leave.

But unexpectedly, the Xu family's Clan Leader showed immense enthusiasm. Not only did he vehemently urge Han Li to stay for more days, but seeing his strong intention to depart, he subtly revealed that the item transferred this time truly contained clues about Fairy Ice Soul.

If he stayed at the Xu family for a few more days, they might truly be able to find their ancestor's whereabouts.

Hearing this, he couldn't help but hesitate.

It was naturally impossible to say that Han Li was completely indifferent to matters concerning Fairy Ice Soul.

Everything, from the Azure Essence Ice Flame he had absorbed, the Void Celestial Palace he had once risked entering, and the Void Heavenly Cauldron he had obtained, to the lineage of the Northern Underworld Minor Extreme Palace in Dajin, was deeply connected to Fairy Ice Soul.

Moreover, he had several unsolved mysteries and greatly wished to find Fairy Ice Soul to unravel them.

To stay for merely ten days or half a month, he naturally wouldn't mind.

After all, with his current divine abilities and cultivation, he wouldn't worry about the Xu family harboring any ulterior motives.

Among the human and demon races, apart from the legendary Mahayana cultivators, there was nothing that could threaten his life.

Therefore, under the strong insistence of the Xu family's Clan Leader and other Xu family cultivators, he ultimately stayed in this pavilion.

However, Han Li also made a decision: he would stay at the Xu family for at most about a month. If there was still no news of Fairy Ice Soul by then, he would definitely not delay here any further.

Of course, even if he did get information on Fairy Ice Soul's whereabouts, how to proceed and whether to truly spend time searching for her would still be a matter to be decided later; he would have to assess the situation at that time.

Han Li thought silently, then raised his palm. With a faint flash of spiritual light, a silver talisman suddenly appeared in his hand.

This talisman was precisely one of the several True Immortal Realm talismans, its spiritual energy depleted, that he had obtained from the restriction ruins in the Guanghan Realm that day.

During this period, as he couldn't immediately formulate the Integration pills, he wasn't in a hurry to cultivate his own magic power. Instead, he focused most of his attention on comprehending this Immortal Realm talisman.

Although this talisman was completely devoid of power, the runes on it were all written in Silver Tadpole Script, and naturally had much in common with the Dao of Talismans from the Golden Palace Jade Tome he had previously obtained.

This had allowed Han Li to gain significant insights recently.

The "Heavenly Halberd," which he had never been able to grasp from the Golden Palace Jade Tome's fragmented pages, now showed some promise.

This talisman was the last and only offensive Silver Tadpole Script talisman recorded in the fragmented pages.

Putting aside the power of this talisman, its profound complexity alone far surpassed other Silver Tadpole Script talismans like the Grand Unity Purification Talisman.

Even after Han Li advanced to the Integration Stage and gained some understanding of the laws of heaven and earth, he still couldn't fully comprehend it at once.

From this perspective, the "Heavenly Halberd" should definitely be something to look forward to.

Han Li stared intently at the silver talisman in his hand, while a finger continuously moved, tracing patterns in the air.

For most of the time, no abnormalities appeared, but sometimes, silver runes of varying sizes would burst forth from his fingertip, either suddenly exploding and dissipating, or instantly condensing and flickering, appearing extraordinarily mysterious.

Time passed little by little. Before long, several brilliant full moons hung above the mountain range where the Xu family resided, and it was already late at night.

Han Li, who was continuously tracing patterns with one hand, suddenly showed a trace of an unusual expression on his face.

The next moment, he suddenly stood up and, with a flash, appeared at the window, looking out towards a distant mountain peak with a hint of doubt on his face.

"What's going on? This restriction fluctuation is so strange, it's like..." Han Li's thoughts raced, and he seemed to suddenly recall something, raising his head to look up at the sky.

He was startled by what he saw!

He saw that the full moons, which had originally shone with silver light in the night sky, had, at some unknown point, all turned blood-red, causing a sense of unease in those who saw them.

Han Li let out a long breath. After retracting his gaze, he again narrowed his eyes and looked towards the mountain peak he had observed earlier.

Blue light flickered continuously deep within his pupils. Under his spiritual eyes, the distant, seemingly ordinary mountain peak was similarly enveloped by a layer of crimson glow.

This crimson light surrounded the mountain peak, continuously expanding and contracting irregularly, and the fluctuation that startled him faintly emanated from within the mountain peak.

It was clearly visible that some mysterious restriction had been laid around the mountain peak. However, that crimson light was truly unusual, as part of its spiritual pressure could still directly penetrate through it.

"Such a strong bloody aura... Is the Xu family really holding some kind of blood sacrifice ritual?" he mused. "But even if they were, they wouldn't choose a time when outsiders are present, would they? Could it be related to what I delivered today?" After a long moment, the blue light in his eyes receded and disappeared, and he muttered to himself, his face filled with contemplation.

He was such a shrewd person that with just a little thought, he had already guessed about eighty to ninety percent of the truth.