Chapter 1796: Xu Family Ancestral Hall

After a possible solution occurred to Han Li, he gazed at the distant mountain peak, and a look of calm returned to his face.

After watching for a while longer, and after the distant movements finally ceased and disappeared, he thoughtfully left the window, returned to his meditation mat, sat down cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

In the following days, apart from Xu Qianyu's regular greetings, no one else from the Xu family came to disturb his secluded cultivation.

However, judging by the hidden worry on the woman's face, the Xu family's actions that night did not seem to have gone very smoothly.

Indeed, every night afterward, the same heavenly phenomena and fluctuations continuously erupted.

After several consecutive nights, when Fairy Qianyu offered her greetings, she seemed to have something she wanted to say to Han Li, but she hesitated several times, swallowing the words back.

Han Li witnessed all of this and pondered to himself, but his expression remained unchanged.

However, on the morning of the fifth day, Han Li, who was continuing to unseal talismans deep within his pavilion, suddenly changed expression. He flipped his palm, and the talisman flashed, disappearing from sight.

He clearly sensed that, at the main door of the pavilion, besides Xu Qianyu who usually came to greet him, there were also the auras of Xu Jiao and another stranger.

This aura was very powerful, surprisingly belonging to a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator.

This made a look of surprise flash across his face.

The Xu family actually had a cultivator of such a level; it seemed their usual concealment was quite profound. They truly understood the principle of "a prominent talent invites trouble" and how to hide one's true strength.

Just as Han Li was pondering, the respectful voice of the Xu family head came from below:

"This junior, Xu Jiao, greets Senior Han. I wonder if Senior has time to grant this junior an audience."

"So it's Family Head Xu. There's no need to be so polite," Han Li replied indifferently. "Please wait a moment in the main hall. I will come down shortly." He then stood up and walked downstairs.

A short while later, Han Li's figure appeared at the staircase entrance of the ground floor hall, his gaze immediately sweeping towards the late-stage Void Refinement stranger.

The person standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Xu Jiao was a young man in a worn grey robe, appearing to be only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He also looked at Han Li with a faint smile.

Upon closer inspection, the young man's face bore some resemblance to Xu Jiao's. Standing together, they looked more like Xu Jiao's junior nephew.

"Senior, this is Xu Yuan, our Xu family's Grand Elder," Xu Jiao said as soon as he saw Han Li, immediately bowing and introducing the person beside him. "A few days ago, he was at a critical point in his cultivation, so he was unable to emerge in time to welcome Senior."

"Grand Elder?" Han Li looked at the young man for a few moments, then suddenly smiled. "Fellow Daoist Xu Yuan has already reached the Great Perfection stage of late-stage Void Refinement cultivation. I'm afraid he could break through the Integration stage bottleneck at any time. If he succeeds, he will join the ranks of us."

"Senior truly has discerning eyes," the young man said, respectfully bowing to Han Li, then sighing. "This junior has indeed begun preparations to break through the bottleneck. However, the chances of success are very slim."

Han Li listened and smiled faintly, not saying anything in response. After taking the main seat, he motioned for the others to sit down and continue their discussion.

After Xu Jiao and the others expressed their thanks, they sat down on either side of Han Li.

"Family Head Xu, has your visit this time perhaps brought news of Ancestor Bingpo?" Han Li said, speaking directly without beating around the bush.

However, his directness made Xu Jiao pause for a moment. His mouth twitched, and he then gave a bitter smile:

"If Senior had asked this yesterday, this junior probably couldn't have given a definite answer. But this time, this junior has indeed come to ask for Senior's help regarding this matter."

"Ask for my help?" Han Li's brow twitched slightly, seemingly surprised.

"To tell Senior the truth, the item Senior handed over this time does indeed have a way to find Ancestor Bingpo's whereabouts," Xu Jiao explained frankly. "However, our Xu family alone is somewhat incapable; I'm afraid we will need to borrow some of Senior's strength."

"What my nephew said is true," Xu Yuan added with a solemn expression. "For this matter, all three Void Refinement cultivators of our Xu family have already made attempts, but our magic power was still insufficient, so we could only seek help from Senior."

"Such a thing!" Han Li's eyes flashed, but he spoke indifferently. "Could the two of you fellow Daoists please explain the full story in detail first?"

Given his current status and cultivation level, he naturally wouldn't easily agree to anything.

"Of course, even if Senior didn't ask, this junior would have proactively informed you," Xu Jiao readily agreed, and after a brief thought, he continued:

"Actually, the matter isn't complicated. I wonder if Senior has heard of the Blood Soul Grand Art?"

"Blood Soul Grand Art! That sounds somewhat familiar. Huh, isn't that the Blood Soul Grand Art cultivated by True Person Blood Crystal tens of thousands of years ago?" Han Li first frowned, but immediately thought of something related, and said with a slight change in expression.

"Senior has indeed heard of this matter. True Person Blood Crystal was a rare genius of our human race, encountered only once in ten thousand years. Not only did he master the Blood Soul Arts, but he once used these arts to kill same-level foreign cultivators. To be frank, Senior, although True Person Blood Crystal perished long ago, his legacy was accidentally discovered by Ancestor Bingpo. Although this cultivation method is close to demonic arts, Ancestor Bingpo could not possibly switch to cultivating it. However, she still selected a few life-preserving secret arts from it to cultivate, and also refined several related life-saving treasures. Among the items Senior handed over this time, there is a 'Blood Soul Bottle' refined by our ancestor, which contains a wisp of blood soul. As long as this wisp of blood soul can be reawakened, we will naturally know the ancestor's whereabouts." Xu Jiao spoke while observing Han Li's expression.

Other than when he heard "Blood Soul Bottle," Han Li's eyes flickered imperceptibly, but no other unusual reactions could be seen.

After a moment of silence, Han Li suddenly asked, "The heavenly signs that appeared these past few nights, those were caused by your attempt to awaken the blood soul, correct?"

"Senior is correct," Xu Jiao said, revealing a trace of helplessness. "This junior dared not delay and immediately gathered personnel that very night to perform the awakening ritual. But unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately, it's either because the blood soul has been sealed for too long, or because our bloodline is not pure enough," the young man said with a sigh and with difficulty. "Our numerous awakening attempts have all failed consecutively. And because the talisman sealing the blood soul has already been broken open, if we don't awaken it within two days, this wisp of our ancestor's blood soul will truly dissipate completely."

"Your Xu family wants me to join the awakening ritual?" Han Li asked noncommittally.

"Senior is perceptive," Xu Jiao said, standing up again and bowing to Han Li with a sincere expression. "In these past few days, we have truly tried all methods, but none have yielded results. We can only ask for help from Senior."

"If it's truly due to insufficient magic power, it would be no problem for me to contribute some effort," Han Li said indifferently after rubbing his chin for a while. "But if it's a problem with the blood soul or the awakening ritual itself, I would be powerless."

"Naturally," Xu Jiao said, immediately nodding repeatedly with delight. "If it's truly our problem, then it can only be said that it is fate."

Xu Yuan and Xu Qianyu also revealed expressions of great joy.

"Without further ado, I will now examine Ancestor Bingpo's blood soul and the awakening ritual you have prepared." Having agreed, Han Li acted decisively and efficiently, standing up and instructing them.

"Alright. Although this ritual can only be held at a specific time at night, it's still good for Senior to go and take a look to understand it better!" Xu Jiao merely considered for a moment, found no issues, and readily agreed.

If they could truly retrieve Ancestor Bingpo, it would immediately allow the Xu family to become one of the human race's super families.

For this reason, Xu Jiao, Xu Yuan, and all the other elders spared no effort to awaken this wisp of Ancestor Bingpo's blood soul.

Han Li followed the three Xu family members out of the pavilion, then a streak of escaping light shot straight towards the distant mountain peak from which fluctuations had emanated at night.

Such a short distance was naturally covered in an instant.

All around the mountain peak, which originally appeared ordinary, there were clusters of colorful restrictive spiritual light everywhere. And among these spiritual lights, guards wearing green armor appeared and disappeared intermittently.

Han Li's divine sense swept out, and he easily discovered that most of these guards were at the Nascent Soul stage, numbering at least a hundred.

This number of personnel might be negligible in the eyes of a force like Sky Abyss City, but for a family, it was astonishing.

Moreover, all these guards were skillfully concealed within the restrictions. Not a single one made a sound or conversed, appearing well-trained. This was even more remarkable for a family.

Seemingly noticing Han Li's unusual observation, Xu Jiao spoke up to explain:

"Please excuse us, Senior, these are our Xu family's secret guards, and they are also the Xu family's most elite force. Although a single one fighting alone is not worth mentioning in front of high-level cultivators, three or four of them working together are enough to contend with a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator."

"Oh, so these people are also proficient in combined secret arts?" Han Li said, seemingly intrigued.

"Haha, indeed," Xu Jiao explained further. "This awakening ritual is very sensitive to disturbance, so for caution's sake, we deployed all the secret guards of our clan here."

This time, Han Li nodded and said nothing more.

After Xu Jiao used his magic tool to open the restrictions, the group landed in front of a huge building resembling a temple on the mountainside.

On a plaque directly above the temple's main entrance, there was only a large ancient character, "Xu" (杵), written in silver powder.

Near the main entrance, seven or eight secret guards stood expressionlessly on duty.

Strangely, the main door was tightly closed, but a side door, wide enough for only one person, was open.

Han Li's expression subtly changed.

"Please forgive us, Senior," Xu Yuan said somewhat apologetically, "this is where our Xu family's ancestral temple is located, so we can only enter the underground secret hall through the side door."

"It's nothing, that's understandable," Han Li said, waving his hand dismissively.

Hearing Han Li say this, both Xu Yuan and Xu Jiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If the other party were truly displeased about this matter, it would naturally be a gain not worth the loss for them.

So, the group passed through the side door and entered the Xu family's ancestral temple.