Chapter 1806: Tianyuan Holy Emperor

"Is this Fellow Daoist Han?" The young woman scrutinized Han Li, a hint of surprise and doubt flashing in her eyes.

The woman had naturally witnessed Han Li instantly dispel her spiritual pressure earlier. Now, hearing that the person who could heal the young girl was also him, her heart couldn't help but feel a sudden apprehension.

She clearly sensed that the other party was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet an indescribable pressure faintly emanated from him. It made the young woman feel as if, should he make a move, she could be annihilated with a single blow.

"How could this be possible?"

The woman inwardly exclaimed, and with a surge of spiritual energy within her body, she once again meticulously scanned Han Li with her divine sense.

This time, however, the oppressive aura around Han Li completely vanished, as if it had never been there.

The young woman's thoughts raced, her surprise and doubt intensifying. But for the sake of the young girl named Bai Guo'er, she still offered a smile to Han Li and the other two:

"My name is Yue Hua. Many thanks to you three fellow Daoists for assisting my son-in-law and Guo'er! If you don't mind, please come and rest for a while at my temporary cave abode. Yue Hua must express her profound gratitude for your life-saving kindness!"

"Uh..."

Faced with a Core Formation cultivator, even Hai Dashao and Qi Lingzi, accustomed to their carefree ways, couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, and they instinctively looked towards Han Li.

Han Li, seemingly having thought of something, swept his gaze over the young girl named Guo'er, then nodded impassively:

"Since Fellow Daoist Yue has invited us, the three of us will impose for a short while."

"Not at all, it's Yue Hua's good fortune that fellow Daoist would grace my humble dwelling!" The young woman paused for a moment upon hearing Han Li address her as an equal, but then, instead of showing anger, a hint of joy appeared on her face.

Clearly, Fairy Yue Hua had faintly guessed something.

The middle-aged man beside them, however, stood with his mouth slightly agape, his gaze filled with astonishment as he looked at Han Li.

Others might not know, but he was well aware of how proud and arrogant his mother-in-law was. For her to be so courteous to a Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly unbelievable to him.

Hai Dashao and Qi Lingzi, on the other hand, were experiencing their first direct interaction with a Core Formation cultivator. They didn't feel anything amiss; upon hearing that Fairy Yue Hua intended to heavily reward them, they both beamed with joy.

Just as Han Li raised his hand to summon his flying chariot and the group prepared to depart, a wave of ethereal, melodious sounds faintly drifted from a certain direction.

The music was enchanting and beautiful, possessing an intoxicating quality that could make one feel as if it lingered for days.

Upon hearing the sound, Han Li, Fairy Yue Hua, and the others all paused, simultaneously looking in the direction from which the heavenly music emanated.

In the distance, at the edge of the sky, five-colored light mist billowed, and two rows of armored warriors, clad in black battle armor and riding strange beasts with ox heads and tiger bodies, emerged one by one.

These armored warriors, each expressionless, held long halberds, axes, and other magic tools, urging their monstrous mounts to slowly fly forward.

Fairy Yue Hua immediately gasped after her divine sense swept over these riders.

Every one of these riders was at the Nascent Soul stage, and there were over a hundred of them.

After these rows of riders flew past, black battle chariots emerged from the five-colored mist.

Each chariot was exquisitely crafted and unique, with three similarly attired armored warriors standing on it, and ferocious-looking flying beasts pulling them from the front.

After thirty-six identical chariots had flown by, pairs of cultivators in various outfits slowly appeared, some old, some young, some male, some female, all with hidden spiritual light in their eyes and extraordinary auras.

There were only eighteen of these cultivators, but they were all at the late-stage of the Integration stage.

After these cultivators, with a rumbling sound from within the light mist, a two-story pavilion faintly emerged. More accurately, it was a colossal beast chariot resembling a pavilion.

The chariot was dozens of meters high, exceptionally grand and magnificent, and pulled by eight snow-white peacocks, each tens of meters in size, at the front.

On the first level of the beast chariot sat a group of palace-dressed women in five-colored robes.

Each woman was stunningly beautiful, holding various musical instruments such as pipa and flutes.

The heavenly music emanated gracefully from these women's instruments.

Han Li's gaze, however, was not on these women at all. Instead, he looked towards the second level of the beast chariot, where three individuals were seated around a verdant jade table.

The table was laden with spirit fruits and wine, and the three were engaged in conversation, clinking cups.

Han Li's eyes flickered, then settled on a large, shimmering silver banner atop the giant flying chariot.

This banner was adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes, continuously emitting fluctuations of restrictive formations. In the very center of the banner was an ancient character, "圣" (Sheng - Saint/Holy), as large as a dipper.

"The Saint Emperor, it's the banner of the Tianyuan Saint Emperor! This is the Saint Emperor's personal carriage!" Fairy Yue Hua, upon clearly seeing the flag on the distant giant beast chariot, gasped in shock.

Han Li's expression subtly changed upon hearing this. His gaze sharpened, and he finally clearly saw the three individuals conversing on the second level.

These three had very peculiar appearances.

The one in the middle wore a white scholar's robe, with a refined appearance, yet possessed uncommonly long ears and a faint smile on his face.

Beside him, an old man in a gray robe had a withered, wood-like face, but his eyes faintly glowed with a greenish light.

The last person was a chubby, white-faced monk in a purple kasaya, appearing to be in his forties or fifties, yet he had remarkably large ears and a benevolent expression.

And all three were actually Body Integration cultivators!

The old man was fine, being a Body Integration early-stage cultivator like himself, but the monk was a Body Integration mid-stage existence.

As for the white-robed scholar in the middle, under Han Li's spiritual eye, his body was enveloped in a milky-white halo. It took considerable effort for Han Li to barely discern that the other party was a formidable late-stage Body Integration existence.

It seemed this white-robed scholar was indeed the Tianyuan Saint Emperor, one of the Three Emperors!

The middle-aged man, Qi Lingzi, Hai Dashao, and the others beside them were already dumbfounded. Upon hearing that the distant aerial procession was actually the Tianyuan Saint Emperor's carriage, even the most audacious among them couldn't help but become apprehensive, yet their eyes also held a hint of uncontrollable excitement.

This was a Body Integration stage existence; there were only a few dozens of such beings in the entire human race, and the Three Emperors were the absolute highest-tier existences among humanity.

There were certainly not many cultivators in the human race who had personally witnessed the true forms of the Three Emperors.

Their ability to see the Saint Emperor's carriage here was indeed no small fortune.

However, just as Han Li was meticulously observing the white-robed scholar in the distant beast chariot, the Tianyuan Saint Emperor, who had been smiling and conversing with the monk opposite him, suddenly stirred. He then rose to his feet, took a few steps to the edge of the second level, and gazed with golden light flashing in his pupils towards Han Li's location.

"May I ask which fellow Daoist is also here? If you wouldn't mind, would you care to come up and share a cup of spirit wine?"

The Tianyuan Saint Emperor's voice was not particularly loud, yet for some reason, it echoed throughout a large portion of the sky, reaching the ears of those below with unusual clarity.

Aside from Han Li, everyone else — Fairy Yue Hua, Hai Dashao, and the others — couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances.

"Senior Saint Emperor... is he talking to us?" After a long moment, Hai Dashao swallowed hard, muttering to himself with no confidence whatsoever.

"That's impossible. Someone addressed like that by Senior Saint Emperor could only be an existence of the same rank. How could it be us?" Bai Huaji shook his head repeatedly, looking utterly disbelieving.

"But around here, it seems there are only a few of us," Qi Lingzi mumbled, blinking his eyes.

This was indeed true! The Three Villains of Nanshan had deliberately lured Bai Huaji and his daughter to this remote area to facilitate their attack. Within a hundred-mile radius, there were no other cultivators in sight.

While the others were confused, Han Li knew perfectly well that the Tianyuan Saint Emperor was speaking to him. After a slight frown, he suddenly turned his head and calmly said to Hai Dashao and the others:

"Fellow Daoist Hai, you two should first go and rest for a while at Fellow Daoist Yue Hua's cave abode. I will go and meet this Tianyuan Saint Emperor. I'll find a way to catch up with you later."

Upon hearing Han Li's words, Hai Dashao, Qi Lingzi, Fairy Yue Hua, and the middle-aged man were naturally dumbfounded.

"Brother Han, what did you say...?" Hai Dashao stammered somewhat incoherently.

But Han Li shook his head, said nothing more, and with a flash of green light around his body, transformed into a green rainbow, streaking straight towards the distant carriage. After just a few blinks, he had already vanished several kilometers away.

Left behind were the dumbfounded group of people. Only the young girl named Bai Guo'er blinked her eyes, looking at the others, seemingly understanding a little but also adorably confused.

"So Fellow Daoist Han is a senior Body Integration cultivator! I should have guessed it earlier. Besides Body Integration cultivators, who else could possibly deal with the cold poison within Guo'er's body?" The young woman first unconsciously muttered a few words, then her face instantly lit up with wild joy.

"Fellow Daoist Hai, are you two also..." Bai Huaji stared at Hai Dashao and Qi Lingzi, stammering as he tried to say something.

"No, no, we are genuinely ordinary cultivators! I'm only at the Foundation Establishment stage, truly. We met Brother Han—no, Senior Han—only halfway. We had no idea he was a Body Integration cultivator!" Qi Lingzi snapped back to his senses, shaking his head frantically like a windmill as he replied.

"We... we actually traveled with a Body Integration cultivator for several months, and... and even drank tea and wine together, treating him as an equal. Qi Lingzi, I... I'm not dreaming, am I?" Hai Dashao muttered in a daze, as if sleepwalking.

At the same time, the green rainbow that was Han Li had already arrived near the carriage.

The armored warriors, having heard the Tianyuan Saint Emperor's earlier words, naturally did not step forward to obstruct him.

Han Li's escape light vanished, and he instantly appeared on the second level of the giant beast chariot. He cupped his hands towards the three Body Integration existences inside and said with a smile:

"I am Han Li. Greetings to the three fellow Daoists."

"Oh, Han Li. Could you be the Fellow Daoist Han who recently advanced in my Tianyuan Realm? This old man, Huang Dang, greets you." The gaunt old man's expression stirred upon hearing this, and he returned the greeting.