Chapter 193: Han Li's Plan

A short while later, a blue-clad youth with an indifferent expression, a bearded elder, and a beautiful young woman in green emerged one after another. With unspoken understanding, they chose different entry points and entered the forest ahead.

Han Li waited for nearly another quarter of an hour, and seeing no one else appear, he finally tidied his belongings. Imitating the previous individuals, he found an untrodden path and stealthily entered.

Han Li was unaware that shortly after he entered, Zhong Wu, the ugly man he had met yesterday, appeared at the entrance. He gazed at the dark mountain path and let out a few cold chuckles. He then released a dozen yellow dots from his body, which flew into the forest, before he unhurriedly followed them.

Meanwhile, outside the forbidden ground, at the breach entrance, the remaining members of the Seven Great Sects looked anxiously towards the forbidden area. Han Li's Martial Ancestor Li was among them.

It was unclear whether he was more concerned about his disciples' mission progress or his own wager!

The other Core Formation stage Daoist from Qingxu Valley was no better off. Indeed, ever since Old Monster Qiong of the Hidden Moon Sect forcefully inserted himself into the wager, this individual had lost all the confidence he had at the start of the bet and now seemed plagued by worries of gains and losses.

It was no wonder. The Blood-Threaded Flood Dragon inner core had been incredibly difficult to obtain, and he had nearly exhausted his entire fortune to acquire it. If he were to lose it so easily to someone else, even with his high cultivation of mind, he would likely be tormented and sleepless for years.

The Daoist secretly glanced at the only person in the crowd who appeared completely at ease: Fairy Nishang, the young woman leading the Hidden Moon Sect's contingent.

This sole female among the seven Core Formation stage experts had shown no sign of worry since the disciples of the seven sects entered the forbidden ground. She had been chatting and laughing freely with others, seeming utterly confident in the disciples dispatched by the Hidden Moon Sect, and seemingly having no need to fret or worry.

The more the Daoist observed her smiling demeanor, the more intensely he worried. Coupling this with Old Monster Qiong's confident expression during the wager, he felt as if his Blood-Threaded Flood Dragon inner core had already flown out of his pocket and become someone else's possession!

As he thought about it, the worry on his face grew heavier! Anyone unaware of the situation would truly believe he was deeply concerned for his sect's disciples inside the forbidden ground!

A little while later, the Daoist finally couldn't bear it any longer. Seizing a moment when others weren't paying attention, he quietly approached Martial Ancestor Li, who was standing elsewhere, and asked with a worried expression:

“Patron Li, the disciples your Yellow Maple Valley sent this time... Their skills shouldn't be weak, right? If our two sects truly lose to Old Monster Qiong then... This humble Daoist still has some confidence in the Qingxu Sect disciples who entered the forbidden ground!”

“What do you mean? Are you looking down on our Yellow Maple Valley, fellow Daoist?” Martial Ancestor Li's face showed displeasure upon hearing this.

“Haha! Of course not,” the Daoist let out an awkward laugh. He forced a smile as he explained, “This humble Daoist just finds the disciples sent by the Hidden Moon Sect this time a bit strange, and I truly can't feel at ease!”

“That's true! I, Li, have also sensed something amiss. In previous times, when has the Hidden Moon Sect ever sent such young disciples, and in pairs of male and female, at that! Do they think this trip to the forbidden ground is child's play?” Martial Ancestor Li said with a grim expression; it seemed he too had been uneasy about this wager.

Upon hearing Martial Ancestor Li's words, the Daoist nodded repeatedly, evidently agreeing wholeheartedly with what had just been said.

“However, fellow Daoist, rest assured,” Martial Ancestor Li said slowly, looking meaningfully at the Daoist, his voice imbued with a touch of heroic spirit, “Since I, Li, dared to place a bet, I certainly have some confidence in my sect's disciples. Their strength will not be inferior to your sect's disciples.”

“Haha! With Patron's words, this humble Daoist is much relieved! Then I shall not disturb you.” The Daoist, having received the answer he desired, immediately relaxed his expression and smilingly took his leave. He returned to his original spot and began meditating to recuperate his spirit, preparing to calmly await the results in a few days.

After Martial Ancestor Li watched the Daoist leave, he suddenly let out a faint snort and then, in a voice only he could hear, he murmured to himself:

“Fu Yunzi, what schemes are you brewing, old Daoist? Don't think I wouldn't know! Aren't you just hoping our two sects can join forces to defeat the Hidden Moon Sect, and then your Qingxu Sect can overpower our Yellow Maple Valley? Heh heh! Although I don't know what formidable disciples the Qingxu Sect sent into the forbidden ground, this time, our valley has sent out all of its top disciples, including those ranked among the top three in Qi Condensation stage strength. Otherwise, do you think I would have made this wager with you?”

As Martial Ancestor Li spoke, a cunning look appeared on his face, the earlier worried expression having vanished completely. He was clearly also a deeply hidden fox.

Han Li, naturally, had no idea about the schemes of the two Core Formation stage cultivators outside the forbidden ground. He was currently blocked by a giant brown wild boar.

Except for its brown hide and exceptionally massive size, several zhang tall, the boar resembled an ordinary wild pig in every other way.

However, the moment Han Li saw this beast, he immediately recognized it as a 'Mountain-Pushing Beast,' one of the most common low-tier demonic beasts on Ring Mountain. Aside from its thick hide and great strength, this beast only possessed one innate ability: 'Stone Skin Art'; its intelligence was extremely low, making it not difficult to deal with.

At that moment, after the Mountain-Pushing Beast snorted a few times, a yellow light flashed, and its entire body became covered in a layer of white, rock-like armor. It then furiously charged towards Han Li.

Han Li remained calm, waiting for the beast's charge in place, and only when it was seven or eight zhang away did he wave his right hand. With a flicker of his body, he appeared behind the demonic beast.

Behind the 'Mountain-Pushing Boar', with a whoosh, its entire body, from snout to tail, was cleanly split into two halves, and colorful internal organs spilled all over the ground. It had been cleanly cut open by Han Li's silken magical artifact!

Han Li retrieved his invisible silk threads, looked at the dead Mountain-Pushing Boar, shook his head lightly, and immediately leaped into the trees, leaving the area. He knew that the scent of blood from the beast's corpse would soon attract a large number of other demonic beasts with keen senses of smell, so it was best to get away as soon as possible!

Han Li had been in the dense forest of Ring Mountain for several hours now. Yet, in this short span, he had already encountered four demonic beasts.

Three of them were low-tier, which Han Li naturally dispatched without hesitation. However, the mid-tier Feathered Peacock, whose colorful long feathers could detach to automatically pursue and injure enemies and serve as defense, gave Han Li a considerable headache. Fortunately, despite being a bird, it wasn't particularly fast. So, Han Li simply employed his movement technique, shaking it off completely, thus avoiding a pointless battle.

Now, Han Li was leaping through the trees like a blur while constantly sighing!

He finally understood now just how numerous the demonic beasts on Ring Mountain were.

Currently, he was still in the outer regions, where he mostly encountered low-tier demonic beasts, which were manageable. But once he delved deeper into the heart of Ring Mountain, mid- and high-tier demonic beasts would likely appear in droves. At that point, apart from fleeing for his life, Han Li truly couldn't think of any other way to escape.

No wonder the information about the spiritual medicine hiding spots in the records was so scarce! It was likely that disciples who entered this mountain previously spent most of their energy just avoiding these demonic beasts. The remaining time would only allow them to check seven or eight more locations. And even then, there was no guarantee of a harvest from each exploration!

“It seems the hope of gathering enough spiritual medicine isn't very high!” Han Li thought with vexation.

The direction Han Li was currently rushing towards was a hidden mountain cave known for its frequent production of 'Purple Ape Flowers'.

According to the records, this place shouldn't hold much value. Because the cave had only been harvested once over a hundred years ago, any plants inside now would likely be immature saplings, far from maturity and thus unusable for medicinal purposes.

“Saplings?” The thought brought a faint smile to Han Li's lips!

What Han Li needed were precisely these saplings that others wouldn't even touch!

The reason he was willing to brave the dangers of the forbidden ground and was so confident he could snatch 'heaven and earth spiritual medicine' from the jaws of so many 'experts' was that he had initially set his sights on immature spiritual medicine saplings! Only by doing so could he minimize conflicts with disciples from other sects and potentially visit more locations, collecting more of what others considered useless.

Once he had harvested these spiritual medicine saplings and brought them back, he could use the green liquid from the mysterious small bottle to accelerate their growth. This way, it would be no different from directly harvesting mature spiritual medicine.

Although Martial Uncle Ma had said these saplings wouldn't survive long outside the forbidden ground, only lasting a year or two, this time was already enough to mature them through several cycles. As main ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills, they didn't require excessively long maturation periods; a mere four or five hundred years was sufficient for them to be used in medicine.

The only problem now was whether the remaining three days would be enough for him to gather a sufficient quantity of spiritual medicine. Because the locations where these spiritual medicine saplings grew were scattered far and wide, and he might be obstructed by demonic beasts on the way, and potential conflicts with disciples from other sects, all of this left Han Li feeling uncertain.