Chapter 352: Escape of Yuanwu

As the voice echoed, the Wind and Cloud Banner in Uncle Master Huang's hand suddenly pulsed with a blinding yellow light before exploding. Immediately, a dense, larger patch of white mist surged out from the banner, engulfing both allies and enemies in an instant.

"You're looking for death!"

A furious roar from the skeletal figure and the alluring, rage-filled laughter of the enchanting woman emanated from the mist. Moments later, several tremendous impact sounds echoed within the fog, indicating that Uncle Master Huang had engaged the two Core Formation cultivators.

Han Li and the others naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to escape. Almost as soon as the mist reappeared, the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators quickly scattered, controlling their artifacts to flee in all directions. Relying on the incredible speed of his Divine Wind Boat, Han Li ascended rapidly. This particular direction had the most cultivators, yet the enemies' cultivation levels were noticeably weaker than those in other directions. Han Li felt it was the most suitable point for a breakthrough.

However, few people seemed to share Han Li's reasoning. Most of his fellow disciples fled towards directions with fewer interceptors, a sight that made Han Li shake his head in disapproval. In the blink of an eye, Han Li, leveraging the chaos, bypassed several individuals and surged to the edge of the encirclement.

The mist here had thinned considerably, allowing the demonic cultivators to vaguely discern Han Li's rushing figure. However, because of the Azure Fire Mist, what they actually saw was a large cloud of greenish-red dense fog, which briefly stunned them. Immediately, three nearby demonic cultivators simultaneously raised their hands. A golden light, three yellow glows, and a large swathe of black mist surged directly towards Han Li.

Han Li snorted, pointing a finger at the turtle shell artifact in front of him. The turtle shell instantly expanded several times its size, moving forward to meet the attack. At the same time, he frantically infused more spiritual energy into the Divine Wind Boat at his feet, increasing its speed by another third. He had already made up his mind that this was not the time for a prolonged battle. Therefore, he was willing to expend more spiritual energy to escape as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if other enemies surrounded him, it would be too late to flee. Moreover, he had great confidence in his turtle shell artifact, as its hardness surpassed even that of a white shield.

Just as Han Li's thoughts raced, the turtle shell artifact collided with the golden and yellow lights, successfully blocking them. However, the remaining black mist was incredibly cunning; it suddenly split into two, avoiding a direct impact with the turtle shell. Instead, it deftly slipped past both sides of the shell. Although this caused a slight delay, it still managed to rush to Han Li's side, transforming into a massive ghostly head, two to three zhang in size, which fiercely lunged to swallow Han Li on the Divine Wind Boat.

Seeing this, Han Li wasn't surprised; instead, he sneered inwardly. Then, with a single hand raised, hundreds of fireballs shot out, instantly tearing the ghostly head to pieces. By this point, Han Li was highly experienced in dealing with such rudimentary demonic evil arts. Seizing this opportunity, Han Li zipped through the dissolving ghostly head. In the blink of an eye, he burst out of the encirclement, leaving the demonic cultivators behind.

Having failed to capture him, these individuals naturally refused to give up. They immediately shouted and controlled their artifacts to give chase from behind. However, Han Li paid them no mind, simply continuing to fly at full speed. Just as Han Li had anticipated, the Divine Wind Boat was indeed a rare gem among flying artifacts. At first, he could still hear the curses of those pursuing him from behind, but their voices quickly grew fainter. Finally, after speeding for several *kezhang*, there was no longer a single figure behind him.

Upon seeing this, Han Li still didn't relax, continuing to speed for a while longer before finally slowing down to survey his surroundings. He then tapped the Divine Wind Boat with his toe and rapidly descended. Han Li's current condition was not ideal. He had expended nearly half of his spiritual energy while forming the combined protective barrier, and the recent frantic escape had further depleted it. His spiritual energy urgently needed to be restored; otherwise, encountering a strong enemy would be troublesome.

As Han Li pondered this, he landed on the barren mountain below. He then retracted the poisonous Azure Fire Mist, found a secluded spot under a large rock, and sat down cross-legged. Afterward, he took out a mid-grade blue spirit stone from his storage pouch and began to replenish his spiritual energy. Meanwhile, Qu Hun stood by his side, acting as a sentinel.

Not long after Han Li sat down, a red light, fleeing in panic, streaked across the sky, followed by five or six beams of black and green light, indicating pursuers. They rapidly streaked past above Han Li, one after another, clearly another lucky soul who had broken through the encirclement. But Han Li paid none of it any attention. Only by achieving a state of mental emptiness could his spiritual energy recover faster.

After some time, Han Li opened his eyes. Most of his depleted spiritual energy had been restored, and he was unwilling to remain there for another moment. He glanced at the sky; it was nearing evening, a perfect time to slip away under the cover of night. However, Han Li did not rush to depart. Instead, he slowly released his divine sense and carefully searched the surroundings. Indeed, the demonic cultivators were not nearby. They must have crushed the ambush and then pursued the main contingent. Thinking this, Han Li shook his head. Given the enemy's strength, the main contingent was likely in grave danger.

Han Li stopped pondering and instead released the Divine Wind Boat. He set his course towards Yuanwu Kingdom and, along with Qu Hun, ascended into the sky. Although most of Yuanwu Kingdom's cultivators had also perished in Yue Kingdom, the Six Demonic Sects would be busy for several months simply digesting Yue Kingdom's cultivation world. Thus, Yuanwu Kingdom was temporarily safe. Han Li had no intention of heading to any rallying point or pursuing Yellow Maple Valley's main contingent. That fleeing group might have already been caught by the demonic cultivators, and going there now would be walking straight into a trap.

Furthermore, he had always harbored the idea of using this opportunity to find another place for cultivation. Following Yellow Maple Valley to another country would, at best, only lead to the fate of a high-ranking steward, and Han Li was unwilling to live his life that way. If his predictions were correct, even if the Demonic Dao swallowed several nations, they would eventually consolidate their forces and engage in a decisive battle with the Righteous Dao Alliance. At that time, there would be no safe haven left in the entire Southern Heaven Region! This fundamentally contradicted Han Li's original intention of cultivating in peace! For now, he planned to head to Yuanwu Kingdom to lie low, see if that teleportation array could be repaired, and then assess the overall situation. If the situation turned dire, he intended to use that teleportation array to go directly to another place and escape the current conflict. As Han Li silently pondered, the Divine Wind Boat transformed into a streak of white light and vanished into the horizon.

Two days later, after taking a considerable detour, Han Li finally appeared above the border between Yue Kingdom and Yuanwu Kingdom. He glanced back at the mountains of Yue Kingdom behind him, let out a soft sigh, and then, along with Qu Hun, flew into Yuanwu Kingdom. Unbeknownst to Han Li, less than half a day after he entered Yuanwu Kingdom, a team of several dozen demonic cultivators also appeared at that very location and set up camp. They were specifically tasked with patrolling this hundred-mile stretch of continuous border, ensuring that any Yue Kingdom cultivators attempting to flee into Yuanwu Kingdom would naturally be intercepted midway.

As soon as Han Li entered the lower regions of Yuanwu Kingdom, he immediately controlled his artifact and headed straight for Jinma City. After flying for three or four days, he finally spotted the rolling hills west of Jinma City. After carefully identifying the area from high in the sky for a while, he finally located "Qi Yunxiao's" residence and slowly descended.

As Han Li jumped off his small boat and scanned the surroundings of the hollow, his heart immediately sank! The seven or eight stone houses were now dilapidated and askew, and the scattered rocks and green bamboos in front of them were mostly destroyed. Qi Yunxiao's protective formation had evidently been forcibly breached.

Han Li's face darkened. He flipped his hand, gripping an artifact, and then walked towards the mostly collapsed house. Although this destruction seemed to have occurred long ago, it was still better to be cautious! Approaching the houses, Han Li searched them one by one. In a stone house that was almost completely destroyed, he found a long-decayed corpse. Han Li pinched his nose, meticulously examining the head for a long time, his brows furrowed deeply. The deceased was not Qi Yunxiao himself, but his loyal servant who managed the shop. As for the other houses, no other corpses were found, which brought a slight sense of relief to Han Li.

Just as Han Li finished his search, his expression suddenly turned cold. After flickering a few times, he reappeared on the Divine Wind Boat and looked up towards the southern sky. From the many hills to the south, two intense azure lights suddenly shot out, heading directly towards his location. A moment later, they flew to a spot not far in front of Han Li. The lights then converged, revealing an old man and a young man. The old man had an ordinary appearance, but his eyes were long and narrow, and he wore a wisp of a goatee. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his face was filled with surprise and doubt. The other was a young man in his twenties, handsome enough, but his eyes were filled with malice as he glared fiercely at Han Li. He was only at the Qi Condensation stage of cultivation.