Chapter 362: Unexpected Encounter with an Old Acquaintance

Having made up his mind, Han Li quietly flew away from the mountain peak on his magical artifact.

Later, those Qi Condensation stage cultivators who had spoken with Han Li were greatly surprised when the White Pool gathering began, as they couldn't find the "senior" expert, Han Li.

Han Li first went to the Heavenly Star Sect's market city, where he purchased all the materials needed to repair the ancient teleportation array according to his list. Only then did he fly towards the State of Yue.

This time, Han Li did not enter the State of Yue via his original route. Instead, he made a detour, secretly infiltrating from a very remote border area between the State of Yuanwu and the State of Yue.

The State of Yue was now under the control of the Demonic Dao, and he certainly didn't want to be chased relentlessly as soon as he entered such dangerous territory.

Han Li was unaware that his caution had inadvertently helped him avoid another crisis.

This was because most of the State of Yue's borders were now being patrolled day and night by numerous Demonic Dao personnel. If Han Li had rashly returned by his original path, he certainly wouldn't have escaped their notice, and a desperate chase and battle would have been almost inevitable.

Now, having safely entered the State of Yue, Han Li traveled only through sparsely populated areas, which allowed him to reach the vicinity of the spirit stone mine where the ancient teleportation array was located, without encountering any danger.

The spirit mine had naturally fallen into the hands of the Demonic Dao.

From a distance, Han Li secretly observed and saw Demonic Dao disciples dressed in green and white robes.

Judging by the emerald green ghost head and pink peach blossom insignias on their sleeves, they were likely cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Joyous Union Sect.

After discerning the identity of the Demonic Dao sects occupying the mine, Han Li quietly concealed himself and moved away, finding a hidden underground entrance nearby, through which he infiltrated.

He easily found the cave that had been sealed off that day. After using a magical artifact to shatter the rubble, he once again saw the damaged ancient teleportation array.

Seeing that the teleportation array was still intact, Han Li breathed a slight sigh of relief.

In the following days, Han Li first used a newly acquired set of illusionary formation flags to completely conceal the hidden entrance. Then, he used the flags and plates of an improved "Reversal Five Elements Formation" to set up a grand formation, protecting the cave where the ancient teleportation array was located.

This way, even if Demonic Dao cultivators discovered him, he would have enough time to escape calmly.

Therefore, with no more worries, Han Li began repairing the teleportation array.

As clearly stated in the jade slip, repairing the ancient teleportation array was an extremely precise undertaking. Even if an inconspicuous rune was slightly misplaced, it could cause the entire teleportation array to malfunction, which is why Han Li's repair process was incredibly slow.

A full seven days passed, and only a small portion of the teleportation array's repairs had been completed. But at this point, a major problem arose: the materials he had purchased beforehand had completely run out.

Han Li was a bit dumbfounded by this situation.

It turned out that although he had purchased slightly more repair materials than on the list, he hadn't accounted for potential errors during the repair process, which would lead to wasted materials.

And he wasn't a specialized artifact refiner or formation master.

As a result, his lacking skill meant that more than half of the materials were wasted due to errors during the repair, making them naturally insufficient.

Han Li sighed lightly, realizing he had to go out again.

However, he remembered that several days' journey east of the spirit mine, there was a small market city operated by a certain cultivation family.

Although it wasn't large, materials like mother iron and crystal jade should be available there. After all, the core of the teleportation array wasn't damaged, and only common materials were needed.

His only concern was that with the cultivation world in such chaos, whether this market city still existed was uncertain. He didn't want to risk traveling there only to find the market city long gone.

After some thought, Han Li still emerged from the underground cave under the cover of night and flew directly towards the market city on his magical artifact.

He had already made up his mind: if this market city was truly gone, he would at most return to the market city in Yuanwu State. He couldn't just abandon the ancient teleportation array halfway through its repair.

But to be safe, Han Li planned to travel at night and find a place to rest and hide during the day.

This way, he could minimize the danger.

So, under the cloak of darkness, Han Li flew eastward throughout the entire night. As dawn began to break, he started looking for a place to stop.

But as he was looking down, his expression suddenly changed slightly. He sharply turned his head, staring intently in a certain direction.

He faintly sensed that someone, or rather, more than one person, was rapidly flying towards his location.

Without hesitation, Han Li stepped on his Divine Wind Boat and flew diagonally downwards, disappearing into the night in an instant.

He had just finished concealing his form and retracting his spiritual energy when a dazzling white light silently flashed into view, like lightning.

Right behind the white light, a blood mist several zhang in size, accompanied by ceaseless wailing sounds, pursued relentlessly. And immediately following that, a swath of pink glow, faintly emitting clear chirping sounds, was also in hot pursuit.

Han Li, hidden in the mountain forest below, didn't pay attention to the white light in front or the pink glow behind. Instead, he found the blood mist incredibly familiar. "Isn't that the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master's protective demonic cultivation technique?" he thought. "Could it be him?"

At the thought of the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master's formidable power and the suffering he had endured because of him, Han Li's expression turned grim.

Just as Han Li thought these individuals would rapidly flee over his head, the white light flying in front suddenly paused, then its brilliance receded, and it stopped, revealing a woman in white robes standing on a flying sword.

The woman had a slender figure and wore a hooded cloak. As soon as she appeared, she coldly spoke to those behind her:

"Juniors! You relentlessly pursue me; do you truly wish to seek your own deaths?"

The woman's voice was extremely cold and clear, but as soon as Han Li heard it, it nearly made him jump several feet high.

"This... this sounds like Nangong Wan's voice. Is it really her?" Han Li was greatly astonished!

Although this woman, with whom he had a spiritual union, had spoken very few words to him, as the first woman in Han Li's life, her voice and appearance had long been deeply etched in his mind.

And this voice indeed greatly resembled Nangong Wan's, except the timbre seemed a bit hoarse. Han Li remained somewhat surprised and uncertain.

While Han Li was still in shock, the closely pursuing blood mist and pink glow seemed to have been startled by the masked woman's words and stopped in unison about a dozen zhang away.

Then the blood mist and glow thinned out, also revealing the people inside.

The one in the blood mist was indeed Wang Chan, the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master. The man and woman revealed on the other side after the glow dissipated, however, left Han Li dumbfounded.

The man was the strangely beautiful, feminine-looking man he had seen at Swallow Plume Fort. And the woman was none other than Dong Xuan'er, who had been missing for many days and was presumed to have fallen into the hands of the Demonic Dao.

Dong Xuan'er's expression was cold and aloof. Her former seductive charm had vanished at some unknown point, leaving her appearing incredibly dignified.

What surprised Han Li even more was that her cultivation had advanced from the early Foundation Establishment stage to the middle Foundation Establishment stage.

Han Li watched Dong Xuan'er and the strangely beautiful man standing side by side and couldn't help but frown deeply.

Meanwhile, upon meeting the masked woman's cold gaze, the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master and the strangely beautiful man both simultaneously showed hesitation.

Although their opponent had already suffered mutual heavy losses with a Core Formation stage expert from the Ghost Spirit Sect and should be unable to resist, after all, this woman had killed and injured countless Core Formation stage cultivators from the Demonic Dao during the defense of the Hidden Moon Sect. What if she made a desperate, suicidal attack and dragged both of them down with her? That would be too unjust.

The two, sharing this thought, couldn't help but exchange glances, neither intending to make the first move.

Seeing this situation, the strangely beautiful man's eyes flickered, and he spoke to the masked woman with a smile:

"In the past, Senior Nangong, if you had said such words, Brother Wang and I would naturally have fled at once. But now? Even if this junior wished to let Senior off due to the ties between the Hidden Moon Sect and the Joyous Union Sect, Brother Wang of the Ghost Spirit Sect would not give up!"

The strangely beautiful man spoke with a tone implying they were all "family" and everything could be discussed. Yet, he unceremoniously pushed the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master forward, using him as a shield.

Upon hearing these words, Wang Chan was furious inwardly.

But he was also someone who rarely showed his emotions. After a cold glance at the other party, he unhurriedly said:

"I heard that among the secret techniques of the Joyous Union Sect, there's a 'Profound Moon Yin Absorption Art,' where male practitioners can forcibly absorb a portion of a woman's primordial Yin through dual cultivation. Although not much, with Senior's Core Formation stage cultivation, I presume it would be enough for Young Master Tian to break through his mid-Foundation Establishment bottleneck and reach the late stage, wouldn't it?"

As soon as Wang Chan uttered these words, the strangely beautiful man's expression subtly changed.

He never expected that his purpose for relentlessly pursuing this woman would be seen through by Wang Chan at a single glance, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger mixed with embarrassment.

At the same time, the masked woman's eyes flashed with indignation and shame, and she bit her silver teeth, uttering:

"Birds of a feather! You seek death!"

After speaking, she raised a hand, and a vast expanse of hazy white sword light swept towards them like a tidal wave.

Seeing this, Wang Chan and the strangely beautiful man opposite her were both greatly alarmed. They immediately unleashed their blood mist and glowing light, preparing to rapidly retreat.