Chapter 713: Meeting an Old Acquaintance on the Road

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

The remaining jade boxes were also opened by Han Li one by one.

Inside one jade box was a small green porcelain bottle. In another, there was a fist-sized purple object.

He casually opened the green bottle and lightly sniffed it, a pungent and unusual scent assailing his nostrils.

Han Li's expression drastically changed. As if seeing a poisonous scorpion, he hurriedly resealed the bottle. Then, with a peculiar look, he examined the small bottle a few more times before cautiously storing it in his storage pouch.

Finally, his gaze fell upon the object emitting purple light. He picked it up and gently squeezed it with his fingers; it was incredibly soft. Threads of light instantly flickered within the glowing mass, bright and dazzling.

"Huh!"

Han Li let out a soft exclamation of surprise. Focusing his spiritual sense into a single point, he began to examine the object.

A moment later, he suddenly shook his hand, and the glowing mass instantly transformed into a swirling purple mist above his head. However, after a spell was cast upon it, it reverted to its original form and fell back into Han Li's hand.

It was actually a layered, thin-as-silk purple net. Its threads were almost imperceptibly fine and glowed translucently, clearly indicating it was a rare and extraordinary treasure.

"Isn't this the Purple Gold Net? This is an ancient treasure quite renowned from the primordial era!" the white fox exclaimed in surprise as it clearly recognized the purple crystalline net.

"You know this item? It's famous; could it also be a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure?" Han Li asked, a glint of joy flashing in his eyes, as he suppressed a trace of excitement.

"No, not at all. While the Purple Gold Net is indeed a top-tier ancient treasure, it's far from comparable to a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure. However, in terms of defensive abilities alone, its uses are truly infinite. Depending on the power it was refined with, this treasure, once unleashed, can cover an area of hundreds or even thousands of feet, making it a rare large-scale defensive artifact. It's said that the most potent Purple Gold Net ancient treasures can even shield all living beings within a hundred miles from harm. I don't know if that's true or not! Of course, it's also extremely sharp when used to trap enemies and can autonomously release 'Jade Sun True Fire,' powerful enough to eliminate formidable foes," Silvermoon said, speaking as if recounting family heirlooms.

"Silvermoon, you seem to know a lot about this Purple Gold Net. Have you seen it before?" Han Li asked, a flicker of disappointment crossing his face, as he weighed the purple net in his hand with a strange expression.

Upon hearing this, Silvermoon fell silent, only to speak with a wry smile after a long moment:

"Now that you mention it, Master, I realize something. In my fragmented memories, it seems I possessed a Purple Cloud Net ancient treasure before I was refined into a spirit artifact. That's why I know so much about it."

As Silvermoon spoke, a thoughtful look flashed in her eyes, as if she had recalled something, but then she shook her head, giving up in frustration.

"Since this Purple Cloud Net is so formidable, yet I've never heard of Senior Cang Kun using it in combat, it seems highly likely that this treasure came from the Fallen Devil Valley. It's a pity, though, that these four jade boxes we received contain no information about the Fallen Devil Valley. It appears the relevant items must coincidentally be in Marquis Nan Long's two jade boxes. What a shame," Han Li said self-deprecatingly, though his brows didn't show much genuine dejection.

He also clearly understood that while possessing the secret of the Fallen Devil Valley would grant him opportunities to enter the valley and retrieve treasures in the future, it would just as likely make him a target. If the news leaked, countless old monsters and powerful factions would surely come knocking.

The pros and cons of this situation were truly hard to quantify!

"Master, was there nothing in that jade slip?" Silvermoon finally couldn't help but ask further.

"That jade slip recorded Senior Cang Kun's divine abilities. Although I can't cultivate his primary technique, the Moon-Gazing Art, I can certainly learn from a few of his secret arts and some of his insights. They will be quite useful to me." Since Silvermoon asked, Han Li had no intention of concealing anything and calmly informed her.

Silvermoon sighed upon hearing this, appearing somewhat dispirited.

At this point, Han Li put away all the jade boxes and, after instructing Silvermoon, closed his eyes and entered meditation.

Silvermoon unceremoniously curled up close to Han Li, her dark, gleaming eyes staring blankly at an empty corner.

The Mulan people's procession gradually advanced. Han Li and Silvermoon remained safely inside the carriage. Two days and two nights passed.

During this time, the procession encountered two rounds of inspections by spellcasters. However, after Silvermoon woke him, Han Li performed a quick spell, and these low-level spellcasters naturally left empty-handed.

This carriage was specifically for holding trivial items, and none of the ordinary Mulan tribesmen in the procession ever bothered to look inside.

As a result, as soon as the procession left the Mulan Grasslands, Han Li immediately took Silvermoon and stealthily departed from the group, taking another path into the wilderness and heading directly towards Tiannan.

Relying on his powerful spiritual sense, Han Li could clearly detect the presence of spellcasters from hundreds of miles away, thus easily avoiding unnecessary trouble and smoothly passing through the wilderness into Fengyuan Nation, a part of the Nine Nations Alliance.

Fengyuan Nation was one of the three countries closest to Mulan, and typically, numerous cultivators from the Nine Nations Alliance were stationed on several spiritual mountains along its border.

However, during the several days Han Li spent in Fengyuan Nation, he didn't encounter a single cultivator along the way; instead, he detected many auras of spellcasters patrolling everywhere.

Evidently, the Nine Nations Alliance, having suffered an unfavorable initial battle under the full-force surprise attack of the Mulan spellcasters, had temporarily retreated.

The real great war between the two sides should not have begun yet!

Han Li didn't dwell on this, instead focusing on hurrying along secluded wilderness paths.

Three or four days passed uneventfully. On this particular day, as he transformed into a streak of green light and flew past an unnamed small mountain, his expression suddenly froze. He turned to look aside, a hint of surprise appearing on his face, which then became somewhat uncertain. Through his spiritual sense, he had just detected violent spiritual energy fluctuations and faint surges of malevolent aura not far away, clearly indicating cultivators of considerable strength were engaged in a fierce battle there.

Such a large-scale conflict appearing here was, naturally, most likely a battle between cultivators and spellcasters.

He then sensed a bit more carefully: one of the spiritual energy fluctuations was incredibly powerful, indicating a Nascent Soul stage existence, while the other four or five individuals were all at the Core Formation stage, seemingly working together to resist the Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

Among these Core Formation stage auras, one or two felt somewhat familiar to Han Li, as if he had known them before.

He pondered for a moment but couldn't recall who it was.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li couldn't suppress his curiosity and quietly flew towards the location.

With Han Li's divine movement technique, such a short distance was naturally covered in an instant.

Ahead, spiritual light flashed, colorful rays of light shot into the sky, and explosive roars echoed continuously, indicating an exceptionally fierce battle.

Five cultivators, male and female, dressed in various attires, were jointly resisting a spellcaster.

Han Li instantly saw that although the five male and female Core Formation cultivators were exerting their utmost, each activating their natal magic treasures to perfection, they were still being steadily forced back by the yellow-robed bald spellcaster in the center, who was releasing rings of yellow mist.

This yellow-robed spellcaster, with a fleshy, grim face and a cultivation base at the early Nascent Soul stage, hadn't even released any magic treasures, yet he easily gained the upper hand simply by relying on a wondrous technique and his profound cultivation.

Moreover, had this individual not been unwilling to fight to the death and frequently shown mercy towards one of the exceptionally beautiful women, clearly intending to capture her alive, these five people would likely not have been able to hold on until now.

Although Han Li found the exceptionally beautiful woman somewhat familiar, his gaze fell instead upon a corpulent old man.

Silver-white lightning arcs coiled around the old man's body, and the magic treasure he wielded was a giant sword continuously emitting electric light, its power ranking first among the five Core Formation cultivators.

"It's him? What a coincidence!" Han Li murmured to himself after clearly seeing the stout old man's appearance, a complex, unreadable expression on his face.

"Girl, don't be ungrateful. If this Grandmaster didn't lack an excellent cauldron partner, I wouldn't have spared your life until now. If you don't surrender and submit to this Grandmaster, don't blame me for not being tender to beautiful women!" The yellow-robed spellcaster, having fought for so long, finally grew impatient and said to the exceptionally beautiful woman with a grimace.

Then, he opened his mouth and spat out a yellow feather fan. Spiritual light erupted from it, faintly depicting something, and the bald spellcaster snatched it into his hand.

Seeing this, all the nameless Core Formation cultivators, including the stout old man, changed their expressions drastically, knowing that things were bad.

They knew perfectly well that the opponent hadn't been using his full power. However, they dared not turn and flee. Otherwise, once their combined formation was broken, they would be easily subdued one by one, with no chance of survival.

Thus, while inwardly lamenting their predicament, the five could only grit their teeth, once again gather all their spiritual power, and increase the might of their attacks.

Instantly, the five magic treasures surged with power, dispersing a considerable amount of the yellow mist and barely recovering some of their declining momentum.

However, seeing this, the yellow-robed bald spellcaster flew into a rage.

He tossed the feather fan in his hand into the air, opened his mouth, and spat a ball of yellowish essence onto the artifact, then chanted incantations!

The feather fan trembled amidst the chanting, and he gently fanned it towards the people opposite.

Immediately, a roaring sound erupted, and a deep yellow gale surged from the feather fan, rapidly expanding in size within moments.

A hurricane dozens of feet high instantly swept all five Core Formation cultivators into its vortex.