Chapter 788: Far Message

**Volume 5: Renowned Across the Land**

The disappearance of the Mulan Sacred Beast was soon noticed by both cultivators and sorcerers on the battlefield. Immediately, the sorcerers' expressions changed dramatically, while the cultivators were greatly invigorated, their morale soaring. The emaciated old man and Tian Zhong, who were locked in combat with their opponents, also showed disbelief upon seeing this. The Sacred Beast's disappearance now could not be due to its energy reserves running out. It could only mean that the Heavenly South cultivators had extinguished the Primeval Ancient Lamp. These two Divine Masters did not even realize that their Mulan clan's inherited treasure had once again fallen into Han Li's hands. In their view, the Late Nascent Soul cultivators on the cultivators' side were all preoccupied. No other cultivator could have possibly breached the defense of the woman surnamed Le while the Sacred Beast could provide support. The current situation was truly beyond their expectations.

At this moment, Han Li had quietly flown to the vicinity of the Soul-Devouring Beast and reappeared. The giant ape formed by the Soul-Devouring Beast had already incinerated most of the corpse-refining puppets into ash, while the remaining small portion was hastily retrieved by the black-robed cultivators of the Yin Luo Sect. Otherwise, the complete annihilation of these copper-armored corpse puppets would have been only a matter of time. Having absorbed so much corpse qi, the giant ape transformed by the Soul-Devouring Beast had grown slightly larger, and its fur was glossy black, appearing as if it had just received a potent tonic.

During this time, several waves of black-robed individuals and sorcerers naturally tried to eliminate the giant ape first. However, Long Han clearly understood that this peculiar giant ape was crucial for dealing with the copper-armored corpse puppets, so he couldn't let the opponents succeed easily. He immediately dispatched some of his forces to intercept them. Occasionally, a few slipped through, but before they could even approach the giant ape, they were intercepted by Silvermoon, who was hidden nearby. She continuously employed illusionary and mesmerizing techniques, causing them to foolishly lose their lives.

When Han Li returned here, he saw the Soul-Devouring Beast destroy the last remaining outdoor copper-armored corpse from a distance and immediately beckoned to it without hesitation. Instantly, a black light flashed around the Soul-Devouring Beast, and it rapidly shrank, transforming into a dark rainbow that shot into the spirit beast pouch on Han Li's waist. Seeing this, Silvermoon also voluntarily flew to Han Li's side. After retrieving the Soul-Devouring Beast, Han Li wanted to turn and say something to Silvermoon.

But suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky, and a dark cloud hundreds of feet wide descended from high above. Countless green lightning bolts and fiery flashes rolled continuously within the cloud, instantly changing the sky's color. Han Li's expression turned stern as he looked up at the sky.

"Who is it?! Who killed my sect's consort?! I will extract his soul and refine his essence to avenge this hatred!" A thunderous roar boomed from the dark cloud; it was clearly the Yin Luo Sect Master. Upon hearing this, Han Li's heart sank. His gaze turned cold.

"The victor has not yet been determined, so why the rush, esteemed friend? This old Yi was just hoping to learn more about your demonic arts!" Following the black-robed man's words, the ethereal voice of the Hehuan Old Devil drifted over. Subsequently, another surge of gray-white mist also shot down from the sky, directly blocking the dark cloud.

"Get out of my way! I'm not in the mood for a contest right now. If you don't clear out, don't blame this sect master for being impolite!" The Yin Luo Sect Master's voice from within the dark cloud was incredibly icy.

"Impolite? I, Yi, have lived this long and have rarely been treated impolitely. Whatever methods you possess, just use them!" The Hehuan Old Devil sneered, showing no intention of backing down. The black-robed man in the dark cloud fell silent. After a long moment, he said grimly: "Fine. Since you refuse to be sensible, this sect master has no time to waste either. I'll let you witness the power of this sect's ultimate treasure, the 'Ghost Luo Banner'." The Yin Luo Sect Master seemed to laugh in extreme anger.

"'Ghost Luo Banner'?" The Hehuan Old Devil's voice held a hint of surprise and a touch of excitement.

However, just a few short exchanges between the two surprised all the cultivators engaged in battle below. Some cultivators had only just learned that the Yin Luo Sect Master's consort had already perished at the hands of a Heavenly South cultivator, which greatly surprised them, and they secretly wondered who had killed her. Han Li's expression remained calm on the surface, showing neither surprise nor joy. But seeing the Hehuan Old Devil block the Yin Luo Sect Master, he felt a great sense of relief. He certainly didn't want to be relentlessly pursued across the battlefield by a Late Nascent Soul cultivator.

Just as everyone, including Han Li, thought that the Hehuan Old Devil and this Jin Kingdom demonic cultivator were about to start a major battle at low altitude, something else happened. From the sky behind the sorcerers, a sharp whistle suddenly echoed from afar, followed by flickering lights as over a dozen streaks of light, each a different color, rapidly shot towards them. Before they even got close, someone began to shout loudly: "Divine Masters! Stop quickly! Something has happened on the plains! The situation has changed!" This person seemed intentionally to want everyone to hear, as they had used some secret art to project their voice. Subsequently, these streaks of light accelerated by a third, shooting into the battlefield.

Both cultivators and sorcerers heard this clearly. Most couldn't help but temporarily stop, astonished, and looked over with surprise. The emaciated old man's heart sank upon hearing this. Long Han and the others on the opposing side were also greatly surprised and slowed their offensive. The old man decisively disengaged, immediately shooting back dozens of feet. He coldly glanced at the cultivators opposite him a few times before transforming into a startling rainbow and heading towards the dozen-plus sorcerers.

Long Han hesitated but did not pursue him with the other cultivators. The old man had not shown any signs of defeat earlier, even holding a slight advantage. Pursuing him now would not yield any good results. Moreover, the messenger sorcerer had clearly intended for them to hear the message, so there must be something suspicious! It was better to wait and see what had happened. However, since the Mulan Plains were mentioned, could it be related to the Tuntu people? A thought sparked in Long Han's mind, and he vaguely guessed something.

Han Li also watched the old man with a strange expression, observing him as he went to meet the dozen-plus streaks of light. The streaks of light converged, revealing over a dozen sorcerers in various attires. The leading sorcerer, clad in yellow robes, was actually a Mid Nascent Soul cultivator. This secretly startled Han Li. A sorcerer with such profound cultivation had not appeared in the previous major battle. This was somewhat odd. Could he be an important figure left to guard the rear? However, this also indicated that the likelihood of the other side bluffing was extremely small. For some unknown reason, the Hehuan Old Devil and the Yin Luo Sect Master, who were in the sky, also hid in the clouds and remained silent.

Upon seeing the yellow-robed sorcerer, the emaciated old man was also greatly startled, displaying an expression of disbelief. But before he could say anything, the yellow-robed sorcerer flew to the emaciated old man's side and, with subtly moving lips, transmitted a few words telepathically. The emaciated old man's face darkened. Then the yellow-robed sorcerer took out a jade slip from his person and handed it to the old man with both hands. After receiving the jade slip, the old man immersed his consciousness into it. A moment later, his complexion turned deathly pale. He then briefly conversed telepathically with the yellow-robed old man.

The old man suddenly turned and, with a grim expression, flew back towards Long Han. "There's no need for us to keep fighting. Let's cease hostilities immediately, or the third party will benefit from our conflict." This Mulan Divine Master Zhu stated calmly as soon as he reached Long Han.

"What do you mean by that?! If you want a truce, you should at least give me a reason," Long Han said noncommittally, his eyes flickering a few times. Due to Han Li's unexpected display of power, having successively eliminated the opponent's copper-armored corpses and the azure demonic bird, the battle still appeared evenly matched. Long Han did not think the other side was retreating out of fear.

"Did you send a team of cultivators to raid our Tian City's warehouse?" The old man did not directly answer Long Han's question. Instead, he suddenly asked grimly. Long Han was naturally surprised, but he remained calm on the surface. After his eyes flickered a few times, he calmly replied: "Indeed, there was such a matter. It seems you discovered it!"

"Discovered? Hmph, if not for another third party causing trouble, you might have actually succeeded." The old man's face flashed with anger before he calmly continued.

"A third party?" Long Han's brows furrowed upon hearing this. The emaciated old man stopped wasting words and, with subtly moving lips, began to transmit a message telepathically to Long Han.

"What?! Such a thing happened?!" Long Han exclaimed, losing his composure after hearing just two sentences.

"Given the situation, is there any need for this Divine Master to deceive you?" the old man said impatiently.

Long Han's eyebrows knitted together. After a brief moment of contemplation, he resolutely raised his hand and sent out a talisman. The talisman shot skyward, immediately transforming into several golden orbs of light that exploded in the air, their radiance dazzling. Instantly, all cultivators still engaged in battle stopped at once upon seeing this sight and swiftly retreated towards the cultivator formation. Cultivators who had already stopped fighting also swarmed backward. The sorcerers on the other side, notified by some unknown method, also silently retreated. The particularly conspicuous Blood Ghoul and the Stone Giant were also forcibly separated by spells, ceasing their combat!

In a blink of an eye, the space between the two formations immediately became empty. Both sides seemed to have returned to their pre-battle positions, standing on opposite flanks. Both sides had suffered significant losses in personnel, which could be considered a blow to their vitality. However, fortunately, the casualties among high-level cultivators and sorcerers were not too numerous. The sorcerer formation was relatively calm. Although everyone was somewhat surprised and uncertain, they maintained quiet. However, on the cultivators' side, although everyone had retreated as instructed, they couldn't help but stir and discuss amongst themselves. Some high-level cultivators simply surrounded Long Han, asking what had happened. But Long Han only offered bitter smiles and remained silent, which greatly displeased the surrounding cultivators.

At this moment, the dark cloud and gray mist in the sky dissipated simultaneously, revealing the figures of the Hehuan Old Devil and the black-robed man. They gazed coldly at each other. The sounds of battle and the strange phenomena high in the sky also ceased instantly, and then Wei Wuya and Venerable Zhiyáng descended safely from the air. The cultivators' side immediately breathed a sigh of relief, everyone showing expressions of reassurance. A moment later, the Confucian scholar surnamed Zhong and the short man also returned safely from the air, and the Mulan people couldn't help but let out a cheer.

Upon seeing that all three cultivators had returned, Long Han finally spoke. However, to avoid causing widespread panic, this news could only be circulated within a small group for the time being. Therefore, only Mid Nascent Soul cultivators and a few cultivators with special statuses were gathered together. After setting up a few simple restrictions, they began to discuss the bad news they had just received from the Mulan people at the front of the formation. Given Han Li's performance in today's battle, his participation in this meeting was naturally beyond dispute.