Chapter 960: Nine Netherworld Sect

Volume 6: Heavenly Spiritual Treasures

The cultivators from the Luo Sect had not been gone long when a sudden stir occurred in a nearby pavilion. Two more cultivators emerged.

Glancing at the empty entrance, the two spoke a few solemn, hushed words to each other through spiritual transmission, then followed suit and departed.

As soon as they exited the market, the two immediately split up. One of them lightly shook a small banner, and his figure, enveloped in a cloud of purple mist, instantly vanished into thin air. He then pursued in the direction Ge Tianhao and the others had left.

The other diverged, transforming into a streak of light and shooting straight towards the imperial city.

Meanwhile, on an unnamed barren mountain near Jinjing, the elderly man surnamed Fu looked meaningfully at Han Li and asked:

"You've already been teleported here. Don't you have anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why go to such lengths? I am indeed a bit puzzled as to why Senior Fu insisted on using a teleportation array to leave the market. But I presume you have your reasons." The moment he was teleported out, Han Li had already carefully scanned the surroundings, finding no abnormalities, thus he replied calmly.

Han Li's subtle action did not escape the eyes of the elderly man surnamed Fu. But instead of being annoyed, he was greatly pleased.

"Actually, it's nothing much. I received news earlier that several cultivators from the Yinluo Sect were at the main market exit, seemingly looking for someone. I estimated that Fellow Daoist Han would certainly not want to meet these individuals, which is why I used this teleportation array to avoid them. You don't think I went to unnecessary trouble, do you?" The elderly man surnamed Fu's eyes flickered as he said with a half-smile.

"The Yinluo Sect? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li's heart tightened. However, he maintained a placid expression, refraining from asking a counter-question.

"Heh. You don't need to worry. If I truly intended to harm you, I would have already set up contingencies nearby. You, Han, were probably the cultivator who clashed with Ge Tianhao in front of the Treasure Light Hall that day, weren't you?" The elderly man surnamed Fu smiled mysteriously and spoke slowly.

"I didn't expect you, Brother Fu, to know all this. But why would you help me? Is it merely because of that promise from that day that you would not hesitate to offend a major demonic sect like the Yinluo Sect? I find that a bit hard to believe." Han Li fell silent for a moment before calmly admitting.

"What's the Yinluo Sect? It seems Brother Han doesn't know my background yet. I am merely an Enforcement Elder of the Nine Nether Sect. Our sect already has some grievances with the Yinluo Sect. To see that fellow Ge Tianhao suffer a setback is exactly what I was hoping for. Of course, my main reason for helping you is that I have a request." The elderly man surnamed Fu said candidly, without a hint of concern.

"The Nine Nether Sect? My sincerest apologies, I have long heard of your esteemed sect's great name. But with your sect's power, what help could you possibly need from me?" Han Li was instantly alarmed upon hearing that the other party was also an elder from one of the Ten Demonic Sects, and his vigilance greatly increased.

"This matter is a personal one, and I cannot easily use our sect's manpower for it. But there's no rush. Let's wait until we've both attended the trade fair, and then I'll explain the details to you. Brother Han, rest assured, this matter also has some benefits for you. If you feel it's not suitable, I certainly won't force you." The elderly man surnamed Fu said with a smile.

"In that case, I will accept this favor for now." Han Li pondered for a moment, then smiled.

He had already offended the Yinluo Sect, and naturally, he didn't want to offend another major demonic sect. Regardless of whether he would truly agree to help in the future, it was best to feign agreement for now.

"I knew Brother Han was a straightforward person. Let's go, the trade fair location isn't far from here." A hint of joy flashed across the elderly man surnamed Fu's face; he seemed very pleased with Han Li's response. The two then transformed into two dazzling streaks of light and flew off into the distance.

After a short rapid flight, about three thousand li outside Jinjing City, in a dark, barren mountain range, the elderly man suddenly descended with Han Li. He circled once and landed at a seemingly ordinary stone wall.

The stone wall was slightly green, largely covered in mud and moss, and truly held no distinguishing features.

Han Li didn't even look at the stone wall. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings, only then discovering that the place was a wild gully deep between two mountain peaks. Man-high wild grass and bushes were everywhere. If the elderly man surnamed Fu hadn't personally brought him there, he would never have discovered that cultivators frequented this spot.

The elderly man surnamed Fu had clearly been here more than once.

He skillfully shook his sleeve, and a palm-sized round disk shot out. A white light flashed on it, and it disappeared directly into the stone wall.

Moments later, a yellow glow suddenly flickered on the stone wall. Han Li's vision blurred, and the stone wall vanished into thin air, revealing a huge cave entrance over ten zhang wide in diameter.

In front of the entrance stood two middle-aged cultivators dressed in green robes.

Both were at the late Core Formation stage of cultivation, and one of them was holding the round disk artifact belonging to the elderly man surnamed Fu.

"So it's Senior Fu who has arrived. This senior's face is somewhat unfamiliar; may I ask for your esteemed name?" The cultivator holding the round disk artifact first bowed to the two, then his gaze swept over Han Li before he inquired respectfully but firmly.

"This is Fellow Daoist Han, who came from overseas. I am his introducer, what is there to check? Give him an identity token. We are in a hurry to attend the exchange meeting." The elderly man surnamed Fu stared with wide eyes and said unceremoniously.

"Haha, since Senior Fu is the introducer, there's naturally no problem. This is a Nascent Soul-level identity token. Not only can you, Senior, use this to participate in this trade fair, but also the next three underground trade fairs will be free. Of course, if you, Senior, violate the rules of the trade fair, this token will be confiscated or invalidated. And according to the rules, possessing this token requires a fee of ten thousand spirit stones." The green-robed cultivator courteously returned the round disk he was holding to the elderly man surnamed Fu, then took out a similar token and explained to Han Li.

"Here, these are the spirit stones." Hearing about so many spirit stones, Han Li felt a pang of reluctance, but on the surface, he paid exceptionally readily. He tossed a bag filled with over ten thousand spirit stones directly over.

"This is the token, Senior, please keep it safe."

The green-robed cultivator on the opposite side, after checking the number of spirit stones in the bag, presented the token engraved with the characters "347" with both hands and a beaming smile.

After a glance, Han Li slightly raised an eyebrow and asked with a hint of suspicion:

"Three hundred and forty-seven? Are there that many people attending this trade fair?"

"Of course not, Senior Han. Some of the seniors on the list, for various reasons, will not attend this trade fair. Based on experience from previous years, only about two hundred or so people usually participate." The other green-robed cultivator explained.

"I see. That's still quite a number of people." Han Li nodded, somewhat enlightened.

"Alright. It's almost time; we should go participate in the exchange meeting now. And please extend my regards to your master." The elderly man surnamed Fu, seeing that Han Li had his token, immediately said this and then led the way, striding deeper into the passage.

"These two cultivators are not weak. Judging by your tone, are they disciples of the same master? May I ask who that is?" Han Li followed behind him, asking casually.

"Their master is extraordinary. Do you know about the Four Great Rogue Cultivators of Great Jin?" The elderly man surnamed Fu chuckled and asked in return.

"Hmm, I've naturally heard of them. Is he one of them?" Han Li grew a little curious.

"Indeed. Their master is Fellow Daoist Yi Xitian, the most mysterious of the Four Great Rogue Cultivators, who advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage many years ago. I had the good fortune to meet this person once. At that time, I personally witnessed him display a heaven-defying divine ability, easily slaying an eighth-level demonic beast. His cultivation is truly unfathomable. It is said that he is one of the two people in Great Jin's last thousand years most likely to advance to the Deity Transformation stage. The organizers of this trade fair having these two guard the entrance probably also intend to leverage their master's prestige." The elderly man surnamed Fu explained to Han Li, sighing with admiration for Yi Xitian.

"I see Brother Fu's cultivation is also profoundly deep. Once you break through your bottleneck, reaching the late Nascent Soul stage will be within reach. What is there to envy? However, who is the other fellow Daoist who might advance to the Deity Transformation stage?" Han Li's heart stirred, and he began to inquire.

"The other person is Grandmaster Biyue of the Buddhist Pure Sect. This person only spent over four hundred years to advance to the late Nascent Soul stage and is also widely recognized in the cultivation world as a heaven-gifted talent who appears only once in ten thousand years. As for myself, I consider my own aptitude outstanding, but that's compared to ordinary cultivators; I cannot be mentioned in the same breath as those two. And I have been stuck at this stage for two to three hundred years already, having long given up on the idea of further advancement. However, Fellow Daoist, you seem to have just broken through to the mid-stage recently; perhaps you might easily break through the bottleneck?" The elderly man surnamed Fu said with a bitter smile.

"Brother Fu is truly joking. How could there be such a good thing in this world?" Han Li gave a few dry laughs and shrugged it off, naturally not taking the other party's words seriously.

At that moment, led by the elderly man surnamed Fu, Han Li saw a flash of white light ahead, vaguely revealing the entrance to a large hall. The sounds of a bustling crowd emerged, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Elsewhere, in mid-air about a hundred li from the underground trade fair, Ge Tianhao's face was distorted, his body engulfed in rolling black mist. With one hand, he tightly clutched the head of an unfamiliar cultivator, extracting memories from the other's consciousness using a soul-searching secret technique, the spell reaching its critical point.

The cultivator's face was twisted, his eyes rolled back, and his body trembled incessantly, as if in extreme pain.

Lin Yinping and another black-robed cultivator in his fifties stood by, watching everything expressionlessly.

Moments later, the soul-searched cultivator's body suddenly convulsed violently. Black blood simultaneously flowed from his ears and nose, and he completely lost consciousness.

Ge Tianhao frowned. Suddenly, dark, eerie flames erupted from his five fingers, instantly reducing the person in his hand to ashes. He then gently closed his eyes, slowly digesting the information extracted through the soul-search.

"How was it? Did you find out this person's identity? Why was he secretly following us?" As soon as Ge Tianhao opened his eyes again, Lin Yinping immediately parted her lips slightly and asked.