The four green-robed cultivators were shocked upon seeing the two white-clothed woman that just appeared, but quickly rushed to salute them, “Martial Aunt Han! Martial Aunt Liu!”

The frail woman with a pale face and wide eyes softly said, “That’s enough. No need to be overly polite. Junior Martial Sister Liu and I have heard a bit of what you've said. Tell us about it and include all the details!” Her voice sounded otherworldly.

This woman was Han Yunzhi, a woman Han Li had encountered several times in the past [1]. Although her face was entirely the same as before, her body now appeared fragile and well-developed. Along with her beautiful body transformation, her cultivation had made great leaps as well, rising to early Core Formation.

“Many thanks, Martial Aunt Han. Martial Nephew will obey orders.” The old man in charge of the four green-clothed cultivators replied on the group’s behalf.

Han Yunzhi nodded with a smile and stepped forward. After finding a clean spot on the ground, she took a seat.

The other beauty had phoenix eyes and long eyebrows. She was a beautiful woman with a carefree expression. With a smile, she said, “Your crimes are not light. If you truly are incapable of finding the Spirit Nascent, I fear your master wouldn’t be able to plead for your lives!” Her words startled the female cultivator among the group of four.

The old man bitterly laughed and wore an earnest expression, “Martial Nephew knows that his guilt is inescapable, but we were truly treated unjustly. I hope Martial Aunts will be able to speak a few words to the Martial Ancestor in our favor.”

The woman stretched herself while her lips glistened as she spoke, “Oh? Then how about you give an explanation. The person who restricted the Nascent Soul is now five hundred kilometers away and we won’t be able to catch up to him anytime soon. We are in no hurry for now.”

“Yes, when we brought the Spirit Nascent to the Kunmu Mountains, Martial Uncle Ding used an excuse...” The old man respectfully gave a detailed explanation of the Spirit Nascent’s escape, the Spirit Nascent’s later capture and the Fu Clan’s extermination.

Han Yunzhi calmly listened, but her face remained completely still as if her heart was already steeled.

In contrast, the woman surnamed Liu occasionally revealed a curious expression and her gaze flickered as if she held great interest in the old man’s words.

...

A streak of azure light flickered over the border between the State of Yuan Wu and the State of Yue.

According to information Han Li had acquired, the State of Yue had fallen under the rule of the Ghost Spirit Sect, and their headquarters were at the previous location of the Masked Moon Sect. As for the Tai Yue Mountains of Yellow Maple Valley, it had become the location of a side branch.

After Han Li entered the State of Yue, he flew straight in the direction of the Tai Yue Mountains.

“Nothing has changed!” As Han Li stood on a huge pile of rocks, he felt an expression of faint loneliness.

In the past, he had destroyed the mountain housing his previous cave residence over fear that the Devil Dao cultivators would discover it. Now that so many years had passed, it appeared to have become a desolate area. Of course, who could’ve possibly thought that there was a cultivator’s residence concealed underneath the rubble?

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li raised his arm as his eyes flickered with white light. Several huge ape puppets were released that began to quickly clear away the rubble before them.

The puppets cleared away the rubble by blasting a path through it with various-colored beams of light, quickly clearing a way down towards the cave residence that lay beneath.

With a narrow passageway formed, Han Li ordered the puppets to stand guard as he flew inside.

The cave residence remained exactly the same as when he hastily left it. He couldn't make out any signs of entry, much to his relief.

He didn’t come here solely for nostalgia but for the spirit well spring that was located in his hidden room.

Although he already had the jade spirit well as well as the highest ranked spirit well, the Spirit Well Tree, one always had more room for another Spirit Well. Although this spirit well was somewhat small, he naturally wished to bring it along with him since he was already in the State of Yue.

The spirit well spring was intact and emitting strands of white spiritual Qi. Han Li wore a complicated expression as he looked at the spirit well and unconsciously recalled when he had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage and how he discovered the spirit well when he carved out the cave residence. He vividly remembered it as if it had happened yesterday, raising all sorts of emotions in his heart.

Han Li remained in a daze for a short while before recollecting himself. He then grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and struck the spirit well with several magic seals, instantly causing it to glow brilliantly and quake the nearby ground.

Han Li then sat down with with an unchanged expression and formed a strange hand seal as he stared at the spirit well.

Water from the spirit well began to whirl as if an invisible hand was stirring it, causing the water surface to rise and form a profoundly deep black whirlpool. An astonishing wave of spiritual Qi spread throughout the room.

Han Li’s expression stirred. This spiritual Qi was beyond what he had anticipated. But after a short moment, he recovered from his surprise and quickly began to resume the extraction.

The trembling of the nearby ground became increasingly severe and a blinding yellow light began to envelope the spirit well. This yellow light faintly deformed as the spirit well shrank and shined even more brilliantly.

A short moment later, the light faded away and Han Li let out a sigh. The deep yellow, fist-sized ball floated in the air. There was now a huge, pitch-black hole beneath it where the spirit well had been.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, but his expression suddenly changed and became sullen. The puppets he had placed outside were under attack. Although they had not yet been destroyed, they were at a clear disadvantage and wouldn’t last for long.

Han Li instantly took out a jade box and carefully placed the yellow ball inside. He then flew out as quickly as he could.

Once he arrived outside, he saw several black-clothed cultivators that had surrounded his ape puppets about a hundred meters away. A sullen, grey-clothed middle-aged man wore a puzzled expression as he observed the battle.

Han Li’s sudden appearance instantly shocked the cultivators at the scene and the grey-clothed cultivator shouted for the attack to stop. The black-clothed cultivators hastily ceased their actions and withdrew to the man’s side.

An azure light arrived in midair and faded away to reveal Han Li. He expressionlessly gazed at the several cultivators in silence and revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation in an imposing manner.

The grey-clothed man glanced at Han Li and felt his heart drop. His shock was soon replaced by a smile, “Senior, please do not misunderstand. Us Juniors hold no malice. We merely felt that the spiritual Qi here became abnormal and we curiously thought to take a look. I am the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Yu Hun, disciple of Master Splintered Soul. We do not hold any bad intentions.”

“Master Splintered Soul!” Han Li frowned and felt as if this name sounded familiar. After a moment of thought, Han Li suddenly recalled something.

Wasn’t this the name of one of the Ghost Spirit Sect Nascent Soul eccentrics? He recalled that the Drifting Cloud Sect’s silver-haired old man had mention that this person was ruthless and wasn’t to be trifled with.

As Han Li’s mind wondered, the grey-clothed old man noticed that Han Li reacted to his master’s name and he grew far more at ease. However, he was still apprehensive and forced a smile, “Senior recognizes my master. Could he be an acquaintance of him? I must’ve acted far too rashly. I had no idea that Senior was handling business here, else I wouldn’t have dared to bother you. If there is anything that I may do to assist you, I will do my utmost to obey. Otherwise, I would like to ask for myself to be excused so that I may get out of your way.”

Although the grey-clothed man had an intimidating appearance, he was rather cunning and sly. After asking a few probing questions, he acted extremely deferential. In the end, the appearance of an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator had caused his back to run with cold sweat.

Han Li expressionlessly stared at the grey-clothed man and didn’t respond. Instead, he released his spiritual sense within the scope of a hundred meters and found that there were no other cultivators.

It seems that this party had truly discovered the nearby disturbance by chance, and they had come alone. If that was the case...

Han Li suddenly felt an urge to kill.

Regardless of his previous identity as a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator, he was now a Drifting Cloud Sect elder; he couldn’t possibly release these Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators from his grasp. In addition, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect had once nearly taken his life, and the stifled grudge was still buried within his heart.

There was also the fact that he had entered the State of Yue in secret. If his entrance to the State of Yue reached the ears of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s eccentrics, he would attract their attention, producing nothing but trouble. He didn’t wish for several Nascent Soul cultivators to chase him throughout the State of Yue.

“Yi! This person is...” Just as Han Li prepared his silent attack, an old man amongst the party of black-clothed cultivators suddenly cried out in shock at the sight of Han Li.

[1] Last seen at the end of the Trial of Blood and Fire in chapter 203 when Han Li removed her memories. They previously met when Han Li acquired the Golden Sincerity Brush from her. Note: their surnames are homonyms. Han Li's surname is 韓 while Han Yunzhi's surname is 菡.