When Han Li heard this, he was completely shocked. The combined forces of three late Nascent Soul cultivators weren’t able to prevail over the Elder Devil in a short amount of time. It seemed the Elder Devil’s restored power was similar to a cultivator at the Deity Transformation stage.

“Was the devil killed in the battle?” Han Li calmly asked.

“This is unclear to us. There are those that said that the devil had used some inconceivable technique to escape the cultivators that besieged it, but since this Junior’s clan is limited in power, we weren’t able to find the truth of the matter. But either way, ever since that battle, no trace of the devil has been found in the Heavenly South. Perhaps it has perished in both body and soul.”

“Perished in body and soul?” Han Li stroked his chin, but after some thought, he felt doubtful of this.

If they had truly killed the devil, these grand cultivators definitely wouldn’t have concealed it. It was most likely something strange happened and they were trying to conceal the truth. However, given how odd the information was, it could be that the devil suffered heavy injuries in the battle and was forced to escape and recover, or that he escaped from the Heavenly South entirely.

After some thought, Han Li felt that this was possible. For the time being, since he wasn’t able to make a judgment on this matter now, he flung the matter to the back of his mind.

“Fellow Daoist Huang, has anything else happened since Devilfall Valley?”

With some thought, Huang Yuanming said, “There are a few things that have happened in the past few years, and while they can’t be compared to the matter of Devilfall Valley and the freed devil, they are all worthy of attention. Not long after the devil disappeared, a strange whirlpool appeared in the Endless Sea that borders the State of Xi. The whirlpool released a large quantity of spiritual Qi and began to purify the nearby water. Additionally, seven small islands have emerged around the whirlpool. Each of these islands emits an astonishing spiritual Qi as a result of all of them possessing a rare top grade spirit vein. The Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators even conducted a meeting over the ownership of the island which involved many sects. Eventually, the small islands were divided amongst seven large sects. The whirlpool was reported to be unmeasurably deep. There were many cultivators that thought to investigate it, but they found the pressure of the whirlpool to be too strong. I heard that Master Sunreach of the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators attempted to investigate it as well, but after sinking ten kilometers deep, he wasn’t able to further endure the pressure and had to return.”

“A great whirlpool? Something like that appeared?” Han Li revealed surprise and spoke with astonishment.

“How could this Junior dare to deceive you? News of this spread several years ago. If Senior were to ask any others, I’m sure he’ll know it to be true.” Huang Yuanming replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded and felt that the matter was quite interesting. He then asked him about other matters, particularly with regard to the movements of the Moulan Tribes and the Righteous and Devilish Daos. Huang Yuanming answered to the best of his ability with the other two old men occasionally interrupting him with additional details.

Not long after, Han Li listened to what had happened over the past years and felt at ease.

Apart from the whirlpool and Elder Devil, the other ‘significant’ events were the appearance of spirit medicines and treasures or a war against cultivation sects. This news meant little to Han Li, but he continued to listen to the three regardless.

As for anything to do with the Drifting Cloud Sect, Han Li hadn’t bothered to ask. After all, this place was too far away from the State of Xi. This small clan wouldn’t know very specific details about it. If he wanted to know what was truly happening with the Drifting Cloud Sect, he would have to go to a market city or return to the State of Xi itself.

Han Li was satisfied with the three old men’s report and swept his sleeve across the table in front of him, summoning a pair of sparkling golden short spears in a flash of azure light. “Thank you for telling me this. I don’t have anything amazing, but I will be giving you three these Broken Gold Spears.”

“Many thanks for Senior’s gift. These... these are high grade magic tools?” Huang Yuanming examined the golden spears for a moment before hastily saluting Han Li with joy.

With their power, it wasn’t as if they didn’t have any high grade magic tools. But since they only had a sparse few, they valued each of them greatly. Naturally, they were quite happy to acquire something so valuable after simply answering Han Li’s questions.

“Although these Broken Gold Spears are only high grade magic tools, if they are used jointly, they can rival even top grade magic tools. I had acquired them in the past because I found them interesting and they've remained in my possession ever since. Now, I hand them over to you. Don’t underestimate them. Hehe. Since I’ve given you your reward, I will be taking my leave. Perhaps if fate will have it, this one named Han will see you again in the future.” Han Li’s body then glowed with light and he flew out of the hall in an azure streak. In flashes of light that crossed the sky, he disappeared from sight.

The three old men were stunned. Not expecting that Han Li would take off unceremoniously, they swallowed their words of thanks and looked at the pair of golden spears on the table.

“How generous of him to easily give us a pair of high grade magic tools.” The plump old man said as he looked at the golden spears.

“It depends who is looking at them. High grade magic tools might be very valuable to us, but to that Senior, they might not be worth much.” The taciturn white-robed old man said, wearing an odd expression.

“Brother Wang, what do you mean? Could it be you recognize that Senior?” Huang Yuanming’s heart stirred. The plump old man also glanced at the white-robed old man with shock.

“Brothers, you are both wise but now you are dim. He’s closely asked about Devilfall Valley and the devil, and possesses high cultivation at such a young age, not to mention he named himself as Han. Could it be you don’t realize who he is? Don’t forget that when the two devils appeared in Devilfall Valley, there was one particularly famous cultivator that went missing in the fight.” The white-robed old man spoke with a wry smile.

“You mean to say that person was Senior Han?” Huang Yuanming cried out with an alarmed expression. The plump old man also appeared shocked.

The white-robed old man continued, “You brothers should now know what I mean. This Senior is an existence on part with the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators. It is natural for him to be generous.”

After a moment of silence, Huang Yuanming sighed and said, “Brother Wang’s words are reasonable. However, it makes no difference to us whether or not he is truly Senior Han. Even if we wish to make a connection with him, cultivators on our level can’t hope to catch his interest. It is already a pleasant surprise that he gave us two high grade magic tools. Perhaps he was compensating us for damaging the spirit spring. Let’s first talk about what we’ll do with these spears before we continue.”

Although this was an opportunity that was hard to come by, an existence on Han Li’s level would hardly pay them any attention, so there was no point to feeling any regret over the matter.

When the two old men heard Huang Yuanming, they postponed further discussion of Han Li’s identity and looked at the golden spears. The spears were quite valuable after all and were right in front of them. The three then began their discussions on what to do with them.

As the three clan elders began their discussion, Han Li was already over fifty kilometers away.

He had only barely managed to emerge from the spatial tear, and it was quite fortunate that he emerged within the State of Dongyu as spatial tears were fickle and continuously wandered. It wouldn’t be a surprise even if he arrived at an area countless leagues away.

Monarch Soul Divergence spoke from Han Li’s mind, “Youngster, where will you head to now? Will you be returning to the Drifting Cloud Sect? I am still lacking a few of the puppet materials that I required. I will need to gather them.”

Han Li frowned and helplessly said, “I already know this, but the materials you want are all rarely seen in this world. I doubt they all exist in the Heavenly South, and it will certainly take a long time to gather regardless.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and annoyedly said, “Do you believe I can wait another eighty years? If you can’t find them in the Heavenly South, then make a trip to the Jin Empire. Over there, you’ll be able to find any rare materials so long as you have enough spirit stones! I’ve already told you that if I cannot refine my grand puppet, I would rather destroy the refinement process than to hand it over to you!”

“Be at ease.” Han Li sighed and said with a gloomy tone, “I’ve been wanting to make a trip to the Jin Empire regardless. Didn’t you say that the baleful Qi on my body was too heavy? That if I were to use the Blood Devil Sword two or three more times my body would slowly erode? Not forgetting that I wouldn’t be able to make any progress past mid Nascent Soul stage either.”

“It’s fine if you know.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a suddenly happy tone, “At first I did find it odd how you were infected with so much baleful Qi at a young age. I was a harsh character during my time in the world, but I didn’t possess even a tenth of your baleful Qi. Tch tch, how strange indeed. Wouldn’t it be better to change your cultivation art so that you may use the baleful Qi to advance your cultivation? Of course, this would cause you to ascend to the Elder Devil Realm rather than the Spirit Realm when you reach Deity Transformation stage.”