"I discovered an extremely secluded Profound Jade mine while traveling through the western region of the Thunder Continent, and at the core of that mine was where I found all of this Vast Yin Stone," Bai Guo'er replied in a respectful manner.

"I see. In any case, if you hadn't cultivated your Ice Essence Body to this level, you most likely wouldn't have been able to sense these Vast Yin Stones. You can go for now; I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for this later," Han Li said with a warm expression.

"Yes, Master," Bai Guo'er extended another obedient salute before departing from the hall.

Following her departure, a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

He finally had the materials required to refine the Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountain, and once he did that, he would only have to track down the materials for one more extreme mountain to complete the set.

He wasn't concerned about this as he had witnessed Greatnorth Essence Light in the Devilfall Valley of the human world, so he would most likely be able to easily find Greatnorth Essence Crystals there.

However, at his current cultivation base, there was no way that he would be able to descend into the human world in person. Otherwise, the power of the realm would pose a huge headache to him. As such, he would have to use the Star Defying Plate and expend a very heavy price to send a fragment of his soul back to the human world.

The soul fragment that he had been nurturing in the Origin Soul Lamp this entire time was finally going to come in useful.

At the thought of returning to the human world, places such as the Seven Mysteries Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, and Cloudfall Sect immediately sprang into his mind.

At the same time, he couldn't help but reminisce about his parents, little sister, Li Feiyu, Monarch of Soul Divergence, and other people from that distant period in his life.

......

Several months later, an earth-shattering boom rang out within a secret chamber in the Azure Origin Palace. At the center of the secret chamber was a giant crimson cauldron, within which was a small snowy white mountain with countless silver flames burning around it.

As soon as the mountain emerged from the cauldron, it immediately swelled drastically in size, and a series of white runes appeared on its surface as it released a burst of white glacial Qi.

"The Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountain is finally complete; all that's left now is the Greatnorth Essence Mountain," Han Li murmured to himself as he sat in a corner of the secret chamber.

......

A year later, there were several menacing-looking men huddled around a fire, roasting a small beast while conversing loudly with one another.

They were situated on a secluded path on the border of the Great Jin, and even though their clothes were very much worse-for-wear, all of them had bloodstained weapons placed beside them.

In a corner beside the fire was a frail man who was lying on the ground.

This was a blue-robed man who appeared to be only around 21 to 22 years of age, and his face was very pale.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his body was bound by a thick rope. There was also a wooden rod that had been sharpened on both ends bound around his mouth, and blood was flowing incessantly from the corners of his lips; it seemed that he was on the brink of death.

However, the group of men paid no heed to him and continued to converse with one another in a boisterous manner.

After some time, one of the men suddenly said, "That bastard should be dead by now, right? Someone go take a look. Hehe, to think that a frail scholar would dare to try and interfere with our business; he must have a death wish!"

"I'll go take a look. He hasn't moved for quite a while now, so he should be just about dead. If not, I'll send him on his way," another man said with a cold expression as he picked up his weapon.

"Suit yourself, but make it quick; we have to leave this area tomorrow. The entire world is in turmoil at the moment; it's not going to be easy to make a living," the first man said in a nonchalant manner.

A cold smile appeared on the second man's face, and he made his way over to the blue-robed man with weapon in hand before giving him a vicious kick.

The blue-robed man was sent flying for several feet before landing on his back, but he remained completely still, and the blood on the corners of his lips was beginning to congeal.

"He's dead. Ptui, lucky bastard, you've saved yourself some torture, that's for sure." The second man spat onto the ground before turning to return to the fire.

Right at this moment, a gust of grey wind swept forth, and a burst of sinister cackling rang out.

"Fantastic! I didn't think I would encounter such exceptional prey in such a secluded area. Once I suck away your souls, that treasure of mine will finally be successfully refined!"

"It's that demonic cultivator who's been wreaking havoc in the area! Run!" one of the men exclaimed as his expression changed drastically, and he didn't even dare to make a grab for his weapon before fleeing the scene.

Everyone else also scattered and ran for their lives in a horrified manner as well.

Thus, the blue-robed man was the only one left beside the fire.

The cackling continued, and all of a sudden, several bursts of black Qi shot forth in different directions.

Moments later, a string of bloodcurdling cries rang out in succession from those directions.

The cackling then abruptly ceased, and all of the back Qi converged above the fire before transforming into a black-robed daoist priest.

The daoist priest had a pair of small eyes that gave off a sinister appearance, and he was holding a grey crystal ball with an elated expression.

"The souls of those people contain a vast amount of baleful Qi; they must've killed many people during their lifetimes. These souls are exceptional for refining this treasure. Oh? There's someone else there whose soul hasn't scattered yet; I'll go ahead and take it as well." A hint of surprise appeared on the daoist priest's face as he spotted the blue-robed man on the ground, and he released a burst of black Qi from the crystal ball that swept directly toward the blue-robed man.

"Boom!"

In the instant that the black Qi came into contact with the blue-robed man, it abruptly exploded, sweeping up powerful shockwaves that forced the daoist priest to rush back in retreat.

"Who's there? Come out right now!" the daoist priest exclaimed in an alarmed manner, then immediately released several talismans to form several light barriers around himself while inspecting his surroundings with a wary expression.

"Judging from your aura, it looks like you're using a Devil Dao cultivation art of the lowest caliber." A male voice suddenly rang out nearby.

"Who's there?" The daoist priest hurriedly cast his gaze toward the direction that the voice had come from, only to be completely stunned by what he saw.

The blue-robed man had sat up with an indifferent expression, and the rope around his body and wooden stick in his mouth had both disappeared.

"Who are you? Did you come here for me?" the daoist priest asked in a wary manner as countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

"Did I come here for you? Hehe, you think far too highly of yourself; no one in this entire human world is important enough to deserve a visit from me," the blue-robed man said as a hint of mockery appeared on his face.

"Human world? Could it be that you're..."

"I don't have time to waste speaking with a junior like you," the blue-robed man abruptly cut off the daoist priest with a cold look in his eyes, then opened his mouth to release an azure thread.

The light barriers around the daoist priest's body were instantly destroyed, and a hole that was around as thick as a finger was blown through his glabella, upon which he collapsed to the ground before he could even make a single sound.

The blue-robed man waved a hand to draw the body of the daoist priest over to him before he laid a hand on the daoist priest's head.

Blue light flashed within his eyes as a translucent thread shot out of his glabella before vanishing into the daoist priest's head in a flash.

Moments later, he released the daoist priest, and his body collapsed to the ground again.

"So the entire Great Jin is currently in the midst of a major war. How interesting! It doesn't have anything to do with me this time, but it seems that the human world is in complete turmoil again. It's a pity that this man's only at the Foundation Establishment Stage and doesn't know a lot. I wonder how things are at the Heavenly South Region," the blue-robed man murmured to himself as he rose to his feet in an unhurried manner.

He had been possessed by Han Li's soul fragment, which had descended into the human world.

The soul fragment was only imbued with peak Nascent Soul Stage magic power, but that already granted him near invincibility in the human world.

Han Li examined his own dirty robes, then raised a hand to touch his own face, and his brows furrowed slightly.

All of a sudden, he made a hand seal, and a layer of azure light surged over his body, upon which he transformed into an ordinary-looking azure-robed young man.

After that, he rose up into the air and flew away as a streak of azure light.

......

Outside a certain giant city in the Great Jin, millions of soldiers were scaling up tall ladders with all their might, attempting to reach the top of the city wall.

In response, the opposing soldiers on the city wall were retaliating with arrows and spears to keep the enemies at bay, and the entire battle was a massive bloodbath.