Chapter 1164: Returning to Tiannan

In a moment, Han Li landed on a platform on the mountainside of a small mountain, looking at a seemingly ordinary piece of rock wall in front of him. He flicked his sleeve, and immediately a stream of green light swept over.

After a "puff" sound, the green light hit the stone wall, and a burst of light erupted.

Then, the stone wall blurred like a phantom, revealing a huge stone door several zhang high. White spiritual light flickered on the door, which was clearly reinforced with restrictions.

Han Li examined it for a few moments, raised his hand and released a flash of fire, which disappeared into the stone door in a flash.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, a pleasant and surprised voice of a woman came from inside the stone door:

"So it is Senior Han who has arrived. Please wait a moment, Senior. We, the couple, will come out to welcome you immediately."

Following this voice, after a few breaths, the white light on the stone door flashed wildly, becoming ordinary. Then a rumbling sound came, and the stone door slowly opened, and two women and one man walked out from inside.

It was precisely the couple Wen Siyue and the young girl named Tian Qin'er.

Han Li's gaze turned to the girl's face, and his heart was slightly startled.

Because the girl, who had originally been sallow and extremely thin, had now become a delicate-looking young girl, and between her eyebrows, there was faintly a bit of the charm of her mother.

It seemed that after the girl had completely purged the poison, her recuperation had been good; this should be the girl's original appearance.

"Paying respects to Senior Han! I didn't expect Senior to arrive so quickly. Siyue did not welcome you from afar, I hope Senior will forgive me!" Because Wen Siyue was more familiar with Han Li among the few, this charming young woman took the initiative to step forward and bow to Han Li, her face full of moving smiles.

"My trip was relatively smooth, I didn't encounter any setbacks, so naturally I arrived earlier than planned." Han Li waved his hand, telling the three not to be overly polite.

"However, we, the couple, have been looking forward to Senior's arrival. Senior, please come into the cave dwelling and sit." Wen Siyue smiled sweetly, then stepped aside and said cleverly.

"Hmm, that's fine. I also want to test this girl as soon as possible to see how well she has comprehended the array book I gave her. If she truly satisfies me, I will take her as my disciple." Han Li nodded, saying calmly, and then glanced at the girl again.

Tian Qin'er was looked at by Han Li like this, her face flushed, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

Wen Siyue and the middle-aged man surnamed Tian were overjoyed and hurriedly let Han Li into the cave dwelling.

Han Li stayed inside for a full day and night. During this period, the four Foundation Establishment disciples of the couple Wen Siyue also came to the cave dwelling to pay respects to Han Li and the others once. The old man among them even brought a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and they also entered the cave dwelling, but did not come out immediately.

One day later, a green rainbow shot out from the small mountain. In the escape light, faintly visible were a man and a woman. Then, after flashing a few times, the green rainbow disappeared without a trace.

One month later, in the interior of the continent, tens of millions of li away from the Chaotic Star Sea, within the Yue Kingdom of Tiannan, in a huge canyon in a wasteland, several cultivators wearing black robes were flying on artifacts at a low altitude in the canyon. Although their figures were elegant, their escape speed was extremely slow; they were clearly low-tier cultivators with low cultivation.

These black-robed cultivators flew for a period of time, then suddenly flew toward a canyon wall on one side, disappearing into an exceptionally hidden cave.

And after the few walked inside for more than ten zhang, a stone door with flashing restriction spiritual light appeared in front of them.

A black-robed big man with a fierce face appeared to be the leader. He walked to the stone door in a few steps, pinched incantations with both hands, and chanted incantations at the same time. After a good while, he raised his hand, and a dharma spell was cast, disappearing into the stone door in a flash, causing a few ripples of spiritual light to flicker.

After the stone door shook lightly, it slowly rose.

"Which junior brother from the sect has arrived?" Before the few could walk in, a lazy voice came over, and then a ball of black energy shot out from the cave, arriving in front of the big man in a flash. Then the yin energy dispersed, revealing an old man with a pale face.

"Oh, I wonder who it is, so it's Junior Brother Meng. Could it be that the disciple on duty this time is Junior Brother?" The old man's face had originally been gloomy, but upon seeing the big man, he was slightly startled, but immediately put on a smile.

This was not surprising, as the big man had the cultivation of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, while the old man was only a cultivator of the early-Foundation Establishment stage, so he naturally did not dare to be negligent.

"That's right, Senior Brother Fan! I have been ordered to come and replace Senior Brother to guard this spiritual mine. Is the entrance to the mine inside the cave?" The big man was also not polite, asking directly with an expressionless face.

"Haha, Junior Brother Meng is truly impatient. The entrance to the spiritual mine is indeed inside. However, Junior Brother only brought these few people? It seems the manpower is a bit too small, right?" The old man looked at the few people behind the big man and became somewhat strange again.

"Now our Ghost Spirit Sect is not what it used to be. Most of the disciples are used to guard against the Spirit Beast Sect and the Demon Flame Sect. These are still what I begged from the Deacon Hall with great difficulty. Fortunately, this place can be considered the sect's heartland, and it only manages some mortals, so they are enough." The big man snorted, seemingly also very dissatisfied.

"That makes sense, but Junior Brother will have to work harder in the future." Hearing the big man's words, the old man could only nod helplessly.

"Alright, Senior Brother should first take me to see the mine, let me understand the situation here before saying anything else." The big man looked toward the cave, but said so.

"That's natural. Junior Brother, follow me." The old man nodded, immediately pinched an incantation, closed the stone door again, and led the big man and his party toward the depths of the cave.

As a result, after turning left and right in the cave and walking for a short distance, a huge crack about several zhang wide appeared on the ground in front, with faint white light flickering inside, seemingly leading directly to the underground.

And at the entrance of the crack, there were two black-robed Qi Refining stage cultivators sitting cross-legged on both sides. But seeing the old man and the big man walking over, the two were startled and hurriedly came over to pay respects.

The old man waved his hand indifferently and led the big man and the others directly into the crack.

After a quarter of an hour, the old man led the big man to turn through most of the underground mine passages. These passages were dense, quite complex and cumbersome, and there were many hired strong mortal men working hard to mine spirit stones. The old man led the way while pointing around, seemingly exceptionally familiar with every inch of the place.

This was not surprising! Anyone who stayed here for more than ten years would probably recognize all the passages even with their eyes closed.

The big man listened with a gloomy expression all the way, not speaking easily.

After the few turned again, suddenly another passage appeared in front, slanting downward, seemingly leading to deeper underground.

Seeing this passage, the black-robed old man frowned, shook his head, and actually had no intention of leading the big man and the others over, but instead turned around and wanted to lead the few behind him back.

"Senior Brother Fan, where does this passage lead? Why not take us over to see?" The big man looked at this passage for a few moments, but stopped his footsteps, asking somewhat strangely.

"Many years ago, this was once a forbidden area. The sect once specifically sent some disciples to guard this place, but now it has long been abandoned. Those people have also been withdrawn." The old man replied casually.

"Forbidden area? What exactly is inside? Why was it abandoned?" The big man was even more interested upon hearing this.

"There's nothing inside, just an ancient teleportation array. However, this teleportation array has clearly been abandoned for a long time and cannot be used at all. As for why it was a forbidden area before and later canceled, I am not too clear either. However, it seems to have some relationship with Senior Uncle Wang Chan?" The old man hesitated for a moment, seemingly feeling it was of no great importance, and told the truth.

"Senior Uncle Wang, is it the original..." The big man was suddenly startled, his words stopping abruptly, seemingly extremely wary of something.

"Junior Brother just needs to know. Senior Uncle Wang's affairs are not something you and I can discuss." The old man laughed, saying with deep meaning.

"Since that's the case, can Senior Brother first take me to see it? Not to hide it from Senior Brother Fan, but I have been researching the way of arrays these past few years and am quite curious about ancient teleportation arrays." The big man was silent for a moment, but suddenly said.

"Junior Brother is researching the way of arrays? Going there is quite far, it will take quite a bit of time." The old man was stunned upon hearing this, revealing a look of strangeness.

"Senior Brother Fan, don't be surprised. I also know the principle of not being greedy for too much. But I have encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation, and I can only use various methods to stimulate it. Perhaps in researching the way of arrays, I might just happen to understand it." The big man sighed and said.

"Since that's the case, then I will lead the way for Junior Brother. However, if you really want to research this teleportation array, it's best to find another time." Hearing the big man say this, the old man could only say so.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on the big man's face.

So the party of a few walked toward the passage ahead.

In the blink of an eye, the few entered a deeper underground passage.

After walking for the time it takes to eat a meal along the winding path, under the old man's lead, they entered a stalactite cave that extended in all directions.

This place was like a small maze, but following some obvious markings, the few finally stopped in a stalactite cave that was not small in area.

Because in the corner of this cave, there was a hexagonal, simple and ancient teleportation array.

"Junior Brother, this is it!" The old man pointed to the ancient teleportation array and said to the big man.

"Tsk tsk, this is the ancient teleportation array. I have only seen some rough introductions in some classics before, but I have never had the opportunity to see the real thing."

Seeing the teleportation array, the big man's eyes lit up immediately, then he walked over in a few steps, circled around it a few times, and then looked at it intently.

The old man stroked his beard, looking at it with a smile on the side without speaking.

As for the few low-tier Qi Refining stage disciples, although they were also somewhat curious, they naturally did not dare to stand side by side with the big man, merely standing honestly at the entrance.

"I heard people say that this teleportation array is actually intact. The reason it cannot be activated is just because the array on the other side has mostly had problems. Otherwise, I would really like to know where this teleportation array leads. However, there is plenty of time; Junior Brother will be guarding this place for more than ten years, so there is plenty of time to research it. Let's go back now." After the big man had watched for a good while, the old man felt it was about time, said a few words casually, and urged the big man to set off back.

"Go back? I don't think so. This place is so secluded, Senior Brother should stay here forever." The big man, with his back to the old man, did not even raise his head, but a strange language came out of his mouth.

The old man was startled upon hearing this, and immediately felt a chill in his heart, but before he could react, he felt a chill on his neck.

A sword light flashed by, and his head rolled down.

The old man's headless body swayed and fell to the ground!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1165 =====