Chapter 2483

Half a year later, near some unknown ruins in Jingzhou of the Tiannan Yue Kingdom, a man in a blue robe stood at the end of a small path, gazing at a broken stone wall before him, lost in thought without moving.

It was clear that these ruins had existed here for who knows how long, not only were various places overgrown with waist-high weeds and shrubs, but some broken stone walls were even covered in layers of black-green moss.

On the stone wall before the blue-robed man, the occasionally exposed gray-white parts faintly bore a damaged corner of the relief character "Han".

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the sound of footsteps came from the small path behind the blue-robed man; moments later, a husband and wife leading a young boy laughing and talking emerged from around the bend.

The couple were not very old, appearing to be in their early thirties; the man had dark skin and thick limbs, while the woman was somewhat pretty but had a slightly reddish complexion.

Both bore the marks of wind and frost on their faces, and the bamboo basket they carried held some incense and candles and similar items—just an ordinary rural couple—but upon seeing someone ahead, they both froze in surprise.

As for the boy, who looked about seven or eight, he was unusually cute, with dark eyes that hinted at a touch of liveliness, and he regarded the stranger before him with curious eyes.

"This... this young master, may I ask who you are..." the man hesitated slightly, then still brought his wife and boy forward and asked with a slight stammer.

Although the person before them was only seen from behind, it was clearly evident that he was a learned man from those great lands, causing this rural man who rarely left home to naturally feel a deep sense of awe.

"It's nothing, I am surnamed Han, and I have come here to pay respects to the Han family ancestral shrine of years past." The blue-robed man replied lightly, then finally turned around; his face was ordinary and common, yet between his brows and eyes there was actually a faint resemblance of three parts to the man of the couple behind him.

"Young master, you are also surnamed Han—it seems you are a certain branch of the Han family that drifted outward in those days. I heard from my great-grandfather that the Han family once flourished over a thousand years ago, with many descendants scattered abroad, and even long ago someone came here to pay respects. But in recent years, it has become rare to see other branches of the Han family come here." Upon hearing this, the man in his thirties was not overly surprised, but instead showed a hint of joy as he spoke.

"Yes, after all these years, generation after generation has passed, and likely these branch members have nearly forgotten that this place is the origin of the Han family, so why would they come here to pay respects? On the contrary, you have done well—actually willing to remain here without ever leaving the vicinity." The blue-robed man spoke with a hint of approval to the couple.

"Hehe, as my great-grandfather said, their generation also had thoughts of leaving, but they truly could not bear to leave the Han family's former prosperous land, and I heard that our Han ancestors once produced immortals; if our branch also left, when the immortal ancestors return, they might truly not find us descendants, so we abandoned that idea." The Han-surnamed man spoke honestly upon hearing this.

"Immortal ancestors, hehe. I too have heard of this rumor, but this is from thousands of years ago, so it probably cannot be taken as true." The blue-robed man spoke noncommittally.

"I don't know about that, but the elders all say so. Moreover, during the great sacrifice, my great-grandfather once produced what was said to be the sword sheath of the divine sword left by the immortal ancestor, which should still have some credibility." The Han-surnamed man said with a grin.

"Divine sword sheath?" The blue-robed man raised his eyebrows slightly, looking somewhat surprised.

"Yes. As the elders say, that divine sword had always hung in the ancestral shrine, and in the past several times it had rescued our Han family from extermination disasters; but once it was used up, the sword turned into countless golden lights and vanished, leaving only the sheath still existing in the world, though it no longer possesses any divine power. And it has always been kept by our branch. However, precisely because the divine sword is gone, the Han family eventually declined rapidly in another great disaster afterward, and the remaining clan members were forced to scatter east and west." The Han-surnamed man, for some reason, felt the person before him was very approachable, and without hesitation poured out everything he knew.

"I see, all this I was not really aware of. But a family's rise and fall is normal, unavoidable by anyone. Is this your child? He looks quite clever. What is his name?" Upon hearing this, the blue-robed man sighed lightly, but his gaze shifted, sweeping over the boy's face beside the couple, and he asked casually.

"Hehe, this is my third son, Han Ming. Come, quickly kowtow to your clan uncle!" Upon hearing the praise, the Han-surnamed man was delighted and immediately pulled the boy from behind and said.

Although the boy was young, he was not shy at all; he actually immediately rushed to the blue-robed man and kowtowed twice with a "dong" sound, called out "clan uncle," and then stood up again.

"Good, truly a fine child. Since this child can meet me, it is also a fated connection. In that case, I have something to give him; if he truly is a fortunate person, he may yet encounter a great opportunity, and if not, it can still ensure him a long life of a hundred years." The blue-robed man instantly saw that the boy also had spiritual roots, though only an ordinary kind, yet it stirred his heart, and he spoke these words.

Afterward, he flipped his hand, and a crystalline jade tablet suddenly appeared in his palm; after lightly inscribing a spell upon it, he took a red string, threaded it through, bowed slightly, and directly hung it around the boy's neck.

A strange scene appeared!

The jade tablet first burst forth with a great white light, then became blurred, and suddenly, together with the red string, it vanished from the boy's neck.

Upon seeing this, the Han-surnamed couple were naturally startled; after raising their heads, they saw before them an empty expanse—no trace of any person remained.

"Oh my goodness, could it be that we saw a ghost in broad daylight!"

Not only did the Han-surnamed man stare wide-eyed, but the woman beside him was so frightened she cried out.

A few days later, the matter of Han Heizi encountering a ghost in broad daylight spread through several nearby small villages, giving many gossiping village women a good topic, and it continued for several months before finally no one spoke of it.

But no one knew that the boy named Han Ming would, after several months, unknowingly activate the secret within the jade tablet, suddenly leave home, and in the years that follows, relying on the power of this tablet, directly become a disciple of a Nascent Soul elder of the Luoyun Sect, and ultimately become a renowned great cultivator, causing the Han family to flourish once again.

……

Thousands of years passed, and the once somewhat lively outskirts of the Zhu Mo Valley, after various spiritual medicines and objects had been completely harvested, had become utterly desolate, with no one willing to venture in.

But on this day, a green shadow disregarded the various remaining restrictions and some perilous hazards in the valley and charged straight in.

After another half day, the Zhu Mo Valley suddenly erupted with a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering tremendous roar, causing the ground outside the valley to tremble; then a piercing green rainbow pierced through the heavens and shot out, flashing a few times before vanishing without a trace beyond the nine heavens.

Such a great commotion naturally startled the several medium and small sects stationed nearby, which immediately dispatched disciples to investigate.

When these people arrived at the site of the incident in the valley, they were all greatly startled.

They saw that the mountain peak that had originally blocked the inside and outside of the Zhu Mo Valley had completely vanished without a trace, and in its place remained only an enormous pit, from which faint silver-white light threads sprayed outward.

"Arctic Elemental Light"

Some well-informed sect cultivators immediately recognized the origin of these silver-white light threads and exclaimed in surprise; many then hurriedly entered the pit, hoping to gather some Arctic Elemental Crystals.

But unfortunately, even after searching hundreds of times, these people found only a dozen or so Arctic Elemental Crystals, and for this reason the sect cultivators even had a minor conflict.

The green shadow who did this was naturally Han Li, who had just rushed over from Jingzhou of the Yue Kingdom.

He used his immense divine power to extract all the Arctic Elemental Crystals hidden underground in the Zhu Mo Valley; in the mortal realm, there was nothing left for him to linger over, so he immediately found a secluded cave nearby and began to set up an extraordinarily complex magic formation.

This return, because he needed to carry the obtained Arctic Elemental Crystals across the boundary back with him, was even more difficult than when he descended to the lower realm, so he had to rely on the power of the formation.

After several hours, the formation was finally completed.

Han Li immediately sat cross-legged at the center of the formation, made hand seals, and a huge five-colored disc transformed into a full moon and flew out from his body.

The entire formation also buzzed continuously as it activated, and streams of spiritual light surged wildly from within, completely engulfing Han Li's figure.

After a moment, with a thunderous boom, an incredibly thick milky-white light pillar shot up into the sky, piercing through to over ten thousand feet in height before flashing and vanishing.

At the same time, Han Li, who had been sitting cross-legged in the formation, had his body surrounded by a coiling green light, then suddenly restored to the appearance of a blue-robed scholar, and after his body went limp, he collapsed in the formation without making a sound.

……

In the Boundless Sea of the Spirit Realm, in the secret chamber of the Qingyuan Palace, Han Li, who had been in secluded meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, and before him on the futon appeared out of nowhere a pale yellow storage ring.

Looking at this object, Han Li's face showed a satisfied expression.

With these Arctic Elemental Crystals, his long-desired Five Extremes Mountain of Elemental Union could finally be refined, and together with that True Soul Pill, he believed that even if he now faced the tribulation of ascension, there would be a certain chance of success.

Of course, to be safe, he himself still needed to complete the third layer of the Spirit Refining Technique, and with the aid of the Vast Spirit Dao Body, to also cultivate several immortal realm techniques such as the Five Vessels Cultivating Origin Technique.

In that case, his ascension to the Spirit Realm would have a much greater chance of success.

Han Li silently pondered in his heart, unable to conceal a hint of excitement. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)