Chapter 632: Return

When Han Li quietly returned to the quiet chamber, he found all the disciples still sprawled everywhere, unconscious, with no one having come to check on them.

He thought this was normal; at such a critical moment in the duel, they had no reason to pay extra attention to these disciples.

After all, no matter how good their talent, they were merely low-level disciples, and no one had time to spare for them.

The white fox had transformed into his likeness and was lying in place, feigning unconsciousness. But upon seeing Han Li return, it instantly reverted to its small fox form and leapt into his wide sleeve.

"How did it go? You got it, didn't you? No one came here—looks like Brother Dao was overly cautious!" Silver Moon chuckled softly inside his sleeve.

"Mm, I got it. But better to be overly cautious than to expose my identity," Han Li said calmly.

"But how will you explain not being dead? That might be tricky," Silver Moon shifted the topic lightly, sounding somewhat concerned.

"Explain it plainly," Han Li replied, as if the matter meant nothing to him at all.

"Plainly?" Silver Moon was startled.

"Say I bought a high-priced illusion talisman that saved my life. What's hard to explain about that? Illusion arts are inherently obscure—even highly cultivated cultivators can be deceived if they're careless," Han Li said calmly, clearly having already devised his plan.

"Excellent! That's a perfect excuse!" The white fox paused, then chuckled softly.

The rest was simple.

After more than half a day, the yellow-robed cultivator entered the quiet chamber with a gloomy expression.

Seeing all the disciples unconscious, he sighed lightly, then formed a hand seal and flicked his fingers, sending out seven or eight white beams that flew into each cultivator's body.

Clearly, Du Dong's spell to knock them out wasn't a high-level secret technique. Moments later, the disciples began to awaken one by one. Seeing the yellow-robed cultivator and noticing Du Dong and the others were gone, they immediately realized there was no danger and relaxed.

Naturally, they were greatly startled to see Han Li unharmed and among them. But Han Li promptly pulled out a self-made illusion talisman, waved it lightly before them, and used his prepared excuse to explain it away.

Indeed, few studied illusion arts deeply; no one doubted him. Even the yellow-robed cultivator, upon hearing it, merely glanced at Han Li twice in surprise and asked no further questions.

Sun Huo and the Mu woman, however, still showed a trace of suspicion.

After all, Du Dong's initial words to Han Li and his sudden violent attack had left them both stunned.

Han Li noticed their doubts but wasn't worried.

After all, they had no evidence whatsoever—they could never accuse someone based on vague suspicions.

Besides, Du Dong had tried to kill him, not try to win him over!

With the pure liquid gone and the long-haired cultivator responsible for brewing Mingqing Spirit Water either dead or missing, the ritual to cleanse the spiritual eyes was naturally canceled.

As a result, the senior figures from the three sects—Fu Daoist and others—quickly handed each disciple a magic treasure as compensation and declared the Sword Trial Assembly over, instructing all disciples to return to their respective sects.

Yet the several Core Formation cultivators leading the delegations showed no intention of leaving with them.

The disciples noticed these Core Formation cultivators all wore grim, anxious expressions. Especially the red-robed elder from Mount Yunmeng Sect and others, who looked deeply troubled—even a fool would know something major had happened during their unconsciousness.

Though filled with resentment and frustration, Mu woman and the other low-level disciples could only return to their sects in silence.

Upon returning to Luoyun Sect, Han Li and the others were immediately summoned by several senior figures, who questioned them in detail about what had occurred in the forbidden zone. Only after did they dismiss them with grim faces and issue a strict silence order.

Later, Han Li learned that the three sects' plan to lure out the traitors within their ranks had ended in utter failure, leaving them humiliated.

Not only had Du Dong and others, under the cover of the Tian Sha Sect's master possessing a body, successfully smuggled the pure liquid back to the orthodox and demonic realms, but all others besides the white-robed Confucian had escaped Xiguo safely. The white-robed Confucian, however, had been caught off guard and slain on the spot by Fu and the others.

When the possession by the Tian Sha Sect's master expired, the long-haired cultivator was captured alive by the child and taken away. He vanished without a trace, his fate unknown—whether killed or imprisoned.

The two Nascent Soul elders of Luoyun Sect and the Core Formation cultivators from the three sects were ambushed by the main forces of the Mo Dao's Qianhuan Sect and Tian Sha Sect. Several Core Formation cultivators died or were wounded; one Nascent Soul elder, surnamed Cheng, was severely injured after being attacked by multiple cultivators of the same realm. Though his life was spared, his primordial energy was grievously damaged.

This incident sent shockwaves through the three sects.

They naturally pressured the orthodox and demonic realms through the Tian Dao Sect, but both sides denied any involvement whatsoever. After prolonged bickering, they gave the three sects no explanation at all.

This left the three sects' leadership powerless.

But fortunately, the Tian Dao Alliance, through its moles within the orthodox and demonic realms, learned that although the pure liquid had been retrieved, it was either too scarce or entirely ineffective. After being applied, the Xuantian Immortal Vine remained withered, showing no sign of revival whatsoever.

This news finally allowed the three sects and other Tian Dao Alliance members to breathe a sigh of relief.

As a result, all three sides significantly heightened their vigilance. The calm atmosphere that had lasted over a hundred years suddenly grew tense again, as if conflict could erupt at any moment.

…

Meanwhile, as soon as Han Li finished reporting to the sect's senior figures, he immediately returned.

Back at his cave on Little Stone Mountain, he immediately transplanted the Spirit Eye Tree's root near the Nine-Twisted Spirit Ginseng.

After all, both were heavenly treasures; placing them close together might allow mutual nourishment.

In the following days, after briefly fending off several inquiries from fellow disciples about the Sword Trial Assembly, Han Li began intense cultivation. Unknown whether due to the Sword Trial Assembly's influence, the bottleneck in his Great Expansion Decree finally broke through in an inexplicable manner.

After a brief period of cultivation, his progress accelerated at an astonishing rate.

This filled Han Li with great joy, and he resumed cultivating the Great Expansion Decree and the Green Origin Sword Art simultaneously.

He knew well that his smooth progress in the Great Expansion Decree was likely due mostly to the effect of the Soul-Nourishing Beads around his neck.

Since the beads had been hung around his neck, his spiritual sense had steadily grown stronger—even without deliberate training—gradually and imperceptibly. This was why his cultivation of the Great Expansion Decree now improved almost daily.

It was as if the pond was already full of water; now he was merely expanding its basin and channeling the water in properly.

Moreover, whenever he cultivated the Great Expansion Decree, a faint clear energy flowed from the Soul-Nourishing Wood Beads into his Primordial Spirit, making cultivation effortless and yielding results twice as effective.

During this time, Han Li used the green liquid every few days to accelerate the growth of the Spirit Eye Tree's root.

Within just a few months, a new sapling sprouted from the root. It seemed only a matter of time before it grew as tall as the Spirit Eye Tree in the forbidden zone.

But Han Li estimated it would still take over twenty years of careful cultivation.

Still, he wasn't in a hurry. After all, reaching False Nascent Soul would take just as long.

Besides, he already had one Ding Ling Pill. Even if he missed the timing, it didn't matter.

Thinking of the black-robed youth rummaging through his storage bag and discovering the pills had vanished, Han Li couldn't help smiling inwardly.

His greatest reason for going to such lengths to obtain the Spirit Eye Tree was to brew Mingqing Spirit Water.

After all, possessing a pair of Mingqing Spiritual Eyes gave a major advantage in battle—just as his spiritual sense far surpassed that of peers, it had repeatedly granted him the upper hand in combat.

At the same time, Han Li did not abandon his alchemy practice, preparing thoroughly for the eventual brewing of the Nine-Twisted Spirit Ginseng Pill.

Thus, Han Li passed the years in intense cultivation and alchemy.

During this time, unless absolutely necessary, Han Li never left his cave.

Even during critical cultivation phases requiring seclusion, he released Silver Moon, who transformed into his likeness to deal with occasional visiting disciples, while Han Li secluded himself to cultivate.

Fortunately, Silver Moon's fox body, having consumed vast quantities of pills, advanced rapidly in cultivation, and its illusion arts grew ever more refined, never revealing a flaw.

Initially, the Mu woman had suspected Han Li, but as he remained reclusive in Luoyun Sect since the Sword Trial Assembly, showing no unusual behavior whatsoever, her suspicion gradually faded. She once again regarded him as an ordinary Qi Refining disciple, no longer treating him differently.

With this, Han Li felt even more secure staying in Luoyun Sect.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had spent over twenty years in Luoyun Sect as a Qi Refining disciple.

The day of his Nascent Soul formation was finally drawing near.

WM