Chapter 970: Visitors

After that shout, the slight feeling of stifling frustration Han Li had felt since the passing of Grandmaster Elder Dayan seemed to dissipate somewhat.

He was about to cast a spell to collect the Heavenly Thunder, so naturally, he did not want other cultivators present to get in his way.

After exhaling a long breath, he patted his storage pouch, and several spirit flags of different colors appeared in his hand. With a single wave, these flags shot out in all directions, vanishing into the ground in a flash, leaving no trace behind.

Han Li looked up at the lightning constantly flashing in the sky, his mouth twitching slightly. He immediately activated his spiritual light, and his body floated into the air, rising to a height of over thirty zhang above the ground.

He formed a peculiar hand seal with both hands, and a series of low, deep incantations began to emanate from his mouth.

Suddenly, lights of various colors began to flicker below.

After a few muffled "pop" sounds, several pillars of light shot up from the ground, transforming into several giant flags as thick as a bowl, standing motionless on the ground.

Han Li did not pause his incantations for even a fraction of a second. Under the sound of his chanting, the flags below released wisps of spiritual energy, and a Spirit-Gathering Array with a diameter of over ten zhang gradually took shape.

Amidst the light, various runes rolled endlessly within the array, and the entire formation was now fully activated.

And the moment the array appeared, the lightning in the high altitude nearby, which had previously seemed unreachable, suddenly seemed to be drawn by something. The thunderclaps became increasingly rapid, and the electric light gradually approached Han Li's position.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and temporarily paused his incantations. He flipped his palm, and a long-necked jade bottle, several inches high, appeared in his hand.

This bottle was a magic treasure he had specially refined for the purpose of collecting Heavenly Thunder.

With a gentle toss, the small bottle was offered into mid-air, and a cyan spell technique was cast, striking the bottle.

After a few flips, the jade bottle stabilized with its mouth facing upward, remaining motionless.

At this moment, Han Li rubbed his hands together and flicked them upward simultaneously. Two thick golden arcs shot out, striking the bottom of the jade bottle at the same time.

After a thunderous boom, a bizarre scene occurred.

The jade bottle trembled slightly, and the two golden arcs vanished into the bottle without a trace. Then, Han Li let out a low shout and pointed a finger into the air.

With a "pssh" sound, a golden arc sprayed out from the bottle's mouth, transforming into a lightning spear several zhang long that flickered endlessly above the bottle, pointing directly at the pitch-black sky.

And at that very instant, a silver electric arc suddenly flashed down from the sky, striking the golden spear perfectly.

The golden spear trembled slightly, and the silver arc immediately followed its momentum, vanishing into the bottle in the blink of an eye.

Just like that, one electric arc after another was drawn in by the array, one after another, and easily collected into the jade bottle by the Evil-Warding Divine Thunder.

An hour later, after the jade bottle collected another thick electric arc, it began to emit a rumbling sound like a tsunami.

Hearing this, Han Li could not help but reveal a look of joy on his face, and he reached out to grab the empty air.

The golden lightning spear detached itself, and the jade bottle fell from the air, being captured into his hand.

Han Li flicked his sleeve rapidly toward the sky, and another bottle of similar style was offered into the air. The golden spear was inserted once more, and he continued to collect the Heavenly Thunder into the bottle.

Only then did he have the leisure to carefully examine the bottle in his hand.

He saw that the object was trembling incessantly amidst low humming sounds, and blinding silver light flickered within the bottle's mouth, looking as if it could burst out at any moment.

With a "slap," a golden talisman was pasted onto it, and the sound from within the bottle ceased abruptly, the silver light instantly dimming.

Han Li capped the bottle and carefully stored it in his storage pouch.

Then, he continued to look up at everything in the sky.

Half a day later, after collecting four bottles of Heavenly Thunder, the thunderstorm in the sky showed no signs of abating; instead, the surroundings were a hazy yellow, with the rain showing signs of becoming even heavier.

Han Li pondered to himself that after collecting this last bottle from the air, he could stop. This lightning was enough to convert into thunder-fire for refining spiritual materials.

Just then, his expression shifted, and he suddenly turned his head to look at the horizon on one side.

He saw light flickering in the dim distance of the sky, and a white rainbow suddenly appeared, flying toward him.

His eyes flickered twice, and his expression became solemn.

Below, the Spirit-Gathering Array was radiating light in all directions, and Han Li was floating in mid-air, shrouded in cyan light. Above his head, silver electric arcs were flashing incessantly, gathering at one point.

Such a scene was extremely eye-catching.

The owner of the white rainbow naturally saw all of this. After the escape light flickered a few times, it flew straight toward Han Li. A moment later, after stopping over thirty zhang away from Han Li, the light converged, revealing a woman in palace attire.

This woman was petite with delicate features, and her bright eyes were clear and gentle, as if she were in the prime of her youth. But what was astonishing was that the palace attire she wore was made of some unknown rare material; not only did it shimmer with silver light, dazzling and brilliant, but several wisps of milky-white cold air drifted around her, making the woman appear like a fairy in the clouds, devoid of any worldly aura.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over her, and his heart skipped a beat. This person was actually a Core Formation mid-stage cultivator, just like himself.

After the woman in palace attire let her gaze linger on Han Li, she smiled charmingly:

"This concubine is Bai Bai Yaoyi of North Abyssal Island. Is Fellow Daoist also here by the invitation of Fellow Daoist Fu?"

The woman's voice was melodious and soft, extremely pleasant to the ear.

"North Abyssal Island? Could Fellow Daoist Bai be a cultivator from the North Night Small Extreme Palace?" Han Li was startled and asked in surprise.

"This little girl is indeed an external affairs elder of the Small Extreme Palace. Our palace is located in a remote area; I didn't expect Fellow Daoist to know of our sect. May I ask for your honorable name?" The woman in palace attire revealed a faint smile.

"My surname is Han, just a loose cultivator from overseas. I did indeed come by the invitation of Fellow Daoist Fu. The name of the Small Extreme Palace has long been like thunder to my ears." Han Li's expression returned to calm.

"An overseas cultivator! Does Fellow Daoist Han know the Three Immortals of the Overseas? Do you have any connection with those three fellow daoists?" Bai Bai Yaoyi's eyes darted around, and she asked with a faint smile.

"I do not know them. I rarely interact with other cultivators and have always been cultivating in seclusion on my island." Han Li replied without hesitation.

"So that's how it is. It was this concubine's presumption. Fellow Daoist is collecting Heavenly Thunder; does he need Bai Yaoyi's assistance?"

"Many thanks for Fellow Daoist's kindness. I have already collected almost enough. This is the last bottle."

"In that case, this concubine will meditate on the peak for a while."

Hearing Han Li say this, Bai Bai Yaoyi did not force the issue. After her escape light circled once, she flew straight toward another giant rock on the peak and landed.

As soon as she appeared and landed, she raised her hand and released an umbrella-shaped spiritual tool that shot into the air.

After this object spun slightly in the high altitude, it immediately released a large expanse of hazy white light, blocking all the wind and rain within a radius of several dozen zhang. Only then did the woman sit down cross-legged with composure.

A cold light flashed on her hand, and an object the size of a palm appeared in it.

Han Li glanced at it and clearly saw what it was. It was actually a piece of white jade that looked as crystalline as snow, flickering with cold light, translucent and clear, vastly different from ordinary beautiful jade.

"Ice Jade."

His thoughts shifted, and he immediately recognized this rare material. That bottle of Cold Marrow he had obtained by chance was produced from ten-thousand-year Ice Jade.

At this moment, the woman in palace attire had already placed the Ice Jade flat on her hands and closed her beautiful eyes to enter meditation.

It seemed that this woman's cultivation technique was not purely ice-attribute, but also of the yin-cold variety. Otherwise, she would not be using the cold power of this jade to cultivate. This was somewhat similar to Han Li taking Snow Soul Pills. However, no matter how good the quality of this Ice Jade was, it could never compare to the astonishing efficacy of the Snow Soul Pills.

Han Li remained calm on the surface, but subconsciously became a bit more cautious toward this woman.

Thinking of how the North Night Small Extreme Palace would rather fight high-tier demonic beasts every few generations than hand over the Cold Marrow, one could see how much the palace valued this item. If this woman knew that the palace's supreme treasure was in his possession, it would undoubtedly cause a massive amount of trouble.

Thinking this to himself, Han Li withdrew his gaze and stared at the small bottle in the air, his face expressionless.

Not long after, when the fifth small bottle was filled with Heavenly Thunder, Han Li immediately retracted his magic treasure, flew down slowly from the air, and landed in the middle of the Spirit-Gathering Array.

Afterward, he cast a few spell techniques, striking the nearby spirit flags. Suddenly, the array's barrier changed, propping up a hazy cyan light curtain that protected him within.

Han Li also sat down within the array, closing his eyes to rest while facing the woman in palace attire from afar. With this woman present, he certainly wouldn't go about refining any spiritual materials.

With this, the mountain peak became quiet, save for the sound of thunder and wind and rain.

The heavy rain lasted for a full day and night before gradually disappearing. When the scorching sun appeared in the sky once more, the air immediately became humid and hot, and miasma slowly rose from the ground, once again shrouding the entire mountain range.

Various insects and ants that had retreated to their nests also crawled out from the ground one after another.

Han Li released his spiritual sense slowly without a ripple in his heart, sensing everything within a radius of several dozen miles. Wherever his spiritual sense reached, whether it was the struggle for survival among insects and ants or flowers and fruits falling to the ground, everything was transmitted clearly to his sea of spiritual sense.

He sat there like an old monk in meditation, not moving at all.

Occasionally, low-tier cultivators would accidentally wander onto the mountain. Once they saw the astonishing cultivation bases of Han Li and Bai Bai Yaoyi, there was no need for the two to say anything; these cultivators would change color in fear and flee in a panic, not daring to linger for even a moment.

Thus, Han Li and the woman in palace attire sat there for three days and three nights.

On the morning of the fourth day, more high-tier cultivators finally arrived at the main peak.

This time, the person who arrived was a giant of a man like an iron tower, with an extremely ugly appearance and a pitch-black, shiny body.

It was unknown what cultivation technique this person practiced; when he arrived, he was actually stepping on a giant cyan turtle, riding a gust of evil wind to this place.

As soon as the giant saw Han Li and Bai Bai Yaoyi, he let out a loud laugh and, without a word, found another spot on the peak to sit down. However, he had no intention of closing his eyes to rest; instead, he took out a golden book from his bosom and began to shake his head and read it.

Such a bookworm-like action was truly vastly different from the giant's physique and appearance, appearing somewhat comical. Han Li and Bai Bai Yaoyi, however, acted as if they didn't see it, just sitting there quietly.

But in reality, Han Li's brows were already furrowed.

This giant was also a Core Formation mid-stage cultivator. It seemed that the purpose of the old man surnamed Fu inviting them here was truly extraordinary; it appeared that even early-stage cultivators weren't qualified to participate.

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