Chapter 182: Heavenly Worship
"I see. Your explanation makes sense, but why is it that you were able to join the Transient Guild with your cultivation base. Also, you mentioned that this mask and the token were passed down for generations in your clan, is that right?"
"This mask originally belonged to an ancestor of our Bai Clan, the same one who once served as an inner sect elder of the Blaze Dragon Dao. He was also the reason why our Bai Clan was able to become the immortal clan controlling the Hundred Blessings Nation from the shadows. As for the token, that belonged to him as well," Bai Suyuan explained.
"In that case, why didn't you go to the Blaze Dragon Dao to search for that ancestor of yours and get him to help you slay the heavenly devil?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"According to my grandfather, that ancestor of ours suddenly disappeared without a trace several thousand years ago. Several Body Integration Stage elders of our clan had been sent out to search for him, but all of them disappeared as well.
“As a result, our Bai Clan gradually fell into decline, and it was exactly because of this that my great-grandfather prematurely attempted a breakthrough to the True Immortal Stage, ultimately resulting in him being possessed by that heavenly devil," Bai Suyuan sighed.
Han Li contemplated Bai Suyuan's story for a moment, then said, "There's nothing that can back up your claims at the moment. I have to see Bai Songshi for myself to verify whether he's actually been possessed by a heavenly devil before I decide if I want to carry out the mission."
At the moment, he still didn't completely trust Bai Suyuan.
In his eyes, the fact that a late-Deity Transformation cultivator like her was able to escape from a True Immortal for all these years was a clear indication that there was more to her than met the eye, so he was naturally slightly wary of her.
Bai Suyuan hesitated momentarily, then said, "I suppose that's reasonable. The Hundred Blessings Nation's decennial heavenly worship ceremony is being held early next month. The emperor and all of his officials will be in attendance, and they'll be traveling collectively to the Grand Loft Mountain for the ceremony.
“Bai Songshi will naturally be among them as well, and that would be the best opportunity to strike as the Grand Loft Mountain is far away from all mortal cities."
Han Li nodded in response, expressing his silent approval of this plan.
Bai Suyuan's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, and she said, "By the way, I still don't know your name, Fellow Daoist."
"My name is Li Feiyu."
……
The Grand Loft Mountain Range situated in the eastern region of the Hundred Blessings Nation had always been renowned for its beauty and majesty, and the Grand Loft Mountain in the mountain range was the tallest mountain in the entire nation. It had always been known as the Eastern Divine Mountain, and it held an extremely lofty position in the hearts of all of the nation's citizens. It was said that a True Immortal had once ascended from that very mountain.
The scholars and poets of the Hundred Blessings Nation had also always taken pride in scaling the Grand Loft Mountain and dedicating poems and odes to the majestic mountain. Even to this day, the mountain was still riddled with poems that had been engraved onto the rock faces, attracting many tourists every year to see those poems for themselves.
However, starting from a month ago, the entirety of the Grand Loft Mountain had been surrounded by large numbers of armored soldiers, completely sealing it off to everyone, regardless of whether they were common folk or nobility.
No one in the Hundred Blessings Nation had any complaints about this as they knew that the heavenly worship ceremony was about to commence.
Even though the mountain had been sealed off, countless people had gathered at the foot of the mountain from the nearby counties in the days leading up to the ceremony.
On the day of the official ceremony, even before first light had arrived, the official road leading up to the Grand Loft Mountain was already lined with people wanting to witness the emperor in person.
As soon as the designated hour arrived, the carriages of the emperor and the officials made their way out of the imperial palace, traveling toward the Grand Loft Mountain while escorted by the imperial guard.
On the summit of the Grand Loft Mountain was a large round altar, atop which stood a table and an incense burner. There was a damask red carpet draped over the ground, while many officials in ceremonial robes were gathered around the altars, waiting with their hands clasped in front of them and reverent looks on their faces.
Among them was an ordinary-looking middle-aged official whose eyes were constantly darting around, inspecting his surroundings.
This person was none other than Han Li, who had managed to sneak into the ranks of the officials, while Bai Suyuan had concealed herself outside of the altar.
After some observation, Han Li discovered that aside from the dozen or so Nascent Soul and Foundation Establishment cultivators among the patrolling soldiers present on the mountain summit, the high official of the Ministry of Rites standing beside him was also a Deity Transformation cultivator.
Han Li knew that these people had most likely been planted into the imperial court by the Bai Clan in secret.
After waiting for a few hours, the emperor's carriage finally arrived on the summit of the Grand Loft Mountain, followed by a procession of other carriages.
The emperor appeared to have only been around 20 years of age, and he was helped down from his carriage by a eunuch. However, instead of immediately making his way to the altar, he stopped beside his carriage, seemingly waiting for something.
Moments later, the carriages behind him also arrived on the mountain summit one after another, and the door of the carriage immediately following the emperor's swung open.
There was a white-haired elderly man in a purple robe inside, and he reached out a hand before making his way out of the carriage in a shaky manner, assisted by a couple of servants.
The man had an extremely geriatric appearance. He had a pair of murky eyes, and his face was riddled with wrinkles. There were several stray strands of white hair drifting in front of his forehead, and his body was severely hunched over. It seemed that even a slightly strong breeze would be able to knock him down.
A faint smile appeared on the emperor's face as he slowly made his way to the elderly man's side, then accompanied him toward the altar, followed quickly by all of the other officials.
Standing among the crowd, a hint of barely detectable blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as his gaze swept over the elderly man, and just that single glance alone was enough for him to tell him that this man was the imperial preceptor, Bai Songshi.
Bai Songshi was putting on the façade of a frail old man, and he had done a very good job of concealing his own aura, but he was naturally unable to fool Han Li's spiritual sense, and on the surface, he didn't indeed appear to have been a Grand Ascension cultivator.
Aside from the fact that he was intentionally suppressing his own aura and cultivation base, Han Li didn't find anything else worthy of note about him.
The emperor and Bai Songshi slowly made their way up the staircase toward the altar, while the other officials stopped at the foot of the altar.
While passing by Han Li and the other officials, Bai Songshi's footsteps faltered ever so slightly, and he took what appeared to have been a casual glance in a certain direction outside of the altar out of the corner of his eye. A faint gleam flashed through his murky eyes, but it was gone in an instant, and he continued to make his way toward the center of the altar as if nothing had happened.
The ceremony commenced under the watchful eye of a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Rites, while Han Li was silently contemplating how to proceed.
Right at this moment, Bai Suyuan's voice suddenly rang out in his mind, and she was sounding a little frantic. "Fellow Daoist Li, why have you still not done anything? I'm sure that heavenly devil has already discovered me at this point. Have you been fooled by that heavenly devil's façade?"
Han Li lowered his head to look down at his own shadow, then asked internally, "Fellow Daoist Mo Guang, can you take a look at that man for me?"
A brief moment later, Mo Guang's voice rang out in his mind. "He's done a fair good job of disguising himself, but as far as I can tell, he is indeed an Extrarealm Heavenly Devil."
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
At this point, the emperor had already offered up his three customary sticks of incense to the altar and had returned to the side of his carriage.
Meanwhile, as the head of all of the imperial court's officials, Bai Songshi had been tasked with reciting the heavenly worship oration on the emperor's behalf. His voice was hoarse and strained, and he really did sound like an old man who was struggling just to speak.
Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly strode forward and emerged from the crowd.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites around him were stunned by this insolent gesture, and they hurriedly called out to stop him, but before they could do anything, he had already vanished on the spot.
In the next instant, he appeared at the center of the altar, and with a sweep of his sleeve, a gust of fierce azure wind was released, sweeping up all of the officials, including the emperor, before carrying them down to the foot of the mountain.
The cultivators concealed among the mortals were trying to break out of the gust of azure wind with all their might, but they were completely powerless to do so and could only look on helplessly as they were carried down the mountain.
Bai Songshi ceased his chanting as he turned to face Han Li. "So you're the one that the girl has sought out to kill me?"
At the same time, his murky eyes instantly became incredibly clear, and his hunched back had also become ramrod straight. He smoothed down the strands of stray hair in front of his forehead, and all of his geriatric frailty had vanished in an instant, replaced by a powerful and domineering aura.
Han Li offered no response as a cold smile appeared on his face, and he launched himself forward as he threw a punch directly at Bai Songshi's head.
Bai Songshi's eyelids twitched slightly as he detected the immense aura that had erupted out of Han Li's body, and he immediately shot back several hundred feet in retreat.
As a result, Han Li's fist missed its target and struck the altar instead.
A resounding boom rang out as the entire altar was destroyed, reduced to a pile of rubble and dust.
Around a dozen streaks of light appeared around Han Li one after another, each of which contained a cultivator who was glowering at Han Li with furious expressions.
An azure-robed elderly man stabbed a finger in Han Li's direction as he yelled, "How dare you attack our patriarch, you insolent cur!"
After that initial punch, Han Li didn't unleash any further attacks. Instead, he merely observed Bai Songshi from afar while ignoring everyone around him.
The cultivators that had surrounded him were all from the Bai Clan, and even the most powerful one among them was only at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, so he naturally wasn't going to target them.
Right at this moment, a slender figure shot forth from afar before descending onto the destroyed altar, revealing herself to be none other than Bai Suyuan.
"Stop! This is Senior Li, a cultivator that I implored to come and eradicate this heavenly devil. Don't be fooled by that devilish creature!" Bai Suyuan yelled in a frantic voice.
The azure-robed elderly man erupted into a fit of fury as he rushed directly toward Bai Suyuan. "Silence, you foul wench! Not only have you killed your grandfather, you're now slandering the head of our clan! You are the only devilish creature here!"
Han Li could see what was happening out of the corner of his eye, but he paid that no heed as he made his way toward Bai Songshi.
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