Chapter 198: Extraordinary Luck
Several days passed by in a flash.
There was a secluded snow-covered valley in the eastern part of the Blaze Dragon Dao, and it had always been very rarely frequented due to its close proximity to the Snowmelt Forest.
There were many cedar trees that were over 1,000 feet tall growing in the valley, and whenever there was any snowfall, the trees would be completely covered in snow, giving them the appearance of pristine white snowy pagodas from afar.
At this moment, there were thunderclaps ringing out incessantly within the valley, interspersed by the sound of snapping tree trunks and branches.
Due to the soundwaves, the snow that had been accumulating on the slopes on either side of the valley began tumbling down into the center of the valley, eventually culminating in a violent avalanche.
Due to the sheer volume of accumulated snow, the avalanche only gradually subsided after it had spilled all the way out of the valley, and there were still countless particles of fine, powdery snow drifting through the air.
Right at this moment, a streak of azure light flew down from the heavens, landing at the edge of the valley before fading to reveal Han Li in his inner sect elder robes.
Yet another rumbling thunderclap rang out, and Han Li cast his gaze deep into the snowy valley to find a massive pillar of silver lightning erupting into the sky.
"Looks like I've come to the right place," he murmured to himself, then flipped a hand over to produce a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
A burst of purple light appeared around him, and his body gradually became more and more indistinct until it disappeared altogether.
Inside the snowy valley, the avalanche had snapped countless cedar trees, and there were broken trunks and branches littered throughout the snow.
On an elevated stone cliff in the deepest part of the snowy valley was a thin dark-skinned young man. He was looking directly up ahead with a bright gleam in his eyes, and it was none other than Ye Feng, who had engaged in an altercation with Han Li just a few days ago at the Beast Rearing Fields.
At this moment, countless arcs of silver lightning were surging incessantly over his body, and it was clear that he was in the process of cultivating a very powerful lightning secret technique.
Everything in a radius of several thousand feet around him, regardless of whether it be the cedar trees or the exposed stone ground, were all charred black with plumes of white smoke rising up into the air.
Ye Feng couldn't help but burst into elated laughter as he could feel that his lightning powers had become even more formidable.
However, his laughter had only just begun to ring out when he was suddenly completely rooted to the spot, and all of the lightning surging over his body also vanished in a flash.
Immediately thereafter, a burst of space fluctuations emerged ahead of him, and Han Li appeared out of thin air before bringing his index and middle fingers together and pressing them against Ye Feng's glabella.
At the same time, mesmerizing blue light was glowing within Han Li's eyes, and he was using a soul search technique on Ye Feng
Back at the Beast Rearing Fields, he had already planted a soul mark on Ye Feng.
However, he had been busy studying the Formless True Axis Scripture these past few days, while Ye Feng had also remained in his cave abode the entire time. Only on this occasion, where Ye Feng was testing out his lightning powers, did Han Li finally get the opportunity to swoop in.
As the soul search progressed, Han Li's expression was displaying slight changes. Initially, his expression was quite wary, but that was soon followed by a look of a surprise, then transitioned into a wry smile.
Moments later, the blue light in his eyes gradually faded, and he removed his fingertips from Ye Feng's glabella as he remarked, "You've really had some extraordinary luck. Seeing as you played no part in what happened to me 300 years ago, I'll let you be, but it's about time that you returned what's rightfully mine."
He reached out and removed the storage bracelet from Ye Feng's wrist as he spoke, then inspected it momentarily before stowing it away.
After that, he rose up once again as a streak of azure light and vanished into the distance in a flash.
Following Han Li's departure, Ye Feng slowly returned to his senses, and he was finally able to close his mouth. His cheeks were a little sore from having his mouth agape for so long, and there was a disoriented look in his eyes, clearly indicating that he had no recollection of what had just happened.
However, a panicked look then appeared on his face as he noticed his own bare wrist, and he hurriedly scrambled to his feet, frantically rummaging all over his own body before releasing his spiritual sense to scour his surroundings.
A short while later, a heart-wrenching cry of despair rang out within the valley.
……
Meanwhile, Han Li returned to his cave abode without pause, then made his way straight into the secret chamber. On the way, Meng Qianqian extended a joyful curtsey to him, but he completely failed to notice, leaving the girl feeling dejected for quite some time.
After taking a seat at the center of the secret chamber, he immediately pulled out the storage bracelet, then refined it briefly before producing an egg-sized golden ball from inside.
At first glance, the golden ball didn't appear to have been remarkable in any way, but through his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to see that the ball was riddled with extremely faint yet intricate patterns, which were interconnected to form a series of mysterious images.
Furthermore, the ball was giving off an extremely familiar aura.
He held the golden ball on the palm of his hand as blue light flashed within his eyes, and a spiritual sense thread emerged from his glabella before slowly entering the ball.
The golden ball shuddered slightly before all of the patterns on its surface lit up in unison, filling the entire secret chamber with dazzling golden radiance.
Immediately thereafter, several deep crevices split open on the ball as if it were a mechanical, modular unit, and a series of thin metal limbs emerged from those crevices as it transformed into a palm-sized golden crab.
"Fellow Daoist Xie," Han Li hurriedly called out at the sight of the golden crab, yet he received no response.
However, moments later, a familiar voice rang out within his consciousness.
"Fellow Daoist Han... You've finally found me..."
Even through spiritual sense communication, Daoist Xie's voice was still extremely feeble, sounding as if it could falter into silence at any moment.
An indescribable feeling welled up in Han Li's heart upon hearing this.
Han Li suppressed his emotions as he asked, "Do you recall what happened 300 years ago, Fellow Daoist Xie? How have you become like this?"
"Has it already been... 300 years?" Daoist Xie asked in a rather wooden voice.
After taking a moment to rest, its voice became a lot more stable, and it began to give Han Li a recount of everything that happened 300 years ago.
Initially, Han Li remained quite calm and collected, but the more he heard, the darker his expression became, and his hands involuntarily balled up into tight fists, with bulging veins visible on the backs of his hands.
As it turned out, back then, he had already encountered another formidable foe prior to being attacked by Fang Pan's trio.
That person's cultivation base and immortal spiritual power had been far superior to his, and at a very early stage in the battle, they were already able to seal Daoist Xie and Han Li's 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords with ease.
Han Li had sustained severe injuries during the battle, and he was only able to just barely escape with the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, Mo Guang, and the others doing everything in their power to hold off the enemy.
Mo Guang and the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch were able to join forces to temporarily keep the enemy at bay, but Daoist Xie was forced to self-detonate its immortal puppet body to break the seal, leaving only a puppet core behind that fled with the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
"... At some point, the spiritual power in my core was exhausted, and I became unable to control the flying swords, so I could only watch as they flew away on their own. After that, I lost consciousness, and I've only just been awakened by you. What happened after I fell unconscious?" Daoist Xie asked.
"After you fell unconscious, your core was picked up by someone and sold at a market near the Blaze Dragon Dao. It was sold to an inner sect disciple with mediocre aptitude as an ordinary tool refinement material, and that disciple managed to discover some obscure spirit patterns engraved on your core by chance using his spiritual sense.
“In doing so, he was able to derive a powerful lightning secret technique, launching him on a meteoric rise to become the star of the inner sect. It was also by chance that I noticed some strange signs in his lightning techniques, and that's how I eventually managed to find you," Han Li explained.
"I see..."
"Initially, I was worried that he would have some ties to the powerful enemy that you spoke of, but after conducting a soul search, I found out that he was merely extremely lucky. Prior to this, I've already slain two of the enemies that tried to hunt me down all those years, and I learned that there's a mastermind behind them.
“I'm assuming that's the person that you were referring to. However, I was unable to uncover that person's identity. Do you recall what they looked like or who they were?" Han Li asked.
After hearing Han Li's question, the golden crab sitting on the palm of his hand suddenly clutched its pincers to its head as it began to tremble in a pained display.
Only after a long silence did Daoist Xie's voice ring out within Han Li's consciousness again.
"Somehow, something seems to have gone wrong with my memory. I only vaguely remember a rough outline of the person, but I can't recall their exact appearance. The only things I can recall are that their immortal spiritual power was far superior to yours, and they seemed to have been wielding an inkstone immortal treasure that was capable of controlling the power of shadows."
"Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. Not only are you unable to recall what that person looks like, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang and I have no recollection of them, either. In fact, we've forgotten everything that's taken place in the past 300 years," Han Li said.
"It sounds like we're in a very bad situation," Daoist Xie said in a concerned voice.
"My guess is that the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords are currently in the Bell Toll Mountain Range as well, but I haven't been able to track them down. Now that I've found you, I'll be sure to find a way to refine a new body for you. However, I'm not sure if it'll be up to the same standard as your previous body," Han Li said with a contemplative look on his face.
"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Han. Aside from that, don't forget the agreement that we made back in the Spirit Realm," Daoist Xie reminded.
"Of course not. I'll fulfill the agreement once I attain the power required to do so," Han Li replied with a nod.
Daoist Xie didn't say anything further upon hearing this, and it reverted back into a golden ball amid a flash of golden light before being stowed away by Han Li.
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