Chapter 49: Extortion
"How did a little demon fox like you acquire such an incredible flame? Oh, I see, that Han brat gave the flame to you, right? No wonder he's so troublesome to deal with. This is quite the unexpected blessing. Looks like the heavens are smiling down upon me!" the black-robed elderly man cackled as he stared intently at the silver seal on Liu Le'er's left arm.
At this moment, Liu Le'er was completely bound and immobilized by the black net, and after hearing what the elderly man had just said, a thought suddenly occurred to her as she exclaimed, "You're Qi Xuan of the Heavenly Ghost Sect!"
Qi Xuan's smile faded upon hearing this, and a sinister look appeared on his face. "That's right. If you know who I am, then I'm sure you also know why I've captured you."
"You're trying to use me to lure in Brother Rock!"
A furious expression appeared on Liu Le'er's face, and a resolute look flashed through her eyes.
Immediately thereafter, her pupils lit up with green radiance, and specks of green light also appeared on her glabella before flashing erratically.
The elderly man extended a finger upon seeing this, releasing a burst of black light that entered Liu Le'er's glabella in a flash.
The specks of green light on her glabella were instantly snuffed out, and she fell unconscious before she could do anything else.
"It's still not time for you to die yet. Once I capture that Han brat, I'll take both of you to Hao'er's grave and burn you into ashes with my ghostly fire!" Qi Xuan harrumphed coldly in a resentful manner.
His gaze then returned to Liu Le'er's left arm, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he flipped a hand over to produce a red vial, which was riddled with various types of complex runes.
He tossed the vial up into the air so that it was hovering directly in front of him, then chanted an incantation before flicking his fingers through the air, seemingly preparing some type of secret technique.
A short while later, he abruptly pointed a finger at the vial, and all of the runes on its surface instantly lit up, while a burst of fiery red light flew out from within the vial.
Dozens of translucent threads flew out of the red light, then vanished into the silver seal in Liu Le'er's left arm in a flash before pulling outward.
The silver seal immediately began to glow brightly, and specks of silver flames appeared on its surface as the seal was dragged out by the threads of light.
Qi Xuan was ecstatic to see this, and he quickly made a series of hand seals.
The light pouring out of the vial instantly became much denser, and more and more translucent threads of light appeared before vanishing into the silver seal.
Liu Le'er shuddered slightly as her left arm began to spasm, and she gave a muffled groan.
More and more silver flames were dragged out of the seal to form a silver fire raven, but its aura was extremely feeble, and it appeared to be on the verge of falling asleep.
Right at this moment, a burst of azure light flashed from deep within the seal, and it was attempting to drag the fire raven back into the seal.
A derisive sneer appeared on Qi Xuan's face upon seeing this, and he opened his mouth to release a ball of blood essence, which fused into the red vial.
The vial instantly began to glow with dazzling red light, and all of the translucent threads of red light intertwined to form a pair of translucent chains that locked themselves around the silver fire raven's neck.
Silver light flashed from the fire raven, and it suddenly snapped wide awake.
It seemed to have been enraged by the chains around its neck, and it let loose a furious cry as it spread its wings while releasing a pillar of silver flames out of its beak.
The translucent chains instantly evaporated into nothingness upon contact with the silver flames, and the pillar of fire pierced directly through the red vial before hurtling directly toward Qi Xuan.
The pillar of fire was traveling at an incredible speed, reaching Qi Xuan in the blink of an eye.
Qi Xuan was greatly alarmed by this turn of events, and he hurriedly summoned a small green shield while rushing back in retreat, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. In the blink of an eye, he was already several hundred feet away, but his left arm had been reduced to ashes as it had come into contact with trace amounts of the silver flame.
If the speck of silver fire that had come into contact with his body had been even slightly larger, he would've at least been severely injured, if not killed.
He took a deep breath, then flipped a hand over to produce a crimson pill that he promptly swallowed. The muscles on the shoulder of his missing arm began to squirm violently, and new flesh began to grow at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.
After just a few seconds, his left arm had been regrown.
Only then did Qi Xuan cast his gaze toward Liu Le'er with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
At this point, the red vial and the green shield had already been completely devoured by the silver flames, while the silver fire raven had vanished back into the seal on Liu Le'er's arm amid a flash of azure light.
Even though he had just suffered a close call, the incredible display of power put on by the silver fire raven only made him even more determined to tame it for himself.
……
In a lush, low-lying mountain range, a series of intricately constructed pavilions and palaces were littered over the landscape amid clouds of mist that were filled with spiritual qi.
High up in the sky above a certain valley, seven or eight figures were flying through the air before landing at the entrance of the valley.
The group was led by a white-robed young man who appeared to be 16 to 17 years of age, and there was a look of arrogant confidence on his handsome face.
As soon as he landed on the ground, he immediately turned to the rest of the group. "We enter the valley right away, and this time, we can't let it escape no matter what."
"Yes!" everyone replied in unison before immediately rushing into the valley.
However, there was a gray-robed elderly woman in the group who didn't spring into action like everyone else. Instead, she made her way over to the young man's side, supporting herself with a strange-looking silver cane.
"You should go as well, Granny Sun. This Purple Cloud Sable is extremely cunning. I doubt they'll be able to capture it without your help," the young man said as he turned to the elderly woman.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Young Master. I was instructed by the temple master to protect you at all times, and I can't stray from my post," the elderly woman replied with a shake of her head.
"You'll only be going into the valley ahead of me to capture the Purple Cloud Sable. How is that straying from your post?" the young man argued as his brows furrowed slightly.
"The Temple Master instructed me to remain by your side at all times. If anything were to happen to you, I could die 1,000 times without even coming close to atoning for my crime." The elderly woman was still unwilling to oblige.
A displeased look appeared on the young man's face. "This Gourd Valley falls under the jurisdiction of our Origin Realm Temple, and it's also virtually right next to our temple! Who would dare to stir up trouble here? Do they have a death wish?"
"That may be true, but..."
Before the elderly woman had a chance to finish, the young man cut her off in an exasperated manner. "Cut the chit-chat! If the Purple Cloud Sable escapes because of this delay, I'm going to report you to the temple master!"
A hesitant look appeared on the elderly woman's face upon hearing this, but she still held her ground.
"Hurry up!"
The young man immediately flew into a rage upon seeing this.
The elderly woman could only grit her teeth and oblige, flying into the valley as a streak of light.
The young man looked on at the elderly woman's departing figure, and he was still feeling rather angry that his authority had been challenged.
He began to make his way into the valley, but after taking only two steps, he sensed something behind him, and he reflexively turned around.
As a result, he was greeted by the sight of two mesmerizing specks of blue light, and his consciousness immediately began to fade.
Han Li slowly emerged out of thin air behind him with a purple talisman in his hand, and there was blue light flashing within his pupils.
He calmly stowed the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman away, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he made his way over to the young man.
The young man was standing completely still on the spot with a dazed expression and vacant eyes.
"Where is the Star Gathering Platform of the Origin Realm Temple?" Han Li asked.
"On the pinnacle of the Nine Palace Peak," the young man replied in a mechanical voice.
"Oh? Why is it not on the main peak, the Heaven Worship Peak?" Han Li asked with a perplexed expression.
"The Nine Palace Peak is the tallest peak, and the field of view on its pinnacle is broader than on all other peaks. This makes it the most effective location for drawing upon the power of starlight, and that's why our temple's founder established the array there," the young man replied without any hesitation.
"What are the cultivation bases of the people stationed at the Star Gathering Platform?" Han Li asked.
The young man continued to answer Han Li's questions in an expressionless manner, revealing all of the details about the Star Gathering Platform on the Nine Palace Peak.
The Nine Palace Peak was second in status only to the Heaven Worship Peak in the Origin Realm Temple, and there were always many temple elders and disciples cultivating on the mountain.
However, the pinnacle of the mountain where the Star Gathering Platform was situated was a restricted area of the temple, and access to the area was granted only to some inner court elders and a very select group of disciples.
According to the young man, the Star Gathering Platform was encompassed under a powerful restriction, and there was an indeterminate number of elders stationed there, but one thing that was for sure was that there was at least one Body Integration Stage elder there.
Han Li took a moment to process this information, then gently tapped a finger against the young man's glabella before vanishing on the spot in a wraith-like manner.
Only then did a hint of life return to the young man's eyes, and he still recalled that he had sensed something behind him. He hurriedly turned around, to investigate, only to find that there was nothing there.
He shook his head with a confused expression, then turned and continued into the valley.
Meanwhile, Han Li emerged from behind an ancient tree, and he was just about to depart when a burst of light appeared on his waist, following which a yellow talisman flew out on its own without being summoned.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this talisman.
All of a sudden, the talisman burst into flames on its own, and a blurry image appeared within the fire before gradually becoming clearer.
The image depicted a young woman slumped over a stone table. Her face was completely devoid of color, and her eyes were tightly shut in a state of unconsciousness.
Her slender wrist was currently locked within the grasp of a thin and wizened hand.
The owner of the hand was a thin black-robed elderly man who was looking directly at Han Li with a dark expression.
Han Li took a glance at the elderly man, then at the robe that he was wearing, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he concluded, "You must be Qi Xuan."
"That's right! Two years ago, you killed my grandnephew, Hao'er, then assassinated my close friend, Lu Ya. After that, you've been hiding in the Cold Flame Sect this entire time like a cowardly turtle! I must say, it's been quite the hassle tracking you down. Now that this little demon fox has fallen into my hands, are you going to save her or not?" the elderly man cackled with a sinister expression.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he asked, "What do you want?"
"Come to the Wraith Peak in the Yin Necropolis Valley of our Heavenly Ghost Sect in a month. You must come on your own, and if I don't see you there by the time a month is up, don't blame me for putting an end to her life," Qi Xuan said in a cold voice.
He tightened his grip around Liu Le'er's wrist as he spoke, and even in her unconscious state, she couldn't help but furrow her brows in pain as her face grew even paler.
A dark look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.
With one final burst of sinister cackling, the flames in front of Han Li vanished, leaving behind only a ball of ash that was quickly carried away by the wind.
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