Han Li knew nothing of the Qin family's affairs, but that did nothing to dim his elation! He paced back and forth across the room, turning the Ascension Token over and over in his hands, growing more pleased with it the longer he looked.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Han Li finally calmed himself. Suppressing the excitement still fluttering in his chest, he began to consider his next moves and the feasibility of traveling to Yellow Maple Valley to seek apprenticeship.
After a restless night, the Tainan Gathering at last drew to a close. From the following morning onward, cultivators began departing the valley in droves, and the population shrank by more than a third in a single morning.
By afternoon, several senior figures appeared in the square. After offering a few words of encouragement and praise, they formally declared the Tainan Gathering concluded. Immortal Qingyan was among them.
Immediately, the remaining cultivators departed—some in groups of three or five, others as lone stragglers drifting away on the wind. At that moment, Daoist Qingwen and several companions sought out Han Li and once again invited him to travel together.
Han Li was silent for a moment before shaking his head and declining. This earned him the displeasure of Wu Jiuzhi and the Mo brothers, and even Daoist Qingwen's expression soured.
"Since Brother Han is unwilling to travel with us, Qingwen will not force the matter. Take care on the road." Qingwen sighed with a note of regret, then clapped Han Li on the shoulder before departing the valley with the others.
Han Li did not notice that in the instant Qingwen's palm struck his shoulder, the Daoist had brushed colorless, odorless powder from his sleeve onto Han Li's clothing. Where the powder settled, absolutely nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
As Wu Jiuzhi and the others were passing through the fog at the valley entrance, Daoist Qingwen had somehow fallen to the rear. Ensuring the others were not watching, a fleeting look of malice crossed his features. He flicked his sleeve, and a streak of fire shot sideways into the underbrush on one side, vanishing without a trace. Then his face returned to normal—immaculately righteous, as though nothing had occurred.
Han Li knew nothing of Qingwen's actions. But true to his habitual caution, he did not depart Tainan Valley immediately. Instead, he stayed another night and slipped out at the first pale light of dawn, unnoticed by anyone.
Once outside, Han Li fixed his bearing, cast the Wind-Walking Art upon himself, and touched his toes lightly to the ground. His body drifted forward several zhang. In this manner, robes fluttering, he gradually receded into the distance.
Shortly after Han Li departed, two figures hurried to the spot. Before them hovered a thumb-sized sphere of green light that served as their guide. It circled the place where Han Li had stood, then flew off in the direction he had taken. The two pursuers followed close behind.
Han Li pressed onward without pause, covering over a hundred li without resting for a single moment. Only when he reached a small hill did he finally stop, sit down, eat something, and recover his strength and spiritual energy.
What Han Li did not know was that his series of highly unusual maneuvers had his two pursuers cursing furiously behind him!
It was understandable—who sets out before dawn? Had they not planted a tracking device on Han Li in advance, they might have lost him entirely. Even so, their original plan to lay an ambush further ahead had completely collapsed!
What infuriated the pair even more was that Han Li had covered over a hundred li in one push, leaving them choking on dust and nearly collapsing from exhaustion. As long-established cultivators accustomed to comfort, neither had been forced to travel such distances on foot in a very long time.
After an indeterminate time, Han Li sat cross-legged in a depression at the base of the hill, eyes closed, motionless, as though he had entered a state of total oblivion. Around him, nothing stirred save the chirping of insects.
Then, from somewhere in the nearby soil, over a dozen streaks of white light burst from the earth and shot straight at Han Li.
The motionless Han Li snapped his eyes open, cold light gleaming within. His body launched into the air without warning, then landed lightly on his feet on a patch of open ground to one side.
The white lights missed their mark, plunging into the dirt where Han Li had been sitting. Half-revealed, their crystalline true forms emerged—they were over a dozen razor-sharp ice cones!
Han Li's expression darkened.
He extended his right hand, fingers spread wide. With a crackling burst of energy, a small fireball appeared at each fingertip, each one half the size of those produced by a standard Fireball Art.
"Have a taste of my five-shot volley!" Han Li said coldly, fixing his gaze on the spot from which the ice cones had erupted. He curled his fingers slightly, then flicked them forward. The five fireballs shot out in a straight line.
Just as they were about to strike the ground, a figure in yellow materialized from thin air. In a flash, the figure relocated to another spot, narrowly escaping the fireballs' blast radius.
With a thunderous boom, the small patch of ground was torn open by Han Li's fireballs into a sizable crater, filled with searing heat. In places, the earth had been melted by the extreme temperature. The man who had barely escaped glistened with cold sweat.
Han Li paid no attention to the crater. His eyes were fixed on the yellow-clad man who had leapt into view—a gaunt, cunning-faced figure in his thirties.
"Why did you ambush me?" Han Li asked, his voice frigid.
The yellow-clad man's eyes darted about. He let out a few sinister laughs and said:
"You'll find out in your next life!"
Then he suddenly barked a sharp command.
"Attack!"
Han Li's heart lurched. Before he could react, he heard two faint sounds of earth splitting beneath his feet, and a pair of massive hands wreathed in yellow light shot upward from the soil, seizing his ankles with the grip of steel bands. He could not move a single step.
"You're done for, brat! Let's see you dodge my Ice Cone Art with your feet locked in place!" The yellow-clad man cackled triumphantly, raising both hands toward Han Li and beginning to chant.
Before his palms, the air grew frigid. White crystals gradually formed, coalescing into pointed ice cones.
Han Li's face changed drastically. He slapped his hand to his waist, and with a ringing hiss, a gleaming longsword materialized. Without a moment's hesitation, he brought the blade down in a slashing arc.
Clang! The sword struck as if it had hit solid rock. Sparks flew, but the yellow hands remained completely unharmed.
Han Li's shock and fury mounted. He was about to try another approach when the yellow-clad man's wild laughter rang out from across the clearing.
"Ha ha! Die, brat!"
Han Li's heart sank. He looked up.
Over twenty pointed ice cones were hurtling toward him from the yellow-clad man's position, covering his entire body. There was nowhere to hide.
Han Li's expression turned grave. He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and keeping his feet planted, twisted his body in an eerie, boneless manner. Most of the ice cones whistled past him. Only his right shoulder and left leg could not be avoided—one ice cone pierced each, and blood instantly streamed from the wounds, soaking through his clothes.
With a snap, Han Li threw aside his sword. His ten fingers danced as he sealed the meridians near each wound, bringing the bleeding to an abrupt halt. Meanwhile, the yellow-clad man stared in open disbelief at what he had just witnessed.
Han Li's face was grim and sinister. He tensed both calves and twisted them in an impossible, boneless manner. With a series of crackling sounds, both feet shrank by more than a size. Then his entire body surged upward, and both feet slid free of the giant hands like fish through water. He shot backward through the air, stopping a dozen zhang away, and stared coldly at the massive hands.
"Impossible! How can you free yourself from the Giant Strength Art?" A muffled voice of shock and rage came from the soil beneath the hands.
Then the two hands split apart, and a burly figure wreathed in yellow light burst from the earth.