Inside the grand stone hall on the surface, rumbling sounds echoed endlessly. Disciples of the Moon Veil Sect were still struggling to use their magical treasures to strike at a stone pit several zhang deep. But no matter what magical treasure was used to hit the pit, it could only chip off a piece of stone about an inch in size. This made everyone increasingly disheartened with each strike.
After several hours, all the male and female disciples sat blankly on the ground, staring at the pit in silence, all looking lifeless. At this point, they had lost all hope of rescuing their Granduncle! Everyone began considering the terrible consequences of losing this ancestor and started looking for a way out for themselves.
Just then, a deafening boom came from outside the stone hall, followed by the ground shaking violently, as if something earth-shattering had happened outside. This startled the disciples!
"What's going on?" The disciples looked at each other, and two male disciples immediately walked quickly out of the stone hall to see what was happening.
"Granduncle!"
Soon, the two disciples' voices of wild joy came from outside the hall. Their voices were so loud that even the disciples still in the hall heard them clearly, causing them to look at each other in surprise before rushing out in a swarm.
About ten zhang in front of the hall entrance, a large hole about a zhang in diameter had appeared. Standing near the hole was a woman in flowing white robes with a stunning appearance—none other than the younger-looking female Granduncle! At this moment, the Moon Veil Sect ancestor was coldly gazing into the distance, her face completely expressionless. She paid no attention whatsoever to the two male disciples who had already stood behind her.
This made the disciples, after their initial ecstasy, immediately sober up as if cold water had been poured over their heads.
"Could it be that this ancestor intends to pursue the matter of triggering the restrictions?"
At this thought, all the disciples couldn't help but glance at the female disciple among the the Moon Veil Twins. The woman, who had just realized this, turned pale with fright!
The woman in white gazed into the distance for a full quarter of an hour before slowly turning around to look at the disciples behind her. She gave a cold command:
"Depart!"
...
Han Li was leaping quickly from one large tree to another, his body as agile as an ape, rushing down the mountain at a speed no slower than flying on a magical treasure.
Now, his entire body was surging with spiritual power, actually possessing the cultivation of the thirteenth level. This wonderful feeling of greatly increased spiritual power made Han Li somewhat intoxicated. However, this extra spiritual power wouldn't last long—probably a few more hours before it disappeared.
In order to escape from the underground swamp, the woman who had become intimate with him had used some secret technique to temporarily transmit her restricted spiritual power to Han Li, allowing him to rise from the eleventh level to the peak of the Qi Refinement stage in one go.
Then, one using the Vermilion Bird Ring and the other using the Gold Light Brick talisman treasure, they had forcefully dug a tunnel from underground all the way to the surface.
During this process, whenever Han Li's spiritual power was exhausted, the woman would silently channel her power to him. As a result, when the two emerged from underground, Han Li's Gold Light Brick talisman treasure had exhausted its power and become useless paper, while the woman had also expended twenty to thirty years of cultivation—a truly heavy loss!
Speaking of which, this woman's Pure Yang Reincarnation Art was truly peculiar!
During the reincarnation period, she could transmit her restricted spiritual power to another man. But she couldn't release the restriction herself or transmit it to a woman. Moreover, the transmitted spiritual power was limited by the man's cultivation level. Since Han Li was only at the Qi Refinement stage, the maximum spiritual power that could be transmitted was limited to the thirteenth level of the basic cultivation technique—it was impossible for him to enter the Foundation Establishment stage.
Because Han Li had just received the woman's spiritual power when breaking through the final barrier to the surface, he could still maintain this temporary thirteenth-level power for a while longer, letting him experience this strange feeling a bit longer.
"Nangong Wan."
Han Li softly recited the name in his mind. This was the name he had asked the woman for when leaving her.
But thinking of how the woman had seemed reluctant to tell him, Han Li still felt a bit melancholy!
He knew clearly that even if he entered the Foundation Establishment stage, let alone the Qi Refinement stage, it was absolutely impossible for her to have any further connection with him. After all, the difference in lifespan and status in the cultivation world was truly vast. So when she had acted so coldly during their separation, he could only accept it with bitterness.
Han Li had a clear understanding of himself—he knew entering the Foundation Establishment stage was somewhat within reach, but the Core Formation stage was still something he could only look up to! In a place as large as Yellow Maple Valley, with over ten thousand cultivators, only a handful had reached Core Formation. This left Han Li, who knew his own poor aptitude, with absolutely no confidence.
Han Li was lost in thought when his face suddenly darkened. His figure suddenly vanished from the air with a "whoosh." But moments later, he reappeared in the original spot, having only retrieved a storage bag. Nearby, on a certain large tree, lay the corpse of a Spirit Beast Mountain disciple.
Han Li briefly glanced at the contents of the storage bag, shook his head slightly, then leaped away.
...
On the afternoon of the fifth day after entering the forbidden grounds, the people from the various sects who had been waiting outside finally took action. The seven Core Formation cultivators once again went through the effort to open the entrance, then stared at the dark passage with calm expressions, waiting for the first person to emerge.
Obviously, this time using magic to break the restrictions was much easier than five days earlier. Moreover, once the passage appeared, the seven recalled their magical treasures, yet the passage didn't disappear—it remained steadily connected to the forbidden grounds.
The dozen or so Foundation Establishment stage team leaders behind them all looked somewhat tense. After all, this concerned the distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills next time, which was closely related to their positions as managers.
That the Moon Veil Sect's "Old Monster Qiong" had appeared at some point on a nearby large rock, watching everyone with a smile. He seemed to take this bet very seriously.
Finally, half an hour after the passage opened, a middle-aged Taoist priest walked out with a calm expression. His Taoist robes were dusty and had several sizable tears and bloodstains—apparently, he had fought his way out through a bitter battle.
After coming out, the middle-aged Taoist bowed to the Core Formation Taoist from the Clear Void Sect, then quietly sat cross-legged to the side.
The Core Formation Taoist saw this, smiled slightly at the middle-aged Taoist, and nodded approvingly.
Granduncle Li's face was calm with no particular expression. But Old Monster Qiong rolled his eyes and snorted discontentedly!
Next, the androgynous man from Blade Transformation Dock, the ugly man Zhong Wu from Spirit Beast Mountain, the blue-robed youth from Celestial Gate Fortress, the Chen siblings from Yellow Maple Valley, and other disciples all walked out of the passage one after another, most bearing various injuries. Each walked wearily to where their sect elders were positioned and sat down to rest.
After another half hour, another large group of disciples emerged. This group was different from the lone wolves who had come out earlier—they walked out in pairs or threes, and each person's expression was completely different. Some were beaming with joy, some looked utterly dejected, and others had expressions of pure luck on their faces.
Including the few who had come out earlier, over twenty disciples from the Seven Sects had now emerged. But still, not a single person from the Moon Veil Sect had appeared, which caused the people from the other six sects to look surprised. However, Old Monster Qiong, Fairy Nishang, and the other the Moon Veil Sect members remained completely unchanged in expression, looking as if they had everything under control.
After another half hour, besides two disciples from other sects walking out, there was still no sign of anyone from the Moon Veil Sect, and only one hour remained before the passage closed. At this point, Old Monster Qiong and Fairy Nishang glanced at each other, and only then did they show a hint of unease.
At the passage entrance, a figure flickered, and a Yellow Maple Valley youth walked out. This person had an ordinary appearance and neat clothing—it was none other than Han Li, who had arrived by swiftly eliminating several people along the way.
The the Moon Veil Sect people, seeing movement at the passage entrance, had shown joy on their faces. But when they saw it was someone from Yellow Maple Valley, they immediately looked greatly disappointed.
At this moment, Han Li looked at the situation outside the passage and slowly walked to his sect's position. Like the others, he sat down in the order they had come out. Coincidentally, right next to him were the Chen siblings.
Yellow Maple Valley had the most disciples who survived the forbidden grounds among the Six Sects!
Besides the Chen siblings, there was also another old man and a young man. Plus Han Li, there were actually five people—far more than the three or four from other sects, or the mere two from Giant Sword Sect! This also made Granduncle Li unable to hide his joy, his face beaming with spring.
The Chen siblings and the other two, seeing that Han Li, an eleventh-level disciple, had actually come out of the forbidden grounds completely unscathed, all showed looks of surprise! But then they seemed to think of something and immediately switched to disdainful expressions, glancing at Han Li before no one paid him any more attention.
Obviously, they all thought Han Li was as cowardly as a mouse, having hidden away without participating in a single fight, and he definitely wouldn't have gained any harvest!
As the time until the passage closed drew closer and closer, still not a single person from the Moon Veil Sect appeared, making Old Monster Qiong and Fairy Nishang unable to sit still any longer. The worry on their faces was now completely apparent! This made Granduncle Li and the Taoist secretly delighted—it seemed the Moon Veil Sect people had indeed encountered trouble.
Seeing all this, Han Li frowned slightly, feeling somewhat surprised. He had clearly escaped the underground swamp with Nangong Wan together, so why hadn't the Moon Veil Sect people arrived yet? He couldn't help but feel a bit worried about her!