Third Chapter Thirty-Fifth Chapter: Instant Kill
Han Li stood motionless, staring at the two without uttering a word. However, in his heart, he suspected that their presence here was most likely related to the destruction of Qi Yunxiao's residence.
Sure enough,
"Who are you, and what is your relationship with that boy surnamed Qi?"
Upon hearing these words, Han Li merely gave him a cold glance and then turned his attention back to the old man. It was obvious that the old man was the one truly in charge here, judging by his cultivation level.
The young man was furious at Han Li's disregard. Although he knew Han Li was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, their family was one of the most prominent families in the Yuanwu Kingdom. When had he ever received such treatment?
Moreover, because of the matter with Qi Yunxiao, he was already seething with anger. Gritting his teeth, he was about to unleash his magical artifact.
But just as his arm moved, the old man beside him grabbed his arm.
"Not yet! We don't know this person's background. Even if we want to take action, we should find out who he is first!" The old man said calmly. But after saying this, he looked at Qu Hun behind Han Li with some confusion. He couldn't sense any life force from Qu Hun, yet he could detect fluctuations of spiritual power, which puzzled him.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.
This old man was also a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself. Saying such things indicated that he recognized Han Li was not someone to be trifled with and had developed some wariness.
"Was this place destroyed by you?" Han Li asked leisurely.
"What is your relationship with Qi Yunxiao? Are you from the Qi family?" The old man ignored Han Li's question and asked something else instead.
Han Li frowned slightly. It seemed the other party wouldn't answer honestly, so he would have to change his approach.
"It seems neither of us wants to answer the other's questions. How about this: I'll answer one of yours, and you answer one of mine? That way we won't waste each other's time." Han Li said with a raised eyebrow.
The old man was momentarily stunned, then rolled his eyes several times before readily agreeing.
"Since I proposed this arrangement, you may ask first, fellow Daoist!" Han Li said calmly.
"Are you from the Qi family?" The old man immediately asked without hesitation upon hearing Han Li's words.
"No!" Han Li replied without any hesitation.
Hearing Han Li's firm response, both the old man and the young man were taken aback, suspicion flickering in their eyes.
"Is Qi Yunxiao dead or alive?" Han Li asked casually.
"He's still alive!" The old man hesitated for a moment but ultimately answered.
The words "still alive" eased Han Li's mind considerably.
"What is your relationship with Qi Yunxiao?" The old man asked cautiously.
"We have some business dealings," Han Li replied coldly.
"Business dealings?" A hint of surprise flashed in the old man's eyes.
"Where is Qi Yunxiao now?" Han Li asked as if it were a casual question, though he was actually extremely concerned.
"I cannot tell you that!" The old man refused immediately without thinking.
"Then let me ask a different question. Why are you attacking Qi Yunxiao?" Han Li asked calmly without showing anger.
"He killed members of our Fu family. Doesn't he deserve to die?" The young man sneered and interjected from the side.
The old man frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure crossing his face, but he said nothing.
"The Fu family!"
Upon hearing this, Han Li immediately recalled the Qi Refining stage cultivators who had died at his hands while trying to save Xin Ruyin. Killing intent surged in his heart.
"So that's how it is! But there are only two of you here. What if someone powerful from the Qi family comes? How would you handle that?" Han Li asked casually, showing no outward change in expression.
"Why would the Qi family oppose our Fu family just because of an outer disciple? Aren't the two of us enough to handle this place?" The young man asked with some arrogance upon hearing Han Li's words.
"So... there are only the two of you here?" Han Li's voice suddenly dropped.
"What do you mean by that?" The young man's face darkened with anger, and he was about to say something more, but the old man beside him sensed something was wrong and hurriedly interrupted.
But it was too late. Han Li suddenly waved both hands, and two streaks of black light shot toward the young man through the air. Then he patted his storage pouch with one hand, and more than a dozen white lights flew out, instantly transforming into over ten puppet beasts and puppet soldiers.
As soon as these puppets appeared, they unleashed a barrage of light beams and arrows toward the old man.
Upon seeing this scene, the old man was horrified. Without hesitation, his figure flickered and he appeared in front of the young man. He then raised one hand, and a copper coin-shaped treasure flew out, instantly expanding to the size of a table, shielding the two of them.
Immediately, various colors of light burst forth in front of the copper coin with a series of explosive sounds, driving the copper coin artifact and the old man backward, leaving him both shocked and furious.
But just at that moment, the young man behind him let out a scream. The old man's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly turned his head to look. But before he could fully turn his head, he felt a chill at his neck, and everything went black as he lost consciousness.
Just as the old man's headless body was falling to the ground, Han Li's figure suddenly appeared in the air behind him. On his right hand's ring finger, a faint stream of light was flashing—it was that transparent thread artifact.
Earlier, Han Li had taken advantage of the overwhelming assault of the Black Dragon Takers and the puppets to distract the old man's attention. Then, using the Luo Yan Step, he had crossed a distance of over twenty zhang in just a few breaths from atop the Divine Wind Vessel, arriving behind the two of them. He then used the thread to easily sever their heads.
All of this had been so easy for Han Li! It was practically effortless!
It was almost laughable, really!
In battles between Foundation Establishment cultivators, low-grade five-element barriers simply couldn't withstand attacks from top-tier artifacts, while high-grade barriers took too long to activate and there were no instant-cast talismans available for purchase (even if there were, they were prohibitively expensive). Therefore, most cultivators relied on defensive artifacts to protect themselves rather than using full-body protective barriers, considering them practically useless.
But this gave Han Li quite an opportunity!
Many of the demonic cultivators who had died during the border battles had perished in exactly this manner, without even understanding what had happened.
Now that he thought about it, his technique was quite similar to the killing methods employed by the Blood Servants of the Black Fiend Religion—both relied on speed and the element of surprise to achieve a kill with a single strike.
Unfortunately, this technique could only be used when the enemy was on the ground. Otherwise, he would have little to fear among Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Han Li thought this and shook his head lightly, feeling it was a great pity!
He walked a few steps to the headless corpses and searched for their storage pouches. After a brief examination with his spiritual sense, he felt somewhat disappointed. Although there were two or three top-tier artifacts, they were rather ordinary and of little use to him. However, the copper coin artifact seemed to be a rather rare defensive artifact.
Thinking this, Han Li beckoned toward the copper coin artifact, which had reverted to its original size. It flew from the ground into his hand.
After admiring it for a moment with some satisfaction, he casually tossed two small fireballs, incinerating the two corpses to ashes.
Then, with Qu Hun in tow, he circled the area from above before flying off into the sky.
This time, he headed straight for the small mountain where Xin Ruyin resided, hoping that her dwelling was hidden well enough to have escaped the same fate.
Two or three hours later, Han Li arrived at the nameless small mountain where Xin Ruyin lived.
Upon seeing that the mountain was still shrouded in mist, appearing completely intact, Han Li was overjoyed.
After thinking for a moment, he didn't dare land rashly. Instead, he stopped at a high altitude halfway up the mountain, then took out a voice transmission talisman from his robes, whispered a few words, and threw it down.
The fire light of the voice transmission talisman flickered several times in the air below before suddenly disappearing. At the same time, large waves of mist rose, instantly swallowing Han Li's figure completely.
Han Li felt his vision blur, and suddenly he was surrounded by towering trees hundreds of zhang high. He found himself in a giant forest like an ant, startled but keeping his body motionless.
However, he knew that Xin Ruyin, having received the voice transmission talisman, should arrive to guide him in soon.
Sure enough, moments later, the surrounding giant trees transformed back into thick mist like an illusion. Then the mist ahead churned, revealing a passage about a zhang high.
Han Li urged the Divine Wind Vessel without hesitation and entered the passage with Qu Hun.
The passage was very long. Han Li flew for sixty to seventy zhang before he finally saw a hint of the exit, his spirits lifting considerably.
But just as he was six or seven zhang from the exit, a somewhat hoarse female voice suddenly came from ahead.
"Han Senior, the person behind you—what is his background? You shouldn't have brought a stranger here."