Chapter 1829: Rendezvous
Golden seal text was different from beveled silver text, and there were most likely not more than 10 beings in total among the human and demon races who could interpret the former.
Those who were able to read this spirit text all regarded it as an extraordinary treasure, and kept it a secret from everyone else.
As such, even though it was clear that there were definitely people among the two races that could interpret golden seal text, it was quite difficult to identify just who these people were.
At the very least, the man in the crimson light most likely didn't understand this spirit text. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been completely stumped by it.
If Han Li hadn't learned this spirit text back in the Vast Glacial Realm, he would also be just as helpless in the face of this treasure.
Han Li stared at the golden runes for a moment before they vanished once again, and his brows furrowed slightly as he flicked several fingers toward the scroll in quick succession to release more streaks of azure sword Qi.
Upon being struck by the streaks of sword Qi, more golden runes appeared, and they were slightly different from the ones before.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he continued to release a relentless string of sword Qi, and the scroll was instantly inundated by azure light.
Balls of golden light erupted from the surface of the scroll, and the entire piece of golden seal text was revealed.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he focused his gaze on these golden runes in an intent unblinking manner, and only after a long while did he cease releasing the relentless string of sword Qi.
The spiritual light shimmering from the scroll faded, as did the golden runes, and Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the scroll back into his grasp as a contemplative look appeared on his face.
He had already memorized that entire piece of text and briefly analyzed it as well.
If he weren't mistaken, this piece of spirit text was describing the setup method for a profound formation.
The wording was slightly ambiguous, but what was certain was that if he were to completely master the contents of this piece of text, he should be able to set up the entire formation.
The formation wasn't very big, but it was far more profound and intricate than the vast majority of formations Han Li had seen in the Spirit Realm in the past.
If it weren't for the fact that he had been carefully studying the used talismans he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, he wouldn't have been able to understand the contents of that piece of text at all.
After all, recognizing golden seal text runes and mastering a formation inscribed in golden seal text were two completely different matters altogether.
Furthermore, Han Li estimated that it would be impossible for him to completely master this formation unless he studied it diligently for several decades. Even though he was very interested in just what was sealed within the scroll, there was no way that he would waste so much time on it at such a crucial juncture.
Thus, he exhaled as he stowed the golden scroll away into his storage bracelet, and after that, he flipped a hand over to reveal a winding section of reddish-black wood that was around half a foot in length.
The piece of wood was completely devoid of any luster and was constantly expelling wisps of blood mist; it was none other than the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood he had secured at the auction!
After bringing out this item, the storage bracelet on Han Li's wrist continued to flash with spiritual light, and a series of materials appeared in rapid succession.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of these items, and he suddenly tossed the piece of wood up into the air before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.
The flames instantly swept up the entire piece of wood and blood mist and silver flames intertwined amid a string of loud crackles and pops.
Han Li made a hand seal with one hand while reaching out with his other hand, and all of the materials on the ground instantly also rose up into the air before plunging into the silver flames.
Blue light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently on the silver flames in the air and focused the entirety of his attention on it.
He stayed in the secret chamber the entire day, and even his nightly cultivation lessons with Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were conducted through voice transmission as they stood on the other side of the door of the secret chamber.
Seven days passed by, and Han Li finally emerged from the secret chamber.
As soon as he emerged, he accompanied Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Nine Immortal Mountain in the dead of night, then gave them some pills and treasures, and sent them on their way to Deep Heaven City.
He then returned to Nine Immortal Mountain himself, and a few days later, he was paid a visit by Daoist Master Myriad Bone.
Han Li conversed with the Daoist priest for a long time in the hall before the latter departed, and at the same time, a few other vagrant cultivators in the Immortal Welcome Palaces on Nine Immortal Mountain left at around the same time, then disappeared without a trace.
Half a day later, a group of Body Integration Stage vagrant cultivators, including Han Li, gathered at a certain place. Their meeting was quite a brief one and had been held in a secretive fashion, so no one noticed what they were doing.
During the rest of the Myriad Treasure Convention, Han Li frequently visited the markets, purchasing some materials from time to time. During the rest of the time, he met with some other Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists, and also visited some other secret exchange conventions, reaping some rewards during the process.
Dai'er would also come to find him once every several days, and even though she never had anything important or urgent to speak with him about, they would always have an enjoyable conversation before she departed in high spirits.
However, it was still slightly jarring to see Dai'er's appearance, which so closely mirrored that of Nangong Wan.
As the Myriad Treasure Convention was about to draw to a conclusion, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign and Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign sent out people to recruit the vagrant Body Integration cultivators on Nine Immortal Mountain again, promising them extremely bountiful rewards for their services, and they really did manage to successfully recruit a few vagrant cultivators.
Of course, Han Li rejected the offer once more, and several days prior to the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, he departed from Nine Immortal Mountain, disappearing without a trace alongside Bai Guo'er.
Following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, the humans and demons gathered at Nine Immortal Mountain all departed as well, and around a month later, peace and quiet resumed on the mountain with the exception of the group of guards that remained there.
As time passed, all of the rumors that had spread from this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention gradually faded from everyone's memories as well.
...
Four years passed by in the blink of an eye.
On this day, a group of human cultivators suddenly flew from a certain direction toward a secretive and secluded mountain in the Tian Yuan Region. The group was comprised of cultivators of both genders and all age ranges, and they all wore different attire, but there was an azure "Gu" character embroidered on the sleeves of all of their clothing.
There was a clear majority of women in the group, all of whom were extremely beautiful, and this group of close to 100 cultivators descended onto the peak of the mountain.
Some of them immediately set up a simple protective formation, while the rest immediately sat down with their legs crossed on some relatively clean patches on the mountain before closing their eyes to meditate.
This group of cultivators was led by a yellow-haired elderly man, and a young woman in a blue palatial dress.
Both of them were at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and their lips were tremoring slightly as they conversed with one another through voice transmission.
The elderly man glanced up at the sky before transmitting his voice to the young woman. "Family Leader Xiao Feng, this is the Turtle Watch Peak that you arranged to meet that man on, and the agreed time for our meeting is fast approaching; he's not going to go back on his word, is he?"
"Rest assured, Elder Xiao, with that man's current status, there's no way he would revoke his promise. On top of that, prior to this meeting, he voluntarily sent someone to us for confirmation, so I'm sure he'll turn up," the young woman replied without any hesitation.
"That's good to hear. Our grand elder was injured in the primordial world, and following her return, she had to immediately go into seclusion for 100 years, which has resulted in her missing this true spirit ceremony. She's the only Body Integration cultivator of our Gu Family, so without her presence, our prospects in this ceremony wouldn't be very optimistic at all. It's a good thing that you had the foresight to recruit a Body Integration cultivator in advance. Otherwise, our Gu Family may as well spare ourselves the embarrassment and not participate in this ceremony at all," the elderly man sighed.
"Indeed. The results of this true spirit ceremony will decide if and how many members of our family will be able to enter the Spirit Dwelling Cave, and it'll also play a pivotal role in deciding whether we'll receive many other types of benefits, so we can't give up on it no matter what. Our grand elder secured a good ranking for our Gu Family during the last ceremony, and I had thought that with another Body Integration cultivator to assist us, we'd be able to secure a higher ranking, but who would've thought that our grand elder would be forced to miss this edition of the ceremony? Under these circumstances, I'll be happy if we can retain our original ranking," the young woman said with a wry smile on her face.
"That's true. This Senior Han has only just progressed to the Body Integration Stage around 10 years ago, after all, so no matter how exceptional his aptitude is, there's no way he could compare with our grand elder, who's been at the Body Integration Stage for close to 10,000 years. On top of that, our grand elder possesses a true spirit bloodline, and if she were to activate that bloodline, the gap between the two would widen even further," the elderly man sighed as a wry smile also appeared on his face.
"It's not ideal, but if we don't have any Body Integration cultivators among us, then our performance will be even more horrible during this true spirit ceremony," the young woman said with a dark expression.
"Indeed, all of the top five true spirit families have Body Integration cultivators among their ranks," the elderly man said in a resigned manner.
Both of them fell silent thereafter, and it was as if they had lost the urge to further this conversation.
Time slowly passed by, and around four hours later, a streak of azure light appeared in the distant sky, and a hint of elation appeared in the young woman's eyes upon seeing this. "He's here!"
The elderly man peered carefully into the streak of oncoming azure light through narrowed eyes, but the light was very bright and piercing, and he could only just barely make out two humanoid figures within it, one of which was quite a bit taller than the other.
In the next instant, the streak of azure light arrived in the air above the mountain, following which the light faded to reveal an azure-robed young man, and an adorable little girl who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age.