Chapter 1941: Encountering an Old Acquaintance
His brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he flew down toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light. After just a few flashes, he appeared in the air above an ordinary-looking building.
There were currently five cultivators in different attire surrounding the building and discussing something in hushed tones, and Han Li's sudden arrival naturally gave all of them a massive fright.
They reflexively summoned treasures or made hand seals as they prepared to defend themselves, but Han Li didn't even bother to take a glance at them. "Piss off!"
"What did you say? How dare... Ah, our sincerest apologies, we'll be taking our leave right away!" These five cultivators were all at the Deity Transformation, and they were initially enraged by Han Li's words, but when he released his enormous Body Integration Stage aura, all five of them were completely petrified and immediately backtracked before fleeing the scene.
During their escape, they didn't even dare to turn around to look behind them, as if they were being pursued by a malicious ghost.
Han Li cast a cold glance toward these people and hesitated momentarily, but decided not to do anything in the end. Right at this moment, an elated female voice rang out from the first floor of the building that had been surrounded.
"Senior Han! I didn't expect to see you here; I'll come out to meet you right away!"
As soon as the voice trailed off, the front door was opened, and three women emerged from within the building. The first woman was tall and slender with fair snowy-white skin; it was none other than Xu Qianyu.
"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Xu," Han Li greeted with a smile.
The last time they had met was when Han Li had visited the Xu Family, so it was quite a surprise for him to meet her again here.
"Thank you for stepping in, Senior. Otherwise, we would've been in deep trouble." Xu Qianyu hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey toward Han Li with an elated look on her face, and the two women accompanying her immediately followed suit.
Han Li merely waved a hand and replied in a nonchalant manner, "No need to thank me, I just so happened to be passing by. Who were those people? Are they enemies for your Xu Family?"
"They're just a group of scoundrels who tried to take advantage of us! You should've torn them from limb-to-limb, Senior!" a woman with an oval face behind Xu Qianyu said with an enraged pout.
"Shush, Xiao Qing! We're already immensely fortunate to have encountered Senior Han here; how could you be so rude? Please forgive her, Senior Han; Xiao Qing is a niece of mine, and she's always been cultivating in our Xu Family, so she's a little spoiled," Xu Qianyu scolded with a stern expression before turning to Han Li with an apologetic look in her eyes.
"Ah, please forgive me, Senior; I meant no offense." The woman by the name of Xiao Qing had also realized that her words had been rather inappropriate.
"That's alright, I'm not one to be bothered by minor things like this. If I had known that those people were such scummy individuals, perhaps I would've put an end to them," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.
Xu Qianyu heaved an internal sigh of relief before making an inviting hand gesture. "Thank you for your understanding, Senior; please come in and take a seat."
Han Li nodded in response before making his way into the room.
The devilish army was situated very far away, and he hadn't spotted any devilish beings nearby, so he wasn't concerned about any potential hazards arising.
The interior of the room wasn't very large, but all of the furniture and decor gave off a unique antiquated feel, seemingly indicating that they had been around for quite a long time.
However, what drew Han Li's attention the most was the barely detectable restriction fluctuations near the room. As soon as they strode into the room, those restrictions instantly vanished, and even with his spiritual sense, he was unable to detect their source. This made him rather curious.
Han Li sat down on the main seat in the room, then turned toward the three women who were standing respectfully beside him. "This doesn't seem to be a place inhabited by mortals; is it somehow connected to your Xu Family?"
"Indeed, Senior Han; this is a temporary lodging place that our Xu Family abandoned many years ago. We were chased here by that group of cultivators, and forced to make use of the restriction here to protect ourselves," Xu Qianyu replied in a respectful manner.
Han Li nodded in response before asking, "I see. This place is quite far away from your Xu Family, and I've heard your entire family has already moved to the holy city; why are the three of you here?"
The three women exchanged a hesitant glance upon hearing this question, and in the end, a wry smile appeared on Xu Qianyu's face as she replied, "Our Xu Family did indeed move to the Holy Sovereign City, but Mistress Blood Spirit had some important matters to attend to recently, so she left the city and took some members of our family with her. After we had taken care of those matters and were heading back to the city, we encountered a devilish army along the way, and after a fierce battle, we were defeated and forced to flee for our lives. My nieces and I were pursued by a group of devilish beings, and we had only just shaken them off when we encountered that group of cultivators."
"Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit left the holy city?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.
"Indeed. Initially, the elders of our family were opposed to her departure, but she insisted on leaving, so they could only let her go," Xu Qianyu replied.
Instead of prying into exactly what important matters they had attended to, Han Li asked, "Are you aware of Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit's current situation?"
"Rest assured, Senior Han; prior to our departure, we witnessed Mistress Blood Spirit make her escape. She was pursued by several high-grade devilish beings, but with her powers, self-preservation definitely wouldn't be an issue," Xu Qianyu assured.
"I see, that's good to hear. By the way, what's the situation in the Holy Sovereign City currently like? The communication between the major cities has been completely cut off by the devilish army, and even communication talismans are no longer effective," Han Li enquired.
"The situation is not very good. Our Holy Sovereign City is fine as the devilish army over there hasn't even attempted an attack on the city. However, they've targeted the human settlements around the city instead, and many of the nearby sects and major families have been wiped out. On top of that, this devilish tribulation seems to be different from all of the previous ones; the devilish army is beginning to attack mortal cities to enslave mortal humans on a wide scale," Xu Qianyu replied as a concerned look appeared on her face.
Han Li's expression also darkened upon hearing this, and he sighed in a grim voice, "So the rumors are true; the devilish beings are planning to permanently settle in the Spirit Realm."
Before Xu Qianyu had a chance to reply, the other voluptuous woman standing beside her exclaimed, "What? Are you saying that the Elder Devil Race is planning to conquer our human territory?"
"Not just our human race; the demon race and even the nearby foreign races are all most likely targets that the Elder Devil Race is planning to invade. I don't know much about the specific details, but these are the rumors that are circulating among the higher level cultivators. In any case, there's no need for you to be overly concerned; even if the sky falls down, there will be people in higher-up places to support it. I'm sure the holy island has already devised appropriate countermeasures," Han Li reassured with a faint smile.
"That's true. With the holy island and Master Mo Jianli to oppose them, I'm sure the Elder Devil Race won't be able to succeed," Xu Qianyu said in a relieved manner.
The other two women were also very relieved to hear this. It was quite clear that the resounding reputations of the holy island and Mo Jianli had instilled them with a lot of confidence.
After that, Han Li enquired about some details surrounding the devilish army near the Holy Sovereign City, and before he knew it, close to an hour had passed.
Finally, Han Li stood up and prepared to leave. "I still have some important matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now. I hope to see you again someday. By the way, this is not a safe place to stay; I recommend you return to the Holy Sovereign City as soon as possible."
The three women naturally didn't dare to stop him, and they accompanied him out of the room.
Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he quickly flew away into the distance while Xu Qianyu looked on with a complex expression.
As soon as Han Li vanished into the distance, the woman with the oval face asked in an eager voice, "Aunt Xu, is that Senior Han the same senior who returned Mistress Blood Spirit to us? Is he really a Body Integration cultivator?"
An intrigued look also appeared in the other woman's eyes.
"Indeed. Back when he visited our Xu Family, he was already at the early-Body Integration stage, and I heard that he made another breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage not long before the devilish tribulation," Xu Qianyu replied with a wry smile.
"What? He's a mid-Body Integration Stage cultivator? That's the first time I've seen someone with such a high cultivation base! I heard that you share quite a close bond and even worked with him in Deep Heaven City for some time; is that true, Aunt Xu?" the woman with the oval face asked in an excited manner.