Gu Tongxuan put away the mirror. "Fellow Daoist Han, turn back now and continue refining the Yin-Yang Soul-Nourishing Pill, pretending you know nothing of its true purpose. If you do, the Gu Clan will not only spare you but also reward you beyond your wildest dreams. What do you say?"
"The Yin-Yang Soul-Nourishing Pill..." Han Yi heard the name of the Gu Clan's Demonic Pill for the first time.
"And if I refuse?" Han Yi raised his head, surveying the surrounding Formation Arts. His expression suddenly calmed. His earlier outburst had been a desperate gamble, hoping the Gu Clan was unaware of his detailed knowledge of the pill's refinement, allowing him to seize an opportunity. But it was clear they had anticipated his every move.
"Refuse? Fellow Daoist Han, that choice is no longer yours. Having stepped onto Gu Clan land, you will comply whether you wish to or not." Gu Tongxuan's face twisted into a ferocious scowl.
Han Yi looked at Gu Tongxuan, puzzled. "Gu Zhijing isn't even in Nanhua City. How dare three Peak Qi Refining cultivators like yourselves act unilaterally and commit such a heinous act? What's the point? Even if you kill me, the Profound Pill Sect's investigation will inevitably uncover the truth. The Gu Clan will face annihilation."
This was the question that had plagued Han Yi, and one of the main reasons he had let his guard down earlier.
It made no sense that Gu Zhijing would risk the entire Gu Clan's destruction just to swindle a Qi Refining Stage Alchemist. No matter how Han Yi tried to rationalize it, he couldn't grasp the core of the matter.
Gu Tongxuan ignored Han Yi's confusion and fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Fellow Daoist Han, I'll give you one more chance. Turn back now and refine the Yin-Yang Soul-Nourishing Pill. If you succeed, we can all avoid bloodshed, and you'll receive a generous reward."
"Refuse, and we'll have no choice but to kill you, harvest your Divine Soul to use as materials for the Soul-Nourishing Pill, and continue posting the mission. Sooner or later, some Profound Pill Sect Alchemist will agree to refine it."
"As for the Profound Pill Sect discovering our actions and sending a Foundation Establishment Stage Elder to investigate, Fellow Daoist Han, put that thought to rest. The Gu Clan wouldn't dare act unless we had a foolproof plan to cover our tracks."
Han Yi suddenly frowned. "Elder Gu isn't actually in Nanhua City, is he?"
Gu Tongxuan didn't answer. Instead, he felt a nagging sense that he had overlooked something crucial. But after careful consideration, he found no flaws in his plan. Could three Peak Qi Refining experts really let a newly ascended Qi Refining cultivator escape?
Seeing Han Yi's lack of cooperation, Gu Tongxuan roared, "Kill him!"
With a flick of his wrist, a spirit diagram appeared in Gu Tongxuan's hand. No larger than his palm, he tossed it lightly, and it dissolved into illusion before rapidly expanding into a colossal ten-meter-wide diagram.
From within the ethereal diagram, a cacophony of ghostly wails and demonic howls erupted as five grotesque, malformed evil spirits materialized.
This was the Five Ghosts Diagram, a top-tier High-Grade Magic Artifact.
The two clan brothers beside him activated their own High-Grade Magic Artifacts as well.
Just then, a streak of cyan-black light flashed past, sending a chill down Gu Tongxuan's spine.
Pfft.
The sound was barely audible—a faint prickling noise like paper being pierced.
But the instant it registered, the Five Ghosts Diagram shuddered violently. The five newly manifested evil spirits froze mid-manifestation, their illusory bodies stiffening before dissolving into nothingness.
The freshly activated diagram rapidly shrank back to its palm-sized form, crashing to the ground. A jagged hole on its surface revealed that the artifact had been utterly destroyed.
The weapons of his clan brothers fared no better. A saber, barely drawn, shattered in two as the cyan-black light flashed past, leaving only the hilt in the brother's hand. The other artifact, a High-Grade sword artifact, suffered the same fate, snapping clean in half.
"This... is a Top-Grade Magic Artifact?"
"Not good!"
Gu Tongxuan hissed and reached for his Storage Pouch, but the cyan-black light was faster.
With a whoosh, it pierced through his forehead. Then, with a gentle sweep, it unleashed two intersecting cyan-black Sword Lights that decapitated the horrified Gu Clan Elders.
The cyan-black light retreated, lodging itself in Han Yi's back.
A Top-Grade Magic Artifact: the Green Ripple Sword.
Having struck, Han Yi showed no mercy.
His earlier carelessness stemmed largely from knowing that Gu Zhijing wasn't at the Gu Clan. Without a cultivator capable of challenging him, he had nothing to fear.
Han Yi flashed to Gu Tongxuan's side, retrieved the shattered Magic Artifacts and Storage Pouches, and tossed out three Exploding Talismans, incinerating the trio to ash.
Then, he vanished.
As expected, the Formation Art enveloping the backyard courtyard was merely a shielding formation, designed to suppress sound and Spirit Energy fluctuations—similar to the Spirit-Locking Formation he'd encountered on Azure Dragon Peak.
Come to think of it...
Barely two breaths passed between Gu Tongxuan's furious shout of "Kill him!" and Han Yi's escape from the Formation Art's perimeter.
Activating the Aura Concealment Technique to its utmost, Han Yi vanished in a series of blurs. He swiftly exited the Gu Clan's estate, blended into the streets of Nanhua City, and soon passed through the city gates, heading toward Tong City.
Originally, he had planned to report the Gu Clan directly to the Great Qian cultivators stationed in Nanhua City. However, after killing three members of the clan, he realized explaining his actions would be problematic. He feared that attempting to justify his actions might backfire, drawing suspicion and trouble upon himself.
Therefore, he decided to wait until he returned to the Profound Pill Sect to file his report with the Sect.
His journey to Tong City wasn't for the auction, but because it was the only city in the region with inter-county Flying Boat transport. Once aboard a Flying Boat, he could return to Nanyang County and then find his way back to the Profound Pill Sect.
However...
Half a day after leaving Nanhua City, with Tong City still a considerable distance away, a thunderous roar, both ancient and brimming with rage, suddenly descended from the heavens.
Boom!
A furious strike slammed into the spot Han Yi had just vacated.
But as the Spirit Qi fluctuations erupted in mid-air, Han Yi had already vanished, retreating over thirty meters with explosive speed.
The Spirit Energy Storm had yet to dissipate when an elderly cultivator descended.
The white-haired elder exuded the unique majesty of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, yet Han Nan keenly detected an undercurrent of impending decay beneath that imposing aura.
"I am Han Nan, a disciple of the Heaven's Will Sect," Han Nan said, "May I ask why you attacked me without provocation?"
"Before I left the mountain, my Master warned me that a powerful Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator might mistake me for someone else, but assured me that the misunderstanding would eventually be resolved, turning misfortune into good fortune."
"Could it be that you've mistaken me for my younger twin brother, Han Yi? He is treacherous, cunning, and guilty of countless misdeeds. As twins, our auras are similar, and cultivators often mistake me for him, leading to endless misunderstandings."
"Please, Elder, see through this deception."
Han Nan suppressed his nervousness, the natural tension a Qi Refining Stage cultivator would feel before a Foundation Establishment Stage expert, betraying no significant flaws.
He had already grasped the crux of the matter during the earlier assault.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, this visitor was likely Gu Zhijing, the Patriarch of the Gu Clan and one of the Consultant Elders of the Profound Pill Sect.
As Gu Zhijing landed, Han Yi's words momentarily stunned him, stifling his seething rage.
He held a wisp of black smoke between his fingers, then released it. The smoke floated upward, transforming into an arrow that pointed directly at Han Yi.
A chill ran through Han Yi as the black smoke locked onto him, but he remained motionless.
Gu Zhijing sidestepped ten meters, yet the smoke arrow swiveled, maintaining its lock on Han Yi. He even circled around completely, but the arrow stubbornly tracked Han Yi's position.
Han Yi's expression remained unchanged, but his heart sank.
Gu Zhijing suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing with even greater fury than before. "Shameless brat! How dare you deceive even me? Clearly, you're the murderer. To kill Tongxuan, you must possess considerable strength."
"But for a mere Qi Refining cultivator to spout such nonsense before me..."
"Die!" Gu Zhijing thrust out a finger, unleashing a jet-black beam that flashed across the dozens of meters between them, hurtling toward Han Yi.
It was a spell akin to the Spirit Void Finger.
As the dark light shot forth, Han Yi felt a sudden oppressive weight, as if some terrifying entity had locked onto him, signaling imminent disaster.
However, Gu Zhijing's experience was equally vast. Even before the word "die" had fully left his lips, he had already activated a Fire Shield Technique.
Boom!
The black light shattered the Flame Shield conjured by the Fire Shield Technique, but its momentum was nearly spent. It collided with the cyan-black longsword that followed, which easily dispersed the remaining force.
The cyan-black longsword flashed past with silent speed, traversing dozens of meters in an instant.
Gu Zhijing, who had just flicked his finger, felt a slight shift in his expression. That single strike had contained fifty percent of his power; even a Peak Qi Refining cultivator would have met their demise.
The gap between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment could not be bridged by simply accumulating more spells. Both spells and Divine Sense underwent a fundamental transformation upon reaching Foundation Establishment.
Immortal Foundation Establishment—in theory, Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators had truly embarked on the Immortal Path, while Qi Refining cultivators, no matter how well-prepared, merely lingered at its fringes.
Yet there existed a rare breed, even scarcer than Foundation Establishment cultivators themselves, who could withstand Foundation Establishment pressure with their Qi Refining cultivation alone.
Gasp!
Legendary Qi Refining.
This wasn't a cultivation realm, but a title of honor.
Two years ago, the Profound Pill Sect had seventy to eighty Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, yet only two Legendary Qi Refining cultivators.
Despite the rapid changes in recent years, the number of Legendary Qi Refining cultivators within the sect had actually decreased. While the number of Legendary Qi Refining cultivators was related to a sect's overall strength, the correlation wasn't absolute. The Profound Pill Sect had recently seen an increase in Peak Qi Refining cultivators, but this didn't necessarily mean more Legendary Qi Refining cultivators would emerge.
As Gu Zhijing's expression shifted, the cyan-black longsword that had shattered the black light from his finger silently streaked toward him.
"A Top-Grade Magic Artifact."
Though the sword moved without a sound, Gu Zhijing easily recognized its aura—it was of the same caliber as his own treasured artifact.
After a moment of shocked realization, a glint of greed surfaced in his eyes. Suppressing this impulse, his expression hardened again.
A cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement possessing a Top-Grade Magic Artifact? This forced him to reconsider his assumptions.
However, Han Yi had not only killed members of the Gu Clan but also uncovered their secret of refining the Yin-Yang Soul-Nourishing Pill. Regardless of his origins, Han Yi had to be eliminated first.
In that instant...
Gu Zhijing flipped his hands, revealing a nine-tiered black pagoda. He bit his fingertip, smeared blood on the pagoda, and pointed his bloodied finger at Han Yi.
Instantly, a stream of black blood shot forth from the pagoda, emitting a putrid, sinister aura that made Han Yi, standing dozens of meters away, subtly change his expression.
The black blood coiled, attempting to engulf the Green Ripple Sword. In that instant, Han Yi sensed imminent danger.
He had limited experience with the methods of Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, but this didn't prevent him from raising his vigilance to its peak.
His Divine Sense surged forth, enveloping the Green Ripple Sword. With his Peak Perfection Sword Control Technique, the Top-Grade Sword Artifact instantly gained another ten percent in speed, streaking through the air to shatter the strangely ominous black blood and hurtle toward Gu Zhijing.
In that moment, both men's expressions changed.
Gu Zhijing's face paled in disbelief at what he had just witnessed. Yet his boldness and ruthlessness, honed from elevating the Gu Clan of Nanhua City from an ordinary Qi Refining cultivation family to its current Foundation Establishment Stage status, now came to the fore.
One of Gu Zhijing's fingers exploded, and blood surged into the black pagoda. From within, a blood-red hand shot out with blinding speed, faster than Han Yi could react, and slammed into the Green Ripple Sword, sending the Top-Grade sword artifact flying.
However, knocking away the sword artifact seemed to have exhausted the blood-red hand's power. In an instant, it vanished back into the black pagoda, leaving no trace of its presence.
Han Yi's expression shifted, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face.
In his eyes, this Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator could be summed up in a single word: "weak." He was so weak, in fact, that he barely seemed worthy of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Then, realization struck. When the Foundation Establishment cultivator had appeared earlier, Han Yi had sensed a faint scent of decay beneath his imposing aura—the same rotten aura he had encountered in Daofu City with the Foundation Establishment Stage Elder from the Great Qian Imperial Observatory. Though this cultivator hadn't yet reached the end of his lifespan like that elder, he couldn't be far from it.
This was a sign of the Immortal Path's decline—a manifestation of a cultivator nearing the end of their lifespan.
Yin-Yang Soul-Nourishing Pill, Gu Clan, Demonic Pill, elderly cultivator, Foundation Establishment Stage, nearing the end of his lifespan...
These keywords formed a clear line in Han Yi's mind. Yet he sensed a crucial piece was missing: Why was this a disciple of the Profound Pill Sect?
In the space between thoughts, Han Yi snapped his fingers together, and the Green Ripple Sword, sent flying moments ago, returned to its sheath on his back. With a subtle sway of his body, he retreated at explosive speed.
Peak Perfection, Light Body Technique.
Their earlier exchange had proven that neither could decisively defeat the other. Unsure of what hidden trump cards Gu Zhijing might possess, Han Yi decided to withdraw. After all, Gu Zhijing's fate was sealed anyway.
Gu Zhijing, his fingers shattered from gritting his teeth, his eyes burning with murderous intent, refused to concede and prepared to launch another attack.
But then, a cold snort echoed from the heavens.
"Enough."
A figure materialized instantly between the two combatants.
Both Han Yi, poised to flee, and Gu Zhijing, ready to strike, froze.
Their reactions were diametrically opposed. Gu Zhijing cried out in terror and turned to flee, while Han Yi let out a relieved sigh.
The newcomer was none other than Fu Canghai, whom Han Yi had met briefly before.
Fu Canghai watched Gu Zhijing's desperate escape with a slight shake of his head. With a casual wave of his hand, flames erupted in mid-air, coalescing into a majestic Fire Dragon. The dragon surged forward, crossing hundreds of meters in a heartbeat, and devoured the terrified Gu Zhijing whole.
A grotesque scream pierced the firelight, not from Gu Zhijing himself, but from the sinister black tower in his hand.
In less than three breaths, Gu Zhijing, the ominous black tower, and even his Storage Pouch had been reduced to ashes, leaving no trace behind.
The Fire Dragon returned, its fiery gaze sweeping over Han Yi. The youth sensed an almost sentient intelligence in the dragon's eyes. Then, the Fire Dragon vanished into Fu Canghai's sleeve.
From Fu Canghai's cold snort to the Fire Dragon's withdrawal, barely three breaths had passed.
Three breaths ago, Gu Zhijing had been poised to hunt down Han Yi, who knew he couldn't win but was confident in his ability to escape.
Three breaths later, Gu Zhijing was utterly annihilated, vanished without a trace.
Life's twists and turns unfolded in the blink of an eye.
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Fu," Han Yi said, echoing Feng Jingyu's earlier address on the Tribulation Transcending Immortal Boat.
Fu Canghai turned his gaze upon Han Yi, wordless. He scrutinized the youth meticulously, as if appraising an unpolished jade, making Han Yi feel distinctly uneasy.
After a long silence, Fu Canghai finally spoke: "Impressive, truly impressive. No wonder Sect Leader Yuan insisted I accompany you on this journey."
"He certainly knows how to spot talent. His discernment far surpasses ours."