As soon as the middle-aged man surnamed Gan heard these words, he shot the woman a sharp glare. His lips moved faintly, and a solemn voice transmission entered the ears of all three Core Formation cultivators present simultaneously:
"Do not speak carelessly! This person is a late-stage cultivator. His divine sense is vast enough to blanket a range far beyond your imagination. If you say anything else, there is a very good chance he will still be able to sense it."
The seductive woman flinched at these words and immediately became meek and submissive.
The big man and the old man in the green robe exchanged a glance and fell silent as well.
Gan sat in his chair with his head tilted slightly downward, his ashen pupils flickering with an elusive cold light.
A full quarter of an hour passed before the light in the middle-aged man's eyes finally dimmed.
"He should have fled beyond a thousand li by now. It's impossible for him to still be sensing this place. Still, better safe than sorry." With that, he flicked a finger, and with a soft *pfft*, a point of green light flashed and sank into a thick pillar of the hall nearby.
The pillar rumbled, its entire surface suffused with a faint green spiritual glow. The other pillars nearby hummed in resonance, and a shimmering curtain of hazy green light coalesced, enclosing a small section of the area within its barrier.
"Now we may speak freely." After completing this, the middle-aged man's expression finally relaxed.
"You really are cautious, Grand Uncle-Master." This time, the seductive woman managed a bitter smile.
"Facing an existence this terrifying, the more cautious one is, the better." The middle-aged man snorted coldly.
"Grand Uncle-Master speaks truly. Moreover, cultivators who have reached that realm tend to have peculiar tempers. If any of our words inadvertently offend them, it could bring total annihilation upon our sect. However, among the famous Nascent Soul elders in our Scattered Star Seas, I don't recall seeing this man or woman before. Yet from the way that man spoke just now, he seemed to know the Scattered Star Seas extremely well — hardly a stranger from the outside. He really must be one of those reclusive ascetics who has been in seclusion all along." The big man in the yellow robe hesitated for a moment, his voice uncertain.
The old man in the green robe furrowed his brows tightly and said nothing, his gaze lowered.
"Shi Xuan, what are you thinking about?" The middle-aged man noticed the old man's unusual behavior and naturally asked.
"I was just thinking carefully — that man seemed somewhat familiar. As if I had seen him somewhere before." The old man in the green robe raised his head and spoke slowly.
"You've seen him?" The moment these words left his lips, the others were all startled, and every gaze fell upon the old man.
"That man's appearance is perfectly ordinary, Senior Brother — could you be mistaken?" The seductive woman couldn't help but speak up.
"His face may be unremarkable, but I'm sure I've seen this person. It's just that it seems to have been a very long time ago... That's right — surname Han! I remember now! This man was the one pursued by the Anti-Star Alliance's killing order!" The old man in the green robe's face changed, and he let out a sudden low cry.
"A killing order? They pursued a Nascent Soul cultivator? How did I not know about this?" Gan was startled at first, and his expression quickly turned dark.
"Grand Uncle-Master, you misunderstand! The killing order stated clearly that this man was a Core Formation cultivator who had not yet condensed his Nascent Soul. And at the time, Grand Uncle-Master was in seclusion. Junior Brother Quan and Junior Sister Jing had not yet reached Core Formation either. It was Senior Brother Ma and I who were handling the sect's affairs. We only dispatched a few people to deal with it in a rush and never reported it to Grand Uncle-Master. Ah — this was nearly two hundred years ago. I still have the original message jade slip from back then." The old man explained in a torrent, sweat beading on his forehead, and immediately rummaged through his storage bag before producing a jade slip carved with a ghostly visage and handing it to the middle-aged cultivator.
"Nonsense! Are you telling me this man advanced from Core Formation all the way to late Nascent Soul in such a short time?" Gan's expression grew even darker at this, but he still accepted the jade slip and scanned it with his divine sense.
After reading for only a moment, the middle-aged man's face shifted several times, revealing a look of utter disbelief.
The illusion materialized within the jade slip showed a figure in a green robe, wearing a faint smile — none other than Han Li, who had just departed moments ago. The resemblance was exact in every detail. There was no possibility this was merely someone who looked similar.
A storm raged within the middle-aged man's heart. He read every word of the supplementary content attached in the jade slip without missing a single one, then withdrew his divine sense. His face was pensive, and he remained silent for a long while.
Seeing the middle-aged cultivator so solemn, not only the old man in green and the big man in yellow, but even the seductive woman fell quiet, all wearing expressions that left every decision to their Grand Uncle-Master.
"It seems I truly wronged you, nephew. The person pursued by the Anti-Star Alliance is indeed the one who just left. But listen carefully — this matter must not leak out in the slightest. The Anti-Star Alliance may be enormously powerful, but this man is no longer the Core Formation cultivator of back then. I have no intention of dragging our sect into their feud. Should either party take their anger out on us, a minor island like Kumen Island could not possibly withstand even a fraction of their fury." A flash of resolute determination crossed Gan's face as he spoke in an icy tone.
"Yes!" The other three cultivators shuddered inwardly and hastily agreed.
"For the next ten years, none of you are to leave the sect. Stay in your cave abodes and cultivate properly. I have a bad feeling — with two great cultivators suddenly appearing, and one of them entangled with the Anti-Star Alliance, the Scattered Star Seas are only going to grow more chaotic. Restrain the rest of the disciples as well. Unless absolutely necessary, no one leaves the island. Our sect will quietly seal its gates for a period of time!"
The middle-aged man appeared to have thoroughly thought this through. His string of orders left the other three shaken, but they could only keep affirming with repeated words of assent.