Because Han Li deliberately intended to bypass nearby cities, the routes he chose were all desolate and remote. For the first few days, nothing untoward happened, and he encountered no trouble whatsoever.
He occasionally caught sight of alien cultivators flying through the distance on their escaping light, hurrying past the area on their way elsewhere.
Judging by the direction these alien cultivators were heading, they were making straight for the several nearby cities.
Han Li could only shake his head inwardly at the sight, with no intention whatsoever of stepping forward to warn them.
These people's cultivation was exceedingly low — Foundation Establishment and Core Formation at most. Faced with the Jiaochi Clan's sudden attack on this region, it was only natural that their one thought was to flee to the cities, whether to use teleportation arrays to reach other areas or to seek the protection of the high-ranking existences within the city walls.
However, after Han Li had flown alone for over ten days, he finally ran into a squad of Jiaochi Clan armored warriors on patrol.
There weren't many of them — just over a dozen — but each rode atop a snow-white two-headed eagle.
The strongest among them was at the Nascent Soul stage, while the rest were all at Core Formation.
When Han Li spotted these warriors, his heart sank.
If he remembered correctly, there wasn't supposed to be any city in this vicinity. Where had these Jiaochi Clan warriors come from, appearing in such a remote place?
Han Li was greatly alarmed and suspicious, but these people were not remotely worth his attention — dispatching them would be the work of a mere flip of his hand.
Yet having detected the Jiaochi Clan squad well in advance, he had long since concealed his figure, watching them pass by from hiding before revealing himself once more.
His expression grim, he stared at the distant patrol as it vanished from sight. Without much hesitation, he raised his escaping light and continued on his way.
But after encountering the first Jiaochi Clan patrol squad, in the days that followed he ran into a second, then a third, then a fourth…
The frequency with which Han Li encountered Jiaochi Clan patrol squads grew steadily greater.
Although their vast gap in cultivation meant they were unable to detect Han Li's presence, it nonetheless gave him a vague sense of unease.
Could it be that this entire region had truly fallen into the hands of the Jiaochi Clan?
Just as Han Li's wariness sharpened once more, in a city that the Jiaochi Clan had only recently conquered — a city several times larger than Green Light City — three high-ranking Jiaochi Clan members stood within a great hall, discussing related matters.
A woman with a full head of red hair and a gaunt, withered old man stood on either side of a golden chair.
Seated in the chair was a young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties.
Her features were refined and beautiful, yet her skin had an unearthly pale silver sheen reminiscent of metal. When her captivating eyes turned, her pupils gleamed with a purple-golden hue that was faintly painful to behold directly.
Between her brows protruded a small horn several inches tall, crystalline and translucent, lending her an air of exquisite delicacy.
Both the gaunt old man and the red-haired woman were peak Void Refinement cultivators, yet before this young woman they stood perfectly meek, their faces wearing expressions of deep respect.
"Tell me — has there still been no sign of that person?" the young woman suddenly spoke. Her voice was clear and pleasant, but her expression was cold as ice.
"Reporting to Venerable Yin — none of the patrol squads have relayed any news. Could it be that the man has found some hidden place to lay low? If that is the case, finding him will be exceedingly difficult," the gaunt old man replied respectfully.
"Laying low? Unlikely. Since he knows our clan is launching a full-scale assault on this region, he should understand perfectly well that once we have complete control, no matter how powerful his cultivation may be, he is ultimately dead. I hadn't expected that right at the outset of our campaign in this region, we would stumble upon such a big fish. If we could capture this person alive, it would be an extraordinary merit indeed." The young woman furrowed her brow slightly as she spoke at a measured pace.
"The importance of this person to the Thirteen Cloud Nations is something I am well aware of, Your Eminence. He absolutely will not be allowed to escape this region. I have already dispatched a great number of personnel to seal off the entire area. Furthermore, there are two additional squads standing by at all times. The moment any news comes in, they will teleport over immediately. Although this teleportation is subject to certain distance limitations and the cost is considerable, for this person it is certainly worth it," the red-haired woman respectfully added.
"Mm. That puts my mind at ease. By the way — didn't Envoys Tu ask for our cooperation the other day, to intercept someone?" The young woman nodded, but abruptly shifted the topic.
"They did! Envoys Tu's group transmitted an image for the patrol squads in every city to watch out for. They said the target is a seventh-grade Upper Clan existence carrying something of great importance related to their current mission," the gaunt old man replied hesitantly after a brief pause, but promptly gave an honest account.
"Hmph. They really are useless. Two beings with half a foot already in the Saint Clan, yet they let a mere Upper Clan member slip through their fingers. If it weren't for the fact that we already had plans to seal off this region entirely, I wouldn't have given their request a second thought." The young woman's gaze flickered, and a hint of contempt surfaced on her face.
Hearing the young woman's words, the old man and the red-haired woman kept their eyes straight ahead, not daring to respond.
"Still, I am somewhat curious. What exactly is it that the Elder Council sent those two here to seize? They even went so far as to have me reallocate one of our only two fortress-grade warships to them. It's forced us to revise our original plans, and we still haven't fully secured this region." Venerable Yin let out a cold laugh, clearly quite displeased with the affairs surrounding the two Envoys Tu.
"Venerable! The reallocation of the fortress-grade warship was a direct order from the Elder Council. There is no way we could have defied it. Since the Elder Council attaches such great importance to this matter, the item they seek must surely be of great benefit to our clan as well. As for the manpower shortage — fortunately, the clan recently dispatched a fresh batch of battle puppets to us. That should be more than sufficient for us to bring this entire region under our control. At present, only two cities in this region remain unconquered, but they are already completely surrounded," the red-haired woman replied carefully.