"So Senior already had everything well planned. It was presumptuous of me to speak up!" Zhu Guo'er blinked her large eyes and said respectfully.
"But what you said isn't entirely without merit either. We can't afford to be too careless about this trip. After those several great battles, we've already made ourselves known throughout the Demon Realm. Not only will we need to alter our appearances before entering Blue Cascade Lake, but we'll also have to split up and act separately for a time. Guo'er, you stay nearby with Daoist Xie for a while. I'll enter Blue Cascade City alone first to gather some intelligence. With my Face Transformation Technique, as long as I don't come face-to-face with a Mahayana existence, I shouldn't fear being exposed." Han Li seemed to have already considered the matter and gave his instructions without hesitation.
"As Senior Han commands, Guo'er will obey." Zhu Guo'er naturally dared not go against Han Li's wishes. Moreover, upon hearing that she would be alone with Daoist Xie, she was secretly delighted and agreed immediately.
The young girl still hadn't realized that Daoist Xie was a puppet, and somehow had developed an inexplicable fondness for him.
Daoist Xie gave a slight nod, then continued to stand in place, remaining silent as always.
As a pseudo-immortal puppet, it possessed a certain degree of sentience, but based on the contract it had formed with Han Li—and having already received a generous advance payment of pseudo-immortal transformation dew—it was naturally indifferent to such matters.
Han Li smiled faintly, not particularly concerned with its reaction.
He himself was well-versed in the puppet arts, and after spending this period of time with Daoist Xie, he had come to understand its semi-autonomous state quite well.
He knew that while Daoist Xie appeared no different from an ordinary person on the surface, it was still subject to several restrictions left by its original master and could not easily defy them. Beyond those constraints, however, it possessed a remarkable degree of autonomous capability.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to use the mysterious green liquid as bait to lure it out of the sea of tribulation lightning and make it his temporary bodyguard.
Of course, Han Li was also well aware that even with Daoist Xie by his side, it didn't mean he could truly remain in the Demon Realm without any worries.
If those few Grand Ancestors hadn't each been occupied with their own affairs and unable to free themselves to deal with him in full force—and if the other ordinary Saint Sovereigns hadn't been too proud of their standing to even think of joining forces—how could he have safely lingered in the Demon Realm until now?
After giving Zhu Guo'er and Daoist Xie a few more words of instruction, Han Li's entire skeleton crackled and popped, his body suddenly growing a foot taller while his features underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming those of a refined, scholarly middle-aged man.
He stamped his foot, transformed into a streak of dark light that pierced through the sky, and headed straight toward the depths of the lake.
Daoist Xie watched Han Li depart into the distance, then without a word flicked its long sleeve. A swath of golden light swept past, and in the next instant it and Zhu Guo'er vanished from the hilltop.
...
With Han Li's current cultivation, even without pushing his flight technique to its full speed, he was still astonishingly fast. In a short while, he had already traveled over a hundred thousand li.
Small islands had begun to appear on the azure water in the distance, with simple structures built upon them. Demonfolk could be seen coming and going from inside.
On some of the islands, black wooden boats of various sizes were moored, occasionally loading up passengers and heading further into the lake.
Han Li was not surprised by any of this.
Since he had decided to come to Blue Cascade Lake, he had naturally investigated the local situation in meticulous detail. He knew that deep within Blue Cascade Lake, the Blue Cascade Old Ancestor had once invited several friendly Saint Sovereigns to jointly set up an enormous anti-flight restriction. Any demon below the Demon Sovereign level who entered the restricted zone would immediately lose the ability to fly and could only travel to the core of Blue Cascade Lake by boat.
Although Han Li was not affected by this restriction, he had no desire to attract the attention of high-ranking demonkind in the area. So after circling briefly over a small nearby island, he landed.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a short, dark-skinned demon male hurried over to him.
"This humble one is Guan Yang, and I greet Senior! Is Senior heading to Blue Cascade City? My boat may not be large, but in terms of speed, it is absolutely second to none among the hundred islands nearby." This low-rank demon, who looked almost no different from an ordinary human, bowed first, then broke into a grin, revealing a set of snow-white teeth.
"Oh? Your cultivation is merely at Foundation Establishment, yet you make such bold claims. You're not exaggerating, are you?" Han Li sized up the demon before him, then glanced at the dozen or so wooden boats of varying sizes along the island's edge, responding in a noncommittal tone.
"Rest assured, Senior. If anything I've said turns out to be untrue, I'm willing to refund double the demon stones at that time." Although Guan Yang couldn't gauge the depth of Han Li's cultivation, from his demeanor and bearing alone he could tell this was no ordinary Core Formation or Nascent Soul cultivator. He dared not show the slightest slackness and thumped his chest in guarantee.
"Very well. Since you say so, I'll take your boat. The cost in demon stones doesn't matter, but the key is speed—I need to arrive at Blue Cascade City as soon as possible." Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, and upon detecting that the man's words seemed truthful, gave a nod of agreement.