"Forget it. Regardless of their origins, now that Mahayana-stage beings have appeared, it seems that matter truly cannot be kept hidden any longer. I might as well spread the news far and wide and use their strength to take a gamble. That would be better than missing the opening window and gaining nothing at all." The masked figure's gaze flickered several times before it finally steeled its resolve. With a flick of its sleeve, its body twisted and vanished directly into the void.
At this time, Han Li was already walking along a street, entering and exiting several large-looking shops to replenish some supplementary materials. He purchased nothing else, however, and headed directly to a more secluded inn-like establishment, where he rented a private courtyard and settled in to meditate without venturing out again.
Three days later, Han Li returned to the plaza with a peculiar expression on his face. He found Patriarch Shi and Zhu Guo'er, who had been waiting there all along, and brought them back to their lodgings.
He then informed the pair that he had suddenly gained some insights into a particular secret technique, so the matter of the ancient altar would need to be set aside for now. He had to go into seclusion for a time, and told them both to cultivate properly here as well and not to leave rashly.
Patriarch Shi and Zhu Guo'er naturally nodded in agreement.
And so, for the next month or so, none of them left their lodgings a single step, all cultivating behind closed doors.
More than a month later, one day, Han Li, who had been meditating inside his room, suddenly opened both eyes as though he had sensed something. His expression darkened, and golden light blazed across his body in an instant as he transformed into a golden streak that shot out of the room.
Almost at the same moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom erupted.
A colossal sphere of light, like a blazing sun, suddenly exploded above the inn. Ring after ring of shockwaves rippled outward, and in their wake, buildings crumbled and collapsed. Some Blood Sky people caught in the blast were likewise reduced to mists of blood that burst apart.
Only a handful with higher cultivation or who had managed to release treasures to protect themselves in time managed to rush outside the shockwave's range, gazing upward in a mixture of fury and alarm.
Patriarch Shi and Zhu Guo'er were naturally among them.
Although the sky-restriction prevented anyone from taking to the air to approach for a closer look, the distance was more than sufficient to make out the scene above with perfect clarity.
Where the blazing sun had exploded moments ago, two figures now hovered high in the sky, facing each other from afar.
One was a young man wearing a Daoist robe. The other was a white-haired old woman whose face was covered in wrinkles. Both radiated waves of astonishing power.
It was clear that the commotion just now had been caused by these two.
"Mahayana Patriarchs — those are Mahayana Patriarchs! Otherwise, Blood Crane City's sky-restriction is far too powerful — even Integration-stage beings can't ascend very high!" someone blurted out in shock.
The survivors below, who had been seething with rage moments before, all drew sharp breaths at these words. After exchanging a few glances, they fled in every direction without looking back.
You had to be joking — with two Mahayana Patriarchs fighting openly, would staying here not simply be seeking death?
As for demanding an explanation, that was something they wouldn't even dare think about.
Still, the fact that two Mahayana Patriarchs had appeared in Blood Crane City all at once was enough to send the entire city into an uproar.
Patriarch Shi and Zhu Guo'er had not spotted Han Li's figure. Though somewhat surprised, they felt no real concern and simply remained where they were with composure.
At that moment, a cold male voice suddenly drifted down from high above:
"You two fellow daoists are quite formidable. Fighting so recklessly like this — do you truly place no value on the Blood Bone Gate's existence?"
A faint ripple of fluctuation arose.
In the void between the young Daoist and the old woman, white light flashed, and a man wearing a white mask appeared soundlessly.
The mask was extraordinarily pale, inscribed with several faint silver spirit patterns. It concealed everything except a pair of dark eyes, revealing not a single other feature.
"Xiao Ming, you've finally deigned to show yourself. I wonder who was hiding from us all this time. Hmph — if you hadn't appeared, I would have torn this entire city apart," the old woman snorted, rolling her eyes upward.