After dispatching several waves of those who sought their own deaths as casually as one might crush an ant, Han Li brought Xue Po along, and after two hours, they finally arrived above a massive basin.
The basin was surrounded on all sides by an unending chain of mountains both large and small, while its center was covered in patches of low-lying shrubbery. From within a pool that was almost entirely hidden by the bushes, a pillar of five-colored light roughly a li in diameter erupted skyward. Its brilliant, resplendent hues pierced straight through the heavens, resembling a colossal pillar connecting earth to sky.
At the edges of the basin, three groups of people had already arrived ahead of Han Li and were coldly sizing each other up.
The green light faded, and Han Li and Xue Po materialized side by side at yet another direction.
With a sharp rustle, all three groups turned their gazes at once. The terrifying auras contained within those stares made Xue Po's delicate features shift involuntarily, and she instinctively wanted to take two steps back.
But at that moment, Han Li's body swayed almost imperceptibly, positioning himself in front of Xue Po at an impossible angle. At the same time, he released a measure of his spiritual pressure with an almost lazy nonchalance.
A soft pop.
Xue Po felt the overwhelming pressure bearing down on her instantly scatter under Han Li's spiritual might, and she relaxed. She then stole a quick glance at the others.
Han Li, for his part, first looked a few times at the astonishing five-colored pillar above the pool, then casually surveyed the people in the other directions.
The group with the fewest members was a middle-aged man and woman who appeared to be a married couple. The man was a burly figure with thick eyebrows and dark skin, looking perfectly honest and unassuming. The woman, however, was devastatingly beautiful, her entire being radiating an intoxicating charm of extraordinary potency.
Two people who seemed utterly different, yet standing side by side, they gave off a strangely harmonious impression.
Of the two, the woman emanated a clearly identifiable Grand Ascension spiritual pressure, while the man's aura was unfathomably deep. An invisible ripple faintly shrouded his body, and even Han Li's gaze could not penetrate it to discern the man's true cultivation level — he clearly possessed some kind of secret treasure designed specifically to counter spiritual sense probing.
Han Li was mildly surprised, but the next instant his eyes shifted to another direction, settling on five young men dressed and styled identically.
These five youths appeared no older than twenty. Not only did their features and attire seem stamped from the same mold, but their mannerisms and expressions were uncannily alike as well. Their gazes were cold and devoid of the faintest trace of warmth, and each one possessed a cultivation base at the late-stage perfection of the Integration stage.
When Han Li's spiritual sense made contact with the aura of these five, a thoughtful look flickered across his face. But after a brief flash of his eyes, he turned his attention to the final group.
This last group was by far the largest, numbering well over a hundred. Most were at the Void Refinement stage, with several Integration-stage cultivators interspersed among them. They had arranged themselves into an intricate formation that tightly surrounded a stern-faced man in brocade robes.
Faint traces of blood-red light flickered in the man's eyes, and his aura was dense and powerful — a bona fide Grand Ascension Patriarch.
Han Li merely glanced at the middle-aged man before shifting his gaze to the area beside him, seemingly quite interested in the formation the others had set up.
These three groups had of course also recognized Han Li as a Grand Ascension existence. They each studied him with varied expressions for a while longer, but not one of them spared so much as a second glance at Xue Po behind him.
Clearly, in their eyes, a mere Void Refinement woman was not worth their attention.
As for this unfamiliar Grand Ascension newcomer, whose aura flickered in and out of perception in a most unsettling manner — that had put all three groups on their guard.
Now, with four parties each occupying a position around the basin's perimeter, they simply hovered in silence in midair, none showing any inclination to speak.
Suddenly, streaks of light flashed on the horizon. Additional escape lights appeared simultaneously from different directions, breaking through the air with sharp cries as they hurtled toward the basin.
When the piercing sounds abruptly ceased, two more groups of travelers arrived near the basin at the same time, revealing themselves.
Upon clearly seeing the faces of one of the groups, Han Li's expression shifted slightly, but he quickly recovered his original composure.
The newly arrived group consisted of two men and one woman standing abreast. One man's face was completely obscured by a white mask, while the other man and the woman were a young Daoist priest and a white-haired old woman respectively.
It was Xiao Ming, the Daoist Qingping, and the Lady Wan — three Grand Ascension cultivators arriving at the same time.