"Fellow Daoist Han, you really are impatient — to have consumed the Dao Fruit just like that." Elder Jin took quite some time to recover from his shock, speaking with a look caught between laughter and tears.
"An earth spirit treasure of this caliber is something one may never encounter again in a lifetime. Naturally, it's safest to get it into one's stomach as soon as possible — and it saves the trouble of attracting jealous eyes once I leave," Han Li replied with a faint smile.
"Since Fellow Daoist Han had already considered the matter carefully, there's little more we can say. Had the Guang Ling Dao Fruit been taken together with a few other spirit treasures, however, its effects would likely have been even greater," Elder Jin said with a soft sigh.
"The ten-thousand-year Guang Ling Dao Body should be more than sufficient for our cultivation. If even that isn't enough to push my cultivation a step further, then possessing the Dao Body for any longer wouldn't make much difference either. In any case, I owe your clan a considerable favor this time, and should the opportunity arise in the future, I will certainly repay it. The others will be arriving soon, so I won't linger here." Han Li shook his head first, then straightened his expression and clasped his fists toward the dragon clan members. Immediately after, a layer of light enveloped his body and he transformed into a streak of azure radiance that soared into the sky.
In a few flickers, the light vanished entirely beyond the horizon.
"As expected of a powerhouse who once slew a True Immortal — even after he ascends to the True Immortal World someday, he'll surely remain a force not to be underestimated," the white-robed dragon clan man praised with a clicking of his tongue.
"Indeed, but only if this boy can actually ascend to the True Immortal World," Elder Jin replied, gazing in the direction Han Li had disappeared, his expression turning rather peculiar.
"Elder Jin, what do you mean by that? With his current strength, plus the Guang Ling Dao Body, shouldn't he have a fair chance of surviving the Ascension Tribulation?" Another dragon clan Elder, dressed in green robes and bearing the appearance of a young girl, asked in surprise.
The other dragon clan members likewise showed expressions of astonishment.
"What did you all think of his spiritual sense?" Elder Jin stroked his beard and, rather than answering directly, posed a question with a smile.
"Extremely powerful — easily among the very top of everyone who attended the Dao Fruit Assembly," the white-robed dragon replied after a brief moment of thought.
"That's putting it mildly. If my guess is correct, the divine sense he displayed before us was likely only a small fraction of his true spiritual power." Elder Jin let out a low chuckle.
"How is that possible! If that's the case, doesn't it mean even our divine sense can't compare to his? Elder Jin, did you use that secret technique of yours to secretly probe the boy?" Someone immediately cried out in alarm.
"That I did. Otherwise, how could I say such a thing? What a pity — the stronger one's spiritual sense, the greater the benefit for surviving the Ascension Tribulation. But his spiritual power is simply far too powerful, to the point of exceeding the tolerance limit of beings in our plane. After probing him with my innate secret technique, I discovered that while his current spiritual sense appears formidable, its foundation is riddled with hidden dangers. Without a proper remedy, I'm afraid he won't even be able to preserve his life within a few hundred years."
"What? Such a thing actually exists?"
"I wonder whether he himself is aware of the hidden danger in his spiritual sense?"
"Even if he doesn't know now, surely he'll notice it after some time — but by then, I fear it may truly be too late."
"Exactly. Matters involving one's spiritual sense are the most difficult to deal with. Even our dragon clan has no good solution. Otherwise, Elder Jin would have warned him directly just now, wouldn't he?"
After a round of astonishment, the group of dragon clan Elders broke into animated discussion.
And just then, a sharp tearing sound echoed from the distant horizon. Another streak of white radiance, resembling a flood dragon, materialized out of thin air and shot toward the elevated platform.
With a thunderous boom, a dashing young man appeared not far in front of the platform — dressed in white robes with a jade belt and a golden crown, he clasped his hands downward and announced:
"Xuan Yuan Jie of the Xuan Yuan Clan greets the esteemed Elders of the Dragon Clan!"
"What — someone from the ancient Xuan Yuan Clan?!"
The dragon clan Elders on the platform were deeply shaken by these words. Every gaze snapped to the young man in an instant, and the matter of Han Li was promptly forgotten.
…
One year later, Han Li successfully returned to the Human Race's Wuyá Sea. After reuniting briefly with Nangong Wan, Bing Feng, and the others at the Qing Yuan Palace and conveying a few matters of critical importance, he immediately entered a heavily restricted secret chamber and went into seclusion.
This particular seclusion seemed far more significant than any before — once he entered, he never emerged again.
Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, two hundred years had passed.
During this period, the Human Race underwent astonishing, earth-shaking changes.
First, after several years, Fairy Bing Po returned to the Human Race in the identity of a Mahayana Ancestor, sending shockwaves throughout the entire clan.
Then, the Wood Race and most of the other smaller races neighboring the Human Race successively expressed their willingness to submit to Human Race dominion.
Then, the Yaksha and several other races that had always been at odds with the Human Race suddenly — as though by prior agreement — all abandoned their original territories and ventured into the primordial wilderness, migrating to some unknown part of the continent.
Upon witnessing this, the Human Race naturally wasted no time in claiming the vast majority of the vacated lands for themselves.