After carefully storing several items, Han Li glanced up at the rosy clouds in the sky before leaping toward one corner of the bamboo grove.
Moments later, he pulled out a green formation flag planted at the base of a giant bamboo stalk.
Instantly, the sky full of rosy restrictions vanished without a trace.
Han Li smiled faintly and turned toward another corner.
Before long, all the formation flags and disks had been retrieved from the bamboo grove by Han Li and stored with extreme care inside his storage pouch.
Having witnessed the might of this newly improved "Inverted Five Elements Formation," he treasured it immensely.
When Han Li returned unhurriedly to his original spot, intending to fly away from this place, he noticed something on the ground—it was the Yue Emperor’s corpse, now resembling a puddle of mud. It seemed that once the rosy light had dissipated, the body had fallen from the sky.
Han Li frowned slightly, let out a soft sigh, and flicked his finger. A fist-sized fireball shot out, reducing the Yue Emperor’s remains to ash.
This man had indeed been a remarkable figure, yet after death, he was nothing but a pile of flying ash. The thought made Han Li sigh with emotion.
Next, he patted his storage pouch, and a golden streak of light flew out, blasting a large pit in an empty area to one side.
Then, with a gentle wave of his sleeve, a soft breeze carried the pile of ashes and deposited them neatly into the pit.
Suddenly, a flash of white light made Han Li pause in the middle of his burial motion.
With a surprised gesture of his single hand, a misty white silk handkerchief floated lightly out of the pit and into his palm.
"This is…" Han Li’s eyes swept over it, a look of doubt crossing his face.
The handkerchief was slightly yellowed, clearly an ancient object. It was woven from some unknown material, giving off a faint luminescence all over. But what truly piqued Han Li’s suspicion was that a blurry, indistinct map was embroidered upon it.
His curiosity surged. He examined the map closely, turning it over and over several times before his interest waned.
After a careful look, he was certain this was definitely not the terrain of the Yue Kingdom. It depicted an unfamiliar place. Moreover, the map was obviously incomplete—he couldn’t tell if it was half of a whole map or just a fraction.
However, since this map had only just emerged from the ashes, it was likely that the Yue Emperor had used some secret technique to hide it within his body. Otherwise, it would have been discovered by the beast puppets from the very beginning.
In that case, this map was no ordinary object!
Lost in thought, Han Li stored this incomplete map inside the jade box that held the Five Elements Pills.
Now was not the time for solving mysteries. He needed to find the others quickly.
After all, with the Yue Emperor dead, dealing with the aftermath was quite a headache.
When Han Li found Chen Qiaoqian and the others in front of the Cold Palace, another piece of bad news reached him.
Inside the Black Fiend Sect Master’s secret chamber within the Cold Palace, they had discovered the corpse of "Wu Xuan." He had recently been drained of his lifeblood by a blood sacrifice and perished.
Han Li heard the news and was first taken aback, but immediately gave a bitter smile, saying nothing.
Now, because of the Black Fiend Sect's affairs, so many Foundation Establishment cultivators from their own sect had been killed. After returning, he feared Li Huayuan would not give him a pleasant look. After all, he had been the one to instigate the matter in the first place!
Feeling utterly helpless, Han Li simply handed over the aftermath to Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang to handle. He found an excuse and returned first to the Qin residence.
But what he never expected was that, as soon as he arrived back at his lodging, an unexpected person appeared before his eyes.
...
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Han!" The middle-aged man in brocade robes bowed respectfully before him.
"Nephew Ma! Coming to find me so late, is there something important?" A flash of surprise and suspicion passed through Han Li's eyes.
At this moment, Han Li had just rushed back from the imperial city. He hadn't anticipated that this sect disciple, who was responsible for liaising in the Yue capital, would actually be waiting for him right in the courtyard.
Moreover, judging by the situation, he had been waiting for quite some time.
"Martial Uncle, this nephew has just received a message. There are orders from above: all disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage or above must immediately proceed to the Seven Sects' grand camp at the border. The enemy has issued a declaration of decisive battle; the Righteous and Demonic factions will settle the score with us in two months. The higher-ups require all forces to be consolidated. Additionally, along with the order, comes a jade slip message from Ancestor Li!" The man in brocade said solemnly.
As he finished speaking, he took out an official order and a jade slip, handing them over to Han Li.
Han Li was slightly startled upon hearing this but accepted the two items without betraying any emotion, examining them carefully.