Hearing the woman's cry, Han Li paused and turned his gaze toward her, halting his sword light.
"Are you a disciple of the Mystical Sound Sect?" he asked, his expression calm.
The woman was a young wife of about twenty, her face warm as jade and her skin fair as snow. Her delicate features were filled with pleasant surprise, making her look exceedingly alluring.
"Disciple Wen Siyue pays respects to Elder Han!" The captivating young woman hurried over to Han Li's side and bowed respectfully.
Her figure was breathtaking—full bosom, rounded hips, and a slender, graceful build. As she spoke in her sweet voice, an intoxicating fragrance drifted from her body.
Han Li, however, showed no reaction. He simply looked her over from head to toe before asking in an unhurried tone: "How do you recognize me? Have we met before?"
He felt somewhat puzzled, and was certain this was his first time seeing her.
"Elder Han may not know, but although this junior has never had the honor of meeting the senior in person, our Sect Master long ago hung portraits of all the elders in the Offering Hall. Every time we visit the main hall, we see them," the beautiful young woman replied respectfully.
Hearing this, Han Li was first taken aback, then found himself caught between laughter and tears.
He hadn't expected those three women of the Mystical Sound Sect to go and do something like this. Presumably, this was one of their methods for publicizing to the outside world that he had become an elder of their sect.
Though Han Li felt a touch of exasperation inwardly, he let none of it show on his face. Instead, he turned his head toward the middle-aged man on the other side and said with a smile: "Brother Wen, it's been so many years. I trust you've been well?"
Ever since Han Li had appeared, the middle-aged man had been wearing a strange expression, and now his face grew even more conflicted. The way he looked at Han Li seemed to hold a mixture of envy and a certain sense of inferiority.
"I never expected Senior Han would still recognize me? Even after seeing your portrait in the Mystical Sound Sect, it took me a long time to truly believe it. Congratulations, Senior, on achieving Golden Core," he said, his lips twitching as a bitter smile surfaced.
This middle-aged man was none other than "Wen Qiang," the young cultivator who had crossed paths with Han Li twice on Kuixing Island all those years ago.
Though his features still vaguely resembled those of his youth, the once fair-skinned and delicate young man now had white streaks at his temples and a face weathered by the years, on the verge of entering his sixties.
"Brother Wen, there's no need for all this 'Senior, Senior' business. We knew each other back then, after all—let us address each other as equals," Han Li said with a smile.
A single glance told him that the other man was still only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, with no hope in this lifetime of reaching Golden Core.
Thinking of how that once vibrant young man had aged into this, Han Li couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Even if Wen Siyue hadn't called out to him, he would have stopped.
After all, he possessed a photographic memory. Though his encounters with the man had been brief, he had recognized Wen Qiang in a passing glance just moments ago.
Moreover, the other man had left a favorable impression back then, so of course Han Li would lend a hand and not let him die before his eyes.
When Wen Qiang heard Han Li's words, he repeatedly protested that he wouldn't dare presume such familiarity. Han Li, helpless, could only let the matter rest.
The young woman beside them, having overheard their brief exchange, was utterly astonished, her small mouth slightly agape!
Her glistening eyes blinked several times, and she was just about to ask something when Han Li suddenly turned his head, his tone turning cold as he addressed the other side: "Where do you three think you're going? Did I give you permission to leave?"
It turned out that the three cultivators across from them had already been terrified upon seeing an opponent with a Golden Core ally arrive.
But when they noticed Han Li seemed to pay them no attention at all, and was instead chatting quite amiably, they had clung to a sliver of hope and were slowly edging backward.
Now, hearing Han Li's words, their faces drained of all color. They exchanged glances, then immediately split in three directions and fled on their flying artifacts.
As they sped away, they simultaneously unleashed an array of multicolored protective artifacts and various defensive barriers around their bodies.
"Hmph! Courting death!"
Han Li snorted coldly. With a frosty expression, he raised his hand and flicked lightly. Three brilliant green sword streaks shot from his fingertips, vanishing in a flash and reappearing behind the three cultivators' backs.
Several muffled thuds rang out. The artifacts and barriers around them shattered like paper under the bowl-thick sword beams, and nearly simultaneous screams followed. In an instant, the three of them and their artifacts dissolved into a skyful of light particles, vanishing without a trace.
The young woman and Wen Qiang watched as Han Li dispatched three cultivators of the "Venomous Dragon Society" with nothing more than a casual gesture, their expressions shifting involuntarily. The looks they cast toward Han Li now carried a few more degrees of awe and reverence.