Chapter 443: Stirrings Abroad, Purple Spirit Meets Again

Han Li barely needed to think about it before he was almost certain that what Xuan Gu Shangren had said was at least nine out of ten parts true.

After all, the Star Palace had stood tall in the Chaotic Star Sea for so many years without falling — they had certainly employed various methods. There was no way they had come here out of thin air just to supervise. More likely than not, they had their own hidden agenda.

With that thought, a cold gleam flashed in Han Li's eyes. Though he gave no verbal reply to Xuan Gu Shangren, he immediately raised his guard against those two white-robed elders in his mind.

But in the hours that followed, those two white-haired elders remained seated in the same position without so much as a twitch, having fully entered a state of qi refinement. They never opened their eyes again, nor did they utter a single word.

And so, in a strange and eerie atmosphere, three more days passed.

During those days, only three or four new cultivators arrived, and not a single Nascent Soul cultivator showed up.

Then, on the morning of the fourth day, a sudden change occurred.

After a series of booming rumbles, a white jade gate descended without any warning at the entrance to the hall, sealing off the entire great hall in an instant.

The gate was shrouded in a hazy white glow, clearly protected by powerful restrictions.

Moreover, from the direction of the palace gates in the distance, a muffled boom could be heard, as though those too had been sealed off by something.

At this, some of the people in the hall could not help but show a trace of panic. But when they noticed that the Nascent Soul cultivators all looked completely calm, they steadied themselves and settled back down.

At that moment, the two white-robed elders from the Star Palace opened their eyes in an unhurried manner and rose to their feet.

Immediately, the eyes of all the other cultivators fixed on the two of them. Those who knew what was going on showed expressions of understanding, while those who did not wore a hint of puzzlement.

The Nascent Soul cultivators, however, watched their actions with expressionless faces, not saying a word.

Everyone watched as the two elders walked calmly toward the front of the hall.

But before they even reached their destination, the ground at the far end of the hall trembled faintly, and several stone slabs on the floor blazed with a dazzling white light.

Then, under the astonished gaze of the crowd, a small teleportation formation roughly ten feet across appeared right there.

Among all the cultivators packed in the hall, not a single one had noticed how the formation had materialized there. This left many who considered themselves exceptional utterly stunned.

The two white-robed elders, however, approached the teleportation formation with perfect composure and bent down to inspect it carefully.

After a good while, the two exchanged a glance and nodded.

"All right. This teleportation formation is functioning correctly. Step through it, and you will arrive at the outer hall of the Void Heaven Hall. Everyone, look after yourselves."

Having said this, the two white-robed figures stepped onto the formation one after the other.

In a flash of two streaks of white light, their forms vanished without a trace.

The remaining cultivators in the hall exchanged bewildered glances.

But before they could even react, Wan Tianming led the old Daoist and the gaunt dark-skinned elder down from the jade pillar without a moment's hesitation, walked onto the teleportation formation themselves, and were sent away.

Now the crowd of cultivators finally snapped into action. Those standing closest hurried over.

In an instant, the teleportation formation flashed with white light nonstop, and in the blink of an eye, more than a third of the cultivators in the hall had disappeared. Xuan Gu Shangren had slipped away among them, leaving first.

A strange light flickered in Han Li's eyes. He could not help but glance toward Ancestor Ji Yin and the others.

To his surprise, Ancestor Ji Yin was looking back at him with a deeply meaningful expression. Han Li was startled and quickly looked away, his unease growing even stronger.

It seemed that Ancestor Ji Yin truly had no intention of letting him go!

Feeling thoroughly vexed, Han Li simply stood up and began walking toward the front.

When Ancestor Ji Yin saw Han Li's movements, a strange, cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. This finally prompted Wu Chou, who had been playing the mute at his side, to whisper:

"Ancestor, it seems like you've been rather fixated on that fellow. Is something off about him?"

Wu Chou was genuinely curious.

"Nothing in particular. It's just that this person could be quite useful to me. I may need to borrow him for a time," Ancestor Ji Yin replied, shaking his head in an offhand manner, clearly not wanting to share any details with Wu Chou.

This left Wu Chou — who had always enjoyed Ancestor Ji Yin's favor — feeling puzzled.