When the burly man in fine brocade saw that Han Li had walked past, he hesitated for a moment before following, with the others trailing behind him.
Seeing all seven of them dutifully enter the teleportation array, cultivator Qian showed a trace of a smile. He formed a hand seal, and small points of white light appeared on his fingers.
"We two are privately allowing several fellow Daoists to go to the Outer Star Seas. You won't go out and spread any rumors about this, will you?" he asked suddenly, his tone light as he stared at the white light on his fingers.
"Of course not! We are incredibly grateful to Senior for being so accommodating. How could we do something so underhanded? Besides, even if we said something, what could anyone really do to two Seniors?" The brocade-clad man was quite sharp and immediately adopted an expression of earnest vow.
"Very good. You understand the situation. We two have some small standing within Star Palace, so even if our superiors found out, we'd at most receive a reprimand. However, if any gossip should reach our ears from the outside, Brother Gu and I are not known for being soft-hearted. Furthermore, I hear you were worried we might suddenly turn on you and even brought sensing beads with you—quite a thoughtful precaution. But it was rather unnecessary. We wouldn't risk ruining our reputations over a few spirit stones." His voice carried a cold edge as he stared at the burly man, his gaze sweeping over the others as well. For some reason, however, it skipped over Han Li.
"Senior is truly a reasonable man. This junior was measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty one's mind," the burly man said with a forced smile, cold sweat already breaking out on his back.
"Hmph! No need for empty words. Look after yourselves!" Cultivator Qian seemed disinclined to say more. He flicked his finger, and the faintly glowing white hand seal struck the teleportation array.
Instantly, the spirit stones surrounding the array blazed with white light. Then, the seven people within vanished amidst the luminous haze.
"What happened? Didn't we agree to give them fake teleportation talismans? Why did you use real ones? This isn't what we planned initially!" The bald-headed man watched as Han Li and the others actually teleported away. His expression changed abruptly, filled with suspicion and alarm.
"If it were truly possible to produce a fake talisman, do you think I would have shown any mercy? The fellow who gifted us those magic treasures is undeniably a Nascent Soul old monster. The moment a fake talisman appeared, we would have been obliterated in his rage!" Cultivator Qian snorted coldly, his face grim. He produced a silk handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat that had now appeared on his forehead.
"Nascent Soul? Brother Qian, you're not joking, are you? That person's cultivation was clearly only at the late Foundation Establishment stage!" The bald-headed elder was first stunned, then his expression turned drastically.
The gaunt man who had stayed behind looked utterly bewildered upon hearing this.
"Brother Gu, you should know about the spirit beast I keep—the Yan Nao. It has no other particular abilities, but it is extremely sensitive to detecting other people's spiritual sense." Cultivator Qian turned his palm over, and a small spirit beast resembling a kitten appeared on his wrist.
This creature had long, slender ears like a rabbit. Once it appeared, it blinked its emerald-green eyes, looking around ceaselessly. It appeared quite adorable.
"At first, the opponent's aura and spiritual sense were indeed concealed with extreme subtlety. Even the Yan Nao didn't detect anything unusual. However, after disabling the array's restrictions, the opponent secretly used their spiritual sense to inspect the teleportation formation. It was during that moment that the beast sensed something amiss. This Yan Nao of mine can detect the size of the spiritual sense of even a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, and can at least give a general reaction to someone at the late stage. But this time, apart from trembling incessantly inside my sleeve, it gave no specific response whatsoever. It only indicated that the opponent's spiritual sense was unfathomably deep. The last time it reacted like this was when I took it to meet several of the Elders." As he spoke, Cultivator Qian gently stroked the Yan Nao in his hand, a trace of lingering fear in his voice.
"So, that person really is a Nascent Soul cultivator," the bald-headed elder said, breaking into a sweat.
"Even if not, they possess at least late-stage Core Formation cultivation. Eliminating you and me wouldn't require much effort at all," Cultivator Qian stated with absolute certainty.
"This is all thanks to Brother Qian's quick thinking! If we had handed out fake talismans, we would have truly sought our own deaths. I was wondering how that person could so casually gift us each a magic treasure without any hint of regret—it turns out they're one of those old monsters. But teleporting that person to the Outer Star Seas... could it cause some major trouble?" The elder recalled something, his heart racing with apprehension.
"What major trouble could it cause? The person should be a rogue Nascent Soul cultivator. They likely didn't want to get involved in the great war between our Star Palace and the Rebel Star Alliance, which is why they borrowed our path to the Outer Seas. Nothing will come of it! Of course, the fact that a Nascent Soul cultivator was teleported to the Outer Seas through our hands absolutely must not reach our superiors' ears. Otherwise, the punishment would be severe."
Cultivator Qian offered a couple of words of reassurance, but as he spoke the latter part, his refined features darkened suddenly. Then, his malevolent gaze fell upon the gaunt man, who was still standing nearby, dumbfounded.
Under the chilling stare of the middle-aged man surnamed Qian, the gaunt man shuddered violently, suddenly realizing what was happening.
He hastily stumbled backward several steps, his face filled with panic.
"Whatever you two Seniors were just discussing, I didn't hear any of it! I certainly won't say a word! I..."
Before the gaunt man could finish, a yellow light shot soundlessly from behind. It circled him eerily, and his entire body was instantly sliced into several pieces.
"Obviously, we can't let anyone else know about this matter. I was considering letting you go, considering you and I had some small connection... But your luck simply isn't very good!" The bald-headed elder extended a hand toward the yellow light, retrieving the magic treasure as he spoke in a sinister tone.
Immediately after, a fireball shot from his hand, and the corpse was consumed by flames, turning to ash in an instant.