Han Li didn't even need to search for the speaker — the person was sitting cross-legged on a stone platform just over ten zhang in front of him.
She was a young woman dressed in black robes, her hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin.
She was delicately beautiful, yet her complexion was pale. Her eyes sparkled with a shifting brilliance, and a faint luminescence seemed to shimmer across her skin. What truly startled Han Li, however, was that one of her sleeves hung empty and limp — she was missing an arm.
Before Han Li could speak, the young woman noticed that he had released a magic treasure and let out a soft sound of surprise.
"So you're not some junior at the Qi Condensation stage after all — you're actually a Core Formation cultivator. My, my, that qi-concealing technique of yours is quite impressive. Even I nearly took the bait." The young woman chuckled softly, her eyes gleaming as she spoke.
Resting on her crossed legs, the Snow Cloud Fox was curled up comfortably against the woman's thighs, regarding Han Li with curious, highly spirited eyes.
"So this is where the senior has been sequestered in cultivation. This junior has been discourteous." After sweeping the area with his spiritual sense, Han Li's heart tightened.
The woman's location registered like transparent air — his spiritual sense passed right through her without detecting any fluctuation of spiritual energy whatsoever.
This meant either she possessed some extraordinary treasure that concealed her cultivation, or her cultivation was far beyond his own. Judging by her manner and the techniques she had just employed, the former seemed highly unlikely.
Han Li's wariness skyrocketed.
"You're still quite young, yet you've already cultivated to the late Core Formation stage. That's truly remarkable." While Han Li was contemplating his options, the young woman raised a delicate, jade-white wrist and gently stroked the Snow Cloud Fox on her lap, her voice carrying a leisurely, unhurried tone.
"The senior flatters me. This junior only reached this realm through sheer luck. Might I ask the senior's honored name?" Han Li exhaled softly and asked in a composed voice.
"My name is nothing worth mentioning. Even if I told you, you wouldn't know it. In truth, let alone you — even among the Nascent Soul cultivators of your generation, very few would recognize me anymore." The young woman sighed faintly.
Hearing this, Han Li was stunned for a moment, and then a bitter taste flooded his mouth.
Could this young woman really be one of those reclusive old monsters who had hidden themselves away from the world?
A chill crept into his heart, though he kept any sign of panic off his face.
After all, as his cultivation advanced and he mastered more secret techniques, Han Li no longer feared Nascent Soul cultivators as much as he once had. The Blood Shadow Escape he had recently learned in particular had considerably bolstered his courage.
If it came to a fight, he judged he was no match, but he was confident he could flee in a single burst. The only consequence would be a severe depletion of his vital blood essence, which would force him into secluded cultivation for several years to recover afterward.
But setting that aside — for such a mysterious figure to be hiding right under the noses of the three sects, what could her intentions be? Or was she, like him, simply drawn to the dense spiritual energy here and had sneaked in on her own?
At this thought, Han Li let his gaze sweep lightly around the stone chamber, and a wave of surprise washed over him.
The mountain stone chamber consisted of this single isolated room — there were no other connecting passageways to be seen. Besides the stone platform beneath the young woman, there wasn't a single piece of furniture, no tables, no chairs. The entire room was utterly bare, exuding an aura of cold desolation.
Han Li also noticed, with his characteristic attention to detail, that the walls of the chamber were extraordinarily rough-hewn, nothing like the smooth, precisely cut surfaces of a typical cultivator's cave dwelling, which would be sliced flat by flying swords or magical tools. These walls looked as though they had been hacked out by some enormous axe in random, uneven blows — incredibly jagged and irregular.
As these details registered in his eyes, a peculiar flicker passed through Han Li's gaze.
As if she had sensed the doubts in Han Li's mind, the young woman suddenly let out a soft laugh and said: "If you have your doubts, fellow Daoist, why not feel the stone walls around you? That should clear things up."
Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.
"Since the senior says so, this junior won't be polite." Han Li was indeed somewhat curious. He had already probed the surroundings with his spiritual sense moments ago and found nothing unusual—the stone appeared no different from ordinary bluestone.
He slowly made his way toward the wall on his left.
Still, to be on the safe side, Han Li never once relaxed his spiritual sense, keeping a constant watch on the young woman nearby. He was wary that she might suddenly turn on him with a surprise attack.
Though she had shown no ill will thus far, Han Li had weathered more than enough storms over the years. His vigilance was far beyond that of an ordinary person.