When Han Li quietly returned to the meditation chamber, he found the disciples still sprawled about unconscious, with no sign that anyone had come to check on them.
He reflected that this was only natural. At such a critical moment during the battle, how could they spare any attention for these disciples?
After all, no matter how talented these disciples might be, they were still only low-rank cultivators, and there were far more pressing matters to attend to.
The White Fox had already transformed into his likeness and was lying in its original spot, feigning unconsciousness. But the moment it saw Han Li return, it immediately reverted to its true fox form and leaped into the wide sleeve of his robe.
"How did it go? You succeeded, right? No one has come here — it seems Brother was worrying over nothing!" Yin Yue chuckled softly from within his sleeve.
"Mm, I succeeded. But I'd rather worry over nothing than risk exposing my identity," Han Li said evenly.
"However, Brother Han, how will you explain surviving? That could be a bit tricky," Yin Yue deftly shifted the topic, asking with a note of concern.
"Explain? I'll just tell them the truth," Han Li replied as though the matter were of no consequence whatsoever, his tone entirely nonchalant.
"The truth?" Yin Yue was taken aback.
"I'll say I purchased an illusion talisman at a high price and used it to preserve my life. What's so hard to explain about that? The art of illusion is inherently difficult to pin down — even a cultivator of far greater cultivation can be deceived by it from time to time." Han Li spoke unhurriedly, clearly having already formulated his plan.
"Indeed, that's a perfectly good excuse!" The White Fox paused in surprise, then let out a soft laugh.
What followed was simple enough.
A full half-day later, the yellow-robed cultivator entered the meditation chamber with a grim expression.
Seeing the room full of unconscious disciples, he couldn't help but sigh lightly. He then formed a series of hand seals, flicked his fingers, and seven or eight streaks of white light shot out, flying one by one into the bodies of the cultivators.
Clearly, the technique Du Dong had used to knock everyone unconscious was no great secret. Moments later, the disciples began waking up one after another. When they spotted the yellow-robed cultivator and saw that Du Dong and his companion were nowhere to be found, they naturally realized the danger had passed, and their hearts settled.
Of course, they were all startled to see that Han Li was also sitting among them, perfectly unharmed. But Han Li promptly produced a self-made illusion talisman, waved it casually before the group, and dispatched the excuse he had prepared.
Sure enough, very few people had studied the art of illusion in any depth, and no one else questioned the explanation. Even the yellow-robed cultivator, upon hearing the matter, merely regarded Han Li with a hint of surprise and asked no further questions.
Sun Huo and the woman surnamed Mu, however, still wore faint traces of doubt on their faces.
After all, the things Du Dong had initially said to Han Li — and how he had immediately turned to attack him with lethal force — had left the two of them somewhat stunned.
Han Li noticed their lingering suspicion but felt no concern over it.
They had absolutely no evidence, and would certainly not go around making accusations based on nothing more than a vague, fleeting doubt in their minds.
Besides, Du Dong had been trying to kill him, not recruit or befriend him!
The Pure Liquid was gone, and the disheveled-hair cultivator responsible for preparing the Clear Bright Spirit Water was fate unknown. This round of cleansing the spirit eyes naturally fell through.
In the end, the Daoist surnamed Fu and the other higher-ups from the three sects hastily distributed a magical artifact to each person as compensation, then announced that the Sword Trial Conference was concluded and that disciples from the three sects were to return to their respective sects on their own.
The Core Formation cultivators leading the group, however, showed no intention of departing with them.
The disciples noticed that these Core Formation cultivators all wore solemn expressions, their faces etched with anxiety. The red-robed elder from Yun Meng Sect and his companions looked especially troubled — even a fool could tell that while they had been unconscious, something of great import had occurred.
The woman surnamed Mu and the other low-rank disciples, though brimming with dissatisfaction and frustration, had no choice but to obediently make their way back to the sect.
As soon as Han Li and the others returned to Luo Yun Sect, they were hurriedly summoned by several senior figures within the sect, who questioned them in detail about what had transpired in the forbidden ground. Only after that were they dismissed with grim faces, and a gag order was imposed.
Only later did Han Li learn the full picture. The three sects' plan to flush out the traitor within their ranks had been a complete failure, ending in utter humiliation.
Not only had Du Dong and his cohorts managed to carry the Pure Liquid back to the Righteous and Demonic Paths under the cover of the Tian Sha Sect Master's possession technique, but everyone except the scholar surnamed Bai had escaped Xi Kingdom unscathed. The scholar surnamed Bai, however, had slipped up at a critical moment and was cut down on the spot by the elder surnamed Fu and his group.
As for the Tian Sha Sect Master's possession technique, once its duration expired, the disheveled-hair cultivator was captured alive by the boy and taken away. In the end, nothing more was heard of him — whether he had been killed or imprisoned remained unknown.
As for the two Nascent Soul elders from Luo Yun Sect and the Core Formation cultivators from the three sects, they had been ambushed by large forces from the Demonic Path's Thousand Illusion Sect and the Tian Sha Sect. Several Core Formation cultivators were killed or wounded, and one Nascent Soul elder surnamed Cheng, after being besieged by several cultivators of the same rank, barely managed to retreat with severe injuries. While his life was not in immediate danger, a devastating blow to his cultivation base was unavoidable.
This affair shook the three sects to their very core.