"Didn't you see the flying sword he was riding when he traveled with us? That was clearly a top-grade magical artifact. And I noticed he had quite a few storage pouches at his waist, all stuffed full — a couple of them were even beast-taming pouches. There's no way some wandering cultivator could own things like that. He's obviously a cultivator from some small sect out gaining experience. If he were from a major sect, those types are all arrogant and high-handed — they'd never agree to travel with the likes of us. Besides, back at Purple Dao Mountain, he didn't produce an invitation either. Heh heh! After all, the Demonic Path is powerful right now. Cultivators from smaller sects naturally don't dare to draw attention — they all call themselves wandering cultivators and start skulking around, terrified the Demonic Path will take a dislike to them and show up to wipe out their lineage. So even though this fellow's cultivation and artifacts aren't bad, we've never heard of him before." The short, fat cultivator spoke with a self-satisfied look on his face, laying out his analysis.
"Brother Luo, now that you put it that way, this Han fellow really does seem that way. In that case, we can make our move boldly. Sure, he's a bit wary of us, but there's no way he suspects the two of us are concealing our true cultivation. With both of us at mid Foundation Establishment, taking out an early-stage cultivator should be as easy as picking up something off the ground. This kid's practically courting death — crashing right into us, the 'Peng Yi Twin Fiends.' Naturally, we can't let that slide." The bald giant's bull-like eyes shot out an exceptionally greedy light as he rubbed his fists together eagerly.
"Naturally. But to make things go smoother, we should try to lower this fellow's guard as much as possible. A surprise attack succeeding would save us far more trouble than a frontal clash. So when it comes to making our move, we should wait until two days before the old ancestor of the Fu family's birthday celebration. In the meantime, we can play nice with him — curry favor however we need to — and then strike without warning to finish him off." The fat man licked his thick upper lip, his voice dripping with malice.
"Good, we'll do everything Brother Luo says. Looks like even if we can't manage to join a sect this time, our haul won't be small at all!" The bald giant seemed to hold the fat cultivator in considerable regard, his broad mouth splitting into a wide, gleeful grin.
"Heh heh, of course. When a fat sheep like that walks right up to us, how could the Peng Yi Twin Fiends possibly return empty-handed?" The fat man laughed as well, clearly regarding the long-haired cultivator as prey already in the bag.
While the two of them enthusiastically discussed their plans to seize the treasures and kill the man, in the room on the other side of the shared wall, the long-haired cultivator sat cross-legged on the bed, his face devoid of joy or sorrow. Yet every word spoken by the "Peng Yi Twin Fiends" reached his ears without the slightest omission — that soundproofing barrier was nothing more than air to him.
"If you insist on seeking death, don't blame me." The long-haired cultivator's eyes opened slightly, a cold gleam flashing past, as he murmured under his breath. Then he closed his eyes once more and resumed his breathing exercises to refine his qi.
This long-haired cultivator was, of course, Han Li in disguise.
In fact, Han Li had arrived in the Yuan Wu Kingdom two full months ago. Along the way, he had passed through several countries under the control of either the Righteous or Demonic Path, but as a Nascent Soul cultivator, as long as he didn't go looking for trouble, no one could see through his true appearance or cultivation. His journey had been uneventful.
After arriving in the Yuan Wu Kingdom, he hadn't rashly acted on the strength of his superior magical power. Instead, he had first gathered intelligence on the Fu family from local wandering cultivators and marketplaces.
The result — the Fu family's considerable influence — gave Han Li quite a headache.
It wasn't that the Fu family had three Jie Dan cultivators that made things difficult. The real problem was that quite a few of the Fu family's disciples had joined the Demon Flame Sect. Even with all his formidable abilities, he couldn't very well storm the Demon Flame Sect directly, could he?
And if those people weren't eliminated, even if he reduced the Fu family's main fortress to ash, the family would eventually rise from the ashes again. That wouldn't fulfill his promise to Xin Ruyin!
Just as Han Li was considering alternative approaches, news spread throughout the Yuan Wu Kingdom that the Fu family's old ancestor was about to hold a grand birthday celebration.
When Han Li heard this, he was delighted.
If the head of the Fu family was hosting a birthday celebration, all the direct-lineage disciples would certainly be there to offer their congratulations. Even those Fu family members who had joined the Demon Flame Sect would return to the Fu family fortress. This was a golden opportunity to wipe out the entire direct lineage in one stroke.
However, given the Fu family's current prestige, not just any nobody could waltz in. Those attending the celebration were either cultivators from other families or envoys from various sects — large and small — allied with the Demonic Path. As for wandering cultivators, they wouldn't exactly be turned away, but at minimum they needed to be at Foundation Establishment stage to enter the fortress.
After gathering all the details, Han Li simply waited for over a month before making his way here at leisure.
As for the "Peng Yi Twin Fiends," he had encountered them along the way. The moment they saw Han Li's impressive flying artifact, they had struck up an effusively friendly conversation. Upon learning that Han Li was also heading to the Fu family fortress, they had become even more delighted and suggested traveling together.
Han Li had seen through them at a glance — these two clearly harbored dark intentions. But with his level of cultivation, how could he possibly fear their schemes? In fact, he intended to use them as cover to infiltrate the Fu family fortress more easily.
So he had agreed without a second thought.
What he hadn't expected was that when he arrived outside Purple Dao Mountain today, aside from those cultivators who possessed invitations, the other wandering cultivators who had come to offer birthday congratulations could only enter the fortress on the day of the celebration itself.
That caught Han Li a bit off guard, though it was of little consequence.