"My apologies for making you wait so long, Marquis!" Han Li offered a few polite words before being ushered into the stone building by Marquis Nanlong.
The sight inside made Han Li pause — the room was completely empty. Not a soul in sight.
But the moment he swept the area with his spiritual sense, he detected the fluctuations of a restriction array.
At the same time, Marquis Nanlong noticed Han Li's probing. He smiled faintly and said: "My little tricks naturally can't fool you, Fellow Daoist. Han, please follow me!"
As he spoke, Marquis Nanlong formed a quick hand seal. A swath of golden radiance shot forth from his sleeve.
After the golden light faded, a patch of unremarkable floor suddenly shimmered with white light. The illusion dissolved, and a dark stone staircase appeared out of thin air.
Marquis Nanlong descended without another word. Han Li frowned slightly, then followed without further hesitation.
The staircase was short — barely had he set one foot down before he found himself in a modest underground hall. A handful of moonstones cast their soft, pale glow across the space, leaving it in a state of dim, uneven illumination.
Seven or eight cultivators were already inside. Six sat in their seats, while two — a man and a woman — stood shoulder to shoulder, clearly together.
The moment Marquis Nanlong and Han Li entered, every pair of eyes turned toward them.
"It's you!"
The standing man caught sight of Han Li's face and couldn't help but cry out, his expression changing drastically.
He seemed to recognize Han Li.
Han Li paused, his eyes flashing with sharp light as he focused on this late-stage Core Formation cultivator's face.
What he saw was a remarkably familiar silver mask. At the sight of it, Han Li first went blank for a moment, then a trace of mockery curled at the corner of his lips.
This man was none other than the former Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect — the same silver mask, the same person beneath it. But the youthful arrogance from years past was gone, replaced by a measure of weariness and a flash of alarm.
"I didn't expect to run into an old acquaintance here. What a surprise."
"How is this possible? You... you've formed a Nascent Soul?"
The former Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect spoke in a hoarser voice than before, but the fear in his words was unmistakable.
"What's going on? Do you know this fellow daoist?" A black-robed figure seated in front of Wang Chan asked coldly.
"Second Uncle, this is the cultivator surnamed Han from Yellow Maple Valley I told you about. Back then, he was the one who—"
"There is no need." The black-robed man — a middle-aged figure dressed in dark robes with a scholarly face — showed a flicker of surprise, then frowned and cut the younger man off without hesitation.
"Fellow Daoist Han is already a Nascent Soul cultivator. Surely he wouldn't hold a grudge against a junior like you."
The man then turned to Han Li with a warm smile and spoke in a pleasant tone: "My name is Wang Tiangu of the Ghost Spirit Sect. Back then, my nephew was young and reckless, and caused you considerable offense. But for my sake, I hope you'll let the matter rest."
From the way he spoke, it seemed he already knew something of Han Li's history.
"That was just a small matter between Fellow Daoist Wang and myself. So many years have passed — how could I still hold a grudge? You worry too much." Han Li glanced at the black-robed man and chuckled lightly, as though he truly intended to let bygones be bygones. But inwardly, he let out a cold laugh.
That Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master had nearly taken his life on multiple occasions and had even forced him to risk teleporting out of Tian Nan. How could such a debt be so easily forgiven?
If it weren't for the fact that so many Nascent Soul cultivators were present — and that the Ghost Spirit Sect Master himself was among them — he would have ended the man's life on the spot.
But for now, he had to assess everyone else first. Were there any demonic cultivators among them?
Otherwise, without getting his revenge, he might end up being the one destroyed by their combined forces.
"Haha! So Fellow Daoist Han originally came from Yellow Maple Valley. I had assumed you were always a cultivator of the Fallcloud Sect. Well, it's all the better that you're willing to let go of old grievances. After all, I invited everyone here precisely because I don't want any unpleasantness." Marquis Nanlong spoke up at just the right moment.