The moment the black-robed youth's Nascent Soul was enveloped by the fragrant mist, he felt dizzy and weak, his spiritual sense drained. Then those silver beams pierced into his Nascent Soul with lightning speed, and all the vital essence in his body solidated at once. Every power vanished — even self-detonation was beyond his reach.
The Nascent Soul's tiny face turned deathly pale in an instant, and it stared in disbelief at the white-robed young woman standing beside Han Li.
"Not bad! Your strikes are getting sharper all the time." Though Han Li had secretly transmitted orders for Silver Moon to act, he still praised her with a smile.
"It was all thanks to Master choosing the perfect moment for this servant to act. He was focused only on fleeing, so he never noticed that what I left behind was nothing but an illusion. My real body had already slipped to the side." Silver Moon pursed her lips and said with a smile. Then she waved her fragrant sleeve toward the other "Silver Moon" standing beside Han Li, and it instantly dissolved into a wisp of white light and dissipated.
Han Li smiled faintly and said nothing more. The enormous golden net hovering nearby rumbled with thunder before condensing back into a golden sphere that shot into his hand and vanished.
As for the Dageng Sword Formation, a single thought restored it to thirty-six flying swords, which shrank and flew into his sleeve on their own.
Only then did Han Li leisurely turn his gaze to the Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul of the black-robed youth, consumed by terror, wanted to scream curses, but its entire body was powerless — it couldn't even open its mouth.
"Silver Moon, take him to the grove over there. Start searching for a way to break the Soul Sealing Curse." Han Li's expression turned cold as he spoke in an icy tone. Then his body rose into the air and flew alone toward a dense thicket on the other side.
"Yes, Master." Silver Moon replied respectfully. She reached down, picked up the Nascent Soul at her feet, and followed lightly after him.
Before long, a vast cloud of pink fragrant mist drifted out from the dense forest, blanketing the entire grove within it.
...
Several hundred li from the small island where Han Li and the black-robed youth had clashed, spiritual lights flickered as six brilliant rainbow streaks of various colors cut through the sky toward the island.
The one at the front wore a grave expression — the silver-haired elder of the Luoyun Sect.
"Fellow Daoist Cheng, your senses weren't wrong, were they? That teleportation array looked exceedingly crude, yet it managed to transport someone this far. Truly hard to believe." Directly behind the silver-haired elder, a portly old man with a bulbous nose suddenly spoke up.
"I'm absolutely certain. My detection is perfectly clear now — Junior Brother Han should be just ahead. Everyone, stay on your guard. That person is at minimum a mid-stage Nascent Soul demonic cultivator. Though we have numbers on our side, we're all at the early stage. We need to be careful when facing this one." The silver-haired elder confirmed first, then added with concern.
"Relax. Brother You brought our sect's precious treasure, the Confounding Immortal Bell, this time. Even if we can't defeat him, slipping away won't be a problem." On the other side, the Fire Dragon Child, who had the appearance of a young boy, chuckled lightly.
"That's true. If Brother You hadn't agreed to bring this treasure and leave the mountain to help, I wouldn't have dared bring you all into such danger. After all, if that demonic cultivator truly is the Sect Master of the Yin Luo Sect, we'd all be in serious trouble." The silver-haired elder glanced at the gray-robed elder as he spoke, his tone filled with gratitude.
"It's nothing. Senior Brother Cheng once did me a great favor. It was only natural that I do my part. Besides, that Yin Luo Sect cultivator dared to enter our Xi Kingdom and harm people. He clearly doesn't think much of us, so naturally we should teach him a lesson. Otherwise, they'll think there's no one worth respecting in the Xi Kingdom's cultivation world." The gray-robed elder smiled mildly and replied with modesty.
"I must say, I'm quite curious about your sect's Fellow Daoist Han. I hear your Junior Brother distinguished himself brilliantly during the war against the Mulan people — almost single-handedly turning the tide. I've long admired him and would very much like to make his acquaintance." Another man, imposing in appearance and radiating an air of authority, laughed heartily and chimed in.
"Indeed. I've been hearing Fellow Daoist Han's name everywhere lately. I too am eager to meet him." The bulbous-nosed old man grinned and added.
"That will be easy enough. Once we've helped Junior Brother Han resolve this matter, I'll introduce everyone. But I'm somewhat worried about his safety right now. That demonic cultivator is cunning — he set up a temporary teleportation array just to shake us off. So much time has passed, and Junior Brother has been fighting alone. I wonder if something might have happened?" The silver-haired elder's face showed his concern.
"Don't worry. The fact that he went to such lengths to shake us off means his own cultivation can't be all that high — otherwise why would he be so cautious, retreating step by step? With Fellow Daoist Han's abilities, he won't come to any harm." The big man spoke bluntly.
"Let's hope you're right." The silver-haired elder gave a bitter smile. It was all he could say.
He knew perfectly well. Based on the demonic cultivator's power when he had breached the Luoyun Sect, even if he wasn't a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, he was at the very peak of mid-stage — hardly easy to deal with. The Luoyun Sect had only just gained a powerful new Elder; the last thing he needed was for something to go wrong so soon.
The good thing was that as long as the tracking mark could still be detected, it meant Han Li's life was not in danger. That gave him some small measure of comfort.
As these six Nascent Soul cultivators conversed, they covered over a hundred li and were gradually approaching the island. Serious expressions began to appear on every face.
"Hm?" The silver-haired elder let out a soft exclamation, and his streak of light abruptly halted.
"Senior Brother Cheng, what's happened?" someone asked in surprise.
"Junior Brother Han seems to be heading this way. I don't know whether he's already resolved the matter or been..." The silver-haired elder left his sentence unfinished. But the others understood what he meant. If he'd been captured alive, the tracking mark could just as easily be brought in this direction.