It had already been over half a year since Han Li left the Luo Yun Sect.
After departing from Tian Nan, he had headed straight into the Tian Lan Prairie.
With his cultivation and identity carefully concealed, things had gone rather smoothly at first. He even posed as an independent immortal master and ventured deep into several Turu tribal camps, exchanging cultivation insights with some Turu cultivators — all without incident.
But when he crossed more than half the prairie and reached its southern reaches, trouble descended upon him out of nowhere.
In a desolate wilderness far from any Turu settlement, during a routine release of all his Gold Devouring Beetles to nurture the strongest batch, he happened upon a Turu Nascent Soul mid-stage elder chasing an unknown demonic bird — and what the elder was commanding happened to be a fully mature Gold Devouring Beetle.
Since the Rainbow Garment Grass was extremely convenient to cultivate on the coral he carried with him, and doing so for so long had never caused any trouble, Han Li had grown careless and neglected to set up any high-grade concealment formations.
As a result, when the two parties encountered Han Li and his swarm, the outcome was entirely predictable.
Upon seeing the dense cloud of over ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles hovering above Han Li's head, this high-ranking Turu immortal master nearly collapsed from shock.
Without a second thought for the demonic bird, he immediately demanded that Han Li come with him to meet some Holy Maiden.
How could Han Li agree to such a thing? Killing intent flared in him at once.
He unleashed several great divine abilities in rapid succession, even deploying his second Nascent Soul, and reduced the other's physical body to scattered ash.
But then something deeply frustrating happened.
The main cultivation technique practiced by this Turu elder was extraordinarily bizarre — it could actually split his Nascent Soul into seven fragments, each one proficient in Wood Escape techniques.
In a moment of inattention, one of them slipped away.
Now Han Li knew he had kicked a hornet's nest. Without a moment's delay, he fled through the night, hurtling southward.
But he had no idea what methods the Turu cultivators used to communicate — barely a few days into his escape, numerous high-stage Nascent Soul immortal masters appeared along his route to intercept and pursue him. In the end, even one of the four great Turu immortal masters showed up.
After fighting several consecutive battles, Han Li killed a number of high-ranking immortal masters but was still struck and seriously wounded by the great immortal master while his attention wavered. Had he not relied on the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Liquid to repeatedly execute the Blood Shadow Escape, his life would have ended right there.
Though he escaped with his life and employed a few minor tricks to temporarily shake off his pursuers, Han Li discovered that the real trouble was only just beginning.
Whether it was because his vitality had been severely depleted by the successive battles, the evil qi that should have remained dormant for a long time yet attacked far earlier than expected.
Fortunately, his spiritual sense was formidable and he caught it in time, using a secret technique to forcefully suppress it.
This only made an already dire situation worse.
With no other option, he could only seek advice from the Grand Arcanum Divine Lord on a method of salvation.
True to form for a monster who had lived for ten thousand years, the Grand Arcanum Divine Lord immediately taught him the Five Ghosts Soul-Locking Great Art. He said it could temporarily seal away the evil qi, but the consequences of using it were truly dire — until he found a way to dispel the evil qi, eighty or ninety percent of his cultivation would be completely sealed within his body. Otherwise, should he recklessly draw upon magical power, both the evil qi and the Five Ghosts would backlash simultaneously. That would truly be a fate worse than death!
Han Li understood the gravity of the situation, and having obtained the technique, he still hesitated to use it.
But when he flew to this location while fleeing his pursuers, the evil qi surged once more with overwhelming ferocity — far more violent than the last time, impossible to suppress with his own cultivation alone!
In desperation, Han Li could only hurriedly descend into the thicket of shrubs. He didn't even have time to set up protective formations and resorted to the Five Ghosts Soul-Locking Great Art as a last-ditch measure.
By the time the Heron Tribe party arrived, Han Li had actually already progressed to the final stage of the art. And when that young man named Tu Meng parted the shrubbery, Han Li's face was in the middle of transforming into one of the five ghosts' visages as he was completing the technique.
The hideous, grotesque ghost face naturally terrified the young man out of his wits. He probably still believed that the ghost face was Han Li's true appearance.
Thinking of this, Han Li couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.