"Should I call you Senior Brother Xiang, or should I call you Senior Brother Li?" After carefully looking the old man over, Han Li suddenly broke into a smile and spoke.
"I'm not quite sure what Senior Han means. Could it be that I resemble someone Senior knows?" After the old man's eyes darted back and forth a few times, the earlier hint of alarm vanished entirely, replaced by an ingratiating smile.
"At this point, Senior Brother Xiang, why bother hiding it? Don't forget that we cultivators have perfect memories. Back in the Blood Forbidden Ground, only a handful of us from Yellow Maple Valley made it out alive. Even after all these years, how could I possibly mistake your face?" Han Li raised an eyebrow slightly, narrowing his eyes as he spoke.
This old man turned out to be none other than Xiang Zhili — the very person who had once tried to form a team with Han Li before the Blood Forbidden Ground trial. At the time, this man had possessed the cultivation of the tenth level of Qi Condensation, and the fact that he too had walked out of the Blood Forbidden Ground alive had shocked many of the cultivators present. It was only because Han Li's subsequent performance had been even more astonishing that everyone had overlooked this person.
Although Han Li hadn't had much interaction with this Senior Brother Xiang at the time, seeing the man walk out of the Forbidden Ground alive had put him on his guard. He had vaguely sensed that this person harbored some secret of his own.
After Han Li successfully established his Foundation and was taken under Li Huayuan's tutelage, he never saw the old man again and gradually forgot about him. After the six great devilish sects invaded the Yue Kingdom, he lost all track of whether the man was alive or dead.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that after so many years, he would encounter this very face again in a minor sect of the Great Jin Kingdom. How could Han Li not be startled?
Keep in mind, the old man had already appeared this aged when he first showed up at Yellow Maple Valley. After all these years had passed, let alone a Qi Condensation cultivator, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator should have long since exhausted his lifespan and returned to dust. Yet now, Senior Brother Xiang looked almost exactly the same as he had over two hundred years ago. This realization sent a chill down Han Li's spine.
At the very least, this man had definitely been feigning weakness back during the Blood Forbidden Ground trial. The only question was what purpose he had for infiltrating it.
Han Li stared at the old man without blinking, his mind racing with a flurry of thoughts.
"The world is vast and full of all manner of strange things. It seems there really is someone out there who looks exactly like me. But Senior has truly mistaken me — my surname is Li, not Xiang. Otherwise, if I could truly establish a connection with someone of Senior's stature, why would I ever deny it?" The old man continued to deny everything without the slightest hint of relenting.
Han Li's expression darkened, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
"If Fellow Daoist insists, then perhaps Han truly has misidentified you. Never mind! Why don't you show me some talisman-making texts first." After a moment of silence, Han Li suddenly softened his expression and changed the subject.
"Hehe, please follow me, Senior. Since our sect is called the Heavenly Talisman Sect, we naturally have quite a collection of texts on talisman crafting. However, the more advanced texts are all on the second floor or above. Allow me to point them out to you right away." The smile on his aged face never wavered, and then, behaving exactly like an ordinary low-level disciple, he led Han Li with utmost deference straight to the second floor.
The second floor had a layout very similar to the first — rows upon rows of bookshelves filling the limited space.
While Han Li was scanning his surroundings, the old man's figure was already darting back and forth.
Despite his apparent age, his movements were remarkably nimble. In the span of a few moments, he darted this way and that, deftly retrieving a small pile of jade slips. Then, panting heavily, he carried them over to Han Li, his face wreathed in an ingratiating smile as he fawned:
"Senior, these are the talisman texts collected on this floor. There are still some on the third floor. Let me go fetch them for you, so you won't have to trouble yourself searching."
"There's no need to go to all that trouble. These jade slips will keep me occupied for a day or two. I can browse the third floor on my own when the time comes. You don't need to keep me company — feel free to go about your own business downstairs." Han Li rubbed his chin and said with a genial expression.
"Then I won't disturb Senior's cultivation any further. If Senior has any instructions, just call for me. I'll be waiting downstairs the entire time." The old man beamed as he spoke, then carefully placed all the jade slips onto a nearby shelf before backing out of the second floor of the pavilion with a deferential bow.
Watching the old man's retreating figure disappear, Han Li's smile gradually faded, replaced by a look of gravity.
"What do you think? Senior Great Development, were you able to discern this person's true cultivation? I just forced my spiritual sense through his body. Although I could tell that his apparent Qi Condensation cultivation was nothing more than an illusion, I couldn't determine his true level of magical power. Beneath that false layer of cultivation, his entire body seemed completely hollow. It's far too strange."
"The same here. Although my spiritual sense is far more powerful than yours, I encountered the exact same situation." The solemn voice of the Great Development Grandmaster rang out.
"How could this be? Could it be that this person's spiritual sense is even more powerful than yours, Senior?" Han Li was somewhat stunned.