"But Ancestor, the Scarlet Flame Tribe is so powerful. If this continues, our Sky Peng Tribe won't necessarily be wiped out, but we will certainly become extremely weakened. I humbly beg the Ancestor to show mercy and uphold justice for the Sky Peng Tribe." Jin Yue's face changed drastically upon hearing this, and she hurriedly knelt and implored once more.
"Hmph, what? Did you not hear what I just said, or do you truly believe I have been unjust?" Yue Long narrowed his eyes and let out a cold snort from his nose, while a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from his body.
Jin Yue felt the void around her compress violently, and her entire body became impossibly heavy, the overwhelming pressure of that terrifying aura leaving her unable to even straighten up.
"Please forgive this junior, Ancestor — I absolutely did not mean any such thing." Jin Yue's face drained of all color, and her heart was consumed with dread.
"Forget it. Fellow Daoist Jin has had dealings with me in the past. For Han's sake, why not lend her a hand." Han Li, who had been sitting quietly off to the side, flicked his sleeve and spoke with a light laugh.
In that instant, the invisible force that had been bearing down on Jin Yue was disrupted by another wave of fluctuation and dissolved into nothingness like spring snow under the March sun.
Jin Yue was greatly startled and couldn't help but raise her head in shock to look at Han Li.
"Oh? Since Brother Han has spoken on her behalf, it is naturally a trifling matter. Jin Yue, why haven't you thanked Fellow Daoist Han for his intercession yet?" Rather than growing angry at Han Li's intervention, Yue Long smiled warmly and agreed without hesitation.
"It's you—"
Only at that moment did Jin Yue finally recognize Han Li from that somewhat familiar voice, and seeing how Ancestor Yue Long of the Flying Spirit Race treated Han Li with such deference, the expressions on her face were nothing short of spectacular.
"What do you mean, 'it's you'? This is Fellow Daoist Han Li of the Human Race, whose powers are even greater than my own," Yue Long said, his face darkening as he delivered a low rebuke that carried undeniable authority despite his calm.
"Fellow Daoist Han… No — Ancestor Han, please forgive me. This junior was merely caught off guard upon seeing you again and lost her composure." It took Jin Yue quite a while to rein in the thunderous shock raging through her heart, and she hurriedly bowed deeply to Han Li in a profound salute.
Although so many years had passed, that span of time meant virtually nothing to a being at the Deity Transformation Stage.
Han Li — the former "Saint" with whom she had conducted two trades, whose cultivation had rapidly risen to match her own in a remarkably short period — had left an extraordinarily deep impression on this woman.
Yet now, after only a few hundred more years, Han Li had appeared before her once more with his aura completely transformed, having suddenly become an existence who stood as an equal to Yue Long, an ancestor of the Flying Spirit Race.
Such a tremendous change, occurring so suddenly — even though Jin Yue had always been a person of considerable composure and shrewdness, she was left dazed with shock.
"Enough, you may withdraw. Since I have given my word to Fellow Daoist Han, I will make time to mediate the matters between your two tribes." Yue Long did not afford Jin Yue any more time for contemplation. With a wave of his hand, he put on a stern expression once more and issued his command.
"Yes, this junior will take her leave now." Despite the countless unanswered questions and lingering shock swirling through her mind, Jin Yue did not dare disobey and promptly agreed.
But in the instant she straightened up, she couldn't help but steal one more glance at Han Li, just to confirm that it was truly the person she was thinking of and that she hadn't somehow mistaken her own eyes.
Han Li offered a faint smile, seeming to guess what she was thinking at that moment, and his lips moved soundlessly several times.
The next instant, a voice transmission reached Jin Yue's ears: "No matter what passed between me and the Sky Peng Tribe in the past, this act of speaking up on your behalf settles the debt between us. You need not seek me out again."
Jin Yue's heart lurched. She was about to say something more, but Han Li's sleeve rustled as his hand formed a seal within, and a single finger pointed toward her through the void.
A deafening boom!
Over a dozen arcs of silver lightning suddenly materialized beneath the woman's feet, and after several flickers, they coalesced into a small lightning formation. Waves of electricity surged up and engulfed her body.
The scenery around her blurred, and she vanished from the grand hall without a trace.
Han Li had actually used a lightning formation spell to teleport her straight out of the great tower.
"What a fine spatial teleportation. It seems Fellow Daoist's powers are even greater than what Yue had anticipated. But that being the case, I am all the more reassured." Yue Long's eyes lit up upon seeing this.
Far from the great tower, above an unremarkable building, the air rippled and Jin Yue materialized in a swirl of countless silver arcs.
She surveyed her surroundings with a face full of astonishment, then cast her gaze back toward the distant great tower, her expression shifting between several shades of uncertainty.
The next day, when the sky still hung grey and hazy, two streaks of light — one azure, one black — shot out from the great tower, banked in a wide arc, and then pierced through the air as they sped off in a specific direction.
After more than half a day's flight, the two streaks of light arrived at a small mountain range and descended into a low-lying depression between two modest hills.
"Is this the spirit site you found?"