Chapter 1078: Coming Clean

Jin Liu was watching as Han Li vanished into the distance, and for some reason, he felt as if a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders.

He had always been quite wary of Han Li, so it came as a relief to have finally parted ways with him.

The Lan siblings also both heaved an internal sigh of relief.

Even though they had been ordered to hunt down Han Li, it was clear that this was not a mission that they could complete, and if they had a choice in the matter, they would've preferred not to have encountered Han Li at all.

"Where do we go now?" Su Anqian asked.

"Please wait a moment, Celestial Maiden Su," Lei Yuce said, then flipped a hand over to produce a golden plate that was riddled with runes and engravings.

The plate rose up into the air above the palm of his hand, and a tiny flame rose up over its surface before moving away slightly, as if it were being drawn by some type of invisible force.

Su Anqian and the others didn't know what to make of this, but Wen Zhong's eyes had suddenly lit up at the sight of the plate.

Lei Yuce observed the direction of the flame's movement for a moment, then stowed the plate away as he pointed in that direction and said, "We should go that way?"

"What was that thing, Fellow Daoist Lei?" Su Anqian asked as her brows furrowed slightly.

Lei Yuce hesitated momentarily, then explained, "It's a little treasure that has some connection to the Eon Divine Lamp, so it should be able to point us in the right direction."

"In that case, can we be certain that Fellow Daoist Shi has gone the wrong way?" Su Anqian asked.

"Do you still recall the crossroads that we encountered when we first entered this pagoda?" Lei Yuce asked, raising a question for his own.

"You're saying that there are multiple paths that lead to the same destination?" Su Anqian asked.

"I don't know if Fellow Daoist Shi has taken the right path. Perhaps we'll ultimately all arrive at the same destination," Lei Yuce replied with a nod, and Su Anqian also gave a contemplative nod upon hearing this.

"Time is of the essence, so I suggest that we set off right away," Wen Zhong said.

......

Not only was spiritual sense severely restricted in the golden desert, everyone's flight speed was also significantly hampered.

"Fellow Daoist Xiong Shan, I don't care why you decided to follow me, but I'm warning you not to do anything out of line. I don't want to have to kill you again," Han Li said.

"There's no need for you to be wary of me, Fellow Daoist Han, it was purely by chance that the two of us encountered each other here. If Chief Warden Qi Mozi hadn't decided to bring me with him, I would either be at my post in the Immortal Prison right now, or cultivating in seclusion in my cave abode, and I wouldn't have come out before I reached the late-High Zenith Stage," Xiong Shan hurriedly explained.

"Why the late-High Zenith Stage?" Han Li asked.

"I was hoping that with the Immortal Palace's help, I would be able to get reach the late-High Zenith Stage ahead of you, at which point I'll be able to exact vengeance upon you, but I've now come to realize the futility of my endeavor," Xiong Shan replied with a wry smile.

"How did you manage to identify me?" Han Li asked as he glowered intently at Xiong Shan.

"You must've faced Chief Warden Qi Mozi in a battle not long ago, right, Fellow Daoist Han?" Xiong Shan asked.

"That's right. The fact that you're asking this question means that he must've left some type of mark on me during our battle, right?" Han Li asked.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Fellow Daoist Han. Indeed, after Chief Warden Qi Mozi became aware of your penchant for adopting disguises with your Reincarnation Palace mask, he decided that he was going to plant a mark on your body the next time you faced each other in battle so that he could track you in the future," Xiong Shan confirmed with a nod.

"What kind of mark did he leave on me? Why haven't I been able to detect it at all?" Han Li asked.

"The mark doesn't give off any spiritual power fluctuations, and it can only be used to track someone at very close proximity through the use of a detection token," Xiong Shan explained as he summoned a small jade pendant before offering it to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the jade pendant from Xiong Shan to discover that it was hot to the touch.

"If you know who I am, then shouldn't you be avoiding me? Why are you following me instead?" Han Li asked as he stowed the jade pendant away.

"Well... Firstly, I feel like I'll be a bit safer with you, and perhaps I'll be able to reap some spoils that you don't care to claim. Secondly, if we run into Chief Warden Qi Mozi and he sees that I'm with you, he'll know that I've remained loyal to my post," Xiong Shan explained after a brief hesitation.

"Are you not afraid that I'll kill you again?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Xiong Shan instantly tensed up upon hearing this, but he maintained a calm and composed facade as he replied, "You've already killed me once, so all of our differences have already been settled. I haven't done anything to provoke you, and I'm sure you're not the type of person to take innocent lives. Even if you do kill me, at the very least, I will have chosen my fate, and that's better than perishing to some unknown cause in this godforsaken place."

"You're right in that I won't take innocent lives, but if I find you doing anything out of line, then don't blame me for turning on you," Han Li threatened in a cold voice.

Under normal circumstances, he definitely wouldn't have allowed Xiong Shan to follow him like this. However, at the moment, it was unclear where Qi Mozi was, so he decided to keep Xiong Shan around to see if there was some type of sinister plot afoot. If that were the case, then perhaps he would be able to use Xiong Shan as bait to lure out Qi Mozi and put an end to their conflict once and for all.

"Right now, you can kill me just by lifting a finger, so I definitely wouldn't dare to do anything out of line," Xiong Shan hurriedly replied.

As they were speaking with one another, Wyrm 3 and Fox 3 caught up to them, following which the former asked, "What exactly have you found in that direction, Brother Han?"

"I know that you're not one to make unsound decisions, but you should've at least tipped us off a little! Right now, we're following after you completely blind!" Fox 3 complained.

"I detected an aura in this direction that was both familiar and unfamiliar to me, so I wanted to go and take a look. There was no need for the two of you to follow me," Han Li replied.

"It's fine. At the very least, you have some direction, and perhaps this is the right way to go," Wyrm 3 said.

With that, the group flew onward with Han Li leading the way, and along the way, they spotted many enormous golden bones half-buried in the desert.

However, there was nothing else worthy of note about these bones aside from how massive they were, so no one paid them any heed.

After flying for around four hours, Han Li spotted a blurry outline in the distance. It seemed to be a majestic palace that was giving off radiant, golden light, and the aura that he had sensed earlier was becoming more and more pronounced.

Fox 3 and Wyrm 3 both perked up slightly at the sight of the silhouette on the horizon, and only after flying for several dozen more kilometers was the silhouette revealed to be a grand palace comprised entirely of golden sand.

Numerous giant golden horns could be seen on the walls of the palace, serving as decoration, and laying on its ceiling was a golden-robed young man.

It was a rather handsome young man with a lazy look on his face, and he was tossing a round golden skull up and down in a bored manner.

The skull was far larger than the average human skull, indicating that it belonged to some other type of foreign being, and it had been tossed around so much that its surface had become polished smooth.

The young man tossed the skull up one more time, then caught it again before rising to his feet and casting his gaze toward Han Li's group, who were approaching from several dozen kilometers away.

Right at this moment, a palm-sized golden lizard suddenly scurried its way out of his collar to stand on his shoulder, where it also began observing Han Li's group.

"I knew it..." Han Li mused to himself as a grim look appeared on his face.

"Do you recognize this man, Brother Han?" Wyrm 3 asked.

"I don't, but I know what he is. He's a Gold Devouring Immortal," Han Li replied.

"What?! A Gold Devouring Immortal? His aura indicates that he's already at the Great Encompassment Stage! A Great Encompassment Stage Gold Devouring Immortal is going to be a massive pain to deal with!" Fox 3 exclaimed.

"I'm beginning to regret coming with you now, Fellow Daoist Han," Xiong Shan groaned with a forlorn expression.

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything, the young man appeared no more than several thousand feet away from them in a flash, where he began to observe their group with an intrigued expression, while Han Li and the others looked back at him with wary expressions.

"There's no need to be so anxious, I won't kill you right away," the young man said with a smile.

He then picked up the golden lizard that was perched on his shoulder as he continued, "It's incredibly boring being trapped in this pagoda, and I've only had this Golden Mongoose Lizard to keep me company over the past million years. Now that you're here, I can have a bit of fun!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he hurled the golden lizard through the air, sending it flying directly at Wyrm 3's face like a golden spear.

A dark red light barrier instantly appeared before Wyrm 3 without any warning, and the Golden Mongoose Lizard plunged headfirst into the light barrier like a speeding arrow, causing the light barrier to cave in to such a degree that the lizard only drew to a halt no more than an inch away from Wyrm 3's glabella.

Immediately thereafter, the light barrier began to ripple like water before rebounding forcefully to send the lizard flying back through the air.

All of a sudden, Han Li yelled, "Look out!"