Chapter 1258: Severing Karmic Ties

After a long silence, Han Li was unable to suppress the mounting unease in his heart any longer, and he began, "Senior..."

However, as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, the elderly man reached out like lightning, making a grabbing motion toward his chest.

A strand of golden light appeared in the space in front of Han Li, then plucked out the Heaven Controlling Vial from beneath his robe before carrying it into the elderly man's grasp.

Han Li shuddered upon seeing this.

No one knew just what the Heaven Controlling Vial meant to him.

The Heaven Controlling Vial had left its mark on the entirety of his cultivation journey, from his time in the Seven Mysteries Sect in the mortal realm all the way until the present day. It was no exaggeration to say that without the Heaven Controlling Vial, he wouldn't be who he was today.

However, in the face of this elderly man, Han Li was like a child up against a mountain, and it was impossible for him to put up even the slightest resistance.

Given his physical prowess, time law powers, and tremendous spiritual sense, he was confident in his ability to oppose mid-Great Encompassment cultivators at only the early-Great Encompassment Stage, but Dao Ancestors were still simply way too far beyond his reach.

Han Li could only watch helplessly as the elderly man examined the Heaven Controlling Vial, stroking the patterns on its surface while his gaze roamed over it affectionately, as if he had just recovered a long-lost, treasured possession.

Some time later, there was suddenly a change in the look in the elderly man's eyes, but it then quickly returned to normal.

Han Li naturally didn't fail to notice this near-imperceptible change in his expression, and he couldn't help but wonder if the elderly man had been communicating with the vial spirit.

A short while later, the elderly man suddenly heaved a faint sigh before turning his gaze back to Han Li.

With nothing more than a blink of his eye, the restrictions weighing down upon Han Li were unraveled on their own.

Even though he had just been freed, Han Li remained tense and apprehensive as he stared at the elderly man in a cautious manner.

However, the elderly man then made a very surprising gesture.

With a casual toss, he threw the Heaven Controlling Vial back to Han Li, who caught the vial before looking back at him with a perplexed expression.

"From now on, the Heaven Controlling Vial will only become more and more intensely sought after. Losing it back then may not have been a curse, and recovering it today may not be a blessing. This treasure is too much for our Nine Origins Temple to bear, so if you wish to keep it, then go ahead," the elderly man said.

A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, but he strung the Heaven Controlling Vial back around his own neck without any hesitation before carefully tucking it down the front of his robe.

He had countless questions that he wanted to ask the elderly man, and he decided to ask the most pressing one: "Does this mean you're not going to kill me, Senior?"

"You may leave my Nine Origins Temple safely today. In fact, you will not be pursued by any cultivators of my Nine Origins Temple in the near future. However, after that, you'll still be a wanted fugitive, and if you dare to set foot in the Golden Origin Immortal Region again, then you will be hunted down," the ;elderly man replied.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li said, "I understand that I shouldn't ask too many questions at a time like this, but I would still like to know why you're letting me go, Senior."

"Some things were simply meant to be, and they cannot be altered, even separated by the cycle of reincarnation. Seeing as the Heavenly Dao has brought you before me today, it means that I am to repay you and sever our karmic ties," the elderly man replied as a reminiscent look appeared on his face.

Han Li was even more perplexed after hearing this, and he asked, "So what you're saying is that you owe me a favor, is that right, Senior?"

Han Li was confident that he had never met the Nine Origins Dao Ancestor before, and the disparity between their cultivation bases was night and day, so how could the elderly man possibly have been indebted to him?

"At your current cultivation base, you're still only able to see the trajectory of this lifetime, so even if I tell you about all of our karmic entanglements in the cycle of reincarnation, you wouldn't be able to understand. In any case, all you need to know is that once the favor has been repaid, our karmic ties will be completely severed," the elderly man replied, and it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Are you saying that someone once did something for you in a past life, and the soul of that senior went through the cycle of reincarnation to become me, so by repaying me, you're repaying that senior from that past life?" Han Li asked.

A look of surprise appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing Han Li's deduction, but he didn't confirm nor deny this as he said, "Release that Gold Devouring Immortal. I want to speak to her."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li discovered that his connection with Jin Tong had been restored.

After a brief hesitation, he did as the elderly man instructed.

Seeing as the elderly man had already spared him, he most likely wasn't going to harm Jin Tong, either.

Jin Tong appeared beside Han Li amid a flash of golden light, and as soon as she emerged, she immediately spotted the elderly man, upon which she exclaimed, "What are you doing here, old man?"

The elderly man seemed to have also been surprised by the sight of her, and he smiled as he remarked, "You've grown up so much in such a short time!"

"Uncle, this is the old man that I was telling you about," Jin Tong said as she turned to Han Li with a smile.

"Don't be so rude, Jin Tong! This man is the patriarch of the Nine Origins Temple!" Han Li hurriedly reprimanded, fearing that Jin Tong's brash words would land them in hot water.

The elderly man was completely unbothered, and he said, "Jin Tong, I've grown quite fond of you and would like to make an exception and take you under my wing as my disciple. Would you be willing to stay in my Nine Origins Temple?"

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He knew what it entailed to be taken under the wing of a Dao Ancestor, and he was just about to warn Jin Tong through voice transmission to consider the offer carefully when she immediately replied without any thought, "No way! I finally managed to escape from the Ghost Valley, I'm not going back there!"

"It'll be different this time. You'll become my disciple rather than a prisoner, and you'll be equal in seniority to Chun Jun. What do you say?" the elderly man offered again.

"I'm still going to have to pass," Jin Tong refused without any hesitation. "I really like you as well, old man, but I already have a master, and I don't plan to follow anyone but him."

"In that case, I won't force you. You can have this pill as a gift," the elderly man said as he flipped a hand over to produce a longan-sized, golden pill before tossing it at Jin Tong.

"Thanks, old man! You're a good person!" Jin Tong said with a wide smile as she accepted the pill, while Han Li looked on in a speechless manner.

Jin Tong was perhaps the only one in the entire True Immortal Realm who would dare to speak to the patriarch of the Nine Origins Temple like this.

"Alright, you two can go now," the elderly man said with a smile, then took a glance at Han Li before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing a metal disk that descended to the ground before radiating bright, silver light.

A door of silver light immediately took shape over the metal disk amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and within the door of light was a vast, blue sea.

"Let's go," Han Li said as he beckoned to Jin Tong, then began making his way toward the door of silver light.

Upon reaching the entrance, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he turned back around as he asked, "May I ask your name, Senior?"

"My name? It's been a long time since anyone has referred to me by name. My name is Li Yuanjiu," the elderly man replied, and Han Li was instantly rooted to the spot upon hearing this.

However, in the next instant, the elderly man swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a gust of wind that blew him and Jin Tong into the door of silver light.

Before Han Li had a chance to react, he was already standing on the vast sea, and the elderly man's authoritative voice rang out from behind him.

"Do not ever set foot in my Nine Origins Temple again. Farewell."

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

As soon as his voice trailed off, the door of silver light quickly faded away.

"What do we do now, Uncle? Where do we go?" Jin Tong asked as she scoured her gaze over her surroundings.

However, even after a long wait, she still received no answer from Han Li, and when she turned to check on him, she discovered that he remained standing rooted to the spot with a stunned look on his face, and it seemed that he hadn't heard her at all.

Indeed, at this moment, Han Li's mind was entirely occupied by the name "Li Yuanjiu".

During his first-ever bout of spiritual transmigration, he had possessed the body of an elderly daoist priest by the name of Ling Yunzi, and the name of his disciple had been none other than Li Yuanjiu.

Han Li still recalled that at the time, he had bestowed upon Li Yuanjiu the Provenance True Devil Arts and the Heavenbearing Devil Arts. Could it be that this was the favor that Li Yuanjiu had been repaying?

However, that seemed implausible to him. At his paltry cultivation base at the time, there was no way that Li Yuanjiu would've been able to see through his spiritual transmigration, so how could he possibly have made the connection between Han Li and Ling Yunzi?

However, it then occurred to Han Li that Li Yuanjiu had mentioned the cycle of reincarnation.