Chapter 1269: Return to a Former Home

"I'm afraid not. I've been searching for one for a very long time, but it's been a completely fruitless endeavor thus far," Han Li sighed with a shake of his head.

"That's a really big problem! Without a corpse soul severance technique to assist you, your chances of a successful corpse soul severance will be extremely slim!" Liu Le'er said in an urgent manner.

"Even so, I have to give it a try. Otherwise, I'll have no chance at all," Han Li replied with a smile.

Liu Le'er looked around momentarily, then flipped a hand over to produce a jade slip before quickly thrusting it into Han Li's hand as she said through voice transmission, "I'm also close to reaching the pinnacle of the early-Great Encompassment Stage, so Chief Liu Qing has recently bestowed upon me a corpse soul severance technique. You can have a copy of it, Brother Rock. Perhaps it'll suit you as well."

"Le'er, you can't just go around giving out something so precious! If the Heavenly Fox Tribe finds out, who knows what type of punishment will await you?" Han Li exclaimed as he immediately offered the jade slip back to her.

"You're someone extremely important to me, so it's not like I'm just handing out the corpse soul severance technique to anyone, and as long as neither of us say anything, there's no way the Heavenly Fox Tribe will find out. Even if they do find out, I bear the true spirit bloodline of the Nine Tailed Immortal Fox, making me the future hope of the Heavenly Fox Tribe, so they wouldn't do anything to me," Liu Le'er assured with a smile.

Han Li hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then nodded as he acquiesced, "Alright, in that case, I'll take it."

"I can't leave Eight Plains Mountain for too long, so I have to go back now. I was only able to visit you this time under special permission from His Majesty. If you return to the primordial land in the future, you have to make sure to come and see me," Liu Le'er said as she took a reluctant glance outside.

Han Li nodded in response, and Liu Le'er took one final glance at him before flying out of his cave abode as a streak of gray light, quickly vanishing out of sight.

Following Liu Le'er's departure, Han Li immediately began to examine the contents of the jade slip, and the first thing that he saw was a title that read: "Avatar Corpse Soul Severance Technique".

The title gave him an idea of the contents of the corpse soul severance technique, but he didn't dwell on it for too long as he continued reading through the rest of the jade slip.

There wasn't much content in the jade slip, so he was able to read through everything quite quickly, and the more he read, the more his eyes began to glow with excitement.

In summary, the Avatar Corpse Soul Severance Technique required one to refine an avatar with which they shared a spiritual connection, and through that connection, one would sever their wicked corpse soul by transferring it into the avatar.

One's three corpse souls were inseparable from oneself, and that was why they were so difficult to sever.

The essence of this Avatar Corpse Soul Severance Technique lied in transferring the three corpse souls out of one's body before sealing them into individual avatars. Once that was achieved, the connection between host and corpse soul would be significantly weakened, thereby making a successful severance far easier to accomplish.

However, there were two prerequisites to using this corpse soul severance technique, the first of which was that the host had to possess tremendous soul power. Otherwise, they would be unable to bear the strain of transferring their wicked corpse soul out of their body.

The second prerequisite was that the avatar had to be sufficiently compatible with the host, and the longer that the avatar had been in existence, the higher the chance of success.

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip as a faint smile appeared on his face.

This Avatar Corpse Soul Severance Technique was almost tailor-made for him. Due to his cultivation of the Spirit Refinement Technique, his soul was far more powerful than that of the average early-Great Encompassment cultivator, and he also had that Earthly Deity Avatar waiting for him in the Black Wind Sea.

Having spent so many years apart, he had almost forgotten about the Earthly Deity Avatar, and he certainly hadn't ever anticipated that it would come in useful in this type of context.

With the ill intent in his body constantly corroding his soul, he had no time to waste. Thus, he immediately called upon Jin Tong and Weeping Soul to pack up all of the array tools in the cave abode, then prepared to set off for the Northern Glacial Immortal Region.

However, proir to his departure, he paid a visit to Eight Plains Mountain, stopping several hundred kilometers away before extending a respectful salute from afar.

Bai Ze appeared before him amid a flash of white light, then smiled as he asked, "Are you leaving so soon, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I have something urgent that I must go and do right away. I've come here to bid farewell, and to thank you for your hospitality, Senior Bai Ze," Han Li said.

"Don't mention it. I can see that the ill intent in your body has grown into a rather pressing concern, so this is indeed a rather urgent matter," Bai Ze remarked.

Han Li nodded in response.

"I'm not fully confident in my ability to overcome this ordeal. If I am to fail, then I'll have to ask you to look after Xiaobai and Liu Le'er of the Heavenly Fox Tribe in my stead."

"Of course, I would be looking out for them even if you didn't ask. Where are you planning to go, Fellow Daoist Han?" Bai Ze asked, and Han Li's brows reflexively furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han, I have no intention of prying into your future plants. It's just that Yue Mian has a sky roaming ability that can take you to your destination far faster than you can get there, as long as it's not too far away," Bai Ze explained with a smile.

An enlightened look appeared on Han Li's face, and he cupped his fist in an apologetic salute as he said, "I see. Please forgive me for misunderstanding your intentions, Senior Bai Ze. I would like to go to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region."

"The Northern Glacial Immortal Region? That's not too far from here. Yue Mian, can your take Fellow Daoist Han there with your sky roaming ability?" Bai Ze asked.

Yue Mian instantly appeared out of thin air beside him and replied, "Of course."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. Right now, Fellow Daoist Han is a wanted fugitive of the Heavenly Court, so it'll be rather difficult for him to travel from place to place," Bai Ze said.

"Thank you, Senior Bai Ze, Senior Yue Mian," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

"Save your thanks! Your humans and all of your formalities annoy me to no end!" Yue Mian harrumphed as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which quickly transformed into a semi-transparent azure bird that was around a hundred feet in size.

The azure bird swooped down onto Han Li in the blink of an eye before opening its beak to devour him whole.

Immediately thereafter, it spread its wings to slice open a spatial rift, then flew into the rift in a flash.

All of this had unfolded in the blink of an eye, far too quickly for Han Li to be able to react.

By the time he finally processed what had just happened, the azure bird was already racing through a boundless expanse of spatial turbulence.

Many complex spirit patterns appeared on its body to form a series of cloud-shaped designs, and there were also streams of azure runes that were flowing over its body like water, giving off extremely formidable and aerodynamic law power fluctuations, allowing the bird to slice through the surrounding spatial turbulence without any resistance like a hot knife through butter.

At this moment, Han Li was being held firmly into place by a burst of tremendous power that was swirling around within the giant bird's belly.

He had no intention of freeing himself, and he began to observe his surroundings in an intrigued manner.

The azure bird was incredibly fast, countless times faster than him, and the surrounding scenery was rapidly receding.

Around thirty hours later, the azure bird abruptly emerged from the spatial turbulence and appeared above a lush forest.

Immediately thereafter, it disintegrated into countless streams of azure light with a dull thump, while Han Li quickly stabilized himself in mid-air.

He released his spiritual sense to examine the surrounding area, and a hint of elation immediately appeared on his face as he flew away into the distance as a streak of golden light.

Before long, he arrived at a small city by the name of Bright Hill City.

He had never visited this city before, but back when he first left the Black Wind Sea to travel to the Blaze Dragon Dao, he had heard along the way that this was a city on the Primordial Wave Continent.

In the wake of his arrival on the Primordial Wave Continent, Han Li had developed a newfound sense of awe and veneration toward the unfathomable powers of Dao Ancestors.

If he had traveled from Eight Plains Mountain to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region himself, then even a hundred years may not have been enough for him to complete the journey, yet Yue Mian had transported him here in barely over a day.

With that in mind, Han Li extended a grateful bow in the direction of Eight Plains Mountain, then set off toward the Black Wind Sea.

......

Northern Glacial Immortal Region, Black Wind Sea.

Streaks of light were racing through the air above a vast expanse of clear, blue ocean, and all of these streaks of light were converging toward a lush island.

The island itself wasn't very large, but there were numerous floating island arrays set up around the island, forming a seven-island chain that presented a spectacular sight to behold.

At the very center of the island stood a gargantuan statue with its arms spread open like a deity embracing its followers.

At this moment, there were hundreds of thousands of island residents gathered on a giant, white stone plaza at the center of the island, and they were in the process of evacuating from the plaza, having just completed their morning prayer ceremony.

Some of the people on the plaza looked up briefly at the streaks of light racing through the sky overhead before quickly losing interest, while most of the island residents didn't even bother to look up at all, clearly already accustomed to such a sight.

Among the massive crowd was an elderly man with a head of white hair that presented a stark contrast with his dark skin, and there was a proud look on his face as he held onto the hand of a little boy who also had a rather dark complexion.

"You see that, Tiger? It's all thanks to our Ancestral God that all of the dozens of nearby islands in this region have pledged their subordination to our Dark Veil Island. The chiefs of those islands have to come here to pay their respects on this day every single year. How badass is that?" the elderly man said with a wide smile.