Chapter 1332: All-Encompassing Tribulation

"Who are you?" Han Li asked in a wary manner.

At the same time, he made a beckoning motion, and all of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords scattered throughout the Dragon Abyss Immortal Region immediately returned to him before flying up his sleeve.

"My name is Chen Ruyan, and I am the Essential Water Dao Ancestor. You can call me Ruyan," the young woman replied with a wide grin.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this.

Chen Ruyan's lips puckered slightly as she put on a pitiable display and continued, "I only captured your dao partner under the orders of the Heavenly Court, and I've already returned her to you, so surely there's no need to look at me with so much animosity."

"You serve the Heavenly Court as well?" Han Li asked.

"I haven't joined the Heavenly Court, but I occasionally do things for them, even though I may not necessarily like it. Gu Huojin is too powerful for me to oppose, so I have no choice but to conform," Chen Ruyan replied.

"Didn't Feng Qingshui say that Wan'er had already been sent to the Heavenly Court? Why was she with you?" Han Li asked.

Chen Ruyan merely smiled and offered no response.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and right at this moment, Feng Qingshui suddenly flew out of her blue spirit domain.

All of his injuries had been healed, and his aura had also recovered significantly.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies for my incompetence, Mistress Ruyan," Feng Qingshui said with a guilty expression, and Han Li wasn't surprised to see this display of subordination from him.

Chen Ruyan was the Essential Water Dao Ancestor, while Feng Qingshui was the Water Dao Ancestor, so the latter was naturally bound to be below the former on the pecking order.

This type of relationship was not rare among Dao Ancestors, and almost every Essential Dao Ancestor had a corresponding, subordinate Dao Ancestor.

"It's fine. Even I wouldn't be able to defeat Fellow Daoist Han in battle, so there's no need to feel so bad about your defeat," Chen Ruyan said in an indifferent manner, displaying a completely different attitude than when speaking to Han Li.

Feng Qingshui nodded in response as he took a glum glance at Han Li.

"While it's true that Feng Qingshui was the one who captured your dao partner, he was only acting under the orders of the Heavenly Court, so please let him off the hook now that Fellow Daoist Nangong has been returned to you. Feng Qingshui and I occasionally do some favors for the Heavenly Court, but we are not Gu Huojin's allies, and we have no intention of opposing the Reincarnation Palace," Chen Ruyan said.

A look of realization flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

These two captured Wan'er at Gu Huojin's behest, but now that the Reincarnation Palace has made its move against the Heavenly Court, they're unsure of which side will come out on top, so they decided to keep Wan'er and wait for the situation unfold before making a decision.

Feng Qingshui most likely lied about having already sent Wan'er to the Heavenly Court in order to intentionally goad me into a rage so that I would display my full power. Now that they've witnessed my power, they're even more unwilling to oppose the Reincarnation Palace, and that's why they've returned Wan'er to me.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward Feng Qingshui as he said, "In that case, I'll spare you this time, but you won't be so fortunate if you dare to go after anyone close to me again."

After that, he promptly withdrew his time spirit domain before vanishing from the spot amid a flash of golden lightning.

"The Reincarnation Palace really has managed to recruit a very powerful ally. The outcome of the conflict between the Reincarnation Palace and the Heavenly Court is only becoming more and more difficult to predict," Chen Ruyan mused with a faint smile.

"Mistress Ruyan, how are we going to answer to Gu Huojin now that you've returned Nangong Wan to Han Li?" Feng Qingshui asked with a concerned expression.

"It's fine. Just say that you were about to send her to the Heavenly Court when cultivators from the Reincarnation Palace intervened and rescued her. Right now, the Heavenly Court is facing a full-frontal assault from the Reincarnation Palace, so they won't dare to do anything to us," Chen Ruyan replied.

The concern on Feng Qingshui's face eased slightly upon hearing this, but he then began in a hesitant manner, "By the way, about that Han Li..."

"If you have something to say, then spit it out," Chen Ruyan said.

"I met him once in the Gray Realm around two thousand years ago, and since then, I've been notified that one of his companions at the time is a prince of the Devil Realm, so I suspect that he may have some ties with the Devil Realm," Feng Qingshui said.

"Oh? Tell me what happened," Chen Ruyan instructed as she raised an eyebrow, and Feng Qingshui promptly delivered a detailed recount of everything that took place in the Gray Realm at the time.

After hearing his story, Chen Ruyan's eyes narrowed slightly as she mused, "There's no way he could've gone from the peak-Golden Immortal Stage to the peak-Great Encompassment Stage in just two thousand years, so he must've hidden his true power back then. As for how they were teleported out of the Gray Realm, perhaps he wasn't the one to do it, but it definitely would've had something to do with him.

“That really complicates things. Could it be that the Reincarnation Palace is colluding with the Devil Realm? Also, did the Reincarnation Palace orchestrate Liu Qi's escape from the Gray Realm as well?"

"Hasn't it already been confirmed that ties exist between the Devil Realm and the Reincarnation Palace? The ability of the Reincarnation Palace masks to teleport items from wearer to wearer indicates a very advanced incorporation of spatial law powers, and only the cultivators of the Devil Realm could be so proficient in manipulating spatial laws," Feng Qingshui said.

However, Chen Ruyan shook her head as she said, "There are other details involved that you're not aware of."

Feng Qingshui was rather intrigued to hear this, but he could tell from Chen Ruyan's expression that she didn't want him asking questions.

"If Liu Qi was also rescued by the Reincarnation Palace, then there's a chance that the primordial land has also forged an alliance with the Reincarnation Palace! They really are everywhere!" Feng Qingshui exclaimed with a stunned expression.

"How else do you think the Reincarnation Palace was able to oppose the Heavenly Court for so long?" Chen Ruyan harrumphed, and Feng Qingshui fell into a sheepish silence.

"It looks like a major tribulation is about to sweep over the True Immortal Realm. I wonder if we'll be able to safely weather the storm," Chen Ruyan sighed.

"Aren't you thinking too much, Mistress Ruyan? We are Dao Ancestors, so we should be safe as long as we don't get involved in the conflict between the Heavenly Court and the Reincarnation Palace," Feng Qingshui said in a dismissive manner.

"No one is guaranteed to be safe in the face of an all-encompassing tribulation. In fact, you would've most likely already perished by now had I not intervened," Chen Ruyan said, and Feng Qingshui lowered his head upon hearing this.

"In any case, there's no point in thinking excessively about such matters. We'll just have to take things one step at a time," Chen Ruyan said, then vanished from the spot.

Feng Qingshui remained where he was for a moment, then flew back to the Mist Dragon Sect as a streak of blue light.

The shattered space in the Dragon Abyss Immortal Region had already returned to normal, and the unrest in the world's origin qi had also subsided.

Meanwhile, Han Li appeared in the air above a small and secluded island amid a flash of golden lightning.

He briefly examined the surrounding area with his spiritual sense to ensure that there wasn't anything amiss, then set up several layers of restrictions over the entire island.

From the outside, it appeared as if the island had vanished into thin air.

After that, he consumed a pair of blue pills, then pulled out two high-grade Immortal Origin Stones to assist in the recovery of his immortal spiritual power.

He had obtained the blue pills from Shui Changtian's storage tool, and they were a type of recovery pill that were quite potent even for late-Great Encompassment cultivators, and coupled with the two high-grade Immortal Origin Stones, it wasn't long before he had recovered close to half of his energy reserves.

As opposed to continuing to rest and recuperate, he immediately rose to his feet before entering the Flower Branch domain, where Nangong Wan was hovering in mid-air in a peaceful slumber.

Laying on the ground not far away was Sect Leader Yang Shan, who Han Li had tossed into the Flower Branch domain after the soul search.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of golden light, carefully wiping away the residual effects of the time law powers in his body, then cast him out of the Flower Branch domain, but only after he had confiscated all of his storage tools.

He had originally planned to use Sect Leader Yang Shan as leverage in exchange for some information about Nangong Wan's whereabouts, but now that she had been returned to him, there was no point in keeping Sect Leader Yang Shan.

With Sect Leader Yang Shan out of the way, Han Li carried Nangong Wan into the bamboo pavilion, then carefully set her down onto the bed inside.

Looking at her sleeping features, he couldn't help but allow himself a faint smile.

He had thought of her on countless occasions since his ascension to the True Immortal Realm, and even though they had been reunited earlier than this, she had been without her memories, so this was their first true reunion.

Han Li took a deep breath to compose himself, then gently pressed a finger against Nangong Wan's glabella, and a series of blue lines instantly emerged beneath his fingertip to form a simple seal.

The seal was no match for Han Li's power, and it flickered momentarily before quickly dissipating, following which Nangong Wan's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she opened her eyes.