Chapter 256: Meddling

It didn't take long before he appeared in the cave where the underground fire vein was situated.

The air in the entire cave was still filled with a scorching aura, and molten lava was tumbling incessantly within the underground lake of lava, Occasionally, a bubble on the surface of the lake of lava would pop, producing a sound akin to a rumbling thunderclap.

The array that he had set up was still hovering above the lake, but all of the array flags had become devoid of luster, indicating that the array had been defunct for some time, and the fiery red cocoon at the center of the array was also nowhere to be seen.

Han Li immediately attempted to contact the Essence Fire Raven through their spiritual connection, and a clear cry instantly rang out from within the lake.

Immediately thereafter, the surface of the lake began to bulge, following which a silver figure sprang out before hurtling directly at Han Li at an extraordinary speed while giving off a scorching aura.

The silver figure flew straight into Han Li, sending a burst of burning pain surging across hsi chest.

Before he had a chance to reach out, the silver figure transformed into a tiny humanoid figure that was no more than two feet tall, and it rapidly flew in a circle around him in an agile fashion.

Much to Han Li's elation, he discovered that the silver figure was formed by none other than the Essence Fire Raven, and in this form, it resembled a child that was around five to six years of age.

Not only had its aura completely surpassed its peak back when it was in the Spirit Realm, even its eyes, which were formed by flames, were sparkling with intelligence, clearly indicating that it had made significant progress, and it would most likely keep making rapid progress if it were to continue cultivating here.

The tiny silver figure danced around Han Li for a while, then suddenly transformed into a fire ball before rising up and descending onto the palm of Han Li's hand, where it reverted back into the form of a small child.

Han Li gently patted the tiny silver figure's head, and it seemed to have been relishing his touch, narrowing its eyes in contentment as it rubbed its head against his hand.

"This place has clearly done wonders for you, but I have to leave for some time, and I don't know when I'll be able to return, so I'll have to take you with me," Han Li said, and it was unclear whether he was talking to himself or explaining the situation to the Essence Fire Raven.

To his surprise, the Essence Fire Raven seemed to have understood him, and it let loose an elated cry as it transformed into a fiery silver bird that flew straight upward.

After that, it circled around in the air before swooping back down and vanishing into Han Li's body in a flash, ready to follow him wherever he went.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he withdrew the array and erased all signs that he had ever been here before turning to depart.

After leaving the cave, he traveled to the Gourd Peak rather than returning to his cave abode.

Having obtained so many Horned Dragon Herbs from Ping Yaozi's storage bracelet, it was time to begin attempting to refine Spring Rain Pills, and seeing as he was going to leave the sect, he had to purchase the recipe for the Spring Rain Pill prior to his departure.

Only when it was late into the night did he return to his cave abode without alerting anyone, and he gathered all of the spirit medicines from his garden that had reached sufficient maturity, then also retrieved the strange stone cauldron that had been offered to him by the monkey king before leaving the Blaze Dragon Dao.

……

Half a year later.

A streak of azure light came tumbling out of the sky above a massive mountain in the northern region of the Ancient Cloud Continent, and it crashed heavily into the mountain summit, causing half of the mountain to collapse violently.

After the dust settled, a middle-aged man with a cold expression was revealed standing on the collapsed mountain summit, wearing a suit of antiquated azure armor with golden patterns on its surface. The suit of armor wasn't giving off much of a glow, but it had an extremely solid and sturdy appearance.

The man was none other than Gu Jie!

Beneath his left boot was a portly man wearing an outer sect elder's robe of the Blaze Dragon Dao ,and blood was pouring down from the corner of his mouth as he desperately implored, "Please spare me, Senior! I honestly have no idea who you're looking for..."

However, Gu Jie's patience had run out, and he pointed a finger straight at the portly man's glabella.

A thread of azure light shot out of his fingertip before vanishing into the portly man's head, and the man gave a muffled groan before immediately losing consciousness.

Moments later, Gu Jie withdrew his finger, then gave a cold harrumph as he slammed a palm down onto the portly man's head, causing it to instantly explode like a watermelon.

As a result, a golden nascent soul was revealed with its entire body ensnared within a mass of azure threads. The golden light radiating from the nascent soul's body gradually dimmed until it completely faded, upon which the nascent soul disintegrated into nothingness.

Gu Jie remained standing on the spot with a contemplative expression, seemingly pondering something.

Moments later, he swept a hand through the air, and seven or eight blue masks appeared in the air before him.

He reached out toward the portly man's remains, and an azure horse mask flew out of his body to join the other masks that were hovering in mid-air.

"I've finally managed to dig up something useful. It looks like they are indeed in the Blaze Dragon Dao," Gu Jie murmured to himself as he inspected the mask, then reached out to make a grabbing motion with one hand, and the mask that was hovering before him was instantly crushed into powder.

Immediately thereafter, he vanished from the spot amid a flash of azure light.

……

Several months later, in a secluded valley in the eastern part of the Bell Toll Mountain Range.

At the entrance of the valley was a massive trench that was 100 feet wide, and it extended all the way to the end of the valley.

All of the snow and ice in the trench had melted away to reveal the rocky black surface underneath, and there were even many patches of moss and short weeds growing on the rocks.

On a cliff in the deepest part of the valley was a thin figure that had been bound tightly to the rock face behind them by a massive of azure vines.

A dark red line of blood ran all the way down from his head to his torso, and his body would've most likely split apart had it not been for the vines keeping the two halves together.

The man's face was very unremarkable, but he had a pair of tiny rat-like eyes that were quite memorable.

At this moment, Gu Jie was hovering in front of him, holding a shimmering golden nascent soul in his hand, and the nascent soul was struggling with all its might to escape, but to no avail.

"Who are the people who killed Ping Yaozi with you on that day, and where are they now?" Gu Jie asked.

"Even if... you're a Golden Immortal Stage elder of the Immortal Palace... you have no right... to barge into the Blaze Dragon Dao... Our dao lords won't let you get away with this..."

The nascent soul's voice was filled with horror and was cutting off intermittently, but it was still hoping to intimidate Gu Jie by bringing up the Blaze Dragon Dao.

"I know that there's a restriction in your nascent soul that makes it impossible for me to perform soul search technique by force, but I'm sure you've heard of a nascent planting technique, right? I have some top quality Dark Water Soil here, and if I plant your nascent soul into it... Oh, I'm really looking forward to seeing what'll happen," Gu Jie chuckled coldly.

The golden nascent soul shuddered in horror upon hearing this.

A nascent planting technique was a restorative technique used to nurture damaged nascent souls by planting them in spirit soil, but if a nascent soul were to be planted in contaminated oil, then it would become an extremely horrific torture method.

Once a nascent soul was planted into contaminated soil, it would constantly be subjected to the most excruciating pain imaginable until it eventually became a part of the soil. This process would take countless years to complete, and it was completely irreversible, robbing the owner of the nascent soul of any chance of reincarnation.

The nascent soul remained silent, and a cold smile appeared on Gu Jie's face as he said, "Looks like you're determined to test my patience."

He then flipped a hand over to produce an incense burner that was holding any sticks of incense. Instead, it was filled with a type of black soil that resembled fat, and it was giving off a foul odor that should've been unique to decaying bodies.

The golden nascent soul was even more horrified upon seeing this, and it hurriedly yelled, "I'll talk! Those two are..."

In reality, he didn't know who Qilin 9 and Wyrm 15 actually were, but in the face of Gu Jie's threats and absolute power, he had no choice but to tell Gu Jie everything that he knew, as well as his guesses on the identities of Qilin 9 and Wyrm 15.

After hearing what the nascent soul had to say, a sinister smile appeared on Gu Jie's face as he abruptly tightened his grip and crushed the nascent soul into nothingness.

He then made a beckoning motion with his other hand, and Qilin 17's storage bracelet flew into his grasp.

After taking a moment to refine the storage bracelet, he swept a hand through the air, and a golden pill cauldron and an azure rat mask instantly appeared before him.

Gu Jie raised a hand to stroke the golden cauldron, and a series of concealment runes instantly appeared on its surface, releasing an azure glow while giving off a burst of peculiar fluctuations.

"I'm impressed that he was able to conceal most of the mark I left on this cauldron. No wonder I could only track down the cauldron to the Ancient Cloud Continent, but couldn't verify its exact location beyond that," Gu Jie mused as he raised an eyebrow.

After that, he stowed the cauldron, the mask, and the storage bracelet away before flying deeper into the Blaze Dragon Dao.

Close to a month later, an azure figure was flying through the air above a vast snowland near the central region of the Blaze Dragon Dao.

Behind it was a massive white snow lotus flower that was traveling at even higher speed, and it was steadily closing in on the azure figure.

Reclined within the snow lotus flower was a voluptuous woman in a pristine white dress.

She was wearing a crimson fox mask that covered her face, leaving everything to the beholder's imagination, as well as giving her an aura of mystery.

On the glabella of the mask was inscribed the number "3" in the form of a peculiar rune.

The gap between the azure figure and the snow lotus flower was steadily closing, and all of a sudden, both of them drew to a halt while they were still separated by several thousand feet.

The woman in white continued to recline in her snow lotus flower with her head resting on the palm of her hand, and she was holding a white flower in her other hand as she cast a seductive gaze toward Gu Jie.

"I don't want to fight you, but that's not because I fear you! I'd advise you not to test my patience!" Gu Jie declared in a cold voice as he cast his gaze toward the woman in the snow lotus flower.

"It's not like I'm a tigress that's going to eat you, so of course you have no reason to fear me. However, as an elder of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, you've barged into our Blaze Dragon Dao and gone on a killing spree without any explanation. Could it be that you think that our Blaze Dragon Dao fears your Immortal Palace?" the woman asked.

"You're wearing a Transient Guild mask right now, yet you keep bringing up the Blaze Dragon Dao. Aren't you meddling in business that has nothing to do with you? Do you not have anything better to do with your time?" Gu Jie chuckled coldly.

"Truth be told, I have been feeling quite bored lately, and you just so happened to appear at this juncture," the woman sighed.

Her voice was as pleasant as a warm spring breeze, and there was also a seductive quality to it that struck Gu Jie's mind with a numbing sensation.