Chapter 280: Dao Warrior Mutation

Han Li and Elder Hu Yan entered the estate together, and they passed through the verandah beside the front yard before arriving in the guest hall. Not long after the two of them sat down, a young servant entered the hall to present them each with a cup of tea.

Elder Hu Yan didn't even take a glance at the cup of tea as he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a wine cup, then filled with the contents of the red jar that Han Li had brought him before downing the entire cup of wine in one go.

He then smacked his lips together for a long while with an enraptured expression, as if he were carefully savoring the wine's flavor, then exhaled as he praised, "This Red Fur wine really is one of the fiercest wines out there!"

"You know of this wine, Senior?" Han Li asked with a slightly surprised expression.

"I drank this wine once while I was exploring the northern region of the Primordial Wave Continent, so I have some recollection of it. This wine is brewed by soaking the bones and blood essence of many types of demon beasts and sealing them in jars for hundreds of years.

“Its color is as red as blood, and it's far too strong for mortals to consume. Even for cultivators, this wine is lethal poison to all those below the Deity Transformation Stage, but of course, it's harmless to immortals like ourselves," Elder Hu Yan explained.

"You are by far the most knowledgeable wine enthusiast I've ever met, Senior. For that, you have my utmost admiration," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Stop trying to flatter me, kid. If you have something to say, then say it. Seeing as you did bring me this jar of Red Fur Wine, I'll agree to any request of yours as long as it's not too unreasonable," Elder Hu Yan said with a smile.

"While inspecting my spirit medicine garden today, I noticed by chance that the Dao Warrior that I had planted earlier had sprouted. However, its seedling doesn't quite match the description in the book that you gave me, so I came to you to be enlightened on this matter," Han Li said.

Elder Hu Yan's interest was instantly piqued at the mention of Dao Warriors, and he asked, "Oh? In what way is it different?"

"Some strange golden patterns have appeared on my Dao Warrior seedling," Han Li replied.

"What type of patterns? I'll come with you to take a look," Elder Hu Yan said as he raised an eyebrow.

"I made a drawing of the patterns, please take a look at them, Senior."

Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a sheet of paper as he spoke, then offered it to Elder Hu Yan.

Elder Hu Yan accepted the piece of paper, and after looking at it for only a short while, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "You may be in luck, kid. It looks like your Dao Warrior has undergone a mutation."

"How?" Han Li asked with a puzzled expression.

"There are many factors that could cause a Dao Warrior to mutate, including the type of soil it's planted in, the spirit liquid used to water it, and the properties of the Dao Warrior itself. A multitude of factors have to be taken into account before the reason can be pinpointed," Elder Hu Yan explained.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but wonder if the mutation had been brought on by the spirit liquid from the Heaven Controlling Vial or perhaps the underground fire veins.

"Having said that, don't thank your lucky stars just yet. Dao Warrior mutation is something that can't be controlled, and it could change the Dao Warrior for the better or for the worse. It all depends entirely on luck," Elder Hu Yan added after downing another cup of wine.

Han Li could tell that there seemed to have been something on Elder Hu Yan's mind, so he decided no to interrupt him any longer.

"In that case, I'll just have to let the Dao Warrior develop as normal and examine the changes when they arise. Thank you for enlightening me, Senior, I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li said as he extended a parting salute.

"Go on, I'll have a few more cups of wine by myself," Elder Hu Yan replied with a dismissive wave.

......

Two days later, in the secret chamber of Han Li's cave abode.

Han Li flipped a hand over to produce his Transient Guild mask before putting it on, and a massive azure array plate was projected onto the wall from the mask.

After ensuring that no adverse changes had taken place in the Dao Warrior, he decided to continue going on Transient Guild missions to earn more spirit stones.

The missions column on the left was constantly being updated with new missions added and completed missions removed, and the mission turnover rate was usually quite high with the exception of some special missions.

Han Li's gaze traveled down the missions column until he spotted a very special mission.

The reason why this mission was special was because the missions released in the Transient Guild generally didn't have any specific details attached. Only after all of the people required for the mission were assembled were the finer details revealed, yet this mission had bucked that trend, having been released with all specific details and mission requirements enclosed.

The mission required one to go to an important place in the Holy Puppet Sect and defend it from an enemy invasion.

Han Li had seen some records of the Holy Puppet sect, and he knew that it was situated in the northwestern part of the Thunderstorm Sea. It was a medium-sized sect that wasn't too far away from the Ancient Cloud Continent, and it was renowned for crafting and selling all types of puppets.

It was naturally unable to compare with the Blaze Dragon Dao when it came to overall size, but due to its special nature, it had always had financial dealings with many immortal sects and clans looking to purchase its puppets, so it was far wealthier than other sects of the same caliber.

Furthermore, the mission could only be taken on by Transient Guild members who held azure masks or above, and that was a clear indication that this was most definitely going to be quite a perilous mission.

However, the reward offered by the Holy Puppet Sect was also extremely handsome, equivalent to over 10 times the reward offered in other normal missions. Han Li was currently in desperate need of spirit stones, and after some deliberation, he decided to accept this mission.

There was still some time left until the assembly date for the mission, so Han Li refined the spirit ingredients that he had acquired up to this point into two batches of pills, then also made some further preparations for the upcoming journey to the Holy Puppet Sect.

Several months later.

In the southwestern region of the Ancient Cloud Continent was a small coastal city by the Windview City. Due to its close proximity to the Thunderstorm Sea in the south, it had a slightly warmer climate and was one of the few places on the entire Ancient Cloud Continent where one could experience all four seasons.

There was an official road that was around 50 to 60 feet wide leading out of the city to the coast, and it passed through a lush forest of willow and elm trees.

Inside the forest, there was a wooden pavilion constructed every few kilometers along the official road, serving as resting spots for those traveling along the official road.

At this moment, everything in a radius of several kilometers around the third pavilion in the forest was enshrouded within a cloud of dense white mist, and within the mist, visibility was limited to only around a foot.

However, the area directly surrounding the third pavilion was completely unaffected by the mist, and there were around a dozen figures seated on the long benches inside. Each of these figures was wearing an azure animal mask with no exception, but in contrast with everyone else, there was a voluptuous woman standing outside the pavilion with a crimson fox mask on her face, and her entire body was giving off a mysterious and seductive aura.

Not far away from her was a slender woman in a pink dress, and she was wearing an azure rabbit mask that was riddled with spirit patterns.

Even though both of them had their faces concealed, the feminine auras that they were giving off were still a sight for sore eyes, and many of the people inside the pavilion were sneaking furtive glances at the two of them.

Right at this moment, a streak of golden light appeared above the forest before descending toward the pavilion.

The golden light pierced straight into the dense mist before landing outside the pavilion, then faded to reveal a tall male figure wearing a black cloak and an azure deer mask. It was none other than Qilin 9.

As soon as he landed on the ground, he immediately approached the voluptuous woman before extending a respectful bow, to which the woman nodded in response.

Immediately thereafter, a streak of azure light flew into the mist as well, then also landed outside the pavilion before fading to reveal the cow-masked Wyrm 15.

Both of the new arrivals attracted a few glances from those who were already seated in the pavilion, but the arrival of Wyrm 15 in particular had caught everyone's attention.

After all, he had become extremely renowned for the frequency at which he was completing Transient Guild missions.

Han Li paid no heed to everyone's prying eyes, but he was rather surprised to have noticed the presence of the woman with the azure rabbit mask that bore the number of "11".

This was because he knew that the owner of this mask was none other than Bai Suyuan.

The mask had concealed her aura, making it impossible to detect her exact cultivation base, but given her Moonlight Immortal Physique, it was safe to assume that she was most likely already a Grand Ascension cultivator.

There was no way that someone of her cultivation base should've been allowed to come on this mission, and that was why Han Li was particularly surprised by her presence here.

However, he didn't display any overt reaction to this, and he approached the fox-masked woman who was clearly the leader of the group before extending a respectful salute, then nodded at Qilin 9, who he had completed a mission with in the past. After that, he made his way into the pavilion before sitting down with his legs crossed, taking no further glances at Bai Suyuan.

Bai Suyuan hadn't managed to identify Han Li. After all, she had only ever seen Han Li adopt disguises using his Transient Guild mask, but she had never seen the mask itself. However, she was somewhat familiar with his reputation for completing guild missions at an extraordinary rate, and thus, she took a few extra glances at Han Li out of curiosity.

Around 15 minutes later, two more people arrived one after the other.

Following their arrival, Qilin 3 turned to everyone in the pavilion as she declared, "Time is of the essence, so now that everyone has arrived, let's set off to the Holy Puppet Sect right away. I'll explain the finer details of the mission to everyone along the way."

Everyone immediately rose to their feet and emerged from the pavilion upon hearing this.

Han Li noticed that aside from Qilin 9, there were several other Transient Guild members that he had previously completed missions with, and they all exchanged slight nods with one another as a form of greeting.

Qilin 3 swept a hand through the air, releasing a sparkling expanse of silver light, which transformed into a crescent-shaped spirit boat in the blink of an eye.

The boat was around 300 to 400 feet in length with rings of profound runes engraved all over its surface. It was also radiating a bright silver glow, and it was clear that this was a flying spirit treasure of quite a high caliber.

Qilin 3 flew onto the deck of the spirit boat, and everyone else quickly followed suit, with a few of them inspecting the spirit boat with envy in their eyes as they flew onto it.