Chapter 29: Spiritflame Mountain Range

At the same time, in a certain cave abode, a thin elderly man wearing an ochre robe was situated on the main seat gently blowing into a cup of tea that he was holding in his hand.

In front of him was a middle-aged man with a pair of narrow eyes, standing with his head lowered slightly and a respectful look on his face.

"Given how much time has passed, Lu Ya should be done on his end," the thin elderly man mused.

"There's no chance that anything could go wrong under Elder Lu's watch. Only someone of such a lofty status as yourself would be able to request such a favor from Elder Lu," the middle-aged man said in a respectful voice.

"Out of all of my descendants, Hao'er is the only one who possesses the aptitude to be destined for great things, yet to think that he would die such a premature death! That bastard should be killed thousands of times over for what he's done!" the elderly man said in a furious voice as he slammed down his teacup.

"Look on the bright side, Patriarch. Once Yu Menghan is captured, you'll be well on your way to attaining full mastery of your cultivation art," the middle-aged man hurriedly consoled.

The fury on the elderly man's face eased slightly, and he said, "Come to think of it, she's partially to blame for Hao'er's death as well, but I'll spare her for now, seeing as she possesses a constitution that's useful to me."

As soon as his voice trailed off, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he cast his gaze toward the gates of his cave abode.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out, and a young female servant appeared at the cave abode's entrance, then extended a respectful bow as she declared, "Elder Qi, Elder Mo has come to see you."

Before the elderly man had a chance to reply, a cold male voice rang out from outside the cave abode.

"To think that you're still in the mood to be sipping tea in your cave abode at a time like this. I must say, your composure is very remarkable, Elder Qi."

Immediately thereafter, a middle-aged man in a black robe with a tall hat on his head appeared outside the entrance.

Qi Xuan raised an eyebrow at the sight of the man, and he gestured for the servant to leave before asking, "What business do you have with me, Mo Chen? Unless I'm mistaken, I don't believe we arranged a meeting at this time."

Instead of answering Qi Xuan's question, Mo Chen raised one of his own. "Elder Lu Ya's soul badge suddenly cracked not long ago. Do you have anything to say about that, Elder Qi?"

"What did you say?" Qi Xuan immediately sprang to his feet with a stunned expression.

"According to those who last saw Elder Lu, he went to intercept a group of people at your request, and that was what led to his death. May I ask who you requested him to intercept, Elder Qi?" Mo Chen asked in a cold voice.

"That's impossible! How could a pair of Nascent Soul cultivators possibly have been a match for Lu Ya?" Qi Xu was absolutely incredulous.

"Elder Lu Ya was an early-Deity Transformation cultivator, yet not only was he killed, even his nascent soul was unable to escape. Am I supposed to believe that you had no idea at all about how much danger you were placing Elder Lu in? I hope you haven't made a powerful enemy for the sect all for your own selfish vendettas. In any case, I'll have to ask you to come with me on a trip to the Enforcement Hall, Elder Qi," Mo Chen said in a cold voice.

……

Several days later, Han Li's group finally emerged from the Yellow Billow Desert.

Along the way, they were attacked by several swarms of Flying Sin Ants, but they were easily taken care of by Han Li through Mo Guang, and they encountered no further pursuers from the Heavenly Ghost Sect.

Furthermore, given that Han Li was able to slay a Deity Transformation cultivator so easily, Gu Yunyue was not surprised at all to see that Han Li was able to deal with the Flying Sin Ants as well.

The consecutive days of travel had left Yu Menghan and Liu Le'er feeling rather exhausted, and they were cuddled up together, sleeping soundly on one side of the spirit ark.

Han Li was seated with his legs crossed at the tail-end of the spirit ark with his brows slightly furrowed and a rather peculiar look in his eyes. In front of him seven or eight vials of different colors and materials, all of which had been completely emptied.

"How did it go, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Guang's voice rang out in his mind.

"Most of these pills came from that Deity Transformation cultivator, and there's no lack of pills of a decently high caliber among them, but not a single one has had any effect on me," Han Li sighed.

During the previous battle, he was able to kill his opponent with his immense physical strength and the help of those five mountains, so he hadn't expended much magic power, but it was still naturally a problem that he was unable to increase his current reserves of magic power.

"What about the top-grade spirit stones?"

"I can't absorb them, either," Han Li replied with a wry smile, spreading open his hand to reveal a spirit stone that had already become completely devoid of luster.

"It seems that only certain special pills will have an effect on you," Mo Guang mused.

"Perhaps. So far, only that Sharp Watch Pill and that golden pill I found in Qi Minghao's storage bag have been effective. Once we get to the Cold Flame Sect, I'm going to get another Sharp Watch Pill and study it thoroughly. Perhaps I'll be able to find out the underlying reasons then," Han Li replied as he absentmindedly stroked the small vial that he wore around his neck.

……

Half a month later, a spirit ark sped through the air above a lush mountain range.

There was one man and three women on the ark, and they were none other than Han Li's group.

"This Spiritflame Mountain Range is the entrance to our Cold Flame Sect," Gu Yunyue introduced with a smile as she swept her gaze over the forest down below.

"The spirit veins are very stable, and there's a vast abundance of spiritual qi. This is indeed a fantastic place," Han Li mused with a nod of approval.

Yu Menghan was ecstatic to hear this, but after looking around, a puzzled look appeared on her face as she turned to Gu Yunyue.

Liu Le'er was holding onto the side of the spirit ark, leaning her body over the edge to inspect her surroundings, but she couldn't see any signs of a sect amid the lush greenery, either, and she couldn't help but ask, "Brother Rock, I can also sense that the spiritual qi here is very abundant, but I don't see any sect."

"All major sects are concealed by powerful arrays. We are currently situated outside the array, which is equivalent to standing outside the walls of a city, so we naturally can't see what's inside," Han Li replied with a smile.

Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan didn't fully understand this concept, but they still nodded in response.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please wait for a moment while I inform the sect of our arrival," Gu Yunyue said.

She flipped a hand over as she spoke, producing a palm-sized golden badge with a flame design etched onto its surface.

A burst of light emerged on the badge, and the flame design suddenly began to sway as if it were an actual flame.

A streak of light shot forth from the badge, flying directly into the mountain range down below.

Moments later, a burst of ripples suddenly spread through the air below the spirit ark, and a semi-spherical golden light barrier that was barely visible slowly emerged.

The entirety of the Spiritflame Mountain Range, which stretched for several hundred kilometers, was completely encompassed within the light barrier.

"As expected of one of the most dominant sects in a realm," Han Li remarked with a hint of approval in his voice.

Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan were both gripping onto the edge of the spirit ark, looking down with awe and amazement in their eyes.

Beneath the golden light barrier were countless palaces and pagodas interspersed throughout the lush forest.

Some of the buildings were situated individually atop sheer cliffs, while others were connected together in a cluster. Some were positioned in canyons and gorges, while others were built halfway up mountains.

At the center of the entire mountain range were around a dozen mountains that were far taller than all of the other ones, and there was white mist and purple qi rising up from those mountains. It was clear just from a glance that those peaks were particularly abundant in spiritual qi.

"This place is beautiful!" Yu Menghan couldn't help but exclaim.

Liu Le'er also nodded eagerly in agreement.

Gu Yunyue was clearly in a very good mood following their return to the sect, and she turned to Han Li with a smile as she said, "Fellow Daoist Han, Elder Luo is already waiting for us on Cloudrise Peak. Let's go see him right away."

Han Li nodded in response.

Right as the spirit ark passed through the light barrier, he felt a burst of spiritual sense sweep over his body, and he presumed that it belonged to the aforementioned Elder Luo.

After Han Li and the others officially entered the Cold Flame Sect, Liu Le'er took a curious glance upward to find that the light barrier had already disappeared, and all that was left to be seen were the pristine blue sky and the drifting white clouds.

The spirit ark flew toward the center of the mountain range, then descended onto a lush mountain peak that extended all the way up into the clouds.

At the foot of that mountain was a spacious white plaza, where an imposing man was standing, casting his gaze toward the spirit ark from afar.

The man had a set of rugged features and was wearing an ochre robe with a black belt around his waist, accentuating the outline of his pronounced pectoral muscles. Judging from the aura that he was giving off, he was a Deity Transformation cultivator.