Chapter 643: Reunion

Shi Chuankong and Silver Fox exchanged a glance with each other upon hearing this, but neither of them said anything.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame could see that Han Li's mind was already made up, and he said, "In that case, it appears that this is where we'll part ways. I'll repay you for everything that you've done for me when we meet again."

"May we meet again someday," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame returned his salute, and Han Li gave Shi Chuankong and Silver Fox a nod before flying out of the window as a streak of azure light, instantly vanishing into the distance.

"I'm sure the two of you are already aware that the ruins are in the Black Soil Immortal Region. When do we set off?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked.

"There's no hurry, we're still missing one person," Silver Fox replied with a smile.

"In any case, let's leave this place right away. The confounding arrays that we set up earlier may not be enough to fool those immortal envoys, and perhaps they could even be on their way here as we speak," Shi Chuankong said.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and a burst of silver light appeared in front of him, giving off powerful spatial fluctuations. The silver light quickly inundated all three of them, and they vanished from the teahouse.

......

Over three years flew by in a flash.

In an undulating black mountain range in the Black Mountain Immortal Region was a short and unremarkable mountain between a pair of taller mountains.

There was a completely overgrown stone path in a mountain in the forest, and it led to a rundown Daoist temple with two ancient locust trees planted in front of the entrance.

The temple had already completely collapsed with the exception of a single side hall, which was covered in moss and vines and just barely hanging on for dear life.

Late at night, a faint white light could be seen through the dilapidated windows of the side hall, casting elongated shadows onto the stone steps outside.

An azure-robed man was seated on an old cushion with his legs crossed, and there was a small green vial sitting on the ground in front of him.

The man was none other than Han Li, and after parting ways with Immortal Lord Hot Flame, he had left Green Forest Town before teleporting several times in succession using his lightning array, following which he embarked on a southbound journey on his green jade flying carriage.

He would travel by day, then find some places in the wilderness near cities and towns to rest at night, allowing him to avoid other cultivators and demon beasts so that he could focus on his time-attribute cultivation arts.

The Baleful Quelling Pills that he had taken had expelled much of the baleful qi in his body, so the journey thus far had been a safe and smooth one, but he couldn't visit any major cities where powerful cultivators were present.

After a few minutes, a drop of spirit liquid took shape within the Heaven Controlling Vial from the moonlight that it had absorbed.

Han Li flicked a finger toward a nearby pile of lumber to ignite it and start a fire, then picked up the Heaven Controlling Vial before raising it up to his own eyes.

Thanks to the light of the fire, he was able to see through the wall of the vial that there was a drop of liquid slowly rolling around inside.

Right as he was contemplating entering the Flower Branch domain to water his Dao Warrior primary beans, the Dragon 5 mask on his face abruptly emerged on its own.

Han Li was rather taken aback by this, and he made a hand seal, upon which a beam of red light shot out of the glabella of his mask, producing a projection of a humanoid figure.

The figure was over twenty feet tall, almost as tall as the side hall that Han Li was staying in. They were wearing a loose-fitting black robe, and there was a menacing dark red mask on his face.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he discovered that this figured looked exactly like the reincarnation envoy that he had seen in Lu Renjia's memories.

"You're Dragon 5, right? It's already been close to a thousand years since you became a Reincarnation Disciple, so you'll need to complete a mission for the next thousand-year period," the reincarnation envoy declared in an indifferent voice.

"Has it already been a thousand years? Time really does fly," Han Li sighed.

"Are you going to accept this mission or issue Immortal Origin Stones for exemption?" the reincarnation envoy asked.

"Please tell me the contents of the mission first," Han Li said.

"For this mission, you'll have to meet up with Fox 3 on Magpie Coop Mountain to assist him in exploring a set of ruins. He'll inform you of the specific details once you meet up with him. As for the reward for the mission, you'll be receiving twenty thousand Immortal Origin Stones and an ungraded immortal treasure from Fox 3 in addition to the spoils that you reap from the ruins," the reincarnation envoy explained.

A thought occurred to Han Li upon hearing this, and he asked, "Is this Fox 3 the renowned Silver Fox?"

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"You can ask him that yourself when you meet him," the reincarnation envoy replied in an indifferent voice.

Even though this wasn't direct confirmation, Han Li already knew the answer to his question.

"If I choose to pay Immortal Origin Stones instead, how much will it cost?" Han Li asked.

"Fifty thousand," the reincarnation envoy replied.

Han Li fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

Fifty thousand was not an insignificant sum, but it wasn't outside of his means, either. However, who would be willing to forfeit fifty thousand Immortal Origin Stones for nothing? With that in mind, he couldn't help but begin to reconsider the True Mantra Sect ruins.

He was quite interested in the True Mantra Sect, and the main reason why he had turned down the offer to explore the ruins was because he didn't trust Silver Fox and Shi Chuankong.

However, now that this had become a Reincarnation Palace mission, things were different.

As for his baleful decay, the missions that he had released in the Reincarnation Palace hadn't received any responses up to this point, so it didn't really matter whether he was in the True Mantra Sect ruins or out on the run.

"Make up your mind," the reincarnation envoy suddenly urged.

"I'll take on the mission," Han Li finally decided.

"Alright, once you complete the mission, you'll be free for the next one thousand years, and you can access all of the Reincarnation Palace's resources as long as you issue the corresponding sum of Immortal Origin Stones," the reincarnation envoy replied with a nod.

After that, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of silver light, which formed a large map, at the center of which was a glowing red dot, above which were the words "Magpie Coop Mountain."

"Memorize this map. You will have to meet Fox 3 on Magpie Coop Mountain within half a year, and if you're not there by then, you'll be punished on the basis of refusing to complete your mission," the reincarnation envoy said, following which his body began to dissipate.

Han Li carefully inspected the map before him, and after identifying several landmarks on the map, he quickly tracked down the mountain range that he was currently in, discovering that its name was "Old Indent Mountain."

The mountain range wasn't far away from Magpie Coop Mountain, and it would only take around three months for him to get there on his flying carriage.

Shortly after Han Li memorized the map, it vanished into thin air, and he took a moment to recollect the map in his mind once more, then opened his Flower Branch domain and stepped into it.

......

Over three months later.

Three figures were seated around an intricately crafted white jade table on a lone mountain that was several thousand feet tall.

Each of them was holding a silver cup, and they were exchanging toasts with one another.

The cups were filled with dark red wine that was giving off a slightly astringent aroma, and one of the three figures was a black-robed young man who was holding a cup in one hand and a silver wine flagon in the other, occasionally drinking straight out of the flagon whenever the mood struck him.

The flagon seemed to become some type of treasure with a limitless capacity, and it seemed as if its contents were never going to run out.

Sitting across from the black-robed young man was a white-haired elderly man, and he said, "Fellow Daoist Li was also an avid wine enthusiast. If he hadn't left, I'm sure you two would've bonded over your shared love for wine."

These three were none other than Immortal Lord Hot Flame's trio.

"Is that right? What a pity. Having said that, he had already made up his mind, so we weren't going to convince him to stay," Fox 3 replied with a smile.

Shi Chuankong was looking at the distant scenery in an absentminded manner, taking no interest in the wine as he asked, "When is the final member of our party going to arrive, Fox 3?"

"He should be here in a month or two. The higher-ups are taking this mission quite seriously, so I'm sure the one that they've chosen to complete our party was carefully selected," Fox 3 replied.

As soon as his voice trailed off, his eyes suddenly lit up slightly as he chuckled, "Looks like he's a little earlier than I expected."

Right at this moment, a streak of green light shot forth from afar, then drew to a halt up above, following which an azure figure descended in front of the trio.

Fox 3 and the others were astonished to see this azure figure.

"What are you doing here, Fellow Daoist Li?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame exclaimed with a surprised and elated expression.

"Long time no see, fellow daoists," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Fox 3 and Shi Chuankong exchanged an uncertain glance with one another.

"Are you the one sent by our Reincarnation Palace to assist us on this mission?" Fox 3 asked.

"That's right. As it turns out, my current thousand-year mission is to assist you in exploring the True Mantra Sect ruins," Han Li sighed.

He wiped a hand over his own face as he spoke, and his Dragon 5 mask was revealed.

Fox 3 carefully inspected the mask for a moment, following which he suddenly exclaimed, "So you're Dragon 5!"

"Oh? You've heard of me?" Han Li asked as he reverted back to his original appearance.

"I heard from Wyrm 3 that you're an exceptional prodigy in both pill refinement and cultivation. I've always wanted to meet you, but I didn't think my wish would be granted so soon," Fox 3 replied with a smile.

It was Immortal Lord Hot Flame's turn to be in disbelief now, and he turned to Han Li as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, you're also a member of the Reincarnation Palace?"