Chapter 928: Setting Off

The other Profound City cultivators clearly weren't very happy to see Han Li initiating eye contact with the Puppet City cultivators, and someone murmured in a disdainful voice, "Shameless scoundrel! He must be a Puppet City spy!"

"You're already dying to return to your true allies, aren't you? A slave will always be a slave!" Feng Wuchen scoffed in a cold voice.

He wasn't being excessively loud, but he made sure to be just loud enough for everyone present to hear him.

Han Li had ignored all of the unflattering words directed at him up to this point, but upon hearing what Feng Wuchen had to say, he chuckled, "You must be itching for another beating."

"What did you say?" Feng Wuchen snapped as he clenched his fists tightly and took a step toward Han Li, followed by the other two Profound End City cultivators.

Han Li spread his hands open with an unfazed grin, challenging all three of them to come at him at once.

The three of them were furious to see this, and the profound acupoints on their bodies lit up as they prepared to attack.

Gu Qianxun's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, she arrived by Han Li's side.

The three Excess Passage City cultivators also stepped up with hostile expressions, but Duan Tong's gaze was focused on Gu Qianxun.

Xuanyuan Xing was looking on with tightly furrowed brows, and after some hesitation, he remained still on the spot as he cast an inquisitive gaze toward Chen Yang.

Chen Yang could see that Qin Yuan had no intention of stepping in, and he was just about to get involved when another figure suddenly appeared beside Han Li.

To Han Li's surprise, it was none other than Fang Chan, who was still holding a greasy roasted beast leg.

Even in this tense setting, he was still munching on his beast leg with a completely unfazed look on his face.

With Gu Qianxun and Fang Chan backing up Han Li, even if all of the Excess Passage City and Profound End City were to join forces, they would have to think twice about making any aggressive moves.

With Fang Chan entering the picture, Sun Tu immediately stood up to mediate, putting on a stern expression as he yelled, "What do you all think you're doing? You're making fools out of yourselves!"

Han Li took a glance at the Puppet City camp, and sure enough, all of them were watching the proceedings with mocking sneers on their faces.

Gu Qianxun was eager to defuse the conflict, and she immediately said, "My apologies, City Lord Sun. Let's all calm down and take a step back."

Only then did Qin Yuan and the others arrive onto the scene, and they pretended to scold the cultivators under their command briefly, thereby bringing this farce to a conclusion.

After the conflict was defused, Gu Qianxun asked through voice transmission, "Fellow Daoist Li, were you actually planning to fight them here?"

"How about you? Were you planning to stand with me to oppose them?" Han Li asked.

"I... You and I are from the same city, so I had to stand up for you," Gu Qianxun replied after a brief hesitation.

"There's no need to worry, City Lord E Kuai wouldn't allow a conflict to break out here," Han Li assured with a smile.

"In that case, were you intentionally provoking them?" Gu Qianxun asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"That's not true, he was the one who started the conflict. Come to think of it, I wonder why Fang Chan chose to stand with me just now," Han Li said as he turned a perplexed gaze toward Fang Chan.

"Maybe it's because you called out to him last time during the scaled python attack? He may not be very bright, but he's very loyal and knows better than others the importance of repaying kindness," Gu Qianxun replied with a smile.

"That seems to be the only plausible reason," Han Li said with a nod.

"Honestly, I don't blame them for what they did. Why do you keep looking at the Puppet City cultivators? What are you looking at?" Gu Qianxun asked.

"Nothing, I was just... looking around," Han Li replied with an awkward smile.

"Has one of the women caught your eye? The women of Puppet City are indeed quite beautiful, but all of them are adept in both the arts of puppetry and seduction, so if you're not careful, you could end up being lured in and refined into a puppet by one of them," Gu Qianxun jibed.

"Did Senior Liu Hua tell you some things? Is that why you're making fun of me?" Han Li asked with a resigned smile.

An amused smile appeared on Gu Qianxun's face, following which she said through voice transmission, "My father... Mistress Liu Hua really does think very highly of you, and he's very sincere about accepting you as his disciple. All you have to do is remain by his side for ten thousand years. This is an opportunity that countless people would kill for! Perhaps you should reconsider."

Even though she had already acknowledged Mistress Liu Hua as her birth father, she still wasn't used to calling him that.

"I also think this is a brilliant opportunity, but I have more important matters to attend to, so I can't afford to stay here for so long," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

Gu Qianxun heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this.

"In any case, given Mistress Liu Hua's personality, even if you're unwilling to become his disciple, I'm sure he'll still remove the Black Tribulation Centipede from your body once we return from the Great Ruins."

"I wouldn't count on it. Having said that, I think the Blood Plasma Wine that I'm brewing in Profound City should almost be ready," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I bet you're not going to bring out your Blood Plasma Wine until Mistress Liu Hua agrees to remove the Black Tribulation Centipede from your body, isn't that right?" Gu Qianxun asked with an amused smile.

"I wouldn't dare to do that," Han Li chuckled.

As the two of them were conversing with each other, five figures suddenly emerged from the Star Falcon Flying Boat, and they were led by the trio of Mistress Liu Hua, E Kuai, and Sha Xin.

Standing behind E Kuai and Sha Xin were Shi Chuankong and the mysterious woman in purple, respectively.

Han Li's expression instantly stiffened slightly at the sight of those two.

His gaze lingered momentarily on Shi Chuankong before he turned his attention to the woman in purple.

Her bamboo hat already had a black veil, and she also seemed to be wearing a veil over her face, making it impossible to make out her facial features, but her gorgeous figure was clearly highlighted by her dress.

The more Han Li looked at her, the more she reminded him of Violet Spirit.

"Fellow daoists, the Star Falcon Flying Boat is ready, so today is the day that we enter the Great Ruins. The spatial storm is much weaker in this canyon than elsewhere, but it's still not to be underestimated, so we'll still all have to work together and combine our efforts to power the Star Falcon Restriction on the boat," E Kuai declared.

His voice was as loud as the striking of a gong, and it reverberated deep within everyone's hearts.

After E Kuai's voice trailed off, Sha Xin continued, "We've had to endure many hardships on this journey thus far, and this is where all of our efforts come into fruition. I hope all of you can set aside your personal differences just a little longer to work together for one final collective effort."

In stark contrast with E Kuai's voice, Sha Xin's voice was extremely delicate and alluring, filling everyone with a sense of motivation.

All of the cultivators from the two cities were raring to go.

Mistress Liu Hua stepped forward as he declared, "I'm going to bestow upon all of you the method to power the Star Falcon Restriction. Once you board the boat, I expect all of you to pull your own weight."

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Everyone began to listen carefully as Mistress Liu Hua delivered a detailed rundown of all of the information that had to be learned.

Even after everyone had declared that they remembered everything, Mistress Liu Hua still repeated everything a second time, just to make sure.

After all of the preparatory work was complete, E Kuai ordered, "Board the boat!"

The cultivators from the two cities immediately began boarding the Star Falcon Flying Boat.

At the very center of the flying boat was a tall ridge that divided the boat into two halves, and the sides of the interior of the boat were lined with seats that, upon each of which was engraved a circle of runes.

Han Li and the Profound City cultivators were instructed to sit down on the left side of the cabin by Mistress Liu Hua, while the Puppet City cultivators sat down on the right side, and E Kuai and the others remained at the front of the boat.

After everyone had taken their seats, E Kuai gave the order to set off, and Mistress Liu Hua made his way into a circular array at the front of the Star Falcon Flying Boat before sitting down in it with his legs crossed.

E Kuai and the others also followed suit, sitting down onto the circular arrays beside him, upon which the arrays beneath them immediately began to glow brightly, while a string of specks of starry light appeared along the ridge at the center of the boat.

The entire Star Falcon Flying Boat shuddered violently before slowly rising up into the air, and by the time it had risen to an altitude of over a thousand feet, Mistress Liu Hua ordered, "Activate the restriction!"

The cultivators from the two cities immediately sprang into action upon hearing this, and dozens of profound acupoints lit up over each of their bodies, while the circles of runes beneath them also began to glow brightly.

The runes on the boat also lit up one after another, extending from the belly of the boat all the way onto its two wings, making the entire flying boat resemble a white falcon that was spreading its wings to take flight.

Han Li could feel his own profound acupoints resonating with the restriction on the flying boat, and not only did he not feel like his power was being sucked out of his body, it was as if he were basking in a nourishing pool of starlight, and it was a very comfortable sensation.

Right at this moment, Mistress Liu Hua pressed his palms onto the deck of the flying boat several times in succession, and the two largest runes on the boat's wings glowed even brighter while emitting a buzzing sound.

Han Li looked up to discover that all of the stars in the sky were suddenly glowing brighter, and two incredibly thick pillars of white starlight descended out of the heavens before crashing down onto the wings of the Star Falcon Flying Boat, causing the entire boat to shudder violently.

All of the people on the boat hurriedly channeled more of their power into the flying boat upon seeing this.