Han Li's words made Sect Master Zhong laugh.
But Naruto quietly curled his lip and thought:
Keep pretending. Go on, put on an act. If you hadn't used the Little Green Bottle to grow countless spirit herbs and refine dozens of Foundation Establishment Pills, could you have reached foundation establishment?
Sect Master Zhong had only laughed twice before the puzzling point occurred to him as well, and he asked:
"But Junior Brother Han! Didn't you give your Foundation Establishment Pill to Junior Brother Ye's grandnephew back then? Where did you get another one?"
In this life, Naruto had defeated Steward Ye's grandnephew at the Ascension Conference, preventing him from joining Yellow Maple Valley.
Later, Steward Ye had tried to wrest Naruto's Foundation Establishment Pill from him through underhanded means, but failed.
Yet Steward Ye hadn't given up. Just as in the original story, he had taken a Foundation Establishment Pill from Han Li through trickery and coercion.
"Hehe! Senior Brother Sect Master, speaking of that Foundation Establishment Pill, you were the one who gave it to me!"
Han Li spoke with a broad smile.
"Me?" Sect Master Zhong asked, looking bewildered.
"Have you forgotten, Sect Master? Of the few people who returned alive from the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land, three received Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards. I was one of them!"
Han Li finally put away his smile and spoke seriously.
"You're the nominal disciple Uncle-Master Li took in?" Sect Master Zhong could no longer maintain his composure, his expression shifting in surprise.
"That's right. I am indeed the disciple Master Li Huayuan accepted during that expedition into the Forbidden Grounds!"
Han Li nodded and readily admitted it.
"So that's it! I was wondering why the name Han Li sounded so familiar. You're the disciple who caused such a stir in