The three-day deadline arrived in the blink of an eye.
Near midnight in the southern district of Golden Sand Island, night had swallowed the daytime clamor. Only a few buildings hung with suggestive lanterns still echoed faintly with music and song. Among them, a three-story wooden building painted dark red, with sweeping eaves and upturned corners, stood out. The plaque above its entrance bore three boldly flowing characters: "Soul-Drunken Pavilion." Wisps of cloyingly sweet fragrance drifted from within, mingled with an elusive chill that set the mind gently adrift.
Han Li appeared soundlessly in the shadows at a street corner. He still wore that sallow face and his Foundation Establishment Late Stage disguise, his aura restrained until he seemed no different from a mortal. Sweeping the Soul-Drunken Pavilion with his Profound Yin Spirit Eye, he saw an extremely faint pink glow enveloping the building-a formation that combined illusion with an early warning function. The auras inside were mixed, mostly belonging to Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Deep within the third floor, however, two obscure, frigid auras faintly emanated, both apparently at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Presumably, they belonged to the people in charge.
So it really is a covert outpost of the Netherworld Sect. Han Li sneered inwardly. They had not cleared the premises, instead conducting business as usual. It was both camouflage and a test. After a brief consideration, he did not enter directly, but circled around to a secluded alley behind the building. From his fingertip, he flicked out a barely perceptible wisp of Profound Yin Fiend Qi, silently corroding an inconspicuous formation node in the rear wall before slipping inside like a trail of smoke.
Warm fragrance enveloped him inside, accompanied by languid strains of strings and flutes. Avoiding the noisy front