In the battle at Yinfeng Valley, Han Li had slain Elder Feng with thunderous force and wiped out several outlying strongholds of the Black Fiend Cult. The news seemed to sprout wings, spreading swiftly through the region around the Seven Mysteries Sect. A cultivator who had only just reached core formation had actually dared to take the offensive and brazenly kill a Black Fiend Cult elder. It was nothing short of a vicious slap across the cult's face, stirring considerable waves throughout the Southern Heaven Cultivation World.
Within the Seven Mysteries Sect, every disciple who heard the news was exhilarated. Their gazes toward Han Li's place of seclusion brimmed with awe and fervor. The sect master, Elder Li, and the others, however, felt their joy tempered by growing concern. They knew full well that although Han Li's actions had greatly enhanced the sect's prestige, they had also thoroughly enraged the Black Fiend Cult. The retaliation to come would surely strike like a raging storm.
Han Li understood this perfectly. His initial victory had not gone to his head; instead, he became even more cautious. Upon returning to Stillheart Lake, he immediately entered seclusion, both to consolidate his Golden Core Early Stage cultivation and familiarize himself with his new abilities and spells, and to fully digest the information gleaned from Elder Feng's memory fragments.
Though incomplete, these memory fragments contained the precise locations of several important Black Fiend Cult strongholds around the Seven Mysteries Sect, their personnel arrangements, and weaknesses in their defensive formations. They even included several secret communication channels and the identities of some cult members. More importantly, Han Li learned that the Black Fiend Cult seemed to be secretly preparing a major operation that required large quantities of "living souls" and "yin fiend stone." A convoy carrying these