Han Li looked at Lin He before him in astonishment. When they first met, Lin He's cultivation had only been at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining. By their second meeting, he had reached the eleventh level. Now, at their third meeting, the formidable strength Lin He displayed was enough to make Han Li's heart tremble.
Since Han Tianya could make even Zhongwu wary, his strength should have been comparable to Zhongwu's, if not greater. Yet this ruthless character had been dispatched by Junior Brother Lin in just a few moves. Such strength left even Han Li feeling threatened.
"Every time we meet, Junior Brother Lin, the change in you is astonishing."
Han Li could not help voicing his amazement. The low-level spirit beasts were still tangled in battle with the Azure Water Crocodile. Though they could not penetrate his defenses at all, there were quite a few of them.
"Senior Brother Han, let's talk later. First, let's deal with these Demon Beasts."
Han Li naturally had no objection. He brought out the same top-grade flying sword he had used before, and with a casual slash, a low-level Demon Beast met its end.
Lin He, meanwhile, took out the Golden Toad Mother-and-Son Blades. Holding the mother blade, he controlled the eight Child Blades as they attacked. Like tigers charging into a flock of sheep, the golden blades slaughtered the Demon Beasts in a frenzy. Within moments, at least eighty percent of them had died by his hand.
These spirit beasts had all acknowledged Zhongwu as their master and could not be tamed by anyone else, so killing them settled the matter.
With the Demon Beasts easily dispatched, Han Li eyed the set of Mother-and-Child Blades with some envy. Against opponents wielding Top-Tier Magical Artifacts, the blades were of limited use. But against weaker foes, they were divine tools of slaughter, mowing down everything in sight.
The materials from these Lower Level One Demon Beasts were worth very little. Neither Han Li nor Lin He had any intention of collecting them. Instead, they casually blasted out a large pit and buried the beasts.
Only after finishing this did Lin He turn to Han Li. "Senior Brother Han, since we've run into each other, why don't we travel together?"
Han Li refused without a second thought. "You must be joking, Junior Brother Lin. I wouldn't want to hold you back."
When faced with a fellow disciple stronger than herself, Senior Sister Chang's approach had been to use that disciple's strength to secure benefits.
But his past experiences had left Han Li deeply wary of others, and he was unwilling to travel together. He even considered it dangerous. If they disagreed over how to divide the spirit herbs, a conflict could easily erupt. Even fellow disciples were quite capable of such things.
Seeing Han Li refuse, Lin He thought, Just as expected.
Naturally, he wanted to act alone as well. But since they had run into each other, suggesting that they join forces was the normal thing to do. He had already been certain Han Li would refuse, and the result proved him right.
"In that case, I won't insist."
After bidding Han Li farewell, he walked to the bronze gate, put away the twenty Frost Toads, and left with the Azure Water Crocodile.
"Phew... he's finally gone!"
Han Li drew a deep breath. His nerves had been stretched taut the entire time, and now he could finally relax.
Inside his portable space,
Lin He inspected Zhongwu's and Han Tianya's Storage Bags. He found over a hundred and fifty spirit stones, more than a dozen high-grade magical artifacts, over thirty mid-grade magical artifacts, over forty low-grade magical artifacts, more than thirty low-tier beginner talismans, and various materials. There were also five Top-Tier Magical Artifacts: Han Tianya's pair of red throwing knives and ring artifact, along with Zhongwu's pair of long dagger-axes.
Lin He toyed with these Top-Tier Magical Artifacts for a while before sinking into thought.
"Tomorrow, the Moon-Yang Orb will disperse the thick fog, and I'll be able to explore the central area. There's no rush to gather the spirit herbs for refining Foundation Establishment Pills. At worst, I can rob a few disciples of the seven sects on the last day. The real priorities are those Demon Beasts and the treasures they guard."
By now, Lin He had collected maps from Spirit Beast Mountain, Yellow Maple Valley, Heavenly Gate Fort, the Giant Sword Sect, Blade Transformation Valley, the Qingxu Sect, and the Covering Moon Sect. All these maps had been looted from disciples of the various sects whom he had killed.
He immediately took out the seven maps and compared them. Sure enough, he found several areas marked as dangerous. These places were usually guarded by Peak Level One Demon Beasts, so almost no one dared force their way in.
"Others might not dare venture in, but I can't let these places slip by. Whether it's the Demon Beasts or the treasures they guard, I want them all!"
Lin He silently committed these locations to memory, then singled out the map taken from Zhongwu and studied it closely several times. Whatever occurred to him, he could not help breaking into a faint smile.
On the third day,
Lin He returned to the outskirts of the central area. Of course, he did not show himself openly, instead hiding in the grass beside the path.
The central area was divided into three layers. The first was the outer region where he currently stood. Although some exotic flowers and plants grew here, they had almost no medicinal value, and Lin He could not even be bothered to waste time searching for them.
The second layer was a Ring Mountain Range. For some unknown reason, it was shrouded in thick fog all year round. Besides the fog, all manner of Demon Beasts prowled there, making entry into the second layer vastly more difficult.
Fortunately, an expert from the Covering Moon Sect had created a Magic Treasure called the Moon-Yang Orb. After reaching an agreement, the seven sects took turns controlling it and agreed to activate it on the morning of the third day to disperse the thick fog. This allowed everyone to get their bearings, greatly reducing the difficulty of entering the second layer.
The third layer was the most mysterious: a tall tower. Powerful restrictions kept Qi Refining cultivators from entering it at all.
Lin He was naturally very interested in this third layer, but he also knew his limits. Unless one had reached late Nascent Soul, there was no getting past those restrictions.
I wonder whether Xiang Zhili has visited that tower? With his Deity Transformation cultivation, he could certainly ignore the restrictions. Or did he really go looking for spatial nodes?
Lin He did not care what such an expert had gone off to do. He still intended to follow his own plan.
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly sensed a powerful surge of spiritual energy to the southwest. Immediately afterward, a pillar of white light shot into the sky, forming an enormous sphere of light in midair.
The pillar continuously fed energy into the sphere. Then the entire sphere suddenly burst apart, scattering countless motes of light into the thick fog.
As soon as these motes landed, the surrounding fog surged toward them as though locked in battle. Before long, the fog in that spot dissipated, while the motes grew somewhat fainter.
Under Lin He's watchful gaze, all the thick fog was cleansed away by the motes of light. The motes themselves vanished as their energy ran out, revealing an enormous Ring Mountain Range before him.
The next instant, several figures shot out from the surrounding grass and trees. As though sharing an unspoken understanding, they did not clash, but each set off in a different
direction to search for spirit herbs.
Seeing this, Lin He hesitated no longer. He immediately became a yellow blur and charged forward.