Not long after, Mei Ning heard the sound of soft and heavy footsteps slowly drawing closer to them. She nervously glanced at Han Li, who seemed to notice her gaze and gently smiled in response.

Mei Ning unconsciously blushed and quickly focused her eyes away from Han Li, but she felt somewhat relieved as well.

As the footsteps grew clearer, Han Li could hear the faint gasps of two people, much to his surprise.

Han Li frowned and a trace of killing intent glinted within his eyes.

Suddenly, the thick fog parted and revealed a young man with his head held high. He had an elegant face and wore a jade band around his waist that faintly appeared to s.h.i.+ne with white light.

However, when the man caught sight of Han Li, his face immediately distorted as he shouted in alarm, “It’s you!?”

This man was the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths, Wen Tianren.

Han Li expressionlessly said, “That’s right, it’s me. You can now rest in peace!” With a flicker of azure light, Han Li tossed the dagger into the center of Weh Tianren’s chest.

Peng! The dagger was easily knocked away as if it had struck metal. The torn clothes revealed a faint flicker of green light.

“Inner armor?”

Han Li was somewhat surprised that his strike was ineffective, but he snorted and waved his other hand, throwing another azure streak. This time, it was aimed at Wen Tianren’s throat.

At that moment, Wen Tianren reacted and dodged in alarm, his body evading the dagger in a blur. Just as the dagger missed, he shot into the fog behind him. It appeared his body was quite vigorous.

With yet another attack missing, Han Li merely glanced at Wen Tianren’s fleeing figure. He remained still with a sneer on his face.

When Wen Tianren quickly turned his head around and saw Han Li’s expression, he immediately felt that something was amiss and he turned around in a blur. But by then, it was already too late. He felt a piercing cold wind on the back of his neck followed by an icy sensation where the dagger struck him. The semi-transparent string of beast tendon that was tied around the dagger hilt was stretched taut.

A stream of blood then began to flow from Wen Tianren’s corpse. His eyes remained wide open during his last moments as if he couldn’t believe that he had died in this manner.

Han Li expressionlessly shook his right hand with his finger pulling on the taut tendon. The dagger then obediently flew out from Wen Tianren’s neck and returned to his palm. At that moment, Han Li turned his gaze back into the dense fog and narrowed his eyes.

A slim figure then slowly appeared from the fog, revealing a gorgeous young woman dressed in white.

The woman smiled sweetly at Han Li and said, “Brother Han! I didn’t think that we’d meet again.”

“Lady Violet Spirit!” Han Li nodded with a calm expression and had his two daggers disappear into his sleeves with a shake of his hands.

Naturally, Han Li knew Fairy Violet Spirit’s greatly changed appearance after hearing her conversation with Wen Tianren when he was trapped inside the golden flames. After seeing her true appearance, Han Li couldn’t help but concede that Fairy Violet Spirit’s grand reputation as one of the most beautiful women in the Scattered Star Seas was well deserved. Even Yuan Yao’s magnificent, breath-taking beauty was a smidgen less than Violet Spirit’s.

But at that moment, Violet Spirit glanced down at the corpse on the ground and sighed, “I truly didn’t think that the self proclaimed top Core Formation cultivator, Young Master Wen, would meet his end at Fellow Daoist Han’s hand. If this were told to others, I suspect that most of them wouldn’t believe it.”

“Since I encountered him in this place, I naturally couldn’t let him go,” Han Li calmly replied. He then walked to the side of Wen Tianren’s corpse and took his storage pouch without reservation. At that same moment, he took a glance at the jade cloud belt with curiosity.

Violet Spirit pursed her lips in a smile and explained, “That is the Four Celestials Belt. It is embedded with four miraculous gems that are capable of resisting wind, fire, water and earth. Additionally, it is capable of keeping one’s mind calm. It truly is a rare treasure. He had relied much on this belt to journey in this land without obstruction.”

“The Four Celestials Belt. It will prove quite useful at the moment.” After some hesitation, he bent down and took the belt off of Wen Tianren"s corpse.

He then searched through the corpse without reservation and found a dark green plate of inner armor along with several other treasures.

“Brother Han, who might this Fellow Daoist be?” Violet Spirit’s bright gaze then turned to Mei Ning behind him.

Han Li calmly replied, “That is Lady Mei. She is a Fellow Daoist who was teleported alongside me.”

“So it’s Lady Mei!”

“I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you before!” Mei Ning felt somewhat awkward but she gazed at Violet Spirit with curiosity regardless.

Fairy Violet Spirit was undoubtedly worthy of a grand reputation. Even Mei Ning remained mesmerized by her beauty for a while. She couldn’t help but guess at the relations.h.i.+p between the two.

Fairy Violet Spirit kindly smiled at Mei Ning and revealed an apologetic expression to Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Han, please don’t blame me for not a.s.sisting you that day. At the time...”

Han Li waved his hand and interrupted her with a casual tone, “There is no need for Lady Violet Spirit to speak of it! Although I don’t know why you were together with Wen Tianren, I was able to see your unwillingness to be with him. Moreover, I clearly remember that you refused to act against my companion in the valley.”

Fairy Violet Spirit inwardly sighed with relief upon seeing that Han Li wasn’t angry with her and immediately smiled, saying, “Since Brother Han has already recognized my difficulties, then I will say no more. However, would it be possible for me to travel alongside you two?”

“Of course! You’ve already walked halfway into the fog and it would be difficult to turn back. Since we’ve already made it this far, there is no point in wasting the effort.”

“Many thanks, Brother Han!” Fairy Violet Spirit’s moist eyes began to s.h.i.+ne, revealing an incomparable beauty.

Not long after, the three disappeared into the mist, leaving behind Wen Tianren’s frozen corpse.

...

At the same moment, a strange scene was occuring inside a cave.

A gorgeous woman sat cross-legged on the ground across from a ghostly image surrounded in black Qi. The ghost was also sitting cross-legged. Although it appeared quite vague, it was reminiscent of a young woman.

“Junior Martial Sister, have you truly decided to cultivate the Yin Yang Revolutions with me? It doesn’t seem to be a wise decision.” A somewhat unfamiliar woman’s voice urged against it.

“Senior Martial Sister Yan should know that because my original core was already shattered from using the Soulrise Technique, I had nearly cut off my path of cultivation. Furthermore, I didn’t expect that after paying such a heavy cost that the Soulrise Technique would be interrupted by the sudden appearance of the ghost mist. Because Senior Martial Sister’s soul has greatly condensed, she no longer has any hope of possessing a body. But fortunately, there is a silver lining. There is dense umbra Qi here is quite beneficial to those cultivating ghost Dao techniques. As for the Yin Yang Revolution Arts, it is a rarely seen human-ghost pair cultivation technique. By taking advantage of the umbra Qi, not only will Senior Martial Sister’s cultivation quickly increase, but I will also have a chance of returning to Core Formation stage. Even Nascent Soul stage wouldn’t be impossible.” Yuan Yao spoke with complete calmness.

“Since it’s like that, I won’t refuse any longer. However, I must warn Junior Martial Sister that although the technique will be incredibly effective by drawing support from the umbra Qi, you will suffer dire backlash and will also lose your right to reincarnation. You should consider it carefully. There is a reason why no one in the Azure Yang Sect used the cultivation art despite possessing it for so long.” The ghost woman seemed to have spoken the last two sentences with a trace of helplessness.

“Junior Martial Sister doesn’t need to say any further. I’ve already made my decision. There will be no regrets!” Yuan Yao wore an expression of grave resolution.

“Alright, since Junior Martial Sister doesn’t fear the consequences, then I won’t regard them either. Let us cultivate the Yin Yang Revolutions Art!” After a long sigh from the vague ghost, it extended its two arms of black Qi.

When Yuan Yao saw this, she extended her hands without hesitation and closed her eyes upon contact, setting forth on the path of cultivation once more.