Mortal: Li Feiyu, who came from the realm of a supreme being

After flying hundreds of miles away from Huadaowu, the mountains beneath their feet gradually became unfamiliar.

Han Yunshu gazed at the vast, misty landscape ahead and asked softly, "Brother Li, where do we go next?"

This is indeed a question that needs careful consideration.

The most direct idea would be to have Han Yunshu acknowledge Han Li as her brother, so that through their sibling relationship, she could directly obtain a continuous stream of resources from Han Li in the future. However, this is not the best strategy.

Firstly, while there's no explicit saying in the mortal world that "drug use ruins one's foundation," it is a concept in martial arts cultivation! This path demands extremely high levels of mental discipline and self-cultivation; excessive reliance on external aids is definitely not the right way. Han Yunshu's cultivation of immortality is ultimately just a transitional means; her foundation remains in martial arts, and she needs to maintain the purity and resilience of her own cultivation system.

Secondly, the time is not yet ripe. Han Li has only been in the world of cultivation for a few years now, and has not yet experienced too many vicissitudes of life or the loss of friends. His feelings for his family and sister have not yet been tempered into a deep-seated obsession by the long passage of time and the changing world.

Recognizing each other now would be far less effective. Moreover, Han Li's cultivation is still shallow and he is far from "developing" yet. Going to him now would not only not bring much help, but might also force him into his troubles and make him his "nanny".

Instead of doing that, it's better to let them grow freely and wait for them to mature.

"Let's go to Yuanwu Kingdom to rest and recuperate, and purchase some resources needed for our subsequent cultivation," Li Feiyu said calmly, manipulating the flying magical artifact he had obtained from the Crimson Forbidden Land, which resembled a large paper kite.

Martial arts cultivation does not completely exclude external aids such as pills; it just means one cannot do it like Han Li did, and it must be in accordance with one's own path.

The kite-shaped magical artifact is reasonably fast, but it is significantly inferior to Han Li's Divine Wind Boat in the original work, and it will need to be replaced in the future.

During the flight, intense spiritual energy fluctuations and shouts suddenly came from a valley below.

Li Feiyu swept his divine sense and saw seven or eight Qi Refining cultivators dressed in different clothes trapping two women in the center with some kind of combined attack formation.

The formation was quite ingenious. Although it was driven by a woman at the sixth level of Qi Refining, it was able to block so many cultivators at the eleventh level of Qi Refining and above.

The two women who were surrounded were dressed in blue. One of them had a cold and aloof demeanor, but her face was pale and her breathing was unsteady. The other woman seemed to be dressed as a maid, and her cultivation level was even lower. She was trying her best to transfer her magic power to the woman in blue, but she was already struggling to keep up.

"I was just passing by, so I'll take care of it," Li Feiyu said to Han Yunshu, without requiring her to lift a finger.

With a slight thought, a dark golden light shot out from his sleeve—the fragment of the magic weapon "Golden Sharp Blade" bestowed upon him by his master, Chang Hao. Driven by Li Feiyu's pure metal-based Foundation Establishment magic power, the fragment transformed into a sharp ray of light that was almost invisible to the naked eye, flashing past the seven or eight Qi Refining cultivators like a butterfly flitting among flowers.

"Pfft pfft pfft..."

A series of soft thuds followed, and the cultivators froze abruptly. Small bloody holes appeared in their throats or chests, their eyes quickly lost their vitality, the formation collapsed instantly, and they fell to the ground.

The woman in blue and her maid were still in shock as they stared in astonishment at the kite descending from the sky, and at Li Feiyu and Han Yunshu gracefully landing from it.

Sensing the presence of the two individuals, the woman in blue immediately composed herself and, pulling her maidservant along, respectfully bowed: "This junior, Xin Ruyin, along with my maidservant Xiaomei, wishes to express our deepest gratitude to the two seniors for saving our lives!"

The sound was clear and crisp, like pearls falling onto a jade plate. Although the initial shock had subsided, the person still maintained a basic composure.

Li Feiyu's gaze lingered for a moment on her delicate yet slightly pale face, and he understood.

He waved his hand and launched several fireballs, accurately turning the corpses on the ground into ashes, leaving only a few storage bags.

This skillful method of disposing of the corpse made the maid named Xiaomei turn slightly pale, and a strange light flashed in Xin Ruyin's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Just passing by, no need for formalities," Li Feiyu said calmly. "Why are these scoundrels attacking you?"

Xin Ruyin responded very cautiously. After a slight hesitation, she briefly said, "It seems that someone coveted some of my family's rudimentary array formation techniques and became greedy. Thank you for helping me out." She was careful with her words and did not reveal any further information.

Li Feiyu nodded, no longer asking questions, and glanced at the storage bags: "These things are useless to me, you can dispose of them yourselves."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mei's face lit up with surprise, and she looked at Xin Ruyin.

Xin Ruyin hesitated for a moment, then nodded to signal her to put it away. The maid immediately picked up the storage bag with great joy.

After doing all this, Li Feiyu and Han Yunshu did not leave like the usual seniors who would stand up for justice. Instead, they stood there leisurely.

Upon seeing this, Xin Ruyin's heart sank slightly, realizing that the two Foundation Establishment seniors' intervention was probably not entirely out of kindness.

She sighed inwardly, but maintained her composed demeanor, and offered, "I have no way to repay the life-saving grace of you two seniors. If you do not mind the simplicity of my dwelling, may I move in and rest for a while, and offer you some tea to express my gratitude?"

"Okay," Li Feiyu agreed without hesitation.

Xin Ruyin pointed out the direction, and the kite carried the four of them to the northwest.

On the way, Li Feiyu claimed that he and Han Yunshu were traveling together as independent cultivators. Xin Ruyin did not say much about this and only responded politely.

Li Feiyu pondered to himself.

Xin Ruyin is an exceptionally intelligent woman with a calm and composed temperament, and her talent in array formations is nothing short of monstrous. However, she is also aloof, self-possessed, and quite opinionated, making her someone who cannot be easily manipulated or deceived.

During the flight, Li Feiyu tentatively steered the conversation towards the defensive formation used by the attackers: "The defensive formation they used was quite ingenious; was it your creation?"

Xin Ruyin was unaware of Li Feiyu's abilities, but since he had brought it up and clearly had ulterior motives, she frankly replied, "Senior has discerning eyes. This junior does indeed possess a slight talent in the art of formations... If Senior has any needs regarding formations, please feel free to speak frankly, and this junior will do my best to fulfill them." She spoke politely, but also made it clear that she was not an ignorant girl and that she should speak frankly about what she needed to say.

After a moment's thought, Li Feiyu took out a blank jade slip and used his divine sense to draw an array diagram on it.

This diagram is neither a formation from this world nor an ancient formation. Rather, it is a simplified diagram of the principles of a "forbidden formation" used in certain important regions from his previous life's memories to suppress powerful beings from the outer realms from drawing upon the power of heaven and earth and interfering with the operation of laws. The concepts it contains are completely different from the formations of this world.

He handed the jade slip to Xin Ruyin.

Xin Ruyin took it and probed it with her divine sense. At first, she was a little puzzled, but then her delicate eyebrows furrowed and her eyes gradually showed shock.

She was so engrossed in the formation that it took her a long while to look up, her eyes filled with astonishment and uncertainty: "Senior, this formation... is neither ancient nor modern; I have never heard of it before. May I inquire about its origin?"

"Since it's neither from the present nor the past, how do you determine that it's not random scribbles but an array?" Li Feiyu asked with great interest.

Upon hearing this, Xin Ruyin paused slightly, her face revealing the expression characteristic of a focused researcher.

She did not answer immediately, but instead immersed her consciousness into the jade slip again, repeatedly examining the array diagram that she found "strange".

After a moment, she raised her head, her clear eyes still filled with confusion, but with a newfound certainty: "Senior, this diagram appears chaotic and disorderly, without any trace of common array patterns or runes... but it is actually very rigorous, and it can be seen that it is based on a complete system. Moreover, it is by no means a randomly fabricated rule, but rather a more complex and profound one, yet self-consistent."

She paused, as if trying to figure out how to describe it: "It's like... it's like how, even though I don't recognize a script I've never seen before, I can tell from its stroke structure and the rules of character combination that it must be a script system with a mature grammar and a rich vocabulary, rather than a child's scribbles. That's the feeling this picture gives me."

A hint of admiration flashed in Li Feiyu's eyes; this woman was indeed talented.

"Miss Xin is indeed exceptionally talented." He put away the jade slip, then suddenly changed the subject, his gaze falling on Xin Ruyin's pale face. "Is your illness, Miss, caused by an imbalance of Yin and Yang energies within your body? And as your cultivation progresses, the excessive Yang energy is increasingly suppressing the Yin energy, leading to signs of atrophy in your meridians?"

Xin Ruyin's delicate body trembled slightly, and she suddenly looked up at Li Feiyu, her eyes filled with undisguised shock.

Her "Dragon Roar Physique" is a congenital incurable disease, known to very few. Yet this Foundation Establishment senior, whom she had only met once, was able to see through it at a glance.

After a moment, she took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and frankly admitted: "Senior's insight is truly profound. I do indeed possess the 'Dragon's Roar Body,' with an excess of Yang energy and a deficiency of Yin energy. The higher my cultivation level, the heavier the backlash becomes... It is now an incurable condition."

In the end, his tone inevitably carried a hint of sadness, but he remained calm.

Seeing her forced composure, Li Feiyu pondered for a moment and said, "We need to go to Jinma City to handle some miscellaneous matters first, and we will return in a month or so at most. At that time, if Miss Xin can correctly explain the effect of this array, perhaps... I, Li, have a way to solve your Dragon Roar Body problem."

Upon hearing this, Xin Ruyin's pupils suddenly contracted, and her usually calm heart was stirred into a huge wave.

Solving the Dragon Roar Body? This was her lifelong pursuit, and also an almost desperate wish.

She gazed into Li Feiyu's deep, calm eyes, trying to discern the truth from the falsehood within them.

This Senior Li's appearance was not exactly kind, even somewhat cold and hard, but his demeanor was calm and unfathomable... Moreover, her condition would only get worse, so it was worth a try no matter what.

After a long pause, she slowly curtsied and said, "This junior... awaits your return, senior."

Without pressing further or haggling, she was as astute as she was, knowing that since the other party had already given their terms, asking any more questions would be pointless.

The kite had landed in front of a seemingly ordinary bamboo forest on a small hill shrouded in mist.

Li Feiyu put the master and servant down, handed them the jade slip, and then left without going inside.

"Miss, is what this Foundation Establishment senior said... credible?"

"It's ultimately a direction we're heading in, so there's no harm in giving it a try," Xin Ruyin said calmly.

"Are you still going to Xingzong that day?" Xiaodie asked.

Xin Ruyin hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Let's not go for now. Times have changed, and it's uncertain whether our ancestors' favors will still be effective. Going back and forth would just be a waste of time."