The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

One incense stick later, near a mountain stream in the Taiyue Mountains.

Han Li rode a shuttle-shaped magic weapon, speeding across the mountain stream. He would occasionally look down at the silver shuttle beneath his feet, his face showing delight. He murmured, "This Starlight Shuttle truly lives up to its reputation as a top-grade flying magic weapon. It's much faster than the Green Leaf magic weapon issued by the sect."

"Being able to find this treasure in the Tianxing Sect Market makes the trip worthwhile."

"It's a pity we couldn't find a good formation."

Immediately afterwards, his expression changed, his divine sense detected the anomaly, and he manipulated the shuttle to fall into the ravine below.

They saw a man in black lying face up on a pile of rubble on the shore, his face black and lifeless, clearly having died from poisoning.

"This face?" Han Li examined the corpse carefully, then his pupils contracted sharply, and he exclaimed, "Isn't this Uncle Lin, who used to guard the warehouse?!"

"How did he die here?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, a ball of black light flew out of the corpse and shot towards Han Li's forehead.

Seeing this, Han Li snorted coldly, and a cyan sword light appeared on his body. He pierced the black light ball with his sword.

"Azure Yuan Sword and Shield?!" A scream came from within the ball of light.

Seeing this, Han Li gathered his magical power, his right hand enveloped in a layer of green light, and then he grabbed the black light orb, coldly questioning, "Uncle-Master Lin, were you trying to possess me just now?"

The black ball of light trembled violently, but it couldn't escape the green light in Han Li's hand. It hurriedly explained, "Misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

"I was just in a hurry just now."

"This junior brother looks familiar. Could he also be a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley?"

"Lin was ambushed by a villain, which is why he fled to this place."

"If my junior brother is willing to lend a helping hand and take me back to the sect, I am willing to give him my family's secret cultivation technique, the Great Evolution Technique."

"This 'Great Evolution Technique' can assist Foundation Establishment cultivators like you and me in breaking through the Core Formation bottleneck; it can be considered a top-tier cultivation method!"

Upon hearing this, Han Li's heart skipped a beat, but after a moment's thought, he coldly snorted, "I hate possession the most, Senior Brother, you should rest in peace."

After saying that, he suddenly clenched his fist, and a blue sword light burst forth from his palm, cutting the black light ball into countless pieces.

"Ah~" A scream came from the shattered ball of light, followed by silence.

Han Li then released his grip, squatted down, removed the storage bag from the corpse, and then rummaged through the corpse for a while before taking out a yellowed booklet.

The booklet cover had the words "Dayan Jue" written on it.

"Huh? This is the Lin family's ancestral martial arts technique?" Han Li was about to open the book when he suddenly saw a streak of snow-white light rushing toward him from the horizon.

"This is?!"

Han Li was startled to see that the light of escape contained a huge, snow-white dragon.

"A level three monster?!"

"What a joke! This dragon is probably even stronger than my master's Silver-Armored Horned Python!"

"Could it be that a Core Formation cultivator has caught up?"

Thinking of this, Han Li cried out in despair and hurriedly summoned his silver shuttle, intending to escape.

But the black dragon was even faster, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived above the mountain stream, blocking Han Li's path.

Standing atop the black dragon's head, Yang Qingyuan saw the corpse of Deacon Yang by the stream and Han Li standing on the shuttle-shaped magic weapon. He secretly marveled at Han Li's status as a chosen one, able to find treasures wherever he went.

"Junior Brother Han, I didn't expect that you would have successfully established your foundation in just three years," Yang Qingyuan said in a friendly greeting. "Congratulations!"

"Huh?!" Han Li was surprised and uncertain when he saw Yang Qingyuan on the top of the black dragon's head. He secretly clutched a talisman in his sleeve, forced a smile, and said, "Oh, so it's Senior Brother Yang."

"I never expected that Senior Brother Yang would have broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage after three years."

"His cultivation speed is truly beyond the reach of my junior brother."

Yang Qingyuan looked down at the corpse of Steward Lin by the stream and noticed that the storage bag at the other's waist had disappeared. He then smiled and looked at Han Li.

Upon seeing this, Han Li inwardly groaned and quickly waved his hand to distance himself from the situation, explaining, "Senior Brother Yang, Deacon Lin's death has nothing to do with me."

"When I passed by this place, Senior Brother Lin was already dead."

Seeing that the other party looked like a frightened bird, Yang Qingyuan explained, "Junior Brother Han, don't panic. Deacon Lin was poisoned to death by three cultivators from the Thousand Bamboo Sect. I saw it with my own eyes and I would not mistake you for the murderer."

"The Thousand Bamboo Sect?" Han Li was completely confused and asked, "I've never heard of a sect called the Thousand Bamboo Sect in the Yue Kingdom."

Why did the Thousand Bamboo Sect want to kill Senior Brother Lin?

Yang Qingyuan didn't hide anything and explained, "The Thousand Bamboo Sect is a sect from the far west."

"Deacon Lin was originally the only son of the former leader of the Thousand Bamboo Sect. He fled to our Yellow Maple Valley because of a rebellion within the sect."

"The Core Formation elders in the sect are all well aware of this matter."

"Not long ago, Deacon Lin's whereabouts were exposed, which led the Thousand Bamboo Sect to send three protectors to hunt him down."

"The four of them fought fiercely, and I just happened to run into them."

"As a fellow disciple, it is my duty to lend a helping hand."

"I have killed those three protectors of the Thousand Bamboo Sect. It's a pity that Deacon Lin was poisoned beforehand, and it seems that he did not survive."

"However, judging from the state of the corpse, it seems that Deacon Lin's soul has left his body."

"I wonder if Junior Brother Han has ever seen his primordial spirit?"

Feeling guilty, Han Li stammered, "No, when I arrived, Senior Brother Lin had already left his body."

"Is that so?" Yang Qingyuan knew very well that after a cultivator's primordial spirit leaves the body, it must seize another body as soon as possible. Since Han Li was the only one here, the result was self-evident.

However, Yang Qingyuan did not expose him, but simply said, "It seems that Steward Lin's primordial spirit has most likely dissipated."

"I will report this matter to my master."

"There's no need for Junior Brother Han to worry about it."

Upon hearing this, Han Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands in greeting, and replied, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Senior Brother."

Yang Qingyuan looked at Han Li with a smile and asked, "To be honest, when I fought with the three from the Thousand Bamboo Sect earlier, I saw that the technique they used, the Great Evolution Technique, was quite exquisite."

"Junior Brother Han, did you find any cultivation techniques on Deacon Lin's corpse?"

"Yang is willing to use a replica of the forbidden array 'Inverted Five Elements Array' as payment for copying the cultivation technique."

Upon hearing this, Han Li was intrigued. He coughed twice and said, "What a coincidence! When I saw Deacon Lin's body, I searched it to investigate the cause of death, but I unexpectedly came across a booklet."

As he spoke, he took out a yellowed booklet from his pocket and handed it over.

Upon seeing this, Yang Qingyuan patted his storage bag and took out five array flags and an array plate.

This inverted Five Elements Formation is the first replica made by Xin Ruyin, and it can achieve one-third of the effect of the original.

Now, Xin Ruyin has created a more powerful replica of the formation, so the original replica was useless.

Xin Ruyin took the array flag, then flew off the head of the black dragon, exchanged it for the booklet in Han Li's hand, and copied it onto a blank jade slip.

Han Li took the array flag and array plate, and seeing that Xin Ruyin's appearance was completely unfamiliar, he asked Yang Qingyuan, "Senior Brother Yang, is this junior niece also a disciple of our Yellow Maple Valley?"

Yang Qingyuan waved his hand and explained, "This is my concubine, Xin Ruyin."

Han Li was quite surprised to see that Yang Qingyuan had taken in a concubine without making a sound. At the same time, the images of the three junior sisters of the Mo family involuntarily appeared in his mind.

Xin Ruyin finished copying the jade slip and returned the booklet to Han Li.

"Junior Brother Han, I must report to Master, so I will not linger any longer." Yang Qingyuan took out a separate storage bag, put the body of Steward Yang into it, then bowed slightly to Han Li before urging the black dragon to carry Xin Ruyin and her servant away.

Han Li watched Yang Qingyuan's departing figure, secretly letting out a sigh of relief, looking as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He said in surprise, "This talent for cultivating the lightning spiritual root far exceeds expectations..."

"I thought that after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, my cultivation level would be on par with Yang Qingyuan's, but I never expected that he would actually break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

"It seems that my pseudo-spiritual root aptitude is really too poor."

Han Li gave a wry smile, put away the many treasures, and headed straight for the cave.

Meanwhile, Yang Qingyuan, seeing that Han Li had witnessed the death of Steward Lin, could only send a communication talisman to Lei Wanhe to inform him of Steward Lin's demise.

Lei Wanhe was well aware of the feud between Deacon Lin and the Thousand Bamboo Sect, so he didn't ask any further questions. He simply instructed Yang Qingyuan to hand over the body to Sect Leader Zhong for a proper burial.

Yang Qingyuan then went to the council hall midway and found Sect Leader Zhong.

Sect Leader Zhong was also aware of Deacon Lin's background. Seeing that the other party had died at the hands of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, he repeatedly expressed his regret. He then conducted a series of autopsies and confirmed that Deacon Lin had died from the Black Silk Gu, which was unique to the far west. His primordial spirit was nowhere to be found, and the case was closed.

Yang Qingyuan wasted half a day before finally carrying Xin Ruyin and her group back to Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, and once again entered the Crimson Forbidden Land...