Chapter 1111: The Unfathomable Man

"The master's intuition has always been quite accurate. It seems I must also hasten to go into seclusion for a while—if not to improve my cultivation, then at least to recover the vitality I previously lost." Upon hearing Han Li's words, Ti Hun's expression shifted slightly, and she immediately spoke as well.

Han Li said nothing more and immediately began setting up arrangements around the small courtyard.

He took out several sets of restriction flags and arrayed them around the courtyard, then laid down several more layers of restrictions within his own room and Ti Hun's room inside the courtyard. Only after ensuring everything was foolproof did he stop.

The two then each began their seclusion.

Han Li entered the secret chamber in his room and sat down cross-legged.

After sitting quietly for half a day, his mind completely calm, he turned his hand over and produced the silver alchemy furnace.

Then he flicked his sleeve, and a patch of green light flew out from his sleeve, sweeping across the floor. Instantly, various spiritual materials appeared on the ground.

These spiritual materials were all ingredients for the Tianqing Pill.

Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a ball of silver flame, which landed beneath the alchemy furnace—it was the Essence Fire Bird.

Under the scorching silver flame, the furnace quickly became hot.

He took one of the materials and placed it into the furnace, beginning the alchemy process.

…

At this very moment, in the main hall of the Green Fox Clan.

Ye Luo, Elder Qiu, and Ye Susu were gathered there.

"Chieftain, do you truly intend to let that human cultivator stay in the clan permanently? I think this is unwise. This man's origins are unclear, and he is a human cultivator. Most of our clan members harbor deep hatred for human cultivators. If we allow him to reside in the city, it will inevitably stir discontent among the clan." Elder Qiu frowned and said solemnly.

"Elder Qiu, rest assured. Fellow Daoist Han intends to stay in the clan to go into seclusion and cultivate; he will not often be out and about. Moreover, he has asked us to conceal his whereabouts. Later, we will simply announce to the outside that he has already left Green Fox City. Only those at our level need know of this matter." Ye Luo shook his head and said.

"But after all, this man is a human, with an unpredictable nature and a rather high cultivation. Keeping him in the clan is still a hidden danger!" Elder Qiu said, still somewhat unwilling.

"He has helped us so much. Now that he merely asks to stay and cultivate, if we refuse, we would be too petty." Ye Luo waved his hand and said.

"Elder Qiu, I believe Senior Han and Fellow Daoist Ti Hun are not bad people. Moreover, Senior Han's strength is formidable. Our Green Fox Clan has been beset by crises in recent years; perhaps we may need to rely on his power in the future." Ye Susu also spoke up.

"Since the chieftain and the young mistress both think so, then let him stay. However, since his identity is unclear, it would be better to arrange some people to secretly monitor them." After a moment of silence, Elder Qiu had to concede.

"Very well, then I'll leave this matter to Elder Qiu. But Fellow Daoist Han is skilled in detection techniques. When you arrange the surveillance, be careful not to let him notice." Ye Luo considered it and found it reasonable, so he nodded.

"Rest assured, Chieftain." Elder Qiu agreed and quickly walked away.

…

Three years later.

In the secret chamber of Han Li's room, he made a hand seal and pointed at the silver alchemy furnace. The furnace lid flashed with light, immediately flew up, and hovered in midair.

Han Li made a hand seal and guided it. Instantly, five blue pills flew out from within and landed in a jade bottle.

Each pill was the size of a longan, entirely azure blue, the same color as the sky, emitting an ethereal medicinal fragrance.

By now, dozens of jade bottles were placed beside him, and the scent of medicine could be smelled through the walls of each bottle.

Han Li looked at the jade bottles around him, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face.

The Tianqing Pill was the first Taiyi-level pill he had ever refined. Although it was very difficult at the start, fortunately, he had the power of the Truthful Speech Wheel and his previous alchemy experience, so his success rate quickly improved.

Han Li waved his hand and put away the alchemy furnace and the Essence Fire Bird. Then he picked up a jade bottle, poured out a Tianqing Pill, and swallowed it, beginning to circulate his cultivation technique.

A dazzling golden light rose from his body, illuminating every corner of the secret chamber and turning the surroundings golden.

…

Time in seclusion passed like a shuttle, and in the blink of an eye, another hundred years had gone by.

Within the Golden Source Immortal Palace, a magnificent and resplendent grand hall, a middle-aged man clad in a white brocade robe sat upright on a golden dragon throne. His temples were lightly frosted, and his eyes were deep, as if they had long witnessed the vicissitudes of life. He was none other than the master of the Immortal Palace, Dongfang Bai.

At this moment, his gaze was profound as he slowly swept it over the person standing below the hall. Though his face showed no anger, it still caused that person's heart to tremble, not daring to breathe too loudly.

The person below the hall was not particularly tall, but he was upright and handsome—a young lad in colorful, ornate robes. By appearance, he seemed no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, yet his eyes were like a dried-up old well, exuding an air of decrepitude.

"Elder Tao, I found this body for you to seize and reincarnate, not for you to enjoy leisure. Why is it that over a hundred years have passed, and you still haven't found the slightest trace of that Han Li?" Dongfang Bai spoke slowly, asking.

"Palace Master, ever since that fellow Han Li fled from Tiansong Temple, he has deliberately concealed his tracks, seemingly aware that we would surely investigate him. He has never shown his face in any major city within the Immortal Domain, so he has likely hidden himself away in some remote mountain wilderness. Finding him is indeed no easy task," the youth replied, his expression tightening as he hastily explained.

This youth was naturally Tao Ji, who had been reborn by seizing another's body. He had not been fused with this body for long, and hearing his own now clear and crisp voice—so different from his original middle-aged tone—he found it somewhat hard to adapt.

Seeing Dongfang Bai's face darken slightly, Tao Ji grew even more fearful and uneasy, and quickly added:

"Since he has never appeared in any major city, he cannot use long-distance teleportation arrays. This shows he has not yet left our Golden Source Immortal Domain. If you grant me a bit more time, I am sure to find him."

Hearing this, Dongfang Bai narrowed his eyes slightly. Just as he was about to speak, his expression shifted subtly, and he said, "They're back..."

No sooner had his words fallen than someone outside the hall shouted loudly, requesting an audience.

When Dongfang Bai called out "Enter!" in a loud voice, the hall doors slowly opened, and a sharp-faced, gaunt old man with a long nose and gray hair, along with a burly man in a black robe carrying a ghost-headed saber on his back, walked in side by side.

"Greetings, Palace Master." Reaching Tao Ji's side, the two stopped simultaneously and bowed in salute.

"No need for formalities. How did your investigations go?" Dongfang Bai waved his hand and said.

The black-robed man exchanged a glance with the gray-haired old man. The latter raised an eyebrow, signaling for him to speak first. The black-robed man hesitated no longer and began:

"Reporting to the Palace Master. When I went to Tiansong Temple to inspect the situation, I found that the traces of battle left there had been deliberately destroyed, and the residual fluctuations of law power in the void had been completely cleansed."

"So, Black Blade, you too have come up empty-handed?" Dongfang Bai frowned slightly and asked.

"Although the battle traces were cleansed, the remnant souls of the Immortal Palace cultivators who died that day were not entirely obliterated. Using a ghostly secret art, I managed to collect a portion. From their jumbled memory fragments, I saw part of the battle that day. From this, I learned that the man's cultivation of profound arts was unfathomably deep, with over nine hundred profound apertures opened throughout his body, and his physical strength was almost comparable to a Great Luo cultivator," the black-robed man named Black Blade said, shaking his head.

"Over nine hundred profound apertures... No wonder the Two Principles Yin-Yang Array, powered by ninety Golden Immortals working together, had no effect on him at all..." Tao Ji relaxed his shoulders and murmured.

"Elder Tao faced him in battle that day, yet you didn't even know this? And you thought he could be dealt with casually—how ridiculous!" Dongfang Bai finally showed a hint of anger on his face as he asked.

"This... is my oversight..." Tao Ji was momentarily at a loss for words.

From the start, he had held Han Li in contempt and hadn't paid much attention to his physical prowess. By the time he realized his techniques were ineffective, he was already focused on fleeing for his life, so he truly hadn't noticed much.

"This is not entirely Elder Tao's fault. That man had thoroughly concealed his appearance and movements. In the chaos, without careful inspection, it is indeed hard to see clearly. It is only because I possess ghostly secret arts that I could see the truth through the dead souls," Black Blade said, his expression unchanged.

"Aside from this, did you find anything else?" Dongfang Bai, clearly not intending to press the matter further, asked.

"This man also bears the bloodlines of at least three true spirits: the Mountain Ape, the True Dragon, and the Roc of the Wandering Heavens. Hence, he possesses unmatched physical strength, allowing him to reverse control of the Yin-Yang Array and crush the array's operators. Such physical power is not inferior to that of a Great Luo Mystic Immortal," Black Blade continued.

"If that's the case, when he was pursuing me, I also sensed a trace of Thunder Roc power within him. It should be another true spirit bloodline," Tao Ji suddenly recalled something and quickly added.

"This is strange. A human bearing four true spirit bloodlines, all of which are top-tier true spirits—how does he avoid backlash from the bloodlines?" Dongfang Bai couldn't help but furrow his brow.

The gray-haired old man beside him listened to the black-robed man's account, his round eyes darting about incessantly. He shifted over a dozen jade slips in his hands from one hand to the other, as if picking something out from among them.

"This man has also cultivated a time-based technique, able to condense it into a golden wheel. Once touched by it, one is instantly bound in place—an extremely uncomfortable feeling, as if one's very thoughts have slowed down," Tao Ji added.

"True spirit bloodlines, Great Luo cultivation, supreme law, Taiyi cultivation... Can you imagine all four of these combined in one person? It's simply inconceivable! If such a person truly existed, he should have made a name for himself in the Immortal Domain long ago. How could he be so low-key, with his tracks so hard to find... Have you all gotten something wrong?" Dongfang Bai's expression wavered as he nodded and asked.

Although if that man truly held that small bottle in his hands, it might indeed allow him to advance astonishingly in a short time, it was absolutely impossible for him to be so powerful as to fuse these four formidable attributes into one body.

"Palace Master..."

At this moment, the gray-haired old man, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"Elder Lü Yun, do you have some insight?" Dongfang Bai looked up at him and asked.

"Reporting to the Palace Master, I wouldn't call it insight, but over these years of traveling extensively, I have indeed found some interesting things. Perhaps the Palace Master might take a look; it may help in understanding this man," the gray-haired old man replied with a cupped fist salute.

Having said this, he raised the seven or eight jade slips he had selected with both hands, presenting them respectfully.