Chapter 22: The Twin Fiends of Wind and Cloud

Just as Han Li was racking his brains for a solution, Gu Yunyue, standing at the bow of the ship, sensed the fluctuations of magical power that Han Li had inadvertently revealed due to the backlash from his cultivation technique, and was startled.

"So he really is at mid-Nascent Soul stage," she murmured to herself. After a moment's hesitation, she turned and walked over.

Seeing this, Han Li composed himself and stood up.

"It seems the Wangxi Pill was of some use to Fellow Daoist Han. Your injuries have mostly healed," Gu Yunyue said, her usual coldness largely gone, replaced by a gentle tone.

"I have your elixir to thank for that," Han Li replied politely.

"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Han. Once you officially join our sect, you will naturally be granted other elixirs," Gu Yunyue said with a wave of her hand.

In the following time, the woman seemed intent on winning Han Li over, constantly finding topics to chat with him, trying to bridge the distance between them.

Han Li also learned more about the Spirit Huan Realm from her.

After all, his understanding of this realm was limited to the knowledge of a Core Formation cultivator like Old Man Bai Shi, which naturally differed from the information provided by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

When the woman casually asked about his background, he glossed over it with vague answers.

Seeing that Han Li did not want to reveal much, she tactfully refrained from asking further.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Gu, could you tell me a bit about the Cold Flame Sect? After all, my knowledge of your sect is limited to some outside rumors," Han Li suddenly asked.

"Hehe, even if you hadn't asked, I would have told you about it," Gu Yunyue said, somewhat surprised, but quickly replied.

"Our Cold Flame Sect is a major sect in the Spirit Huan Realm, founded millions of years ago, with hundreds of thousands of disciples. Not to mention Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators, we have dozens of elders at the Deity Transformation and Void Refinement stages, and above them, three great cultivators at the Unity stage and one at the Mahayana stage."

As she spoke, Gu Yunyue's expression was filled with pride.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.

With a Mahayana cultivator as their pillar, the Cold Flame Sect was indeed powerful, almost comparable to a major clan in the Spirit Realm.

"And our sect's founder, the Cold Flame Ancestor, ascended to the Immortal Realm a million years ago. To this day, the sect can still communicate with this immortal ancestor through special methods. From time to time, he bestows upon us elixirs and techniques from the Immortal Realm, which other small sects simply cannot match. Fellow Daoist Han, you will not be disappointed if you join our Cold Flame Sect," Gu Yunyue said, glancing at Han Li with a smile.

At the mention of an immortal, Han Li's expression finally showed a flicker of emotion.

The Cold Flame Sect even had backing in the Immortal Realm!

And the Cold Flame Ancestor could still contact the lower realm after ascending!

He had never heard of such a thing during his time in the Spirit Realm. It seemed the Spirit Huan Realm was indeed very different from the Spirit Realm.

Seeing Han Li's change in expression, Gu Yunyue showed a hint of satisfaction and smiled without speaking.

"I never expected the Cold Flame Sect to be so powerful. No wonder it can dominate one side of the Spirit Huan Realm. But what about the Heavenly Ghost Sect?" Han Li nodded and asked.

"The Heavenly Ghost Sect is similar to our Cold Flame Sect; they also have an ancestor who ascended to the Immortal Realm. Besides our two sects, there is another sect with backing in the Immortal Realm—the Jingyuan Temple. These three major sects stand side by side in the Spirit Huan Realm," Gu Yunyue said, her smile fading, her expression turning somewhat serious.

"Though they are said to stand side by side, there must be differences in strength. How are the three major sects ranked in terms of power?" Han Li rubbed his chin and asked again.

"Well... the three sects are roughly equal in strength. However, the Heavenly Ghost Sect was founded much earlier than our Cold Flame Sect and the Jingyuan Temple, with a history of three ascendants to the Immortal Realm, so it is slightly stronger. Our Cold Flame Sect and the Jingyuan Temple are about the same," Gu Yunyue said, her eyes flickering as she glossed over the details.

It seemed the Heavenly Ghost Sect was far stronger than the Cold Flame Sect, but this woman was unwilling to admit it.

Han Li narrowed his eyes in thought, now genuinely interested in the Cold Flame Sect.

Since the Cold Flame Sect could communicate with the Immortal Realm, their foundation must be deep. Perhaps he could find a solution to his Nascent Soul problem there.

He asked a few more questions about the Cold Flame Sect, then ended the conversation and sat down cross-legged to the side.

Before long, faint green light began to emanate from his body, but his aura rapidly converged and finally disappeared entirely, leaving no trace of magical power detectable.

Gu Yunyue returned to the bow to continue piloting the flying boat, but when she noticed the change in Han Li's magical power fluctuations, she was inwardly amazed again.

The sky gradually brightened.

The Spirit Moon Flying Boat pierced through clouds and mist, and ahead appeared a vast, dense mountain range with sheer, dark red peaks, looking from above like an enormous red forest.

Seeing the red mountain range ahead, Gu Yunyue breathed a sigh of relief.

This mountain range was called the Red Coral Mountain Range, already at the border of Feng Country.

She had deliberately taken a detour to avoid areas easily monitored by the Heavenly Ghost Sect. Now that they had reached here, it should be much safer.

However, to be safe, Gu Yunyue raised the flying boat higher, into the clouds.

The clouds were not dense at the moment, sparse and scattered, but traveling through them could help conceal their tracks.

Yu Menghan and Liu Le'er gradually got used to the flying boat and were no longer so afraid. They stood up to enjoy the beautiful scenery, pointing and laughing, their voices crisp and pleasant.

The mountains below receded quickly, and after a while, a plain appeared in the distance. Gu Yunyue's last trace of worry slowly dissipated.

"Watch out!"

Han Li, who had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and shouted in a low voice.

Le'er and Yu Menghan were startled by his words.

Gu Yunyue's expression changed drastically. Without a word, she formed hand seals, and two thick beams of white light shot from her palms into the flying boat.

The Spirit Moon Flying Boat blazed with light, abruptly stopped, and then shot backward with incredible speed.

At that moment, a white cloud ahead suddenly turned pitch black, transforming into a huge, ferocious ghost face that opened its mouth to bite. But the flying boat had already reversed, and the ghost face bit nothing but air.

"Eh!" A surprised exclamation came from the ghost face.

The ghost face shook, then collapsed into a black cloud. The cloud blurred, and two figures appeared.

The one on the left was a hunchbacked old man with a deeply wrinkled face, sparse yellow hair, and a decrepit appearance.

The one on the right was a young man with a horse-like face, a large mouth, and ugly features, his triangular eyes gleaming with malice.

Both wore black robes embroidered with a ferocious ghost head pattern, faintly emitting black qi. The spiritual pressure they exuded was at the Nascent Soul stage.

The horse-faced young man was at mid-Nascent Soul stage, like Gu Yunyue, while the hunchbacked old man was at a higher level, late-Nascent Soul stage.

"The Twin Fiends of Wind and Cloud!" Gu Yunyue's pupils contracted, and her face turned grim.