Chapter 369: Master and Disciple

"Master..." Han Li was startled by the young man's words.

He didn't recall ever taking on such a disciple, but for some reason, the young man's face felt familiar.

"Master, I knew your blessings were deep and you would be fine! I obtained two gentian flowers from True Master and brewed them into medicine. I'll go fetch it for you now." The young man wiped his tears with his sleeve, stood up quickly, and hurried out.

Han Li stared blankly as the young man left, then instinctively looked down at his own body.

But as soon as he looked, he was taken aback, a look of astonishment on his face.

His body had become withered and gaunt, clad in a green Daoist robe, his hands dry and blackened like old tree trunks.

"What's going on? How have I aged so much? And where is this place? Who is that young man?" A series of questions flashed through Han Li's mind.

Unable to find an answer, he had to set the matter aside for now.

At that moment, the pain in his body had lessened somewhat. He propped himself up on the edge of the bed and managed to sit up.

After a moment's thought, Han Li quickly activated his divine sense to examine his internal condition.

The result made him frown deeply.

First, he could confirm that this aged body was not his own; for some reason, he seemed to have possessed it.

Moreover, the internal organs in this body were severely injured, and it was also afflicted with a potent poison.

In his previous cultivation, such injuries would have been trivial, but this body's spiritual power was extremely shallow, only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, insufficient to suppress the internal injuries and poison.

In other words, this body had little vitality left; its demise was only a matter of time.

Han Li gave a bitter smile, took a deep breath, flicked his finger, and mobilized the meager spiritual power remaining in his body.

With a crackling sound!

Water droplets materialized in the surrounding air, converging at the point his finger pointed, forming a water mirror about a foot in size, reflecting the image of an old Daoist with graying beard.

Han Li smiled knowingly, waved his hand to dispel the water mirror, and fell into contemplative thought with a furrowed brow.

The pain in his head had mostly subsided, and he had recalled the earlier events.

The strands of time law he had used seemed to resonate with the Truthful Speech Wheel and the Vial of Time, and then his soul was inexplicably sucked into the vortex on the crystal wall, bringing him here.

"Could I be trapped in some illusion..." Han Li muttered to himself, speculating, but his initial anxiety eased somewhat.

He looked around; everything before him seemed utterly real, with no trace of an illusion.

"Not an illusion, then what is this..."

As his mind raced, he examined the additional memory fragments in his mind, attempting to organize them.

Soon, he had reviewed all the memories, and a glimmer of understanding appeared in his eyes.

These memory fragments belonged to the old Daoist with graying beard.

The old Daoist was named Ling Yunzi, and the yellow-robed youth was his only disciple, Li Yuanjiu.

Ling Yunzi had been severely injured while discovering a spiritual herb. Though he escaped, his vitality was depleted, and he had recently passed away.

Somehow, Han Li's soul had possessed the newly deceased body, reviving it, leading Li Yuanjiu to mistakenly believe his master had come back to life.

"Eh!"

Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he looked to his left front.

There, in the void, a faint golden wheel was visible, very blurry and almost imperceptible. He would not have noticed it if he hadn't happened to look up.

That faint golden wheel was his Truthful Speech Wheel, with three hundred and sixty time patterns gently flickering.

Now, over twenty of those time patterns had dimmed, and with each passing breath, one more pattern faded, just as when he had used the crystal wall technique.

As thoughts raced through Han Li's mind, he seemed to grasp something, but it remained elusive.

Just then, footsteps approached. Li Yuanjiu hurried in, carefully holding a porcelain bowl filled with black medicinal liquid, emitting a fragrant herbal scent.

"Master, please drink this medicine first." Li Yuanjiu approached the bed and handed over the bowl.

Han Li glanced at the liquid, sensing a fairly strong spiritual energy fluctuation; for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the ingredients were clearly valuable.

"Set it down; I'll drink it later." Han Li said to the young man, then slowly stood up.

"Master, you are injured; you should rest well." Li Yuanjiu was startled and quickly said.

"I know my own body; don't worry." Han Li waved his hand.

After a little more time, he had grown more accustomed to this body and could move without issue.

Han Li stretched slightly and walked outside.

Li Yuanjiu stood there, feeling that his master's behavior was somewhat strange, but dared not say anything. He set down the bowl and hurried after him.

Han Li stepped out of the dilapidated temple and looked around. The temple was built on a mountaintop, surrounded by a stretch of连绵 mountains, lush and green, with excellent scenery.

However, the mountain range was somewhat wild, with the occasional roar of tigers and cries of apes, and the spiritual energy was thin.

After steadying himself, Han Li released his spiritual sense to probe the surroundings.

Though the spiritual power in this body was meager, his vast divine sense had somehow been largely retained, quickly spreading over thousands of miles.

He frowned slightly.

Within thousands of miles, there were only mountains, making it impossible to determine his location.

"Master, are you alright?" Li Yuanjiu had caught up and stood not far behind him.

"Yuanjiu, where is this place?" Han Li asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Mas... Master, this is the Mulan Mountain Range. Haven't we always cultivated here? Why do you ask?" Li Yuanjiu said, puzzled.

"My memories are a bit confused; it might be due to my injuries." Han Li raised an eyebrow and said.

"Ah!" The young man's expression changed.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Let me ask you, which continent is the Mulan Mountain Range on, and which immortal domain does it belong to?" Han Li continued.

"The Mulan Mountain Range is on the Mujing Continent, under the Jinyuan Immortal Domain." Li Yuanjiu relaxed and replied.

"Jinyuan Immortal Domain..." Han Li was intrigued; he had never heard the name, but it was certainly outside the Northern Frost Immortal Domain.

His soul had traveled this far.

Han Li's mind was shaken, his eyes flickering.

He looked up to the upper left; the phantom of the Truthful Speech Wheel had followed him outside, and now nearly a hundred time patterns had gone dark.

"Master, you should rest and recover. We'll take revenge on those villains another day!" Li Yuanjiu's eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth.

He and Ling Yunzi had originally been disciples of a sect called Iron Beast Gate in the Mulan Mountain Range. Ling Yunzi was the son of an elder of the sect, but due to his mediocre talent, he had never formed a core and was constantly ostracized within the sect.

Li Yuanjiu was an abandoned infant Ling Yunzi had found outside one day, raised and taken as his disciple.

Knowing his own poor aptitude, Ling Yunzi had given all cultivation resources to Li Yuanjiu, but Yuanjiu's talent was also ordinary, and after years of cultivation, he remained at the Qi Condensation stage.

Though they were master and disciple, their bond was like that of father and son.

When the elder was alive, the two were barely tolerated, but a few years ago, Ling Yunzi's father died unexpectedly in a fight with a powerful enemy.

Their status in the sect plummeted; cultivation resources were withdrawn, and eventually, they were expelled.

They became rogue cultivators, relying on each other over the years.

Li Yuanjiu, despite his poor talent, cultivated diligently and had recently reached the peak of Qi Condensation, on the verge of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

The two had ventured into a dangerous area to find a spiritual herb that greatly aided breakthrough. After a month of searching, they finally found it and, after much trouble, killed the guardian beast.

Ling Yunzi had sustained non-trivial injuries in the process.

Just then, a group of Iron Beast Gate cultivators arrived, led by the son of another elder who had always opposed Ling Yunzi in the sect.

Without a word, they seized the spiritual herb.

When Ling Yunzi tried to stop them, they severely wounded him. If not for a shadow escape talisman he carried, both would have been killed on the spot.

Though Han Li's residual memories of Ling Yunzi were limited, he roughly understood their situation. He sighed and said slowly:

"Such is the way of cultivators: the strong live, the weak die. Your cultivation is still insufficient; don't try to fight against overwhelming odds."

"Yes." Li Yuanjiu's expression darkened as he bowed his head.

Han Li glanced at the young man, scanning his body with his divine sense, and his eyes flickered.

The young man, like himself, had four spiritual roots lacking metal, explaining his slow progress. However, his divine sense was quite strong, reminiscent of Han Li's younger self.

Was it coincidence, or some destined arrangement?

"Yuanjiu, I haven't been able to help you much over the years, dragging you into a wandering life. Now my time is short. I will teach you a secret technique; cultivate it well in the future, and don't disappoint my expectations." Han Li suddenly spoke after some thought.

"Master, you'll be fine. I don't want any secret technique; I just want you to live!" Li Yuanjiu was alarmed and waved his hands.

"Yuanjiu, our path of cultivation is against heaven's will. My fate has run its course; heaven will not allow otherwise. If you truly wish to achieve great cultivation and vindicate me one day, then listen well." Han Li's face darkened as he spoke sternly.

Li Yuanjiu wanted to say more.

But Han Li, without waiting, waved his hand, and a beam of spiritual light shot from his hand, vanishing into the young man's mind.