Chapter 527: Missing?

"Yun Gui, I owe you this time. Unfortunately, I fear I'll never have the chance to repay you in this life. In the next life, we'll still be brothers!" Sun Buzheng was severely injured, his face pale, and his speech somewhat unsteady.

"Alas... what will happen to Qianqian now that she's alone..." Meng Yungui sighed, his voice filled with worry.

Hearing this, Sun Buzheng's face showed even deeper guilt, and he clenched his teeth tightly.

"Don't jump to conclusions. Whether you live or die, neither of you has the final say—I do." The young man retracted his five-colored silk umbrella, pointed his thumb at himself, and said calmly.

"If you're going to kill us, just do it. Stop wasting words." Sun Buzheng glared and shouted angrily.

"Tell me where you studied, why you have so many high-grade magical treasures, and what that blue giant bird is. If you answer truthfully, I might be merciful and spare... one of you." The young man said leisurely.

Sun Buzheng's expression shifted slightly. If there was even a chance, he still hoped Meng Yungui could survive.

"You want to kill us, but you're afraid of provoking our sect, so you want to find out first to cover your tracks? Don't waste your effort. We won't say anything." At this point, Meng Yungui spoke directly.

"I'm giving you a chance. Since you don't want it, don't blame me..." The young man sneered and said.

With that, he flicked his wrist, and the five-colored silk umbrella spun up into the air, hovering above everyone's heads.

Rune patterns flickered on the umbrella's surface, and dense beams of multicolored light lit up along the ribs, shooting toward Meng Yungui and the others like countless needles.

"Qianqian..."

Meng Yungui's face was calm, his last thought still of his sister.

Just as everyone thought the outcome was decided, a scene that left all present dumbfounded occurred!

The five-colored silk umbrella suspended in midair suddenly trembled violently, lost control, closed its canopy, gathered all the colored light, and flew backward into the sky.

Then, a fair hand reached out, grabbed the umbrella, and with a casual wipe, erased its connection to its original owner.

"Hmm..."

The young man grunted, his face full of fear as he looked up into the sky.

In the night sky, a jade-green flying carriage surrounded by green fluorescent light hovered, with three figures standing at different heights upon it.

"Lord Li, Qianqian..." Meng Yungui recognized the three people on the carriage and cried out in surprise.

Sun Buzheng and the others showed expressions of great joy, and Meng Xiong's eyes even reddened, almost weeping with happiness.

"Greetings, Lord Li..." They bowed and called out in unison.

"Yun Gui, you did well." Han Li nodded.

Meng Yungui was puzzled, a look of confusion on his face, but Sun Buzheng knew that Lord Li was praising him for refusing to reveal his identity even under threat of death.

Thinking of this, he felt a lingering fear—if he had revealed anything, Lord Li might have let them die.

"Brother..."

Meng Qianqian called out, leaped off the carriage, landed beside Meng Yungui, took out the white jade porcelain bottle Han Li had given her, poured out a few yellow pills, and distributed them.

Not far away, the previously calm young man was now full of fear, and Xu Shou and the others were trembling, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Are you from the Shiji Hall?" Han Li glanced at the young man's attire and asked.

"Re... replying to senior, I... I am Luo Hua, an outer disciple of Shiji Hall." The young man forced himself to calm down and answered.

After all, he was from Shiji Hall. Though only at the peak of the Mahayana stage, he had good judgment and knew that the man before him was not someone he could contend with, so he completely gave up resistance.

"Oh, do you know Gao Sheng?" Han Li asked a question that surprised Luo Hua.

"Senior refers to Elder Gao Sheng, who once served in the Immortal Palace?" Luo Hua hesitated and asked uncertainly.

"He once served at the Ascension Platform." Han Li said impassively.

"That must be him. Elder Gao Sheng went missing several hundred years ago. The sect spent many resources searching for him, but he remains missing." Luo Hua spoke fearfully, afraid Han Li would be dissatisfied with the answer.

"Missing... How did he go missing?" Han Li frowned and mused.

"Senior, I am merely an outer disciple. I know very little about Elder Gao Sheng's disappearance. Please forgive me." Luo Hua said tremblingly.

Han Li frowned, suddenly reached out his hand, and pulled through the air.

Luo Hua's body involuntarily flew up from the ground, and Han Li grabbed him by the throat.

"Spare me, senior, spare me..." Luo Hua twisted wildly, his face full of terror, begging for mercy.

Expressionless, Han Li raised a finger, its tip glowing, and pointed it at Luo Hua's brow.

He directly used a secret technique to search Luo Hua's soul.

After a moment, Han Li raised an eyebrow, finding a restriction in Luo Hua's sea of consciousness that blocked his probing.

He curled his lips, slightly activated the Divine Refining Art, and the restriction in Luo Hua's mind instantly melted away, vanishing completely.

After probing for a while, Han Li's face gradually darkened. Anger flashed in his eyes, and the light on his finger grew brighter.

Luo Hua, held in his hand, was initially terrified, but then his eyes and mouth began to twist, drool dripped from his lips, his expression grew stranger, and finally, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

Seeing this, Han Li snorted, slapped him into the ground, shattering his body and crushing his Nascent Soul, which had been completely stripped of its spirituality by the Divine Refining Art, into pieces.

This scene, witnessed by Xu Shou and the others, shocked them beyond measure.

In their eyes, Luo Hua, who seemed all-powerful and almost invincible, couldn't even resist before this dark-skinned young man and died on the spot.

They couldn't imagine what level his cultivation had reached, and dared not think about it.

By now, they were all kneeling, sweat pouring from their foreheads and backs, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Han Li was angry because Luo Hua had not spoken a single word of truth.

He was no ordinary outer disciple but a member of the Net Luo Hall, a branch of Shiji Hall specializing in intelligence gathering. Years ago, he had come to Mengchi Country searching for Gao Sheng's whereabouts.

Later, he discovered a Huayang Sand mine here and, to claim it for himself, supported the Xu family in replacing the Yun family and destroying the Sun royal family, taking control of the area.

As for Gao Sheng, he was originally a personal disciple of Shiji Hall's Grand Elder. His disappearance had caused great upheaval within the sect. The sect knew little about why he disappeared, but they knew it was related to a mysterious figure, and a portrait of that person circulated within the sect.

That mysterious figure was, of course, Han Li.

There were many Net Luo Hall disciples like Luo Hua, sent out from the sect hundreds of years ago to search for Gao Sheng's traces.

Thus, the moment he saw Han Li, he recognized him as the mysterious figure in the portrait.

After killing Luo Hua, Han Li showed some hesitation, wondering whether to go to Shiji Hall to investigate Gao Sheng's whereabouts. He still felt some doubts about that incident.

But after thinking it over, he decided against it. Some time had passed since leaving the Minghan Immortal Mansion, and the Heavenly Court had likely made many moves. He had little time left.

For now, his priority was to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

With this thought, Han Li raised a hand, pointed a finger at Xu Shou, the leader of the group below, and a beam of green light immediately bound him in place.

"I'll be on the mountain outside the city. I'll give you half an hour..." After saying this, the jade-green flying carriage flashed with green light and vanished from the garden.

"Sun Hao thanks Lord Li for today's grace!" Sun Buzheng slowly knelt, bowing on one knee toward Han Li's retreating figure.

Soon, screams rose and fell in the imperial garden, and blood light flared.

...

On the green mountain outside Haoyun City, Han Li sat in a pavilion at the summit, resting with his eyes closed.

Beside him, Jintong sat cross-legged, holding a snow-white long sword in her small hands, breaking it piece by piece and stuffing it into her mouth, while her eyes darted around, seemingly interested in the surroundings.

Han Li opened his eyes, turned his wrist, and a round compass-like magical treasure appeared in his palm.

He looked at the strange patterns on the compass, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Just now, when he used the Divine Refining Art, this compass had suddenly reacted.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then secretly activated the Divine Refining Art. A white mist rose from the round compass in his hand, covering the entire surface.

A red light spot flickered on and off within the mist.

Han Li's heart stirred. He withdrew the Divine Refining Art, and the light spot flickered a few more times before gradually fading.

After several attempts, a look of understanding crossed his face.

This compass could detect the presence of others using the Divine Refining Art nearby.

Though he didn't know the detection range, this item came from Taiyi Jade Immortal Gongshu Jiu, so its power was likely considerable. In the future, when traveling through other immortal domains, he would need to be especially careful not to use the Divine Refining Art casually.

Han Li let out a long breath, put away the compass, and heard a soft, steady snoring.

He looked toward the sound and saw Jintong lying sideways on the pavilion's bench, having fallen asleep sweetly at some point, a faint smile on her lips.