Chapter 927: A Secret Meeting

Half a day later, near another stone forest formed of white crystals.

With a piercing sharp screech, a miserable cry followed.

An ice-scaled armadillo was pierced through by a sharp rock, its abdomen torn open with a large hole. It struggled forward a few steps before finally collapsing to the ground.

Han Li walked over to the ice-scaled armadillo and swiftly removed its horn.

After discovering that ice-scaled armadillos favored white ore, his hunting efficiency increased dramatically. In just half a day, he had already found four ice-scaled armadillos.

Han Li looked around, frowning slightly.

Now, there was little time left before the agreed-upon one day was up. It was time to return.

But during this half day, he had been focused on chasing the white ore and hadn't followed the previously agreed direction. After wandering around, he wasn't quite sure where he was.

"The meeting point should be in this direction..." Han Li leaped onto a large rock, looked around, and quickly fixed his gaze on one direction.

The environment within the basin was mostly the same, so he couldn't be certain for the moment.

Han Li quickly shook his head, stopped thinking, and flew forward in that direction, while fully spreading his divine sense to search for traces of his earlier path.

Time passed quickly, and the sky soon grew dark. The cold wind strengthened, letting out a mournful howl.

Han Li frowned and quickened his pace, but before long, his expression changed and he stopped.

Within the range of his divine sense, two figures appeared. They were not Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan Xing, but Zhuo Ge and Wu Yun, whom he had seen earlier.

"Why are they here? Could it be that they had already discovered our trail earlier but pretended not to, followed us here, and intend to harm us?" As soon as Han Li sensed them, he withdrew his divine sense, thoughts churning in his mind.

While thinking, he activated the Myriad Apertures Silence Art, and his aura suddenly converged, vanishing without a trace. His entire body seemed to turn into a piece of dead wood.

Han Li's figure flickered, and he silently flew toward the two. In a moment, he reached the vicinity and hid behind a large rock.

Several hundred zhang away, near another large rock, Zhuo Ge and Wu Yun stood with furrowed brows, occasionally looking around.

Han Li glanced at them and immediately averted his gaze to avoid being discovered.

"Judging by their demeanor, they don't seem to be planning to attack us." Han Li was puzzled. With a flicker in his eyes, he continued to wait nearby.

He wanted to see what these two from Puppet City were up to.

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, over an hour had gone by.

Two whooshing sounds rang out as two black figures appeared in the distance and rapidly approached. In a moment, they arrived nearby and landed not far from Zhuo Ge and Wu Yun.

Han Li looked at them, his pupils slightly constricted.

The two were wrapped in black robes, their heads covered with hoods, so their faces were not visible.

"You're too late." Zhuo Ge's expression relaxed at first upon seeing them, but then he snorted coldly.

The two in black did not speak immediately. One of them turned his head to look around.

Seeing this, Han Li quickly shrank back and hid.

"Don't worry, we've carefully searched this area several times. No one is lurking and eavesdropping." Zhuo Ge said, seeing their actions.

Upon hearing this, the man seemed relieved.

"Apologies. E Kuai has been watching too strictly these days. I barely managed to create an opportunity to bring Fellow Daoist Chen out. I've kept you two waiting." The man removed his hood and said with a smile.

Han Li's expression changed. The man was none other than Xuan Yuan Xing.

At this moment, Xuan Yuan Xing no longer had his previous silent and timid demeanor. His expression was full of confidence and assertiveness, as if he had become a different person.

The other person also removed his hood, revealing Chen Yang.

Seeing this, Han Li's mind stirred.

Why were Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan Xing here? From Xuan Yuan Xing's words just now, it seemed they had arranged to meet.

Moreover, when Xuan Yuan Xing said he had created an opportunity, could it be that his repeated failures in carving formations and the subsequent depletion of materials were all deliberate, with the purpose of leaving the camp with Chen Yang and coming here?

At this thought, Han Li couldn't help but recall the entire process of their outing. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed so. If that were the case, Xuan Yuan Xing's scheming was truly astonishingly deep.

"City Lord Chen Yang, I've long heard of your reputation." Zhuo Ge looked at Chen Yang and said with a smile.

"Spare me the pleasantries. Show me the evidence." Chen Yang said coldly.

Zhuo Ge was not offended. He took out a blood-red jade slab from his bosom and handed it over.

Han Li's eyes focused, and he was about to look closely, but the jade slab was already taken by Chen Yang, blocking his view.

Although it was only a fleeting glance, Han Li still saw some things on the jade slab. It seemed to be covered with small characters and also engraved with a pattern resembling a formation.

Chen Yang examined the jade slab carefully, his expression seeming to change constantly. From Han Li's position, he could only see a small part of his profile, vaguely catching emotions like shock, anger, and reluctance flashing across his face.

A moment later, Chen Yang took a deep breath, his expression returning to calm. He put away the jade slip without returning it to Zhuo Ge, who didn't seem to mind.

"I agree to this matter, but..." Chen Yang paused for a moment before speaking.

However, he switched to voice transmission halfway through his sentence.

Zhuo Ge also moved his lips slightly, communicating with him via voice transmission. The two whispered for a while, then nodded simultaneously, as if they had reached an agreement.

"That's all that needs to be said. Let's leave it at that." Chen Yang said coldly, then turned and left.

Xuan Yuan Xing nodded to Zhuo Ge and the other, then followed closely behind, quickly disappearing into the distance.

"Zhuo Ge, do you think Chen Yang will do as the elder said?" After Chen Yang and the other left, Wu Yun asked, his voice youthful, as if he were truly a child.

"This is his only way out. Besides, when has the elder's plan ever gone wrong?" Zhuo Ge said indifferently.

"Yes." Wu Yun's expression turned serious, and he nodded respectfully.

The two did not linger there either, soon turning and leaving.

Long after they had gone, Han Li emerged from his hiding place, his expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty.

After standing for a moment, he flickered and vanished without a trace.

The night passed quickly.

At the entrance of the basin, Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan Xing stood side by side, as if waiting for something.

A sound of breaking air came, and the two looked up. Above the chaotic rocks of the basin, a figure bounced and leaped swiftly, flying over rapidly. In a few breaths, he arrived nearby and landed beside them. It was Han Li.

He looked somewhat disheveled now, his clothes torn in many places, with faint traces of blood, and his face was full of exhaustion.

"Sorry, yesterday I chased the Ice-Scaled Armadillo too deep into the basin, encountered several powerful scaled beasts, and after fleeing, I couldn't find the way back. I failed to return at the agreed time. My apologies for keeping you two waiting." Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Brother Li has gone to such trouble to pursue the Ice-Scaled Armadillo; we should be the ones feeling ashamed, not apologizing." Chen Yang said with a smile, his expression showing no sign of anything unusual.

Han Li glanced at Chen Yang and smiled slightly.

"By the way, how was Brother Li's harvest?" Chen Yang then asked.

"After a day and night of hard work, I managed some gains. I killed four Ice-Scaled Armadillos." Han Li took out four crystal clear horns from his bosom.

"I killed three Ice-Scaled Armadillos. Brother Xuan Yuan was unlucky and only got one, but that's more than enough." Chen Yang nodded, flipped his hand, and took out three horns.

"I'm ashamed. I came this time hoping to make up for my previous mistake, but I ended up holding everyone back again." Xuan Yuan Xing said with a face full of shame, taking out a horn from his bosom.

"Brother Xuan Yuan, why say that? This mission is a joint effort among the three of us. As long as we achieve the goal, it's fine." Han Li saw Xuan Yuan Xing's expression, sneered inwardly, but showed nothing on his face, and said with a smile.

"Indeed. Since we have collected enough Ice-Scaled Armadillo horns, let's head back. We mustn't keep Fellow Daoist Liu Hua waiting. Brother Li, you don't look well. Can you hold on?" Chen Yang also spoke.

"Brother Chen, rest assured. I'm just a bit tired, nothing serious. The important matter comes first." Han Li said with a smile.

Thus, the three set off immediately, heading back along the path they came.

Having traveled back and forth twice, they were more familiar with the route, and it took them only a day to return to the camp.

The Crimson Crystal and Earth Tide Stone were already fully prepared. After Han Li and the others returned and handed over the Ice-Scaled Armadillo horns, they immediately began to continue setting up the Star Falcon Restriction.

...

Time passed, and another month went by.

One night, the sky was covered with a vast canopy of stars, and in front of the canyon of ice and fire, it was brightly lit.

In front of the canyon, a huge black flying boat hovered three feet above the ground, with wing-like protrusions extending from both sides, looking like a giant black bird about to take flight.

The hull of the flying boat was densely covered with white runes. Although no light flowed on the surface, it seemed as if a star map was attached to it, quite extraordinary.

The tents of the two cities, Xuan and Kui, still stood in place, but the cultivators of the two cities were already fully equipped and lined up neatly on both sides of the flying boat, each spirited and high-spirited.

Han Li stood among the crowd on the left, not particularly conspicuous. His gaze wandered, constantly scanning the opposite side.

The group from Kui City was still led by Zhuo Ge and the other two. Behind them, besides the women in black dresses and light veils, there were many golden puppets, more in number than last time.

In comparison, they even outnumbered those from Xuan City.

Seeing Han Li looking over, Zhuo Ge turned his head and nodded slightly at him.

Han Li responded with a smile and a nod.

The two women he had saved before curved their brows, looking over, and there seemed to be a hint of a smile on their black-veiled cheeks, greeting Han Li. However, they were cautious and dared not show it as directly as Zhuo Ge did.

The other two beside Zhuo Ge did not look at Han Li so kindly; deep in their eyes were only coldness and disgust.

However, Han Li paid no attention to this. He noticed that the three who had piqued his interest before were also in the team, but their attire was no different from the others, inconspicuous and not attracting attention.

But at this moment, Han Li's mind was not on these three at all. As his gaze swept around, he was looking for the woman he had glimpsed briefly before, the one wearing a bamboo hat and a black veil.

Unfortunately, she was not in the formation.