After inspecting the items in the storage bag, Han Li unceremoniously transferred them all into his own storage bag and destroyed the original one with his sword. Although the new storage bag was clearly much better than Han Li's, he dared not carry it with him casually, fearing that it might be marked in some way that he couldn't discern.
Han Li rested for another day before deciding it was time to head towards the Yellow Maple Valley with Qu Hun. Instead of going to the Seven Sects' camp, he reasoned that if something had really gone wrong there, the various sects would be the first to know, so it would be better to check the situation in the valley first. If everything was fine, he could still make it to the camp in time.
With Qu Hun, Han Li flew for five or six days until they safely arrived at the Taiyue Mountains. Without alarming anyone, Han Li quietly returned to his cave dwelling.
Once inside, he sealed the outer formation again, feeling much relieved. After all, his own territory was still safe!
Han Li immediately went to the secret chamber of the Spring of Spirit Eyes. As expected, the two spider eggs had hatched successfully, and two fist-sized white spiders floated in the spring. Although small in size, they were translucent and obviously not ordinary creatures.
When the two little spiders saw Han Li, they darted towards him and climbed onto his shoulders, behaving as if they had known him for a long time.
Han Li smiled faintly! It seemed that the mind control restriction he had placed with his blood had indeed worked. These two little spiders already regarded him as their parent, hence their affectionate behavior.
Delighted, Han Li carefully examined one of the white spiders in his palm. Although spiders generally evoked feelings of ugliness and disgust, this one was immaculately white and radiant, exuding a beauty that was hard to resist.
What surprised Han Li the most was that the spiritual energy of this small spider seemed to be at the third or fourth level of Qi Condensation stage, a genuine first-grade lower-level demon beast.
It seemed that their potential was quite considerable!
The White Spider was also listed on the Strange Creatures List as the "Blood Jade Spider," ranking around one hundredth. Although not as formidable as the "Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis," it was still a rare species.
After playing with the two spiders for a while, Han Li placed them in a leather bag and carried them with him. He didn't know when he would return next, so he needed to bring them along to train them slowly.
Then, Han Li went to his bedroom and pulled out a small box from under the bed. Inside were more than a dozen storage bags filled with various talismans. Han Li randomly picked two and took them with him. His previous talismans were almost depleted, so he needed to replenish them.
With these tasks completed, Han Li left Qu Hun in the cave and set off boldly towards the Yellow Maple Valley.
Perhaps because most people were heading to the Seven Sects' camp, Han Li only encountered a few Qi Condensation disciples on the way. He stopped one of them and inquired about the situation in the valley.
The disciple he stopped was only at the Qi Condensation stage, so Han Li naturally wouldn't stop there. After thinking for a moment, he went straight to the Hundred Herb Garden.
Presumably, with the mid-Foundation Stage cultivation of the old man, he should know more accurate information.
A moment later, Han Li arrived above the Hundred Herb Garden, but was blocked by the hazy array formation below.
Since he had returned the token for entering the array to the old man long ago, he couldn't enter the Hundred Herb Garden freely.
Without forcibly breaking through the formation, Han Li took out a sound transmission talisman from his body and turned it into a flame, throwing it into the white mist below.
After a while, the white mist churned, revealing a passage about a dozen feet wide.
Seeing this, Han Li smiled lightly and descended.
At the end of the passage, in the center of the Hundred Herb Garden, two people were waiting for Han Li to come down.
"Senior Brother Ma, it's been a long time!" Han Li said with a smile to one of them.
That person was the owner of the Hundred Herb Garden— the old man.
"Humph! Although we haven't seen each other, you sure know how to cause trouble for me?" The old man didn't give Han Li a good face, but instead rolled his eyes.
"Hehe, aren't disciples as obedient as Miss Xiao, enough to satisfy you, Senior Brother?" Han Li didn't care at all, and smiled at the other person.
The person blushed slightly and bowed to Han Li gratefully, saying, "Xiao Cui'er pays respects to Senior Uncle Han. Thank you, Senior Uncle, for your great kindness!"
This person was a young woman, the granddaughter of the old man.
Seeing this scene, Han Li secretly chuckled. Although Senior Brother Ma complained about him causing trouble, he clearly doted on Xiao Cui'er quite a bit. It was truly amusing to see him trying to save face like this!
The old man brought Han Li to the living room and sat down separately before asking in a calm tone, "Junior Brother, aren't you supposed to be at the border camp? Why do you have time to come here and ask questions? What important matter do you want to inquire about? Tell me about it!"
This Senior Brother Ma had a nonchalant expression.
"Ahem, this is a long story!" Han Li sighed and said with a bitter smile.
Because he had been acquainted with the old man for so many years, Han Li knew that although this person spoke sharply, he actually had a good heart. So he briefly recounted his encounter with the cultivator from the Heavenly Spirit Sect on the border, mentioning the possibility of Ling Beast Mountain being an accomplice of the devil path.
The old man's expression froze after hearing Han Li's words.
After a while, he looked at Han Li with a strange expression and asked slowly, "Junior Brother Han! You destroyed the Nascent Soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator? Ling Beast Mountain might be an accomplice of the devil path?"
He seemed to not believe it at all, as if he were listening to a fantasy tale.
Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help feeling bitter.
It was no wonder the other party reacted like this. Anyone who heard such news would probably not believe it for a moment.
But Han Li still frowned and said, "I'm not sure if this information is reliable, so I wanted to come back and see if there were any rumors coming from the camp. If not, I can rest assured and go there."
"No, all the news from the front is about the demand for large amounts of spiritual stone supplies, and there is no unfavorable news at all. Everything is normal," the old man said seriously.
Hearing this, Han Li breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his nose, muttering, "In that case, I was thoroughly fooled by that guy! Should I curse three times to vent my frustration, or laugh three times to celebrate the safety of the camp?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tolling of a huge bell echoed continuously from the direction of the council hall.
Han Li and the old man couldn't help but look at
each other, their faces changing drastically.
The bell continued to toll for the time it took to brew a pot of tea before it finally stopped.
The old man's face turned extremely ugly, and after taking a deep breath, he said in a deep voice, "It rang eighty-one times. It seems that your information is mostly true, and the situation is really bad!"
"Let's go, let's see what's going on! It may not necessarily be related to my information." After a moment of silence, Han Li said calmly.
"Humph, if it's not related to your defeat, how could the Dragon Bell, which represents the disaster of annihilation, ring eighty-one times?" The old man sneered.
With that, they both left for the council hall to find out what was happening, and the possible connection to the devil path accomplice.
