"That person isn't from the Soaring Tribes."
"What? How does Master know this?" Han Li's sudden statement came as a shock to Silvermoon.
"Take a look at this." Han Li suddenly opened his hand and summoned a ball of blue light into it. It was the image of a jade pendant engraved with ancient characters.
"These are ancient characters from the Great Jin," Silvermoon said, shocked.
"In fact, I reckon that nothing would've happened to him even if I didn't act. The jade pendant Feng Yue carried on his body is a top grade magic tool. Every time the demon bird would draw close to him, it would automatically release a series of spirit waves to protect him.
He concealed it at his waist with only a meager layer of fabric, and I was able to clearly see it with my Brightsight Spirit Eyes. They most likely belong to a noble clan in the Great Jin."
Silvermoon grew pensive and said, "That's right. From ancient records, the 'Feng of Ning' was a noble clan that extensively made use of its grand name. It seems our Fellow Daoist Fēng should be Fellow Daoist Féng [1] instead. But where is this Ning, anyways? Is it the State of Ning in the thirty-six Jin Empire territories? Or is it the West Ning Province in one of its a hundred and eight provinces? Or is it from some common city named Ning?"
Because Han Li wished to go to the Jin Empire, he acquired many ancient records relating to it. He didn't find her earlier statements surprising because he knew Silvermoon had looked through many of them as well.
"Regardless of what Great Jin Clan he is a disciple of, his appearance in the Endless Sky Plains is a sign of trouble. As such, the less contact I have with him, the better. As of current, our priority is departing from the plains and finding a way to dissolve the baleful Qi on my body." With that said, he closed his eyes.
Silvermoon chuckled and agreed, "That's about right. Since this person is only at early Foundation Establishment stage and possesses a protective magic tool on that level, he must be an important character to the Feng Clan. But since he had now concealed himself in an escort for the tribute of a small tribe, there is certain to be some trouble following him."
Soon after, Silvermoon kept quiet as well.
A while later, several of the youths eventually managed to break through the huge chunks of ice trapping the Simian Vultures with large hammers, and they were able to properly butcher the three Simian Vultures. Afterwards, they gave the most precious of the materials, the claws and tail feathers, over to Han Li. The parts left over were divided amongst the two tribes.
Of course, because Han Li was the Immortal that the Grey Heron Tribe invited, they received the majority of the remains. While Tribe Leader Ba didn't acquire much, he was happy nonetheless as they acquired an unexpected harvest despite the fact that his tribe's Immortal hadn't killed any of the beasts.
Inside the Red Wolf Tribe's sealed carriage, the blue-robed cultivator took off his cloak to reveal a pale face. Apart from overly thin lips, he appeared rather handsome.
At that moment, he wore a cold expression and he patted around his neck before finding a golden chain that had a silver key linked to it. The key was was thick as a finger and several inches long. Mysterious designs were engraved on it along with a golden character, Féng [2].
After staring at the key, Feng Yue revealed a strange expression. Then, his face wavered between excitement and pain before ultimately wearing a gloomy expression.
He let out a long breath before carefully putting away the key. After confirming that no one could see the key as it hung on his neck, he closed his eyes and began to restore the magic power he had just consumed.
Not long after they finished cleaning the carcass of the last Simian Vulture, the two tribes began to set forth once more.
This time, none dared to wantonly speak in loud voices. Although the battle against the vultures didn't last long, it had shaken many of the Soaring Tribes youths. Those with spirit veins felt particularly excited and wished they could fly over to the temple immediately so that they may acquire the vast power of an Immortal.
The following day was uneventful, but as Han Li was comprehending the incantation to dissolve the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal, the so-called temple encampment had entered the range of his spiritual sense.
Out of fear that there would be high-grade Immortals stationed near the encampment, Han Li didn't dare to sweep his spiritual sense closeby, but he did faintly mix spiritual Qi fluctuations, indicating there were many low-grade cultivators nearby.
Han Li's eyes wandered but his face remained expressionless.
After travelling ten kilometers, both the tribes let out a cheer. Han Li's expression stirred and he swept his sleeve, opening the carriage's curtains. He saw flat plains around them and a large black dot in the distance.
Blue light flickered in Han Li's eyes and he was able to clearly see what was the black dot.
There was a wall twelve meters tall formed from thick stone and logs. At the back of the wall, there were lofty tents the Soaring Tribes were fond of and a few crude wooden buildings. Occasionally, Soaring Tribes mortals would roam around them, causing the area to appear rather lively.
Amongst the tents and wooden buildings, there was a faintly seen hall made from a single huge stone surrounded with sparsely few buildings. A few peculiarly dressed cultivators would occasionally walk into the hall.
As Han Li's gaze wandered across this so-called encampment, he would spot huge stone pillars erected across its perimeter.
These stone pillars glowed with dazzling light, and they were a hundred meters tall and thicker than the width of a person. This was clearly a large scale spell formation placed by the Endless Sky Temple to protect the encampment. There were also no cultivators flying inside the encampment so it was clear to see the spell formation restricted travel by air.
After sizing up the town, Han Li had no further interest it in and closed the curtain.
Two hours later, Han Li's party had arrived at the entrance of the encampment. There weren't any guards to speak off and the group entered as they pleased.
Ying Lu and the Tribe Leader Ba had a brief discussion before separating and heading off in their own direction.
Inside the encampment, Han Li was able to clearly see everything with his spiritual sense. It was exactly as he saw in the distance, chaotic. Fur tents and wood buildings were scattered everywhere and only the main roads were clear. It was clear that apart from the stone structures, the buildings were only temporary shelter for the tribes that were passing through to offer tribute.
However, those that needed to rest here were all the small tribes that had to travel the farthest. Larger tribes didn't have the need to travel farther as they resided near the temple.
As a result, a vast majority of these tents and wooden buildings appeared entirely ordinary with a few that even had patches on them; only the wealthiest tribes among them had a few slightly larger tents with a few minor decorations. It was clear to see these small tribes weren't very wealthy.
After difficultly finding an empty area in a remote corner of the encampment, the Grey Heron Tribe began to set up their tents.
Han Li walked out from the carriage and indifferently observed their actions. Ying Lu hesitated for a moment before he walked over to Han Li and spoke with a respectful tone, "Immortal Han, it is quite disorderly here. I fear it isn't suitable for the peaceful cultivation of a great Immortal such as yourself. There is a resting area specialized in housing Immortals. How about Immortal Han rest there for the time being? In two days, we will resume our journey."
"I will then. In two day's time, I will come find you." Han Li nodded and then took off in the direction of the tallest structure in the encampment, a huge two-story stone hall. There were cultivators that would occasionally enter and leave. It was clear this was the building Ying Lu had mentioned.
After walking a short distance, Han Li arrived in front of the stone hall.
The entrance had two fifteen-meter-tall sculptures to either side of the entrance, flood dragons with the head of a bull. Han Li took a brief glance before passing it by. Although he was confident his disguise as a Soaring Tribes cultivator was perfect, he felt ill at ease for being near so many other Soaring Tribe cultivators. If there were any Nascent Soul cultivators nearby, it could end badly for him. It would be better for him to leave the encampment and find some place nearby. Then in two day's time, he would continue to travel with the Grey Heron Tribe.
By the time they arrived at the Endless Sky Temple, the rumors about him should've subsided and he'll then resume his journey to leave the plains. Although it will still be quite some time until he could enter the Great Jin Empire, the journey would go smoother if he were careful.
With that in mind, Han Li calmly walked out from the encampment and took out a small sword before using it to fly in a streak of light. About thirty kilometers away, Han Li stopped above an unremarkable field of scattered stone.
He swept his gaze around him and descended upon a twenty meter tall bolder. He sat cross-legged on it before releasing his spiritual sense around him, sweeping the perimeter for ten kilometers to find there was no one around him. He then turned around and flicked his fingers to the huge boulder in front him. A wave of azure sword Qi cut through it and created a six-meter wide hole inside of it, just enough for a person to enter.
Han Li sat down cross-legged to test the hole and felt the interim shelter was to his satisfaction. He then walked thirty meters in front of the huge boulder and took out a set of formation flags. Over ten streaks of light shot out and an invisibility spell formation was placed around the boulder.
From the outside, the huge boulder completely disappeared from view.
Han Li entered the spell formation in a blur and completely vanished from sight.
In the blink of an eye, an entire day had already passed. Han Li was silently meditating in his cave, comprehending the incantation that Monarch Soul Divergence had given him. The process went far smoother than he had anticipated and he was close to finishing it, much to his delight.
As he pondered about a problematic portion of the incantation, his brow stirred and his mind snapped out of meditation. He opened his eyes with a flabbergasted expression.
[1] The blue-robed cultivator gives his name as 枫Fēng instead of 冯Féng. They are partially homophones apart from their change in tone.
[2] See above. It is engraved with his clan name.