"The time has come!" Old Man Feng loudly yelled, "Lay down the formation and open the cauldron!"
Soon after this was said, two of the dozen Core Formation cultivators standing behind them shot towards either side of the cauldron. As for the others, they took to the air and raised a sparkling blue formation plate above their heads.
A hum sounded out and a barrier of blue light appeared, enveloping most of the stage from its center.
As for the two middle-aged Core Formation cultivators at the side of the huge cauldron, they wordlessly formed hand incantations as soon as they saw the light barrier appear and shot several streaks of spell seals at the large cauldron. The cauldron lid began to slightly tremble as rainbow light leaked through the openings, releasing a faint hum. Then the lid began to slowly float into the air as if it weighed a thousand kilograms.
As for the youth that was kowtowing, he now stood up and firmly stared at the huge cauldron.
Suddenly, a ball of blinding white light shot out from the cauldron and soared into the sky. Without another thought, the youth gave chase in a streak of yellow light.
The white light flew to the top of the barrier and knocked against it, but the blue light barrier held firm; the impact had only caused it to lightly tremble.
At that moment, the youth had caught up to the white streak of light and reached out to grab it. However, the white light was very intelligent and made a sudden turn, causing the youth's face to turn gloomy as he pursued it once more. In the blink of an eye, a white and yellow streak of light was spiralling inside the light barrier like a shooting star chasing after the moon.
The several hundred of Foundation Establishment cultivators stared at the scene with wide eyes. As for the Nascent Soul elders, they were all indifferently standing there and would occasionally speak with one another.
Han Li squinted his eyes and lazily gazed at everything that was happening.
It was clear that the disciple inside the light barrier had yet to refine a magic treasure of his own. Rather, he was purely relying on a top grade flying magic tool to pursue the Yin Yang Pagoda, so it was only natural that he was behind in speed. However, this did not matter much because while the Yin Yang Pagoda was rather fast, it was quickly running out of spiritual power. It could only maintain its current speed for a few more minutes at most before the youth would easily capture it. This was precisely what the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion elders had intended; if the disciple managed to grab the pagoda too quickly, the master recognition ceremony for the treasure would've been nothing to behold.
With that thought, Han Li squinted his eyes once more. Although the white light was exceptionally blinding, he was able to clearly see the appearance of the treasure with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.
The treasure appeared to be a pure white pagoda of exquisite detail that was three inches large. Han Li wasn't able to make out any other details about the treasure apart from this.
At that moment, Han Li heard a woman's voice transmission, "Fellow Daoist Han, what do you think about the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's disciple. Do you think he can enter Nascent Soul stage?"
In his surprise, he slowly turned around and found that the woman title Brightscent had walked behind him at an unknown time. She was giving him an aloof smile.
Han Li looked at the woman's face and calmly said, "I share the same opinion with Fellow Daoist Pyre. But if the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion can acquire a bit of medicine, the disciple will have a good chance at forming a Nascent Soul."
"But it stands to mention that no matter how great this disciple's aptitude may be, he will never reach the point of Fellow Daoist Han's world-shaking abilities." The woman smiled at Han Li and an unusual expression appeared on her face as she spoke. "I heard that in Devilfall Valley, Fellow Daoist Han was able to dispatch one of two Elder Devils alone. With this feat alone, your abilities are proven to be no lesser than the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators."
When Han Li heard this, he pondered for a moment and replied, "Fellow Daoist Brightscent, you flatter me. If it weren't for the assistance of the other Fellow Daoists present, I wouldn't have been able to fight the Elder Devil. Furthermore, I wasn't even the one to slay the Elder Devil. It had died inside the spatial pocket as a matter of luck."
"Fellow Daoist Han is far too modest." The young woman brushed away the hair covering her face in an elegant motion and wore a mysterious coquettish smile as she spoke. "I suppose I'll drop that subject, but don't tell me that escaping from a Moulan Divine Sage and slaying a Jin Empire Devil Sect Elder were just rumors! I heard that the Jin Empire devil cultivator was at the peak of mid Nascent Soul stage. Is this true?"
As Han Li's gaze wandered, the woman swept her sleeve and released a flowery fragrance in Han Li's expression. When he smelled it, he felt his mind relax and felt intimately close to the woman. He couldn't help but want to answer her question.
'Bewitchments techniques? But there were no signs; her eyes were clear. But her flowery fragrance does seem odd.'
Before Han Li condensed a Nascent Soul, he encountered several female cultivators that were proficient in bewitchment techniques. In nearly an instant, he discovered something odd about himself and detected the woman's hidden tricks. However, her calm spiritual Qi fluctuations indicated that this was the result of the odd fragrance.
"Fellow Daoist Brighscent knows quite a bit. Those two events were simply a matter of luck and aren't worth mentioning. However, I've heard a bit about Fellow Daoist Brightscent from my martial brothers as well. I heard that you cultivated the Hundredbloom Yangspring Arts, an intangible technique that can subdue enemies with inconceivable might."
"What?" Brightscent's smile froze. "Fellow Daoist Cheng know about the might of the Hundredbloom Yangspring Arts?" Although many knew about her cultivation art, few people knew of its true abilities and scarcely anyone was able to cultivate it.
Han Li smiled, but just as he thought about what to say, his expression changed and he suddenly raised his head to the sky. The woman saw Han Li and followed his stare, but all she saw was clear skies.
The woman frowned and looked at Han Li with a trace of bafflement.
However, Han Li wasn't paying the woman any attention. Rather, his expression only grew more stern. In an instant, he turned his head to Eccentric Pyre and loudly yelled, "Fellow Daoist Pyre, I fear that someone has come to visit. Let's go out and welcome them."
The others hastily looked around with astonishment. Eccentric Pyre appeared particularly baffled as he turned his head. "A guest? Who is it?"
Han Li sighed. But before he could said anything, Eccentric Jin's expression changed and his gaze turned to where Han Li originally looked. He nervously said, "There is someone that is coming and from his powerful spiritual Qi fluctuations, they... they should be a late Nascent Soul cultivator."
When Eccentric Jin finished speaking, a deep and clear voice soon shook the skies, "The Great Truth Sect's Master Sunreach has come to pay a visit. Is Fellow Daoist Pyre here?"
"So it is Master Sunreach? Why has such an important person come here?" Eccentric Pyre and the others glanced at each other with alarm, not knowing why one of the three Great Heavenly South cultivators have arrived. None of the three sects had invited him.
Han Li rubbed his chin and wore a pensive expression.
The Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Righteous Dao didn't have a good relationship by any means, but Master Sunreach shouldn't hold any ill intent for this visit as he hadn't concealed his presence when he had arrived. This had allowed Han Li to easily sense him from a distance.
"Let's go and welcome Fellow Daoist Sunreach!" Eccentric Pyre took the lead and quickly flew forward.
The others raised no objection as they didn't believe Master Sunreach meant them any harm. As powerful as he may be, he would find it difficult to take them all on.
The elders weren't able to further attend the master recognition ceremony and they all emerged from the light barrier and made their way to the border of the sect's great formation.
Along the way, Han Li sensed that Brightscent seemed to be very interested in him and would occasionally steal a glance at him. Han Li inwardly snorted as a result. If the woman kept looking for trouble, he didn't mind teaching her a lesson.
When they arrived at the grand formation, Eccentric Pyre and his two junior martial brothers opened a passage through the restriction, allowing a streak of light to fly in. The light faded away to reveal a middle-aged Daoist priest possessing an otherworldly presence.
As Han Li saw his flawless appearance and the longsword he wore on his back, it was obvious at a glance that he was Master Sunreach.
When Master Sunreach appeared, all the present cultivators saluted him, but he quickly swept his gaze past them before focusing on Han Li.
Master Sunreach grinned and called out to him with a chuckle, "Fellow Daoist Han is here as expected. Just after I left my sect, I acquired information that you were visiting the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion and rushed over here."
"What? Master Sunreach has come to find me?" Han Li pursed his lips and wore an odd expression.
"That's right!" Master Sunreach said with a smile, "This humble Daoist had pressing matters to attend to in the State of Xi but I didn't think I'd hear that Brother Han has made a safe return. As soon as I heard this, I rushed over to have a chat."
"It seemed when I was looking for information at few market cities, there were people that recognized me. But surely Fellow Daoist Sunreach didn't rush to seek me out just to chat?" Han Li puzzlingly asked.
"The matter will take some time to explain." Master Sunreach let out a long sigh before wearing a friendly face. He then said with a courteous tone, "Fellow Daoists, Fellow Daoist Han and I have a few matters to talk about. I hope you won't mind."
Eccentric Pyre forced a smile and said, "Since Brother Sunreach has come to see Fellow Daoist Han, there is no problem of course. We'll simply wait at the side."