Chapter 1313: Heavenly Tribulation
At that moment, Han Li was now at a small mountain over a thousand kilometers away. He had a vastly changed appearance on his face. He was a shorter middle-aged man with long facial hair.
His body completely lacked spiritual Qi as he now appeared to be a run of the mill body refiner. He was meditating on a bolder with an expressionless face.
A while later, Han Li opened his eyes and wore a faint smile. He muttered, “The last thread of spirit flames in my body has been extinguished. Unless they personally examine me, they wouldn’t be able to recognize them.”
Even so, Han Li made no attempt to leave.
Even with his appearance and aura altered, Han Li had no desire to risk any danger.
From then on, he leaped off the bolder and jumped several times, skirting off the mountain.
Not long after, he found himself in front of a cliff covered in dense vines and shrubs.
Han Li swept his gaze around him and nodded with a satisfied smile. Then he took a deep breath and began to pound against the cliff with fists shining in golden light.
Huge rumbles sounded out and a ten-meter-deep cave appeared.
His figure blurred as he strangely shifted into it.
Then inside the cave, he struck above him, instantly covering the entrance in a pile of rubble and sealing it.
The cave immediately became pitch black.
He didn’t mind this in the slightest and summoned a prepared moonlight stone into his hand with a flip of his palm.
He grabbed the stone and slapped it at the top of the cave. With immense force, the moonlight stone easily embedded itself.
Under the faint crystalline light, the stone cave became clear.
Han Li looked for a clean area to sit down. Light flashed from his spirit ring and he fetched a small crimson vial from his storage bracelet. He examined it with curious eyes.
Apart from a continuous red glow, the vial appeared quite ordinary. It had a common glossy surface like porcelain.
As he stroked the vial with his finger, he inwardly muttered and began to think of the spirit Shi Yan’s memories relating to Divine Blood.
A long while later, he frowned and he took out a palm-sized jade alms bowl. He then opened the vial and tilted it over the bowl.
A purple light flowed out from the vial, slowly dripping a deep purple liquid into the alms bowl. It appeared unable to mix into the bowl.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and closely examined it for a long while before extending his finger to touch the liquid. As a result, the purple liquid seemed to jump up of its own accord and wrap around his finger as if it wanted to enter.
However, Han Li raised his brow and golden light flashed from his flesh, stopping the purple drop in its tracks. Then with a flick, he dropped the liquid back into the bowl.
“Not bad. It really is the Spirit Tribe’s Divine Blood.” A trace of interest lit up in Han Li’s eyes.
Afterwards, he put the purple liquid back into the vial and carefully placed it back into his storage bracelet. He now felt at ease to rest peacefully in the cave.
Although he currently possessed no magic power, he still had no need to eat or drink.
Not long after, a sliver of spiritual sense swept past Han Li. When it sensed that Han Li’s body didn’t possess any spiritual Qi, it brushed past him and ignored his existence.
Several days later, threads of spiritual sense often swept past the area, number up to a dozen times in a day.
But after half a month, it eventually died down to two or three times.
Two months later, a spiritual sense that was far more powerful than the others swept past him, but Han Li remained calm, hidden inside the cave.
Then, a half year passed without another reemergence of spiritual sense.
When Han Li sensed this change, he rejoiced.
But he waited several more months before he opened his eyes and broke down the pile of rubble blocking the cave entrance.
He slowly walked out and took a look around him. When he saw there was nothing out of the ordinary, he waved his sleeve with a chuckle and leaped down the mountain like a shooting star.
Not long after, he disappeared into the mountain forests.
A year later in a small city relatively close to Setting Sun City, a young body refiner with an unfamiliar face arrived at the city. He hurriedly purchased a few items and left as quickly as he arrived.
This was because rumors of the missing Divine Blood slowly began to spread.
When a few of the cultivators and body refiners that participated in the battle with the three races verified the matter, it became a hot topic in the following years.
People clicked their tongues in wonder at the thought of a trifling Deity Transformation-stage cultivator seizing the prize from three Spatial Tempering-stage opponents.
Unwilling to give up, Spirit Lord Huang Liang investigated this matter for a good number of years after returning from the city, completely focusing his attention on finding the identity of this cultivator.
As a result, he found nothing. Although the cultivator displayed several powerful abilities, there was no trace of him as if he hadn’t existed before that day.
After another two years passed, Spirit Lord Huang Liang left Setting Sun City and arrived at a wild territory as he previously agreed with Huan Tianqi. This hadn’t captured anyone’s interest as the matter of the Divine Blood had long past.
Several years later, at a huge mountain far from human civilization, there was a pitch-black room inside the mountain where a human was meditating with golden light sparkling from his body.
At his side was a small crimson bottle. It laid flat on the ground as if it were empty.
The person sat motionless and cross-legged. If it were for the faint signs of breathing, he may as well have been a statue.
To a mortal, a hundred years would most likely signify the end of their lifespan. But to a cultivator with profound magic power, it was only the blink of an eye.
After a hundred years, the still mountain suddenly had a squadron of wolf-mounted cavalry. They were slowly traveling through the mountain while escorting several decorated beast carriages.
There were three people in one of the carriages: an old man with greying hair, a seven-year-old boy with a dignified appearance, and a frail girl of the same age.
The old man had a faceful of wrinkles, but the body below his neck appeared as strong and fit as any young person, but his hands appeared to belong to the dried branches of an old tree.
Strangely enough, the old man’s fingernails were not only several inches long, but they were also exceptionally sharp. The red light they displayed was also quite mysterious.
The boy and girl sitting across from him couldn't help but stare at his nails with wonder.
The old man made no effort to conceal his nails and simply looked at the children with a silent smile.
Suddenly, a beast hoofs sounded from the window and man’s voice suddenly said, “Reporting to Elder Huo, the vanguard has returned. The beasts within a five hundred kilometer perimeter of Cloud Dress Mountain have been exterminated.”
The old man’s face stirred and he raised his hand to open the window curtains. “Good, good. With this, my business can open a new trade route without much problem.”
He saw a middle-aged cavalryman saddled on a snow-white wolf. He was facing the carriage with a respectful face.
The old man glanced at the cavalryman and gravely said, “However, are you certain that all the demon beasts on the mountain were slain? It is common for demon beasts skilled on concealment techniques to hide their aura.”
The cavalryman’s face slightly changed, but he quickly replied with a tone of certainty, “That isn’t possible. In addition to demonic Qi, I have asked many cultivators to sweep the mountain with their spiritual sense. There are definitely no demon beasts on the mountain.”
“Oh, so it was like that. It seems there shouldn’t be a problem. Although the cultivators are only at Core Formation-stage, the mountain shouldn’t have any demon beasts at too high a level. In that case, please continue forward.” The old man nodded his head and uttered a word of praise.
But just as he thought to close the window curtain, the sky suddenly changed.
The sounds of an earth-breaking disaster sounded from a distance, followed by continuous thunder and the darkening of the sky. Whistling winds tore through the air.
The vast change in the weather occurred in only the blink of an eye, all before the old man could close the curtains.
“This is...” The middle-aged cavalryman glanced up and stared at the clouds gathering at the peak of the huge mountain.
The old man frowned and pounded the top of the carriage three times.
The carriage slowed and came to a stop.
The old man stepped outside and looked up at the top of the mountain.
Soon, his face vastly changed.
The old man couldn't help but look at a distant mountain peak with bafflement. “Heavenly Tribulation. There is a cultivator undergoing tribulation. How strange, it seems unlike minor or greater tribulation.”
On the huge mountain top, the sky had turned pitch-black and golden-silver lightning bolts danced across the black clouds. Their faint rumbles filled the distant air. White gales shrieked down to ground below and continuously struck the mountain top, cutting through trees and splitting rocks.
At that moment, the entire caravan came to a stop and the cavalryman stared the odd scene completely dumbstruck.
A few other members in the caravan soared into the air and circled once before flying to the old man’s side.