As the sound echoed, the Feng Yun Banner in Master Huang's hands suddenly flashed with a brilliant yellow light. Then, as the light contracted and expanded, a denser, broader expanse of white mist surged forth from the banner, rapidly enveloping both enemies and allies within moments. "You're all dead!" roared the skeleton's voice, mingling with the lady's sharp, scornful laughter. A series of powerful impacts followed, clearly indicating that Master Huang had engaged the two Jin Dan stage cultivators. Naturally, the Han Li and his companions did not hesitate to seize this chance to escape. Almost as soon as the mist appeared, the Huang Feng Valley cultivators swiftly activated their vehicles and scattered in all directions. Han Li, taking advantage of the swift speed of his Shen Feng Boat, ascended rapidly toward the upper sky. Though this sector had the most cultivators and was the densest, their cultivation levels appeared slightly weaker than those from the other directions. Han Li judged that breaking through here would be the most suitable course of action. Yet clearly few shared Han Li's thoughts. Most of his fellow disciples fled toward the areas where fewer interceptors had gathered, leaving Han Li shaking his head in bewilderment. In the span of a moment, Han Li surged through several figures amid the chaos, reaching the edge of the encircling group. The mist here had thinned considerably, and the magicians now could make out Han Li's swift advancing form. However, due to the Qing-Huo Miasma, what they perceived was merely a dense mass of jade-green and crimson vapor, causing them to pause in surprise. Soon, three nearby magicians raised their hands simultaneously—casting a beam of golden light, three streaks of yellow glow, and a broad expanse of dark mist that surged directly toward Han Li. Han Li hummed, then pointed his finger at the turtle-shell artifact before him. The shell instantly expanded several times in size, advancing to meet the assault. At the same time, he poured fresh spiritual energy into the artifact beneath his feet, boosting the speed of the Shen-Feng Boat by an additional three parts. He had already made up his mind that now was not the time for prolonged combat; thus, he was willing to expend more spiritual energy to make every second count, striving to escape first before the situation worsened. Otherwise, once the other enemies closed in, he would be too late to even attempt to flee. Moreover, he was confident in his turtle-shell artifact—indeed, its strength surpassed that of the white phosphorus shield. Currently, Han Li has extensive experience in countering these fundamental demonic cultivation techniques. Seizing the opportunity, he "huffed" through the still-formless ghostly figures, darting past them and in a moment broke free of the encirclement, leaving those several demonic cultivators behind. These individuals, having failed to secure their objectives, naturally refused to give up, immediately summoning their vehicles and rushing after him in a frantic pursuit. Yet Han Li paid them no heed, simply continuing to ride his vehicle at full speed. As Han Li had anticipated, the Divine Wind Boat truly stood out as a rare gem among flying cultivation artifacts. At first, he could still hear the several cultivators behind cursing incessantly, but soon their voices gradually faded. After a sustained chase of several moments, eventually, not a single figure remained behind. Upon turning to survey the scene, Han Li still remained vigilant, continuing to fly for a while before gradually easing his pace and scanning the surroundings. Then, with a gentle tap of his foot on the Divine Wind Boat, he swiftly descended. Han Li's current condition was far from good. His magical energy had already been depleted by half when forming the combined protective shield, and the recent frantic journey had further strained his reserves—urgent restoration was now essential. Otherwise, encountering a strong opponent would prove troublesome. Thinking thus, Han Li landed on the barren mountain below, gathered the toxic mist of Qing Huo Zhan, and settled in a concealed spot beneath a large boulder, assuming a meditative posture. Then, he withdrew a mid-tier blue spiritual stone from his storage pouch and began replenishing his magical energy. The Qu Huo Soul remained standing beside him, guarding and keeping watch. Not long after settling down, a panicked streak of red light streaked past the sky, followed by five or six dark specks and green glimmers—his pursuers. They swept swiftly past Han Li, one after another, clearly another survivor who had managed to break through the encirclement. Yet Han Li paid no attention to this flurry of activity, instead slowly closing his eyes and deepening his focus. Only when his mind reached a state of complete stillness could his magical energy be restored more efficiently. It wasn't long before Han Li opened his eyes, and the power he had lost had recovered to nearly full. Even though his reserves were now replenished, he didn't wish to linger any longer. He glanced at the sky—now approaching dusk—and decided it was perfect时机 to slip away under the cover of night. Yet Han Li didn't rush to move. Instead, he slowly extended his awareness, carefully scanning the surroundings. The demonic sect cultivators were indeed nowhere in sight—certainly they had defeated their ambush and now turned to pursue the main force. With this realization, Han Li shook his head. Given the strength of the opposing forces, the main group must be in serious trouble. Without further hesitation, Han Li summoned the Shenfeng Boat and headed directly toward Yuanwu Kingdom, taking Qu Hun with him. Although many cultivators from Yuanwu Kingdom had perished in Yue, the demonic sect's six great families were already preoccupied with absorbing Yue's cultivation realm, and thus Yuanwu Kingdom remained secure for now. Han Li had no intention of heading to any gathering point or pursuing the main force of Huang Feng Valley. That fleeing group might already have been pursued and hunted down by the magicians. Now going with them would be like throwing themselves into the net. Moreover, he had originally intended to seize this opportunity to seek a new place for cultivation. Staying with the Huangfeng Valley to escape to another country would at best secure him only the position of a senior official—something he certainly did not wish to settle for the rest of his life. If his assessment was correct, even if the magicians absorbed several kingdoms, they would eventually consolidate their power and then face off against the orthodox forces. In that case, the entire southern region would never find peace again! This could not possibly align with his original aspiration for quiet and undisturbed cultivation. Therefore, he first planned to take refuge in Yuanwu Kingdom, assess whether the teleportation array could be repaired, and then gauge the overall situation. Should the circumstances deteriorate severely, he intended to use this array directly to journey to other regions, thus avoiding the current conflict entirely. While quietly pondering these thoughts, the Shenfeng Boat transformed into a streak of white light and vanished into the horizon. … Two days later, Han Li took a long detour and finally appeared in the sky at the border region between the Yue State and the Yuanwu State. Turning to look back at the mountain ranges of the Yue State behind him, he sighed gently, and then, together with his spirit companion, he entered the territory of the Yuanwu State. Han Li was unaware that just a few days after his arrival in the Yuanwu State, a contingent of dozens of magicians had also arrived at this very location and settled there—specifically assigned to guard the continuous hundred-mile border region, intercepting any Yue State cultivators attempting to flee into the Yuanwu State. To the sight, the seven or eight stone dwellings had now leaned haphazardly, their scattered stones and green bamboo broken and scattered, most of them destroyed. The protective array Qi Yunxiao had set up had been forcibly breached. Han Li frowned, flipped his hand, grasped a magical artifact, and then walked toward the partially collapsed buildings. Though it seemed this scene had occurred long ago, caution was still warranted. As he approached, he carefully inspected each dwelling, and within one nearly completely ruined stone house, he discovered a corpse long decayed. Han Li sniffed, carefully examined the head for a long time, his brows furrowed in concentration. The deceased was not Qi Yunxiao, but rather Qi Yunxiao's loyal steward and shop manager. As for the other dwellings, no further bodies were found, which gave Han Li a slight sense of relief. Han Li had just finished his search when his expression suddenly grew cold. After a few swift movements, he reappeared on the Shenfeng Boat and looked upward toward the southern sky. There, from the numerous hills in the south, two bright blue beams of strong light suddenly shot straight toward him. A short while later, they arrived at a distance near Han Li's position, then their light faded, revealing an elderly man and a young man. The elder had an ordinary appearance, with long, narrow eyes and a lock of mountain-goat-like hair—he was a Jianji period cultivator, clearly astonished. The younger man, in his twenties, was quite handsome, though his eyes were filled with intensity and anger, glaring fiercely at Han Li, despite being only at the Jianqi level of cultivation.