"Stop!" A man's command echoed inside the carriage, and instantly, the beasts stepped aside. As the red glow subsided, a series of young, beautiful women emerged, dressed in uniform light green imperial robes, with black hair coiled at the top of their heads and twin swords resting along their backs. These female cultivators stood neatly on either side of the carriage, bowing respectfully, their expressions solemn—each of them clearly possessing the foundational cultivation level. This is merely your personal opinion. Perhaps it truly signifies the emergence of a precious treasure. After all, I can't see any difference between the two. A moment of silence passed, and then a cold, dismissive sigh came from the woman, spoken without the slightest courtesy. "If you'd like to know whether it's true, simply go and check it yourself! Whether it's the transformation of yin to yang or the revival ritual, both require at least a Condensed Qi level of cultivation. Afterward, the cultivator's abilities typically decline significantly—sometimes even dropping a full stage. I'm genuinely curious to see who's performing this feat. If the practitioner still possesses sufficient strength, I'd be happy to take them under my wing. The Shen Jiu Hall still needs several judicial officers!" The man seemed unusually fond of the woman, not only remaining calm when she challenged his claims but also gently following her line of reasoning. "Very well! After nearly a month of riding in this beast-car, I've grown rather restless. It would be a perfect opportunity to take a break and refresh on the island." The woman hesitated, then agreed. "Just a moment—I'll remove the shield right away!" As the words left her lips, a flash of white light surged across the vehicle, then gently faded, revealing the figures seated within. The man had been gently gazing at the young woman all along. Seeing this, he smiled slightly and stepped down from the beast carriage. "Wen, you've calculated that the ghost mist will appear nearby—how certain are you? As far as I know, as one of the most enigmatic natural disasters of the Luan Xing Hai, the ghost mist has no consistent pattern in terms of when or where it appears." The young woman glanced toward the island, then spoke without turning around, her words utterly at odds with the current scene. Yet the man seemed accustomed to this, simply leaning back with a warm smile and replied, "The ghost mist indeed lacks a strict, predictable pattern. However, after I've devoted considerable effort to gathering detailed records of its appearances over the past several centuries, I've discovered an interesting observation: in many of its occurrences, volcanic eruptions have taken place in the vicinity shortly before or during the appearance. Though not every instance fits this pattern, at least one-third of the cases do. And remarkably, this very sea region has recently experienced two consecutive underwater volcanic eruptions." The chances of the ghost mist appearing should be quite high, shouldn't they?" Hearing this, the beautiful young woman's eyes flashed with a subtle expression of surprise. After a moment of hesitation, she asked gently, "Master has taken so much time to lead me all the way to this sea region—just to witness the appearance of the ghost mist? Usually, when cultivators encounter it, they barely have time to run; how could they possibly make the effort to approach it willingly?" "Why not? I've been idle lately, so why not take a look and verify whether my calculations are correct? Wouldn't even if the ghost mist appears, Wen Mou still manage to escape?" The young man with the plain robe smiled slightly, his expression calm and composed. Upon hearing this, the young woman fell silent. "Shall we proceed now? It seems the other party is at a crucial moment of their spellcasting—might we be interrupting them?" After a brief pause, she pointed to the sky above the small island and asked calmly. "Interrupting? I, Wen Tianren, wish to meet a Jin Dan cultivator—how could that be considered an interruption? If this person proves ungrateful and dares to speak disrespectfully, I shall simply The man with the refined features suddenly displayed an air of pride and spoke frankly. The young woman glanced at him, momentarily at a loss. Yet, the man's abilities were indeed profound. Though he had not yet condensed his Yuan婴, he far surpassed his peers of the same stage. To call him the foremost among the Jiuxing Sea's Jiān Dan cultivators might truly be no exaggeration. "Hm!" The man suddenly stiffened, glanced toward the small island, and showed a hint of surprise. "What is it? Has something happened?" The young woman expressed curiosity, yet still asked with a cold tone. "Interesting—now there are three Jiān Dan cultivators gathered on that small island. The two earlier ones are rather ordinary, both at the initial stage of Jiān Dan. One of them possesses a subtle and refined hidden cultivation technique, though it still falls short of impressing me. But the other, a Jiān Dan late-stage cultivator, is quite remarkable—he has sensed my presence. His spiritual awareness is not only strong, but even surpasses mine. The man spoke, his eyes fixed intently on the small island, a touch of solemnity appearing on his face. The young woman, listening, was visibly moved. She had personally witnessed the strength of the man's awareness—comparable even to that of a Yuan婴 immortal. Now, to find another Jin Dan cultivator with awareness as strong as a mortal's, it was hard to believe, and she found herself displaying a rare expression of surprise. Yet she knew well that though the man appeared gentle and courteous, he was far from magnanimous. In fact, he was often cold, sharp, and unpredictable—capable of taking someone's life at the slightest misstep. His cultivation level was simply astonishing. Even now, despite his deep affection for her, she dared only to maintain a composed, cool demeanor, unwilling to provoke him. Fortunately, the man seemed to regard winning her heart and soul as an enjoyable pursuit, never pressing her too hard. This gave her a measure of reassurance. Though the other party now appears composed, Li estimates that they have already resolved to kill the cultivators on the island. After all, the man has always held himself in high regard for his spiritual awareness surpassing that of the Yuan婴 elders, and how could he allow a peer of comparable standing among his fellow cultivators to exist? The young woman sighed softly, offering only a touch of pity toward the island's cultivators. Before White Shadow could even activate his法宝, the massive spear suddenly pierced through his chest with a sharp "whoosh," instantly emerging from his body. The corpse, heavy with a strong scent of blood, plummeted straight down from the sky, crashing with a "thud" into the pile of scattered stones and vanishing. Meanwhile, the three-colored spear in the air had transformed into a swarm of insects at some point, one group encircling a storage bag and another gathering around the purple jade ruler, both humming softly as they flew back toward the small valley. After a short while, Han Li held the storage bag in one hand, scanning it with his divine awareness, while casually playing with the purple jade ruler in the other. After a brief moment, he closed both items gently and slowly raised his head toward a distant direction, his expression now noticeably somber. Just recently, when he had released the gold-devouring insects, he had sensed a subtle divine awareness sweeping over him—so delicate that he nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise. In his memory, such a powerful awareness had only been possessed by senior immortals at the Yuan Ying stage. To his careful observation, he discovered that this powerful consciousness originated from the group of newcomers. Upon a quiet sweep of his awareness, he was astonished to find that the source of such a formidable consciousness was none other than a Ji Dan stage late-stage cultivator—youthful, not much older than himself. Han Li was left stunned. At the very moment his awareness touched upon the area, the other cultivator also sensed his stealthy observation. Without warning, the cultivator had apparently activated some seal, forcefully expelling Han Li's consciousness from the region and preventing any further penetration. This development only deepened Han Li's sense of concern!