Han Li's face darkened. With a flick of his fingers, he sent three sword qi waves slicing through the air. The three who had just stepped back were only a few feet away when they suddenly gave out three sharp cries of pain, and clumps of blood fell from the swordlight, filling the air with a strong scent of blood. At the same time, the hunched elder, caught in the blood mist, turned around and saw the scene—startled beyond belief. He immediately poured all his spiritual energy into the mist, and his speed instantly increased by a third, racing toward a street several dozen feet away. He didn't hope to escape Han Li's pursuit entirely; he only wanted to reach a place crowded with ordinary people, where Han Li would find it difficult to act, thus securing his safety for now. Yet Han Li, standing still, merely smiled coldly. With a gentle nod toward the retreating mist, a sword strike that had previously killed Feng's red thread suddenly appeared a few paces behind the mist, then flashed red—penetrating straight through the mist. After a mournful cry, the blood mist dispersed, and the hunched elder plummeted directly downward from the sky. Yet, a translucent blue hand materialized ghost-like, swiftly flying to the three spiritual artifacts it tossed aside, then reaching out to grasp the elder firmly. With a graceful spiral, it soared toward Han Li. The crimson thread shimmered once in the air, vanishing silently without a trace, yet moments later, it reappeared once more before Han Li. As Han Li raised his hand, the thread gently settled into the palm, revealing a slender needle about an inch long. The needle was translucent and neither gold nor wood, its surface radiating a red glow that waxed and waned, quite unusual. Han Li glanced at the needle in his hand, a satisfied expression forming on his face. Having invested considerable effort in refining the crystallized immortal fruit, the resulting needle proved remarkably potent—its swift mobility and ability to conceal its trail had fully met his expectations. Moreover, it is a sacred artifact; with a little cultivation, its power can be further enhanced. With a simple palm movement, the flying needles instantly vanish, being absorbed into his body. Then he raised his head to gaze at the hunched elder who had been seized by the glowing hands, his expression calm and composed. Now, the elder's abdomen bore a small hole, about the thickness of a thumb, and his body was tightly held by the glowing hands, completely immobile, his face pale as paper. Upon seeing Han Li approaching, the elder felt immense fear, managed a weak, composed smile, and with a tone of deference and flattery, hurriedly said: "It's all a misunderstanding—entirely a misunderstanding. With your divine abilities, you surely cannot be the person we were seeking. I must have mistaken you for someone else. Your grace is truly magnanimous—please, do not take it personally. I am indeed a member of the Kong family from Guan Ning." "As for any questions the elder might have, I shall answer them all at once..." The elder seemed to know his fate was not promising, and thus hurriedly spouted off a long list of words, hoping that one of them might move the listener and save his life. Yet at this moment, Han Li raised his hand, and a scroll of spell shot toward the elder. The elder's pleas of mercy ceased abruptly, and his eyes instantly grew vacant and distant. "There's no need for such fuss. The matters I wish to know, I'd rather investigate myself." Han Li murmured softly, then, with a gesture, summoned the several spiritual artifacts lying on the ground, drawing them into his hands, and turned toward the courtyard. The large, green hand clutched the elder tightly, following Han Li as he drifted into the courtyard. Inside, a simple illusion spell had been set up, which Han Li could not penetrate at first glance. After casting a few hand seals, he managed to break the spell. Then, he led the elder into one of the rooms. …After a meal, Han Li casually cast a fire ball, turning the elderly man on the ground into ash, and thus erased him from the world without him realizing. Then he sat down on a wooden chair in the room, resting one hand on his chin,沉思. Earlier, he had employed the 'Dream-Calling Technique,' extracting nearly all of the elder's knowledge without regard for his consciousness. As the elder had mentioned, he was a senior official stationed in the capital for the Kong family. Indeed, a capable man—he had even managed to uncover the Feng family's merchant, who had been pressured into submission just two years prior over a minor matter. After all, how could a mortal dare oppose a cultivator? This time, when Han Li used the jade pendant from Feng Yue to approach the Feng merchant, the elder naturally saw it as an opportunity to secure a major achievement and thus promptly sold him to the elder. Upon hearing that the sought-after Feng family heir was indeed the one they had been looking for, the elder was overjoyed and would not let the opportunity pass. Immediately set a trap and personally took the lead to ambush this "Feng Yue." But as Han Li stepped out of the inn, he immediately spotted the inferior quality of the elder's breath concealment technique, sensing that Feng Zheng was in trouble. Yet, Han Li had no fear of a Foundation Stage cultivator. With so many commoners present at the inn, it would have been inconvenient to act directly, so he simply took the opportunity to investigate further, riding in a carriage to arrive at this location. As a result, the elder and the several Foundation Stage cultivators who had been concealed were effortlessly eliminated—like ants being crushed underfoot. Han Li paid no attention to these events, as he had already suspected such a scenario from the beginning. Otherwise, it would have been a great joke if even a Condensation Stage cultivator had been stationed here to target him personally. However, Han Li was deeply surprised by another matter he discovered through the elder's consciousness. It turned out that the Grand Assembly of the Three Families—Guan, Ning, and Kong—had only just concluded when suddenly, the ancient Kong family patriarch was revealed to have had his spirit consumed, with a malevolent demon now occupying his body. At that moment, the heads of the other two families, together with a group of senior cultivators summoned from behind-the-scenes monasteries, directly killed the possessed Kong patriarch on the spot, even preventing his spirit from escaping. As for the several Yuan-Ying stage cultivators, they had never managed to gain any advantage against the three Shishi, who relied on the ancient tomb and ghost arrays—indeed, one of them even sustained serious injuries due to a momentary lapse in attention. Ultimately, the three families and these sect cultivators were completely encircled by the continuous ghost arrays stretching for hundreds of miles, confined to the mountain summit where the Council of Kings had been convened. They could only hold their ground by relying on a few major arrays previously established on the summit. Although the XuanYe King was indeed powerful, the commotion he caused—trapping these cultivators for over a month—eventually drew the attention of a senior Yuan-Stage cultivator from a nearby Daoist sect. This cultivator arrived and unleashed a magnificent, earth-shaking technique that repelled the three Shengs, forcing them to retreat back into the depths of the Snow Ling Mountain Range. The Yuan-Stage cultivator, however, did not pursue further and simply drifted away. After the three cultivator groups were saved, they naturally could not remain in the vicinity and thus withdrew all their forces from the mountain's periphery, fearing that the XuanYe King might launch another assault. Fearing the intervention of this Yuan-Stage cultivator, the three Shengs also hesitated to venture out again, and thus the conflict came to a standstill. While what Han Li knew was only part of the full picture that the elder was aware of, recalling the scene when he first encountered the XuanYe King, severely wounded, during his exit from Feng Family's secret cavern, Han Li had already deduced much of the truth, and could not help but marvel at the unfolding events. The Lord of Xuanye was indeed rather formidable. During his battle against the Master of Blazing Sand on the Snow Citadel Mountains, he had already sustained serious injuries. Yet, within such a short time upon returning to the tomb, he had not only recovered fully but also managed to cause such a major incident—seeming completely rejuvenated. However, Han Li, who had taken numerous elixirs and medicinal pills, was well aware that no known elixir could restore one's vital energy so swiftly. Even with an ample supply of remedies, he himself had not yet regained his peak state of cultivation. Therefore, only one possibility remained: the ancient demon lord’s Lord of the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse was exceptionally powerful, or his cultivation technique possessed a unique ability that enabled such remarkable recovery. Speaking of the Lord of the Corpse’s powers, Han Li found himself recalling the Heavenly Corpse Pearl he had been carrying within his body since his cultivation of the Ming Wang Sect. He had already sensed the extraordinary effects of this pearl during his practice of the Ming Wang Sect’s teachings. Otherwise, it was far from certain whether the Diamond Relic alone would have been sufficient to enable him to advance to the second level of the Ming Wang Sect. This pearl must be responsible for such remarkable effects—perhaps the King Xuanye's swift recovery of vital energy is also linked to it. After quietly pondering this for a while, Han Li set it aside and began to plan his journey to the capital. As for accommodation, since the residence is tied to Feng the merchant, he couldn't stay long. Otherwise, should Feng vanish without trace for several days, someone would inevitably come investigating here, which would be quite troublesome. Therefore, he would simply rent a Taoist temple or a monastery for a period of time. These places are quieter and far better than an inn. Additionally, he needed to visit the local cultivation markets in the capital to gather more specific details about the auction. Han Li quickly finalized his plans in his mind and then gracefully departed from the residence, vanishing without a trace.