"Not at all," the elder exclaimed in surprise. "How can there be other high-ranking cultivators on this remote island? Isn't it one of your subordinates who must have leaked the news?" The beautiful woman's face turned pale, speaking to the gray-robed elder with alarm. "I never mentioned the purpose of this journey to any of my disciples—how could there be any leak at all?" The elder quickly shook his head, speaking with serious conviction. "Don't panic or make things worse. Perhaps this person is merely passing through. We should simply adapt to the situation as it unfolds!" The young man in blue robes remained calm and said this with composure. Upon hearing these words, both the beautiful woman and the elder were able to regain their composure. At that moment, the previously distant green glow, which had seemed far away, arrived swiftly in the wake of a rushing sound, and they could now clearly see the silhouette of a man emerging from within the glow. "Such swift teleportation!" All three were startled, their expressions turning serious, each harboring a growing sense of unease. With a few more flickers, the emerald light reached the heads of the three, then dimmed to reveal a young cultivator dressed in a green robe. His face, however, appeared only in his twenties, which once again startled the gray-robed elder and the others. "Is this indeed Mag Lake Island?" The young man merely glanced at the three and asked calmly, with a tone that carried a hint of command. The elders' hearts sank slightly. After scanning the young man's aura with their spiritual senses, they were struck with awe. The strength of the young man's spiritual energy far surpassed that of the three elders—clearly a cultivator at or beyond the Yuan Ying stage. This was nearly the worst possible scenario. "Indeed, this is Mag Lake Island," said the gray-robed elder, gathering his composure and bowing deeply with a smile. "May I ask, esteemed elder, what is your command? We three are honored to serve you." "Mag Lake Island. Then we have not come amiss. Hm, you are all here…?" The young man glanced at the group of lower-ranked cultivators standing by the lake, somewhat at a loss, and was slightly taken aback, his expression turning into a half-smiling, half-ambiguous one. "My disciples and I need a substantial amount of jade copper to craft several special artifacts," he explained. "That's why we've come here to harvest more." The gray-robed elder felt a sudden surge of concern, but had no choice but to press on. The cultivator before him clearly wasn't an ordinary Yuan-Enlightened. No matter how subtly he scanned him with his divine awareness, he couldn't quite determine the exact stage of cultivation of the young man. Such an experience had never happened to him before. After all, he himself was a Ji-Dan late-stage cultivator—by right, a Yuan-Enlightened mid-stage—and should have been able to detect such a subtle difference. "Jade copper? Are you really relying on these simple array techniques—used merely to break the seals and restrictions—to harvest this material?" The young man crossed his arms, looked at the several array formations set up by the lower-ranked cultivators along the lakebank, and then down at the lush, emerald-green lake surface beneath him Yet the skepticism in the laughter was unmistakable. Upon seeing this, the gray-robed elder instantly felt a bead of sweat form on his brow. He had never expected the other party to also be well-versed in the art of array formations. After all, most array specialists were not particularly high in cultivation level, and accomplished cultivators generally did not take the time to specialize in array studies. Moreover, the arrays he had arranged were not ordinary—they were rather rare and less commonly encountered. The fact that the other party could recognize them at a glance clearly indicated a high level of mastery in array arts. The graceful lady and the blue-robed youth instantly became humble, bowing their heads and gazing down, fully adopting the elder’s demeanor. However, this left him now facing the young man alone, and as he silently groaned, he could hardly bear the frustration mounting in his heart toward these two. Indeed, a Yuan Ying-stage immortal was rarely patient—now having to speak all the while, the situation was truly perilous. "Senior, please don't misunderstand. I'm more interested in the principles of array formations. The arrangements I've made are merely a way for me to test the effects of several specific formations." Under pressure, the elder suddenly came up with a reason that seemed plausible. Upon hearing this, the young man remained composed, carefully studying the three of them with his gaze. Then, unexpectedly, he said something that startled all three. " What is the connection between you three and the bearded man?" "Senior, I'm not quite sure what you mean," the graceful woman raised her head, unable to hold back her words. "Your cultivation techniques differ, yet each of you clearly bears the imprint of the Bearded Man's 'TianMo Power.' You might not notice this with others, but with me—ah, you see..." The young man smiled calmly. "Senior, do you know my master?" Seeing that he could no longer feign ignorance, the blue-robed youth took a deep breath and finally acknowledged it. However, upon hearing this question, both the elder and the graceful woman showed signs of unease. "We've only met a few times. You must have come to retrieve treasures from the lake's depths! Isn't it true that the bearded man claims the hidden cave is known only to him? Now here you all are—how many of you have suddenly appeared? It seems he's not deliberately deceiving me with empty words. Perhaps you three have learned of the cave's location through other means." The young man's last few sentences came out almost as a private thought. Yet to the three listening below, they sounded like a thunderclap—shocking them all into silence. Even though they had sensed something amiss, the fact that the guest had immediately revealed the secret location of the hidden cave left them utterly at a loss. If it had been a Jiandan cultivator, they would have had no choice but to act immediately and eliminate him. But he was a Yuanying cultivator—how could they dare to move? Moreover, the way the young man phrased it suggested that the cave's location had been personally shared with him by the bearded man. That revelation left them even more bewildered—could it be that their master had not yet perished? As this thought crossed their minds, their expressions grew increasingly uncertain and fluctuated between "We three are indeed disciples of the Man-Teacher's school, but I wonder how the elder and our master would like to be addressed." The graceful woman regained her composure first, offering a smile despite her efforts. "Of course, call him 'Man-Hair'! You three... Hmm, I didn't expect this small island to be so lively. Who's hiding there? Come out and show yourselves!" As Han Li spoke, his tone had been calm and composed until now, but suddenly his expression darkened, and he raised his hand, lightly tapping the hillside near the lake with five fingers in succession. Instantly, several strands of silvery hair shot out, then shimmered and transformed into several beams of green light, each stretching several zhang in length, and cutting straight through. The graceful woman watched in astonishment, her face instantly turning pale. With several thunderous crashes, the thick beams of green light struck the hillside, and surprisingly, they severed a significant portion of it. Yet what astonished the young man and the elder was that within the wreckage of the hill, a bald man suddenly emerged, glowing with light. This man had broad, muscular features, yet his entire body shimmered with a brilliant golden glow, as though his clothing and robe were entirely forged from pure yellow gold. At this moment, the tall man raised a golden-tinged shield with one hand, projecting a semi-circular golden aura that deflected several sword beams, and stared at Han Li with wide-eyed astonishment. "Jin Hua Elder!" As soon as he saw the man in golden robes, the gray-robed elder gasped, exclaiming aloud. At that very instant, a flash of red light shot toward the tall man, then vanished twice before spiraling and settling behind the brocade-clad man, revealing a graceful figure. It was the beautiful woman! "Carina, you've allied yourself with Jin Hua Elder!" The gray-robed elder, a seasoned observer of many trials, was stunned and shouted in both surprise and outrage as the scene unfolded. The blue-robed young man beside him immediately grew pale and his expression darkened. Clearly, the beautiful woman had been plotting all along—as soon as the pavilion was opened, she immediately teamed up with the dignified man in golden robes to eliminate them, securing control over all the treasures. "Hmph. What claim do you have to say against me? Wu, didn't you secretly inform the Bloodlight Gate's people to intercept me on the way? As for Lei, you've joined the Wood Sword Pavilion of Caodui Island and even planned to marry the daughter of the Pavilion's master—your dowry, isn't it, precisely all the treasures of this pavilion? If it weren't for my sharp instincts, the very moment the pavilion's seals were broken would have been the moment of my demise. Nevertheless, now I have no hope of relying on your two families' reinforcements. The Elder has already dispatched forces to intercept them halfway. I've been accompanying the Hairy Man for so many years—his belongings should have all belonged to me. And the Elder has already pledged to formally marry me." The beautiful woman laughed lightly, with great satisfaction, standing side by side with the man in golden robes in a most intimate manner. "Given all that, then—" Master Cai, why did you initially have to personally come to me and to Master Wu, when you could have simply taken the treasures by yourself? Upon hearing the young lady break her plans, the blue-robed youth showed a flicker of anxiety, but quickly composed himself, instead asking with a more somber tone. "Had it not been for the profound and intricate restrictions beneath the lake, difficult to activate, and the fact that only you two have received genuine teachings from the burly man in the art of array formation, how could I have entrusted you with the secret of the treasure vault?" It seems the young lady intends to fully sever her relations with the two elders, now speaking with unreserved coldness. The expressions of both the gray-robed elder and the young man grew noticeably displeased. "Enough. We'll discuss your matter with him later. I'd like to speak a few words first with this fellow." The man in the brocade robe frowned, interrupting the young lady's further remarks. Upon hearing this, the young lady immediately fell silent and listened attentively. "Is this fellow also here for the treasures hidden in the secret pavilion of the burly man?" The Golden-Flowered Elder gazed at Han Li for a moment, then asked slowly. As a cultivator at the early Yuan婴 stage, he couldn't discern the depth of Han Li's cultivation, and thus grew increasingly wary. "Indeed, I'll take what's beneath the lake. If you're not in any hurry, you may now depart," Han Li said, floating in midair—his words immediately drawing all eyes. Upon hearing this, the golden-robed man erupted in anger, his heart also stirred with respect. Such a confident tone clearly indicated that the other possessed genuine prowess. With this thought, he suppressed his initial ire and faced Han Li with a stern expression: "You speak so casually—do you intend to send me back empty-handed while claiming all the treasures here for yourself?" The Golden-Flowered Elder's tone now grew distinctly sharp! (Second update!