In the central region of the southern realm, the Xu State's immortal cultivation world has seen continuous conflicts over the past few centuries. Initially, the six major sects of Xu were defeated by the demonic path. Subsequently, the demonic sects engaged in fierce competition for dominance within Xu, ultimately resulting in the victory of the Gui Ling Sect. However, a century ago, when the Gui Ling Sect suffered significant setbacks following its defeat at the Fall of the Magician Valley, the Yuling Sect seized the opportunity and unexpectedly allied with several other sects to launch a coordinated assault, forcing the Gui Ling Sect out of Xu. Today, the Xu State is jointly divided among several major sects, led by the Yuling Sect. Naturally, the Yuling Sect holds nearly half of the country's spiritual veins and mineral resources. One of these mineral deposits—located deep within a vast canyon—is currently under the control of the Yuling Sect. Though the original reserves of this stone were once abundant, after centuries of relentless excavation by the six original Xu sects, the Gui Ling Sect, and the Yuling Sect, the stone supply has gradually dwindled and the site now stands in a state of partial abandonment. Currently, the Yuling Sect maintains only two junior Qi-level disciples to On this day, two disciples of the Yuling Sect were chatting casually at the entrance of the mine, speaking of various events within the sect. Above them, on the surface ground, a silvery figure moved silently, using earth-walking technique to descend into the ground and materialize directly within a modest cavern deep in the heart of the mine. The two disciples were completely unaware of this throughout. A flash of yellow light revealed the figure's true form—a young man of unremarkable appearance. He glanced at the empty corner of the cavern and smiled gently. This man was Han Li, who had journeyed all the way from Xigu State. A month ago, after emerging from his seclusion, he had not seen Nangong Wan, whom he had long cared for. Unlike Han Li, Nangong Wan had several times left her seclusion over the course of a hundred years, traveling extensively throughout the southern lands to refine her inner cultivation. When Han Li stepped out, Nan Gong Wan had already returned to the inner chamber several years earlier to continue her next stage of closed-door cultivation. Han Li felt a touch of regret, but did not disturb her—instead, he sent a message scroll to inform her of his intention to travel far away. Then he went to see Lü Luo and Liu Yu within the Luoyun Sect. Upon seeing Han Li, both of them were naturally overjoyed. Over the years, through their vigorous development, the Luoyun Sect's influence had grown rapidly, now standing as one of the foremost great sects in the entire Tiannan region. Moreover, the Song-family woman from Bai Feng Peak had successfully condensed her Yuan Yin over the past hundred years, becoming the fourth Yuan Yin cultivator of the Luoyun Sect. Han Li was pleased to hear this. Yet what surprised him even more was that, after years of searching, the Song-family woman had finally found a disciple with naturally powerful spiritual awareness over a decade ago. However, due to Han Li's closed-door cultivation, this disciple had been practicing independently within the sect and was said to possess excellent spiritual root qualities—specifically, a dual-element spiritual root. Upon hearing this, Han Li was immediately struck by interest and summoned the young man. To his surprise, the disciple turned out to be a slender yet refined sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth. Han Li personally tested him and found that his innate spiritual awareness was remarkably strong, nearly double that of his peers. Most importantly, the youth demonstrated a solid and steady character, which greatly pleased Han Li. Without any hesitation, he directly asked the young man if he would like to become his disciple. The young man, named Shi Jian, had already learned of Han Li's identity. Upon hearing that Han Li, renowned as the first cultivator of the southern region, wished to take him as a disciple, he was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply, kneeling to formally join Han Li's sect. Han Li laughed heartily and then led the young disciple back to the Zimu Peak, where he established a dwelling for Shi Jian in another subsidiary peak, and also copied one copy of the Daxian Scripture for him. Besides instructing the youth to diligently cultivate the Daxian Decision, Han Li allowed him to freely choose and practice other techniques and secret arts described in the scripture, intervening only minimally. Given the extraordinary talent of the Daxian Divine Sovereign in ancient times, the scripture contained a wealth of such methods and secrets. Of course, Han Li also ensured that the still early-stage Qi cultivation disciple received a sufficient supply of pills and called upon the young girl Tian Qin'er, one of his own disciples, to oversee and guide Shi Jian in his cultivation for a period of time. Indeed, although Tian Qin'er possessed the Long-Resonance Body and had cultivated intermittently, her cultivation had been consistently supported by the numerous pills provided by the humanoid automaton, enabling her to finally reach the Mid-Base Stage over the past hundred years. It now seemed that Han Li's expectation—that this young lady would achieve the Condensation Stage—was truly coming true. With the young disciple now under his care, the matter that had long weighed on Han Li's heart finally found resolution. When the Great Yanshan Immortal passed away, he had entrusted Han Li with finding a disciple to carry forward the legacy of the Great Yanshan Scripture. Han Li had planned to send the young man off to the far west as soon as he reached the level of condensed essence (Jie Dan), bestowing upon him several powerful artifacts, so that he could vie for the position of head of the Thousand Bamboo Sect and thus inherit the Great Yanshan Immortal's lineage. As for Mu Peilin, who resided at one of the peaks, having mastered the secret teachings of the Yanyue Sect passed down by Nan Gong Wan, her cultivation had significantly advanced and she had now reached the late stage of the condensed essence (Jie Dan) realm. She was currently engaged in continuous meditation and refining her inner energy, striving to achieve full maturity at this stage and eventually break through into the Yuan Yin (Immortal) realm. Han Li did not believe in Mu Peilin's future potential. It was not that her aptitude was poor, but rather that each Yuan Yin cultivator who successfully condensed their immortal embryo typically possessed Mu Peiling, though exceptionally diligent in her cultivation, would likely face a similarly dim prospect of advancing to the Yuan Ying stage unless she encountered some extraordinary fortune. After completing all arrangements for the sect's affairs and her own dwelling, Han Li no longer hesitated and departed immediately from Yunmeng Mountain, heading straight toward Yue State. Indeed, the reports from Ling Yuling indicated that the Star Palace was now in a dire situation, seemingly thoroughly outmatched by the Inverse Star Alliance—otherwise, they would not have dispatched the ten-thousand-li seal specifically to seek his assistance. Han Li did not wish to arrive in the Turbulent Star Sea only to find that the very person he intended to rescue had perished. Now, he stood once again within the ancient transmission array's underground cavern, deep within the grand gully. Although he had deliberately destroyed the array upon his last return, he had memorized its precise layout. As long as he re-established the array in its original position, he would naturally be able to transmit himself back to the Turbulent Star Sea. What reassured Han Li even more was that only two young cultivators at the current stage of Qi Condensation remained on duty here. With a mere display of illusion, he could easily conceal himself from their notice and ensure they would never detect any anomaly. Thinking thus, Han Li immediately grasped his waist pouch and cast it into the air. The pouch spun smoothly in the low space, then suddenly inverted, spraying a stream of hazy, radiant light toward the ground. After the light settled, a large pile of materials—mostly rare stones and spiritual jade—rose to half a person's height on the ground. Han Li remained expressionless, then raised his hand once more, casting a gesture toward the sky. This time, a series of flashes of white light emerged from the pouch, releasing several banners and a few ritual discs, which floated in mid-air, glowing with varied hues of spiritual light. Han Li murmured softly to himself, then gently brushed the array of devices with his sleeve. Instantly, the instruments transformed into colorful radiance and faded into the surrounding cave walls, vanishing one by one. Then, thick plumes of white mist rose from the cave, quickly engulfing Han Li. At this moment, any cultivator passing by from outside would see the cave empty and unremarkable, as if nothing extraordinary had happened. The protective spells generated by the array had completely concealed Han Li and the large pile of materials used in the setup. Yet Han Li had already been busy within the cave. With his current mastery of array techniques and his extensive experience, setting up a well-known, compact array—provided he had sufficient materials—was a matter of ease. In just two days, a brand-new ancient teleportation array had appeared in a corner of the cave. After carefully inspecting the array, Han Li cast a single spell. The central area flashed with white light, then emitted a series of low hums, followed by flashes of spiritual light across various parts of the array, which then gradually faded on their own. It seemed the teleportation array was fully functional and ready to operate. Han Li was pleased, and with a simple movement of his body, he stepped onto the array. But as he was about to activate the spell array, his gaze swept toward the entrance of the cavern, and a moment of hesitation flashed across his face. After slightly bowing and thinking over it, he suddenly struck his belt where a spirit-beast pouch was attached. A hissing sound erupted from within the pouch, and the opening unfolded, spewing out a dense stream of white wind and snow directly. Then, twelve snow-white centipedes emerged into view, each about a foot long, with four wings on their backs, their forms fierce and imposing. After releasing these six-winged frost centipedes, Han Li murmured incantations and cast a series of spell gestures toward the spirit-beasts. The creatures quickly shrank, and in a moment, they had reduced to the size of palm-sized beings. Then, each one opened its mouth, exhaling streams of cold breath that encircled its body, and gradually froze it into solid form. A short while later, a series of translucent, sparkling ice spheres appeared before Han Li. With a swift motion, Han Li used his ten fingers to tap the ice spheres in succession, sending out twelve streaks of silvery threads that instantly vanished into the ice. Then, without any spell cast by Han Li, the twelve ice balls simultaneously plunged downward, vanishing into the ground as they shimmered in yellow light. Only then did Han Li give a slight nod. With these twelve spirit creatures—each equivalent to a seventh-level beast—guarding the site, even a Yuan婴 cultivator would find it difficult to easily destroy this transmission array. Now, he felt much more at ease. Immediately, Han Li activated the array beneath his feet, and in a flash of white light, he disappeared into thin air. A moment later, a streak of jade-colored light rose from the island, swerved slightly, and then surged forward toward a certain direction, vanishing against the horizon.