Gathering of Old Monsters

Dong Xuan’er wore an odd expression and calmly replied, “That person is an old acquaintance. I haven’t seen him for many years. I was just a bit surprised to see him.”

“An old acquaintance? That person is an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, and he’s actually able to attend today’s gathering. Furthermore, he looks so young. He should be that newly renowned Drifting Cloud Sect elder. Speaking of which, this person’s surname is also Han, and his name is exactly the same as the one you mentioned before. Could it be this person?” Old Devil Cloud Dew didn’t get angry at Dong Xuan’er’s stiff reply. Instead, he calmly asked, as if his relationship with Dong Xuan’er was unusual.

Dong Xuan’er’s face paled upon hearing this, but she remained silent.

A cold light flashed through Old Devil Cloud Dew’s eyes and he coldly snorted. He didn’t pursue the matter any further, but a trace of gloominess appeared on his face.

When the old devil brought Dong Xuan’er to the entrance of the hall, the Core Formation cultivators on duty were all trembling with fear. They only asked a few questions before quickly letting them pass. Of course, Dong Xuan’er was unable to enter and could only be led to a side hall to rest.

After Han Li walked into the hall, he soon saw the entrance to the main hall and immediately quickened his pace.

The interior of the hall was very simple. In addition to the huge stone pillars, there was a large area of empty space in the middle of the hall. There were sixteen or seventeen exquisite wooden chairs placed every ten feet.

There were seven or eight cultivators with different expressions sitting on these chairs.

When they saw Han Li enter, some glanced at him coldly, some turned a blind eye, and some closed their eyes to rest. They all went about their own business as if there was no one else around.

However, when one of them saw Han Li enter, he revealed a friendly smile and waved at Han Li.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you’ve come out of seclusion. If you don’t mind, you can sit next to me.”

This person was none other than the person in charge of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Long Han of the Phoenix Cry Sect.

“Many thanks, Brother Long!”

Han Li did not decline but sit down on a chair beside him. Then, he sized up the few people present and sat there quietly.

A short moment later, Old Devil Cloud Dew appeared at the entrance.

When he saw everyone in the hall, he chuckled and walked over to an empty chair before taking the seat.

Not far from where he sat, there was a blue-robed old man. He held a small green teapot in one hand and a white jade cup in the other. He was drinking as if there was no one else present.

As soon as Old Devil Cloud Dew sat down near him, a wave of fragrance immediately wafted through the air, causing him to glare at Old Devil Cloud Dew and feel extremely unlucky.

The old devil did not care about the old man’s dissatisfaction at all. Instead, his gaze flickered a few times and landed on Han Li, who was diagonally opposite him. He sized Han Li up with interest again.

This time, it was Han Li’s turn to be restless.

He frowned and closed his eyes without any expression on his face. However, he was thinking about the relationship between the old devil and Dong Xuan’er.

After Dong Xuan’er was abducted by the young master of the Harmonious Bond Sect, she joined the Devil Sect. Although that old devil had a bad reputation, he shouldn’t have touched a disciple of his sect. The two should have some sort of relationship.

Otherwise, the old devil wouldn’t have come to this gathering with Dong Xuan’er along with him.

Just as Han Li was feeling a little confused, more and more people entered the hall.

These people were naturally mid-Nascent Soul cultivators. Some of them knew the people who came before them, but some of them had a deep grudge against them. As a result, greetings and mocking voices sounded from time to time in the hall.

At this moment, Old Devil Cloud Dew had already shifted his gaze away from Han Li.

However, Han Li still did not move. He felt that among the mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, he did not recognize many people, so there was naturally no need to greet anyone.

“Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul! I didn’t think that you would also come. I heard that Fellow Daoist’s Nine Souls Secret Technique has already reached the Perfection Stage. This is truly worthy of celebration.”

“Shattered Soul!” This greeting made Han Li’s heart skip a beat, and he could not help but open his eyes.

At the entrance of the hall, a shriveled black-robed old man walked in. A black-robed cultivator was warmly greeting him.

The black-robed old man faltered slightly before immediately walking over with a smile on his face.

“What? Has Fellow Daoist Han seen Shattered Soul before?” Long Han noticed Han Li’s abnormality and asked with a smile.

“No, I’ve only heard Senior Brother Cheng mention this person before. I heard that he’s quite powerful,” Han Li said with an unchanged expression. He didn’t mention that he had killed a group of Shattered Soul’s disciples during his trip to the State of Yue.

Long Ha smiled and said, “Hehe, no wonder. I recall that Elder Cheng once fought him and suffered a small loss, so he naturally had a deep impression of him. However, with Fellow Daoist Han’s current reputation, there is no need to fear him. Still, there is one mid-Nascent Soul cultivator that Fellow Daoist Han should not provoke. Even the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South would have a headache if they encountered him.”

“To be able to give the three great cultivators a headache? Such a person exists?” Han Li raised his eyebrows and was a little shocked.

Long Han carefully explained, “Of course. This person had fought with Fellow Daoist Sunreach, one of the three great cultivators. Although he nearly died from serious injuries, he managed to slightly injure Fellow Daoist Sunreach and escape. As a result, this person is publicly acknowledged as an existence only second to the three great cultivators. However, this person has always been a loner. Even if the spell warriors are invading, it is still unknown whether he will come. Otherwise, he would be of great assistance.”

“To be able to heavily injure a late-Nascent Soul cultivator! This person is really capable. I wonder which expert he is. He should be quite famous, right?” Han Li pursed his lips and asked curiously.

Long Han smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist must’ve heard of him. You should be familiar with the name Eccentric Heavenvenge.”

“Eccentric Heavenvenge! It’s actually this person. I’ve indeed heard of him for a long time,” Han Li muttered with a bitter smile. The incident of pretending to be a low-level cultivator in the forbidden area of the holy tree suddenly flashed through his mind.

At that time, the spies of the Righteous and Devil Dao were extremely fearful of Eccentric Heavenvenge.

“However, among the Nascent Soul cultivators, Brother Long and your wife should be second only to the three great cultivators!” Han Li blinked and said with a smile.

But when Long Han heard this, he shook his head.

Long Han solemnly said, “Although Feng Bing and I have some abilities, we are most likely no match for him in a one-on-one fight. Of course, if the two of us were to join hands, that would be a different matter.”

Han Li smiled when he heard this. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt that someone was looking at him. Their gaze was cold and gloomy, as if they were up to no good.

Han Li became vigilant, but his expression did not change. He turned his head slightly and met that person’s gaze.

It was an unfamiliar, long-bearded old man in green robes.

When the old man saw Han Li looking at him, the cold light in his eyes receded and he looked away expressionlessly, as if nothing had happened.

However, Han Li did not relax because of this. Instead, he stared at this person for a long time.

Long Han chuckled upon seeing this. “What? Fellow Daoist Han doesn’t recognize him?”

“From Brother Long’s words, should I know him?” Han Li was a little puzzled.

“This person is the grand elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect, Dong Mentu. He holds great authority in the Controlling Spirit Sect. Although I haven’t had any dealings with this person, I’ve heard that he has a very good relationship with Gu Shuangpu. They are as close as brothers. And you killed Gu Shuangpu as a Moulan spy. This person didn’t say anything because he had sufficient evidence, but he is definitely dissatisfied with you. Fellow Daoist must be careful.” Long Han gave a profound reminder.

When Han Li heard this, he rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly, but he kept thanking him.

In the short span of fifteen minutes, most of the chairs in the hall were filled with cultivators.

It was quite funny. It was unknown whether it was intentional or not, but almost all of the Devil Dao cultivators were seated on the right side of the hall. As for the Righteous Dao Alliance cultivators, they occupied most of the chairs on the left side of the hall.

Only the cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Nine Nations Union seemed unconcerned as they casually sat down on either side.

Among these cultivators, there was another familiar face that Han Li recognized. It was the cultivator surnamed Kuang from the Nihang Pavilion. He happened to be on the side of the Devil Dao. When he saw Han Li looking over, he smiled at Han Li.

Han Li naturally nodded.

At this moment, Long Han sent a voice transmission to Han Li to identify the other two Heavenly Dao Alliance cultivators. One of them was an ordinary-looking woman with light makeup, while the other was an old man with a distressed expression.

Han Li took another look at these two people and memorized their appearances.

At this moment, perhaps because there were too many people, the expressions of the people present became solemn. No one was chatting anymore, and they were all coldly sizing up the others.

Almost all of these people were top-notch existences in the Heavenly South Region, and all of them had gathered here. Regardless of whether they knew each other, they had all sorts of thoughts.

Among these people, Han Li was an extremely special existence.

With the powerful spiritual sense of these old monsters, they could tell that Han Li’s cultivation base was shallow the moment their gazes swept past Han Li. Naturally, they knew who Han Li was.

After all, Han Li’s reputation had spread far and wide in the past six months. It was impossible for these old monsters to not have heard of him.

Han Li, on the other hand, sat there with his eyelids drooping. He did not pay any attention to anyone, as if he was responding to all changes by remaining unchanged.

Just as the hall began to become incomparably quiet and even somewhat solemn, three people finally walked out from the side door.

All of the old monsters that were silently looking at the others suddenly turned their gazes over.

There was a black-robed man, a green-haired old man, and a Daoist priest carrying a sword on his back.

Han Li’s expression remained the same, but his heart thumped. These three were the three great cultivators. They were also the only three late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the entire Heavenly South Region in the past thousand years.

The others had different expressions, but most of them, like Han Li, looked at the three of them without batting an eyelid, quietly waiting for them to speak.