"Yue Song, you..."
"Hmph, don't blame me, brother. We're all in the same boat. I'm sorry to have wronged you." With that, he slapped the yellow-robed man on the back, pushing him toward Han Li. He then quickly sank into the ground, clearly using an earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique for escaping or hiding) to retreat.
But the moment he burrowed into the earth, he felt the ground around him writhe and squeeze inwards. Before he could make a move, he was reduced to a bloody pulp. On the ground, the man in the yellow robe only saw a fountain of blood gushing from the ground. He was utterly horrified.
Forcibly breaking free from his restraints, he produced an ice crystal longsword and slashed towards Han Li's throat. This man was ruthless; he knew he was no match for Han Li, but he didn't continue to flee. Instead, he was prepared to trade his life for Han Li's.
However, Han Li merely glanced disdainfully at the man's lousy swordsmanship. As someone from a martial arts sect who had once relied on swordsmanship to survive, he considered the yellow-robed man's swordsmanship utterly abysmal.
Another flash of lightning, and the body of the man in the yellow robe fell to the ground.
Han Li left no survivors, nor did he intend to interrogate them. He didn't have much experience in cultivation, but his experience in the martial world was abundant. There was nothing worth asking about this. It was simply a case of being greedy for money. However, this only strengthened Han Li's resolve to become a notorious money-grubber.
Meanwhile, Lu Xuan wasn't constantly monitoring Han Li's movements. Instead, he was beginning to prepare his own plans for this world.
This time, those who accompanied him through the time travel were the same group from the beginning: Hongyu, Hongxiu, Xiaoqing, Xiaobai, Xiaolan, Xiaoqian, Qingfeng, Yuechi, and his personal disciple Xin Shisi Niang.
Lu Xuan's original plan was to have several people join different sects to gather information. However, upon further reflection, he realized this method was too risky. This world wasn't exactly peaceful. Cultivators weren't exactly merciful either. Most cultivators were self-serving.
Beautiful female cultivators, if their cultivation level is insufficient, are a rare and exceptional resource. The women around Lu Xuan, whether human, demon, ghost, or spirit, are all top-tier beauties. No matter which sect they join, they will inevitably attract attention. Therefore, he ultimately abandoned the idea.
After much deliberation, Lu Xuan finally decided to let them take a step back and disperse into various cultivation families in the surrounding area.
Anyway, his people all use the Moon Refining technique of Ape Strike to directly absorb the essence of the moon for cultivation. The requirements for spiritual veins aren't high. The matter of spiritual veins can be considered after the sect is established.
On the other side, Han Li fought three cultivators alone, killed them, and quickly left the original location, finding a mortal town to hide in.
Throughout the book, we can see that, unlike most protagonists in online novels, Han Laomo's talent is actually not very high. However, this does not affect his intelligence.
In fact, his various adventures throughout his life reveal him to be a truly ruthless, decisive, and shrewd individual.
Although it was only a brief confrontation, he still discovered a great deal of problems.
First, he seems to have made a common-sense mistake. Or rather, he was misled into making a common-sense mistake.
That is, he always assumed that most cultivators, like him, were proficient in almost dozens of basic spells and could adapt to their opponents by using spells of different elements.
However, the previous battle greatly disappointed him. Those three enemies were incredibly weak. One used earth magic and immense strength, another used ice magic, and the third even used a machete for close combat! It completely lacked the magical combat he had imagined.
This aroused Han Li's suspicion, because these three were all at the same level of Qi Refining, the eighth level, just like him. But since they dared to come to his door, they must have some kind of backing.
However, throughout the entire battle, each of the three enemies only used about three spells. Even when they supposedly held back, they didn't employ any moves that Han Li found particularly threatening. This rendered Han Li's dozen or so targeted counter-attack plans useless, and deepened his suspicions.
My understanding of the cultivation world seems to be flawed. Or rather, the information I received from that mysterious stall owner doesn't seem very reliable.
At first, the person implied that these basic spells were something anyone in the cultivation world knew, purely intended for a novice like him. But now it seems the popularity of these spells is far less than imagined. He wondered why the person had lied to him, but "lie" wasn't quite right either. The other person hadn't gained any benefit; in fact, they'd inadvertently helped him. After all, it was because of the other person's information that he had prepared so thoroughly.
Han Li couldn't figure it out, so he could only keep his doubts to himself.
Actually, he had genuinely misunderstood Lu Xuan this time. He didn't realize that both he and Lu Xuan were overpowered by this world.
Can ordinary cultivators eat Qi-restoring pills like food? Without enough Qi-restoring pills, who can learn more than a dozen spells in ten days? They'd need to meditate and rest after practicing a few times.
Lu Xuan was the same; the competition among cultivators in this world had never been so fierce. Resources were limited, and most rogue cultivators could only learn one or two signature supernatural abilities. Who had the time and resources to truly learn all the basic spells?
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Chapter 477 Blood-Red Forbidden Land
Jianzhou was located in the northern part of the Yue Kingdom, ranking second in area among the thirteen prefectures. Its territory was mostly mountainous and hilly, sparsely populated, and bordered the neighboring Yuanwu Kingdom.
The Taiyue Mountains, located in western Jianzhou, stretch for thousands of miles. Not only are they teeming with wild beasts and birds of prey, but they are also pristine forests rarely visited by humans. Occasionally, woodcutters and hunters even claim to have seen gods and monsters, adding to the area's mystique.
All of this vaguely suggests that a sect of immortal cultivators exists in these mountains.
That's right, the Yellow Maple Valley, one of the seven major sects, is located here, and it has stood for thousands of years.
Although Yellow Maple Valley isn't considered a truly major sect in this world, it still holds a significant advantage compared to the sects in the Jade Dynasty world.
From above, this place appears no different from any other mountain range. It's rugged and lush with trees. But in reality, the area extending for dozens of miles below is covered by a massive, intricate array. What the naked eye sees is merely an illusion.
Below, countless pavilions and halls had already been built, and cultivators riding leaf-shaped magical artifacts flew around in the low sky, constantly busy.
The Yellow Maple Valley has tens of thousands of outer disciples, inner disciples, personal disciples, elders, and so on.
At this moment, a heated debate is taking place in the main hall of Yellow Maple Valley.
The reason, of course, is because of Han Laomo.
Han Li obtained an Ascension Token from the Golden Light Master. It was specifically for use in Yellow Maple Valley.
The Ascension Token is a very special item. It doesn't possess any special attributes in itself. However, it represents a promise from a sect. If an elder or higher-ranking member of a sect receives a favor from someone outside, they can issue an Ascension Token.
The benefactor's family or descendants, regardless of how many years have passed, can seek help from this sect as long as they possess the Ascension Token. This sect, in turn, must accept them as disciples regardless of their aptitude. Simply put, it's a vow-making tool.
Since learning about the problems faced by rogue cultivators, Han Li naturally wanted to find a major sect to rely on. Therefore, he naturally used the Ascension Token. Furthermore, the Ascension Token had a significant advantage: it allowed one to directly obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Don't be fooled by the protagonists in online novels who seem to possess extraordinary abilities like Great Luo Golden Immortals or Primordial Dao Fruits. The cultivation world in the mortal realm is brutally competitive to the extreme. The vast majority of cultivators never even reach the Foundation Establishment stage in their entire lives. Therefore, the value of a single Foundation Establishment Pill is enough to drive countless people mad.
Elixirs are becoming increasingly precious in the cultivation world today. The main reason is the growing number of cultivators, who require massive quantities of elixirs every year. However, the rare and precious materials used to refine these elixirs take hundreds, even thousands of years to mature.
Even after major sects began cultivating their own medicinal fields, they could only cultivate some mid- to low-grade spiritual herbs. Truly high-grade spiritual herbs still required the natural growth of spiritual energy from heaven and earth. Therefore, rare and precious natural treasures became increasingly scarce, and elixirs became increasingly valuable.
Although Foundation Establishment Pills may seem like pills only for disciples in the Qi Refining stage, the materials required are extremely rare and expensive. Therefore, the refining of each Foundation Establishment Pill involves a strict and precise allocation of ingredients.
But now, Han Li has suddenly appeared. According to the rules, he is entitled to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill through the Ascension Token. This means that one of the originally allocated Foundation Establishment Pill slots will need to be transferred to Han Li.