Published: September 9, 2025
Chapter 856: The Demonic Shadow of Tian Nan
While Huang Yuanming and the other cultivators cautiously faced Han Li, their eyes couldn't help but sneak a glance toward the direction of the pool.
Originally, more than half of the pool was filled with spiritual spring water, but after Han Li had dipped into it and stirred it up, more than half of the water was instantly lost. Only a thin, pitiful layer of water remained in the pool.
Seeing this, the three old fellows naturally felt a sharp pain in their hearts. But facing Han Li, whose cultivation base was unfathomable, they could only force a smile and pretend ignorance, so as not to offend this senior expert and bring disaster upon their family.
At the moment Han Li evaporated the water from his body, he also smelled the peculiar fragrance from the spiritual spring. After his contemplative expression faded, he instinctively glanced back at the pool behind him.
This seemingly casual glance from Han Li made the three elders opposite him feel uneasy and restless for a long while.
Their three families had guarded this spiritual spring for so many years, and now it seemed that Han Li had taken a liking to it. If that was truly the case, all they could do was offer it up willingly, not daring to refuse.
Han Li’s gaze merely swept past the pool without any trace of greed. Instead, he turned around and said calmly to the three:
“I haven’t been involved in the secular world for a long time, so I’m somewhat unfamiliar with the recent happenings in Tian Nan. Could the three of you fellow cultivators briefly introduce some of the major events of recent years?”
“Of course, senior. If you don’t mind, please follow us to the main hall of our Huang family. We will serve you tea and answer any questions you have without reserve,” Huang Yuanming said respectfully, feeling greatly relieved as he saw Han Li had no interest in their spiritual spring.
The other two elders also breathed a sigh of relief.
“Alright. There are indeed many things I want to ask. I will trouble you three fellow cultivators,” Han Li said after scanning the younger disciples from the three families nearby and giving it some thought, nodding in agreement.
“Not at all! It is our honor to receive a senior like you!” Huang Yuanming said with a broad smile. Then he instructed several disciples to hurry back and make preparations to avoid any negligence that could offend Han Li.
After that, he personally led Han Li away from the spot toward a cluster of pavilions nestled in the middle of the mountain peak.
The other two elders, after giving some orders to their relatives, hurriedly followed, respectfully never leaving Han Li’s side.
“Is it rare for your three families to live together like this?” Han Li asked casually on the way, having already learned roughly about the location and the identities of the three elders. He was somewhat surprised.
“Senior, you flatter us. We simply have no other place to stand, so we are confined here,” Huang Yuanming replied with a bitter smile.
“I see that some of the young disciples in your families have quite good aptitude. Why haven’t you sent them to those prominent immortal cultivator sects? Even if they can’t become personal disciples, becoming outer disciples wouldn’t be impossible,” Han Li said with a curious and slightly strange expression.
“You don’t know. Although Dongyu State has numerous immortal cultivator sects, most already have fixed immortal families supplying disciples, or are controlled jointly by several families. As a minor sect like ours, we have no qualification to be noticed by these sects. Even if one or two outstanding disciples arise in our sect, we dare not easily let them join those sects. Our families need them to stay and support the sect’s reputation,” one of the elders, a chubby-faced man, carefully explained to Han Li with a hint of helplessness.
These family elders, if they had been willing to join major sects in their youth, might have advanced further in cultivation. But for the sake of their family’s continuation, they could only remain behind with a sense of melancholy. This was the helpless reality of small families.