As soon as Han Li stepped onto the third floor, several spiritual senses swept over him, making him realize that these people were all at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, much stronger than him, an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. During his four years of closed-door cultivation in his cave dwelling, his cultivation had only approached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, but there was still a layer of paper that hadn't been pierced, which made Han Li somewhat regretful.
However, thinking about it, this was quite normal. After all, reaching near the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment in just four years was already much faster than most cultivators. And this last layer of paper was the first bottleneck after his Foundation Establishment, which could not be broken through merely by taking pills; it mostly required a certain amount of opportunity.
Otherwise, no matter how many pills he took, it would only deepen his cultivation base, but this realm could not be easily crossed.
While thinking, Han Li casually surveyed everything on the floor.
All the people on the third floor were cultivators who had completed Foundation Establishment. But clearly, these cultivators had split into two groups. One group wore the familiar attire of the Seven Great Sects, while the other group had mixed and diverse clothing, all made up of cultivators from other countries.
The cultivators from the Seven Great Sects numbered only five, but they all sat at one table, whispering among themselves, appearing somewhat intimate. The foreign cultivators, though seven or eight in number, mostly sat one or two per table, sipping tea with cold expressions, showing no signs of chatting or discussing with each other.
This contrast between movement and stillness made Han Li sense a hostile atmosphere of confrontation.
Han Li's arrival naturally drew the attention of the other cultivators. Besides those who had checked him earlier, everyone else looked at him. Without hesitation, Han Li walked toward the table of the Seven Great Sects cultivators. After all, he was one of them.
Han Li's approach made the other cultivators withdraw their gazes, ignoring him as if he were invisible! The people from the Seven Great Sects, however, stood up with smiles to greet him.
The Yellow Maple Valley attire on Han Li's body needed no introduction; these people were equally familiar with it.
"I am Han Li of the Yellow Maple Valley! Greetings to all senior brothers and sisters!" Han Li kept his posture low. Among the five people before him, three were actually at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. The other two were at the early-stage like him.
"Junior Brother Han! I am Wuzi of the Qingxu Sect, and this is Junior Brother Wuyouzi. And these three are Junior Brother Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain, Senior Brother Ba of Giant Sword Sect, and Junior Sister Fang of Heavenly Que Fortress." The older of the two Daoists at the table politely returned Han Li's greeting and briefly introduced everyone present.
"Since Junior Brother has arrived, first taste the famous Snow Bell Tea of the Yan family! This is a premium tea that the teahouse provides exclusively to us foreign cultivators!" The cultivator surnamed Wu from Spirit Beast Mountain was a middle-aged man with a constant smile. As soon as Han Li sat down, he immediately picked up the teapot on the table and poured Han Li a cup of white-mist-surrounded spirit tea.
Han Li nodded with a smile and took a small sip.
Regardless of whether this person genuinely wanted to pour him tea, the surface courtesies still had to be observed.
"Excellent tea!" Even Han Li, who was not particular about tea, couldn't help but praise it.
As soon as the tea went down his throat, a cool sensation of ice and snow rose from his abdomen, followed by an incredibly fragrant taste on his lips and tongue, leaving a lasting aftertaste!
Upon hearing this, the smile on Cultivator Wu's face grew even wider.
"Junior Brother Han looks very unfamiliar. May I ask which senior uncle of the Yellow Maple Valley recently took you as a disciple?" the Junior Sister Fang, who was in her twenties with an ordinary appearance, asked directly.
"My master is Li Huayuan. It has only been a few short years since my Foundation Establishment and formal acceptance by my master! I hope you senior brothers and sisters can offer some guidance!" Han Li said with a seemingly earnest expression.
"How could we possibly offer any guidance! We should all exchange experiences with each other. Since Junior Brother Han was accepted by Senior Uncle Li and sent out at such a young age to handle matters independently, you must have your own exceptional qualities. There's no need to be so self-deprecating!" This time, it was the middle-aged man from the Giant Sword Sect who spoke. Although he looked honest and loyal, his words were watertight, which surprised Han Li somewhat.
Han Li naturally responded with a few modest words. In this way, except for the short and thin Wuyouzi who remained silent, Han Li quickly became close friends with these cultivators.
"What were you all discussing just now?" After exchanging a few pleasantries, Han Li finally steered the conversation to the main topic, asking casually.
"Nothing much! We were all speculating about the reason why so many foreign cultivators suddenly came to Yanling Fort. This is really quite abnormal! Although the Qiankun Tower Talisman Treasure is very precious, it couldn't possibly have such great attraction." Upon hearing Han Li's question, Wuzi's expression suddenly became serious as he replied.
However, this happened to hit the nail on the head regarding Han Li's doubts, making him nod repeatedly in agreement.
"We discussed it for a while just now, but still couldn't figure out anything."
"The possibility that they were attracted by some rare treasure appearing here is not high. Because if that were really the case, it wouldn't be just Foundation Establishment cultivators who came here; Core Formation experts would have swarmed in long ago, and it wouldn't be so peaceful. As for other reasons, they can't explain this matter either," the female cultivator surnamed Fang from Heavenly Que Fortress continued.
"Let's not make random guesses. I suppose after two more days, when the Treasure Seizure Assembly begins, everything will be revealed. I'm actually more uneasy about those Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators who appeared today. I always feel that this group is extraordinary! It's really too surprising that they could make the Yan family disciples suffer repeated setbacks. Do any of you know their origins?" The middle-aged man surnamed Wu frowned and asked, his playful expression completely gone. It seemed he was truly very uneasy about those cultivators.
This question from Cultivator Fang immediately left most people, including Han Li, exchanging bewildered glances!
Most of them had heard of this sect for the first time. After all, just hearing the name told you they weren't easy to deal with; nine times out of ten, they were likely people from the demonic path. But they didn't know which nearby country's sect it could be that would make even the local overlords of the Yan family so wary that they didn't immediately turn hostile despite having so many disciples injured. It seemed their fierce reputation must not be small.
But since it was most people, of course there was one person who acted differently from the others. This person turned out to be Wuyouzi, who had never spoken before. Only he remained unchanged in expression, seeming to know about this Ghost Spirit Sect, which made the others feel somewhat hopeful.
"Junior Brother, you know about this Ghost Spirit Sect?" Wuzi also asked with great surprise. His junior brother had always been rather antisocial, but he liked to read various books and scrolls. It was entirely possible that he really knew something!
"Ghost Spirit Sect, one of the Six Demonic Sects of the State of Tianluo, specializes in ghost-driving and demon-commanding techniques, and is also proficient in poison arts and some dark arts. Although it is the weakest sect among the Six, it is still three points stronger than the Moon Concealment Sect, the most powerful sect in our State of Yue."
After looking up and coldly delivering these few sentences, Wuyouzi closed his mouth again. But these few words were enough to make everyone else's expressions change dramatically.
"A demonic sect from the State of Tianluo? No wonder the Yan family was so submissive! That is definitely a super power several times larger than our Seven Great Sects. In our region, except for the Righteous Alliance in the State of Fengdu, no other country's cultivation forces can resist their invasion alone." This time, it was the man from the Giant Sword Sect who spoke with a look of fear.
"Could there be a mistake? How could such a powerful force suddenly come to our State of Yue and even participate in such a small Treasure Seizure Assembly?" The female cultivator surnamed Fang said with some disbelief, her words naturally carrying a hint of doubt.
"Volume Two, Fourth Section of the 'Tiannan Notes'!" Wuyouzi said coldly.
"Ah..." The female cultivator didn't understand at first, but after a moment, she realized what he meant.
This was a complete set of texts that all the major sects kept, specifically introducing the customs and strange anecdotes of some countries in this region. It did seem to touch on some matters of the cultivation world, but because there were so many books, the female cultivator had only skimmed through a few and couldn't be bothered to look further. Could it be that information about the Ghost Spirit Sect could really be found in these books?
Perhaps noticing that not only she but several others showed expressions of doubt, Wuyouzi forced himself to speak again:
"In this part of Volume Two, not only the Ghost Spirit Sect, but the other five sects are also briefly introduced!"
Seeing Wuyouzi so certain, the others finally believed what he said. Now, besides shock, everyone began to carefully ponder the implications of the Ghost Spirit Sect's sudden appearance at the Yan family. Han Li also habitually rubbed his nose and fell into deep thought.
Were the Six Demonic Sects of the State of Tianluo planning a major invasion of the State of Yue?
No, that couldn't be right. Between the State of Yue and the State of Tianluo, there were still two small countries, the State of Jiang and the State of Cheqi. Even if they wanted to invade, they would first have to deal with the sects in these two small countries.
But although these two countries were small, the strength of their cultivation world was not weak at all, roughly equal to the combined strength of the Seven Great Sects of the State of Yue. No matter how powerful the Six Demonic Sects were, they couldn't possibly take down both countries silently and easily.
Moreover, the Righteous Alliance of the State of Fengdu was watching like a tiger on their flank! Presumably, they wouldn't be given the chance to expand their strength.
After some deliberation, Han Li finally ruled out the worst-case scenario!