The name "Great Relocation Token" was something Han Li had never heard of! But seeing how Lü Tianmeng hesitated to eliminate others for it, he could tell how precious this item was.
However, facing the bizarre appearance of the Five-Colored Skeletal Remains, Han Li didn't dare to act rashly.
He took out a golden blade and carefully poked at the remains. Seeing no reaction, he cautiously approached and examined the token more closely.
The token was a brilliant blue, emitting a faint ethereal glow. From its ancient patterns and the archaic characters inscribed upon it, it was clearly an artifact from antiquity. Otherwise, Han Li didn't sense anything unusual about it, and the spiritual power it contained wasn't particularly high.
After some thought, Han Li extended his golden blade and gently flicked the token, which easily came into his grasp.
Upon pinching it with his fingers, he found it wasn't the metallic texture he expected. Instead, it was somewhat soft yet firm, as if made from some kind of wood.
Han Li played with it for a while, then attempted to infuse some spiritual power into it.
But immediately, a tremendous suction force surged from the token, causing the spiritual power within his body to drain out rapidly. Startled, Han Li quickly cut off the flow, and only then did the suction disappear.
Having learned his lesson, Han Li didn't dare experiment further. He carefully stored the token in his storage pouch.
He then circled the unknown teleportation array several times, greatly curious about where it might lead!
Of course, Han Li wouldn't recklessly step onto it to try. Even if he had such a foolish notion, he couldn't do it anyway. One corner of the teleportation array was damaged. Though the damage wasn't extensive, it was enough to render the array unusable.
Han Li blinked, then suddenly produced a jade slip and began copying the array's patterns and formations. He planned to find someone to examine whether the array could be repaired. He was full of anticipation about this!
After completing this, Han Li searched thoroughly throughout the massive cavern, checking if anything had been missed.
Behind a thick stone pillar, he discovered two transparent, crystalline eggs. Each was about the size of a fist.
The moment he saw them, Han Li was overjoyed. Without needing to guess, he knew they were the eggs of that spider demon beast.
Han Li had personally experienced the spider demon beast's terrifying power. With this opportunity before him, he wouldn't let it slip away. He immediately found a spirit beast pouch from a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator's storage bag, carefully placed the spider eggs inside, and tucked it into his waist.
With these gains, Han Li searched even more carefully through the remaining areas, but unfortunately found nothing more.
Still, Han Li was already satisfied and didn't mind. He used fireballs to turn the bodies of Xuan Le, Lü Tianmeng, and the others into ashes, burying them on the spot.
When he looked at the Five-Colored Skeletal Remains, he casually threw a few small fireballs at them, intending to burn them as well. But after the fierce flames burned, the remains actually condensed into seven or eight small multicolored beads. This surprised Han Li, and naturally, he curiously collected them.
Han Li was about to leave, but to prevent the teleportation array from being discovered by others again, he used his Green Yuan Sword Light to smash the cave entrance to pieces, completely blocking the entrance. Of course, he still left some secret marks nearby so he could find this place again later.
Following the air currents through the stalactite cave, Han Li eventually found an extremely concealed exit after several hours. He finally set foot on the surface.
Fearing that the demonic cultivators might still be wandering nearby, Han Li didn't dare delay at all. He mounted his Divine Wind Vessel and flew toward Taiyue Mountain.
The journey was uneventful!
Seven or eight days later, Han Li returned to Yellow Maple Valley. After reporting a trimmed version of his experience to the sect's duty manager, he went back to his cave dwelling to await orders.
By now, he knew that the second round of battle had already begun. In the initial stages, with strong support from their allies in the other two states, the Seven Sects seemed to have the upper hand against the Six Factions. This had eased the atmosphere within Yellow Maple Valley considerably, making it far less pessimistic than when the war first began.
Upon his return, seeing that everything in his cave dwelling remained unchanged, Han Li let out a sigh of relief.
Although returning to the sect now wasn't exactly a wise move—there was a high chance he'd be conscripted—the Seven Sects had become extremely strict in punishing disciples who retreated from battle or made excuses to avoid mission assignments. Minor offenses resulted in spirit stone penalties, while severe ones meant having one's cultivation crippled. There was no leniency!
Moreover, he had heard that nearly a hundred people within the Seven Sects had already received varying degrees of punishment.
To determine whether someone had been avoiding battle, all disciples without active missions or those who had completed their missions were required to report back to their sect within the specified time. If they failed to return without providing a valid reason, they would be deemed guilty.
Of course, completely disappearing or fleeing to another state would have even more dire consequences—they would face lifelong pursuit by the Seven Sects. As long as the Seven Sects existed, the pursuit would never end.
Han Li had no intention of abandoning Yellow Maple Valley and fleeing the State of Yue, so he naturally returned obediently to await orders.
In truth, he estimated that with both the demonic and righteous paths expanding simultaneously, there would be no peaceful places left in the entire Tiannan region. Cultivation societies everywhere would be drawn into the conflict—just sooner or later. Given that, he might as well stay in the State of Yue. After all, it was hard to leave one's homeland.
The first thing Han Li did upon returning to his cave dwelling was to submerge the pair of spider eggs in the spirit spring, allowing the spiritual energy to slowly nurture them toward hatching.
He then immediately went into seclusion for two days and finally completed the first layer of the Grand Eclipse Art. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the Green Yuan Sword Art, which had stagnated for so long, simultaneously broke through to the fifth layer, advancing Han Li to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
Han Li was overjoyed by this! Every bit of cultivation improvement meant a slightly better chance of survival in these turbulent times.
But what puzzled Han Li was that several days after his return, the sect still hadn't assigned him any mission. This made him somewhat uneasy!
According to his experience, the more abnormal the situation, the more trouble and danger it typically represented.
But then Han Li reconsidered—what mission could possibly be safe when fighting the Six Paths? Even guarding a spirit stone mine had nearly cost him his life, so what did it matter what mission he got?
Having thought it through, Han Li regained his peaceful state of mind. Taking advantage of this brief period, he began researching what exactly this "Great Relocation Token" was.
As for his master Li Huayuan and Hong Fu, there was no need to report Dong Xuan'er's matter to them. As Core Formation cultivators, they already had assignments and were no longer in the sect.
After two days of searching through the Tianzhi Pavilion in Yellow Maple Valley, Han Li finally found a brief introduction to the "Great Relocation Token" in a book called "Explanation of the Mysterious Void."
According to the book, this brilliant blue token was actually a magical artifact that ancient cultivators required when performing extremely long-distance teleportation. Without it, they couldn't guarantee safety during the teleportation.
Only with a "Great Relocation Token" could ancient cultivators avoid being crushed to death by the spatial pressure generated during long-distance teleportation. As for short-distance teleportation, the spatial pressure could naturally be ignored—like the small teleportation array inside and outside Yuelu Hall, which Han Li had felt nothing unusual about.
As for how the Great Relocation Token ensured the teleporter's safety, the book didn't say. Moreover, the method of crafting "Great Relocation Tokens" had long been lost in the ancient turmoil of the cultivation world. Existing "Great Relocation Tokens" had also vanished one by one, becoming legendary items by today. No one had even heard of anyone possessing one.
However, this didn't matter much for the current cultivation world!
Because the Ancient Teleportation Array had become an even earlier legend than the "Great Relocation Token." He wasn't sure about other places, but in the Tiannan region, there wasn't a single one visible on the surface. Whether some still existed in remote, uninhabited areas or within the hidden territories of certain sects or families was hard to say.
But the longest teleportation arrays that could currently be built only reached about a hundred li. This was incomparable to the ancient teleportation arrays that could span tens of millions of li. Even so, the astronomical cost of building teleportation arrays meant that even a single sect or family could only afford three or four at most. Any more than that would be truly painful.
Once Han Li understood the purpose of the Great Relocation Token, his first thought was: "Could that underground teleportation array be an Ancient Teleportation Array?"
This speculation made Han Li's heart pound wildly! He knew the possibility was extremely high.
If that were the case, and he had this Great Relocation Token along with a repaired teleportation array, he could immediately travel to a place at least tens of millions of li away! He wouldn't need to wade through the murky waters of the conflict between the Seven Sects and Six Factions. He could freely go to a new place and continue his cultivation.
Once this thought arose, Han Li could no longer contain himself!
He began searching for books related to the Ancient Teleportation Array, hoping to find a method to repair the underground array.
Han Li spent several more days in the well-stocked Tianzhi Pavilion. Although he read countless formation texts, he found absolutely nothing about the Ancient Teleportation Array.
This greatly disappointed him!
At this moment, Han Li remembered that there might be someone who could help him repair this array.