Qin Yan saw that even the normally exceedingly steady Elder Hua had finally been moved and was so impatient to act.
Although he too had heard the disdain for this Immortal Master in Han Li's tone, the other party was, after all, truly a cultivator willing to accept disciples!
As for whether this Immortal Master's cultivation was high or low, he could no longer concern himself with so much.
It was not that he had never considered having one of his descendants acknowledge Han Li as his master. However, after spending this period of time with Han Li, he knew that the other party had no intention of accepting disciples at all, and it was impossible to force the matter.
Come to think of it, when his parents were still alive, they had told him that when the Qin family had just become wealthy, Immortal Master Li Huayuan had once visited their family to see whether any of their descendants possessed an immortal affinity. Unfortunately, not a single person had been blessed with such fortune, so he had left disappointed.
From then on, whenever Immortal Master Li returned to the Qin family, he never mentioned accepting disciples again. According to Immortal Master Li, his immortal affinity with the Qin family ended with one generation, and the younger generation of the Qin family had no master-disciple affinity with him.
Now that there was another opportunity to cultivate immortality before them, of course they had to try, no matter what.
Having made up his mind, Qin Yan called out to several of his younger descendants and walked over as well.
Han Li watched this scene coldly without saying a word.
Since he had already warned Qin Yan, and the other party still insisted on seeking instruction from a master, he naturally would not meddle in someone else's affairs.
Speaking of which, Han Li had never really noticed whether the young masters and misses of the Qin residence possessed spiritual roots. However, among mortals in the secular world, those with spiritual roots were one in ten thousand, truly pitifully rare!
Han Li was thinking about this when he suddenly saw one or two of the Qin family descendants who had gone with Qin Yan toward Immortal Master Wu turn around and give him mocking smiles, putting on smug expressions as if they were ridiculing him.
Han Li was slightly startled when he saw this, then inwardly laughed at the absurdity.
Clearly, since Qin Yan had not called Han Li over to try for an immortal affinity, these few believed that Elder Qin still favored them most at heart. That was why they looked so pleased with themselves.
Han Li secretly shook his head and could no longer be bothered to pay attention to them. Instead, he looked around the hall.
At this time, very few people remained in their seats without moving—only six or seven. Most were solitary people who had brought no sons or nephews, and their faces now showed expressions of extreme regret.
The only thing that caught Han Li's attention was a table in one corner of the hall occupied by an old man and a youth.
The old man was a gray-haired elder in a green robe, over sixty years old. His expression was completely normal as he savored the clear tea in his hand, seemingly not caring at all about the immortal affinity before him. The younger one was a handsome, delicate-featured youth with tender skin and fine flesh, yet whenever he looked in Immortal Master Wu's direction, he occasionally revealed a look of disdain.
Although these two now appeared to be sitting there in complete leisure, when Han Li saw them, a faint smile appeared on his face.
These two, old and young, were actually cultivators as well, and their cultivation seemed quite good. The elder in the green robe appeared to be at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. The youth was also at the fifth layer, no weaker than Immortal Master Wu.
What surprised Han Li somewhat was that he did not know what cultivation method the pair had practiced, but they had actually restrained their spiritual energy until it was almost imperceptible. If Han Li's cultivation had not been far higher than theirs, he truly would not have easily recognized them as cultivators.
As for Immortal Master Wu, he naturally had no ability to notice anything unusual about the old and young pair.
This cultivation method for concealing spiritual energy, which could hide one's cultivation from cultivators of the same level, immediately stirred Han Li's interest.
If he could learn this method, would he not gain a huge advantage when fighting cultivators of the same level?
Thinking this, Han Li looked the two over carefully once more.
As a result, this time Han Li discovered something unusual.
The handsome, delicate-featured youth actually had two tiny holes in his tender white earlobes. She was in fact a young woman disguised as a man.
Han Li had only just shown a trace of astonishment when the youth happened to notice him staring blankly at her. Her face flushed, and she glared fiercely back at him.
The disguised girl's action drew the old man's attention. He turned back with a slight frown and looked at Han Li expressionlessly.
Seeing this, Han Li smiled at the old man.
The elder in the green robe was greatly surprised!
He had assumed Han Li was some frivolous young master who had seen through the girl's disguise and was teasing her with his eyes. He had not expected him to be an extremely ordinary-looking young man who was also courting death by showing him not the slightest respect.
The elder in the green robe felt somewhat angry. After pondering for a moment, he gently closed his eyes.
This action made Han Li pause. He then could not help guessing:
"Could he be planning to..."
Han Li had not finished thinking when the elder's following action completely confirmed his guess.
When the elder opened his eyes again, blue-violet light flashed in his gaze as he looked toward Han Li. He had actually cast a soul-confusion spell at Han Li, apparently intending to make him disgrace himself on the spot and teach him a small lesson.
Han Li found the scene somewhat amusing.
With the elder's cultivation at the ninth layer of the Qi Refining stage, he had actually cast a soul-confusion spell on a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Was this not simply courting death?
If Han Li had merely counterattacked with a little magic power, the spell would certainly have backfired on the other party.
However, since Han Li wanted to acquire the other party's spiritual-energy concealment technique, he naturally could not form a deep enmity with him.
Thus, he merely looked into the elder's eyes with a smile, without the slightest unusual expression.
This caused the green-robed elder's expression to change from an initial cold smile slowly into astonishment, and then into fear.
When the elder secretly cried out that something was wrong and wanted to move his eyes away, it was already too late.
Faint yellow light had already surged in Han Li's eyes as he looked back, making the elder's gaze unable to move even a fraction, as if drawn by a magnet.
The green-robed elder was both shocked and frightened, and regretted his actions immensely.
He had never imagined that this young man, who appeared to possess not the slightest bit of magic power, was also a cultivator—and one whose cultivation seemed far superior to his own.
If he had known, he would never have used the "Nightmare Technique." Now his mind and spirit were completely under the other party's control, and he could no longer escape the backlash.
The more frightened the elder became, the more rapidly his thoughts raced. In an instant, beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on his forehead, and his face turned ashen, yet his eyes still stared straight at Han Li.
The disguised girl at his side finally noticed that something was wrong with her elder. In her anxiety, she hurriedly tugged at the elder's sleeve.
Unexpectedly, after the green-robed elder was pulled half a turn, he easily broke free of the attraction of Han Li's gaze, and she rescued him from the backlash of the Nightmare Technique.
The green-robed elder had suddenly gone from death to life and escaped disaster. The drastic change in his state of mind left him stunned for a while. Only after a moment did he come back to himself as if awakening from a dream.
However, the garment on his back had long since been completely soaked through with cold sweat.
His expression was now one of panic. He hurriedly whispered a few words to the girl, and then he did not dare glance toward Han Li again.
The green-robed elder understood very clearly that the girl had been able to rescue him so easily only because the other party had shown mercy. Otherwise, at the very least, his mind and spirit would have been damaged, leaving him seriously ill for a time.
Although he did not know why the other party had acted this way, it was still best for him and his granddaughter to stay far away from this person.
This ordinary-looking young man's cultivation was truly terrifying! They absolutely could not afford to provoke him!
What puzzled him was that he had clearly examined this person with the Heaven Eye Technique, yet there had not been the slightest fluctuation of magic power on him. Otherwise, he would never have rashly used the Nightmare Technique.
"Could this person's cultivation have already reached..."
As soon as the green-robed elder thought of this possibility, his face began to turn green.
If things were as he suspected, had he not provoked an important figure whom his entire family could not afford to offend?
At this thought, the elder's mind, which had only just recovered somewhat, became restless again.
The disguised girl, meanwhile, stared in astonishment at the old man's face, which had turned by turns green and red, and was extremely surprised in her heart.
In her mind, her grandfather had always been calm and unflustered, as steady as Mount Tai. Yet now he had actually revealed such an expression! Could that completely ordinary-looking young man truly be so terrifying?
At this thought, she could not help feeling an impulse to turn around and look at Han Li once more.
Before she could act, however, the elder seemed to have seen through her thoughts and suddenly said to her in an extremely solemn whisper:
"Do not provoke that young man again. If I am not mistaken, the other party is very likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Do not anger him under any circumstances!"
"What? A Foundation Establishment cultivator! That can't be! He isn't even that old!" The girl covered her small mouth with one jade-like hand and cried out in alarm. Her lovely face lost all its color, yet she did not dare raise her voice.