Wang Yu
Chapter 856: Retreating When You Can't Win
Shi Chuan Kong also walked over and bowed in salute.
"Good, from today onwards, you two Fellow Daoists are brothers of our Xuan City. Once this Disaster Wind calamity stops, I, Chen, will immediately take you two to Qingyang City," Chen Yang said, overjoyed.
The red-haired man also arrived at the cave at this moment and stepped forward to salute, "Welcome, you two Fellow Daoists, to join my Xuan City."
With this matter settled, the atmosphere between the few became much more harmonious. They chatted casually for a while, but the howling wind outside was chilling to the bone, and waves of yin and cold power permeated in.
The few quickly lost their interest in talking, each found a place to sit down, and prepared to circulate their cultivation to resist the cold air.
Fortunately, with the ground as a barrier, the cold air that transmitted in was not strong, and it was not a major problem for Xuan cultivators like Han Li whose physical bodies were already strong.
"Fellow Daoist Han."
Han Li had just found an open space to sit down when Crab Daoren's voice sounded in Han Li's mind.
"Fellow Daoist Crab, you were just sealed by Chen Yang with Dragon Beard Needles. Are you alright?" Han Li's eyes lit up. He glanced at Crab Daoren, who was sitting cross-legged not far away, and communicated with him through voice transmission.
Ever since his body was sealed by the Dragon Beard Needles, Crab Daoren had not spoken. Han Li communicated with him through voice transmission, but Crab Daoren did not respond, which made him a little worried.
Now that Crab Daoren took the initiative to contact him, he was both delighted and surprised.
"It's fine. Those golden needles stimulated my memory and reminded me of some things," Crab Daoren's voice revealed a trace of fluctuation.
"Oh, is it about the Jilin Void Realm?" Han Li's heart stirred.
"Some are, and some aren't. There are quite a few things I remembered this time, and they're very mixed. I spent a long time sorting them out before I could make any sense of them," Crab Daoren said noncommittally.
"Oh, what specific things are there?" Han Li immediately asked.
"Most of them are from a place called the Xiaoyao Palace deep within the Jilin Void Realm, and there are also two names, one is E Kuai and the other is Sha Xin," Crab Daoren said.
"E Kuai! This person is the City Lord of Xuan City. Are you related to him?" Han Li was shocked.
"I don't know. My memory is too vague. I only remembered these two names, and I still don't know anything else," Crab Daoren's voice was full of distress.
"Don't worry too much. When we get to Xuan City, I will find a way to investigate what you just said," Han Li said.
"Besides these, I also recalled something else that might be helpful to you," Crab Daoren's spirit slightly shook, and he looked at Han Li, a trace of a smile appearing on his face.
"Oh, what is it?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.
This time, Crab Daoren did not speak. After a long while, he slowly got up, came to Han Li's side, and tapped Han Li's brow with his finger.
A golden light flew out from his fingertip, merged into Han Li's mind, and then exploded with a bang, turning into countless golden characters.
Han Li's eyes widened suddenly, revealing a look of great joy, and then he immediately closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged.
Those golden characters were actually a Body Refinement Technique called Feather Ascension Technique. This technique contained eighteen Xuan Acupoints, and all of these Xuan Acupoints were distributed on the legs. After cultivating it, it could not only enhance the power of the physical body but also improve the movement technique to an incredible level. It could even cross the sky with the power of the physical body alone, as if ascending to immortality.
Han Li's entire mind was attracted by those golden characters, without a moment of leisure. A full meal's time passed before he opened his eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Crab, thank you. This technique is exactly what I need," he suppressed the excitement in his heart and thanked him through voice transmission.
Although he didn't know much about Body Refinement Techniques, he could also feel that although the Feather Ascension Technique didn't open many Xuan Acupoints, if he could master it, the improvement to his legs would be significant. In the current situation where he couldn't fly, the effect would naturally be just right.
If he couldn't beat them, he could always run, right?
"Then try to cultivate it a little first," Crab Daoren nodded and sat down cross-legged on the side, ignoring Han Li.
Han Li breathed slowly, quickly calmed his mind, and began to cultivate the Feather Ascension Technique.
This technique, like the Grand Firmament Star Essence Art, used the power of the stars to temper the physical body and then open the Xuan Acupoints.
The power of the stars in the Jilin Void Realm was strong, making it suitable for cultivating this technique.
Although he was currently underground and unable to receive the power of the stars, he had swallowed a lot of scale beast cores along the way, which contained a rich amount of star power. At this moment, they were all stored in his body, ready to be used.
Han Li carefully thought about the Feather Ascension Technique from beginning to end. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he slowly circulated the technique.
With a "boom"!
The star power stored in his body was all mobilized and merged into a Xuan Acupoint in his leg.
That Xuan Acupoint greedily absorbed the star power, and an extremely numb sensation spread from his leg, making him feel so comfortable that he almost cried out.
And as that Xuan Acupoint continued to absorb the stars, it became restless, breathing like a mouth and nose, and slowly opened.
Time passed little by little, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.
Han Li sat quietly cross-legged, without moving at all. However, a little starlight was now floating on his calf, flickering constantly, and getting faster and faster.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and the Xuan Acupoint on his calf made a cracking sound, and the starlight it emitted suddenly brightened by several times.
After more than half a month of hard cultivation, this Xuan Acupoint was finally completely opened.
A look of excitement appeared in Han Li's eyes, and then he suddenly remembered something and looked around.
At this moment, Chen Yang and the others had all entered the stone chamber to cultivate, leaving only him, Shi Chuan Kong, and Crab Daoren outside. Shi Chuan Kong was sitting cross-legged in the distance with his eyes closed, seemingly also cultivating, and had not noticed the movement on his side.
Han Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief, dispelled the starlight emitted by the Xuan Acupoint on his calf, and revealed a pensive look, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes.
According to the records on the Feather Ascension Technique, it was very difficult to open these Xuan Acupoints and required a lot of time to slowly temper them with water grinding efforts before they could be opened.
Although he had swallowed a lot of beast cores and accumulated a lot of star power in his body, which was of great help in cultivating this technique, it was too fast to open a Xuan Acupoint in just over ten days.
Han Li secretly guessed the reason, and soon shook his head, no longer bothering to think about it.
No matter what the reason, it was a good thing to be able to master this technique faster.
He concentrated on listening to the movement outside. At this moment, the howling wind outside had not stopped, and the Disaster Wind was obviously still raging.
The yin and cold air in the cave was lingering, and it was richer than at the beginning, but the increase was not much.
Han Li had been immersed in cultivation these days, and the power of his whole body's qi and blood was fully circulating, so he didn't feel it.
He glanced at Shi Chuan Kong and Crab Daoren. Neither of them had been affected by this cold air, and he felt a little relieved. He quickly closed his eyes again and continued to cultivate the next Xuan Acupoint.
In the blink of an eye, another seven or eight days had passed.
Han Li slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
The star power stored in his body had now been exhausted.
Without star power, cultivation was naturally impossible.
Moreover, the howling Disaster Wind had already begun to weaken, and the cold air contained in the wind had disappeared without a trace.
Chen Yang and the others also came out of the stone chamber, ready to set off.
The others were slightly curious about Han Li and Shi Chuan Kong, the two new additions, and asked about the situation outside. They quickly accepted the two.
The group quickly left the underground cave and came to the valley.
Outside, the wind was still howling and sand and dust filled the sky. Although the bone-chilling cold air had disappeared, the raging wind still made the few of them sway slightly.
The valley outside had changed its appearance at this moment. The ground had been plowed deeply, with ravines and gullies, a scene of desolation. The nearby peaks were also significantly shorter, obviously blown off by the Disaster Wind.
Han Li was once again secretly shocked by the power of the Disaster Wind when he saw the scene before him.
"It seems that the Disaster Wind calamity has passed. Let's set off then," Chen Yang looked at the sky and nodded.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, why don't we wait a few more days until the wind completely calms down before setting off?" Han Li asked with some confusion.
"Fellow Daoist Li, you don't know, although this Disaster Wind is a natural disaster, it also has some benefits. Every time the Disaster Wind passes, many stupid scale beasts are unable to escape and are either摔死 frozen to death. We need to go find them as soon as possible. If we are late, those dead scale beasts will be swallowed by other scale beasts, and it won't be our turn to pick up this bargain," Chen Yang said with a smile.
"So that's how it is. As the saying goes, misfortune may be an actual blessing, that's absolutely right," Han Li nodded in realization and laughed as well.
"This time, we have to make a good haul!" Shi Chuan Kong rubbed his hands, and said somewhat impatiently.
Chen Yang didn't say anything more. With a wave of his hand, the few entered the sand and dust that filled the sky and soon disappeared without a trace.
……
The blazing sun hung in the sky, and the sound of wind and sand howled over the desert.
A hunting team returning home struggled forward against the flying dust. Several huge, gray-blue beasts covered in scales blocked the way in the front, and about a dozen tall men walked among the giant beasts.
Each of them had a thick face towel wrapped around their faces, which even covered their necks, but they could still feel the rough feeling of sand and gravel being carried by the gale, beating against their faces.
Under the effect of spatial pressure, such sand and dust became extremely powerful, making each step they took quite difficult.
A green-robed man walking in the middle of the team narrowed his eyes and looked forward through the gaps between the giant beasts. He only felt that the distance was a hazy yellow, and there seemed to be a huge shadow in the depths.
"Fellow Daoist Chen Yang, how long will it take to get to Qingyang City?" The green-robed man turned his head to look at a muscular man next to him, condensing his voice into a line, and asked.
"Not far, we'll be there soon." The muscular man's face was covered with thick cotton cloth, making it impossible to see his expression, but the tone of his words revealed a hint of joy, obviously indicating that they were indeed close.
"We're finally here! Brother Li, don't worry, once we get to the city, there will always be a way to find out the information about Fellow Daoist Zi Ling. After all, such a great beauty, anyone who sees her will definitely remember her forever!" Another white-haired man said with a slightly teasing tone.
"I hope it's as you say," the green-robed man said, staring at the front with deep eyes.
This group of people was none other than Han Li and Chen Yang and the others who had returned from the wilderness all the way.