Chapter 13: Mo Guang
Only after seeing Liu Le'er's breathing and aura gradually even out did Han Li sit onto the ground again with his legs crossed.
He reached into his own collar, and after some searching, he pulled out the accessory that he had always worn around his neck, which was a small vial that was light green in color.
There were a series of dark green leaf patterns all over the surface of the small vials, and they were extremely beautiful and life-like.
Han Li gently massaged the vial with his fingers, and an absentminded look appeared in his eyes as he felt its familiar texture.
After being lost in deep thought for a long while, he suddenly stowed the vial away before calling out the name "Mo Guang". [1]
The secret chamber was completely silent aside from the echoing of Han Li's voice.
However, moments later, the shadow in front of him warped slightly, then elongated forward marginally.
All of a sudden, a dark humanoid figure split itself off from Han Li's elongated shadow before slowly rising to its feet.
The figure had skin that was as black as ink and his appearance was rather similar to Han Li's. He was wearing a black robe, and his head of black hair was unbound, casually spilling down around his head. What was most remarkable about him was the indescribable aura of decay that he was giving off.
"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Han," the figure said in a wooden manner as his gaze fell upon Han Li.
"What happened, Mo Guang? How did you become like this?" Han Li asked with tightly furrowed brows.
"I don't know. I only awakened a few years earlier than you did, and as soon as I awakened, I discovered that I had lost all of my spiritual nature, and all that remained of me was a wisp of my soul. Due to the Heavenly Devil Contract, I can only reside in your shadow, and I'm unable to show myself unless you summon me or someone is trying to hurt you," Mo Guang replied in a rather mechanical voice.
Han Li was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you remember the last thing that happened before you fell into your slumber?"
"I can recall everything before your ascension clearly, but after your ascension, all I can recall is that you left the Ascension Platform with that immortal by the name of Gao Sheng, and that's where my memories end," Mo Guang replied.
"I see. My memories are also cut off from the moment we left the Ascension Platform. It looks like we'll have to seek out Gao Sheng if we want to know exactly what happened. However, we're currently not in a very good situation.
“I searched that man's soul just now, and it seems that not only are we in the Spirit Domain Realm, a lower realm directly under the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, 300 years have already passed by, which means that both of us are missing three centuries worth of memories," Han Li said.
"That is indeed terrible. Do you have any plans, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Guang asked.
"There may only be a wisp of your soul left, but you're still a Heavenly Devilish Monarch. Surely you still have some abilities up your sleeve," Han Li said as he raised an eyebrow.
"At the moment, I've lost almost all of my magic power and abilities, and I can only unleash some low-grade secret techniques," Mo Guang replied.
In spite of this piece of bad news, Han Li seemed to have drawn reassurance from it.
"This is already far better than the situation that I envisioned. Compared with you, I'm in a far worse state. I just examined myself, and not only have I lost all of my treasures and pills, nothing remains of my magic power, and my soul and physical body have all suffered severe trauma, so I'm currently nothing more than a shadow of my former self. The only good news is that I've finally awakened.
“As long as I can find the right spirit medicines to treat my condition, I should be able to recover very quickly. On top of that, I can sense Fellow Daoist Xie and the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch's existence through their soul contracts, but I don't know where they are. It looks like I'll have to find a way to recover them in the future."
"It sounds like you truly are in a troublesome situation, Fellow Daoist Han. In order to find Gao Sheng, you'll have to return to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region. If I recall correctly, it's far easier to ascend to the Immortal Realm from a realm that's directly under it, but you'll still require the assistance of an Ascension Platform and an immense amount of magic power to protect your body and allow you to forcibly break through the boundaries of the realm," Mo Guang said.
"There's no hurry in returning to the Immortal Realm. There's plenty of time for me to think about that. However, one thing is for sure: whoever is responsible for reducing me to this state, I'll be sure to have a good chat with them once I return to the Immortal Realm," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice, and his expression was quite calm, but one couldn't help but wonder if he were truly as calm as he appeared.
Mo Guang offered no response.
"Are you willing to continue following me, Fellow Daoist Mo Guang? As you can see, I'm in an extremely terrible situation right now. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."
"There's no need to test me, Fellow Daoist Han. Even in my current condition, the Heavenly Devil Contract is still effective, and as I am now, I won't even be able to resist the binding power of the contract. If I were to try and leave you now, I would be placing myself in even more severe peril," Mo Guang replied.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he said, "Alright, in that case, I'll do my best to ensure that you don't regret your decision. As long as I can recover to the peak of my powers, I'll be sure to do everything in my power to restore your soul and spiritual nature. What we have to do now is gather some information and resources from this realm to see if we can recover my magic power to its former heights."
"I'll leave everything to you, Fellow Daoist Han. In my current state, it's a struggle to show myself for too long, so I'm going back to rest and recuperate," Mo Guang said in a calm manner, then transformed into a cloud of black mist that quickly vanished into Han Li's shadow.
Han Li exhaled before taking a glance at Liu Le'er, who was still sound asleep, and he also closed his eyes to rest.
Only after close to half a day later did Liu Le'er finally wake up.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she caught sight of Han Li, who was seated beside her with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, and the Daoist Master White Stone, who was standing off to the side with a wary expression.
Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li opened his eyes and said with a smile, "You're finally awake."
Liu Le'er's body instantly stiffened upon hearing this, and she looked into Han Li's eyes with a complex expression as she murmured, "Brother Rock, you're all cured now..."
"Le'er, my name is Han Li. You can call me Brother Han from now on," Han Li replied in a gentle voice.
A rather dejected look appeared on Liu Le'er's face upon hearing this, and she reluctantly obliged. "Brother Han."
In this moment, the young man before her was looking rather unfamiliar.
Han Li could tell what she was thinking from the changes in her expression, and he smiled as he said, "I may be awake now, but I still remember everything that happened these past few years. I'm still Brother Rock to you, and that's never going to change."
Liu Le'er was ecstatic to hear this, and tears welled up in her eyes as she dove straight into Han Li's arms.
"I know you have many questions you want to ask me, but now's not the time. I'll explain everything to you when a suitable opportunity arises," Han Li said in a gentle voice as he patted Liu Le'er's head in a doting manner.
Liu Le'er nodded obediently in response and didn't ask any further questions. However, her gaze then fell upon Daoist Master White Stone, and a wary look immediately appeared in her eyes.
1. For more information on Mo Guang, please refer to RMJI Chapter 2435: Soul Badge. ☜