Chapter 473: Tallying the Spoils

Chapter 473: Tallying the Spoils

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Even though he had managed to recover Daoist Xie and Jin Tong, he still had no idea what had happened during the 300 years immediately after his ascension. Furthermore, with the way that things were progressing, he became more and more convinced that there were some very complex circumstances involved, and that there was a very good chance he had been swept up in some type of conspiracy.

On top of that, he had made quite a few enemies, some that he was aware of, while others were still in the shadows, and most of these enemies were present in the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor. Fortunately, he had somehow stumbled into a massive opportunity, allowing him to progress all the way to the mid-Golden Immortal Stage.

With his current cultivation base, he now had the power required to protect himself. As for his lost memories, he would just have to find a way to recover them after he left the immortal manor.

"Let's go and hunt down those Golden Immortals you were talking about, Han Li! That battle against that old witch was really taxing on me!" Jin Tong pouted as she tugged on Han Li's sleeve.

"We should indeed be leaving this place. Also, if you encounter an enemy that you can't defeat in the future, then run away. Don't bite off more than you can chew," Han Li cautioned with a serious expression.

"You're so ungrateful! I did all that to save you!" Jin Tong grumbled in a disgruntled manner.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as a burst of azure light appeared over his body, and he was just about to depart when he swept his gaze over his surroundings with slightly furrowed brows.

In the wake of the battle that had just taken place, the entire area aside from the golden palace had been razed to the ground, so everything was laid bare to Han Li, yet Lu Yuqing was nowhere to be seen.

"Jin Tong, did you notice where the woman who was with me went during my battle against Qu Ling?" Han Li asked.

"What woman? Oh right, that woman... She was observing the battle from afar initially, then suddenly unleashed some type of secret technique to vanish into the ground," Jin Tong replied.

"You're saying she ran away?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"She did. She was with you, so I didn't try to stop her. Otherwise, I could've done so with ease," Jin Tong replied with a wide smile. Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

Han Li paid no heed to Jin Tong's boastful statement as he stood on the spot in silence, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Jin Tong pouted slightly with displeasure upon seeing this, and she turned her head away, refusing to look at him any longer, but it didn't take long before she began sneaking glances at him again out of the corner of her eye.

Right at this moment, Han Li rose up into the sky, and blue light flashed in his eyes as he scoured his gaze over the surrounding area.

Moments later, the blue light in his eyes faded, but his brows became even more tightly furrowed.

He had just searched through the entire nearby area, but wasn't able to detect the auras of any other cultivators, nor was there any residual aura left behind by Lu Yuqing.

"Are we going or not? I'm starving!" Jin Tong complained as she planted her hands on her hips.

"I'm looking for her because she has an incomplete map of the immortal manor. I was only able to make it to this place thanks to her map," Han Li explained.

What he didn't mention was that he felt like there was something rather strange about Lu Yuqing. In particular, her demeanor and behavior had become increasingly more peculiar after they left the Light Frost Palace, and it was very abnormal that she had suddenly disappeared without leaving any trace behind.

"If we don't have a map, then we'll just have to look on our own. What's the big deal?" Jin Tong retorted with a nonchalant pout.

"You're right, let's go," Han Li replied with a nod, then flew away into the distance as a streak of azure light, while Jin Tong followed along as a streak of golden light.

Some spaces only housed a single spirit beast each, while some housed thousands, even tens of thousands.

However, none of these spirit beasts were all that powerful, and True Immortal Stage ones among them were extremely rare, while most of them were below the Grand Ascension Stage.

Aside from that, each space contained a stone plaque that denoted the special characteristics and uses of the spirit beasts being kept inside. As it turned out, not all of them were meant for battle. Instead, there were also some who specialized in exploration and tracking.

At this point, Han Li had accumulated a vast wealth of experience, but even so, his horizons were significantly broadened as he browsed through this vast catalog of spirit beasts.

However, much to Han Li's surprise and dismay, all of the spirit beasts within the jade belt were dead, and there wasn't even a single one alive.

Furthermore, none of the spirit beasts had any visible injuries, and that made their deaths even more bewildering.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li summoned an azure deer carcass from the jade belt.

The spirit beast had blood flowing out of all of its orifices, and Han Li extended a finger forward to send a speck of azure light vanishing into the deer's head.

Moments later, his brows furrowed slightly, and he summoned another carcass, this time of a white ice silkworm, before repeating the process.

A furious look flashed through his eyes as he determined that all of the spirit beasts had perished due to a type of restriction.

Qu Ling had planted an extremely inhumane restriction in all of their bodies, one that would lead to the deaths of all of these spirit beasts should she ever meet her demise.

Han Li shook his head with a forlorn expression before stowing the jade belt away as well.

This jade belt was most likely even more valuable than the four high-grade spirit beast pouches.

Finally, he picked up the black ring before pressing it against his own forehead, and as soon as he injected his spiritual sense into the ring, an astonished look instantly appeared on his face.

With a sweep of his sleeve, a huge pile of items appeared on the ground, almost filling half of the entire hall.

These items were very diverse, containing everything from spirit plants and materials to ore and treasures, and they were radiating lights of all types of different colors to illuminate the entire hall.

Furthermore, almost every single one of these items contained extremely potent spiritual power.

Han Li had found many treasures after entering the immortal manor, but none of them could even begin to compare with Qu Ling's astonishing collection.

However, some of these items clearly belonged to other cultivators, indicating that she had claimed the lives and treasures of many past victims.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and he flipped a hand over to produce a crimson badge, one that belonged to the True Flame Sect.

There were as many as six or seven identical badges in Qu Ling's collection, telling him that all of the True Flame Sect's cultivators had already been slain by her.

Han Li couldn't help but shake his head and heave another forlorn sigh. He wasn't exactly fond of the True Flame Sect's cultivators, but it was still rather saddening to see these temporary allies meeting their demise.

Han Li casually cast the True Flame Sect badges aside, then continued to examine Qu Ling's collection.

A short while later, his eyes lit up as he made a grabbing motion to draw a nearby green gourd into his grasp.

This was none other than the Profound Heavenly Gourd that Qu Ling had used earlier.