Relying on his mid Foundation Establishment cultivation, Han Li was able to activate the treasure talisman several times faster than when he was a Qi Condensation cultivator.

After a short moment, the azure talisman in his hand turned into a several inch long azure jade rod that sparkled exquisitely and flowed with glimmering light.

At this moment, the combined magic power of the Four Friends of Meng Mountain had reached its limit. The aggressive swipes of the man transformed into a demon were like repeated hammer strikes against the white scale shield, leaving the four friends exhausted with pale gray complexions.

“Senior, hurry!”

The dark-faced old man saw Han Li’s talisman transform and couldn’t help but anxiously urge him.

Han Li did not have the time to pay attention to the old man. Instead, after he saw the transformed demon repelled by the light beam attacks, he immediately poured all of the spiritual power in his body into the jade rod.

In an instant, the small jade rod floating above his hand released a dazzling blue radiance. It split in two, then two to four and four to eight... In the blink of an eye, it transformed into several hundreds of similar small rods. Each rod released a rumbling hum and continuously trembled as they revolved around Han Li.

This astonishing scene rendered the Four Friends of Meng Mountain speechless. They believed it to be an illusion, not daring to trust what they saw with their own eyes.

Without the slightest of delay, Han Li pointed at the transformed demon with a solemn expression. Then, like a bursting dam, the densely packed small rods immediately shot forth in a fierce, grand charge.

Although the mind of the former large bald man wasn’t clear, as he faced the assault of Han Li’s treasure talisman, he seemed to realize the situation was far from good. Dread appeared on his face. With a flash of red light, he madly galloped away like a shooting star at a speed no slower than the Divine Wind Boat.

This scene left Han Li stunned and hesitant. The other party had already run over three hundred meters away. Han Li could only see the distant fleeing figure from behind.

With a sigh, Han Li didn’t give chase. Instead, he lightly waved his hand, causing the jade rod talisman treasure to withdraw and converge into an azure talisman, floating back to his hand.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to prevent future problems. However, the remaining uses of the jade rod talisman treasures were limited. If he were to pursue and tangle with him for a long period of time, Han Li didn’t know if the treasure talisman would last. Also, with living mouths already in hand, this choice was comparatively more reliable.

Seeing such a formidable opponent flee from Han Li, the hearts of the four friends shook as they stood, propping each other up.

Seeing that their complexions truly weren’t good, after a moment of thought, Han Li took out a small medicine bottle from his storage pouch and handed it over to them.

“Everyone take one pill. It will help with your injuries,” Han Li said with a slight smile.

Regardless of how it was presented, these people had been quite helpful in today’s battle. He naturally had to show this to some extent in order to have them know that he wasn’t unkind.

As expected, the four friends revealed a grateful appearance. The old man then respectfully took the bottle and lightly poured four fire-red sized medicinal pills into his hand. Upon smelling its medicinal fragrance, his spirit felt roused.

As the old man was someone with much experience, he was immediately pleasantly surprised by the great value of the medicine. After he repeatedly expressed his thanks toward Han Li, he took the medicine pill along with the others.

Just as the medicine pills entered their stomachs, they immediately scattered, warmly flowing into every inch of their bodies. This caused their injuries to feel much lighter, and they felt great joy.

“Let’s leave! It will be troublesome if we stay here for long and the Black Fiend School brings reinforcements,” Han Li said with a deep voice as he took a look at the captured young prince and Steward Wang.

The four friends naturally didn’t have any objections. They obediently carried the two captives onto the Divine Wind Boat. Han Li then hastily flew with all of them on board.

The sky above the ruined temple regained peace once more. No one would’ve been able to tell that a fierce battle between cultivators had occurred here.

....

Han Li and company returned to the Qin Residence without a problem and directly descended to their dwelling.

Fearing that any delay would bring trouble, Han Li made a change of plan and started to interrogate the young prince and the steward that very night.

Han Li planned to personally interrogate the young prince and hand Chief Steward Wang to the four friends. He was convinced that with the dark-faced old man’s shrewd ruthlessness, he should receive a satisfactory result.

To make cultivators tell the truth was a comparatively more difficult matter for others. However, Han Li, who had a rough understanding of bewitchment techniques and was proficient in the Dao of medicine, simply had no problem in this regard. This was especially apparent with such a large difference in cultivation.

Although the young prince had started by absolutely refusing to open his mouth, completely unwilling to answer Han Li’s mild questioning, Han Li force fed the young prince a medicinal liquid with no trace of politeness. As a result, the prince grew dizzy, and his mind sank into delusion.

Soon after, Han Li used a common bewitchment magic technique, “Hypnotic Eye”, and smoothly took control of his mind. Afterwards, the prince obediently answered Han Li’s questions like a puppet.

Hearing the young prince’s account, Han Li’s appearance changed without end. At the start, he was solemnly ice-cold. In the middle, he was stunned and amazed. By the end, he appeared conflicted and gloomy.

With the young prince divulging all his hidden secrets, Han Li muttered to himself for a moment. Then he took out a black medicinal pill he had prepared beforehand and expressionlessly stuffed it down the young prince’s throat before walking out of his room, not even giving the young prince another glance.

This “Soul Breaking Pill” was enough to silently kill the young prince.

Although Han Li didn’t feel very good about using poison to kill a defenseless person, in light of the young prince using over ten cultivators as blood sacrifices to cultivate a demonic art, his death couldn’t be regarded as unjust.

When he arrived at the Clear Sound Courtyard, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain were discussing the interrogation with solemn expressions. Once they saw Han Li enter, they all stood and welcomed Han Li to the head seat.

Han Li sat down without declining and asked, “So how about it? Did Steward Wang confess to anything?”

The four friends exchanged mutual glances. As the eldest member, the dark-faced old man stood and replied, “Senior might already know this...I’m afraid the situation is quite complicated, especially if Steward Wang didn’t lie.”

With that said, the old man stole a look at Han Li. However, Han Li’s expression was normal and didn’t express anything.

With no better option, the old man deliberated for a moment and forced himself to say, “This one has learned much information with regards to the Black Fiend School from Steward Wang. However, most of it is insignificant. Only one extremely jeopardizing matter is important. That is, the Black Fiend School Master is hiding in the Imperial City. Furthermore, the current mortal emperor of the State of Yue has long since become his puppet, turning the Imperial Palace into the Black Fiend School’s nest. As it happens to be, the Black Fiend School Master is a man called Li Poyun, a eunuch among the stewards within Imperial Palace. It is said that he is in the middle of secluded cultivation.”

When the dark-faced old man said this, he wrinkled his brow. He felt this matter wasn’t easy to handle! After all, even if cultivators held mortals in contempt, they still had to be somewhat wary toward the highest ruler of the mortal world!

After Han Li heard this, his face didn’t change. However, his heart sighed incessantly!

He didn’t have hold any fear for the emperor but he knew that the current royal family of the State of Yue was actually in joint cooperation with the Seven Sects.

Each of the sects had an unwritten rule strictly prohibiting even a half step of entry into the forbidden city. This was to avoid any sect from seizing the royal family by force and leaving the other sects at a disadvantage.

Thus, for several hundred years, the slightest trace of Seven Sect Disciples had not appeared in the Imperial City of Yue. So long as the State of Yue’s emperor didn’t make any great blunders by not making any offerings to the Seven Sects, the Seven Sects left them completely alone. Perhaps it was this that gave the Black Fiend School an advantageous opportunity.

Han Li had already contemplated the young prince’s answers many times over, but he was still unsure as to what to do!

This rule had been maintained for such a long time. Even if he uncovered the true identity of the Black Fiend School Master, who knew if that would atone for his crime of trespassing into the Imperial City? Not only was it possible that he could receive no merits, but he could also be severely punished!

Being unable to distinguish between what was the right or wrong course of action, he grew extremely annoyed. In the long history of the Seven Great Sects, such occurrences had happened before.

There were times when the authority of some rules was far more important than the rightness or wrongness of the matter and simply couldn’t be broken in the slightest, causing Han Li to feel greatly afraid of the consequences.

He wasn’t someone who wished to expend effort only to receive an undesired outcome.

But returning to the main topic at hand, being able to discover the true identity of the Black Fiend School Master so easily was truly unexpected!

However, this was a just a chance coincidence. According to the young prince’s knowledge, even Foundation Establishment Altar Lords hadn’t seen the appearance of the school master before and didn’t know of his origins.

These two were of the few individuals who knew the Black Fiend School Master’s identity. This was completely because Steward Wang and the young prince had a rather familiar relationship to the Black Fiend School Master.

One of them was the Black Fiend School Master's older cousin and had saved his life before. The other was his only official disciple and received no small amount of favor. With such intimate relationships, they were able to know the true identities of many important figures.

Otherwise, in such a large city such as Yuejing, how could two among many of the school’s Qi Condensation disciples hold such influential positions in the school?