I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

Han Zhan’s face gradually regained its color.

With the joint absorption and respiration of the five Great Ruins within his body, his recovery ability was astonishing. Nevertheless, the cost of using the Kunlun Mirror’s talent, Flowing Light and Shadow, was also incredibly high.

As soon as the flames ignited in the sky, he decisively used Flowing Light and Shadow.

The flow of time slowed down, and Han Zhan took one minute to rush back to his residence from the southern part of Chuyun Stockade.

In just one minute, the backlash of fiddling with time almost overwhelmed him. Fortunately, with the support of the five hidden Great Ruins, he barely managed to pull through.

"Just controlling the flow of time consumes so much—if I were to reverse the River of Time like in the Slaughter Battlefield, what realm would be required for that?"

Nuannuan took millions of years and combined the energy of Slaughter’s Origin to achieve this.

Relying solely on Han Zhan himself, there’s no chance within a short time.

"Did you discover anything?"

After resting for a while, Li Wu asked once Han Zhan’s face improved.

"I’ve sensed the entire Chuyun Stockade, but found no sign of a malevolent spirit."

Li Wu’s face darkened. Not finding any malevolent spirit, yet the High Priest mysteriously vanished—this situation was more troubling than finding the spirit.

"Could it be that we’re looking in the wrong direction?"

"Perhaps from the start, our focus shouldn’t have been inside Chuyun Stockade. If the spirit killed the High Priest, it might no longer be here; it might have already left."

Li Wu said.

Han Zhan listened and unexpectedly shook his head.

"Initially, I thought just like you, that perhaps we were looking in the wrong direction."

"But then something happened that completely changed my mind."

"What happened?" Li Wu asked, curious. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Han Zhan took out the Demon Crossing Cloak and exhibited it in front of Li Wu.

"This is an item of Tier Eight, known as the Demon Crossing Cloak."

"It possesses strong defensive capabilities, and also has a certain trait of concealment. With the cover of night, as long as I’m wearing it, I can stealthily move in the dark without being detected."

Han Zhan explained as he donned the Demon Crossing Cloak.

At the instant he wore the cloak, Li Wu noticed that Han Zhan’s presence significantly diminished, and even the outline of his figure began to blur.

If Li Wu hadn’t been staring, knowing Han Zhan was right before him, along with the nighttime setting, he indeed would find it hard to detect the other.

"Your item is certainly impressive, but what does it have to do with what you were about to say?"

"Earlier, when I completed the final area exploration on the southern side of Chuyun Stockade, I was wearing this Demon Crossing Cloak, and then I got spotted."

"You were spotted?!" Li Wu raised his voice somewhat, "So the reason for the flames on the southern side is because you were discovered."

"Exactly." Han Zhan nodded slightly.

He was discovered by two Jiu Li Warriors of Chuyun Stockade.

Imagine, even Li Wu at the Tier Seven Peak was unable to detect Han Zhan wearing the Demon Crossing Cloak, then why could two Jiu Li Warriors of Chuyun Stockade spot him?

"And there’s more."

"If it were merely about keen perception or having a talent in this aspect, maybe it could be explained away."

"But these two Jiu Li Warriors were clearly different from the ones I know; they took on my attack head-on and still had the strength to counter-attack."

Han Zhan wasn’t bragging.

With his current strength, Tier Seven Jiu Li Warriors could only be instantly defeated by him.

"Are you implying that they aren’t just as simple as being Tier Seven Realm?"

"Not quite, from what I sensed of their strength, they’re indeed Tier Seven. However, they are far stronger than ordinary Tier Seven."

"Just like you."

Han Zhan said, looking at Li Wu.

Li Wu was stronger than an ordinary Tier Seven because Han Zhan continually used Body Tempering Medicine on him for constant Body Tempering purification.

But what about those two Jiu Li Warriors?

"Chuyun Stockade, there’s definitely something wrong."

"So our direction wasn’t mistaken—sometimes being too clean is rather unnatural."

After listening to Han Zhan’s words, Li Wu thoughtfully nodded.

Tonight, there was a slight disturbance, surely the other side would be prepared, it’s not worth going out to investigate again.

After discussing with Li Wu, the two went to sleep.

...

The next day,

Han Zhan and Li Wu got up early.

They planned to stroll through the streets of Chuyun Stockade.

As soon as they hit the street, several Jiu Li children came running, circling around them.

"Leave here, leave here!"

"Bad people! Bad people!"

"You’re not allowed to stay in Chuyun Stockade, not allowed!"

Spoiled brats.

Who would have thought that such creatures existed in the Wilderness of Zhulu’s Fruit World?

Li Wu’s face darkened, just about to deal with these mischievous little brats.

But several Jiu Li women came rushing out, scooped them up and swiftly ran back into their homes.

"They seem to dislike us quite a bit."

Li Wu missed catching them, then looked back at Han Zhan somewhat awkwardly.

Han Zhan said nothing, his gaze still fixed on the doors that had just closed again.

"Their nutrition seems quite good."

Han Zhan said suddenly and without context.

"You mean those kids? Indeed, well-fed and chubby." Li Wu replied instinctively, unsure why Han Zhan said that.

In the next moment, Han Zhan moved forward a step without warning, towards the door of a house.

"Han Zhan, what do you plan to do?"

"I reflected. Given our status, I feel our current investigative approach is a bit too polite."

Our status? What status.

A priest, a wizard.

Now with the disappearance of Chuyun Stockade’s High Priest, indeed they should have the freedom to act assertively.

Li Wu hadn’t fully grasped Han Zhan’s intent, before seeing him kick down the door of a house.

The door fell with a crash.

Han Zhan boldly strode inside.

Inside, a female Jiu Li clutched her child. Seeing Han Zhan enter, she trembled, her eyes filled with fear.

They never imagined this person would choose to break in.

"What are you doing!"

"He’s just a child!"

The woman shouted fiercely as Han Zhan steadily approached.

"Children don’t instinctively harbor hatred unless someone whispers to them."

Han Zhan ignored the woman’s call to stop, closing the distance between them.

He noted the chubby Jiu Li child she held.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Earlier in Hejian Village, everyone I saw was skinny, due to the turbulent environment from the Jiuli Tribe and Yellow Emperor Tribe’s war, making it hard for them to gain weight."

"Chuyun Stockade is quite the opposite. Not only the children, but the women and elders all appear well-nourished and healthy."

"How did you achieve that?"

"Or do you have some secret?"