"Brother Lü, has your honorable sect still not received any news of Elder Han?" A crane-haired old man sitting across from Lü Luo suddenly addressed him in polite tones.
This cultivator named Xu Changjing, an early Nascent Soul stage expert, was an elder of the Water Shadow Sect under the Heavenly Dao Alliance. He had arrived in Tianyi City only the day before, and had crossed paths with Lü Luo on a few occasions in the past.
"Not at the moment. What, Brother Xu, you're also quite concerned about Martial Brother Han's affairs?" Lü Luo was briefly startled but replied with a smile.
"Heh heh! Naturally so. From what Brother Lü is saying, it seems other fellow cultivators have already asked the same question. That's hardly surprising—before I even set foot in Tianyi City, my ears were already stuffed with rumors about this Fellow Han. Tsk tsk! At the early Nascent Soul stage, to actually escape from the hands of a Mulan Divine Master—none of us could pull that off. And I've also heard that some say this Fellow Han only condensed his Nascent Soul in the last few years. I wonder if that's true. If so, then it's even more astonishing." Xu Changjing replied with a laugh.
When the crane-haired elder spoke these words, several other cultivators exchanged glances and all showed expressions of interest as they looked toward Lü Luo.
Regarding rumors about Han Li, these people had naturally heard at least some of them. But the notion that Han Li was a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator—that, none of them had heard before.
"That… Martial Brother Han did indeed advance to the Nascent Soul stage only recently." Lü Luo hesitated for a moment, but then reasoned that others already knew, so he chose not to conceal it and admitted as much.
"Sss!"
Everyone else in the hall couldn't help but show visible shock—two of them even sucked in a sharp breath.
"With Elder Han so young yet possessing such abilities, there's a very good chance he'll advance to the late stage in the future. Allow me to congratulate Brother Lü ahead of time. The prosperity of the Falling Cloud Sect is just around the corner! And when that happens, our Heavenly Dao Alliance will gain yet another great cultivator!" Xu Changjing was also secretly startled, and there was a hint of envy in his words.
The others were much the same—between expressions of admiration, they each offered a few words of flattery.
Lü Luo felt a certain smugness in his heart, but of course spoke a few modest words in reply.
"However, Brother Lü. Although Elder Han escaped from the Divine Master, he must have been seriously injured, surely? Otherwise, why hasn't he shown himself for so long? Brother Lü really ought to send more people to look for him. If you're short on hands, our sect could send a few disciples to assist." Another man—middle-aged, with a pair of thick, drooping brows—furrowed those brows and spoke, his voice carrying a slightly cold edge.
"I'm not entirely clear on this matter myself. But his essence will certainly have been depleted to some extent, so he's probably hidden away somewhere recuperating." Lü Luo's heart tightened involuntarily at these words, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied calmly.
Lü Luo was a man who had lived for several hundred years and was no stranger to reading people—he could hardly fail to catch the jealousy in the other's words.
This man with the drooping brows was an elder of the Luanming Gate, the Heavenly Dao Alliance's most powerful sect. The dual-cultivating husband-and-wife pair who could rival the three great cultivators were both elders of Luanming Gate. Without them, how else would Luanming Gate stand head and shoulders above all the other sects in the Alliance?
Now hearing that a Falling Cloud Sect elder might one day advance to the late Nascent Soul stage, this man naturally felt uncomfortable and quietly threw some cold water on the matter.
But on the surface, the thick-browed cultivator appeared quite concerned—no one could fault him for anything.
Just as the atmosphere was growing somewhat awkward, a streak of red light suddenly shot in through the door, circled once, and then darted toward Lü Luo.
Everyone froze in surprise.
Even Lü Luo himself looked astonished, but he still reached out toward the red light with a beckoning gesture.
Instantly, the red light transformed into a ball of fiery flame and dropped into Lü Luo's hand.
Lü Luo immersed his divine sense into it, and after a moment, a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Our sect's Martial Brother Han has already entered the city. He's currently at our sect's quarters. I'll take my leave of you all." Lü Luo suppressed the excitement in his heart, offered this brief explanation to the others, and hurried off.
Watching Lü Luo's retreating figure, the other cultivators present stared blankly at one another, their expressions a mix of everything under the sun.
No one had expected that the very moment they'd brought up the legendary Elder Han, the man himself would actually show up.
Xu Changjing stroked his beard, a contemplative look on his face. And the middle-aged man with the thick, drooping brows—his expression was as calm as ever, but if one looked carefully, a flash of gloom could be seen deep in his eyes.
…
Although Tianyi City was a newly built stone fortress, all four great powers—regardless of sect size—had their own quarters here.
The city had been neatly divided into four major zones according to each faction's sphere of influence.
The central zone, naturally, was common territory. Notable independent cultivators could take up residence there.
The Heavenly Dao Alliance occupied the western district of the stone city, and the Falling Cloud Sect was situated at the southernmost edge of the western district, claiming a sprawling area of several dozen mu.
This time, over two hundred Falling Cloud Sect disciples had come to provide support—all of them at the Foundation Establishment stage or above, with six or seven Core Formation cultivators among them. That represented well over half of the Falling Cloud Sect's total strength.