When Gu Mingyang returned home, he happened to encounter someone from outside bullying his Gu Family.
With his Great Perfection Qi cultivation, he swept all before him, driving out those who had come to cause trouble.
His grandfather, Grandfather Gu Mingchuan, was already on his deathbed, and those people had come to bully them precisely because they saw his condition.
Only then did Gu Mingyang understand why he had felt a sudden premonition; he decided to spend the remaining days by Grandfather Gu Mingchuan's side, accompanying him on his final journey.
Gu Mingyang's parents and his second uncle were naturally overjoyed to see his current cultivation.
It was clear that his Gu Family was about to experience a turn of good fortune.
Grandfather Gu Mingchuan warned the others not to leak the news, but Gu Mingyang's second uncle, who had endured humiliation for half his life, felt a change of heart; now that his own nephew had risen, he did not want to be inferior to others any longer.
And this would later bring great disaster to his Gu Family.
Han Li, on his part, had originally planned to continue studying the Dao of Artifact Refining and Formations for the next few years, slowly refining the seventy-two Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords he was nurturing with his Pill Fire.
However, not long after, a Core Formation Cultivator named Jin Qing, who lived nearby, arrived outside his Immortal Cave. Jin Qing was upright and had even given Han Li some pointers when he first entered Core Formation, so their relationship was quite good.
"Brother Jin, long time no see. Is there something you need this time?"
Jin Qing said, "I just returned and heard that Fellow Daoist Han has made quite a few achievements in the Dao of Formations. Coincidentally, during my recent outing, a few Fellow Daoists and I found an ancient Cultivator's ruin, but it's protected by a large Formation, and we are all at our wits' end."
"There aren't many Loose Cultivators who are skilled in Formations, and I'm not familiar with them, which is why I came to you. If Fellow Daoist Han is willing to help, then no matter what treasures are found in the ancient Cultivator's ruin, we will count Fellow Daoist in for a share."
Han Li, being cautious, did not immediately agree, but instead asked, "With your discerning eye, Brother Jin, do you think this ancient Cultivator's ruin is dangerous?"
"It's hard to say. I've encountered a few ancient Cultivator's ruins myself; some had nothing, some had many treasures, and some were fraught with danger. This particular one should have some danger."
"However, there are also several other Core Formation stage Fellow Daoists accompanying us this time, so I imagine we should be able to handle it."
Han Li's expression shifted, and after some thought, he said, "How about this, I'll give you my reply in two days, Brother Jin?"
"Alright, I'll await your news then."
Han Li knew that Li Feiyu's Divine Ability was extraordinary, and even if they encountered extremely great danger, having Li Feiyu there would greatly increase their chances of escape. So, he went to Li Feiyu's Immortal Cave and invited him to come along.
Li Feiyu thought for a moment and agreed, telling him to notify him when they were ready to depart.
Two days later, Han Li informed Jin Qing about inviting Li Feiyu. Jin Qing was already overjoyed that Han Li was willing to help, as he needed Han Li's Formation-breaking ability, so he couldn't very well refuse Li Feiyu.
Moreover, although he wasn't very familiar with Li Feiyu, he had met him a few times and knew that he and Han Li had a close relationship as Senior Brothers, so he readily agreed.
The next day, they departed from Heavenly Star City together and headed towards the ancient Cultivator's location.
On this trip, Li Feiyu wanted to try and capture Venerable Xuan Gu, who was Old Devil Zenith Yin's master and knew many Demonic Path secret techniques.
If he could control him and make him work for him, refining various Demonic Path corpse puppets, it would be a small but helpful aid.
As for whether he would succeed, it would depend on whether he had that luck.
Two months later, Li Feiyu and his companions were speeding across a remote sea area in the Chaotic Star Sea.
Not long after, they finally reached their destination. Before them was a massive island, a thousand li in circumference, with numerous hills and slopes. Looking out, everything was a dull yellow.
According to Jin Qing, this was a truly barren island, with no Spiritual Vein to be found, and ordinary trees could not survive on it.
Li Feiyu said, "The more unusual it is, the greater the possibility of an ancient Cultivator's ruin existing."
Jin Qing chuckled, "We thought the same at the time, and then we searched the entire island and found a place most likely to be an ancient Cultivator's location."
Han Li said, "Is it that place covered by the Formation?"
Jin Qing nodded, and under his leadership, they flew westward.
Han Li asked, "It's been so long, Brother Jin, your companions haven't already broken the great Formation, have they?"
"If that's the case, all the better. At most, if we find treasures inside the ancient Cultivator's ruin, we'll let them take a few more."
"We've arrived. That thousand-zhang-tall dull yellow mountain is our destination."
Li Feiyu and Han Li stared at the dull yellow mountain for a while, feeling that it was somewhat eerie, truly devoid of any green. As they approached, a strong gust of wind suddenly rose, kicking up sand and stones, even darkening the sky.
This ordinary wind and sand naturally couldn't harm them. Protective thought rose around them, and they continued steadily forward. Not long after, the wind and sand abruptly vanished, and Li Feiyu and his companions had already reached the foot of the earthen mountain.
After searching for a while, they found several stone houses, simple and crude, clearly formed by the Stone Transformation technique, all uniformly greyish-white in color.
The doors of several stone houses opened, and three Cultivators, two men and one woman, emerged.
Seeing Li Feiyu and his companions, they were all momentarily stunned. Why were there so many people?
A refined middle-aged man in a white shirt curiously asked, "Fellow Daoist Jin, you've gained quite a lot from your trip back. You've called three people at once. Aren't you going to introduce them?"
Jin Qing smiled and said, "This is Han Li, the Formation expert I mentioned. The other two are his Senior Brothers, Qu Hun and Li Feiyu."
The refined middle-aged man cupped his fists and said, "Greetings, Fellow Daoists. I am Hu Yue. These two are Fairy Shi Die and Brother Jian, respectively."
"Although Fairy Shi Die is only at the Foundation Establishment cultivation, she is a renowned Formation Great Master of Red Moon Island. If she joins forces with Fellow Daoist Han, they can certainly break the great Formation."
"As for Brother Jian, he is at the Core Formation Middle Stage cultivation and possesses powerful strength, so he will definitely be able to help a lot."
Shi Die was of average looks but had a strong temper. She unceremoniously demanded that after the Formation was broken, she would be the first to choose an item from the ancient Cultivator's ruin.
Jin Qing knew that she was the daughter of the Fellow Daoist Shi who had been kind to him, so he compromised, and also asked Han Li and Li Feiyu to endure it for his sake.
Li Feiyu smiled faintly, not particularly bothered.
Anyway, it was a team destined for annihilation, so he didn't care about arguing over this temporary advantage.
Hu Yue was quite embarrassed and suggested that if Han Li and Hu Yue jointly broke the great Formation, then they should each choose first.
"Fellow Daoist Han, this Formation is quite peculiar. Brother Jian and I attacked it for a day without success, and even depleted our Magical Power. Why don't you go and take a look first?"
Han Li nodded.
Everyone moved towards the heart of the earthen mountain and stopped near an inconspicuous gentle slope.
"Fellow Daoists, please look. The areas covered by yellow mist are where the Formation is located."
Hu Yue pointed to a spot on the slope in mid-air, speaking solemnly to Han Li and Shi Die.
Li Feiyu looked over. The yellow mist, about a li in circumference, was not far below, lying there like a giant monstrous beast, murky and silent, giving off an unfathomable and eerie feeling.
Shi Die's lips curled slightly, and a hint of excitement appeared in her eyes as she said, "A dual Earth-Wind attribute Formation, somewhat interesting."
Han Li's expression was grave, still observing intently, but Shi Die immediately took out a round Magical Artifact and began to try it out on her own.