A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1169: Belittled

"Elder Mu, how could you be so rude to Le'er's brother? If the other primordial tribes were to find out about this, then our Heavenly Fox Tribe will be ridiculed as a bunch of ungrateful thugs. You can go now, I'll attend to Fellow Daoist Han myself," the white-robed man said.

"But Chief Liu, given Le'er's current situation, this man must have sinister motives for coming here at this time!" Elder Qiu protested in an urgent voice.

"You can go now!" the white-robed man repeated in a firmer voice, and Elder Qiu could only give Han Li an indignant glare before departing.

"You've made some rapid progress in your cultivation base, Han Li. How impressive," the white-robed man remarked with a faint smile following Elder Qiu's departure.

"You're far too kind, Chief Liu Qing," Han Li replied as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

"Oh? You know my name?" Liu Qing asked with a surprised expression.

"I heard someone mention it in the past," Han Li replied in an ambiguous fashion, making no mention of his past experiences in the Gray Realm.

"Several of Elder Qiu's descendants were killed by human cultivators, so he's very resentful of humans. On top of that, Le'er is currently cultivating a secret technique that's vital to the upcoming blood inheritance ceremony, so he's very sensitive about anything concerning her in this crucial juncture. Please forgive him for any offense he may have caused," Liu Qing said.

"It's fine," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

“You may be her brother, but that's all in the distant past, and you're a human cultivator, so you and Le'er are destined to belong to two different worlds, do you understand?" Liu Qing asked as he looked straight into Han Li's eyes.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but internally, he was seething.

Both Liu Qing and Elder Qiu were regarding him as some calculating charlatan who was trying to benefit from the Heavenly Fox Tribe through his ties with Liu Le'er, and he had never been so blatantly belittled before.

Liu Qing mistook Han Li's silence as one of contemplation, so he continued, "At the moment, you're not in the best of situations. In the wake of your conflict with the Qing Ape Tribe, you status as a human was about to be exposed, so it's understandable that you turned to Le'er for help. However, Le'er needs to focus on her cultivation right now, and I can't allow for anything to distract her.

“I can allow you to stay in our settlement until the commencement of the blood inheritance ceremony, and I'll protect you during this time, but please leave Eight Plains Mountain right away after the ceremony. Of course, if you have any requests, you can feel free to state them, but I'll only grant them on the condition that you won't ever bother Le'er again..."

Han Li was unable to contain his temper any longer, and he interjected in a cold voice, "Your concerns are unnecessary, Chief Liu. I may just be a lowly human, but I've never had to beg anyone for my protection. I only came here to catch up with Le'er for old time's sake. As for whether we'll meet again, let's leave that to fate. For now, I'll be taking my leave."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he turned to depart.

Liu Qing's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of fury flashed through his eyes. His sleeve rustled slightly, as if he were about to do something, but all of a sudden, he stopped what he was doing as he cast his gaze outside.

Even though Han Li was storming away, most of his attention was still focused on Liu Qing, so as soon as he detected what Liu Qing was doing, he also cast his gaze outside as he stopped in his tracks.

Right at this moment, two figures entered the hall.

One of them was Lekima, and he was accompanied by none other than True Spirit King Bai Ze.

"Your Majesty! To what do I owe this honor?" Liu Qing said in a respectful manner as he hurriedly emerged from the hall to greet Bai Ze.

Han Li's complexion instantly paled slightly upon hearing this. Even though he had never met Bai Ze before, there was only one man in the entire primordial land that Liu Qing would refer to as "Your Majesty".

He had come to the Heavenly Fox Tribe in order to find out more information about the True Spirit King so that he could decide whether to meet him or not, but the True Spirit King had come to him before he had a chance to find out anything.

Even though Bai Ze wasn't giving off any aura at the moment, a sense of indescribable fear had welled up in Han Li's heart, and he had only ever experienced this sensation in the presence of a very exclusive group of individuals, including Yin Chengquan, Daoist Xie following his awakening, and the Devilish Monarch.

"No need for formalities, Chief Liu. I've come here on a private matter, so make sure you don't tell anyone about my visit," Bai Ze said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. May I ask the purpose of your visit? Whatever you need from me, I'll have it arranged right away," Liu Qing immediately replied.

"There's no need for you to do anything, I'm here to see Fellow Daoist Han," Bai Ze said as he turned to Han Li with a faint smile, while Liu Qing also turned to him with a dumbstruck expression.

Han Li took a glance at Lekima, then cupped his fist in a respectful salute toward Bai Ze as he greeted, "Han Li pays his respects to Senior Bai Ze."

He may not have had a chance to find out much about the True Spirit King, but he was at least familiar with the True Spirit King's name.

"I informed Father of the matter concerning Xiao Bai, and he asked me to take him to you right away. I hope that's not an issue," Lekima said with a faint smile.

"Not at all, it's an honor for me to make your acquaintance, Senior Bai Ze," Han Li replied with a composed smile, even though he was far from pleased with the situation that had been forced upon him.

"There's no need for such formalities from you, either, Fellow Daoist Han. You saved my son's life, so our primordial tribes owe you a favor. I've heard that you also possess multiple true spirit bloodlines, so it seems like you have some rather extensive ties with our primordial tribes," Bai Ze said with a smile.

Han Li hesitated momentarily, then said, "While it's true that I possess several true spirit bloodlines, almost all of them were obtained in lower realms, and I haven't maliciously harmed any of the primordial tribes during my time in the True Immortal Realm."

"It's fine, Fellow Daoist Han, Father already knows about your history. The greatest enemy of our primordial land is the Heavenly Court, and as the saying goes, an enemy of an enemy is a friend.

“Besides, you've also done all of our primordial tribes a great kindness by delivering Xiao Bai to Eight Plains Mountain, so you can rest assured in the knowledge that we bear no ill will toward you," Lekima said with a reassuring smile, and Han Li felt a little less apprehensive upon hearing this, while Liu Qing was beginning to sorely regret the attitude that he had just displayed toward Han Li.

Despite this, he remained composed as he respectfully invited Bai Ze and Lekima into the hall, but Han Li remained standing outside the hall.

"What are you doing, Fellow Daoist Han? Come and take a seat," Lekima invited with a perplexed expression.

"A mere human like myself wouldn't dare to sit as I please in the Heavenly Fox Tribe's territory. I should be thanking my lucky stars that I haven't been thrown out yet," Han Li replied.

"Hmm? What's the meaning of this?" Lekima asked as he turned to Liu Qing, and Bai Ze did the same.

"There was a slight misunderstanding between Fellow Daoist Han and myself, but it's all been cleared up now," Liu Qing explained with an awkward expression, then hurriedly made his way over to Han Li's side to cup his fist in an apologetic salute.

Han Li was in no mood to forgive Liu Qing, but he still returned the salute as he knew that he stood to gain nothing from turning Liu Qing against him.

"I have some matters to discuss with Fellow Daoist Han, so you can go now, Chief Liu," Bai Ze said, treating the Heavenly Fox Tribe settlement as if it were his own backyard.

Liu Qing didn't display any displeasure to this, and he cupped his fist in a respectful salute before quickly departing.

In recent times, the Heavenly Court had been constantly invading the primordial land under all types of excuses, and it was only thanks to Bai Ze's leadership that the primordial tribes had been able to keep the Heavenly Court at bay, so Bai Ze was an extremely revered and respected figure to all of the primordial tribes.

After leaving the hall, Liu Qing quickly arrived in another nearby hall.

Elder Qiu was waiting in the hall, and as soon as he caught sight of Liu Qing, he immediately asked, "Have you already taken care of that bastard, Chief Liu? To think that a human would dare to come to the primordial land and extort our Heavenly Fox Tribe! What an insolent scoundrel! How did you deal with him?"

Liu Qing gave a cold harrumph as he shot Elder Qiu a displeased glare.

He had been in the Heavenly Fox Palace earlier when he received word that Han Li had come to their settlement, and while dismissing Elder Qiu, a spiritual sense conversation had taken place between the two of them.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After learning that Han Li had only arrived at Eight Plains Mountain with a pair of no-name primordial tribes, he came under the impression that Han Li didn't have any special connections or powerful backers to rely on, and that was why he had displayed such a hostile attitude to Han Li, but never did he think that the information that he had received from Elder Qiu would be so absurdly wrong.

"What's wrong, Chief Liu?" Elder Qiu asked as a hint of foreboding welled up in his heart at the sight of Liu Qing's furious expression.

Liu Qing swept a sleeve through the air to set up several layers of restrictions, then said, "You just told me that Han Li came to Eight Plains Mountain with the Silver Horn Rhinoceros Tribe and the Cloud Spot Tiger Tribe, and that he had no special connection, is that right?"

"That's right. He does seem to be familiar with Young Master Lekima, but how could a human cultivator like him possibly have any connections here on Eight Plains Mountain?" Elder Qiu replied.

"If you knew that he was familiar with Young Master Lekima, why didn't you tell me?" Liu Qing asked in a cold voice.

At this point, it had dawned on Elder Qiu that he had landed himself in some hot water, and he replied in a timid fashion, "I didn't think anything of it. Everyone knows that Young Master Lekima has a very erratic personality and likes to make random friends. His Majesty has even scolded him for this very tendency on many occasions, so I assumed that Han Li was just another one of those inconsequential friends."

"You're a fool!" Liu Qing suddenly yelled, then sat down onto a chair and closed his eyes to compose himself.

Elder Qiu was given quite a fright by this sudden outburst, and he didn't dare to say anything further as he hung his head in silence.