Chapter 1775: Mirage Illusionary Realm
"We've arrived, Senior. Let me notify the members of my family so my father can greet you," Xu Qianyu said as the flying carriage circled around in the air near the mountain range.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the mountain range, and his expression changed slightly as he nodded in response. "So this is the Xu Family. As expected, you've really found a good place. Alright, then, I'll wait here for you."
Due to the fact that he had made no attempt to conceal his flying carriage, the Xu Family cultivators on guard duty had already noticed their presence, and a burst of restriction fluctuations erupted as a dozen or so streaks of light flew out of the mountain range down below, and they certainly didn't seem to be approaching with friendly intentions.
After securing permission from Han Li, Xu Qianyu flew toward the cultivators of her family as a streak of white light, and she reached them after just a few flashes.
All of those cultivators clearly recognized the daughter of their family leader, and the lights around them all faded to reveal a series of cultivators, all of whom had elated looks on their faces.
Xu Qianyu merely said something to them with a smile on her face, then descended with them toward the mountain range down below.
Meanwhile, Han Li patiently waited on his flying carriage, and a short while later, delightful music began to play within the mountain range.
Two groups of young women in white and red palatial dresses flew out of one of the mountains, and even though they were all only at the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment Stages, all of them were very beautiful and wore respectful expressions.
Behind these women were three people, one of which was none other than Xu Qianyu. The one at the center of the trio was a scholarly white-robed man, while the final person to complete the trio was a massive burly man with an unruly beard and a pair of large menacing intimidating eyes.
The two groups of women stopped several hundred feet away from the flying carriage, while the trio continued onward and only stopped after reaching Han Li.
"Junior Xu Jiao pays his respects to Senior Han. Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner."
The white-robed man appeared to be around 30 years of age and had a set of ordinary facial features. However, he was at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, so he wasn't weak by any means. In the presence of Han Li, he hurriedly extended a deep bow with a respectful look on his face.
"Junior Xu Lu also pays his respects to Senior Han." The burly man was at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, and he also extended a respectful bow.
"Are you the leader of the Xu Family, Fellow Daoist Xu Jiao?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner as he appraised the white-robed man.
"Indeed. I've been the Xu Family Leader for around 1,000 years now," the white-robed man replied in a truthful manner.
Han Li nodded, and asked, "I'm sure Fellow Daoist Qianyu has informed you of the purpose of my visit, right?"
"She did, indeed. We are truly grateful that you've graced us with a visit for the sake of our matriarch. However, this is not a suitable place to talk; please follow me and we'll discuss these matters inside," the white-robed man said in a respectful manner.
Han Li nodded in response. "Alright, lead the way."
Thus, Han Li withdrew his flying carriage, and drifted down from the sky.
The white-robed man and burly man accompanied Han Li on either side, while Xu Qianyu followed along a half step behind them.
After arriving in the air above the mountain range, Xu Jiao flipped a hand over to summon a green badge before gently sweeping it through the air.
A burst of violent spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted over the entire mountain range, and the dozen or so mountains twisted and warped like mirages before vanishing into nothingness.
The mountains were still the same mountains, but they were now in completely different locations to where they were situated before.
The dozen or so mountains had all shifted several kilometers in location, so presumably, if someone had tried to directly attack the Xu Family using a powerful ability, then they would completely miss all of the mountains and buildings.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly remarked, "This is a mirage illusionary realm! I didn't think that you'd have access to such a legendary ancient restriction."
"Hehe, I'm sure it's nothing much in your eyes, Senior. Around 10,000 years ago, our Xu Family enlisted the service of an extremely talented formation master, and it took him his entire life to restore most of this ancient illusionary formation. It's a pity that his cultivation base was rather lackluster. Otherwise, if he had lived for some time longer, then perhaps he would've been able to completely restore the formation," Xu Jiao chuckled in response, seemingly also quite proud of this formation.
"Indeed, with this formation, the Xu Family will be very safe and secure," Han Li said with a faint smile before falling silent.
Xu Jiao was slightly disappointed to see this.
It was quite rare for a Body Integration cultivator to assess their formation, so he naturally hoped that Han Li would offer some more in-depth analysis.
"Senior, do you think this formation would be able to withstand a Body Integration cultivator's attack?" the burly man asked in a careful manner.
"A Body Integration cultivator's attack? Hehe..." A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he glanced at the burly man, but he didn't offer a direct response.
"Are you saying that this formation will be ineffective against a Body Integration cultivator, Senior?" the white-robed man asked in a hesitant manner.
After a brief pause, Han Li replied in a calm manner, "I don't know whether it would be effective or not, but there are indeed a few fallacies in the formation, presumably because it hasn't been completely restored. If a cultivator with lackluster prowess in the art of formations were to encounter this restriction, then they would certainly have some trouble trying to circumvent it. However, in the face of a Body Integration cultivator who's adept in the art of formations, this incomplete mirage illusionary realm really won't do much for you." He then casually pointed out the points on the mountain range where the restriction had been set up.
"You can identify the fallacies in this formation, Senior?" The white-robed man was quite surprised to hear this.
Xu Qianyu and the burly man exchanged a glance, and they could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another's eyes.
"I once read a tome with information regarding this formation, so I'm naturally able to identify the fallacies in this incomplete formation," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.
This was indeed true. Even though this type of ancient formation had already been lost in the human race for countless years, he discovered a bunch of ancient formation tomes in a market while passing through the territory of a foreign race on his way back to Deep Heaven City.
These tomes had all been written in ancient human text, and that particular foreign race had very little interest in formations, so the tomes were being sold like trash among a bunch of miscellaneous items.
Han Li couldn't help but wonder which powerful human being had taken these ancient tomes out of the human race, only for them to end up on the territory of that foreign race.
Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity, and he purchased all of those ancient formation tomes for next to nothing.
During his journey over the territories of the other foreign races, Han Li had encountered many similar situations, so he didn't pay much heed to it.
However, he was now able to compare this incomplete formation with the complete version on the tome, which naturally allowed him to instantly identify its fallacies.
Xu Jiao was naturally unaware of this chapter of Han Li's past, but he was quite stunned to hear that Han Li had the complete method for setting up this mirage illusionary formation.
He didn't know how this Senior Han had gotten his hands on such an ancient formation tome that had been lost for so many years, but if that really were true, then wouldn't the formation guarding the Xu Family be as good as nonexistent in his eyes?
Furthermore, he was only making a few points about the formation, but all of them were extremely valid and applicable, so he certainly didn't seem to be lying.
Thus, the white-robed man still maintained a smile, but it had become slightly forced.
Han Li paid no heed to this and merely continued onward in an unhurried manner.
Han Li's group was led by the two groups of young beauties to a massive hall at the center of the mountain range.
There was a pair of elderly men who bore a strong resemblance to one another waiting for them there.
"Senior Han, let me introduce to you my two grand-uncles. They were originally in seclusion, but they came out to greet you upon hearing about your arrival," Xu Jiao immediately introduced to Han Li.
"Juniors Xu Huo and Xu Yan pay their respects to Senior Han!" The pair of elderly men hurriedly extended respectful salutes toward Han Li. One of them was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, while the other was at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and it was quite astonishing to see two beings of this caliber in a normal family of cultivators.
After all, some of the smaller cultivation families could be established even with just a single Deity Transformation cultivator among their ranks.
It seemed that Xu Qianyu hadn't been exaggerating when she said that her Xu Family was relatively renowned in the Tian Yuan Region.
"There's no need for such formalities, fellow Daoists; I'm only here to fulfill a request assigned to me." Han Li waved a hand in response and was quite benevolent toward these two powerful Xu Family cultivators.
They then briefly exchanged some pleasantries before the two elderly men led Han Li into the massive hall.
After everyone had taken a seat, a group of Qi Condensation Stage servants immediately offered cups of spirit tea to everyone present.
Xu Jiao said, "Due to the time constraints, my daughter only briefly disclosed to me the purpose of your visit. I heard that Senior Han has something that needs to be passed on to Fairy Ice Soul or her descendants; is that correct?"
"Indeed. I agreed to run this errand as I owe someone a favor. However, I heard from Fellow Daoist Qianyu that Fairy Ice Soul's descendants aren't just limited to this branch alone. Hence, I'll need to verify your connection to Fairy Ice Soul before I hand over the items," Han Li said in a straightforward manner.
"How would you like us to prove this to you, Senior? All of the other nearby families are aware that we are descendants of Fairy Ice Soul," Xu Huo said after clearing his throat in a slightly stumped manner.
"That shouldn't be too difficult. Anything left behind by Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, such as cultivation arts or treasures that belonged to her, will be sufficient proof of her connection with the Xu Family," Han Li replied in a calm manner.