The last man, Ning Fa had also met once before – it was Xiao Pengyuan, a member of the Elder Council who had visited the Huayu Sect previously.
He was also an elder of the He Yi Gate, and was at the Mid Nascent Soul stage.
Ning Fa recalled that he was ranked forty-first on the Profound Ranking, meaning his strength was not low.
"So, it's you that Hermit Xuyuan asked us to wait for!"
Ji Lianxing, who was known in the Demonic Path Alliance for her ever-changing, terrifying, and captivating personality, was currently astonished, her eyes filled with shock.
She looked at Ning Fa, who stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his face, and felt the unfathomable Spiritual Pressure emanating from him. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed deeply, and a hint of unwillingness flickered in her eyes.
When Ning Fa had surpassed her ranking on the Star Ranking before, she had felt indignant and even wanted to challenge him directly. However, Ning Fa had disappeared in the Ancient Immortal Island afterward, presumed dead, so she had to give up.
She never expected Ning Fa to return like a king, not only successfully forming his Nascent Soul but also leaving her far behind.
After all, although she was now ranked on the Profound Ranking, she was only in the early thirties, a significant gap from Ning Fa, who was ranked third. Naturally, this made the proud Ji Lianxing extremely unwilling.
"I also didn't expect fellow Daoist Ji to be among them," Ning Fa said with a faint smile.
Then, Ning Fa looked at Bai Yueqiu and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Bai, it's been a long time."
Bai Yueqiu's clear black and white eyes stared intently at Ning Fa. She muttered something under her breath, then greeted Ning Fa with a bright smile:
"I didn't expect fellow Daoist Ning to be leading the team this time. I was quite worried about this operation, but now I feel much more at ease, hee hee."
Ning Fa smiled, but a strange thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Bai Yueqiu also cultivated the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture, albeit a simplified version. Now that she had also advanced to Nascent Soul, her Body Cultivator realm must be extraordinary. She would be a good dual cultivation partner for him.
At this moment, Xiao Pengyuan of the He Yi Gate said to Ning Fa with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Ning, we meet again. As fellow Daoist Bai said, with you leading the team, I also feel much more at ease."
Ning Fa greeted him with a smile as well.
At this time, Hermit Xuyuan sized up Ning Fa, his eyes filled with surprise.
It had only been a little over a year since he last saw Ning Fa, but he could clearly feel the change in him.
Although Ning Fa's cultivation realm had not changed, the aura he exuded was even more profound and obscure, even giving Hermit Xuyuan a sense of deep threat.
Hermit Xuyuan naturally understood that after Ning Fa obtained Sang Wen's Wood Yang True Flame, his Divine Abilities had greatly advanced, which made him very pleased.
Then, Hermit Xuyuan said solemnly to Ji Lianxing and the others, "Fellow Daoists, this operation will be led by fellow Daoist Ning. I believe none of you will question his strength.
Therefore, fellow Daoist Ning will be the primary leader for this operation. I hope everyone will cooperate sincerely to complete the mission."
"Rest assured, Hermit Xuyuan, we will do our utmost," Xiao Pengyuan replied solemnly.
Although Ji Lianxing looked at Ning Fa with some unwillingness, she also nodded in agreement, and Bai Yueqiu giggled.
Hermit Xuyuan nodded and then looked at Ning Fa, "Fellow Daoist Ning, please come with me. I have a few words I wish to discuss with you privately."
With that, he flew up into the sky.
Ning Fa nodded to the others and followed.
High in the sky, Hermit Xuyuan casually cast a faint light barrier and smiled, "Congratulations, fellow Daoist Ning, on your great advancement in Divine Abilities."
"You flatter me, fellow Daoist. I have only made minor breakthroughs," Ning Fa replied humbly.
Hermit Xuyuan smiled, pointed his right hand forward, and three items immediately appeared in the light –
A Jade Slip, a Storage Ring, and an ancient silver Talisman.
The Talisman flickered with a faint light, emitting powerful spatial fluctuations.
Ning Fa looked at the Talisman, his expression moved.
Hermit Xuyuan explained, "This Jade Slip contains the detailed plan for this operation, and the Storage Ring contains some necessary array formation equipment.
As for this Talisman, it is an extremely rare top-grade Great Teleportation Talisman, capable of transmitting directly thirty thousand miles away.
Our pavilion only has one left in its treasury, so I will give it to you.
The infiltration into Tianli's rear is quite dangerous. If you encounter a crisis that even fellow Daoist Ning cannot resist, then do not worry about anyone else and use this Talisman to escape."
Ning Fa's gaze sharpened as he stared intently at Hermit Xuyuan.
Hermit Xuyuan sighed, "To be honest, without this Great Teleportation Talisman, even if fellow Daoist Ning were more suitable for this mission, I would not have agreed to let you go.
It is no exaggeration to say that fellow Daoist Ning is the hope of Cangyuan in the future. Therefore, for this operation, it is best to complete the mission, but if you cannot, there is no need to force it. Your safety is paramount."
Ning Fa was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Alright."
He then put away the three items.
A short while later, everyone stood before the teleportation array.
Ning Fa and the others each took a dull-looking pill and swallowed it. Then, a faint spiritual light flashed around them, and their appearances slowly changed, even their body shapes altered slightly.
Ning Fa looked at his own dark yellow, rough arm and then at the others, who were all dark and inconspicuous. He couldn't help but marvel.
The Illusory Spirit Pill prepared by Hermit Xuyuan was truly miraculous. This disguise effect was the best he had ever seen.
It even concealed their cultivation realms. Now, they all appeared to be anywhere from Early to Late Core Formation.
Even with his Spiritual Sense, without fully activating it, it would be difficult to detect anything unusual about them.
"I wish all fellow Daoists a smooth journey," Hermit Xuyuan said solemnly.
The few nodded solemnly at him before stepping onto the teleportation array.
With a violent hum, the teleportation array erupted in white light, and their figures quickly vanished.
After a bout of dizziness, Ning Fa slowly opened his eyes.
Soon, his full guard relaxed.
This was a seemingly ordinary cave. Aside from the teleportation array beneath his feet, there was nothing else out of the ordinary.
Ning Fa scanned the outside with his spiritual sense, also detecting no danger.
He then looked to a stone platform not far away. On it lay a jade slip, a black ring, and a spirit beast bracelet.
Ning Fa inspected them, then made a gesture to the void, drawing the three items to his hand.
He scanned the jade slip with his spiritual sense, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
At this moment, the others had also recovered from the dizziness of the long-distance teleportation. They cautiously surveyed their surroundings before all looking at Ning Fa.
"Captain, what's our next move?"
Ji Lianxing, whose skin had turned dark and whose appearance was now ordinary, asked Ning Fa. Although her words were polite, her tone was clearly teasing.
"That's right, Captain. We've already arrived in Tianli, so you should tell us the plan now."
Bai Yueqiu, who had transformed into a woman in her thirties, giggled.
Ning Fa glanced at Sang Wen, who appeared calm and somewhat distant, and said gravely, "Everyone should be clear about the objective of this mission.
According to the intelligence provided by Daoist Xuyuan, although the people of Tianli have sealed the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range with that ancient grand formation, it is divided into inner and outer layers of restrictions. Savage beasts of the third rank and below might still be able to escape from the inner restriction.
This is intentional on the part of the Tianli people.
Firstly, they use this method to gather manpower to hunt these savage beasts, thereby reducing their numbers in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.
Secondly, high-grade savage beasts are highly valuable. The main ingredients for many of Tianli's high-grade pills are the inner cores of these savage beasts.
Therefore, even though the main forces of Tianli are engaged with our Cangyuan on the front lines, there are still many people in the rear hunting savage beasts in areas where they are rampant.
The Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range is one such area, and it's also where the largest number of people gather, including not only official Tianli personnel but also a large number of rogue cultivators.
There is a city called Aisa City near the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range where a large number of beast hunters gather. It also has a teleportation array that leads to the outskirts of the mountain range.
Our plan is to go to Aisa City, then pose as beast hunters to teleport into the mountain range, and then disrupt the inner restriction when the opportunity arises."
After speaking, Ning Fa looked at them and said calmly, "Does anyone have any questions?"
They nodded. Xiao Pengyuan asked, "Fellow Daoist Ning, where are we now, and how far is it to Aisa City?"
Ning Fa replied, "We should currently be deep within a mountain range called Qige Mountain Range in southern Tianli. Daoist Xuyuan specifically chose this location.
It is said that a powerful celestial phenomenon frequently occurs here, making it one of the weakest monitored areas by the Tianli Holy Temple. It should still be a twenty-odd day journey to Aisa City."
"Only twenty-odd days. That's good, that's good."
Xiao Pengyuan and the other women breathed a sigh of relief.
Without further hesitation, they immediately got up and left through a winding upward passage.
Before long, they emerged outside. The wind howled, and they were at an inconspicuous cave at the base of a mountain thousands of feet high.
Furthermore, the cave entrance was not sealed by any formations but was blocked by ordinary giant rocks, making it naturally difficult to find.
As Ji Lianxing was about to ascend, Ning Fa stopped her.
He put on the black ring on his left index finger and then gently waved it towards the spirit beast bracelet in his hand.
Instantly, amidst a black light, a massive black bird with wings spanning over ten zhang appeared before them.
It had two heads, a mouth full of fangs, and its body was covered in black feathers like iron plates, appearing extremely ferocious. It was at the Mid Third-Rank stage.
The bird looked at them, a fierce glint in its four eyes. Its large beak opened, and red flames gathered, as if it were about to attack directly.
But as Ning Fa's black ring on his left hand flashed with spiritual light, the black bird immediately let out a pained cry as if it had been pricked, its wings flailing wildly.
After a while, Ning Fa snorted coldly and removed the ring.
The bird also let out a low cry, glancing at Ning Fa with some fear before obediently lowering its head.
The others were startled and looked at Ning Fa with confusion.
Ning Fa smiled, "This bird is called a Twin-headed Savage Bird. It's a high-grade flying savage beast unique to Tianli, and it was prepared for us by an insider from the Beast Barbarian Tribe.
With this savage beast as our mount, it can also help conceal our identities."
The others understood, and then their faces lit up with smiles. They had to admit that the insider had considered everything very thoroughly.
Then, they flew onto the back of the Twin-headed Savage Bird. With a flap of its giant wings, it soared towards the sky.
Ning Fa looked up at the clear, cloudless, azure sky, a hint of solemnity in his eyes. He did not let the Savage Bird fly too high.