When Han Li quietly returned to the meditation room, he found that the disciples inside were still lying around unconscious, with no one coming to check on them. This was understandable. At such a critical moment in the battle, how could they pay extra attention to these disciples? After all, no matter how talented these disciples were, they were still just low-level disciples at this stage.
The white fox, having transformed into his appearance, was pretending to be unconscious in the same spot. But as soon as it saw Han Li return, it immediately reverted to its original form and leaped into Han Li's sleeve.
"How did it go? Did you succeed? No one came here, it seems you were overly cautious!" Silver Moon chuckled softly from within the sleeve.
"Yes, I succeeded! But it's better to be overly cautious than to risk exposure," Han Li replied calmly.
"But how are you going to explain why you are not dead? That might be tricky," Silver Moon asked with some concern, changing the subject lightly.
"How to explain it? Just tell the truth!" Han Li seemed unfazed, speaking nonchalantly.
"The truth?" Silver Moon was surprised.
"Just say I used an expensive illusion talisman to save my life. There's nothing hard to explain about that. Illusions are inherently difficult to understand, and even a highly skilled cultivator could be deceived," Han Li said unhurriedly, clearly having thought it through.
"Indeed, that's a good excuse!" The white fox, initially startled, chuckled softly.
The following events were straightforward.
Over half a day later, a yellow-robed cultivator walked into the meditation room with a grim expression. Seeing the room full of unconscious disciples, he sighed lightly, then formed a hand seal and flicked his fingers, sending seven or eight rays of white light into the disciples' bodies.
Apparently, the spell Du Dong had used to knock everyone out was not a high-level secret technique. Moments later, the disciples began to wake up one by one. Seeing the yellow-robed cultivator and the absence of Du Dong and his companion, they immediately felt reassured.
Naturally, seeing Han Li unharmed and among them caused quite a stir. But Han Li quickly took out a self-made illusion talisman and flashed it before them, using his preplanned excuse to smooth things over.
Indeed, since few people had deep knowledge of illusion techniques, no one questioned him further. Even the yellow-robed cultivator, though a bit surprised, only glanced at Han Li a few times without further inquiry.
However, Sun Huo and the female disciple with the surname Mu still had some doubts. After all, they had heard what Du Dong initially said to Han Li and saw him quickly turn hostile, which puzzled them.
Han Li noticed their doubts but was not worried. They had no evidence, and it was unlikely they would speak out based on a few suspicions. Moreover, Du Dong had tried to kill him, not recruit him.
The essence liquid was gone, and the long-haired cultivator responsible for preparing the Clear Spirit Water was missing or dead, meaning the cleansing ritual was off. The result was that the Taoist surnamed Fu and the upper echelons of the three sects hurriedly distributed a magic tool to each participant as compensation and announced the end of the sword trial, with the disciples returning to their respective sects.
The leading Core Formation cultivators, however, did not leave with them. Seeing these cultivators' grim and anxious expressions, especially the red-robed elder from Yunmeng Sect looking particularly worried, even a fool could tell that something significant had happened while they were unconscious.
