A Record Of A Mortal's Journey To Immortality

by Srtyi

A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, how will he successfully traverse the path of cultivation and become an immortal? This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with

49. 1573

Read A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality - Chapter 1573: Chaotic Heavenly Pouch and the Gourd online free - Novel Full

Han Li was hidden within the sword formation, and his heart sank slightly upon seeing this.

As expected of a Body Integration Stage being; even when trapped within a sword formation, he was still able to draw upon so much of the world's origin Qi to exert pressure on the sword formation.

However, this was also due to the large disparity between their cultivation bases.

Otherwise, if Han Li were also at the Body Integration Stage, he would've been able to easily scatter the world's origin Qi gathered toward the sword formation.

After all, it was far easier to scattering the world's origin Qi than to summon it.

This was also why beings above the Spatial Tempering Stage very rarely drew upon the world's origin Qi to directly attack their opponents. Even if they were to attempt that, it would be quite an arduous process, and if the opponent were of a similar cultivation base, they could easily wrest control over some of the world's origin Qi that had been summoned.

Thus, the only scenarios during which the world's origin Qi would be summoned during battle would be if someone wanted to unleash some kind of powerful ability, or they'd run out of magic power, thereby forcing them to explore alternative power sources.

Under such circumstances, it would be best to have a helper who could unleash an ability or had mastered a certain cultivation art that could allow them to summon the world's origin Qi; that would make the world's origin Qi more difficult for others to plunder.

However, this was, overall, an extremely inefficient and risky course of action to be taken during battle, and the elderly man was only able to do so with such reckless abandon due to the fact that Han Li's cultivation base was far inferior to his.

Thus, Han Li was naturally quite frustrated by this development.

However, Qing Yuanzi had been able to combat Body Integration Stage beings at just the Spatial Tempering Stage, so he'd naturally prepared a countermeasure against attacks from the world's origin Qi.

Han Li exhaled as he rapidly flicked his 10 fingers through the air, sending one incantation seal after surging into the sword formation in a frenzy.

Due to the compression from the world's origin Qi from the outside and the pillar flames from the inside, the azure light barrier was flashing erratically, and the streaks of sword Qi that were embroiled within the dense five-colored mist also disappeared in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the barrier of light swelled and shrank, following which the azure lotus flowers within suddenly spread their petals before rotating on the spot in a frenzy.

One shimmering azure vortex after another surfaced on the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

The viscous mist of the world's origin Qi were sucked into these vortexes at a rapid rate, and around a tenth of it was absorbed by the sword formation in the blink of an eye.

Thus, the wavering sword formation instantly became very stable again.

The elderly man within the sword formation was manipulating the pillar of flames to wreak havoc within the formation, and he naturally immediately sensed what was happening to the world's origin Qi outside.

His heart jolted with shock, having clearly not expected this sword formation to possess such a profound ability.

If things were to continue like this, the world's origin Qi that he'd gathered would only be working to fortify the sword formation!

In a fit of shock and rage, the elderly man immediately let loose a loud cry, and the sword formation began to tremor as all of the world's origin Qi gathered outside was dispersed by gusts of fierce winds amid a string of rumbling booms.

Even so, with the world's origin Qi that the sword formation had already absorbed, it had become far more robust and stable than before.

Thus, the world's origin Qi that he'd summoned had presented itself to his opponent on a silver platter. If word of this were to spread, he's become the laughing stock of all of his brethren!

At the height of his fury, the elderly chuckled coldly as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head. Immediately thereafter, a streak of light shot forth from his head before forming a massive projection with a set of blurry facial features.

Before Han Li had a chance to glean the true appearance of the projection, it surged toward the elderly man before disappearing into his body.

The elderly man instantly threw his head back and let loose a long cry while his face took on a sinister and menacing appearance. His body also swelled to 60 to 70 feet tall, and the small red horn on his glabella had elongated to around half a foot in length, which crimson scales surfaced all over his body.

In the blink of an eye, the elderly man had become a fearsome devilish creature.

A sinister smile appeared on his face as he flipped both of his hands over at once.

In one hand, a faint golden flag appeared, over which a cloud of fiery mist was swirling incessantly.

Meanwhile, a strange blue pouch appeared in his other hand.

Both of them were tossed into the air without any hesitation, following which the elderly man began to chant something in a language that was completely foreign to Han Li.

The flag waved itself through the air, and bursts of faint golden flames erupted from it. At the same time, the pouch bulged before expelling a burst of blue winds.

Simultaneously, the elderly man opened his mouth to blast forth a fiery cloud that was as crimson as blood.

The three then combined with the pillar of flames that was wreaking havoc within the sword formation.

Red, blue, and golden light intertwined in an instant before forming a three-colored pillar of light. An earthshattering boom erupted within the sword formation, and Han Li knew that he couldn't stand by idly any longer.

As such, he activated one powerful illusionary technique after another within the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, buy everything that was manifested as part of those illusions were instantly destroyed by the three-colored pillar of light.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was completely unable to withstand such an assault, and the azure light barrier immediately began to flash erratically once again.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Half of his astonishment naturally arose from the immense power of the three-colored pillar of light, but the other half could be attributed to the blue pouch that the elderly man had produced following his transformation.

That treasure was extremely familiar to him; it seemed to be a spirit treasure known as the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch, and it was listed on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. This spirit treasure was only a mid-range treasure among those on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, but it possessed a few incredible abilities that other treasures didn't possess, thereby earning it quite a reputation.

Many years ago, the treasure had once belonged to a powerful being from the human race. However, that human later perished under unforeseen circumstances, and the spirit treasure disappeared as a result. In order to recover the treasure, many high-grade cultivators had searched through the human and demon territories, all to no avail, so how had it ended up in the hands of a Jiao Chi being on the Thunder Continent?

This treasure was most definitely bad news for Han Li, and his mind raced for a way to counteract it. All of a sudden, a slightly bewildered look appeared on his face.

According to the legends, the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch definitely possessed far more powerful abilities than what was being displayed within the sword formation. Could it be that this was only a replica? Or perhaps he'd wrongly identified it when it was actually some other kind of similar treasure?

Han Li was unable to verify which notion was correct, but this was not something that he could carefully ponder under his present circumstances.

The sword formation was about to fall, and Han Li's eyes narrowed as a cold light flashed through them.

The legends about Qing Yuanzi using this sword formation to combat Body Integration Stage beings were most likely true, but this likely due to the fact that Qing Yuanzi had also mastered the final few layers of the Azure Essence Sword Art, thereby allowing him to unleash the full power of the sword formation.

He also had a set of refined Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, but the cultivation arts he was using weren't prepared for this sword formation, so he was unable to unleash the trump card abilities that the sword formation possessed.

This was why the sword formation appeared to be so inept in the face of the elderly man's attacks.

However, after absorbing so much of the world's origin Qi, there seemed to be a type of powerful ability that Han Li could just barely unleash with the sword formation.

Han Li's eyes flashed as a thought occurred to him.

This ability was indeed very powerful, but regardless of whether it proved to be effective or not, the sword formation itself would most likely instantly crumble following the event.

However, Han Li had no choice but to give it a try under such circumstances.

If the ability did indeed prove to be ineffective, then he'd have to use his 12 Awakening Transformations to engage his opponent in battle. In a worst-case scenario, he still had several types of talismans and his Gold Devouring Beetles as trump cards.

Thus, Han Li remained quite calm throughout this battle against this early-Body Integration Stage being.

In the next instant, Han Li began to chant something, and an incredible scene ensued within the sword formation.

The azure light barrier in the air above suddenly blurred, following which a vine-like plant emerged before plunging into the light barrier.

When it first appeared, it was only several inches in size, but it grew at a rapid rate that was discernible to the naked eye, swelling to several tens of feet in length in mere moments.

The vine then immediately began to flower and bear fruit, forming a small green gourd right before the elderly man's astonished eyes.

The gourd was only around the size of a human hand, and appeared to be completely mundane.

However, in the next instant, the azure lotus flowers within the light barrier tremored in unison, and countless inch-long sword projections shot forth before disappearing into the gourd.

Immediately thereafter, an azure sword insignia appeared on the surface of the gourd. The insignia was barely visible initially, but as vast amounts of five-colored light injected itself into the gourd along the vine, the insignia suddenly became extremely clear and began flashing with five-colored light.

The elderly man didn't know what kind of ability this was, but he was naturally quite unsettled by the scenes unfolding before his eyes.

Thus, he instantly made a grabbing motion toward the gourd, and the pillar of three-colored light within the sword formation transformed into a massive three-colored hand before flying toward the gourd with devastating might.

If the gourd were indeed only an ordinary gourd, then the fearsome three-colored hand wouldn't even have to come into contact with it before the entire vine would be reduced to nothingness.

Right in this instant, Han Li suddenly uttered the word "slash" in an indifferent manner from his vantage point in the air above.

The gourd rotated on the spot as light surged around it, following which a sword of light that was around a foot in length shot forth in a flash.

The sword was flashing erratically with five-colored spiritual light, and runes of different sizes were hovering around it.

In the instant that the light sword was blasted forth, both the gourd and the vine dissipated into specks of spiritual light.

Meanwhile, the light sword swelled to around 10 feet in size in the blink of an eye, then slashed soundlessly toward the oncoming three-colored hand, seemingly in a completely harmless manner.

However, the three-colored hand was suddenly split in half without any premonition, then exploded amid a resounding boom.

The giant sword then slowly changed directions and aimed itself at the elderly man, instantly drawing an alarmed expression onto his face.

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For some reason, a sense of peril welled up in the elderly man's spiritual sense at the sight of the seemingly ordinary five-colored light sword.

He immediately opened his mouth to expel a shimmering red flying sword without any hesitation. The sword was around three feet in length, and it was as glittering and translucent as if it had been forged from crystal.

The flying sword flashed through the air as a streak of azure light, hurtling directly toward that unsettling five-colored light sword.

A cold harrumph rang out in the air above, and the five-colored sword abruptly slashed through the air again.

The streak of crimson light instantly shuddered before reverting back to its original form as a flying sword, then plummeting directly downward.

The sword had shrunk down to only several inches in length, but a sizeable chink had appeared on its blade. Even though it had been sliced in half by the light sword, it had clearly been severely damaged.

In the instant that the flying sword was damaged, the elderly man's face paled slightly, indicating that he'd also sustained internal injuries as a result.

However, after unleashing two attacks, the dazzling light emanating from the five-colored light sword had dimmed significantly, and many of the runes hovering around it had also vanished.

A sinister look appeared on the elderly man's face he let loose a long cry.

The three-colored light that had just been sliced apart surged toward his body before forming a suit of antiquated three-colored armor.

The suit of armor didn't appear to be of a wooden nor metallic material, and it covered his entire body from head to toe, leaving only a pair of holes for his eyes.

From a distance, it appeared that he had transformed into an armored giant.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man raised both arms into the air, and three-colored light flashed as an antiquated giant sword appeared in his hand.

The elderly man clenched both hands around the hilt of the sword before positioning it in front of his body, and an astonishing burst of baleful Qi instantly erupted into the heavens.

At the same time, the blue pouch and golden flag descended from above, revolving around the elderly as a streak of blue light and a streak of golden light, respectively.

Han Li's eyelids twitched involuntarily as he looked on from his hiding spot within the light barrier.

Only after borrowing the world's origin Qi that had been absorbed by the sword formation was he able to just barely unleash that ability, which had been named as the Origin Qi Sword Gourd by Qing Yuanzi. The ability manifested a gourd and used the sword Qi from the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as a seed, then drew upon the world's origin Qi to nurture a devastatingly powerful Origin Qi Sword.

The ability was extremely powerful, but it also required an astonishing amount of the world's origin Qi to be unleashed.

The two slashes that had just been unleashed had already expended close to half of the world's origin Qi that had been absorbed by the sword formation.

However, if the elderly man were led to believe that this was the extent of the Origin Qi Sword's powers, then he was in for a nasty surprise. The power unleashed by the Origin Qi Sword was completely dependent on how much of the world's origin Qi was injected into the attack.

Han Li was preparing to exhaust all of its remaining world's origin Qi in the next attack!

With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he abruptly made a hand seal to spur the sword formation into action.

Spiritual light instantly flashed from the azure light barrier, and the azure lotus flowers rotated on the spot before transforming into pillars of light that surged toward the giant light sword up above.

Azure light flashed all over the entire heavens, and the azure light barrier thinned rapidly before completely vanishing.

In the blink of eye, only the 72 small azure swords remained hovering in mid-air, and all of them had turned rather dull and lusterless.

Without the sword formation as camouflage, Han Li had also appeared high up in the air above.

After absorbing so much power, the light sword had swelled to around twice its original size, and the details of the sword had become far clearer than before. Even though it was still a five-colored sword, the azure color was clearly far more pronounced than the other four colors.

"Slash!"

Han Li pointed a finger down at the elderly man as he issued a cold instruction.

The giant light sword slowly rose up into the air before crashing down from above.

The armored elderly man also let loose a loud cry at the same time, and he slashed his antiquated giant sword through the air in retaliation.

A thin thread of crystalline light and the thick streak of three-colored sword Qi approached one another amid an earsplitting screech, but everything abruptly fell silent in the instant that the two came into contact with one another.

Immediately thereafter, the crystalline light flashed past the three-colored sword Qi, and the latter vanished following a dull thump.

The elderly man immediately raised his giant sword to defend himself upon seeing this.

A crisp clang rang out, and the elderly man remained completely motionless.

However, in the next instant, a burst of azure light suddenly flashed from the giant sword, following which half of it silently crashed downward.

After the giant sword had been sliced in half, the small golden flag appeared.

The flag shuddered before radiating a ball of piercing golden light, then also plummeting from the sky above in two halves. Meanwhile, the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch remained completely unscathed.

The armor-clad elderly man looked up into the sky in an expressionless manner. The three-colored suit of armor he was wearing was also completely unscathed, with not even a single scratch to be seen on its surface.

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this, and he also looked back at his opponent with a cold expression.

At the same time, an item fell soundlessly into his hand, which was hidden up his sleeve.

"Does this attack have a name?" The elderly man's voice rang out from within the suit of armor, and the question caught Han Li off guard a little.

"Of course! I'm sure taking on my Origin Qi Sword wasn't a pleasant experience for you," Han Li replied as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Hmph, it was indeed quite powerful; even I was unable to completely withstand it," the elderly man harrumphed coldly.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a thin azure line suddenly appeared on his suit of armor.

Immediately thereafter, an incision that was as smooth as a mirror's surface appeared on the seamless suit of armor, and that section of the armor crashed heavily onto the ground.

Alongside the severed section of the suit of armor, one of the elderly man's huge arms had also been dismembered, and the overpowering odor of blood wafted through the air from his shoulder.

However, the elderly man merely glanced at his severed arm, and it flew back of its own accord before reattaching itself to his shoulder amid a flash of white light.

Immediately thereafter, he circulated his magic power within his body and made a hand seal, following which the dazzling red light appeared once again, instantly elevating the surrounding temperatures by an astonishing degree.

Han Li looked down at his opponent through narrowed eyes, and he didn't attack right away. Instead, a derisive sneer appeared on his face as he scoffed, "Do you really think it's that easy to recover from a wound inflicted by my Origin Qi Sword?"

"What are you trying to say?" The elderly man's heart jolted with shock as he cast his gaze toward his wounded arm again, upon which a dark expression instantly appeared on his face.

Blood was gushing down his reattached arm again, even though he was sure that it had been completely healed just a moment ago.

"Hehe, as soon as you try to use your magic power, the wound will open up again; that's the true horror of the Origin Qi Sword! Would you like to fight me without any magic power from here onward or keep fighting me until your blood runs dry?" Han Li chuckled as he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.

A loud buzzing sound instantly erupted as several tens of golden flowers flew forth from his sleeve. As soon as they emerged from his sleeve, they immediately turned into massive sinister-looking beetles that were around half a foot in size each.

The elderly man had been extremely shocked and enraged by Han Li's words, but he managed to maintain an expressionless facade. However, that facade instantly crumbled at the sight of the golden beetles.

"Gold Devouring Beetles! You have mature Gold Devouring Beetles?" A hint of fear appeared in the elderly man's eyes for the very first time.

However, Han Li didn't even bother to give a reply as he made a hand seal, following which all of the Gold Devouring Beetles rapidly surged toward the elderly man.

In the same instant, brilliant golden light erupted from his body as golden scales surfaced over his skin. Black light then flashed from his glabella, and an inky-black demonic eye was revealed.

At the same time, a golden halo abruptly appeared behind him, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared within the halo.

A loud thunderclap erupted from his body, and countless arcs of golden lightning appeared, following which he flipped a hand over, and the Divine Essencefused Mountain emerged again amid a flash of grey light.

Meanwhile, he waved a hand toward the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the surrounding area, and all of them converged to form a giant azure sword that was around 10 feet in length, which then landed in his grasp.

After doing all that, Han Li stepped forward with a cold expression on his face, covering a distance of over 100 feet with a single step as he strode directly toward the elderly man down below.

The elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this. He looked down at his arm, which had ceased bleeding again after he'd unleashed a regenerative ability, then glanced at the several tens of massive golden beetles that were flying toward him.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and suddenly opened his mouth to produce a purple talisman.

The talisman exploded with a dull thump, and a cloud of purple mist permeated through the air before completely obscuring the elderly man's body within.

Han Li faltered in mid-air upon witnessing this familiar scene, and his brows furrowed slightly.

However, the Gold Devouring Beetles continued onward with single-minded ferocity, and they were submerged into the purple mist in the blink of an eye.

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve toward the purple mist, dispersing it with a gust of fierce white winds, but sure enough, there was no longer anything within the mist.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he rapidly swept his gaze toward the ground down below, and he suddenly let loose a clear cry.

Moments later, golden light flashed from the ground, and several tens of Gold Devouring Beetles emerged from the soil before disappearing up his sleeve.

Even though he'd only used the beetles for a short while, Han Li could sense that close to half of his spiritual sense had been expended.

Thankfully, his spiritual sense had become far more powerful after progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have dared to release so many Gold Devouring Beetles at once.

Through the use of his spirit eye ability, he was able to ascertain that the elderly man had already fled to close to 10 kilometers away as a purple shadow underground, seemingly having truly been frightened away by Han Li's powers.

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Han Li looked on at the fleeing purple shadow, and made no effort to give chase. Even if he wanted to chase down his opponent, the elderly man's earth movement technique granted him superior speed to Han Li anyway.

Furthermore, Han Li was also aware of the fact that his opponent had essentially only been frightened away by a bluff. He had been struck by the Origin Qi Sword, resulting in profuse bleeding whenever he tried to use his magic power, which was obviously quite unsettling. On top of that, the vastly renowned Gold Devouring Beetles coupled with his immense display of power further chipped away at his opponent's confidence in winning this battle, thereby leading to him fleeing the scene.

In reality, if the elderly man were to use his movement techniques to stall for time, the effect of the Origin Qi Sword would soon wear off, and Han Li wouldn't be able to continue using his Gold Devouring Beetles for much longer, either.

In that case, the winner of the battle would still be a mystery. This was why Han Li had decided against hunting down his fleeing opponent. Furthermore, even though he was quite far away from Green Light City already, Jiao Chi Race reinforcements could still arrive at any moment.

This was also why he'd unleashed that final Origin Qi Sword strike even at the expense of his sword formation. Compared to the threat posed by the elderly man, he was more wary of Jiao Chi Race reinforcements.

The elderly man disappeared into the distance while Han Li stowed away his treasures without any hesitation, then also departed as an azure thread.

However, he was naturally flying away in a different direction, and he quickly also disappeared from view.

Thus, the forest that had been plunged into disarray became a peaceful place once again.

However, only about 15 minutes later, spiritual light flashed in the sky, and two streaks of light rapidly hurtled forth from Green Light City.

After just a few flashes, they arrived in the air above the forest, following which the light receded to reveal a pair of humanoid figures.

One of them was the elderly man who had just fled the scene, and he had reverted back to his original form. His companion was none other than the other Body Integration Stage being among their ranks, the silver-robed middle-aged man.

"He really has already left. At that person's speed, he must be close to 100,000 kilometers away now," the elderly man said with a frustrated expression as he appraised the ruined forest down below.

"Of course he's already left; only an insane person would continue to remain here. He must already be too far away for the Profound Heavenshifting Disk to be effective. Besides, we've already used it once today, and we'll have to wait at least three days before we can use it again. I'm rather curious; just how was a mere Spatial Tempering Stage being able to harm you, Brother Tu?" the middle-aged man asked in a contemplative manner as he looked down at the massive crater on the ground below.

An awkward look appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this, but that was quickly replaced by a furious expression as he glanced at his own shoulder.

"I was too complacent and became trapped in that man's sword formation. The sword formation was extremely powerful and difficult to deal with. On top of that, he possessed a few other powerful abilities and treasures as well, so I had no choice but to retreat. Oh, by the way, he also possesses a few dozens of mature Gold Devouring Beetles."

"What? Gold Devouring Beetles?" The middle-aged had remained quite composed initially, but his expression changed drastically at the mention of these beetles.

"If it weren't for those beetles, I wouldn't have fled the battle," the elderly man said with a bitter and resentful expression.

"If he possesses a few dozens of those beetles, then even true holy race beings would be wary of this man in battle. However, if it's less than 100, then top-grade wood or stone treasures should still be able to temporarily trap them." The middle-aged man finally managed to recompose himself after a while.

"Hehe, if he had more than 100 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then I would've urged you to flee this place right away; how would I dare to bring you back to this place?" the elderly man chuckled with a wry smile on his face.

"In the face of a swarm of thousands of mature Gold Devouring Beetles, even holy race beings would be killed for sure. I've heard that a swarm of mature Gold Devouring Beetles that numbered in the tens of thousands once appeared on the Thunder Continent, and the three or four minor races nearby were all eradicated by the swarm of beetles with ease. At the time, a super race used the Profound Heavenly Treasure, the Heaven Vanquishing Hammer, to smash open a spatial rift and funnel all of these spirit insects into a space outside the Spirit Realm. Otherwise, they would've wreaked even more havoc on the continent," the middle-aged man mused.

At this moment, a thought suddenly occurred to the middle-aged, and his expression changed slightly as he asked, "But then again, nurturing Gold Devouring Beetles is extremely difficult; it's one of the most troublesome types of spirit insects to breed, and many people have expended a vast amount of effort to nurture them without any success. I wonder what power that man hails from to be able to bring out a few dozens of those beetles at once. Could he be a member of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races?"

The elderly man contemplated the notion for a moment before shaking his head. "No. The treasures I was carrying exhibited no reaction toward him, and I was unable to pinpoint what kind of being he was from his physical appearance, either."

"In that case, things will be a little troublesome for us. If he's carrying a jade box with him, then it'll be very difficult for us to recover it," the middle-aged man said with furrowed brows.

"How many boxes did you recover, Fellow Daoist Ning?" the elderly man asked.

"I managed to secure two boxes. That Myriad Ancient being was quite sly and cunning; he tried to threaten me with the destruction of the box in an attempt to get away. Thankfully, my Blood Melting Technique is quite proficient in sneak attacks, so I was able to catch him off guard and kill him on the spot." The middle-aged man flipped a hand over as he spoke, and two identical boxes appeared in his grasp, both of which had restriction talismans plastered onto their surfaces.

It turned out that the big-headed being still had two jade boxes left even after giving out one each to Han Li's trio.

The elderly man nodded as he rustled his sleeve to summon a jade box as well. It was none other than the one that he'd obtained from the green-skinned being.

"In that case, we have three boxes. How many boxes did Hong Yin report that the Myriad Ancient being was in possession of?" Perhaps the elderly man had truly forgotten or he was simply asking for confirmation. In any case, he turned to his companion and the raised the question with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Five or six; the information he sent back to us wasn't very accurate, either," the middle-aged man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Five or six; what a troublesome number. That means that man is carrying at least two jade boxes with him," the elderly man sighed.

"I'm afraid so. On top of that, he appears to be quite powerful so Hong Yin must've fallen by his hands. We can't allow him to get away with this." The middle-aged man's expression darkened as he spoke in a cold voice.

"But he's completely disappeared now; how are we going to find him again?" the elderly man asked.

"We obviously won't be able to do that on our own, but don't forget that most of the cities in this area are under our race's control. We can contact the closest few cities using our Myriad Distance Talismans and request assistance from them to hunt down that man. The people deployed to search for him don't have to be very powerful, either; all they have to do is to startle him into showing himself, and we'll immediately get to him using a teleportation formation," the middle-aged man suggested.

"That's certainly worth a try." The elderly man didn't have high hopes for the proposed course of action, but he couldn't think of any better alternatives, so he still nodded in agreement in the end.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man rustled a sleeve, and a green rock tablet appeared in his hand. He then quickly inscribed something on the tablet with his finger, leaving lines of faint golden text on its surface.

Moments later, the elderly man had finished writing his message, and he laid a hand over the tablet, upon which the lines of text instantly disappeared amid a flash of light.

"Let's return to the battle ark first. That Myriad Ancient being set up a self-detonating formation in the city, but our detection treasures managed to discover the formation, and someone has since disabled it. However, there are still many other things to be taken care of; we'll be busy for quite a while to come," the middle-aged man said with a faint smile.

"Looks like we have no choice." The elderly man naturally had no objections, and the two of them returned the way they'd come as two streaks of light, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Han Li fled for around 500,000 kilometers, and only after he was sure that no Jiao Chi beings could possibly chase him down did he decelerate to his normal speed.

After just a prolonged period of high-speed flight, even Han Li was feeling a little worse for wear.

Thus, he swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and a pair of green stones immediately appeared in his grasp.

These were two top-grade wood-attribute spirit stones. Spirit stones of this caliber were quite rare, but in his current perilous situation, Han Li couldn't afford to be stingy, so he immediately began to absorb the spiritual power within the spirit stones as he held on in each hand.

Thankfully, the surrounding area was extremely bleak and desolate. Han Li picked a mountain at random to descending onto, then sat with his legs crossed beneath a large yet extremely obscure tree to begin recovering his magic power.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was indeed extraordinarily powerful, but it also expended a huge amount of magic power to unleash.

In particular, that final strike from the Origin Qi Sword had been extremely draining.

Thus, Han Li sat on the summit of the mountain beneath the large tree, and no one else passed through the area.

After about half a day had passed, Han Li had recovered most of his magic power.

He reopened his eyes with an elated expression on his face, and displayed no intention of staying here any longer. Thus, he stowed away the spirit stone and hurtled into the air as a streak of azure light again.

After flying for over 1,000 feet, the streak of green light suddenly became very blurry and barely visible.

Within the azure light, Han Li pulled out a jade slip.

This was none other than the map of the surrounding area that Han Li had obtained from Qing Xiao prior to teleporting to Green Light Island.

Even though the Flame Coral Islands had been out of contact with the Thunder Continent for thousands of years, most of the things on the map should have remained the same.

Thus, Han Li's spiritual sense seeped into the jade slip as he began to search for a suitable route from here onward.

He didn't know how much control the Jiao Chi Race had over this area, but he definitely wasn't going to visit the few nearby cities. Instead, he was planning to skirt around all of these cities and head toward the largest city that belonged to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in this area, Golden Armor City.

It was said that this city was situated in an extremely important location, so not only was it the largest city that belonged to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in this area, it was also guarded by a large number of elite forces from the 13 races. At the same time, there were also many high-grade beings defending the city.

If he weren't mistaken, the Jiao Chi Race was most likely planning to eradicate all of the nearby cities first before attacking Golden Armor City.

With that in mind, Han Li looked up at the suns in the sky to recalibrate himself, then flew toward the direction that he'd decided on.

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As Han Li was intentionally trying to skirt around the nearby cities, he was choosing to fly over extremely barren and desolate areas, and during the first few days of his journey, he encountered no difficulties whatsoever.

He only saw the occasional cultivator hurriedly passing through the area from afar, heading toward the few nearby cities.

Han Li could only shake his head with a forlorn look upon seeing this, but made no effort to warn them against traveling to their destinations.

All of these people had extremely low cultivation bases around the Foundation Establishment Stage and Core Formation Stage. In the face of the sudden attack that the Jiao Chi Race had launched against the area, they naturally pinned their hopes on traveling to cities in order to escape the area using their teleportation formations or to seek protection from the high-grade beings in those cities.

After flying on his own for over 10 days, Han Li finally encountered a group of armored Jiao Chi Race warriors.

There weren't all that many of them; only around a dozen or so, but each of them was riding a snowy white twin-headed falcon steed.

The most powerful being among them was a Nascent Soul cultivator, while the others all possessed Core Formation Stage cultivation bases.

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing these armored warriors. If he recalled correctly, there were no cities nearby, so why had these Jiao Chi beings appeared in such a secluded place?

Han Li was quite bewildered by this development, but he wasn't very alarmed as these beings were nowhere near powerful enough to pose a threat to him anyway.

However, even though he was capable of killing these armored warriors with ease, he concealed himself instead and only revealed himself again after they'd departed.

He looked on at the group of armored warriors in the distance with a dark expression on his face before continuing on his way.

However, after encountering the first group of Jiao Chi Race armored warriors, he went on to encounter a second group, a third group, a fourth group...

The regularity at which Han Li was encountering these groups was gradually on the rise.

Their vast cultivation base disparities ensured that Han Li could conceal himself from them with ease, but he was still struck by a sense of foreboding.

Could it be that this entire area was under the control of the Jiao Chi Race?

Just as Han Li was starting to become alerted to his situation, the Jiao Chi Race conquered a city that was several times larger than Green Light City. Within the city, there were three high-grade Jiao Chi beings situated within a palace, conversing with one another about this matter.

A red-haired woman and a thin and shriveled elderly man stood on either side of a golden chair in the hall, while a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties sat on the chair.

The woman had a set of beautiful facial features, but there was a faint metallic silver hue to her skin. On top of that, she had a pair of purplish-golden eyes, and if one were to look into those eyes, they'd be struck by a piercing pain in their own eyes.

The woman had a small horn that was several inches long growing from her glabella, and it was glittering and translucent like an intricate artistic masterpiece.

Both the elderly man and the red-haired woman were Spatial Tempering Stage beings, yet they were appraising the young woman with extremely respectful expressions on their faces.

"Has there still been no sign of him?" the young woman suddenly asked. Her voice was quite pleasing to the ear, but her expression was quite cold.

"I'm afraid not, Lady Yin; our scouts have yet to return with any useful information. Perhaps he found an obscure location to hide in? In that case, it would be quite difficult to find him," the elderly man replied in a respectful manner.

"It's very unlikely that he's hidden himself somewhere. He already knows that we're attacking this area, so he must be well aware of the fact that if we were to seize complete control over this area, he'll be dead no matter how powerful he is. I also didn't think that we'd encounter such a big fish so early on in our campaign. If we could capture that man alive, it would be quite the accolade," the woman said with furrowed brows.

"We're aware of just how important that man is to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so we definitely won't allow him to escape from this place. We've already sent out a large number of scouts to scour through this entire area, as well as two groups of powerful beings that are constantly at the ready. As soon as we receive news of his location, those two groups will teleport over right away. Teleportation of that kind is restricted to within a certain distance and will require a huge price to be paid, but I'm sure it'll be worth it to capture that man," the red-haired woman chimed in in a respectful manner.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you two then. By the way, wasn't Envoy Tu requesting our assistance to capture someone a few days ago?" the woman suddenly asked.

"Yes, Master Tu and the others did indeed distribute a portrait to all of the nearby cities, asking them to keep an eye out for a certain man. Apparently, they're searching for an upper race seventh-tier being who's carrying something important in the context of the mission," the elderly man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Hmph, they really are useless. Even with such a huge cultivation base advantage, they still let a mere upper race being get away. If it weren't for the fact that it was already a part of the plan to put this area into complete lockdown, we wouldn't even pay any heed to such a ridiculous request," the woman scoffed as a derisive look flashed through her eyes.

Neither the elderly man nor the red-haired woman dared to say anything in response.

"Speaking on this matter, though, I'm rather curious about just what the elders sent those out to obtain; they even asked me to loan them one of only two fortress level battle arks in my possession. As a result of that setback, we had to change our plans, and we still haven't taken over this area, even now," the young woman chuckled coldly, seemingly very displeased with the current arrangement.

"Lady Yin, the panel of elders ordered us to loan them the battle ark, so we can't go against those orders. Seeing as the panel of elders is holding the mission in such high regard, it's safe to assume that the items they've been deployed to secure must be extremely important for our race. Thankfully, the elders deployed a new group of battle puppets to us, and those will be enough for us to completely control this area. At present, there are only two cities left in this area that haven't been conquered by our forces," the red-haired woman replied in a cautious manner.

"Those puppets are relatively useful in large-scale battles, but they're useless for patrol and tracking purposes. Most of our forces have been deployed to lock down this area, and the remaining two cities both have powerful defenses, so we still haven't been able to conquer them. It looks like we can't afford to keep stalling like this. We have to wrest complete control over this area before the rest of our army arrives. I have no choice but to make a trip in person. Otherwise, I won't be able to answer to the panel of elders," the woman mused as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a fawning smile appeared on his face. "If Lady Yin gets involved, then we'd be able to conquer the remaining two cities with ease!"

"Then it's decided! Once everything has been taken care of here, we'll set off on the battle ark tomorrow," the young woman instructed.

"Yes!"

The red-haired woman and the elderly man hurriedly bowed in unison.

Half a month later, Han Li was situated under a certain lush tree at the foot of a small mountain. He wore a thin black veil that completely concealed his aura, yet he wore a grim expression as he looked up into the sky.

Not far above him, there were two identical silver islands hovering in mid-air.

These two silver islands were extremely similar in appearance to the one that had appeared over Green Light City, except it was only several thousand feet in size. Even so, the two smaller battle arks were still surrounded by a vast horde of silver-armored warriors and twin-headed giant falcons.

The Jiao Chi Race had deployed such heavy forces only to bring down a foreign being whom they'd already surrounded.

This was a man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with greyish-white hair and a set of peculiar facial features. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was standing atop a flying ark in a stationary manner.

There was also a beastly puppet on either side of him. One of them possessed the body of a horse yet the head of a wyrm, and it was several tens of feet in size, radiating shimmering azure light.

The other puppet was a strange lion with seven heads, one of which was larger than the other six. It had an extremely fierce appearance and was over 200 feet in size.

Even at first glance, one could tell that these two puppets were quite powerful.

The wariness being exercised by the nearby Jiao Chi beings also seemed to further vindicate this notion.

Han Li looked on with intrigue at the confrontation that ensued.

Back when he had first discovered so many Jiao Chi beings and the pair of battle arks in this place, he had been given quite a fright.

However, he then immediately discovered that there were no beings of the Spatial Tempering Stage or above among the Jiao Chi beings, and they'd all surrounded a foreign being. Thus, his curiosity had been piqued, and he snuck over to a nearby area to survey the situation.

Han Li was able to immediately identify the foreign being's cultivation base; he was only Deity Transformation Stage being.

However, the auras being emitted by the two puppets on either side of him indicated that they were equivalent in power to Spatial Tempering Stage beings. Furthermore, one of them was at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, while the other was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

The might of the two puppets was naturally quite astonishing to Han Li. However, what was even more confusing to him was why this foreign being didn't simply deploy his powerful puppets to kill these Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons. Why were they seemingly caught in a stalemate instead?

There was indeed a large number of those giant falcons and armored warriors, but the most powerful beings among them were only a few Deity Transformation Stage leaders.

The only potential cause for concern was the two silver battle arks as it was unknown what abilities they possessed.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the surrounded foreign being up above glanced at the Jiao Chi beings around him before suddenly making a hand seal, and the two puppets finally sprang into action.

The wyrm-headed horse puppet abruptly spared open its wings, and they transformed into a pair of massive blades that shot forth through the air amid a flash of azure light.

In the next instant, the azure light swept into the surrounding area, and a dozen or so giant falcons and armored warriors were instantly sliced in half.

Meanwhile, the lion puppet opened all seven of its mouths at once, and countless fireballs erupted from within, forming a sea of flames in the blink of an eye that inundated all of the enemies in another direction.

The surrounding armored warriors were initially quite alarmed by this sudden development, but under the commands of the Deity Transformation Stage leaders, all of them raised their blades and unleashed countless attacks toward the two puppets.

At the same time, all of the giant falcons also rose up into the air before also pouncing toward the puppets.

All of a sudden, explosive boom and sharp screeches rang out incessantly as an intense battle ensued!

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The result of the clash was much the same as Han Li had expected; as soon as the two Spatial Tempering Stage puppets sprang into action, the armored warriors and giant falcons were completely no match. They were either sliced into several segments or plummeted from the sky amid howls of anguish with raging flames incinerating their bodies.

However, the Jiao Chi beings seemed to have anticipated that this would happen in advance, so they weren't all that unsettled. Instead, many of the armored warriors suddenly patted something on their waists, and swathes of five-colored light were sent surging toward the long-haired foreign being.

Before they had even gotten close to the foreign being, the five-colored light transformed into a series of large nets that hurtled toward him.

It appeared that the Jiao Chi beings were trying to capture the foreign being alive.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this.

Right at this moment, the foreign being let loose a cold harrumph before suddenly stomping down on the flying ark underfoot. The ark immediately flashed with yellow light, following which a dense yellow light barrier appeared. The foreign being then made a hand seal, and a layer of white lightning arcs instantly surfaced over the light barrier.

As soon as those large nets descended, they were blasted into balls of spiritual light by the flashing arcs of lightning.

Before the armored warriors had a chance to employ any other tactics, the long-haired foreign being flipped both of his hands over to summon a pair of shimmering golden treasures that resembled round shields, then tossed them up into the air.

The two treasures shot forth amid a loud whistling sound, and all of the surrounding armored beings appraised the pair of treasures with alarm and wariness in their eyes.

However, the two golden treasures merely circled around in the air before whizzing back to the foreign being, much to the bemusement of all of the surrounding Jiao Chi beings.

Following a dull thump, the two shields crashed into the foreign being's body, upon which both of them began to emit a ball of piercing golden light.

Immediately thereafter, the foreign being completely disappeared, but a large golden ball with a diameter of around 10 feet had appeared in his place.

The ball was shimmering with golden light, looking as if it had been constructed from pure gold. Furthermore, there were all types of runes carved all over its surface, striking the onlooker with a sense of mystery and intrigue.

A string of peculiar screeching sounds rang out from the golden ball, following which countless sharp blades that were each around a foot in length appeared all over its surface. The ball then hurtled into ht crowd, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

The sharp blades on the surface of the golden ball didn't look to be anything special, but all of the armored warriors that came into contact with them were sliced into several pieces without being able to offer up any resistance.

All of the attacks that were launched toward the golden ball were also repelled by its high rotational speed.

In the blink of an eye, the golden ball had joined the horse puppet as they flew toward the same direction together.

As for the seven-headed lion puppet, it was following close behind them with fireballs continuing to surge relentlessly out of its mouths. Most of the fireballs were aimed up at the giant falcons that were flying at higher altitudes, thereby preventing them from attempting to swoop down from above.

The three combined to form a lethal trio.

Close to 100 armored warriors and giant falcons were slain in an instant, and the trio was just about to escape.

All of a sudden, one of the Deity Transformation Stage Jiao Chi beings let loose a loud cry, and the armored warriors around the foreign being and his puppets suddenly backed away, retreating in all directions.

The twin-headed giant falcons up above also dispersed, thereby creating a large area of empty space around the golden ball and the two puppets, with a radius of close to 1,000 feet.

The foreign being within the golden ball faltered upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the two battle arks in the sky finally sprang into action.

The hundreds of crystalline pillars on the undersides of the battle arks lit up in unison, following which white pillars of light came raining down from above.

The white light completely encompassed the area of open space that had just appeared, and a string of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession.

The golden ball and both of the puppets were instantly inundated by this white light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the armored warriors and giant falcons surrounded their target once again, reorganizing their formation during this period of respite.

The attacks from the two battle arks quickly subsided, and the white light gradually faded.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze up above to discover that a shimmering blue giant umbrella with a radius of over 100 feet had appeared.

Beneath the giant umbrella, the upper half of the foreign being's body was protruding out of the massive golden ball, and his brows were tightly furrowed in a concerned expression as he quickly assessed his surroundings.

Meanwhile, his two puppets had also remained completely unscathed.

On this occasion, the foreign being didn't seem to want to delay any further.

He let loose a low cry before raising a hand and waving it up into the air.

The giant umbrella above him immediately shrank at a rapid rate amid a flash of spiritual light, dwindling down to several inches in size before landing in his grasp. He then twisted around, and his upper body disappeared back into the golden ball.

At the same time, the two puppets flew through the air again, and another fierce battle ensued.

This battle was quite similar to the last one; the armored warriors and giant falcons were still no match for their opponents, and within moments, almost half of them had perished.

Just as the foreign being was about to escape again, the lion puppet suddenly ceased its fireball output. Red light flashed from its body several times in quick succession, following which all seven of its heads drooped, and it fell completely stationary on the spot.

The armored warriors nearby initially faltered upon seeing this before being greatly spurred on by this development.

A few of them instantly raised their hands, and five-colored light surged through the air, forming several large nets that completely ensnared the lion puppet.

The armored warriors dragged the nets toward them, and the lion puppet was forcibly captured.

Without the fireball output from the lion puppet, the giant falcons up above no longer had any qualms as they flapped their wings violently and swooped down at an alarming rate.

Large blades of wind came hurtling down from above, and as they struck the golden ball, the golden light emanating from its surface tremored, and its rotational speed was hampered drastically.

Thus, the foreign being was surrounded again, and he was in a far worse situation than before.

To further compound his woes, the horse puppet also ceased to function for some reason a short while later, and it was also captured by the Jiao Chi beings.

Thus, the golden ball was the only target left, and despite its astonishing defensive prowess, it was struggling to hold on in the face of all of the attacks being thrown at it.

Han Li heaved a faint sight upon seeing this.

The foreign being was able to manipulate these puppets that were far more powerful than himself and last so long against such a vast number of opponents, clearly indicating that he was no ordinary being.

However, under the current circumstances, it appeared that it would only be a matter of time before he was captured.

He didn't know why the Jiao Chi beings seemed to be intent on capturing the foreign being alive, but there was no need to expose himself and draw potential trouble. Thus, he turned away and prepared to leave.

However, right at this moment, the foreign being's voice suddenly rang out from within the golden ball.

"Senior, I am Jia Tianmu of the Myriad Ancient Race! If you can help me escape, I'm willing to reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race!"

The foreign being hadn't employed any voice transmission techniques. Instead, he'd injected some of his spiritual power into his voice, making it clearly audible to everyone within a radius of several kilometers!

Han Li initially faltered upon hearing this before being struck by the urge to cuss out loud.

He didn't know how the foreign being had been able to detect his presence, but he definitely didn't have any good intentions by exposing him like this.

As expected, one of the leaders of the Jiao Chi beings instantly waved a hand upon hearing this, and a few armored warriors as well as a dozen or so giant falcons were instantly deployed toward the small mountain where Han Li was hiding.

These beings were somehow able to ascertain his rough location, but they were clearly unable to pinpoint exactly where he was, as evidenced by the fact that they were flying around the small mountain in a rather confused manner.

Han Li's lips twitched, but he wasn't fearful of this development in the slightest.

These Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons were far too weak to pose any threat to him, so the only potentially troublesome opponents would be those two battle arks.

Even so, he was naturally enraged by the fact that the foreign being had forcibly exposed him like this.

Thus, a cold look appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of inch-long flying swords shot froth from within.

These flying swords then transformed into azure threads before disappearing into space in a flash.

In the next instant, several azure threads appeared close to the Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons up above. Following a flash of azure light, all of those beings were sliced into several segments, and their dismembered remains came crashing down amid a rain of blood.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared beneath the large tree that he'd been hiding under, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of wings emerged on his back.

He flapped those wings and disappeared on the spot amid a gentle breeze.

In the next instant, a thunderclap rang out right at the center of the Jiao Chi beings, and Han Li reappeared amid a flash of azure and white lightning.

He made a hand seal, and 72 azure threads erupted from all parts of his body. These azure threads then blurred before multiplying at a rapid rate.

In the blink of an eye, azure light was flashing throughout the entire sky, and howls of anguish rang out in quick succession as all of the armored warriors and giant falcons in the area were felled in just the span of a few breaths.

No one was able to withstand Han Li's sword threads.

Within mere moments, all of the enemies around Han Li had been slain.

Only then did the surrounding Jiao Chi beings return to their senses, and all of them reflexively retreated even further with alarmed expressions on their faces.

However, Han Li had no intention of stopping here. He swept a sleeve through the air, and two black shadows instantly shot forth from within.

Golden and black lights flashed, following which a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey that was around a foot tall appeared.

"Kill them all; don't let anyone leave alive!" Han Li commanded with a cold expression on his face.

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As soon as Han Li finished issuing that command, the leopard-like beast swayed to conjure up a dozen or so identical projections, all of which instantly rushed into the crowd.

Meanwhile, black light flashed from the small monkey's body, and it swelled to several tens of times its original size, transforming into a massive black ape that was over 200 feet tall.

The ape thumped its chest while letting loose a cold harrumph, upon which a swath of yellow light swept forth from within its large nostrils.

All of the twin-headed falcons that were struck by this yellow light plummeted from the sky as if they were inebriated.

The giant ape the swung its fists violently up above, smashing the giant falcons into mincemeat as if they were nothing more than pesky insects.

As for Han Li, he was unleashing his flying swords on the surrounding enemies once again. With each and every flash of an azure thread, at least one armored warrior or giant falcon was slain without any resistance.

In the blink of an eye, almost all of the armored warriors and giant falcons had been slain by Han Li and his two spirit beasts.

Soon, there were less than 100 armored warriors that remained, and fearful expressions had finally appeared on their faces. One of the Deity Transformation Stage leaders issued a loud command, and all of them dispersed before fleeing for their lives toward the two battle arks up above.

Han Li immediately rose up into the air in hot pursuit without any hesitation, and azure threads continued to harvest more lives as they flashed through the air.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom erupted overhead, and Han Li's heart stirred as he hurriedly looked up.

At this moment, brilliant light began to radiate from the crystalline pillars on the undersides of the two silver battle arks, following which over 100 pillars of light came raining down without any regard for the Jiao Chi beings nearby.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he flapped his wings, and he disappeared on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.

Thus, all of the pillars of light struck nothing but empty air.

In the next instant, Han Li reappeared above one of the battle arks before making a grabbing motion downward in an expressionless manner.

An inky-black palm extended itself out of his sleeve, then pressed down in a seemingly gentle manner.

Grey light flashed and a miniature black mountain emerged from his palm. The mountain then swelled drastically to over 10,000 feet in size before crashing down toward the battle ark with devastating might.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain had become even more gigantic than the battle ark, and it instantly vast a colossal shadow over the entire battle ark.

The Jiao Chi beings within the battle ark were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly spurred on the battle ark to try and evade the attack, but it was already far too late.

The underside of the giant mountain crashed into the battle ark amid a resounding boom, and despite the fact that the mountain was repelled slightly by the force of the collision, most of the battle ark's surface had caved in significantly. At the same time, it was rammed down above, crashing heavily onto the ground below.

Close to half of the entire ark had sunk into the ground, and it was quite clear that it wouldn't be doing any more flying anytime soon.

However, a hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The fact that the battle ark hadn't been completely destroyed by the Divine Essencefused Mountain indicated that the materials used to construct it were most likely not inferior to normal treasures.

Constructing such a massive battle ark would require the expenditure of a vast amount of such materials. Thinking back to the "giant island" that Han Li had seen in Green Light City, which was far more gigantic than even these two battle arks, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

The insane wealth of the Jiao Chi Race finally dawned on him. They really were worthy of being known as one of the most powerful races in the Spirit Realm.

Despite the shock in his heart, Han Li displayed no intention of giving his opponents any respite. He flicked his fingers toward the black mountain from afar in quick succession, and the mountain came crashing down again.

An earthshattering boom rang out as the silver battle ark was flattened into a pancake of scrap metal beneath the colossal mountain.

The Jiao Chi beings operating the battle ark may not have been killed as a result, but they most certainly wouldn't be enjoying themselves in there, either.

However, much to Han Li's surprise, silver light shimmered from the battle ark, and it was slowly repairing itself despite the horrendous condition it was in.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this before immediately making a grabbing motion.

Several tens of azure threads instantly shot forth out of thin air, all of which converged into Han Li's grasp.

Following a flash of piercing azure light, the azure threads formed a giant sword that was around 10 feet in length. However, its surface was shimmering with azure light, and it didn't appear to actually possess any substance.

Han Li grabbed onto the hilt of the sword without a second thought and prepared to bring it down upon the crippled battle ark down below.

However, right at this moment, an urgent cry from the foreign being suddenly rang out.

"Look out, Senior!"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before abruptly sensing a burst of immense spiritual power exploding beside him.

Without any time for further thought, Han Li swiveled around and lashed out with his giant sword toward the direction where the spiritual power was erupting from.

A streak of azure sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length instantly swept through the air and struck the burst of spiritual power.

The two clashed and exploded over 300 feet away from Han Li, forming a pillar of azure and black wind that surged up into the sky, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold from afar.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he focused his gaze on that direction, and he discovered that four beings of different appearances had appeared in the air above the silver battle ark.

One of them was a humanoid being with a set of pale facial features. His feet were bare, and he was holding a strange transparent blade as he appraised Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

It appeared that he was the one who had unleashed that sneak attack just then.

The other three beings consisted of an elderly woman, a midget, and a giant Neanderthal-like man wearing a beasthide garment.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward them to find that the one who had just attacked him was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, while the other three were all at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

He had already assessed the surrounding area and failed to discover these four, so he was unsure of where they had popped up from.

These four Spatial Tempering Stage beings were certainly going to be more troublesome to take care of than those armored warriors, but they still posed no threat to Han Li; he was only slightly curious about how they had managed to escape his detection.

"You've got some guts to destroy a battle ark from our Jiao Chi Race. From the looks of it, you don't seem to be from the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. In any case, we'll just have to capture you and interrogate you later," the pale-faced being said in a cold voice.

He then cast his gaze toward another direction.

There, the foreign being had emerged from the golden ball again, and he was appraising the four Spatial Tempering Stage being with a dark expression on his face.

"Mr. Jia, I've heard that you're not even a purebred Myriad Ancient being. In that case, why would you insist on fighting for the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races? Prior to coming here, the elders of our race specifically mentioned you and offered much praise for your proficiency in the art of puppetry. The elders have also promised that if you're willing to join our Jiao Chi Race, they would transform your body at all costs to give you the purest bloodline, and I can guarantee that your cultivation base would be significantly enhanced as a result. Given suitable opportunities in the future, it wouldn't be impossible for you to become holy race being," the pale-faced being said in a respectful voice.

After a brief silence, Jia Tianmu shook his head expressionlessly, and replied, "Join the Jiao Chi Race? I have no interest in that. I may not have the purest bloodline, but I'm greatly indebted to the elders our Myriad Ancient Race, so I won't pledge my allegiance to any other race. Besides, I'm sure you're not just trying to capture me for my puppet refinement skills; you're also planning to interrogate me for some secrets of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, right?"

As opposed to becoming enraged by Jia Tianmu's rejection, the pale-faced being smiled, and continued, "Mr. Jia, do you still think you have a chance of escaping this place? Your puppets are indeed very powerful, but you must be close to exhausting your supply of spirit stones, right? At your current cultivation base, you pose no threat to us at all. We don't have to have to do things by force, so I'd advise you to hand yourself over to us."

Jia Tianmu's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, but he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

The pale-faced being faltered slightly upon seeing Jia Tianmu's reaction before also turning to Han Li in an expressionless manner. "Are you counting on him to rescue you? So be it; we'll get rid of this pesky meddler first, then."

"Are you going to surrender or will we have to destroy your body and capture your soul?" the pale-faced being asked in a cold voice.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon hearing this, but he then chuckled, and replied, "You sure can talk big. I wonder if you're all talk or if you can actually walk the walk as well."

The pale-faced being was rather surprised by Han Li's response. He carefully appraised Han Li for a moment before a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him, and his expression suddenly changed as he turned to the elderly woman in their group. "This man is a little familiar; is he the one that Envoy Tu asked us to capture a few days ago?"

"Now that you mention it, he really is identical to the man on the portrait! He must be quite powerful to have been able to escape from Envoy Tu." The elderly woman nodded as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

The other two beings in the group were both rather surprised to hear this.

"Haha, is he really the one? In that case, we're in luck; we'll be completing two missions at once! Come to think of it, it's all thanks to him for destroying the other battle ark. Otherwise, if the other team were to be teleported here as well, we'd have to split the reward for completing these missions with them," the giant man clad in beasthide guffawed.

"Hmph, you seem quite confident, Fellow Daoist Li. I'd advise you to be more careful against such a powerful opponent, though. Otherwise, you could be in for a nasty surprise," the midget chuckled coldly.

"Hehe, no matter how powerful he is, there's no way he can take on all four of us on his own," the huge man chuckled nonchalantly in response.

"Of course he's no match for the four of us, but are you sure we can stop him if he insists on getting away?" the midget countered as he pursed his lips.

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The group of four conversed casually with one another, and they seemed to all be on good terms with each other. The price that had to be paid to teleport them here was most likely quite a hefty one, and from the sounds of it, there was supposed to be another team teleported to this place as well.

However, due to the fact that one of the battle arks had been destroyed, they were the only ones who had ended up here.

The fact that they had deployed so many Spatial Tempering Stage beings just to pursue a Deity Transformation Stage being further highlighted that the foreign being was no ordinary character.

However, the fact that these beings had managed to identify him right away was rather surprising.

It seemed that the Body Integration Stage being from Green Light City still hadn't given up on him. This made Han Li even more curious about what lay within the two jade boxes that the big-headed being had given to him; they clearly had to be harboring extremely important items for the Body Integration to be so intent on capturing him.

Even as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, he remained completely expressionless.

At this moment, the Leopard Kirin Beast and Weeping Soul Beast also returned to Han Li's side, then glowered at the four beings with vicious looks in their eyes.

However, they were also aware that these four beings were far more powerful than the ones they'd slain before, so they didn't rush in headfirst and attack in a reckless manner.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being turned to Han Li and seemed to be about to say something, but Han Li didn't give him a chance to speak, abruptly sweeping a sleeve toward all four beings instead.

Several tens of azure threads immediately split up into four groups before hurtling toward the four beings like lightning, reaching them in the blink of an eye.

All four of the Spatial Tempering Stage Jiao Chi beings were given a massive fright by this development.

They had witnessed Han Li using those sword threads to slay the armored warriors earlier, yet the speed being displayed by these threads was significantly superior to before, and in their shock and horror, they could only set up defensive measures or take evasive action in a panicked manner.

The pale-faced being swayed and disappeared on the spot amid a plume of white smoke.

Light shimmered from the elderly woman's body, conjuring up several identical projections. All of the projections were shattered in a flash by the azure threads, but the woman was nowhere to be found.

The midget's expression changed in the instant that the azure threads came hurtling toward him, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a shimmering silver cloud appeared beneath his feet.

The cloud swayed before abruptly carrying him away as a ball of silver light, traveling at a speed that was not inferior by much compared to the azure thread.

Only the giant man chose to remain on the spot and take the azure threads head-on. Red light flashed from his hand, and a massive ax that was around 10 feet in size appeared in his grasp. There were scorching crimson flames burning along the ax, and he positioned it before him like a shield.

The ax had been refined many types of precious fire-attribute materials, thereby granting it immense power and making it just as resolute as top-grade defensive treasures. This was why the man had decided to use it a shield even after witnessing all of the armored warriors being sliced apart like cabbage by the azure threads.

However, as soon as the man raised the massive ax, a burst of azure light flashed, and the ax suddenly became weightless in his hands.

He looked down to discover that his ax had been severed into seven or eight segments by the azure threads in an instant, so he was left holding only a section of its hilt.

Before he even had a chance to make a single sound, he was diced upon into chunks of flesh and blood; even his soul was completely eradicated by the azure threads before it had a chance to escape.

"Argh! Fellow Daoist Li!" the pale-faced being yelled with shock and fury as he reappeared over 300 feet away.

The midget and the elderly woman had also appeared elsewhere, and both of them were horrified by what they saw.

They were aware that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but they didn't think that one of their companions would be killed in virtually the blink of an eye!

However, before the three of them had a chance to try and avenge their fallen comrade, the azure threads flashed and surged toward them again.

After witnessing just how fearsome these azure threads were in person, the three beings naturally didn't dare to try and keep them at bay with their treasures. As such, they were forced to unleash their movement techniques and take evasive measures once again.

Thus, the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings were forced to flee for their lives, seemingly completely powerless in the face of Han Li's domineering might.

As for Han Li himself, he merely stood expressionlessly on the spot, manipulating his sword threads to hunt down his three opponents.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly erupted in the air above.

Immediately thereafter, a vast expanse of white light appeared overhead, following which hundreds of pillars of white light came raining down from above.

The operators of the remaining battle ark could see that the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings had been forced firmly onto the back foot, and they were using the battle ark to provide them with some assistance.

Han Li looked up at the oncoming pillars of light through narrowed eyes, and he made no effort to try and evade.

Thus, his body was completely inundated by white light amid a rumbling boom.

The azure threads that were hunting down the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings seemed to have been impacted as a result, and they suddenly ceased in their pursuit.

All three beings heaved a sigh of relief in unison, and only then did they stop in mid-air before hurriedly summoning a few treasures.

The elderly woman raised a hand to release a shimmering golden piece of artwork, depicting an extremely complex golden formation.

The midget opened his mouth to expel a green wooden bowl, and at the same time, a dozen or so yellow darts flew out of his hand before revolving around his body.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being rubbed his hands together, and a pair of glossy black bracers appeared on his forearms. Both of the bracers were covered in complex and intricate patterns, giving them quite a mysterious and intriguing appearance.

Even after summoning their treasures, the three of them still wore tense expressions as they looked on at the vast expanse of white light in the distance. They were not naive enough to believe that Han Li would be killed so easily.

All of a sudden, an earsplitting boom erupted from within the white light, following which azure light flashed, and a massive bird erupted from within.

In the beginning, the bird was only several tens of feet in size, but its body instantly swelled to around 700 to 800 feet in size amid a flash of spiritual light.

The colossal bird flapped its wings and transformed into a gust of fierce winds that appeared above the elderly woman's head in the next instant.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of white lightning that were as thick as large bowls surfaced over the bird's body. Its gargantuan talons came crashing down amid the flashing lightning, and before they had even descended upon their target, a mountainous burst of spiritual pressure had already struck her.

"Look out!"

Both the pale-faced being and the midget were quite alarmed to see this.

The pale-faced being lashed out from afar, and ghostly howls rang out from his bracers as two pillars of black light hurtled through the air.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so yellow darts circling around the midget's body also shot forth as streaks of yellow light. Both of them were trying to stop Han Li in his tracks.

At this point, they'd all realized that they'd severely underestimated Han Li's power, and that he was not an opponent any one of them could face on their own.

Thus, they were absolutely petrified and were doing everything they could to avoid being divided and conquered.

As soon as the immense spiritual pressure emanating from Han Li's pair of massive talons dawned on the elderly woman, her face instantly turned deathly pale.

The massive bird was flying toward her far too quickly for her to evade, and in her desperation, she could only grit her teeth before expelling a mouthful of blood essence onto the artwork before her.

The ball of blood essence instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist that was immediately absorbed by the artwork, and almost at the exact same moment, a ball of dazzling golden light erupted from the artwork, following which the golden formation inscribed upon it shot forth from within. The formation swelled to over 100 feet in size in a flash, then rose up rapidly into the air.

The giant bird completely disregarded the oncoming pillars of black light and streaks of yellow light, clamping down with single-minded ferocity onto the golden formation with its huge talons.

An explosive boom rang out as white arcs of lightning intertwined with golden light to conjure up a spectacular lights show. The surrounding space exploded as a result of the clash, causing everything in the nearby area to twist and warp.

The massive bird remained completely unscathed in spite of that explosion, but the elderly woman's face instantly paled as she let loose a pained groan within the golden formation, then threw up a mouthful of blood.

Thankfully for her, the golden formation had managed to just barely keep the oncoming talons at bay.

However, before she even had a chance to heave a sigh of relief, a cold light flashed through the giant bird's eyes, and it sent its other set of talons hurtling downward as well.

The elderly woman's heart immediately sank upon seeing this. In the face of Han Li's devastating attack, she could only open her mouth and expel another mouthful of blood essence onto the golden formation up above.

The formation expanded slightly in size as a result, and she could only hope that it would be powerful enough to withstand Han Li's attacks.

She only had to keep him at bay for a short while before her companions would be able to swoop in and reinforce her.

Despite how powerful Han Li was, there was still a good chance that the three of them would be able to kill him if they were to combine their powers.

The woman had made the right decision under the current circumstances, but she had still underestimated the power of Han Li's Kun Peng Transformation.

Among the five transformations of the 12 Awakening Transformations that Han Li had mastered, the Kun Peng Transformation was the one he was most proficient in.

Furthermore, he had also absorbed four other true spirit bloods that further enhanced his body, thereby significantly bolstering the power of Kun Peng Transformation. In his current state, he was no less powerful than the spirit birds who had inherited the bloodline of the Kun Peng.

Just as the giant bird's talons were about to strike the golden formation, a cold light flashed through its eyes, and it suddenly opened its mouth to unleash an extraordinarily thick bolt of lightning.

The bolt of lightning struck the golden formation first, causing the latter to tremor violently. Right at this moment, the other set of talons also struck the formation amid an earthshattering boom.

The golden light emanating from the formation only flashed a few times before it was torn apart by the pair of giant talons as if it were nothing more than a frail rag.

The woman was petrified upon seeing this, yet before she had a chance to unleash any other abilities, one of the massive talons flashed through the air, instantly splitting her body into several sections, and her dismembered remains plummeted from the air above amid a rain of fresh blood.

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At this moment, the two pillars of black light and dozen or so yellow streaks of light were also about to strike the gigantic bird's body. However, spiritual light suddenly flashed as a crystalline light barrier surfaced from within the bird's body.

The pillars and streaks of light faltered initially upon striking the light barrier before being refracted in a completely different direction, thereby missing their target.

The two pillars of black light disappeared into the distance in a flash, but the streaks of yellow light twisted around before hurtling toward the giant bird again. However, the bird merely flapped its wings to sweep up a burst of fierce white winds, and the yellow streaks of light were blown into oblivion. Arcs of lightning then began to flash erratically all over the giant bird's body, and it pounced directly toward the midget amid a string of successive thunderclaps.

After witnessing Han Li slay the elderly woman before swatting aside his attack with ease, the midget's face instantly turned deathly pale at the sight of the oncoming Han Li. He immediately stomped a foot down onto his silver cloud before flashing through the air as a ball of silver light. In the next instant, he appeared beside the pale-faced being before pointing a finger at the green wooden bowl beside him. The bowl immediately transformed into a green light barrier than shielded his body within.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being wore a dark expression as he let loose a loud cry. Bursts of black mist immediately erupted from the bracers that he was wearing, and the black mist enshrouded both himself and the midget in the blink of an eye.

The black mist then began to surge in all directions, quickly covering an area with a radius of over 300 feet and continuing to expand outward, showing no signs of stopping. A series of ghostly shadows appeared within the mist amid ghastly howls and unsettling cries. Both the pale-faced being and the midget's auras disappeared within the mist.

At this moment, the giant bird had also changed directions to pursue the midget, and it was greeted by the sight of a sea of black mist. "Yin Qi!" He almost immediately identified this black mist to be extremely pure Yin Qi. If a normal cultivator were to be caught off guard and ventured into the mist, they would be instantly reduced to a shriveled corpse. However, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

Before the giant bird had even issued any instructions, the Weeping Soul Beast suddenly let loose a cry of excitement. It then thumped its fists into its chest before letting loose a cold harrumph, expelling a vast expanse of yellow light from its nostrils toward the black mist.

The massive bird also let loose a clear cry, and it flapped its wings as the arcs of lightning surging all over its body exploded in unison, transforming into a dazzling ball of lightning.

After the lightning disappeared, a loud thunderclap rang out, following which a bolt of white lightning as thick as a water tank emerged in the air above the sea of black mist.

The giant bird emerged from within the bolt of lightning, then circled around the in the air before swooping down toward the black mist down below. At this moment, the pale-faced being was lurking within the mist while holding a black flag ins his hand, and as opposed to being enraged or alarmed by Han Li's actions, he was ecstatic! He let loose a loud cry before abruptly waving his flag through the air, upon which a vast expanse of black mist surged upward into the air to manifest a black ghostly face that was around an acre in size. The ghostly face was like a living being with green flames flashing in its eye sockets, and it opened its cavernous mouth as it rose up to meet the oncoming bird.

However, right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring lights swept forth.

The ghostly face had only just risen slightly into the air when it let loose a howl of shock and horror as it became embroiled within the yellow light.

The massive face twisted and warped before disintegrating into countless bursts of black Qi that were swept up by the yellow light. Not only that, but the entire sea of black mist down below also began to churn violently in the instant that the yellow light appeared. As the yellow light passed through, the black mist was broken down into countless strands of black threads that then disappeared in a flash.

In the past, the Weeping Soul Beast had been able to combat Yin power, but it would've been quite difficult for it to absorb such a vast quantity of Yin Qi at once.

However, following its many evolutions, its soul-devouring light had become far more powerful than it had been in the past. As such, most of the black mist was swept away in virtually the blink of an eye.

Thus, the pale-faced being and the midget that were hiding within the mist were both completely revealed.

The pale-faced being was holding a flag in his hand with an incredulous look on his face, and as soon as the two beings had been exposed, the giant bird lashed out toward them with its massive talons.

Azure light flashed from the bird's wings, and it flapped them downward in unison.

Nothing amiss seemed to have taken place as a result, but both the pale-faced being and the midget suddenly felt the air tighten around them, following which an invisible mountainous force crashed down on their shoulders. The pale-faced being possessed the superior cultivation base among the two, thereby allowing him to remain standing, albeit just barely, even in the face of such fearsome pressure.

In contrast, his weaker companion let loose a muffled groan before being forced onto one knee. The azure light barrier around him became extremely warped, and a large section of it above his head had caved in significantly. At the same time, the barrier was shuddering violently, looking as if it could crumble at any moment. The midget was well aware of the immense defensive prowess that his treasure possessed, so he was extremely alarmed by this development.

Despite how much their bodies were being debilitated by this immense pressure, they certainly weren't going stand around idly and allow themselves to be killed.

Thus, the pale-faced being forcibly flicked a wrist, and the black flag transformed into a black misty wyrm that rose up into the air. At the same time, black light swirled around his bracers, and a projection flew out from each bracer.

Han Li focused his gaze to discover that this was a pair of malicious ghosts, one red and one green. Both had sinister sets of facial features with twin horns on their heads and bare upper bodies, wearing beasthide garments to conceal their lower bodies. The two ghosts raised their arms in unison, and a swath of black immediately surged forth, close behind the misty wyrm.

Meanwhile, the midget laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a small white jade sword flew out from within, then transforming into a streak of piercing light that hurtled toward the giant talons crashing down from above. In this dire situation, the two of them seemed to finally be fighting for their lives.

A loud boom erupted up above again, and the silver battle ark suddenly unleashed countless pillars of light again, all of which hurtled directly toward the massive bird.

However, the bird continued to swoop downward, but crystalline light flashed from its body in the process, forming a crystalline shield that flew out of its body.

The shield was initially only around 10 feet in size, but in the instant that it was released, it swelled to become a giant shield that was over 200 feet in size, glittering under the sunlight in a dazzling display.

All of the pillars of light that struck the giant shield were warped and refracted toward another direction, so none of the battle ark's attacks were able to land on Han Li. The white jade sword then crashed into the giant bird's talons amid a dull thump, only to be repelled with ease.

The talons then closed around the sword like lightning, capturing it in an inescapable grasp that immobilized it no matter how much it struggled.

The talons then clamped down with even greater force, and the flying sword was shattered into several segments amid a crisp crack.

The midget down below immediately let loose a howl of anguish before throwing up several mouthfuls of blood in succession.

Meanwhile, the giant talons continued downward and the grabbed onto the azure light barrier, leaving the midget looking on with sheer horror in his eyes.

However, the azure light barrier really was quite powerful; even after the massive talons had closed around it, it managed to remain intact, even though it was creaking and groaning in an alarming manner.

On the other side, the mist wyrm absorbed the vast expanse of black light into its body, and it suddenly seemed to have attained actual substance. Its previously misty and insubstantial body had grown a layer of glossy black scales, and it let loose a menacing roar as it violently whipped its tail into the massive bird's other set of talons. Despite the bird's enormous strength, its talons really were kept at bay by the black wyrm.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, but he then opened his cavernous beak, and a silver ball of flames suddenly shot forth from within. At the same time, the huge beak came pecking down with ferocious might.

Immediately thereafter, the black wyrm was struck by the silver fireball and began to burn in an uncontrollable manner. The black wyrm's body then rapidly shrank as if it were being devoured by the silver flames. At this moment, the gigantic bird's beak struck the azure light barrier with devastating power. The barrier was already on the brink of destruction, and it was shattered by the beak with ease.

The midget within the shattered barrier no longer had the power to resist, and his body and soul were both crushed into a cloud of blood mist by the giant talons that instantly closed around him.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being was also in dire straits. After the black wyrm had been shrunk down to around a third of its original size, it was no longer able to withstand the massive bird's talons any longer, and was promptly destroyed. Immediately thereafter, the silver flames enveloped the massive talons before sweeping toward the pale-faced being.

The pale-faced being's expression had already changed drastically after witnessing the death of his final companion, and a look of shock and horror finally appeared on his face after witnessing his own treasure failing to withstand his opponent's attacks. In his desperation, he gritted his teeth and let loose a long shrill cry. An explosive boom rang out, following which a layer of crimson light surfaced over his body, then swelled to form a ball of light comparable in size to a wagon wheel.

Even the giant talons that were enshrouded in silver flames were repelled by this ball of light, unable to land on their target.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a faint crimson shadow shot forth from within the crimson light, covering a distance of several hundred feet in a flash, then sped to over 1,000 feet away, taking it not too far away from the remaining battle ark.

With Han Li's spirit eye ability, the crimson shadow naturally didn't escape his notice. As such, he immediately twisted around to give chase.

However, right at this moment, a pillar of golden light suddenly shot forth soundlessly and without any premonition, almost instantly striking the crimson shadow that had just reappeared above the battle ark. Several arcs of golden lightning struck the crimson shadow amid a loud thunderclap, and the shadow let loose a bloodcurdling cry before being reduced to nothingness. "Divine Devilbane Lightning!" Han Li was quite startled to see this familiar golden lightning.

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He cast his gaze toward the origin of the golden lightning to discover that the long-haired foreign being had already emerged from his golden ball, and that a blue humanoid puppet that was around 20 feet tall had appeared beside him.

The puppet was entirely blue in color, and one of its hands was raised with thin arcs of lightning flashing in between its fingers.

This Jia Tianmu had not only two high-grade puppets, but also a third one that was capable of unleashing Divine Devilbane Lightning! That came as quite a surprise to Han Li. However, he was only caught in a stunned stupor for an instant before flapping his wings and hurtling toward the silver battle ark as a gust of fierce winds. Azure light flashed, and his massive avian body swelled dramatically once again.

Immediately thereafter, the massive bird's talons came crashing down upon the battle ark with piercing lightning flashing alongside them.

The talons instantly pierced into the battle ark amid a string of resounding booms, and a massive hole was torn into its silver surface.

The giant bird then opened its cavernous mouth, and a thick bolt of lightning blasted forth, disappearing into the hole in a flash. Lightning flashed, and cries of anguish rang out from within the battle arks as countless Jiao Chi being's were slain in the blink of an eye. However, the giant bird didn't rest there. It flapped its wings downward in a violent manner, and a gust of fierce white winds swept forth.

It then released the massive battle arks, and the latter was swept up by the gale-force winds before plummeting toward the ground. The battle ark crashed onto the ground amid a resounding boom, and the massive bird let loose a long cry before folding its wings away, then shrinking down to its humanoid form amid a flash of azure light. Han Li cast his gaze onto the ground down below, then made a hand seal, and several tens of small azure swords appeared in unison in the surrounding area. The swords tremored before hurtling through the as streaks of azure light, making short work of the ruined battle ark down below.

Han Li then turned his attention to the battle ark that he had previously felled, manipulating his flying swords to destroy that ark as well.

At this moment, the armored warriors and giant falcons in the surrounding area had also almost been completely eradicated by the Weeping Soul Beast and the Leopard Kirin Beast. Only a few fortunate survivors had managed to flee into the extremely far distance, but the rest of their companions had all been slain.

Han Li couldn't be bothered to send his two beasts after those beings, and he merely waved a hand through the air, upon which a black ring whizzed out of his sleeve.

The massive black ape instantly shrank down and disappeared into the black ring as a streak of black light, along with the Leopard Kirin Beast, which also returned as a streak of golden light. Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the black ring flew back to him before being stowed away. Only then did Han Li cast his gaze toward the distance where Jia Tianmu was standing, then suddenly flew over to him as a streak of azure light.

After just a single flash, he appeared around 10 feet before Jia Tianmu in a wraith-like manner, then appraised him in a cold and expressionless manner.

Jian Tianmu's heart stirred upon seeing this, but he quickly put on a smile before cupping his fist in a grateful salute. "Thank you for saving me, Senior; I'll be sure to fulfill my promise and reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race."

"You sure are brave to have dared to drag me into your mess. Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you right now?" A hint of killing intent surfaced within Han Li's narrowed eyes.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist; if you had intended to do that, I'd already be dead. Besides, I only brought you into this matter as I had no alternatives, so I hope you'll forgive me, Senior," Jia Tianmu replied with a smile."How did you know I was nearby? In my own opinion, my concealment techniques are quite effective, especially against those of a lower cultivation base than myself," Han Li suddenly asked after a brief silence.

Following a brief hesitation, Jia Tianmu opened his mouth to expel an object, which landed in his hand before he offered it up for Han Li's inspection. "Of course I wouldn't have been able to detect your presence on my own; it was all thanks to this thing."

Han Li focused his gaze on the item to find that it was a black and white bead with what appeared to be a series of spiritual Qi vortexes swirling on its surface. "What's this?" Han Li found the item to be rather familiar somehow.

"Are you unfamiliar with this item, Senior? This Sense Enhancement Bead is a treasure refined from the inner core of a type of a rare spirit beast known as the Nie Beast. It can temporarily enhance one's spiritual sense by about twofold, but after every usage, there will be quite a few after-effects, and the treasure will need to be nurtured within the user's body for many years before it recovers. However, it's extremely useful in dire situations," Jia Tianmu explained in a truthful manner. "Spiritual sense enhancement by twofold?" Han Li was stunned to hear this.

If this treasure were able to enhance one's cultivation base by roughly twofold, then he wouldn't be all that surprised. After all, treasures that could be used to temporarily enhance one's power were rare in the Spirit Realm, but not non-existence. However, this was the first time he had heard of something that could enhance one's spiritual sense in the Spirit Realm. One's spiritual sense normally increased along with their cultivation base as well as the cultivation arts used, so generally speaking, no treasure could affect one's spiritual sense."Sense Enhancement Bead... Nie Beast..." Han Li murmured to himself as a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

Jia Tianmu's heart stirred at the sight of Han Li's expression, and he hurriedly added, "However, the Nie Beasts required to refine this bead are almost extinct in the Spirit Realm, and once a Sense Enhancement Bead is used, it can't be used by any other person. If one were to forcibly devour a Sense Enhancement Bead that had already previously been used by someone else, they would be driven insane due to their spiritual sense becoming overly chaotic."

"I see." Han Li was rather disappointed to hear this, and the hint of killing intent that had just welled up in his heart quickly faded.

However, he still found the black bead to be extremely familiar. In fact, there seemed to be one in his storage bracelet.

Han Li suddenly recalled back to when he had slain that unknown beast in the Devilfall Valley countless years ago. The inner core of that beast was very similar in appearance to this Sense Enhancement Bead. Could it be that the mutant beast from back then was a Nie Beast? A hint of excitement welled up in Han Li's heart as that thought occurred to him.

If he also possessed a Sense Enhancement Bead, then wouldn't he be able to unleash close to twice as many Gold Devouring Beetles as he'd normally be capable of? In dire situations against overwhelmingly powerful enemies, he'd be able to scare them away with his Gold Devouring Beetles!

Despite these thoughts running through his mind, Han Li didn't ask any further questions about the Sense Enhancement Bead as he didn't want to arouse suspicion from Jia Tianmu. Instead, he glanced at the humanoid puppet beside them, then asked in an indifferent voice, "Judging from how intent the Jiao Chi beings were on capturing, you must be no ordinary being, right? How about you introduce yourself first?"

"I'm just an upper race third-tier being who knows a thing or two about puppet refinement, which has earned me a bit of renown in my race," Jia Tianmu replied with a nonchalant smile."Is that so? Your puppet refinement skills must truly be extraordinary for the Jiao Chi Race elders to hold you in such high regard," Han Li mused in an indifferent manner.

Jia Tianmu merely chuckled and refrained from offering a response on this occasion. Instead, he surveyed the surrounding area before a slightly concerned look appeared on his face. "Senior, this is not a place that we should linger in. How about you leave with me first before we discuss any other matters?"

"Hmph, you're right about that, but I have no intention of going with you. From now on, we go our separate ways. You're such a big target; I don't want to get swept up in your mess a second time," Han Li harrumphed coldly. He then twisted around, and azure light shimmered from his body as he prepared to depart.

"Wait! The further ahead you go, the more Jiao Chi beings you'll encounter. Even with your powers, it won't be a simple task to escape from this area. I know of a secret teleportation formation that can take us directly out of the area that has been taken over by the Jiao Chi Race," Jia Tianmu hurriedly said with an urgent look on his face."A teleportation formation? You're not lying to me, are you?" The azure light radiating from Han Li's body faded as he turned to Jia Tianmu with a surprised look on his face.

"Rest assured, Senior, this is a secret teleportation formation set up solely for special members of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races like myself. Once we get there, you'll be able to immediately ascertain the validity of my claim. If you discover that I'm lying, you can do with me as you please," Jia Tianmu replied with a smile. Han Li fell into silent contemplation upon hearing this.

It was indeed the case that he'd encountered Jiao Chi Race patrols with increased regularity along his journey. As such, he really was rather unconfident about his chances of being able to escape from this area. If he could use a teleportation formation that would take him away from here, then that would naturally be a very attractive option.

He didn't have any ties with neither the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races nor the Jiao Chi Race, but the violence that the Jiao Chi Race had displayed in slaughtering the entirety of Green Light City indicated to him that even if he were to surrender himself and offer up the jade box, there was no way that they would spare him.

In contrast, it seemed that the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races weren't as oppressive toward outsiders, so it would be a good idea to travel to their territory, then slowly try and find a way back to his original continent.

Furthermore, he was carrying two jade boxes that had to be taken care of, and this Jian Tianmu seemed to be quite an important figure in the Myriad Ancient Race, so perhaps he'd be able to help in that respect. After contemplating all these matters, Han Li nodded as his expression eased, and he said, "Alright, in that case, I'll be happy to come along. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Jia."Jia Tianmu was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Han Li.

The spiritual power within the few types of special spirit stones used in his puppets had been completely exhausted, so there was no way that a third-tier upper race being like him would be able to travel to the place where the teleportation formation was situated on his own. However, with Han Li's protection, he would have a far greater chance of getting to his destination without being captured or killed.

Thus, Jia Tianmu immediately rose up into the air to recover the puppets that had been taken by the Jiao Chi beings, then stowed the humanoid puppet away before flying into the distance, leading the way for Han Li. Two streaks of light, one golden and one azure, disappeared into the distance after just a few flashes.

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In the air above a massive city enshrouded under a yellow light barrier, there were over 100 silver battle arks of different sizes.

These battles arks ranged from just over 10,000 feet up to over 100,000 feet in size, and the largest of them were like small cities that hovered above the massive city.

Within the largest of the battle arks, there were a dozen or so Spatial Tempering Stage Jiao Chi beings, and they were standing inside the tallest pavilion on the ark while looking out at the city down below. On a chair behind them sat a pale-skinned young woman with a pair of purplish-golden eyes. This group of beings was currently conversing in hushed tones with one another while pointing down at the massive city. The young woman wore a contemplative expression, seemingly in deep thought about something.

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed from the entrance of the pavilion, following which a streak of red light shot forth toward the young woman. The woman raised an eyebrow as she waved a hand toward the streak of light, and it transformed into a ball of red flames that fell onto her palm. She carried the ball of flames in her hand before seeping her spiritual sense into it. After a short while, her expression darkened, and she said in a cold voice, "What a bunch of useless idiots!"Everyone else's hearts stirred upon hearing this, and their conversation ceased as they turned their attention to her. "What's happened, Lady Yin?" a hunch-backed man asked in a careful manner.

"A group of seventh-tier and eighth-tier upper race beings were deployed to capture that Jia Tianmu, only to all be slain at the scene, and the other teleportation formation couldn't even be activated in the first place," the young woman harrumphed coldly in response.

"How is that possible? That Jia Tianmu is indeed proficient in puppet refinement, but he's just a mid-tier upper race being; how could he have killed all of the troops we sent after him?" another long-faced woman asked in an incredulous manner."According to the survivors, someone else was responsible for all this," the young woman replied with a shake of her head. "Someone else? Are there other holy race beings in the area aside from in this Flowing Water City?" the hunch-backed man exclaimed.

"No, not a Body Integration Stage being, but a seventh-tier upper race being instead. That's why I called them a bunch of useless idiots! How did so many of them lose to an opponent of the same cultivation base?" The young woman's voice cooled even further as a hint of rage flashed through her eyes. None of the other beings dared to say anything after witnessing the young woman's fury.

"Send a message to Envoy Tu right away, and inform them of the site of the incident. They'll be responsible for capturing Jia Tianmu from now on; we'll focus all our efforts and attention on conquering Flowing Water City!" The young woman's words were like cold scathing blades."Envoy Tu has other missions to attend to; surely he wouldn't be willing to come here..." someone said in a careful manner. "Just tell him that the one who saved Jia Tianmu is the being that he wants to capture, and he'll have no choice but to take over this mission," the woman replied as she cast an indifferent glance toward the one who had just spoken."The one who saved Jia Tianmu is the same being that Envoy Tu wants to capture?" Everyone was quite startled to hear this.

"Alright, that's enough of this matter. What we have to do now is conquer this city within the next three days! After that, Golden Armor City will be completely on its own, and it'll be as good as ours when that time comes. All of you, just act according to the plan," the woman instructed."Yes," all of other high-grade Jiao Chi beings replied with respectful bows. After that, they departed from the pavilion and flew back to the battle arks that they were operating.

Two hours later, all of the battle arks began to shimmer with spiritual light and emit bursts of earsplitting rumbling following an order from the young woman.

Countless armored warriors, twin-headed giant falcons, and hundreds of winged wyrms surge out of the battle arks, forming an orderly formation in the air, surrounding the entire giant city in a watertight manner. Following the emergence of this Jiao Chi Race army, a series of puppets of different colors also flew out of the battle arks. Most of these puppets were humanoid with the smallest comparable in size to a normal person, while the largest were over 100 feet tall each. There were only three beastly puppets among them, and each of them were over 1,000 feet in size. One of them had the appearance of a giant turtle, but had three heads, and a shell that was filled with thick and sharp spikes. Another one had the body of an ape and the head of a tiger with a pair of massive golden deer antlers. The third one was a flying-ant-like puppet, and not only was it the largest of the three, its body was entirely pristine white, as if it had been refined from crystal.

Seeing as the Jiao Chi beings were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, the entire city was cast into a frenzy.

Through the massive light barrier, one could see that a series of formations had lit up across many locations within the city. Immediately thereafter, thick pillars of light rose up from the fomations, injecting themselves into the light barrier in the air above.

The light barrier instantly began to shimmer as a series of runes emerged from it, each of which was around 10 feet in size.

At the same time, countless humanoid figures flew out of some of the buildings in the city, many of which immediately hurtled toward the formations that had just lit up. "Attack!" the young woman on the largest battle commanded, and the three largest beastly puppets led the charge. Spiritual light swirled around the giant turtle's shell, following which countless thick pillars of light instantly shot forth.

Meanwhile, the tiger-headed ape beast opened its mouth to blast forth a golden pillar of light, within which the sounds of howling winds and explosive thunder could be heard. As for the giant crystalline ant, it also opened its mouth, but it expelled a vast expanse of dense green mist that swept through the air instead.

Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light radiated from the undersides of the battle arks as pillars of light came raining down in a torrential downpour.

All of a sudden, rumbling booms rang out incessantly like a relentless string of thunderclaps.

Deep within the belly of a massive mountain, there was a dim hall in which everything was only barely visible. The entire area was deathly silent, and it seemed that no one had frequented this place for many years.

However, a short while later, white light suddenly flashed within the hall, following which a formation that was several tens of feet in size appeared at the center of the hall. Spiritual light flashed amid a low buzzing sound, and two blurry humanoid figures emerged within the formation.

One of them was a remarkably young man in a set of azure robes, while the other was a being with long disheveled hair that obscured half of his face. These two were none other than Han Li and Jia Tianmu.

"This place is extremely discreet and obscure, and this teleportation formation that was constructed here by our Myriad Ancient Race cannot be used unless it's during a crisis. As the years have passed, fewer and fewer people know about it. Where we are now is already outside of the area taken over by the Jiao Chi Race, and it's only several days of flight away from the third-largest city of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, Cloud City," Jia Tianmu said with a smile.

He then swept a hand through the air, casting an incantation seal onto a gem that was embedded onto a nearby wall.

Spiritual light instantly flashed within the entire hall as a dozen or so locations on the walls lit up in unison, illuminating the entire room.

Han Li inspected his surroundings to find that this hall was only just over 1,000 feet in size, and it had been entirely paved with massive stones that were azure and white in color. It appeared to be quite ordinary and mundane, but the entire place was spotlessly clean. Thus, he nodded, and said in an indifferent manner, "It does indeed appear that it's been a very long time since someone's been here. By the way, this Cloud City seems to be quite an important one to your 13 Heavenly Cloud Races; I've heard that even the grand elder of your Myriad Ancient Race has arrived there."

"Oh? You're aware of this as well, Fellow Daoist Han? Hehe, not only is Cloud City the third-largest city in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, it's also been constructed in a very unique manner, so it's quite a renowned city. It's also the closest major city to the army deployed by the Jiao Chi Race, and when the true battle finally commences, Cloud City will be where the place where all of the powerful beings of our 13 races will gather," Jia Tianmu explained with a smile.

"That's good to hear. The city must be quite a big one for it to be so renowned. I just so happen to be looking for a large city so I can do some things," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"I have a temporary cave abode in Cloud City, so I'm technically half a landlord there. If you have something you need to do, just come and find me. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help you with any overly important tasks, but I should be able to lend you a hand if you're just running a few errands here and there," Jia Tianmu offered.

After witnessing Han Li slay several beings of the same cultivation base as himself so easily, Jia Tianmu had naturally already deduced that Han Li was no ordinary upper race being. As such, even though he had already escaped from the area under the control of the Jiao Chi Race, he still wanted to try and befriend Han Li. "Thank you for your kind offer, Fellow Daoist Jia. Perhaps I really will require your assistance with some matters." Han Li made no effort to turn down Jia Tianmu's proposal.

"Cloud City is currently in quite a sensitive state at the moment, so it won't be easy for beings outside of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races to enter the city. In particular, it'll be difficult to request entry for new faces like you. However, I've seen you slay several upper race Jiao Chi beings, so I can certainly vouch for you. Hehe, but then again, things will obviously be made a lot easier if you join our Myriad Ancient Race. How about you become a guest member of our race? I have some speaking rights in our Myriad Ancient Race, and I can directly recommend you to our elders. With your powers, you'll definitely be held in high regard by our race. On top of that, the benefits you'll receive from becoming a guest member of our race are quite exorbitant. If you want to get something done in Cloud City, it'll be a lot easier for you as a guest member of the Myriad Ancient Race," Jia Tianmu chuckled. "Thank you for the offer, Brother Jai, but I can't guarantee that I'll be staying in Cloud City for long, so I'll consider this matter another time," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

"That's true, we should focus on getting to Cloud City first and consider these matters later. I have a few close friends in the city that I can introduce you to when we get there," Jia Tianmu said in a warm and inviting manner. Han Li nodded in response, but didn't say anything in reply. Thus, the two of them strode out of the teleportation formation and rushed toward the gates of the hall. After pushing open the gates, a bluestone passageway was revealed to them, and the passageway led upward in a winding manner. Han Li and Jia Tianmu instantly transformed into two streaks of light that disappeared into the passageway in a flash.

Moments later, a ball of white light and a streak of azure light flew out of a large mountain, then hurtled into the distance.

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"This is Cloud City?" Han Li hovered in mid-air as he looked up into the sky with a peculiar look on his face.

"Indeed. As the name suggests, Cloud City is one of two floating inhabitable lands in the Spirit Realm alongside Sky Island. It can't drift with the wind like Sky Island does, but it's able to adjust its own altitude as the seasons change during the year," Jia Tianmu introduced in a proud manner.

At this moment, the two of them were situated on the summit of a small mountain, and several hundred kilometers in the air above them was a giant floating city.

The city was hundreds of thousands of feet up in the air, and not only were there white clouds swirling all around it, the entirety of the island was constructed from some kind of unknown white material.

For a city of such a massive size to be hovering so high up in the air was truly quite awe-inspiring to anyone witnessing such a spectacle for the first time.

Another noteworthy feature as the dozen or so massive pristine white balls around the entire city. The balls didn't appear to be very large from afar, but if one were to draw closer, they'd discover that these were colossal objects that were over 100,000 feet in diameter.

As for the exact number of these massive balls, that was something that Han Li couldn't yet ascertain as he could only see one side of Cloud City.

"What are those things?" Following his initial stunned stupor, Han Li pointed up at the massive balls up above with an expression of awe and curiosity on his face.

"Those are one of the city's defensive trump cards, and they were constructed by our Myriad Ancient Race in conjunction with the Stone Cocoon Race after much painstaking effort. You'll be able to learn the specific details about them once you ask around a little in Cloud City. For now, allow me to keep you in the dark!" Jia Tianmu chuckled with a mysterious smile.

Han Li was rather speechless upon hearing this.

However, he had no intention of trying to force an answer out of Jia Tianmu. As such, he rose up into the air, flying toward Cloud City with a hint of curiosity in his heart.

Jia Tianmu also followed close behind him as a streak of white light.

From several hundred kilometers, one couldn't develop an accurate grasp of just how massive Cloud City was. However, after reaching within 50 kilometers of the city, even Han Li was flabbergasted by its gargantuan size despite his vast wealth of experience.

At such close quarters, Cloud City seemed to have obscured most of the entire sky, and along the way, they began to witness foreign beings flying through the air as streaks of light, or aboard carriages, arks, and all types of flying treasures.

As they approached the city, the number of foreign cultivators they encountered also steadily increased.

When Han Li was close enough to catch a clear glimpse of the giant ball directly up ahead of him, the surrounding area was already filled with countless foreign beings traveling in all directions.

For some reason, all of them skirted around the giant balls, resigning themselves to traveling a larger distance rather than passing by close to them.

Han Li narrowed his eyes upon seeing this, and blue light flashed deep within his pupils, allowing him to inspect the giant balls in greater detail.

The colossal balls seemed to have been constructed from the same material as Cloud City itself, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that there were faint cracks running all over the seemingly smooth surfaces of these balls.

It was as if they were three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles that had been created using countless pieces of material fragments. Almost every single piece of materials had golden and silver runes shimmering on their surfaces, giving the balls an extremely mysterious appearance.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he swept his spiritual sense toward the massive ball up ahead, only for it to be repelled by a powerful restrictive power as soon as it came into contact with the ball.

Han Li didn't find this to be strange. Instead, he'd be quite surprised if he could glean the internal structure of such a mysterious object so easily.

"If you're carrying any metallic treasures or materials, make sure not to go within a 10,000 feet distance of those balls. Otherwise, everything of a metallic nature that you're carrying will be forcibly taken and devoured by those things. On top of that, Cloud City won't hand out any reparations for the losses incurred as a result of this," Jia Tianmu cautioned.

"Is that so?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this. He glanced at the beings around him who were cautiously avoiding the giant balls, and he was already almost fully convinced that Jia Tianmu was telling the truth.

Shifting his gaze elsewhere, Han Li discovered that there were many beings flying toward a massive city gate of Cloud City.

There were several tens of guards wearing the suits of armor at the city gate, and all of them were standing on either side of the gate with serious expressions on their faces, conducting examinations on all beings that intended to enter the city.

These thorough examinations were only aimed at cultivators looking to enter the city, while those leaving the city were completely ignored.

All of the guards were covered head to toe in suits of armor, but it was quite apparent that they were all of different shapes and sizes, and seemed to hail from different races.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but he continued onward, and after a short while, he arrived at the city gate along with Jia Tianmu.

There were a dozen or so other beings that also descended at this moment, and all of them seemed to be preparing to undergo examination.

The so-called examination merely consisted of several guards holding strange-looking disks and scanning them over the unfamiliar faces that were trying to enter the city. At the same time, another being was holding another object, recording some things into that object while listening to the verdicts delivered by his companions.

No light barriers or restrictions of that nature could be seen in the air above Cloud City. However, the sky was completely clear without anyone daring to try and fly over the city walls that were thousands of feet tall.

On this occasion, Jia Tianmu didn't explain anything. Instead, he merely smiled and suddenly made his way directly toward the guards at the city gate.

In the process, he was jumping the line, and all of the beings ahead of him were naturally quite displeased by his actions.

However, most of these beings were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage or Core Formation Stage. Hence, all of them hurriedly put away their enraged expressions after discovering with their spiritual sense that Jia Tianmu was an upper race being.

The beings in the line didn't dare to do anything, but that didn't apply to the guards at the city gates, and all of them immediately turned to Jia Tianmu with cold expressions on their faces.

These guards all possessed comparable or even superior cultivation bases to Jia Tianmu, yet he remained completely unflustered as he swept a sleeve through the air. A palm-sized black badge instantly flew forth from within, heading directly toward one of the guards.

The guard faltered initially upon seeing this, but he quickly recomposed himself before catching the badge and focusing his gaze on it.

At the same time, Jia Tianmu's lips tremored slightly, and even though he wasn't saying anything, it was quite clear that he was using a voice transmission technique.

The scenes that unfolded next left all of the beings in the line completely flabbergasted. After catching a clear glimpse of the badge in his hand, an astonished look appeared on the guard's face, and after hearing Jia Tianmu's voice transmission, he hurriedly stepped forward to return Jia Tianmu's badge to him with both hands. He then extended a respectful bow, and said, "Greetings, Master Jia of the Myriad Ancient Race; please come in. The elders of the Myriad Ancient Race have instructed us well in advance to take you to the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion to see them as soon as you arrive. Seeing as we can't eliminate the possibility that there could be Jiao Chi Race spies in the city, we'll be sending a few guards to accompany you to the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion."

"Oh? The elders are already in the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion? I was going to go and see them anyway. As for guards, don't worry about it; with Fellow Daoist Han to accompany me, I'll be fine as long as I don't get attacked by Body Integration Stage beings. Fellow Daoist Han isn't a Heavenly Cloud being, so prepare a free identity badge of the highest level for him. I can personally vouch for him," Jia Tianmu commanded as he accepted his badge from the guard.

"Yes, Master Jia!" The guard faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response.

At this moment, Han Li also strode over in an unhurried manner.

The guards instantly waved the disks in their hands toward him, and Han Li sensed a burst of extremely faint spiritual pressure erupt from the strange round disks. Immediately thereafter, several bursts of spiritual sense emanated from the guards' bodies before combining as one, then sweeping toward Han Li's body.

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes. This was the first time that he had seen a technique that allowed the spiritual sense of several people to be combined as one.

As expected of one of the core cities of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races; even the guards at the city gates were capable of using such an incredible secret technique.

After examining Han Li's cultivation base, all of the guards were filled with a sense of awe and veneration.

Seventh-tier upper race beings were quite rare, even among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

The guards were all quite relieved after verifying that their disks hadn't detected any Jiao Chi Race bloodline within Han Li's body, and one of them said, "Senior, seeing as Master Jiao is vouching for you and you've passed our preliminary examination, we'll be issuing you a high-grade identity badge right away. With this badge, you'll be able to go anywhere in Cloud City aside from a few secret and forbidden areas."

"Thanks for your hard work," Han Li replied in a benevolent manner.

The Deity Transformation Stage guard hurried waved his hands in response and no longer mentioned anything about sending guards to accompany Jia Tianmu.

It was quite clear that in his mind, a seventh-tier upper race being like Han Li was more than enough to ensure Jia Tianmu's safety.

Moments later, the guards refined a jade badge that contained some basic information about Han Li before handing it over to him. After that, the guards all stepped aside to open up a path between them, and Jia Tianmu strode into the city with Han Li following behind him in an unhurried manner.

"Fellow Daoist Jia, what kind of secret technique did they use just then to combine their spiritual sense as one? Wouldn't such an extraordinary technique be extremely effective in battle?" Han Li suddenly asked after they'd entered the city.

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"That's the Spirit Condensing Technique. It is indeed quite an extraordinary secret technique created by the Azure Race, but a strict set of prerequisites must be satisfied before the technique can be cultivated. Not only do the cultivators involved have to be brothers related by blood, their cultivation arts and cultivation bases also have to be extremely closely matched before they can unleash this technique. In contrast with all of the other Heavenly Cloud Races, most Azure beings are born as conjoined siblings where it's quite common even for six or seven siblings to be conjoined as a single being. However, after they grow up a little, they'll be able to split up, and Azure beings are stationed at all four city gates of Cloud City to conduct examinations on all those seeking to enter the city. After unleashing their Spirit Condensing Technique, even beings of a far superior cultivation base to theirs wouldn't be able to hide anything from them," Jia Tianmu explained with a smile.

Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this, but he then decided that it certainly couldn't hurt to reference such an extraordinary technique as that could assist him in his own cultivation. With that in mind, he said, "I see! Looks like my knowledge is rather lacking. I really am quite interested in that technique, though; would you happen to know how to cultivate it, Fellow Daoist Jia?"

"The Azure Race holds the Spirit Condensing Technique in extremely high regard, so there won't be many copies of the cultivation method circulating outside their race. However, I should be able to find a way to get my hands on a copy. If you really want one, I'll get someone to secure a copy for you," Jia Tianmu replied."You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Jia," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Haha, don't mention it. You saved my life, so this is the least I can do. I have to go and visit the elders of our Myriad Ancient Race, so I won't be able to accompany you any longer. This is the location of my cave abode; you can come and visit in a few days for the sentient puppet I promised you earlier. Truth be told, I only have two or three puppets of such a high caliber in my cave abode, and I have to secure approval from the elders before I can give one away to an outsider. However, rest assured, I have some status in the Myriad Ancient Race, so I'll definitely be granted approval with no issues," Jia Tianmu said with a smile as he handed over a stone tablet to Han Li.

At this point, the two of them had already arrived in the city. Up ahead was a wide street that was lined with shops on both sides and filled with different types of beings. It wasn't exactly lively and bustling, but it certainly wasn't a ghost town, either. Han Li accepted the stone tablet and inspected its contents in a cursory manner using spiritual sense, then smiled as he replied, "Alright, I also have some matters to take care of, so let's part ways here."

"Cloud City is not just inhabited by Heavenly Cloud beings, but also many foreign beings as well, some of whom have stayed here for thousands of years. As such, aside from some temporary dwellings, there are also cave abodes available to be rented. The rental fees are very high, but seeing as you're not planning to stay here for long anyway, those costs shouldn't be an issue to you. Also, make sure that you don't fight anyone or use your spiritual power in the city for no good reason. Otherwise, if you're caught doing so by the restrictions in the city, you'll be banished if you're lucky, and in worst-case scenarios, you could even have your cultivation base completely disabled. Even the elders of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races have to abide by this rule. Alright, that's enough rambling from me; I'll be taking my leave now." After delivering some final words of caution, Jia Tianmu turned and departed.

Han Li looked on as Jia Tianmu hailed a spirit carriage that was being drawn by a pair of deer-like spirit beasts, then got onto the carriage and traveled away. Only then did he withdraw his gaze before carefully appraising his surroundings.

This place really did live up to its status as one of the major cities of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. Not only were there countless buildings lining the streets here, all of them were of different styles, and there were virtually no two buildings that were exactly the same.

Some of these buildings were mountainous structures over 1,000 feet tall while others were only several tens of feet tall, yet all of them were extremely intricately crafted. Some of them were quite square and angular, resembling the pavilions often seen in the human race, some were like giant trees that were shimmering with green light...

It didn't take long for Han Li to become extremely intrigued by this city.

As the name suggested, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were comprised of 13 different races, yet ever since countless years ago, they'd lived together in harmony, advancing and co-existing as a single entity. If it weren't for the fact that they were objectively different beings with different bloodlines, they could almost be seen as one massive race.

None of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were anywhere near powerful enough to face a colossus like the Jiao Chi Race on their own, but their combined powers were comparable with the top races of the Spirit Realm. This was why the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races had managed to exist up to this point, despite their close proximity to the territory of the Jiao Chi Race. In reality, battles would break out on the borders between the Jiao Chi Race and the Heavenly Cloud Races quite regularly.

Either the Jiao Chi Race took over some more of the Heavenly Cloud Races' territory, or the latter recovered some of their lost land. Of course, under most circumstances, the Jiao Chi Race still came out on top. However, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were constantly backing up one another, so they hadn't suffered any decisive losses.

As such, the Heavenly Cloud Races weren't surprised by the sudden attack from the Jiao Chi Race. Instead, they were able to react quickly and calmly, gathering up their powerful beings in preparation to deal their enemies a heavy retaliative blow. This information had all been disclosed whether intentionally or unintentionally by Jia Tianmu during their conversations on the way here.

According to Jia Tianmu, the Heavenly Cloud Races had quite a vast territory, and the Jiao Chi Race wasn't the only powerful neighbor. There was also the Night Race, which was not inferior in power to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, as well as the slightly weaker Explosion Race. Of course, there were also many small races in the nearby area, but the only way for them to survive was to join one of the more powerful races.

Otherwise, they would either be completely wiped out or forced to find another home far away. This gave Han Li a general understanding of the situation surrounding the races in this area.

At present, he was examining the streets in the city while slowing advancing and contemplating about what he was going to do next.

His target was undoubtedly to find a teleportation formation that could take him back to the Tian Yuan Continent. However, there was no way that a single being could own a teleportation formation of such a high caliber. Instead, it was most likely under the control of a certain major power. In that case, he had no choice but to liaise with the higher-ups of that major power if he wanted to use their teleportation formation. This was why he hadn't rejected Jia Tianmu's invitation to Cloud City.

However, he was going to make up his mind about whether he was going to approach the higher-ups of the Heavenly Cloud Races after he had gathered enough information.

His top priority now was to find a place to stay in the city, then slowly search for some leads.

Having made up his mind, Han Li no longer hesitated any further. He glanced at the shops around him, then picked one to visit that was similar in its design to a human pavilion. The shop wasn't very large and only had two levels. From the wares being sold on the shelves, it appeared that this was a very ordinary general store.

The shopkeeper was a green-skinned being who was sitting on a chair behind the counter, and he immediately rose to his feet with a smile on his face at the sight of Han Li. "What can I help you with, Senior? We sell several types of specialty local products from Cloud City, as well as maps, general appliances..."

This foreign being appeared to be in his forties, and even though he was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he displayed no fear in the presence of Han Li. After extending a polite salute, he launched into a well-rehearsed spiel to advertise his wares.

This wasn't particularly surprising. After all, at his lowly cultivation base, he most likely couldn't even tell the difference between a Nascent Soul and Spatial Tempering cultivator. Furthermore, there were countless beings who were far more powerful than him in Cloud City, so he was most likely already accustomed to being in the presence of beings that were unfathomably powerful to him.

Han Li glanced at the shopkeeper before suddenly sweeping a sleeve through the air. A mid-grade spirit stone flew out from within as he said, "Get me the most detailed map of Cloud City you have. On top of that, I also have some things that I want to enquire about."

The shopkeepers smile immediately widened with elation as he caught the spirit stone, and he brought over a red stone tablet from one of the shelves in the shop as he said, "This is the best map in my store, and I'll be sure to answer your questions to the best of my abilities, Senior."

A short while later, Han Li emerged from the shop with a calm expression on his face. He hailed a beast-drawn carriage on the street, then gave the driver an address before closing his eyes to meditate in the carriage. The driver immediately spurred on the beast-drawn carriage to rush down the street.

Four hours later, after passing through countless streets, the carriage finally carried Han Li to the nearest corner of the Cloud City and stopped in front of a strange massive building.

Han Li tossed a few spirit stones over to the driver before disembarking from the carriage and looking up at the building in a calm manner.

This was a tall hill-like building that had been entirely constructed from a yellow sand-like material.

The building was over 10,000 feet; countless times taller than the other buildings nearby.

Furthermore, there were several tens of rooms of different sizes littered all over the building, and the occasional being could be seen drifting in and out of the doors. This was like a giant wasp's net when appraised from afar!

Han Li stood on the spot in a slight stupor for a long while before finally casting his gaze downward at a large wide-open entrance at the base of the building.

There was a strange character inscribed on the wall on either side of the entrance, and even with the vast number of foreign languages that Han Li had mastered, he was completely unable to decipher what those characters meant. Following a brief hesitation, Han Li stroked his chin before striding toward the entrance. After making his way into the building, he found himself in an extraordinarily spacious hall. The hall was over 2,000 feet in size, and the walls and ground were all paved with beautiful green jade. There were also rows of flower pots that were several feet tall positioned along the walls, and within those pots were planted all types of vibrant spirit flowers and spirit herbs.

At the center of the hall was a dilapidated black wooden table, on top of which was sprawled a man with snowy-white hair in a set of long grey robes. The man was lying there in a completely motionless manner, seemingly in a deep slumber. Han Li made his way over to the table, and said, "Find me one your more secluded rooms; I want to stay here for a few days."

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Han Li's voice wasn't very loud, but it was like a loud thunderclap in the elderly man's ears, and he was instantly jerked awake.

"Ah, welcome! I'll find a room for you right away, Senior." The elderly man shuddered before sitting bolt upright, then hurriedly pulling out a shimmering white treasure that bore the appearance of an accounts book and quickly searching through it.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this. This elderly man was a cultivator as well, so why he so unalert? It appeared that he wasn't pretending earlier and really had fallen asleep.

Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, he cast a glance at the elderly man's face, upon which his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "You... You're Senior Martial Brother Xiang! Why are you here?"

The sickly old man was none other than the Xiang Zhili, who had entered the spatial node in the human world ahead of Han Li.

His soul lamp had been snuffed out along with those of Old Devil Hu, Eccentric Wind, and the others not long after they'd entered the spatial node, so he should be dead. That was why Han Li was so stunned to see him alive here.

The elderly man abruptly faltered upon hearing Han Li's words, and only after a short while did he slowly raise his head to look up at Han Li.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, it really is you!" the elderly man murmured with a peculiar expression that was caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

"Yes, it's me. Why are your cultivation base and aura so..."

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward Xiang Zhili, upon which a confused look appeared on his face.

Xiang Zhili had been a Deity Transformation cultivator even back in the human world, yet his cultivation base had since regressed to the Core Formation Stage, and his aura was extremely feeble, as if his body had sustained severe damage.

Xiang Zhili stared blankly at Han Li for a long while before a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him, and he hurriedly rose to his feet as he said, "Junior Martial Brother, you also came to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, right? You seem to have progressed significantly in your cultivation as well. This is not the place to talk; there won't be any customers anytime soon anyway, so come with me and we'll talk elsewhere."He then led Han Li toward a door situated on the side of the hall, and Han Li hesitated momentarily before following along.

After entering through the door, the two of them arrived in a long corridor, on either side of which a series of exotic plants were growing. Hu Qinglei didn't lead Han Li very far before pushing open a nearby stone door and inviting Han Li into the room.

"Take a seat, Junior Martial Brother. Never would I have thought that I'd see you again in my life. In my current state, I'm almost too embarrassed to be in your presence," Xiang Zhili chuckled with a wry smile as they both took a seat. His voice was very dejected and sullen, and he seemed to only be a shadow of his former self.

"What happened to you in the spatial node all those years ago? Are the other two still alive?" Han Li asked.

"Eccentric Wind and Old Devil Hu both died. We were extremely unlucky and encountered multiple spatial storms along the way. On the last occasion, two spatial storms stacked on top of one another, and I was the only survivor among us three. However, I'd lost almost all of my cultivation base from unleashing too many secret techniques in quick succession in order to save myself. What little cultivation base I have now is a result of many years of arduous cultivation," Xiang Zhili sighed in a resigned manner.

"The spatial node was indeed an extremely perilous place, so the fact that you survived is very much a silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud. However, the soul lamp that you'd left in the human world had already snuffed out, and why are you here on the Thunder Continent as opposed to in human territory?" Han Li asked.

"My soul lamp was most likely snuffed out due to the secret techniques I used to save myself. The after-effects from using those secret techniques left me in such a terrible condition that I was as good as dead. As for why I'm here on this continent, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question. I was able to barely survive the spatial storms that I encountered, but as soon as I emerged from the spatial node, I ended up here. If I hadn't been saved by someone, I wouldn't even be alive right now. From the sounds of it, you ended up in the human territory of the Spirit Realm after emerging from the spatial node. In that case, I can only assume that the spatial storms blew me completely off course." There was still a hint of lingering fear in Xiang Zhili's eyes as he recalled his horrific experiences in the spatial node, even after so many years had passed.

Han Li merely nodded without giving a reply this time.

"Why are you here doing this kind of job, Senior Martial Brother Xiang? Have you thought about returning to the human race?" Han Li asked with a serious expression.

"The owner of this inn is a Stone Cocoon being, and he's the one who saved my life. He's quite kind-hearted and also quite powerful. He also seems to have some status in the Stone Cocoon Race, and I decided to look after his inn for him to repay him for his kindness, and also because I have nowhere else to go. As for returning to the human race, I'd already given up on that dream long ago. There is indeed a teleportation formation under the control of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races that could facilitate teleportation to other continents, but it's said that an enormous amount of spirit stones is required to activate the formation each time, and just that expenditure alone is enough to force a strip a holy race being of all their wealth. Even if I were to return to the height of my powers, I'd still be far from entitled to use the formation. Besides, even if I were to teleport to the Tian Yuan Continent, in my current state, there's no chance for me to pass through the primordial world to travel to human territory. On top of that, there's no chance for me to ever reach the Spatial Tempering Stage, so I'm planning to spend the rest of my life here," Xiang Zhili replied with a forlorn shake of his head.

Han Li didn't know how to comfort him after hearing that.

"By the way, I haven't heard about your experiences yet. Even though I can't return to the human race, I still want to hear about how us humans are doing in the Spirit Realm. Can you tell me about that, Junior Martial Brother Han?" Xiang Zhili asked.

"There's not much to show and tell in terms of my experiences. After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, I also traveled to the spatial node according to the coordinates you sent me, and I ventured into it along with the Ice Phoenix, who had also reached the Deity Transformation Stage by then. I was quite lucky in that even though I also encountered spatial storms, I was able to emerge largely unscathed with the assistance of the Ice Phoenix's spatial abilities. As for the current situation that the human race is in, I can't say that we're thriving. At most, we're just barely able to get by. As for the specifics..." Han Li gave a brief recount of his own experiences, but refrained from disclosing the fact that he'd also once completely lost his cultivation base. As for the matters surrounding the human race, there was nothing strictly confidential anyway, so Han Li was happy to disclose the current situation to Xiang Zhili.

"So we have three territories and a large number of Body Integration cultivators among our ranks? In that case, I can breathe a sigh of relief." Xiang Zhili listened intently to Han Li's story before heaving a long sigh.

Han Li fell silent again for a short while before suddenly asking, "Is there really a super teleportation formation in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races? How did you hear about this, Senior Martial Brother Xiang?"

"Hehe, do you intend to use the teleportation formation as well? It's not really a confidential matter. Not only is there one in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, the Jiao Chi Race and the Night Race also have one each. Among the major races in this area, only the Explosion Race is apparently yet to construct one. Teleportation formations capable of teleporting beings between continents are only accessible to beings at or above the Body Integration Stage, and you're not a Heavenly Cloud being, either, so it's going to be very difficult for you to secure approval to use the formation. Thankfully, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races aren't too xenophobic toward foreign beings, so you should just settle and cultivate here; you'll be able to keep me company then. You can consider returning to the human race after progressing to the Body Integration Stage. By the way, what's your cultivation base at the moment? I can sense that you're far more powerful than you were back in the human world, but I'm unable to detect your exact cultivation base," Xiang Zhili muse with a curious look on his face.

"I'll have to think about the teleportation formation later, but at present, I've fortunately been able to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage." Han Li made no effort to hide his cultivation base.

"The Spatial Tempering Stage? You really have been progressing extremely quickly, Junior Martial Brother Han. In that case, you no longer have to worry about the limitations of a lifespan," Xiang Zhili sighed in an envious manner upon hearing this.

"Technically, I'm immortal, but with the major heavenly tribulation that strikes me one every 3,000 years, my worries are certainly far from over. Each successive heavenly tribulation will be fiercer than the previous one, and I'll eventually die anyway unless I can ascend to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"That's not the same thing. After reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, you'll have thousands of years between heavenly tribulations, so you'll be able to take your time in your cultivation. With your brilliant aptitude, who's to say you won't be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm in the end?" Xiang Zhili chuckled with a shake of his head.

"Our human and demon races have had no lack of freakish prodigies, yet how many of them have managed to ascend to the True Immortal Realm in the end? I'm only focusing on taking my cultivation one step at a time, rather than looking ahead too far and being overly ambitious," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, let's discuss this matter at another time. I have to look after the inn for now, and I'll come to your room tonight for a more in-depth chat. You wouldn't refuse to see me, would you, Junior Martial Brother Han?" Xiang Zhili chuckled.

"Of course not. I've only just arrived in Cloud City, so I also have some things that I need to ask you about." Han Li nodded in response.

Thus, Xiang Zhili picked out a relatively secluded room for Han Li to stay in before returning to the hall.

Han Li set up a restriction within the room, then sat down in a cross-legged manner and fell into deep thought.

The fact that he'd encountered Xiang Zhili here forced him to reconsider some things.

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That night, Xiang Zhili showed up as promised and chatted with Han Li for the entire night.

Han Li obtained a lot of information about Cloud City from Xiang Zhili, and only after the sun had risen the next day did Xiang Zhili finally take his leave.

However, just as Han Li had accompanied him to the door, a thought seemed to have suddenly occurred to him, and he abruptly turned around as with a hesitant look on his face as he said, "Junior Martial Brother Han, I won't ever be able to return to human territory, but that possibility is still alive for you. If there ever comes a day when you want to leave Cloud City and go somewhere far away, please come to visit me first. I have some things to give to you, as well as a request I'd like to make, but rest assured, you'll be able to complete my request with ease as long as you can make it back to the human race, and doing so will also be immensely beneficial to you."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he asked, "Oh? Can't you just tell me your request now? I really can't say for sure when I'd be looking to leave this city. If an emergency strikes, I may not be able to go and visit you before I leave."

"Truth be told, I can't disclose these matters to you right now, and it'll take me some time to prepare some things. It would be best if you could come and visit me before your departure. Otherwise, you and I think you and I will both regret it," Xiang Zhili replied with a meaningful shake of his head.

Thus, Han Li promised that he would do his best to visit Xiang Zhili prior to his departure, and only then did Xiang Zhili nod before departing from the room.

Han Li looked on as Xiang Zhili left, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. All of a sudden, he made a grabbing motion toward the door of his room, and an immense force erupted forth, instantly shutting the door again.

At the same time, white light flashed from the walls within the room as the restriction within was activated, encapsulating the entire room.

Han Li then strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner on the futon that had been prepared there. It was unclear exactly what he was thinking, but a faint smile had appeared on his face while a cold light flashed through his eyes.

The next day, Han Li continued to meditate in his room, showing no intention of going anywhere.

Only on the morning of the third day was the door of the room finally opened, and he emerged from within in an unhurried manner.

However, instead of going downstairs to the hall to find Xiang Zhili, he left the inn through the exit on this level before drifting lightly down onto the streets outside.

Han Li seemed to have already decided where he wanted to go, and he casually hailed a beast-drawn carriage and gave the driver a destination before setting off.

Through the window of the carriage, Han Li could see everything on the streets outside.

His heart stirred slightly as he cast his gaze toward the massive balls outside the city walls.

Following his lengthy conversation with Xiang Zhili the night before, he had learned just what these massive balls were. It turned out that these were 13 super massive puppets, each of which was comparable in power to an early-Body Integration Stage being.

Each of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races controlled one puppet, and it was quite clear just from those fearsome puppets just how stalwart the defenses of Cloud City were.

It was no wonder that this city was designated to be the central hub for the resistance against the Jiao Chi Race. At the very least, it would almost be impossible to launch an effective sneak attack on this city.

Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze from the balls in the distance before closing his eyes.

The place that he was traveling to wasn't very far away, so the beast-drawn carriage arrived at his destination after only an hour or so.

Han Li casually tossed a few spirit stones toward the driver before disembarking the carriage and surveying his surroundings.

The street before him appeared to be quite mundane, but there were far more people here than even on the main streets.

The shops on either side of the street weren't very large, but business seemed to be booming for them as many customers were regularly entering and exiting the shops.

Han Li nodded as he cast his gaze toward the shop that stood right before him. He glanced up at the plaque hanging above the entrance, then immediately strode in in an expressionless manner.

The shop was several hundred feet in size, and it was filled with rows of shelves, upon which were placed all types of items such as stone tablets, jade plates, silver badges, and ancient tomes. However, all of those items had been concealed under a shimmering light barrier.

This was a shop that specialized in selling tomes.

According to Xiang Zhili, these types of shops couldn't be more common in Cloud City, but the few renowned shops that Han Li was interested in were all gathered on this street.

Now that he had arrived, it appeared that Xiang Zhili's claims rang true.

The shop wasn't very large, but it really did contain many tomes of all different types.

There were a few other foreign beings who were also inspecting the wares being sold in the shop, and they were all Core Formation Stage beings.

All of these foreign beings seemed to be focused on their respective searches, and all of them failed to notice that an upper race being had just strode into the shop.

As for the shopkeeper, she was a young female foreign being who appeared to be only around 17 or 18 years of age. However, her skin was as pristine and translucent as snow, and there was a pea-sized white crystal embedded on her glabella. Her beautiful eyes were also shimmering with wisdom that seemed to belie her youthful appearance.

Han Li's heart stirred as he instantly identified this woman as a being of the crystal race.

He had naturally done some research on the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and he knew that the Crystal Race was one of them.

However, this race was quite a peculiar one. Not only was its entire population pitifully small at only around just over 1,000,000, they were also predominantly weaker than beings of the other 12 races. In spite of that, all of them had extremely long lifespans that were three to four times that of a human. Furthermore, all of them were very beautiful and highly intelligent. Almost all Crystal beings could reach a high level of proficiency in pill refinement, formation spells, or talisman crafting with ease.

As such, the Crystal Race was always extremely welcomed, and even though they didn't have much interest in things like power struggles, they enjoyed quite a lofty rank among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

The Crystal being had also noticed Han Li, and as she cast her gaze toward him, a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes, as if she'd managed to glean his cultivation base.

Thus, she immediately rose to her feet and strode over to him before extending a delicate curtsey.

"Welcome to my humble shop, upper race Senior; is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman spoke in a refined manner, and there wasn't anything forced or over-the-top about her, yet she somehow exuded an air of grace and elegance.

It appeared the rumors were true; the Crystal Race really was unlike any other race he'd seen before.

Han Li clucked his tongue with wonder internally, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "No need. I'll have a look for myself first, and I'll inform you if I require any assistance."

"Then feel free to browse our wares, Senior." The Crystal woman nodded in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant, then curtsied again before leaving Han Li to his own devices.

However, her words had come as quite a shock to all of the other customers in the shop.

All of them hurriedly turned toward Han Li with surprised expressions on their faces before drawing a sharp breath in unison.

They were naturally unable to glean Han Li's exact cultivation base, but the fact that it was so unfathomable to them indicated that Han Li was countless times more powerful than them.

Thus, all of them became rather uneasy, and some of them immediately departed while others quickly picked out a few tomes before also hurrying away.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li and the Crystal woman were the only two beings left in the shop.

Han Li paid no heed to this recent development as he made his way over to a nearby shelf to inspect the tomes that had been placed there.

From the surface, Han Li naturally couldn't really see anything. Thus, he swept his spiritual sense toward one of the stone tablets on the shelf, and that was when he discovered the function of the light barrier around the shop items.

Through the use of his spiritual sense, he could only glean a short string of introductory information. When he tried to inspect more of the stone tablet's contents, he encountered a slight obstruction.

Of course, with his immensely powerful spiritual sense, he could naturally force his way through the restriction with ease, but doing so would undoubtedly attract the attention of the shopkeeper, and no being of any status would be willing to embarrass themselves in such a farcical manner.

Han Li glanced at a few of the tomes on the shelf before him and discovered that most of them only contained some general information about the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so he naturally wasn't very interested in them. Thus, he made his way over to another shelf before inspecting the tomes on there with his spiritual sense again.

On this occasion, he seemed to have found what he was looking for. A short while later, a hint of elation appeared on his face, and he waved a hand toward a blue jade plate to draw it into his grasp.

He then continued to search through the shop, and in the blink of an eye, he'd gathered over 20 tomes.

Only then did he made his way over the Crystal woman with a pleased expression on his face, and he placed everything down onto the table before him as he asked, "How many spirit stones are you charging for all this?"

The Crystal woman looked at the pile of tomes that had been placed before her, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face. She then suddenly smiled and said something that came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

"These tomes aren't worth that much; you can take them for free, Senior."

Han Li faltered initially upon hearing this before his expression darkened slightly, and he asked, "Are you afraid that I won't be able to afford them?"

"That was never my intention, Senior. What I'm saying is that I have something else that may be of interest to you, and if you're willing to take it, then I can give all of these tomes to you for free," the woman replied with a composed smile.

"Oh? What is it that you want to show me?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.

"Please wait for a moment; the item in question is quite valuable, so I've stored it in the back room." The woman rose to her feet with a smile before making her way toward the rear of the store.

Han Li merely waited in silence on the spot, and moments later, the woman emerged with a black metal box.

There were two azure talismans plastered over the surface of the box in a criss-cross formation, indicating that the box was housing something very important.

"Please take a look at the item in the box, Senior; I'm sure it'll be quite useful to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought it out for your inspection," the woman said with a knowing smile.

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Han Li didn't waste any more time upon hearing this, and he accepted the black box before sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

Even though restriction talismans had been plastered over the box, they weren't enough to completely obstruct his spiritual sense, and he still sensed something within the box.

"Hmm?" Han Li cast his gaze toward the Crystal woman with a hint of surprise on his face.

"Looks like you really do know some things," Han Li said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm working off a lot of assumptions as well, so I certainly can't say that I know everything. Why don't you open the box to see if the item inside interests you? This is not a good place to talk; let's go elsewhere first," the woman said with a smile.

She then flipped a hand over, and a formation plate appeared over her palm. She glanced at the entrance of the shop before making a hand seal and chanting something, then pointing a finger toward the formation plate.

Brilliant light instantly flashed from the formation plate, following which a vast expanse of five-colored light swept forth in all directions, enshrouding Han Li and the woman within.

Han Li raised an eyebrow at the sight of this sudden development. He could sense powerful spatial fluctuations from within the five-colored light, but he remained still on the spot and made no attempt to evade.

The light swirled around Han Li before forming a five-colored light formation, and Han Li felt his surroundings abruptly blur before he found himself within a murky grey space.

The space was extremely small; only just over 100 feet in size, and there was nothing in it aside from a table and a pair of chairs.

At this moment, Han Li was standing atop a teleportation formation that was shimmering with five-colored light alongside the woman.

"This is a small spatial rift that I had someone open up for me. There won't be any danger of our conversation being eavesdropped on here. Of course, with your powers, even without the teleportation plate, it would be a simple task to force your way back to the original space," the Crystal woman explained with an elegant smile.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the spatial walls around them to find that this space was indeed quite secure, and he nodded in a content manner before sweeping a sleeve over the black box in his hand.

A swath of azure light immediately flashed past, and the two talismans detached themselves from the box while the lid was flung open.

A burst of black Qi immediately swept forth from within, swirling around the box before attempting to spread into the surrounding area.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated that this would happen well in advance. He merely opened his mouth in a composed manner to expel a swath of golden light, and as soon as the black Qi was swept up by this light, it transformed into a black pillar of mist that was sucked straight into Han Li's stomach.

"What pure devilish Qi!" The golden light around Han Li's body intensified in brightness as if it had been enhanced by the devilish Qi he'd just swallowed.

This black Qi was devilish Qi of an extremely high degree of purity, and for a cultivator like Han Li, who was using the Provenance True Devil Arts, he was able to convert this devilish Qi into magic power as long as he didn't ingest too much of it at once.

A hint of astonishment flashed through the Crystal woman's eyes upon seeing this.

She was well aware of just how powerful the devilish Qi emanating from the item in the box was, and every time she opened the box, she would have to make extensive preparations beforehand.

Otherwise, if the devilish Qi were to infiltrate her body, her cultivation base would be significantly damaged, and under worst-case scenarios, so could even die.

At this moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the box, and a black object flew out from within before landing in his grasp.

This was a suit of purple armor that was around half a foot in size. Not only was it extremely sinister in appearance, there were several spikes protruding from the shoulder and knee sections of the armor. On top of that, its entire surface was filled with black patterns, and it was emanating immensely powerful devilish Qi.

This was a suit of armor that had undergone devilfication.

However, there was a large hole on the chest of the suit of armor, and the surrounding area was riddled with cracks, clearly indicating that it had been severely damaged.

Han Li stared at the suit of armor in his hand with a peculiar look on his face.

With his mastery of the Provenance True Devil Arts, he could naturally sense that this suit of devilish armor contained incredible power. This was definitely the most powerful suit of armor he had ever seen, and this was even after it had sustained such severe damage. If it could be fully repaired, it would truly be an unfathomably powerful suit of armor.

With that in mind, Han Li's eyes began to shimmer with intrigue as he appraised the suit of armor.

"This suit of devilish armor is something I just so happened to come across, and in the beginning, I didn't know what it was, either. However, after verification from many sources, I learned that this is a legendary suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor. It appears that this is a suit of armor manifested by an extremely powerful Heavenly Devilish Monarch. However, from the extensive damage suffered by the suit of armor, it's most likely the case that its former owner has already perished. Now, the suit of armor is most likely not even a tenth as powerful as it once was. However, if it were to be repaired, it should be able to recover around 20% to 30% of its former power," the Crystal woman said with a smile.

"A Heavenly Devilish Monarch? Those are devilish beings that are close to true spirit beings; it's no wonder that this suit of armor is imbued with such pure devilish Qi. It's quite extraordinary that you were able to find something like this," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

He then suddenly tossed the miniature suit of armor into the air before casting a golden incantation seal onto it.

The golden light disappeared into the purple suit of armor in a flash, following which it expanded to several times its original size. At the same time, the devilish Qi emanating from it also became more powerful, and it began to sweep through the surrounding area.

The Crystal woman's expression changed slightly at the sight of the black Qi surging toward her, and she abruptly raised a hand to send several white talismans flying through the air. The talismans then exploded to form a white light barrier than shielded her within.

A strange sizzling sound rang out as the devilish Qi made contact with the light barrier, but it was kept at bay in the end.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He abruptly made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light erupted from his body as golden halo emerged above his head, within which a projection with three heads and six arms gradually surfaced.

The three heads of the projection were chanting in unison while the six arms pointed a finger each at the suit of devilish armor at the same time.

Six pillars of golden light immediately surged forth, all of which struck the suit of purple armor.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

After being struck by the golden light, the suit of purple devilish armor rotated on the spot and disappeared.

In the next instant, black Qi swirled around the golden projection, and the purple armor somehow ended up on the projection's body.

In the instant that the projection donned the suit of armor, its aura swelled to several times its original power. At the same time, black Qi surged forth from its body, completely inundating the projection under a vast expanse of devilish Qi.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this. From this, he was able to deduce that the suit of armor hadn't lost all of its spiritual nature, and was thus able to be used by his Provenance True Devil Arts.

It was no wonder that this as the case. After all, the Provenance True Devil Arts was a mysterious devilish cultivation art that originated from the Elder Devil Realm in the first place. Even though elder devils were vastly different from Heavenly Devilish Monarchs, both drew on true devilish Qi as their essential source of power.

Of course, if the suit of armor were completely unscathed with its spiritual nature fully intact or if its owner were still alive, then it would be close to impossible for him to take it for himself.

Han Li nodded with a wistful expression as he said, "This suit of armor does indeed suit me very well, but it's a pity that it's already been damaged. Otherwise..."

The woman was quite stunned by the sight of the golden projection that Han Li had conjured up, but her expression remained calm as she replied, "If this suit of armor hadn't been damaged, then it most likely wouldn't have fallen into my hands. However, if you're willing to pay the price, then I have a way to repair it. At the very least, the suit of armor will be able to recover 20% to 30% of its former power."

"You can repair this suit of armor? Oh, I almost forgot that you were a Crystal being, so repairing this armor certainly wouldn't be beyond your capabilities. What's this price that you're referring to? Also, how much do you plan to sell this suit of armor to me for?" Han Li asked with a smile.

Following a brief pause for contemplation, the woman replied, "This item should be a priceless treasure, but it's a pity that it's a suit of devilish armor, so it can't be used by anyone who's not a devilish cultivator. Unfortunately, devilish cultivators have always been quite rare on Thunder Continent, and it's the first time I've ever seen a devilish cultivator of your cultivation base. Otherwise, this armor would've most likely have been sold already. How about this? If you have any precious materials, ingredients, pills, or medicines, bring them all out and thrown in a few top-grade spirit stones as well. If your offer is satisfactory, I can consider selling the armor to you."

"It's that simple?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear her answer.

The conditions she was proposing were far too simple considering what was being offered in exchange.

The woman merely smiled and provided no response.

"Can you tell me how you're going to repair this suit of armor first?" Instead of immediately accepting the offer, Han Li suddenly changed the subject.

A slightly hesitant look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, but she heaved a faint sigh in the end, and replied, "Repairing the armor is actually quite simple. As long as you have sufficient devilish cores, I'll be able to easily repair it."

"Devilish cores? What are those?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows. This was the first time that he had heard of such a thing.

"Devilish cores are the inner cores of high-grade devilish beasts. If we want to repair this suit of armor, it would at least require hundreds of devilish cores, all of which would have to be from upper race devilish beasts. One of those devilish cores will act as the main material to repair the armor, and the higher the grade of that core, the better. Ideally, we'd use the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast to serve that purpose," the woman said with a solemn look on her face.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! Where am I going to find so many high-grade devilish cores? And you're asking me to secure the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast as well? Why does it feel like repairing this suit of armor will cost far more than what it takes to purchase it? You're not swindling me for an ulterior motive, are you?" Han Li asked with a cold expression.

The Crystal woman seemed to have anticipated Han Li's reaction, and her expression remained calm as she said, "You're wrongfully accusing me here, Senior. The enhancement the suit of armor will receive after being repaired is almost entirely dependent on the devilish core that is to be used as the main material. I can still repair it using devilish cores of a lower caliber, but the effect will be severely lackluster in comparison. If we were to use a holy-grade devilish core as the main material, the enhancement effect would at least be increased by twofold to threefold compared to if a lower grade devilish core were to be used. If you want the best, then you naturally have to pay a high price. I have two avenues through which you can potentially secure a holy-grade devilish core, and I can disclose both of them to you if you're interested."

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"Two potential avenues? Go ahead," Han Li prompted.

"Three months from now, the Lucky Cloud Auction House of Cloud City will be selling a holy race thorned devilish beast inner core as one of their auction items. From what I've heard, that devilish core is extremely rare, and even some of the holy race beings in the city have set their eyes on it," the woman disclosed in a slow voice.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this. He did indeed possess considerable wealth, but he certainly wouldn't be confident that his wealth could exceed that of Body Integration Stage beings.

Those old monsters had all lived for tens of thousands of years, and the wealth they've accumulated during this time was most definitely quite staggering.

Of course, if he exchanged all of the spirit medicines and materials he was carrying into spirit stones, he'd be able to keep up in the bidding with all those old monsters, but he was alone in an unfamiliar place, so it certainly wouldn't be wise to flaunt his wealth in such a blatant manner.

If he were to do so, he'd most likely be singled out as a target even before he could purchase the devilish core. He didn't want to draw trouble to himself, and with that in mind, he quickly shook his head as he replied, "If there are going to be holy race beings participating in the bidding, then there's no way I'll be able to outbid them, so that won't work."

"Oh, in that case, we'll have to take the second avenue. You must be quite new here in Cloud City, right, Senior? Have you heard of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?" the woman asked with a smile.

"I know that such a place exists, but I don't really know anything about it," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"It's not unusual for you to have limited knowledge about that place; it only appeared in the past 10,000 years, and very few people outside of Cloud City are aware of its existence. Allow me to tell you about it in greater detail," the woman chuckled.

"Then I'll have to trouble you to enlighten me, Fellow Daoist." Han Li nodded in response as the map he'd purchased earlier surfaced in his mind. The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges was none other than one of the landmarks annotated on the map.

"Approximately 10,000 years ago, a spatial storm suddenly appeared on a stretch of barren land about a month's travel away from Cloud City. For some reason, a set of black mountain ranges emerged in the area in the aftermath of the spatial storm. The mountain ranges were entirely enshrouded under dense devilish Qi, and the space above it was extremely unstable with spatial rifts popping up quite regularly. Vast amounts of devilish Qi surged from these spatial rifts, and some high-grade devilish beast also emerged from them, including some holy-grade devilish beasts. Within a short span of time, the area in a radius of several millions of kilometers around the mountain ranges had been transformed into a devilish realm, and this area continued to expand. This incident eventually drew the attention of the holy race beings in our Heavenly Cloud Races, and several holy race beings of the sixth and seventh tiers were deployed to the area, combing their powers to kill most of the holy-grade devilish beasts that had appeared there. After that, they ventured into the center of the mountain ranges to try and put an end to everything," the woman recounted with a solemn expression.

Han Li's heart stirred as soon as the woman mentioned the vast amounts of devilish Qi that had surged out of the spatial rifts, and he almost instantly thought back to the infernal river that he'd encountered back in the Flying Spirit Race.

The woman suddenly sighed at this moment before continuing, "No one knows what those holy race beings encountered in the mountain ranges, but they stayed there for half a year before finally returning. After that, they issued an order to completely seal off the area using a restriction, leaving only a single entrance. They then sent news back to the Heavenly Cloud Races, informing everyone that the matter had been resolved, and that there will no longer be any more devilish Qi or devilish beasts emerging from the spatial rifts. They said that the demonic area was only going to maintain its current size and spread no further, but at the same time, they didn't allow any holy race beings to enter the area. Strangely enough, those with cultivation bases inferior to that of holy race beings were permitted to enter the area to kill the devilish beasts there, as well as to scour for inner cores and precious materials.

"However, there was only one month of each year during which the area could be accessed, and beings couldn't stay in there for a month at a time. After that, they'll have to leave the area, and as soon as the month passes, the exit will be closed. With the powerful devilish Qi there, even devilish cultivators won't be able to stay in there for too long. Otherwise, they'll most definitely undergo devilfication and turn into mindless devilish beings. At the same time, it really is a good place to secure precious materials that could be exchanged for spirit stones, so during the first few years, large numbers of high-grade beings would flock to the mountain ranges during the designated months. However, after a while, those numbers slowly dwindled, and at present, almost no one dares to enter the area anymore."

"Why's that?" Han Li asked with a curious look on his face.

"The rate of deaths and casualties is simply far too high. Those who can return from the mountain ranges do indeed return with bountiful rewards, but only around 80% to 90% of beings return each year. During the first few years, this was not enough to deter adventurers, but this trend continued year after year. Even though large numbers of devilish beasts were being slain each year, the number of high-grade devilish beasts in there never seemed to dwindle, so of course everyone grew to fear the place. Not only are there countless high-grade devilish beasts in the devilish area, there are even a few holy-grade devilish beasts in there. Most of the time, they reside at the center of the mountain ranges, but if one were to encounter such a devilish beast, they were as good as dead. Truth be told, those who enter the mountain ranges don't even know if they're the ones hunting the devilish beasts or if they're the prey being hunted instead. Thankfully, the more powerful the devilish beast, the deeper they reside in the mountain ranges, so it's not easy to encounter them on the outskirts of the are. Otherwise, no one would dare to go in at all. As such, the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges gradually became a place that people loved to hate," the Crystal woman explained with a smile.

"Have you told me all this because you want me to enter the area and kill the holy-grade devilish beasts in there?" Han Li asked as he stroked his chin.

His expression remained unchanged, but he'd already made up his mind; if this woman really were deranged enough to make such a suggestion, then he'd immediately depart from this place.

The Heavenly Devilish Armor was indeed very useful to him, but it certainly wasn't something that was worth risking his life for.

The woman shook her head with a smile before replying, "The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are extremely perilous, so I certainly wouldn't make such a suggestion. However, I was indeed hoping that you'd be able to obtain the devilish cores of one of the holy-grade devilish beasts in that area."

"What do you mean?" Han Li asked with a perplexed expression.

"From what I heard, a holy-grade devilish beast forced its way out of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges over 100 years ago for some reason, then attacked several of the nearby towns. Several holy race beings were alerted to its rampage, and they combined their powers to severely wound the beast, but it managed to get away in the end. I just so happen to know where this devilish beast is lurking," the woman said with a mysterious look in her eyes, and Han Li was quite stunned by this information.

"Is that true?" Han Li took a deep breath as he adopted a serious expression.

"I am most definitely telling the truth. The beast was severely wounded over a century ago, and it snuck back into an obscure location on the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It's been in hibernation ever since, and it possesses less than a tenth of its original powers. The only obstacle here is that it's created a devilish Qi barrier, and only high-grade devilish cultivators who are also capable of controlling devilish Qi can infiltrate through the barrier. Otherwise, any other being that comes into contact with the barrier will instantly rouse the beast from its slumber. That's why I haven't been able to do anything to it despite the fact that I've known its location all along. The price that I'm asking for to repair this suit of armor is the devilish beast's body, from which many materials can be derived. Of course, I'll be using its inner core as the main material to facilitate the armor's repair. If you think this is a fair arrangement, then I'll disclose the beast's location to you." The Crystal woman put on a serious expression as she finally disclosed her condition.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and only after a lengthy silence did he finally ask, "Are you sure the beast is only lurking on the outskirts of the mountain ranges and possesses less than a tenth of its original powers? How did you manage to obtain this information?"

Han Li was naturally quite tempted by the woman's proposal, but this was quite an important matter so he had to get some answers first.

"I can assure you that the information I have is accurate. I can see that you still have some doubts, so I'll show you something as proof." Rather than being disheartened by Han Li's questions, the woman was instead quite pleased as this showed that Han Li was seriously contemplating her offer. Thus, she raised a hand, and a plume of black smoke suddenly shot forth from within her sleeve, then converged to form an object that hovered above her head.

It was a fist-sized black bird with a fiery red beak and a pair of shimmering golden eyes.

"That's a Devilish Smoke Bird!" Han Li immediately identified this bird, and he was initially quite stunned before coming to a realization.

"Indeed. This is one of the extremely rare types of devilish beasts that I've been able to tame. It has no offensive prowess, but it's extremely proficient in searching for targets and traveling in a stealthy manner. I can even permanently bestow upon it a wisp of my spiritual sense to control it, and it's all thanks to this bird's observations that I was able to learn the condition and whereabouts of the wounded beast," the woman explained with a smile.

"With such a bird under your control, I have no further suspicions. However, I must ask you some things; how was this holy-grade devilish beast able to escape with its life in the face of multiple holy race beings? Does it possess a high cultivation base even among holy-grade devilish beasts or does it possess powers that outstrip its cultivation base? On top of that, would you be able to tell me what species of devilish beast it is?" Han Li nodded before delving into a detailed line of questioning.

"I didn't witness the battle between the beast and the holy race beings, but apparently, it's comparable to a second or third-tier holy race being. Of course, I've only heard this from others, so the information may or may not be accurate. As for what kind of devilish beast this is, it's rather hard to say, but it seems to be similar to the legendary true spirit, the Giant Mountain Ape. Perhaps it possesses that true spirit's bloodline," the woman replied.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

A thought suddenly seemed to occur to the woman at that moment, and she raised a hand to toss a stone tablet at Han Li as she said, "I just so happen to have an image of the beast; you can have a look at it, Senior."

Han Li caught the stone tablet before pressing it against his forehead and injecting his spiritual sense into it.

After a short while, Han Li lowered his hand with a contemplative look in his eyes, and mused, "It really does bear a resemblance to a Giant Mountain Ape."

"I've already said everything there is to say; have you made a decision yet, Senior?" The woman turned to Han Li with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

However, Han Li merely smiled and asked her something that caught her a little off guard. "May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

The Crystal woman faltered slightly before smiling as she replied, "You can call me Xian Xian, Senior."

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"Xian Xian," Han Li murmured to himself before nodding as he said, "Seeing as I don't have to venture deep into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges and the holy-grade devilish beast has been severely debilitated, this is a risk worth taking. However, let me make this clear; if things aren't as you say they are or I find that the undertaking is somehow riskier than I expected for whatever reason, I'll bail out right away. Also, on the day that the mountain ranges open up, I want you to come with me in person and lead the way. Lastly, if the holy-grade devilish beast really does possess the bloodline of a Giant Mountain Ape, you have to split half of its true spirit blood with me. If you don't agree to any of the aforementioned conditions, then the deal is off."

Han Li adopted quite a serious expression as he spoke.

Xian Xian contemplated his conditions momentarily before nodding as she replied, "Alright, I accept those conditions."

A smile appeared on Han Li's face in response to her prompt agreement. Thus, he spoke no further as he flicked his wrist, and a storage bracelet instantly flew out of his sleeve.

He pointed a finger at the bracelet, and a swath of azure light instantly swept forth, following which a dozen or so vials and boxes of different sizes and materials abruptly appeared in mid-air.

On top of that, there were also several tens of top-grade spirit stones that were shimmering with lights of different colors.

"At your current cultivation base, these pills and medicines should be enough to support your cultivation until the low and intermediate tiers of the upper race, and they can even assist you in breaking through bottlenecks. However, their effectiveness will differ from person to person. As for these materials, I expended a lot of effort to collect them; take a look and see if they're to your liking," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

Many of these pills had been consumed by Han Li in the past, and he'd even brought out his remaining two vials of True Toad Liquid, so he wasn't afraid that the woman would be discontent with his offering.

As for the materials, those were of a slightly lower caliber, but they had been obtained from the two Spatial Tempering Stage demon beasts that he'd slain back in the Flame Coral Islands, so they were also extremely precious and rare.

In contrast, the top-grade spirit stones really had been quite difficult to come by, even for him, and bringing out so many at once was far from a pleasant experience for him.

As expected, after examining the pills and materials, a hint of elation appeared on the woman's face.

"All of these items are quite precious, and along with those top-grade spirit stones, they're certainly enough to exchange for this suit of devilish armor," the woman said with a smile as she stowed everything away.

"I'm glad to hear that. We have a deal, then. I'll leave you with a Myriad Distance Talisman, and I won't be leaving Cloud City anytime soon. When the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are about to open up, you can inform me using that talisman." Han Li smiled as azure light flashed from his storage bracelet at his behest, following which a palm-sized jade badge flew out from within.

The storage bracelet then flew back as a streak of azure light, fitting itself around Han Li's wrist in a flash.

"Alright, I'll remember to use the talisman when the time comes." The Crystal Woman nodded with a smile as she caught the jade badge.

Han Li didn't say anything further as he made a hand seal and began to chant something.

The golden projection and the suit of purple armor that it was wearing both disappeared in the flash, and at the same time, the Nascent Soul within Han Li's dantian smiled as a purple suit of armor appeared over its chubby body.

The rest of the process was quite simple. The woman teleported the two of them back to the shop using her formation plate, and Han Li immediately departed.

He then visited some other shops that caught his interest, most of which were specialty shops that sold items like materials, treasures, and talismans.

He did manage to find some noteworthy things in those shops as well, but of course, none of them could compare with the Heavenly Devilish Armor he'd just obtained.

Han Li stayed on this street for an entire day, and he only hailed a beast-drawn carriage to return to the inn after night had already fallen.

In the half a month or so after that, Han Li did nothing aside from visiting these streets and hundreds of shops in Cloud City.

Thus, he managed to gain a rough understanding of the various places across the city.

At night, Xiang Zhili would occasionally visit him for a conversation. During this period of time, the city appeared to be on high alert, but its inhabitants were actually quite relaxed, seemingly completely unfazed by the fact that the city was potentially going to come under attack soon.

Perhaps this was due to the fact that they were already accustomed to attacks from the Jiao Chi Race or perhaps they simply didn't think that the army of the Jiao Chi Race would make it to Cloud City.

On this day, Han Li emerged from the inn as usual, but he didn't visit any more shops. Instead, he hailed a carriage and asked the driver to take him to Radiant Cloud Mountain.

The beast-drawn carriage immediately began to race down the street, and it had to travel through most of Cloud City before finally arriving at the designated destination.

Han Li disembarked from the carriage and looked up at the colossal mountain before him through narrowed eyes.

This was a lush mountain that was over 30,000 feet tall with a burst of pure spiritual Qi emanating from it. It seemed to possess a top-grade spirit vein.

Han Li looked around to find that there were seven mountains of a similar size in the nearby area, and these eight mountains formed the renowned Eight Cloud Mountains of Cloud City.

It was said that a long time ago, a few unfathomably powerful beings in the city had unleashed extraordinary abilities to forcibly transport these eight mountains from the ground down below all the way up to Cloud City. They then also captured eight top-grade spirit veins and placed them into the mountains, thereby creating these eight spirit mountains that were not inferior to any on the ground below.

These eight spirit mountains were also the only places in Cloud City where outsiders could permanently reside, and there were many cave abodes of different sizes on the mountains.

None of these cave abodes were owned by a single being, and all of them were available for rent. Of course, the rent was extremely expensive, and the lease period was based on centuries.

Even so, most of the cave abodes on the eight mountains had been rented out, and there were even instances where demand exceeded supply.

The temporary cave abode that Jia Tianmu had in Cloud City was situated in this Radiant Cloud Mountain.

Han Li rose up onto the mountain as a streak of azure light, heading toward the address that Jia Tianmu had given him.

The Eight Cloud Mountains were also the only places in Cloud City where beings were permitted to fly and use magic power.

The reason why Han Li had come here was naturally for the so-called sentient puppets that had been promised to him by Jia Tianmu.

During this period of time, Han Li had learned a lot about the Myriad Ancient Race. Even though this race was only ranked somewhere around the middle of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, their mastery of puppetry and puppet refinement had reached an incredible degree.

It was said that they were one of the three races on the Thunder Continent that were most proficient in the art of puppetry.

Han Li was initially rather confused as to what these sentient puppets were, but after reading through some relevant tomes and learning about them from Xiang Zhili, he finally understood what they were.

These puppets all had to possess Deity Transformation Stage power at a minimum, and they also possessed certain levels of spiritual nature. Even without having to inject spiritual sense into them, these puppets could carry out some simple instructions, so they were quite extraordinary indeed.

On top of that, it was said that the spiritual natures of these puppets could evolve given the right conditions, and they could even develop a high level of intelligence.

Of course, that was only a rumor. The Myriad Ancient Race had never released an official statement to support or refute this claim, so these sentient puppets were given an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.

Even for the Myriad Ancient Race, these sentient puppets were quite difficult to refine, and they weren't sold to outsiders under normal circumstances.

The few that did manage to somehow make their way out of the Myriad Ancient Race were all highly sought-after items, and each puppet could be sold for an astronomic sum.

Han Li was quite proficient in the art of puppet refinement himself, so he was naturally very intrigued by these extraordinary sentient puppets.

Furthermore, he had some other objectives as well, and that was why he had decided to come to this place in person.

After flashing through the air a few times as a streak of azure light, Han Li descended onto an obscure location halfway up the mountain.

There was an ordinary-looking mountain face not far ahead of him, upon which a stone gate that was several tens of feet tall could be seen.

Han Li didn't directly knock on the gate. Instead, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a ball of light flew out from within, then disappeared into the stone gate in a flash.

Not long after that, white light flashed from the surface of the stone gate, and it slowly opened of its own accord.

Jia Tianmu emerged from within with a smile on his face, and greeted, "Haha, it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han. What took you so long? I've been waiting for quite a few days already."

Han Li smiled, and replied, "Apologies for the delay; I had some matters to attend to, so I ended up coming a little later than expected."

Jia Tianmu nodded before extending a warm invitation. "I see. Come into my cave abode and we'll talk in there."

"I'd be glad to." Han Li accepted the invitation and strode into the cave abode.

Jia Tianmu's cave abode wasn't very large. After passing through a short passageway, the two of them arrived in a hall that was over 300 feet in size.

The decor was quite unique and elegant with a few shimmering beads embedded onto the roof, along with a table, two smaller side tables, and a few chairs in the room.

There was nothing else in the hall aside from that, and even the walls had only been paved with the most ordinary bluestone.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han," Jia Tianmu offered after sitting down on the main seat.

Han Li nodded before taking a seat beside him.

Before even saying anything, Jia Tianmu suddenly clapped his hands together twice, and footsteps sounded from a side door, thereby drawing Han Li's attention toward that direction.

Moments later, a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her twenties emerged into the hall. She was wearing a yellow palatial dress and was holding a long wooden box as she strode into the room in an elegant manner.

The woman made her way to the center of the hall, then placed the wooden box in her hands onto the side table in front of Han Li before standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

Han Li merely took a cursory glance at the wooden box before turning his attention to the woman with a peculiar look in his narrowed eyes.

"Has my servant caught your eye, Fellow Daoist Han? If you like her, how about I give her to you?" Jia Tianmu chuckled upon seeing this.

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"It's not that; I was marveling at just how extraordinary sentient puppets truly are. If it weren't for the fact that I'm also proficient in puppetry myself, I'd be fooled into thinking that this sentient puppet was an actual person. The spiritual pressure emanating from her body is remarkably similar to that of a normal cultivator," Han Li praised with a smile on his face.

Not only was Jia Tianmu not dejected upon hearing this, he burst into hearty laughter instead. "Haha, so you've figured it out, Fellow Daoist Han! Tsk tsk, among the fellow Daoists who have visited my cave abode, you are definitely the first below the holy race to discover that this servant of mine is only a puppet. I refined this puppet myself many years ago, and it's swindled many of my good friends since then."He seemed to be quite impressed that Han Li had been able to identify his servant as a puppet.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Jia. From the looks of it, this sentient puppet isn't very powerful, but it certainly does greatly resemble a human," Han Li mused with a smile as he appraised the puppet, which was virtually identical to a real human being.

"You do indeed have a brilliant discerning eye, Brother Han! This is the first sentient puppet that I've ever refined, and it's only a third-tier upper race puppet. I decided to solely pursue crafting a sentient puppet with the most spiritual nature at the time, but unfortunately, even after I've nurtured the puppet for so long, its spiritual nature hasn't been enhanced in the slightest," Jia Tianmu sighed as he turned toward the servant with a wistful look on his face.

At this moment, the servant suddenly turned and smiled at Jia Tianmu in an extremely humanized manner, but its smile then instantly faded as it adopted a blank and wooden expression again. Han Li was a little speechless upon seeing this. "Have a look at the sentient puppet in the box and see if you're happy with it, Brother Han," Jia Tianmu prompted after withdrawing his gaze from his servant."Alright, then I'll go ahead." Han Li nodded as he swept a sleeve over the table, and a swath of azure light surged forth. The long wooden box opened following a crisp crack, revealing the item within. Han Li focused his gaze on the item, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

There was a white snake that was around a foot in length sitting inside the box. Its entire body was glittering and translucent, with a layer of white spiritual light radiating from it.

"This is a new type of sentient puppet that I refined not long ago. It possesses a cultivation base that's roughly the same as yours at around the seventh-tier of the upper race, but even though it's not all that powerful, it possesses two forms. If it weren't for the fact that you've saved my life, I really wouldn't be willing to part with this part," Jia Tianmu said with a slightly forlorn look in his eyes."Two forms?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed! Even though I haven't infused my blood essence into it to perform a master recognition ceremony, I can still show you its basic abilities." Jia Tianmu made a hand seal as he spoke, then pointed a finger toward the wooden box in Han Li's hands. A beam of white light immediately shot forth from his fingertip, disappearing into the white snake's body in a flash.

Spiritual light flashed, and the motionless snake suddenly sprang to life. Brilliant white light erupted from its body, and it transformed into a streak of white light as it flew out of the wooden box. Immediately thereafter, it swelled drastically to become a white python that was several tens of feet in length before circling around in the air.

The python had a pair of crimson eyes while its body was entirely covered in shimmering white scales. A violent aura was emanating from the puppet, and it really did seem to be completely identical to a real giant python. All of a sudden, Jia Tianmu let loose a low cry and made a hand seal before casting another incantation seal onto the snake.

The giant python puppet shuddered as a result before curling up into a ball.

Another flash of brilliant white light radiated forth, following which the white python transformed into a beautiful white-robed woman. In its female human form, the puppet wore a slightly lost expression as it hovered motionlessly in mid-air.

"This sentient puppet can assist you in battle and also be used as a servant in your cave abode. Its only flaw is that it requires several times the number of spirit stones to function compared to other sentient puppets. On top of that, most of the puppet's body is constructed from Glacial Crystal Iron, so it can only be powered by the extremely rare ice-attribute spirit stones. If you want to use the puppet, you'll have to prepare to expend a lot of spirit stones on it in the future," Jia Tianmu explained.

Han Li stared at the white-robed woman hovering in mid-air for a long while before smiling as he replied, "Ice-attribute spirit stones are indeed quite rare, but I do have some in my collection, so I'd be more than happy to take the puppet."

"Hehe, I'm glad that you're pleased with the puppet, Brother Han. You'll only need to use a drop of your blood essence to conduct a master recognition ceremony, and no one else will be able to use the puppet aside from yourself," Jia Tianmu said with a smile before making a hand seal, then pointing a finger at the puppet. The white-robed woman immediately swayed before flying toward Han Li as a ball of white light. It then transformed into a white snake that slowly descended into the box again. At the same time, Han Li rustled a sleeve, and a burst of azure light swept past to place the lid back onto the box.

"Fellow Daoist Jia, from the sounds of it, all of these sentient puppets were created by you, so you must be an extremely well-established puppet refinement master. I also have some interesting puppets that were given to me by someone else; would you like to see them?" Han Li turned to Jia Tianmu with a smile.

"Oh? I'd love to see them!" Jia Tianmu seemed to be genuinely excited at the prospect of witnessing a new type of puppets. Han Li smiled as he flipped his hand over, and a jade box appeared over his palm. The box was shimmering with spiritual light, and there were even a few restriction talismans plastered onto it.

After peeling off the talismans, Han Li laid a hand onto the lid of the box, and it came flying off of its own accord, following which several tens of humanoid puppets flew out from within, each of which was around a foot in size.

These were none other than the spirit servants that Han Li had received from Demon Monarch Di Xue.

As soon as these humanoid puppets flew to the center of the hall, a cloud of five-colored mist suddenly erupted forth. The mist then faded, and 12 seductive gorgeous women in five-colored dresses appeared in the hall.

At the same time, 24 handsome young men appeared on either side of the hall, and all of them were holding different types of musical instruments as they sat in a cross-legged manner.

Han Li hadn't cast any incantation seals, but a delightful captivating symphony immediately rang out within the room. The beautiful women also began to dance along to the music.

Their five-colored dresses fluttered as they flaunted their slender figures, and a peculiar fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

Jia Tianmu's eyes abruptly widened as soon as those humanoid puppets appeared, and he stared intently at them with rapt focus in his eyes.

After a long while, the captivating music drew to a halt, and the 12 female dancers also stood still on the spot with their hands by their sides. "They are indeed quite interesting. The spiritual sense within these puppets doesn't belong to you, does it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jia Tianmu asked with an intrigued look on his face.

"So you've noticed that as well. These puppets are known as spirit servants, and they're half-spirit half-object entities. They're different from sentient puppets in that they're refined from infusing a type of spirit body into a puppet. However, they function much the same as sentient puppets in that they have a certain, albeit limited, degree of autonomy, and there's no way to further enhance their spiritual nature after they've been refined," Han Li explained with a smile.

An elated look appeared on Jia Tianmu's face upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "I've thought of trying to fuse spirit bodies and puppets as one, and I've conducted several experiments to try and make that a reality, but none of them have succeeded. What kind of spirit body was infused into these spirit servants?"

"I didn't refine these spirit servants myself, so I'm not too sure what kind of spirit bodies were infused into them. However, I'm sure that you'll be able to separate the spirit bodies from these puppets and identify them," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin."That's true. Wait, you're giving these puppets to me?" Jian Tianmu nodded in response before suddenly realizing what Han Li was implying.

"These spirit servants are quite interesting, but they serve no purpose for me. In contrast, you have brilliant mastery in the art of puppetry, so perhaps you'll be able to make good use of them to further better yourself," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"These spirit servants are indeed extremely useful to me, but I can't just accept such a precious gift from you. How about this? I have some wealth on my hands at the moment, so I'll purchase them from you instead," Jia Tianmu insisted as he shook his head.

"If you really want to offer me something in return, then I have a few questions to ask you. If you can answer those questions, I'd be more than satisfied." Han Li finally disclosed his objective.

Jia Tianmu faltered upon hearing this before responding in a cautious manner. "Questions? Feel free to ask me anything, Brother Han. However, if what you're asking has anything to do with confidential information in our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, then forgive me for not being able to answer them."

"Of course, my questions definitely won't be related to any sensitive subjects," Han Li assured with a smile. Jia Tianmu's expression eased upon hearing this, and he nodded as he said, "Then go ahead, Brother Han."

"During the past few days, I heard from someone that there seems to be a teleportation formation capable of facilitating teleportation between continents in the Heavenly Cloud Races; is that true? If so, which race is it being controlled by?" Han Li asked.

Jia Tianmu was clearly rather taken aback by Han Li's question, and he relaxed even further as he replied, "There is indeed such a teleportation formation, but it's not being controlled by any single race. Instead, it belongs to several races among our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races."

"Which races do the teleportation formation belong to?" Han Li asked.

"Due to the fact that the teleportation formation needs to be kept in good condition, it's often serviced, and that's taken care of by the Crystal Race, the Stone Cocoon Race, the Multihand Race, and our Myriad Ancient Race. Fellow Daoist Han, are you interested in the teleportation formation itself or are you interested in using it?" Jia Tianmu asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

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Jia Tianmu was extremely proficient in the art of puppetry, so he certainly wasn't a dense idiot. As such, he was able to instantly glean Han Li's intentions.

"I do indeed wish to use the teleportation formation to get to another continent." As things currently were, Han Li saw no point in hiding the truth, so he decided to come clean.

"It'll be quite difficult for you to access the teleportation formation, Brother Han." Jia Tianmu chuckled with a wry smile and shook his head.

"I'm aware that using this teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast amount of energy, but I just wanted to ask if it's possible for me to secure approval to use this teleportation formation as an outsider," Han Li asked in a slow voice.

His expression remained unchanged, but he was actually quite nervous to hear the answer. After all, this his main objective for visiting Jia Tianmu.

After a brief pause, Jia Tianmu replied, "Truth be told, if you were a holy race being from one of our Heavenly Cloud Races, then it certainly wouldn't be difficult for you to request access to the super teleportation formation. Seeing as you satisfy neither of those criteria, it'll be extremely difficult for you. However, with an invasion from the Jiao Chi Race almost an imminent inevitability, there's a slight chance that an exception could be made. If you make some significant contributions for the Heavenly Cloud Races in the battle against the Jiao Chi Race army, then perhaps there's a chance that access could be granted to you. However, I'm only responsible for puppet refinement, so you'll have to discuss the specific details with the elders. On top of that, due to the imminent battle, our 13 races are all inviting guest members. I've already told the elders about how you were able to easily slay several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base, and they're quite interested in you as well."

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

With his personality, the last thing he wanted to do was to become embroiled in a battle between two major powers. In such a large-scale battle concerning so many powerful beings, even a being of his powers could easily perish.

"Thank you for this information; I'll be sure to consider my options carefully. I'll have to trouble you to act as the middle man if I ever wish to request an audience with the elders of the 13 races," Han Li requested with a serious nod.

"That's no problem at all, especially after you've given me such a precious gift," Jia Tianmu replied without any hesitation.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

After that, Han Li spoke no further about the teleportation formation, instead choosing to discuss puppetry with him.

As soon as the discussion moved on to puppets, Jia Tianmu's eyes immediately lit up, and he became a lot more talkative as if a whole new can of worms had been opened.

With his astonishing mastery in the art of puppetry, many of his insights quite brilliant even to Han Li, and Han Li learned a lot from their conversation.

In contrast, Han Li had obtained the puppetry technique from the Monarch of Soul Divergence, so he also had some unique insights to offer, much to the surprise and elation of Jia Tianmu.

Half a day later, Han Li departed from Radiant Cloud Mountain and returned to the inn.

As soon as he entered his room, Han Li activated the restriction he'd set up to completely seal off the place.

He then casually strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner.

He hadn't found the answer that he was looking for, but he did gain a better understanding of the super teleportation formation, as well as a very versatile sentient puppet.

Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and azure light flashed as a long wooden box appeared in his hands.

He gently removed the lid to reveal the thin white snake that was lying inside, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he attempted to glean the internal structure of the puppet.

However, this sentient puppet really was quite special; even after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, its vitals were still quite blurry to him, and he couldn't make any sense of how this puppet functioned.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his powerful spiritual sense to encompass the entire snake.

He directed his spiritual sense toward those blurry vital regions, only for it to be forcibly repelled. The other sections of the white snake were quite similar to normal puppets aside from the fact that some special materials had been used. Some of the internal structures were also quite profound, but he was able to figure out how they worked, albeit with some difficulty.

It appeared that the areas that truly set sentient puppets apart lay in those blurred-out regions that he couldn't see.

It wasn't that he couldn't use his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly infiltrate those areas, but doing so would definitely inflict some damage to the puppet.

Furthermore, if he could do this, then other beings who had been in possession of sentient puppets in the past would also have been able to do the same thing. However, the secret of sentient puppets was still one that was exclusively kept in the Myriad Ancient Race, so that course of action clearly didn't work.

It would most likely damage the puppet, yet leave him still unable to glean its secrets.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li finally decided against taking the risk and turned his attention to conducting a master recognition ceremony instead.

With that in mind, he opened his mouth to expel an azure thread, which revolved around his wrist before disappearing into his body again.

At this moment, Han Li extended his wrist forward, and azure light flashed as a few drops of blood essence dripped from his wrist down onto the white snake in the box.

The drops of blood essence only came into contact with the snake's body for a split second before vanishing.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the white snake.

As a result, the motionless white snake suddenly raised its head, and a hissing sound came out of its mouth.

The puppet then flew out of the box before flying around in the air before Han Li.

However, Han Li paid no heed to it as he flipped his hand over again to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors.

He raised a hand, and all of the formation plates shot forth as balls of spiritual light, then disappeared into the nearby space.

In the next instant, a five-colored light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in mid-air. There were runes of all colors shimmering within the formation, presenting quite a mystical sight to behold.

Han Li pointed a finger at the white snake before him, and red light flashed through its eyes as it circled around in the air in a hesitant manner. However, it was unable to resist the power of Han Li's spiritual sense in the end, and it slowly flew into the light formation.

A dull ringing sound rang out across the entire formation at Han Li's behest, following which countless runes appeared before surging toward the puppet in a frenzy.

A layer of crimson light surfaced over the puppet's body, but it remained completely motionless, allowing these runes to fuse into the crimson light.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

This master recognition technique was something that he had learned in the Tian Peng Race, and it was far more effective than other conventional methods.

After using this technique on the puppet, even a being that was vastly more powerful than him wouldn't be able to wrest control over the puppet.

Han Li activated the formation while slowly closing his eyes, leaving the light formation to flash incessantly as it hovered in mid-air.

This master recognition ceremony lasted for a day and a night before Han Li finally opened his eyes again.

He then began to chant something as he waved a hand toward the white snake within the formation, and brilliant white light erupted from its body as it flew out of the formation in a flash.

It twirled in mid-air before transforming into a white-robed woman, upon which it descended slowly beside Han Li in a silent and expressionless manner.

A hint of intrigue appeared in Han Li's eyes as he appraised the woman's gorgeous features, and he smiled as he mused, "Looks like you really don't possess a high level of spiritual nature; you're just like a humanoid doll. I'm going to call you Doll from now on!"

Red light flashed through the white-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she still remained completely motionless.

Han Li shook his head in a slightly resigned manner upon seeing this. He made a hand seal, and spiritual light flashed from the woman's body as she transformed into a white snake again, then disappeared up his sleeve.

He then pointed at the light formation again, and it immediately vanished, reverting back to a dozen or so formation plates again, all of which were stowed away into Han Li's storage bracelet.

After a brief contemplative pause, he pulled out another white jade box, upon which several crimson talismans were plastered.

This was none other than one of the mysterious boxes that the big-headed being had entrusted to everyone.

From the caution with which the big-headed being had treated the boxes with and the efforts that the Jiao Chi Race was making to secure them, it was not difficult to deduce that they contained extremely important items. However, due to the fact that an extremely potent restriction may have been set up on the box, Han Li hadn't gotten around to attempting to open it.

Now that it was essentially necessary for him to request an audience with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, he naturally had to figure out the contents of the box first to see if there was something in it that he could use.

Han Li could sense that the item in the box was extremely important to the Myriad Ancient Race. In that case, there was a chance that he could use it to exchange for an opportunity to use the super teleportation formation.

Of course, Han Li wouldn't be willing to hand over the box to the Myriad Ancient Race without inspecting its contents first.

Only with the knowledge of just what this item was could he barter effectively with the Myriad Ancient Race.

With that in mind, Han Li glanced at the walls of his room, which were shimmering with faint white light, and his brows furrowed slightly.

If opening the jade box were to create a massive ruckus, then the restriction he'd set up may not be enough to completely conceal the commotion. As such, he had to set up a few more layers of restrictions first.

Thus, Han Li pulled out several sets of formation flags from his storage bracelet again, all of which were sent hurtling toward the corners of the room.

Immediately thereafter, a layer of azure light and a layer of five-colored light appeared in unison.

Even after setting up the two additional barriers, Han Li still wasn't content. He thrust a hand into the air, and a black shadow shot forth from his palm, transforming into a miniature black mountain that was only around a foot tall hovering above his head.

Spiritual light flashed, and a layer of grey light emanated from the underside of the miniature mountain, forming a light barrier than encompassed an area with a radius of several tens of feet around Han Li.

Thus, the area around Han Li was in complete lockdown.

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Han Li had already examined the crimson talismans plastered to the surface of the box; they were nothing special and were only used to repress the aura of the item inside the box.

On top of that, he had already formulated a plan to remove these talismans.

For others, this would most likely prove to be quite a troublesome prospect, but he possessed several abilities that were extremely effective against restrictions.

Thus, after securing his room with a series of light barriers, Han Li tossed the jade box into the air, where it hovered motionlessly at his behest.

He then reached out with a pristine white hand toward the jade box while the Divine Essencefused Light barrier being emitted by the miniature mountain became noticeably denser. At the same time, five white skulls emerged from his fingertips, all of which swelled in size before hurtling toward the jade box.

"Break!"

Han Li issued a command as he pointed at the five skulls, and all of them opened their mouths in unison to expel a wave of five-colored glacial flames that swept up the jade box within.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

As the five-colored glacial flames converged toward the box, the crimson talismans detached themselves from the box's lid of their own accord.

The talismans should've been quite light and spritely, but due to the effects of the five-colored glacial flames, they were moving a lot more slowly than they normally would, and Han Li was able to clearly see the process through which they were separating from the box.

This brief period of time was enough for Han Li to assess all of the changes taking place within the box.

All of a sudden, his expression darkened, and the five-colored glacial flames surging around the jade box transformed into a massive five-colored hand, which forcibly removed the lid on the box.

A burst of extremely unstable yet powerful fluctuations erupted from the box into the air, following which a golden ball of light shot forth, only to be caught in and completely immobilized by the five-colored hand.

Right at this moment, a resounding thump rang out as a red light formation surfaced around the jade box. The formation then swelled and shrank, looking as if it were about to explode.

Han Li glanced at the light formation, and the terrifying spiritual power imbued within it was quite harrowing even to him.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal, and the massive five-colored hand locked firmly around the golden and silver ball of light before whizzing toward the corner as a streak of five-colored light. At the same time, the Divine Essencefused Light in the nearby area suddenly tightened to form a dense grey pillar of light that trapped the light formation within.

In the next instant, the light formation exploded, and a white halo immediately appeared within the pillar of light.

The pillar of light then began to tremor violently as a series of strange ripples appeared over its surface, looking as if it were going to be vanquished at any moment by the force of the explosion.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he harrumphed coldly, and he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The fireball transformed into a silver Fire Raven that rushed into the grey pillar of light in a flash before plunging headfirst into the halo of white light.

A bizarre turn of events then unfolded. The violent fluctuations that resembled an erupting volcano within the white halo of light suddenly receded, and at the same time, the halo of light shrank drastically at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Within just the span of a few breaths, it had disappeared completely, and in its place was the silver Fire Raven.

The bird had swelled to several times its original size, and it was in the process of sucking one final wisp of white light into its stomach.

Han Li finally heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He waved a hand, and the silver Fire Raven spread its wings before flying back to him, disappearing into his body in a flash.

Meanwhile, the five white skulls also vanished amid a string of dull thumps.

At the same time, the five-colored hand in the air appeared above his hand, then relaxed its fingers to release that ball of golden and silver light.

Han Li swept a sleeve upward, and a swath of azure light swept forth to draw the golden ball of light into his grasp. As he clenched his fingers around it, the golden and silver light dimmed to reveal the object within.

He held his hand up to his face, then focused his gaze to conduct a more thorough inspection.

There was an antiquated badge that appeared to be around half a foot in length within the spiritual light.

One side was shimmering with golden light while the other glowed with silver light, and the surfaces of the badge were riddled with profound ripples. At the same time, there was an unidentifiable ancient symbol carved onto each side of the badge.

Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge in foreign languages, he was still completely unable to figure out from which language these symbols originated.

Han Li stroked the surface of the badge gently with his finger, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

To think that the item that the big-headed being had held in such high regard was something like this.

Even though the badge was shimmering with spiritual light, there were some signs of wear and tear around its edges, indicating that it was definitely quite an old item. Furthermore, the material used to forge the badge was also quite strange. One side was frosty cold to the touch while the other side was scorching hot, indicating that it seemed to possess both ice and fire attributes at the same time.

Han Li fell into deep thought upon seeing this. However, as he swept a finger over one of the ancient symbols, something unexpected happened.

A wisp of white light suddenly emerged from within the badge, and it was as thin as a strand of fine silk, but it was extremely fast and disappeared in a flash.

A cold sensation shot through his palm, followed by a faint hint of stabbing pain. His hand then became a little a moist and clammy, and in his bewilderment, Han Li reflexively tossed the badge into the air, where it hovered motionlessly above his head.

He then brought his palm up to his face to find that there was a gash that was several inches long on his palm. The gash was bleeding profusely, and it seemed that he wouldn't be able to immediately stop the bleeding.

With his powerful body in conjunction with the fact that this hand had cultivated the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, it was quite incredible that a thin white thread could inflict such a nasty gash onto his palm.

Despite the astonishment in his heart, Han Li immediately began to circulate his magic power within his body. Specks of white light began to emanate from the gash, following which it was fully healed in just a few moments.

After that, he glanced up at the strange badge overhead with intrigue and bewilderment in his eyes.

At this moment, brilliant golden and silver light were radiating from the badge, and the traces of blood on it were rapidly vanishing.

No, they weren't vanishing; they were being absorbed by the badge!

Han Li's lips twitched, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the badge suddenly let loose a long cry akin to that of a dragon's roar. Immediately thereafter, a pillar of golden and silver light erupted into the air, completely disregarding the Divine Essencefused Light and the restrictive light barriers that he'd set up earlier, then puncturing the roof and climbing straight into the heavens.

Han Li's expression instantly darkened significantly upon seeing this. He immediately waved a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth from within as he attempted to recover the badge.

However, an incredible turn of events then unfolded!

Even as the azure light swept toward the badge, it completely refused to budge, and it only continued to blast a pillar of golden and silver light into the sky.

Han Li's heart sank as a wry smile appeared on his face.

With the massive commotion that this badge was causing, there was no way that what he was doing would go by unnoticed. It wouldn't take long before someone came to investigate what was going on.

With that in mind, a series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he immediately sprang into action.

Specks of light of different colors instantly appeared out of thin air at his behest, and he instantly stowed away the miniature black mountain as well as the formation plates he'd set up earlier.

He then paused before making his way toward a corner of the room, where he sat down expressionlessly in a cross-legged manner, paying no further heed to the badge that was hovering in mid-air.

A short while alter, light flashed from the four walls and the door of the room at the same time, following which a few black-armored warriors of Cloud City emerged in the room in a wraith-like manner.

All of them faltered slightly at the sight of the badge that was causing such a big commotion, then turned to Han Li in unison with a cold look in their eyes.

However, their expressions then changed slightly after verifying Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense to find that he was far more powerful than them.

The leader of the armored warrior adopted a slightly more benevolent expression as he asked, "Is that your treasure? Are you not aware that activating powerful treasures and using too much spiritual power is prohibited in Cloud City?"

Seeing as Han Li's cultivation base was far superior to theirs, they didn't dare to show him any disrespect before figuring out what was going on.

"I encountered some issues while refining this treasure, but I'll sort things out right away." Han Li was quite calm and collected, and he made a grabbing motion toward the badge from afar as he spoke.

A massive translucent hand instantly appeared in the air before grabbing down toward the badge.

However, despite Han Li's best efforts to drag the badge down toward him, it refused to move so much as a single inch, as if it were completely locked in space somehow.

Confused expressions appeared on the faces of the armored warriors in the room upon seeing this, and Han Li's lips also twitched in response to this situation.

He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to exert more force on the badge, an indifferent male voice suddenly sounded from outside the room.

"Don't bother! The Vast Glacial Badge has already been activated by you in advance, and it's locked onto a spatial position, so it won't move no matter what you do to it unless you shatter all of the space in a radius of 1,000 feet."

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations rippled throughout the room, and an indistinct humanoid figure emerged out of thin air.

All of the armored warriors' expressions changed upon seeing this humanoid figure, and they bowed in unison as their leader greeted in a respectful manner, "The members of the 73rd enforcement squad pays their respects to Elder Bai!"

The humanoid figure was a man in a brocade robe who appeared to be quite young, but both his hair and beard were snowy white in color.

"There's no mistaking it; this is indeed a Vast Glacial Badge. Tsk tsk, I'd thought that all of these badges had fallen into the hands of the Jiao Chi Race, but who would've thought that there'd be one here?" In contrast with his snowy white hair and beard, the man had a pair of thick black eyebrows. There was an elated expression on his square face, and he paid no heed to anyone else as he stared up at the shimmering golden and silver badge hovering in mid-air.

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Han Li was seated in the corner, and his expression abruptly changed as he swept his spiritual sense toward this newcomer.

This man's spiritual power was quite unfathomable, indicating that he was a Body Integration Stage being.

The man withdrew his gaze, then waved a hand toward the armored warriors before turning his attention to Han Li. "Are you the one who activated this Vast Glacial Badge?"

"I want to deny that, but it doesn't really seem possible at this point," Han Li sighed with a wry smile on his face.

"Why would you deny this? You've encountered a massive stroke of luck!" the man said with a hint of a smile on his face as he appraised Han Li through narrowed eyes.

"A massive stroke of luck? What do you..." Han Li's expression changed slightly, yet just as he was about to ask a question, the man's brows furrowed as he abruptly turned toward one of the walls of the room.

"Brother Cang Ying, seeing as you're already here, why don't you show yourself? Are you planning to hand over this Vast Glacial Badge to our Water Wraith Race? "

"Not many Vast Glacial Badges have appeared on this occasion, so every single badge is extremely valuable; would your Water Wraith Race dare to take one for yourselves? Without the Myriad Ancient Race to set up and activate the required formation, the badge will be useless to you even if you do take it," a cold voice replied.

A black shadow then flashed on the wall that the white-haired young man was staring at, following which a shadowy figure that was enshrouded under grey light appeared in a soundless manner. The figure was standing close to the wall, completely motionless, as if it were an insubstantial object.

The cold voice just then had sounded directly from within the grey light.

As opposed to becoming enraged, the white-haired man merely chuckled, "Hehe, I'm naturally aware of this. However, if this fellow Daoist wishes to join our Water Wraith Race, then it won't be an issue for us to use this Vast Glacial Badge to take some of our brethren into the Vast Glacial Realm, right?"

"That would be fine, of course, but this fellow Daoist doesn't seem to have expressed any intention of joining your race. Perhaps he'd rather become a guest member of our Yin Demon Race," the shadowy figure referred to as Cang Ying replied in a completely emotionless voice.

"Is that so? That's rather hard to say. If I recall correctly, there is an unspoken rule among our 13 races; if two races set their eyes on an outsider at the same time, the other race can only extend an invitation after said outsider has rejected the invitation from the first race. Fellow Daoist, I am Bai Yue of the Water Wraith Race, and I'm officially extending an invitation to you to become a guest member of our race. If you're willing to join our race, I can promise you that we'll help you advance a tier in your cultivation base within 100 years, and we'll also offer you a variety of other immense benefits." The white-haired man turned his gaze away from Cang Ying and extended a formal offer to Han Li.

However, he stared intently into Han Li's eyes as he spoke, and a strange iridescent light rapidly swirled within his own eyes, seemingly emitting an invisible power that threatened to suck away the beholder's sense of reason.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and as soon as he looked into Bai Yue's iridescent eyes, his spiritual sense blurred, and almost reflexively opened his mouth to accept the offer being extended toward him.

However, in the next instant, he activated his Great Development Technique, and his pupils contracted as piercing blue light appeared in his eyes, thereby allowing him to resist the strange captivating force of the white-haired man's eyes.

At the same time, Han Li regained clarity in his spiritual sense, following which a burst of fury welled up in his heart.

This white-haired young man appeared to be quite honest and benevolent, yet he had used a captivation technique to try and sway Han Li's decision. If it weren't for the fact that he possessed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he would've most likely been drawn into accepting his offer just then.

The white-haired young man faltered upon seeing this before a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Cang Ying was also rather taken aback by this development, but he then burst into laughter as he said in a derisive tone, "Haha, I didn't think that your Iridescent Illusionary Eyes would fail to take effect on a being below the holy race. Stop trying to play your little tricks, Fellow Daoist Bai. As you said yourself, the rule stipulating that invitations had to be made in sequential order to outsiders is only an unspoken one. In the face of the Vast Glacial Badge, none of our 13 races would be willing to follow an unofficial rule like that."

The white-haired man's expression quickly returned to normal, and he cast a meaningful glance toward Han Li before turning to Cnag Ying. "Seeing as this fellow Daoist has no intention of joining our Water Wraith Race, I naturally won't force him to do so against his will. Brother Cang Ying, aren't you going to try and invite this fellow Daoist to join your Yin Demon Race?"

"This matter concerns a Vast Glacial Badge, which is an item of the utmost importance, so neither of us can decide which race he will join. In that case, I'm not going to waste my efforts doing something that won't lead to anything," Cang Ying harrumphed in response.

Bai Yue merely smiled and remained silent upon hearing this.

Cang Ying also chuckled as he fell silent as well.

As for Han Li, he also refrained from saying anything as the blue light in his eyes faded.

Thus, the room became extremely silent, and the nearby armored warriors were left staring blankly at one another, wondering what they should do in this situation.

However, this silence was broken just moments later.

The sound of knocking suddenly rang out from the other side of the door, following which an elderly voice sounded. "I am Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race. Would I be able to see the owner of this place?"

Bai Yue's face paled slightly upon hearing this elderly voice, and the grey light around Cang Ying's body rippled unsteadily as well.

Han Li immediately replied, "Please come in, Senior. It is a great honor for me to welcome you to my humble abode."

Upon hearing Han Li's polite response, the elderly man didn't delay any longer. Spiritual light flashed, and he passed directly through the door, appearing in the room in the next instant.

This was a chubby yellow-robed elderly man with a strange woven basket on his back. He wasn't very tall, and he had a set of benevolent facial features.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, Fellow Daoist Cang Ying, I didn't expect to see you two here," the elderly man greeted in a warm voice, as if he really were only just finding out that these two beings were in the room.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist, the two of us have only just arrived as well."

"Indeed. I just so happened to be doing something nearby, and I noticed the phenomenon resulting from the activation of the Vast Glacial Badge, so I decided to come and have a look."

Bai Yue and Cang Ying were regarding each other with enmity just a moment ago, but in the face of this elderly man, both of them were behaving in an extremely careful manner.

Han Li was naturally rather intrigued by their sudden changes in demeanor, and he swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man, upon which a wave of shock surged through his heart.

This Qian Jizi's magic power was as boundless as the ocean, and it was completely unfathomable to Han Li. At the very least, he was unable to glean the elderly man's cultivation base as he currently was, which meant that the elderly man was most likely a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage.

It was no wonder than Bai Yue and Cang Ying were so wary of him. Even if the two of them were to combine their powers, they'd most likely still be no match for the elderly man.

"So there really is a Vast Glacial Badge here! Does this badge belong to you, Fellow Daoist?" Qian Jizi gave the two a benevolent smile, then glanced at the golden and silver badge hovering in mid-air before turning to Han Li.

"Indeed, Senior," Han Li hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

"Your surname is Han, right?" Qian Jizi suddenly asked with a smile.

"How did you know that, Senior?" Han Li's expression changed slightly, and even though he was asking that question, he most likely knew the answer already.

As expected, Qian Jizi smiled, and replied, "I've heard about you from Fellow Daoist Jia, and I also have your portrait. I was going to send someone to invite you for a chat a few days from now, but it looks like I have no choice but to meet you a little earlier than expected."

"Do you recognize him, Fellow Daoist Qian Jizi?" Bai Yue asked.

"Hehe, one of our Myriad Ancient Race's four top puppet masters, Master Jia, was almost captured by the Jiao Chi Race a few days ago, and it was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Han that he was able to escape unscathed, so of course I've heard of him," Qian Jizi replied as he stroked his beard.

"What? Does that Master Jia was sent to the border?" Cang Ying asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Indeed. Our race had an important matter to take care of, so we had no choice but to send Master Jia. We deployed a few guards to accompany him, but due to the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, all of them perished on the border. Are you two interested in the internal affairs of our Myriad Ancient Race?" the elderly man asked with an amused smile.

Bai Yue's expression changed upon hearing this, and he forced a smile onto his own face as he replied, "I wouldn't dare to pry into your race's internal affairs, Fellow Daoist. It's just that Master Jia's proficiency in puppetry is quite extraordinary, making him an indispensable member of our 13 races, so I am merely concerned for his safety."

"Indeed. We're both very happy to hear that Master Jia is now safe." It was quite apparent that Cang Ying was also feeling very uneasy.

"Looks like I was overthinking things, then. Seeing as this Vast Glacial Badge has been activated by Fellow Daoist Han, you wouldn't mind if I invited Fellow Daoist Han back our race for a chat, would you? As for this place, we'll set up restrictions and deploy troops to put it into complete lockdown. Our Myriad Ancient Race will deploy people soon after this to set up the relevant formation." Qian Jizi was speaking in a polite tone, but he gave the other two beings no opportunity to state any objections.

Bai Yue and Cang Ying naturally weren't very pleased by this arrangement, but they had no choice but to bow to Qian Jizi's overwhelming might.

The elderly man nodded with a content look before turning to Han Li with a smile as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, would you like to follow me to our race?"

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. This was an invitation that was being extended by a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so he certainly wouldn't dare to refuse it. As such, he could only respectfully reply, "If you don't mind my intrusion, I'd love to accompany you, Senior."

Qian Jizi could see the hesitation in Han Li's eyes, and he chuckled, "Haha, not to worry, Fellow Daoist Han. Setting aside everything else, you are the one who saved Master Jia's life, and our Myriad Ancient Race isn't one to repay kindness with animosity."

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Han Li could naturally only proclaim that those were never his thoughts.

The rest of the process was quite simple. The armored warriors departed at Qian Jizi's behest to gather more of their comrades to this place, temporarily placing the area in a radius of several kilometers into a state of lockdown. As for this inn, it was naturally also isolated as the epicenter of the incident.

Thus, a completely oblivious and stunned Xiang Zhili was summoned to the room, and Han Li could only appraise the situation with a resigned smile.

After that, Han Li and the elderly man departed from the inn while the Vast Glacial Badge remained there with countless armored warriors guarding the place.

Bai Yue and Cang Ying didn't remain in this place for much longer before taking their leave.

However, Han Li and the elderly man didn't travel through the city via flight. Instead, there was a carriage being drawn by a pair of giant golden lion spirit beasts waiting on the side of the street beside the inn.

The elderly man invited Han Li onto the carriage, and the giant lions rose up several feet above the ground before charging along at an incredible speed.

Qian Jizi didn't have any intention to engage in an in-depth conversation with Han Li inside the carriage. He merely made some small talk before closing his eyes to meditate.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but countless thoughts were racing through his mind as he considered just why he was being taken.

The elderly man had assured him that he was only trying to repay Han Li for saving Jia Tianmu, but he certainly wasn't going to allow himself to be convinced by that.

Even if he had saved Jia Tianmu, the favor had already been repaid by the sentient puppet that had been given to him.

However, it appeared that they required his assistance to enter this so-called Vast Glacial Realm, seeing as his blood essence had activated the Vast Glacial Badge.

In that case, he could perhaps use that as leverage to see if he could be granted access to use the super teleportation formation.

Thus, he was still useful to the Heavenly Cloud Races, so they definitely wouldn't plot against him right away. With that in mind, he was feeling a lot more reassured.

The beast-drawn carriage that he was currently riding in was significantly faster than the other carriages he'd ridden in before, and it didn't take long for the carriage to reach the Eight Cloud Mountains.

Han Li cast his gaze out the window at the eight massive mountains in the distance, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes. Was this Qian Jizi taking him back to his cave abode?

A short while later, just as the beast-drawn carriage was approaching one of the eight mountains, it suddenly changed directions and skirted around the mountain, flying toward the area behind it instead.

Han Li was a little surprised by this, but after the beast-drawn carriage traveled around the mountain, he discovered that there was a small fortress that was several kilometers in size beyond the mountain.

The fortress wasn't very large, but there were seven or eight layers of city walls around it. Each successive layer of the city walls was taller than the previous one as they approached the fortress, and just the outermost wall was already over 1,000 feet tall, while the innermost wall appeared to be close to 10,000 feet in height.

From a distance, it appeared to be a fortress, but it was probably more accurate to call it a giant tower.

Through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li could clearly see that there were silvery-white statues situated atop the city walls as intervals of just over 1,000 feet.

These statues all differed in appearance with some being carved to resemble beasts while others were more humanoid in shape. The largest of these statues were over 1,000 feet tall, and even the smallest were 700 to 800 feet tall. All of them were completely stationary, but there was an indescribable menacing aura emanating from their bodies.

There were also rows of azure-armored guards wielding long halberds standing atop the city walls. All of them were patrolling the walls in a uniform manner, yet none of them were actually living creatures; they were all humanoid puppets.

There was a tall pillar situated on each of the four corners of the fortress, and these pillars were respectively, yellow, blue, red, and green in color. All of them were quite translucent, and they reached all the way up into the clouds. There were countless large runes flashing over their surfaces, giving them an extremely mysterious and eye-catching appearance.

Just as Han Li was taking in the scenes before his eyes with a hint of awe in his heart, the beast-drawn carriage flew into the air above the fortress, then descended before a strange green hall that was situated at the center of the fortress.

After disembarking from the carriage, Han Li glanced up at the hall to find a plaque that was several tens of feet long hanging from it. The words "Sentient Hall" were inscribed on the plaque in large golden letters, and Han Li immediately thought of his own sentient puppet.

Could it be that this hall was somehow related to sentient puppets or was this just a pure coincidence?

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, Qian Jizi chuckled, "Please come in, Fellow Daoist. This is an important place to our Myriad Ancient Race, and very rarely will we ever invite outsiders into it."

"Thank you for giving me this honor, Senior," Han Li replied with a respectful bow.

In the face of this immensely powerful being, Han Li didn't dare to show any disrespect as nothing could come from a show of dissent.

A hint of a smile appeared on Qian Jizi's face, and he waved a hand before walking on ahead.

There was a white-robed guard standing on either side of the palace gates, and he remained completely expressionless as the elderly man strode toward the gates, as if he couldn't even see anything.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this, and he took an extra glance at the guard, following which his expression abruptly changed slightly.

"Looks like you've figured it out, Fellow Daoist Han; those two guards are a pair of sentient puppets, both of which are ninth-tier upper race beings, and they can guard this palace day and night. Aside from a few special people who can take people into the palace, they'd everyone else who approached the palace without any hesitation," the elderly man explained without even turning his head.

Han Li drew a sharp breath as he turned to the two white-robed puppets with a hint of awe in his eyes.

These two puppets were equivalent in power to beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. If a normal cultivator were to have these two puppets in accompaniment, they'd essentially be invincible below the Body Integration Stage. It was a massive waste to be using such puppets to guard a hall like this!

Han Li clicked his tongue with wonder internally as he glanced at the two expressionlessly puppets one final time.

At this point, Qian Jizi had already made his way into the hall, so he could only follow him in through the gate.

The exterior of this Sentient Hall appeared to be quite out of the ordinary, but the interior was actually quite simple. Aside from the main hall, there were only two side halls, one on the left, and one on the right.

Within the main hall, there were no other eye-catching features aside form several dozens of thick metal pillars.

Qian Jizi strode directly over to the two rows of chairs situated at the center of the hall before sitting down in the main seat.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han. The Vast Glacial Badge is quite an important item, so I've already invited the other two elders of our race to gather here. The three of us are responsible for making all of the decisions in the Myriad Ancient Race here in Cloud City," Qian Jizi said with a smile.

"I see. Looks like this Vast Glacial Badge is far more significant an item than I'd expected," Han Li replied with a nod.

He hadn't seen Qian Jizi do anything out of the ordinary on the way here, but he'd somehow already notified the other two elders. This only further accentuated the gap between Spatial Tempering Stage and Body Integration Stage beings.

"You're not from the Thunder Continent, are you, Fellow Daoist?" Qian Jizi suddenly asked.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he then immediately relaxed as he nodded, and truthfully replied, "Indeed, I come from another continent. Has Fellow Daoist Jia already disclosed my intention to use the super teleportation formation to you, Senior?"

"Master Jia did indeed mention this to me, and on top of that, there's no way that you wouldn't recognize the Vast Glacial Badge and activate it without a second thought if you were from the Thunder Continent," Qian Jizi chuckled.

"Is the Vast Glacial Badge supposed to be extremely renowned? I haven't seen any records of it anywhere; would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.

He didn't blame Jia Tianmu in the slightest for informing Qian Jizi of his intention to use the super teleportation formation. Instead, he would've found it quite strange if he hadn't done so.

"It's no surprise that there are no records of the Vast Glacial Badge. It's quite a renowned object on our Thunder Continent, but it can't be used by any single being. Without the power of an entire race acting as support, even if one were to obtain the Vast Glacial Badge, it would be impossible for them to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. However, many beings of the upper race have heard about this badge," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"Using the badge requires the power of an entire race? This Vast Glacial Realm must be quite an extraordinary place," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"It's not just extraordinary; some of the things that can be obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm could even determine the fate of an entire race. Of course, such monumental treasures are exceedingly rare, even in the Vast Glacial Realm. The main aspects about the realm that make it very attractive are that the richness of the world's origin Qi there is over 10 times that of our Spirit Realm, and there are also many spirit medicines and spirit fruits there that ware extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"How can there be a place with such rich spiritual Qi?" An incredulous look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"Hehe, what kind of place do you think this Vast Glacial Realm is, Fellow Daoist? A spatial rift or a small subsidiary realm to the Spirit Realm?" Qian Jizi chuckled as he stroked his beard.

"Please enlighten me, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful voice.

The elderly man's smile faded, and he paused for a moment before continuing, "This has not been completely confirmed, but we are almost entirely sure that the Vast Glacial Realm is a damaged subsidiary space to the True Immortal Realm."

"A subsidiary space to the True Immortal Realm!" Even with Han Li's steadfast nature, he couldn't help but be stunned by this revelation.

"Indeed. It should be a now-defunct space in the True Immortal Realm. Those who have entered this space in the past have found cave abodes and even remains that are suspected to have once belonged to immortals. However, no one has ever seen a living immortal in there," Qian Jizi confirmed with a nod.

Han Li was left speechless as he sat on his chair with a blank expression on his face.

"There's no need to be so shocked, Fellow Daoist. At present, this is only mere speculation, among the cave abodes, remains, and treasures discovered within the Vast Glacial Realm, we've yet to discover anything that's actually useful, so it's not like anyone can just go in and come back out with extraordinary treasures that defy the natural order. Even the spirit medicines and spirit fruits I mentioned are mostly hidden in obscure locations that require extensive efforts to find," the elderly man said with a smile.

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All of a sudden, a clear voice sounded from outside the hall. "In summary, there are many rare and precious items to be found in the Vast Glacial Realm, but what you find in there will be down to your luck." Immediately thereafter, a streak of white light hurtled in through the gate, and the light faded to reveal a middle-aged man in a set of brocade robes. He had a pale face with a pair of thin and long eyes, as well as a distinctive hook nose. "You sure got here quite quickly, Elder Ma; I had thought that Brother Huang would get here before you," Qian Jizi greeted the middle-aged man with a warm smile.

It was quite obvious that this was another Body Integration Stage elder of the Myriad Ancient Race, nad Han Li hurriedly rose to his feet to extend a respectful salute.

"Elder Huang has recently been refining a batch of pills, and even if he received the news before me, it'd most likely take a while for him to get here. Is the fellow Daoist the one who activated the Vast Glacial Badge?" the middle-aged man asked as he turned an indifferent gaze toward Han Li."Indeed, Senior." Han Li could only reply in a truthful manner. "Hmm, seventh-tier upper race; not bad. Your magic power seems to be over twice as abundant as beings of the same cultivation base, and even upper race beings of the eighth or ninth tiers won't want to face you in battle." For some reason, this Elder Ma decided to disclose his observations surrounding Han Li's cultivation base.

Han Li was quite stunned that the elderly man was able to glean so much from a single cursory glance, but his expression remained quite polite and respectful as he explained, "I have some special cultivation arts, so my magic power is indeed slightly more abundant than normal."

"It's not just slightly more abundant; if a being of a higher cultivation base were to engage you in battle, thinking that they'd enjoy an easy victory, you'd most likely be able to turn the tables on them with ease! Hmm? Your spiritual sense seems to be completely out of place in an upper race being as well." Golden light flashed past the middle-aged man's face as he unleashed some kind of secret technique, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes as he gleaned Han Li's immensely powerful spiritual sense.

Han Li's calm facade finally cracked a little upon hearing this as a hint of astonishment crept onto his face.

"Alright, Elder Ma, you can stop flaunting your Divine Inspection Technique now. It isn't really all that strange that Fellow Daoist Han is far more powerful than beings of the same cultivation base. After all, he slew several such beings with ease while saving Master Jia, so it would be foolish to regard him as a normal upper race being." The elderly man was surprised in the slightest by Elder Ma's findings."I see. Forgive me for my impudence, Fellow Daoist; please take a seat," the middle-aged man chuckled before sitting down beside Qian Jizi.

Han Li finally managed to recompose himself before also sitting down with a wry smile on his face.

"I heard on my way here that the two of you were discussing matters surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm, and it sounded to me like you don't know much about it, Fellow Daoist Han. What's the point in speaking in such a roundabout manner, Brother Qian? Just lay out the information in the most straightforward manner possible," Elder Ma urged, seemingly with a hint of displeasure in his voice.

Qian Jizi splayed his hands open upon hearing this, and a slightly resigned look appeared on his face as he replied, "I was just about to do that, but your arrival cut me off!" "Haha, now that you mention it, my entrance was indeed rather abrupt," the middle-aged man chuckled.

"Seeing as you're here, why don't you tell Fellow Daoist Han about the Vast Glacial Realm yourself, Brother Ma? After all, you once entered the realm in person, so you're far more qualified to talk about it than I am," Qian Jizi suggested.

"What's there to be said? I had very ordinary luck back when I entered the Vast Glacial Realm, and I didn't obtain any extraordinary treasures or medicines. All of the races hold the Vast Glacial Realm in such high regard mostly because of the abundant spiritual Qi in there. They want to use the realm as a place where beings who had been stuck at their bottlenecks for extended periods of time could finally make their breakthroughs. If it weren't for the fact that I had entered the realm once, I wouldn't have achieved my current cultivation base." The middle-aged man shook his head with a slightly peculiar look on his face. "You used the spiritual Qi in there to break through a bottleneck?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. At the time, the spirit medicines that could be obtained in there were only a secondary objective for me. I only re-emerged with some very ordinary spirit medicines, so I obtained next to nothing from my trip there. I did hear that some others obtained some extremely rare tool refinement materials and used them to craft several sentient treasures," Elder Ma sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Haha, you should learn to be happy with what you have. Countless beings among our 13 races were extremely envious of you back when you were selected to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. At the very least, I've never received such an opportunity," the elderly man chuckled.

"If I were as supremely talented as you and managed to break through the holy race bottleneck in just over 1,000 years, then I naturally wouldn't have had to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As you're well aware, that place is not a peaceful realm," Elder Ma replied in an indifferent voice.

"That's true. Several hundred Vast Glacial Badges appear on the Thunder Continent on each occasion, and how many beings can be teleported into the realm with each badge is dependent on the capabilities of the teleportation formation set up. Our Myriad Ancient Race has always been responsible for setting up the teleportation formations for our Heavenly Cloud Race, but teleporting around a dozen or so beings into the realm per badge is the extent of our capabilities. However, I've heard of some races that are extremely proficient in teleportation formation that can teleport over 30 beings into the realm per badge. It's a pity that we can't get our hands on their teleportation formation blueprints. Otherwise, we'd also be able to send more people into the Vast Glacial Realm. With so many races clambering to send their beings into the Vast Glacial Realm, it always becomes a very chaotic place," the elderly man mused with furrowed brows.

"What makes things even worse is that each badge teleports beings to a random location. If a group of beings were to be teleported into the same area as beings from an enemy race, then a battle would be inevitable. Everyone knows that there were at least be an additional 30% chance of breaking through a bottleneck in there, so no race would allow so many high-grade beings to appear in their enemy races." Elder Ma seemed to be musing absentmindedly to himself, but also explaining things for Han Li to hear.

Han Li's eyes flashed slightly upon hearing this.

"Not only that, but there have been countless instances of beings killing others in there over treasures and spirit medicines. However, the most perilous aspect of the Vast Glacial Realm is actually the realm itself. No one had seen a living immortal in there, but there are some incredibly powerful ancient beasts in there, each and every one of which is far too powerful for any of the beings that venture into the realm to face. If you encounter a more mild-tempered one, you could simply give it a wide berth and go around it without much trouble. However, if you encounter a violent one that actively attacks even without being provoked, then you'll have to pray that you survive that ordeal somehow. On top of that, there are many terrifying restrictions in the Vast Glacial Realm that are suspected to have been left behind by immortals. If you stumble into one of those, then you're most likely as good as dead as well. Hence, it's quite often the case that less than half the number of people that enter the realm actually return," Qian Jizi added.

Han Li's expression darkened involuntarily upon hearing this. After a lengthy silence, he asked, "Senior Qian, Senior Ma, may I ask when and how the Vast Glacial Realm was discovered?"

"You've stumped us there. No one knows exactly when the Vast Glacial Realm appeared, but it had most likely been discovered by the races that resided here during ancient times. It's said that an extremely important battle between the races had broken out at the time, and profound heavenly treasures had been used during the battle. The combined powers of several profound heavenly treasures shattered space at the time, thereby opening up a passageway to the Vast Glacial Realm. As for how the Vast Glacial Badges appeared, we really have no clue. It was as if the badges appeared as soon as the Vast Glacial Realm appeared. In the beginning, there were over 1,000 Vast Glacial Badges, but after so many years, most of them have been destroyed," the elderly man replied.

"The method of entering and exiting the Vast Glacial Realm is also quite unique. When entering the realm, the badge is required, but when leaving the realm, the badges have to be left in there before one can depart. After over 10,000 years, the Vast Glacial Realm will open up once again, and the badges will somehow reappear all over the Thunder Continent. On top of that, the badges can't teleport beings at or above the holy race, so none of the elders of the 13 races can access the realm. Otherwise, things wouldn't be so troublesome. By the way, I'm really curious about how you managed to obtain this Vast Glacial Badge, Fellow Daoist Han." Elder Ma turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner as he spoke.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing Elder Ma's shift in demeanor, but he remained calm as he replied, "I actually received this Vast Glacial Badge from a certain Fellow Daoist Yuan of your Myriad Ancient Race. At the time, the city we were situated in had been surrounded by the Jiao Chi Race, so Fellow Daoist Yuan gave a jade box to each of his companions, including myself, so we could take them away from the city. He asked us to give the boxes to any one of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and to destroy them if we found ourselves unable to get away from our Jiao Chi Race pursuers. I was quite curious about what was in the box, so I decided to open it, and I unwittingly activated this badge in the process."

"Someone with a Yuan surname? In that case, it has to be the one responsible for Green Light City." Rather than being surprised to hear this, Qian Jizi merely nodded in a calm manner.

It appeared that he'd already guessed the origin of this badge.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this. At this moment, the middle-aged man's expression darkened, and he said, "We haven't received any news of other Vast Glacial Badges being gathered by the other races in Cloud City, so that means all of the other badges must've fallen into the hands of the Jiao Chi Race."

"That's most likely the case. Apparently, they have two holy race beings leading their army, and they've even deployed a fortress level battle ark, so it's already extremely fortunate that Fellow Daoist Han was able to bring just a single badge back to us," Qian Jizi sighed.

"In that case, things will be quite troublesome for us. Our 13 races combined only have 17 or 18 badges; that's much less than usual. In contrast, the number of Jiao Chi beings that will enter the Vast Glacial Realm will increase significantly," Elder Ma said with a grim expression.

"There's nothing we can do about that. We've gathered all of the Vast Glacial Badges we could, and when we received news that five more badges had been discovered, we'd thought that we'd stumbled upon a figurative gold mine. However, the Jiao Chi Race suddenly attacked at this crucial juncture before we could transport the five badges to Cloud City, which has led to them being lost," Qian Jizi sighed as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Elder Ma nodded before suddenly turning to Han Li as he said in an implacable tone, "In that case, there's no point in wasting time with words. Fellow Daoist Han, you'll have to accompany our Myriad Ancient Race nominees into the Vast Glacial Realm on this occasion."

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"In that case, it looks like I have no choice but to comply," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

"Haha, there's no need to be so depressed, Fellow Daoist Han. There are some perils in the Vast Glacial Realm, but most people would do anything for a chance to enter it. Many people will envy you for the opportunity to enter the realm," Qian Jizi chuckled.

"My cultivation base hasn't reached a bottleneck yet, so entering the realm won't benefit me much. Instead, there's a good chance that I'll be dying in there. The risk and reward comparison simply isn't worth it, so if there's any possibility that I can be exempt from entering the realm, I would definitely pass up this opportunity." Han Li shook his head in a gloomy manner.

Qian Jizi and Elder Ma exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and the former said in a slow voice, "One a Vast Glacial Badge has been activated, only the one who has activated it can take others to the Void Glacial Realm with them. The future of our 13 races hinges on this, so you must enter the realm; that's non-negotiable. You've carried the badge to us, so our Myriad Ancient Race should be grateful to you, but you've activated the badge and we've given you the opportunity to enter the Vast Glacial Realm, so we've repaid you for your efforts. However, seeing as you're being forced into the Vast Glacial Realm against your will, you can state any condition that you may have, and we'll do our best to satisfy you."

Han Li's heart abruptly jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately said, "I'm sure you know what request I have already. After returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, I'd like to use your super teleportation formation."

"You want to use the teleportation formation? If it's only once, then we should be able to arrange that. However, teleportation using that formation requires a vast expenditure of top-grade spirit stones, and you'll have to issue the spirit stones yourself; there's no way that we'll supply them for you. Furthermore, our race cannot make executive decisions on the teleportation formation, so we have to discuss this matter with the other few races; perhaps they may also have some conditions that you must satisfy before they'll allow you to use the formation," Qian Jizi replied in a calm manner.

"As long as I can use the teleportation formation, I'll naturally supply the spirit stones required. As for any other conditions that may be raised, as long as they're not conditions that are completely outside of my realm of capability, I can accept them," Han Li said with an elated look on his face.

"Hehe, don't be so quick to jump at this opportunity, Fellow Daoist Han. Activating the super teleportation formation even just once requires so many top-grade spirit stones that even some holy race beings wouldn't be able to afford it. You may have some wealth, but it will still most likely be very difficult for you to gather enough top-grade spirit stones to use the formation. With your cultivation base, you'll be greatly valued even if you were to stay in our Myriad Ancient Race, so why insist on traveling to other continents? I suggest you take this opportunity to change to another condition and request for some tangible benefits like pills or treasures instead; that would be ideal for both sides," Elder Ma proposed.

Han Li's expression faltered upon hearing this, but he shook his head after a brief silence, and said, "Thank you for your kind offer, Senior, but I've already made up my mind."

As opposed to being enraged by Han Li's refusal, Elder Ma only nodded indifferently and spoke no further on this matter.

"By the way, when will the Vast Glacial Realm open up? I want to make some preparations beforehand, so learning the amount of time I have left will be quite beneficial," Han Li suddenly asked."We're not sure of the exact opening date, either, but according to past experience, it'll be somewhere between several years to a century from now," Qian Jizi replied with a smile."A century!" Han Li abruptly exclaimed upon hearing this. "For cultivators like us, a century passes in the mere blink of an eye; surely there's no need to be so alarmed, Fellow Daoist Han," the middle-aged man said as he raised an eyebrow. "My apologies, It was just surprised that it would take so long," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"You're living in the inn from before, right? That place has been placed into lockdown, and you won't be leaving Cloud City anytime soon, so why don't you move to the Eight Cloud Mountains as well, Fellow Daoist Han? I'll get someone to organize a free cave abode for you so you can cultivate in peace while awaiting the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm," Qian Jizi said.

Han Li was a little taken aback by this offer, but after quickly weighing up his options, he nodded in agreement.

After that, Qian Jizi and Elder Ma asked some casual questions about Han Li's origins, to which Han Li gave a few intentionally ambiguous responses.

It was quite clear that Han Li didn't want to disclose too much information about himself, and the two Myriad Ancient Race elders didn't insist on prying, either.

Not long after that, the third elder of the Myriad Ancient Race finally arrived. This was a tall and broad heavily-bearded man, and he only took a glance at Han Li and delivered some absentminded praise before hurrying away, citing the excuse that he had a half-refined batch of spirit pills in his cauldron that he had to attend to.

Qian Jizi and Elder Ma could only exchange a resigned smile upon seeing this. They seemed to have already become accustomed to this Elder Huang's personality.

Thus, after receiving a Myriad Distance Talisman from Elder Ma, Han Li finally stood up to leave. Prior to his departure, Qian Jizi told him that he would discuss with the other races about the teleportation formation and organize a cave abode for him within three days. Hence, he could move in to the Eight Cloud Mountains after that.

Han Li naturally thanked the elderly man for his kindness, then left the hall and departed from the Myriad Ancient Race's fortress on the beast-drawn carriage outside. At this moment, both Qian Jizi and Elder Ma were sitting in silence within the hall, seemingly in deep thought. "What do you think? Could he be a spy from the Jiao Chi Race?" Qian Jizi asked.

"There's no way that he's a spy; expending a Vast Glacial Badge just to plant a spy in our Heavenly Cloud Races is far too heavy a price to pay. Besides, he also saved Master Jia and killed several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base as himself. No matter how you look at it, the Jiao Chi Race would have to be downright insane to sacrifice so much just to plant a spy. On top of that, even if he were to become a guest member of one of our 13 races, he wouldn't be able to obtain any of our confidential secrets anyway, so what would be the point?" Elder Ma immediately shook his head in response.

"My thoughts exactly. In that case, we won't have to use a soul search technique to determine his origins. Otherwise, it could prove to be detrimental to us if we were to draw resentment from him," Qian Jizi agreed with a nod.

"On top of that, he possesses extremely powerful combat prowess that's no less potent than beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so it would be greatly beneficial to our race if he could become a guest member of ours, so we should do our best to recruit him rather than get on his bad side," Elder Ma added."But he seems to be quite intent on leaving the Thunder Continent," Qian Jizi countered with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, it's not that easy to gather so many top-grade spirit stones; who knows how long it'll take for him to save up the spirit stones required? During this process, we'll just have to expend some effort to try and convince him to stay. Of course, if he still insists on leaving in the end, then there's no need for us to play the villains and force him to stay. Our race certainly isn't short of beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so there's no need to risk ruining our reputation for him," Elder Ma mused.

Following a brief pause, Qian Jizi nodded, and said, "Seeing as you've already made up your mind, I have no objections."

"Let's talk about the news we received about the Jiao Chi Race. This invasion from the Jiao Chi Race is only a far larger scale than past invasions. Setting aside everything else, just the number of holy race beings they've deployed is..." Elder Ma changed the subject and moved on to the Jiao Chi Race invasion thereafter.

Meanwhile, Han Li didn't go too far away from the Eight Cloud Mountains before disembarking from the carriage on a relatively secluded street, then found an inn to live in on a temporary basis.

The inn was quite ordinary in appearance and closely resembled a building that one would see in the human race.

After setting up a restriction in his room, Han Li sat down in a cross-legged manner on his bed, then began to carefully think back through his conversation with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, trying to see if there were alarming aspects that he should take note of. After contemplating for a long while, he finally exhaled as his expression gradually relaxed.

From what he could recall, the elders didn't seem to be plotting against him in any way, and his only concern was that the Vast Glacial Realm could be quite dangerous.

However, seeing as there were no beings at or above the Body Integration Stage that could enter the realm, he didn't have much to fear. As long as he wasn't too greedy or ambitious and stumbled around everywhere in search of spirit medicines and treasures, he should be quite safe. He'd just have to find an obscure location to hide in and weather then storm, then return following the conclusion of the ordeal.

He had already thought through all this back in the Sentient Hall, which was why he'd agreed to the conditions made by the elders without any hesitation. However, it did indeed come as quite a surprise to him that he'd have to wait for so long before the Vast Glacial Realm were to open up.

If he really did have to wait for a century, then he should be able to use his spirit pills to cultivate to the pinnacle of the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. After that, he could try and use the astonishingly abundant spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm to break through to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage.

This was only possible as he could use the liquid produced by the mysterious vial to essentially infinitely refine the extremely rare Rising Dragon Pills.

Otherwise, for a normal cultivator, it would take at least 500 to 600 years to cultivate to the pinnacle of the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

After reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, further advancements required far more spiritual power to be gathered and cultivated than for progression in the Deity Transformation Stage. On top of that, Han Li had chosen the path of simultaneous cultivation, which was far more difficult than just normal cultivation.

With that in mind, Han Li's expression suddenly stirred slightly, and he flipped his hand over to produce a white jade box that also had crimson talismans plastered to its surface. This was none other than the other jade box given to him by the big-headed being.

Han Li knew that if he were to bring out this item, he'd definitely be able to secure greater benefits from the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race. At the very least, he'd be able to secure another sentient puppet for himself. However, he made no mention of this in the Sentient Hall as a safety precaution.

Regardless of whether having an extra Vast Glacial Badge would benefit him in any way after entering the Vast Glacial Realm, he'd rather keep it as backup than exchange it for any benefits.

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Having made up his mind, white light flashed from Han Li's hand, and the jade box disappeared.

After that, he sat down on the bed and entered a meditative state.

For three consecutive days, Han Li stayed in the room without leaving even once.

On this day, just as he was cultivating with golden light shimmering from his entire body, he suddenly opened his eyes and flipped his hand over to produce the Myriad Distance Talisman that Qian Jizi had given to him.

On the white surface of the talisman, a line of small text had appeared.

After reading the message on the talisman, Han Li stowed it away expressionlessly before making his way out of the room.

Half a day later, he found himself within a certain cave abode on the Dream Cloud Mountain of the Eight Cloud Mountains, and he was inspecting the cave abode with a pleased look on his face.

The abundance of spiritual Qi in this cave abode was not inferior in the slightest compared to Jia Tianmu's cave abode on the Iridescent Cloud Mountain. Furthermore, the cave abode came complete with a pill refinement chamber, tool refinement chamber, medicine garden, as well as a variety of other facilities. There were even some commonly used spirit medicines that had been planted in the medicine garden, and he was very satisfied with his new home.

However, Han Li didn't immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he used his spiritual sense to scan through every single nook and cranny of the cave abode, then set up a dozen or so restrictions of different sizes.

Having done all that, even a Body Integration Stage being wouldn't be able to force their way into his cave abode in a short time.

After that, he transferred some of the spirit medicines and spirit herbs that he required into the medicine garden before busying himself with pill refinement.

His plan was to refine a large number of Rising Dragon Pills, most of which would be reserved for his own consumption, while the rest would be taken to the markets to be exchanged for top-grade spirit stones.

After all, both his sentient puppet and the super teleportation formation required an incredible amount of spirit stones to function, and he wouldn't be able to exchange for enough of them even through selling all of his Myriad Year Spirit Medicines.

Furthermore, selling too many Myriad Year Spirit Medicines would attract a lot of attention, so it was better to sell Rising Dragon Pills instead.

With the immense power of these pills, he was sure that the upper race beings of Cloud City would be willing to pay astronomic prices for them.

Of course, he wasn't going to sell too many of them, and he had to conceal his own identity in the process. If he were to only sell the pills on two or three occasions, that shouldn't be enough to attract the attention of the holy race beings in the city. If he still couldn't gather enough top-grade spirit stones through doing that, then he'd have to consider selling his Golden Lightning Bamboo.

Given how rare Golden Lightning Bamboo was in the Spirit Realm, just one plant would most definitely be enough to get him sufficient top-grade spirit stones.

Han Li had already devised a plan to gather enough top-grade spirit stones while refining his Rising Dragon Pills, and Qian Jizi most likely would've never imagined that Han Li would be capable of doing something that he thought to be impossible in such a short time.

This was only a minor inconvenience to Han Li, rather than the insurmountable roadblock that Qian Jizi had assumed that this would be.

As Qian Jizi was leading him to his new cave abode, the former disclosed to him that he had secured the agreement of the other races for him to use the teleportation formation. As for conditions, they didn't state some, but they weren't very stringent; most of them merely asked for a usage fee from him.

The only slightly troublesome condition was raised by the Stone Cocoon Race; they asked him to search for a tool refinement material that could only be found in the Vast Glacial Realm.

They had a map on which the place where this material could be found had been annotated, and all he had to do was act as the errand boy of the Stone Cocoon Race after entering the Vast Glacial Realm.

This condition was naturally rather dangerous to him, but this material seemed to be extremely important to the Stone Cocoon Race, as evidenced by the fact that they stipulated this condition to be non-negotiable.

Thus, Han Li agreed to it as well after a brief contemplation.

If he only had to head to a designated location to secure an ingredient, then this was a risk that wasn't too big for him to take.

Hence, Han Li had arrived at an official agreement with the Heavenly Cloud Races. As soon as he returned from the Vast Glacial Realm, he'd be granted a one-time usage pass of the super teleportation formation.

After that, Han Li stayed in his cave abode for more than an entire year. During this time, he refined his pills while taking some Rising Dragon Pills to cultivate his Provenance True Devil Arts. Even though this wasn't a very long time, his Provenance True Devil Projection was looking slightly more substantial than it did over a year ago, which was a further testament to just how potent Rising Dragon Pills were.

However, what was rather surprising to Han Li was that the Crystal woman by the name of Xian Xian hadn't contacted using the Myriad Distance Talisman he'd left her during this time. It was as if she'd completely forgotten about him.

Han Li was rather perplexed, but he didn't go to find her.

On this day, Han Li finally emerged from his cave abode, and after taking a cursory glance around him, he flew down the mountain as a streak of azure light.

Coincidentally or by design, there just so happened to be another streak of white light flying down from the summit of the mountain at the same time, and the streak of light reached the foot of the mountain along with Han Li almost in unison.

The white and azure lights faded, revealing Han Li and a bald man.

The bald man had a set of sinister facial features, and his skin was of a greyish-white color.

The two of them both looked at one another with a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"I am Tie Jian of the Stone Cocoon Race. You look rather unfamiliar, Fellow Daoist; did you only move in recently?" The man was a little menacing to behold, but he spoke in quite a polite voice.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the man to find that he was a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and his heart jolted slightly with shock, but he merely smiled as he replied, "My surname is Han, and I did indeed only move in recently."

"Oh, so it's Fellow Daoist Han. I heard that last year, an outsider activated a Vast Glacial Badge, and he also had the Han surname; could you be that outsider, Fellow Daoist Han?" The man immediately guessed Han Li's identity after hearing his surname.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he smiled as he replied, "I was indeed the one activated the Vast Glacial Badge a year ago. I didn't think that I would be so renowned in these parts."

"Haha, you're the first outsider to have activated a Vast Glacial Badge in our Heavenly Cloud Races, so you're naturally quite well-known by everyone. Are you going out now because you also heard about the precious auction items being offered in the Four Races Auction?"

"Four Races Auction?" Han Li drew a complete blank upon hearing this.

"Oh? Do you not know about this, Fellow Daoist Han? Then again, that's no surprise, seeing as you've only just recently come to our Cloud City. The Four Races Auction is something that's held by four of our 13 races once every decade to try and increase the popularity of Cloud City. All of the auction items are precious treasures that aren't normally sold during auctions, so the event always attracts many high-grade beings to Cloud City. On this occasion, our 13 races have been forced onto the back foot by the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, so the auction items are even more prestigious than usual in order to boost morale. Among the auction items, there are even going to be Myriad Wonder Pills being sold; those pills are ideal for helping Spatial Tempering cultivators like us break through bottlenecks. Only the top pill refinement masters of the Crystal Race are capable of refining those pills, and they've never appeared in the past editions of the auction," Tie Jian explained.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this. "Myriad Wonder Pill, eh? I've also heard of these pills before."

Back when he was at Green Light City, those foreign Spatial Tempering Stage beings had mentioned this pill, and they seemed to be even more valuable than sentient puppets.

If they really were useful for Spatial Tempering cultivators, then it would naturally be very beneficial to him if he could obtain the pill or its refinement method.

With that in mind, Han Li was quite intrigued as he said, "It wouldn't be right for me to miss such an auspicious occasion."

"In that case, why don't we go together, Fellow Daoist? Truth be told, I'll very likely be part of the group of beings selected to enter the Vast Glacial Realm on this occasion; perhaps we'll be in the same group together! If that happens, I'll have to trouble you to look out for me," the bald man chuckled.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! You're a ninth-tier upper race being, so your cultivation base far outstrips mine. However, I really am rather unfamiliar with Cloud City, so I'll be counting on you to lead the way, Brother Tie," Han Li replied.

Tie Jian merely smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he raised a hand to hail one of the beast-drawn carriages parked at the foot of the mountain, then invited Han Li onto the carriage first.

Han Li accepted the invitation, climbing onto the carriage first, followed by Tie Jian, who then turned to the driver, and instructed, "Take us to the Cloud Intent Auction House."

The driver gave an affirmative response before spurring the beast-drawn carriage into motion.

Inside the carriage, Han Li made further inquiries about the Four Races Auction, and only then did he learn that the auction had actually already been running for a few days, but the truly precious auction items that were of the highest caliber were being sold today.

In order to obtain a Myriad Wonder Pill, Tie Jian had even borrowed a large batch of spirit stones from his friends.

Han Li heard from Tie Jian that there were going to be two sentient puppets from the Myriad Ancient Race that were also going to be sold during the auction, and he was quite tempted by that prospect.

After traveling for over two hours, the beast-drawn carriage changed directions and diverged onto a very wide street.

The number of beast-drawn carriages on this street increased dramatically compared to elsewhere, and there were also many powerful cultivators there as well.

In the end, the beast-drawn carriage came to an abrupt halt near the end of the street, where it was in the company of several tens of other beast-drawn carriages.

Han Li and Tie Jian disembarked before looking around, and Han Li discovered that there was a massive square building up ahead that was close to 10,000 feet wide and over 1,000 feet tall.

At the pinnacle of the building was a cylindrical altar, above which a yellow ring with a diameter of over 100 feet was hovering. The ring was constructed from an unknown material that was neither metallic nor wooden in nature, and it was slowly rotating while emitting a cold light that encompassed the entire hall down below.

There were rows of armored warriors standing around the hall in a stationary manner, and all of them were actually powerful puppets.

The hall had a total of three entrances, one large and two small, with over 20 blue-robed guards situated outside them.

All of these guards were Spatial Tempering Stage beings!

At this moment, there weren't many people entering the hall through the largest main entrance. Instead, the two smaller entrances were being used quite frequently, presenting a lively and bustling scene to behold.

Just as Han Li was assessing the situation, Tie Jian turned to him, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, I have some things that I want to sell in the side hall to get some more spirit stones; would you like to come with me?"

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"Is there a trade center in the side hall? Isn't this supposed to be an auction house?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Everyone who's attending the auction needs to carry a large number of spirit stones with them, so many fellow Daoists like to sell off some of the precious materials they've gathered for spirit stones prior to the commencement of the auction. Hence, there will always be some time allotted before the auction for fellow Daoists to exchange items for spirit stones or try their luck and see if they can find something they'd like to purchase. If you end up not being able to sell your items to anyone, you can sell them directly to the auction house as well, but obviously at a slightly lower price than what they'd normally fetch. The good thing is that with four of the 13 races supporting the auction house, they'll have sufficient spirit stones to purchase anything, regardless of how rare it is. One of the side halls beside the main hall is dedicated to those looking to buy, while the other is for sellers looking to sell off items," Tie Jian explained.

"So we can purchase items in the side halls as well?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Are you interested in selling or buying, Brother Han? If so, I suggest you go look at what everyone's selling before you go and sell your own things. If you can trade something that you own for something that you need, that would be ideal for both parties," Tie Jian suggested.

"That's a good idea, Fellow Daoist. In that case, I'll go in and have a look," Han Li replied with a nod of approval.

"Alright, then I'll come with you. Perhaps you'll find some things that you need if you're lucky." A smile appeared on Tie Jian's face as he led Han Li directly toward the entrance of the side hall on the right.

The blue-robed guards at the entrance merely glanced at Tie Jian and Han Li before allowing them into the side hall without asking any questions.

"The Four Races Auction is only held to boost the popularity of Cloud City, so all upper race beings and above can attend as they please. As such, there's a great diversity in cultivation bases and status among the beings who attend the auction. It's also because of this that this auction attracts far more people per year than the other auctions held in Cloud City," Tie Jian explained with a smile as he strode into the side entrance alongside Han Li.

"All upper race beings or above can attend this auction? Can this auction house hold that many people?" Han Li's brows furrowed with skepticism.

It was no wonder that Han Li would have such doubts, seeing as the number of upper race beings in the Cloud City definitely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. No matter how he looked at it, this hall was definitely not large enough to house that many beings.

"Hehe, you'll see for yourself soon, so there's no need for me to explain," Tie Jian replied with a mysterious smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze up ahead, and only then did he realize that he had been walking through this entrance for longer than he'd expected, yet still hadn't reached the side hall.

Wait! The shimmering white entrance up ahead had appeared quite close to them even in the very beginning, so why was it that after walking for a while, they didn't seem to have closed down the distance to the entrance at all?

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured, "Spatial techniques are being used here!"

"Haha, you finally noticed, Fellow Daoist Han. This auction house itself is actually a super spatial treasure that possesses spatial abilities and can expand or shrink at will. The interior of the hall can house over 10 times as many beings as it appears to be able to from the outside, so it's more than equipped to handle the influx of auction attendees," Tie Jian chuckled.

"I see. No wonder the ring at the top of the building looked so peculiar." A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

"Due to the auction house's spatial ability, the entrance has been elongated slightly, but it's still not all that long, so we should be able to emerge on the other side soon," Tie Jian said in a confident manner.

Han Li merely nodded without offering a reply.

Just as Tie Jian had proclaimed, after walking for a short while longer, the entrance up ahead suddenly drew closer to them, and they made their way through it to appear on a spacious plaza.

The plaza was very lively and bustling, resembling a popular street market.

There were a series of semi-spherical light barriers situated next to one another in tight rows on the plaza, and many cultivators were entering and exiting those light barriers.

At the center of the plaza was a white jade stone platform, atop which an ordinary wooden table had been placed. There was a pair of azure-robed figures with delicate facial features handing out something to the foreign beings standing in front of the table.

Just as Han Li was inspecting his surroundings, Tie Jian suddenly cupped his fist in a salute as he said, "Let's part ways here, Fellow Daoist Han. I have to find some buyers so I can sell off my treasures as quickly as possible, so I won't accompany you any longer."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist; I also want to do some exploring on my own as well," Han Li replied with a polite smile.

"Farewell for now then, Brother Han." Tie Jian nodded before hurrying away.

Han Li looked on at Tie Jian's departing figure for a short while before casting his gaze toward the jade platform, then suddenly making his way toward it. Moments later, he had arrived close to the platform, and at this moment, a few more beings strode onto the platform.

Han Li looked on from the side to find that these foreign beings were exchanging bags of high-grade spirit stones for small flags of different colors from the pair of azure-robed figures.

Han Li's gaze followed one of those foreign beings to find that after receiving a small flag, he made his way over to an empty spot near the edge of the plaza, then waved the small flag to conjure up a semi-spherical light barrier that concealed himself within.

Han Li released his spiritual sense toward the light barrier, only for it to be kept at bay by a certain restriction.

It was quite clear that these light barriers were specifically to be used for cultivators looking to trade on the plaza.

With the light barriers set up, they wouldn't have to worry about other people gleaning their secrets.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the surrounding area to find that these semi-spherical light barriers were everywhere, and further beyond the plaza that he was situated on, there were even a few smaller plazas that were also very busy.

Han Li exhaled as he shook his head.

For sellers looking to hand off their treasures to someone, finding a suitable buyer among so many beings was akin to finding a needle in a haystack, so he certainly wasn't going to waste too much time here.

If he wanted to try and secure a Myriad Wonder Pill for himself, then he had to gather a large sum of spirit stones prior to the commencement of the auction.

With that in mind, Han Li began to slowly walk along the edge of the plaza. Most of the time, he would only have a look from the outside. He'd enter a light barrier or two occasionally, but he'd then quickly re-emerge from within.

After 15 minutes, Han Li still hadn't accomplished anything, and his brows furrowed as he turned around in a decisive manner, retracing his steps to head back to the exit.

Perhaps it was pure coincidence or by Han Li's design, but when he stepped into the exit again, he was the only one in there.

As he walked along the passageway, he suddenly rustled a sleeve to produce a black veil, and it disintegrated into a cloud of faint black mist amid a dull thump. The black mist settled over Han Li, making his body quite blurry and indistinct.

Almost immediately thereafter, light flashed within the black mist, and it surged around him before forming a glossy black robe that draped itself over his body.

At this moment, Han Li emerged from the mist with his head lowered, and his aura had become extremely faint. When he raised his head again, he had already adopted a completely new set of facial features. In what seemed like the mere blink of an eye, Han Li had completely disguised himself.

After that, Han Li emerged from the exit in an unhurried manner, passing by a few foreign beings who were walking in the opposite direction.

The blue-robed guards outside merely glanced at Han Li before allowing him to depart.

Thus, Han Li made his way into the other side hall and found himself on another large plaza, but the scenes within came as a slight surprise to him.

There were also many beings gathered here, but in contrast with the other side hall where treasures were being sold, most of the people here were gathered on a small section of the plaza.

There, a series of bluestone walls stood, and each of them was over 100 feet in height. There were silver characters flashing from the walls, and all of the foreign beings were gathered around them, looking on with rapt focus.

Further on beyond the stone walls, there were a dozen or so jade pavilions with multiple levels, and all of these pavilions were interconnected with one another.

The pavilions were all of a translucent snowy white in color, and their doors were wide open, but the entrances were concealed by layers of flashing white light.

The pavilion at the center of the cluster of pavilions was crimson in color and enshrouded under a layer of faint azure smoke. Furthermore, there was an indistinct fragrant aroma emanating from it, as if it were some kind of ethereal otherworldly object.

The beings inspecting the stone walls would occasionally enter those jade pavilions, and some would re-emerge in high spirits, while others were left quite dejected.

After assessing the situation, Han Li made his way over to one of the stone walls, yet right at this moment, a slender figure standing before a nearby stone wall suddenly turned around and also headed toward the same wall that Han Li was walking toward.

Han Li cast a reflexive glance toward the slender figure, and he abruptly shuddered as his expression changed drastically.

This was a woman with a head of long black hair in a set of blue robes. Her facial features were exquisitely beautiful, yet her expression was quite cold, and she strode directly over to the other stone wall before inspecting it with her brows furrowed in concentration, completely oblivious to Han Li's reaction toward her.

Han Li's footsteps drew to a halt as his face paled slightly. He stared intently at the blue-robed woman with an unblinking gaze and murmured in a voice that was only audible to himself, "How could it be her? That's impossible! Are there really people in this world who so closely resemble one another?"

The intense scrutiny that the blue-robed woman was receiving from Han Li finally drew her attention, and their eyes met as she turned toward him.

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The woman initially faltered at the sight of Han Li staring blankly at her, but a hint of rage then quickly appeared on her face. She swept her spiritual sense toward him, and her heart jolted with shock as she discovered that she was unable to detect any spiritual Qi fluctuations from his body.

This was quite unsettling to her, and she immediately turned around.

At this moment, Han Li finally managed to recompose himself, and his expression reverted back to normal as he stared at the woman in deep thought.

This blue-robed woman was a memory in the bottom of his heart that he had been trying not to revisit, and as such, he was both astonished to see her, yet also hesitant about approaching her.

She was Chen Qiaoqian, the woman who had once expressed her love toward him countless years ago, and the memory of her voice and her smile filled Han Li's entire heart.

This blue-robed woman was completely identical to Chen Qiaoqian, who had already perished in the human world. Aside from her fact that her demeanor was quite cold, she was the spitting image of Chen Qiaoqian, and it was as if she'd been resurrected.

Back when Han Li had heard about her death, he'd remained quite calm and collected, but an indescribable sense of sorrow had welled up in his heart.

It wasn't the type of grief that one would be struck by following the passing of a lover. Instead, it was simply a reminiscent sense of melancholy that any normal man would experience when hearing about the passing of a woman who had once loved them.

However, there was no way that Chen Qiaoqian could be resurrected, and there was certainly no chance that she would be reincarnated in the Spirit Realm. As such, regardless of how closely she resembled Chen Qiaoqian, she had to be someone else.

This string of thoughts rapidly flashed through Han Li's mind, and he finally managed to forcibly repress his slightly tumultuous emotions. Following a brief hesitation, he still proceeded with his original plan, making his way toward the same stone wall.

The blue-robed woman didn't turn around, but she seemed to have an ability that allowed her to sense what was happening behind her, and her brows furrowed as she departed from her original spot.

Thus, Han Li strode forward and stood directly on the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago.

Even without turning around, Han Li could sense the vicious glare that the blue-robed woman had aimed at him, following which she hurried away to a stone wall that was slightly further away.

It appeared that this woman had formed the opinion that he was some kind of perverted swine.

Han Li chuckled internally before focusing his attention on the stone wall in front of him.

As expected, the silver characters on the stone wall were all names of different types of materials and treasures, but strangely enough, none of the items had any prices listed next to them; they only had a number between one to 13 assigned to them.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and a thought occurred to him as he cast his gaze toward the distance.

There just so happened to be 13 jade pavilions surrounding the crimson pavilion, and there was a shimmering golden number hovering above each of the pavilions.

As such, it wasn't difficult to deduce what those numbers assigned to the materials meant.

He wasn't in any hurry, so he carefully scanned his gaze throughout the entire stone wall, then headed toward the next one.

Han Li was able to glean the contents of an entire stone wall virtually in the blink of an eye, yet even after looking through most of the stone walls present, he remained completely expressionless as if he hadn't found anything that caught his eye.

Right at this moment, a rumbling boom rang out from the crimson pavilion at the very center, following which a thunderous roar of rage erupted from within.

"What? You're saying this is fake, Eccentric Song? That's impossible! I went to great lengths to obtain this treasure, and I was almost killed by a bunch of Golden-winged Giants in the process!"

"Quit yelling! I've made my final appraisal, and I can tell you with certainty that this thing is fake. You can leave now, Fellow Daoist Duan," a sharp voice replied from within the pavilion.

"I was bedridden for seven years after obtaining this item, yet you're telling me it's fake? The person who supplied me with the information better pray that they don't bump into me again. Otherwise, I'll twist his head off!" Another resounding roar of rage rang out, and this time, a hint of spiritual power had been injected into the voice, making it clearly audible to virtually everyone outside.

All of a sudden, red light flashed from the surface of the crimson pavilion, following which a massive figure that was around 30 feet tall leaped forth before landing on the ground nearby, causing the entire earth to tremor with the immensely heavy impact.

Most of the people in the plaza turned toward the giant figure, and all of them drew a sharp breath in unison.

From the head down, this giant figure possessed a body that was half flesh and half metal.

The metal half was of a glistening black color and was emanating a peculiar grey light, while the other half of his body was of a tanned deep bronze color, and it seemed to be just as indestructible as his metallic half.

The head attached to this body had a sinister set of facial features. Not only were his nose and eyes twice as large as that of a normal human, his head was conical in shape with a few sporadic tufts of green hair growing on top.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the strange being, upon which his expression changed drastically. He was completely unable to fathom his cultivation base, thereby indicating that this was a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, just like Qian Jizi.

However, just because Han Li didn't recognize this strange being didn't mean that the other foreign beings gathered here didn't recognize him.

Almost as soon as he landed on the ground, a dozen or so beings rushed out of the nearby crowd before extending a respectful bow toward him.

"We pay our respects to Elder Duan!"

A string of greetings immediately rang out.

These humanoid figures were far taller and larger than normal humans, and they were all Ston Cocoon beings like Tie Jian. As such, this strange being had to be an elder of the Stone Cocoon Race!

"Oh, I see you've all come here to attend the auction as well. I wish you all good luck. I was swindled into risking my life for a fake treasure, so I don't even feel like staying for the auction anymore." The strange being waved a casual dismissive hand toward all of the other Stone Cocoon beings before making his way toward the exit.

All of the beings in his path naturally stepped aside in a respectful manner to grant him passage.

Coincidentally, this Elder Duan also happened to pass by Han Li, and Han Li shuffled back a little as well, planning to see off this astonishingly powerful being.

However, in the next instant, an alarming turn of events abruptly unfolded.

In the instant that Elder Duan passed by Han Li, his footsteps suddenly faltered, and his nose twitched before he turned an intense incredulous gaze toward Han Li.

All of the nearby beings were naturally quite taken aback by this sudden development, and many of them turned to Han Li as well, trying to determine what it was about him that had caught the interest of such a powerful being.

"Do you have any business with me, Senior?" Han Li was struck by a sense of foreboding, but he still extended a respectful salute as he squeezed a smile onto his face.

"What's your name and which race are you from?"

Han Li didn't know what this being's intentions were, so he naturally didn't dare to speak the truth. As such, he fabricated a response on the spot.

"Good! I am Duan Tianren of the Stone Cocoon Race. If you encounter any troubles in Cloud City, you can refer to me as your backer!" Elder Duan nodded with a meaningful expression, and it was impossible to tell whether he believed Han Li's fib. All of a sudden, his body blurred before reverting back to normal, but Han Li's expression changed drastically.

He could clearly sense that in the instant that Duan Tianren's body had blurred, he had thrust a palm lightly onto Han Li's shoulder. With his spirit eye ability, he was able to see the trajectory of Duan Tianren's palm, but he was simply too fast for Han Li to evade.

A burst of strange spiritual Qi flowed from Duan Tianren's palm into his arm, and it only dissipated after circulating throughout his entire arm.

"What's the meaning of this, Senior?" An enraged look appeared on Han Li's face.

There were only a dozen or so beings present that had actually caught sight of what Duan Tianren had done to Han Li, so to everyone else, it appeared that Han Li had suddenly gotten angry even though Duan Tianren was clearly extending a gesture of kindness toward him.

In the face of Han Li's enraged interrogation, Duan Tianren merely swept his gave over Han Li's face as he chuckled, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I could see that you'd also cultivated quite a special body refinement technique, so I wanted to see what that was all about."

After Duan Tianren's gaze had swept past his face, Han Li was stunned to find that his face began to throb with pain.

He had used that black veil in conjunction with a disguise technique to conceal his original appearance, but there was simply too much of a cultivation base disparity between the two of them, so Han Li confident in the slightest that he'd fooled Duan Tianren.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to believe the excuse that Duan Tianren had offered to placate him, and his mind raced as he attempted to glean the intentions behind that palm.

However, he was unable to think of any potential reasons why this being would target him. After all, this was most definitely the first time that he'd met him.

At this moment, Duan Tianren suddenly transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Save your brain cells, little fella; I'll be waiting for you at the Rich Aroma Pavilion across the street. Don't even think about getting away; I didn't intend to harm you with that palm, but with my residual spiritual Qi circulating within your body, I'll be able to detect your location within the next few hours."

After that, he gave no further explanations before departing with a hearty laugh. Moments later, he left the plaza and strode into the exit, leaving behind a befuddled Han Li, as well as a bunch of bemused beings who were all looking at him with peculiar expressions.

Han Li was struggling to calm himself down in the wake of what had just happened, and the widespread scrutiny he was receiving certainly wasn't helping matters. Thus, he also turned and made his way toward the exit.

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Han Li had originally planned to disguise himself before selling off some of his spirit medicines and spirit herbs in exchange for spirit stones.

However, after what had just happened, he had become the center of everyone's attention, so he naturally wouldn't be able to act according to his initial plan.

As such, following a brief moment of contemplation, he departed from the side hall, seemingly in a calm manner. He then arrived at a plot of empty land reserved for beast-drawn carriages to park at, then cast a solemn gaze across the street.

When he had first arrived, he hadn't noticed this so-called Rich Aroma Pavilion, but now that he was actively searching for it, he discovered that there really was such a place.

The pavilion wasn't very large, but it was situated almost directly across from the auction house. The building was three levels tall, and there was a sign hanging above the door with flowing and elegant text inscribed upon it.

After a brief moment of observation, Han Li discovered that in contrast with all of the other nearby buildings, which were all quite lively and bustling, there was no one entering or exiting the pavilion at all.

This was the place that Duan Tianren had asked him to go to.

Han Li was feeling rather hesitant about how to proceed. The auction wasn't going to commence for some time, and before ascertaining Duan Tianren's true intentions, he wouldn't be able to focus on the auction anyway.

As such, he suddenly rustled a sleeve, and his hand reached out from within as he appraised it in an expressionless manner.

The hand was inky-black in color, and it was none other than the hand in which the Divine Essencefused Mountain had been infused.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly.

Duan Tianren had done his best to disguise this, but through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li was still able to see that his gaze had almost been focused entirely on this sleeve of his.

However, he didn't know whether it was just his hand that had caught Duan Tianren's interest or his entire arm instead.

If it were the former, then he was most likely interested in the Divine Essencefused Mountain, but if it were the latter...

Han Li's heart sank slightly as a realization dawned on him.

At the thought of his arm, Han Li abruptly raised his other hand and stroked a certain section of his arm through his sleeve.

Even though he couldn't sense anything amiss in that arm, it was undeniably true that the longsword that the Profound Heavenly Fruit had transformed into was sealed within his arm.

Could it be that Duan Tianren had managed to detect the existence of that sword?

Han Li was growing more and more uneasy as he followed this train of thought.

He was still oblivious to the fact that the many races, including the human race and the Flying Spirit Race had been indirectly affected by this profound heavenly treasure, and nor was he aware that some smaller races had even been entirely slain to facilitate a blood sacrifice due to this. However, he had witnessed the power of the sword in person, and he knew that if he could use the sword at will someday without crippled by it, he'd essentially be invincible in the Spirit Realm.

As such, even though he had only used the sword once, it had already become one his biggest secrets, second only to that mysterious small vial and it was even more important to him than his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

However, it wasn't very likely that this Stone Cocoon Race elder had actually managed to detect the presence of the profound heavenly treasure within his body. Otherwise, Qian Jizi would've been able to detect it as well.

Even though the profound heavenly treasure was sealed within his arm, even he couldn't detect its presence unless attempted to wield it.

Of course, it wasn't impossible that Duan Tianren possessed some kind of special secret technique that allowed him to detect the profound heavenly treasure.

In any case, he was no march for a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage as he currently was, and even without the wisp of spiritual power that Duan Tianren had injected into his body, it would be next to impossible for him to escape from the heavily guarded Cloud City anyway. Hence, he essentially had no choice but to do as he was told regardless of whether it would spell fortune or disaster for him.

Thus, after hesitating for a long while, Han Li finally gritted his teeth and made his way toward the Rich Aroma Pavilion.

Thankfully, even if Duan Tianren really were interested in his profound heavenly treasure, there was no immediate threat to his life.

Han Li made his way into the Rich Aroma Pavilion in a slightly resigned manner to find that there was a handsome young Crystal being standing inside by the entrance.

This was a Core Formation Stage Crystal being, and he immediately greeted Han Li with a smile as he said, "Senior Li, right? Elder Duan has already been waiting in the fourth VIP booth for a long time. Please come with me, Senior."

Han Li glanced around at the first level of the pavilion, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, but he merely nodded, and said, "Lead the way."

The entire hall around him was completely empty without any ornaments or furniture at all, and the walls were constructed from some kind of unknown material that was flashing with faint blue light.

Thus, the Crystal being led Han Li up a staircase, and a short while later, Han Li found himself on the third floor of the pavilion, standing in front of a booth that was enshrouded under faint golden light.

The Crystal being stopped there and made a hand seal before raising a hand toward the door of the booth.

A burst of silver light immediately shot forth from within his sleeve, following which he stepped away to the side in a respectful manner.

Moments later, a voice sounded from within the booth.

"Seeing as you're already here, then come in."

Han Li was rather bewildered to hear this voice as it belonged to a woman.

Right at this moment, golden flashed up ahead, the and door to the booth slowly opened of its own accord.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li strode into the booth, and the door swung shut again amid another flash of golden light.

"I pay my respects to my two Seniors!" Han Li cupped his fist in a calm salute after cast his gaze around the booth.

This was an antiquated room that was over 100 feet in size, and there were two beings sitting beside a table in there.

One of them was Duan Tianren, while the other was a Crystal Race beauty who appeared to be in her thirties, and she was at the early-Body Integration Stage.

The female voice that Han Li had heard earlier undoubtedly belonged to this woman.

"No need for excessive formalities, Fellow Daoist Li; please take a seat," the woman said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Duan Tianren was pouring wine directly into his mouth from a pink wine flagon, and he showed no sign of stopping even as he glanced at Han Li out of the corner of his eye.

Even for Han Li, who very rarely consumed alcoholic beverages, the rich fragrant aroma emanating from the wine was quite tempting to him.

Thus, after extending another respectful salute, Han Li took a seat on one of the other chairs in the booth.

At this moment, the woman turned to appraise Han Li, and he could sense that her gaze paused momentarily when it traveled to his sleeve.

It appeared that Duan Tianren had to have told her something.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he felt as if he had landed himself in a lot of hot water. All of the Crystal beings were extremely intelligent, and high-grade Crystal beings that could cultivate to the Body Integration Stage were all supremely prodigious beings.

As such, it wouldn't be easy to try and swindle these two.

Duan Tianren finally finished the contents of the entire wine flagon before wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he said, "Alright, he's here, and I've told you everything I need to tell you. The rest is up to you now, Fairy Cai. I'm just a thick-skulled idiot, so using my brain certainly isn't my forte, but I have to get the biggest share out of the things that we obtain in the end."

"There's no rush, Brother Duan. I've only heard a verbal account from you, so I have to verify the specific details for myself," the woman said with a smile.

"You can do whatever you want. In any case, I've verified it in person, and I'm sure it's real. By the way, your Nine Fragrance Spirit Wine is becoming more and more delectable by the day; get me another flagon, will you?" Duan Tianren waved the empty wine flagon in his hand in a demanding manner.

"Do you really think my Rich Aroma Pavilion is a pub, Brother Duan? It takes 100 years just to brew around 10 jugs of this Nine Aroma Spirit Wine, and you've already drunk three flagons. Next time you come here, I can only bring out some ordinary spirit wine for you." The woman rolled her eyes at Duan Tianren, but she still complied in the end. A green wine jug appeared in her hands amid a flash of spiritual light, and she refilled the pink wine flagon in Duan Tianren's hand.

"Haha, that's because you're the only one in Cloud City who knows how to brew this wine. I've asked to purchase the brewing method from you on several occasions, but you refuse to sell it to me. It really is quite strange how you're able to brew the finest spirit wine in the entire Cloud City when you don't even drink wine yourself," Duan Tianren said with an amused smile after downing another large mouthful of wine.

"I never proclaimed that my wine is the best in Cloud City; this is merely an honorary title given to me by other fellow Daoists. On top of that, I'm not refusing to give you the brewing method because I'm stingy. Instead, it's because the brewing method is closely related to the cultivation arts that I'm using, so you wouldn't be able to brew this Nine Aroma Spirit Wine even if I were to give you the method," the woman chuckled.

Duan Tianren merely smiled in response before continuing to chug down wine without offering a reply.

Meanwhile, the woman flipped a hand over to produce a fist-sized golden cup, which she filled with wine from her jug before offering it to Han Li.

The cup was enveloped by a ball of green light and slowly hovered toward him.

"The fact that you've come here today shows that you must have some affinity with my Rich Aroma Pavilion; why don't you have some Nine Aroma Spirit Wine as well?" the woman said with a smile as Han Li reflexively caught the cup of wine.

"Thank you, Senior," Han Li replied in a grateful manner, but he didn't immediately down the contents of the cup. Instead, he looked down at the golden cup in his hand to find that this so-called Nine Aroma Spirit Wine was translucent and viscous, and slightly pink in color. With the golden cup acting as a backdrop, it was as if he were holding a mesmerizing miniature lake filled with agate rocks.

There was also a unique aroma wafting from the wine in the cup, and as he took a faint whiff, the aroma changed several times in an instant, presenting quite an extraordinary phenomenon.

"Not only is my spirit wine extremely aromatic, consumption of it can clear the eyes and cleanse the body. Each and every mouthful of wine can save you over a month of arduous cultivation," the woman introduced.

"I am extremely fortunate to be able to taste such extraordinary wine." At this point, Han Li had also ascertained that the wine in the cup hadn't been tampered with, so he raised the cup to his lips to take a sip.

He felt as if a block of glacial ice had entered his mouth, immediately following which the block of ice melted and turned into a warm liquid that extremely smooth and aromatic.

The captivating aroma then slid down his throat and into his stomach, even without the need for Han Li to actively swallow.

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All of a sudden, Han Li felt a scorching sensation in his dantian, which then spread through his limbs, meridians, and all over his body to create an extremely comfortable sensation.

Han Li closed his eyes to savor the aftertaste of the wine for a long while before finally praising in a heartfelt manner, "This wine is indeed extraordinary! This is the first time I've had such delectable spirit wine."

"Hehe, if that weren't the case, then I wouldn't come here every year to beg for wine," Duan Tianren chortled heartily.

"It is a great honor for me that you two enjoy my spirit wine. However, we didn't invite you here just to drink wine, Fellow Daoist Han," the woman said with a smile.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he put down his cup as he asked, "I'm also quite curious; why did you and Senior Duan ask me to come here?"

"Seeing as you've raised the question, I won't waste any more time. Fellow Daoist Li, would you be able to roll up that sleeve so I can see your hand?" the woman asked with a peculiar look on her face.

"My hand?" Han Li feigned a surprised expression, but he actually heaved a long sigh of relief internally.

It appeared that these two weren't after his profound heavenly treasure.

"Indeed, I'd like to see your hand," the woman confirmed as she pointed at Han Li's sleeve.

"Alright, no problem," Han Li reluctantly agreed after a long hesitation.

He then rolled up his sleeve to reveal his hand, and it appeared to be no different from the average human hand.

The woman's brows furrowed upon seeing this, following which the crystal on her glabella flashed as a streak of silver light shot forth. The streak of light hurtled through the air at an astonishing speed, reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye before stabbing down with ferocious might toward the hand that Han Li had just unveiled.

The woman appeared to be quite warm and gentle, but she was attacking without any premonition in a display that completely belied her appearance.

Han Li was completely caught off guard by this attack, and he reflexively spread his fingers apart before grabbing toward the silver streak of light.

The silver light struck his palm with a loud clang, following which the sound of metal grating on metal rang out.

Han Li then grabbed onto the silver streak of light before unfurling his fingers to reveal a silver needle that was several inches in length.

The needle was shimmering with translucent light and trembling slightly in his hand, seemingly possessing extremely abundant spiritual nature.

At this moment, Han Li's entire hand had already turned a glossy black color as if it had been forged entirely from black iron.

On top of that, a shimmering silver miniature mountain insignia had appeared on the back of his hand, and that was none other than a manifestation of the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

After mastering the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, the mountain had completely fused as one with his hand, so despite the lethality of the silver needle that the woman had unleashed, there was no way that it would be wound him.

However, Han Li wasn't triumphant in the slightest to have withstood that attack. Instead, his expression darkened significantly.

In contrast, the Crystal woman was staring at his black hand with undisguised excitement in her eyes, and Duan Tianren also wore an elated expression on his face.

"You really do possess an acquired Essencefused Body. In that case, we'll be able to achieve our objective!" the woman murmured to herself before raising a hand, and the silver needle escaped Han Li's grasp before flying back to her.

In the end, the needle disappeared into the crystal on her glabella in a flash.

Han Li took a deep breath to compose himself before asking, "What do you mean by Essencefused Body, Senior?"

"An Essencefused Body naturally refers to someone capable of using the Divine Essencefused Light. Seeing as you've fused an Essencefused Treasure with your body, you technically possess an acquired Essencefused Body. Speaking of which, this cultivation art that allows you to fuse a treasure into your body is quite similar in effect to the cultivation art you're using, Fellow Daoist Duan. The only difference is that instead of treasures, you fuse all types of precious tool refinement materials into your body instead, Brother Duan." The woman seemed to be in very high spirits.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't ask any questions. He knew that the woman would definitely explain the situation to him anyway, even if he didn't ask her anything.

As expected, seeing as Han Li wasn't saying anything, the woman continued, "Even though we've essentially confirmed that you possess an Essencefused Body, I still want to see you release your Divine Essencefused Light. You wouldn't turn down that request from me, would you, Fellow Daoist Li?"

Instead of answering the question, Han Li merely waved a hand before him, and a layer of grey light instantly surfaced to create a light barrier around his body.

The woman's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and she rubbed her hands together before raising them toward Han Li.

A string of spluttering sounds rang out, following which several crimson fireballs flew toward him.

Initially, they were only fist-sized fireballs, but not long after they left her hand, they swelled to the size of human heads, and seemed to be quite powerful as well.

Han Li looked on at these fireballs and displayed no intent to evade them, merely allowing them to strike his grey light barrier in quick succession instead.

As soon as the fireballs came into contact with the grey light barrier, they disappeared amid dull thumps like sandcastles in the rising tide, completely vanishing before they could unleash any power.

"There's no mistaking it; Divine Essencefused Light combats the power of the five elements. From the ease with which you're using your Divine Essencefused Light, I can tell that you've clearly cultivated it to the maximal extent, and your mastery of it is no less proficient than in those who are born with Essencefused Bodies. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Duan?" The woman clapped her hands with elation before turning to Duan Tianren.

A peculiar light flashed through Duan Tianren's eyes upon hearing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion toward Han Li.

Several large runes flashed from his fingertips, following which a vast expanse of grey light surged forth, sweeping directly toward Han Li.

"Divine Essencefused Light!" Han Li exclaimed with alarm as he looked on at the familiar grey light surging toward him.

He then reflexively made a hand seal, and brilliant light erupted from the grey light barrier around the body as it prepared to withstand Duan Tianren's Divine Essencefused Light.

Immediately thereafter, the two bursts of grey light flashed amid a string of strange crackling noises.

Even though both bursts of light were grey in color, it was not impossible to tell the difference between the two.

It was quite clear that the color of Duan Tianren's Divine Essencefused Light was slightly darker, but it was clearly more volatile and unstable, as if he were unable to completely control it as he pleased.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, and after a brief pause for contemplation, he suddenly pointed an inky-black finger toward the grey light up ahead. All of the Divine Essencefused Light suddenly converged toward the center to form a large ball of light that rapidly rotated on the spot.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

The grey light unleashed by Duan Tianren seemed to have encountered a massive vortex, and it all disappeared into the ball of light in a flash.

"Alright, that's enough! Even though Fellow Daoist Li's Essencefused Body is an acquired one, it's quite clear that he's far more proficient in using the Divine Essencefused Light than you are, Brother Duan. Tsk tsk, his level of mastery is no different from that of a being naturally born with an Essencefused Body," the woman remarked with a wide smile.

"Hmph, of course that's the case. My Divine Essencefused Light is only released from forcibly using my magic power to activate the Essencefused Stones that I've fused with my body, so there's no way it can compare with Fellow Daoist Li's Divine Essencefused Light. Tsk tsk, speaking of which, your secret art to fuse treasures with your body is quite extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Li," Duan Tianren clicked his tongue with wonder.

"It's quite fortunate that you fused a large quantity of Essencefused Stones into my body. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to detect the Essencefused Treasure within Fellow Daoist Li's body," the woman said with a smile.

Han Li was left a little speechless upon hearing this.

At this moment, Duan Tianren raised a hand to withdraw the Divine Essencefused Light that he'd released, then lowered his arm in a calm manner.

Han Li also made a hand seal to withdraw the silver light around him before asking, "There must be a reason why you hold this ability in such high regard, right, Senior?"

"We do have our reasons, of course. In all honesty, we've waited thousands of years for someone capable of wielding the Divine Essencefused Light, but we were still unable to gather enough people, so we'd originally already given up. Who would've thought that you'd appear us at this juncture to rekindle our hopes?" the woman replied with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Gather enough people? Does that mean you found others with the Essencefused Body as well?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"Of course. We'll have to tell you everything eventually, so I'll fill you in now. We have an objective that we want to achieve, and only beings with mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light can achieve it, but one person alone definitely isn't enough. After searching for thousands of years, Brother Duan and I have found three beings with the Essencefused Body, including yourself," the woman explained.

"The Divine Essencefused Light isn't a unique secret cultivation art, but it's most definitely extremely rare, so we weren't confident at all that we'd be able to gather enough people, but it appears that the heavens have blessed us with immense fortune," the woman continued with a smile.

"Alright, I now understand why I was invited here, but how may I be of assistance to you, Senior?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.

"That's quite an important matter, and I can only reveal the specific details to you after discussing some things with Brother Duan. However, one thing is for sure; we'll need you to do something for us, and we'll require your services at several years to a century from now," the woman replied.

"What? Several years to a century?" Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this familiar timeframe.

"Is there something wrong, Fellow Daoist Li?" the Crystal woman asked.

Han Li was silent for a long while before a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he asked, "Does this have something to do with the Vast Glacial Realm?"

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A hint of surprise flashed through the woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she then smiled, and said, "Indeed, we will require you to do something for us in the Vast Glacial Realm. Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li; even though you're not a member of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, we are both relatively important figures in our respective races, so it won't be an issue for us to grant you a spot to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As such, we'll be giving you this splendid opportunity in return for your help; what do you think?"

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face. After a long while, he finally sighed, "I haven't reached a bottleneck in my cultivation, so entering the Vast Glacial Realm won't do me much good. On top of that, I can enter the Vast Glacial Realm without any additional effort on your part, Senior."

"You can enter the Vast Glacial Realm without our help? Surely not! I can see that you're in disguise right now, but I'm certain that you're not a being from one of our 13 races; how can an outsider like you have the right to enter the Vast Glacial Realm?" A hint of surprise appeared on Duan Tianren's face as he spoke.

A flash of realization suddenly appeared in the Crystal woman's eyes, and she chuckled, "Don't be quick to jump to conclusions, Brother Duan. If we're talking about outsiders, then there really is one who was granted the right to enter the Vast Glacial Realm recently. I think we need to stop referring to you as Fellow Daoist Li; isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Han?"Han Li heaved an internal sigh upon hearing this.

As expected, these two beings were too powerful to be fooled by his disguise. Thankfully, from the sounds of it, they could tell that he was in disguise, but they still couldn't glean his true appearance.

After a brief pause to collect his thoughts, Duan Tianren mused, "Fellow Daoist Han? Now that you mention it, I did hear someone in my race tell me about this. There was a certain outsider who activated a Vast Glacial Bage around a year ago, and he seemed to be requesting access to our super teleportation formation at the time as well."

"Indeed. It appears that this Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Li are one and the same," the woman said with a smile. "Hehe, in that case, he has to enter the Vast Glacial Realm anyway; that'll save us a lot of hassle." Duan Tianren was quite elated to hear this.

"I still don't know what you'd like me to do, and on top of that, I've accepted another mission from your Stone Cocoon Race as well, so it'll be quite difficult for me to juggle two missions at once in the Vast Glacial Realm," Han Li said in a hesitant manner.

"Oh, you're talking about gathering the tool refinement material, right? Don't worry, that won't take you long at all, so it definitely won't delay you. If you have to choose between one or the other, then naturally prioritize the task that Fellow Daoist Cai and I are assigning you. Even if you don't manage to gather the tool refinement material, our Stone Cocoon Race wouldn't hold you accountable as long as I have something to say about it," Duan Tianren said in a proud manner.

"As for what task we're going to be assigning you, seeing as it's assured that you'll be entering the Vast Glacial Realm, it couldn't hurt to divulge some of the details to you. What do you think, Brother Duan?" the Crystal woman asked."If you think it's fine, then go right ahead; I have no objections," Duan Tianren replied.

"It's actually very simple. We need you and two other beings who also possess the Essencefused Body to combine your powers in order to open a hidden restriction in the Vast Glacial Realm, then secure a few times from within the restriction. Those items will assist Brother Duan and me greatly in our heavenly tribulations, and if you succeed, our survival will essentially be ensured for the next few tens of thousands of years," the woman elaborated in a serious manner.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but think of Qing Yuanzi, who was hiding in the infernal river.

Despite his extraordinary cultivation base, he had no choice but to reside in a space outside of the main ream in order to delay his next major heavenly tribulation.

At their cultivation bases, dying of old age was no longer a concern, but the major heavenly tribulations that were guaranteed to befall them periodically was something that they had to try to avoid or delay at all cost.

It seemed that even after reaching the Body Integration Stage, one still had to toil away in the ever-present hamster wheel of cultivation.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh as he came to that conclusion.

The Crystal woman continued, "This restriction is something we discovered in the Vast Glacial Realm back before we reached the holy race, and I wasn't able to open it at the time, but I was lucky enough to learn some information about it through other avenues. There are a few items in there that are next to useless for upper race beings like you, but they're life-saving treasures to holy race beings like us."

"Seeing as this restriction lies in the Vast Glacial Realm, then doesn't that mean it would've been left behind by an immortal? I've heard that many beings have perished within various restrictions in the Vast Glacial Realm; are you really certain that we'll be able to bypass it unscathed, Senior?" Han Li asked in a cautious manner.

"Perhaps my combat prowess is slightly inferior compared to that of the average holy race being, but in terms of mastery in restrictions, I can confidently say that I'm ranked within the top five beings in all of the Heavenly Cloud Races. At the time, I painstakingly studied the restriction to find that it had existed for countless years, and the vast majority of its power had already faded. Otherwise, I would've completely given up on it from the get-go. Do you not believe me, Fellow Daoist?" the woman asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

"I wouldn't dare," Han Li hurriedly replied.

"It would only be natural for you to be skeptical under these circumstances. Rest assured, I may be a woman, but I'm not so petty as to begrudge you for doubting my words. I spent over 1,000 years to devise this method to break the restriction using the powers of three beings with Essencefused Bodies, and there's at least a 70% to 80% chance that it would succeed. As for the other two beings with Essencefused Bodies, they've been here in Cloud City this entire time. One of them was naturally born with the constitution and is currently a guest member of our Crystal Race; the other acquired the Essencefused Body through assistance from Bother Duan. If they were to join forces with you, I'm sure the three of you will be able to break that restriction," the woman said in a confident manner.

"If Senior Duan can help a being attain the Essencefused Body, then why didn't he just replicate that with another being rather than wait all this time?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"The other being was only able to attain the Essencefused Body with Brother Duan's assistance through the use of Essencefused Stones. These stones are extremely rare, and it's very difficult for beings to absorb them into their bodies. At the time, Brother Duan attempted to assist six of his brethren to attain the Essencefused Body at once, but only one of them succeeded. After that, we couldn't gather any more Essencefused Stones, so that course of action was no longer feasible. At the core of the matter, we simply want to ask you to help the other two break a restriction in the Vast Glacial Realm; we're not asking you to take some kind of outrageous risk," the woman explained.

After a brief pause, a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face. "I probably have no choice but to agree, right?" Hehe, what do you think?" At this moment, Duan Tianren had finished his flagon of wine, and he turned to Han Li with a cold expression on his face.

"If it really is as simple as you say, then I'm naturally willing to help. However, the Vast Glacial Realm is fraught with peril, and that restriction was very likely left behind by an immortal, so there could be many unpredictable circumstances involved. Will you really be able to ensure my safety?" Han Li asked after taking a deep breath.

"Hehe, nothing is set in stone in this world. Even if I were to guarantee your safety, would you believe me?" the woman asked with a hint of a smile on her face.

Han Li fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Seeing as you're unable to make that promise, I'd like you to agree to two conditions of mine in return." As opposed to being annoyed, the woman was quite relieved to hear this. The fact that Han Li was willing to state conditions indicated that he was willing to undertake this task. "Of course! Even if you didn't state any conditions, Brother Duan and I would be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts as long as you succeed."

"My first condition is very simple. As you know, I wish to access the super teleportation formation after returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, but using the teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast number of top-grade spirit stones. I'm afraid I won't be able to issue such a massive sum on my own," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Using the super teleportation formation does indeed require the expenditure of an astronomical number of top-grade spirit stones. How about this? I'll supply half of the spirit stones required; are you happy with that?" the woman promised without any hesitation.

It seemed that providing this astonishing sum wasn't an issue for her at all.

Han Li was rather taken aback by the fact that she was willing to offer so many spirit stones to help his cause, but he merely smiled as he continued, "Thank you, Senior. My second condition is that after breaking the restriction, I want all of the other treasures aside from the few designated ones."

"No problem. We only want those few treasures, so you and the other two fellow Daoists can take everything else," the woman immediately replied, seemingly completely unsurprised by this condition.

She didn't even discuss the matter with Duan Tianren, but he merely glanced at the woman and didn't state any objections.

"I'm not a greedy person; seeing as you've accepted both of my conditions, I have no further objections. I'm willing to lend you my assistance after entering the Vast Glacial Realm." Han Li rose to his feet as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Great! With your help, I'm sure we'll enjoy resounding success. Brother Duan and I will visit you to disclose the specific details closer to the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm. Also, I hope that you won't reveal what we discussed here to anyone else," the woman cautioned with a smile."Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to keep this a secret. If that's all, then I'll be taking my leave," Han Li replied with a respectful bow.

"Alright, you can go now. If you encounter any difficulties during this time, you can refer to myself and Brother Duan as your backers; that should take care of most troubles that come your way. Oh right, you still don't know my full name, right? I'm Cai Liuying," the woman said with a smile.

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When Han Li re-emerged from the Rich Aroma Pavilion, there were already many people making their way into the main hall of the auction house, indicating that the auction was about to commence.

Han Li immediately also followed suit without any hesitation.

The entrance to the main hall was about three to four times the size of the entrances leading to the side halls, and the number of blue-robed guards outside also far outstripped that of the guards stationed in front of the side halls.

However, these guards did nothing aside from maintaining basic order.

Han Li followed the crowd into the auction house in an inconspicuous manner, and after walking through the entrance, he found himself in a hall with several corridors leading elsewhere.

Each of the corridors had a sign hanging next to their entrances, upon which were written simple words like "Appraisal", "Pawn", and "Hall". There was a young man standing next to each of the signs in a respectful manner, and they seemed to be employees of the auction house.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the signs, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. After a brief pause, he made his way toward one of them, and asked, "What can I expect to find in here?"

The young man standing next to the "Appraisal" sign bowed, and replied, "This is the place where auction items are taken to be appraised. If you have any precious items, they can be added to the list of auction items if the appraisers deem them to be worthy."

"Oh, I see." Han Li nodded before making his way into the corridor.

Cai Liuying had promised to issue half of the expenses required for him to use the super teleportation formation, but the remaining half was still an astronomical sum that he had to take care of himself.

As such, Han Li wanted to sell off some items to the auction house as he'd originally planned.

The corridor wasn't a very long one; after walking for several tens of feet and rounding a corner, Han Li found himself standing before a dark red door.

The door was wide open, but an azure light barrier concealed the entrance, and there were seven or eight foreign beings standing in a line in front of the light barrier.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this, but he made his way over to the line calmly before standing at the rear.

Azure light flashed, and the light barrier opened up of its own accord as a red-haired foreign being emerged from within. Judging from the wide smile on his face, he seemed to have received some good news.

The foreign being paid no heed to everyone else lined up outside as he passed through the crowd and made his way out of the corridor in high spirits.

Thus, the next person in the line proceeded to stride toward the light barrier.

After only about 10 minutes, everyone in front of Han Li had gone in and re-emerged, indicating that the appraisers were quite quick and efficient. However, four or five more beings had since joined the line before Han Li. It appeared that many people had the same plan as Han Li, choosing to sell off their items to the auction house right before the commencement of the auction.

After another foreign being emerged from the azure light barrier in a dejected manner, it was finally Han Li's turn, and he made his way into the room.

After stepping through the light barrier, Han Li found himself in a massive room that was over 300 feet in size. The entire room had been constructed from some kind of greyish-white stone, and there were many runes carved all over the surfaces of this material, thereby ensuring secrecy within this appraisal room.

There was also a jade table and three wooden chairs in the room, as well as a simple teleportation formation in the corner.

There were three murky white humanoid figures sitting on the chairs, and due to the fact that their bodies had been entirely concealed under spiritual light, there was no way to glean their true appearances.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward them, only to find that all three seemed to be carrying some kind of aura concealment treasure that completely thwarted his attempt to gauge their cultivation bases.

"If you have something you'd like to offer to the auction house, you can show it to the three of us now. However, our Four Races Auction will only be selling materials and treasures of an extremely high caliber, so if you don't have anything that's extremely rare or special, you can go to the side hall to sell your items there. On top of that, if you're dissatisfied with our appraisals, you can raise the issue to us, and we'll get another panel of three appraisers to offer their appraisals." The one who had spoken was the humanoid figure at the center of the trio, and she had a pleasant young female voice.

"Thank you for the information, I'm sure I have something that will be of interest to you." Han Li nodded before rustling his sleeves, then flipping his hands over to produce a green jade vial and a pristine white jade box.

Instead of approaching the three appraisers, Han Li tossed the items toward them from afar, and they were immediately caught by an invisible force before being slowly carried over to the trio.

The two humanoid figures who hadn't spoken immediately grabbed a container each before opening them.

As soon as the vial was opened, an extremely rich medicinal aroma wafted forth along with an indistinct dragon's roar. A ball of green light then flew out of the vial, and the item within the light seemed to possess abundant spiritual nature.

The humanoid figure who was holding the vial let loose a faint cry of surprise as he hurried closed the vial again. At the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a swath of white light shot forth to ensnare the ball of green light before drawing it into his grasp.

He stared intently at the ball of light to find that there was an azure pill within it. The surface of the pill was smooth and supple, and an extremely life-like silver dragon insignia could be seen on it.

The humanoid figure picked up the pill before taking a light whiff, then began to carefully appraise it in silence.

Meanwhile, the other humanoid figure also opened the white jade box in his hand to find that there was a green section of bamboo that was around half a foot in length within it.

The humanoid figure inspected the section of bamboo briefly before reaching out to touch it, upon which an arc of golden lightning that was as thick as a finger erupted from the surface of the bamboo amid a loud thunderclap.

"This is Golden Lightning Bamboo!" the humanoid figure exclaimed.

The woman in the middle was also quite surprised to hear this, but she repressed her shock as she cautioned, "Golden Lightning Bamboo?! Please ensure that you've appraised it correctly, Brother Dao."

"Rest assured, I'll be sure to appraise it carefully," the humanoid figure holding the jade box replied.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he crossed his arms as he waited in silence.

Immediately thereafter, the humanoid figure reached a hand up into his sleeve before pulling out an inky-black gourd. The groud was only several inches in size and extremely intricate in design.

The humanoid figure tipped the gourd over and aimed its opening at the green section of bamboo in the jade box before gently patting the underside of the gourd.

Black light flashed from the opening of the gourd, and a fist-sized ball of black Qi was expelled before striking the green bamboo.

As soon as the two came into contact, a loud rumbling thunderclap erupted, and several arcs of golden lightning erupted once again to vanquish the black Qi.

After doing that, the humanoid figure still wasn't satisfied. He pulled out a green jar and released a burst of green Qi from within, only for that to also be destroyed by the arcs of lightning unleashed by the section of bamboo.

"There's no mistaking it; this is Golden Lightning Bamboo, I'm sure of it!" the humanoid figure confirmed.

"Thank you for your efforts. How is the pill appraisal coming along, Fellow Daoist? The pill possesses some spiritual nature already, so it must be quite an extraordinary item as well, right?" The woman nodded before turning to the other humanoid figure.

"This pill predominantly contains wood-attribute power with earth and metal-attribute powers as secondary components. The pill has already attained very basic sentient will, and it's suitable for consumption for seventh and eighth-tier upper race beings. However, if a ninth-tier upper race being were to consume it, the effect of the pill would be less than a tenth of what it would be otherwise. This pill can qualify as a first-grade pill." After staring at the pill for a long while, the humanoid figure was somehow able to gauge the properties of the Rising Dragon Pill down to a fault.

Even Han Li couldn't help but be struck by a hint of surprise upon hearing this unerringly accurate appraisal.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, this Golden Jade Bamboo and these pills both qualify as auction items. In particular, the section of Golden Jade Bamboo will be one of the most precious auction items that will be brought out near the end. By the way, is there a name for these pills? Also, I'll propose a starting price for both of these items, and you can tell me whether those starting prices are satisfactory to you," the woman said with a smile as she carefully appraised Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything, she picked up a white jade badge from the table before quickly scribbling something on it with her fingertip, then tossing it to Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade badge and merely took a cursory glance at it before nodding as he replied, "I'm happy with these two starting prices. In any case, I'm confident that these two items wouldn't actually be sold for just their starting prices. As for those pills, they're called Rising Dragon Pills, and they were very difficult to refine."

"Rising Dragon Pills, got it! We'll sell these pills under that name. Please keep that jade badge safe; that will act as your receipt for you to claim the spirit stones for those two items at the conclusion of the auction," the woman reminded.

"I'll be sure to do so. If that's all, then I'll be heading into the auction now." Han Li cupped his fist in a calm salute as he prepared to take his leave.

"Enjoy the auction, Fellow Daoist. We'll be sure to issue your spirit stones to you in secret at the end," the woman replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded before turning to leave.

It was unknown which of the trio was operating the restriction in the room, but none of the three appeared to have done anything before the azure light barrier parted to allow him passage.

After emerging from the appraisal room, Han Li paid no heed to everyone outside as he made his way out of the corridor in an unhurried manner.

There seemed to be even more foreign beings in the hall now, and a steady stream of people was filing into the corridor leading to the auction hall.

Han Li didn't delay any further as he also followed suit.

After passing through a passageway that was shimmering with yellow light, he found himself in a massive hall.

After assessing his surroundings, Han Li was slightly stunned to find that not only was the hall extremely large and spacious, it had also been split into upper, middle, and lower levels.

He couldn't tell what kind of material the middle and upper levels had been refined from, but they were entirely pristine white in color, and they managed to hover in mid-air despite the complete lack of support structures, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

The middle and lower levels were filled with sets of normal tables and chairs that were each situated around 10 feet away from one another, yet the upper level consisted of a series of cabins of the same size. Furthermore, these cabins were occasionally shimmering with spiritual light, thereby indicating that some kind of restriction had been applied to them.

It was quite clear that those cabins were reserved for beings of high status in Cloud City.

Han Li only took a quick glance at the upper level before withdrawing a gaze and finding a random obscure corner to sit down at, where he silently awaited the commencement of the auction.

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Han Li sat on in his chair for around two hours as large numbers of foreign beings poured into the hall.

The spacious three-level hall was entirely filled in the end, and even the cabins on the upper level had all been occupied.

Even the weakest foreign beings to attend the auction were at the Nascent Soul Stage, while the most powerful beings were at the Body Integration.

Just the Body Integration Stage beings that Han Li counted amounted to around four or five, and both Duan Tianren and Qian Jizi among them.

As for the other few Body Integration Stage beings that Han Li saw, those were also presumably all important figures akin to elders in their respective races.

At least 60 to 70 beings had already filed to the cabins on the upper level prior to Han Li's entrance, and all of them were at the Body Integration Stage.

However, Han Li didn't see Cai Liuying among their ranks, which meant that she had either take a cabin before Han Li had arrived or she had no interest in participating in this auction at all.

As he looked around at the packed auction hall, Han Li couldn't help but heave an internal sigh of awe and wonder.

It was indeed true that Cloud City was inhabited by beings from all 13 Heavenly Cloud Races and even foreign beings outside of those races, but it was still quite extraordinary for so many Body Integration Stage beings to appear in a single city. After all, there were only a dozen or so Body Integration Stage beings among the human and demon races combined in Deep Heaven City, and that city had also been where the cream of the crop among the human and demon races resided.

After waiting for a while longer, the entire hall was virtually packed to the rafters.

A string of three crisp bell chimes rang out, and the gate leading to the main hall slowly swung shut amid bursts of flashing five-colored light.

When the gates were completely shut, the auction finally commenced.

At the very front of the hall was a tall stage that was over 100 feet in height, similar to the kind of stage one would find in a normal auction house.

The only thing that was different was that there was a golden humanoid puppet standing on each of the four corners of the stage. These puppets were all antiquated in design and several tens of feet tall, wielding a giant silver halberd each.

Even though they were standing in a completely motionless manner, they gave off quite a fearsome aura, and it was quite apparent that they were extremely powerful.

At the very center of the stage was a blue formation, within which was a faint red table. There were many runes carved all over the table, giving it an extremely mysterious appearance.

As soon as the gates swung shut, the blue formation lit up and began emitting a low buzzing sound.

As the runes on the spell formation flashed, a humanoid figure appeared behind the table.

That spell formation was a teleportation formation.

The humanoid figure was a little blurry when it first appeared, but it quickly became clearer and revealed itself to be a refined and graceful middle-aged man.

The man wore a brocade robe and had a clean-shaven face. He appeared to be completely identical in appearance to a normal human being.

However, as Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the man from afar, he was stunned to discover that the middle-aged man was a mid-Body Integration Stage being. On top of that, he could sense an extremely fearsome aura emanating from the man's body, and this observation told him that this man was an extremely dangerous being.

The middle-aged man seemed to hold quite a resounding reputation in Cloud City, as indicated by the fact that the chatter in the auction hall immediately died down following his appearance.

In fact, Han Li noticed that many of the beings around him were appraising the man on the stage with a hint of fear in their eyes.

In contrast, the middle-aged man adopted a warm smile as he said, "Greetings, fellow Daoists, I am Xiao Buyi. I'm sure that many of you know of me already, and there are even some among you who have met me in person. As such, I'll skip the self-introduction and cut straight to the chase. Due to the fact that the Sand Race, which I am a member of, is partly responsible for holding this Four Races Auction, I was asked to act as the host. I won't elaborate too much on the rules of the auction; they're completely the same as that of normal auctions. Seeing as all of you are attending an auction of this level of prestige, I'm sure you all know basic auction rules and etiquette. Aside from that, I can disclose some information about the most precious auction items that are to be brought out near the conclusion of the auction; those auction items are definitely not inferior to any that have been offered during the last Four Races Auction. In fact, for some fellow Daoists, the final auction item will be far more valuable than even the Great Fortune Pill that was sold for the highest price during the last Four Races Auction. Alright, without further ado, let the auction begin!"

Xiao Buyi's voice wasn't very loud, but he had injected his spiritual power into it, so it was clearly audible to everyone in the auction hall. Just a simple introduction had piqued the interest of the hundreds of thousands of beings present.

In the instant that Xiao Buyi's voice trailed off, a buzzing sound rang out from the blue formation again, and a dozen or so miniature light formations suddenly appeared on the empty table.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and a dozen or so boxes of different sizes emerged along with a palm-sized jade badge.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the table as a result.

Xiao Buyi strode forward and picked up the jade badge before seeping his spiritual sense into it to glean the information within. He then picked up one of the jade boxes before removing the lid as he announced, "Similar to how the Four Races Auctions have operated in the past, the items we'll be auctioning off first will still be different types of materials. We'll start off with this Phoenix Stone."

Xiao Buyi raised the box in his hand before him, and an object immediately hovered out from within.

It was a strange rainbow stone that resembled the shape of a bird.

Xiao Buyi inspected the stone briefly before announcing, "Phoenix Stones are rare materials that can only be found at the sites where true phoenixes are born. They are extremely prized and sought-after both as a tool refinement materials, as well as a pill refinement ingredient. This Phoenix Stone weight 1.7 kilograms, and it is of the highest quality with no impurities whatsoever. The starting price for this item will be 2,000,00 spirit stones!"

Phoenix Stones were extremely versatile in their uses, and 2,000,000 spirits stones was quite a modest starting price for such a large chunk.

Even Han Li was rather tempted to place a bid for it. Even if he had no use for it in the immediate term, he could purchase it so that he'd always have it on hand for future usage if required.

However, the events that unfolded next immediately made him give up on the item.

As soon as Xiao Buyi announced the starting price of 2,000,000 spirit stones, bids came flying in thick and fast.

Xiao Buyi didn't even have to employ any auctioneer strategies to liven up the crowd, and the price was still quickly bid up to over 4,000,000 spirit stones, which was double the starting price.

In the end, the stone was purchased by a woman from the Dark Green Race for the lofty price of over 5,200,000 spirit stones.

She immediately issued the spirit stones on the spot in exchange for the item.

Even though Han Li had attended many prestigious auctions in the past, he still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Phoenix Stones were indeed precious materials, but this price as way too staggering.

As such, Han Li naturally had no intention of joining in on the bidding.

After that, Xiao Buyi opened another jade box to reveal a shimmering golden spirit flower. "Next up is a 6,000-year-old Golden Monarch Flower. These flowers are the perfect medicinal catalyst for refining some precious pills, and the starting price is 3,000,000 spirit stones."

The flower was comparable in size to a human head, and each and every one of its petals looked as if it had been forged from pure gold.

In stark contrast with the Phoenix Stone, the entire auction hall remained silent after the flower was revealed, and many people looked on with furrowed brows as an awkward atmosphere quickly began to permeate.

This wasn't a surprising occurrence. After all, most of the beings gathered here hadn't even ever heard of this so-called Golden Monarch Flower, yet it had an even higher starting price than the Phoenix Stone.

Han Li began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look on his face upon seeing this. This was also the first time he had ever seen this flower, but from the faint smile on Xiao Buyi's face, it appeared that he was quite confident in this auction item.

"3,000,000." Someone finally made a bid.

Many people turned toward the bidder to find that he was a thin and frail elderly man from an indeterminate race with a pair of white horns on his head.

"3,200,000." Someone else immediately made another bid.

3,500,000!"

"3,800,000!"

One bid after another rolled in from various locations in the auction hall, and there were only a dozen or so participants in the bidding, but the price was climbing just as quickly as it had for the Phoenix Stone.

It appeared that very few people knew how to use the flower, but the few beings that did held the flower in extremely high regard.

After the white-horned elderly man gritted his teeth and made a staggering bid of 7,000,000 spirit stones, all of the other bidders finally remained silent.

Thus, Xiao Buyi took out one auction item after another from the boxes on the table. All of the beings gathered here were high-grade cultivators, so he didn't have to present in-depth introductions for these items before they were sold after rounds of intense bidding.

After all of the items in the jade boxes had been sold, blue light flashed from the teleportation formation again, and seven or eight jade vials appeared on the table.

This time, several types of spirit liquid were being sold.

These items were all extremely precious, and countless beings clambered to place their bids in rapid succession.

The first few vials were all sold for prices that were three to four times their starting prices, and many beings in the auction hall were stunned by the ferocity of the bidding.

This was the beauty of auctions like this; the same item could be worth nothing to someone, but be regarded as a priceless treasure by others.

In the blink of an eye, all of the vials of spirit liquid had been sold aside from a final white vial.

Xiao Buyi's expression had remained quite calm throughout the auction, but a hint of desire finally flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the final small vial.

He heaved a faint forlorn sigh before picking up the vial as he introduced in an extremely concise manner, "This is half a vial of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid. The starting price will be 18,000,000 spirit stones!"

"What? Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid?! Did I hear that right? How could this item possibly be sold in an auction?"

"And the starting price is only 18,000,000? Is it real?"

"How could that not be one of the final auction items? It's one of the seven most precious spirit liquids of our Spirit Realm!"

The entire auction hall immediately burst into a frenzy as everyone stared at the small vial with incredulity and scorching yearning in their eyes.

There were even a few cries of surprise that rang out from within the cabins on the upper level, and Han Li's expression also changed drastically as he heard the name of this spirit liquid being announced.

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