Автор: sergey

All of the other cultivators who were going to enter the Vast Glacial Realm were either inspecting the giant formations or appraising the Vast Glacial Apparatus with solemn expressions on their faces.

The Vast Glacial Realm was a land of opportunities, especially to those who were at cultivation bottlenecks, but it was also fraught with peril, and many beings had perished in there.

Those people all possessed similar levels of aptitude and power to themselves, so everyone was naturally rather uneasy and apprehensive.

Han Li stood silently in a corner, and he wasnt looking at the formations, nor at the Vast Glacial Apparatus. Instead, he continued to look up at the bright sun in the sky through narrowed eyes in a completely motionless manner.

Time slowly passed by, and after a long while, a dragon roar suddenly erupted into the heavens from the plaza.

Han Lis expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the plaza.

There, he discovered that the dozen or so dragon head statues had all opened their eyes, which were shimmering with golden light, and they were roaring up into the sky with their heads raised high.

Everyone below the five-colored light barrier instantly fell silent upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from within the hall. The Vast Glacial Realm has opened, activate the formation and open the passageway.

The voice belonged to none other than the white-robed man with the Weng surname, and everyone on the plaza stirred upon hearing these instructions.

All of the beings who were standing in the formations already immediately activated their formation flags and formation plates in unison.

Countless incantation seals of different colors flew forth from their formation treasures, all of which disappeared into the formations.

The two massive formations began to emit a loud buzzing sound as a result, and the spirit stones embedded into their surfaces began to flash erratically with spiritual lights of different colors. At the same time, an extremely astonishing aura began to proliferate in all directions, and a vast expanse of dark clouds abruptly gathered in the air beneath the five-colored light barrier, as if theyd been drawn to this place by the power of the formations.

The dark clouds completely obscured the entire sky, following which fierce winds were swept up in the area.

Arcs of silver lightning began to appear within the clouds, flashing like bright silver snakes amid rumbling thunderclaps. Black vortexes of different sizes then also began to take shape before devouring and tearing at one another.

A series of astonishing phenomena were conjured up, and the five-colored balls of light were quickly shattered to reveal the shimmering golden and silver badges within.

Fellow Daoist Han, Fairy Yue, you two may enter the formations with your respective teams and activate the Vast Glacial Badges, Qian Jizi yelled without any hesitation upon seeing this.

Han Li and the woman in the blue dress naturally immediately did as they were told, striding toward the formation that their respective Vast Glacial Badges were situated in.

All of their team members also followed suit, while the beings inside the formations who were holding various types of formation treasures backed out of the formations instead.

Even so, the formation treasures in their hands were still blasting incantation seals into the formations in a frenzy without displaying any signs of stopping.

As soon as Han Li made his way into the formation, his heart jolted, and he could sense that his connection with the Vast Glacial Badge had been strengthened by severalfold.

The shimmering Vast Glacial Badge also began to emit a low buzzing sound, as if it were expressing its elation toward Han Lis arrival.

Qian Jizi had naturally already told him how to activate the badge in advance.

As such, Han Li strode toward the center of the formation, then flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, sending one incantation seal after another disappearing into the Vast Glacial Badge that was hovering in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, countless golden and silver runes emerged from the Vast Glacial Badge, and these runes revolved around the badge before forming a light formation that had a diameter of around 10 feet.

The Vast Glacial Badge was situated at the very center of the formation, and Han Li took a deep breath before pointing a finger up at the badge in a solemn manner.

An azure pillar of light immediately shot forth from his fingertip to strike the badge, causing it to emit a loud cry while the entire light formation began to tremor.

Brilliant golden and silver light radiated in all directions, and the light formation slowly revolved before also blasting forth a pillar of golden and silver light that was around as thick as a water tank.

The pillar of light rose up into the sky, disappearing into a certain black vortex up above in a flash, but it showed no signs of stopping there.

A loud rumbling noise rang out in the air above, and the vortex that the pillar of light had vanished into suddenly began to tumble and churn violently, as if it were being stirred up by some kind of immense force. All of the other vortexes around it were instantly swept up and torn apart while the main vortex swelled drastically in size.

After just the span of a few breaths, all of the vortexes in the sky had disappeared aside from two massive ones that were around 500 meters in diameter each, both of which were emanating dense black Qi.

At this moment, the badges at the centers of the light formations suddenly vanished amid a flash of golden and silver lightning, then abruptly reappeared at the centers of the vortexes directly above them.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as golden and silver lightning exploded violently, and it was as if two golden and silver suns had emerged. The two scintillating suns then traveled deep into the vortexes, and in the next instant, devastating bursts of spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from within the vortexes.

Both of the vortexes then abruptly disappeared along with the black Qi around them, and a pair of golden and silver spatial rifts appeared in their wake. The rifts were only around 70 to 80 feet each, and they hung in mid-air in a completely stationary manner, as if they were motionless snapshots in time.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly sensed that the spiritual sense within his body was flowing into the rift above him at a rapid rate, and expression changed drastically as he yelled, What are you all waiting for? I wont be able to keep this up for very long!

The beings who were standing around the formation immediately tossed their formation treasures into the air upon hearing this. Immediately thereafter, they began to make hands seals and chanted in unison.

The formation treasures hovering before them all transformed into balls of light at their behest, all of which disappeared into the formations.

An extremely exuberant display of lights appeared within the formations, following which large runes began to surface all over the place.

As the chanting grew louder and louder, these giant runes began to revolve rapidly within the formations, and their rotational speed only grew faster and faster. In the end, these runes transformed into bursts of five-colored light that swept up all of the beings inside the two formations. Immediately thereafter, the bursts of five-colored light flew straight into the golden and silver rifts up above.

Almost as soon as the two balls of five-colored light vanished into the spatial rifts, the latter also disappeared in a flash, and the sky slowly returned to normal as all of the dark clouds also dissipated.

Qian Jizi and the others had witnessed this entire process, and only now did they allow themselves to heave a collective sigh of relief.

Right at this moment, the white-robed mans cold voice rang out from within the hall again.

The Vast Glacial Realm will open again in a year, and activating the formations again at that time will allow everyone to return here. During this time, make sure to keep the two formations extremely well-guarded, and dont let irrelevant beings approach them. Kill anyone who dares to try and approach the formations for no good reason!

Yes!

Everyone on the entire plaza extended respectful bows toward the hall in unison. freeebnovel.com

After that, all of the beings who had activated the formation treasures earlier dispersed from around the formations, and they were replaced by teams of silver-armored warriors, as well as a dozen or so giant puppets. These guards then surrounded the formations in a virtually airtight barrier.

…

After entering the golden and silver spatial rift, Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness, followed by a complete sensory deprivation.

However, moments later, he was afflicted by a splitting headache, and his vision returned to him as he hurriedly inspected his surroundings.

Upon doing so, he discovered that he was situated high up in the air. Below him was a vast ocean that stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and Shi Kun, Liu Shuier, as well as everyone else on his team, were situated within a radius of several hundred feet around him.

Most of them were still rather disoriented, seemingly having yet to recover from the effects of teleporting into the Vast Glacial Realm.

After inspecting his surroundings, a grey-haired elderly man immediately burst into raucous laughter. Haha, Ive finally made it to the Vast Glacial Realm! With the vast abundance of spiritual Qi here, Ill have a much greater chance of reaching the holy race. Fellow Daoists, Im going to find a place to go into seclusion, so Ill be taking my leave now. He then swept a sleeve through the air, and spiritual light flashed from his body, following which he sped away as a streak of silver light, disappearing from view after just a few flashes.

Everyone glanced at one another upon seeing this, and three more people also departed in different directions without uttering a single word, quickly vanishing into the distance as well.

The remaining eleven people remained standing on the spot with different expressions on their faces, and they were yet to decide what they were going to do next.

Fellow Daoists, the Vast Glacial Realm presents a fantastic opportunity to break through your bottlenecks, but make sure thats not the only thing you do here. There are many treasures to be found in this place as well, and I suggest we all stick together so we can look out for one another while searching for these treasures, what do you all say? The one who had spoken was an extremely short being with a triangular head.

A burly man with several thick golden rings around his arms chuckled coldly as he said, I do indeed plan on joining forces with others, but Im not interested in hunting for treasures with you, Fellow Daoist Jin. Youve forged a reputation for yourself among our Heavenly Cloud Races for your shamelessness and deceitful nature, even if we were to find treasures together, Id be afraid that youd stab me in the back. Brother Feng, Brother Yun, lets team up together. The twins from the Azure Race seemed to have forged an agreement with the burly man already, and the three of them immediately sped away together.

Thus, there were only eight beings left.

Han Li wasnt surprised to see this at all, and he smiled as he waved a hand toward Shi Kun and Liu Shuier. Lets go as well, Fellow Daoists.

Haha, I thought youd never ask, Shi Kun chuckled in response.

Liu Shuier merely nodded in a silent reply.

Thus, Han Lis trio also departed toward a certain direction as the remaining beings looked on with hints of bewilderment in their eyes.

As for whether the rest of those beings teamed up or went off on their own, that was naturally none of Han Lis concern.

The three of them all flew quite quickly, and it only took them a short while to cover several hundreds of kilometers.

At this moment, Liu Shuier suddenly said, Fellow Daoist Han, my master suggested that we should find an obscure place to practice our Divine Essencefused Light combination secret technique first before we do anything else. After mastering the secret technique, wed be much better equipped to protect ourselves in this perilous realm.

Even though Han Li was quite surprised that a Grand Ascension Stage being was giving him a present on their first official meeting, he naturally wasnt going to refuse it. At the same time, he was considering what reason the white-robed man could have for doing this.

Everyone was also quite surprised to see this, and many of them began to exchange glances with one another.

Just as everyone thought the white-robed man was going to say something else to Han Li, much to everyones surprise he simply leaned back and fell silent.

Qian Jizi faltered slightly upon seeing this before quickly returning to his senses as he turned to Han Li with a smile.

Youre vastly fortunate to be receiving a treasure from Senior Weng, Fellow Daoist Han. With that treasure to protect you, youll undoubtedly be a lot safer in the Vast Glacial Realm. We dont have much time left, so let me introduce you to your companions first.

Thank you, Senior Qian, Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

First, let me introduce Fairy Yue to you. Just like you, shes also activated a Vast Glacial Badge, and shell be taking another team into the Vast Glacial Realm. Theres a very slim chance that your two teams will be teleported into the same area in the Vast Glacial Realm, but if you happen to bump into one another, make sure to look out for each other, Qian Jizi began as he gestured toward a woman with a remarkably pale face, wearing a blue palatial dress.

Its a pleasure to meet you, Fairy Yue. Han Li took a quite glance at this woman, yet found himself unable to identify what race she hailed from. In any case, he still smiled and cupped his fist in a polite salute.

The woman merely nodded in an indifferent manner without saying anything in response.

This is Shi Kun of the Stone Cocoon Race. He possesses some of the most powerful defensive abilities among all of you. Those two are the twins from the Azure Race, Feng Xiao and Yun Teng, theyre very adept at fighting enemies together… Qian Jizi introduced all of the beings in the hall who were at the Spatial Tempering Stage to Han Li one by one, only giving brief introductions without going into any great depth. As such, all of the introductions were completed quite quickly.

In the face of a seventh-tier upper race being like Han Li, most of them either displayed no reaction or appraised him with cold expressions. Only a few people regarded him with smiles on their faces.

This was no surprise to Han Li. After all, these were all ninth-tier upper race beings, and if they were to make one more breakthrough, theyd be able to reach the holy race. Otherwise, they wouldnt have been chosen to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As such, it only made sense that they wouldnt pay much heed to an outsider who was only a seventh-tier upper race being.

He had been praised by the white-robed man in person earlier, but that only indicated that he was using some special cultivation arts. At the very least, that was what many of them were thinking.

Qian Jizis brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Everyone else as oblivious to this, but he knew that Han Li had once slain several beings of the same cultivation base as himself with ease. Perhaps he couldnt completely dominate all of these beings present, but he was definitely powerful enough to at least be among the top three.

However, Han Li didnt seem to mind the treatment that he was receiving, and he nodded to acknowledge these beings one by one as they were being introduced.

Cai Liuying and Duan Tianrens disciples were both among these beings, and that Shi Kun from the Stone Cocoon Race was none other than Duan Tianrens disciple. According to Qian Jizi, the hooded woman who was Cai Liuyings disciple was called Liu Shuier.

In the past, each Vast Glacial Badge could only take 13 beings into the Vast Glacial Realm, but after making some improvements to the teleportation formations with the assistance of some formation masters from the Crystal Race, each badge can now facilitate the teleportation of 15 people. Hence, all 30 of you will be entering the Vast Glacial Realm. Thats all the introductions I have to make, let me split you into your teams now. The names I call out from here will go with Fairy Yue, while the rest will go with Fellow Daoist Han. Hei Sha, Feng Xiao… Thus, Qian Jizi began to rattle off a list of names.

Not long after that, everyone had been split up into two groups, one of which stood behind Han Li, while the other stood behind the woman in the blue dress.

Han Lis expression remained calm and unchanged, but internally, he was wondering what kind of strings Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren had pulled behind the scenes to get Qian Jizi to assign Liu Shuier and Shi Kun to his team.

Both of them wore calm expressions, as if theyd never seen Han Li before this.

As such, it appeared that he had no choice but to take a trip to those ruins in the Vast Glacial Realm.

After the two teams had been assigned, an unfamiliar holy race being rose to his feet before disclosing to Han Li and the others matters that they had to be careful of in the Vast Glacial Realm.

Even though Han Li and the others had already heard this information more than once from other sources, they still listened with rapt focus, just in case there was something that theyd missed in the past.

After finishing his address, the holy race being stepped aside again, and Qian Jizi waved a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of white light sweeping out from within. 50 to 60 treasures of different sizes then appeared in mid-air in a flash.

These treasures came in all shapes and forms, including things like rings, bowls, flags, canes…

However, the most common types of treasures, such as flying swords and flying sabers, were nowhere to be seen.

Everyone looked on at the diverse array of treasures up ahead with bewilderment in their eyes.

Some of them turned to Qian Jizi and opened their mouths as if they were about to ask some questions, but right at this moment, Qian Jizi smiled, and said, What are you all waiting for? These treasures were all chosen for you from the secret vault of our city to help ensure a smooth trip. All of them can be used without being refined, but each of you can only choose one.

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this before expressions of elation appeared on their faces.

Many of them immediately made hand seals or simply made grabbing motions to draw their desired treasure toward them.

The few treasures with the most powerful auras were taken almost right away. Thus, spiritual lights of different colors flashed as treasures flew left and right through the air. It was a free-for-all contest to see who could secure the best treasure.

In the blink of an eye, close to half of the treasures had been taken, but there were still a few people who were yet to make their choices, and were still considering their options.

Treasures with prominent auras were most definitely quite powerful, but that didnt mean that the treasures with weaker auras were necessarily inferior. At times, picking a treasure that had great synergy with ones cultivation arts was a far superior option to simply trying to choose the most powerful treasure.

Han Li was also one of the beings who hadnt chosen a treasure yet.

However, he didnt wait for too long, either. Blue light quickly flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly made a grabbing motion.

Azure light flashed from one of the treasures hovering in mid-air, following which a large azure hand appeared, grabbing onto the treasure before drawing it back toward Han Li.

Spiritual light then flashed from his hand as a jade fan that was shimmering with blue light appeared in his grasp. The image of a scenic mountain peak had been inscribed on the surface of the fan, and a burst of glacial power was emanating from it.

This was an ice-attribute treasure.

Han Li nodded with a pleased smile, but he then suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he raised his head in a calm manner, just in time to see the woman in the blue palatial dress also casting her gaze toward him, focusing her attention on the blue jade fan in his hand.

However, after noticing that Han Li had was also appraising her from afar, she withdrew her gaze again.

She was also one of the people who hadnt chosen a treasure yet, and a contemplative look appeared in Han Lis eyes upon seeing this.

In the end, the woman chose a white ruler treasure that also seemed to be imbued with glacial power.

After the final person had chosen their desired treasure, Qian Jizi swept a sleeve through the air, and white light flashed as all of the remaining treasures disappeared into his sleeve as streaks of spiritual light.

After consulting with the white-robed man, Qian Jizi announced, Theres not much time left, so go and prepare yourselves for the upcoming journey.

Thus, everyone began to depart from the hall. After arriving on the plaza outside the hall, Han Li took a casual glance up into the sky to find that it seemed to be around noon, given how dazzling the sun was.

He then cast his gaze toward the two massive formations nearby to find that there were already over 100 armored warriors standing around them, each of which were holding formation plates and formation flags.

The spirit stones that were embedded into the formations were also shimmering with faint spiritual light, and it seemed that everything had been prepared.

However, Han Lis eyes suddenly narrowed as he turned his attention to the air above the formations.

There was a head-sized ball of light hovering in mid-air there, and its surface was flashing incessantly with five-colored light.

There seemed to be something inside that ball of light as well, and it didnt take Han Li long to sense that it was none other than the Vast Glacial Badge that hed unintentionally activated.

However, the badge seemed to have been temporarily restricted by the five-colored ball of light, thereby completely immobilizing it.

At this moment, Qian Jizi and the others also emerged from the hall, and they all stopped outside before also looking up at the bright sun in the sky.

We cant afford any errors in timing, bring out the Vast Glacial Apparatus, Qian Jizi ordered

Yes!

Several armored warriors immediately flew into the hall as streaks of silver light.

Moments later, they re-emerged from the hall, carrying a gargantuan object in an extremely strenuous manner.

The object was over 100 feet tall, and appeared to be a massive azure bell. However, there were a dozen so dragon head statues on its surface, all of which had their eyes closed, thereby giving the bell quite a mystical appearance.

Following a resounding thud, the Vast Glacial Apparatus was set down heavily at the center of the plaza, causing the entire ground to tremor slightly in the process.

Qian Jizi immediately made a hand seal before raising his hand, and a white incantation seal flew forth before vanishing into the Vast Glacial Apparatus in a flash.

Scintillating light immediately began to radiate from the surface of the massive azure bell, and at the same time, countless azure runes appeared out of thin air. The dozen or so extremely life-like dragon statues then began to move as if theyd sprung to life, but then quickly fell still again.

Only the mysterious runes on the surface of the giant bell continued to flash incessantly.

Everyone, including Han Li, had turned their attention to this object, but they were naturally unable to identify what it was being used for.

At this moment, Qian Jizi and the other holy grade beings suddenly began to converse with one another, and they paid no further heed to the Vast Glacial Apparatus. Not long after that, the white-robed man emerged from within the hall.

There were a dozen or so foreign beings waiting outside his cave abode, and at the forefront of the ground were four yellow-robed beings, all of whom were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. The rest of the group was comprised of armored warriors wielding long silver halberds, and all of them were wore serious expressions on their faces.

One of the yellow-robed men cupped his fist in a salute as soon as Han Li emerged from his cave abode, and said, Fellow Daoist Han, we were given orders by Senior Qian Jizi to take you to the meeting place where everyone has gathered.

Ill have to trouble you to lead the way, then, Han Li replied in a calm manner.

In the past, only very few of the most important beings in Cloud City were aware of the fact that he was the one who had activated the Vast Glacial Badge. However, now that the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm was imminent, many more people had most likely been made aware of this information.

Qian Jizi was naturally afraid that someone would try to kidnap or kill Han Li for their own objectives, which was why hed deployed this group to accompany him to the meeting place.

The yellow-robed man smiled upon hearing this before waving a hand toward the armored warriors behind him. The dozen or so armored warriors immediately parted to reveal a spirit carriage that was shimmering with azure light. The carriage was being drawn by a pair of gorgeous massive azure birds, and it was quite clear that this was no ordinary spirit carriage. Han Li strode forward and entered the carriage without a fuss, and the four yellow-robed beings also rose up into the air before descending onto the carriage.

The four of them had clearly rehearsed this before, and they each landed on one corner of the spirit carriage to shield Han Li between them at the very center.

The two azure birds let loose a few clear cries before spreading their wings, and they rose up into the air with the spirit carriage behind them. Meanwhile, each of the armored warriors summoned a silver disk, and they also rose up into the air atop these treasures. Moments later, the azure spirit carriage had reached an altitude of several thousand feet, and it was flying straight out of Cloud City.

It was quite clear that the entire Cloud City was on high alert. Not only were there extremely few pedestrians on the streets, there were also many groups of armored warriors patrolling the city on the ground below, as well as in the air above.

What Han Li also noticed was he could sense restriction fluctuations coming from some of the more important places in the city, as if all of the spell formations there had been activated.

It appeared that the higher-ups of Cloud City really did regard the opening of this Vast Glacial Realm as an extremely important event.

The spirit carriage flew along without encountering any mishaps, taking Han Li directly to the inn where hed first activated the Vast Glacial Badge.

At present, this area had been completely sealed off by layers upon layers of restrictions, and even from afar, several tens of giant pillars could be visible in these restrictions. These pillars were around 1,000 feet tall each, and they encircled the entire area in a radius of close to 10 kilometers around the inn.

These pillars were all emanating spiritual lights of different colors, and they formed a five-colored light barrier that made it impossible for anyone on the outside to see what lay inside.

As soon as the carriage approached the area, Han Li could clearly tell that there were at least 10 times as many guards here than compared to other places. Almost the entire area had been surrounded by armored warriors, and there were also over 100 puppets present.

These puppets were around 70 to 80 feet tall each, and some of them were as inky-black while others were fiery red, and theyd also been deployed to various locations in the area.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Lis eyes upon seeing this.

All of the guards here were at least of the Core Formation Stage, and the majority of them were at the Nascent Soul Stage.

As for Spatial Tempering Stage aura, even after just a quick inspection using his spiritual sense, Han Li had already discovered two or three in the nearby area, and this wasnt even taking into account the layers of restrictions that had been set up all around.

To say that the defenses here were tight would be quite an understatement!

The azure spirit carriage didnt appear to have any special features on it, but none of the guards stopped it along the way.

Now that they were close to the light barrier, a few armored warriors riding atop steeds that appeared to be giant winged wolves flew out of the light barrier, heading directly toward Han Lis carriage.

General Tie, is Fellow Daoist Han here? An azure-armored man who appeared to be around 50 years of age asked from afar as he sat on his giant wolf steed.

Hehe, Senior Qian mustve asked you to come and greet us, right, Brother Hua? Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han is sitting in the carriage, so you can open the restriction for us now, one of the yellow-robed men standing on the spirit carriage replied with a smile.

Thats good to hear, Ill open the restriction right away. The azure-armored man nodded upon hearing this, following which he and a few other armored beings each summoned a restriction badge, then waved them in unison toward the light barrier that theyd just emerged from.

Pillars of light of different colors immediately shot forth from their badges before striking the light barrier and forming a light formation that was around 10 feet in size.

The light barrier immediately swayed before a faint buzzing sound rang out, and an opening appeared on it before expanding to form a passageway.

There was five-colored light swirling within the passageway, giving it quite a mysterious appearance, and the yellow-robed man who had spoken earlier immediately spurred on the giant azure birds, instructing them to lead the spirit carriage into the passageway.

The silver-armored warriors behind them and the wolf-riders also hurried and followed suit.

What appeared to be an ordinary passageway took the spirit carriage quite a long time to fly through, and Han Li rather surprised by how long it took to reach the other side.

This indicated that there was a spatial restriction enclosed within the light barrier, and if an oblivious being were to try and sneak into the light barrier, theyd be temporarily trapped in there regardless of how profound their movement techniques were.

As a result, there was no way that theyd be able to avoid being discovered during their infiltration attempt.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through his mind, the azure spirit carriage emerged on the other side of the light barrier, and Han Li was greeted by the sight two massive formations down below, each of which had a radius of several hundred feet.

There were countless fist-sized crystals embedded all over the surfaces of these formations, and a series of complex and profound patterns had been carved around the formations.

All of these crystals and patterns were emanating faint spiritual light of different colors, creating quite an exuberant sight to behold from afar.

Between the two formations, there was nothing else aside from a newly-constructed hall that took up an area of several acres.

There were humanoid figures all around the formations, as well as the massive hall, and there appeared to be thousands of beings present.

Most of them were armored warriors who were on guard duty while the remaining several hundreds of them all wore different attire. However, there was one constant, which was that all of them possessed advanced cultivation bases.

Even though these people had surrounded the two formations and the hall, there was not even a single person who was speaking.

However, as the azure spirit carriage that Han Li was in began to descend from above, many people down below still raised their heads to look up.

The four yellow-robed men paid no heed to the widespread attention they were receiving, and they merely continued to drive the carriage, taking to a smooth landing on a plot of empty land that appeared to have been prepared specifically for this purpose.

Han Li cast his gaze around him, and only then did he discover that there was another completely identical spirit carriage parked beside him, except that one was completely white in color.

After the carriage had drawn to a stop, one of the yellow-robed men turned to Han Li as he cupped his fist in a polite salute, and said, Fellow Daoist Han, Senior Qian Jizi and all of the other seniors are waiting for you in the hall. We still have other matters to attend to, so well have to part ways with you here.

Thank you for transporting me here, Brother Tie. Han Li also returned his salute with a smile.

After that, his body swayed, and he slowly drifted down from the carriage, then made his way toward the hall in an unhurried manner after landing on the ground.

The dozen or so armored warriors had witnessed Han Li disembarking from the spirit carriage, so they only appraised him with curiosity in their eyes, and refrained from stopping him to ask questions or conduct a search.

Han Li was naturally quite glad to be spared the trouble, and entered the hall without a hitch.

After passing through a corridor that was lined with armored warriors on both sides, he arrived in a spacious hall, within which were around 40 to 50 people, some of whom were standing while others were seated.

At the center of the hall was a chair, upon which sat a white-robed man who appeared to be in his twenties. It was none other than the man with the Weng surname.

Qian Jizi, Duan Tianren, Cai Liuying, and seven or eight other holy race beings were also seated in various parts of the hall.

Behind them were groups of beings from various different races, all of whom were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

As Han Li was walking into the hall, Qian Jizi was in the process of saying something to the white-robed man with a smile on his face, while everyone else was listening in silence.

However, everyones attention was then immediately drawn to Han Li following his arrival.

Han Lis heart jolted slightly at the sight of the white-robed man, but his expression remained calm as he extended a deep bow, and said, I pay my respects to all of the seniors present.

Im glad to see youre here as well, Fellow Daoist Han. The Vast Glacial Realm will be opening in a few hours, and Ill introduce you to your companions later, Qian Jizi said with a smile.

Yes, Senior. Han Li naturally wasnt going to state any objections here.

The white-robed man glanced at Han Li, and he seemed to have noticed something as a hint of surprise had flashed through his eyes. He suddenly asked, So youre the one who unintentionally activated the Vast Glacial Badge?

Indeed, Senior Weng, Han Li hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

You recognize me? The white-robed man was rather taken aback.

I had the honor of seeing you from afar during the Four Races Auction, Senior, Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

The white-robed man appraised Han Li carefully for a moment before saying something that was quite unexpected to everyone. The Four Races Auction, eh? In that case, it seems we have some affinity with one another. I can see youre only a seventh-tier upper race being, but your magic power and spiritual sense are both several times more powerful than beings of the same cultivation base. I have a treasure that I unintentionally came across many years ago known as the Heavenly Astral Seal. Using it is quite taxing on ones magic power and spiritual sense, but its very useful for beings below the holy race, so I think itll be perfect for you.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept sleeve through the air, and a shimmering silver object was immediately sent flying toward Han Li.

Han Li initially faltered upon seeing this before a hint of elation welled up in his heart. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude before making a grabbing motion toward the oncoming object.

A burst of azure light swept forth from his fingertips, enveloping the item before drawing it into his grasp.

He then focused his gaze to discover that this was a small antiquated silver seal that was around five to six inches in size.

At the very bottom of the seal was inscribed a few pea-sized purple characters that read Heavenly Astral Seal in a type of ancient text.

This was an extremely rare text from ancient times, but thankfully, it was one that Han Li recognized from his extensive studies.

Han Li smiled as he appraised the Nascent Devil before waving a hand toward it. Spiritual light instantly flashed from the Nascent Devil, and it disappeared into Han Lis body as a streak of black light.

It turned out that after using the precious materials gathered to manifest a substantial form for his golden projection, Han Li unintentionally discovered that his Nascent Devil could easily possess the golden body, and use the devilish Qi within it to continue cultivating its Profound Yin Devilish Qi.

At the same time, the second Nascent Soul could expel its nascent flames to refine this body, which was greatly beneficial to the manifestation of this golden body.

In that case, Han Li was naturally more than happy to let it possess the projection.

After all, his second Nascent Soul was virtually an independent being on its own, so he didnt have to expend any effort into guiding its cultivation or helping it control the golden body.

It was just a pity that this Nascent Devil possessed quite a lowly cultivation base. If it could cultivate to somewhere around Han Lis current cultivation base, then possess the golden body, it would essentially be similar to an avatar for Han Li, which would naturally immensely enhance his combat prowess.

For a normal being, it was of course extremely difficult to cultivate from the Nascent Soul Stage all the way up to the Spatial Tempering Stage.

However, Han Li had already been through all that, so he could pass on all types of cultivation experiences to his second Nascent Soul. Furthermore, he had a virtually limitless supply of precious pills to feed the second Nascent Soul, so its cultivation was definitely progressing even faster than he was.

Cultivation bottlenecks werent exactly non-existent to Nascent Devils, but there was no doubt that it would be far easier for them to break through their bottlenecks than it was for normal cultivators. After all, the insights and enlightenment attained by a cultivator right before their breakthroughs were very useful resources. This was also why beings would begin to cultivate avatars or second souls after theyd reached a point in their cultivation where they felt that it was quite difficult to progress any further.

However, both refining avatars and second souls required the expenditure of vast amounts of effort and resources, and it was quite often the case that one would only achieve this objective after most of their remaining lifespan had been used up.

This was why most cultivators would only cultivate one or two avatars, despite knowing the immense benefits that avatars could bring to them, and also why most avatars possessed inferior cultivation bases compared to the cultivators themselves.

After all, they didnt have the mysterious small vial that Han Li possessed, which allowed him to infinitely nurture all of the spirit medicines he required at a vastly accelerated rate.

After embroiling itself in the devilish Qi within the golden body and taking many precious pills, the second Nascent Soul had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, and a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage appeared to be imminent.

However, seeing as the Vast Glacial Realm was about to open, he decided to put a hold on the cultivation of his Nascent Devil. He was going to get the second Nascent Soul to make its breakthrough in the Vast Glacial Realm.

The immense abundance of spiritual Qi in that realm would be far more effective against a mere Nascent Soul Stage bottleneck than any precious pills or medicines.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the other Han Li, and a peculiar light suddenly flashed through his eyes.

Who wouldve thought that the body of the immortal zoysia is an ideal material for refining an avatar? On top of that, the liquid in the mysterious small vial can be directly absorbed by this immortal zoysia as pure spiritual power, thereby enhancing its magic power at a rapid rate. In just a few years, its magic power has reached the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and bottlenecks simply dont apply to it! Thats absolutely incredible! But then again, that does kind of make sense. A spirit medicine that has attained intelligence and a humanoid form like this immortal zoysia had to have been in existence for countless years. During this process, it could only enhance its magic power slowly through constant accumulation. If it had to contend with bottlenecks as well, that would simply be far too unfair for it. The strange thing is, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng has also attained sentience, but using the liquid on it will only replenish magic power without being able to enhance it any further. Could it be that only spirit beings like immortal zoysias can absorb this spirit liquid? Or could it be that a spirit medicine can only attain this ability after theyve actually manifested an alternate form with its true body rather than just its soul? Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows before shaking his head.

Hehe, who cares what the reason behind this is? The fact of the matter is that a brilliant opportunity has been placed right before me. I can refine this avatar into a replacement body, then use my Nascent Soul to possess it and use it in battle.

After discovering that the spirit liquid in the mysterious small vial could enhance the immortal zoysias cultivation base, Han Lis thought process was very simple, he was going to keep using the spirit liquid to nurture this spirit body to see if it could attain Body Integration Stage magic power in the end.

Even though this would only result in a spirit body that simply possessed Body Integration Stage magic power, but not actually an equivalent cultivation base, it would still be more powerful than his current body. If he were to then use his Nascent Soul to possess it, with all of the powerful abilities hed mastered, he definitely wouldnt have to fear any Body Integration Stage beings.

Furthermore, there may not be an upper limit on the amount of magic power that this spirit body could attain. If he could nurture it to the point where it possessed Grand Ascension Stage magic power, hed virtually not have to fear anyone in the Spirit Realm.

Of course, it was yet to be seen if that were actually possible.

For some reason, he had a feeling that something that defied the natural order to such an extreme extent simply wasnt feasible. Perhaps he could only nurture this spirit body so it possessed magic power equivalent to that of Body Integration Stage beings or beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

After all, after nurturing his Golden Lightning Bamboo until it was 10,000 years old, the spirit liquid no longer proved to be effective on it.

With this precedent, Han Li naturally wasnt confident that the immortal zoysia would be able to absorb the spirit liquid without any upper limit.

Furthermore, once the pure spiritual power converted from the spirit liquid accumulated to a certain degree, the power would have to be refined using the dantian and the meridians, and this immortal zoysia clearly wasnt capable of accomplishing that on its own.

Thankfully, a flash of brilliance had occurred to him, and hed thought of a way around this.

With that in mind, a smile appeared on Han Lis face as he instructed the green Han Li, Thanks for your hard work during this period of time, Quer 1, you can come of out this body now. I wont be requiring you to continue refining the spiritual power within it for a while. During the next month, Im going to stop the accelerated nurturing of all of the spirit medicines, and infuse all of the spirit liquid into this spirit body to be converted into spiritual power. After that, you can slowly refine this spiritual power.

Yes, Master.

A tender voice rang out from within the immortal zoysias body, following which it laid a hand onto the top of its own head. It then closed its eyes, and a ball of white light emerged from its body before transforming into a little girl who appeared to be around six to seven years old.

The little girl wore a snowy-white dress and had nine little black braids woven into her hair, she was extremely adorable!

As soon as the little girl appeared, Han Li smiled, and said, Youll be entering the Vast Glacial Realm with me, and Ill be taking your true body with me as well. Go back and rest now so you can prepare for the upcoming journey.

I can come as well, Master? A pure and elated smile appeared on the little girls face upon hearing this.

I dont know whats going to happen during this trip into the Vast Glacial Realm, and your soul has already manifested a human form, so of course I cant just leave you here. If someone were to break into my cave abode in my absence, it would be a disaster, Han Li explained in a gentle manner.

Thats great! For some reason, after Ive become like this, not only is my brain a lot smarter than before, I also really want to see the outside world, the little girl said in a joyful manner.

Hehe, youve only just attained intelligence not long ago, so its no surprise that youre curious about the outside world. However, you have to stay in the medicine garden during this period of time and make sure no one sees you. Im expecting some visitors during the next month, Han Li cautioned in a serious manner.

The little girl was quite frightened by the prospect of visitors coming to the cave abode, and she immediately replied in a timid and fearful manner, Alright, Im going back to rest in the medicine garden right away.

After that, her body blurred, and she shot forth as a streak of white light, vanishing into the ground in a flash.

This little girl was naturally none other than the soul of the Ninecrurl Spirit Ginseng.

The immortal zoysia had told him that it was going to help the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng attain intelligence and also impart some knowledge, but much to Han Lis surprise, just one year after the immortal zoysias soul had been released to enter the cycle of reincarnation, the soul of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng had transformed from the white rabbit into this little girl.

It appeared that aside from just imparting some knowledge on the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, the immortal zoysia had to have also given it some immense benefits prior to its passing.

Needless to say, Han Li was very glad to see this, and he gave Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng the name Quer.

After that, he discovered that Quer was also able to enter the body left behind by the immortal zoysia and circulate the enormous magic power within it. This was perhaps due to the fact that she was also a spirit being of heaven and earth, just like the immortal zoysia had been.

In any case, during the spiritual power refinement process, Quer herself also benefited immensely from having her body immersed in such a vast amount of spiritual power.

As such, he assigned her the duty of refining the spiritual power inside the immortal zoysias body.

This decision had proven to be quite a wise one during the past two years, and Han Li was very pleased that this arrangement had worked so splendidly.

After the little girls departure, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the immortal zoysias body from afar, and a burst of grey light immediately swept forth to envelop the spirit body.

The body then quickly shrank to several inches in size amid flashes of purple light the grey light carried it toward Han Li, and in the end, the spirit body disappeared up his sleeve.

Having done all that, Han Li swept his gaze around his empty secret chamber before immediately turning around then striding out the door.

During the next month, Han Li frequently appeared in various large shops in Cloud City, purchasing some materials and rather uncommon treasures.

As expected, Duan Tianren and Qian Jizi also came to visit him during this time, and all of them departed with pleased expressions on their faces after conversing with Han Li for around half a day each.

A period of a month naturally wasnt very long, and it flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Han Li was meditating in the hall of his cave abode when a streak of red light suddenly flew in from outside before revolving around him.

He raised an eyebrow before raising a hand to draw the red light into his grasp, then injecting his spiritual sense into it to inspect its contents.

Its finally begun, Han Li murmured to himself before abruptly rising to his feet and making his way out of the cave abode.

1 The Qu in Quer is the same character as the curl part of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng

She raised a hand as she spoke, drawing the jade box into her grasp before it then vanished in a flash.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this and began to discuss some matters revolving around cultivation with Cai Liuying, seemingly completely disinterested in finding out the purpose for her visit.

Cai Liuying smiled upon seeing this and also discussed some inconsequential topics with Han Li.

Thus, two full hours passed by, yet the two of them were still engaged in a spirited conversation, looking as if they could chat for another two hours.

However, the woman wearing the white hood was starting to become quite impatient. She was casting her gaze between Han Li and Cai Liuying incessantly and growing rather fidgety.

Cai Liuyings brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but a smile then quickly reappeared on her face as she said, Fellow Daoist Han, its only been a few years since I last saw you, but youve become a lot more patient since then. Even after this long, you still havent asked me about the purpose of my visit, could it be that you cultivated some kind of special secret technique or experienced a spike in your cultivation base recently?

Surely you jest, Senior, I have no patience to speak of. Its just that I naturally wouldnt dare to ask the purpose of your visit before you decide to tell me, Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

Looks like I was mistaken then. However, I trust youve already guessed the reason why Ive come here today, Cai Liuying said with a nonchalant smile.

Er… I do indeed have a hunch that your visit has something to do with the Vast Glacial Realm, Senior, Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

Hehe, as expected, youve hit the nail right on the head, Fellow Daoist Han. This is indeed why Ive paid you a visit with my disciple in accompaniment, and Im sure that Fellow Daoist Duan will also come to visit you with someone else soon, Cai Liuying chuckled in response.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the hooded woman with a hint of surprise in his eyes. In that case, could it be that your disciple is…

Thats right, this disciple of mine is one of the beings who possess an Essencefused Body that we were talking about last time, Cai Liuying confirmed.

If I recall correctly, didnt you say that this person should be a guest member of your race? How has she suddenly become your disciple? Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

Whats so strange about that? I told you earlier that this is a new disciple of mine, Cai Liuying replied with a smile.

I see. Apologies for my foolishness, Han Li said with a wry smile.

Do you think I only accepted this disciple due to the matter surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm? Cail Liuying suddenly asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

I wouldnt dare to think that. Han Lis expression abruptly changed slightly upon hearing this.

Its alright even if you do think that way. However, I can assure you that my disciple was fully willing to accept me as her master, and I didnt force her into this arrangement in any way, Cai Liuying said in a nonchalant manner.

I was indeed wholeheartedly willing to become masters disciple. the hooded woman finally spoke for the first time.

Her voice was a little low and deep, but it was very captivating and pleasant to listen to.

A sheepish look appeared on Han Lis face upon hearing this, and he could only offer an awkward smile.

The purpose of my visit is actually very simple, I only wanted you to get to know this disciple of mine. Once you enter the Vast Glacial Realm, the two of you have to work together, Cai Liuying said in a slow voice.

Does that mean the Vast Glacial Realm is about to open soon, Senior? Han Li asked.

Indeed, Fellow Daoist. Barring any mishaps, the Vast Glacial Realm should be opening a month from now, Cai Liuying replied as her smile faded.

A month? Its coming up that soon? Han Li really was quite surprised to hear this.

Are there some matters that you havent finished attending to, Fellow Daoist Han? Cai Liuying asked.

No, its just that if I had another few decades to work with, I could perhaps get my cultivation base up to the pinnacle of the seventh-tier. Perhaps then, Id be able to use the abundant spiritual Qi within the Vast Glacial Realm to make a breakthrough, Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

That is indeed a wasted opportunity. However, at your current cultivation base, it wont be too difficult to break through the bottleneck. On top of that, Brother Xu and I have already promised you many benefits, so you should learn to be content with what you have, Fellow Daoist Han, Cai Liuying said in an indifferent voice.

Han Lis heart stirred upon hearing this, but he still forced himself to maintain a smile as he replied, Rest assured, Senior, even if I wanted to refrain from entering the Vast Glacial Realm, Senior Qian Jizi definitely wouldnt allow it.

Its good that you understand that, Fellow Daoist. Aside from introducing my disciple to you, I also have some other matters to discuss with you. The Vast Glacial Realm and those restricted ruins are extremely perilous, so you must prepare some treasures prior to embarking on your journey. Cai Liuying nodded before changing the subject.

Han Li was quite elated to hear this, and he said in an earnest manner, Please enlighten me, Senior.

Cai Liuying nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this before continuing, Im not going to tell you about the main aspects to look out for in the Vast Glacial Realm, someone will notify you of all that prior to your departure. Instead, Im going to be telling you about some insights I gleaned from my past trip into the Vast Glacial Realm, as well as some hazards that may be easily overlooked. Firstly, after entering the Vast Glacial Realm, its best to avoid the regions that are extremely hot or extremely cold. Those places have either been inhabited by powerful ice-attribute beasts or had extremely powerful restrictions set up. At your cultivation bases, entering those regions will almost definitely spell certain death. Secondly, if you encounter…

Thus, Cai Liuying passed on her experiences with a serious look on her face, and both Han Li and her disciple listened with rapt focus.

After all, this advice could potentially save their lives, so they certainly didnt dare to ignore it.

Lastly, remember if you see a strange crimson cloud in the distance, run away as fast as you can, and get as far away as possible from it. If you hesitate even for a split second, youll be dead for sure. As for the specific reason behind that, Im not going to elaborate on it, youll find out why if you encounter such a phenomenon. Alright, Ive said everything that needs to be said. Have you committed all of that to memory, Fellow Daoist Han? Cai Liuying asked as she turned to Han Li.

I have. Thank you for disclosing this valuable information, Senior, Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

Alright, thats all I came here to do, so Ill be going back with my disciple now. The next time we meet will most likely be on the day when the Vast Glacial Realm opens, Cai Liuying said with a smile before rising to her feet. Her disciple also followed suit and stood up as well.

Ill see you out, Senior. Han Li naturally also hurriedly rose to his feet to accompany the two of them out of his cave abode.

Theres no need for that, my disciple and I can leave on our own. Otherwise, suspicions may be raised if we were to be seen together, Cai Liuying replied.

Alright, then forgive me for not being able to accompany you to the door, Han Li said with a slight bow.

Cai Liuying nodded before departing with her disciple. However, a thought then suddenly seemed to have occurred to her, and she turned around as she said, How foolish of me, theres something that I almost forgot to tell you.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately asking, What is it, Senior?

Take this and make sure to keep it safe. A combination secret technique is recorded in here, and its best for you to memorize it before you set off into the Vast Glacial Realm. After the three of you are teleported into the realm, dont be in a hurry to set off immediately. Instead, practice this secret technique that combines your Divine Essencefused Light into one first. This secret technique is not only necessary to break the restriction on that place, its also a powerful weapon that can be used against enemies. I wanted to get the three of you to rehearse it prior to entering the Vast Glacial Realm, but there was a possibility that the secret technique couldve been stolen by someone else in Cloud City, so youll have to rehearse it after entering the Vast Glacial Realm. Cai Liuying raised a hand as she spoke, sending a streak of white light flying toward Han Li.

Han Li made a grabbing motion in a rather surprised manner to draw the white light into his grasp, then looked down to discover that this was a white jade tablet.

A combination secret technique? Han Li murmured to himself before seeping his spiritual sense into it in a curious manner. He had heard of this type of secret technique before.

Generally speaking, they were designed to combine the powers of many beings to create power superior to that of the sum of the participants, and they were very rare secret techniques.

After a while, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade tablet, only to find that Cai Liuying and her disciple were already nowhere to be seen. Han Li wasnt surprised by this, and he swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner. A burst of bright azure light immediately radiated from his body, and he abruptly vanished.

Moments later, golden light suddenly flashed within the secret chamber, and Han Li reappeared out of thin air before casting his gaze toward the monstrous being and the green Han Li, both of whom were still in seated meditation.

However, they seemed to have also sensed his arrival, and they both opened their eyes to meet his gaze.

I wanted to cultivate the two of you further before entering the Vast Glacial Realm, but it looks like theres no time for that now. I have to prepare some things and refine the Extreme Essencefused Mountain for the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain first, Han Li murmured to himself before sweeping a sleeve toward the monstrous being in the secret chamber.

A swath of golden light swept forth, and an incredible scene ensued.

As the golden light descended upon the monstrous being, a burst of Buddhist chants suddenly rang out from within its body. Immediately thereafter, it disintegrated into countless golden runes of different sizes, as well as a cloud of black Qi.

The golden runes flashed and absorbed all of the golden light into Han Lis body, while the black Qi surged before forming a pitch-black Nascent Soul that was several inches tall.

This was none other than Han Lis second Nascent Soul, the Nascent Devil.

At this moment, the Nascent Devil wore a smile on its face, and had donned the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor in a miniature form.

Its opening that quickly?

This is not a good time!

A stir immediately ran through the entire hall.

The Vast Glacial Badges had only appeared not long ago, so its indeed rather out of the ordinary that the Vast Glacial Apparatus is displaying a reaction so soon. This also coincides with the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, so we wont be able to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for this event. However, the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm is a great opportunity for the races all over the Thunder Continent to receive a boost in power, so we naturally cant just not prepare for it, either. As such, I need everyone to formulate a course of action, Qian Jizi said with a serious look on his face.

Indeed, Fellow Daoist Qian. The invasion of the Jiao Chi Race has drawn most of our attention, but thankfully, this isnt the first time weve had to prepare for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm, so theres no need to panic even if its happening a little earlier than normal, the white-robed man said with a nod.

To be honest, whether we can reap much rewards from the Vast Glacial Realm depends almost entirely on the luck and potential of our juniors. All we can do is ascertain the roster that is to enter the Vast Glacial Realm as soon as possible, then set up the formation required for them to enter the realm. On this occasion, our 13 races didnt manage to secure too many Vast Glacial Badges, and our Cloud City only has two. As such, we only need to prepare two formations on our end. The other Vast Glacial Badges will naturally be taken care of by others, so we dont need to worry about them, a burly man with a body that was as black as charcoal chimed in in agreement.

Indeed!

However, we have many juniors in Cloud City who are at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so it wont be easy to ascertain this roster.

In order to prevent that Jiao Chi Race infiltrator from wreaking havoc during this time, we have to make sure that the two teleportation formations are extremely well-guarded.

Some of the beings present were quite elated, while others were rather concerned, and all of them offered their opinions.

Meanwhile, the white-robed man merely listened to their discussion with a smile on their faces, and when the chatter finally died down, he turned to Cai Liuying, and asked, Fairy Cai, do you have anything to add?

Cai Liuying faltered slightly after being singled out, but she then immediately smiled as she replied, All of the areas have been addressed in detail by all of my fellow Daoists, so theres nothing for me to add.

After a brief pause for contemplation, the white-robed man finally made his decision. Alright, in that case, well prepare for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm just like weve always done in the past. As for the specific roster of juniors to be sent into the realm, Ill leave that to all of you to decide. However, all of the beings chosen must be at least at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and we must deploy three times as many people as we have in the past to guard the teleportation formations. On top of that, the area in a radius of five kilometers around the two formations will be sealed off as a restricted area thats barred from entry to unrelated individuals. Only the Myriad Ancient Race knows how to set up the formations, so Ill leave that to you, Fellow Daoist Qian.

Qian Jizi and the two Myriad Ancient Race elders next to him naturally bowed and accepted these orders.

A thought then suddenly occurred to the white-robed man, and he asked, By the way, have you chosen the candidates to activate the Vast Glacial Badges?

One of the candidates has already been chosen, but the other badge has already been activated, Qian Jizi replied after a brief hesitant pause.

If I recall correctly, all of the candidates chosen to activate the Vast Glacial Badges are selected through a rigorous selection process, and the badges are only activated on the cusp of the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm, why was a badge activated so early this time? The white-robed mans expression darkened upon hearing this.

Please forgive me, Senior, the situation with this Vast Glacial Badge is rather special, and it had already been activated by the time we obtained it. Heres what happened… Thus, Qian Jizi gave a careful recount of what had happened with Han Li.

I see. So that being isnt a Heavenly Cloud being. In fact, he isnt even from our continent, the white-robed man surmised with a surprised look on his face.

Indeed. I have also agreed to let him use the super teleportation formation after returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, but he has to supply the spirit stones required for that himself, Qian Jizi replied in a truthful manner.

The white-robed mans expression returned to normal before he continued, Thats not really an issue, but whats important is that you make sure theres nothing fishy about him.

Rest assured, Senior Weng, weve made sure that there are no issues with this man. Were only using him so that others can be sent into the Vast Glacial Realm, and hes been under our surveillance this entire time, so he wont be able to do anything thats of detriment to us. After they enter the Vast Glacial Realm, theyll all split up, so there wont be any problems, Qian Jizi assured in a confident manner.

After contemplating this notion for a short while, the white-robed man also decided that this wasnt an issue, so he nodded, and said, Seeing as youre so confident and the Vast Glacial Badge has already been activated by this person, then so be it. When the time comes, tell the others to conduct more surveillance on this man from the shadows.

Qian Jizi naturally accepted this arrangement as well.

After the three Myriad Ancient Race elders had taken their seats, a holy race being with dark green skin stood up, and reported, Fellow Daoist Lu and the others have sent information back from the front lines, the Jiao Chi Race has increased the size of their army again, and there are even five or six more holy grade beings among them. This development has caught us off guard, and three of our cities have already been conquered, thereby placing us firmly on the back foot. It appears that the Jiao Chi Race fully intends to expand the scale of this war.

Hmph, deploy five holy race beings and a thousand upper race beings from the city to the front lines right away. If they want to escalate this battle, then well be happy to respond in kind! the white-robed man harrumphed coldly.

Yes!

After that, other holy race beings also began to report some important matters.

In the end, this meeting between the most powerful beings of Cloud City lasted for close to an hour.

Following its conclusion, all of the holy race beings immediately departed to make preparations.

Meanwhile, Han Li was still in seclusion, cultivating arduously in his cave abode.

On a certain day a year later, Han Li suddenly emerged from his cave abode and left Cloud City.

However, he mysteriously returned to the city just half a day later, then entered his secret chamber again.

Time slowly passed by, and three years flew past in the blink of an eye.

Within the secret chamber inside Han Lis cave abode, it was quite a dimly lit environment, and there were three humanoid figures seated on a futon each.

One of them was shimmering with golden light with a layer of golden scales over their skin. Another had black Qi surging all around their body, making it impossible to glean their true appearance. The final humanoid figure was glowing with purple light, but their skin was remarkably green.

All three of them were making different hand seals, seated in a completely stationary manner.

After an indeterminate period of time, the golden humanoid figure suddenly stirred before opening his eyes.

Two balls of piercing blue light immediately erupted from within his pupils.

Whats going on? Why has that person come to find me? Could it be… the golden humanoid figure murmured to himself.

Immediately thereafter, he waved a sleeve through the air, and a ball of white light shot forth from within before hovering in the air above.

The entire secret chamber was immediately illuminated by bright white light, thereby revealing the three humanoid figures in a high level of clarity.

The golden humanoid figure sitting in the middle was none other than Han Li, and his brows were furrowed tightly, seemingly in deep thought.

The green-skinned being emanating purple light from its body was identical in appearance to Han Li, and he was appraising Han Li with curiosity in its remarkably clear eyes.

At this moment, a burst of Buddhist chants rang out from within the cloud of black Qi, which slowly dissipated to reveal a monstrous being with three heads and six arms.

The monstrous being was around 20 feet tall, and its body was also shimmering with golden light. Two of its faces had extremely clear facial features, while the final face was completely devoid of all features, striking the beholder with quite a harrowing sensation.

At this moment, the golden giant suddenly opened the eyes on its two clear faces, and its pupils were like a pair of black holes that threatened to suck in the beholders soul.

A guest has arrived, you two can keep cultivating on your own while I go out to meet our guest, Han Li instructed before flying toward a wall as a streak of golden light.

The streak of light disappeared into the wall in a flash, and moments later, azure light flashed from the stone door of the cave abode, which then slowly swung open as Han Li made his way out in a calm and collected manner.

Han Li pays his respects to Senior Cai. May I ask why youve decided to pay a visit to my humble abode? Han Li greeted with a respectful bow.

The guest standing outside was a slender and elegant woman, it was none other than Cai Liuying of the Crystal Race.

Am I not welcome here, Fellow Daoist Han? Cai Liuying asked with a smile.

Of course you are, Senior Cai. It is a great honor for me that youve decided to visit. May I ask who this fellow Daoist is? Han Li chuckled before turning his attention to the woman standing behind Cai Liuying.

She appeared to also be a woman with a gorgeous figure, but she wore a white hood on her head, and her facial features had been obscured by a ball of crystalline light.

This is a new disciple of mine, Cai Liuying explained in an extremely concise manner.

The woman also nodded in silence to affirm this. It would naturally be unwise for Han Li to ask any further questions, so he could only invite the two into his cave abode. Thus, not long after that, all three of them were seated in the hall of his cave abode. A humanoid puppet immediately arrived at Han Lis behest to offer some spirit fruits and a few cups of spirit tea.

Cai Liuying was quite intrigued as she took a sip of her cup of spirit tea, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes.

What potent spiritual Qi! These tea leaves seem to have come from a tea tree thats over 1,000 years old. On top of that, the tea tree itself also seems to be of a rare breed. In that case, such spirit tea will be hard to find even in Cloud City, Cai Liuying praised after taking a few more sips.

If you like this tea, I have some more of these tea leaves, and I can give them all to you, Senior, Han Li said with a smile before sweeping a sleeve over the table, upon which a white box appeared out of thin air.

In that case, dont mind if I do, Fellow Daoist Han, I really am quite a fan of this tea, Cai Liuying chuckled.

Thats not necessarily the case. Perhaps that infiltrator is very proficient in disguise techniques, and you may have unwittingly set them free already, a figure enshrouded in grey light remarked in an indifferent manner.

Hmph, our Water Wraith Race may be lacking in combat prowess and power compared to other races, but our expertise in disguise techniques is definitely among the best in all of the 13 races. If you think your Yin Demon Race can do better, then Ill naturally be happy to hand over this duty to you, Brother Cang Ying, the white-haired being replied in an abrasive manner.

Im only saying this as a mere suggestion, theres no way that our Yin Demon Race would be more suited to this task than your Water Wraith Race, the grey figure chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

A cold light flashed through the white-haired mans eyes, and he was just about to say something else when the white-robed young man interjected, Alright, thats enough bickering from you two. Theres no way that Jiao Chi Race infiltrator couldve managed to escape. After I discovered that that thing had been stolen, I immediately issued a command to seal off all of the exits of the city. During the past few days, no one has been allowed to leave, so not even a single mosquito couldve flown out of Cloud City. On top of that, according to one of the guards who had been injured by the infiltrator, that being was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so its very unlikely that they couldve fooled Fellow Daoist Bai and his subordinates. In that case, this indicates that the infiltrator has most likely been in our Cloud City for a long time. As such, we have to investigate suspicious targets that have entered the city even longer than six months ago.

Both the white-haired man and the grey figure immediately fell silent in an obedient manner upon hearing this.

If that really is the case, then things are going to get quite troublesome. If we begin investigating all suspicious beings who were allowed into the city from even further back than half a year ago, there are simply way too many beings to investigate. If all of the outsiders begin to panic upon realizing what were doing, then that would spell even more trouble for us, Qian Jizi suddenly said after clearing his throat.

Thats indeed a possibility, and its also what Im most worried about. However, this infiltrator has stolen the blueprints of the restriction formation that wed just set up in the entire Cloud City, so we cant let them escape without paying a price. Otherwise, if the army of the Jiao Chi Race were to reach our city, that restriction would be virtually useless against them, the white-robed young man replied.

Thats a very valid concern, Senior Weng. As long as the Jiao Chi Race infiltrator remains in the city, we naturally cant allow them to leave. However, if we were to really conduct an exhaustive investigation, we could perhaps keep it up for a month or two with no issues, but if that infiltrator decides to play the waiting game and hides somewhere in the city for years on end, we cant afford to keep this up forever, an elderly man with a long black beard said in a grim voice.

Oh? Does that mean you have a good idea youd like to propose, Fellow Daoist Ning? the white-robed man asked.

I dont have any valuable insights to offer, but we have Fairy Cai here, dont we? With Fairy Cais intellect and talents, Im sure shell be able to find a solution with ease. The elderly man hurriedly waved his hands in response before suddenly thrusting Cai Liuying under the limelight.

Cai Liuyings eyes flashed upon hearing this, and she smiled as she said, Sure you jest, Brother Ning. With Senior Weng and Mounta Master Sha here, theres no place for my little tricks. I can only do my best to fulfill the duty that Im assigned.

Fellow Daoist Cai, nows not the time for modesty. I want to hear what insights you have to offer as an elder of the Crystal Race, the white-robed man insisted in a serious manner.

Cai Liuyings brows furrowed slightly, but she then quickly reverted back to her normal expression as she rose to her feet, then extended a bow toward each of the two beings seated at the center of the hall. In that case, Ill do my best to propose a solution.

Alright, please go ahead, Fairy Cai.

Im sure you wont disappoint us, Fellow Daoist Cai.

Everyone present smiled and offered words of encouragement.

It appeared that even though Cai Liuying possessed one of the lowest cultivation bases among all of the beings present, she seemed to be quite a popular and influential figure.

Even the elderly woman that had her eyes virtually half-closed opened her eyes slightly wider as she appraised Cai Liuying.

The white-robed man beside her was also looking at Cai Liuying with an expectant gaze.

After looking at everyone gathered in the hall, Cai Liuying said, In my opinion, its not a good idea to pour all of our resources into conducting an exhaustive and lengthy investigation. Instead, we should lay a trap to lure out the infiltrator.

What kind of trap do you propose? the white-robed man asked.

Cai Liuying replied, Regardless of what kind of method the infiltrator will adopt to try and escape, it looks like itll be quite difficult to capture them in a short time. As such, I suggest conducting an exhaustive investigation for a month, doing everything we can within reason to search for the infiltrator. If we catch them during this time, then that would be ideal. However, if we fail to do so, we can slowly withdraw resources from the search, thereby making it appear as if were giving up and conceded that we wont be catching the infiltrator, but in reality, well be deploying more people to the four city gates, where theyll be conducting investigations from the shadows. On top of that, I suggest organizing a group of elite individuals who continue to investigate suspicious beings leaving Cloud City during the upcoming period in secret. In that case, if the infiltrator is in a hurry to deliver the blueprints back to the Jiao Chi Race, theyll be sure to fall into our trap. On the contrary, if they plan to continue hiding in the city, Im sure that once it becomes seemingly apparent that were calling off the search, theyll gradually grow complacent, and thatll be their downfall.

That is indeed a good idea, but what if that infiltrator is extremely proficient in disguise techniques, and they manage to bypass our investigation after we open the four city gates? Wont we be shooting ourselves in the foot and allowing them to escape instead? The white-robed man initially nodded in response, but then shook his head quickly thereafter.

Everyone else thought that Cai Liuyings plan was quite good, but now that the white-robed man was stating a different opinion, everyone was rather hesitant again.

Hehe, Ive actually only disclosed half the plan, Senior Weng. I think youll be interested to hear the second half of my plan, Cai Liuying said with a smile.

Her lips then began to move slightly, but she uttered no sounds, and it was quite apparent that she was transmitting her voice directly to the white-robed man.

The man was initially rather taken aback by this, but after listening for a while, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, which then quickly turned into elation.

Only after close to 10 minutes did Cai Liuying finally cease her voice transmission.

Is that true? The white-robed man took a deep breath before suddenly casting his gaze toward Qian Jizi.

I wouldnt dare joke about such an important matter, Cai Liuying replied with a serious look on her face.

All of the other holy race beings present wore different expressions as they glanced at one another in the aftermath of that mysterious exchange between Cai Liuying and the white-robed man.

However, all of them were naturally smart enough not to inquire about the contents of the voice transmission.

In that case, Im certainly convinced. Mistress Sha, Im sure you just heard Fellow Daoist Cais voice transmission as well, what do you think? The white-robed man suddenly turned to the elderly woman beside him in a polite manner.

I have no objections. Im just an old woman who doesnt want to think anymore. All Im responsible for is helping out when we encounter enemies that are too powerful for these little guys to deal with. Im not going to pay any heed to anything else, and nor do I have the energy to do so. Seeing as youve formulated a plan, Im going back to rest now. Fellow Daoist Weng, you can make all of the decisions that arise from here onward, the old woman said in a feeble voice as she rose to her feet in a wobbly manner.

A wry smile appeared on the white-robed mans face upon hearing this. However, before he had a chance to say anything else, the woman had already departed, and she really did leave just as she said she would.

All of the other beings present were naturally slightly bemused to see this.

This elderly woman had always been extremely mysterious. All of them knew that she was a Grand Ascension Stage being, but no one knew which of the 13 races she hailed from, nor what kind of ability shed cultivated to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

According to some rumors, she was the oldest of all of the current Grand Ascension Stage beings in the 13 races, and it was said that shed lived for an unimaginably long time.

At the very least, all of the cultivators had known of her existence for many years.

As such, even though she appeared to be a frail old woman who could be blown over by a stiff breeze, even the white-robed man regarded her as a senior, so all of the other beings present naturally treated her with the utmost respect.

After the old woman finally hobbled out of the hall, the white-robed man could only heave a resigned sigh before withdrawing his gaze.

After a brief pause, the white-robed man announced in a decisive manner. Seeing as Mistress Sha has already left and theres not really anything left to discuss this matter, well all do as Fellow Daoist Cai says. Fairy Cai, Fellow Daoist Bai, Ill leave this to the two of you. Everyone else, you must cooperate with the two of them to the best of your abilities.

Everyone in the hall naturally agreed to this arrangement.

Alright, lets discuss the matters surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm next. Qian Jizi, you can tell everyone about this. The white-robed man suddenly changed the subject.

Everyones expressions changed slightly upon hearing the words Vast Glacial Realm.

Some of the more impatient beings present couldnt help but ask, Whats going on, Fellow Daoist Qian? Is the Vast Glacial Realm about to open soon?

Meanwhile, Cail Liuying and Duan Tianren exchanged a glance in a reflexive manner before immediately averting their eyes.

The Vast Glacial Apparatus in the Sentient Hall of our Myriad Ancient Race has displayed a reaction two days ago, and according to past experience, this means that the Vast Glacial Realm will open in a few months to three or four years, Qian Jizi explained in an unhurried manner.

Even though Han Li didnt finish his sentence, Eccentric Xu naturally understood the unspoken implications, and his brows furrowed as he asked, Why dont you tell me what kind of treasure youd like in exchange for that disposable treasure of yours? Even if I dont have it, I have many acquaintances, and I could try and source it for you.

Han Li fell silent upon hearing this.

There naturally were items that he wanted. Not taking into account other matters, just the rare materials that Qing Yuanzi was asking for comprised of quite an extensive list.

However, it was exactly because of this that he found it difficult to state any terms.

If he were to use the true Kirin essence to exchange for only a few of the materials on the list, it naturally wouldnt be worth it for him. However, if he were to ask for too many materials in return, Eccentric Xu would most likely be of the opinion that Han Li was simply trying to take advantage of him, and hed essentially be making an enemy for no good reason.

After all, only he was aware of the value of the true Kirin essence, but that was not something that he could disclose to Eccentric Xu, thereby resulting in this predicament.

Fellow Daoist Xu, the items I require are all extremely rare, and even you wouldnt be able to source them, so theres no point in disclosing them. As for whether I can replicate that phenomenon for you… Han Li heaved a faint sigh with a hesitant look on his face.

Eccentric Xus expression darkened further at the sight of the hesitant expression on Han Lis face.

He glanced at the young boy behind him, then gritted his teeth and pulled out a blue jade box as he said, Would you like to have a look at this item as well? Its even more valuable than all of the other items Ive shown you. One of the elders of our Cloud Race also requires this item, and I wanted to offer it to him in exchange for some benefits, but the future of my junior clearly takes priority over that. Im sure that even if this item isnt something that youre looking for, its at least of equal value to the disposable treasure you possess.

Han Li wasnt surprised at all to see that Eccentric Xu had held something back in reserve. If he were in Eccentric Xus shoes, he wouldnt bring out the most valuable item he had to offer from the get-go, either.

As for the story about how he was planning to give this item to one of the elders of his race, that most likely wasnt true, and Han Li naturally wasnt going to take it seriously.

Thus, he nodded in response before making a grabbing motion to draw the blue jade box into his grasp.

As soon as his fingers came into contact with the box, a strange chilling sensation suddenly ran through his entire body, and his heart jolted with shock in response.

He didnt know what kind of spirit jade this box had been refined from, but it was even colder than profound jade.

As such, Han Li was rather intrigued as he slowly removed the lid of the box, and golden light flashed as the content of the box was revealed.

This was a fist-sized chunk of crimson metal that was radiating shimmering golden light.

A hint of bewilderment flashed through Han Lis eyes as soon as he caught sight of the item, as if hed managed to identify it, but he still seemed to be in disbelief.

All of a sudden, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a short white sword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of spiritual light.

The sword was only around half a foot in length, it was shimmering with a cold light, but it was quite clearly only a very ordinary treasure.

Han Li flicked his wrist, and the sword immediately shot forth into the jade box, striking the chunk of crimson metal in a flash.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

In the instant that the tip of the sword came into contact with the piece of crimson metal, it melted in a soundless manner like a burning candle, then disappeared into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

Flame Metal Essence! Han Li exclaimed through a slightly dry throat.

You sure are quite knowledgeable, Fellow Daoist Han. This Flame Metal Essence is a top-grade material for refining fire-attribute treasures, and if you were to add even a tiny portion of it to a normal treasure, that treasure would be given fire-attribute powers. Regardless of how precious your disposable treasure is, Im sure this item will be enough to exchange for it, Eccentric Xu said in a slow voice as he appraised the blue jade box in Han Lis hand.

The bewilderment gradually faded from Han Lis eyes, and he suddenly smiled as he said, I really do have a use for this Flame Metal Essence, but Im naturally also aware of just how precious it is. How about this? In addition to replicating that phenomenon for you, Ill also throw in 5,000,000 spirit stones for you.

Eccentric Xu had originally been quite dejected that he had to part with this precious treasure, but after hearing Han Lis proposal, his expression eased slightly, and he nodded as he replied, Alright, well do as you say.

To him, the Flame Metal Essence was indeed extremely precious, but it still couldnt compare with the future of this junior on whom hed placed such high hopes.

Thus, Han Li flipped a hand over to stow the blue jade box away, and Eccentric Xue began, Now then, about the phenomenon…

Rest assured, Brother Xu, take this bag of spirit stones first, then go to the summit of this spirit mountain. Ill unleash the treasure right away to conjure up the phenomenon, and all you have to do is wait and harvest the worlds origin Qi when it appears, Han Li explained with a smile before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet, producing a leather pouch of spirit stones that he tossed over to Eccentric Xu.

Eccentric was clearly not expecting Han Li to fulfill his end of the transaction so quickly, and he faltered slightly as he reflexively caught the bag, then immediately rose to his feet in an elated manner. Alright, Ill be waiting at the mountain summit then.

Thus, he hurriedly departed with the young body before flying up the mountain.

After the two had left his cave abode, Han Li was able unable to repress his excitement any longer as a faint smile appeared on his face.

I didnt think Id obtain the Flame Metal Essence so quickly. In addition to the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and the Blood Apricot, Ive gathered all of the main materials required to manifest my Provenance True Devil Projection. Now, all I need to do is gather some secondary materials, and Ill be able to manifest a substantial body for my projection, Han Li murmured to himself with a bright gleam in his eyes.

After that, the process was quite simple. Han Li released the Weeping Soul Beast again, then extracted another true Kirin essence particle from its body before intentionally refining it with his nascent flames.

Thus, the same explosion took place, and the particle burst through the ceiling of his cave abode before conjuring up the same astonishing phenomenon again, drawing all of the nearby worlds origin Qi toward it.

Eccentric Xu was already well prepared, and he was ecstatic as he immediately grabbed the crimson gourd that was hanging from his waist before hurling it into the air, upon which the gourd transformed into a fiery wyrm.

Mere moments later, all of the worlds origin Qi above the spirit mountain was absorbed by the fiery wyrm, and the entire process was even faster than it had been last time.

As such, not many cultivators living on the spirit mountain had been alerted by this phenomenon.

After that, Eccentric Xu transformed the fiery wyrm back into his crimson gourd, then took the young boy back to his cave abode in high spirits.

After witnessing all of this through a copper mirror in the hall of his cave abode, Han Li smiled as he ceased his secret technique, then immediately stowed the mirror away. After that, he gave Doll a few instructions using his spiritual sense before departing from his cave abode again.

On this occasion, Han Li visited several large material shops in Cloud City, spending a staggering amount of spirit stones to purchase over 30 types of different materials before finally returning to his cave abode.

Luckily for him, Cloud City was one of the few super cities on the territory of the 13 Heavenly Clod Races. Otherwise, he may not have been able to source some of the rarest materials he required if he were in another city. Half a month after Han Li had gone into seclusion in his cave abode again, a major event took place in Cloud City.

As a result, the citys defenses were tightened even further, and almost twice as many people were deployed to patrol the city compared to before. There were even some newly arrived outsiders in the city that were tracked down by some mysterious individuals, and extremely exhaustive investigations were conducted on these outsiders.

Some of the outsiders who were deemed to be overly suspicious mysteriously disappeared off the face of this world.

Within an extremely secretive hall in Cloud City, a dozen or so important figures were seated in two rows on a pair of wooden benches.

Among these people, there were some who were familiar to Han Li, such as the three elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, Cai Liuying of the Crystal Race, and Duan Tianren of the Stone Cocoon Race. The others were all beings whom Han Li had never met before, but the spiritual pressure emanating from their bodies indicated that they were beings of the same caliber as the likes of Qian Jizi. All of these vasty renowned holy race beings were gathered with solemn and cautious expressions on their face, while a man and a woman sat at the very center of the hall.

The man wore a set of white robes and appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age, while the woman had a head of golden hair, but a face so deeply wrinkled that it appeared she was barely even able to keep her eyes open.

If Han Li were present at the scene, he wouldnt have paid much attention to the elderly woman, but he certainly wouldve been quite alarmed by the sight of the white-robed young man.

This was none other than the Grand Ascencion cultivator with the Weng surname, who had appeared during the last Four Races Auction.

At this moment, the young man wore a thunderous expression, and there was a menacing aura emanating from his body.

Its been so many days, yet all of you still havent managed to find the Jiao Chi Race infiltrator. It looks like the infiltrator has already fled Cloud City or is hiding somewhere thats beyond the scope of your search. Fellow Daoist Bai, Your Water Wraith Race has always been responsible for this area as of late, what do you think? the white-robed young man suddenly asked in a cold voice. frewbovel.cm

The person that he had questioned was a man in a brocade robe with a head of white hair, but a set of youthful facial features. His expression soured slightly upon hearing this question, but he still hurriedly rose to his feet as he cupped his fist in a salute, and replied, Senior Weng, weve already deployed all of the beings in our race who are proficient in interrogative techniques, and investigated all of the suspicious beings who have come to our Cloud City in the past six months. During the process, weve even weeded out hundreds of spies that had been planted in our Cloud City from various other races, but weve still been unable to find that Jiao Chi Race being who infiltrated our Enshrinement Hall. I think the infiltrator has most likely already left Cloud City. Otherwise, theres no way that he wouldve been able to escape such an exhaustive investigation.

Oh? Would you be able to elaborate further on that, Fellow Daoist? Han Li cast his gaze toward the young boy with a slightly surprised look in his eyes.

Of course I can. Truth be told, I dont have many direct lineal descendants, and Xianger is the only junior of mine that is worth nurturing in my eyes. I dont mean to boast, but my juniors knack for cultivation is quite outstanding, even in the context of the entire Cloud Race. He should be able to become an upper race being in less than a century. From the benevolence in Eccentric Xus eyes as he looked at the young boy, it was quite apparent that he held the boy in extremely high regard.

Youre far too kind, Great Grandfather, I only have ordinary aptitude thats nothing to boast about, the young boy hurried said in a shy manner.

Haha, youve already reached this cultivation base below 20 years of age, your aptitude is even far superior to mine, so whats there to be modest about? Eccentric Xu laughed heartily in response.

Your junior does indeed possess astonishing talent, Han Li also chimed in with a smile.

The young boy could only remain silent with an embarrassed blush on his face.

Eccentric Xus delighted expression then faded as he said in a heavy voice, Generally speaking, this junior of mine could well rise to even greater heights than me in the future, but unfortunately, theres an inherent flaw in his body that makes his future cultivation full of doubts and uncertainty.

Han Lis eyes flashed upon hearing this, but he didnt say anything in reply as he knew that an explanation was definitely coming.

As expected, after a brief pause, Eccentric Xu continued, He possesses outstanding aptitude, but some issues have arisen in his cultivation of his Bonded Cloud Beast. It shouldve been cultivated long ago, but hes stuck at the final steps and unable to truly manifest it. According to past experience, its naturally best for one to cultivate their Bonded Cloud Beast as early as possible. Otherwise, his powers and future cultivation base progression could be hampered. This is why Ive decided to come to you, Fellow Daoist Han.

Im not sure I understand how what the connection is, Han Li said in a perplexed manner.

This is indeed rather complex. To put it simply, I unintentionally discovered that the worlds origin Qi that Id gathered from the phenomenon a few days ago can assist my junior in manifesting his Bonded Cloud Beast. However, Id already used up most of the worlds origin Qi Id gathered last time, and the remaining amount isnt enough for him to use. As such, I can only come to you in the hopes that you could perhaps replicate that phenomenon. Eccentric Xu finally disclosed the purpose of his visit.

If the worlds origin Qi is useful to your junior, then Im sure you can gather some yourself with ease, why do you need to come and find me? Han Li asked in a calm manner.

Ive already conducted several experiments and found that normal worlds origin Qi is completely ineffective in aiding my junior to manifest his Bonded Cloud Beast. As such, the worlds origin Qi gathered by the phenomenon that you conjured up must be special somehow, and contains something that is beyond my scope of comprehension. Perhaps only that special thing will be able to help Xianger, Eccentric Xu replied in a rather gloomy manner.

I see. A thoughtful expression appeared on Han Lis face.

He was naturally well aware that the so-called phenomenon that had taken place a few days ago was created by the dissipation of the true Kirin essence particle, so it was no surprise that this worlds origin Qi gathered was different from normal. However, it really was quite a surprise to him that this special type of the worlds origin Qi was beneficial to Cloud beings in manifesting their Bonded Cloud Beasts.

I came here in the hopes that you can conjure put the same worlds origin Qi as last time. If you can do that, Ill be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts, Eccentric Xu said with a hopeful expression on his face.

Its not that I dont want to help you, its just that this is not something that I can accomplish easily, Han Li replied in a hesitant manner.

True Kirin essence was an extremely precious substance, and even though he couldnt refine it, it would still be immensely beneficial to the Weeping Soul Beast, so he was naturally unwilling to extract more particles for no good reason.

After all, even though there were many such particles in the Weeping Soul Beasts body, who was to say that a single particle wouldnt be the difference between the Weeping Soul Beast going through an evolution or not?

Han Li was definitely unwilling to help a foreign being that hed only just met at the expense of his spirit beast.

Eccentric Xus heart sank slightly upon hearing this, but he still insisted, Are there some difficulties involved that you cant disclose, Fellow Daoist Han? This is an extremely important matter to me, so Im willing to offer you as many spirit stones as it takes.

After a long pause, Han Li furrowed his brows as he explained, This is not an issue that can be resolved with spirit stones. Truth be told, the phenomenon that I created last time wasnt a result of a secret technique or cultivation art that I used. Instead, I had to use a disposable treasure to conjure up that phenomenon. As for exactly what treasure that is, forgive me for not being able to disclose that. However, Im sure you can imagine just how precious this treasure is to be able to conjure up such a phenomenon. I dont have many of those treasures left on my hands at the moment, and Im very reluctant to part with them.

A disposable treasure? Eccentric Xus expression changed upon hearing this.

Indeed. On top of that, this treasure is extremely useful to me as well, and Im not willing to exchange it for any quantity of spirit stones, Han Li continued in a rather apologetic manner.

If its a disposable treasure, then it would indeed make sense that youre not willing to exchange it for spirit stones. But then again, regardless of how precious a treasure is, it must have a price. I have a collection of precious treasures as well, and I can exchange a treasure of equal value for this disposable treasure youre referring to. Eccentric Xu had no intention of giving up.

An exchange? Han Lis expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he really did seem to be tempted by this proposal.

At the sight of Han Lis reaction, Eccentric Xu knew that he had a chance, and he was elated as he immediately swept a sleeve over the table before him.

A burst of red light swept forth, and seven or eight jade boxes of different sizes abruptly appeared on the table.

These items are the most precious treasures among my collection, and two of them are treasures that I almost gave my life to obtain. You can have a look at all of them, then if any of them catch your eye, feel free to take it. On top of that, Ill also be owing you a big favor for this, Eccentric Xu promised in a straightforward manner.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the jade boxes on the table as a series of thoughts quickly flashed through his mind.

This Eccentric Xu was at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was also a Cloud being who appeared to be quite powerful. As such, the most precious treasures among his collection were most likely quite precious indeed.

However, he also possessed many astounding treasures, including two Profound Heavenly Treasures, which even Body Integration Stage beings wouldnt dare dream of obtaining. Hence, he wasnt actually very hopeful that there would be something here that could tempt him.

In any case, unless he saw something that he really needed, he wasnt going to agree to an exchange.

Even so, Han Li still smiled as he said, In that case, Id be honored to see these items among your collection.

He raised a hand and made a grabbing motion as he spoke, upon which a fiery red jade box left the table and was drawn into his grasp.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he sensed the scorching aura emanating from the jade box, and he didnt dare to take it lightly as he conjured up a layer of spiritual light to protect his hand. At the same time, he flicked a finger from his other hand toward the jade box, and the lid flew off of its own accord.

A scorching aura immediately erupted from within in a frenzy, and the temperature within the entire hall was raised dramatically.

Blue light flashed through Han Lis eyes, and he immediately identified the item in the box to be a white egg that was around the size of a normal egg. However, there were red patterns all over its surface, and there was scintillating red light emanating from it that was swelling and receding incessantly.

Whats this? Han Li asked as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

He could sense that this egg possessed quite a powerful aura, but he naturally couldnt tell which type of beast this egg belonged to.

You really do have a good eye, Fellow Daoist Han, youve picked out the only spirit egg among these treasures. This is the egg of an extremely rare Primordial Flame Butterfly that I killed in a realm of lava deep underground. The butterflys fire-attribute powers were not inferior to mine, and I spent an entire year to set up a trap for it before I was finally able to kill it. Im sure that if you were to carefully nurture this egg, it would hatch into a fantastic spirit beast. If it werent for the fact that I already have a Bonded Cloud Beast, which makes it impossible for me to divert my attention to other spirit beasts, perhaps I wouldve hatched this egg long ago, Eccentric Xue said with a smile.

For this butterfly to possess fire-attribute powers comparable to yours truly makes it quite an extraordinary creature. Unfortunately, I already have other spirit beasts as well. Otherwise, this would indeed be a highly sought after treasure to me. Han Li withdrew his gaze from the egg as he clicked his tongue with wonder.

Eccentric Xu faltered slightly upon hearing this before smiling as he said, Its my fault for failing to consider that. At your current cultivation base, its only natural that youve nurtured spirit beasts of your own already. Its alright, you can continue browsing through the other boxes.

Han Li nodded before placing the lid back onto the jade box, then gently tossing it forward.

A burst of azure light immediately surged out his sleeve, carrying the jade box onto the table in a stable manner before sweeping another jade box toward him.

Han Li raised a hand, and the second jade box fell into his grasp…

Time passed by slowly, and after about 15 minutes, Han Li had seen most of the treasures that Eccentric Xu had brought out.

Most of them contained rare materials, and there were also one or two powerful-looking treasures, as well as even a vial of pills that could assist in enhancing a Spatial Tempering Stage beings cultivation base.

These items were all extremely precious, and they were even superior to many of the auction items that had been sold during the Four Races Auction.

However, none of them managed to catch Han Lis eye, and he merely inspected them one by one with a faint smile on his face before putting them away.

After hed appraised the item in the final jade box and set it down again, Eccentric Xus expression was starting to become a little strained.

He couldnt help but ask, Were none of these items of interest to you, Fellow Daoist?

In all honesty, these are all indeed extremely precious items. In particular, the egg of that Primordial Flame Butterfly would be a priceless treasure to fellow Daoists using fire-attribute cultivation methods. If you were to sell them in an auction, theyd definitely be able to fetch in excess of 10,000,000 spirit stones each. However, to me, theyre… Han Li shook his head in a resigned manner, and his voice trailed off mid-sentence.

Of course, now would not be a good time to bring out the suit of armor to study it as he was sitting in a beast-drawn carriage. As such, Han Li could only repress his curiosity and stow the jade box away before entering a meditative state.

Several hours later, the beast-drawn carriage arrived at the foot of the spirit mountain.

Han Li disembarked before tossing a spirit stone to the driver, then flew up the mountain in a calm manner.

His cave abode was situated around halfway up the mountain, and all of the cultivators that with cave abodes here were either almost constantly away or arduously cultivating in their cave abodes. As such, it was relatively rare to see anyone on this mountain.

However, as Han Li was flying toward his cave abode, he was quite surprised to discover a pair of uninvited guests outside.

One of them was a red-robed man who appeared to be in his sixties, this was none other than the Eccentric Xu who had used his crimson gourd to absorb all of the worlds origin Qi gathered in the aftermath of the true Kirin essences explosion.

The very same crimson gourd was hanging from his waist, and standing next to him was a young boy who appeared to be around 14 to 15 years old with a set of fine and delicate facial features.

Both of them were sitting outside the stone door of his cave abode with their eyes closed in meditation, and Han Li was naturally quite surprised to see this.

All of a sudden, Eccentric Xu opened his eyes as if hed sensed Han Lis return, and he smiled as he asked, Youre the Fellow Daoist Han who just moved in recently, right?

Han Li recomposed himself before asking in a polite manner, Thats right. Were you waiting for me, Fellow Daoist Xu?

All of the Spatial Tempering Stage beings on the entire spirit mountain were clearly quite wary of this Eccentric Xu, so he had to be quite a powerful being. As such, Han Li naturally didnt want to get on his bad side.

Hehe, I am indeed here to pay you a visit, Fellow Daoist Han. This here is one of my direct lineal descendants. Pay your respects to Fellow Daoist Han. To Han Lis surprise, Eccentric Xu seemed to be quite eager to introduce this junior of his to him for some reason.

Junior Xu Lunxiang pays his respects to Senior Han, the young boy immediately greeted in a respectful manner.

Theres no need for formalities. Han Li had already ascertained with his spiritual sense that this young boys cultivation base was at the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment Stage, so he was only one step away from the Core Formation Stage. For a cultivator of his age, that was a reflection of outstanding aptitude.

You dont find my visit too abrupt, do you, Fellow Daoist Han? Eccentric Xu chuckled.

Not at all. Its my honor to host you at my humble cave abode, Fellow Daoist Xu. If it werent for the fact that I had some matters to attend to during these past few days, I wouldve welcomed you into my cave abode right away. Please come in, Brother Xu. Han Li was still rather perplexed by this situation, but his expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve toward the stone door of his cave abode.

A burst of azure light swept forth, and the stone door opened on its own in a soundless manner to reveal a shimmering white passageway that was paved with beautiful white jade.

Eccentric Xu expressed his gratitude toward Han Lis hospitality before making his way into the passageway with the young boy right behind him.

After entering his cave abode, Han Li immediately released his spiritual sense to contact the second Nascent Soul that hed left here.

Thus, he learned that nothing had happened during these past three days aside from Eccentric Xus visit, and he was quite relieved to hear this as he led Eccentric Xu and his junior into the hall.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Eccentric Xu and Han Li each took a seat, but the young boy continued to stand behind Eccentric Xu wit his hands hanging by his sides.

After sitting down in his chair, Eccentric Xu said, Truth be told, Fellow Daoist Han, Ive been in seclusion for a long time, and Ive only recently re-emerged. Not long after that, I heard that a new fellow Daoist had moved in to this spirit mountain, and I heard that Elder Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race had organized your cave abode in person. May I ask if youre related in some way to Elder Qian Jizi?

Hehe, Im just an outsider, how could I be related to Senior Qian Jizi in any way? Its just that I saved the life of a fellow Daoist from the Myriad Ancient Race a few years ago, and that fellow Daoist just so happened to be quite close with Senior Qian Jizi, Han Li replied in a calm manner.

I see. That makes sense. After all, the Myriad Ancient Race is ranked quite high among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and Senior Qian Jizi is an elder of the Myriad Ancient Race, so he can certainly organize for you to settle in Cloud City without ant issues, Eccentric Xu chuckled.

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response.

He knew that this Eccentric Xu had to be visiting him for a reason, and he was most likely going to elaborate on the purpose of his visit next.

As expected, Eccentric Xu suddenly adopted a rather serious expression as he said, Truth be told, I decided to visit you on this occasion because I have some questions Id like to ask you. Please forgive me for my unannounced intrusion.

Han Li immediately became slightly more guarded upon hearing this, but he still smiled, and replied, Theres no need to be so polite, Brother Xu. Cultivators like us are all straightforward beings, so feel free to tell me if you need something from me. If I know the answer to your question, Ill be sure to reveal them.

In that case, I wont waste any more time, Eccentric Xu said with a smile.

After a brief pause, a serious look appeared in his eyes again as he asked, Were you responsible for the astonishing phenomenon that took place a few days ago on our mountain?

Eccentric Xu fixed an intense unblinking gaze on Han Li as he spoke.

Han Lis heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked with a smile, Why do you think that phenomenon had something to do with me.

Its quite simple, the phenomenon spanned quite a massive area, but it wasnt all that difficult for me to identify the epicenter of the explosion. On top of that, I just so happened to be taking a stroll outside my cave abode as I was getting rather frustrated with some aspects of my cultivation, and coincidentally, I saw a beam of golden light flying out from somewhere near your cave abode right before the explosion took place, Eccentric Xu revealed in a truthful manner.

Han Lis brows furrowed reflexively upon hearing this, but he then quickly put on a smile as he said, Seeing as youve already witnessed everything, then theres nothing for me to hide. I did indeed unintentionally create that phenomenon a few days ago. Come to think of it, I have to thank you for cleaning up all of the worlds origin Qi that gathered over the mountain as a result. Otherwise, I wouldve had to clear away everything myself.

Eccentric Xu was quite elated to hear this, and he hurriedly asked, So you really were responsible for creating that phenomenon! Thats fantastic! Would you be able to replicate the same phenomenon again, Brother Han?

Replicate that phenomenon? Why would you want me to do that? Would you be able to enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Xu? Han Li asked with a perplexed look on his face.

Eccentric Xu initially faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly bursting into laughter as he said, Of course. Fellow Daoist Han, have you managed to identify which of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races I hail from?

Han Li narrowed his eyes and appraised the old man for a while before a wry smile appeared on his face. Er… Im afraid thats beyond a being with a cultivation base as lowly as mine.

No matter how he looked at this Eccentric Xu, he was completely identical to a normal human being, and there were no characteristics that revealed which race he was from.

Its no surprise that you werent able to identify me, Brother Han. After all, us Cloud beings have always been extremely proficient in concealment and disguise techniques, and even beings with higher cultivation bases than us wouldnt be able to glean our true forms if we insist on hiding them. Its just that Im a bit of an anomaly in my race in that I cultivate an extremely Yang-oriented fire-attribute cultivation art, so my proficiency in disguise techniques is rather lacking compared to my brethren of the same cultivation base. As such, some of the fellow Daoists who have lived on this mountain for a long time are aware of what kind of being I am, Eccentric Xu chuckled.

The Cloud Race? Isnt that the race with the smallest population among the Heavenly Cloud Races, yet still ranks among the top three of the 13 races? Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

He had indeed heard of this Cloud Race, and he knew that it was one of the mysterious of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

Hehe, looks like you know quite a lot about our Cloud Race, Brother Han. Our Cloud Race and the Crystal Race are the two races with the smallest populations among the 13 races. However, in contrast with the Crystal Race, us Cloud beings are all quite powerful, which is why we were able to stake a claim among the top three races, Eccentric Xu said in a rather proud manner.

My apologies for my ignorance, this is my first time meeting a being from your Cloud Race, Han Li sighed.

Theres no need to apologize. Our Cloud Race doesnt have a big population, but there are many of us here in Cloud City, its just that very few of us appear as our true identities. Perhaps youve even met some being whom you thought were from other races, but were actually just Cloud beings in disguise, Eccentric Xu said in a meaningful voice.

Han Li was rather speechless upon hearing this.

Eccentric Xu then put away his smug expression as he adopted a slightly solemn look, and continued, However, even though our Cloud Race is known for our proficiency in disguise and concealment techniques, the real reason why we were able to claim a spot among the top three of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races is due to another natural ability of ours. Im sure youve heard of it, right?

Are you referring to Bonded Cloud Beasts? Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Indeed. Bonded Cloud Beasts are creatures that lay somewhere in between the realms of spirit beasts and avatars. Only after cultivating our own Cloud Beast can beings like us truly become Cloud beings, Eccentric Xu said in a slow voice.

Ive heard some rumors about the Bonded Cloud Beasts of the Cloud Race. Its said that after cultivating a Cloud Beast, it would be the equivalent of an avatar with the exact same abilities as the Cloud being that had cultivated it. During times of peril, Cloud beings can even combine as one with their Cloud Beasts to form legendary Cloud Beast Giant Spirits. In doing so, not only would a Cloud beings powers be significantly enhanced, theyd even be able to unleash some powerful abilities that wouldve been beyond their capabilities otherwise. Could it be that you wanted to speak to me about something related to your Bonded Cloud Beast? Han Li asked as he stroked his chin.

You are truly a wise man, Fellow Daoist Han. I do indeed wish to speak with you about a Cloud Beast, but not my own. Instead, its about my juniors Bonded Cloud Beast, Eccentric Xue explained as he pointed to the young boy behind him.