Outside the cave dwelling, over a dozen alien cultivators were waiting.
The four at the forefront wore yellow robes and were all at the Void Refinement stage. The rest were armored guards wielding silver halberds, arrayed in battle-ready formation.
"Fellow Daoist Han, our brothers are here under Senior Qian Jizi's orders to escort you to the meeting point." The yellow-robed giant at the head of the group cupped his fists in greeting the moment Han Li emerged from his dwelling.
"Then I must trouble you all." Han Li showed no trace of surprise, replying with perfect composure.
Previously, only a handful of Cloud City's higher-ups had known he was the one who had activated the Guanghan Token. But now that the Guanghan Realm was about to open, word of his identity had evidently spread to considerably more people.
Qian Jizi would naturally fear that someone might cause trouble, kidnap him, or assassinate him at a time like this, which explained this impressive escort.
The yellow-robed giant smiled at Han Li's response and waved to the armored guards behind him.
Instantly, the dozen-odd guards who had been standing in a line parted to either side, revealing a spirit carriage bathed in hazy azure light.
Pulling the carriage in front were two enormous azure birds with plumage the color of jade from beak to tail feather, stunningly beautiful.
One glance was enough to tell that this spirit carriage was no ordinary conveyance.
Han Li stepped inside without standing on ceremony.
The four yellow-robed alien cultivators likewise took to the air and alighted upon the carriage, each taking up a practiced position at one of its four corners, effectively surrounding and shielding Han Li within.
With a few clear cries, the two azure birds spread their wings and lifted the spirit carriage into the sky.
The silver-armored guards each produced a round silver disc, stepped onto these flying treasures, and followed close behind.
Moments later, the azure spirit carriage was hurtling through the sky several hundred zhang up, heading straight for a particular location within Cloud City.
Obviously, the entire city was on high alert. Not only were the streets far emptier than usual, but columns of armored guards in various colors could be seen patrolling both on the ground and in the air at every turn.
Han Li further noticed that certain locations that were already important under normal circumstances now emanated faint fluctuations of restrictions — it seemed that all manner of spell formations and wards had been activated.
It was clear that the higher-ups of Cloud City were treating this opening of the Guanghan Realm with the utmost importance.
The spirit carriage flew on without incident, bringing them directly to the vicinity of the inn where Han Li had activated the Guanghan Token.
The entire area had been sealed off behind dense, layered restrictions. In the distance, rising within those wards, dozens of massive pillars — each a hundred zhang tall — stood in a circle, enclosing everything within a radius of ten-odd li centered on that inn.
These pillars radiated multicolored spiritual light, projecting an enormous five-colored barrier that resembled a canopy overhead, completely concealing everything within. Outsiders could not make out a single thing inside.
Yet the moment they drew near, it was immediately apparent that the guards in this area numbered at least ten times those elsewhere, practically surrounding the entire zone.
There were also over a hundred puppets of unknown design standing motionless throughout the area — some black as ink, others crimson as flame — each standing seven or eight zhang tall.
A flicker of surprise crossed Han Li's face at the sight.
Every guard stationed here was at least at the Core Formation stage, and the majority were Nascent Soul cultivators. As for Void Refinement auras, his spiritual sense had swept through and already detected twenty or thirty in the vicinity — and that was not even counting the sky-web-like layers of restrictions covering the area.
The security was truly formidable.
The azure spirit carriage bore some kind of identifying insignia, for along the entire flight not a single person had stopped or challenged them. But now, as they approached the barrier, several guards riding enormous wolf-like spirit beasts with wings growing from their backs flew out from within the light screen to meet them.
"Commander Tie! Has Fellow Daoist Han arrived?" A man in green armor, around fifty years of age, called out loudly from atop one of the giant wolves the moment he spotted the azure spirit carriage.
"Heh heh — Senior Qian sent you to welcome us, I take it. Rest easy, Fellow Daoist Han is inside the carriage. Open the restrictions." The yellow-robed giant replied with a smile from within the carriage.
"Good — nothing has gone wrong, then. I'll open the wards at once." The man riding the wolf brightened at the news.
He and the others each produced an object from within their robes — restriction command tokens — and waved them toward the light screen they had just passed through.
Several beams of differently colored light shot from the tokens and struck the barrier, forming a light formation roughly a zhang across.
The barrier nearby rippled slightly, then split open with a low hum, forming a passage.
Inside, the five-colored light still swirled ceaselessly, lending it an air of profound mystery.
The yellow-robed giant urged the azure birds forward, and the spirit carriage plunged straight in.
The welcoming party and the accompanying guards hurried in after it.
Though the barrier appeared to be only a single layer, the spirit carriage flew within the passage for nearly the time it takes to finish a meal before the exit finally came into view.
At this, Han Li felt a small stir of alarm.