"Heard of True Immortal Wangu, have you? I understand he was originally a rogue cultivator, but some ten thousand years ago he founded the White Bone Sect, becoming its founding ancestor. His ambitions certainly weren't small." Han Li mused for a moment.
"Actually, the White Bone Sect is quite a formidable force even within our Black Tortoise Domain — powerful enough to rank among the Ten Great Sects. To have achieved that in such a short time speaks to True Immortal Wangu's great abilities. Oh, and True Immortal Wangu currently resides on the highest level of the Welcoming Immortal Palace. If you'd like a particular floor, Senior, you need only mention it to the Palace's Chief Steward." The large man replied respectfully.
As they spoke, the four Thunder Guards had already guided Han Li to the gates of the White Jade Palace, where several guards in azure armor stood watch.
The leading Thunder Guard quickly dismounted his giant wolf, walked up to one of the guards, pointed toward Han Li, and whispered a few words.
The azure-armored guard, whose expression had been somewhat cold, immediately changed. After sizing Han Li up carefully, he bowed deeply and hurriedly turned back through the gates.
The Thunder Guard then returned to Han Li's side and said:
"Senior Han, we juniors still have patrol duties to attend to and cannot linger here. The Palace's Chief Steward will come out personally to greet you shortly. The four of us will take our leave now."
The four Thunder Guards gave Han Li a slight bow and said their farewells.
Han Li naturally didn't stop them. He waved his hand and let the four Thunder Guards depart.
The very moment the Thunder Guards' giant wolves leapt into the air and departed, two figures emerged from the palace gates.
One was the azure-armored guard who had just rushed inside. The other was a white-faced old man in grey robes, his eyes faintly green with sharp glints within — a cultivator at the mid-Stage Void Refinement level.
"So this must be Senior Han Li. I wasn't aware of your arrival, and this humble one, Zong Mian, failed to come out and greet you at a distance. Please forgive my offense." The old man stepped forward and gave Han Li a distant bow, brimming with respect.
"No need for such formalities, Fellow Daoist Zong. I've traveled a long way to get here and am quite fatigued. Let's arrange my quarters as quickly as possible," Han Li said calmly after sizing the man up.
"Rest assured, Senior. The Welcoming Immortal Palace has been prepared in advance — you can move in immediately. All floors except the top one, which has been taken by True Immortal Wangu, and the first floor, which cannot be occupied, are currently empty. You're free to choose any of the remaining eight floors," Zong Mian said with a smile.
"The fifth floor, then. Neither too high nor too low — it suits me well," Han Li said after a moment's thought.
"Very well. I'll take you there first to have a look. If there's anything unsatisfactory, I'll arrange a swap immediately," the old man said, somewhat obsequiously.
Han Li nodded impassively and followed the man into the first-floor great hall of the Welcoming Immortal Palace.
The entire hall spanned several hundred zhang, and both the walls and floor gleamed with light, embedded with luminous pearls the size of fists that cast the hall in a shifting, crystalline radiance, as if it were some dragon palace of immortals.
Along the hall's perimeter stood a number of white jade tables and chairs — not many, scattered sparsely in the corners.
At the center of the hall sat a faintly silver teleportation formation, roughly seven or eight zhang across.
The old man walked directly to the formation and stepped inside first.
Han Li, expression unchanged, followed him in.
Hai Dashao and Qi Lingzi exchanged a glance and naturally followed without falling behind.
Though this was the first time either of them had used a teleportation formation, they showed no fear.
The old man formed a hand seal and sent it into the teleportation formation, which emitted a resonant hum as it blazed with light.
Only then did Zong Mian flip his hand, producing a delicate silver token.
Han Li glanced at it and saw that one side was inscribed with intricate runes, while the other bore a faintly golden character for "five."
The old man gently shook the token, and a beam of silver light shot forth, plunging into the formation below.
In the next instant, the formation's silver light swirled, and all four figures vanished simultaneously.
Though Hai Dashao and Qi Lingzi had closed their eyes, they still felt a momentary sensation of their heads growing heavy and their feet growing light.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing on an open-air platform.
On one side of the platform lay winding paths forming a garden, lined on both sides with all manner of wondrous spiritual herbs whose names they couldn't even begin to guess, leading off to who knew where. On the other side stretched a pond of jade-green water, several acres in size, in which colorful spiritual fish of about a foot in length swam lazily back and forth.
A gust of wind blew past, and a wave of rich spiritual energy rushed to meet them.
Hai Dashao stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and looked upward.
Above was a vast expanse of azure, with several tufts of white cloud drifting gently.
But the several suns that should have been there were nowhere to be seen. In their place hung a massive sphere of milky-white light, radiating soft luminescence from high overhead.
Hai Dashao's jaw dropped.
Qi Lingzi beside him was no better off, his mouth gaping wide, unable to close for the longest time.
"Stop staring. Everything up there is nothing but an illusion created by restriction arrays. At your cultivation levels, you wouldn't be able to perceive any of the deeper mechanisms," Han Li's voice suddenly rang in both their ears.
The two of them started, snapping out of their daze, only to find that Han Li had at some point already walked out of the formation and was standing a dozen-odd zhang away, watching them with a faint smile.