The moment the two women and the three male cultivators trailing closely behind them stepped into a nearby shop, Han Li and Qu Hun emerged from behind another building.
Han Li glanced at the shop the two women had entered, a thoughtful look flickering across his face.
After watching for a while, he led Qu Hun off down another street.
At first glance, the streets here looked no different from the mundane shops outside — rows upon rows of similarly sized square buildings lined both sides of the road, and the plaques and hanging banners outside each store bore names like "Wu Family General Store," "Chen's Artifact Shop," "Five Elements Artifact Refining," and "Huo Yang Raw Materials," among a dizzying array of others.
Han Li didn't enter any of these shops. Instead, he followed the street straight toward the center of Tiandu Street.
Because based on his past experience, the truly powerful shops would always occupy the best locations — directly beneath the "Cloud Dream Pavilion." And Han Li wanted to get a closer look at this aerial pavilion to see what else made it extraordinary.
With that thought, Han Li unconsciously quickened his pace.
By now, various cultivators were bustling along the street, weaving in and out of the different shops. Tiandu Street seemed to be crawling with cultivators.
After walking several hundred zhang, Han Li knew he had found the right place.
Before him, the view suddenly opened up into a small plaza several acres in size.
The entire plaza was paved with slabs of gleaming white jade, giving it an extraordinarily elegant and magnificent appearance. At its center stood nothing — only the Cloud Dream Pavilion floating in midair. But from this distance, the aerial building's main doors were firmly shut, showing no intention of welcoming visitors.
Surrounding this modest plaza stood six small halls of distinctly different architectural styles, each equidistant from the others, arranged in an unmistakably confrontational formation. Apart from these six establishments, no other shops dared set foot in this plaza.
Seeing this arrangement, Han Li studied the aerial pavilion for a moment before lowering his gaze to the six halls on the ground.
"Mountain and Sea Pavilion, White Water Tower, Jade Ring Residence..." Han Li murmured the names of the six shops to himself, all the while carefully observing the cultivators going in and out, trying to pick the one with the most foot traffic.
But after a moment he frowned, silently grumbling to himself.
As it turned out, roughly the same number of people were entering and exiting each of the six halls. And most visitors made a point of browsing all six before reluctantly or excitedly departing.
Frowning in mild frustration, Han Li focused his attention and examined the six halls more carefully.
Only then did he notice something peculiar — the banners hanging outside each of the six halls bore embroidered symbols that carried hidden meanings.
The Mountain and Sea Pavilion's banner displayed a blue beast; White Water Tower featured a small golden sword; Jade Ring Residence showed a green spirit mushroom...
Seeing this, Han Li suddenly realized he had made a wrong assumption.
To confirm his suspicion, he thought for a moment and then headed for White Water Tower, the nearest of the six. Qu Hun followed silently behind him.
The moment they stepped through the doors into White Water Tower's main hall, Han Li found it to be quite spacious — roughly twenty to thirty zhang on each side.
Rows upon rows of shelves carved from white jade lined the walls, displaying nearly a hundred gleaming magical artifacts of various types. One sweep of his gaze told Han Li that the best among them were merely upper-grade artifacts — not worth a second look from someone of his caliber.
In front of the shelves, four or five neatly dressed clerics in green robes were busy recommending artifacts to seven or eight browsing cultivators.
The moment Han Li and Qu Hun walked in, one sharp-eyed cleric immediately recognized Qu Hun's Foundation Establishment cultivation level. Though unable to sense his exact standing, the cleric's eyes lit up and he hurried over.
After a deep bow to Qu Hun, the cleric asked with impeccable courtesy: "Esteemed Senior, are you looking for a magical artifact? Ordinary pieces surely wouldn't catch your eye. Perhaps Senior would follow me to the side hall, where the shopkeeper can bring out some newly arrived peak-grade artifacts for you to examine?"
Hearing such smooth and clever words, Han Li merely smiled but said nothing. Qu Hun, however, spoke with icy detachment: "Lead the way. We'll take a look."
Hearing the presumptuous tone in Qu Hun's voice, the cleric grew even more delighted.