"Hehe, rest assured, Fellow Daoist. This thing was obtained by this old man at considerable risk. It's definitely far from ordinary." Jin Yuan gave a dry laugh and said.
Han Li nodded and said nothing more. He immediately led the old man toward a hall to one side.
Stepping through the hall's entrance, they found a vast chamber several dozen zhang across inside. The place was nearly empty — only a Foundation Establishment woman in a green robe sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the center, eyes closed in cultivation.
The moment she saw Han Li and the old man enter, she opened her eyes and rose to her feet.
"Have you two Fellow Daoists come to browse our collection of techniques and secret arts, or do you need a private chamber to exchange cultivation insights?" After sweeping her gaze over the two of them, she said with a smile.
"A private chamber for two will suffice," Han Li said evenly, having no interest whatsoever in looking through manuals. After all, any secret techniques that ordinary cultivators were allowed to view from the outside had to be rather common.
"That will cost one spirit stone. And once you leave this hall, the chamber will be retrieved," the middle-aged woman said with a smile.
She then reached toward her waist and produced a miniature stone cabin no more than a few inches tall.
Han Li stared at it in surprise for a moment, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He produced a spirit stone and handed it over, then took the object and examined it with curiosity.
"What? Is this your first time seeing a Celestial Mechanic Cabin, Fellow Daoist?" The woman noticed his reaction and asked with some interest.
"Indeed, I've never seen anything like this before. Is it a magic treasure?" Han Li weighed the object in his hand — it was featherlight, as if it had no weight at all.
"A Celestial Mechanic Cabin counts as a magic treasure, though you could also say it doesn't. But it's very convenient — just infuse it with spiritual energy and it expands for use. Of course, low-grade cabins can only grow larger or shrink; they have no other functions, so calling them magic treasures is really stretching it. However, high-grade Celestial Mechanic Cabinets can incorporate formation arrays and reinforced restrictions. Some are even comparable to spirit treasures. Naturally, the one we're providing you is rather ordinary — it blocks sound and prevents outside observation, but has no other functions." The woman gave Han Li a detailed explanation.
Hearing this, Han Li felt a jolt of surprise. He had been told when he arrived that private chambers were available for rent, but he hadn't expected them to be such curious objects. Nothing like this existed in the Tian Nan region.
"Thank you for the explanation, Fellow Daoist." Han Li expressed his gratitude, then headed toward a side chamber under her direction.
Jin Yuan followed close behind Han Li, but after a moment couldn't help saying:
"Fellow Daoist is seeing a Celestial Mechanic Cabin for the first time — that's genuinely surprising to this old man. Then again, I suppose it's understandable. These things are generally sold exclusively by the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion to rogue cultivators and high-level cultivators who frequently travel long distances. Fellow Daoist is so young yet already possesses such cultivation — clearly you're a carefully nurtured disciple of some major sect. You wouldn't have any need to purchase such ornamental trinkets. Besides, they're really quite expensive. If you have spirit stones, you're far better off buying magic treasures or spirit medicines."
"Oh? How many spirit stones would a rather ordinary cabin like this cost? Are they all the same shape?" Han Li asked casually.
"For low-grade ones, just over a hundred spirit stones will do. High-grade ones depend on the formation arrays and restrictions they come with, but they're generally much more expensive than magic treasures of the same tier. As for shapes — they come in all sorts. Pagodas, pavilions, manor houses, and everything in between. I've even heard that the top-grade Celestial Mechanic Cabins from the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion are essentially small cave abodes, incredibly convenient." Seeing that Han Li seemed interested, the old man shared everything he knew.
"A small cave abode?" Han Li's steps faltered at this, somewhat startled.
"Hehe! Brother Han, don't even dream of such things. Even the simplest cave-abode-type Celestial Mechanic Cabin costs tens of thousands of spirit stones each. That's far beyond what cultivators like us can afford," the old man said with a touch of self-mockery.
Han Li's expression returned to normal, and he nodded.
By now they had reached the side chamber. Inside, five or six stone cabins stood sparsely about the hall, each one identical to the miniature cabin in Han Li's hand once expanded. Their surfaces glimmered with a faint white light.
Han Li's interest piqued, and he casually extended his spiritual sense toward one of the cabins. Sure enough, the moment his sense touched it, a layer of restriction blocked him out. The restriction was extremely simple — spiritual sense could easily penetrate it, but the moment it was broken, the cabin's occupant would immediately know someone had been peeking and would be on guard.
This was actually a fairly reliable method of preventing eavesdropping.
With this thought in mind, Han Li held up the miniature cabin. Green light flickered across his hand as he infused it with spiritual energy.
The cabin immediately grew warm and began to tremble. Without hesitation, Han Li tossed it toward an empty space.
A flash of white light, a muffled boom — and a cabin several zhang in size appeared before them.
"Brother Jin, please come in!" After giving the stone cabin a glance, Han Li turned to the old man and said politely.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I have to say, even though I've seen these Celestial Mechanic Cabins before, I've rarely had the chance to go inside one." Jin Yuan stroked the sparse stubble on his chin, chuckled, and stepped forward to pull open the stone door and walk in.
Han Li smiled and followed at an unhurried pace, closing the door behind him.
The interior was not large, but rather refined.