All of a sudden, a massive dark green lotus flower that was around an acre in size appeared on the horizon, carrying Han Li, Xie Lian, Jin Chai, and the others.
"So this is the meeting venue? Fellow Daoist Huang Sha sure found a good place," Han Li said with a smile as he appraised the earthen city in the distance, and it was impossible to tell whether his words were meant to be insulting or full of praise.
Xie Lian smiled, and replied, "Fellow Daoist Huang's Boundless Earth Devilish Arts make him the most powerful user of earth-attribute cultivation arts in our entire holy realm. If the battlefield is within the desert, he can even contend with patriarchs like Bao Hua. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Huang has always been very reclusive and doesn't share many close ties with anyone, so this is a good neutral location for the meeting to take place."
"I see, no wonder this was selected as the meeting venue. That earthen city is nothing more than a normal spirit treasure, but those puppets are quite remarkable. There are over 10,000 of them in total, and each one possesses Spatial Tempering Stage powers," Jin Chai said with a hint of amazement in his eyes as he appraised the armored puppets in the distance.
"Fellow Daoist Huang's Boundless Earth Divine Guards were invented by him, and both their refinement and manipulation requires the Boundless Earth Devilish Arts as a basis. However, these guards can only display their true power here; once they leave the sand, their powers will be severely diminished. Having said that, they're very useful in places like this where there's a great abundance of earth-attribute origin Qi as they'll be able to recover even from severe damage. Even for Grand Ascension Stage beings like ourselves, it would be quite difficult to eradicate so many of these puppets here," Xie Lian explained.
"That's true, opponents with near-indestructible bodies are always very troublesome to face," Jin Chai agreed with a nod.
While they were speaking, the giant lotus flower had already taken them directly above the earthen city before slowly descending.
As soon as it landed on the ground, Han Li cast his gaze toward the shimmering golden palace gate, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
Even his enormous spiritual sense was unable to infiltrate this golden palace. It was clear that this was quite an extraordinary treasure, and most likely one that Huang Sha held in very high regard.
Xie Lian made her way toward the palace gate with her two female disciples, and Han Li's trio quickly followed along.
However, Jin Chai, who had appeared quite reckless and bullish, was rather hesitant as he appraised the palace up ahead.
Right at this moment, Shi Ding made his way toward the palace in an expressionless manner, and Jin Chai could only follow along with a wry smile.
As soon as Han Li stepped into the palace, restriction fluctuations erupted from underfoot, and a burst of azure light rose up from the ground, instantly enveloping his trio.
Silvermoon was quite alarmed by this, and she immediately prepared to unleash some type of attack to ward off the restriction, but Han Li's gentle voice then suddenly sounded beside her ears.
"There's no need to be alarmed; this restriction bears no ill will."
Silvermoon's heart immediately eased upon hearing this, and as the azure light surged around them, the surrounding area blurred before the three of them vanished in unison.
In the next instant, an azure light formation appeared in a resplendent hall, and Han Li's trio re-emerged.
Dozens of pairs of eyes immediately fell upon Han Li's trio like sharp daggers, following which a few surprised voice rang out.
"Hmm? It's a human cultivator!"
"Isn't that the golden crab from the Devilish Origin Sea?"
……
Han Li paid no heed to these voices and calmly inspected his surroundings.
In doing so, he discovered that the three of them were currently situated at the center of the hall with over 100 figures of different heights and sizes split up into over 30 groups around them.
Close to half of these people were seated on chairs, while the others were standing respectfully off to the side.
Xie Lian had already made her way over to a corner of the hall and taken a seat, while her two female disciples stood behind her.
"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Xie," Xie Lian said with a smile.
Han Li nodded in response, then made his way over to another corner of the hall with Daoist Xie and Silvermoon before taking a seat as well.
As soon as he sat down, several bursts of spiritual sense immediately swept over his body without any inhibition.
Han Li's expression darkened upon sensing this, and he gave a cold harrumph.
His voice wasn't very loud, but it exploded like rumbling thunderclaps within the ears of the owners of those bursts of spiritual sense, shaking them directly to their souls.
All of them hurriedly withdrew their spiritual sense and didn't dare to test Han Li any further.
A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings present upon seeing this, they also began to regard Han Li with a bit more respect.
Right at this moment, Jin Chai and Shi Ding also appeared within the hall, and they looked around before their eyes settled upon Han Li, whom they made their way toward before taking a seat in a pair of vacant chairs nearby.
Thus, more and more Grand Ascension Stage beings were teleported into the hall, and they were either alone, or arrived with other Grand Ascension Stage beings, or were accompanied by entourages of disciples and servants.
Several hours later, close to half of the vacant seats had been filled.
During this time, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were either meditating in their chairs or appraising the other Grand Ascension Stage beings around them, but none of them said anything.
Han Li was currently inspecting the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in the hall.
All of the beings present were from alternate realms, and their appearances and auras were all extremely peculiar.
Aside from Xie Lian, there were six other Grand Ascension Stage beings that were releasing powerful devilish Qi, and these were clearly Sacred Ancestors as well. However, Bao Hua wasn't among them, so it seemed that she hadn't arrived yet.
As Han Li cast his gaze around the hall, he took notice of a yellow-haired elderly man meditating in his chair.
The elderly man's features were very ordinary, and he was wearing a grey robe, while a halo of earthy yellow mist slowly revolved around him, indicating exemplary control over earth-attribute origin Qi.
This man was clearly the owner of this place, the Sacred Ancestor by the name of Huang Sha.
As expected, he really had cultivated earth-attribute devilish arts to an extreme level.
Han Li's eyes were slightly narrowed as he appraised Huang Sha, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
A short while later, another light formation suddenly appeared in the hall, and nine figures emerged at once, all of whom were Grand Ascension Stage beings.
Such a large group of Grand Ascension Stage beings naturally created quite a stir in the hall, and many people, including Han Li, immediately cast their eyes toward the group.
The group was comprised of beings of both genders and various ages, and all of them wore suits of armor of different colors.
What was quite remarkable was that these suits of armor looked as if they had been constructed from countless interwoven feathers.
Among these Grand Ascension Stage beings, eight of them were standing on the outskirts of the light formation, while an elderly man stood at the very center.
The elderly man's aura didn't seem to be all that powerful compared to everyone else's, but as he cast his cold gaze around the hall, everyone who met his gaze was struck by a bone-chilling sensation, as if their soul had been frozen solid.
A hint of fear immediately surfaced in the eyes of those Grand Ascension Stage beings, and someone exclaimed "Old Man Copper Crow" in a hushed voice.
The group of nine Grand Ascension Stage beings made their way to a corner of the hall before taking up all of the vacant seats there.
Following the arrival of these nine Grand Ascension Stage beings, a few more people arrived, and it was clear that everyone was already here, but Bao Hua was still nowhere to be seen.
However, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present had cultivated for countless years, so they certainly weren't going to become impatient from waiting for such a short time.
Shortly thereafter, the light formation reappeared in the hall, and the duo of Bao Hua and Hei'e emerged.
Hei'e's aura had become quite powerful, clearly indicating a drastic improvement in his cultivation base, and Bao Hua was also looking as vibrant as ever, clearly having recovered from her injuries.
As soon as Bao Hua appeared, Huang Sha immediately opened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face. "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua."
"Thank you for providing this venue for our meeting, Fellow Daoist Huang," Bao Hua replied in a calm manner, but a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes as she caught sight of Han Li.
It was clear that she hadn't expected Han Li to become a Grand Ascension cultivator in such a short time.
"No need to thank me; it's my honor to be hosting so many fellow daoists at once. Now that you're here, I'll allow you to oversee the proceedings," Huang Sha replied.
"Please forgive me for my tardiness, fellow daoists. I can see that all of you have arrived as promised, and that gives me a lot of confidence going forward," Bao Hua said with a faint smile.
