Jia Tianmu was extremely proficient in the art of puppetry, so he certainly wasn't a dense idiot. As such, he was able to instantly glean Han Li's intentions.
"I do indeed wish to use the teleportation formation to get to another continent." As things currently were, Han Li saw no point in hiding the truth, so he decided to come clean.
"It'll be quite difficult for you to access the teleportation formation, Brother Han." Jia Tianmu chuckled with a wry smile and shook his head.
"I'm aware that using this teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast amount of energy, but I just wanted to ask if it's possible for me to secure approval to use this teleportation formation as an outsider," Han Li asked in a slow voice.
His expression remained unchanged, but he was actually quite nervous to hear the answer. After all, this his main objective for visiting Jia Tianmu.
After a brief pause, Jia Tianmu replied, "Truth be told, if you were a holy race being from one of our Heavenly Cloud Races, then it certainly wouldn't be difficult for you to request access to the super teleportation formation. Seeing as you satisfy neither of those criteria, it'll be extremely difficult for you. However, with an invasion from the Jiao Chi Race almost an imminent inevitability, there's a slight chance that an exception could be made. If you make some significant contributions for the Heavenly Cloud Races in the battle against the Jiao Chi Race army, then perhaps there's a chance that access could be granted to you. However, I'm only responsible for puppet refinement, so you'll have to discuss the specific details with the elders. On top of that, due to the imminent battle, our 13 races are all inviting guest members. I've already told the elders about how you were able to easily slay several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base, and they're quite interested in you as well."
Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.
With his personality, the last thing he wanted to do was to become embroiled in a battle between two major powers. In such a large-scale battle concerning so many powerful beings, even a being of his powers could easily perish.
"Thank you for this information; I'll be sure to consider my options carefully. I'll have to trouble you to act as the middle man if I ever wish to request an audience with the elders of the 13 races," Han Li requested with a serious nod.
"That's no problem at all, especially after you've given me such a precious gift," Jia Tianmu replied without any hesitation.
A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
After that, Han Li spoke no further about the teleportation formation, instead choosing to discuss puppetry with him.
As soon as the discussion moved on to puppets, Jia Tianmu's eyes immediately lit up, and he became a lot more talkative as if a whole new can of worms had been opened.
With his astonishing mastery in the art of puppetry, many of his insights quite brilliant even to Han Li, and Han Li learned a lot from their conversation.
In contrast, Han Li had obtained the puppetry technique from the Monarch of Soul Divergence, so he also had some unique insights to offer, much to the surprise and elation of Jia Tianmu.
Half a day later, Han Li departed from Radiant Cloud Mountain and returned to the inn.
As soon as he entered his room, Han Li activated the restriction he'd set up to completely seal off the place.
He then casually strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner.
He hadn't found the answer that he was looking for, but he did gain a better understanding of the super teleportation formation, as well as a very versatile sentient puppet.
Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and azure light flashed as a long wooden box appeared in his hands.
He gently removed the lid to reveal the thin white snake that was lying inside, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he attempted to glean the internal structure of the puppet.
However, this sentient puppet really was quite special; even after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, its vitals were still quite blurry to him, and he couldn't make any sense of how this puppet functioned.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his powerful spiritual sense to encompass the entire snake.
He directed his spiritual sense toward those blurry vital regions, only for it to be forcibly repelled. The other sections of the white snake were quite similar to normal puppets aside from the fact that some special materials had been used. Some of the internal structures were also quite profound, but he was able to figure out how they worked, albeit with some difficulty.
It appeared that the areas that truly set sentient puppets apart lay in those blurred-out regions that he couldn't see.
It wasn't that he couldn't use his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly infiltrate those areas, but doing so would definitely inflict some damage to the puppet.
Furthermore, if he could do this, then other beings who had been in possession of sentient puppets in the past would also have been able to do the same thing. However, the secret of sentient puppets was still one that was exclusively kept in the Myriad Ancient Race, so that course of action clearly didn't work.
It would most likely damage the puppet, yet leave him still unable to glean its secrets.
After a brief hesitation, Han Li finally decided against taking the risk and turned his attention to conducting a master recognition ceremony instead.
With that in mind, he opened his mouth to expel an azure thread, which revolved around his wrist before disappearing into his body again.
At this moment, Han Li extended his wrist forward, and azure light flashed as a few drops of blood essence dripped from his wrist down onto the white snake in the box.
The drops of blood essence only came into contact with the snake's body for a split second before vanishing.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the white snake.
As a result, the motionless white snake suddenly raised its head, and a hissing sound came out of its mouth.
The puppet then flew out of the box before flying around in the air before Han Li.
However, Han Li paid no heed to it as he flipped his hand over again to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors.
He raised a hand, and all of the formation plates shot forth as balls of spiritual light, then disappeared into the nearby space.
In the next instant, a five-colored light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in mid-air. There were runes of all colors shimmering within the formation, presenting quite a mystical sight to behold.
Han Li pointed a finger at the white snake before him, and red light flashed through its eyes as it circled around in the air in a hesitant manner. However, it was unable to resist the power of Han Li's spiritual sense in the end, and it slowly flew into the light formation.
A dull ringing sound rang out across the entire formation at Han Li's behest, following which countless runes appeared before surging toward the puppet in a frenzy.
A layer of crimson light surfaced over the puppet's body, but it remained completely motionless, allowing these runes to fuse into the crimson light.
A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.
This master recognition technique was something that he had learned in the Tian Peng Race, and it was far more effective than other conventional methods.
After using this technique on the puppet, even a being that was vastly more powerful than him wouldn't be able to wrest control over the puppet.
Han Li activated the formation while slowly closing his eyes, leaving the light formation to flash incessantly as it hovered in mid-air.
This master recognition ceremony lasted for a day and a night before Han Li finally opened his eyes again.
He then began to chant something as he waved a hand toward the white snake within the formation, and brilliant white light erupted from its body as it flew out of the formation in a flash.
It twirled in mid-air before transforming into a white-robed woman, upon which it descended slowly beside Han Li in a silent and expressionless manner.
A hint of intrigue appeared in Han Li's eyes as he appraised the woman's gorgeous features, and he smiled as he mused, "Looks like you really don't possess a high level of spiritual nature; you're just like a humanoid doll. I'm going to call you Doll from now on!"
Red light flashed through the white-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she still remained completely motionless.
Han Li shook his head in a slightly resigned manner upon seeing this. He made a hand seal, and spiritual light flashed from the woman's body as she transformed into a white snake again, then disappeared up his sleeve.
He then pointed at the light formation again, and it immediately vanished, reverting back to a dozen or so formation plates again, all of which were stowed away into Han Li's storage bracelet.
After a brief contemplative pause, he pulled out another white jade box, upon which several crimson talismans were plastered.
This was none other than one of the mysterious boxes that the big-headed being had entrusted to everyone.
From the caution with which the big-headed being had treated the boxes with and the efforts that the Jiao Chi Race was making to secure them, it was not difficult to deduce that they contained extremely important items. However, due to the fact that an extremely potent restriction may have been set up on the box, Han Li hadn't gotten around to attempting to open it.
Now that it was essentially necessary for him to request an audience with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, he naturally had to figure out the contents of the box first to see if there was something in it that he could use.
Han Li could sense that the item in the box was extremely important to the Myriad Ancient Race. In that case, there was a chance that he could use it to exchange for an opportunity to use the super teleportation formation.
Of course, Han Li wouldn't be willing to hand over the box to the Myriad Ancient Race without inspecting its contents first.
Only with the knowledge of just what this item was could he barter effectively with the Myriad Ancient Race.
With that in mind, Han Li glanced at the walls of his room, which were shimmering with faint white light, and his brows furrowed slightly.
If opening the jade box were to create a massive ruckus, then the restriction he'd set up may not be enough to completely conceal the commotion. As such, he had to set up a few more layers of restrictions first.
Thus, Han Li pulled out several sets of formation flags from his storage bracelet again, all of which were sent hurtling toward the corners of the room.
Immediately thereafter, a layer of azure light and a layer of five-colored light appeared in unison.
Even after setting up the two additional barriers, Han Li still wasn't content. He thrust a hand into the air, and a black shadow shot forth from his palm, transforming into a miniature black mountain that was only around a foot tall hovering above his head.
Spiritual light flashed, and a layer of grey light emanated from the underside of the miniature mountain, forming a light barrier than encompassed an area with a radius of several tens of feet around Han Li.
Thus, the area around Han Li was in complete lockdown.
