"I see! I was just thinking about this; how could a Body Integration cultivator like Senior Han settle in some random place like us ordinary cultivators?" Young Master Hai said with a fawning smile.
"Exactly! I'm sure they'll have an extremely lavish place prepared for Senior Han. We're extremely fortunate to be able to accompany Senior Han," Qi Lingzi also chimed in in a fawning manner.
Han Li could naturally hear the sycophantic intent behind their words, but he merely chuckled and didn't say anything.
Not long after that, their flying carriage flew over a market, then descended into the mountain range down below.
For a top-grade flying carriage treasure like this one, the distance of less than 1,000 kilometers was covered in virtually the blink of an eye.
A blue sea of clouds suddenly appeared up ahead to impede them, in response to which Han Li merely tapped a foot onto the flying carriage underfoot.
The flying carriage immediately circled around before drawing to a halt, and Han Li raised both hands toward the sea of clouds.
A loud thunderclap rang out, and two bolts of golden lightning vanished into the sea of clouds in a flash.
In the next instant, a pair of rumbling booms erupted within the blue clouds, and two bursts of enormous spiritual pressure emerged from within, causing the blue clouds to surge and churn violently.
After that, Han Li merely clasped his hands behind his back and stood still on the spot, seemingly waiting for something.
Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were both a little perplexed by this, but they didn't dare to ask any questions, and stood obediently by Han Li's side.
A short while later, a string of beastly roars rang out from within the sea of mist, and a furious male voice sounded from down below.
"Who dares to attack the restriction here? Are you not aware that this place became a restricted zone three months ago?"
As soon as this voice fell, a burst of fluctuations erupted from within the sea of clouds, and it parted to reveal a massive passageway that was several tens of feet wide.
Blue light flashed, and several guards straddling giant flying beasts emerged from within.
These guards were all very burly and far taller than Han Li. Their upper bodies were clad in suits of crude white bone armor, and they wore leather pants of different styles on their lower bodies. They were each holding a huge rectangular bone shield in one hand, and a thick black spear in the other.
Their steeds resembled giant wolves with huge fleshy wings, and their entire bodies were covered in blue fur. There were also faint sparks of lightning running along their bodies, giving them quite a mysterious appearance.
However, none of these guards possessed any magic power fluctuations; they were a rare group of high-grade body refinement warriors. With their powerful bodies alone, they were virtually comparable to Core Formation cultivators.
The four guards were rather taken aback by the fact that not only had Han Li refrained from fleeing the scene, he was instead appraising them with an intrigued expression while standing on his flying carriage.
A hint of bewilderment appeared in the eyes of the leader of the four guards upon seeing this.
He waved a hand, and all four of the guards tugged on the reins of their beastly steeds, drawing to a halt at the edge of the sea of clouds.
"You must be the vastly renowned Lightning Guards of the Xuan Wu Region, right? You really do live up to your reputation. Seeing as you're here, I presume Fellow Daoist Tyrant Sovereign has already arrived at Nine Immortal Mountain," Han Li said in a calm manner.
The four guards were stunned to hear that Han Li was referring to the Tyrant Sovereign as his equal, and they immediately adopted more respectful mannerisms.
The leader of the group hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "We are indeed part of Master Tyrant Sovereign's Lightning Guards, but he hasn't arrived here yet. We were sent to Nine Immortal Mountain in advance to help maintain law and order here. May I ask for your esteemed name, Senior?"
"Hehe, my surname is Han, but you may not have heard of me. Come to think of it, your Tyrant Sovereign sent someone to recruit me to join the Tyrant Sovereign Palace not long ago, but I had to turn down the offer due to certain reasons," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.
"Could it be that you're the new Body Integration cultivator, Senior Han Li?"
"Oh? You know of me?"
Han Li was clearly taken aback by the fact that this guard was able to identify him based on his surname alone, and he began to take a closer look at this man.
Only then did he discover that even though this man was only a body refinement warrior, there was faint treasure light emanating from his body, suggesting that he was carrying many powerful treasures, so he seemed to be different from his three companions.
The guard hurriedly explained, "Forgive me for my rudeness earlier, Senior. My grandfather is one of the four personal guards of Master Tyrant Sovereign, and I was able to hear about you through him."
"Personal guards? Oh, I recall hearing about them. I've heard that all four of those fellow Daoists are top-grade body refinement warriors, and the Tyrant Sovereign has dedicated a lot of effort to train them. None of them possess any magic power, but they all have extremely powerful bodies with extraordinary strength, and can directly oppose top-grade treasures," Han Li said with a hint of recollection in his eyes.
"My grandfather would be honored to hear that Senior Han has heard about him. I'm sure you must be weary after traveling all the way here, Senior. Please follow me to the Immortal Welcome Palace so you can rest." The leader of the guards had quite a coarse appearance, but he was displaying a thoughtful side that belied his physical attributes.
"Hehe, now that you mention it, I really am feeling a little weary. Lead the way!" Han Li nodded in response.
"Gladly! Please come with me, Senior Han."
The four guards extended another respectful salute in unison before slowly flying back into the passageway that had opened up in the sea of clouds.
Han Li followed along behind them on his flying carriage.
The sea of clouds wasn't very large, and it only took a short while before Han Li and the four body refinement warriors emerged on the other side, then flew directly toward a certain massive mountain in the distance.
"Four of the peaks of the Nine Immortal Mountain are owned by our human race, while the demon race owns another four. The tallest Flying Immortal Peak is a neutral peak that is normally uninhabited by either of our two races, so that naturally became the venue for this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention. We've gathered some human and demon cultivators who are adept in earth-attribute cultivation arts, and they're working night and day to set up the entire peak. Of course, a single mountain peak alone won't be enough to house all of the convention-goers, so during the period that the convention is being held, the other eight peaks will also be open to the general public.
"We'll be constructing eight secondary convention venues to ensure we have sufficient capacity for everyone. Even so, I think the convention will be extremely packed. After all, almost all past editions of the convention have had over 1,000,000 attendees. Fortunately, we've been preparing for this convention for over a year, so there shouldn't be any issues, but I've heard that this edition of the convention is going to be slightly different."
The leader of the guards was very thoughtful and introduced to Han Li the situation on Nine Immortal Mountain and surrounding the Myriad Treasure Convention. However, his voice clearly drew to a rather unnatural halt here.
"Oh? What's different about this edition?" Han Li asked in a slightly intrigued manner.
"I only stumbled upon some rumors, and I can't vouch for their authenticity. Please forgive me if I say something that doesn't prove to be true," the man said after a brief hesitant pause.
"Rest assured, I'll make my own decisions based on what you tell me; I won't blame you for anything," Han Li assured in an indifferent manner.
"Alright, then I'll go ahead. I've heard that beings from foreign races may be participating in this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention, and that they'll be offering some extremely precious treasures from their races for auction," the man said in a careful manner after taking a deep breath.
"Foreign beings? Which foreign beings are going to be attending?" Han Li was truly surprised to hear this.
"I'm afraid that's beyond me, Senior. I'm just a Lightning Guard, after all," the man said with a wry smile.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face before his expression quickly returned to normal, and he flipped a hand over before tossing a few vials of pills to the four guards. "That's true. In any case, thank you for disclosing all this information to me. Here are a few vials of Heavenmend Pills for the four of you. You can take one once every few days to extend your lifespans. Feel free to come and tell me if you hear any more useful information; I'll be sure to reward you for your efforts." [IGT: Just to clarify, these are probably not the same Heavenmend Pills from the Scattered Star Seas arc]
The man was ecstatic to hear that they were being given vials of Heavenmend Pills, and his voice trembled slightly as he said, "Thank you, Senior. We'll be sure to notify you if we hear anything of value."
The other three guards also hurriedly expressed their gratitude in an elated manner.
Han Li merely waved a hand before falling silent as he stood on his flying carriage.
The four Lightning Guards left Han Li to his own thoughts, and after flying for a while longer, they finally reached the foot of the certain mountain peak.
There were many connected buildings and pavilions here that encompassed virtually the entire mountain, and among these buildings was a lavish white jade palace that was 3,000 to 4,000 feet tall, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.
A series of intricate pavilions surrounded this palace, amounting to a total of over 100, complementing the jade palace like stars around the moon.
"This is the Immortal Welcome Palace, Senior Han. All Body Integration Stage seniors can occupy a level of the palace with their entourage. Each level of the palace has a designated teleportation formation, so you'll be able to directly teleport to the public hall on the first floor without having to pass through any of the lower levels. All of these surrounding pavilions have been prepared for Spatial Tempering Stage seniors. However, only Body Integration Stage seniors are granted passage into this place at the moment. Every peak has an Immortal Welcome Palace like this one to accommodate Body Integration Stage seniors," the man introduced in a thorough manner.
"I see. Has anyone already moved into this palace?" Han Li asked in an intrigued manner.
"This palace is currently only being occupied by Daoist Master Myriad Bone and his entourage, who arrived a month ago," the man replied truthfully.
