Chapter 529: Visit
Chapter 529: Visit
Chapter 529: Visit
"I'll handle this, all of you can go now," the elderly man instructed.
Everyone else was quite curious to see what was going to happen next, but they didn't dare to disobey the elderly man, and all of them promptly departed.
"Please come with me, Fellow Daoist," the elderly man said, then flew toward the Ancient Point Mountain Range.
Han Li seemed to have already anticipated this response, and he followed along as a streak of azure light.
It didn't take long before the two of them were deep in the mountain range, and at this point, the dense mist surrounding the mountains had vanished, revealing the mountain range in its full glory.
There were countless mountains stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and some buildings and restrictions were beginning to come into view.
"We just passed through the outskirts of the Ancient Point Mountain Range, only now have we entered the mountain range's inner sanctum, and this is where our Vast Flow Palace is located," the elderly man said as he continued to fly onward.
Han Li casually took a glance at his surroundings in a completely expressionless manner, and the elderly man was left feeling a little deflated by his reaction.
After flying for a while longer, Han Li suddenly spotted an enormous mountain up ahead that towered over all of its neighbors.
It stretched all the way up into the heavens, and all of the mountains around it were made to resemble tiny hills.
Han Li had witnessed quite a few majestic mountains in the past, but none that could compare with this one.
The world's origin qi near the mountain was far more abundant than it was elsewhere, and there were countless palaces and pavilions constructed on the mountain, packed tightly together to resemble the interior of a beehive.
The mountain summit was enshrouded within a huge white light barrier, and it was impossible to see into the light barrier or pass one's spiritual sense through it.
"I've heard that there are 19 enormous mountains referred to as the 19 Holy Peaks in the Vast Flow Palace, and they are the places where the spirit veins of the Ancient Point Mountain Range converge.
The first grand palace master of the Vast Flow Palace used the spiritual power of the 19 Holy Peaks as a foundation to create a secret area on each mountain summit, collectively known as the 19 Holy Areas. Which one of the 19 Holy Peaks is this one?" Han Li suddenly asked.
"You're certainly very knowledgeable, Fellow Daoist," the elderly man remarked with a surprised expression. "This is the Light Conception Peak."
Han Li nodded in response.
Beside the Light Conception Peak was an extremely wide river that was flowing into the distance.
The water in the river had a vibrant blue color and was giving off extremely abundant water-attribute spiritual power, indicating that it was some type of true water, rather than normal water.
Through the scriptures that he had read back in the Blaze Dragon Dao and the soul search technique that he had performed on the elderly man, Han Li had learned many things about the Vast Flow Palace.
Beside each of the 19 Holy Peaks was a large river, and these rivers were referred to as the 19 True Rivers.
These weren't just ordinary rivers. Instead, the water within them had been converted into true water by the spirit veins in the Ancient Point Mountain Range, and the true water in each of the 19 True Rivers possessed different properties from one another.
The past cultivators of the Vast Flow Palace had created countless water-attribute cultivation arts and abilities based on these 19 True Rivers, and they were an extremely important asset to the sect.
As the two of them continued onward, they passed by several more holy peaks and true rivers, and Han Li could tell that all of the true rivers were converging to a single place.
Close to an hour later, the elderly man suddenly stopped, and Han Li cast his gaze forward, upon which a surprised look appeared on his face.
There was an enormous round crater in the ground up ahead, and it was tens of thousands of kilometers in size, resembling a vast pit that led all the way to the underworld.
This was where the 19 True Rivers converged, and all of them were flowing into the crater as 19 breathtaking waterfalls, presenting a marvelous spectacle to behold.
The green-faced elderly man paused by the crater for a moment, as if he were intentionally showing Han Li the astonishing scenery here, and only after that did he begin to embark on a descent.
Han Li withdrew his gaze and followed along, and it didn't take long before the two of them reached the bottom of the crater.
At the bottom of the crater was a vast body of blue water.
Even though there were 19 massive waterfalls pouring into the crater, the surface of the water was extremely calm without even the slightest wave to be seen, resembling an enormous blue gemstone.
A blue palace was hovering in the air above the water, and the entire palace had been constructed out of some type of blue crystal. There were no visible seams or connective points on the entire palace, as if it had been carved out of a single vast crystal.
The entire palace was riddled with spirit patterns that were glowing radiantly, and hanging directly above the entrance of the palace was a huge plaque that read "Vast Flow Palace".
The elderly man descended in front of the Vast Flow Palace with Han Li, and at this moment, there were already six or seven other Golden Immortals gathered there, with Luo Qinghai present among them, and all of them were looking at Han Li with some degree of animosity in their eyes.
In particular, there was a brawny man with a single blue horn on his forehead, and he was glowering at Han Li with a menacing expression.
At the same time, all of them were exerting pressure upon Han Li by releasing their auras, clearly trying to intimidate him.
"I believe we had a brief encounter back in Wave View City, Fellow Daoist. Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner," Luo Qinghai said as he approached Han LI with a smile.
It appeared that all of the Vast Flow Palace's Golden Immortal cultivators were present, and this formidable lineup was a strong testament to the Vast Flow Palace's power as one of the top sects of the Northern Glacial Immortal Region.
If none of the Vast Flow Palace's Golden Immortals had perished in the Infernal Frost Immortal Palace, then the number of Golden Immortals in the sect wouldn't have been inferior in the slightest to that of the Blaze Dragon Dao during its heyday, and three of the people present were at the mid-Golden Immortal Stage, while Luo Qinghai was at the late-Golden Immortal Stage.
The elderly man who had led Han Li was one of those mid-Golden Immortal cultivators, while the other two consisted of a blue-robed young woman and that brawny man with the horn on his head.
In particular, the horned man's aura indicated that he had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Golden Immortal Stage, so he was only a step away from joining Luo Qinghai at the late-Golden Immortal Stage.
Their collective auras formed a crushing wave of spiritual pressure that surged directly toward Han Li, but having already faced Gongshu Jiu in direct battle, this amount of spiritual pressure was certainly not enough to intimidate him.
"It sure is difficult trying to request an audience with you, Grand Palace Master Luo," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.
It was clear that Han Li was completely unfazed by the surrounding spiritual pressure, and Luo Qinghai's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his amicable smile remained unchanged as he explained, "I was cultivating in seclusion in the sect, so I informed everyone that I wasn't going to meet with any visitors. Of course, you're an exception to that, Fellow Daoist."
Han Li merely smiled and offered no reply.
"Please come in and take a seat, Fellow Daoist," Luo Qinghai said as he turned around to lead the way.
Han Li paid no heed to the other Golden Immortals present as he entered the blue palace without any hesitation.
All of the other Golden Immortals exchanged a few glances, then entered the palace as well.
Inside the palace was a guest hall that was around 300 to 400 feet in size.
The layout of the hall was very simple, with around a dozen blue jade pillars inside, every single one of which had a rhomboid crystal embedded into it. These crystals were emitting a faint blue light that illuminated the entire hall, and there were two rows of large blue chairs placed in between these pillars.
Luo Qinghai sat down onto the main chair, then made an inviting hand gesture as he said, "Take a seat, Fellow Daoist."
Han Li duly obliged, and everyone else quickly sat down as well.
Luo Qinghai introduced everyone in the hall to Han Li, then said, "This is our second meeting, yet I'm embarrassed to say that I still don't know your name. May I ask where you've come from, Fellow Daoist?"
"My surname is Liu. As for where I came from, that's not something for you to be concerned about. I'm not from the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, so even if I told you my place of origin, you wouldn't know of it anyway," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.
"Welcome, Fellow Daoist Liu. May I ask what your intentions are?" Luo Qinghai asked with a smile.
"I should be asking you that. After leaving the Black Wind Sea, I was planning to return to my sect, but I was ambushed by two Golden Immortals from your Vast Flow Palace near Wave View City. Thankfully, I was able to defeat them. Otherwise, I would already be dead by now. Were you the one who instructed them to come after me?"
Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a pair of blue badges as he spoke, then slapped them forcefully down onto the tea table beside him.
These were the identification badges of the two Golden Immortals that he had found within their storage tools, and all of the Vast Flow Palace cultivators' expressions instantly changed slightly upon seeing this.
Luo Qinghai's pupils also contracted slightly, but he didn't say anything.
A cold sneer appeared on the horned man's face, and he cast a provocative gaze toward Han Li as he said, "Surely there's been a misunderstanding. Palace Master Tie and Palace Master Qiu both disappeared back in Wave View City, and they most likely fell prey to enemies of our sect. We've been desperately searching for them as well, yet you proclaim that they ambushed you? I'm afraid we're all very confused."
The horned man's name was Feng Hai, and he was the Southern Extreme Palace Master of the five extreme palaces.
"So you're saying that I'm framing them for something that they didn't do?" Han Li asked as he turned to Feng Hai.
"Do you expect us to just take your word for it? If you're going to claim that they ambushed you, then you need to provide evidence. Otherwise, we're not going to accept any culpability," Feng Hai said in a cold voice.
"I came here today to demand an explanation, but seeing as you don't believe me, then I suppose there's no point in continuing this conversation any further. Two of my juniors just so happen to be missing a pair of Golden Soul Pills anyway," Han Li said as he rose to his feet, then turned to leave the hall.
All of the Vast Flow Palace cultivators' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and Feng Hai appeared in front of Han Li in the blink of an eye to block his path.
"What do you take our Vast Flow Palace for? An inn that you can check and check out of as you please? You can leave if you want, but you'll have to leave the nascent souls of Palace Master Tie and Palace Master Qiu behind!"