Chapter 1880: The Stronghold of the Major Families
A faint smile appeared on the monk's face at the sight of the arks, and he immediately called out into the distance, "Is that you, Fellow Daoist Han? I've been expecting you."
His voice wasn't very loud, but it was as audible as rumbling thunder to the giant arks in the distance.
"I'm truly flattered that you've come out to greet me in person, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue. I assume you've received the letter I sent out a few days ago," an azure figure on one of the arks replied from afar.
He was naturally none other than someone who wasn't Han Li, and his voice was also clearly audible to those on the city wall. [JK it's still Han Li]
"Haha, your assistance will greatly benefit our Deep Heaven City, so it would only be right of me to come out and greet you in person," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.
Han Li merely smiled and remained silent upon hearing this.
The giant arks reached the city wall after just a few flashes, following which Han Li descended in a nonchalant manner.
"You look well, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the old monk.
After ascertaining Han Li's cultivation base with his spiritual sense, a hint of shock flashed through Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's eyes, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "I'm just an old man, Fellow Daoist Han. I can see that you've made another breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries; you truly put old geezers like us to shame. Back when I was at your age, I had only just made it to the Spatial Tempering Stage."
"Haha, there's no need to be so self-deprecating, Fellow Daoist. If I'm not mistaken, I can sense that you've mastered some kind of powerful ability since we last met," Han Li said with a hint of a smile.
"I did indeed recently successfully cultivate a certain ability, but that's nothing compared to the astonishing progress you've made, Fellow Daoist Han. Please follow me to the elder hall and we'll continue our conversation there, Brother Han; I'll make sure your disciples are taken care of," the old monk said in a modest manner before making an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.
"Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod.
Thus, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue instructed two of the cultivators behind him to lead the flying arks into the city, then led Han Li toward somewhere else in the city.
Two hours later, Han Li and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue arrived within a certain hall in a huge tower.
The tables, chairs, and walls in the hall were all of a pristine white color, looking as if they had been paved with beautiful white jade
Aside from Han Li and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, there were also three other Body Integration cultivators in the hall. One of them was a silver-haired elderly man with a set of remarkably youthful facial features, another was a burly man in a black leather robe, and the final one was a woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a silver mask.
Among the three of them, the white-robed elderly man clearly possessed the highest cultivation base. He was at the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage and was only a step away from becoming a late-Body Integration cultivator.
As for the burly man and the masked woman, they were both at the early-Body Integration Stage, but their auras were quite peculiar, so they were clearly each using some strange cultivation arts.
Han Li was sitting in his chair, listening to everyone's conversations, but he was constantly appraising the masked woman with a peculiar look on his face.
The white-robed elderly man quickly caught on to this, and he smiled as he asked, "Have you met Fairy Silver Light before, Brother Han?"
The masked woman had also been growing rather uncomfortable from Han Li's unexplained scrutiny, and she asked, "I've also been wanting to ask this; would you be able to enlighten me, Brother Han?"
"This is the first time that we've met, but your aura is very similar to a past acquaintance of mine. May I ask which branch of the demon race you're from, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.
"A similar aura? Your acquaintance must also be a Silver Wolf being then; Fellow Daoist Silver Light is one of the Silver Wolf Race's two Body Integration cultivators," the black-robed man explained.
Fairy Silver Light's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she asked in a curious manner, "I am indeed a member of the Silver Wolf Race. What is the name of your acquaintance, Fellow Daoist Han? Perhaps I'll know of them."
Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he really did decide to ask about Silvermoon. "In that case, I really do plan to ask you about her; would you happen to know if a fellow Daoist by the name of Ling Long is doing well at the moment?"
At his current cultivation base, he naturally didn't have to fear Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, so he was able to ask this question without any inhibitions.
He had been keeping an eye out for information about Silvermoon after reaching the Body Integration Stage, but the territory of the Silver Wolf Race was a very secretive place, and they very rarely came into contact with outsiders. Hence, everyone that Han Li asked either knew nothing, or could only provide tiny morsels of information that were nowhere near enough for him to learn about Silvermoon's current situation.
Now that he had encountered a Body Integration Stage Silver Wolf being, Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.
"Ling Long? Your acquaintance is Sister Ling Long? Come to think of it, I've heard that you're an ascended cultivator; could it be that you're..."Fairy Silver Light's voice cut off mid-sentence as if she had suddenly thought of something taboo, and a very peculiar look had appeared in her eyes as she appraised Han Li.
Han Li was quite elated to hear this, but his expression remained calm as he said, "So you really do know Fairy Ling Long."
"I grew up with Sister Ling Long, so of course I know her. I do have some information about Ling Long, but I can't disclose too much to you. All I can tell you is that Ling Long is alive and well, and she's already reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage," Fairy Silver Light sighed.
A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and after a brief moment of contemplation, his lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to Fairy Silver Light. "What's there that can't be disclosed? I understand that this is not an appropriate place to speak about such matters; I'll pay you a separate visit in a couple of days, and we can discuss Ling Long in greater detail."
A hesitant look flashed through Fairy Silver Light's eyes upon hearing this, but she still nodded in the end.
Everyone else was rather intrigued by Han Li and Fairy Silver Light's exchange, but none of them pried into the matter. Instead, they changed the subject and began to discuss matters related to the imminent devilish tribulation, as well as how grateful they were that Han Li was willing to offer them his assistance.
Prior to coming here, Han Li had used a Myriad Distance Talisman to inform the elders that he could only help defend Deep Heaven City against the devilish tribulation for the first few years, and that he was doing so in exchange for refuge for his disciples.
The most ferocious attacks from the Elder Devil Race always came during the first few waves, so the elders were naturally more than happy to agree to this arrangement.
Thus, after a pleasant discussion during which everyone exchanged some ideas for dealing with the upcoming devilish tribulation, Han Li finally took his leave.
Fairy Silver Light looked on as Han Li departed with an indecisive look on her masked face.
Two days later, Han Li arrived at Fairy Silver Light's cave abode on his own, and only after half a day had passed did he re-emerge with a dark expression on his face.
He paused at the entrance and looked up at the clear blue sky for a long time before letting loose a cold chuckle, then flew away as a streak of azure light.
Han Li was living in a separate white pagoda in Deep Heaven City. This pagoda was less than 10 times the size of the other giant buildings in the cities, but it was still large enough for Han Li and his entourage to live in.
Han Li was currently residing on the top level of this pagoda, but that didn't mean that he intended to live here for a long period of time.
After around half a month, Han Li summoned his three disciples, and after issuing them some instructions, he departed from the pagoda as a streak of azure light.
Prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation, there was still something that he had to do. He traveled without pause and arrived directly at the place where all of the teleportation formations were situated in Deep Heaven City. After issuing some instructions to the guards there, he was teleported to a certain massive city that was countless kilometers away.
Han Li completely disregarded the awestruck eyes of the cultivators guarding the teleportation formations there and departed from the city, flying away toward a certain direction.
Around two months later, Han Li appeared within a mountain range that was abundant with baleful Qi.
This mountain range stretched for millions of kilometers, and within it, a dozen or so cities of different sizes could be seen. These cities were linked by all types of fortresses to form a giant ring, and beyond the fortresses were series of formations that littered the entire mountain range, transforming the place into an enormous stronghold.
There were also groups of azure-armored guards consisting of around 10 to 100 people per group patrolling the area, but with Han Li's astonishing cultivation base, he naturally didn't encounter any resistance as he flew into the deepest part of the mountain range before stopping in front of the largest of the dozen or so cities.
He hovered at a low altitude and looked on at a huge flag, upon which was a massive "Long" character.
Han Li had learned some things about this city back when he was in Deep Heaven City, and he knew that this was a stronghold that the Long Family had constructed alongside a dozen or so other major families to ward off the Elder Devil Race together.
These families were all of different sizes, and some of them weren't even true spirit families, but they were all quite powerful. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been confident enough to set up their own independent stronghold in the face of the imminent devilish tribulation.
Of course, their greatest source of confidence came from the Long Family patriarch, who was renowned as one of the most powerful beings of the human race.
Han Li wondered what these people would think if they knew that this powerful backer of theirs was going to leave this place not long after the commencement of the devilish tribulation.
After entertaining this ironic thought for a moment, Han Li suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a yellow talisman, then swiped it through the air, and it shot forth as a streak of golden light before vanishing in a flash.
He then flew over to a nearby hill before taking a seat on a huge rock and closing his eyes in a calm manner.
Immortal Galaxy Tree: Has anyone else noticed that the author reused the name Jin Yue? Hm, between Shi Kun and Jin Yue, the author doesn't seem have enough names in his bag lol