"I don't know. On the surface, the Lan siblings are under the control of the Vast Golden Immortal Palace, but in reality, they take orders from the Nine Origins Temple, so it's definitely not good news that they're here," the young woman said in a grim voice as she stowed her white jewel away.

"I've also heard that they specialize in carrying out secret missions for the Nine Origins Temple. What do we do then?" the black-robed young man asked.

"The situation is still unclear at the moment, so let's just wait and see for now," the young woman replied.

The two of them discussed their options for a while longer before fading into the crowd behind them.

"I didn't think that there would be so many people gathered here. It looks like we're going to be able to have some fun!" Lan Yan remarked as she examined the crowds around them.

"Of course these people would all swarm to a new secret area like flies to a piece of rotten meat," Lan Yuanzi scoffed disdainfully.

"But Brother, even though our objectives are different from these people, we also came here for the new secret area, so aren't you denouncing us as flies as well?" Lan Yan grumbled in a displeased manner.

Lan Yuanzi was momentarily rendered speechless upon hearing this, following which he snapped in a frustrated manner, "I'm not taking you on the next mission if you don't learn to keep your mouth shut!"

"Don't blame me when you're the one who misspoke!" Lan Yan countered in a completely unfazed manner.

"Alright, quit fooling around, we need to get down to business," Lan Yuanzi said with a serious expression.

"Do you think Han Li is going to be here, Brother? If I were him, I would go into hiding in a completely uninhabited place and never come out for the rest of my life," Lan Yan said.

"That would definitely be the strategy adopted by the average person, but it seems like this Han Li is someone who doesn't play by the rules, so there's a chance that he could be here. On top of that, according to the information we've received from the Immortal Palace, he really was traveling in this direction before suddenly disappearing, so this is definitely a place that's worth exploring," Lan Yuanzi replied.

"How boring. You're always so calculated in everything that you do," Lan Yan sighed in a displeased manner.

Lan Yuanzi paid no heed to her as he flipped a hand over to produce a palm-sized blue mirror, then chanted an incantation before pointing a finger at it.

Rays of illusory instantly appeared over the surface of the mirror before spreading outward, only to ultimately fade into the surrounding space.

Immediately thereafter, he stowed the mirror away before rushing forward.

"Hey, where are you going all of a sudden? Wait for me!" Lan Yan hurriedly called out, and the two of them quickly vanished into the crowd.

Not long after they left, a hideous, yellow-robed woman appeared amid a flash of yellow light elsewhere in the col.

"What a useless idiot that Lan Yuanzi is! Even with the Heavenly Detection Mirror at his disposal, he still hasn't been able to track down Han Li even after all these years. What a pain it is to have to follow him on this wild goose chase!" the woman grumbled to herself.

"Having said that, judging from the scale of this phenomenon, it appears that a very remarkable secret area is about to appear here. At the very least, its former owner should've been a Great Encompassment cultivator. It doesn't look like Lan Yuanzi will be tracking down Han Li anytime soon, so I may as well stay here to check out the secret area," the woman murmured to herself, then abruptly vanished from the spot.

Somewhere in the crowd, a golden-robed man was observing the yellow-robed woman, and it was none other than Qi Mozi, with Xiong Shan still by his side.

"Things are certainly getting interesting," Qi Mozi remarked with a faint smile.

By following Qi Mozi's gaze, Xiong Shan had also spotted the yellow-robed woman, but he had no idea who it was, so he asked in a curious manner, "Who was that just now?"

"Her name is She Chan. She's an old toad from the Nine Origins Temple who only knows how to lurk in the shadows and sneak attack people like a coward," Qi Mozi harrumphed in a disdainful manner.

Xiong Shan drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, clearly having heard of this name before.

Even though Qi Mozi was very disdainful of She Chan, she was still a revered Great Encompassment cultivator in Xiong Shan's eyes.

"I heard that She Chan is always cultivating in seclusion in the Nine Origins Temple, so why is she suddenly here? Could she be here for the secret area that's about to emerge?" Xiong Shan speculated, and Qi Mozi's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

According to the intelligence that he had gathered, She Chan and the Lan siblings had arrived in the Golden Origin Immortal Region with the objective of capturing Han Li. The Golden Origin Immortal Palace and the Nine Origins Temple shared very close ties, and Dongfang Bai belonged to the Nine Origins Temple, so it only made sense that they would send people after Han Li following Dongfang Bai's demise.

However, a question had sprung into Qi Mozi's mind after hearing what Xiong Shan had to say. It was very normal for the Nine Origins Temple to be hunting Han Li, but surely there was no need to send the likes of She Chan after him unless they were hunting him for some other reason.

"Is Han Li really in this secret area?" Xiong Shan asked in a hesitant manner.

"It's all but confirmed. Over two hundred years ago, a man with the Han surname stayed briefly in the village down below. I've searched the souls of all those who've seen him, and even though he changed his appearance, I'm certain that man was none other than Han Li.

“Ever since he was last sighted in this village, it's as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth, so there's a very good chance that he's still here and somehow snuck into the secret area. In fact, I'd say there's a good chance that the emergence of this secret area has a lot to do with him," Qi Mozi replied in a confident manner.

"That does sound like a strong possibility," Xiong Shan agreed.

Right at this moment, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out from within the col, and the ground encompassed within the pillar of golden light suddenly began to bulge, as if there were something rising up from down below.

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the ground there, and the earth bulged further and further before finally splitting apart amid a dull thump, revealing a giant opening, at the bottom of which was a stone gate that was around seventy to eighty feet tall.

It was clear from a glance that the stone gate had already been standing for countless years, and the words "Tai Sui Immortal Manor" were engraved above the gate in ancient text.

......

Inside the canyon within the secret area.

The gray mist up ahead was churning incessantly while rapidly receding, and there was an ecstatic look on Han Li's face as he flew through the air, closely following the receding mist.

The gray mist had shown bouts of recession in the past, but at a rather slow rate, and this was the fastest that the mist had ever receded.

After flying for a while longer, he finally reached the end of the canyon, where he drew to a halt.

The gray mist up ahead continued to rapidly recede, displaying a large area.

The sky was blue, and there were some white clouds drifting along. The ground below was a lush, boundless plain, and a gentle breeze was blowing from afar, while a refreshing and relaxing fragrance was wafting through the air.

Dotted along the horizon up ahead were some mountains, and the scene was as beautiful as a piece of scenic artwork.

Han Li took a deep breath, feeling a little more relaxed, but then immediately focused on the situation at hand again.

This was not the time to be appreciating scenery. He could sense that the entrance of this space deep within the canyon was in a very unstable state, seemingly displaying signs of reopening.

Even though Han Li didn't know that there were already tens of thousands of people gathered outside, he could guess that the reopening of the spatial entrance would be sure to attract a great deal of attention.

With that in mind, he released his spiritual sense as far and wide as it would go, and in the next instant, his eyes lit up slightly as a burst of golden lightning appeared over his body.

A resounding thunderclap rang out as he vanished from the spot, only to reappear in the sky above a mountain.

There was a cluster of white pavilions on the mountain, looking as if they had been constructed from some type of jade material, and they were giving off a faint, white glow.

Furthermore, all of the pavilions were enshrouded within a white light barrier.

Han Li raised an arm before sweeping a finger through the air, and a streak of golden swordlight that was around a thousand feet in length shot out of his sleeve before slicing down upon the white light barrier.

The nearby space trembled and buzzed incessantly, as if it were about to be split apart.

Having reached the pinnacle of the High Zenith Stage, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had become even more formidable.

However, the white light barrier was able to withstand the streak of golden swordlight, albeit with some difficulty.

A surprised look appeared on Han Li's face, and he flew over to the light barrier before throwing a punch into it.

The white light barrier was instantly torn apart upon contact with Han Li's fist, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he descended into the cluster of pavilions down below.

Shortly thereafter, he flew back up into the air with an excited look on his face, then vanished from the spot amid a flash of golden lightning.

......

Meanwhile, outside the secret area.

Most of the people gathered were looking at the stone gate that had risen up from the ground with puzzled expressions, having never heard of this Tai Sui Immortal Manor before.

However, excited looks had appeared on the faces of the likes of Su Anqian, Jin Liu, and Lei Yuce, and a stunned look had appeared on Qi Mozi's face as well.

Xiong Shan was rather intrigued by Qi Mozi's expression, but ultimately chose not to ask any questions.

So this is where your cave abode is, Tai Sui! Looks like I was right to have come on this trip to the Golden Origin Immortal Region!

Qi Mozi thought to himself with an excited expression.