Chapter 609: Return to Jade Gathering City

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, then smiled as he prompted, "Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist Lu."

"Recently, several fellow daoists and I discovered a set of ruins deep in the Heavenly Peak Mountain Range in the north. However, there are quite a few powerful restrictions and some other hazards present in the ruins, so we all decided to come back and recruit some more people to explore the ruins together.

You're one of the most powerful cultivators in the few nearby valleys, so I thought I'd come and ask if you were interested in coming with us to try your luck," Lu Guanzi said with a smile.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he didn't immediately offer a response.

The smile on Lu Guanzi's face faded slightly at the sight of Han Li's reaction, but he didn't try to hurry Han Li into making a decision.

"Thank you for the invitation, Fellow Daoist Lu, but I'm busy with some other things at the moment, so I'm afraid I won't be able to explore the ruins with you," Han Li replied after a brief silence.

Lu Guanzi could see that Han Li had already made up his mind, and a slightly disappointed look appeared on his face as he cupped his fist in a parting salute. "In that case, I'll leave you to do what you need to do."

After escorting Lu Guanzi out of the cave abode, Han Li closed the gate and returned to his secret chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed.

He hadn't turned down Lu Guanzi solely because he was busy cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique. Instead, there were some other factors at play as well.

With that in mind, he made a hand seal, and his Mantra Treasured Axis appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light, with all 720 of its Time Dao Runes completely dull and devoid of luster.

With his Mantra Treasured Axis in its current state, Han Li's powers were significantly hampered, making it very unwise to venture into a set of potentially dangerous ruins.

After withdrawing the Mantra Treasured Axis back into his body, Han Li closed his eyes, and a layer of faintly rippling translucent light surfaced over his glabella.

The stone gate of his cave abode remained shut, and none of the residents of the Leisure Valley came to disturb him.

Over 30 years flew by in the blink of an eye, and on this day, a streak of light arrived from afar before descending in front of Han Li's cave abode.

A disheveled elderly man emerged from the streak of light, and it was none other than Immortal Lord Hot Flame.

Before he even had a chance to announce his arrival, the gate of the cave abode swung open, and Han Li emerged from within with a smile on his face.

"My apologies for not coming out to greet you sooner, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame."

"There's no need to be so formal with me. Besides, I only just returned, so how could you have known to come out sooner than you did?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame said with a smile of his own.

"Please come in," Han Li said as he made an inviting hand gesture.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame waved a hand in response. "It's alright, I won't come in. I came here today to deliver something to you. You've constantly been in seclusion of late, so I could only wait until today."

An elated look immediately appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "Could it be that you've found a Profound Zoysia Crystal?"

"I'm afraid not, Fellow Daoist Li. A material of such exceptional rarity is not that easy to find," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied with a wry smile.

"Oh? What else could it be then?" Han Li asked with a puzzled expression.

A burst of white light flashed over the palm of Immortal Lord Hot Flame's hand, and he tossed an object at Han Li.

Upon catching the object, Han Li discovered that it was a palm-sized white jade badge, upon which was engraved a red leaf design, to the left of which was inscribed the words "outer sect elder badge" in ancient text.

This was an outer sect elder badge from the Fire Leaf Sect, which was the sect that Immortal Lord Hot Flame belonged to.

Han Li flipped the badge over to find that the words "Li Han" were engraved onto the other side.

"What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame?" Han Li asked.

"With this badge, you'll officially be a registered cultivator at our Fire Leaf Sect, so you'll be able to visit the inner city of Jade Gathering City as you please. Having said that, this badge is only a symbolic token, and you won't be receiving any elder benefits from our sect. Ours is only a small sect, and we can't afford any Golden Immortal Stage outer sect elders," Immortal Lord Hot Flame chuckled.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame. Rest assured, if I'm going to serve as an outer sect elder of the Fire Leaf Sect, then I'll be sure to do my part. From now, I can guarantee the provision of a batch of True Immortal Stage pills every 300 years. Of course, your sect will have to provide the ingredients," Han Li said.

"There's no need for that, Fellow Daoist Li. All of us have come to this place to unburden ourselves from responsibilities. I'm not giving this badge to you because I want something in return, so there's really no need for you to promise me anything," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said with a serious expression.

"Rest assured, refining a batch of True Immortal Stage pills every 300 years is not much of a hassle for me at all. I presume it wasn't easy for you to secure this elder badge for me, so it's the least that I can do," Han Li said.

Even though Immortal Lord Hot Flame wasn't explicitly asking for anything in return, Han Li naturally couldn't just take the badge free of charge. Furthermore, it was clear from the barely concealed delight in Immortal Lord Hot Flame's eyes that this was the exact outcome that he had been hoping for.

In the short term, a batch of True Immortal Stage pills every 300 years wasn't going to have much of an impact, but how would it look after tens of thousands of years? It wouldn't exactly be enough to elevate the Fire Leaf Sect to a whole new level, but it would certainly allow the sect to put some distance between itself and its closest competitors.

Even though Immortal Lord Hot Flame had come to reside in the Leisure Valley to escape from his worldly responsibilities, it was clear that the Fire Leaf Sect still held an important place in his heart.

All official personnel changes in large and medium-sized sects within the territory of Jade Gathering City had to undergo a screening and registration process with the Black Mountain Immortal Palace.

Outer sect disciples weren't considered to be official sect members, but all inner sect disciples, outer sect elders, core disciples, and inner sect elders fell into that category, and the higher one's rank in the sect, the more rigorous the screening process would be.

"I have some acquaintances in the Black Mountain Immortal Palace, so the registration process shouldn't be a problem," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said.

"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame," Han Li said as he extended another grateful salute.

"If you insist on being so formal with me, then I'm going to take back the badge," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said in a stern manner.

Han Li chuckled in response as he stowed the badge away, and the two of them chatted for a while longer before Immortal Lord Hot Flame departed, while Han Li returned to his cave abode.

......

Two months later.

Jade Gathering City was riddled with countless streets and alleys, and there were shops and merchant carriages stretching as far as the eyes could see, interspersed throughout which were throngs of people, presenting an extremely lively and bustling sight to behold.

Numerous enormous merchant ships could also be seen in the sky, flying along set trajectories before descending onto the docks in the city in an orderly fashion, transporting all types of different wares.

The outer and inner cities were separated by a giant city wall that was over a thousand feet tall, which was patrolled by cultivators, and there was a huge city gate in each direction, north, south, east, and west, all of which were overseen by True Immortals.

The people streaming through the northern gate of the inner city was relatively sparse compared with the other three gates, and there were only fewer than two hundred people gathered there in a line, waiting to be examined before being granted permissions to enter the inner city.

Near the back of the line was none other than the azure-robed Han Li, who was currently inspecting the city gate up ahead.

Numerous array patterns had been engraved into the city wall around the gate, and they would glow with azure light whenever someone made their way through the gate.

It seemed that this was a measure in place to examine the cultivation bases of those wishing to enter the city. Whenever the array patterns lit up, that meant that the person being examined was at least at the early-True Immortal Stage, and as long as they were verified to be registered with a local sect, then they were granted free passage into the inner city.

Han Li was slowly advancing forward in the line when someone suddenly flew directly past him, flying directly toward the city gate without any regard for the line or displaying any items of identification.

Right as everyone was wondering what this person was doing, the array patterns engraved into the city wall suddenly began to glow with dazzling golden light, indicating that the new arrival was a High Zenith Stage Jade Immortal.

Even though Jade Gathering City was the number one city in the northern part of the Black Mountain Immortal Region, High Zenith cultivators were still a very rare sight here, so everyone was looking on in awe and wonder.

Before anyone had a chance to catch a clear glimpse of the Jade Immortal, they had already drifted into the inner city and vanished out of sight.

After a brief disturbance, the line settled down again before continuing to advance toward the city gate.

A few minutes later, Han Li arrived at the city gate, and the array patterns around the gate began to glow white, reflecting his Golden Immortal Stage cultivation base.

At the request of the cultivators stationed at the city gate, Han Li offered up his Fire Leaf Sect elder badge, and one of them accepted the badge before placing it onto a nearby stone platform.

The miniature array on the stone platform immediately lit up to examine the badge, and moments later, the badge was returned to Han Li by a middle-aged cultivator, who said in a respectful manner, "You're free to enter the inner city, Senior."

Han Li recovered his badge before making his way through the city gate, and as soon as he set foot into the inner city, he instantly felt as if his surroundings had become a little brighter, while the spiritual qi in the surrounding air had also become more abundant.

Han Li examined his surroundings briefly to discover that there were countless strange runes engraved onto the ground and the walls of the nearby buildings, and he couldn't help but remark to himself, "This entire inner city has been constructed like an immortal sect! No wonder the people on Relaxation Mountain always speak of the inner city of Jade Gathering City with such reverence."

As he made his way deeper into the inner city, he discovered that it was far more peaceful here than in the outer city.

There weren't many pedestrians on the streets, and most of them were traversing from one shop to another.

Han Li picked out a shop that was situated in a large three-story pavilion before making his way inside, but it didn't take long before he was escorted back out of the shop by an apologetic-looking shopkeeper.

According to the shopkeeper, only three shops in Jade Gathering City had any chance of having a Profound Zoysia Crystal in their catalog, and even if they did, they were very unlikely to be willing to sell such a precious material.

Han Li had already anticipated this, so he wasn't overly disappointed, but he still decided to try his luck in the city.