Chapter 717: Traveling to the Infernal Region

"Indeed, Monarch Lu Hong. I was just about to report this matter to our regional monarch. Those three are Void Integration beings from the Young Dawn Tribe, and they played an important role in opposing the Nirarbuda invasion, so our San Miao Tribe is quite indebted to them. They wanted to accompany us to Asura City to see the Three Region Conference, and that's why I brought them here," Miao Gao explained.

"Void Integration beings?"

All of the other monarchs faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"This conference directly concerns the interests of our Black Teeth Region, and it's an extremely important occasion. How could you just bring outsiders with you in such an unprofessional manner?" the portly elderly man by the name of Lu Hong complained with furrowed brows.

Miao Gao's expression darkened slightly, and he was just about to respond when the regional monarch said, "It's fine. All of them are carrying San Miao Tribe guest elder badges, so there's no problem in having them attend the conference. On top of that, I can see that they're all quite powerful, so if we can win them over, that would definitely be beneficial to our Black Teeth Region."

An elated look appeared on Miao Gao's face, and he hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute.

Lu Hong was still rather displeased, but he didn't dare to rebuke the regional monarch, so he could only remain silent.

......

After Han Li and the others emerged from the hall, Miao Xiu informed them of some of the rules of Black Teeth City, following which everyone parted ways.

Shi Chuankong bade farewell to Han Li and Mo Guang, then went straight to the markets in the city to hunt for more money-making opportunities.

Mo Guang returned straight to the louchuan, while Han Li gathered some more scriptures pertaining to the Gray Realm before also returning to the louchuan and entering the Flower Branch domain.

He had only just sat down in the Flower Branch space when Shi Qinghou's voice rang out in his mind. "I hear that the Three Region Conference is about to be held, is that right?"

"That's right. It seems that the three regions are going to discuss whether the Gray Realm should invade the True Immortal Realm," Han Li replied.

"Oh? That's quite interesting, but why is a True Immortal Realm cultivator like you interested in attending the conference? Are you going to gather intelligence?" Shi Qinghou asked.

"I'm nowhere near important enough to have to worry about such matters. The only reason why I'm interested in attending the conference is because I've heard that there's a Baleful Cleansing Pond in Asura City that can cleanse one of baleful qi, and I'm hoping to find this pond and use it to overcome my baleful decay," Han Li revealed.

"You want to find the Baleful Cleansing Pond? I've heard that there is such a place in Asura, but don't expect me to be of any help. Yin Chengquan and I are sworn enemies, but I've never been to Asura City, so I don't know where this Baleful Cleansing Pond is. Also, don't go taking risks willy nilly just because you've mastered the laws of time.

“Let me make this clear in advance: I've agreed to help you, but if you insist on courting death, then don't blame me if I waive our agreement," Shi Qinghou harrumphed coldly before falling silent.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

He had informed Shi Qinghou of his intentions as he wanted to find out more information about the Baleful Cleansing Pond from him, but it seemed that he didn't know anything on the subject.

Having said that, the Baleful Cleansing Pond was a vastly renowned place, so he was confident that he would be able to track it down once he reached Asura City.

As for Shi Qinghou's threat, Han Li didn't pay it much heed. Right now, their fates were intertwined, and once he entered Asura City, Shi Qinghou would be forced to help him whether he liked it or not.

On top of that, while Shi Qinghou's help would naturally be very welcome, even if he didn't help, it didn't matter to Han Li. He had always relied on himself, and he didn't need anyone else.

With that in mind, Han Li closed his eyes.

The meeting between the monarchs lasted two days, and on the third morning, everyone gathered on the plaza in front of the regional monarch's manor before boarding a five-story louchuan that was entirely constructed out of some type of black jade material, and they resumed their journey from there.

......

Over thirty years flew by in the blink of an eye.

On the horizon was an enormous black city wall that was over a thousand feet tall and stretched for thousands of kilometers, casting a gargantuan black shadow under the dim light of the suns.

A massive louchuan slowly descended right where the light and the shadows met, and several dozen figures disembarked, but didn't immediately fly toward the city gate.

Only after the Black Teeth Regional Monarch had flown down and stowed the louchuan away did everyone make their way toward the city gates together.

Han Li's trio was dressed in San Miao Tribe clothing, and as they walked along, Shi Chuankong praised, "So this is Asura City. What a majestic city it is. I'm sure it must be one of the largest cities in the entire Gray Realm."

Han Li cast his gaze into the distance to find that all types of strange patterns had been engraved onto the city walls, and there were faint baleful qi fluctuations emanating from them.

At this moment, there was a huge line of people at the city gates, waiting to enter the city.

The convoy of carriages that Han Li and the others were in slowed down over a thousand feet away from the city gates as it joined the back of the line.

From there, Han Li could see three arch gates, stationed beside which were hundreds of guards.

All of them were dressed in gray robes that trailed all the way down onto the ground, while their feet hovered around a foot in mid-air so that they stood a little taller than everyone else, all of them wore cold expressions.

In terms of physical appearance, they were quite similar to humans, except their faces were covered in gray scales, presenting a rather disconcerting sight to behold.

"It looks like all of them are Infernal beings," Shi Chuankong remarked as he swept his gaze over the gray-robed figures, and Han Li was also rather perplexed to see this.

The Infernal Tribe was the ruling tribe of the Infernal Region, and its chief was the monarch of the Infernal Region, so it was a prestigious tribe that normally didn't stoop to such menial duties, yet on this day, all of the guards at the city gates were Infernal beings.

"Those aren't Infernal beings, they can only be categorized as Infernal Servants at the very most. Infernal Servants are a lowly branch eliminated from the Infernal Tribe that act as their servants. There are very few true Infernal beings, and almost every single one of them is a cultivation prodigy, so they're all extremely proud.

“You see that small group of people standing at the foot of the city gate? Those are true Infernal beings," Miao Gao explained as he turned to Han Li's trio.

Han Li cast his gaze in that direction to find a thin elderly man with sunken cheeks seated on a large black chair at the foot of the city gate. He was wearing a black robe, and he appeared to be no different from the Infernal Servants, except his face was devoid of scales.

The elderly man made no attempt to conceal his own aura, and he was a late-High Zenith cultivator.

There were two other black-robed figures hovering in mid-air beside him, and they were quite tall to begin with, so the fact that they were hovering about a foot above the ground placed them even higher above everyone else.

As the Black Teeth Region's tribe arrived at the city gate, the black-robed elderly man merely took a glance at them while remaining seated in his chair.

Out of the two figures hovering beside him, a slightly chubby man drifted over to Han Li's group, and he didn't even bother to extend a salute as he led them to the side gate to the left of the main gate and said, "Please come with me."

The Black Teeth Regional Monarch's brows furrowed slightly with displeasure upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything.

The other monarchs of the Black Teeth Region were also infuriated by this treatment, and many of them were cursing under their breaths, but none of them dared to protest beyond a whisper.

Upon being led to the gate on the left, they were greeted by the sight of another long line, this one seemingly consisting of some tribes from the Reincarnation Region.

Han Li's trio were slowly walking along with Miao Gao and the others when Shi Chuankong suddenly said through voice transmission, "Something's not right, Fellow Daoist Li. It looks like they're conducting identity checks over there."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Miao Gao spat under his breath, "These bastards! Not only are they making us take the side entrance, they're even checking our identities! What do they take us for?"

Han Li turned to discover that there was a person standing in front of the gate, holding an octagonal black mirror with a metal frame. The surface of the mirror was glistening like a black crystal, and whenever someone arrived at the gate, the person would examine their eyes through the mirror.

However, there was no one conducting these examinations at the other two gates.

"That mirror is called an Infernal Inspection Mirror, and it's an inspection treasure that's particularly effective at examining changes in baleful qi. The baleful qi in the eyes of those examined by the mirror will be fully revealed, and they can even determine which tribe someone is from based on the minute differences in their pupils," Mo Guang suddenly said through voice transmission.

"How do you know that?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.

"The two of you have been reading through all types of Gray Realm scriptures recently, and I haven't been slacking off, either. I saw a description of this mirror in a book called the Wondrous Artifact Journal. Would you like to take a look?" Mo Guang asked with a smile.

"Do you think the mirror will be able to see through our disguises?" Han Li asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"My body belonged to a Void Integration being to begin with, so I'll be fine. As for you, your pupils have already changed due to your struggles with your baleful decay, and there's also baleful qi in your immortal acupoints, so you should be able to avoid detection as well. However, the same can't be said for Fellow Daoist Shi," Mo Guang replied.

A concerned look appeared on Shi Chuankong's face upon hearing this.

The line up ahead appeared to be quite long, but everyone was moving quite quickly, and it wasn't going to be long before it was the turn of Han Li's trio to undergo their examination.

The regional monarch naturally didn't have to be examined. All he had to do was flash his regional monarch badge to be granted entry into the city. However, everyone else from the Black Teeth Region tribes had to be examined with no exceptions.

Following their examinations, the people from the Black Teeth Region didn't immediately enter the city. Instead, all of them waited beside the gate with the regional monarch until everyone was ready.

Before long, it was time for Han Li's trio to step forward.