“Who is it?” The dark-faced cultivator was startled upon hearing this. Without hesitation, he spat out a streak of white light to shield his entire body, then swiftly formed hand seals. The puppet warriors flanking him immediately rose into the air, their eyes glowing with spiritual light.
“Hold on, Brother Cao! This is Senior Han. Do not act recklessly!” The fair-faced middle-aged man paled further upon hearing the stranger’s voice. Seeing the dark-faced general’s actions, he anxiously shouted to stop him.
“Senior Han?” The dark-faced general was momentarily confused.
But since even the middle-aged man, whose cultivation was similar to his own, was being so cautious, it was clear the newcomer was no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, given that they were within the restrictions of the miniature space, they could easily contend with an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
Could this be a mid-stage Nascent Soul old monster? That was not someone he and a few mechanical puppets could handle.
Thinking this, the Cao-named cultivator willed his divine sense, and the puppets that had risen into the air returned to their original positions, motionless once more.
“You acted wisely. In that case, I won’t bully the weak.” The man seemed to snort, his voice echoing again.
Then, a flash of cyan light appeared above the two men, and a young man in a blue robe materialized, arms crossed, his gaze icy as he looked down at them.
The dark-faced general nervously scanned the newcomer with his divine sense, shuddering inwardly and revealing an expression of disbelief and terror.
The man made no effort to conceal his cultivation—he was a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator.
But when had the Great Jin produced such a grand cultivator surnamed Han? He hadn’t heard even a whisper of it.
Recalling how he had nearly ordered his puppets to attack this man, the Cao-named cultivator broke into a cold sweat. He hastily bowed deeply toward the sky. “This junior was unaware of Senior’s arrival and acted disrespectfully. I beg for your forgiveness!”
The young man in the air remained expressionless, offering no reply. Instead, he looked toward the floating palace in the distance, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Below, the dark-faced cultivator was drenched in sweat but dared not rise, fearing he might offend the senior and bring about his own demise. After all, given the eccentric temperaments of some Nascent Soul old monsters, such a thing was entirely possible. He had no intention of dying for no reason.
Fortunately, the fair-faced middle-aged man stepped in to defuse the situation.
“Senior Han, didn’t you say you’d give this junior a few months to report this matter to the Pavilion Master? Why have you followed me here?” The middle-aged man forced a bitter smile and bowed toward the man in the air.
“It’s nothing. My time is limited, and I have no patience to wait. I’d rather speak with your Pavilion Master directly. This must be the legendary Heavenly Mechanism Hall. I’ve heard it resides in a miniature space, a rare drifting one at that, shifting its entrance every few years. Ordinary people would never have the chance to see it. Now that I’ve laid eyes on it, I’m not disappointed. You may rise. Since you’re the guardian here, I won’t hold your earlier actions against you. But I wish to meet your Pavilion Master. Lead the way.” The young man’s last words were directed at the dark-faced cultivator, his tone brooking no argument.
Cao Weifeng’s heart, which had just settled, lurched again. He glanced helplessly at the middle-aged man beside him.
Truth be told, he still had no idea whether this grand cultivator was friend or foe.
The fair-faced middle-aged man’s lips twitched. After a moment’s hesitation, he gave a slight nod to the dark-faced cultivator.
The Cao-named cultivator no longer hesitated. “Since Senior commands it, this junior naturally obeys. However, the Pavilion Master is currently receiving an esteemed guest. Allow me to announce your arrival first, then I’ll escort you over. Would that be acceptable?”
“An esteemed guest?” The young man frowned slightly, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes, but he nodded impassively.
The dark-faced cultivator was overjoyed. He quickly retrieved a sound transmission talisman from his storage pouch, whispered a few urgent words into it, then flung it into the air. It transformed into a streak of fire, speeding toward the floating palace.
With an ingratiating smile toward the young man in the air, he stepped through the jade gate and began ascending the floating jade steps, leading the way.
The fair-faced middle-aged man hurried after him.
Both men walked on foot, refraining from flying up the jade steps.
“Anti-flight restrictions!” The young man frowned but soon smirked. A cyan glow enveloped him as he floated forward, seemingly unaffected.
The two below could only sigh inwardly.
While the restrictions here were formidable—preventing any cultivator below Nascent Soul from rising more than three feet off the ground—they were nothing to a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator. They could only pretend not to notice and continue onward.
The young man in the air, not wishing to overly antagonize the hall’s owner, did not fly directly to the main hall. Instead, he followed the two at a leisurely pace.
This young man was none other than Han Li, who had traveled all the way from the Great Jin.
Despite his greatly improved cultivation, it had taken him a full six months to cross the Mulan Grassland and reach the Great Jin.
Strangely, his journey through the grassland had been entirely uneventful—no trouble whatsoever.
This surprised Han Li.
Originally, he had harbored thoughts of teaching the High Priests of the Tianlan Tribe a lesson, given how they had once hunted him to the brink of death.
But as he flew across the grassland, he encountered only low-level priests—not a single one above the Core Formation stage.
Puzzled, he later learned that over a century ago, for reasons unknown, the Tianlan Saintess and the Great High Priest had jointly issued an order summoning all high-level priests to gather at the Tianlan Holy Temples for secluded cultivation. Without explicit orders, none were permitted to leave. It seemed they aimed to forcibly elevate the Tianlan Tribe’s overall strength.
Han Li was somewhat disappointed but didn’t go out of his way to seek trouble at the Tianlan Holy Temple.
After all, the Tianlan Tribe’s power was formidable. Storming their holy temple wouldn’t just be about settling personal grudges—it would escalate into a major conflict. Unlike the private vendetta with the Star Palace elder he had slain in Heavenly Star City, he still held some wariness toward the Tianlan Tribe’s collective might.
After careful consideration, Han Li abandoned thoughts of provoking the Tianlan Tribe and peacefully exited the grassland, entering the Great Jin.
Among the three tasks he had, the miniature space matter was the simplest and least time-consuming, so he tackled it first.
He located a renowned market in one of the Great Jin’s provinces and directly approached a branch of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. There, he made his request for the miniature space refinement technique to the fair-faced middle-aged man in charge.
Had an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator made such a demand, the branch manager would have flatly refused without hesitation.
But faced with Han Li, who made no effort to conceal his grand cultivator aura, the Core Formation late-stage manager was too intimidated to refuse. Instead, he nervously explained that such a secret technique was beyond his authority—he had to personally consult the Pavilion Master. Given the gravity of the matter, a mere sound transmission talisman wouldn’t suffice. He needed to return to the main hall in person and requested Han Li to wait two or three months.
Han Li found this reasonable and agreed.
However, he had no intention of idly waiting. Instead, he secretly trailed the middle-aged man to this place.
From what he knew, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, though ostensibly a merchant guild, had covert ties to several of the Ten Great Sects, both righteous and demonic. Moreover, it had a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator serving as its guest elder. The identity of this elder was shrouded in mystery, known to very few.
To Han Li, this was irrelevant.
As long as this guest elder wasn’t the Yin Luo Sect’s leader, even if they hailed from the Heavenly Demon Sect or the Taiyi Sect, it mattered little to him.
While he had come prepared to leverage his status, he had no intention of demanding the technique outright. He had brought ample spirit stones and rare materials for trade.
Given this, the Pavilion Master would likely not risk offending a grand cultivator over what was essentially a niche technique.
Han Li’s assumptions seemed correct. As they ascended halfway up the floating jade steps, a series of welcoming bell chimes rang out from the floating hall.
Then, light flashed at the hall’s entrance as over a dozen streaks of light shot out, circling before resolving into rows of cultivators lining both sides of the entrance—apparently unaffected by the anti-flight restrictions.
Between them, two figures emerged, looking down at Han Li and his companions.
Han Li frowned briefly but quickly regained his composure. With a single step, he traversed over ten zhang in the air, appearing abruptly at the hall’s entrance, face-to-face with the two central figures.
The surrounding cultivators stirred, some even reaching for their storage pouches in alarm.
“Mind your manners! All of you, withdraw.” The plump elder on the left among the central pair reprimanded the surrounding cultivators before smiling at Han Li. “You must be Fellow Daoist Han?”
“And you are the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion?” Han Li studied the elder closely before responding coolly.
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