Chapter 2354

In a heavily guarded secret hall in the underground world, a giant array emitting five-colored radiance was set up in the center.

Inside the array, more than a dozen black-armored guards were busy, quickly placing high-grade spirit stones into the seemingly dense grooves.

Meanwhile, in the hall outside the array, more than fifty men and women with different auras stood there.

Among these people, the most powerful ones were surprisingly at the Mahayana stage, but there were not many of them, only five.

The others were mostly at the Body Integration stage, with seven or eight at even lower cultivation levels.

This naturally included Xue Po and Zhu Guo'er.

Han Li stood in a corner of the hall with the two women and Ancestor Hua Shi, quietly watching the black-armored guards busy at work.

Those dozen or so fragrant women naturally could not be teleported to Blood Heaven together; instead, they were entrusted to the people of the Alliance to be sent to the human race.

The other Mahayana cultivators in the hall were clearly proud and arrogant people, either bringing their disciples or standing alone, each occupying a spot without the slightest intention of talking to each other.

The other alien races stayed honestly where they were, not daring to look at the location of Han Li and the other Mahayana cultivators.

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hall, and Ming Zun actually walked in with Lady Feiyun.

The several alien Mahayana cultivators, who had been silent, felt a chill in their hearts and looked over.

Han Li touched a green ring that had appeared on his wrist and swept a calm glance over.

This ring, which looked like a storage bracelet, was exactly what Tian Feier had transformed into.

"Fellow daoists, this teleportation array can generally only be used once every hundred years, so I have come personally this time to ensure that the teleportation does not go wrong," Ming Zun said with a smile to the several Mahayana existences, his gaze pausing slightly on Han Li before moving away.

"Hehe, with Brother Ming personally maintaining it, I imagine this teleportation will certainly not have any problems," an alien Mahayana cultivator with an exceptionally long and thin body, like a bamboo pole, said with a smile.

Others also said some words of thanks with smiles on their faces.

Facing this famous Chief Deacon of the Alliance, they did not dare to be the least bit negligent. Ming Zun greeted each of them before finally cupping his hands toward Han Li and asking:

"Brother Han, I have long admired your great name. If it weren't for some trouble at the auction, I had originally intended to visit you personally after the auction ended. Now that we finally meet, I hope you will forgive me."

"Brother Ming is too polite. I, Han, am also quite pleasantly surprised to see so many fellow daoists of the same rank at your Alliance's auction," Han Li smiled and returned the greeting.

The other alien Mahayana cultivators could not help but be surprised when they saw Ming Zun's attitude toward Han Li.

One must know that this Ming Zun was himself one of the most famous powerhouses on the Fengyuan Continent; the object that could make him treat them as equals naturally could not be an ordinary Mahayana existence.

"Brother Ming, this Fellow Daoist Han is..." the long-bodied alien could not help but ask.

"I am Han Li of the human race. Greetings, fellow daoists," Han Li introduced himself proactively before Ming Zun could introduce him.

"What? You are the human Mahayana cultivator who broke into the Demon World and killed the Mother of Myriad Insects!" The long-bodied alien's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

The other Mahayana cultivators nearby were also shocked, and the look in their eyes toward Han Li changed.

At this point, how could they not know that Ming Zun had mostly come for Han Li? Otherwise, with just their identities, it would have been absolutely impossible to make him run this trip.

"I did indeed participate in the trip to the Demon World, but killing the Mother of Myriad Insects was not by my strength alone; the rumors are somewhat exaggerated," Han Li replied noncommittally.

The attitude of these alien Mahayana cultivators toward Han Li became much more enthusiastic, and after introducing themselves, they began to chat with each other.

Ming Zun watched all this from the side, occasionally interjecting a word or two.

But not long after, a clear ringing sound came from the hall.

The spirit stones for the giant array had been installed, and the array itself suddenly lit up, with countless five-colored runes appearing everywhere.

"The spirit stones have been installed in the array. Fellow daoists, you may enter," Ming Zun said to Han Li and the others after a glance.

"Take care, Brother Ming. I, Han, will take my leave," Han Li cupped his hands toward Ming Zun and walked toward the giant array with the two women.

The other alien Mahayana cultivators nearby also bowed and walked over.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of people had all entered the giant array.

After the giant array flared with intense light, the figures of Han Li and the others blurred and vanished.

"Finally gone. Lord Ming, was that Dragon race member really mixed in among them?" Lady Feiyun exhaled a long breath and turned to ask Ming Zun.

"Whether it's true or not, I'll know after checking," Ming Zun replied calmly, then grabbed at the giant array in the void with one hand.

Immediately, a circular array disk flew out from within and landed in his hand in a flash.

The array disk was crystal clear and transparent, with a circle of scale-like spirit patterns on the edge, and more than half of the circle was flickering with faint light.

"Fifty-seven people, it really consumed the teleportation energy of one more person than planned. I just don't know how she mixed in among these people; the restrictions set up in the hall didn't even detect her existence," Lady Feiyun said with a look of joy after seeing the display on the array disk.

"The True Dragon lineage's divine abilities are unfathomable; it's not too strange that some techniques or treasures could deceive our eyes and ears. If she wants to return to the Dragon race soon, this teleportation is her only chance. However, now that the big trouble of the Nightmare Dragon blood has been sent away, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief," Ming Zun finally replied with a smile.

"It's fortunate that Lord Ming had a close friend in the Dragon race to report in time, so we knew that thing wasn't 'Ancestral Dragon blood' but some 'Nightmare Dragon blood,' which allowed the Dragon race people to hijack it at the auction. Otherwise, whether we had auctioned it off or used powerful means to hurt the Dragon race people, the Alliance would not have been able to end it well," Lady Feiyun said with a bitter smile.

"Since this Nightmare Dragon blood is so evil and would contaminate the true essence of the refiner, auctioning it off would certainly have had endless troubles. It wouldn't have been impossible to just hand it over to the Dragon race people directly. But doing so would have seemed too weak and would have greatly affected the Alliance's prestige, and it would have been hard to explain to the people below. It's better to let the Dragon race people take it away. Although it also damages the auction's reputation, one can only choose the lesser of two evils," Ming Zun said calmly.

"That is true. But even if we wanted to use negotiation, time would mostly have been too short; we could only adopt this compromise," Lady Feiyun replied respectfully.

"Alright, let's end this matter here. As for the bounty, just keep it tight on the outside and loose on the inside; I imagine that in a few years, this matter will be mostly forgotten. Let's go back. Although the auction matter is settled, there are still some things in the Alliance that need to be dealt with," Ming Zun nodded, shook his large sleeves, and turned to leave on his own.

Lady Feiyun smiled and followed closely out of the hall.

Han Li naturally did not know that the Nightmare Dragon blood being snatched was actually the Helian Alliance intentionally letting the Dragon race off the hook, but even if he had truly understood, he would mostly have been speechless for a while and would not have taken it to heart.

When he felt the white light in front of him subside, he quickly woke up from a faint dizziness and immediately saw everything around him.

Underneath him was the same giant array, but the surroundings were an exceptionally empty expanse of bluestone ground, and apart from two strangers, a man and a woman standing side by side, there was no one else in sight.

"Welcome, seniors and fellow daoists, to the Blood Heaven Continent. I, Fang Jin, am the person in charge of the Helian Alliance here. If you have any questions, you can ask me; I will answer to the best of my ability," the man had a round face and looked to be only about thirty years old, but after cupping his hands to the crowd, he gave people a smiling, very kind feeling.

But the young woman beside him was exceptionally cold and beautiful; apart from sizing up the crowd in the array, she did not say a word.

"So it is Fellow Daoist Fang. Do you have a map of the nearby area and markings of the forces that need attention?" These two also had Body Integration stage cultivation, and most of the people teleported here did not dare to be negligent, hurriedly returning the greeting, and one person immediately asked.

"Of course I have prepared that. Any fellow daoist who needs it, just come and take a copy," the round-faced man said without hesitation, then shook his large sleeves, and dozens of jade slips of different colors appeared in front of him in a flash. Seeing this, the crowd in the array was happy and walked over one after another to collect a copy.

Some impatient people, after scanning the contents of the jade slips with their spiritual sense, showed joy, then activated their escape light and left the place one after another.

The remaining people, after asking about other things, also left.

This included the four Mahayana cultivators and their disciples.

In the blink of an eye, only Han Li, the Mahayana cultivator, and five or six other aliens who seemed to be in a group remained near the array.

These aliens were gathering together and whispering, seemingly discussing something.

"Let's go too," Han Li said calmly after finishing scanning the jade slip in his hand.

This jade slip was naturally not obtained by him personally, but Ancestor Hua Shi had made a trip to get a copy for each of them.

Hearing Han Li's words, Xue Po and the others naturally had no objections and immediately agreed to fly away from this place together.

"Senior Han, please wait a moment. This junior has been ordered to specifically welcome you; I hope you can accompany me to a place," the cold and beautiful woman suddenly stepped forward a few steps and spoke, her voice unexpectedly pleasant and sweet.

"Ordered to welcome me! Ordered by whom? Are you also from the Helian Alliance?" Han Li paused his footsteps, somewhat surprised, and turned to ask.

(The author's backend had some problems at night; I finished writing this chapter but couldn't upload it in time, so I had to drag it until now. I hope everyone will forgive me!)