Chapter 883

"This man is not a Tumoren!"

"What? How does the master know this?"

Han Li's opening words stunned Yin Yue, who nearly jumped in surprise. WWW. feiazw. COM

"Look at what this is," Han Li suddenly reached out one hand toward empty air and lightly grasped. A cluster of green light immediately materialized, then transformed into a jade pendant-shaped image, inscribed with several ancient characters.

"These are Da Jin ancient script," Yin Yue exclaimed again in surprise.

"Actually, if I hadn't acted just now, this man likely wouldn't have been harmed. This pendant is one he carries on his person—a top-grade magic treasure—that emits spiritual waves whenever the demonic bird approaches, presumably an automatic protective effect. Though hidden beneath his waistband, a single layer of cloth couldn't possibly block my spiritual eyes—I saw it clearly. You should recognize these Da Jin characters too. Based on these few characters, this man is almost certainly from one of Da Jin's aristocratic families." Han Li spoke calmly.

Correct. According to historical records, the term "solemn Feng" is indeed a naming style favored by the aristocratic clans of Da Jin. This "Feng" friend should properly be called "Feng Daoyou." But where is solemn? Is it Ningchuan Commandery among Da Jin's three commanderies? Or Xining Prefecture among the hundred and eight states? Or perhaps merely a common city bearing the character "Ning"? Yin Yue fell into thought.

Since coming to Da Jin, Han Li had specifically collected many texts on Da Jin's customs and geography, and Yin Yue had studied them as well. Thus, her casual mention of these details caused him no surprise.

"Regardless of which aristocratic family this man belongs to, his presence alone on the Tianlan Grassland implies trouble. It's best to avoid contact. Our task now is simply to find a way to leave the grassland and first seek a method to remove the malevolent qi from our bodies." After speaking, Han Li closed his eyes without expression.

"That's true! With only Foundation Establishment cultivation, he carries such an automatic protective artifact—he must be a key figure of the Feng family. Yet he's secretly hiding among a small tribe's tribute caravan, meaning he's certainly in serious trouble." Yin Yue gave a soft laugh and murmured in agreement.

The woman then fell silent, and the carriage returned to stillness.

At this moment, the several youths outside finally shattered two massive ice blocks with heavy hammers, then skinned and dismembered the three ape-eagles, delivering the six most valuable claws and over a dozen long feathers to Han Li.

The rest was greedily divided between the two tribes.

Naturally, because Han Li was the immortal master invited by the Canglu Tribe, they took the lion's share. Though the Ba man received little, since it was unexpected gain and no one had died or been injured during the demonic bird's attack, he was equally ecstatic.

On a tightly sealed carriage of the Red Wolf Tribe, the blue-robed man seemed to find his hood inconvenient and had removed it, revealing a pale face.

Aside from slightly thinner lips, he was quite handsome and upright.

At this moment, his face was cold and silent.

Suddenly, he ran his hand along his neck and pulled out a golden chain, at the end of which hung a silver key.

The key was as thick as a finger, several inches long, covered in mysterious ancient patterns, with a golden character "Feng" engraved on its oval handle.

Gazing at the key, Feng Yue's eyes revealed a strange expression, his face shifting between dark and light.

One moment elated, the next pained, finally sinking into profound gloom.

After a long exhale, he carefully tucked the key away, re-hanging it as a necklace around his neck.

Once certain no outsider could see the key, he closed his eyes and sat in meditation, restoring his depleted spiritual power.

After the last remnants of the ape-eagles were cleared away, the caravan soon resumed its journey.

But this time, no one dared speak loudly. Though the battle had been brief, it had deeply shocked these young Tumoren. Those with spiritual roots burned with fervor, nearly wishing they could sprout wings and fly straight to the Sacred Palace to become powerful immortal masters.

The next day passed peacefully, but at noon on the second day, Han Li, meditating on the incantation within his carriage, finally sensed from afar the Sacred Palace's designated "garrison."

Though wary of high-level immortal masters stationed inside, he dared not scan it with his spiritual sense—but he faintly sensed chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations, indicating the presence of many low-level cultivators within.

Han Li's eyes flickered slightly, his face expressionless.

After traveling another twenty li, the people from both tribes simultaneously burst into cheers.

At this, Han Li's expression shifted; he swept his sleeve, and the carriage curtain rolled up automatically as he gazed into the distance.

There, on the distant plain, a dark dot stood clearly visible.

With a faint flash of blue light in his eyes, Han Li saw the true form of the dark dot clearly.

A wall three to four zhang high, built of stone mixed with thick logs, surrounded a settlement where tall Tumoren tents and crude wooden huts were jumbled together, with many ordinary Tumoren coming and going—evidently chaotic.

Yet among the many tents and huts, several stone pavilions and towers, entirely constructed of massive blue stone, stood scattered here and there, with only occasional one or two oddly dressed cultivators entering them.

This was the so-called "garrison." Han Li mused, his gaze shifting to several enormous stone pillars erected at intervals outside the wall.

These pillars gleamed brilliantly, each as thick as a man could embrace and twenty to thirty zhang tall—clearly, the Tianlan Sacred Palace had installed a large array here, shielding the entire city.

Above the entire garrison, no cultivator soared into the air—evidently, the array also carried a flight-prohibiting restriction.

After inspecting the city, Han Li lost interest and waved his hand; the curtain fell back into place.

A quarter-hour later, their caravan reached the garrison's entrance. There were no guards—anyone could enter or leave freely.

After discussing briefly, Yinglu and the big man, for reasons unknown, once again split the two tribes, each caravan heading in a different direction.

Though Han Li remained inside the carriage, his spiritual sense still clearly perceived everything nearby.

The garrison was indeed as he had seen from afar—a single word, "chaos," summed it up. Aside from a few man-made main roads, everywhere were untidy fur tents and misaligned, jumbled crude huts. Clearly, apart from the blue stone buildings, all else were temporary garrisons for tribes bringing tribute to the Sacred Palace.

Only those tribes farthest from the Sacred Palace needed to rest here.

The kind that, no matter how large, could never be truly sizable. True major tribes lived right next to the Sacred Palace.

Thus, aside from a few slightly more ornate large tents, the rest of the tents and huts were ordinary, common structures—many even bore patches.

Clearly, the plight of these small tribes.

After much effort, they found a vacant patch in a remote corner of the garrison, and the Canglu Tribe began erecting their tent.

Han Li stepped down from the carriage, coldly observing their actions.

After hesitating, Yinglu now walked over.

"Immortal Master Han, this place is utterly chaotic—unsuitable for your pure cultivation and meditation. But there is a designated area here, free of charge, for immortal masters to rest. Would you consider staying there for two nights? After two days of rest, you can resume your journey. What do you think?" the old man said respectfully.

"Very well, understood. I'll return here to rejoin you in two days." Han Li nodded calmly, then immediately turned and left without ceremony. His direction was unmistakably toward the tallest structure in the garrison—a two-story stone pavilion.

Occasional cultivators entered and exited there—clearly the resting place the old man had mentioned.

After walking a short distance, he arrived before the pavilion.

Han Li glanced at the two monstrous statues, each three to four zhang tall, with ox heads and dragon bodies, then expressionlessly walked past the entrance.

Though confident his disguise as a Tumoren was flawless, living among so many Tumoren cultivators still felt unwise.

If there were Nascent Soul cultivators inside, who knew what trouble might arise?

Better to leave the garrison and find some nearby spot to wait out the two days. When the time came, he'd return and rejoin the caravan to continue the journey.

By the time he reached the Tianlan Sacred Palace, the search for him should have cooled somewhat—then he could find a way to slip away. The remaining journey, though still far from Da Jin, offered a chance to sneak into Da Jin's territory if he was careful.

With these thoughts, Han Li calmly walked out the garrison gate, pulled out a small sword, and activated it into a streak of light that shot skyward.

After flying fifty to sixty li, he halted his flight above an unremarkable pile of scattered rocks.

Scanning downward, he landed before a massive rock five to six zhang tall.

First, he sat cross-legged and released his spiritual sense. Once certain no one else was within twenty li, he spun around and flicked his ten fingers at the rock behind him.

A wave of green sword qi sliced through, revealing a hollow cave two zhang high—just large enough for one person to enter.

Han Li stepped inside, sat cross-legged, and found it satisfactory. He then stepped ten zhang away from the rock and retrieved a set of array flags from his storage bag.

After sixteen flashes of light scattered, the invisible array was complete.

From outside, the massive rock vanished utterly, leaving only empty ground.

Han Li entered without hesitation, his body flickering once before disappearing entirely within the array.

The area was now utterly empty.

Time passed slowly, and in an instant, a full day and night had passed. Han Li remained in deep meditation within the cave, silently contemplating the incantation given by the Great Expansion Divine Lord.

The incantation proved far easier than he'd expected—he had already grasped nearly half of it.

This filled Han Li with quiet delight.

He was now pondering a crucial point when his eyelid suddenly twitched; his spiritual sense snapped out of meditation, and his eyes flew open in surprise.

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