Black light flashed, and the black-robed figure appeared in front of the five of them. The figure then slowly flew ahead without saying anything, and just as Han Li was starting to feel perplexed by this, the black light around him suddenly flashed, and his body was involuntarily drawn forward by a burst of invisible power. The other four people with him were also experiencing the same thing, and all five of them were being towed along by the black-robed figure.
The black light around their bodies seemed to be special as the black Qi they encountered along the way all parted to allow them pa.s.sage, and they quickly flew for several kilometers.
All of a sudden, blue light flashed through Han Li"s eyes, and he cast his gaze toward a vast expanse of black Qi up ahead.
He could sense that there was an enormous being lurking within the black Qi, and its aura was of the same nature as that of those unknown demon beasts from before, but it was countless times more powerful, to the extent that even he felt greatly threatened by it.
However, this black Qi was quite profound, and even with his spirit eye ability, he was only able to just barely make out the outlines of a mountainous beast that seemed to be a giant python.
The other four people with Han Li had clearly also sensed that formidable beast, and they were all feeling quite wary as the beast was slowly approaching them.
Right at this moment, the guidance envoy suddenly descended, taking everyone down along with them so they diverged away from that unknown giant beast.
Han Li"s heart naturally eased slightly as a result, and he cast one final glance at the giant beast before paying it no further heed.
However, Han Li"s expression changed slightly again after just a short while. At this point, they had been led downward by the guidance envoy for tens of thousands of feet, and they still didn"t appear to be anywhere near the bottom.
It was as if they were descending into a bottomless black abyss.
If it weren"t for the fact that the other four people around him hadn"t displayed any reactions to this, he would seriously be reconsidering whether it was a good idea to continue following this black-robed figure.
Thankfully, after they had descended for over 100,000 feet, the black Qi around them finally dissipated, and they emerged from the sea of black mist into a strange blue world.
There was faint blue light everywhere, illuminating all of the buildings and the strange black trees that resembled ma.s.sive stone pillars down below.
This blue light was emanating from a dozen or so s.h.i.+mmering blue ma.s.sive b.a.l.l.s of light hanging in the air. Each ball had a diameter of over 1,000 feet, and they were radiating faint blue light that seemed to be able to glow for the rest of eternity.
A few dull thumps rang out, and the black light around the bodies of Han Li and the others shuddered before vanis.h.i.+ng. The connection they had with the guidance envoy was also severed as a result.
"I still have to go and guide others; go to the Black Realm Hall down below, and someone will take care of you there," the black-robed figure said in a cold voice before turning away and rising up into the air again, leaving them to their own devices.
Han Li was left feeling rather speechless, but Daoist Master Myriad Bone seemed to be completely unfazed. He merely chuckled before descending toward the hall, and the golden figure also followed suit as a streak of golden light.
Han Li and the other two figures exchanged a quick glance before naturally following along behind them.
There were many buildings down below, but all of them were very different from the ones in the outside world. All of them had been constructed from rough-looking black stones, and they were very tall and ma.s.sive, reflecting an ancient primordial construction style that was more crude and rough around the edges.
The Black Realm Hall that the envoy had just referred to was very easy to identify. This was a huge black hall that was over 10,000 feet tall and had an area of several square kilometers, so it was very hard to miss.
When Han Li and the others landed on a plaza in front of the hall, they were greeted by two rows of women wearing black veils garments who were waiting for them in advance.
These women"s faces had all been concealed by black veils, but they all had extremely alluring figures, and their auras suggested that they were all at or above the Core Formation Stage, so they were superb subjects for dual cultivation.
As soon as Han Li and the others descended before them, the five women at the front of the group made their way toward them in an elegant manner.
One of the tall and slender women with skin as fair as snow extended a graceful curtsey before speaking in an extremely alluring voice. "We pay our respects to our seniors. From now on, please allow us to serve you; if you have any questions or needs, we"ll do our best to answer and satisfy them. There is still some time before the commencement of the convention; would you like to go and take a rest in the designated silent cultivation chambers?"
"Hmph, your Black Realm is always dabbling in these shady tricks. I don"t need anyone to serve me; just take me to the hall," the indistinct smoky figure harrumphed coldly, and her pleasant voice suggested that she was also a female cultivator.
"If you don"t wish to be served by us, then we naturally won"t force our service upon you, Senior. Number Nine, take this senior to the hall," the black-veiled servant chuckled before turning to one of her four companions.
Number Nine stepped forward upon hearing this, and said, "Senior, please come with me."
After that, she extended a respectful curtsey before making her way toward the gate of the hall in an elegant manner.
The smoky female cultivator cast a cold glance at Number Nine before following along behind her in silence.
"Hehe, I don"t need any rest, either; take me to the hall as well," the humanoid figure enshrouded in green light also said with a smile.
Judging from his voice, this seemed to be an elderly man.
The black-veiled servant agreed with a smile, and ordered another woman to take him into the hall.
Thus, only three convention-goers were left on the plaza, one of whom was Han Li.
"Tsk tsk, how could I resist a free meal like this? I"m not going to pretend like I"m some saintly gentleman! I"ll be going to enjoy myself now, fellow Daoists," Daoist Master Myriad Bone guffawed in a voice that was slightly more high-pitched than his normal voice.
After that, he took the initiative and stepped forward before winding his arm around the most curvaceous of the five black-veiled women, then departed in high spirits.
The golden figure aimed a scorching gaze at the leader of the five women as he chuckled, "Hehe, I wonder which fellow Daoist that is. I must say, I really do agree with him here. You"re the leader here, so you must be the most exceptional among these five; I"ll get you to serve me."
The woman didn"t appear to be surprised at all by this, and she said with a smile, "I"m extremely honored to be chosen by you, Senior. Number 11, make sure to take good care of this senior."
She then stepped forward and sidled up voluntarily against the golden figure"s body before departing with him.
Han Li blinked as he looked at the two rows of black-veiled women standing further away, then glanced at the woman standing before him, and he made his voice more coa.r.s.e and husky than normal as he asked, "You"re number 11? Does that mean there were only six fellow Daoists to arrive here before our group?"
"You"re mistaken there, Senior. I am indeed Number 11, but we"re all randomly selected to serve the other seniors that came before, rather than selected based on our number sequence." This Number 11 was quite pet.i.te, and her voice was extremely mellow and delightful. She was staring up at Han Li with a pitiable expression, as if she were afraid that Han Li would dismiss her in preference for someone else.
"I see. There"s no need to go to the silent cultivation chamber; accompany me to the hall. I have some things that I need to ask you," Han Li instructed.
"Yes, Senior!" Number 11 naturally replied in a respectful manner before voluntarily leaning her body against Han Li"s.
Han Li took a glance at her and wrapped an arm around her slender waist before striding toward the hall.
Not long after Han Li had left the plaza, four more figures who were enshrouded in spiritual light of different colors descended from the sky, and they were also greeted by four smiling black-veiled servants.
Not long after that, Han Li found himself resting on a large inclined chair with Number 11 pressing her entire body against his, looking up at him with a pair of seductive eyes.
At this point, Han Li had switched to a layer of azure light to conceal his own body, rather than the initial grey light. As a result, even Daoist Master Myriad Bone wouldn"t be able to identify him now.
They were currently situated in a black stone pavilion that was hovering in mid-air. Not only had a table, chairs, and spirit tea been prepared here in advance, there were even some spirit flowers and spirits fruits that were extremely rare in the outside world placed on the stone table in front of Han Li.
Han Li could see more identical structures hovering in the surrounding area, and upon closer inspection, there appeared to be around 500 to 600 of them.
Most of these hovering pavilions were empty, but, like Han Li, several tens of them were occupied by someone alongside a black-veiled servant.
However, Han Li paid no heed to the eyes that were being cast toward him from the other pavilions. Instead, he was appraising a ma.s.sive white light barrier at the center of all of the stone pavilions.
This light barrier had a diameter in excess of 1,000 feet, and within it was a tall platform that was as pristine white as jade.
Not only were there a red and blue stone pillar standing on each corner of the platform, there was also a peculiar yellow formation at the center of the platform. At the very center of the formation were two stone tables that were completely identical, except one was black and the other was white.
The platform was completely empty aside from that.
All of a sudden, Han Li withdrew his gaze, and asked in a calm manner, "So what you"re saying is that when the exchange convention begins, your Black Realm will bring out some precious items first to exchange with us, right?"