Chapter 2346: Masked Man
"This ark is indeed a little conspicuous; I"ll withdraw it once we enter Blood Bone Sect territory. Once we arrive at Blood Crow City, you can go to search for leads about your true body on your own. I"ll give you two Body Integration Stage puppets to accompany you, so you"ll be fine as long as you don"t encounter any Grand Ascension Stage beings," Han Li said.
A hint of elation flashed through the blood soul"s eyes upon hearing this. "Thank you, Senior; I"ll be sure to do my best."
"There"s no need to thank me over something so minor," Han Li said as he waved a dismissive hand.
......
Over a month later, Han Li and the others finally arrived in the territory under the Blood Bone Sect"s control.
Thus, the Inkspirit Holy Ark was withdrawn and replaced by an inconspicuous black flying carriage that was drawn by several flying wolf puppets.
The next part of the trip progressed quite smoothly, and another two months later, Han Li"s group arrived at a giant crimson city.
The city"s construction was very interesting in that there was a blue lake on either side of the city, and the section of the city wall where the city gate was situated jutted out significantly, forming what was almost like an independent small town.
Atop the city wall was a group of crimson-armored guards that were patrolling back and forth in an absentminded manner.
A group of foreign beings was lined up outside the city gate, and only after paying some spirit stones to the guards at the gate were they granted access.
"Blood Crane City is considered to be a major city of the Blood Bone Sect, and the city produces several types of specialty products that are beneficial to mid-grade and high-grade cultivators. As such, there"s an elite force from the Blood Bone Sect that"s constantly situated in the city, as well as a Grand Ascension Stage grand elder, so no one dares to cause any trouble here and it"s a very orderly city. However, everything is also a lot more expensive here than it is in other cities, and a sum of spirit stones must be issued if one wishes to permanently settle here," the blood soul introduced.
"We"ve encountered some Blood Bone Sect disciples on the way here. Setting aside their cultivation bases, all of them have a type of baleful aura emanating from their bodies, indicating that they are indeed using an extremely formidable cultivation art. It"s no wonder the Blood Bone Sect is one of the major Blood Dao sects on the Blood Sky Continent and is capable of constructing such a ma.s.sive city. On top of that, this city is situated right in between several mountain ranges, so it must be frequently visited by many outsiders pa.s.sing through the area," Han Li a.n.a.lyzed as he quickly gleaned the terrain near Blood Crane City with his spiritual sense.
"Indeed, Senior. a.s.suming things haven"t changed too much compared to when I was last here, the majority of the city"s population is comprised of foreign cultivators. However, most of the major businesses in the city belong to the Blood Bone Sect, and others with businesses in the city are also supported by other major powers. There are also some strange individuals who hide within the city all year round," the blood soul replied.
"Sounds like a very complicated place. Does the Blood Bone Sect not care about those mysterious individuals?" Han Li asked.
"Blood Crow City is considered to be one of the more liberal major cities on the Blood Sky Continent. Unless someone starts a fight in the city or does something to impact others, then the Blood Bone Sect won"t do anything aside from taking some spirit stones at set times. It"s perhaps because of this that the city has always been thriving. On top of that, there are several large arenas in the city, and those who wish to settle their differences could do so by engaging in a battle for superiority or even battles of the death in those arenas," the blood soul replied.
"I see, I think I have a general understanding of what type of city this is now. Are you planning to enter the city with me, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.
"I won"t be going in, Senior. According to the mark left behind by my true body, she appeared to have entered the Myriad Moon Mountain Range neighboring the city, so I"m planning to go there to search for other leads," the blood soul replied as she extended a slight bow.
"In that case, you can go on your own. There are two ancient altars near the city, so I"ll always be nearby. Take this transmission talisman with you and contact me with it if you discover something or encounter any trouble." Han Li flipped a hand over as he spoke to summon a golden talisman before tossing it toward the blood soul.
"Thank you, Senior; I feel much more a.s.sured now with this talisman in my possession," the blood soul hurriedly replied in a grateful manner as she caught the talisman.
She then extended a parting bow toward Han Li before departing as a streak of light.
Only after the blood soul had completely disappeared into the distance did Han Li spur on the flying carriage to fly directly toward the giant city.
There were already seven or eight foreign beings lined up outside the city.
They were all asked some simple questions by the guards, such as where they came from and how long they were planning to stay in Blood Crane City.
The foreign beings all provided answers to these questions, but as for whether they were being honest or not, that was something that only the heavens knew.
The guards outside the city gate didn"t care about that anyway, and they made some records of this information before handing out a metal badge to each person and granting them access.
Once it was Han Li"s turn, Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ stepped forward before releasing a portion of his Body Integration Stage aura, then tossed a mid-grade spirit stone toward the guards as he said, "Three people; keep the change."
Among the dozen or so guards in front of the city gate, the most powerful one was only at the Nascent Soul, and they were all forced to stumble back a few steps in the face of Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+"s formidable aura as stunned looks appeared on their faces.
The leader of the guards accepted the mid-grade spirit stone before immediately handing three badges to Han Li"s trio, not daring to ask any questions.
Thus, Han Li"s trio made their way into the city in a nonchalant manner.
"With such a powerful aura, that had to have been a Body Integration Stage senior. How strange, there"s been over 30 Body Integration Stage beings who have arrived at our city in just this one month alone," the leader of the guards said as he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead after Han Li"s trio had disappeared into the distance.
"That is indeed quite strange. On top of that, none of these Body Integration Stage beings are leaving the city; could it be that something"s about to happen?" another guard speculated.
"Perhaps. Do you guys feel like there are many new faces that have appeared among our superiors during the past month? All of them are extremely arrogant, and they seem to be important figures; I don"t think they"re inner sect disciples," another guard mumbled.
A stern look appeared on the guard leader"s face, and he scolded, "Alright, let"s end this discussion here. Regardless of what happens in the city, it has nothing to do with outer sect disciples like us; all we have to worry about is looking after this city gate. Have you forgotten the rules of our sect?"
The other guards immediately shuddered at the mention of the rules of the sect, and they immediately fell silent, not daring to discuss this topic any further.
At this point, Han Li and the others had already made their way into the protruding area of the city wall beyond the city gate.
Aside from a series of long streets that were lined with crude stalls, there were no other buildings in this area.
Many of the people who had just entered the city were lingering in front of the stalls, examining the items being sold or bartering with the stall owners.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the stalls to find that even though the items being sold were quite diverse or plentiful, they were all of a low caliber and were useless for beings like him and Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+.
Thus, they naturally weren"t going to linger here and quickly exited the area, upon which they arrived at a ma.s.sive plaza with an area in excess of 10,000 acres.
Many official shops of different sizes were spread all around the plaza, and judging from the signs hanging outside the shops, it was clear that everything could be purchased here, including materials, spirit beasts, treasures, etc.
Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ and Zhu Guo"er"s eyes lit up in unison upon seeing this.
"You can roam the city freely for the next few days, but come back here in three days to meet up with me again," Han Li instructed with a faint smile.
During this past half a year, they hadn"t entered any other cities as they had been busy traveling and searching for ancient altars.
They were on a different continent, so the shops here were definitely selling rare materials, ingredients, and treasures that weren"t commonly available on the Tian Yuan Continent.
As such, it was necessary to give them some time to buy the things that they wanted.
"Yes, Master Han!"
"Thank you, Senior Han!"
Patriarch Hua s.h.i.+ and Zhu Guo"er were ecstatic to hear this, and they extended respectful bows toward Han Li before hurrying over to the shops around the plaza.
Three days wouldn"t be enough for them to visit all of the shops, but it would suffice for exploring most of these shops.
Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he reflexively raised his head to look up into the sky.
Night was about to fall upon the city, and through the invisible restrictions, he was able to see several murky crescent moons in the sky, while a bright red color was beginning to appear in the nearby s.p.a.ce.
It wouldn"t take long before the crimson night was going to settle over the entire sky.
For some reason, the Blood Sky Continent was no different from the other two continents during the day, but at night, it would turn a strange crimson color, and that was the origin of the continent"s name.
However, Han Li wasn"t looking at the moons that were already beginning to take on a red tinge.
Instead, he was looking at a certain spot above the plaza, and moments later, he lowered his head again in an expressionless manner before making his way toward a street that was connected to the plaza.
Within the patch of s.p.a.ce that Han Li had just been appraising was a completely concealed masked man, and his brows furrowed tightly as he murmured to himself, "That Grand Ascension Stage being has noticed me as well. Who is he? I"ve never seen that face before."