Chapter 1214: First Arrival at Nine Yuan City

"Senior, please ask. I will tell everything I know without reservation." The gray-robed elder was overjoyed and quickly replied.

"Where did you obtain this Yanluo Cauldron?" Han Li asked in a deep voice.

"Reporting to Senior, I found this cauldron in a ruin within the Tian Shang Immortal Domain," the gray-robed elder answered respectfully.

"Tian Shang Immortal Domain?" Han Li frowned slightly. With his knowledge of the many immortal domains in the celestial realm, he had never heard of this one.

"It is a small immortal domain with thin spiritual energy and few resources. The Heavenly Court has abandoned it and hasn't set up any cross-domain teleportation arrays there, so few people know of it. I only arrived there by chance when I was being chased by enemies and, in my panic, was swallowed by a spatial rift," the gray-robed elder explained.

"Oh, you are quite frank," Han Li said, glancing at the gray-robed elder.

"When Senior asks, I dare not speak any falsehoods," the gray-robed elder said with downcast eyes.

"I saw the name 'Yanluo Mansion' in the inscriptions on the cauldron. Do you know this place?" Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked solemnly.

His attention to the gray-robed elder and the others, even going so far as to expend his vital energy to forcibly seize control of the Yanluo Cauldron using the 'True Word Spirit Transfer Technique,' was precisely because of the four characters 'Yanluo Mansion' on the cauldron.

Ever since he had returned from his last time travel, he had searched everywhere for information about Yanluo Mansion, but no matter how he inquired, he could find no records of the place.

Now that he had finally stumbled upon a clue, how could he give up?

"Yanluo Mansion? I have never heard of that name either. Perhaps it is a place in the Tian Shang Immortal Domain. It is said that domain is close to the Netherworld Yanluo region, and many places there have names containing 'Yanluo,'" the gray-robed elder said.

Han Li frowned at this and glanced at Ti Hun.

Ti Hun nodded slightly.

"Your answers are honest enough, so I will keep my promise and spare your life for now. You will stay here for a while, and later you will take me to the Tian Shang Immortal Domain. Then I will release you," Han Li said.

"Thank you, Senior!" The gray-robed elder was delighted and quickly agreed.

Han Li waved his hand, and the gray-robed elder's vision went dark as he fell unconscious to the ground.

Han Li paid him no further attention and looked around the dark red space, finally fixing his gaze on the six stone steles surrounding the square.

"These steles are quite extraordinary, and the laws they contain are also very strange, able to revive the dead. I wonder what kind of laws they are?" Ti Hun's beautiful eyes sparkled with intense interest in the steles.

"Although it is said there are three thousand great paths, in truth, who knows how many laws exist between heaven and earth? How can you and I ever exhaust them? Earlier you said that among Sun Zhongshan and the others, one was very interesting. Were you referring to Sun Zhongshan?" Han Li sighed first, then changed the subject.

"No, I meant this woman," Ti Hun said, pointing at the red-dressed young woman standing to the side.

Han Li followed her finger and was slightly startled.

"Her soul is completely different from that of normal people, containing a strange aura of death. Now I know it is because of these six steles," Ti Hun continued.

"This treasure is yin-cold in nature and not suitable for me. I'll leave it in your hands. Since you are interested in this place, study it well, and also keep an eye on this Sun Zhongshan," Han Li said, uninterested in Ti Hun's words. He waved his hand and sent a ball of dark red light into Ti Hun's body.

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this treasure!" Ti Hun was overjoyed and quickly bowed in thanks.

Han Li did not stay long. He flickered and left the place, returning directly to his own quarters without meeting Yu Menghan again.

Ti Hun also soon returned to her quarters. She did not enter the Flower Branch Space but sat cross-legged near Han Li, studying the Yanluo Cauldron in her hand.

The Golden Vajra Wind outside the window continued, but the Sun-Moon Divine Boat had weathered the most difficult period and was gradually picking up speed.

About half a month later, the Sun-Moon Divine Boat finally passed through the Golden Vajra Wind disaster, regained its former speed, and continued toward Nine Yuan City.

Ten years passed quickly, and the Sun-Moon Divine Boat finally arrived at Nine Yuan City.

Han Li stood by the window, looking at the giant city ahead. Even though he had seen many majestic cities and regions, he was still deeply shocked.

The first impression of Nine Yuan City was its height. The city walls soared tens of thousands of zhang, rivaling some nearby towering peaks. The walls stood like a natural moat blocking the way, and the entire city resembled an enormous beast crouching on the earth.

The second impression was its vastness. Nine Yuan City was boundless, stretching beyond the horizon. The towering city walls extended continuously, enclosing several nearby mountain ranges within them.

Within the city, countless streets were filled with streams of people, and streaks of light flew densely like clouds, presenting a scene of bustling prosperity everywhere.

Han Li took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze, and sat down cross-legged.

The Sun-Moon Divine Boat descended from midair and landed within the city.

Half an hour later, Han Li walked out of a tall tower building in the city, merged into the stream of people on the street, and soon disappeared from sight.

Among the crowd emerging from the tall tower, a white-robed nun hurried out—it was Yu Menghan.

She looked around as if searching for someone, but found no one. A look of disappointment appeared on her face. She stood still for a moment, then walked away into the distance.

Han Li mingled with the crowd on the street and walked quickly forward.

Although it was his first time in Nine Yuan City, he walked as if flying, without the slightest hesitation.

Jiao San had already informed him of some details about Nine Yuan City, as well as the location of the crucial safe haven.

On both sides of the street stood tall shops, selling all kinds of goods—immortal artifacts, pills, materials, and so on—everything one could imagine, even surpassing Goldflow City in some respects.

Moreover, the city was quite lively, as if preparing for some festival celebration, with many shops decorating and sprucing up.

Han Li's eyes flickered, but he did not stop to investigate; he continued walking briskly.

This was already the territory of the major power Nine Yuan Temple. Although he had not sensed any surveillance, who knew how many eyes were monitoring the entire city?

According to the information obtained from Jiao San, the safe haven was the safest place. Apart from there, he had to be extremely vigilant anywhere else.

Half a day later, Han Li arrived at a small alley on the edge of Nine Yuan City. In the alley was a small inn, but its gate was tightly shut.

He carefully examined the inn's main entrance, especially the stone lion at the gate, looking at it several times. A hint of a smile appeared in his eyes, and he stepped forward, knocking on the door in a rhythmic pattern.

"Who is it?" A lazy voice came from inside, but the door did not open.

"Boss, do you have any vacant rooms? I'd like to stay here," Han Li said, continuing to knock rhythmically as he spoke.

There was silence inside for a while until Han Li stopped knocking, then the door slowly opened.

"You want to stay?" A young man of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a short shirt, poked his head out, looked Han Li up and down, and asked.

"Yes, I've come to Nine Yuan City to do some small business and need to stay here for half a year," Han Li said, reciting the code phrase.

"Oh, please come in." The young man's eyes brightened slightly, he made way for Han Li to enter, then immediately closed the gate.

Han Li's eyes flickered. As soon as he stepped into the small courtyard, it felt like entering a special space. Clearly, special restrictions were arranged around the inn, and the invisible pressure around him immediately lessened considerably.

He relaxed inwardly and followed the young man to a room inside the inn. A portly middle-aged man was there, clicking an abacus and flipping through account books. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

"Manager, this guest wants to stay," the young man said.

"May I ask your name, sir, and how long you wish to stay?" The portly manager glanced at Han Li, waved for the young man to leave, closed the door, and asked with a cool expression.

"My name is Han Li, and I plan to stay here for half a year." Han Li gave his name, took out the old crimson mask, briefly showed it in his hand, then immediately put it away.

These were all part of the code exchange.

"So it's Senior Han. Welcome. Senior Jiao San has instructed that you stay here temporarily," the portly manager said, his face breaking into a smile, somewhat ingratiatingly.

"Is Fellow Daoist Jiao San here?" Han Li asked.

"Senior Jiao San is not here at the moment, but she sent word for you to stay here comfortably. She will come to meet you soon and discuss the specific mission details," the portly manager said.

"Then I'll wait a while longer." Han Li frowned slightly, then relaxed his brow and said.

"Please follow me, Senior." The portly manager nodded repeatedly and personally led Han Li to the inner courtyard.

After turning a few corners, they arrived at a small courtyard with green bricks and tiles, which was very clean and tidy.

Han Li was quite satisfied with it and nodded.

"Senior Han, you must be tired from the long journey. Please rest early. If you need anything, just ring the small bell in the courtyard. I'll take my leave now." The portly manager said respectfully and was about to leave.

"Don't rush off. I have something to ask you," Han Li called him back.

"Senior, please speak freely. I will tell you everything I know," the portly manager was taken aback, then immediately nodded.

"When I entered the city just now, I saw lanterns and decorations everywhere. What's happening?" Han Li asked.

"Does Senior not know? The Celestial Envoy of the Heavenly Court is about to visit Nine Yuan Temple to issue the thirty-six quotas for the Bodhi Feast. The whole city is preparing," the portly manager said with some surprise.

"Oh, is that so? I've been busy with cultivation recently and haven't heard about it. I know about the Bodhi Feast, but what's this about thirty-six quotas?" Han Li asked.

"The Bodhi Feast is the foremost event of the Heavenly Court. Immortal cultivators from all immortal domains in the True Immortal Realm wish to attend, but one cannot simply go; one must hold a quota issued by the Heavenly Court. Before each Bodhi Feast, the Heavenly Court issues quotas to the various immortal domains, and then the internal forces of each domain compete to determine the ownership of the quotas. It's the same here in the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain. This time, the Heavenly Court has issued thirty-six quotas to the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain. All the major and minor forces across the domain will gather in Nine Yuan City for a competition to decide the allocation of the quotas," the portly manager said.

"I see. How long until the Celestial Envoy arrives in Nine Yuan City?" Han Li asked, now understanding.

"There's no exact news, but it should be soon," the portly manager said.

Han Li nodded, asked a few more questions about the so-called quota competition, and then dismissed the manager.

He went into the room in the courtyard, habitually set up several layers of restrictions around him, then sat down, deep in thought.

Jiao San had insisted he arrive in Nine Yuan City within thirty years, which almost coincided with the Celestial Envoy's arrival. The current mission of the Reincarnation Palace was likely related to the quota competition for the Bodhi Feast.

Han Li shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. He gazed into the depths of Nine Yuan City.

"Gold Boy, wait for me a little longer. I will definitely rescue you," he thought to himself, then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.