Chapter 535: Lost Trace

Han Li halted at the entrance of Tongtian Street, gazing up at the white palace suspended in midair, his eyes flickering a few times.

According to that ancient text, this palace was established by the Lord of Yuanhuang City, serving as a foundation to monitor every move on Tongtian Street.

Due to its border location and vast territory, other parts of Yuanhuang City were somewhat chaotic, but only Tongtian Street remained the most peaceful, as it strictly forbade anyone from fighting, with violators facing severe punishment or even immediate execution.

Over time, this midair palace became a symbol of authority, carrying considerable deterrent power in the minds of cultivators who frequented Yuanhuang City.

Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze, turned his eyes, and began to survey the surrounding streets.

Although there were many streets around the square, they showed no sign of disorder, subtly following some pattern. Clearly, the layout of these streets was designed by a master, and the items sold in the shops on each street were uniform—either materials, spiritual treasures, or elixirs—arranged in an orderly manner.

As Han Li pondered, he strolled into a fairly wide street. The shops here sold various spiritual herb materials, with a large flow of people and considerable noise.

After looking around from the street entrance, he walked toward a large material shop. Just as he was about to step inside, he suddenly turned to look behind him, frowning.

The Gold Devouring Beetle, which had been following him all along, was now nowhere to be seen.

Han Li moved his divine sense, attempting to sense the Gold Devouring Beetle's location through their mental connection.

As a result, he couldn't help but feel speechless. As expected, the Gold Devouring Beetle had run off to the nearby snack stalls again.

Han Li shook his head but did not summon the Gold Devouring Beetle over.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetle's strength was not yet top-tier in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, there was probably nothing in Yuanhuang City that could harm her, so there was no need to worry too much.

He entered the shop, which was quite large, spanning several hundred zhang, with many shelves and counters.

The materials on the counters were diverse, including ores, spiritual herbs, demon beast materials, and everything else imaginable. Many cultivators were moving about inside the shop.

"Esteemed guest, what materials do you need? We have everything here, and our prices are the most reasonable in Yuanhuang City," a green-clad shop assistant immediately greeted Han Li as he entered, introducing briskly.

"I'll just look around myself," Han Li said, waving at the assistant, and began browsing on his own.

The green-clad assistant acknowledged but did not leave, silently following Han Li at a distance.

Han Li's eyes swept over the dazzling array of counters, nodding inwardly.

Located at the border and relatively isolated from the mainstream world of the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, Yuanhuang City nonetheless broadened his horizons with its materials, many of which were rarely seen elsewhere. Especially the demon beast materials—most of which he didn't recognize—likely originating from outside the Northern Cold Immortal Domain.

Fortunately, this shop was meticulous; each material had a detailed explanation next to it, noting its用途.

Soon, Han Li had made a full circuit of the shop, looking somewhat disappointed.

Although the materials in the shop were rare, their grades were not very high, mostly suitable for cultivators below the True Immortal realm.

"Guest, are you looking for high-grade materials? These are just ordinary spiritual materials. The truly precious high-grade ones are on the second floor," the green-clad attendant noticed Han Li's expression, hurried forward a few steps, and pointed to a staircase inside the shop.

"Alright, let's go up and take a look," Han Li nodded.

"Please, guest," the green-clad attendant led the way, and the two soon reached the second floor.

The counters on the second floor were much fewer than below, just seven or eight, but they were noticeably more refined.

Han Li looked at the materials on the counters, a hint of joy appearing in his eyes.

These materials were rich in spiritual power, far superior to those below, mostly at the True Immortal level, with even one or two at the Golden Immortal level appearing occasionally.

"Oh!" As he walked between the counters, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he stopped before one, looking at a vermilion vine-like spiritual herb inside.

"This is called Heavenly Rainbow Vine, a very rare material. It was just acquired a few days ago from a wilderness-hunting cultivator," the green-clad attendant explained.

"Take it out for me to see," Han Li said.

The green-clad attendant took out a token, opened the transparent禁制 on the counter, carefully removed the vine-like spiritual herb, and handed it to Han Li.

Han Li took the herb, examined it closely, and felt a surge of joy.

The Heavenly Rainbow Vine was a scarce main ingredient for another Golden Immortal elixir formula, the 'Heavenly Flower Pill,' from the Southern China Elixir Classic. It seemed his luck was not bad.

"I want this. What's the price?" he asked the green-clad attendant.

Although he had already gathered the materials for the 'Azure Nether Pill,' a Golden Immortal elixir formula, it would be even better to collect more formulas.

"The Heavenly Rainbow Vine is a material usable by cultivators above the True Immortal realm, and this particular specimen is over a hundred thousand years old. It costs three hundred and fifty immortal spirit stones," the green-clad attendant hesitated for a moment, then said.

Three hundred and fifty immortal spirit stones was a considerable sum even for a True Immortal, even a late-stage great cultivator.

"Wrap it up for me," Han Li said casually.

He now had over two million immortal spirit stones on him, which was not a significant amount.

“Yes.” The blue-clad attendant’s face lit up.

Han Li continued browsing other shelves, but unfortunately found no other suitable materials.

After a moment, he left the shop with the Celestial Rainbow Vine.

Han Li did not leave this street; instead, he turned and entered a nearby material shop.

In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed. Han Li had surveyed over a dozen streets selling materials in Tongtian Street and found many useful materials.

Yuanhuang City truly lived up to its reputation as a city near the Wild Frontier. Although its scale could not compare to the bustling cities of the North Cold Immortal Domain, it abounded in various precious materials—no wonder the North Cold Immortal Palace also sought a foothold here.

Unfortunately, he had only found a few materials for the Tianhua Pill; many were still missing, far from complete.

The reason the materials for the Qingming Pill were gathered so quickly was that Xiao Jinhan had already collected most of them beforehand.

Han Li did not mind. The resources within the Wild Frontier were richer than he had expected.

He could take his time searching for the Tianhua Pill materials once he entered the Wild Frontier.

Han Li turned and left the material street, entering a street of miscellaneous shops. He chose the largest shop, walked in, and soon came out with a gray jade slip in hand.

This was a map jade slip of the Wild Frontier. According to the shopkeeper, much of the map was pieced together from regional intelligence bought from desolate-hunting cultivators.

The Wild Frontier was fraught with danger and unpredictable fortune. Such a small shop lacked the means to verify the authenticity of this intelligence, so even the shopkeeper could not be sure whether the map was true or false.

In other words, the map was only for reference.

When Han Li heard this, he found it both amusing and exasperating.

In all his years traveling countless places and buying countless maps, this was the first time he had heard such an irresponsible statement.

However, the Wild Frontier was far too dangerous, and the maps sold in various shops within the city were generally like this.

Han Li glanced at the white jade slip and extended his divine sense into it.

The map within the jade slip was divided into two parts: one part displayed in white, covering only a small area, while the remaining vast area was gray.

The white area was a region near Yuanhuang City, with detailed markings of terrain, the types of demon beasts living there, and what materials were produced.

But the gray areas were very vague, giving a chaotic and hazy impression.

The shopkeeper had already explained to Han Li that the white areas were regions already explored by Yuanhuang City’s lord—essentially official maps, mostly reliable.

The gray areas were unknown territories, with terrain markings added by desolate-hunting cultivators, naturally hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Han Li pondered briefly, and with a flash of white light, a white jade token appeared in his hand—the route map given to him by Jiao San.

Han Li had already examined the route map in the jade token, which started from Yuanhuang City and led all the way to the Black Mountain Immortal Domain.

However, this map only provided a general description of the areas along the route, leaving other places blank.

Han Li compared the contents of the two maps and slowly nodded.

Jiao San’s map was largely consistent with the official map issued by Yuanhuang City.

But beyond the official map’s range, the gray areas and Jiao San’s map began to diverge greatly, making it impossible to tell which was true.

Han Li looked thoughtful, then turned and entered another miscellaneous shop.

In the following time, he visited dozens of such shops in one go, buying dozens of maps of uncertain authenticity.

These maps should contain some genuine information. Buying more might prove useful when he later entered the Wild Frontier.

When Han Li emerged from the last miscellaneous shop, the sky had already darkened.

Various white crystals embedded in Tongtian Street emitted a soft white light, illuminating the entire street brightly, giving it a more bustling and splendid feel than during the day.

He looked up at the sky and frowned slightly. Just now, through his spiritual connection, he sensed the position of the Gold Devouring Beetle, which was still within Yuanhuang City. But for some reason, the soul imprint within it was trembling slightly.

This only happened when the Gold Devouring Beetle was in intense combat and its mind was excited.

As he pondered, Han Li shot forward, darting toward the Gold Devouring Beetle’s location. Soon, he landed before a huge circular palace building.

The main gate of the hall was over ten zhang wide, with a crowded flow of people in front.

Han Li was slightly startled, recognizing the black hall as an arena within Yuanhuang City. It was surrounded by restrictions, making it impossible to sense the specific situation inside.

Puzzled but not dwelling on it, Han Li directly stepped forward and entered the arena.