Mortal's Journey: Immortal World

Somewhere in the center of the Zhong Ming Mountains, the ice and snow covering an area of hundreds of thousands of miles had completely melted away, replaced by lush greenery and vibrant life.

The sky had cleared, resembling an incomparably blue piece of jade. Auspicious clouds floated among the mountains, and rainbow-like rays of light stretched from one cloud to another, emitting dazzling five-colored glows. Countless celestial cranes soared through the clouds, leaving behind crisp cries that echoed like a scene from a celestial paradise.

At the heart of this paradise stood a majestic, pure white mountain peak. The peak's smooth surface, with few rugged protrusions, appeared at first glance like a gigantic white jade pillar.

The white peak was severed from its waist, the cut smooth as if sliced in two by a single stroke, forming an enormous plaza above the break.

Even as only half a peak, the white plaza still touched the clouds at the top of the sky.

In the center of the plaza was a colossal white jade platform, nearly a thousand feet high, its surface engraved with countless runes, radiating a shimmering white light.

A series of steps extended diagonally from the top of the platform all the way to the ground.

Upon the steps were arranged circular prayer mats, densely packed, numbering in the thousands.

The ground surrounding the platform was even more densely filled with prayer mats, stretching all the way to the edge of the plaza, their number unknown.

This was the White Jade Peak Preaching Platform, where the First Dao Lord was about to deliver his sermon.

As the gathering had not yet begun, the plaza on White Jade Peak was devoid of people, appearing exceedingly quiet.

Less than a few hundred miles from White Jade Peak, in a vast depression among the mountains, countless magnificent pavilions and towers loomed indistinctly within the misty clouds, connected in a continuous chain, vaguely forming a city stretching thousands of miles.

Unlike the situation on White Jade Peak, this city was bustling with activity. Although it was daytime, various colored lights still shimmered throughout the city, shooting straight into the sky, creating a lively spectacle.

People constantly flew out from the city on escapelight towards all directions, while at the same time, more beams of escapelight, in groups of two or three, flew in from all sides, descending into the city in the mountain depression.

Just then, a streak of azure light shot over from a distance, flashing twice before arriving close, revealing the figure of Han Li.

He glanced towards the White Jade Peak in the distance, quickly retracted his gaze, and descended towards the city below.

The entire city was enveloped by a massive azure restriction. Many Candle Dragon Dao disciples were scattered and stationed at various locations.

Seeing Han Li flying over, a young Candle Dragon Dao disciple hurried to greet him.

"Disciple greets Elder. According to sect regulations, anyone entering White Jade City must first have their identity checked. Please forgive me." The young disciple looked at the Elder robes on Han Li, gave a deep bow, and said apologetically.

"It's no problem." Han Li produced his Elder identity token.

The young disciple took out a white jade talisman and waved it slightly at Han Li's token.

A layer of white light rippled on the token, and the jade talisman shone brightly. With a flash, it condensed into a small white light curtain, upon which appeared Han Li's image and information.

"So it's Elder Li. Forgive me for my impoliteness. Elder, please wait a moment while I open the restriction." The young disciple glanced at the light curtain, apologized, and then flipped his hand to take out a blue token.

With a wave, a beam of azure light shot out from the token, merging into the light curtain behind him.

The light curtain trembled and a man-high passage appeared.

Han Li put away his Elder token, flew inside, and soon landed in the city.

He walked along a street towards the city center, glancing around from time to time, his eyes revealing a hint of surprise.

From the outside, the light curtain obscured much of the view, but now, having entered, he discovered that the city was filled with all sorts of tall and magnificent buildings, exquisitely crafted, with luxurious and high-end shops lining the streets. Wide streets, like spider webs, spread throughout the city, creating a very prosperous scene, no less impressive than any great city he had seen before.

In recent years, besides cultivation, he had often walked around the Zhong Ming Mountains, but he never expected there to be such a place here.

The shops along the streets sold all kinds of things, materials, pills, and magical treasures, all of good quality, no less than those in the Candle Dragon Dao sect market. Some items were rarely seen even in the sect market.

Many shop owners were clearly not Candle Dragon Dao disciples, but rather members of Candle Dragon Dao affiliated forces, taking advantage of the gathering to sell local specialties.

Han Li walked for a while, stopping in front of a shop.

This was a materials shop. From the doorway, one could see dozens of shelves inside, each filled with many materials, all of them good treasures, and many novel items.

The store was crowded with people, apparently doing good business.

Han Li pondered slightly and stepped inside.

As soon as he entered the shop, a young attendant in a red feather robe immediately greeted him, saying, "Esteemed Senior, are you looking for any materials? Our Yi Dong Tower has a complete variety of spiritual materials, and our prices are absolutely fair..."

"Xiao San, you go attend to the other guests. I'll take care of this distinguished guest." Before the attendant could finish, a feather-robed old man, who looked like a shopkeeper, quickly walked over.

The young attendant was stunned, and sensibly retreated.

"Esteemed Elder, please don't mind the shallowness of the young man's experience. What materials do you need? I am from the Yi family of the Far West. Our Yi family has been in the spiritual materials business for generations and has an excellent reputation. We will certainly not disappoint you." The feather-robed old man said respectfully.

Without saying much, Han Li directly flipped his hand to take out a jade slip and handed it over. The jade slip contained the remaining materials needed for the Dao Pill and the other two main materials for the Myriad Wheel Pill.

"Esteemed Elder, the materials you need are too precious. My small shop really doesn't have them." The old man took the jade slip and placed it against his forehead, saying apologetically.

"Then do you know where I can buy these materials?" Han Li asked indifferently.

"This old man has only seen these materials in classic books, and has never heard of them appearing anywhere." The feather-robed old man shook his head.

Han Li nodded calmly, took back the jade slip, and turned to walk outside. The old man hurriedly personally saw him off.

Leaving the shop, he continued to walk forward.

A moment later, Han Li stopped in front of another sizable materials shop, and then walked in.

Before long, he walked out, again returning empty-handed.

His expression remained unchanged, and he continued towards the city center.

...

More than half a day later, a young man walked out of a very large materials shop in the central area of ​​the city, and it was none other than Han Li.

His expression was as usual, but he was actually quite depressed.

Over the past half day, he had visited most of the materials shops in the city. Forget buying one or two items, he couldn't even find out any information about these materials.

Although there were still some places he hadn't visited, since the largest shops didn't have them, the remaining shops probably didn't offer much hope.

Han Li shook his head and was about to move forward.

"Eh, Brother Li." Just then, a voice came from behind him.

Hearing this, Han Li turned around and saw a white-robed, square-faced man walking over with a smile, and it was Qi Liang.

"Brother Qi, long time no see." Han Li said with a smile.

He had spent most of these years in seclusion, and the rest of the time was spent doing various missions. He rarely interacted with the sect elders. Counting it up, he hadn't seen Qi Liang for nearly three hundred years.

As for the matter of the other party embezzling some of his immortal essence stones when he first joined the sect, he naturally didn't care at all.

Qi Liang laughed heartily, and was about to say something more, when his eyes suddenly widened, and his voice went silent. After a long while, he muttered, "Brother Li, the aura on you... Could it be that you have opened the twelve immortal apertures and advanced to the mid-stage of the True Immortal Realm?"

"I have had some lucky encounters in recent years, and after cultivating in seclusion, I only recently opened the twelfth immortal aperture." Han Li said with a faint smile, downplaying the importance of the matter.

"Brother Li is truly blessed and fortunate, which is really enviable." Qi Liang had already regained his composure at this moment. Seeing that Han Li didn't want to say more, he didn't ask any further questions.

"By the way, when did Brother Qi arrive?" Han Li naturally didn't want to say more on this topic, and immediately changed the subject.

"I've been here for five or six days, just wandering around. I haven't seen Brother Li these past few days, could it be that you just arrived? Why didn't you come earlier? It's been lively here for a while." Qi Liang said with a smile.

"It seems that Brother Qi should have gained a lot, but unfortunately I was delayed by some matters, so I came a bit late." Han Li said with a chuckle.

"Actually, there weren't any good things appearing in the past few days. The real treasures are usually the last to appear as the grand finale. Oh right, I'm just about to go to an exchange meeting, attended by fellow cultivators of the same realm. Would Brother Li be interested in joining me?" Qi Liang waved his hand and invited.

"Exchange meeting? I am naturally interested." Han Li's eyes lit up and he nodded.

"I knew Brother Li wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. The location is just ahead, let's go now, we can chat as we go." Qi Liang said with a smile, and started walking ahead.

"Brother Qi, I didn't expect there to be such a city within the sect that is no less impressive than the sect market. Why haven't I heard anyone mention it before?" Han Li asked.

"Brother Li may have some misunderstandings. You haven't been in the sect for long, so you don't understand. This place is usually not open to the public. It's only when we have such grand events as the current preaching conference that people are allowed to enter. This White Jade Peak and White Jade City are considered a location for our Candle Dragon Dao to hold grand events." Qi Liang said.

"I see." Han Li nodded.

The two walked and talked, and after walking along the street for a while, they turned into a wide street.

The buildings on both sides of this street were even taller and more exquisite. The styles of the flying eaves of the houses were different, and the carved beams and painted pillars were exquisitely beautiful. Many of them were also shrouded in various colored restriction lights.

Han Li noticed that when the cultivators passing by on the street looked at these buildings, they all had expressions of awe.

"It's here." Qi Liang stopped with Han Li in front of a three-story pavilion.

This building was also shrouded in a layer of white restrictions, and it was impossible to see the specific situation inside from the outside, making it appear quite mysterious.

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