Chapter 157: Immortal Outlet
"Are you alright, Senior?"
Han Li had been standing on the spot, holding the two jade slips with a dazed expression for quite some time, and the pockmarked man was growing a little concerned.
Han Li snapped out of his train of thought, then asked, "How much for these two jade slips?"
The pockmarked man stated a price that wasn't very expensive, and Han Li issued the requested sum of spirit stones.
"You just said that your family has been selling map jade slips for generations, so you must know the Primordial Wave Continent very well. I have some questions to ask you. If you can provide me with satisfactory answers, then you can keep these spirit stones." Han Li flipped a hand over as he spoke, producing a small pile of spirit stones that he set down onto the counter.
A hint of greed appeared in the pockmarked man's eyes as he glanced at the high-grade spirit stones on the counter, and he said, "Go right ahead, Senior. I'll be sure to tell you everything I know."
"Is there any safe way to cross the Primordial Wave Continent from Seaside City? For example, are there any teleportation arrays I can use?" Han Li asked.
"You seem to have very little knowledge on our Primordial Wave Continent, Senior. Among all of the continents in this area, our Primordial Wave Continent is situated in quite a secluded region, and most of the land is primordial and uninhabited.
“Even if there are some cities, they're only small cities with very low populations, so most of them won't have any teleportation arrays. This is particularly true for a rural city like Seaside City. Hence, if you want to get to somewhere from here, the only way is to fly there," the pockmarked man replied.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.
"Having said that, this doesn't apply to the entire journey. While there are no teleportation arrays in Seaside City, the central region of the continent is far more prosperous, and there are some cities there that have teleportation arrays, but I've heard the required cost to use those teleportation arrays is extremely steep," the pockmarked man hurriedly added.
"Do you know which cities on the continent have teleportation arrays?" Han Li asked.
"All of the cities with teleportation arrays have already been marked out on the map of the Primordial Wave Continent. Perhaps you didn't notice them, but they're the ones with white vortex symbols on them," the pockmarked man replied with a smile.
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, then injected his spiritual sense into the yellow jade slip again, and sure enough, there were indeed some cities in the central and eastern regions of the Primordial Wave Continent that had some tiny white vortex symbols on them.
"I see." Han Li nodded as he withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip.
There were quite a few of those cities on the map, so as long as he could make it to the central region of the Primordial Wave Continent, the rest of his journey across the continent would be far safer.
The pockmarked man hesitated momentarily, then asked, "Are you really planning to cross the entire Primordial Wave Continent, Senior?"
Han Li nodded in response.
"In that case, I must inform you that there are many perils along the way. If you're traveling alone, there are many natural obstacles that you'll most likely struggle to cross. My advice is for you to go and take a look in the Immortal Outlet in the city," the pockmarked man advised.
Han Li nodded in response with a contemplative expression upon hearing this. "Alright, thank you for providing me with this information, you can have those spirit stones."
He knew that he would come into contact with the Immortal Palace very quickly after leaving the Black Wind Sea, but he didn't expect this day to come quite so soon.
During his time in Black Wind City, he had learned that these so-called Immortal Outlets were places set up by the Immortal Palace, where cultivators could take on the missions released by the Immortal Palace and also release missions of their own.
It was clear that the pockmarked man regarded the journey across the entire continent to be an extremely perilous one for a Body Integration cultivator, so he was advising Han Li to make the journey as part of a team that was carrying out a mission.
It wasn't impossible for him to make the journey on his own given his current cultivation base, but this was a completely foreign continent to him, and he was missing all of his treasures, so it was best to take some safety precautions.
With that in mind, he gave the pockmarked man a parting nod before leaving the shop.
There were no flight restrictions in the city, and after flying along the main street in the city for a while, a golden building appeared in front of Han Li.
The building was situated on a hill, and it looked as if it had been constructed from pure gold. What was most remarkable about it was that there was a massive golden dragon engraved onto the roof of the building, and it was roaring to the heavens, presenting a formidable and majestic sight to behold.
The golden building appeared to be rather similar to the imperial palaces of the mortal world, and all of the mortals passing through the area regarded the building with awe and veneration in their eyes.
The words "Immortal Outlet" were visible above the gate of the golden palace, inscribed in ancient text.
Han Li stood at the entrance of the building for a moment before making his way inside.
Upon entry, he was greeted by the sight of a vast and spacious hall that was at least 10,000 feet in size. There were many cultivators dressed in different attire in the hall, but the majority of them were at or below the Deity Transformation Stage, and there were barely even any Spatial Tempering cultivators around.
To the left of the hall was a large shop that was selling all types of treasures, pills, and spirit materials. The wares being sold here seemed to be of a slightly superior standard to the wares sold in the shops in the city, and as a result, it was attracting quite a few customers.
To the right of the hall was another shop with a series of long stone tables placed outside. It seemed to be a shop that exclusively dealt in acquisitions, and there were many cultivators lined up outside, waiting to sell things to the shop.
The hall and these shops were managed by some golden-robed cultivators with the same golden dragon design embroidered onto their robes, and the most powerful one among them was a Spatial Tempering cultivator, who was seated deep in the hall with his eyes closed.
The hall resembled a small city, and it was far more lively and bustling than the actual city outside.
At the very center of the hall was a huge azure jade wall, upon which was inscribed many lines of small text that contained mission descriptions and corresponding rewards.
There were many cultivators gathered near the stone wall, all of whom were inspecting the missions on the wall, and some of them were speaking to their companions, seemingly gauging whether a mission was worth taking on.
Han Li took a glance at the shops on either side of the hall, then paid no them no further heed as he made his way directly to the stone wall at the center of the hall.
There was a huge number of missions on the wall, and they were constantly changing intermittently.
However, the missions at the very top of the stone wall were displayed in golden text, and they were the only permanent missions on the wall, while the other missions that were constantly changing were inscribed in white text.
After taking a moment to listen to the conversations taking place around, Han Li learned that the missions displayed in golden text were ones that had been released by the Immortal Palace, while the rest had been released by ordinary cultivators.
Upon learning this distinction, he directed his attention back to the missions before him, and sure enough, there were indeed missions recruiting companions for long journeys.
In fact, there were quite a few of these missions, and some of them were purely recruiting travel companions, while others required one to protect someone on the way to other cities.
These missions all had different cultivation base requirements, but the longer journeys generally requested cultivators ranging from the Deity Transformation Stage all the way to above the Spatial Tempering Stage. However, this was no surprise.
Aside from a small number of areas on the Primordial Wave Continent, the rest of the continent was rife with peril, and there were many stretches between cities that were so perilous that they were completely uninhabited for hundreds of thousands of kilometers. For the vast majority of cultivators, attempting to cross those areas was no different from committing suicide.
Upon emerging from the pockmarked man's shop, he had already decided on his next destination. It was a city near the central region of the Primordial Wave Continent by the name of Bright Hill City.
That was the closest city of Seaside City that had a teleportation array.
As his gaze roamed over the wall, Han Li quickly narrowed down his selection to three missions, one of which was purely recruiting travel companions, the second one required one to escort a merchant party to their destination, while the last one required one to escort a certain person.
He approached the stone wall, then said to one of the golden-robed cultivators sitting there, "I want to take on mission number 252."
This was the merchant party escort mission. The commencement dates of the other two missions were still quite far away, while the merchant party was going to set off in three days.
The golden-robed man flipped a hand over to produce a jade tablet, and he didn't even bother to raise his head as he said, "Hand over your immortal token."
"Immortal token?"
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, then immediately realized that this so-called immortal badge was most likely something that was required for one to take on missions from the Immortal Outlet.
The golden-robed man's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed at a room with an azure door in the deepest part of the hall as he said, "Have you not collected an immortal token yet? See that room over there? That's where you can get an immortal token."
Han Li thanked the golden-robed cultivator before making his way toward the room.
He was currently in disguise, and he was praying that no one would be able to see through it.
At the moment, he was wanted by the Ubiquitous Pavilion, and he definitely didn't want to have his true appearance cataloged in an organization like the Immortal Palace, which had a presence throughout the entire Northern Glacial Immortal Region.
Han Li strode over to the azure door, then gently exhaled before knocking on the door.
The door swung open on its own to reveal a small room, within which was seated a golden-robed elderly man with a Body Integration Stage cultivation base.
Han Li was quite relieved to see this. Given the cultivation base and spiritual sense of the elderly man, the chances that he could see through Han Li's disguise were extremely slim.
"You're here for an immortal token, right? Come," the golden-robed elderly man said as he beckoned to Han Li.
Han Li cupped his fist in a salute toward the man, then stepped into the room.
"Tell me your name and where you came from," the elderly man instructed as he pulled out a book and a silver brush.
"My name is Liu Shi, and I come from the Black Wind Sea."
The elderly man nodded in response, then wrote something down onto the book before flipping a hand over to produce a golden badge that he waved in Han Li's direction.
A burst of golden light surged out of the badge before enveloping Han Li's entire body.
Han Li was slightly alarmed by this, but he maintained a calm façade.
The golden light receded in a flash, and Han Li's visage had been emblazoned onto the badge.
The elderly man waved his silver brush over the badge a couple of times, and golden light flashed from the badge before immediately fading.
"Alright, it's done. This immortal token will serve as your proof of identification when you go to Immortal Outlets to accept missions and rewards, so make sure to keep it safe," the elderly man said as he tossed the golden badge at Han Li.
Han Li caught the badge with a surprised expression.
That burst of golden light just now had only served to record his visage without conducting any type of examination on him, and he couldn't help but be surprised by how lax this process was.
Alternatively, could it be that the masks of the Transient Guild were able to bypass the identity verification of the Immortal Palace?
The golden-robed elderly man seemed to have noticed Han Li's expression, and he said in a meaningful voice, "Our Immortal Palace has no intention of knowing too much about our fellow daoists, nor do we care if you've presented your true appearance to us."
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, then gave the elderly man a nod before exiting the room.
Looking at the throngs of people in the hall, he realized that it was most likely precisely because of how lax the administration process was that there were so many people gathered here.
With the immortal token, Han Li was quickly able to claim the mission that he wanted.
One of the golden-robed cultivators seated beside the stone wall cast an incantation at him, and a passage of text immediately appeared on his immortal token, instructing him to travel to an inn in the city to meet the person who had released the mission.
Han Li didn't linger in the Immortal Outlet any longer as he exited the palace, and after taking a moment to determine what direction he was supposed to go in, he flew away as a streak of azure light.
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