Chapter 186: Plan
Han Li's primary objective for coming to the Blaze Dragon Dao was to recover his lost treasures, and he also wanted to read the sect's scriptures pertaining to the laws of time to see if he could learn anything from them.
Even though he was able to manifest crystals that also contained the power of time laws using his Heaven Controlling Vial, the crystals served no other purpose than to speed up his Earthly Deity Avatar's derivation of heavy water, and he was unable to glean anything from them.
As one of the three paramount laws, the laws of time were extremely profound, and given his aptitude, it was downright delusional to think that he could master the laws of time unless he had some immense luck on his side.
In contrast, these sects had already studied the laws of time for millions, even tens of millions of years, and there was no lack of prodigiously talented individuals to come out of these sects during this time, so they would've surely developed some valuable insights.
Of course, if it proved impossible for him to access the scriptures that he desired, then he wouldn't force the issue. Time was of the essence for him, and he couldn't afford to waste it. Given how vast the Northern Glacial Immortal Region was, he would always be able to find something else.
This was his initial thought process, but during the journey to Bell Toll Mountain Range, he had learned some things about the Blaze Dragon Dao from Bai Suyuan that had convinced him to change his mind.
The Blaze Dragon Dao had a long history and a vast foundation, home to countless high-grade immortal scriptures of all descriptions. Most importantly, it harbored no aversion to outsiders.
It was very difficult for itinerant cultivators like Han Li to join the Blaze Dragon Dao, but if he could successfully join the sect, then he would be granted a high degree of freedom and autonomy, and that was a very tempting prospect to him.
Some time had already passed since his return to the Immortal Realm, and aside from the initial few years that he had spent in the Black Wind Sea, he had been traveling the rest of the time, so he hadn't been able to take any time to cultivate.
The Black Wind Sea was a relatively safe place, but it was extremely short on resources, with not even a single high-grade immortal scripture to be found.
There were all types of cultivation resources available in the Blaze Dragon Dao, and his freedom wasn't going to be overly restricted here, so this was the ideal place for him to stay for the time being.
Thanks to his powers as a Profound Immortal and certain cultivation arts that he mastered in lower realms, such as his Provenance True Devil Arts, he had been able to deal with some early and mid-True Immortal Stage itinerant cultivators just fine.
However, contending against True Immortals who had attained the power of laws was still quite a struggle for him. After all, he couldn't expect to get lucky every single time as he had against Fang Pan.
As their name suggested, True Immortals were immortal, but they weren't indestructible, and they could perish all the same, just not by natural causes.
Hence, he required more power if he wanted to stake a foothold for himself in the Immortal Realm. The problem was that he didn't even have a suitable immortal cultivation art, so he was still stuck at the early-True Immortal Stage.
Right as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside, and he immediately opened his eyes to find the same thin young man from before accompanying a middle-aged man who appeared to have been in his forties into the room.
The man wore a long white robe, and there was an authoritative look on his square face. His features were quite unremarkable, but there was a sharp and piercing gleam in his eyes. What was particularly noteworthy about him was his vast aura, which indicated that he was also a True Immortal cultivator.
Han Li rose to his feet, and Bai Suyuan hurriedly got up from her chair as well.
The square-faced man was holding Bai Suyuan's penannular jade pendant, and he took a glance at the two people in the room, resting his gaze on Han Li for a moment as he declared, "I am Qi Liang. May I ask how you've managed to come across this token of Elder Bai Fengyi's?"
"Bai Fengyi is the patriarch of my clan, Senior Qi. My name is Bai Suyuan, and I am a descendant of Patriarch Bai," Bai Suyuan explained as she extended a curtsey toward Qi Liang.
"I see, then who is this Fellow Daoist Li?" Qi Liang asked as he turned his gaze to Han Li.
"I am just an itinerant cultivator who accompanied Fellow Daoist Bai to the Blaze Dragon Dao. It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Fellow Daoist Qi," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"The honor is all mine, Fellow Daoist Li. Please take a seat," Qi Liang said as he returned Han Li's salute.
The thin young man brought the three of them fresh cups of spirit tea, then extended a respectful bow before departing from the room.
"Where is Brother Bai right now, Suyuan? Is he well? If I recall correctly, it's already been several thousand years since he left the sect, and there's been no news of him at all since then," Qi Liang said.
"Unfortunately, we haven't heard any news from our patriarch, either, ever since his departure several thousand years ago, so I have no idea where he is or what condition he's currently in," Bai Suyuan replied as a dejected look appeared on his face.
Qi Liang seemed to have been rather taken aback to hear this. "You're saying Brother Bai never returned to his clan?"
Bai Suyuan could tell that Qi Liang seemed to know something that she didn't, and she hurriedly asked, "Senior Qi, do you know exactly for what purpose our patriarch last left the sect?"
"If I recall correctly, Brother Bai left the sect to carry out some type of mission. There's no need to be overly concerned, Suyuan. Brother Bai's Origin Soul Lamp in our sect has remained lit this entire time, so perhaps he's simply been delayed by some matters. For the likes of Brother Bai and myself, several thousand years is not a very long time. Perhaps he'll be back soon," Qi Liang consoled.
Bai Suyuan was ecstatic to hear this, and an excited look appeared in her eyes. "Is that true? That's great!"
Meanwhile, Han Li sat off to the side in silence, taking no part in the conversation.
"Suyuan, may I ask why you've come to the Blaze Dragon Dao with Fellow Daoist Li?" Qi Liang asked as he took a glance at Han Li's duo.
Bai Suyuan and Han Li exchanged a glance, and Han Li made a slight gesture, indicating for her to speak first.
"I've held a great deal of admiration toward the Blaze Dragon Dao ever since I was a child, and I've come here on this occasion with the hope of being able to join the sect. I know that we're currently not in the sect's disciple intake window, so I wanted to trouble you to submit a recommendation for me. I've prepared these gifts as a gesture of my sincerity, please accept them, Senior Qi."
Bai Suyuan rose to her feet and extended a deep curtsey as she spoke, then pulled out a storage treasure that she was just about set down onto the table next to Qi Liang.
A displeased look appeared on Qi Liang's face as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of invisible force that lifted Bai Suyuan's body into an upright posture again. "Brother Bai and I are extremely close friends, how could I possibly accept a gift from you over such a minor matter? Put that away at once!"
Bai Suyuan didn't insist on making Qi Liang accept her gifts, and she stowed the storage treasure away discreetly as she said, "In that case, I'll be counting on you, Senior Qi."
"I can submit a recommendation for you, but the prerequisites for disciple recruitment in the Blaze Dragon Dao are very rigorous. If your aptitude is found lacking, then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," Qi Liang said.
"Of course. If my aptitude is lacking, then that means I was simply not meant to go further on the path of cultivation, and I certainly wouldn't dare to blame you for anything, Senior Qi," Bai Suyuan immediately replied.
Qi Liang nodded in response, then took a glance at Han Li, and even though he didn't say anything, it was clear that he wanted to know Han Li's purpose for visiting the Blaze Dragon Dao as well.
"My objective for visiting the Blaze Dragon Dao is the same as Fellow Daoist Bai's. I would also like to join the Blaze Dragon Dao, and I was wondering if you could submit a recommendation for me as well. Regardless of the outcome, I'll be sure to compensate you for your efforts," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.
Qi Liang's brows furrowed ever so slightly upon hearing this.
Even though he had told Bai Suyuan that he couldn't guarantee her entry into the Blaze Dragon Dao, he had briefly examined her spiritual roots just now, so he knew that given her aptitude, there should've been no problems for her to join the sect.
However, Han Li was a True Immortal cultivator, and if he were to join the Blaze Dragon Dao, then it definitely wouldn't be as a disciple.
The Blaze Dragon Dao's requirements for recruiting foreign True Immortal cultivators had always been far more rigorous than that of recruiting disciples, so a thorough examination had to be made into Han Li's identity, background, cultivation base, and aptitude.
If Han Li were found to be lacking in any of those areas, then Qi Liang would be punished by the sect for submitting a recommendation for him without performing due diligence.
Han Li could see that Qi Liang had some qualms about accepting his request, so he flipped a hand over to produce the Blaze Dragon Token as he said, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Qi. I may be an itinerant cultivator, but I haven't committed any heinous crimes in the past, and I have this token with me. All I need is for you to submit a small recommendation for me."
"That's a Blaze Dragon Token!" Qi Liang exclaimed as he rose to his feet, then turned to Bai Suyuan with a surprised expression.
"That's right, that is the very same Blaze Dragon Token that previously belonged to our patriarch. Recently, our Bai Clan encountered an extremely severe crisis, and it was only thanks to Senior Li that we were able to avert the crisis, so I gave him the Blaze Dragon Token as thanks for saving our clan," Bai Suyuan explained.
"I see. If Fellow Daoist Li has indeed saved the entire Bai Clan, then he's certainly deserving of the Blaze Dragon Token. Please come with me," Qi Liang replied with a nod as he turned to depart from the pavilion.
Han Li and Bai Suyuan followed him to a nearby azure hall, hanging above the entrance of which was a plaque that read "Teleportation Pavilion".
"Our Blaze Dragon Dao is so massive that it can be very inconvenient to get to certain places by flight. Hence, these teleportation pavilions have been set up in all of the important places in the sect," Qi Liang explained.
"As expected of the number one sect on the Ancient Cloud Continent," Han Li praised in a heartfelt manner.
Upon stepping into the pavilion, Han Li discovered that the interior space wasn't very large, and there was only a single small teleportation array at the center of the room, surrounded by an array of stone pillars.
Aside from that, there was also a middle-aged man who was roughly at the Deity Transformation Stage standing beside the array, and he hurriedly extended a respectful bow at the sight of Qi Liang.
"Send us to the Ostentatious Palace," Qi Liang instructed after all three of them had made their way into the teleportation array.
"Yes!" the middle-aged man hurriedly replied with a nod, then chanted an incantation before releasing a burst of white light out of the palm of his hand.
As the teleportation array began to operate, a vast expanse of dazzling white light rose up to swallow up Han Li's trio.
Their surroundings blurred for a moment, and in the next instant, they appeared in another spacious azure hall.
His expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was feeling quite stunned.
Having already taken teleportation arrays on many occasions after arriving in the Immortal Realm, he was able to roughly estimate the distance of teleportation according to the time taken, and he had determined that if he were to fly over the same distance that they had just teleported, then it would've taken him roughly a month.
For the first time, he was given a rough indication of just how massive the Blaze Dragon Dao was.
"What an enormous place this is..." Han Li murmured to himself.
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