Chapter 325: 10 Per Second
At the center of the array, Daoist Xie's entire body was radiating yellow, golden, and purple light. The three types of light weren't conflicting with one another in the slightest. Instead, they were fused together in a harmonious balance.
Countless three-colored spirit patterns were surging incessantly over the surface of its body, occasionally coming together to form a series of arrays, only to then split apart a moment later.
A Golden Immortal Stage aura was also emanating out of the puppet, and unlike in the past, this burst of spiritual pressure was completely smooth and uninhibited.
Han Li was ecstatic, and he bolstered the four-colored light barrier in the room even further to contain this burst of Golden Immortal Stage spiritual pressure.
All of a sudden, Daoist Xie opened its eyes, releasing two bursts of dazzling light out of its pupils.
The two bursts of light shot through the four-colored light barrier with ease to create a pair of large holes, then pierced through the walls of the inn as well before erupting into the heavens, where they disappeared without a trace.
Thankfully, the two bursts of light were traveling diagonally upward and didn't harm anyone.
Han Li was greatly startled by this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal to mend the two holes in the four-colored light barrier.
Meanwhile, the streaks of light flew into the sky above White Jade City before exploding violently, and all of the world's origin qi above the city was swept up into a violently frenzy as gusts of fierce yellow, golden, and purple wind surged through the heavens, releasing a burst of enormous spiritual pressure as they did so.
The three gusts of wind were howling through the air with extraordinary force, and all of the cultivators throughout White Jade City were stunned by what they were seeing.
"There's no way this amount of spiritual pressure can be released by a True Immortal!"
"Could it be that one of the dao lords has arrived in White Jade City?"
Many of the people on the streets outside had erupted into chatter, while Han Li was frantically making hand seals to isolate Daoist Xie's aura, preventing it from leaking any further.
At the same time, he had released his spiritual sense to encompass everything within a radius of several thousand kilometers of the inn so that he would be able to immediately detect any disturbance.
Those two streaks of light had flown out of the city in the blink of an eye, and on top of that, the preaching ceremony was scheduled for this very day, so many of the cultivators in the city had already left.
The small portion of cultivators that remained may not have been able to detect that the aura had come from the inn, and everyone was wary of Golden Immortal cultivators, so even if someone did make the connection, they most likely wouldn't have dared to approach the inn to confirm their suspicions.
The three-colored gale in the sky continued to swirl around for a while before quickly dissipating.
It had created quite a spectacular sight to behold, but it hadn't caused any damage, so the people in the city only discussed the fleeting phenomenon for a short while before quickly dispersing, much to Han Li's relief.
At the center of the array, Daoist Xie rose to its feet, and the light radiating from its body faded alongside the enormous spiritual pressure it was releasing.
"Finally, I've successfully fused with this puppet," Daoist Xie declared.
"Didn't you say that you were fine on your own and didn't require my presence? If I hadn't decided to stay for a moment longer, you would've attracted a great deal of trouble for us," Han Li said in a slightly accusatory manner.
He had spent the entirety of the past three days here, rendering him unable to participate in any of the auctions and exchange events in the city.
At times like this, it was often the case that the most precious treasures would emerge near the end, and if he had been free to shop around these past three days, perhaps he would've been able to gather a few dao pill ingredients.
Daoist Xie could hear the displeasure in Han Li's voice, and it explained, "I failed to anticipate how pure the Lightning Soul Crystal was and how much power it contained."
"So be it. In any case, it's fantastic news that you were able to successfully fuse with this puppet, and I should congratulate you for it," Han Li said as a smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you for acquiring this immortal puppet for me and for looking out for me these past few days. If it wasn't for your help, there's no way I would've been able to complete this process smoothly. I'll remember everything you've done for me," Daoist Xie said as it cupped its fist in a grateful salute.
Han Li merely waved a hand in response. "The power that you inadvertently released just now hasn't exposed us, but even so, we can't stay here any longer. On top of that, the preaching ceremony is about to begin, so let's get out of here."
Daoist Xie nodded in response, then flew into Han Li's storage bracelet as a streak of yellow light.
Han Li swept a hand through the to release a burst of yellow light to repair the two small holes on the wall, then emerged from his room.
Right as he was about to go downstairs, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, then cast his gaze toward the other direction down the corridor.
After releasing his spiritual sense just now, he had already detected that Gan Jiuzhen was no longer here.
A slightly peculiar look appeared on his face, and he quickly withdrew his gaze before making his way downstairs.
A thought occurred to him as he asked through voice transmission, "By the way, you told me that you were going to tell me the reason why you asked me to sell those Blush Cloud Fire Crystals after you fused with the puppet. Can you tell me the reason now?"
Instead of answering Han Li's question, Daoist Xie raised one of its own. "Fellow Daoist Han, what do you think is used as the power source for this Golden Immortal puppet?"
Han Li was rather taken aback by this question, while Daoist Xie continued, "All immortal puppets run on Immortal Origin Stones, and this one is no exception. On top of that, this puppet possesses Golden Immortal Stage power, and it's extremely costly to use. The number of Immortal Spirit Stones that you previously had on hand was nowhere near enough."
"How many Immortal Origin Stones are required for you to unleash this puppet's full power?" Han Li asked.
"If I were to go all-out, I would have to burn through 10 Immortal Origin Stones per second," Daoist Xie replied.
Han Li was already mentally prepared, but he was still caught off guard. "What? 10 per second!"
"That's not that much. Immortal puppets require an enormous amount of immortal spiritual power for support, and there are some that use up dozens, even hundreds of times as many Immortal Origin Stones per second," Daoist Xie said.
"Have you seen such puppets before, Brother Xie," Han Li asked.
"No, it's just that I've regained some memories as I was fusing with the Lightning Soul Crystal," Daoist Xie explained.
"Oh? Have you recalled anything about your former owner?" Han Li asked with an intrigued look in his eyes.
He was very interested in this person. Daoist Xie had told him in the past that its previous owner was dead, but it was still yet to be seen whether that was actually true.
"I've only recovered some bits and pieces of memories, most of which are related to immortal puppets. As for those Blush Cloud Fire Crystals that you sold, you manage to obtain over 3,000 Immortal Origin Stones for them, and that's enough to call upon my power several times," Daoist Xie said.
"I see. In any case, it's about time that we left," Han Li replied with a nod, then cast his gaze toward the White Jade Peak.
……
It was a bright and sunny day on the White Jade Peak.
There were pristine white clouds drifting over the clear, blue sky, and a rainbow was also hanging in the heavens like a giant bridge that stood above the clouds.
High up in the sky were hundreds of golden chariots that were drawn by winged dragon horses, and upon those carriages stood teams of tall cultivators wielding silver halberds and clad in suits of golden armor, patrolling the sky in a radius of several hundred kilometers.
The entirety of the White Jade Peak was enshrouded under a golden light barrier that acted as a flight restriction, and it wasn't giving off any particularly powerful energy fluctuations.
As long as one was at or above the True Immortal Stage, they would be able to fly into it without being affected, but those who were at or below the Grand Ascension Stage would've been kept out by the light barrier.
Hence, upon reaching the foot of the White Jade Peak, the majority of the Blaze Dragon Dao's disciples were forced to climb the mountain on foot in order to attend the preaching ceremony.
At this moment, the white plaza on the mountain was extremely lively and bustling, with hundreds of thousands of Blaze Dragon Dao disciples and the core elders of many of the Blaze Dragon Dao's subsidiary sects present. Even after all of the cushions had been occupied, there were still more people constantly arriving, and the plaza was quickly becoming extremely packed.
In fact, some people had even begun resorting to sitting down with their legs crossed somewhere halfway up the mountain to await the commencement of the ceremony.
There were countless people gathered at the foot of the White Jade Peak as well, and it was no less crowded than on the plaza on the mountain summit.
However, there was a more diverse range of people gathered at the foot of the mountain, with many cultivators from some other small and medium-sized sects all over the Ancient Cloud Continent interspersed among the Blaze Dragon Dao disciples.
These people had set up a series of stalls along the paths leading up to the White Jade Peak, and these stalls were packed with treasures, pills, and materials that they were selling to passersby.
There were also Blaze Dragon Dao cultivators that were clad in suits of golden armor standing around the stalls at set intervals, patrolling the area to maintain order.
In contrast with the exchange events that Han Li had previously participated in, these stalls were mostly aimed at cultivators at or below the Deity Transformation Stage, and it was much like the Great South Meeting that he had attended back in the Mortal Realm. [1]
At the center of the preaching platform on the summit of the White Jade Peak was a large purple table that didn't have many engravings on its surface, nor did it appear all that beautiful or intricate, but it did have a more antiquated and natural appearance.
Behind the table was a copper cauldron that was around 10 feet tall, plunged into which were several hundred sticks of incense, all of which were lit and producing plumes of faint azure smoke.
On either side of the cauldron were close to 100 round gray cushions placed down in a symmetrical fashion, and at this moment, streaks of light were constantly approaching the scene before sitting down on the normal cushions on the stone staircase around the platform.
The only ones who were granted spots on the stone staircase were inner and outer sect True Immortal Stage elders of the Blaze Dragon Dao, as well as all of the dao lords' core disciples, and given their lofty status, they were naturally far more restrained, so it was a lot less rowdy on the stone staircase than it was on the plaza.
Most of them were meditating with their eyes closed, silently waiting for the ceremony to commence, and only a small portion of them were greeting acquaintances or chatting quietly with one another.
Right at this moment, a streak of azure light flew in from the southwestern direction, then descended onto the preaching platform to reveal none other than Han Li.
He took a glance to find that all of the cushions near the top of the platform had already been taken, but there were still many vacant spots on the lower parts of the staircase.
Han Li made his way up the staircase, and after ascending for around 100 steps, he spotted a familiar figure waving at him to his left.
It was none other than Qi Liang, and Han Li gave him a smile before approaching him and sitting down onto the empty cushion next to him.
1. For more information on the Great South Meeting, please refer to RMJI Chapter 128: Great South Meeting. ☜
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