This strange incident immediately led every senior official in the Star Palace to conclude that it was absolutely connected to Han Li. Recently, everyone had clearly observed that the great cultivator seemed to harbor a deep grudge against the Ximen elder. Nevertheless, though they harbored suspicions, none of the senior officials dared to confront Han Li directly—each simply remained silent, as if deaf to the matter. This behavior stemmed primarily from the fact that Han Li was a senior cultivator, and no one wished to risk unforeseen complications. Most importantly, they had no solid evidence pointing to Han Li as the culprit. On the contrary, Han Li had ample grounds to firmly deny any involvement. Indeed, during the period immediately before and after the Ximen elder's demise, Han Li had been consistently together with Zhao, engaging in what they called mutual insights and exchanges—never having separated from him at any point. Of course, this obvious tactic was easily discernible by anyone with even a modicum of discernment, and clearly intentional on Han Li's part—thus effectively silencing the senior officials. Even though they were aware of the truth, the means by which Han Li could effortlessly cause a Yuan婴 cultivator to vanish from the world without needing to personally intervene sent chills through the hearts of all the Star Palace elders. For ordinary cultivators, they would naturally pay no attention to evidence—simply seize them and extract their souls to uncover everything. But Han Li was a late-stage great cultivator; who would dare take such a risk of causing trouble? Even those elders who had once been close friends with this Xi Men elder now found themselves speechless. Moreover, shortly after, the entire Star Palace would rely heavily on this elder's support, making it absolutely impossible to offend him at this moment. Thus, from the highest-ranking Ling Yuling down to the ordinary elders, everyone had to feign ignorance. After exchanging insights with the Zhao elder for half a day, Han Li returned to his meditation chamber and resumed his seclusion. Meanwhile, the Zhao elder immediately learned of the Xi Men elder's demise and stood motionless in place for several hours, only finally managing a wry smile, his face filled with helpless resignation. Next, he simply stopped staying near Han Li's meditation chamber, instead summoning two Jiandan disciples and then drifting off on his own. Since he could accompany him while still wielding his powers to eliminate a Yuan-Enlightened cultivator elsewhere, any further surveillance he maintained would merely be wasted effort. It was wise of him to step back and maintain distance—lest the other side should grow suspicious of him. These cultivators, at the late stage of their Ji Dan cultivation, clearly stood as the core strength of the Star Palaces, just slightly below the elders. As Han Li slowly entered the hall, every cultivator's gaze instantly shifted to him—most with reverence, a few with astonishment—yet there was one thing in common: wherever Han Li looked, the cultivators in that direction immediately lowered their heads and bowed, showing no hesitation or negligence. Now, after Han Li displayed his strange technique of using a duplicate to slay a Yuan婴 within the Star Palace, the Star Palace officials have gained significantly more confidence in launching an attack against him—something neither Ling Yuling nor Han Li had anticipated. Yet, Ling Yuling naturally welcomed this boost in morale among the others, while Han Li himself showed no concern. "Master Han, please take a seat. I shall immediately begin arranging the campaign against the Inverse Star Alliance," Ling Yuling said with graciousness upon seeing Han Li arrive. Han Li nodded and sat down on one of the stone chairs beneath her. Then, with a smooth movement of his sleeve, he produced a pale white jade scroll from his sleeve and began quietly reading it, appearing entirely indifferent to the others. Ling Yuling smiled slightly, but as she glanced at the other cultivators in the hall, her expression immediately grew serious, and she began issuing one after another instructions. Han Li devoted most of his mental focus to the jade scroll, yet he did not entirely ignore what was happening outside. A portion of his awareness remained attentive to this woman’s various arrangements. The Star Palace’s strategy was surprisingly straightforward: although their Wind-Heaven Fire-Extinction Array featured one hundred and eight wind-fire pillars, they intended to attack only thirty-six of them—those located around the periphery of Tianxing City. Based on the array’s established principles, the thirty-six pillars were judged to be the most crucial. As long as half of them were destroyed, the array would collapse on its own. Of course, this required that the Star Palace first seize the array’s central stronghold, which was personally guarded by Wan Tianming. Thus, one after another, senior Yuan-Stage elders and Jiandan cultivators rose to accept their assignments, each with a solemn expression. An invisible aura of martial intensity gradually permeated the hall. In no time, dedicated personnel had been assigned to attack each of the wind-and-fire pillars, though the number of senior cultivators in charge varied—some locations had teams of two or three Yuan-Infant cultivators leading, while others had only a handful of Jie-Dan cultivators, with no Yuan-Infant cultivators at all. This surprised Han Li somewhat, but upon reflection, he soon understood the reason. Most likely, the Inverse Star Alliance already had high-ranking undercover agents from the Star Palaces who had thoroughly investigated the defensive forces stationed at the wind-and-fire pillars, thus explaining this subtle reorganization. Though Han Li did not lift his head, a gentle smile appeared on his lips. "There's no problem, though I'll only be responsible for Wan Tianming. As long as no other cultivator comes to bother me, I won't intervene," Han Li lifted his head, meeting the woman's gaze with a calm, composed reply. The junior disciples at the Foundation stage had already stationed themselves at the city gates surrounding Tianxing City, ready to launch immediately once the leading Dao and Yuan婴 cultivators arrived. Han Li had never before felt so at a loss since arriving in Tianxing City. Though these creatures were only at the fifth or sixth level, they truly were four green dragon-beasts—no exaggeration. And, as he remembered, the dragon race was exceptionally protective of its own. Even if the Xing Palace had once been powerful, would it dare to command true dragons as drivers, fearing to anger the noble race and invite a major adversary? The refined essences within these dragon-serpents are indeed not the pure spirits of dragons, but rather the bodies of lower-rank green dragon serpents that my father obtained during his early voyages across the outer seas—after wagering against the Golden Dragon King. Using secret techniques, he refined these bodies and infused them with the deep-sea spirit essence of the noble sea serpent, thus creating this chariot-riding spirit beast. "I see," said Ling Yuling, her face expressing admiration as she explained. "So, then, when you placed this chariot here, did you intend to use it in this current assault?" Han Li frowned slightly, still somewhat puzzled. "Ah, Han brother, you may not know this. This chariot was personally crafted by my father. Besides the dragon-beast that pulls it, which possesses certain magical abilities, the chariot itself holds its own hidden powers and is quite effective in breaking through enemy defenses. I wouldn't have used it at all in this battle unless it were truly of great significance," said Ling Yuling, her delicate brows slightly arched, a touch of mystery glowing on her face.