"Who?" The black-faced monastic was startled at once, opening his mouth without hesitation. First, he expelled a beam of white light to shield his entire body, then pressed his palms together in a series of gestures. The two puppet warriors, previously standing on either side, now... "Wait a moment, Cao brother. This is Master Han. Please don't be impetuous." Upon hearing the stranger's words, the middle-aged man with a pale face grew even paler. But when he saw the black-faced warrior's actions, he immediately grew anxious and loudly interjected. "Master Han?" The black-faced warrior, upon hearing this, seemed momentarily confused. Yet, given that even a colleague of comparable cultivation level had acted so cautiously, it was clear that the visitor was no ordinary Yuan-En Ci cultivator. Otherwise, with both of them confined within this Ji-Zi space barrier—capable of holding their own against a Yuan-En Ci cultivator of the initial stage—the visitor must be a seasoned Yuan-En Ci cultivator of the mid-stage. This was beyond the reach of either him or the array of mechanical puppets. Thus thought the Cao cultivator. With a mere mental gesture, the puppets that had already risen into the air settled back down at a distance, once again motionless. "Well, you've shown good timing," the man seemed to sigh, his voice now reaching them. "Now, I shall find it difficult to treat you as a mere subordinate." As soon as he thought about it—how he had almost commanded the puppet to attack the person before him—Chao surname cultivator felt a cold sweat break out on his back, hurriedly bowing deeply and kneeling low to the sky: "I didn't know you had arrived, my senior. I apologize for any offense I may have caused—please forgive me!" The young man in the sky listened silently, without responding, yet raised his gaze toward the distant floating palace, his eyes revealing a subtle expression of surprise. Thus, though the black-faced cultivator was now drenched in sweat, he dared not rise easily, fearing he might offend the senior master and invite a fatal consequence. After all, certain senior Yuan-Ying cultivators were known for their eccentric temperaments—such an incident was entirely possible. He certainly didn’t want to die without understanding what had happened. Fortunately, at that moment, the white-faced middle-aged man beside him finally stepped in to relieve him. "Master Han, you said you would give me several months to report this matter to the Master, didn’t you? How come you’ve followed me all the way here?" After a faint smile of resignation, the middle-aged man bowed respectfully to the man in the air. "Nothing much. I'm short on time and can't afford to wait idly. Perhaps it would be better if I spoke directly with your master. This place seems to be the famed Tianji Pavilion. I've heard it's situated within a gourd-space, and even more rare—a self-contained, floating space that shifts its entrance location every few years, so ordinary people rarely get the chance to see it. Now that I see it, I'm not disappointed at all. Rise now, please. As someone guarding this site, I won't mind what happened earlier. But Master Han wishes to meet your master. Guide him, please." The last sentence, however, was delivered calmly and with clear authority to the dark-faced cultivator. The middle-aged man with a pale face twitched at his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then finally nodded slightly to the dark-faced cultivator. The Cao-named cultivator immediately ceased his hesitation, quickly responding, "With your command, our junior will surely comply. However, the Master is currently receiving a distinguished guest. Would it be possible for me to inform him briefly and then escort you there?" "Indeed a guest of importance?" The young man was momentarily surprised, his eyes flashing with mild astonishment, yet he nodded calmly. The dark-faced cultivator was greatly relieved. He promptly raised his hand, withdrew a communication scroll from his storage bag, whispered several hurried words to the scroll, then released it into the air, where it glowed as a streak of fire and sped toward the celestial palace. He then smiled politely at the young man in the air and stepped forward, entering the jade gate and beginning to walk up the successive tiers of jade steps, taking the lead. The pale-faced man hurried a few steps behind, following closely. Both of them walked on foot, never directly summoning their flight lights to glide along the jade steps. "Sealing the space! The air is being held firm!" The young man frowned at this sight, yet a cold smile soon formed on his lips. A surge of jade-like light rippled around him, and he drifted forward through the air, as if completely unaffected. The two figures below exchanged weary smiles, knowing well that while the seals here were indeed formidable—preventing any cultivator below the Yuan Ying stage from rising more than three feet—their presence was no obstacle to a Yuan Ying late-stage cultivator. They thus continued on, pretending not to notice. The young man in the air, evidently mindful not to offend the current host, did not immediately vanish toward the hall. Instead, he followed the two steadily and calmly, drifting at a relaxed pace. This young man was none other than Han Li, who had journeyed from the Great Jin realm. Though his cultivation had greatly advanced, it had taken him nearly six months to traverse the Muling Grasslands and reach Great Jin. Indeed, during his passage through the grasslands, he had encountered no difficulties at all—passing through smoothly and without a hitch. This did surprise Han Li. He had originally intended to give the abrupt clan's immortal master a good scolding, after all—back then, he had nearly been chased to death by those abrupt clan cultivators. Yet, as he flew along, he found not a single immortal cultivator at the Dan-jin level or above among the abrupt clan's ranks—only a few lower-level masters. This did indeed surprise him. Later, upon inquiry, he learned that over a hundred years ago, the Heavenly澜 Princess and the Grand Immortal Master had jointly issued an order, summoning all senior immortal cultivators to gather at the various Heavenly澜 Temples for intensive meditation and cultivation, with strict instructions that they could not leave without the temple's explicit permission. It seemed they hoped to elevate the entire abrupt clan's cultivation strength by one full tier through this initiative. Once Han Li understood this, he felt a touch of regret, yet since he hadn't encountered any of them, he decided there was no need to specifically journey to the Heavenly澜 Temples to confront them. After all, the Tuwu clan's strength was far from negligible. Reaching the Tianlan Sacred Temple wasn't merely about a personal grudge between any one of its cultivators and himself—it involved much broader implications. This differed significantly from his private feud with the Star Palace elder he had eliminated in Tianxing City. He still held a certain level of respect and caution toward the Tuwu clan's overall power. Thus, after careful consideration, Han Li abandoned his initial intention to cause trouble with the Tuwu clan and proceeded uneventfully through the vast grasslands, entering the territory of Dajin. Given that the matter concerning the Ji Zi spatial technique was the simplest, most straightforward, and required the least time among the three, he naturally prioritized it. He located a well-known market town within one of Dajin's prefectural districts and went directly to a branch office of the Tianji Pavilion. There, he approached the middle-aged white-bearded man in charge of the branch and requested the method for crafting the Ji Zi spatial vessel. Should an ordinary Yuan-En stage cultivator have made such a request, the man would have immediately and without hesitation rejected it. Yet facing Han Li, who openly displayed his senior cultivator's prowess, the storekeeper, now at the late Jin Dan stage, could not dare act as he had initially intended. He could only smile politely and repeatedly explain. Regarding this芥子 space technique, he simply had no authority to make decisions or even knew the crafting methods—thus, he had to personally report to the headmaster. Moreover, since the matter was of great significance, merely relying on a transmission scroll might not suffice; he would have to return to the main hall and personally visit there, thus requiring Han Li to wait for two or three months. Upon hearing this, Han Li found the reasoning sound and thus agreed. However, he certainly wouldn't remain idle in place for such an extended period. Instead, he immediately employed a secret technique to follow the middle-aged man and arrived at this location. As he knew, although the Tianji Pavilion was merely a commercial establishment, it actually maintained subtle ties with several of the Zheng and Mo Ten Sects, and had a senior cultivator at the late Yuan Yin stage serving as its guest senior abbot. As for which sect this guest senior master belongs to, however, few people know—remarkably enigmatic. To Han Li, all such details were entirely irrelevant. As long as this guest senior master wasn't the abbot of Yin Luo Sect, even if he were a senior master from Tian Mo Sect or Tai Men Sect, he held no connection to Han Li. Though Han Li had come with the intention of asserting his authority, he certainly wouldn't simply demand the secret technique without making any concessions. He had already prepared a substantial amount of spiritual stones and some rare materials. Thus, the other party would hardly be willing to incur the displeasure of a senior master over a mere secondary secret technique. It seemed Han Li's expectations were well-founded. As their group approached halfway along the floating jade steps, a continuous series of welcoming bells suddenly rang out from the great hall in the air. At that moment, a flash of light emanated from the hall's entrance, and several streams of floating light burst forth, spiraling before revealing the forms of a number of cultivators who stood on either side of the grand hall's entrance—remarkably, unaffected by the anti-aerial barrier. Among them, two figures stepped forward side by side, gazing down upon Han Li and the others with an air of authority. "Are you the master of the Tianji Pavilion?" Han Li carefully studied the elder for a moment, and asked in a similarly calm tone.