"You haven't taken the Miechen Pill yet, which would cleanse your aura of the foreign essence from the lower realm. As a result, every three hundred years, you'll face a dual-color lightning calamity. Even if you're exceptionally skilled, this time we've helped you dissipate the current calamity, but the next one will be advanced by several decades—your second minor calamity will strike you just a century and a half from now. Only by taking one pill of the Miechen Pill annually can you fully integrate your aura with ours, thus preventing the dual-color lightning. In our Tianyuan City, every ascending cultivator receives one such pill each year. The next dual-color lightning calamity will be even more severe than this one." The elder cultivator then asked, "Senior, does that mean I will have to stay in this Tianyuan City for life?" Han Li's eyes flickered several times before he asked. "Of course not. Once you've taken the Miechen Pill for three hundred years, your lower realm essence will be completely cleansed, and you'll be free to leave Tianyuan City at any time," the pale-faced cultivator calmly replied. "The Tianyuan City gathered us flying cultivators together—wouldn't they simply give us the Mochen Pills for nothing? What would we need to do in return?" Han Li, no longer circling around, directly asked the most crucial question. "Your insight is truly admirable," the elder cultivator replied. "Though the Mochen Pills are only beneficial to you flying cultivators, the materials required are exceedingly rare, many of which can only be found in the remote, wild worlds. Naturally, there must be a price to pay for these pills. However, I will provide you with a detailed explanation upon arrival at Tianyuan City. For now, kindly board the flying vessel. Of course, if you wish to decline, we won't insist. But as for the consequences, I'm sure you're well aware of them," said the elder cultivator, gently stroking his beard. Two golden-robed cultivators saw this scene and smiled slightly, utterly unsurprised—after all, who could not recognize the terrifying power of two thunder calamities, and who could have imagined any other path? Moreover, the person before them was still only in the early stage of Huashen cultivation, and to have endured until their arrival under the weight of two thunder calamities was already a miracle. At once, the plate radiated a brilliant golden glow, and the several silver characters emitted a dazzling silver light. Meanwhile, the golden boat shivered and suddenly released a series of milky-white light halos from its base. These halos spun around the lower part of the boat, gradually coalescing into the white light array that Han Li had seen before. After the entire array glowed brightly, the golden boat trembled slightly and then vanished. The array itself then crumbled, fragment by fragment, and dispersed. From afar, the Fire Elder and several Jin Dan cultivators had been closely observing the entire scene. However, since the appearance of the two golden-armored cultivators, they had instantly lost interest in conversation, standing motionless as if holding their breath. Only after the golden boat disappeared did they all exhale in unison, exchanging glances and each noticing a touch of relief on the others' faces. "Fire Elder, it seems the Tianyuan Guard isn't as formidable as the rumors suggest. Perhaps the reports have been somewhat exaggerated," the young man in the yellow robe hesitated before asking. "What do you know?" Among the three realms and seven regions, the only entity not subject to the jurisdiction of the Three Holy Emperors or the Seven Demon Kings is the Tianyuan City itself. The Tianyuan Guards, clad in golden armor, are among the highest-ranking beings of Tianyuan City. Each of them possesses the freedom to travel unimpeded across all regions and has the authority to openly and decisively eliminate any human or demon-being threats to the two races. Their power is so great that even the Three Emperors themselves must hold them in respectful regard. Moreover, during times of inter-ethnic warfare, even the Three Emperors and the Seven Demon Kings are formally required to follow the directives of the Tianyuan City's Council of Elders. "The Fire Elder hesitated a moment before finally revealing some of the hidden information he knew." There's a matter I've only heard mentioned by my master, who specifically instructed me never to offend the Tianyuan Guards—sometime in the past, the Tianyuan Guards once achieved the feat of eliminating over a hundred immortal sects within a single month. Yet the precise reasons behind this remain completely unknown, even to the Three Emperors and others. "The yellow-robed cultivator stared with "That's all. As for the news of Tianyuan City, I know only so much. Generally, the cultivators from this city do not appear within the territories of the human and feline races—they are specifically stationed to deal with external threats. Even when they do appear within the two races' lands, they are always the Tianyuan Guards clad in golden armor." Fire Elder's brows were furrowed into a deep frown. Hearing this exchange, several other Jin Dan cultivators nearby, though familiar with some details about the Tianyuan Guards, were not as well-informed as these two, and thus stared at each other in astonishment. At that moment, the golden boat where Han Li was located had already arrived at a secret transmission array within an unnamed city. A cultivator in golden armor stepped down from the boat, exchanged several glowing spiritual stones on the array, and then promptly returned to the boat, casting a series of gestures to activate the array. Han Li noticed the stones and felt a sudden surge of interest—these stones were all high-grade, each worth tens of thousands of spiritual points. As his thoughts turned, the golden boat was instantly enveloped in white light and transported once more. The place where it appeared was none other than a subterranean cavern, beneath the golden boat lay another identical teleportation array. With the same exchange of spiritual stones and the same teleportation process, the golden boat vanished once again. Under Han Li's calm observation, the boat consecutively teleported over twenty times. When Han Li had first traveled to the Chaotic Star Sea, he had used only one mid-tier spiritual stone and had reached the distant Chaotic Star Sea directly from Tian Nan. Now, the teleportation array on the golden boat consumed high-tier spiritual stones and performed so many consecutive transfers—so many, that Han Li could scarcely imagine the distance covered. After a soft "pffft," the golden boat teleported once more and reappeared within another array. Yet this time, upon a quick glance, Han Li felt a sudden sense of awe and immediately realized that he had finally arrived at the so-called Tianyuan City. This time, the teleportation array had been established on a high platform that resembled a sacred altar. Beneath this platform, which rose over ten zhang in height, four cultivators in black battle armor stood firmly. While their black armor appeared slightly simpler than the golden armor worn by the two cultivators accompanying Han Li, their surfaces were equally inscribed with silver runes. The hall itself was vast—spanning over a hundred zhang in width and more than ten zhang in height—except for the towering platform, which stood alone, with no other furnishings or features in sight. As soon as the golden-armor vessel appeared, the four black-armored cultivators immediately turned toward it with expressions of alertness. Upon seeing the golden-armored cultivators, their faces relaxed, but they promptly moved, drifting directly onto the stone platform. One tall man with emerald-green eyes stepped onto the top of the platform and took a few swift strides forward, then bowed deeply and respectfully to the two golden-armored cultivators. "At your service, Master of the Heavenly Guard!" Han Li glanced at the four individuals, his eyes briefly widening. To his surprise, all four were Yuan-Ence cultivators—one nearly at the late stage of Yuan-Ence, one at the mid-stage, and two at the early stage. "Stand up," the elder in the golden armor calmly instructed. "This is the newly promoted cultivator who has just ascended. I believe your team is still missing one Qingming Guard. He might just become your team leader. I'll have him rest at the Feilin Hall overnight. After I've reported back to the Council with my tasks, I'll meet him again." The older golden-armored cultivator spoke with a quiet, composed tone. "Yes, sir," replied the tall man, who had already noticed Han Li's presence as the Flower Immortal cultivator. Now, hearing this, he showed no surprise, merely bowing slightly and acknowledging with a nod. "You'll rest here overnight," the pale-faced cultivator added. "Any matters you'd like to discuss can wait until tomorrow." Han Li nodded in agreement. With that, the three proceeded down the platform and headed directly toward the hall's entrance. Han Li noticed that among the four black-robed cultivators, only the tall one with bright green eyes remained close behind them; the other three stayed quietly at the foot of the platform. It seemed that the teleportation array and the golden boat were still of great importance here, requiring four Yuan-Infancy cultivators to guard them. As soon as they stepped out of the hall, a wide corridor stretching nearly five to six zhang in width appeared before them. On both sides of the corridor were grayish-blue stone walls, each adorned at regular intervals with a silver tadpole-like symbol, giving the entire wall a mysterious appearance. The corridor curved and gradually descended. Han Li raised a brow at this sight, but had not yet had time to ponder further. Two golden-robed cultivators immediately headed upward, while the black-robed man led Han Li downward. Along the vast corridor, a hall gate identical to the one where they had emerged appeared every few hundred zhang—some gates were closed, others remained open and welcoming. Those open ones naturally allowed a clear view of everything inside the hall. Most of the interior featured identical platforms, teleportation arrays, and golden vessels, with several Yuan婴 cultivators stationed there. The other half remained empty, with nothing at all present. As for the chambers whose doors were closed, although Han Li used his divine awareness to scan them, he found as expected that he could not penetrate the mysterious walls interwoven with silvery tadpole script. Along the corridors, other cultivators periodically passed by—mostly Yuan婴 cultivators in black armor—but he also encountered three or four in deep emerald-green battle armor. These green-armored cultivators clearly possessed Fashen-period attainments, evidently the so-called "Qingming Guard." When Han Li, an outsider, approached them, though they all glanced at him with mild curiosity, none of them approached to inquire further, and each moved with a steady, practiced pace. Han Li observed this scene and furrowed his brow slightly. (First update!)