"That's Yun City?" Han Li stood in the shimmering light, lifting his head to gaze toward the distant sky. "Indeed! As the name suggests, Yun City is the second type of floating residential settlement in the spiritual realm, ranking only after the Sky Isles. While it cannot drift slowly through the air like the Sky Isles, it can freely ascend or descend in height according to the changing seasons." Jia Tianmu, standing beside Han Li, gently stroked a few short whiskers on his chin, responding with a touch of pride. Now they stood atop a small hill, and high in the sky, hundreds of miles away, a massive, stationary city hovered in mid-air. Located at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet above the ground, the city was surrounded by drifting clouds and constructed entirely of an unknown, luminous white material. Its lofty position, combined with its immense size, left first-time visitors utterly awestruck. Another striking feature was the cluster of十余 massive, exceptionally white spherical structures surrounding the great city. From a distance, each appeared not particularly large, but upon approaching, one could clearly see that they were colossal entities, each with a diameter of ten thousand li. As for the exact number of these spheres, since only one side of Yun City was visible, Han Li still couldn't determine it with certainty. "What are these?" after being struck by awe, Han Li pointed at the spheres and asked, unable to refrain. "Ah, you're referring to the guards of Yun City! These are indeed a carefully crafted masterpiece resulting from the joint efforts of our Wangu Clan and Shijian Clan—among the key defensive assets of Yun City. The specific details, once you enter the city, will be easily available upon a simple inquiry. Hehe, now I'll keep this a little secret!" Jia Tianmu smiled mysteriously. Han Li found himself at a loss, somewhat speechless. Yet he did not press the matter with persistent inquiry. Instead, carrying within him a curiosity about this city suspended in the clouds, his light surged and he transformed into a streak of emerald glow, rising into the air. Jia Tian Mu likewise emitted a bright white light and followed closely behind. At a distance of several hundred li, they had no clear sense of the city's scale. But once they drew near—within a hundred li—the immense size of the "cloud city" became unmistakable even to the seasoned observer Han Li, who could not help but draw in a sharp breath. Up close, the cloud city nearly obscured half the sky ahead. Along their journey, they began to spot the flight lights of other ethnic cultivators, as well as various flying vehicles—beast-drawn carriages, spiritual vessels, and others—of differing forms. As they drew nearer to the city, the number of ethnic cultivators steadily increased. When Han Li could clearly see a massive spherical structure in his line of sight, the sheer volume of flight lights passing by around him filled the sky, stretching as far as the eye could reach. Yet for some reason, nearly everyone who approached the massive sphere simply moved around it, none daring to pass through its immediate vicinity. Han Li, naturally, could not help but gaze at it carefully. As blue glimmers flashed within his pupils, the details of the sphere's surface appeared almost within arm's reach. The outer material used for these colossal spheres was clearly the same as that of Yun City. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the sphere's surface, though remarkably smooth and pure white, was dotted with faint, turtle-like patterns. It seemed as though the spheres were assembled from countless pieces of material. And on each of these pieces, subtle symbols in gold and silver shimmered continuously, giving the spheres an air of profound mystery. Han Li furrowed his brows and, without hesitation, extended his divine awareness toward the sphere. As soon as his awareness touched the surface, a powerful sealing force surged outward, pushing him back and preventing him from entering the sphere at all. Han Li did not find it strange. Indeed, if he were to fully unravel the mysteries of such an enigmatic phenomenon, he might himself be surprised. "My friend, remember that if you carry any metallic treasures or materials, you must never approach them within a thousand zhang—otherwise, all metallic objects will be forcibly drawn away and consumed. And should any losses occur as a result, Yun City will offer no compensation at all," said Jia Tianmu, noticing Han Li continually gazing at the spherical form in the distance. "Is there really something like this?" Han Li was somewhat astonished, glancing at the crowd passing by—by now, he was already convinced. Many of the travelers adjusted their flight paths,纷纷 heading toward a grand city gate. At that gate, several dozen guards in uniform stood solemnly on either side, meticulously inspecting each person attempting to enter. Indeed, the careful inspection was solely directed at those wishing to enter the city; those intending to leave were completely overlooked. The armor worn by the gate guards, though tightly encased from head to toe, varied greatly in size and shape, suggesting they did not belong to the same race. Upon observing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, yet continued his journey without pause, eventually reaching the city gate alongside Jia Tianmu. At that moment, several streams of light were descending toward the ground, where a group of around fifteen cultivators were preparing for inspection. In reality, the so-called "inspection" involved only a few guards holding peculiar magical discs, scanning the unfamiliar faces repeatedly. Meanwhile, another guard swiftly picked up a separate object, listening intently and swiftly inputting various details into it. In the sky above the entire Yun City, there were no visible light shields or other restrictions. Yet, surprisingly, right above the city, the space remained utterly empty—no single streak of flight light dared to leap directly over the hundreds-of-zhang-high city walls and vanish into the city itself. Yet facing this scene, Jia Tianmu remained calm and composed. With a simple flick of his sleeve, a dark, palm-sized token soared into the air and flew straight toward the leading guard. The guard's eyes widened momentarily, then quickly recovered, catching the token firmly and bowing slightly to gaze intently at it. At the same time, Jia Tianmu's lips moved slightly—without a single sound—having unexpectedly employed a telepathic technique! By the way, given that there might be spies from the Jiaochi clan infiltrated among the city's inhabitants, I will immediately send several guards to personally escort the Master directly to Tian Xu Pavilion." "Ah, all the senior monks are already at Tian Xu Pavilion! Even if I don't mention this matter, I'll head there right away. As for the guards, I'll hold off on them for now. With Mr. Han and me traveling together, as long as there's no surprise attack from a fully consolidated-level being, I believe we'll be safe. You go on with your duties. By the way, Mr. Han is not originally from Tian Yun. I'll arrange for him the highest-ranking free identity card. I can serve as his guarantor." Upon receiving the token, Master Jia Tian Mu spoke in a commanding tone. "Yes, Master!" The guard was momentarily startled but quickly agreed wholeheartedly. At that moment, Mr. Han approached calmly. The several guards then simultaneously waved their magical discs gently toward him. Han Li felt a sudden surge of extremely subtle spiritual pressure radiating out from those odd circular discs, followed by several streams of divine awareness abruptly emanating from the several guards, then instantly merging into a single unified stream that swept past Han Li. Han Li was startled, his eyes flashing with surprise. He had never before witnessed a technique capable of fusing the spiritual awareness of multiple individuals into one. Yun City truly lived up to its reputation as the core city of the Tianyun Thirteen Clans—mere gatekeepers were already masters of such an astonishing secret art. However, upon completing their initial assessment of Han Li's cultivation level, all the guards suddenly grew serious. A seventh-stage cultivator of the Lianshu Clan was indeed rare even within the Tianyun Thirteen Clans alliance. The lead guard, after glancing at his magical disc and noting no reaction from the Jiaochi Clan lineage, immediately relaxed and said to Han Li, "Master! With Master Jia's guarantee and since you've passed the initial screening—" I will have a high-rank identity plaque crafted for you right away. With this plaque, all elders in Yun City—except for a few confidential locations—will be able to move freely throughout the rest of the city." "Thank you so much, sir!" Han Li proved exceptionally courteous. The Guardian, at the level of Huashen, responded with polite humility, repeatedly expressing his hesitation. As for the matter he had previously mentioned—sending people to escort Jia Tianmu—this matter was now naturally dropped. Clearly, he believed that with Han Li, a senior figure of the Seventh Rank of the Upper Clan, such personal escort was no longer necessary. The rest was straightforward. In just a short while, these individuals crafted a jade plaque containing a brief profile of Han Li and presented it to him. Then, the leading figure waved his hand, instantly clearing a path ahead. Jia Tianmu did not hesitate and stepped forward resolutely, while Han Li followed calmly and steadily. "Jia Brother," Han Li said, "what exactly was the secret technique those people used to merge several divine consciousnesses into one?" "If such a miraculous secret technique truly exists, wouldn't it be an absolute weapon of destruction when used against enemies!" Just as the two had stepped inside the city gates, Han Li suddenly asked.