"Indeed, although the Guanghan Realm is rich in many rare spiritual treasures," a clear and resonant voice came from outside the hall, followed immediately by a brilliant white rainbow shooting straight into the hall. As the light subsided, a middle-aged man in a soot-colored robe appeared, with long, slender eyes and a pale face featuring a sharp eagle-like nose. "Master Ma has arrived remarkably swiftly—I originally thought Brother the Emperor would have arrived first." Upon seeing the man, Qian Jizi immediately smiled warmly. Han Li had no idea that the man was undoubtedly another senior cultivator of the Wangu Clan at the Consolidated Stage, and hurriedly rose to pay his respects. "Master the Emperor has just been refining a batch of pills; even if he received the news earlier than me, he'll likely have to wait a while. This guest is the one Master Qian mentioned—the outsider who activated the Guanghan Command?" Master Ma, the middle-aged man, glanced over Han Li with a composed gaze and gently inquired. "Indeed, that's me!" Han Li could only honestly confirm. "Ah, from the Fifth Rank of the Upper Clan." Your cultivation is quite impressive, surpassing that of peers by more than a factor of two—perhaps even six or seven stages of the same rank would find it difficult to hold their own against you." The elder Ma immediately perceived the depth of Han Li's cultivation and, without fully understanding the significance, pointed this out. "My technique is somewhat unique, and indeed, I have an advantage in terms of spiritual energy." Han Li was internally astonished but maintained an exceptionally humble demeanor on the surface. "It's not just an advantage—it's a strategic edge. Should your opponents deliberately exploit your relatively weaker spiritual energy during combat, they might, in a moment of inattention, be countered and even defeated by you. Hm, your spiritual awareness also appears notably superior to what one would typically expect from a common noble lineage." The elder Ma then employed some secret technique, with a flash of golden mist passing over his face, followed by a soft "Hm" of surprise, clearly discerning about eight or nine out of ten aspects of Han Li's powerful spiritual awareness. Upon hearing this, Han Li could no longer remain composed, his expression subtly shifting. "Well, Master Ma, your 'Observing the Divine' secret technique is truly unparalleled among our clan—this is certainly no exaggeration. Yet, this isn't anything extraordinary either. When Brother Han rescued Master Jia, he single-handedly slew several peers at the same level. How could one possibly regard him as merely an ordinary upper-clan member?" The plump elder spoke with no surprise at all. "Ah, I see. Indeed, I must have been rather presumptuous. Please, sit down, Brother Han!" The middle-aged man chuckled and then sat beside Qian Jizi. Han Li's expression of astonishment finally faded, and with a wry smile, he settled into his seat. "Just now, I heard from afar the conversation between you two about the Cold Palace. It seems Brother Han is genuinely unfamiliar with the Cold Palace. Qian brother, why do you keep circling around the issue? Simply state clearly the most crucial benefits and drawbacks—there's no need to be so indirect!" As soon as Master Ma sat down, he turned to Qian Jizi and said, his tone carrying a hint of mild impatience! "I had originally intended to tell Master Han right away, but wasn't this suddenly interrupted by Brother Ma's arrival!" Upon hearing this, Qianjizǐ spread his hands, his face showing a touch of mild frustration. "Ah, so it is. Then perhaps I was a bit abrupt earlier," the middle-aged man chuckled. "Since Brother Ma has come, why don't you personally explain everything to Master Han? After all, you yourself once entered the Guanghan Realm—something I can't match in my own recounting." Qianjizǐ glanced at him thoughtfully, then suddenly brightened. "There's really nothing much to say. When I first entered the Guanghan Realm, my circumstances were rather ordinary. I didn't obtain any particularly extraordinary treasures or immortal herbs. The various clans place such high value on the Guanghan Heaven simply because of its remarkable spiritual energy—aiming to help many of their members, who have reached the peak of their cultivation and have been struggling to break through, to make further progress through this energy. Had I not made that journey, I wouldn't have achieved the cultivation level I hold today." The middle-aged man shook his head, his expression growing somewhat strange. "By tapping into the inner spiritual energy to break through the bottleneck!" Hearing this, Han Li was quite surprised. "Indeed, as for the various spiritual treasures within the Guanghan Realm, they are relatively secondary—what one ultimately obtains largely depends on personal fortune. When I first arrived, I only managed to collect some ordinary medicinal herbs, essentially leaving with nothing substantial. On the other hand, I've heard of others who secured exceedingly rare crafting materials, which they then used to forge several spiritually sentient treasures." The elder sighed, clearly expressing his regret. "Ha! You should be content. Back then, your appointment to enter the Guanghan Palace was no small achievement—many of your peers must have envied you. I, for one, never had the opportunity to enter." The plump elder glanced sharply at the middle-aged man, speaking with some irritation. "If Ma were as naturally gifted as Brother Qian, the Saint Clan's bottleneck—just over a thousand years ago—would have been broken long ago, and there would have been no need to enter this Cold Moon Realm. You must understand, the Cold Moon Realm is far from a peaceful place." Master Ma replied calmly. "That's true. Each time the Thunder Roar Continent emerges, it produces hundreds of Cold Moon Seals. However, the number of people each seal can bring into the realm depends on the strength of the transmission spell arrays set up. Our Tianyun Clan has traditionally managed these seals ourselves, but even at our peak, each seal can only bring in a group of about fifteen. However, there are several races particularly skilled in setting up transmission arrays—some of them can bring in over thirty people per seal. Unfortunately, we haven't managed to obtain their array blueprints. Otherwise, we could have enabled even more people to enter the Cold Moon Realm. Yet every time such large groups enter, the chaos within the realm is bound to be immense." The plump elder frowned slightly as he spoke. "The worst part is that the locations where each token transports are entirely random. Should the hostile races happen to be transported to the same region, a full-scale battle is inevitable. Everyone knows that breaking through the bottleneck within the realm increases the breakthrough chances by at least thirty percent—naturally, no one would allow such a large number of high-level beings to emerge among the adversaries." Master Ma seemed to be explaining this to Han Li, yet also as if speaking to himself. Han Li listened intently, his eyes flickering with interest. "Moreover, in the later stages, incidents involving killing and seizing treasures occur frequently. Yet these are not the most dangerous challenges within the Guanghan Realm. The real trouble lies in the Realm itself. Although no one has personally seen a true immortal, there exist some ancient beasts whose power is astonishing—each one is beyond the capability of the newcomers to confront. If they're gentle, one merely needs to retreat and stay clear of them, and all is well. But if they're fierce beasts, one must simply hope to survive." Moreover, there are numerous formidable seals left behind by the immortals within the Cold Palace Realm. Should one accidentally enter such a seal, it would be nearly impossible to survive. Thus, among those who emerge alive afterward, only about half remain. Qi Jizi added. Han Li's expression had already grown increasingly gloomy. After a pause, he asked, "May I inquire with both of you when the Cold Palace Realm was first discovered, and how these Cold Palace Seals came to be found?" "Your question indeed seems to have caught us off guard. While the exact era when the Cold Palace Realm emerged is not well-documented, it is believed that the various ethnic groups discovered it long ago, possibly during a pivotal war. It is said that during that time, several of the Heavenly Immortal Treasures were employed in the conflict. Through their combined efforts, they inadvertently shattered the void, thereby establishing a passage to this realm. As for the origin of these Cold Palace Seals, however, we are genuinely uncertain." It seemed as though the Jade Palace realm had just come into existence when these seals began to appear—yet at first, there were no fewer than a thousand Jade Palace Seals. Yet after so many years, half of them have been destroyed, and only a few remain. "The method by which one enters and exits the Jade Palace realm is quite peculiar," the plump elder said slowly. "When entering, one needs the assistance of a transporter and the seal. But when leaving, one must leave the seal behind within the realm. And after over ten thousand years, when the realm is reopened again, these seals appear in all sorts of strange ways across the Thunder Roar Continent. Moreover, these seals cannot transport beings of the Saint Clan or above, nor can the elders of various clans enter the realm—otherwise, the process would not have become so complicated. I wonder, then, how the seal in Master Han's hands came to be." The elder's eyes flashed with brilliance as he fixed his gaze on Han, his voice now utterly devoid of emotion. Han Li Xin jumped slightly, but remained calm and replied, "This Guanghan Command was originally obtained from a noble named Yuan. At that time, our group's city was besieged by the Jiao Chi clan, and this Yuan noble divided three jade chests among us three others. He instructed us to carry the chests and break through the siege separately. Should our chances of escape prove slim, we could simply destroy the chests. I had been curious, so I opened one of the chests earlier. I never expected it to activate the command so conveniently." "Someone of the Yuan family! So this command must indeed have been one of the ones received by the noble responsible for the Green Light City." Jianji Zi showed no sign of surprise, merely nodded gently—seeming as though he had already anticipated this very origin of the command. Han Li felt a subtle sense of alertness in his heart upon seeing this. At that moment, the middle-aged man frowned and said, "Recently, the various clans in Yun City have not received any news of the other Guanghan Commands. It seems that the other several pieces have fallen into the hands of the Jiaochi Clan—none of the others have managed to break through!" "That makes sense. It's said that two Saint Clan members led the effort, and a fortress-class war vessel was also deployed. Brother Han's ability to escape with just one command token is already a remarkable achievement." Qianjizi lightly exhaled. "Then this situation will certainly prove troublesome. Among our thirteen clans, we now hold no more than seventeen or eighteen pieces—significantly fewer than in the past. As a result, the number of Jiaochi Clan members entering the Guanghan Realm has increased considerably." Ma Senior said, his expression slightly troubled. "There's little we can do about it. All the Guanghan Commands we've discovered have already been collected. When I previously reported that five tokens had been discovered, I had thought our clan had secured a great opportunity. Yet I did not expect the Jiaochi clan to launch a sudden attack at this very moment, preventing us from timely relocating—and thus, the outcome has come to be as it is. Qi Jinzi's eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured, sighing softly. "Given that things have now reached this point, further explanations would be of little use. Friend Han, it seems that this opening of the Guanghan Realm may well bring you, too, along with the one designated by our Wangu Clan." The elder nodded, then suddenly turned to Han, speaking with a calm, unwavering tone. ——Monthly vote request for next month, please!