Clearly inscribed above were three large magical characters: "Wan Nu Tower." For the first time encountering such a place, Han Li paused thoughtfully before approaching the grand entrance of the tower with a touch of interest. The magus man, resembling a storekeeper, had achieved the level of Huashen, naturally sensing the powerful Liangxi aura emanating from Han Li, and thus could not afford to be casual. "This Wanshu Tower engages in what kind of business? I haven't seen anything like it in other cities!" Han Li glanced at the middle-aged man and said calmly. "Senior, this is your first visit to Huanye City, isn't it? Indeed, the Wanshu Tower is rather uncommon in ordinary cities, as it specializes in trading slaves and various beasts." The middle-aged man replied. "Slaves, beasts?" Han Li's expression brightened at this. "Exactly. These guests have come specifically to purchase slaves. If Senior is also interested, why not join them and take a look? As for the beasts, we offer only common varieties—Senior will likely find them less appealing." The middle-aged man smiled gently. "Since I've arrived here, I might as well take a look along with them." Han Li narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Very well, Master, please follow me." The middle-aged man immediately waved to a young maid beside him, who then led the other three demonic beings over. Afterward, he and Han Li and his companions proceeded toward a simple teleportation array located at one corner of the great tower. The three guests were men and women in their twenties—two men with elegant, distinguished appearances and one woman graceful and refined—each only at the Yuan Ying stage of cultivation. Yet, their gazes toward Han Li carried a sense of curiosity rather than deep reverence. Han Li glanced at them calmly and noticed, on the corners of each of their sleeves, a subtle silver character: "Ning." "Must be members of the Ning family!" he thought, though his expression remained unchanged. As soon as the group stepped onto the teleportation array, the middle-aged man cast a series of gestures on the array's edge, and with a flash of white light, all of them were instantly transported. At that moment, within one of the levels of the colossal tower, resembling a teleportation array, several figures shimmered and then materialized. Han Li and his companions appeared instantly. As Han Li opened his eyes, he quickly scanned the surroundings. The layout here was entirely different from that of the first level. Before the teleportation array, there stretched a narrow, long corridor of dark green stone, with dense clusters of magical runes inscribed on the stone walls—clearly imbued with a certain magical seal. At the far end of the corridor, several golden doors were faintly visible on either side, each guarded by two tall, armored guards standing motionless. After scanning the guards with his spiritual awareness, Han Li's face briefly revealed a look of surprise. These guards seemed entirely lifeless—each one was a cold, lifeless humanoid automaton. Without hesitation, the middle-aged man stepped out of the array immediately, then led Han Li and his companions into the corridor, arriving shortly thereafter at the nearest golden door. At that moment, the two puppets by the gate seemed to sense something, turning their heads and fixing cold, steady glances upon the group. Simultaneously, the long halberds they had been holding shifted and now rested across their chests, as if ready to strike instantly should anyone approach. The middle-aged man remained calm, flipping his hand once and suddenly revealing a flat iron plaque wrapped in a faint black aura. He gently waved it forward while murmuring a brief incantation. The puppets' eyes flashed with cold light, then instantly dimmed, and their halberds lowered back to their sides, once again appearing lifeless. The other three members of the magical race showed no surprise at all. Han Li's eyes flashed with a subtle blue glow as he studied the two puppets more closely, and then asked with growing interest: "These two puppets appear to be of high rank. A typical Yuan-Enlightened might find it difficult to handle them." However, their crafting process is quite unusual—it seems vastly different from the typical methods. I wonder whether these were specially crafted by your tower, or purchased from elsewhere. Based on the magical realm intelligence I've gathered so far, these two figures clearly do not belong to any of the standard puppet-making techniques known in the magical realm. Their crafting methods and materials appear crude and simple, yet the resulting puppets seem to possess surprisingly strong capabilities. This has naturally drawn my attention! "Ah, I see you're also interested in these two magical crystal puppets! Indeed, their crafting method differs significantly from ordinary ones. These puppets cannot be directly controlled or activated by the cultivator's spirit essence, but can be guided and enabled to perform basic actions through pre-prepared artifacts and incantations. However, the magical crystal puppet technique is a unique secret method developed exclusively by our tower—there is no other source that sells them. Of course, if you're interested, we could certainly discuss further." The middle-aged man's eyes flickered slightly as he smiled and replied. "Oh, magical crystal puppets." "I do have some interest, though, let's discuss it further later," Han Li glanced at the two puppets once more, then gently shifted his gaze, speaking with a calm, understated tone that revealed nothing of his inner thoughts. "Yes, then I'll open the way first," the middle-aged man replied, slightly disappointed but still smiling. He then walked a few steps to the golden gate and pressed his iron plaque against the door. With a soft "click," the golden gate opened on its own, glowing with a faint, milky light within. The man stepped aside and made a respectful gesture of invitation toward Han Li. Though the other three magi, though from the Ning family, could not help but feel a touch of reserve in the presence of Han Li, whose cultivation level far surpassed theirs, they remained still, their expressions subtly marked by admiration. Han Li made no formalities, merely nodded, and then stepped confidently into the golden gate. Inside, several varying-sized magical arrays were clearly visible, activating to form a series of cylindrical, milky-white light screens, each enclosing dozens of magi of different attire. Regardless of age, these men and women all shimmered with faint traces of magical patterns on their skin and faces, clearly still under an additional layer of enchantment. However, the practitioners within these screens were not particularly advanced—none had reached the Jiandan stage, and several were merely at the Lianqi level. They are from the Tuyin clan deep within the Huaxiao Desert, born with innate mastery of earth-based magical techniques. After reaching adulthood, the men are handsome and the women beautiful. More importantly, each of these individuals possesses strong potential and talent; with proper cultivation, they will easily attain the Yuan Ying stage, and some even hold the possibility of advancing to the Hua Shen stage. The middle-aged man approached a luminous screen, gestured toward the figures inside, and then smiled warmly at the Ning family's three guests. Upon hearing the terms "Huaxiao Desert," Han Li unconsciously glanced at the eight young earth-clan mages displayed on the screen. They wore light green leather robes, their hair slightly disheveled, yet clearly aged between thirteen and fourteen. Their cultivation levels were all around the Juji stage, though their expressions appeared somewhat listless. "The Tuyin clan people—indeed, they are rarely seen in your city. However, are their talents truly as excellent as you've described?" "A young man from the Ning family, with a few patches of red scales on his cheeks, examined the young men and women on the display screen and expressed some doubt. "Heh, if you don't believe me, why not go check their bone ages yourselves? At their age, they've already achieved foundational cultivation—doesn't that clearly demonstrate their exceptional potential?" the middle-aged man replied with great confidence. "That's not certain at all. Perhaps your tower will give them some tonic pills designed to unlock their latent potential!" the younger, still quite beautiful woman from the Ning family smiled gently. "Pills specifically meant to awaken latent potential are quite valuable—how could your tower simply give such pills to mere slaves? Moreover, even if they take them, there would surely be evidence afterward. I wouldn't risk offending your Ning family for such a modest gain. If you're interested, simply pay the magic stones, and we'll immediately take these Tu Yin clan members away." the middle-aged man sighed, shaking his head. Three male and female members of the Nangjing family listened carefully and seemed to find the remarks reasonable. They exchanged a glance and, without further discussion on the qualifications of the young men and women, turned to talk with the middle-aged man about the prices. After a cup of tea's worth of conversation, the group finally agreed on the price. Immediately, one of the Nangjing women paid a substantial sum of magical stones, and the soil-shade clan slaves were escorted out of the light screen, followed by the attendants and then through the main gate.