Chapter 1332: Qingming Guards

Since you haven't taken the Dust-Cleansing Pill to remove the aura of the lower realm, your minor Heavenly Tribulation, which occurs every three hundred years, will manifest as a two-colored lightning tribulation. No matter how incredible your divine abilities are, you will definitely not survive it.

This time, we helped you disperse this Heavenly Tribulation. Consequently, your next tribulation will be accelerated, occurring in just over a hundred years. Your second minor Heavenly Tribulation will descend upon you soon. Only by taking one Dust-Cleansing Pill annually can your aura perfectly blend with that of our Spirit Realm, thus preventing the appearance of the two-colored lightning tribulation.

Here in Sky Abyss City, ascending cultivators are provided with one Dust-Cleansing Pill every year.

"The next two-colored lightning tribulation will be three times more potent than this one," the older cultivator added. Han Li's eyes flickered a few times as he asked, "From your words, Senior, it seems I'll have to stay in Sky Abyss City for the rest of my life."

"Of course not. Once you've taken the Dust-Cleansing Pill for three hundred years, the aura of the lower realm will be completely cleansed, and you'll be free to leave Sky Abyss City," the fair-faced cultivator calmly replied.

"Sky Abyss City gathers us ascending cultivators here, so it won't just give us Dust-Cleansing Pills for free. What do you require of us?" Han Li, unwilling to beat around the bush, asked the most crucial question.

"Friend, you are indeed astute. While the Dust-Cleansing Pill is effective for ascending cultivators like yourselves, all the materials required for its creation are exceptionally rare, and many must be sought in the Savage World. Naturally, acquiring these pills comes at a price. However, we'll explain the specifics in detail once we reach Sky Abyss City. For now, please board the flying boat.

"Of course, if you refuse, we won't force you," the older cultivator said with a smile, stroking his goatee. "But you should be well aware of the consequences."

Hearing this, Han Li's expression subtly changed.

He pondered for a moment, then looked up at the now cloudless sky stretching for thousands of miles, and then down at the golden boat beneath their feet. Suddenly, with a flicker of his figure, he appeared on the boat.

The two golden-armored cultivators exchanged faint smiles, unsurprised. Anyone who witnessed the terrifying nature of a two-colored lightning tribulation would know this was the only path. Moreover, the person before them was merely a cultivator at the early stage of Soul Transformation; for him to endure the two-colored lightning tribulation until their arrival was already a miracle.

Once on the golden boat, Han Li's gaze swept over it, revealing a small magical array inscribed at its center.

As he was examining it, the two golden-armored cultivators stepped into the array first, then beckoned to Han Li. After a slight hesitation, Han Li also walked inside.

The two golden-armored cultivators each cast a spell, and instantly the array beneath their feet hummed, as a thick, condensed light shield emerged, enveloping all three of them. Then, the older cultivator flipped his hand, revealing a gleaming golden disc, also inscribed with several silver tadpole-like runes.

He placed a hand on the disc. Immediately, it radiated a brilliant golden light, and concurrently, the silver runes glowed intensely.

Simultaneously, the golden boat trembled, and streams of milky white light suddenly emerged from its bottom. These light streams swirled beneath the boat, coalescing into the white light formation Han Li had witnessed once before.

After the entire formation burst into brilliant light, the golden boat vanished with a slight tremble. The formation then crumbled inch by inch, dissipating completely.

From a distance, Elder Huo and several Core Formation cultivators had been observing everything.

However, ever since the two golden-armored cultivators appeared, they instantly lost interest in conversation, instead appearing too intimidated to even breathe.

Only after the golden boat vanished did they all simultaneously let out a long breath. After exchanging glances, a hint of relief was visible on each of their faces.

"Elder Huo, it seems the Sky Abyss Guards aren't as terrifying as rumored. Are the rumors somewhat exaggerated?" the yellow-robed youth asked, after a moment of hesitation.

"What do you know?!" Elder Huo retorted, after a moment of hesitation, finally revealing some secret information he knew. "Among the Three Realms and Seven Lands, Sky Abyss City is the only place not governed by the Three Sage Emperors and Seven Demon Kings. The golden-armored Sky Abyss Guards are high-ranking entities within Sky Abyss City, each possessing the unrestricted right to freely traverse all regions and openly execute any being deemed a threat to both humans and demons. Their authority is so vast that even the Three Emperors must exercise caution. Moreover, during major wars with foreign races, even the Three Emperors and Seven Demon Kings are nominally obliged to follow the command of Sky Abyss City's elders."

"Such a thing exists? My master only mentioned the Sky Abyss Guards and warned that they must never be offended. It seems a long time ago, the Sky Abyss Guards once eradicated over a hundred immortal cultivation sects within a single month. But the specific reasons are unknown to anyone. Even the Three Emperors turned a blind eye to it." The yellow-robed cultivator's eyes widened, and he spoke after a long pause.

"Precisely. I don't know much about Sky Abyss City either, but half of its cultivators do not appear within the human and demon territories; they are specifically deployed to counter powerful external enemies. Even when they do appear within the two races' lands, it's only these golden-armored Sky Abyss Guards," Elder Huo said, his brows furrowed.

Hearing their conversation, the several Core Formation cultivators nearby, though vaguely aware of the Sky Abyss Guards, did not possess such detailed knowledge. They exchanged horrified glances.

At this moment, the golden boat carrying Han Li had already appeared within a secret teleportation array in an unnamed city.

One of the golden-armored cultivators disembarked from the golden boat. After replacing several gleaming spirit stones on the teleportation array, he immediately returned to the boat, cast another spell, and activated the formation.

Han Li's heart skipped a beat when he saw the crystals; they were all high-grade spirit stones, each worth tens of thousands. As his thoughts churned, the golden boat was enveloped by white light and teleported once more.

This time, they appeared in an underground cavern, where another similar teleportation array lay beneath the golden boat.

With the same exchange of spirit stones and another teleportation, the golden boat vanished again.

Under Han Li's cool gaze, the golden boat teleported more than twenty times consecutively.

When Han Li was teleported to the Scattered Star Seas years ago, it only required a single use of mid-grade spirit stones, and it transported him directly from the Southern Heavens. Now, the golden boat was using high-grade spirit stones for its teleportation arrays, and it had warped so many times that the distance covered was beyond Han Li's imagination.

After a "poof" sound, the golden boat teleported once more, reappearing in another formation.

However, this time, with a glance, Han Li's heart knew with certainty that he had finally arrived at the so-called Sky Abyss City.

This was because the teleportation array was built on a high platform resembling an altar, and beneath this platform, which stood over ten zhang tall, four cultivators clad in black battle armor were standing.

The style of these battle armors appeared simpler than the golden ones worn by the two cultivators accompanying Han Li, but their surfaces were similarly inscribed with silver runes.

The location was a massive hall, a hundred zhang wide and over ten zhang high. Aside from the colossal platform, the surroundings were empty; nothing else was present. The moment the golden boat appeared, the four black-armored cultivators immediately looked over with wary expressions. Upon seeing the golden-armored cultivators, their faces relaxed, but they instantly floated onto the stone platform.

One of the burly men with emerald green eyes stepped onto the top of the stone platform, immediately walked a few paces forward, and respectfully bowed deeply to the two golden-armored cultivators.

"Greetings, Heavenly Guards!"

Han Li's gaze swept over these individuals, and his eyes subtly widened.

These four were all Nascent Soul cultivators: one at the late stage of Grand Completion, one at the mid-stage, and two at the early stage.

"Rise," the older golden-armored cultivator calmly ordered. "This is a newly ascended cultivator. I recall your squad seems to be missing an Azure Underworld Guard. Hehe, perhaps he might even become your captain. Take him to the Soaring Spirit Hall for a night's rest first. My companion and I still need to submit our mission report to the elders, and then we'll see him again."

"Yes, sir!"

The burly man had already noticed Han Li, a Soul Transformation cultivator, so he showed no surprise upon hearing this. He merely bowed slightly to Han Li and acknowledged the order.

"You should rest with them tonight. We can discuss anything further tomorrow," the fair-faced cultivator told Han Li.

Han Li nodded, expressing no objection.

The three then descended the high platform and headed directly towards the hall entrance. Han Li noticed that among the four black-armored cultivators, only the leading emerald-eyed man followed them; the other three remained dutifully guarding beneath the high platform.

It seemed the teleportation array and the golden boat were quite important here, to require four Nascent Soul cultivators to guard them.

Upon reaching a hall entrance, a vast, ancient passage, about four to five zhang wide, appeared before them.

Both sides of the ancient passage were lined with greenish-gray stone walls. At regular intervals, these walls were inscribed with silver tadpole-like runes, making the entire structure appear exceptionally mysterious.

The passage was arc-shaped and seemed to gently slope downwards.

Seeing this, Han Li's brow twitched, but he had no time to ponder its mystery. The two golden-armored cultivators immediately walked upwards, while the black-armored man led Han Li downwards.

As they traversed the vast passage, every few hundred zhang, a hall entrance identical to the one Han Li and the others had emerged from would appear. Some doors were tightly shut, while others were wide open.

Those that were open naturally allowed a clear view of everything inside the hall.

Most contained identical high platforms, teleportation arrays, golden boats, and several Nascent Soul cultivators guarding them. The remaining small portion was completely empty.

As for the tightly closed halls, Han Li tried to scan them with his divine sense, but as expected, he couldn't penetrate the mysterious walls embedded with silver tadpole-like runes.

Along the way, other cultivators occasionally passed by. Most were black-armored Nascent Soul cultivators, but they also encountered three or four cultivators in serene, dark green battle armor. These green-armored cultivators all had Soul Transformation stage cultivation, clearly indicating they were the so-called "Azure Underworld Guards."

When these cultivators saw Han Li, an outsider, they gave him a curious glance, but none approached to ask questions. Each moved with purpose, as if well-trained.

Han Li frowned slightly at this sight.