“If I were in a situation like yours, I would also want to find an ally.” Han Li smiled, noncommittally.

“Indeed, I wanted to invite Fellow Daoist Li to travel with us before, precisely for this reason. It's just that you refused at the time, so I didn't have the chance to discuss the alliance with you.” Immortal Venerable Rhefire shook his head, somewhat helplessly.

“If I wasn't already embroiled in trouble, perhaps I would have agreed at the time… Regardless, we have become companions now, only with the added identity of a member of the Reincarnation Hall.” Han Li looked directly at the other party and said slowly.

Immortal Venerable Rhefire's face flashed with hesitation upon hearing this, and after a long pause, he said:

“Fellow Daoist Li, we met in Wild Crane Valley. Although we're not exactly lifelong friends, we can be considered gentlemen acquaintances. Can you honestly tell me, what exactly is the mission the Reincarnation Hall gave you? Does it have anything to do with the Grand Five Elements Illusionary World Divine Art?”

“Fellow Daoist Rhefire, to be honest, I am not a true core member of the Reincarnation Hall. The mission I received was only to assist Hu San in exploring the ruins of the Truth-Speaking Sect, but I really don't know what exactly he intends to do.” Han Li said frankly.

“Since Fellow Daoist Li has said so, I have no reason not to believe you. I do not trust Hu San and Shi Chuan Kong, after all, they each serve their own master, and their intentions are difficult to predict. I still hope to get a definite answer from Fellow Daoist Li regarding whether we can form an alliance for this trip to the ruins.” Immortal Venerable Rhefire gritted his teeth and said.

“With the Reincarnation Hall's mission weighing on me, there are some things I must do. But regarding matters that involve Fellow Daoist Rhefire's life, Li cannot guarantee that I will provide full assistance, but I will definitely not stand idly by, let alone kick you when you're down.” Han Li pondered for a moment and said.

“Good! With those words from you, Fellow Daoist, I feel much more at ease. Once this matter is over, I will surely reward you generously.” Immortal Venerable Rhefire cupped his fist slightly and said.

Han Li returned the salute.

The two chatted about the past in Idle Cloud Mountain for a while, and then Immortal Venerable Rhefire bid farewell and left.

…

More than ten days later, early one morning.

Han Li and Immortal Venerable Rhefire arrived together on the wall where the ferry was docked, only to find Hu San waiting there alone.

“Oh, where is Fellow Daoist Shi?” After greeting them, Han Li asked in surprise.

“Brother Shi should have some matters to attend to, he'll be a bit late. Time really flies, I haven't had enough fun yet.” Hu San yawned and said lazily.

“It seems that Fellow Daoist Hu San went to the beast fighting arena again yesterday.” Han Li smiled slightly.

“Ah, don't even mention it.” Hu San waved his hand.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Shi Chuan Kong and Shopkeeper Zhu arrived late, apologized, and then boarded the ship with the others.

Accompanying them on the ship was a Gold Immortal late stage enshrinement and a True Immortal early stage steward from Guangyuan Trading Company. The former only briefly showed his face, exchanged a few words with them, and then returned to his quiet room, while the latter stayed with them, arranging guest rooms for each of them.

The ferry was extremely large, spanning thousands of feet. In addition to the cargo hold, there were more than three hundred guest rooms on board, but they were generally not rented out to outsiders, only for the use of the trading company's personnel.

Han Li chose a guest room located in the bottom cabin. The conditions were slightly worse than the rooms above, but it was more secluded and quieter, being further away from the other guest rooms.

The True Immortal steward accompanied Han Li through the cargo hold to Han Li's guest room.

As they passed through the cargo hold, Han Li saw some square black boxes, each about ten feet in size, neatly stacked inside. They were engraved with special runes, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

“Steward Hu, the spiritual power fluctuations on these black boxes feel familiar. Do they seem somewhat like storage pouches?” Han Li asked somewhat puzzled.

“Senior is right, these black boxes are indeed storage magical artifacts. They are actually simpler to make than storage pouches. Each one can store about a hundred times its own volume of goods, but the storage period is not as long as storage pouches. However, they are sufficient for transporting things like spiritual soil.” The True Immortal steward explained.

“I see.” Han Li nodded.

Continuing along the cargo hold, Han Li also saw some special cages, some as high as a hundred feet, and some only three feet in size. They were wrapped with strands of electric light and affixed with sealing talismans.

Inside the cages, all sorts of demon beasts and spiritual entities were lying prostrate, some covered in wounds, others listless.

“There are always people who like these strange things and are willing to pay a high price for them. Look at that Savage Sand Lion. It was specifically requested by the beast fighting arena in Spiritual Marsh City. We spent a lot of effort to get one from the edge of the Savage Wasteland Realm.” Without waiting for Han Li to ask, the True Immortal steward took the initiative to point to the cage and said.

Han Li frowned slightly, but said nothing.

Seeing this, the True Immortal steward wisely closed his mouth and stopped talking.

After he escorted Han Li to the door of his guest room, he couldn't help but ask, “Senior, are you sure you don't want to change to a superior guest room?”

“No need, I prefer it quiet. I appreciate Steward Hu's kindness.” Han Li said with a smile.

“Then… if Senior has any instructions later, please feel free to ask. I won't disturb you any further.” The True Immortal steward took his leave.

After he left, Han Li opened the door and went inside, only to find that the guest room was surprisingly spacious, with a quiet room and a reception room in addition to the bedroom.

The quiet room and the reception room were located near the ship's hull, each with a small window offering a view of the sky outside.

After looking around, Han Li began to take out formation materials and set up a magic circle throughout the guest room.

After the arrangement was completed, he came to the quiet room, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to adjust his breath.

Night fell, and the cool moonlight shone down from the porthole, projecting a white spot about a foot in size.

Han Li took off the dark green vial from his chest, placed it in the white spot of light, looked at it for a moment, then turned his wrist and took out the jade slip containing the fifth layer of the Refinement Technique, pressed it to his forehead and began to comprehend it attentively.

…

The ferry traveled through the air, time flowed silently, and more than thirty years passed in a flash.

Intermittently using teleportation arrays and ferries, Han Li and the others safely crossed the Black Dragon Continent and entered the central part of the Floating Hill Continent.

One day, after a long period of seclusion, Han Li's guest room door was knocked open by Hu San.

“Fellow Daoist Li, don't get so absorbed in your seclusion that you forget the business at hand. We're almost at Misty Wave City, we need to disembark here.” Hu San looked Han Li up and down and said with a smile.

“I would like to forget about this, but Fellow Daoist Hu San certainly wouldn't allow it. Haha… You go ahead, I'll pack up and join you on the deck soon.” Han Li replied jokingly.

Hu San nodded and then left.

Han Li closed the door, put away all the formation flags and plates in the room, erased all traces of his aura left here, and then left for the deck.

Half an hour later, Han Li and his party of four left the ferry and landed on the official road outside Misty Wave City, walking slowly towards the city.

“Hu San, why didn't we disembark at Illusionary Mist City as agreed? I had already made arrangements for everything there in advance, but you insisted on disembarking here?” Shi Chuan Kong seemed somewhat dissatisfied with this and asked.

“Brother Shi, you don't know this. Everyone knows that the appearance of the Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist is a sign of the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins appearing, but don't they know where this Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist will originate?” Hu San said with a look of disdain.

“Are you saying that the Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist originates near Misty Wave City?” Shi Chuan Kong asked skeptically.

“Misty Wave City, Illusionary Mist City, Wind Regret City, and Flowing Mist City are all distributed along the edge of the Illusionary Mist Marsh, but the previous few times the Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist was observed, it almost always originated in Misty Wave City. It can be seen that its origin must be closest to Misty Wave City. According to my speculation, it is very likely to be near Ghost Floating Island.” Hu San chuckled, but still explained a few words.

“Fellow Daoist Hu San, what is the Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist you are talking about?” Han Li asked, somewhat bewildered.

“I'll explain this… After the Truth-Speaking Sect was destroyed, it is not known why, but the entire sect, except for a few fragments, was almost completely lost. Afterwards, every three thousand six hundred years, when a pink mist arises over the Illusionary Mist Marsh, some of the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins will appear, but most of the time they are like mirages, fleeting, within sight but unreachable.” Immortal Venerable Rhefire's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said slowly.

“It seems that Fellow Daoist Rhefire has also done a lot of research on the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins…” Shi Chuan Kong raised an eyebrow and said.

“Just some idle rumors.” Immortal Venerable Rhefire said with a laugh.

“In fact, the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins did not exist in the past, and the Illusionary Mist Marsh was not originally called that name.” Hu San changed the topic and said this.

“No ruins?” Han Li asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“That's right. About tens of thousands of years ago, this swamp first appeared with the Myriad Dust Illusionary Mist, and the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins gradually emerged. It was from that time that it was renamed the Illusionary Mist Marsh.” Hu San nodded and said.

“In that case, did the Truth-Speaking Sect ruins appear suddenly? How could that be?” Han Li frowned and asked.

“The reason for this… there is still no conclusion. However, Brother Shi speculates that the war that destroyed the Truth-Speaking Sect was so earth-shattering that the entire Truth-Speaking Sect eventually fell into the spatial rift, so it completely disappeared. Until tens of thousands of years ago, it re-emerged under some unknown circumstances.” Hu San explained.

“I'm just guessing casually, don't take it seriously, and don't mislead Fellow Daoist Li.” Shi Chuan Kong said with a smile, waving his hand upon hearing this.

“Fellow Daoist Shi is too modest, I think this is very likely to be the truth.” Han Li said with a solemn expression.

As they walked and talked, they unknowingly arrived outside the gate of Misty Wave City. At the gate, there was only a team led by a True Immortal early stage cultivator, checking the identities of those entering the city, and the verification was not very strict.

After paying a small fee, Han Li and the others easily entered the city.