Leaving the Sky Star Tower, Han Li, like the other cultivators, walked along the white stone plaza towards a nearby street, quickly merging into the surrounding crowd.

Black Wind City was the most prosperous place in the Black Wind Sea, and this area was considered the most bustling part of Black Wind City. He still had some impression of the shops and buildings on both sides of the street.

It was basically the same as it was back then, except that at a few of the busiest intersections, there were several extremely luxurious and grand shops. These shops also had excellent business, with many cultivators constantly entering and exiting, never stopping for a moment.

Han Li casually walked into a nearby street.

The shops on this street were mostly material shops. He glanced back at the Sky Star Tower and stepped into one of the shops.

This shop was not large, and there were not many customers inside. A shop assistant saw Han Li enter and immediately greeted him warmly.

"This esteemed guest, what materials do you need?"

Han Li casually chatted with the shop assistant, but his peripheral vision was constantly directed towards the Sky Star Tower plaza.

A good half hour passed, and there was still no movement at the plaza.

Han Li frowned slightly.

Just at that moment, a group of cultivators emerged from a remote corner of the plaza in a flash of figures.

One of them was the hunchbacked old woman, and the others behind her were the group of white-clothed cultivators. The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows was among them, but he was walking at the end of the group.

The group did not linger there and immediately flew up, heading towards one direction, disappearing into the distant horizon in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's heart stirred, and he thought to himself, "As expected."

If he remembered correctly, that direction was the location of the Island Lord's Mansion.

After casually buying a few materials, he left the shop and looked in the direction where the group had flown, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Then, Han Li shook his head and turned to walk in another direction.

Regardless of what relationship these people had with the Black Wind Island Lord or what they were plotting, it should have nothing to do with him. Since that was the case, it was better not to cause trouble for himself.

Han Li walked along the street, passing through several streets. When his figure emerged from a quiet alley, his appearance changed again, transforming into the appearance of a yellow-faced man.

The Faceless Alliance mask easily transformed his appearance. Along the way, he basically changed to a new appearance and attire every time he passed a place, just in case.

In the following time, he wandered around Black Wind City, replenishing everything he was still lacking.

Perhaps it was because the Black Wind Sea region had more frequent exchanges with the outside world than before, the city was indeed much more prosperous than before. Various rare spiritual materials, pills, and other items that were rarely seen in the past began to appear in various shops.

After half a day, Han Li finally took to the air, transforming into a streak of azure light and flying towards the distance.

A moment later, he landed in the plaza in front of the Island Lord's Mansion.

At first glance, there was not much change here compared to before, except that the Island Lord's Mansion was shrouded in layers of restrictions, with various colors of light flashing. There were also some cultivators patrolling nearby, much more heavily guarded than before.

Han Li did not stay in place for long and walked into the Talisman Hall next door, which accepted tasks.

Many cultivators were gathered in the hall, more than before. The task stone wall still stood here, densely covered with various tasks, also more than before.

The content of the tasks had also changed a lot compared to before, with many more tasks for defending against enemies and garrisoning, all for the purpose of resisting Green Feather Island.

There were even tasks that were directly rewards for hunting and killing Green Feather Island cultivators, with corresponding rewards for each kill.

Han Li quickly scanned the stone wall, quickly reading through all the tasks on it.

No information related to him appeared on the stone wall, and there was not even a mention of the Candle Dragon Dao.

Seeing this, Han Li still could not completely relax.

He wandered around the hall twice, casually inquired with a few cultivators who were looking at tasks, and confirmed that there were indeed no signs of the Immortal Palace pursuing him recently, which relieved him a bit.

However, before leaving, in order not to attract attention, he still casually accepted a task to collect materials from a certain demon beast.

After walking out of the Talisman Hall, Han Li looked back at the Island Lord's Mansion again before transforming into a streak of azure light and flying towards the city gate.

As a result, just as he was flying halfway, an unexpected event suddenly occurred!

A muffled rumbling sound suddenly came from all directions of the island, mixed with the sound of rushing water.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he quickly stopped his escaping light and looked around.

He saw blue pillars of light emerging around Black Wind City, rising into the sky, as if forming a fence that enveloped the entire Black Wind City.

Powerful power fluctuations emanated from the pillars of light, and the void also trembled accordingly.

Ripples of shimmering light spread out from the blue pillars of light. These originally straight pillars quickly bent and converged towards the center, quickly merging together, and the pillars of light were connected to each other.

In a short time, a thick blue light curtain appeared, enveloping the entire city.

Countless water-like lights flowed on the light curtain, layering upon layering. It was clear at a glance that it was an extremely exquisite array.

Han Li frowned slightly. After a moment of thought, he urged his escaping light to continue flying forward, quickly reaching the city gate.

Many people were gathered here, with various voices intertwined, making it extremely noisy.

Han Li silently landed at the edge of the crowd, blending into it.

At this moment, several cultivators at the forefront of the crowd were speaking to the city guards wearing black robes:

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly activate the city protection array?"

"We have urgent matters and are waiting to leave the city. Can you make things easier for us?"

"Everyone, Island Lord Lu ordered the activation of the city protection array because he received information that the people of Green Feather Island intend to launch a surprise attack on our Black Wind City. To prevent any accidents, we activated the array. Once the enemy situation is cleared, the array will be revoked immediately," the guard leader cupped his fist and announced to the crowd.

Han Li stood aside, somewhat surprised to hear this.

Although he already knew that the conflict between Black Wind Island and Green Feather Island was becoming increasingly fierce, he did not expect it to have reached the point where they needed to activate the city protection array.

Moreover, judging from the reactions of the people around him, they did not seem too surprised by the guard leader's explanation.

"This fellow cultivator, is the city protection array here often activated?" Han Li thought for a moment and asked a red-robed old man beside him.

Hearing this, the red-robed old man looked at Han Li with some surprise and said, "Are you perhaps not a Black Wind City cultivator?"

"I just arrived at Black Wind Island via the teleportation array and am not familiar with many of the situations here. Please enlighten me," Han Li said with a slight smile, very politely.

"Oh, that explains it. The battles between Black Wind Island and Green Feather Island have become increasingly fierce in recent years. Although Black Wind City is a major base for Black Wind Island, it can't be said to be very safe. The city protection array has indeed been activated many times in recent years," the red-robed old man nodded first, then said.

"Oh, then how is the battle situation? Which side is winning?" Han Li paused slightly and continued to ask.

"Black Wind Island's overall strength was originally stronger than Green Feather Island's, but Green Feather Island has won over many surrounding islands in recent years, greatly increasing its strength, and is now able to compete with Black Wind Island on an equal footing. Alas, I don't know when this battle will end," the red-robed old man said with a sigh.

Han Li nodded slowly, his eyes flickering, wondering what he was thinking.

As the crowd buzzed with discussion, a middle-aged man with a black face, whose cultivation had reached the Grand Ascension stage, stepped forward and asked loudly, "May I ask when the array will be revoked? We can't just wait indefinitely, can we?"

"So it's Clan Leader Tai. I'm not too clear about the specific situation. Perhaps two or three days... or maybe ten days to half a month. If there are special circumstances that require you to leave Black Wind City urgently, you can go to the Island Lord's Mansion to seek an exit permit from Island Lord Lu. We will not stop you," the guard leader looked at this person a few more times and said.

Hearing this, the black-faced middle-aged man frowned, but ultimately said nothing more.

Although everyone was still somewhat unwilling, they obviously did not dare to offend the people of the Island Lord's Mansion. As for going to the Island Lord's Mansion to apply for an exit permit, no one was truly so anxious that they would go to such lengths.

After discussing for a while, the cultivators gathered at the city gate soon dispersed.

Han Li frowned slightly and sighed inwardly.

It seemed that his luck was not very good. If he had left a little earlier, he might have successfully left the city by now.

He glanced at the blue light curtain in mid-air, bid farewell to the red-robed old man beside him, and turned back the way he had come.

The activation of the city protection array caused a stir in the city, but it soon subsided. After all, this situation had occurred many times before. Although everyone was somewhat disgruntled, they continued to go about their business after complaining a few times.

Before long, Han Li found an inn in a remote area of Black Wind City and settled in, closing his doors to outsiders.

Time passed little by little, and night soon fell.

In the secret room, Han Li, who was originally sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, and with a wave of his hand, more than a dozen streaks of azure light shot out, landing in various places in the room and opening a restriction.

Then, he formed a hand seal, and golden lightning emerged around him, spreading towards the surroundings, quickly condensing into a golden lightning array.

"Teleport!"

With a wave of his hand seal, the lightning array suddenly lit up, and his figure blurred, disappearing from the array.

Some remaining golden lightning flickered in the room a few times before completely disappearing.

At the same time, deep underground in the Island Lord's Mansion, in a secret room.

The place was dimly lit, and black light surged up and down like waves all around.

In the center of the secret room was a large blue jade platform, with blue array flags floating above it, densely packed, at least tens of thousands of them.

Dazzling blue light emanated from these array flags, condensing into a hemispherical blue light curtain, covering the blue jade platform below.

On the blue jade platform was a miniature city. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Black Wind City.