<h4>Chapter 534: Sea of Sand</h4>


    "Indeed, there seems to be some unrest brewing in the Northern cial Immortal Region ofte," Han Li remarked.


    "May I ask for what purpose you''re visiting Primordial Origin City, esteemed guest?" the woman asked.


    "Truth be told, I''m nning to travel to the primordialnd tomorrow," Han Li replied in a candid fashion.


    "You''re going to leave the city?" the woman asked as she stopped in her tracks with a surprised look on her face. "Are you traveling with someone else?"


    "No, I prefer to travel alone," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.


    "Please pardon me for sticking my nose into your business, but... with your cultivation base, leaving the city alone will be no different from throwing yourself to the wolves," the woman said as she extended an apologetic bow.


    "Why is that? Is there some source of significant peril outside the city?" Han Li asked.


    "Outside Primordial Origin City is an extremely vast sea of sand that''s filled with countless natural sand traps that are incredibly deep. Not only will it be impossible for a cultivator to traverse through the unforgiving terrain, even beasts from other deserts are unable to survive there. Only by traveling on one of therge ships in the city will you be able to reach the other side of the sea of sand," the woman exined.


    "Why can''t a cultivator just fly over the sea of sand then? Are there some perils present in the sky as well?" Han Li asked.


    "Even a Golden Immortal cultivator most likely wouldn''t dare to traverse through the sea of sand on an aerial route. Primordial Origin City is very close to the primordialnd, and there were often powerful primordial beings roaming through the sea of sand. Even manyte-True Immortal cultivators have met terrible fates upon running into some of these primordial beasts," the woman exined.


    Han Li could tell from the tone of her voice that she wasn''t merely trying to scare him, and his brows furrowed slightly in contemtion.


    "Aside from that, even if one is lucky enough to avoid all of those ferocious beasts, there are many mirages and illusions in the sea of sand that could easily lead one astray. If luck is on one''s side, perhaps they''ll be able to stumble their way back to Primordial Origin City in a few centuries, but if luck isn''t smiling upon them, then..."


    The woman''s voice trailed off there, but the implications were already very apparent.


    "Where can I go to board one of these ships?" Han Li asked after some contemtion.


    "The ship dock is located near the beacon tower on the western city gate. These ships only make two trips a year, but you''re in luck as the next ship will be departing in just half a month," the woman replied.


    "If cultivators are susceptible to being attacked upon entering the sea of sand, wouldn''t a ship full of cultivators be even more prone to attracting primordial beasts?" Han Li asked with a puzzled expression.


    "Rest assured, esteemed guest. These ships were crafted by the city lord''s manor, and I''ve heard that there are certain mechanisms in the ship thatpletely conceal its aura to avoid the detection of primordial beings," the woman exined.


    "So you''re saying that the ship is guaranteed to be able to reach the other side of the sea of sand?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.


    "Nothing is truly guaranteed in life, esteemed guest. As recently as eight years ago, one of the ships was struck down by a primordial true spirit, and there were barely any survivors," the woman replied with a wry smile.


    "If it can conceal its own aura, then how was it struck down?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.


    The two of them arrived in the backyard as they were speaking.


    "From what I heard, a True Immortal Stage primordial hunter on the ship had in a nest of juvenile Nine-eyed Centipedes on a hunting trip, infuriating the True Immortal Stage parent of the centipedes, which had been away from the nest at the time. It was able to catch a whiff of the cultivator''s bloodline aura from the blood that he had shed at the nest, and that was what ultimately resulted in that tragedy," the woman exined.


    "By primordial hunter, you''re referring to cultivators who enter the primordialnd to hunt for primordial beasts, right?" Han Li asked.


    "Yes, but also no. Hunting primordial beasts is indeed one of the objectives of primordial hunters, but on top of that, they''re also searching for strange and exotic nts, as well as ore, gemstones, and other resources from the primordialnd," the woman replied.


    "I''m sure there must''ve been countless primordial hunters over the years. Have any of them ever been able to piece together a map of the primordialnd?" Han Li asked.


    "I''m afraid not. If you''re going to visit any of the shops in the city, make sure to be on your guard as all of the merchants iming to have maps of the primordialnd for sale are frauds," the woman replied with a shake of her head.


    "Why is that?" Han Li asked.


    "While it''s true that countless cultivators have ventured into the primordialnd over the years, they''ve only been able to explore a very limited area. The only people who have dared to venture deep into the primordialnd and returned alive were almighty beings at or above the Golden Immortal Stage, and it''s said that only cultivators at or above the High Zenith Stage have been able to pass through the primordialnd to the neighboring ck Mountain Immortal Region. Cultivators of this caliber are extremely rare, and none of them would be willing to map out the primordialnd as a public service for others," the woman exined.


    "That does make sense," Han Li mused with a slight nod.


    "You must''vee to Primordial Origin City as you''re also interested in bing a primordial hunter, right? I advise you to limit your activities to the already charted areas of the primordialnd. There will be nock of bounties waiting for you even in those explored areas," the woman suggested.


    Before long, the two of them had already arrived in front of a courtyard in the B-grade garden.


    Han Li swept his gaze over the courtyard to find that it had been arranged in a triangr formation, with a main room at the center, on either side of which was a side room, and in the middle was a small garden filled with vibrant flowers and young immortal nts.


    The woman pulled out an azure jade badge that was engraved with the words "Rain Hearing Courtyard", then swept it through the air.


    The restriction that epassed the entire courtyard instantly split open, following which a gentle, fragrant breeze blew out from within, and a pair of maidservants emerged before extending a collective curtsey toward Han Li.


    "Both of these maidservants are Core Formation cultivators with their virginities still intact. If you take a liking to them, then that would be a great honor for them. Otherwise, you can just have them perform some servant duties for you," the woman said as he offered the jade badge to Han Li with both hands.


    "I don''t require any servants. I''m used to being on my own," Han Li said as he epted the jade badge.


    The two maidservants weren''t inferior to the woman who had guided Han Li here in the looks department, and a hint of disappointment shed through their eyes upon hearing this, but neither of them dared to say anything.


    "In that case, I''ll have them leave you in peace. Please rest for a moment, the wine and food that you ordered will be here shortly," the woman replied.


    "You have my thanks," Han Li said as he tossed a brocade pouch toward the woman.


    The woman caught the cloth pouch, then inspected its contents momentarily with her hand concealed up her sleeve, and abination of shock and tion appeared on her face as she eximed, "I am in awe of your generosity, esteemed guest. How about I take you to an A-grade courtyard instead?"


    "There''s no need for that, this courtyard is just fine. You can all go now," Han Li said with a dismissive wave of his hand, then made his way into the courtyard.


    A faint smile appeared on the woman''s face as she looked on at Han Li''s departing figure, and she pulled a top-grade spirit stone out of the brocade pouch for closer inspection.


    ......


    The next day, Han Li departed from the Faint Smoke Garden early in the morning.


    Having slept an entire night, Jin Tong waspletely reinvigorated, and at this point, she had already picked up a wide array of different foods from the street side stalls.


    "Are we leaving now, Uncle?" Jin Tong asked with a reluctant expression.


    "There''s no hurry to leave," Han Li replied in an ambiguous fashion, then made his way toward the western city gate, quickly arriving at the dock there.


    "What are we doing here, Uncle?" Jin Tong asked.


    "Wait here for me for a bit," Han Li said to Jin Tong, then made his way into a nearby ck building.


    A short whileter, he emerged from the building with a ck talisman in his hand, upon which was engraved a design of arge ship.


    "What''s this?" Jin Tong asked with a curious expression as she grabbed the spirit talisman from Han Li.


    "It''s a ship ticket," Han Li replied, then briefly exined to Jin Tong why they were going to travel by ship.


    "With our powers, there''s no need to travel by ship. It would be much faster if we just flew straight through the sea of sand," Jin Tong said as she pursed her lips in displeasure.


    "This is going to be our first foray into the primordialnd, so it''s better to be a bit more cautious. On top of that, seeing as there''s a ship that can cross this sea of sand, why wouldn''t we take advantage of it?" Han Li said with a smile.


    Jin Tong thought about this for a moment, then shrugged her little shoulders before continuing to enjoy her feast.


    After stowing the ship ticket away, Han Li made his way toward the bustling streets in the city.


    Even though he had a veryrge collection of pills and resources, most of them had been taken from the storage tools of Gongshu Jiu and the others, so they may not necessarily be useful to him. Hence, he had to prepare some things in preparation for the uing journey.


    Given this city''s close proximity to the primordialnd, there had to be many resources unique to the primordialnd being sold in the city, so it was definitely worth exploring.


    However, Primordial Origin City was massive, and many ces were enshrouded in restrictions that could keep out spiritual sense.


    It was going to take far too long to just explore the city blindly, so Han Li made his way into a nearby variety store, where he purchased a book that introduced the city to neers.


    After reading through the book, he developed a rough grasp of the city''syout.


    He stowed the book away, then continued onward, and it wasn''t long before he arrived in a prosperous area in the inner city.


    In contrast with other parts of the city, this ce was a giant white jade za.


    There were close to 100 wide streets branching out in all directions with the za acting as the central point, and hovering in the air above the za was a white pce that looked as if it had been entirely constructed out of pristine white jade.


    There were countlessrge white runes swirling around the pce, releasing bursts of white light that enshrouded the entire za and all of the streets around it.


    This was thergest business area in Primordial Origin City, and it was certainly living up to its reputation.