Han Li looked over the guards. Although they had no spiritual energy fluctuation, they were all agile and seemed to have practiced some basic martial arts.
However, what intrigued him most was that cylindrical device. These guards had no spiritual energy, yet they could still identify cultivators with it truly marvelous.
Han Li couldn't help but give the cylinder a few more glances.
Wang Changqing noticed this from beside him and explained with a smile:
"That's the Spirit Disc, it allows us mortals to identify the identity of cultivators!"
"Spirit Disc?" Han Li was slightly startled at the term, but immediately recalled that one end of the cylinder did have a palm-sized jade disc embedded, so he nodded slightly without saying anything.
Then, under Han Li's cold observation, the beast cart traveled along a white stone-paved street toward the city center.
There were many pedestrians on the road, coming and going ceaselessly, and the further they went, the more bustling it became.
Most of these people wore white clothing, and even those with different colors wore pale yellow, light green, or other light-colored attire. Not a single person was dressed in bright colors.
Moreover, there was a clear distinction in status among these people. Often one or two people in expensive clothing walked ahead, followed closely by three or four people in slightly worn clothes, clearly servants.
Eventually, because there were too many people and beast carts, Han Li's group had to slow down to continue moving forward.
After much effort, the beast cart finally reached a huge square in the city center.
The square covered dozens of acres and could be described as a sea of people. From Han Li's glance, everywhere he looked, there were dark heads.
And crowds from all directions continued to pour into the square without stopping.
Along the square's perimeter, there were many shops crowded with people. In the middle of the shops were some temporary stalls, also packed with people. In the center, even more people were eagerly discussing something, making it bustling and extraordinarily lively.
Han Li stared blankly at the scene, mentally estimating that with such dense crowds, at least tens of thousands of people were packed into this square at once.
When the beast cart reached here, it naturally couldn't move forward any further.
Master Gu took the lead in getting off the cart and led Han Li and the others on foot toward a palace-like building at the edge of the square.
The palace was about a dozen zhang tall, clearly much higher than the other buildings.
And a row of guards stood in front of the huge palace entrance, holding gleaming spears, forbidding others from approaching casually.
"Today is Kui Star Island's tri-monthly market day, so there are several times more people in East Stone City than usual. Basically, people from over a dozen towns in the east all come here to trade for rare items they can't normally buy." Master Gu explained all this to Han Li while walking forward.
Han Li smiled faintly and followed him to the palace entrance.
Master Gu went forward and said a few words to the guards at the door, and the guards waved their hands, indicating they could enter.
So, Master Gu hurriedly beckoned Han Li and Wang Changqing, and they all went in together.
As soon as they entered the palace, it became much cooler and quieter. In the corridor behind the door, dozens of people who looked somewhat distinguished were whispering in small groups. When they saw Master Gu's arrival, they all looked over with some hostility.
But then, the purple wooden door at the other end of the corridor opened, and a young man in white about twenty years old came out. This person had delicate, fair features and a very refined appearance.
"You must be Master Gu, right? Everyone else has arrived, only the Gu family is missing. But only cultivators participating in the challenge can go inside. Master Gu, please wait here for the results!" The young man glanced kindly at Han Li and said politely to Master Gu.
The young man's cultivation level was clearly revealed by Han Li's scan, around the fourth or fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, about the same as Han Li's current level.
Seeing this, Master Gu had no choice but to give Han Li an expectant look, then murmured his assent and stepped aside.
Han Li followed the young man through the wooden door with a normal expression, and the door immediately closed behind them.
"My surname is Wen, fellow daoist can call me Wen Qiang. However, I see you're very unfamiliar, are you a cultivator newly arrived at our Kui Star Island?" As soon as Han Li entered the wooden door, the young man turned back and asked with a smile.
"I'm Han Li, I arrived at Kui Star Island just last month!" After this period of practice, Han Li could speak the local language without much problem.
"Hehe, truly admirable! With your current cultivation level, you dare to venture out. You truly have extraordinary courage! I'm not as capable. Since being born on this island, I haven't stepped foot outside Kui Star Island." The young man said with some envy.
Hearing this, Han Li chuckled softly without responding.
Then, Han Li followed the young man straight ahead until they reached a circular hall where over thirty cultivators with various expressions were either sitting or standing.
"It seems everyone has arrived. Then let's start the drawing immediately! One battle decides victory, only injury is allowed, no killing, otherwise the winner will be disqualified." A Daoist-looking elderly man sitting opposite the crowd said very briefly.
Among all the Qi Refining stage cultivators in the room, he was the only one at the Foundation Establishment stage, apparently the cultivator in charge of this matter.
And the young man with the surname Wen, as soon as he entered the hall, hurriedly went behind the elderly man and stood with his hands at his sides.
The elderly man ignored the young man and took out a green jade cylinder containing over twenty bamboo slips.
"Alright, those who want to challenge come and draw one. Those with the same numbers will compete against each other first, and the winner will have the right to challenge the original merchant's representative."
Hearing this, most of the thirty people stared at the jade cylinder.
And the jade cylinder suddenly emitted a layer of green light, covering the bamboo slips inside. Other people's spiritual sense was automatically repelled outside the green light, and some were slightly affected, causing their bodies to sway.
Other cultivators who didn't use their spiritual sense to probe the jade cylinder showed expressions of schadenfreude.
These people were the cultivators about to be challenged. They naturally hoped that Han Li and the other challengers would suffer as much as possible.
With Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, forcibly breaking through the green light would be no problem at all, but he wouldn't do such conspicuous things.
So, looking at each other, Han Li and the other cultivators took turns drawing bamboo slips one by one.
After Han Li drew one, he looked at it horizontally and saw it was a strange silver symbol.
He couldn't help but frown. He had forgotten he didn't recognize the local writing!
But Han Li remained expressionless, put away the bamboo slip in his hand, and acted as if nothing had happened.
"Number one," the elderly man said coldly.
Immediately, two cultivators holding identical bamboo slips stepped forward.
"Go compete on that platform over there. A formation has been set up there, so it won't be afraid of damage from spells. As long as you can take the opponent's bamboo slip and give it to me, you win. I won't ask what methods or means you use. Of course, you can't kill your opponent." The elderly man said bluntly.
"Yes, Senior!" The two bowed to the elderly man and walked toward the open-air platform vaguely visible behind the hall.
As a flash of white light appeared on the platform, the two disappeared from sight.
But after a short while, the two reappeared on the platform looking somewhat tired.
One of them excitedly gave both bamboo slips to the elderly man, while the other walked dejectedly straight out of the hall.
"Number two," the elderly man called out coldly.
...
Because the fighting methods of Qi Refining stage cultivators were relatively simple, victories and defeats were determined very quickly.
There was even a pair of cultivators who had just gone in when they both came out immediately afterward. Both the winner and the loser were grinning happily. This made Han Li find it a bit strange.
"Number seven"
One cultivator stood up immediately at the elderly man's voice, but the other was slow to come out.
"Number seven," the elderly man called again with a darkened expression.
Only then did Han Li walk out with a look of realization, hurriedly apologizing:
"Senior! I'm really sorry. I misread the number just now, thought I was number nine!"
The elderly man didn't care what Han Li said and waved his hand impatiently. Han Li, understanding the situation, quickly went with the other person toward the platform.
After the white light flashed, Han Li and his opponent appeared in a misty white world. Except for a space several dozen zhang wide in the middle, white mist surrounded them on all sides.
"Your cultivation level is a full two layers lower than mine. I don't think we need to fight. Fellow daoist, just concede! It would save me from accidentally seriously injuring you if I slip up!" The middle-aged cultivator opposite said to Han Li with a confident face.
Han Li looked at this "expert" at the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage opposite him. Seeing that, like himself, he hadn't even activated his protective barrier, Han Li chuckled softly.