Chapter 2205: Revered by Countless Cultivators
Within the flashing lights, a gargantuan mountain that was close to 100,000 feet tall appeared high up in the air.
Just the base of the gigantic mountain was close to 50 kilometers in size, and the shadow that it case encompassed the entire central area of Deep Heaven City.
Such a massive commotion naturally drew the attention of everyone around the plaza, and they all looked up with stunned expressions, only to be greeted by the sight of the enormous underside of the mountain.
It wasn't the case that no one had seen such a massive mountain before, but no one had ever seen a mountain of this stature hovering in mid-air.
What made this situation even more astonishing was that there had been nothing in the air just a moment ago.
Even further in the distance, there were more people rushing over to attend the ceremony, and they were able to glean the entirety of the three-colored mountain, which filled them with a sense of awe and veneration as well.
At the same time, the approaching cultivators discovered that the top half of the mountain was littered with countless pavilions, while the summit of the mountain was enshrouded within a layer of thin white mist, seemingly obscuring something from view.
Some of the more curious cultivators ignored the guards on the plaza down below and flew directly toward the giant mountain.
At this moment, the silver light finally faded, and the three-colored mountain ceased in its expansion.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the cultivators flying toward the massive mountain, and he made a hand seal in a nonchalant manner.
Countless runes immediately flashed on the surface of the three-colored mountain, conjuring up a transparent restriction that encompassed all of the space within several kilometers of the mountain.
All of the cultivators that reached this area were instantly repelled and kept at bay by an invisible light barrier.
After steadying themselves, the cultivators exchanged a few glances, but no one dared to try and barge their way through any further.
It was clear that this giant mountain was somehow related to Han Li, and if they were to irk this new Grand Ascension Stage patriarch, it would be akin to committing suicide.
All of a sudden, a casual male voice rang out from the peak of the mountain.
"I am truly honored to have so many fellow daoists attend my celebratory ceremony. Those who are eligible to attend the ceremony can enter through the teleportation formations down below; I will be awaiting your arrival on the Grand Ascension Immortal Platform at the mountain's summit."
The voice belonged to none other than Han Li, and he had used some type of ability to make it clearly audible to all of the people attending the ceremony.
"Senior Han!"
"That's Patriarch Han's voice!"
A stir immediately ran through the nearby cultivators upon hearing this voice, and they all descended toward the plaza down below.
At the same time, some of the attendees had already been arranged into orderly lines by the armored guards in front of the dozen or so teleportation formations on the platform, and they were teleported away in groups.
The first batch of cultivators to enter the teleportation formations arrived within a hall on the giant three-colored mountain, and as soon as they emerged, they began to inspect their surroundings in a curious manner.
There was already a group of white-robed servants waiting for them, and after extending slight bows toward these cultivators, one of the servants stepped forward as he said, "Please follow me, seniors; I'll take you to the top of the mountain."
These servants were mostly at the Core Formation Stage and Nascent Soul Stage, so the cultivators that had arrived didn't pay much heed to them; they merely nodded in response and allowed themselves to be led out of the hall, onto a winding path that led to the mountain summit.
Some of these white-robed servants were Qi Lingzi's disciples, while the rest had been temporarily borrowed by Han Li from the elders of the city.
Their cultivation bases weren't all that advanced, but they were certainly fit for such a simple task, and they had been teleported into the hall in the instant that the giant three-colored mountain had taken shape.
More and more people began to pour out of the teleportation formations in the hall, and once the hall was crowded to a certain extent, a servant would guide everyone up to the mountain summit.
As the cultivators walked upward along the mountain path, they were greeted by the sight of a series of beautiful buildings, as well as strange and exotic plants and flowers. There were also some spirit beasts and spirit birds roaming their scenic surroundings, and there was no lack of rare and legendary beasts among them.
Some of the cultivators became very curious upon seeing this, and they wanted to take a closer look, but as soon as they strayed off them mountain path, they would find themselves in a space that filled with white mist, and the ground beneath their feet would also disappear, leaving them feeling as if they were hovering in mid-air.
These people were all quite alarmed by this, and some of them stood still on the spot, not daring to move, while others unleashing different incantation seals to try and break out of the restriction.
However, regardless of what they did, none of the measures that they had taken proved to be effective.
In the eyes of those who were still on the mountain, it appeared that the cultivators who strayed off the path suddenly stiffened and became completely still, as if they had been turned into puppets.
"They've fallen into an illusionary technique!"
Those who were more adept in the art of formations immediately identified what was going on.
The white-robed servant that was leading the group remained calm as he raised a hand to summon a silver badge, which he swept through the air to release a burst of five-colored light.
The light swept up all of the cultivators who had fallen prey to the illusionary technique and dragged them back onto the mountain path, upon which they were immediately brought back into the real world.
Before these cultivators had a chance to react, the white-robed servant extended a bow toward them, and said, "This mountain is a treasure created by Patriarch Han, and aside from the mountain path we're currently walking on, there are restrictions everywhere else, so please follow along closely behind me, seniors. Otherwise, if I fail to intervene and save you in time, something bad could happen."
Everyone exchanged a few glances upon hearing this, then nodded with wry smiles on their faces.
An illusionary restriction set up by a Grand Ascension cultivator was unfathomable to them, but one thing was for sure; it definitely wasn't something that they could contend with.
The rest of the people to emerge from the hall were also issued the same warning by the white-robed servants, and aside from a very rare selection of reckless individuals, no one tried to oppose the restriction.
As the first batch of people arrived on the mountain summit, the thin veil of mist there had already dissipated.
A massive plaza that was paved with white jade bricks was revealed to everyone, and atop the plaza was placed countless futons of different colors.
At the center of the plaza was a translucent pagoda with seven levels and was several hundred feet tall. There were countless green spirit patterns engraved on the surface of each and every level, and at the top of the pagoda was a giant azure lotus flower that was around an acre in size.
The azure lotus was in a half-bloomed state, and at its center sat an azure-robed young man, who had his eyes closed with a faint smile on his face.
This man was naturally none other than Han Li.
The Leopard Kirin Beast was lying beside him, and it was appraising the approaching cultivators in a lazy manner.
Even though Han Li didn't pay any heed to the cultivators who had entered the plaza, all of them extended respectful bows toward him from afar, and only then did they dare to allow themselves to be led to a corner of the plaza, where they took a seat on the provided futons.
The ceremony-goers who arrived thereafter also paid their respects to Han Li before sitting down on the plaza as well.
Among them were individuals of both genders and all ages, and there were even some demonic beings with animalistic appendages and features.
After these people had taken a seat, they immediately closed their eyes to meditate, not even daring to chat with those around them. Thus, the entire platform was completely silent.
The plaza that Han Li had set up on the mountain summit was very massive, but it still only had a maximum capacity of around 40,000 people. Shortly thereafter, almost all of the futons on the entire plaza were occupied, yet there were still close to 1,000,000 people ineligible for entry stuck outside the teleportation formations.
After that, the representatives of the different powers also began to arrive on the platform.
These people were guided by the white-robed servants to the inner circle that was quite close to Han Li, and these representatives also came from a variety of different races.
After another hour, the entire plaza had reached full capacity, and the elders of Deep Heaven City had also arrived at the entrance to the plaza.
At this point, it was noon sharp, and there were seven scintillating suns hanging up in the sky.
Qi Lingzi appeared at the foot of the pagoda amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then extended a salute toward everyone before announcing in a serious voice, "It's time, let the ceremony begin!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, the Heaven Shaking Bell tolled several more times, and five-colored light flashed in the sky as a series of beautiful figures began to dance up above amid bursts of heavenly music.
Countless five-colored petals fell out of the sky from these beautiful figures, filling the entire plaza with a fragrant aroma.
As soon as these cultivators breathed in this scent, they were immediately struck by a sense of great comfort and improved focus.
"This is Grasswood Essence refined from the essence collected from 81 types of rare spirit plants and flowers!" someone immediately exclaimed before falling silent just as quickly, realizing that their sudden outburst had been rather inappropriate. Expressions of ecstasy instantly appeared on many people's faces, and they began to absorb the fragrance in the air with all their might.
However, right at this moment, Qi Lingzi suddenly said, "You may now pay your respects."
All of the human cultivators immediately rose to their feet upon hearing this, then extended respectful bows toward Han Li in unison.
"Congratulations on reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, Senior Han."
The envoys from the other races didn't say anything, but they also extended respectful bows toward Han Li.
The congratulatory words were amplified by special restrictions, and they reverberated incessantly throughout the entire city.