Han Li didn’t react to their words. His eyes simply glowed blue as his gaze penetrated the dense sandstorm. He was able to see into the far distance.
Fifty kilometers away, an inconceivable omen suddenly appeared.
At the very edge of the vast horizon, he saw a black sky, yellow earth, and a white line right in between. The white line seemed to have no end and stretched out as far as the eye could see.
But as it was too far away, the image was vague.
Han Li raised his brow and the spirit light faded from his eyes.
At that moment, the party resumed their flight and headed towards the omen marked area.
A short moment later, the party saw something strange.
Originally, the black mist roiled in the sky and yellow winds stormed below it. A huge channel of white light appeared where they touched. Then, the black mist and the yellow winds parted to reveal a crack. No matter how much the black mist and yellow sands blew into the crack, it all vanished as if they entered an abyss.
“That’s the Southern Skyline? How interesting!” The young white-robed woman smiled at the sight.
Long Dong examined the scene for a moment and sullenly said, “Let’s go. The sandstorm is at its weakest. If we wait a few more days, we’ll have to spend great effort just to make it to the entrance.”
Soon after, he flipped his hand and a fist-sized azure bead appeared in his hand.
He flicked his finger and the bead spun before shrinking several times.
Long Dong then swallowed it.
The others took out a similar bead and swallowed it in the same method.
A layer of strange light surrounded their bodies and soon a whistling gale brushed past them. When they touched the l.u.s.trous light, the gales seemed to vanish.
They were Wind Steadying Beads that the upper echelon of Deep Heaven City had specially prepared for them.
Without any further consideration, the party already took off, arriving three kilometers away from the skyline. Without using any of their flight light, an invisible force suddenly appeared around them. Several streaks of light flashed as they were pulled into the crack.
Once Han Li entered the crack, he felt the attractive force relax and felt that his freedom was restored. However, countless white wind blades then appeared and he heard sharp icy screeches. Inside the crack, the huge winds were incredibly harsh.
Were it not for the wind beads they consumed, they would immediately release their magic treasure to protect themselves.
This would’ve consumed quite some magic power.
Now, the wind blades disappeared upon contact with the l.u.s.trous light.
Han Li swept his gaze around him and discovered that his spiritual sense wasn’t able to leave his body. He could only use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look three hundred meters around him. As for the others, they had disappeared from his perimeter.
He frowned. Without any hesitation, the light around him glowed brightly and he shot forward in an azure streak, disappearing into the storm.
Several days later, the entrance to the skyline suddenly flashed with light and two streaks of light flew into it.
The light faded away to reveal two embroidered-robed middle-aged cultivators.
They were dressed similarly and there was a purple band worn on their heads. A s.h.i.+ning light radiated from their eyes. Upon closer inspection, the two had faces that somewhat resemble Long Dong. However, one of them was rather pale while the other had torn robes as if they had gone through a battle.
The two carefully examined the huge crack and they spoke in voice transmission. They then entered the crack in each other’s embrace.
Not long after, a crimson shadow entered the sand storm, but it stopped in front of the skyline. It resentfully let out howls of rage as it flew in circles before it returned.
Soon, there was no one else that appeared apart from howling winds.
...
Several months later, on the top of a small green mountain, Han Li stood alone on a huge stone. He was looking off to the distance.
About ten kilometers away from the small mountain, there was a giant endless forest.
The forest was odd in truth. Regardless of the type of tree, their leaves would carry a few black designs. From a distance, it caused all the leaves to appear black and green.
The location was Han Li’s objective. It was the location of the Wood Tribe’s farthest border, the Black Leaves Forest.
After looking at it for a long while, Han Li withdrew his gaze and frowned in thought.
His pa.s.sage through the Southern Skyline had taken much time, but it went smoothly. He encountered no surprises.
However, the other three had yet to arrive, leaving him somewhat worried. They were either lost or they encountered mishaps. He emerged from the skyline several days before and hadn’t encountered anyone since.
After cautious deliberation, he decided to no longer wait and bluntly tread forward.
On the way, he did encounter a few small problems, even exterminating several waves of low-grade tree beings before arriving at the mountain.
Before this, the blood-marked youth and Xiao Hong had already given them the details of their a.s.signment.
Han Li clearly understood what he had to do.
According to what was said, the people that were dispatched to the Wood Tribe, Han Li included, were of high status. Their purpose was to conceal themselves deeply in the Black Leaves forest and collect information as they remained hidden. Afterward, they would observe the movements of the Wood Tribe and see if there were any large movements.
The mission sounded simple, but half of the danger was making it to the Wood Tribe territory through the wilderness. The other danger was to remain undetected in the Black Leaves Forest.
Of the surrounding tribes, the Wood Tribe had the least contact with humans. They would only know what was happening with the Wood Tribe from what they gathered from Black Leaves Forest. The humans and demons needed information on them or they wouldn’t dare to wage war on them.
Han Li quietly waited there for a month and saw no others had come. The deadline to start the a.s.signment was drawing closer and closer.
With the deadline running close and the possible encounter with trouble, he could no longer stay there.
Han Li pondered for a long while before he raised his head to look at the distant sky.
It was the four suns that have been s.h.i.+ning for three months. Soon, the sky would become dark.
According to his information, the Wood Tribe beings innately lacked their five senses. When they came into contact with enemies, they relied on their spiritual awareness. As such, the high-grade cultivators that gave them this a.s.signment gave them a suggestion. When they entered the Black Leaves Forest, it would be best to move during night and stay hidden by day. It was safer that way.
Han Li took another look at the distant forest and eventually resolved himself. Regardless of whether the others would arrive, he was determined to unlock the bottle of Earth Cleansing Pills. He feared he would have to finish the mission alone.
Having resolved himself, Han Li immediately sat down on the rock and closed his eyes. Several hours later, the sky turned dim. Han Li waited until the forest was dark and silent like a predator lying in wait.
Han Li opened his eyes and suddenly shot forward in a burst of light. Then in a flash, the light became lightlessly dim.
He formed an incantation gesture and his body turned into a blur as if he were only an illusion.
In truth, Han Li already employed a concealment technique by the time he was in the air. Under the cover of night, he slowly made his way forward.
Tens of kilometers away, Han Li flew as quietly as he could. An hour later, he appeared at the edge of the forest.
With the forest’s endless expanse, it was impossible for him to make his way past every location with Wood Tribe beings. However, Han Li didn’t dare to take the risk.
Normally, it is said that inside the Wood Tribe being’s sphere of influence, there was always a Dream Sifting Spirit Tree.
This was the Wood Tribe’s sole protective tree. It had a range of control and commanded a number of other trees. It also possessed various other inconceivable abilities.
Of course, each Dream Sifting Tree had a different sized area they could monitor and a different number of trees they could command.
The Dream Sifting Trees in the Black Leaves Forest was already made certain by the scouts of Deep Heaven City.
Because Black Leaves Forest was at the very border of the Wood Tribe’s lands, the Dream Sifting Trees were particularly alert and had wide monitoring areas, filling various places in the forest. But on the other hand, the Dream Sifting Trees didn’t control a large number of trees. Also, they could only perceive existences at Spatial Tempering stage and above.
Of course, if there was a foreign tribe that dared to brazenly fly above the forest and escaped notice by the Dream Sifting Trees, there would be other Wood Tribe beings that would sense them.
Therefore, Han Li not only completely concealed his aura, but an empty shadow always appeared wherever his feet touched the ground. As soon as he entered the forest, he was an invisible blur.
With the overbearing power of Han Li’s flesh body, he used the Nine Gale Transformations and the Smoke Sifting Steps together to become a ghost-like existence.
He appeared to flicker in appearance with every step and treat fifty kilometers deep into the forest in the blink of an eye.
As Han Li heard the winds whistling through his eyes, he calmly pondered.
According to the mission details, if everything goes smoothly, he would arrive at the determined location in three days. So long as he acquired the information, the mission was already mostly complete. Finding out further information on the Wood Tribe was only supplementary. In truth, it wouldn’t be a problem if he did nothing more at that point.
He briefly stopped and blurred, strangely disappearing from atop a large tree.
Meanwhile, heavy footsteps sounded from his front and slowly approached his direction.
It seemed to be a giant creature.
At that moment, Han Li already concealed himself in exceptionally dense foliage and remained absolutely still.
A moment later, two thirty-meter-tall green ape-like beasts boldly pa.s.sed by, each of them carrying a huge copper p.r.o.ng.