"What? You"re saying that Spatial Cloud Crystal was devoured by that giant beast, and that the beast is roaming the nearby area?" Han Li was rather incredulous.
"Indeed. At the time, the giant beast devoured most of the entire teleportation formation, including the Spatial Cloud Crystal, and it left this region of the sea immediately thereafter. However, someone discovered this beast again over 100 years ago in the deep sea to the south. On that occasion, it was discovered by a dozen or so upper race beings, but only two of them managed to escape while the others all died. During the next several decades after that, we arranged many hunting parties to try and kill this beast in order to repair our teleportation formation, but not only was this beast extremely powerful, it possessed brains and brawn in equal measure. When there were too many people around, it would hide deep within the sea and refuse to show itself, and it would only attack stragglers or small hunting parties. As such, many cultivators perished during our attempts to slay the beast, all to no avail," Qing Xiao sighed in a resigned manner.
"What kind of abilities does this beast possess to make it such a difficult opponent?" Han Li asked with a peculiar look on his face.
Generally speaking, regardless of how powerful a sea beast was, it would inevitably be slain if it were to be hunted down by a group of cultivators.
"We haven"t been able to identify what species this beast is, but it seems to be a mutated sea beast. From a distance, it appears to be a ma.s.sive whale, but it can expand or shrink as it pleases, and it"s capable of unleas.h.i.+ng a water movement technique that allows it to move extremely quickly in the sea. Even on the few occasions where were managed to force the beast into a dire situation, it was able to easily escape after unleas.h.i.+ng that technique, thereby making all of our prior efforts go to waste. On top of that, the sea beast is extremely violent and ferocious. Aside from Layman Silver Shark, who"s the most powerful cultivator in this region of the sea, no one dares to face the beast on their own," the young woman said with furrowed brows.
The elation on Han Li"s face also faded upon hearing this. It appeared that things were not going to be as easy as he imagined.
However, a skeptical look then appeared on his face as he asked, "Will the Spatial Cloud Crystal still remain in the sea beast"s body after so many years? Wouldn"t it have been refined or absorbed already?"
"Rest a.s.sured, Senior, the Spatial Cloud Crystal possesses spatial-attribute powers, so there"s no way to destroy it unless an attack imbued with spatial powers is used. That sea beast possesses a diverse range of powers and abilities, but it doesn"t possess spatial-attribute powers. That"s something that we"ve managed to ascertain after hunting it for so many years," Qing Xiao replied in a confident manner.
Han Li nodded in response before falling into deep thought.
"Fellow Daoist Qing, do you know the rough location that this sea beast tends ot appear in?" Han Li asked.
"Do you intend to kill this beast, Senior Han?" the woman asked as a grave look appeared on her face.
"Indeed. It wouldn"t be plausible for me to fly to the Thunder Continent. Even if I fly without any rest, it"ll take me the better part of a year, and unless I become significantly more powerful than I am now, I"ll most likely perish along the journey considering all of the hazards that are present deep within the ocean. However, if I want to return to the continent that I was originally from, then I have no choice but to visit the Thunder Continent, which is the continent closest to us. Only there will I be able to find teleportation formations capable of teleporting people between continents," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.
"It would indeed be vastly beneficial to everyone in this region if we could repair the teleportation formation. This region of the sea has a few decent spirit veins, but cultivation resources are sorely lacking, and many people have reached bottlenecks, only to find themselves unable to progress any further. After a few more millennia, all of the cultivation resources in this area would most likely be completely exhausted. If you intend to hunt down this beast, then how about you join forces with us, Senior?" the woman offered with a smile.
She then paused momentarily before continuing, "Truth be told, I left my cave abode on this occasion to visit Layman Silver Shark on his island as he was trying to organize another hunting party to kill that sea beast. I"ve actually come here to visit you with the intention of inviting you to come along with us, Senior."
"If you can repair the teleportation formation, then of course I wouldn"t mind working with all of you,"Han Li replied with a smile.
"Rest a.s.sured, Senior, we have all of the other materials ready, as well as capable formation masters who are able to repair the formation. All that we"re missing is the Spatial Cloud Crystal," Qing Xiao said with an elated expression.
"That"s good to hear." Han Li nodded in response.
"With your a.s.sistance, there"s a good chance that we"ll be able to succeed this time. Layman Silver Shark has asked everyone to gather on Blue Lake Island located to the south in four months, and the hunting party will set off from there to search for that sea beast. If you truly intend to join us, then you"ll just have to turn up on the designated date with this Silver Shark Badge." Qing Xiao flipped a hand over to produce a s.h.i.+mmering silver badge as she spoke.
Han Li accepted the badge from her before giving it a quick inspection.
The badge was of a gleaming silver hue, as if it had been forged from pure silver, and there was a large "shark" character emblazoned onto its surface.
Han Li"s expression remained unchanged as he stowed the badge away.
Qing Xiao was overjoyed to see Han Li agree to join their hunting party so quickly, and she chatted with Han Li for a while longer before finally taking her leave after extending a respectful bow.
After she flew away as a streak of white light, the white light barrier appeared around the wooden cabin once again, and at the same time, the wooden doors slowly swung shut.
Over two months later, a long cry and incessant cry erupted from the foot of the small mountain, piercing straight into the heavens.
Almost all of the Fire Yang beings on the island heard this cry, and all of them turned toward that direction with bewilderment etched on their faces.
The high priestess was discussing somethings within the palace with some high-grade serpentine beings, and she immediately emerged from the palace upon hearing this sound. She stood on the plaza and cast her gaze toward the small mountain with a peculiar look on her face.
Moments later, the long cry drew to an abrupt conclusion, following which a streak of azure light shot forth from the foot of the mountain. The streak of light reached an extremely high alt.i.tude in a flash, then flew toward the edge of the island.
Not long after that, the silver streak of light appeared over the surface of the ocean several hundred kilometers away from Firecloud Island, heading toward the southern direction without any pause or delay.
Han Li flew within the streak of light in a completely expressionless manner while contemplating what he was about to do next.
If he could join forces with the hunting party and slay the sea beast, then that would naturally be the ideal outcome. After recovering the Spatial Cloud Crystal, he"d be able to head to the Thunder Continent, then return to the Tian Yuan Continent from there.
If they failed to kill the beast, then he"d have to wait in this area for further opportunities to arise or to hunt down the sea beast again in the future.
In any case, he was carrying a large quant.i.ty of spirit medicines, as well as that small vial, and they would be sufficient to support his cultivation for a long time.
Having said that, though, it had been a long time since Han Li had left the territory of the human race, and he was wondering what state the human race was currently in.
Had a battle with other foreign races broken out? Was Deep Heaven City still standing?
He hadn"t stayed in that city for long, but he certainly didn"t want to see the human race being wiped out.
In reality, the main reason why he wanted to return to the territory of the human race was because he was worried that Nangong Wan might ascend to the Spirit Realm soon.
According to his estimations, it would take quite a bit more time before Nangong Wan could ascend to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, but he obviously couldn"t reliably foresee the future.
Perhaps Nangong Wan could"ve encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity that had taken her to the Deity Transformation Stage, and maybe she"d already ascended to the Spirit Realm.
With his current cultivation base and abilities, he was powerful enough to protect Nangong Wan on his own in the human territories.
Even for one as calm and steadfast as Han Li, he couldn"t help but be struck by a sentimental feeling at the thought of his beloved wife.
However, it only took him mere moments to cast aside that train of thought and refocus on the task at hand.
Much to Han Li"s surprise, this journey was quite a smooth one.
He slew a few insolent demonic birds that dared to attack him along the way, but he didn"t even encounter so much as a single sea beast. Thus, over a month later, he finally arrived in an unfamiliar region of the sea.
As he sped through the air, his spiritual sense scoured the area down below.
According to the map that he was consulting, he should have been close to the so-called Blue Lake Island. However, there were no islands to be seen in the nearby area.
Han Li felt this to be rather strange, but his expression suddenly changed slightly after he flew ahead for several tens of kilometers further, and he abruptly changed directions while accelerating at the same time.
Thus, he soon flew into a strange region of the sea.
The weather there s.h.i.+fted in the blink of an eye, and it began to snow over the ocean. Countless white snowflakes were swept up by the gusts of frosty winds, striking one with a bone-chilling sensation.
What was even more peculiar was that the ocean down below didn"t show any signs of freezing despite the frosty weather. Instead, there seemed to be bursts of hot steam rising up from the surface of the ocean.
The hot and cold air combined and intertwined in a peculiar phenomenon, creating a vast expanse of mist over the ocean.
After flying for a while through the wind and snow, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion downward to draw a stream of seawater into his grasp, only to find that it was extremely hot.
Han Li raised an eyebrow as he looked on at the mist in the distance, which was only growing denser as time pa.s.sed, but he merely continued onward without any pause.
As Han Li forged ahead, the wind and snow in the air above became even more frosty, but the sea was bubbling and churning as if it had reached a boiling point.
However, Han Li merely ignored these peculiar scenes and continued to fly onward.
After traveling for several tens of kilometers, the mist suddenly disappeared up ahead, and Han Li was greeted by the sight of a translucent island of ice.
The snowstorm had already ceased here, but the air temperature only plummeted even further. The seawater here had also frozen to form a thin layer of ice, creating a stark contrast with the boiling seawater that Han Li had just witnessed not long ago.
Han Li didn"t take much time to ponder the issue before flying directly toward the icy island.
From a distance, he could tell that this was quite a large island, one that was several times larger than Firecloud Island.
This island was most likely the Blue Lake Island that had been annotated on the map.
With Han Li"s current speed, he was naturally able to reach the edge of the island in the blink of an eye.
However, before he"d flown onto the island, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted up ahead from deep within the island.
Han Li"s expression changed drastically upon hearing this menacing roar, and all of the blood within his body began to churn violently.