"You're right, Brother Han, this is indeed where a river should be on the map." Bai Bi and Lei Lan were also quite bewildered after inspecting their maps.
"Could it be that the river's dried out, and all of the water has seeped into the second level?" Lei Lan speculated.
"Doesn't look like it. Even if all the water has seeped away, what's this desert doing here?" Han Li immediately shook his head in disagreement.
"Then what do you think happened here, Brother Han?" Bai Bi asked with a smile.
"I don't know, but there's no need for us to delve any further into this matter. We're merely traveling, not conducting a geographic survey of the earth abyss. Let's keep going; just make sure to keep your guard up after we enter the desert," Han Li replied in a calm voice following a brief silence.
"That's true," Bai Bi chuckled.
Thus, the three of them flew into the silver desert up ahead as streaks of spiritual light.
Even though they had spoken about this place in a rather nonchalant manner, all of them reflexively flew a little fast after entering the desert, trying to get away from this slightly unsettling place as quickly as possible.
The three of them flew for tens of thousands of kilometers, but they were still greeted by nothing but silver grains of sand, and not even a single blade of grass had been sighted.
All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly turned toward a certain direction. "What's that?"
"What is it, Brother Han?" Bai Bi asked with a hint of alarm.
"There appears to be an oasis over there, and I can detect the scent of blood in the air," Han Li replied in a solemn voice.
"I can also smell that, and it's indeed coming from that direction," Lei Lan chimed in with furrowed brows.
"Could it have been left behind by some earth abyss beasts?" Bai Bi speculated in a hesitant voice.
"That doesn't seem to be the case. The world's origin Qi over there is clearly a little chaotic, which suggests that some kind of ability had been unleashed there. We should go and have a look," Lei Lan suggested.
Chapter 1443: Untitled
"It couldn't hurt to take a look; perhaps we'll find something," Han Li agreed in an indifferent voice.
Bai Bi was rather unwilling to comply with Lei Lan's suggestion, but didn't offer any objections seeing as Han Li hadn't turned down this proposal.
Thus, the three of them changed directions and headed straight toward the place where the scent of blood was emanating from.
After flying for close to 10 kilometers, a smudge of green appeared up ahead, and there really was an oasis there that was around half a kilometer in size.
The three of them arrived in the air above the oasis in the blink of an eye.
In reality, the so-called oasis was black and yellow in color, and there were almost no tall trees there. Most of the plants growing on the oasis were a few short bushes and unknown weeds.
There was a pond that was over 100 feet in size situated at the center of the oasis, but the water within the pond was crimson in color. The bodies of a dozen or so black abyss beasts of different sizes littered the ground beside the pond, and they had all been punctured by a series of stone spikes.
The blood within these carcasses was flowing relentlessly into the pond, and the entire oasis was filled with the nauseating scent of blood and gore.
"Why would these beasts have appeared in the desert? They should be inhabiting the forest that we just passed through," Lei Lan mused with a surprised expression.
"They've only been recently slain. Otherwise, their blood would've coagulated," Bai Bi analyzed after some close inspection.
Meanwhile, Han Li appraised the situation before suddenly flying in circles around the oasis.
Moments later, he returned to his original spot and fixed his gaze on that crimson pond.
"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" Lei Lan asked in a curious voice.
"I have, indeed," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve toward the ground.
A burst of golden light shot forth before splitting up into seven or eight streaks of sword Qi that disappeared into the ground around the pond.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi both faltered upon seeing this, yet before they realized what was happening, a series of anguished howls suddenly erupted from the spots where the streaks of sword Qi hand punctured the ground, following which several bursts of black blood came flowing to the surface. The nearby ground exploded as several ape-like demons emerged.
Each and every one of these ape demons was several feet tall with two pairs of ears. They were all wielding crude stone spears, but the tips of those spears were emanating faint white light.
As soon as those apes appeared, Bai Bi recalled something before exclaiming, "Those are Resentful Ape Beasts! That means this oasis is an illusion created by a Giant Spirit Flower!"
"Giant Spirit Flower?" Lei Lan exclaimed while Han Li's eyes flashed.
Right at this moment, violent tremors ran through the ground beneath them amid a series of rumbling booms.
At the same time, a crimson shadow flew forth from the blood water in the pond, appearing in front of Han Li in a flash before pouncing viciously toward his face.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi were alarmed to see this, but the crimson shadow was far too fast for them to offer their assistance to Han Li.
However, Han Li himself merely harrumphed coldly as his arm shot forth in a blur.
Following a loud thump, a hand that was as pristine white as jade appeared before him like lightning, catching that crimson shadow firmly in its grasp.
Only then did the holy disciples catch a clear glimpse of the creatures. This was a crimson being that was around as thick as a human arm and resembled a long tongue. There was a fist-sized ball of flesh growing on the front part of its body, which was riddled with black spikes that were around an inch in length each, and all of these spikes were squirming incessantly.
However, it was as if Han Li's hand wasn't even made from blood and flesh as he was able to grasp directly onto those black spikes without any fear of injury.
Right at this moment, five white skulls suddenly emerged from his five fingers. The skulls opened their mouths in unison, and a burst of five-colored flames erupted from within.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the tongue-like creature was frozen into a strip of five-colored ice.
Han Li immediately swatted the frozen creature, and it shattered amid the sound of cracking chinaware before disintegrating into a swath of light.
A thunderous demonic roar erupted from the ground below, and it seemed to be filled with pain and fury. Crimson light swirled within the pond, and the blood water vanished in the blink of an eye. The entire oasis then crumbled amid a resounding boom, revealing a massive object.
The top of the object was absolutely gargantuan, while its bottom was extremely thin. It was a massive demonic flower of a similar size to the oasis that had been present until a moment ago.
The petals of this demonic flower were of the same silver hue as the sand in this desert, but the core of the flower was as crimson as blood and was formed from the blood pond. The tongue-like creature that had just attacked Han Li was only one of its thick filaments.
Not only that, but several tens of those so-called Resentful Ape Beasts were standing atop the flower's gigantic petals, and all of these beasts were looking upward with sinister expressions. At the same time, they made hurling motions with the spears in their hands, and several tens of foot-long stone spikes appeared before flying toward Han Li's trio.
"So this is a Giant Spirit Flower? It is indeed quite interesting, but isn't this flower a mid-grade demon beast? Aren't there supposed to be very few mid-grade demon beasts on the first level?" Han Li mused with a faint smile.
On this occasion, there was no need for him to do anything. Lei Lan and Bai Bi raised their hands in unison, sending for a vast expanse of silver lightning and golden threads that intertwined to
pulverize the oncoming stone spikes.
"Just because there are very few of them doesn't mean that they won't appear, Brother Han. On top of that, we chose to commence the trial at a very bad time as this is the exact time period before the demon beast torrent of the earth abyss. Hence, it's not all that strange to see mid-grade demon beasts appear on the first level," Lei Lan explained with furrowed brows.
Even though this was a mid-grade demon beast, it was far less troublesome of an opponent that those Yin Spider Wasps from before, so she remained completely unfazed.
"Is that so? I've heard that this flower's nectar is an exceptional pill refinement ingredient. Seeing as we've encountered one, why don't procure some of this nectar?" Han Li suggested with a smile as he suddenly flicked his 10 fingers downward.
10 small golden swords shot forth from between his fingers, hurtling downward as 10 streaks of golden light.
A loud roar erupted from the core of the flower, following which countless red shadows shot forth, attempting to strike down the flying swords.
If a normal Flying Spirit Race being were to encounter such a ferocious attack, it would be quite a headache for them to deal. However, Han Li merely pointed a finger toward his flying sword, and brilliant golden light erupted from the swords, completely vanquishing the oncoming red shadows.
The golden light then swayed once again to manifest several tens of streaks of identical sword Qi that came raining down from above.
The Resentful Ape Beasts seemed to be aware that they were facing a crisis of life and death upon seeing this, and they let loose sharp screeches as they hurled forth their stone spears. All of the spears also transformed into tens of streaks of white light midflight as they flew toward the streaks of sword Qi.
However, these crude stone spears were naturally no match for the powerful Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. As such, they were immediately reduced to powdered stone in the face of the sharp flying swords.
Immediately thereafter, the streaks of golden sword Qi merely flew around the Resentful Ape Beasts, and all of them were sliced in half.
At the same time, the streaks of sword Qi sliced viciously into the demonic flower, instantly shredding it into countless pieces. The massive flower crashed heavily onto the ground with large volumes of green liquid flowing from it all over the ground.
The Giant Spirit Flower and those Resentful Ape Beasts had been slain by Han Li in one fell swoop.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi were left with nothing to do, and they could only glance at each other with wry smiles on their faces.
"Alright, I'll go down and get some nectar, and we'll continue in our journey after that," Han Li instructed as he withdrew his flying swords.
He then descended toward the ground before flipping his hand over to produce a small green vial, which he pointed toward the now incomplete core of the flower.
A burst of azure light immediately shot forth, sweeping over the flower's core and extracting balls of pink liquid that entered the vial.
Han Li shook the small vial, and a peculiar fragrance wafted toward him. A smile appeared on his face, and the small vial disappeared amid a flash of azure light.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi also descended before producing containers to extract some nectar for themselves.
"Let's go." Han Li spread his wings and rose into the air again.
Bai Bi immediately followed suit as a streak of golden light. Lei Lan was about to do the same when she cast a glance at the remains of the giant flower on the ground, and for some reason, she decided to flick a finger toward it.
A loud thunderclap erupted as an arc of silver lightning shot forth, striking and destroying the yellow branch that remained connected to the demonic flower.
Only then did she spread her wings and fly toward Han Li and Bai Bi.
Thus, the three of them disappeared in the blink of an eye, and peace and quiet returned to the area.
Two hours later, the ground nearby suddenly tremored, following which several massive black tendrils abruptly emerged from the ground amid a resounding boom. Immediately thereafter, a black demonic flower that was several times larger than the Giant Spirit Flower that had just been destroyed appeared from the ground below.
The flower was like a gigantic mountain, and the tendrils connected to it slapped onto the ground, thereby allowing it to stabilize itself. Right at this moment, an enraged voice sounded from atop the flower. "Who would dare to destroy the spirit flower?"
At the center of the giant black flower, there was a silver wooden chair, atop which sat a slender figure holding a green leather whip with a set of blurry facial features.
Yellow light flashed, and a furry figure suddenly appeared before the silver chair. It immediately half-knelt onto the ground in an extremely respectful manner as it said, "There's no need to be enraged, Mistress. The flower appears to only have been destroyed recently, so the perpetrators couldn't have gotten far away. Allow me to do some investigating first."
"Alright, then. I still have to conduct the sacrificial ceremony, so I'll leave this to you. Regardless of who it is, make sure that they die for what they did," the woman said in a cold voice before cracking her whip into the empty air.
A white rift appeared in a flash, and spatial fluctuations erupted nearby. Immediately thereafter, boundless black mist erupted from within the white rift, and it appeared that space had been torn open by the whip.
Chapter 1444: Demonic Ape
"Yes, Mistress!" The short furry figure shuddered as it ducked its head even lower.
"Go, now. I'll be returning to the third level on my own," the woman instructed before tapping a foot on the massive black flower beneath her.
Black light immediately flashed from the gigantic flower as silver formations of different sizes appeared over its surface. Silver light then flashed and bursts of inky-black mist billowed out from these formations, forming a sea of mist that enshrouded the entire giant flower in the blink of an eye.
A rumbling thunderclap erupted from within the mist, following which the sea of mist was dispelled by gusts of fierce winds amid a few arcs of flashing silver lightning.
The flower and the slender woman abruptly disappeared on the spot, and only the furry figure remained, still half-knelt on the ground.
After around the five minutes, the short humanoid figure finally rose to its feet and slowly raised its head, revealing a set of ape-like facial features and two pairs of ears. Its green eyes were quite small, but they were shimmering with a cold and sinister light.
This was a Resentful Ape Beast with dark yellow fur, and it seemed to have attained intelligence. The demonic ape appraised its surroundings before abruptly opening its mouth to expel a burst of yellow mist that enshrouded the remains of the giant flower.
An incredible turn of events unfolded!
Within this yellow mist, the Giant Spirit Flower quickly disintegrated into a vast expanse of viscous green liquid. The mist then swept up this green liquid and drew it into the demonic ape's stomach.
The ape then closed its eyes while green light appeared within its nostrils and four ears. At the same time, its yellow fur had turned green and was shimmering faintly.
This Resentful Ape Beast stood still on the spot for a long while two of its four ears suddenly twitched slightly.
Not long after this, a ball of red light flashed from the distance.
There was a portly man within the red light who appeared to be in his thirties, and he had a pair of green wings on his back, as well as a pair of sharp horns on his head. A cunning light was shimmering from his beady eyes, and he was a holy disciple from one of the other branches of the Flying Spirit Race.
For some reason, he had chosen the same route as Han Li and the others, and he appeared to be traveling alone. However, this man appeared to be extremely cautious, so it had naturally already noticed the demonic ape up ahead.
Thus, the fatso stopped in mid-air several hundred feet away from the demonic ape before looking down at i
t with a hint of surprise on his face.
Even though the demonic ape had converted the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower into liquid and consumed it, the fissures on the ground from when the giant black flower had emerged were quite astonishing to behold.
Meanwhile, the demonic ape stood motionlessly on the spot with his eyes tightly shut while green light flashed within his nose and ears. It seemed to have completely detached itself from the outside world.
As such, this scene struck the onlooker with the illusion that the ape had just fought some kind of gargantuan being and had sustained severe injuries in the process. As a result, it was forced to entering a state of recuperation, thereby rendering it completely defenseless.
That was clearly the conclusion that the holy disciple had arrived at, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face at the sight of the demonic ape.
Even though the objective of this trial wasn't to kill demons, being able to slay a high-grade earth abyss demon beast would undoubtedly earn him bountiful rewards such as its demon core, as well as other ingredients and materials that could be procured from its body.
No one would be willing to give up a chunk of delicious meat that was there for the taking.
However, this holy disciple was extremely cautious and didn't spring into action in a reckless manner. Instead, he surveyed the demonic ape in silence from afar.
After a long while, the demonic ape still hadn't moved at all, and he was finally lulled into a sense of security. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he abruptly rubbed his hands together.
A ball of flames erupted from between his palms, and the flames then transformed into a log fiery spear that was around 20 feet in length.
The tip of the spear was extremely sharp, and it was enshrouded in a layer of scorching crimson flames.
The holy disciple then spread its wings and sped toward the demonic ape as a streak of red light.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 810