"According to that senior of our Spirit Race, the island is indeed roughly located there, but..." A hesitant look appeared on Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's face.
"Are you still keeping secrets from us at a time like this, Fellow Daoist?" the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly with displeasure.
"That's not it, Brother Long; it's just that the senior also told us there's some type of danger lying near the island, so he told us to take extra caution when approaching it. However, he didn't reveal the specific details to us and only mentioned in passing, so I didn't divulge this information," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns explained.
"Oh? That senior of your race was Grand Ascension Stage being, so if it's something that even he's wary of, then it must be extremely dangerous to us; we'll have to be very careful while approaching the island," Han Li said with a grim expression.
"Indeed. If you have any trump cards up your sleeves, then make sure to prepare them in advance; I'll set up a few formations on the ark that'll increase its power by at least more than half," the elderly scholar among the Spirit beings said.
A grim look had also appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face. "I have a pair of stone puppets left behind from ancient times. Their attack patterns are a little one-dimensional, but in terms of defensive prowess, they're comparable with Body Integration Stage beings. However, in order to activate them, a refinement process has to commence around half a month in advance."
Han Li was silent for a moment before chiming in, "I possess a set of powerful devilish flags that can be set up on the ark."
The devilish flags had been obtained by him after he had slain a certain devilish lord, and they were quite powerful in the eyes of normal Body Integration Stage beings.
"I have a few Glacial Water Rhinoceroses that have powerful defensive capabilities and can expel formidable glacial Qi; we can use them to replace the current sea beasts," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns proposed.
With the example set by Han Li and the others, everyone else also contributed some of their treasures.
They were all aware that these things definitely weren't the true life-saving trump cards that everyone had up their sleeves, but these items would definitely bolster the giant ark significantly.
After that, the giant ark began to travel toward the southwestern direction, and everyone got to work.
Han Li set up the set of devilish flags at several important points on the ark, and the elderly scholar was carving some runes and embedding some formation plates onto the ark's surface.
Not long after that, the entire giant ark underwent a complete transformation and was now being drawn by eight shimmering blue rhinoceros-like sea beasts, each of which was around 50 to 60 feet in length.
A month passed by in the blink of an eye, and on this day, the placid black seawater around the giant ark suddenly became extremely turbulent.
Massive waves came crashing toward the ark from all sides, and the dark clouds in the sky had descended to an altitude of around 500 to 600 feet.
Howling winds were blowing through the clouds, and bolts of silver lightning were occasionally crashing down to strike the giant ark.
However, the ark was enshrouded under a green light barrier, which managed to keep the bolts of lightning at bay with ease.
At the front of the ark stood Han Li and everyone else, and they were discussing something with grim expressions.
"It's already been a month, and we still haven't discovered the island. On top of that, could it be that the perils outlined by that senior of your Spirit Race are these violent weather conditions?" the Long Family patriarch asked.
"Surely you jest, Brother Long; of course the dangers wouldn't be limited to something like this. The main issue is that our spiritual sense is significantly restricted in this region of the sea, so we can only detect everything in a radius of around five kilometers. With this handicap weighing us down, it'll be a lot more difficult to find that island," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with furrowed brows.
"It's a good thing that Brother Han and Brother Bai both possess spirit eye abilities that allow them to see further into the distance. Otherwise, we'd truly be searching for a needle in a haystack," the Long Family patriarch sighed.
At this moment, Han Li was peering into the distance on one side of the ark with blue light flashing through his eyes.
On the other side of the ark stood Bai Qi, and even though his features were concealed by a layer of white light, one could make out a beam of white light that seemed to be stemming from his forehead, extending into the giant waves in the distance."Don't count on my Brightsight Spirit Eyes too much, Brother Long. In contrast with Brother Bai's innate spirit eye ability, my ability was attained through cultivation, and using it expends a vast amount of magic power, so I can't use it too often," Han Li said with a wry smile.
"You're far too modest, Brother Han. Even if your spirit eye ability can't be used for an extended period of time, it would still increase our chances of finding our destination significantly if you can assist Fellow Daoist Bai," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a faint smile.
Han Li didn't offer any response to this and continued to peer into the distance.
The Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't possess spirit eye abilities, but instead of returning to their cabins, they stood still on the spot, contemplating some things in silence.
Time slowly passed by, and the blue light faded from Han Li's eyes. He then rested on the spot for a long while before activating his spirit eye ability once again.
However, on this occasion, the blue light in his eyes only flashed a few times before a bewildered look appeared on his face, and he immediately injected more magic power into his eyes.
The blue light in his eyes immediately became extremely bright, to the extent that merely looking into his eyes from afar would strike one with sharp ocular pain.
This naturally alerted the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, but neither of them said anything to disrupt him. Instead, they exchanged an elated glance before continuing to scrutinize Han Li.
"Brother Bai, come over to my side and have a look at the place around 2,500 kilometers away," Han Li said to Bai Qi.
"2,500 kilometers? You can see that far into the distance? That'll be quite a stretch for my capabilities," Bai Qi said in a bewildered manner.
He then turned toward Han Li's direction, and the beam of white light that was being released from his forehead immediately grew brighter.
After a long while, the white light that he was emitting dimmed slightly, and he said, "There does indeed seem to be something there, but it's too far away for me to make out clearly, so I can't confirm whether it's an island."
"What exactly did the two of you see, fellow daoists?" the Long Family patriarch asked.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was naturally also very interested to hear the response.
"There's a black shadow in that direction that was enshrouded in lightning, but I'm unable to see the black shadow clearly due to the lightning's interference," Han Li explained.
"Lightning? Isn't there lightning over here as well? What's the difference?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked as her brows furrowed slightly in a perplexed manner.
"It'll be easier for you to see for yourselves when we get there rather than for me to explain it," Han Li replied with a peculiar expression.
"Alright, let's head over there right away!" the Long Family patriarch said as he immediately pointed a finger at the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses up ahead.
The giant ark tremored slightly, then sped toward the direction that Han Li was casting his gaze toward.
After that, the Long Family patriarch informed everyone else of this through voice transmission, and they all emerged from their cabins with excited expressions.
Less than half a day later, they finally arrived at the area of the sea that Han Li had been referring to.
I
n the air above the inky-black surface of the ocean, a vast expanse of silver lightning was crashing down like a waterfall, forming countless balls of lightning before exploding one by one to form a sea of lightning.
The rumbling thunderclaps were deafening, and through the vast expanse of lightning, a huge murky black shadow could just barely be made out.
With so much lightning interfering with everyone's vision, no one could see exactly what the black shadow was.
However, at such a close range, Han Li and Bai Qi were naturally able to identify it with their spirit eye abilities.
Even as far back as 500 kilometers away, both of them were able to confirm that this was indeed a giant island. However, the entire island was surrounded by this sea of lightning, so it would be an unavoidable obstacle that they would have to overcome.
"So the true danger is this lightning. In that case, it'll be rather troublesome, but we should be able to force our way through it," the Long Family patriarch said in a contemplative manner.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's brows were tightly furrowed, but she didn't say anything.
"I'm afraid you're wrong there, Brother Long," Han Li suddenly said as he peered carefully into the sea of lightning up ahead.
The Long Family patriarch's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "Have you discovered something, Brother Han?"
Chapter 2088: Golden Crab
Han Li merely remained silent and pointed a finger up at the dark clouds above the sea of lightning.
Just as everyone else was wondering what he was pointing at, Bai Qi also swept his gaze upward, upon which he immediately exclaimed, "What is that thing?"
Everyone else also looked up into the dark clouds, but none of them could see anything.
Right at this moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword appeared in his grasp before being slashed toward the distant sky.
A clear ringing sound erupted, and an azure sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in size appeared before hurtling directly toward the dark clouds up ahead.
Han Li had injected an enormous amount of power into the attack, and everyone was stunned by how fearsome it was.
The surrounding space in the wake of the azure sword projection warped and twisted, and a massive rift was sliced into the dark clouds up above.
Through this rift, everyone else was able to catch a glimpse of a mountainous golden beast hovering high in the air.
This was a gargantuan shimmering golden beast with countless dazzling bolts of lightning revolving around its body.
The Long Family patriarch was only able to make out a hard golden shell and a series of sharp spikes on the shell, but was unable to identify what type of devilish beast this was.
A wisp of the giant beast's aura seeped out of the rift, and everyone's expressions changed drastically as they discovered that they were completely unable to ascertain the cultivation base of the golden beast with their spiritual sense.
On top of that, there was a hint of pressure imbued within that wisp of aura that was extremely threatening even to late-Body Integration cultivators like the Long Family patriarch.
The term "true spirit" instantly sprang into everyone's minds upon sensing this fearsome aura.
What was even more peculiar was that despite the massive commotion that Han Li had caused, the giant golden beast remained completely still, as if it were in a deep slumber, and it was a good thing that this was the case. Otherwise, everyone on the giant ark would've fled for their lives already.
Even so, everyone's faces had paled significantly, and they were scrutinizing the giant golden beast with intense unblinking eyes, ready to bolt as soon as it made any move.
A tense silence settled over the entire giant, and after a long while, the silence was finally broken by Bai Qi.
"Rest assured, fellow daoists; the beast isn't displaying any signs of life, so it should just be a carcass."
"Are you sure, Brother Bai?" The woman from the Ye Family was still quite concerned.
"I've cultivated an ability that can detect signs of life within all living beings; the fact that this is a beast carcass is the reason why I was unable to sense it earlier," Bai Qi replied.
"That's good to hear. Having said that, for a carcass to possess such a fearsome residual aura basically confirms that this is indeed a true spirit carcass," the woman from the Ye Family said as he looked up at the sea of lightning with glowing eyes.
The value of a true spirit carcass was naturally astronomical.
Setting aside everything else, if there were any residual true essence in the carcass, then it would be able to benefit Body Integration Stage beings like them immensely.
On top of that, true spirit carcasses were the most precious tool refinement materials and pill refinement ingredients, and just a tiny section could easily start a war.
Everyone else was also very tempted by the carcass.
At this moment, the giant rift created in the clouds by Han Li's sword projection slowly sealed, and the giant golden beast was concealed again.
"Brother Bai, were you able to identify what type of true spirit carcass that was?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked.
Among everyone present, Han Li and Bai Qi were the only ones able to see the complete carcass with their spirit eye abilities.
Bai Qi looked up at the dark clouds for a while longer before replying in an unconfident manner, "It was a giant golden crab with four pincers."
"A giant golden crab? Does such a true spirit being exist?" the woman from the Ye Family asked.
"I've never heard of one! None of the true spirit beings known to our Spirit Realm match that description. Having said that, this is nothing to be surprised about; true spirit beings exist on many planes, so there are bound to be ones we've never seen before," the Long Family patriarch said.
"That's true; perhaps this is a true spirit being that we don't know about, but if it's already dead, then isn't this a splendid opportunity for us?" Elder Hui said with an excited expression.
"Indeed, we can't pass up such a splendid opportunity. If we can obtain such a massive true spirit carcass, our journey will be worth it even if we can't find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus."
Everyone else nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Just as everyone was growing very excited by this unexpected opportunity, Han Li suddenly asked, "How long do you think this carcass has been here for?"
"There's no way to tell, but surely it has to have been here for a very long time already," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied as her brows furrowed slightly.
"It was very difficult for us to reach this place, but it's nowhere as difficult for high-grade devilish beings to find this place. If the carcass were that easy to take, do you think the high-grade devilish beings would leave it here for us?" Han Li said in a calm manner.
Contemplative looks appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.
"So you're saying that the devilish beings have left this carcass here as they're aware that it's not as easy as it seems to obtain it," the Long Family patriarch said.
"Hehe, that's only one of the reasons," Han Li chuckled in a meaningful manner.
"Oh? Did you discover something else, Brother Han?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a surprised manner.
"If I'm not mistaken, this isn't some true spirit carcass; it's a Devil Crystal Puppet instead," Han Li sighed with a wry smile.
Everyone was stunned to hear this, and Elder Hui immediately shook his head in disbelief. "That's impossible! How could such a fearsome puppet exist? And what is a Devil Crystal Puppet?"
The Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns also exchanged a bewildered glance.
In contrast, Bai Qi faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly casting his gaze toward the sea of lightning up above once again.
"Devil Crystal Puppets are a type of puppets that is unique to the Elder Devil Realm. I obtained the refinement technique
for these puppets back in Illusion Night City; I'll show you a Devil Crystal Puppet that I refined to support my claim," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of green light, which was revealed to be a giant green wolf.
This was none other than a low-grade Devil Crystal Puppet that Han Li had refined some time ago.
Everyone immediately began to carefully inspect the giant wolf puppet, and after a while, a wry smile appeared on Bai Qi's face as he said, "I think Fellow Daoist Han is right. The patterns on that giant golden crab's body are very similar to the ones on this Devil Crystal Puppet. It seems I was too careless and jumped to a premature conclusion."
"But if it's a puppet, why was it left here? It's quite clear from its aura alone that it's extremely fearsome."
"Could it be that this really is a true-spirit-level puppet?"
Everyone erupted into chatter, but right at this moment, Bai Qi opened his mouth to expel a dark blue copper mirror.
The mirror rotated on the spot before hovering around 10 feet in front of him, and a beam of white light shot forth out of his forehead before silently vanishing into the mirror.
In the next instant, the surface of the mirror blurred, following which an extremely clear image appeared.
The image depicted none other than the giant golden crab that was hidden within the dark clouds.
The Long Family patriarch's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. "Is this the renowned Spirit Light Reversal Technique of your Spirit Race? I've heard that this technique can depict something that the user has recently seen and heard with perfect accuracy."
"Indeed. Take a look for yourselves and see if this giant beast shares any similarities with Brother Han's Devil Crystal Puppet," Bai Qi said as he pointed a finger at the copper mirror.
Everyone immediately gathered around to inspect the giant crab in the mirror, and after a while, the image in the mirror faded, upon which the Long Family patriarch said with a wry smile, "Looks like Brother Han was right; this is indeed just a puppet. In that case, there's no need to take a risk to try and obtain it. For such a powerful puppet to have been abandoned here clearly presumably means that it's been damaged beyond repair. Otherwise, the high-grade devilish beings would try to get their hands on it regardless of the risk involved."
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1202