Balls of azure light were unleashed up into the air in a relentless wave to nullify some of the falling lightning.
Everyone else also sprang into action, activating the full power of the treasures that they had summoned, and within mere moments, the light barriers around the ark had become very stable.
However, everyone had failed to notice that even though Zhi Shui seemed to be controlling a pair of silver flying daggers to resist the falling lightning, a series of mysterious golden runes had appeared over the entirety of his arms, which were concealed within the sleeves of his robes.
The same golden runes also appeared on the back of the mountainous giant golden crab within the dark clouds up above, but in contrast, those runes were a lot more indistinct.
Despite this, the golden crab still remained completely stationary, and the aura that it was releasing hadn't changed in the slightest, either.
Less than half a day later, the giant ark finally emerged from the sea of lightning. At this point, the ark was barely holding itself together, and the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses had returned to their original form, but their bodies had been completely charred black, and their auras were extremely feeble, seemingly on the brink of death.
However, no one paid them any heed. Instead, everyone was appraising the sea around the ark with excitement in their eyes.
This area of the sea was extremely placid, and the seawater was of a dark blue color. There was not a single cloud to be seen, and the sea breeze was carrying wisps of incredibly pure spiritual Qi.
Everyone was suddenly struck by the sensation that they had returned to the Spirit Realm!
However, what attracted everyone's attention the most was that there was a giant green island close to 10 kilometers away from the giant ark.
Judging from the direction that the sea breeze was coming from, the pure spiritual Qi was stemming directly from the island.
"This is it; this is the island we're searching for! This is the only place in the Elder Devil Realm with such pure spiritual Qi, and the only place where the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus could exist!" the Long Family patriarch murmured with barely contained excitement.
Chapter 2091: Spiritual Qi Crystallization
The Spirit beings were also very excited to see the island, but their expressions quickly returned to normal after they exchanged a few peculiar glances.
"Let's go. Hopefully, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus really are as extraordinary as the legends proclaim," Han Li said.
"Indeed, our destination is right in front of our eyes; what are we waiting for?" the Long Family patriarch chortled as he shot forth toward the giant island as a streak of golden light, followed closely by Elder Hui.
"Let's go as well," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said before stowing away the giant ark, then flipped a hand over to summon a purple flag. She gently waved the flag through the air, and it released a burst of light that swept up all of the Spirit beings before carrying them away within a ball of purple light.
In this area of the sea where spiritual Qi was so abundant, they were naturally able to use whatever movement techniques they pleased.
Thus, Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were the only ones left.
The woman turned to Han Li with a smile, and asked, "We've reached our destination, Brother Han; do you have any plans?"
"What plans could I possibly have? Didn't we agree that we would all use the Spirit Cleansing Pond together and split the Clean Spirit Lotuses evenly among everyone?" Han Li replied in a calm manner.
"I'd naturally be willing to follow this arrangement if everyone else abided by it as well, but if some type of mishap were to occur?" the woman asked.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; just as we agreed, we'll stick together as allies if something goes wrong," Han Li replied after a brief pause.
The woman from the Ye Family was very relieved to hear this, and her smile widened even further as she said, "I knew you were a man of your word, Brother Han! Let's set off as well. This island is quite large, but with their powers, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to find the Spirit Cleansing Pond."
Han Li nodded in response before rising up into the air and flying toward the giant island as a streak of azure light.
The woman from the Ye Family made a hand seal, and five-colored mist was released by her five-colored feather dress, carrying her up into the air as well.
Han Li wasn't flying at full speed; he merely followed along behind everyone else from a distance.
He didn't know exactly where the Spirit Cleansing Pond was, but judging from how eager the Spirit beings and the Long Family patriarch were to fly onto the island, they clearly had some inkling of its location.
A short while later, they flew over a plain and several forests before arriving at a lush and scenic mountain range that was giving off a refreshing plant aroma.
The Long Family patriarch and the Spirit beings suddenly stopped, and Han Li immediately accelerated over to them upon seeing this.
Five-colored light flashed, and the woman from the Ye Family also appeared beside Han Li.
At this moment, a clear divide had appeared between the Spirit beings and the human cultivators.
It was clear that even though they hadn't turned on one another, they had all become quite wary of each other.
After all, with such incredible treasures at stake, everyone was afraid that someone else would try to plot against them, especially considering they weren't even from the same race.
However, both the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns remained quite calm on the surface, and after a brief discussion, they sprang into action.
The Long Family patriarch swept a sleeve through the air, and a shimmering golden ax suddenly appeared in his grasp amid a flash of golden light. The ax had silver runes all over its surface, and was giving off bursts of astonishing baleful Qi.
Meanwhile, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chanted something before opening her mouth to expel a white egg-sized bead that was covered in crimson devilish patterns.
Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately focused an unblinking gaze on those two.
As expected, they had both been hiding something up their sleeves this entire time.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns pointed a finger at the bead, and it immediately shot forth toward the mountain range, then stopped above a certain mountain after just a few flashes while fluctuating incessantly in brightness.
"Over there, Fellow Daoist Long!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately yelled upon seeing this.
The Long Family patriarch let loose a loud cry without any hesitation upon hearing this, and a series of golden scales appeared over his body while a pair of golden dragon horns surfaced on his head.
He had unleashed his half-dragon form, and his aura had swelled drastically as a result.
At the same time, his body had expanded to around 50 to 60 feet tall, and the golden ax in his hand was also enlarging at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, quickly swelling to around 100 feet in length.
The Long Family patriarch gripped the handle of the giant ax with both hands before bringing it violently down upon the mountain that the bead was hovering over.
A burst of golden light erupted from the giant ax, transforming into a massive ax projection that was close to 10,000 feet in size before crashing down onto the mountain in the distance.
An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a golden sun with a diameter of over 1,000 feet erupted, instantly devouring the entire mountain. Bursts of golden shockwaves erupted from the golden sun, reducing the nearby mountains to dust in the blink of an eye.
Right at this moment, a burst of powerful energy fluctuations erupted out of the golden light, then spread to encompass an area with a radius of close to 100 kilometers.
The space in the wake of these energy fluctuations rippled like water, and two more even taller lush mountains appeared in the place
of the mountains that had just been destroyed.
Between these two mountains was a valley that was enshrouded within green spiritual light, and an incredibly thick pillar of white light that was piercing into the heavens was stemming directly from the valley.
"That's where the Spirit Cleansing Pond is!" The Long Family patriarch's eyes lit up with fervent ecstasy as he immediately shot forth as a streak of golden light.
Elder Hui also followed along with an ecstatic expression.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was extremely excited as well, but her expression darkened slightly at the sight of the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui, and she suddenly made a strange hand seal, which was concealed within her sleeve.
All of a sudden, Zhi Shui's emotionless eyes lit up, and his hands began to tremor slightly.
However, in the next instant, Bai Qi's cold voice rang out within Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' ears, and her heart jolted as she immediately withdrew her hand seal.
The light in Zhi Shui's eyes faded, and he reverted back to his original wooden state.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns then turned toward the side to find that Han Li was currently appraising her with a hint of a smile on his face.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was just about to say something when Bai Qi suddenly asked, "Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Long has already set off; aren't you afraid that he'll take the treasures first if you don't go after him?"
Han Li replied with a faint smile, "I'm sure Fellow Daoist Long wouldn't do something like that."
"Hehe, you sure have a lot of trust in Brother Long. Rest assured, even though we've tracked down the Spirit Cleansing Pond, it won't be that easy to access it," Bai Qi chuckled coldly.
"I see, then let's go and lend Brother Long our assistance. We're still in the Elder Devil Realm, after all, so it would be best for all of us to obtain the treasures and leave this place as soon as possible," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.
"Of course. If we want to access the Spirit Cleansing Pond, then we'll have to work together," Bai Qi replied without any hesitation. It seemed that he had suddenly taken over from Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns as the leader of the Spirit beings.
Thus, everyone rose up into the air and flew toward the valley in the distance.
After just a few flashes, everyone had flown into the layer of green light that the valley was enshrouded under.
To Han Li's surprise, the layer of green light didn't impede them in the slightest, and they were able to easily pass through it.
In the next instant, Han Li suddenly found himself in a world full of vibrant colors, and there were countless specks of five-colored light all around him.
Han Li's expression changed slightly as he made a grabbing motion, and several pea-sized specks of light were instantly drawn into his grasp, revealing them to be five-colored crystalline beads.
Bursts of pure spiritual Qi began to surge out of the crystalline beads, striking him with an extremely comfortable sensation.
"This is crystallized spiritual Qi! The spiritual Qi here is over 10 times as concentrated as it is outside!" Han Li murmured to himself in a stunned manner.
After that, the entire group descended toward a green pond situated at the center of the valley.
There was clearly a greater concentration of specks of five-colored light hovering above the pond than anywhere else, and the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui were currently standing in front of the pond, discussing something with furrowed brows.
"So this is the Spirit Cleansing Pond?" Han Li's heart jolted as he also descended beside the pond.
Meanwhile, on a small mountain hundreds of kilometers away from the valley, there was a beauty in a white dress standing atop a huge rock, casting her gaze toward the valley with mysterious silver light flashing within her eyes.
Standing behind her was a burly black-armored man.
Chapter 2092: Patriarch Yuan Yan
"Mistress Bao Hua, those people have already reached the Spirit Cleansing Pond; are we still not going to strike?" the black-armored man asked in a hesitant manner.
"There's no rush; someone else will stop them soon," the woman replied in a calm voice.
"Someone else?"
"I ventured into the holy realm on this occasion with the primary goal of recovering my former magic power, but also with a secondary objective to meet that person," the woman said with a smile.
The black-armored man was rather perplexed by this, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions.
A short while later, the woman suddenly raised an eyebrow before sweeping a hand through the air.
A ball of mercury-like substance suddenly appeared in front of her, then transformed into a light barrier with a mirror surface, within which a clear image was being depicted.
The image being displayed was of the edge of the sea of lightning. All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a massive ball of black light that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet appeared.
The light then faded to reveal a three-headed black wyrm that was around 700 to 800 feet in length.
The devilish wyrm's entire body was covered in glossy black scales, and bursts of black flame were surging all over its body, presenting a very fearsome sight to behold.
There was a black-robed young man standing atop the giant wyrm's middle head.
The man had a pair of purple eyes and very pale skin. His brows were as straight and sharp as swords, and even though he was completely expressionless, there seemed to be a hint of killing intent emanating from his body.
The young man cast his gaze toward the sea of lightning, then harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion. Countless black runes surged out of the palm of his hand before forming a black spear that was around 10 feet in length.
The entire spear had layer upon layer of devilish patterns engraved upon it, striking the beholder with a sense of disorientation and sensory overload.
The young man flicked his wrist in a casual manner, and a vast expanse of black light was released by the tip of the spear before plunging into the sea of lightning.
An astonishing scene then ensued!
All of the lightning in the face of the black light immediately parted, opening up a path that stretched as far as the eyes could see.
Not even a single bolt of lightning was able to force its way into the path, as if they had all kept out by some type of almighty power.
The black spear then exploded and disintegrated into black runes again at the young man's behest.
However, just as he was about to enter the sea of lightning atop his black wyrm steed, he suddenly detected something and turned to face Bao Hua directly from within the mirror she had summoned.
Purple light flashed through his eyes as he roared, "Who dares to spy on me?"
At the same time, a burst of invisible energy fluctuations pierced through space before manifesting itself on the mirror, and the mirror immediately exploded into countless specks of silver light amid a dull thump.
The black-armored man immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this. "That's Patriarch Yuan Yan! Is this the person that you're waiting for, Mistress Bao Hua?"
"That's right. Are you scared?" the woman in white asked as a cold smile appeared on her face.
The black-armored man immediately began to sweat profusely, "Of course not, but you still haven't recovered to your full power yet; isn't it a bit premature to be meeting Master Yuan Yan at a time like this?"
"With me here, you have nothing to fear. Besides, I'm not here to pick a fight with Yuan Yan. However, there's something that I need you to do for me," the woman in white said in a cold voice.
The black-armored man's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately extended a respectful bow. "I'll do anything you ask of me, Mistress Bao Hua."
"If you can take care of this matter to a satisfactory degree, I'll ensure your safety no matter what happens. Listen up..." The woman's lips tremored as she began to
transmit her voice toward the black-armored man.
The black-armored man listened with rapt focus, and a hint of enlightenment quickly appeared on his face. He finally understood why Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua had taken him along with her instead of anyone else.
"If you can do this for me, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely, but for now, I have to ascertain exactly which one of these intruders the result of my divination was pointing toward."
The woman swept a hand through the air again as she spoke, and that mirror-like light barrier re-emerged amid a flash of silver light.
However, on this occasion, the image being depicted in the mirror was the scene within the valley that was enshrouded under green spiritual light. Within the image, Han Li and the others had summoned a series of treasures and were attacking an invisible restriction with all their might.
Treasures of different colors flew through the air, and all types of abilities were also being unleashed, but the invisible restriction remained as resolute as a mountain, displaying no signs of wavering at all.
"This is not going to work; this restriction was clearly set up by a devilish patriarch, so there's no way we'll be able to break it unless we use our trump cards," the Long Family patriarch suddenly yelled as he ceased his attacks.
"Indeed. I have a Myriad Year Erosion Bead that should be somewhat effective against this restriction, but I'll need someone else to simultaneously attack the restriction while I use this bead. Brother Long, that golden ax of yours will be perfect for this," Bai Qi said to the Long Family patriarch.
"That Golden Sand Ax of mine is indeed extremely powerful, but each usage expends a significant amount of my true essence. If I were to use it twice in a short span of time, it could have a lasting negative effect on me. How about this? I have another ability that specifically targets restrictions, so I can use that ability to assist you," the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"That should be fine. Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you have some trump cards up your sleeve as well, right?" Bai Qi nodded in response before suddenly turning to Han Li.
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