Han Li seemed to ignore the words of the two, but a flash of blue light in his eyes allowed his vision to pierce through the thick sandstorm nearby, reaching far into the distance.
About a hundred miles away, an incredible celestial phenomenon loomed.
At the towering horizon, the sky was black above and yellow below, with a straight white line in the middle extending endlessly to both sides, as if it had no end.
But it was too far away to see clearly.
Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly, and the spiritual light in his eyes faded.
At that moment, the group once again activated their escape light and flew straight toward the celestial phenomenon.
A short while later, Long Dong and the woman also saw the anomaly.
Above the sky, a rolling black mist churned endlessly, while below, a yellow hurricane raged violently. At the point where the two met, a massive white-lit trench, a hundred zhang tall, separated them, with both the black mist and the hurricane pouring into the gap as if into a bottomless abyss.
“This is the ‘One-Line Sky’—how fascinating!” The white-robed girl gazed at the sight, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips.
“Let’s go. This is when the sandstorm is at its weakest. If we wait a few more days, just entering the passage will be a struggle,” Long Dong said gravely after observing the scene.
With a flip of his hand, a fist-sized cyan orb appeared in his palm.
With a flick of his finger, the orb shrank several times in size.
Long Dong opened his mouth and swallowed the orb.
Seeing this, Han Li and the others also took out identical orbs and swallowed them.
Immediately, a strange glow enveloped their bodies, and the roaring wind around them dissipated upon contact, as if swallowed by the sea.
These orbs were the Wind-Restraining Pearls specially prepared for them by the high-ranking officials of Tianyuan City before their departure.
Without further hesitation, the group flew toward the celestial phenomenon, stopping only when they were less than a thousand zhang away. Before they could even adjust their escape light, an invisible force surged around them, and several streaks of light were instantly sucked into the massive gap.
As soon as Han Li entered, the pulling force vanished, and he regained full control. However, what greeted him was an overwhelming barrage of white wind blades, accompanied by piercing shrieks. The wind inside the gap was at least ten times fiercer than outside.
Had he not been confident in the Wind-Restraining Pearl, he would have immediately summoned protective treasures.
Doing so, however, would have drained his spiritual energy rapidly.
Now, the wind blades dissipated upon touching the glow around him.
Han Li swept his gaze around but found that his spiritual sense could not extend beyond his body, and his Clear Spirit Eyes could only see about a hundred zhang ahead. The others were nowhere in sight.
Frowning slightly, he wasted no time. With a surge of spiritual light, he transformed into a green streak and shot forward, vanishing into the hurricane ahead.
Several days later, at the entrance of the One-Line Sky, two more streaks of escape light arrived.
The light faded, revealing two middle-aged cultivators in embroidered robes.
Both wore identical attire, with purple headbands and sharp, gleaming eyes. Upon closer inspection, their features bore a striking resemblance to Long Dong’s, though one had an unusually pale complexion, while the other’s sleeve was torn, as if they had just emerged from battle.
After carefully examining the massive gap, they exchanged a few silent words and then flew into it together.
Not long after, a red figure emerged from the sandstorm, hovering near the One-Line Sky before letting out a few frustrated roars and retreating.
Thus, the area was left with nothing but the howling wind.
…
Months later, atop a small emerald-green mountain, Han Li stood alone on a boulder, his gaze flickering as he looked into the distance.
About several dozen miles away, an enormous forest stretched before him.
The forest was eerily peculiar—every tree bore leaves that were emerald green with dark black patterns, making the entire woodland appear dark green from afar.
This was the “Blackleaf Forest,” the outermost edge of the Wood Clan’s territory and the destination of their mission.
After observing for a long while, Han Li withdrew his gaze, frowning in contemplation.
Though passing through the One-Line Sky had taken time, it had been surprisingly smooth, with no unexpected incidents.
However, to his frustration, he had lost contact with the other three—whether they had taken a wrong turn or encountered something else, he couldn’t tell. After waiting near the exit for days without finding them, he decided to proceed alone.
Along the way, he faced minor troubles, even eliminating a few low-level Wood Clan members, before finally arriving here.
During their journey, the blood-mole youth and the woman had explained the mission details to everyone, so Han Li was well aware of the task.
According to them, both their clans had spies embedded within the Wood Clan, some of whom held high positions. Their mission was to infiltrate a specific location in the Blackleaf Forest, retrieve the intelligence gathered by these spies, and observe any unusual movements by the Wood Clan.
Though the task seemed straightforward, half the danger lay in traversing the wilderness between the two clans, while the other half involved sneaking into the Blackleaf Forest undetected.
Among the neighboring clans, humans had the least contact with the Wood Clan, knowing only the general layout of the Blackleaf Forest. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked sending a team to retrieve intelligence before the war.
Han Li had been waiting here for half a month, yet the others still hadn’t arrived. With the mission deadline approaching, he could wait no longer.
After much deliberation, he looked up at the sky.
Three moons and four suns had already appeared. Soon, night would fall completely.
According to their intelligence, the Wood Clan had poor natural senses, relying mostly on spiritual perception for communication and combat. Thus, the high-ranking cultivators who assigned the mission had advised them to move at night and hide during the day for better safety.
With one last glance at the distant forest, Han Li made his decision. Whether the others arrived or not, he had to obtain the Dust-Cleansing Pill. Even if he had to complete the mission alone, he would push forward.
Having resolved himself, Han Li sat cross-legged on the boulder and closed his eyes.
Several hours later, the sky darkened completely. The Blackleaf Forest in the distance resembled a massive beast lying in wait under the night, silent and ominous.
Han Li’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing before dimming again.
With a hand seal, his figure blurred and vanished from the boulder like a phantom.
In truth, Han Li had already activated a concealment technique and was floating through the night toward the forest.
Even at a deliberately slow speed, he reached the forest’s edge within half an hour.
Given the forest’s vastness, it was impossible for Wood Clan members to patrol every inch. However, Han Li dared not fly openly through the air.
It was said that within every Wood Clan territory, a Dreamvine Spirit Tree was planted—a unique guardian tree capable of monitoring and controlling other trees within a certain range, possessing incredible abilities.
The exact monitoring capabilities varied depending on the tree’s range and the number of trees it controlled.
The Dreamvine Spirit Tree in the Blackleaf Forest had been investigated by Tianyuan City. Due to the forest’s location at the Wood Clan’s border, its monitoring range was vast, covering nearly the entire forest. However, it could only control a limited number of trees and could vaguely sense beings at the Void Refining stage or above.
Of course, if an outsider flew openly in the sky, even if the Dreamvine Tree missed them, other Wood Clan members would detect them through their spiritual perception.
Thus, Han Li suppressed his aura completely and landed on the ground, transforming into a faint shadow that slipped into the forest.
With his formidable physique, combined with the Swift Wind Steps and Misty Steps, Han Li moved through the forest as swiftly and stealthily as if he were flying.
A blurry green shadow flickered in and out of sight, advancing a hundred miles deep into the forest in moments.
As the wind whistled past his ears, Han Li calmly assessed the situation.
According to the mission, if all went smoothly, he would reach the rendezvous point in three days. Retrieving the intelligence would complete most of the task. The secondary objective—gathering information on the Wood Clan—was optional.
The green shadow paused, flickering behind a large tree before vanishing.
Almost simultaneously, heavy footsteps approached from ahead.
Something massive was coming.
Han Li had already concealed himself within the dense foliage of a towering tree, motionless as he observed the scene below.
Moments later, two ten-zhang-tall green beasts resembling giant apes strode past, each carrying a massive bronze trident.
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