On that day, Han Li spent over ten days assisting the Spirit Race’s Venerable Yuelong in refining the two types of Extreme Yuan Crystals of metal and wood, ultimately succeeding without major mishaps.
Overjoyed, Yuelong showed no hesitation in fulfilling his promised reward and generously gave Han Li one piece of each newly refined Extreme Yuan Crystal. He earnestly urged Han Li to stay longer in his cave abode.
Han Li naturally declined and continued his journey without delay. Leading the others, he finally arrived at a point in the Abyssal Depths where spatial barriers were weakest. With a single slash of the Profound Heavenly Slaying Sword, he tore open the spatial wall and urged the entire Demon Spirit Sacred Ark to charge through.
Now, upon hearing Han Li’s words, Xue Po smiled gracefully and replied:
“This space is indeed quite marvelous. It seems this close friend of yours must also be an extraordinary figure—could they be another Venerable?”
“You guessed wrong this time, Fairy. Though my friend’s cultivation is not weak, when we last parted, they were only at the Void Refinement stage. They certainly haven’t reached the Venerable realm yet. However, reaching the Body Integration stage is quite possible, especially since they’ve now become a disciple of a Venerable.” Han Li replied calmly.
“A Venerable’s disciple, at the Body Integration stage! How enviable. Back then, I endured countless hardships just to advance to Body Integration and beyond—even now, my true body remains sealed on another continent.” Xue Po sighed with a strange expression.
“Heh, Fairy, there’s no need to belittle yourself. You simply lacked some fortune back then. Once you reclaim your true body, further advancement isn’t impossible.” Han Li chuckled.
“I hope it truly turns out that way.” Xue Po forced a bitter smile.
Han Li smiled faintly and said no more. Instead, he flipped his hand, revealing a pale black jade slip, which he pressed lightly against his forehead.
It was a map of the Abyssal Depths he had obtained long ago from Qing Yuanzi.
After swiftly scanning it with his spiritual sense and comparing it to the nearby terrain, he confirmed his location—surprisingly close to Qing Yuanzi’s cave abode.
Overjoyed, he stored the jade slip and immediately urged the black ark forward, roaring as it shot toward a certain direction.
A day later, as the black ark neared Qing Yuanzi’s cave, Han Li—who had been meditating at the bow—suddenly opened his eyes with a flicker of surprise.
“Such intense fluctuations… This is the aura of a Heavenly Tribulation! Could someone be undergoing tribulation nearby? Calculating the time, Qing Yuanzi should indeed be facing his tribulation around now. Could it really be him?”
Muttering to himself, his expression shifted uncertainly. With a hand seal, the black ark trembled and halted mid-air.
The next moment, he stood up, stomped his foot, and soared into the sky as a streak of azure light.
His voice echoed from above the ark:
“Stay here and guard the ark. I’ll go investigate first.”
Before the words faded, the azure streak flickered and vanished into the horizon.
Zhu Guo’er, Xue Po, and the others hurried out of the cabin, staring in astonishment at the direction Han Li had gone.
At Han Li’s full speed, his movement was unimaginably swift. However, the source of the fluctuations was still quite distant. After flying for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finally glimpsed the dark tribulation clouds on the horizon and faintly heard the rumbling thunder.
“Something’s wrong—there are other Venerables here.”
After flying further, Han Li narrowed his eyes, his heart tightening.
The azure light circled once before dissipating, revealing his figure mid-air as he gazed thoughtfully toward the base of the distant tribulation clouds.
“One, two, three… So many Venerables gathered here, their auras unrestrained—clearly, they harbor ill intentions toward the tribulation-taker. The question is, is it Qing Yuanzi? If not, there’s no need for me to interfere.”
After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly patted his forehead and spat out a wisp of azure mist.
The mist swirled before condensing into a crystalline azure sphere.
Han Li formed a seal, closed his eyes, and a vertical black eye emerged between his brows.
A thin black thread shot from the eye, vanishing into the void.
Instantly, the azure sphere shimmered, revealing an extraordinarily clear image.
Han Li opened his eyes and studied the scene:
Dark mist and flickering violet-gold lightning filled the view, with nothing else visible.
Frowning slightly, he adjusted the spell, and the image rapidly shifted, soon displaying trees, mountain peaks, and other scenery—as if someone were swiftly scanning the area.
Suddenly, his expression shifted, and the image froze.
Before him stretched an endless sea of crimson mist.
Within it, a towering, glowing archway stood, atop which three men in differing attire stood straight.
Han Li’s gaze sharpened—these were the three Venerables he had sensed.
Among them, a giant two-zhang-tall man stood motionless, arms crossed. Another man steered the archway through the blood mist, its five-colored runes forcing the eerie fog back.
The last, a young Daoist, had three massive serpent heads looming behind him, each spewing red, yellow, and azure light that dissolved the blood mist upon contact.
Deep within the crimson sea, countless shadowy figures writhed, spewing blood qi to resist the archway and the three-colored light.
As Han Li observed intently, the giant man suddenly sensed something. His eyes flashed as he roared:
“Who’s there, sneaking around spying on me?”
With a swing of his arm, a colossal black palm struck out like a hurricane.
BOOM!
A vast section of space twisted and shattered, black radiance and scorching winds scattering the blood mist.
Huang Yuanzi and Sanquan Daoist turned in surprise.
“What happened? Did you discover something, Venerable Bumie?” Huang Yuanzi asked darkly, halting the archway.
After days of relentless effort, half the grand formation’s restrictions had been dismantled—he couldn’t afford surprises now.
“Someone was spying on us. I shattered their technique,” the giant replied coolly.
“That girl controlling the formation earlier?” Huang Yuanzi asked slowly.
“Unlikely. That junior was only at Void Refinement, and I struck her earlier—even if she survived, she’d be severely injured. She wouldn’t dare spy again.”
“So, a new guest. Any idea of their cultivation?”
“I merely disrupted their spell—how could I gauge their strength? But their technique was far superior to that girl’s. Their realm is likely high.”
“Trouble, then. Could they be another Venerable? An ally of Qing Yuanzi?” Sanquan Daoist interjected.
“An ally? Unlikely.” Huang Yuanzi shook his head after a brief pause.
“Oh? How can you be sure?”
“Simple—if they were Qing Yuanzi’s ally, why appear only now? They’d either have joined the formation’s defense from the start or lain in ambush until we exhausted ourselves breaking it.”
Sanquan Daoist nodded in agreement.
“Could they be one of the other Venerables residing in the Abyssal Depths?”
Huang Yuanzi sneered. “Impossible. Qing Yuanzi chose this time precisely because the others were lured away half a year ago. None will return for at least a year.”
“Then their intentions are unclear. And with us trapped in this formation, our position is precarious,” the giant said flatly.
“True. I’d planned to delay using the Mother-Child Corpse Yin Thunder, but it seems we must act now. Sanquan, prepare—we’ll force our way out and assess this newcomer’s motives.” Huang Yuanzi exhaled darkly.
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