Chapter 1697: Peril

Upon hearing Shi Kun’s words, Liu Shuier frowned deeply for a long while before finally sighing softly and agreeing.

However, the place where they had parted ways with the two Sea King clansmen wasn’t too far away, so it was naturally impossible for them to meditate and recover there. If those two changed their minds or attracted other dangerous beasts or foreign races, Han Li and his companions would be in grave danger.

Thus, after flying forward for half a day, the trio finally spotted a faint blue-green mountain in the distance, where the spiritual energy was quite dense.

To be cautious, they naturally scanned the mountain thoroughly with their spiritual senses several times, and all three felt reassured.

Though the mountain wasn’t tall, it was inhabited by a pack of gray wolf-like beasts, all of whom were extremely weak in cultivation, with the strongest only around the Foundation Establishment stage.

With that, the trio descended, casually exterminating the entire pack.

The cave halfway up the mountain, where the wolf beasts had resided, was quite suitable—its spiritual energy was exceptionally dense, though it carried a foul odor. However, after Liu Shuier cleansed it with water-attribute spells, the cave became refreshingly clean.

The three then occupied the cave, each sitting cross-legged in a corner to meditate.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

When Han Li completed a major cycle of his mana circulation, he seemed to sense something and slowly opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings.

At the same time, the cloaked woman sitting opposite him also opened her beautiful eyes, meeting Han Li’s gaze. A faint glint of spiritual light flashed in her eyes, indicating that her mana had fully recovered.

“Congratulations on your full recovery, Fairy Liu,” Han Li said with a faint smile.

“I’m deeply ashamed to have held you back, Brother Han,” Liu Shuier sighed softly.

“Haha, if not for Fairy Liu holding off those four high-level Shadow Beasts alone in the Dark Beast Forest, neither Brother Shi nor I would have escaped unscathed,” Han Li replied lightly.

“Hahaha! Brother Han, I can’t agree with that. Given the unfathomable power you displayed, even if you couldn’t annihilate all those Shadow Beasts alone, breaking through their encirclement would’ve been more than enough for you. The fact that Fairy Liu and I only lost a bit of vitality to escape such a dangerous place was already an unexpectedly good outcome,” Shi Kun, who had been meditating in another corner of the cave, suddenly opened his eyes and interjected with a laugh.

“You two overestimate me. While I do have some formidable techniques, most can only be used once. If surrounded by too many Shadow Beasts, whether I could truly survive would be uncertain. Heh, but with Brother Shi’s formidable physical strength, as long as you didn’t fight head-on, breaking free would’ve been more than enough,” Han Li stroked his chin and gave Shi Kun a half-smile.

“Perhaps. Since Fairy Liu has fully recovered, let’s set off. The sooner we find the forbidden ruins, the sooner we can relax,” Shi Kun chuckled and abruptly stood up.

Han Li and Liu Shuier exchanged a glance and voiced no objections.

Moments later, three streaks of light in different colors shot out from the mountainside, circled once, and then vanished into the distance.

—

Six or seven days later, Han Li and his companions found themselves surrounded by a flock of strange birds with four wings on their backs, spitting wind blades at them.

The trio each activated their treasures, unleashing radiant light. A rain of blood soon fell from the sky, and within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, all the strange birds were annihilated.

—

Half a month later, at the edge of an endless lake in the grasslands, Han Li and the others held their breaths, their flying lights reduced to faint shadows as they glided silently at an extremely high altitude, not daring to release the slightest trace of their presence.

Below, on the lake’s surface, floated a group of massive creatures that resembled both horses and fish.

From the mouths of these mountain-sized monsters, thick water columns as wide as vats shot out, playfully striking one another before dispersing in flashes of blue light.

Occasionally, some water columns missed their targets and struck the land, causing deafening booms and leaving behind craters dozens of feet in diameter—a truly terrifying sight.

Fortunately, Han Li and his companions were adept at concealment, and the giant beasts were too engrossed in their play to notice the three ant-sized figures passing overhead, allowing the trio to safely cross the lake.

—

A month later, above a desolate wasteland, Han Li and his companions clashed fiercely with four foreign beings whose bodies were entirely wrapped in black mist.

Countless green sword lights swirled around Han Li, forming an impenetrable defense that shattered the black chain-like weapons unleashed by his two opponents.

However, under the incantations of the two foreigners, the chains instantly reformed and surged toward Han Li in dense, shadowy waves.

Meanwhile, Liu Shuier, enveloped in a mysterious liquid and glowing blue, wielded a set of silver darts that unleashed starlight, trapping another foreigner.

Yet her opponent was no pushover—concealed within the black mist, he summoned flocks of black-flamed birds that clashed with the silver darts without yielding.

As for Shi Kun, his body radiated yellow light as he transformed into a ten-foot-tall giant, his skin covered in a strange gray-white stone layer studded with foot-long spikes. Swinging his fists, he launched massive stone projectiles that exploded upon impact, forcing his opponent into retreat.

Though at a disadvantage, the foreigner conjured layers of black mist into massive shields, barely managing to defend himself.

“Brother Han, Brother Shi, hurry! Once night falls, these Night Clan members will grow much stronger, just like the Shadow Beasts!” Liu Shuier, unable to defeat her opponent quickly, shouted anxiously.

Han Li’s expression flickered as he glanced at the darkening sky—nightfall was imminent.

“Kekeke! Too late to realize that now, isn’t it? Soon, we’ll give you Tianyun people a proper welcome!” one of Han Li’s opponents cackled hideously.

“Soon? You won’t last that long,” Han Li replied coolly. With a flick of his sleeve, a pitch-black hand emerged, unleashing a surge of gray light.

Simultaneously, Liu Shuier formed hand seals, summoning a gray wheel of light, while Shi Kun roared and fired a barrage of energy from his fingertips.

Moments later, a colossal gray sphere of light, inscribed with countless flickering runes, materialized above the battlefield before exploding violently.

The resulting storm of runes obliterated everything within a mile radius.

Despite the foreigners’ desperate defenses, the power of each rune was beyond their expectations. Amid earth-shaking explosions, the four vanished without a trace.

Han Li and his companions then retracted their magnetic light, exchanging satisfied smiles.

—

Three months later, above a mountain range, Han Li and the others flew desperately amid a swarm of thousands of fleeing beasts.

Behind them, several miles away, a silver tide of insects surged forward like a flood, devouring everything in its path—trees, hidden creatures, even the grass—leaving nothing behind.

As time passed, more and more beasts and birds took to the skies in panic, filling the horizon in a chaotic, desperate escape.

“What do we do? If this continues, we’ll be caught by those Silver Tide Insects. They’re ancient predators said to be no weaker than Gold Devouring Beetles—once they fixate on prey, they’ll never stop. How could there be so many in this realm?” Shi Kun transmitted, his face grim.

“Indeed. Their stamina is legendary—they could chase us for months without tiring. Even ancient beasts flee before their silver tide,” Liu Shuier’s voice betrayed unease.

No wonder they were alarmed—after three days and nights of being pursued by millions of these terrifying insects, their mana was already half-depleted.

“Our only hope is to encounter a few ancient beasts ahead to divert the swarm,” Han Li said, his face pale but composed.

“But according to the map, the nearest region with such beasts is a month’s journey away. We deliberately chose this route to avoid them,” Shi Kun replied bitterly.

Han Li fell silent, his brow furrowed.

Just then, a buzzing sound arose from the horizon, followed by flashes of green light as hundreds of green clouds surged toward them.

Startled, Han Li’s eyes gleamed blue as he discerned the true nature of the approaching clouds—countless fist-sized, grotesque butterflies, their bodies shimmering with green powder.