Chapter 156: The Perilous Path of Cultivation
The entire surrounding space was filled with dazzling white light, immediately followed by a rush of dizziness, while the sound of howling wind rang out.
At the same time, there seemed to be gusts of astral wind sweeping toward everyone, only to be kept out by some type of invisible force right before it came into contact with their bodies.
Only after what seemed like a long time did this peculiar sensation abruptly fade away, and everything became clearly visible again.
Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings to find that everyone had been teleported into a massive underground cavern, and the ground and the walls of the cavern were quite similar to what was inside the Heavenly Star Pagoda, with the same engraved runes and embedded spirit stones.
The talisman that Han Li had been holding had vanished at some point during the teleportation, and a wry smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.
He had wanted to study the talisman, but the teleportation had concluded before he had a chance to react, and the talisman had disappeared from his possession.
Seated not far away outside the array was an elderly itinerant immortal with a head of white hair coupled with a set of youthful facial features, and there were around 20 to 30 people standing behind him. These people were all dressed in different attire, and many of them didn't appear to have been from the Black Wind Sea.
After Han Li and the others emerged from the array at the center of the cavern, all of those people stepped onto the array to replace them.
Right as he was passing by these people, a sense of peril suddenly welled up in Han Li's heart, and he reflexively took a glance at a few of the people in the ground.
The group of cultivators in questions were quite unremarkable in appearance, and their auras were very stable. Even their expressions were quite calm and collected, but for some reason, Han Li could instinctively sense a dangerous aura from them, and that was making him quite apprehensive.
Right at this moment, a physically imposing green-skinned man emerged from the group that had been teleported into the underground cavern alongside Han Li, and he arrived in front of the elderly itinerant cultivator as he cupped his fist in a salute and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Elder Yi. I'll be taking over from you for the next 100 years."
The elderly man rose to his feet with a smile, then flipped a hand over to produce a round array plate that he offered to the green-skinned man as he said, "I was wondering who the island master would send to relieve me of my post, but I didn't think it would be you, Brother Lu! I'll leave everything here to you then."
The green-skinned man accepted the array plate, and the two of them bade farewell to each other before the elderly itinerant immortal also made his way into the array.
Moments later, everyone in the array was teleported to Black Wind Island amid a flash of bright white light.
Only after everyone in the array had disappeared did the hint of apprehension in Han Li's heart begin to fade.
Meanwhile, the green-skinned man stowed away the array plate as he turned to everyone and declared, "From this day forth, the Black Wind Cave teleportation array will be closed for 100 years. If you wish to return to the Black Wind Sea, come back 100 years later when the array reopens. Of course, you have to prepare enough immortal origin stones to cover the teleportation cost.
“If you leave this cave and travel northward along the coastline for a few thousand kilometers, you'll reach Seaside City. Those of you who are visiting the Primordial Wave Continent for the first time can stop by Seaside City for some supplies before continuing on your way. I wish all of you a smooth journey."
Everyone cupped their fists in a salute toward the green-skinned man before exiting the underground cavern.
Han Li followed everyone out of the cavern, and he was immediately greeted by a slight fishy odor in the air, which was carried into his nostrils by the sea breeze.
He rose up into the air, and from that vantage point, he could see that he was situated above a vast and boundless sea.
Directly up ahead was the choppy and turbulent ocean, while behind him was a winding coastline, and the cavern that he had just emerged from was situated within a well-concealed cliff on the coast.
The people that had arrived here alongside Han Li didn't linger here for very long before scattering in all directions, and the woman in the red dress had also departed.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li began to fly northward along the coastline as a streak of azure light.
Initially, the landscape down below was rather barren and desolate, but after flying for a while, vast forests began to appear.
The trees in this place were remarkably tall, and it was a very common sight here to see trees standing close to 1,000 feet in height, resembling a series of tall mountains. The ground was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves, as well as countless shrubs and weeds, giving it a primordial appearance, as if no one had ever set foot in this place.
The forest stretched into the distance as far as the eyes could see, and Han Li could hear the roar of a certain type of demon beast ringing out up ahead.
The primordial aura of this place evoked a long-absent sense of excitement in Han Li's heart, and after flying for close to an hour, the outlines of a coastal city began to appear in his field of view.
The city wasn't very large, only several hundred kilometers in radius, and it was completely enshrouded under a light barrier that resembled a dense film of yellow sand. At first glance, it appeared as if there were a giant yellow turtle shell encompassing the entire city, and the words "Seaside City" were inscribed above the city gates in ancient text.
There was only a single opening in the yellow light barrier that granted access to the city gates, and it was quite a lively and bustling area with cultivators occasionally emerging from the city on their own or in groups to fly into the forest up ahead.
At the same time, there were also cultivators flying out of the forest toward the city. Many of them looked rather worse for wear, and some of them even had bloodstains on their clothes, but most of them appeared to be quite excited.
Han Li quickly descended onto the ground, and at this point, he had already withdrawn his aura, posing as a Body Integration cultivator as he joined the crowd that was entering the city.
There were two teams of azure-robed guards situated at the city gate, and all of them were at the Spatial Tempering Stage, while their leader was a Body Integration cultivator.
However, these guards didn't raise any questions to the people entering the city. Even for a completely unfamiliar face like Han Li, he was allowed into the city after issuing some spirit stones as payment.
Beyond the city gate was a wide street that extended into the city, and the street was lined with all types of shops.
The city didn't have a particularly large population, but most of them were cultivators with lofty cultivation bases, and mortals were an extremely rare sight here.
The shops that lined the streets weren't particularly elegant. In fact, they were rather crude in appearance, selling wares such as spirit herbs, ore, demon beast materials, and other types of materials.
After a brief inspection, Han Li discovered that despite the crude appearance of the shops, the wares being sold all seemed to be of quite a high standard that wasn't inferior in the slightest compared with the most prestigious shops in Black Wind City.
As opposed to calling it a city, it was more accurate to call Seaside City a supply point for cultivators.
After observing his surroundings for a while, Han Li made his way toward a variety shop.
There was no one else in the shop aside from a hideous man with pockmarks all over his face sitting behind the counter, and he hurriedly rose to his feet at the sight of Han Li.
The pockmarked man was only a Deity Transformation cultivator, and he was displaying a very respectful demeanor after sensing Han Li's Body Integration Stage aura. "What can I help you with, Senior? My shop isn't very big, but I have a very comprehensive range of wares that'll be sure to satisfy all your needs."
"Do you sell maps here?" Han Li asked.
The pockmarked man flipped a hand over to produce an azure jade slip as he smiled and replied, "Yes, I have the most detailed map of the Lost Grave Forest here. If you want to hunt for any demon beasts or gather any spirit herbs, the map will lay out all of the locations where you'll find the things you're looking for."
It seemed that the Lost Grave Forest was the name of the primordial forest outside Seaside City.
Han Li shook his head as he replied, "I don't need a map of the Lost Grave Forest. Do you sell maps of the Primordial Wave Continent? Also, if you have any maps of the other nearby continents, I'd be happy to purchase them as well."
The pockmarked man faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a slightly peculiar look appeared in his eyes.
"Is there a problem?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"No, not at all," the pockmarked man hurriedly replied, then flipped a hand over to produce a pair of jade slips, one yellow and one blue.
Han Li picked up the yellow jade slip, then injected his spiritual sense into it.
"That one contains a map of our Primordial Wave Continent, while this blue jade slip contains a map of the nearby area. You've definitely come to the right place for maps, Senior. My family has been selling map jade slips for generations.
“It's easy to find maps of the Primordial Wave Continent, but maps of the nearby continents are quite rare, and I daresay my shop is the only one in the entire city that sells such maps," the pockmarked man said with a hint of pride in his voice.
As it turned out, the pockmarked man had a right to be proud. The map in the yellow jade slip was far more detailed than the average map, not only clearly depicting the terrain on all parts of the Primordial Wave Continent, there were even some detailed annotations attached to certain special areas.
One of those special areas was the Lost Grave Forest outside Seaside City. The forest had a radius of tens of thousand of kilometers, and it was inhabited by all types of demon beast. In fact, it was said that there were even some True Immortal Stage demon beasts residing in the heart of the forest, making it an extremely perilous place.
In addition to that, there was also an abundance of natural treasures in the forest, so there were many cultivators who would come here from far and wide to hunt for demon beasts and search for spirit ingredients. Of course, once they entered the forest, they would be solely responsible for their own safety.
There were many perilous places on the Primordial Wave Continent, and the Lost Grave Forest was only one of them.
Compared with this place, the Black Wind Sea could be considered to be an extremely safe area.
Shortly thereafter, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the yellow jade slip, and an uncertain look had appeared on his face.
Even though he had already made preparations for this trip, it seemed like the Immortal Realm outside of the Black Wind Sea was far more perilous than he had imagined. Even with his current powers, he wouldn't dare to proclaim that he could safely cross the Primordial Wave Continent, and this was a perfect representation of how perilous the path of cultivation could be.
After a brief pause, Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the blue jade slip, and moments later, he withdrew his spiritual sense again.
This was indeed a map of the nearby continents, but it was nowhere near as detailed as the map of the Primordial Wave Continent, with only some important areas being marked out.
Just as he had anticipated, the Primordial Wave Continent and the nearby continents were separated by the sea, and the Ancient Cloud Continent was situated to the east of the Primordial Wave Continent, with the continents separated by what was known as the Thunderstorm Sea.
Seaside City was situated on the westernmost border of the Primordial Wave Continent, so if he wanted to get to the Ancient Cloud Continent, then he would have to cross the entire Primordial Wave Continent and the Thunderstorm Sea.
According to the annotations on the map, the Thunderstorm Sea was, as its name suggested, rift with violent thunderstorms all year round, making it an extremely perilous place to traverse through.
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