Chapter 165: Familiar
The man with the Kou surname was standing next to Han Li, and he said in a relieved voice, "It's a good thing that Senior Liu noticed it very early. Otherwise, we would've been in grave peril."
"What is this astral wind storm that you speak of, Fellow Daoist Kou?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"The astral wind storm is a type of natural phenomenon that only arises in this desert, and it's a very rare occurrence, but once it does arise, it'll wreak havoc over the area in a radius of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
“The only way to deal with this disaster is to hide deep underground and wait for the storm to pass before returning to the surface," the man with the Kou surname explained, and he was clearly extremely wary of this form of natural disaster.
"I've crossed this desert no fewer than 100 times, and this is only the second time I've encountered this disaster. At the time, I witnessed a flying ark that was unable to make it underground in time being instantly pulverized into dust by the storm," Elder Qi said with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
"Apparently, this desert was once a city, but for some reason, an astral wind storm suddenly swept over the city one day, instantly razing it to the ground, and that's how this desert came to be," Elder Liu added.
"I see," Han Li replied with a nod.
"We're no more than a day away from our destination, but it looks like we'll have to wait a few more days until this astral wind storm passes before we continue onward," the man with the Kou surname sighed.
He then departed to examine whether any of the goods on the ark had been damaged.
Meanwhile, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes to meditate.
The desert above Han Li and the others was currently being ravaged by the astral wind storm, but all was peaceful and tranquil hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the Boundless Sand Sea.
Along a vast mountain range that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers were countless lush forests, interspersed throughout which were a series of cities, towns, and villages.
At the center of the mountain range was an azure city that took up a massive area. Its walls were over 1,000 feet tall, and inscribed in large golden characters above the city gates were the words "Bright Hill City".
The city appeared to have been no smaller than Black Wind City, and it was filled with tall buildings that differed in construction style compared with the ones in Black Wind City in that these ones were more unrefined and rough around the edges, but appeared more imposing and majestic.
One thriving street after another was visible in the city, stretching as far as the eyes could see.
At the center of Bright Hill City was a massive white pagoda, standing out as a particularly eye-catching landmark, even compared with all of the tall buildings around it.
This was where the teleportation arrays in the city were situated, and people were regularly entering and exiting the building, presenting a lively and bustling sight to behold.
Right at this moment, two figures emerged from the entrance of the giant pagoda side by side.
One of them was an elderly man with a head of white hair coupled with a white beard. He was wearing a five-colored brocade robe, and despite his apparently advanced age, he was looking very sharp and full of vigor.
Beside him was a handsome young man in a tight-fitting black robe with a cold look in his eyes.
"Brother Fang, if I recall correctly, there aren't going to be any more teleportation arrays along the rest of your journey. On top of that, the Black Wind Sea is situated in the westernmost region of the continent, and I've heard that it's a very difficult place to access," the brocade-robed elderly man said.
"Given how much time has passed, we don't even know if he's still in the Black Wind Sea. As a safety precaution, I'll have to trouble you to verify his location again," Fang Pan said as he took a glance up at the sky.
"Very well."
The brocade-robed elderly man nodded in response, then flipped a hand over to produce a plate treasure. He brought his index and middle fingers together before pointing them directly at the plate, then began chanting an incantation.
As he did so, the plate began to radiate dazzling golden light, and a speck of flickering crimson light emerged extremely close to the center of the plate, much to the elderly man's surprise.
"Has he already left the Black Wind Sea?" Fang Pan asked, clearly already expecting this outcome.
"Not only that, but he's currently very close to this city," the brocade-robed elderly man replied with an incredulous expression.
Fang Pan faltered slightly upon hearing this, then asked, "Oh? Is he located to the west of us?"
"That's right, but for some reason, he seems to have stopped," the brocade-robed elderly man replied with a perplexed expression.
"Come with me," Fang Pan said as he flew out of the city as a streak of light, and the elderly man hurriedly followed along.
A short while later, the two of them appeared on the summit of a tall mountain several hundred kilometers away from the city, watching the astral wind storm that was ravaging the landscape far away in the west.
"It looks like he's taking shelter from some type of natural disaster. There's no need to wait any longer, let's go straight to him," Fang Pan said.
The brocade-robed elderly man's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "We've already tracked him for so long, why the hurry now? Given his current location, his next destination will surely be Bright Hill City, so why don't we make some preparations here and ambush him once he arrives?"
"You can wait here if you like, but I'm not going to wait even a moment longer!" Fang Pan declared as he abruptly sprang up from the mountain summit, then instantly vanished into the distance.
The brocade-robed elderly man shook his head as he heaved a faint sigh, then also vanished from the spot amid a flash of five-colored light.
……
Meanwhile.
Inside the underground cavern, the sound of the howling wind ringing out up above was clearly audible, and everyone, including Han Li, was seated with their eyes closed in silent meditation.
All of a sudden, his brows suddenly furrowed tightly as his eyes abruptly sprang open.
Just now, the blood essence in his body had suddenly become extremely agitated, churning through his veins in a frenzy, to the point that he was feeling an unnatural heat coursing through his veins.
Is something approaching me?
A strong sense of unease welled up in his heart.
After a moment of contemplation, he instantly rose to his feet, and everyone around him was startled by this sudden movement as they also opened their eyes to observe him with wary expressions.
He paid no heed to everyone's reactions as he abruptly vanished from the spot amid a flash of azure light.
The other people in the underground cavern with him didn't even get a chance to say anything, and they could exchange bewildered glances with one another.
After flying out of the underground cavern, the violent astral winds came surging toward him from all directions like countless sharp blades.
Han Li's entire body was enveloped within a layer of azure light, but that still wasn't enough to prevent the coarse sand from lashing against his face.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he turned toward a certain direction, then began to fly through the astral winds as a streak of azure light.
Inside the violent storm, visibility was virtually zero, and even though it wasn't very difficult for Han Li to traverse through the storm, his speed was significantly limited, so he wasn't able to get very far even after flying for an entire hour.
Right as he was about to accelerate to full speed and fly out of the area encompassed within the storm in one go, he suddenly detected two powerful auras appear within several thousand feet of him without any warning.
He immediately drew to a halt and swept his gaze across his surroundings, upon which he discovered a pair of indistinct humanoid figures situated in the storm to his right.
Only after the two of them had flown a further several hundred feet did they gradually become clearly visible to Han Li, revealing themselves to be a young man in black and a brocade-robed elderly man.
Each of them was enveloped in a light barrier that kept the storm at bay, and the swirling sand was only able to leave some faint white marks on the light barriers.
Han Li took a quick glance at the two figures, and his heart sank slightly as he asked, "Why are you getting in my way, fellow daoists?"
Both of them were mid-True Immortal cultivators, and it was clear that they hadn't approached him with friendly intentions.
Furthermore, for some reason, the two of them felt vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't recall where he had seen them before no matter how hard he tried.
The brocade-robed elderly man was quite taken aback by this question, and he turned to the young man in black with a perplexed expression.
However, the latter's gaze remained fixed firmly on Han Li as he harrumphed coldly, "You think you can fool us with that disguise of yours, Han Li?"
Han Li was quite alarmed at the fact that he was being referred to directly by name, and a dark look appeared on his face as he asked, "Who are you?"
"I don't think he's putting on an act, Brother Fang. It seems like he really doesn't know who we are. Could it be that he lost his memories?" the brocade-robed elderly man asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"Who cares if he's putting on an act or not? We'll just have to kill him, then search his soul, and everything will become clear," Fang Pan replied in a cold voice.
As soon as his voice trailed off, he abruptly vanished from the spot amid a flash of black light.
All Han Li saw was a blur flash past his eyes before the young man reappeared directly in front of him, and he was lashing out with a long black saber.
Han Li hurriedly raised a fist to oppose the saber, yet all of a sudden, Fang Pan vanished yet again.
As a result, Han Li's fist struck nothing but empty air, causing the space up ahead to shudder violently as he stumbled forward out of sheer momentum.
Immediately thereafter, he spotted a streak of black light out of the corner of his eye, and the runes on the blade of the black saber had begun flashing as it slashed at him from below at an extremely awkward angle.
It was too late for him to dodge the attack, so he could only take it head-on, and a layer of golden scales immediately appeared over his skin, alongside his True Extreme Membrane.
A loud clang rang out as Han Li retreated several thousand feet through the air, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
After steadying himself, a grim look appeared on his face. The unremarkable-looking slash unleashed by the black-robed young man had managed to slice through both his True Extreme Membrane and his golden scales.
The slash had run out of steam after that and wasn't able to inflict any substantial harm, but Han Li was still quite alarmed by its power.
However, the black-robed young man's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, indicating that he was dissatisfied with the outcome of that attack.
As for the brocade-robed elderly man, he didn't participate directly in the battle. Instead, he was holding a round array plate in one hand while tracing the index finger of his other hand through the air incessantly, as if he were inscribing something.
Furthermore, a series of triangular yellow flags were flying incessantly out of his sleeve before vanishing into thin air.
Han Li's gaze roamed over his two assailants for a moment before a white longsword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of white light.
The black-robed young man took a step forward, immediately traveling close to 1,000 feet through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake as he lashed out at Han Li with his saber again.
Han Li raised an arm to block the attack, managing to keep the saber at bay, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, a startling turn of events abruptly unfolded before his eyes.
The afterimages left behind by Fang Pan were still lingering in the air, and one of them suddenly sprang forth amid a flash of black light, wielding an identical black saber that it lashed out at Han Li's abdomen.
This second figure was identical in appearance to Fang Pan, and it was also giving off a mid-True Immortal Stage aura!
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