Chapter 343: Plans
In a certain region of the sea to the west of the Ancient Cloud Continent.
This place was near the Thunderstorm Sea, and the sky was filled with dark clouds with bolts of lightning flashing within them.
However, in contrast with the lightning deep within the Thunderstorm Sea, the lightning here was far less formidable. Occasionally, a bolt of lightning or two would come crashing down out of the sky, but for the average cultivator, as long as they proceeded with caution, they were at no threat of severe bodily harm.
The seawater here was extremely murky, almost like mud, and the entire surface of the sea was enshrouded under a dense blanket of gray mist that seemed to have been infinitely vast, and there were strange gusts of wind howling within the mist that produced a sound resembling human sobbing.
This place was known as the Sobbing Mist Sea, and it was a very renowned area to the west of the Ancient Cloud Continent, but not for good reasons.
Beneath this region of the sea was an enormous gray rock crystal mine, and after it had been completely exhausted of its mineral resources, the seawater had taken on this murky appearance, and this blanket of gray mist had arisen.
The murky seawater and the mist weren't harmful to human cultivators, but the marine demon beasts here seemed to intensely detest this environment, and most of them had moved away. As a result, the cultivator population in the region was also decreasing year after year, making this place more and more barren and desolate.
Deep within the sea of mist was a black island that only had a radius of less than 10 kilometers, and at the center of the island was an extremely desolate black mountain that was several thousand feet tall.
Right at this moment, a burst of golden light flashed within an obscure cave at the foot of the mountain, and the entire mountain shuddered slightly.
The golden light flashed a few times before abruptly brightening significantly, and even the surrounding black mountain face had been illuminated a golden color, while an enormous aura was surging out of the cave.
However, right at this moment, an azure light barrier appeared at the opening of the cave with countless azure runes flashing over its surface, intercepting the aura before it could spread even further.
Even so, the entire island still shuddered violently, while the nearby gray mist was also churned up into a frenzy.
Right at this moment, a loud squawk rang out in the distance, and an azure shadow flew out at an incredible speed before landing near the black island, revealing itself to be an azure bird.
The bird was massive with a wingspan of around 200 to 300 feet, and it had a large head coupled with a thin neck. Its entire body was covered in arrow-like azure feathers, and there was a large fleshy pouch hanging in front of its chest, giving it a rather hideous appearance.
Standing atop the bird's back was none other than the Meng Qianqian, and the bird was naturally Featheryearn.
A hint of elevation appeared in Meng Qianqian's eyes at the sight of the golden lightning flashing in the cave, and all of a sudden, the golden lightning in the cave brightened even further, while thick arcs of golden lightning began to emerge.
The parts of the black rock walls that were struck by the arcs of golden lightning shattered like tofu, and it didn't take long before the entire mountain collapsed violently to reveal a ball of lightning that was several hundred feet in size.
The shadow of a massive lightning array could be seen within the ball of light, and arcs of golden lightning were crashing into the surrounding azure light barrier, causing it to tremble violently, but it remained intact.
All of a sudden, the ball of golden lightning flashed once again, and an incredibly thick pillar of golden light tore through the azure light barrier before erupting into the heavens.
All of the world's origin qi within a radius of hundreds of kilometers churned violently, as did the nearby sea of mist, forming a huge vortex around the pillar of lightning.
The pillar of golden lightning remained for a few seconds before slowly dissipating, and the ball of golden lightning on the island also vanished to reveal Han Li, Meng Xiong, and Meng Guang.
Meng Qianqian immediately flew down from Featheryearn's back with an elated expression, and she was just about to say something when Han Li said, "Now's not the time to talk. Come with me!"
Immediately thereafter, he summoned an azure flying boat amid a flash of azure light, and it instantly swelled to over 100 feet in size.
One either side of the flying boat were two rows of azure spirit wings that were formed by spiritual power.
This Azure Luan Boat was something that he had obtained from a True Immortal while undertaking a mission, and it wasn't a treasure of a particularly high caliber, but it was quite fast, nonetheless.
Han Li flew onto the flying boat, closely followed by Meng Xiong and Meng Guang.
Meng Qianqian faltered slightly before also doing the same, then cast an incantation seal to stow Featheryearn into her spirit beast pouch.
With a flick of his finger, around a dozen thick streaks of azure sword qi were sent flying through the air before striking the black island down below, instantly destroying what remained of it and causing it to completely sink into the sea without a trace.
At the same time, Han Li made a hand seal with his other hand, and the azure flying boat began to glow radiantly as it shot forth into the distance as an azure shadow, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Not long after their departure, two streaks of light arrived from afar, revealing a pair of humanoid figures, one of which was a middle-aged daoist priest wearing a black hat, while the other was a gray-robed elderly man.
"This is the place! The spiritual qi fluctuations still haven't completely dissipated yet," the daoist priest said with a hint of excitement on his face.
There was an elated look on the gray-robed elderly man's face as well, and he nodded in response. "Indeed, and these are some extremely formidable spiritual qi fluctuations. I spotted a huge pillar of golden light rising up into the air from here. Could it be that some treasure is about to emerge?"
As he was speaking, he had already released his spiritual sense to inspect his surroundings.
"That's definitely a possibility. This region of the sea has always been very unpredictable, so nothing would surprise me," the daoist priest replied, then flipped a hand over to produce a yellow plate treasure with countless runes engraved on its surface.
Bursts of rippling yellow light swept forth from the plate treasures, encompassing the entire surrounding area within a radius of several kilometers.
After scouring the area for a while to no avail, the gray-robed elderly man asked, "Have you found anything, Fellow Daoist Wan?"
The daoist priest remained silent, continuing to use his plate treasure to release halos of rippling yellow light.
Moments later, he withdrew his hand seal, and the gray-robed elderly man hurriedly asked, "How did it go?"
"That pillar of light wasn't a precursor for the emergence of any treasure. Instead, it was a result of someone unleashing some type of ability here," the daoist priest sighed.
The gray-robed elderly man's face fell slightly upon hearing this, and he was still holding onto a shred of hope as he asked, "Are you sure?"
"All nine layers of restrictions in my Precious Domain Plate have been activated, so there's definitely no mistaking it," the daoist priest replied with a roll of his eyes.
The gray-robed elderly man shook his head with a wry smile as he replied, "In that case, it looks like we got excited for nothing. By the way, have you managed to detect that person's cultivation base?"
"Judging from the lingering spiritual qi fluctuations here, they were most likely at or above the Body Integration Stage," the daoist priest replied.
The gray-robed elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of lingering fear appeared in his eyes as he said, "In that case, it's a good thing that we arrived late. Otherwise, if we had been any earlier and irked that senior, then we would've been in severe danger."
"In any case, we should leave this place right away to avoid any potential misunderstandings," the daoist priest replied in a calm voice.
"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Wan," the gray-robed elderly man immediately replied with a nod.
Shortly thereafter, two streaks of light rose up into the sky before flying away into the distance.
……
At this point, Han Li and the others were already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
Han Li circled around above the sea for a while, then arrived in another large coastal city in the western region of the Ancient Cloud Continent.
This place was known as Heavenly Cloud City, and it was the capital of the Heavenly Cloud Nation. It was quite a large city that directly neighbored a spirit vein of a decent size, making it a very habitable place.
Not only was the city quite close to the Thunderstorm Sea, its large size meant that many of the cultivators passing through the area would choose to stop here for some rest and to replenish supplies.
Some of the high-grade cultivators returning from adventures in the Thunderstorm Sea would also come to the city to sell or exchange their spoils.
As a result, Heavenly Cloud City was becoming more and more prosperous by the day, and it had already become one of the largest cities within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers.
Han Li and the others snuck into the city, then chose a secluded medium-sized inn to stay in.
Even the most formidable cultivator stationed in the city was only at the Body Integration Stage, so there was naturally no chance of Han Li being discovered.
That night, in the guest hall.
Han Li was seated on the main chair, while Meng Xiong, Meng Guang, and Meng Qianqian were standing respectfully before him.
After conjuring up a soundproofing restriction, Han Li gave the trio a brief recount of what had taken place in the Blaze Dragon Dao.
At this point, Meng Qianqian possessed the most advanced cultivation base out of all of the servants, but she was quite lacking in life experience, and she was momentarily completely rooted to the spot after hearing such shocking news.
Meng Xiong and Meng Guang were already aware that something had to have happened during the preaching ceremony, but they were still astonished after hearing Han Li's story.
"Qianqian, I'll give you a choice just like I gave the others, and the conditions remain the same. What is your choice?" Han Li asked.
Meng Qianqian remained silent, seemingly still reeling from the bombshell that had just been dropped on her.
"If you need to discuss the matter with Yungui before you make a decision..."
"There's no need for that," Meng Qianqian replied without any hesitation. "I wasn't hesitating, Elder Li, I was just surprised. Regardless of what choice my brother makes, I'm willing to continue to follow you."
Han Li nodded in response, then said, "Right now, I'm no longer an elder of the Blaze Dragon Dao, so you're not to refer to me as such in the future, understood?"
"Yes, Senior Li," the three servants immediately replied in unison.
Han Li didn't say anything further as he rose to his feet, then made his way over to the window, casting his gaze out toward the distant Thunderstorm Sea with a contemplative look in his eyes.
After a long while, Han Li still hadn't said anything, and after a brief hesitation, Meng Qianqian asked in a timid voice, "What are your plans from here, Senior Li?"
Han Li offered no response, seemingly still contemplating something in silence.
Meng Qianqian's trio exchanged a glance with one another, and they naturally didn't dare to disturb him, so they could only wait in silence.
A long while later, Han Li finally declared, "I'm planning to leave the Ancient Cloud Continent for a while."
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