Chapter 365: Undercurrents
The gray and golden light continued to clash in mid-air, causing a huge commotion while bursts of violent world's origin qi surged through the area.
Neither side was able to gain the upper hand, and an impasse had ensued.
However, as time passed, both the gray light released by the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain and the pillar of golden light were constantly being worn down.
Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.
He didn't have much immortal spiritual power left, and even with the support of Immortal Origin Stones, he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer.
What was even more concerning was that as it was warding off the pillar of golden light, the law power that the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain contained was constantly being whittled down. At this point, most of it had already been expended, so not only was it also not going to be able to last much longer, it was most likely going to take a very long time to recover after this.
Han Li took a deep breath while replenishing his immortal spiritual power reserves with the Immortal Origin Stone in his hand, while his other hand was still making a series of hand seals so that he could continue to support the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain with his immortal spiritual power.
All of a sudden, the mountain in mid-air abruptly shuddered, following which the gray light that it was radiating quickly faded.
The law power within the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain had finally been exhausted, and it was unable to oppose the pillar of golden light any longer.
Thankfully, at this point, the pillar of golden light had also been severely whittled down, and it struck the dao pill in a flash right after the gray light faded.
The dao pill shuddered violently once again as the two dao marks on its surface began to flash erratically.
At this point, Han Li's immortal spiritual power was close to running out as well, but he made one more last-ditch effort as a burst of dazzling golden light erupted out of the Mantra Treasured Axis behind him, then split up into several dozen strands of golden light once again before wrapping themselves around the dao pill, forming a fist-sized golden ball.
His face had turned deathly pale, and what little remained of his immortal spiritual power had been completely drained, so he wasn't going to be able to do anything else.
The golden ball shuddered while flashing erratically, and it looked as if it could explode at any moment.
Han Li was looking on with an anxious expression, but there was nothing more that he could do.
Right at this moment, Daoist Xie abruptly appeared behind him, then thrust its palms forward, releasing two pillars of golden light that surged into Han Li's body, filling his empty dantian with a burst of pure immortal spiritual power.
Han Li was ecstatic, and he immediately began making a string of hand seals, upon which the golden ball gradually stabilized itself.
Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and his Mantra Treasured Axis vanished alongside the golden ball at his behest, revealing the dao pill inside the latter.
Having transcended two pill tribulations, the dao pill appeared even brighter and more vibrant than before, the time law power fluctuations that it was giving off had also become more formidable.
However, there was no time for Han Li to give it a close inspection. The pill tribulation hadn't lasted a very long time, but it had caused a massive phenomenon, and it was sure to have attracted the attention of some nearby cultivators.
With that in mind, he quickly swallowed a pill, then carefully stored the dao pill into a jade box before turning around to give Daoist Xie a nod of gratitude.
"We have to get out of here. I can already sense people coming this way," Daoist Xie said as it transformed into a streak of golden light that vanished into Han Li's body.
Han Li didn't waste any time with words, sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that stowed away all of the treasures on the ground, as well as the silver cauldron.
He then quickly swept his spiritual sense across the entire cave abode, and only after confirming that there was nothing left inside that could expose his identity did he fly out of the cave abode in a flash.
At this point, the vast golden cloud in the sky had already vanished, but the nearby sea was still slightly more turbulent than usual.
With a sweep of his sleeve, Han Li retrieved all of the array tools near the cave abode, which flew up his sleeve as streaks of light.
He then made a hand seal, and a burst of golden lightning erupted out of his body as he prepared to unleash his lightning teleportation array.
However, right at this moment, gusts of azure wind abruptly emerged out of thin air nearby amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
In the blink of an eye, an azure array had taken shape, and it was giving off tremendous spatial power.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
The azure array was very similar to his lightning array, except it combined the powers of wind and space rather than lightning and space.
Some time was required to set up the lightning array, so it was already too late to get away without being detected by whoever was in the lightning array.
With these thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li immediately stopped in his tracks before flying back toward the cave abode.
At the same time, he put on his Transient Guild mask and adopted a disguise, transforming himself into a middle-aged man.
Mere moments later, a black-robed man with a thin and tall figure emerged within the azure array. His eyes were quite long and thin, as were his eyebrows, giving him a rather sharp and hostile disposition.
The enormous aura emanating from his body indicated that he was also a late-True Immortal cultivator.
Han Li stopped in his tracks before turning to the black-robed man with a surprised expression.
The man cast his gaze toward Han Li as well, and a wary look immediately appeared on his face.
"I don't recall seeing you around these parts before, Fellow Daoist. My name is Miao Yan, and I just so happen to have been cultivating nearby, so I decided to come here and check out the phenomenon that had just taken place. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute, putting on a friendly façade.
Despite his friendly demeanor, internally, he was very surprised.
He had never seen this person in the Black Wind Sea, and as far as he was aware, the island masters of Black Wind Island and Azure Feather Island were the only two late-True Immortal cultivators that were native to the Black Wind Sea.
Having said that, it was clear to Han Li that there were clearly other powers behind those two islands.
These thoughts were flashing rapidly through Han Li's mind while the black-robed man inspected his surroundings briefly, then turned his gaze back to Han Li as he replied in a rather cold voice, "My name is Ge Yu."
"I see. Did you also come here to investigate the phenomenon that had just taken place, Fellow Daoist Ge?" Han Li asked.
Ge Yu nodded in response, then took a meaningful glance at Han Li as he said, "I immediately came here using my teleportation array upon sensing what was happening here, and I thought I was already extremely fast, but it seems you were able to beat me here."
Han Li's smile remained unchanged as he explained, "My cave abode is just nearby, and I also immediately came here upon sensing the phenomenon, so I naturally got here a little faster."
"Is that right?" Ge Yu mused as he descended toward the cave abode.
Han Li hurriedly trailed along behind him, then pretended to explore the cave abode.
Having already conducted a thorough cleanup job earlier, there was no chance that anything of note would be discovered here.
Sure enough, the two of them quickly searched through the cave abode without discovering anything worthy of note.
"It looks like we're still too late, and whoever was here has already left. I wonder what they were doing to have triggered such a massive phenomenon. Could it be that some powerful treasure was created here? It seems like a bit of a stretch," Han Li mused with a perplexed expression.
Ge Yu merely took a glance at Han Li without saying anything.
Right at this moment, several streaks of light appeared on the distant horizon, then quickly flew onto the scene to reveal a group of cultivators, all of whom were at the early-True Immortal Stage.
Upon detecting the cultivation bases of Han Li and Ge Yu, all of the newcomers immediately chose to keep their distance.
Shortly thereafter, more cultivators arrived on the scene from different directions, and Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but internally, he was feeling a little uneasy.
The vast majority of these cultivators weren't Earthly Immortals, so they were clearly outsiders. It seemed that the situation in the Black Wind Sea was far more complex than he had anticipated, and it appeared that many True Immortals from the outside had entered this region during the years that he had been away.
Could it be that all of them had come to search for resources?
The problem with this theory was that while it was true that the Black Wind Sea was superior to the Spirit Realm, it was considered to be extremely lacking in resources in the context of the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, and in this regard, it was inferior even to the Primordial Wave Continent.
"It looks like there's nothing here. The situation may become more complex with more people arriving on the scene, so I'll be taking my leave," Han Li said with slightly furrowed brows as he cupped his fist in a parting salute toward Ge Yu, then flew away as a streak of azure light.
Ge Yu remained on the spot and watched Han Li depart for a moment before also flying away himself as a gust of azure wind.
Only then did the other cultivators nearby begin to approach the island.
……
Countless kilometers away, there was a stretch of ocean with an extremely dense cloud of black mist hanging over its surface, and the sky was also very dim.
A burst of spatial fluctuations emerged over the surface of the sea, following which a golden lightning array took shape with Han Li inside it.
He swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, upon which his expression eased slightly.
After leaving the island, he had teleported through the Black Wind Sea multiple times before arriving here, so even if there had been someone following him, he should've been able to shake them off his trail by now.
He took a glance at his surroundings, then abruptly swooped down toward the sea below, quickly descending to the seabed before sitting down with his legs crossed.
At this moment, his entire body was racked with sharp pain from using Daoist Xie's immortal spiritual power.
He set up a couple of restrictions, then swallowed a pill before closing his eyes to meditate.
Three days and three nights later, he opened his eyes before rising to his feet.
The discomfort in his body had already completely faded, and having endured this pill tribulation, he had gained a better understanding of the power of time as well, which should've been quite helpful in his bid to master the laws of time through consuming the dao pill.
With that in mind, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on f(r)e𝒆webn(o)vel.com