Chapter 387: Chaotic State of Affairs
Millions of kilometers away, a rumbling thunderclap suddenly rang out in the sky above the sea, immediately following which arcs of golden lightning sprang forth before intertwining to form a profound lightning array.
The golden array then faded in a flash to reveal Han Li, and as soon as he appeared, he immediately released his spiritual sense throughout the surrounding area.
Only after confirming that there was no one else within a radius of thousands of kilometers did he finally feel a little safer, and he cast his gaze in the direction of Black Wind Island with a contemplative look in his eyes.
Lu Yue had to have come to the Black Wind Sea for a reason, but it most likely wasn't to hunt for him. Even though he was a wanted fugitive of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, he was still only a True Immortal cultivator, so it would've surely been considered overkill to send a Golden Immortal after him.
Even so, he still didn't dare to drop his guard. He was confident that he would be able to at least ensure self-preservation in the face of a Golden Immortal, but it would still be quite troublesome for him if Lu Yue were to find out that he was in the Black Wind Sea.
On top of that, the fact that Lu Yue was able to enter the island master's manor so easily indicated that he had some ties with Black Wind Island.
With that in mind, Han Li thought back to the strange group of people that he had encountered back when he first returned to the Black Wind Sea. Those people seemed to have had close ties with Black Wind Island as well.
Could it be that they were also cultivators of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace?
With that in mind, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a black array plate, then cast an incantation seal into it, and the array plate immediately began to release balls of black light that came together to form a voice transmission array.
After that, Han Li sent out a voice transmission message through the array, but even after waiting for a full 15 minutes, the array was still displaying no reaction.
His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
This array plate had been given to him by Wyrm 3 prior to his departure from the secret area, and he was planning to ask Wyrm 3 about the current state of affairs in the Black Wind Sea, but he wasn't receiving any response.
Han Li shook his head as he stowed the array plate away, then cast a contemplative gaze toward the sea down below.
At the moment, the Black Wind Sea resembled the sea beneath him. It appeared calm and placid on the surface, and even the conflict between Black Wind Island and Azure Feather Island had temporarily subsided, but there were undercurrents churning beneath the surface.
First, there was the Reincarnation Palace. This mysterious power that was a sworn enemy of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace had suddenly appeared in the Black Wind Sea for some reason, and he had essentially been coerced to join them and refine that strange pill for an unknown purpose. Now, cultivators from the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace had also appeared here,
Given the chaotic nature of the situation, it simply didn't make sense for him to stay here, and he should leave this place as soon as possible.
However, the teleportation array leading to the outside world was inaccessible, so the only way out was through the Soul Stirring Winds, and he was confident that he would be able to complete the journey with the help of the Wind Shelter Bead.
He was quite curious about what was deep inside the Soul Stirring Winds to begin with, so this was a good opportunity for him to satisfy his curiosity.
With that in mind, Han Li was just about to fly away as a streak of azure light when he suddenly stopped in his tracks before turning toward a certain direction.
After a brief hesitation, he flew in that direction instead.
Meanwhile, in a dimly-lit hall in the island master's manor in Black Wind City.
The hall was only around 40 to 50 feet wide, but it was 200 to 300 feet deep, and there were two rows of wooden shelves on either side of the hall. The shelves were laden with lit candles that were giving off a peculiar aroma, but they weren't shedding much light on the hall.
At the end of the hall was a three-tiered platform, atop which sat none other than Xiao Jinhan.
His eyes were tightly shut, and he seemed to have been cultivating with wisps of black mist rising up from his body to encompass an area in a radius of roughly 30 feet around him.
There was a peculiar, suffocating aura that enshrouded the entire hall, as if an invisible beast were prowling the hall, and standing at the foot of the platform were Lu Yue and the young woman in the daoist robe.
The two of them had faint sheens of sweat glistening on their foreheads, and both of them remained completely silent.
A long while later, Xiao Jinhan opened his eyes, and the surrounding black mist instantly vanished into his body, while the peculiar atmosphere in the hall also faded.
Lu Yue and the young woman's expressions eased slightly upon sensing this, while Xiao Jinhan asked, "How did it go?"
"Rest assured, Palace Master, everything has been arranged according to your instructions. The Distant Displacement Array has also been reinforced, so there's no way that the people of the Vast Flow Palace and the Dawn Fall Sect will be able to detect the location of the entrance," Lu Yue replied in a respectful voice.
"Our main enemy is the Reincarnation Palace," Xiao Jinhan said as his eyes narrowed slightly.
Lu Yue immediately felt a tremendous burst of pressure weighing down upon him, and his complexion paled slightly as he hurriedly replied, "Yes, Palace Master. Right now, the people of the Reincarnation Palace definitely won't be able to find the entrance, either."
Xiao Jinhan gave a slight nod upon hearing this, and he said in an authoritative voice, "This is a very important matter, so you must make sure that nothing goes wrong!"
"Rest assured, Palace Master!" Lu Yue immediately replied.
Xiao Jinhan's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he gave a dismissive wave.
Lu Yue and the young woman extended a parting salute, and only after they were far away from the hall did heave a collective sigh of relief.
"The palace master's powers are becoming more and more unfathomable. As long as this mission is a success, he shouldn't be far away from reaching the High Zenith Stage," the young woman said.
"It's exactly because of this that failure is not an option," Lu Yue replied.
"I'm well aware of that," the young woman replied with a nod, and the two of them quickly faded into the distance.
Meanwhile, Lu Jun and Lu Yuqing were standing beside a window of a distant pavilion.
"Father, the Immortal Palace..."
Lu Jun hurriedly glared at Lu Yuqing to cut her off, then closed the window before turning and making his way deeper into the pavilion.
Lu Yuqing stuck out her tongue with a slightly disgruntled expression before trailing along behind him.
Lu Jun stopped in a room deep within the pavilion, then swept his sleeves through the air to release a series of incantation seals.
Seven or eight restrictions instantly appeared in the room in quick succession, following which Lu Jun thrust his palm into a nearby wall, and a secret opening appeared on the wall.
The two of them made their way inside, and the secret opening immediately closed itself.
Beyond the secret opening was a small room with walls that were constructed from a type of black crystal that was giving off a layer of faint black light.
As soon as they entered this room, it was as if they had entered a separate space that was completely isolated from the outside world.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Qing'er? There's no telling how formidable the spiritual sense of those people are, so we have to exercise the utmost caution in everything that we say and do. This is perhaps the only safe place in the entire manor," Lu Jun said in a stern voice.
"I understand, Father," Lu Yuqing replied with a nod.
Only then did Lu Jun's expression ease slightly as he patted Lu Yuqing on the shoulder in a doting fashion, then sat down beside a table in the room.
"Father, we've been constantly working for the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace. Even if we set aside everything else, just the conflict against Azure Feather Island alone has resulted in close to half of our 36 subsidiary islands falling into ruin. Now that the immortal manor is about to emerge, can they really not spare us even a single spot?" Lu Yuqing asked with a slightly indignant expression.
A wry smile appeared on Lu Jun's face as he sighed, "The Northern Glacial Immortal Palace is too far above us for us to question its decisions."
The indignation on Lu Yuqing's face became even more pronounced upon hearing this.
"We can't ask for too much. All we can hope for now is that after all of this is over, the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace will abide by its promise not to meddle in the affairs of our Black Wind Sea any longer," Lu Jun sighed.
……
Half a month later.
A flurry of golden lightning emerged in the sky tens of thousands of kilometers away from Dark Veil Island, following which Han Li appeared.
He took a brief glance at his surroundings before flying toward Dark Veil Island, and upon arriving near the island, he was quite relieved to find that it appeared untouched by the frequent natural disasters.
The entire island was still in a state of lockdown, and all of the restrictions were still activated.
Han Li pulled out a storage bracelet, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that enveloped the storage bracelet, following which it vanished in a flash.
Inside a secret chamber on Dark Veil Island, Luo Feng was seated with his legs crossed, and his body was enshrouded within a cloud of mist.
He seemed to have been cultivating some type of secret technique, and right at this moment, a ball of azure light containing a storage bracelet appeared in front of him without any warning.
The azure light faded, and the bracelet fell onto the ground.
The mist around Luo Feng immediately receded as he opened his eyes, and he faltered slightly at the sight of the storage bracelet on the ground, immediately following which Han Li's voice rang out beside his ears.
"The island is to remain in lockdown for the next century."
Luo Feng hurriedly rose to his feet, then cupped his fist in a respectful salute as he said, "Yes, Ancestral God Liu Shi!"
That was the only instruction issued to him, and Luo Feng waited for a moment before picking up the storage bracelet from the ground.
He then injected his spiritual sense into it, and an elated look immediately appeared on his face.
The storage bracelet contained a large batch of spirit stones and materials that was sufficient to support the island's operation for several centuries.
Meanwhile, Han Li had arrived at the place where his Earthly Deity Avatar was cultivating.
Checking on the state of the island was only the secondary objective for his visit, while hsi primary objective was to take the heavy water that his Earthly Deity Avatar had refined over the past years.
At this moment, Han Li was hovering in mid-air, looking down at the massive rumbling vortex on the surface of the sea down below with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
The vortex was several hundred kilometers in size, and it was raising enormous waves that were over 1,000 feet tall in all directions.
The vortex had never been this formidable before, and a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li as he swooped straight down into it.
On a platform on the seabed, the Earthly Deity Avatar was seated with dazzling blue light radiating from its entire body, forming a giant ball of blue light that was several hundred feet in size around it.
Additionally, there was also a thread of blue light hovering above its head, and it had become roughly twice as thick as before with countless blue runes dancing around it.
An enormous aura was emanating from its body, indicating that it had already reached the late-True Immortal Stage.
Han Li was very pleased to see this, but not overly surprised.
This avatar had already previously reached the pinnacle of the mid-True Immortal Stage, and even though he had been quite busy with his own cultivation, he still occasionally manifested some time crystals to send to the Earthly Deity Avatar. With a sufficient supply of time crystals, it was never going to be that difficult for it to make a breakthrough.
After all, in just the span of a few centuries, it had already managed to derive as much heavy water as the average cultivator would've done in several million years.
All of a sudden, the blue light around the Earthly Deity Avatar's rippled before quickly vanishing into its body, following which it rose to its feet before casting its gaze toward Han Li.
"Give me all of your heavy water," Han Li instructed.
The Earthly Deity Avatar flipped its hands over to produce a pair of Heavenly Water Pouches, then offered them to Han Li.
Han Li inspected the contents of the two pouches with his spiritual sense, and his eyes immediately lit up.
One of the pouches was already full, while the other one was also close to halfway filled. It seemed that with the increase in its cultivation base, the Earthly Deity Avatar's rate of heavy water derivation had also improved significantly.
He made a hand seal, and a layer of starlight appeared over his body as he reached out to grab the two pouches.
Even though he was already prepared this time, his arms still sank down slightly upon receiving the pair of pouches, and only as all of his 18 profound acupoints lit up was he able to bear the collective weight of the two pouches with ease.
A pleased look appeared on his face upon seeing this.
These two pouches of heavy water, in addition to the one from before, were already enough for him to use in battle.
He stowed the pair of Heavenly Water Pouches away, then flipped a hand over to produce three empty ones before handing them to the Earthly Deity Avatar. He then instructed it to continue producing more heavy water before promptly departing.
After flying for some time, Han Li arrived in a deserted area before unleashing his lightning teleportation array.
He had also already packed up the Lightning Restraining Wood teleportation array on the way back to Dark Veil Island.
Close to a month later, a streak of azure light shot forth from afar on the outskirts of the Black Wind Sea, then faded to reveal Han Li.
Up ahead were the Soul Stirring Winds that spread as far and wide as the eyes could see.
Han Li took a glance at the boundless Soul Stirring Winds, then flipped a hand over to produce his Wind Shelter Bead before flying directly forward.
The surrounding Soul Stirring Winds instantly converged toward him, but they weren't able to have much of an impact on him thanks to the Wind Shelter Bead.
After taking a moment to acclimate himself to the environment, Han Li began to gradually accelerate in his flight.
Due to the fact that the world's origin qi was obstructed here, his immortal spiritual power recovery was severely inhibited, but prior to coming here, he had already spent quite a large sum of Immortal Origin Stones to purchase a batch of recovery pills from the Transient Guild.
Time slowly passed by, and in the blink of an eye, Han Li had already been flying through the Soul Stirring Winds for four or five days.
The Soul Stirring Winds here were already far more formidable than the ones around the secret area of the Reincarnation Palace.
Instead of their previous scattered state, the Soul Stirring Winds here had gathered together to form huge pillars of black wind that were hundreds, even thousands of feet tall, resembling countless giant black tornadoes wreaking havoc over the landscape.
The tremendous force being released by these giant pillars of wind were severely diminished by the Wind Shelter Bead, but it was still extremely formidable, comparable to an all-out attack from a Grand Ascension cultivator.
At this moment, Han Li had already conjured up his True Extreme Film, which was keeping the formidable power being released by the pillars of black wind at bay with ease.
While the power of the Soul Stirring Winds posed no threat to him, the ghastly sounds ringing out from within them had become more than 10 times as formidable as compared when he first entered the Soul Stirring Winds, and even though these sounds were also being buffered by the Wind Shelter Bead, they were still a huge pain to deal with.
As a result, Han Li had no choice but to slow down while using his Spirit Refinement Technique to ward off the effects of those horrific sounds.
At this moment, he was flying through the boundless Soul Stirring Winds at a rapid speed like a tiny raft.
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