Chapter 450: A Step Behind
Han Li took a deep breath, then swept a sleeve toward the Eye of Truth, releasing a burst of golden light that vanished into the Eye of Truth in a flash.
The Eye of Truth instantly lit up even further, following which countless threads of golden light shot out from within.
These threads of golden light were extraordinarily fast, instantly spreading throughout the entire surrounding illusory space.
Han Li closed his eyes while making a rapid string of hand seals, and the Eye of Truth instantly began to flash, while the threads of golden light also began to tremble, inspecting everything within the illusory space like countless sensitive feelers.
Close to an hour passed by in the blink of an eye, and this entire time, Han Li remained seated with his legs crossed in a completely still manner.
Right at this moment, a faint thud suddenly rang out somewhere within the illusory space, and a burst of golden light suddenly erupted out of the one of the threads of golden light.
The space near that thread of light shuddered as ripples surged through the surrounding area, and Han Li's eyes instantly sprang open as he turned to that direction while flicking his fingers rapidly through the air.
At the same time, an enormous burst of spiritual sense surged out of his glabella, and a burst of silver light flashed near that patch of rippling space, following which eight or nine spiritual sense chains emerged there in unison.
All of the spiritual sense chains had sharp tips that pierced into the rippling space, and a burst of dazzling green light instantly erupted out of that area, then twisted and warped erratically before forming an extremely faint rift.
Han Li's eyes instantly lit up upon seeing this, and the flying boat beneath him sped up drastically at his behest, transforming into a blurry green shadow that vanished into the rift in the blink of an eye.
The illusory space around Han Li instantly vanished, and the flying boat reappeared in the Boundless Sand Sea before continuing onward without pause.
Only then did he heave an internal sigh of relief.
That illusion had been far more formidable than the previous ones, and even he had almost fallen prey to it.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuqing has also returned to a sound frame of mind, and she was no longer struggling as she laid completely still on the ground, seemingly having fallen unconscious.
Han Li turned his gaze to her with a hesitant look on his face.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he seemed to have arrived at a decision, and he released an incantation seal, upon which the spiritual sense chain around Lu Yuqing slowly faded away.
At the same time, the translucent rings of light around her also vanished, following which Han Li flicked a finger through the air to send a streak of azure light flying into her glabella.
She immediately gave a muffled groan, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she slowly opened her eyes. She was still looking a little disoriented, but at the very least, the deranged look in her eyes had faded.
After taking a moment to collect herself, her expression abruptly changed drastically as she hurriedly sat up before looking around with a panicked expression.
Only after realizing that she was safe on Han Li's flying boat did her expression ease slightly, but there was still a hint of lingering fear in her eyes as she said, "It looks like you've already managed to get through that illusion, Brother Han. I didn't think that the final mirage would be so formidable."
Han Li had been observing Lu Yuqing's expression this entire time, and he remained silent as his brows furrowed slightly.
Lu Yuqing had naturally noticed the changes in his expression, and she asked, "What is it, Brother Han?"
Han Li shook his head as he replied, "Nothing. How are you feeling right now?"
Lu Yuqing faltered slightly upon hearing this, then pressed her hand over her own abdomen as a hint of pain and surprise appeared in her eyes.
"How did I sustain these injuries?"
"Back in the mirage, you fell prey to the illusion and suddenly attacked me, so I had no choice but to subdue you by force, and I was a little too forceful in the heat of the moment," Han Li explained.
Lu Yuqing faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which an apologetic look appeared on her face as she said, "I'm sorry for always being a hindrance to you, Brother Han."
Han Li waved a dismissive hand in response, then cast his gaze forward as he said, "Now that we've bypassed the final mirage, the passageway should be just up ahead. Let's take a short break before we continue onward."
He swept a sleeve through the air to cast an incantation seal as he spoke, and the azure light radiating from the flying boat instantly rippled slightly as it drew to a halt.
Lu Yuqing nodded in response, then sat back down with her legs crossed before taking a pill.
A layer of bright azure light quickly appeared around her, forming an azure light barrier that encompassed her entire body.
A hint of befuddlement flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.
It didn't seem like Lu Yuqing was putting on an act, so could it be that she had already completely forgotten what had happened in that final mirage?
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought, but at the same time, he made a mental note to be on his guard.
With a sweep of his sleeve, numerous streaks of blue light were released, each of which contained an array flag that landed somewhere near the flying boat.
The array flags were radiating bright blue light, forming a thick blue light barrier that encompassed the entire azure flying boat.
After setting up the array, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a crimson pill.
The pill was enshrouded in a layer of dense crimson light, and it was giving off astonishing spiritual power fluctuations. This was none other than one of the Vast Heaven Pills that had been given to him by Wyrm 3.
In order to break that final mirage, he had expended a great deal of immortal spiritual power, and he was going to have to face a Golden Immortal Stage demon beast up ahead, so he had to replenish his own immortal spiritual power reserves as quickly as possible.
After taking the pill, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed, then channeled his cultivation arts to digest the pill, and a layer of red light quickly appeared over his face.
......
In the sky above a black desert in the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor, a green jade flying carriage was hurtling through the air.
This place was none other than the Black Rock Desert that Han Li and Lu Yuqing had just passed through, and there was a tall man standing on the flying carriage, holding a white disk treasure with a speck of red light flashing upon its surface.
All of a sudden, the man raised his head and cast his gaze forward as he mused in a cold voice, "I knew there was a Spirit Refinement Technique practitioner nearby! You're not getting away from me!"
Immediately thereafter, the four wheels of the flying carriage transformed into four miniature azure tornadoes at his behest, and the speed of the flying carriage was instantly enhanced by severalfold as it shot through the air at an incredible pace.
......
An hour passed by in the blink of an eye.
On the azure flying carriage, Han Li opened his eyes, having already completely replenished his immortal spiritual power reserves.
A short while later, the azure light around Lu Yuqing also faded, and she appeared to have recovered from her injuries as well.
"Let's go," Han Li declared, then swept a sleeve through the air to withdraw the array around the flying boat before continuing onward.
Both of them remained silent, and before long, they had already been flying for close to three hours.
This was supposed to be the deepest part of the Boundless Sand Sea, but the scorching heat in the air was gradually diminishing, and a slightly chilly aura had emerged in its stead.
All of a sudden, Han Li's pupils contracted slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air, and the azure flying boat instantly drew to a halt.
As it turned out, another oasis had appeared up ahead.
This oasis appeared to be around 40 to 50 kilometers in radius, and it was covered in lush greenery.
At the center of the oasis was a crescent-shaped lake, the surface of which was glowing radiantly. Even though it was a bright and sunny day, the lake was still extremely eye-catching, resembling a radiant moon that had fallen upon the Boundless Sand Sea.
Unlike the oases that had come before it, this one was not a mirage.
At the center of the crescent-shaped lake was a rapidly revolving black vortex that was several dozen feet in size.
Bursts of spatial fluctuations were emanating out of the black vortex, and there was a faint speck of white light deep within it, seemingly leading to another world.
All of the water in the lake around the vortex had been stirred up and was splashing audibly.
"That's the spatial passageway!" Lu Yuqing exclaimed in an ecstatic voice.
However, Han Li wasn't looking at the black vortex. Instead, his gaze was focused on a small forest beside the lake, and his expression suddenly changed slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air to stow the azure flying boat away, then descended toward the oasis down below.
Lu Yuqing faltered slightly upon seeing this, then immediately followed along out of habit.
As they drew closer to the oasis, a surprised look suddenly appeared on Lu Yuqing's face as she stopped in her tracks.
As it turned out, there was a demon beast that was over 100 feet in size laying in the forest down below.
The greenery in the forest was quite dense, and the demon beast had been concealed within the undergrowth, so Lu Yuqing had failed to spot it prior to this.
The beast resembled a giant ox, and it had an extremely intimidating physique, with bands of bulging muscles beneath a layer of azure jade-like fur.
However, as opposed to hooves, it had four sets of sharp talons that were giving off a cold gleam.
Even in death, the beast was still giving off a very formidable aura, so it had to have been an extremely powerful being.
However, it had been decapitated, and its huge head was laying on the ground not far away. There was a single black horn on its head, and there was a horrified look in its eyes, as if it had witnessed something extremely terrifying right before it met its demise.
"It looks like someone already got here before us... That makes sense. All of the major powers who entered the immortal manor on this occasion are aware that there's a passageway leading to another region deep in this Boundless Sand Sea. They may not have a map of this place, but given their powers, it's certainly not impossible for them to find this place before us," Lu Yuqing mused.
Han Li nodded in response, and a grim look appeared on his face as his gaze fell upon the wound on the demon beast's neck.
The cross-section of the wound was very smooth and even, indicating that the beast had been decapitated by a single blow.
Furthermore, no signs of battle could be seen in the nearby oasis, indicating that it had been slain by a single attack before it even had a chance to retaliate.
Only an extremely formidable cultivator could've dealt with a Golden Immortal Stage demon beast so easily.
Han Li landed beside the body of the huge demon beast, then brushed a hand over the wound on its neck, picking up some of its blood before taking a sniff, upon which his eyes immediately lit up.
Lu Yuqing was rather taken aback by Han Li's strange gesture, and she couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong, Brother Han?"
"No," Han Li replied with a shake of his head, while a burst of azure light flashed over his hand to remove the blood there. "In any case, now that the beast has already been killed, we won't have to go through the effort of trying to get past it. Let's go."
Lu Yuqing naturally had no objections to this, and the two of them flew over to the black vortex before peering inside.
"There doesn't seem to be any danger," Han Li concluded after a brief assessment, and with that, the two of them flew into the black passageway.
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