Chapter 84: Statue
The forest was filled with all types of different flora, and even with Han Li's vast wealth of experience, he felt like an overawed child in a candy shop.
There were all types of strange and exotic plants stretching as far as the eyes could see, some of which were considered to be exceedingly rare in the Spirit Realm, but were as commonplace as average weed here. Furthermore, all of them were quite advanced in age, and the majority of them were over 1,000 years old, with some specimens even in the tens of thousands of years.
There were also some spirit plants that Han Li didn't recognize, but most of them contained astonishing spiritual power or possessed peculiar appearances or fragrances, and he naturally didn't shy away from adding them all to his collection.
Even though he had already briefly inspected the space within the mysterious bubble with his spiritual sense earlier, he still couldn't help but be stunned by the sights that he was being greeted by, and he was very pleased with his decision not to leave prematurely.
Close to two hours later, Han Li drew to a halt in a rather spacious area in the forest. The trees here were very sparse, and there weren't any spirit medicines growing here either, so it was rather barren in appearance.
Over 1,000 feet in front of him was a giant cave that resembled an enormous rucksack, with its dark and shadowy opening directly facing him.
Han Li stood on the spot and briefly inspected his surroundings, and only after ascertaining that there was nothing amiss did he make his way over to the cave before peering inside.
The cave led diagonally downward, and the sound of howling wind was ringing out incessantly from within.
Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes as he made his way into the cave.
The inside of the cave was quite dim and a little damp. Water droplets were constantly dripping down from the ceiling and walls of the cave, and the floor was also very soft and loamy.
Han Li followed the natural slope of the cave as he made his way downward, and after walking for around 15 minutes, the direction of the cave's curvature suddenly changed. Furthermore, a series of white crystals that were giving off a cold light began to appear on the rock faces of the cave.
Initially, the crystals were rather sparse, but the further Han Li advanced, the more concentrated the crystals became, and they gradually illuminated the entire path.
After walking for another 15 minutes, he finally reached the end of the cave, where he arrived in a massive underground cavern that was several thousand feet in size.
There were countless white crystals embedded onto the ceiling of the cavern, and they were giving off a cold light that filled the entire space.
Furthermore, the sound of flowing water could be clearly heard down below. As it turned out, there was an underground river passing through here, forming a small lake in the cavern, and the lake was surrounded by translucent yellow sand.
The white light radiating from the crystals was reflected by the rippling water, casting ripples of light onto the surrounding rock faces, presenting a beautiful sight to behold.
However, Han Li was in no mood to be appreciating the scenery here. Instead, his gaze was firmly fixed on a giant rock that was protruding out of the water directly at the center of the cavern.
The rock resembled a miniature landmass that was over 300 feet in size, and there was a strange tree that was roughly 100 feet tall growing on it.
The tree was rather similar to a walnut tree, but it was completely bare and devoid of any leaves. However, there were a series of walnut-like fruits hanging from its branches.
Han Li leaped up into the air before landing at the foot of the tree to inspect it at close quarters.
As a result, he discovered that the tree was riddled with a type of profound pattern that he had never seen before. These patterns didn't appear to have been engraved onto the tree by anyone. Instead, they seemed to be naturally occurring patterns.
The walnut-like fruits hanging from the trees were even more peculiar. Their surfaces were riddled with extremely twisted patterns that resembled strange human faces, some of which resembled wizened elderly men, while others resembled newborn infants.
However, regardless of what the patterns on the fruits were like, every single one of the fruits was giving off astonishing earth-attribute spiritual energy.
It was exactly because he had noticed this spiritual energy that he had been drawn to this place.
Han Li stroked his chin as a contemplative look appeared on his face, and a theory began to emerge in his mind.
This space within the mysterious bubble most likely belonged to the one-eyed giant, and the centaur-like creature had taken such a massive risk to engage the one-eyed giant in battle precisely for this strange walnut tree.
Han Li couldn't identify this tree, nor the fruits that it bore, but one thing was for certain: the fact that a pair of monstrous creatures that were comparable to True Immortals in power were willing to fight over this tree meant that it was definitely no ordinary entity.
However, none of that was important anymore. Right now, this place belonged solely to him.
……
In the Immortal Realm.
In the sky above a nameless mountain range, gusts of fierce wind were howling incessantly amid a dense layer of dark clouds, while snow fell persistently from the heavens.
Some trees that had folded over under the weight of the thick blankets of accumulated snow could still be seen near the foot of the dozens of mountains in the mountain range, but above that, all of the mountains were covered entirely in snow and ice.
The only sounds that could be heard were the howling of the wind and the rustling of the snow, and there weren't any signs of living creatures in the area, either.
However, right at this moment, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out from deep within the tallest mountain in the mountain range, and the voice passed through the snow and wind without being muffled or drowned out in the slightest.
"Who dared to kill my spirit pet? I don't care who you are, I'm going to find you and tear you to shreds, then seal your soul away beneath this mountain for the rest of eternity!"
The voice was filled with rage, and the entire snowy mountain trembled under the weight of its fury.
Countless massive slabs of snow that had accumulated over the course of countless years slid off from the mountain, then came crashing down to send even more snow tumbling down from the mountain, causing a chain reaction that quickly resulted in a full-blown avalanche.
……
In a certain region of the sea in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region.
The bright sun was hanging directly in the center of the bright and clear sky, and there were only faint traces of clouds drifting through the air. A faint breeze was blowing over the surface of the sea, stirring up a series of small waves.
On the rippling surface of the sea was a black island that was several thousand kilometers in size, and the island was bordered by an extremely irregular circle of countless black rocks. Looking down at the island from above, it resembled an enormous leaf.
There were many boats moored at a dock situated to the north of the island, but the dock itself was completely empty and devoid of people.
There was a wide bluestone path leading into the island from the dock, and it extended all the way into the dense forest on the island.
At the end of the path was a primitive village with densely packed buildings, concealed amid the dense forestry.
At this moment, many parts of the village had been set alight, and thick smoke was rising up into the air, while thunderous war cries were ringing out incessantly. The radiance of countless treasures could be seen, and a nauseating gorey smell was wafting through the air.
Amid a set of ruins, close to 1,000 cultivators were locked in a chaotic battle. The cultivators were split up into two sides, and their numbers seemed to be roughly evenly matched.
The cultivators on one of the two sides weren't human. All of them were extremely physically imposing with green skin and tusks protruding out of their mouths, and most of them were wielding that fell under the categories of maces and hammers. Furthermore, each of them had a layer of faint white light over their skin.
There were also some yellow-armored mace-wielding warriors interspersed among these foreign cultivators, but all of them had sickly yellow skin and didn't appear to be living beings. Instead, they resembled moving wax statues.
In the opposing faction, most of the cultivators were humans, but there were also some strange crimson-armored warriors among them.
The skin of these warriors bore the same hue as their armor, and even in the heat of battle, they were completely expressionless, giving them the appearance of emotionless puppets.
On a section of elevated terrain, a crimson-armored warrior that was wielding a crimson spear leaped down before plunging its spear viciously down toward one of the oncoming yellow-skinned warriors.
Before the crimson spear had even struck its target, a crimson vortex erupted from the tip of the spear, sending countless bursts of crimson light raining down from above.
A resounding boom rang out as a huge hole was blasted into the yellow-skinned warrior's chest, and some type of yellow fluid came pouring out incessantly from the wound as it stumbled back a few steps involuntarily.
However, in the next instant, it bent its knees slightly before springing up like lightning while swinging its mace through the air, releasing countless mace projections to form a ferocious yellow hurricane that swept viciously toward the crimson-armored warrior.
The crimson-armored warrior was caught off guard by the attack, and its head instantly exploded, but at the last second, it hurled its spear through the air, sending it piercing directly through the yellow-skinned warrior's head.
The two fell to the ground almost at the exact same moment, and one of them disintegrated into a puddle of crimson liquid, while the other dissolved into a pool of yellow fluid.
Elsewhere, a short and stubby elderly man suddenly emerged from behind a semi-collapsed wall with a crimson jade vial in his grasp, and the opening of the vial was facing a foreign cultivator that was chasing after him in hot pursuit several hundred feet away.
The elderly man gently patted the bottom of the vial, and countless crimson threads shot out of the vial amid a flash of crimson light, then intertwined to form a pillar of crimson light that shot directly toward the foreign cultivator.
As soon as the crimson pillar of light came into contact with the layer of white light over the foreign cultivator's body, it was instantly slowed down. Even though it wasn't completely dispelled, its power had been instantly reduced by close to a third.
The foreign cultivator stumbled unsteadily from the attack, and blood gushed out of its mouth, but it didn't sustain any substantial injuries and continued to charge toward the elderly man as it let loose a furious roar.
Similar scenes were taking place all over the entire village.
The yellow-skinned warriors and the crimson-armored warriors were all extremely fierce and courageous in battle, displaying no regard for their own safety. However, they were roughly evenly matched both in terms of power and numbers, so they were unable to sway the state of the battle.
However, all of the foreign cultivators were protected by those strange layers of white light, which buffered the power of all of the attacks that were directed at them. As a result, they were able to quickly gain the upper hand in the battle, and the human cultivators were soon forced back into retreat, converging toward the center of the village.
Meanwhile, on a white stone plaza at the center of the village, several dozen black-robed figures were seated around a massive statue with their legs crossed, chanting a complex incantation.
There were people from all demographics among the black-robed figures, and all of them had rather pale complexions as they held their left arms in front of them with their left sleeves rolled back.
There was a thin gash on all of their left wrists, and blood was flowing out of those gashes before trickling down onto the ground in front of them.
A series of channels had been carved onto the ground to form a complex array, which was directly connected to the statue at the very center of the plaza.
The statue was roughly 100 feet tall, and it depicted a young scholarly man holding a book in his hand while casting his gaze into the distance.
If Han Li were present, he would be surprised to find that the young scholarly man bore some resemblance to him. However, when looking at the bodily proportions, it was clear that Han Li was taller than the man that was the subject of the statue.
In front of the statue was a gray-robed elderly with his arm crossed in front of him and his hands gripping onto his opposite shoulders as he prayed to the statue with a reverent expression, "Almighty Ancestral God, please heed the call of your devoted bloodline and descend!"
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