The words had barely left his lips when, without waiting for any of the Void Fish people to say anything further, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out the Mountain Sea Bead.
No sooner had the bead flown out than it began spinning rapidly in the wind, and a brilliant cascade of rainbow light swept downward from its surface.
Wherever the light passed, the Void Fish people below vanished row by row without a trace.
In the span of just a dozen or so breaths, the entire square had grown completely empty, with not a single soul remaining.
Han Li himself, amid a bizarre ripple of fluctuation, flickered and vanished as well.
In a vast, mysterious space, Han Li materialized soundlessly after a flash.
More than half of this space was covered by the deepest blue water, with only one large and three small islands at its center—four in total.
Han Li had appeared directly above the enormous island, and after a sweeping glance below, he easily located the Void Fish people who had been teleported into this space earlier.
All of them were standing on a patch of grassland, looking around in every direction, taking in their surroundings with a mixture of wonder and excitement.
"This is the grotto-heaven inside the Mountain Sea Bead," Han Li said, his tone brooking no argument. "Build yourselves some houses first and live here temporarily for a while. Once I return to my clan and find a suitable place to settle you, I will let you out."
"Yes, we will certainly follow the master's instructions!" The Void Fish clan leader bowed deeply toward the sky, answering without hesitation.
The other Void Fish people also knelt one after another, voicing their agreement.
"Heh, there's no need for such formalities. Take care of yourselves." Han Li smiled faintly, gave his sleeve a flick, and took a single step forward. His entire figure swayed and departed the space.
The old man watched this, then, suppressing a trace of excitement in his heart, rose to his feet and called to his fellow clansmen to begin searching the islands for suitable places to settle.
At the same time, in the outside world, Han Li reappeared and slowly descended.
He casually found a spot, crossed his legs and sat down, closing his eyes.
He could already clearly sense that strands of invisible repulsive force were beginning to coil around his body, causing him considerable discomfort.
Time passed bit by bit.
After an indeterminate amount of time, bizarre waves of fluctuation began to emanate from the space above his head, and simultaneously clusters of dark clouds materialized, from which a faint buzzing sound could be heard.
In the area where Han Li sat cross-legged, the air warped and blurred, rendering it impossible to see him clearly for a moment.
Suddenly, Han Li's eyes snapped open. His sleeve stirred, and something appeared in his hand in a flash—which instantly burst apart.
A thunderous boom like a crack of lightning in a clear sky!
A massive arc of silver lightning struck down from above, and Han Li vanished amid the swirling electricity in a flash…
In the Spirit Realm, atop a particularly desolate rocky mountain, a tremendous rumbling erupted as a hazy white spatial rift tore open and a ball of five-colored light shot out from within.
The light spun rapidly, instantly transforming into a massive light formation over ten zhang across.
The next moment, thunder rumbled within the formation and a surge of spatial fluctuations emerged. As countless arcs of lightning crackled around it, a figure stumbled into view.
It was none other than Han Li, returned from the Small Asura Realm.
He gave his shoulders a shake, and only then did he steady his stance.
The spatial rift above and the light formation below let out a muffled boom and vanished simultaneously without a trace.
Everything on the mountaintop returned to normal, with nothing out of place except for Han Li's presence, as though nothing had happened at all.
Han Li raised his head and surveyed his surroundings, furrowing his brow before suddenly pressing a finger between his brows.
With a soft "pfft," an enormous wave of spiritual sense burst forth, spreading outward in every direction with overwhelming force.
"Good, I haven't deviated too far from the originally set coordinates. It seems this trip has been an outstanding success," he murmured to himself a moment later, removing his finger and letting out a long breath.
However, he had no intention of leaving the place immediately. Instead, after a moment's thought, he found a clean boulder, sat cross-legged upon it, and remained perfectly still.
Inside one of his sleeves, a magical artifact flickered intermittently between dark and bright.
A full six hours later, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out from the horizon. A streak of white light shot toward him, and after a few flickers, it arrived above the mountaintop.
After circling once, the escaping light condensed and Mo Jianli's figure materialized.
"Brother Han, you've returned safely as well! That is truly wonderful!" Mo Jianli called out from above with undisguised joy. "I knew you wouldn't have strayed too far from this area."
"Heh, that goes without saying. If I had set the coordinates too far away, it would have been a pointless exercise at best." Han Li chuckled softly, rose to his feet, and answered in an unhurried manner. "Since you've already found me, Brother Mo, let's go find the Spirit King. If the Thunder Sky Talismans are insufficient in number and Xue Ran's group gets to exchange for them first, that would be unfortunate."
"Brother Han speaks truly; we should indeed be on our guard. Let's make haste for Fuling Mountain." A chill ran through Mo Jianli's heart, and his expression grew somewhat grave.
Han Li nodded. He formed a one-handed seal, and a brilliant escaping light erupted from his body, transforming into a streak of azure light that shot into the sky. After a single circle, he shot off in a predetermined direction.
Mo Jianli, meanwhile, gave his shoulders a shake and also took to the air in a streak of light, following closely behind.