"Very well. Since you have no objections, go and get some proper rest. I hope the rest of our journey will be smoother." Han Li waved his hand toward the woman and let out a soft sigh.
Xue Po naturally dared not disobey and withdrew from the hall.
Han Li remained seated quietly in his chair, lost in contemplation.
……
Several days later, the silhouette of the Demonic Spirit Giant Vessel appeared over a stretch of emerald-green lake and descended onto a small island that looked extraordinarily desolate.
But after only half a day, the vessel rose into the air once more, hurtling along its predetermined route at a breathtaking speed.
……
One month later, over a rather famous mountain range on the Blood Sky Continent, a dozen or so Blood Sky alien cultivators had split into two factions and were locked in a fierce battle.
One group had fiery-red skin with faint scales visible on their cheeks; the other had thick brows, large eyes, and wisps of baleful aura clinging to their bodies.
Below them, in a remarkably secluded stretch of dense forest, several stalks of spirit herbs that gave off a peculiar fragrance swayed gently in the breeze.
On either side of these herbs sat a blood-robed elderly man and a gray-robed elderly man, each cross-legged and motionless.
Their appearances resembled the two groups fighting overhead, but their cultivation far surpassed those combatants. Each was urging a basket-shaped treasure and a disc-shaped artifact, respectively, to wage an intense battle in the air above the spirit herbs — neither gaining a clear advantage.
Obviously, these two were the leaders of their respective factions, fighting desperately over these rare spirit herbs.
Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed from the distant horizon. A black giant vessel materialized like a looming mountain peak and shot toward the dense forest at an astonishing speed.
Before the vessel even arrived before the crowd, a wave of overwhelming, awe-inspiring pressure swept over them.
The two groups of Blood Sky cultivators fighting high above — whose cultivation was at most around the Core Formation or Nascent Soul stage — were struck by this aura and, horrified, immediately ceased fighting and retreated.
The two leaders in the forest below, both at the Deity Transformation stage, also saw their expressions change drastically. They hurriedly looked up toward the massive vessel in the sky.
The black giant vessel dipped slightly, then swept over the forest like a hurricane.
The two groups of aliens felt as though a tornado had torn past their faces, and their bodies involuntarily began spinning wildly in place like tops.
Then, with a series of thunderous crashes, they were flung dozens of meters backward through the air before barely managing to steady themselves.
The dense forest below fared no better — it looked as though some primordial beast had barreled straight through it, leaving behind a massive trench over thirty meters wide, with trees on both sides toppled flat across the ground.
The faces of both groups had turned utterly pale with terror.
By this time, the black giant vessel was already over ten kilometers away. It shuddered once, transformed into a gust of black wind, and vanished without a trace.
The two leaders near the spirit herbs had happened to be positioned on opposite sides of the trench, yet even they had been crushed backward by a suffocating force, tumbling several somersaults before coming to a stop.
When they scrambled back to their feet, their faces were ashen and bloodless. The gazes they cast toward the distant vessel were filled with the same terror one might feel seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
"That was a Mahayana ancestor! Only a flying vessel belonging to a Mahayana-stage senior could possess such terrifying power," the blood-robed elder muttered. "I wonder which ancestor happened to pass through here…"
"Oh no — our spirit herbs!" The gray-robed man, still shaken, suddenly remembered something and leaped to his feet, rushing to peer into the center of the trench. He let out a long, relieved breath.
The spirit herbs had, miraculously, remained completely unharmed in the middle of the trench, as though the devastating force had deliberately spared that small patch of ground.
But the very next moment, the blood-robed elder and the gray-robed man exchanged a glance, their expressions shifting once more. They simultaneously activated their treasures and clashed together anew.
As for their subordinates in the forest above, upon seeing that the awe-inspiring vessel had paid them no attention whatsoever, they hesitated briefly before letting out a battle cry and plunging back into the fray.
……
Three months later, high above the forbidden ground of a mid-sized sect, a pitch-black giant vessel hovered silently in the sky. Around it, densely packed high-tier puppets — well over a thousand in number — occupied nearly half the heavens in a solid mass.
Below the puppets, nearly ten thousand Blood Sky cultivators, all clad in identical robes, stood upon the ground in trembling silence, not daring to move a single step regardless of their cultivation or rank.
A full hour later, a fluctuation rippled through the forbidden ground, and a streak of azure light burst through the protective restrictions. After a few flickers, two figures appeared aboard the vessel.
They were none other than Han Li and Zhu Guo'er.
"Senior, did you find any clues?" Xue Po, who had been waiting there all along, hurriedly stepped forward and asked.