Half a day later, the massive city where Bi Ying and the others were located erupted into a battle of apocalyptic proportions that lasted nearly a full day and night.
The aftershocks of the battle reduced everything within tens of thousands of li of that center to ash.
Several days later, a piece of news that shocked the entire Blood Sky Continent spread like wildfire.
The Mahayana powerhouses of several major sects, led by the Blood Bone Gate, had all perished in the demon-slaying battle.
The only one to escape was Madam Lingyun of the Myriad Poison Mountain, but she had suffered grievous injuries—so severe that she had nearly been blasted straight out of the Mahayona realm entirely.
Upon fleeing back to her stronghold at Myriad Poison Mountain, the Mahayana powerhouse immediately activated every protective grand array and declared the mountain sealed for ten thousand years, vowing never again to concern herself with anything happening on the continent.
In an instant, the entire Blood Sky Continent was thrown into a state of panic and unease. The other supreme factions and the remaining Mahayana cultivators all fell silent.
Before long, another piece of news circulated—that a mid-tier human nation along with several nearby small sects had been sacrificed in a blood ritual.
……
But Han Li knew none of this.
At this point, he had long since used a transmission array to travel to an island far removed from the Blood Sky Continent. With Zhu Guo'er and Ancestor Stone in tow, he boarded the Ink Spirit Sacred Ship and flew away from the island, plunging deep into the vast ocean.
The number of powerful sea beasts in the ocean far surpassed the savage beasts of the land. Some of the mightiest among them wielded abilities so terrifying that even Mahayana powerhouses would give them a wide berth.
However, given the sheer number of powerful puppets loaded aboard the Ink Spirit Sacred Ship, most ordinary sea beasts that encountered them never returned.
On the rare occasion they ran into one or two exceptionally formidable existences beneath the waves, Han Li would display his own power, and the creatures would invariably be frightened into retreating.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and the great ship had sailed safely through uncharted stretches of the ocean without incident.
But on this particular day, as the vessel cut through the waves at low altitude, a tremendous explosion rumbled from somewhere ahead, and a violent wave of fluctuations came rolling toward them.
Ancestor Stone, who was standing at the bow directing the puppets that steered the ship, sensed the intensity of those fluctuations and his expression changed immediately. He transformed into a streak of brilliant light and shot into the cabin.
Moments later, Han Li emerged at an unhurried pace, with Zhu Guo'er and Ancestor Stone in tow.
"Mahayana powerhouses fighting up ahead? Hmm, the intensity of these fluctuations is indeed consistent with a battle above the Mahayona stage. Pilot the ship forward and let us see what sort of beings are fighting up there." Han Li squinted at the distant sea surface and issued the order without hesitation.
"Yes, Senior Han!" Ancestor Stone replied promptly and urged the puppets steering the ship onward.
The Ink Spirit Sacred Ship shuddered, shifted its heading, and shot forward at several times its previous speed.
As the vessel hurtled ahead at blinding velocity, the explosions and fluctuations from the front grew increasingly violent.
When a small island finally appeared dimly through the haze ahead, they could make out clusters of dazzling radiance flashing erratically in the sky above it. The horrifying waves of power they emitted had forced the surrounding sea surface down by more than a dozen zhang.
The island itself had already been reduced to ruins. Every protrusion on its surface had been swept clean by something, leaving it unnaturally flat.
Han Li stood at the bow, narrowed his eyes, and took in the scene with a single glance.
Within those clusters of explosive light, three enormous and grotesque sea beasts were besieging a single silver flood dragon.
One was a giant seahorse magnified to a hundred times its normal size. Another was a colossal emerald turtle. The last was a deep-blue octopus as large as a small mountain.
All three beasts radiated wildly violent auras. One spewed clusters of thunderfire from its maw, another charged with its hardened body, and the third thrashed its tentacles in a frenzy—all attacking the silver dragon relentlessly.
The three sea beasts, each possessing strength that nearly rivaled an ordinary Mahayona cultivator, were already covered in wounds.
Cracks had split open in several places on the emerald turtle's shell, and thick green blood gurgled from within.
The massive octopus was charred black across much of its body, and several of its tentacles had been torn away entirely.
Only the seahorse appeared relatively intact, yet half its body was locked within a golden circular ring, making its movements noticeably sluggish compared to the other two.
The silver dragon being besieged by all three fared far worse. Not only were its tail and one foreclaw missing, but nearly nine out of ten of its silver scales had been torn away, and its two eyes were gushing blood for reasons unknown.