Chapter 1253: Island Ambush
Han Li tossed the ball of spiritual light in his hand which is suspended itself in midair.
He reached to his waist with his other hand, summoning a small flag that was several inches long.
The flag was entirely crimson and released bursts of scarlet light that contained ghostly wails.
Ling Yuling glanced at the item in surprise and shot an odd glance at Han Li.
However, Han Li had no intention of explaining anything. He simply muttered to himself and tossed the flag above him.
Light flashed and a small flag massively surged in size, turning three meters tall in the blink of an eye. The surface of the flag glistened crimson as if it were coated with blood.
When he pointed at the huge flag, it spread open, emitting a mist until it was only a crimson cloud, and rushed to the top of Essencefused Mountain.
The cloud roiled as it stopped over its destination and began to slowly expand, covering most of the top and filling the air with a stench as if blood were mixed into the air.
Ling Yuling swept her spiritual sense through the cloud and sensed an unfathomable amount of Yin souls. In a start, she hastily withdrew her spiritual sense, a sense of dread lingering in her mind.
At that moment, Han Li took large steps towards the Essensefused Mountain and waved his hand into the air.
A ball of light flashed and shot towards the small mountain, vanishing from sight.
Han Li waved his hand again, this time reaching his hand out and grabbing at the air.
The small mountain flickered with rainbow light and swayed several times. Its rumbling shook the air, and it eventually lifted off from the ground, slowly floating up to the blood cloud.
Lin Yuling looked on in astonishment. The mountain entered the cloud and vanished.
Han Li then released a spell seal from his hand.
The blood cloud roiled before it eventually shrunk and returned to its form as a crimson banner several inches large. It fell back into Han Li’s hand only a moment later.
The mountain was now as empty as could be as if the Essensefused Mountain was never there.
“A spatial treasure!”
Ling Yuling eventually regained her bearings, shock still clear on her face.
“The treasure does have some spatial abilities, and it seems I’ve given you quite a show!” Han Li smiled in satisfaction, having swept his spiritual sense through the Crimson Soul Banner.
Ling Yuling gasped in surprise and let “It has spatial abilities and can even take in the Essensefused Mountain. I fear only a few exist in the mortal world. How fortunate that Fellow Daoist Han was able to acquire one.”
Back when the Star Palace Sages left behind the method to control Han Li, they believed that cultivating the Divine Essensefused Light would’ve kept him tied to the Star Palace. But now, Han Li rendered her completely powerless with this ingenious move.
The woman inwardly sighed, finally giving up on having Han Li joined the Star Palace.
Crimson light flashed from his hand and the small flag disappeared. Following that, Han Li pondered to himself for a moment and smiled at her, “I can stay at the palace for a short amount of time, exchange a few cultivation insights with you, and take a look at what is causing you problems with your cultivation. But during this time, I still have something I need your help with.”
Although Ling Yuling blanked for a second, she immediately replied with a smile, “Brother Han has already treated out palace with much kindness. It is only natural for us to help you as best we can. There is no need to be so polite.”
“It is a small matter. I want to know the most recent whereabouts of the golden wyrm in the outer seas. The more accurate its position, the better.” Han Li calmly spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but Ling Yuling was astonished upon hearing him. Her eyes grew wide.
With a hesitant tone, she muttered, “Brother Han wishes to know the whereabouts of that old demon? Could it be you...”
Han Li shot a glance at the girl and raised his eyebrow, “Of course I have reasons for finding the Golden Wyrm King. You don’t need to think too much as to why. I will not involve your palace. Or do you mean to say the matter is too difficult?”
Ling Yuling shook her head and replied with a solemn expression, “Brother Han has shown much kindness to the palace. Even with a more difficult request, I still wouldn’t decline it. However, these past few years the palace has completely withdrawn our men from the outer seas. And as the golden wyrm is a grade ten demon cultivation, I fear it will take more than just a few days to find its whereabouts.”
“Time is no matter. I don’t mind waiting for several years for this information,” Han Li casually replied.
Ling Yuling wiped away her hesitation and stated, “In that case, we will immediately make arrangements. Fellow Daoist, you can stay as long as you wish.”
Han Li nodded, satisfied to hear of her agreement.
The two then chatted a while longer and departed from the cave.
...
Two years later, a man and a woman floated above an unnamed island in the Outer Star Seas. the man had a common appearance but also bright and intelligent eyes. The woman had a delicate and dainty appearance.
The two appeared both quite young, but the woman appeared to treat the man with the utmost respect. The young man appeared completely indifferent.
“From what you said, the Golden Wyrm King should arrive at this island! Could it have changed its mind and decided to go elsewhere?”
The man’s voice wasn’t loud, but the woman replied with the utmost respect, “Elder Han, please be at ease. I’ve already made several inquiries. It is information acquired from the soul search of a high-grade demon cultivator. At the depths of this island should be an extremely rare spirit fruit. Although it isn’t very useful to humans, it is beloved by the wyrm clan. The Golden Wyrm King comes here every ten years when the spirit fruit is ripe and eats it below the island no matter what obstruction. If the location of the fruit didn’t change or if it died, the wyrm clan would’ve moved elsewhere. It should be the period where the spirit fruit is ripe. The Golden Wyrm King should definitely come under normal circumstances.”
“Hm, then I will wait a few more days.” The man said with a sullen voice.
Of course, the man was Han Li, and the woman was a disciple Ling Yuling sent to guide him.
After two years of searching with the complete might of the Star Palace, they finally found the whereabouts of the Golden Wyrm King. Han Li remained at the palace during this time, until this woman led him outside the city to a secret teleportation formation, quietly bringing him to the outer seas where he waited on the island for several months.
Until now, he had yet to see any trace of the Golden Wyrm King, leading to Han Li to ask the woman again out of impatience.
And with the woman giving a confident reply, Han Li’s expression relaxed.
Just when Han Li sighed and thought to ask her for more details, his expression suddenly changed and he turned his head to look at the distant sea.
“Good, it finally arrived. From its aura, there is no doubt it is the Golden Wyrm King.” Delight briefly appeared on Han Li’s face. Then he turned to the girl and commanded, “You should leave now and take yourself out of danger.”
When the disciples heard him, she felt her heart tremble and gave him a quick curtsey before flying away in a white streak.
When Han Li saw the woman leave, he shook his sleeve, summoning forth a small black bottle.
A white demonic wind blew past, followed by the gradual appearance of five skeletons.
“Go.”
With Han Li’s mental command, the five skeletons immediately scattered, riding away on demonic winds and vanishing in an instant.
Soon after, a spirit beast pouch flew out, and a dozen four-winged centipedes buzzed out. Han Li then commanded them to burrow themselves into the sea underneath the island.
Han Li took another look at the distant sea and sneered, before suddenly fading from sight.
Despite the many techniques he released, this all happened in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the island was completely barren as if no one had ever been there.
In the time it took to finish a meal, light flashed from the horizon. A golden and an azure streak tore through the air, quickly making their way past the vast ocean. Their light faded to reveal two silhouettes.
One of them had a tall and sturdy body, wore a golden embroidered gown, and a green beard. The other had a thinner body, a silver hat, and azure robes.
As soon as the two appeared, the large man with golden robes wore a hesitant expression over his dignified face. He quickly looked around him but discovered nothing odd.
When the azure-robed cultivators saw this, he wore an odd expression and asked, “What? Did Fellow Daoist Jin discover something amiss?”
The gold-robed man frowned and doubtfully said, “When we were farther, it appeared there was someone that swept past us with their spiritual sense. However, that spiritual sense was somewhat weak so it could’ve been a trick of the mind.”
The azure-robed man laughed, “If that was truly the case, wouldn’t that mean their spiritual sense is far more powerful than Brother Jin’s? How can that be possible?”
“Brother Feng thinks too highly of me. Although I am known as the Golden Wyrm King, that is only in the nearby seas that shake from my might. Outside, I’m nothing much.” The golden-robed man shook his head and quickly swept his spiritual sense past the island. He felt relieved at having found nothing.
Of course, he couldn't have known that the cinque devils had already scattered to the far edges of the sky and the six-winged frost centipedes were hidden a kilometer below. As for Han Li, his spiritual sense was indeed far superior to the wyrm, so detection was impossible.
The azure-robed cultivator disapproved the large man’s carefulness, but he smiled and praised, “Brother Jin is truly modest. Apart from Deity Transformation cultivators, what could possibly threaten you? However, this place is quite desolate. If you haven’t brought me here, I couldn't have known that the Dragon Scale Fruit grows here.”