"That's right, other than the Immortal Platform's guidance, there's actually another method in the Spirit Huan Realm that's similar to smuggling. One can secretly ascend to the Immortal Realm without being guided by the Immortal Platform." Sima Jingming suddenly thought of something when he saw that Han Li was silent and added.
"Oh, tell me about it." Han Li's heart skipped a beat and he asked casually.
"This method is simple. It's to find some weak space nodes between the Spirit Huan Realm and the Immortal Realm. Through the power of a spatial array or other methods, one can forcefully break it open to enter the gap between the realms and finally arrive at the Immortal Realm." Sima Jingming said after some thought.
"This method is not the right way. It's probably very difficult." Han Li said thoughtfully but he laughed bitterly in his heart.
Wasn't this the method he used when he ascended from the Human Realm to the Spirit Realm?
But thinking about it, only a realm that was close to the Immortal Realm like the Spirit Huan Realm could use this method.
"Senior is wise.
This method is extremely risky. The gap between the realms is extremely dangerous. Even if one is lucky enough to pass through, there's a high chance that one will be teleported to some dangerous place in the Immortal Realm. After all, the space in the Immortal Realm is weak and usually not a good place.
Also, using this method to ascend, one won't be able to enjoy the benefits of tempering one's body in the celestial pool or obtaining a celestial identity token. One will also encounter many difficulties in the Immortal Realm. "Sima Jingming replied honestly.
Han Li nodded slowly. His expression was normal but he was quite excited in his heart.
The matter of ascending to the Immortal Realm had always been on his mind. Now, he finally found a solution.
As for the danger that Sima Jingming mentioned, with his current strength, he should be fine as long as he was well prepared. Therefore, he didn't take it to heart.
"Thank you, Fellow Sima." He nodded in thanks.
"Senior Han, please don't be so courteous with me.
Senior has given my sect such great benefits this time. The Elder Ancestor has specially instructed me to thank Senior Han properly. "Sima Jingming said sincerely.
"Is that so? I didn't think that Fellow Leng Yan still remembers Han." Han Li smiled faintly and said meaningfully.
Sima Jingming's heart thumped, and he hurriedly said, "You jest, Senior Han. Patriarch..."
"Alright, Fellow Daoist Sima, please wait a moment," said Han Li before he suddenly turned around, and his figure transformed into an azure ray of light that shot towards the distance.
Sima Jingming couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as he watched the azure ray of light vanish into the horizon.
…
After Han Li left the Leng Yan Sect, it was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth, and he never appeared in the Spirit Huan World again.
However, for some unknown reason, some of his deeds were embellished and turned into several versions. Gradually, they spread and he became a legendary figure.
Because of his appearance, in a short few years, a reign of terror had arisen in the cultivation world of the Spirit World that had originally achieved some sort of balance.
Some said that he was an expert who was in closed-door cultivation all year round, some said that he was actually an immortal, and some even said that he was actually an old demon who had lived for god knows how many tens of thousands of years and had a true spirit descendant.
The entire cultivation world of the Spirit World had mixed opinions about him. Some thought that he was a great devil who killed without batting an eyelid, while others thought that he had eradicated the Tengui School, a force that had always been overbearing and unreasonable, and had returned peace to the Spirit Huan World.
In short, there were many different opinions.
However, the chaos after the destruction of such a colossus like the Tengui School still lasted for a few hundred years. After the various sects and forces went through countless rounds of small and large conflicts, and after countless cultivators of all sizes died, a new situation gradually formed and slowly stabilized.
Of course, these were all for later.
A few months after Liu Le 'er's disappearance, on a day where the sun was blazing high up in the sky.
A certain ocean in the north of the Spirit Huan World was boundless, and because of the dense black fog that would often rise up from the ocean, it was called the Black Fog Ocean.
The spiritual energy in this area of the ocean was very dense, and there were many sea beasts living there. There were also several special spiritual materials that could not be found outside, so there was an endless stream of cultivators who came here to explore and hunt sea beasts.
Near a deserted island in the depths of the Black Fog, a rumbling sound spread far and wide. The ocean surface within a radius of several tens of miles tumbled, and huge waves that were over a hundred feet tall rose up and surged in all directions. Even the dense black fog above the ocean surface started to swirl under the effect of an invisible force, forming an incomparably huge whirlpool.
In the center of the whirlpool was a green-robed young woman, a black-robed old man, and a middle-aged Daoist priest. They were fighting fiercely with a sea beast that looked like a manatee.
These three people all had early stage Soul Formation cultivations. Although the cultivation techniques they cultivated were different, they were very skilled in their coordination. It was obvious that this was not the first time they had joined forces.
The light from their magic treasures connected with each other to form a large circle, surrounding the bull-like sea beast in the center, and they launched wave after wave of ferocious attacks.
The sea beast was completely blue in color, and there were two black stripes on its back, extending from its forehead all the way to its tail, giving it a very strange appearance.
From time to time, it would let out a strange cry that sounded like a cow's roar, and blue light flashed from its body as countless blue balls of lightning appeared to defend against the oncoming attacks. At the same time, it was constantly blasting thick bolts of blue light toward the three people above it.
Although its cultivation was slightly higher than the three of them at the intermediate stage of the Soul Formation Stage, its attacks were still limited, and it was gradually being suppressed by the light from the magic treasures of the three cultivators.
The fierce battle continued for another hour before the blue sea beast's protective light was finally broken, and its head was pierced through by a rapidly rotating black sword projection from the black-robed old man, leaving a large bloody hole in its head.
The sea beast howled in anguish and struggled a few times before it soon stopped moving.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Qin's Soul Devouring Heart Piercing Sword is indeed powerful; even this mature Black Spotted Sea Cow, which is renowned for its defense, can't withstand it," the middle-aged Daoist priest praised with a hearty laugh.
"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Ku Mu."
A hint of smugness flashed through the black-robed old man's eyes, and he waved a hand to withdraw the black sword projection. This was a strange-looking longsword that resembled two intertwined venomous snakes, and it was exuding a cold black light.
The old man waved a hand to stow the sword away with a treasured expression.
This treasure was something that he had saved up for most of his life, and its power was comparable to that of a normal spirit treasure. It also possessed some armor-piercing abilities, and it was something that he had specially refined in order to deal with sea beasts with thick skin and thick flesh.
The three of them quickly finished dissecting the sea cow's carcass, and each of them reaped a significant harvest.
The green-robed young woman cast her gaze toward the ocean up ahead, and she suggested, "In my opinion, even if we can't defeat a Soul Formation Final Stage sea beast, we should be able to escape unscathed. Why don't we go deeper?"
The middle-aged daoist priest's eyes flashed, and he seemed to be rather tempted by this suggestion.
"Absolutely not. The two of you haven't been to the Black Sea for long, so you might not know this, but if we go any further, we'll reach the renowned Star Eye region of the Black Sea. There are countless incomparably deep sea eyes there, and there are many extremely powerful sea beasts living there. There are even Spatial Tempering Stage and even Body Integration Stage sea beasts there. It's even rumored that there's a five-clawed black dragon that's comparable to a Grand Ascension Stage sea beast at the deepest part of the sea eyes.
Most of those sea beasts stay in the sea eyes and very rarely come to the surface of the ocean, but aside from some Body Integration Stage mighty figures, no one dares to approach that place.
In all honesty, it's already very dangerous for us to pursue this Blackspot Sea Cow to this point. We can't continue onward; it's best that we retreat immediately, "the black-robed old man hurriedly said with a grave expression.
"A Grand Ascension Stage sea beast?
How is that possible? "The daoist priest drew a sharp breath.
The green-robed young woman also wore an incredulous expression.
"That's only a legend. It's said that the five-clawed black dragon has been here for over 100,000 years, and the last time it appeared was several thousand years ago. At that time, it was already at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage. It hasn't appeared for so many years, so perhaps its lifespan has already run out.
In any case, this place is already fraught with peril, so our top priority is to get out of here as soon as possible, "the black-robed old man said with an urgent shake of his head.
The daoist priest and the green-robed young woman hurriedly nodded in response. Just as the three of them were about to fly back, an earth-shattering boom erupted from the ocean up ahead.
The sound had come from an extremely far away place, but it was still clearly transmitted to the three of them. Furthermore, the nearby ocean tremored violently.
Their expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.
Before the three of them had a chance to react, another rumbling boom erupted from up ahead. At the same time, a burst of enormous and chaotic spiritual pressure swept toward them, sweeping up torrential gale-force winds.
The three of them were horrified and tried to flee, but it was already too late. They hadn't even flown far before they were swept away by the gale-force winds, and they were like three fallen leaves in a fierce gale.
Fortunately, the gale-force winds had only traveled a short distance before they began to weaken. The three of them hurriedly circulated their cultivation arts and quickly stabilized themselves, but their faces had already turned deathly pale with fright.
Right at this moment, another earth-shattering boom resounded!
The surface of the sea a hundred kilometers in front of them suddenly exploded, and an enormous black shadow flew out from within. It flew a great distance in the air, and then with a bang, it smashed heavily onto the deserted island not far away from the black-robed old man's group of three, causing the entire deserted island to shake violently. Waves of air even caused the surrounding waves to surge endlessly.
The black shadow was an incomparably huge ink-black flood dragon. Its body was two to three hundred meters long, and its entire body was covered in pitch-black scales. There were two long crystalline horns on its head that looked like coral.
There were four massive dragon claws on the giant wyrm's abdomen, and each claw had five toes that resembled giant black swords. They shone with a chilling light that made one shudder.
An indescribably enormous aura emanated from the five-clawed black wyrm's body.
This scene caused the three of them to turn deathly pale, especially the black-robed old man. He wasn't a rogue cultivator, but an inner disciple of a sizable sect that had a Form Synthesis Stage ancestor overseeing it.
However, the aura emitted by the five-clawed black wyrm was far above that of the mighty Form Synthesis Stage ancestor in his sect.
"Could it be that the rumor is actually true?" The old man was greatly shocked, and he couldn't help but make a bold guess in his heart.
The five-clawed wyrm struggled to turn over its body, causing the ground to tremble once more.
The black-robed old man and the others were startled, and they hurriedly retreated more than a hundred feet away. When they looked again, they saw that there was a large hole in the wyrm's chest, and a large amount of blood was gushing out, dyeing a large area of the barren island red.
"Whoosh!"
A green figure shot out from the sea, and its speed was so fast that only a shadow could be seen. It flashed past the five-clawed wyrm.
A cold glint flashed past!
The wyrm's body paused, and then its huge head soared into the sky. An incomparably thick pillar of blood shot into the sky, and the entire barren island seemed to have fallen into a rain of blood. A nauseating stench pervaded the air.
"Boom!"
The wyrm's huge body crashed to the ground, and it trembled a few times. Finally, it stopped moving.
At this moment, a black light flashed out of the giant wyrm's head, and a mini black wyrm that was a few inches in size was wrapped in it. It was about to flee into the distance in a panic.
However, the azure humanoid figure seemed to have anticipated this, and his body swayed as he positioned himself in front of the wyrm. He opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light that enveloped the wyrm, then dragged it back into a jade vial.
The black-robed old man and the others were dumbfounded, and they stood stiffly in the air not far away. The green-robed young woman even subconsciously swallowed her saliva.