Chapter 121: Recommendation

Just as Gongshu Hong's aura became unstable due to the destruction of his Earth Deity incarnation, a violent roar came from below, accompanied by a vast white sound wave that swept through like crashing waves against the shore.

It was the "Vajra Roar" unleashed by the golden-furred giant ape transformed from Han Li!

Wherever the white waves passed, the void blurred and even twisted and deformed, as if the entire space were about to collapse.

Under the impact of this wave, the blood-colored cauldron suspended in midair trembled violently and swayed, and even the fluctuations of law power emanating from it showed signs of disturbance.

At that moment, a violent dragon roar came from within the blood-colored cauldron!

Then, with a loud bang, the red light above the cauldron trembled and burst open, turning into a large patch of blood mist. A fire dragon over ten zhang long, shaking its head and tail, soared up from the blood mist, twisted its body in the high air, and dove straight toward Gongshu Hong.

"How dare you destroy my Earth Deity incarnation and ruin my cultivation foundation! I'll make you all accompany me to death..." Gongshu Hong roared in shock and fury, a hint of madness rising on his face.

As soon as he spoke, his body, surrounded by a surge of blood light, rapidly expanded like a bubble, emitting a chilling aura of destruction.

Seeing this, a look of gravity appeared in Han Li's eyes. He immediately retracted his form back to human, waved his hand, and withdrew the Essence Fire Bird.

The fire dragon transformed from Jiao San, upon seeing this, also turned and circled around Gongshu Hong's side.

Its scales shone brilliantly, and endless crimson flames surged out, enveloping the blood lake island. Countless fiery red lotuses materialized and bloomed one after another.

A wave of scorching law power fluctuations spread instantly, as if a separate independent world had been opened within this underground cavern.

"Realm!"

Feeling the changes around him, Han Li's eyes lit up.

At that moment, a dazzling light like the sun burst forth in the cavern. Gongshu Hong, whose body had expanded dozens of times, began to dissolve bit by bit like blood-colored snow within the light.

"Rumble..."

A series of violent explosions sounded continuously. The entire island at the center of the blood lake shattered inch by inch, swallowed by the light in an instant, turning into fine dust and dissipating into nothingness.

The violent air waves surged in all directions, creating intense shockwaves that shook the entire cavern, causing rocks to shatter and collapse, and large amounts of lake water began to pour in from all sides.

Above the cavern, the Red Moon City, already devoid of any living beings, completely collapsed with a rumbling sound, turning into ruins.

Within the cavern, however, a region shrouded in green light remained completely intact.

Above that region, eight huge diamond-shaped tortoise shells floated, interlocking to form an elliptical dark green light screen that remained motionless amidst the violent tremors.

Inside the light screen, Han Li, who had activated his Xuanwu bloodline, wore a dark green armor coiled with a python, calmly surveying his surroundings.

Throughout the entire space, the scorching aura did not diminish. The blooming fiery red lotuses continuously emitted strange fluctuations of power, counteracting the violent forces.

Not far from him, Jiao San had already transformed back into human form and was sitting cross-legged on a large fiery red lotus, surrounded by a layer of golden-red light. His robes fluttered, and his hands continuously formed hand seals. With a solemn expression, he was fully activating his realm.

After about half a quarter of an hour, the tremors within the cavern gradually subsided. Most of the red lotuses scattered around had dissipated, and the realm that Jiao San had maintained also slowly collapsed.

As the last fire lotus in midair vanished, Jiao San descended from the air with a somewhat weary expression.

Seeing this, Han Li also withdrew the tortoise shells around him and cupped his hands to Jiao San, saying, "Congratulations, Lord Jiao San, on successfully slaying Red Moon Island Lord Gongshu Hong."

"Jiao Fifteen, you deserve half the credit for killing this fiend this time." Jiao San said, looking deeply at Han Li.

In his gaze now, there was no longer the indifference from their first meeting, but instead an unconcealed appreciation.

"Lord Jiao San flatters me. I only contributed a little effort, as was my duty. I dare not claim credit." Han Li replied with a slight smile.

"No need to be modest. The Wuchang Alliance values strength above all. Those who lack strength yet covet unrealistic benefits deserve no sympathy even if they die. Do you understand?" Jiao San waved his hand and said with profound meaning.

"I will remember your instruction. I understand." Han Li replied respectfully.

"Good! I can recommend you to become a higher-level member. Are you willing?" Jiao San nodded and said.

"May I ask what is special about being a higher-level member? If it requires undertaking more arduous tasks, I dare not agree casually." Han Li was slightly startled, then said calmly.

"Leaving other matters aside, if you successfully upgrade, you will have the qualifications to issue general tasks and exchange resources with other members of the same rank." Jiao San explained in a flat tone.

"If that is the case, then I must trouble Lord Jiao San." Han Li was delighted and thanked him with a cupped hand.

"Although I have the qualification to recommend, whether this matter can succeed depends on the alliance sending a special envoy to examine you. At that time, you will need to complete a trial task. I believe that with your strength, it should be a sure thing." Jiao San added.

Han Li did not thank him again but merely bowed slightly.

"Alright. The matter here is concluded. I need to stay on the island for some time to wrap up. The Red Moon Island has accumulated considerable wealth through its heritage. You may go and search for it. But remember not to stay too long." Jiao San continued.

Han Li nodded, took his leave, and with a flash of light, flew off into the distance.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a beam of green light emerged from the ground near Red Moon City in Kunzhou, converged in midair, and revealed Han Li's figure.

Looking down at the city that had become ruins, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Seven had entered the city together that day, yet now only he remained—a testament to the perilous nature of the tasks given by the Unconstant Alliance.

Although Gongshu Hong, in his pursuit of cultivation success, had not hesitated to sacrifice billions of living beings in a blood sacrifice, and even four loose immortals who had followed him for a long time, earning him the reputation of being ruthless, was Jiao San, the leader of this mission, any less of a person who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals?

But what she said at the end was not wrong: the path of immortal cultivation is fraught with both danger and gain, and there has never been a smooth road. One could say that from the moment one steps into the world of immortal cultivation, one should have this realization.

With this thought, Han Li shook his head.

After roughly identifying the direction, he transformed into a green rainbow and flew away into the distance, not lingering here for a moment, nor bothering to search for the so-called resources of Red Moon Island.

He had already quietly collected Jiao Ba's storage artifact, and along with what he had obtained earlier, his gains were quite substantial.

As for the island's main resources, they were surely on Gongshu Hong, now in Jiao San's hands. Even if there were some elsewhere, they would only be scraps, and he was too lazy to go through great trouble for such a pittance.

Two months later.

A beam of green light appeared near Wumeng Island, and Han Li's figure emerged.

Looking at the small island before him, a smile appeared on Han Li's face.

Although this journey had been fraught with twists and turns, he had returned safely and achieved his intended goals.

A streak of遁光 shot out from the island, came to meet him, and revealed Luo Feng's figure.

"Senior Liu!" Luo Feng said with a joyful expression.

Han Li had only told him about his departure. During this time, Luo Feng had waited day and night, fearing that Han Li might meet with some accident and never return. Now seeing Han Li back safely, the stone that had been weighing on his heart finally settled.

"Nothing major happened while I was away?" Han Li nodded to Luo Feng and then asked.

"Thanks to your blessings, everything on the island is normal," Luo Feng quickly replied.

Han Li grunted in acknowledgment and flew toward his small courtyard, with Luo Feng following behind, reporting various news from the nearby seas during this time.

Among them was the news that Lu Kun's island seemed somewhat unusual, having closed its borders and gone into seclusion.

Han Li's heart stirred, but he said nothing.

At the critical moment, Lu Kun had fallen into the cave lake with the incomplete head of the Earth Deity incarnation, and had not reappeared since, his fate unknown.

But judging from the situation at the time, even if he hadn't died, his vitality must have been greatly damaged.

Thinking this, Han Li dismissed Luo Feng, returned to his room in the courtyard, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, he rose full of energy, turned his hand, and took out a pile of things.

There were storage artifacts, several spiritual treasures, and a broken Earth Deity incarnation—Jiao Ba's.

He first examined Jiao Ba's incomplete incarnation and found that most of the materials were similar to Luo Meng's, but with the difference that many rare wind-attribute materials had been used.

Although the materials integrated into the incarnation could not be recycled, studying them thoroughly in the future would still benefit him greatly, giving him more insights when refining his own incarnation.

With this thought, Han Li put away the incarnation and picked up the spiritual treasures to examine them.

Among these treasures, aside from Jiao Shiliu's black iron awl, which seemed to be a low-grade immortal artifact, the others had nothing special. But for some reason, although the black iron awl appeared intact on the outside, its interior seemed severely damaged, and the trace of law power it contained was slowly dissipating.

At this rate, it would be completely gone in a few hundred years.

No wonder Jiao Shiliu's performance with this treasure had been mediocre.

Thus, his interest waned, and after a brief glance at the remaining treasures, he put them away.

After all, given his current situation, he had no use for these things.

Finally, Han Li picked up the storage artifacts and probed them with his divine sense.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, a glint of joy flashing in them.

The collections of these True Immortal-level individuals did not disappoint him; they contained a great variety of materials, far exceeding the original stock of Wumeng Island.

In fact, many of the items he did not even recognize, but they were undoubtedly precious.

With these things, he would not have to worry about resources for the time being.

He took a deep breath, sorted the items into categories, and then waved his hand to take out a jade slip.

This was an Earth Immortal cultivation technique called the "Azure Wind Profound Firmament Art." It seemed decent, but it still required step-by-step cultivation, first cultivating the Ancestral Spirit before achieving Earth Immortal status. Although it was of little use to him, he could still refer to it for some insights.