Chapter 136 Arrangements

More than half a month later.

In a little-known area of the Black Wind Sea, over a hundred gray-white small islands were scattered sparsely.

These islands varied in size, none exceeding ten thousand li in area, looking like a string of white pearls inlaid on a jadeite jade.

The forests on these islands were sparse, the spiritual energy thin, and not a single beast or living creature could be seen, not even the trace of a seabird, giving a sense of deathly stillness.

In fact, this entire archipelago was shrouded by a nearly transparent light barrier. Outside the barrier, not only could the naked eye see only a vast blue sea, but even an ordinary True Immortal using divine sense would detect no fluctuations here.

At this moment, in a hidden chamber built inside a mountain on one of the islands, a man and a woman sat facing each other across a round stone table.

The man, tall and sturdy, wore a hollowed mask on his face; he was Hanqiu, the Ancestral God of the Blue Crystal Clan. The blue-robed beauty sitting opposite him was Madame Hube, who had joined forces with him multiple times against Han Li.

"Daoist Hanqiu, are you sure that person won't find this place?" Madame Hube asked, gripping a teacup tightly; the tea inside had long gone cold.

"Rest assured, Daoist Hube. This Illusory Separation Array cost me nearly half my wealth to trade from Illusory Light True Immortal. Even a late-stage True Immortal couldn't detect it. That man is merely a Profound Immortal, so there's no need to worry... Even if someone did step into this area, as long as they don't see through the array's core, they'll wander out again without noticing us," Hanqiu said, though his eyes seemed a bit unsettled.

"We really shouldn't have... provoked that demon star. Sigh... Now we're left with our avatars destroyed and unable to return home. If not for this, I'd still be enjoying myself on my Bone Grief Island!" Madame Hube sighed deeply.

"What's the use of saying that now? Though we've become Earth Immortals and seem glorious before others, even in this Black Wind Sea we're at the bottom. As they say, wealth comes from risk. Without enough fortune and opportunity, we'll remain like this for the next hundred thousand years—no different from walking corpses. I misjudged this time, but as long as we lie low here and wait to reforge our avatars, we'll have our chance to rise again!" Hanqiu said solemnly.

"Reforging an avatar is easier said than done. I say we should find a way to leave the Black Wind Sea altogether," Madame Hube said, releasing her grip on the teacup.

"Nonsense! Not only do we have no way out, but even if we escaped the Black Wind Sea by chance, as Ancestral Gods bound to one place, we'd lose the protection of our law power outside. We'd be no match for even ordinary rogue cultivators. What good would that do?" Hanqiu snorted coldly.

Madame Hube's expression darkened, and she fell silent.

Just then, Hanqiu jumped up from his stone stool as if pricked by a needle, shouting:

"No! How could this be..."

The moment he spoke, a thunderous roar sounded.

The transparent light barrier covering the entire archipelago, along with the islands within, shook violently!

Dust and smoke billowed into the sky. Deep, bottomless fissures appeared on the ground of every island. Countless rocks flew in all directions, crashing onto the sea like rain, producing a continuous booming sound.

Amidst roaring waves and deafening noise, one island after another began to collapse and sink into the sea.

Two figures shot up from the dust, without any hesitation, fleeing straight westward.

But before they had flown a thousand li, a streak of light flashed before them and halted in front of them.

The two stared at the tall young man not far ahead, their faces extremely grim.

Hanqiu braced himself, hands hanging at his sides, and bowed slightly as he asked:

"Senior Liu, can you really not spare us?"

Han Li squinted slightly, made no move, but smiled without speaking.

"We are willing to offer all the savings of our clans, only begging Senior to spare our lives," Hanqiu said cautiously, seeing Han Li's silence.

But in his sleeve, one hand gripped a green jade jue tightly, while the other formed a secret hand seal.

Beside him, Madame Hube said nothing, but her hands had already slipped silently into her sleeves.

At that moment, Han Li's body glowed with green light, and he took a step toward them.

The two shouted simultaneously, and from their sleeves burst a brilliant green light that merged together, enveloping them.

With a blur, their figures vanished from the spot.

In just one breath, a flash of light appeared in the void tens of thousands of li away, and Hanqiu and Madame Hube reappeared.

"Thanks to us preparing this pair of 'Divine Travel Jue' in advance. With his Profound Immortal body's escape technique, it should take him a while to catch up," Hanqiu said, looking around with lingering fear.

"This Divine Travel Jue is indeed miraculous, but the casting time is too long, and we both need to activate it. We almost didn't escape just now. This place is still unsafe; we should leave quickly," Madame Hube said worriedly.

Hanqiu was about to reply when a clear voice came from far away:

"You two fled a bit faster than your avatars."

Upon hearing this, Han Qiu and the other were struck as if by lightning. Just as they were about to activate the Divine Travel Pendant again, they saw Han Li's figure flicker from the distant horizon and land before them.

"His escape speed... how is that possible?" Crane Bone Madam said, nearly despairing, her expression mournful.

Han Qiu's eyes were also filled with extreme terror.

Han Li turned his wrist, and a black longsword appeared in his hand—it was none other than Crane Bone Madam's previous sword.

The blade pointed upward, and a colossal sword shadow rose like a towering mountain peak, piercing a huge hole through the high clouds.

Seeing this, Han Qiu and Crane Bone Madam were already terrified out of their wits, but they mustered their last bit of courage and each summoned a trump card treasure.

The former waved his sleeve, and a crystalline ice wheel appeared before him, covered with countless ice spikes, emitting waves of white cold air.

The latter waved both hands before her, and a gray doll emerged from the void. With a flash of light, it seemed to become ethereal and merged into her body.

Han Li watched, then suddenly turned his wrist downward.

A long, piercing cry rang out, and the mountain-like giant sword shadow immediately toppled down, pressing toward the two.

At that moment, Han Qiu opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of essence blood from beneath his faceplate, which vanished in a flash into the white ice wheel.

After being stained with blood, the ice wheel seemed to come alive. It spun sharply, let out a sharp screech, and suddenly transformed into a giant crystalline ice phoenix, charging toward the sword shadow.

Crane Bone Madam, meanwhile, had rolling thick mist surge from her body, carrying a strong corrosive aura as she rushed forward.

The next moment, the black sword shadow suddenly expanded, blotting out the sky and covering the sun.

The gray mist instantly melted like ice and snow, the crystalline ice phoenix was decapitated, and the bodies of Han Qiu and the other were directly engulfed in the sword shadow.

...

At almost the same time, Han Li's Earthly Immortal incarnation and Luo Feng also arrived at the island where the Blue Crystal Clan resided.

They first killed several of the clan's elders and the chieftain, then smashed many statues of Han Qiu on the island like a whirlwind sweeping away leaves, and finally declared that Han Qiu was dead and the entire Blue Crystal Island would henceforth belong to Wumeng Island.

Naturally, the Blue Crystal Clan members were unwilling to believe this at first, but when Han Qiu was nowhere to be seen and they lost the protective light membrane of their ancestral god, they had no choice but to submit.

Afterwards, Luo Feng and the other went to the island where the clan of Lady Crane Bone resided and subdued them by the same method.

In the following month or so, the illustrious reputation of Wumeng Island's newly ascended ancestral god Liu Shi began to spread across the vast surrounding sea areas. The ancestral gods of several islands who had previously been hostile to him fled in panic, never daring to return.

Meanwhile, the ancestral gods of several islands that had not yet contacted Wumeng Island came to pay their respects, attempting to establish good relations with Han Li.

Two rogue immortals even directly joined Wumeng Island, becoming foreign clan offerings, and were assigned by Han Li to oversee the islands of the Blue Crystal two clans.

For a time, Wumeng Island took on a new atmosphere of becoming a regional hegemon.

However, Han Li only personally acted at the very beginning, killing Hanqiu and the other, and thereafter left all subsequent matters to his incarnation and Luo Feng.

Several months later, inside the secret chamber of the Sihe courtyard on Wumeng Island.

Han Li sat cross-legged on a cushion, while Luo Feng, with a solemn expression, stood slightly bowed before him.

"In a few days, I will go into seclusion for a session, and the duration may be very long. My incarnation will also be busy with cultivation, so I will leave all island affairs entirely in your hands," Han Li said.

"Senior, please rest assured and focus on your cultivation. I, Luo Feng, will never neglect matters within the clan." Luo Feng quickly said.

"Outside this small courtyard, I will soon set up a forbidden formation so that no one can approach. If any unforeseen matters arise afterward, you may seek out my incarnation to handle them, and there is no need to come and ask me again." Han Li continued to instruct.

"As you command." Luo Feng replied without hesitation.

After he left, a water-blue light suddenly stretched out from Han Li's body, forming a figure beside him—it was his Earthly Immortal incarnation.

Han Li stood up, turned his wrist, and with a flash of black light in his palm, two identical black formation plates appeared. He handed one of them to his Earthly Immortal incarnation.

The formation plates were exactly the same size and shape as a chessboard, their surfaces densely covered with tiny white dots, while the edges were engraved with a nine-grid star pattern and sixteen directions, appearing quite peculiar.

This plate was called the Star-Shifting Mother-Child Plate, a formation plate treasure capable of teleporting various objects across space. He had obtained it at great expense from the Wuchang Alliance.

One night half a month later.

A figure with its aura extremely well-concealed quietly departed from Wumeng Island.

After reaching an expanse of empty sea dozens of miles away from the island, a burst of green light erupted from its body, transforming into a streak of遁光 (escape light) that shot swiftly toward the center of the Black Wind Sea.