Chapter 343: Plans

A certain sea area in the western part of the Guyun Continent.

This place was close to the Thunderstorm Ocean. Dark clouds densely covered the sky, and bright lightning bolts darted through the clouds.

However, compared to the depths of the Thunderstorm Ocean, the lightning here was much weaker. Although a bolt or two occasionally struck down, as long as ordinary cultivators were a bit careful, they would not be in mortal danger.

The seawater here was extremely turbid, looking almost like mud. The sea surface was also filled with thick gray fog, covering the sky and the earth, giving a sense of connecting heaven and earth.

The fog was mixed with eerie howling winds, sounding like someone sobbing and weeping.

This sea area was called the Weeping Mist Sea, quite famous in the western part of the Guyun Continent, but not for a good reputation.

Beneath this sea lay a massive gray rock crystal vein. After it was fully mined, the seawater turned into its current turbid state, and this gray mist rose from the sea surface.

The turbid seawater and mist posed no harm to human cultivators, but the sea beasts seemed to dislike them greatly. Most of the beasts originally living here gradually moved away, causing the number of cultivators coming to this sea area to decrease year by year, making the place increasingly desolate.

Deep within the Mist Sea sat a black island.

The island was not large, only about a dozen miles in circumference. At its center stood a black mountain several hundred zhang high, covered with jagged rocks and almost no vegetation, extremely desolate.

Just then, a hidden cave at the foot of the black mountain suddenly lit up, leaking faint golden lightning. The entire mountain rumbled and shook slightly.

The golden lightning flickered twice, then suddenly blazed brightly, even illuminating the surrounding black rocks into a golden yellow. A powerful aura surged out from the cave.

But at that moment, the void near the cave flickered, and a layer of cyan light screen emerged, covered with countless cyan runes, blocking the erupting aura.

Although the aura was blocked, the entire island shook violently, and the nearby sea mist churned.

"Caw..."

Just then, a clear cry came from afar. A cyan shadow shot out swiftly, landing near the black island, revealing its form—a cyan strange bird.

This bird was huge, with wings spanning two to three hundred zhang. It had a large head and a thin neck, covered with arrow-like cyan feathers, and a large pouch hanging from its chest, looking quite ugly.

On the bird's back stood a white-robed girl, with delicate features and a graceful figure. It was Meng Qianqian, and the cyan strange bird was naturally Nian Yu.

Meng Qianqian looked at the golden lightning in the mountain cave, a hint of surprise in her beautiful eyes.

Rumble!

The golden lightning in the mountain cave blazed again, ten times brighter than before, and thick golden arcs emerged.

Where the golden arcs touched, the black rock shattered like tofu. Soon, the entire black mountain collapsed, revealing a circular golden lightning mass about several dozen zhang in size.

Inside the mass, the shadow of a huge lightning array could be faintly seen.

Golden arcs struck the surrounding cyan light screen, causing it to tremble violently and churn like boiling water, but it still did not break.

Suddenly, the golden lightning mass brightened again, and a thick golden pillar tore through the cyan light screen, shooting straight into the sky.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within several hundred li violently stirred. The nearby Mist Sea fluctuated wildly, forming a huge vortex centered around the lightning pillar.

The golden lightning pillar lasted for several breaths, then slowly dissipated, and the golden lightning mass on the island also disappeared.

After the golden light faded, three figures appeared where the lightning array had been—Han Li, Meng Xiong, and Meng Guang.

Seeing this, Meng Qianqian immediately flew over from Nian Yu's back, about to say something.

"This is not the time to talk. Follow me!" Han Li said, then waved his hand.

With a flash of cyan light, a cyan flying boat appeared, glowing and expanding to over a dozen zhang in size.

On both sides of the boat, two rows of cyan spiritual feathers appeared, not real but formed from spiritual power.

This Cyan Kite Boat was obtained from a True Immortal during a mission years ago. Its grade was not high, but it was quite fast.

Han Li flew onto the boat, and Meng Xiong and Meng Guang quickly followed.

Meng Qianqian was slightly startled but immediately landed on the boat, waved a hand to form a spell seal, and put Nian Yu into her spirit beast pouch.

Han Li pointed with his finger, and over a dozen thick cyan sword beams shot out, striking the black island below.

Rumble!

The remaining black island collapsed and sank completely into the sea, leaving no trace.

At the same time, Han Li's other hand formed a spell seal.

The cyan flying boat under his feet suddenly blazed with light, turning into a cyan blur that shot into the distance and vanished in an instant.

Not long after they left, two beams of light flew over from afar, revealing two figures.

One was a middle-aged Daoist with a black crown and a square black face; the other was an old man in gray robes with narrow eyes, occasionally flashing with light.

"This should be the place. The spiritual energy fluctuations haven't completely dissipated yet," the black-crowned Daoist said with some excitement.

"Such strong spiritual energy fluctuations! I just used the Myriad Mile Vision Technique and saw a huge golden pillar shooting into the sky here. Could it be that some treasure is about to appear?" the gray-robed old man said, also delighted, nodding.

As he spoke, he silently spread his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

"It's possible. This sea area has always been mysterious; anything could appear," the black-crowned Daoist said noncommittally, then waved out a yellow disc magic treasure covered with dense runes.

Waves of yellow light rippled from the disc, covering an area of several li.

"Fellow Daoist Wan, have you found anything?" the gray-robed old man asked after probing without success.

The black-crowned Daoist remained silent, only changing hand seals to activate the disc, which continuously emitted rings of yellow light waves.

After a moment, he made a hand seal and stopped the spell.

"Well?" the gray-robed old man, who had grown impatient, asked eagerly.

"That light pillar was not a treasure appearing, but someone using some technique here," the black-crowned Daoist sighed and said slowly.

"Are you sure?" the gray-robed old man's face darkened, unwilling to give up.

"I activated all nine layers of restrictions on the Zhenhuan Disc. Could it be wrong?" the black-crowned Daoist rolled his eyes and said bluntly.

"It seems we were excited for nothing. By the way, did you detect anything about that person's cultivation?" the gray-robed old man shook his head with a wry smile, then changed the subject.

"Based on the residual spiritual energy fluctuations here, it should be above the Combined Movement stage," the black-crowned Daoist said after a moment's thought.

"Combined Movement stage! Then it's fortunate we arrived late. If we had come earlier and angered that senior, it would have been disastrous," the gray-robed old man said, his face changing color, then speaking with lingering fear.

"This place is not suitable for staying long, lest others come and misunderstand. That would be unfortunate," the black-crowned Daoist said calmly, his eyes flickering.

"Fellow Daoist Wan is absolutely right," the gray-robed old man immediately nodded.

Soon, two beams of light shot up from the island and flew away into the distance faster than they had come.

...

At that moment, Han Li and the others, the instigators, were already hundreds of thousands of li away.

Han Li took a detour over the sea and arrived at another large coastal city in the western part of the Guyun Continent.

This city was called Tianyun City, the capital of the Tianyun Kingdom. It was quite large, adjacent to a spiritual vein with rich spiritual energy, and was a place of outstanding people.

Since this city was not only close to the Thunderstorm Ocean but also located at a traffic junction, many cultivators passing by would choose to rest here and replenish supplies.

Some high-level cultivators returning from expeditions in the Thunderstorm Ocean would also sell and exchange their gains in this city.

As a result, Tianyun City had become increasingly prosperous and was now one of the few large cities within tens of thousands of li.

Han Li led the group quietly into the city and settled in a secluded medium-sized inn.

With his current abilities, naturally no one noticed him, since the highest cultivation level among the city's guards was only a Combined Movement stage cultivator.

That night, in the living room.

Han Li sat in the main seat, with Meng Xiong and Meng Guang standing respectfully to one side, and Meng Qianqian standing gracefully on the other.

After setting up a soundproof barrier around them, Han Li briefly recounted the events at the Candle Dragon Sect to Meng Qianqian and the others.

Although this girl's cultivation was not low, she had little experience. She could not have imagined such a drastic change in the sect, and for a moment, she stood there stunned.

Meng Xiong and Meng Guang, though they had chosen to follow Han Li, only knew a little about what had happened at the Candle Dragon Sect's lecture meeting. Hearing Han Li's detailed account, they were also shocked, their expressions changing.

"Qianqian, like Meng Xiong, I give you two choices, with the same conditions. Make your decision," Han Li said to Meng Qianqian after finishing.

Hearing this, Meng Qianqian seemed not to have come to her senses and remained silent for a moment.

"If you need to discuss with Yun Gui before deciding..." Han Li added.

"No need. I was just a bit surprised, not hesitant. Elder Li, regardless of my brother's choice, Qianqian is willing to continue following you," Meng Qianqian said without any hesitation.

"I am no longer an elder of the Candle Dragon Sect. Do not address me as elder from now on. Do you understand?" Han Li nodded and said.

"Yes, Senior Li," the three said, immediately changing their address.

Han Li said nothing more. He stood up, turned to the window, and looked into the distance toward the Thunderstorm Ocean, his eyes flickering as if lost in thought.

"Senior Li, what are your plans next?" After a long silence, Meng Qianqian hesitated and asked timidly.

Han Li did not answer her, still gazing into the distance, seemingly contemplating something.

Meng Qianqian and the other two exchanged glances, naturally not daring to disturb him, and stood quietly to the side.

"I plan to leave the Guyun Continent for a while," Han Li finally said slowly after an unknown amount of time.