Chapter 450: A Step Too Late

Han Li took a deep breath and, without hesitation, waved his sleeve toward the Eye of Truth. A beam of golden light shot out from his sleeve and vanished into the Eye of Truth in a flash.

The golden filaments within the Eye of Truth brightened once more, and then streams of golden filaments shot out from within.

These golden filaments moved with incredible speed, instantly spreading to every corner of the hazy space.

Han Li closed his eyes, his ten fingers forming hand seals like spinning wheels.

The Eye of Truth immediately flickered, and the golden filaments trembled lightly, like countless sensitive tentacles, sensing everything within the hazy space.

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, nearly half an hour had gone by. Han Li remained seated cross-legged, motionless.

Just then, a faint muffled sound rang out from somewhere in the hazy space.

A burst of golden light suddenly erupted from one of the golden filaments. The hazy space near that filament trembled, rippling like water waves.

Han Li's eyes snapped open, and he looked in that direction while his fingers moved rapidly.

A crystalline light flashed at his brow, and a vast surge of divine sense power gushed forth.

Near the fluctuating hazy space, a silver light flickered, and several more chains of divine sense materialized, eight or nine in total.

The tips of the divine sense chains were sharp, glinting with a faint cold light, and they stabbed fiercely into the fluctuating void.

A dazzling green light erupted from that void, twisting wildly, and a very faint crack emerged.

Han Li's eyes brightened sharply. Light radiated from his body and poured entirely into the flying boat beneath him.

Swish!

The Green Kite Flying Boat blurred, turning into a green shadow that instantly flew into the crack and disappeared.

The hazy illusion around Han Li vanished without a trace. His vision blurred, and the flying boat reappeared within the sand sea, continuing forward without stopping.

Seeing this, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

This illusion was far more formidable than the previous ones; even he had nearly been unable to escape.

Beside the flying boat, Lu Yuqing's expression had also calmed. She no longer struggled but lay motionless on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Han Li glanced at her, a contemplative look on his face.

After a moment, he seemed to make up his mind and waved his hand, sending out a spell seal.

The divine sense chains on Lu Yuqing loosened, their crystalline surface flickering faintly before fading away.

At the same time, the crystalline halo around Lu Yuqing flickered twice and vanished.

Han Li pointed with his finger, and a beam of green light shot out, entering Lu Yuqing's brow.

The woman let out a soft moan, her long eyelashes fluttered twice, and she slowly opened her eyes. Though still somewhat dazed, her gaze had mostly cleared.

She shook her head, her expression suddenly changing. She sat up abruptly and looked around in some panic.

Seeing her surroundings, she was startled and gradually relaxed.

“It seems Brother Han has broken the illusion. I didn’t expect the last mirage illusion before the passage to be so formidable,” Lu Yuqing said as she stood up, her expression still somewhat shaken.

Han Li had been observing Lu Yuqing’s expression. Now he frowned slightly but said nothing.

“Brother Han, what’s wrong?” Lu Yuqing noticed his scrutinizing gaze and asked.

“Nothing. How are you feeling now?” Han Li shook his head and asked.

Lu Yuqing was taken aback. She pressed her hand between her chest and abdomen, a trace of pain in her eyes, but more surprise. “How did I get injured?”

“Just now, in the illusion, you were controlled and suddenly attacked me. I had no choice but to restrain you, and I may have been a bit rough,” Han Li said slowly.

“It’s nothing. I’ve been of no help and have only caused you trouble, Brother Han. I’m the one who should apologize,” Lu Yuqing said, startled, then quickly waved her hand, speaking apologetically.

“According to our earlier inference, the passage should be ahead. Let’s rest here for a while before continuing,” Han Li said, looking toward the void ahead.

With that, he waved his hand and sent out a spell seal.

The green light on the Green Kite Flying Boat rippled, and it came to a stop.

Lu Yuqing nodded, walked to the side, sat cross-legged, and took out a pill to consume.

A layer of bright green light appeared around her body, forming a green halo that enveloped her.

Han Li watched Lu Yuqing, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Lu Yuqing’s expression just now seemed completely genuine. Could it be that she had no memory of what happened in the mirage illusion?

Thoughts turned in Han Li’s mind, but he soon shook his head and stopped dwelling on them, though he became more vigilant.

He flicked his sleeve, and streaks of blue light shot out, landing near the flying boat—rows of formation flags.

Bright blue light radiated from these flags, forming a thick blue barrier that enveloped the Green Kite Flying Boat.

After doing this, Han Li turned his hand over, revealing a crimson pill. The pill was wrapped in a dense layer of red light, faintly emitting astonishing spiritual power fluctuations. It was the Celestial Elixir given to him by Jiao San.

Having expended considerable immortal spiritual power breaking the illusion, and with the passage ahead where he would have to deal with a Golden Immortal stage beast of unknown strength, he needed to recover his energy quickly.

He opened his mouth and swallowed the pill, then sat down cross-legged, circulating his technique to refine the medicinal power. Soon a layer of red light spread across his face, and his immortal spiritual power began to recover rapidly.

……

Above a black Gobi desert in the Minghan Immortal Mansion, a jade-green flying carriage flickered with azure light as it sped forward.

This was precisely the Black Rock Gobi that Han Li and the others had just crossed.

On the flying carriage stood a slender man, holding a white compass in his hand, on which a red dot flickered violently.

"Sure enough, it's the Divine Refining Art! Hmph! This time you've fallen into my hands, don't think you can escape!" The man suddenly raised his head and looked ahead.

Without any visible spellcasting, the jade-green flying carriage burst with azure light, its four wheels spinning wildly, turning into four blurry azure whirlwinds.

The jade-green flying carriage's speed suddenly increased, several times faster than before, and it shot forward with incredible speed.

……

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

On the Green Kite flying carriage, Han Li opened his eyes, shooting out two beams of sharp light. His immortal spiritual power had fully recovered.

A moment later, the azure light on Lu Yuqing's body also flickered and withdrew, and her complexion seemed to have mostly recovered.

"Let's go." Seeing Lu Yuqing finish her cultivation, Han Li waved his hand to remove the restrictions around the flying boat, formed a hand seal to drive it, and continued forward.

In the following time, the two did not speak a word, quickly flying for over an hour.

By now, they should have been at the deepest part of the Endless Sand Sea, but the scorching heat around them was gradually weakening, and there was even a hint of yin-cold in the air.

Suddenly, Han Li's pupils contracted. He raised his hand and waved, and the Green Kite flying boat immediately stopped.

Ahead on the ground, another oasis appeared.

This oasis was about forty or fifty li in circumference, lush with various trees, interspersed with some flowers and grass, but all were mundane.

At the center of the oasis was a moon-shaped lake, its water silvery-white, emitting bursts of radiance. Even in broad daylight, it was very conspicuous, looking like a real crescent moon fallen into this endless sand sea.

This oasis was not an illusion but real.

At the center of the moon-shaped lake was a black whirlpool several zhang in size, spinning rapidly, making a whirring sound.

Waves of spatial fluctuations emanated from the black whirlpool, and faint white light flickered deep within, as if leading to another world.

The surrounding lake water churned with the whirlpool, splashing noisily.

"A spatial passage!" Lu Yuqing exclaimed joyfully in a low voice.

Han Li, however, did not look at the black vortex; his gaze fell on a patch of forest by the lake shore, and his expression suddenly shifted slightly.

He waved his hand to put away the Green Kite Flying Boat, and his figure shot downward.

Lu Yuqing was startled, then instinctively followed as usual.

As they were about to land, a look of surprise appeared on her face, and her figure abruptly halted.

Below, in a stretch of forest, lay a strange beast about ten zhang in size, crouching low.

Earlier, from midair, the beast had been blocked by the dense forest, so Lu Yuqing had not seen it.

The beast resembled a yellow ox, its body bulging with taut muscles, appearing extremely robust. Its entire hide was a pale cyan color, like ancient jade.

On its four hooves grew claws like those of an eagle, glinting with cold light, giving off an intense sense of oppression.

Had this beast been alive, it would surely have been an extremely formidable creature.

Yet this pale cyan giant ox was clearly decapitated; its massive head lay not far away, with a pitch-black horn on it. The ox's eyes were filled with terror, as if it had seen something utterly shocking before its death.

"It seems someone came here before us... That makes sense. The major powers entering the Immortal Mansion all know there are passages in the Endless Desert leading to other regions. Though they may not have maps of this place, with their strength, finding this spot is not impossible." Lu Yuqing's surprise quickly faded as she spoke.

Han Li nodded, his gaze falling on the wound on the pale cyan giant ox's neck, and his pupils involuntarily constricted.

"Truly remarkable." His expression was grave as he muttered to himself in a low voice.

The wound on the giant ox was clean and smooth, as if its head had been severed with a single, crisp blow.

Moreover, there were no signs of a struggle in the nearby oasis, suggesting that the giant ox demon had been slain in one strike.

Although the beast was already dead, judging by the aura of its corpse, its strength in life must have been considerable.

Facing a Golden Immortal-level demon beast and still managing to kill it in one blow—the strength of the one who did this was, as one could imagine, immense.

Han Li flickered and landed beside the giant ox's corpse. Suddenly, he reached out and brushed his hand over the wound, gathering a trace of blood.

Then he brought his bloodstained hand to his nose and sniffed it, a glint of sharp light flashing in his eyes.

"Brother Han, from your expression, do you know who killed this beast?" Lu Yuqing asked, watching Han Li's strange actions with some surprise.

"I don't know, but whoever did this has little to do with us. Since this person has killed the beast for us, it saves us some trouble. Let's go." Han Li said, a green light flashing on his hand as he shook off the bloodstains.

"True." Lu Yuqing's beautiful eyes flickered slightly as she nodded.

The two flew over to the black vortex and peered inside.

"No danger." Han Li said after sensing the situation within.

Then, with a flicker, the two transformed into streaks of green light and flew into the black passage.