Chapter 26: Persistent Enemies

In the sky above a desert tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Prosperous Nation's border, a spirit ark that was enshrouded in white light was flying rapidly toward a certain direction.

It was a bright and sunny day with clouds that resembled clumps of cotton drifting lazily through the sky. It was a truly beautiful and relaxing sight to behold, but none of the people on the ark were in the mood to be appreciating the scenery.

Han Li was seated with his legs crossed and his eyes tightly shut at the tail-end of the ark, and there was a layer of faint golden light roaming over his body.

Liu Le'er was seated right next to Han Li with green light surging over her body, and she was clearly also cultivating.

Gu Yunyue and Yu Menghan were standing at the head of the ark, and the latter was occasionally turning around to cast her gaze toward the other end of the ark with a complex look in her eyes. Meanwhile, Gu Yunyue was controlling the ark with a faint smile on her face, and she seemed to be in high spirits.

Two days had already passed since they were last attacked, and during that time, they hadn't encountered any more danger. As they approached the Cold Flame Sect, they were drawing closer and closer to safety.

After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li's brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he opened his eyes, following which the golden light on his body quickly faded.

During these past few days, he had attempted several more methods to try and remove the seal on his nascent soul, but he had made no progress at all and expended quite a bit of magic power in the process.

Even though he had managed to find two pills of a similar caliber to the Sharp Watch Pill in the long-faced young man's storage bag, for some reason, they had no effect on him at all.

It seemed that his condition was far more complex than he had anticipated.

He shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought, then cast his gaze toward Liu Le'er.

Her aura had clearly become significantly more powerful than before, and she was showing signs of breaking through to the late-Foundation Establishment Stage. This was all thanks to another vial of pills that Han Li had found in the long-faced young man's storage bag.

Han Li gave a pleased nod and didn't interrupt her cultivation. Instead, he stood up and made his way over to the side of the spirit ark before casting his gaze outward.

Gu Yunyue approached him with a smile and said, "All we need to do is travel west from here, and we'll be able to reach the sect in no more than half a month. Once we arrive, our sect will be sure to organize a top-tier cave abode for you so you can recover from your injuries."

Yu Menghan was following along behind her in silence.

"I'll be in your care then, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod.

Gu Yunyue was just about to say something else when a burst of faint rumbling suddenly rang out up ahead.

The three of them turned toward the direction where the sound was coming from, and they discovered that there was a vast expanse of darkness on the horizon. Several massive tornadoes were extending directly up into the heavens, sweeping from side to side, and thunderous rumbling was ringing out incessantly from the tornadoes, while the entire sky was enshrouded under a suffocating layer of yellow sand.

Gu Yunyue's brows furrowed slightly as she released an incantation seal, and the spirit ark drew to a halt.

Liu Le'er was roused from her cultivation as a result, and she made her way over to Han Li's side with a curious expression.

"It looks like nothing more than a sandstorm. Is there a problem?" Han Li asked.

"The desert that we're currently in is known as the Yellow Billow Desert, and sandstorms are very rare here, but in the case that a sandstorm does arise, it'll quickly spread across the entire desert and rage on for around a month without rest," Gu Yunyue replied.

"Why don't we just travel directly through it? The sandstorm may encompass the entire desert, but surely it won't have any impact on us," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Of course the sandstorm is of no concern to us, but there's a type of ancient insect known as the Flying Sin Ant that resides in this desert. Normally, they rest beneath the sand in hibernation, but they always come out during sandstorms. One or two of these flying ants naturally pose no threat, but they often appear in vast numbers, and they're incredibly fast.

“On top of that, they're capable of releasing a corrosive mist that's capable of eroding the spiritual natures of all treasures unless they've been refined using devilish arts. Hence, even high-grade cultivators find them to be a huge headache to deal with, and getting caught in a swarm of those flying ants could be quite troublesome," Gu Yunyue explained with a grim expression.

Han Li was silent for a moment upon hearing this, then asked, "What if we fly around this desert?"

At the moment, his magic power was a limited resource, and he didn't want to have to waste it here.

Gu Yunyue considered the question for a moment before replying, "It'll probably extend our journey by over a month."

Han Li fell silent as he stroked his chin in contemplation.

Gu Yunyue was also watching Han Li in silence, clearly waiting for him to make a decision on how to proceed.

All of a sudden, Mo Guang's voice rang out in Han Li's mind. "There's no need to worry about those flying ants, Fellow Daoist Han. Just leave them to me."

"Oh? You have a way to deal with them?" Han Li asked internally.

"Flying Sin Ants are a type of ancient insect born from a mixture of underground baleful yin energy and the resentment of deceased spirits, so they share some similarities with Heavenly Devilish Monarchs like myself.

“I didn't think that they would exist in the Spirit Domain Realm as well. These ants are indeed quite difficult to deal with, but they have a natural fear of sound-based devilish attacks. I may have lost most of my abilities, but even in my current state, dealing with these mere flying ants won't be an issue at all," Mo Guang said in an assured voice.

Han Li considered the situation briefly before making a decision. "Alright, then we'll be counting on you if we encounter those Flying Yin Ants in the desert."

"We're both in the same boat here, so I naturally have to do my part," Mo Guang said before falling silent.

"Going around the desert will take too long, so let's go straight through the sandstorm. If we encounter those Flying Yin Ants, I have a way to deal with them," Han Li said to Gu Yunyue.

Gu Yunyue faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Are you sure, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Do you not trust me, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"I have no intention of doubting you, Fellow Daoist Han. In that case, let's proceed," Gu Yunyue hurriedly replied, then wasted no further time with words as she made a hand seal.

The spirit ark began to glow brightly, releasing a white protective barrier before plunging directly into the sandstorm up ahead.

In the next instant, the surroundings dimmed significantly, and there was nothing in sight in all directions aside from boundless yellow sand that was being carried by fierce gusts of wind, which were blowing viciously against the spirit ark's protective barrier.

The ark immediately began to sway slightly, and in response, Gu Yunyue switched to a different hand seal, releasing a burst of white light that vanished into a certain part of the ark in a flash.

As a result, all of the spirit patterns engraved onto the surface of the ark immediately lit up, and the white protective barrier instantly became several times brighter. The ark itself was also stabilized, and it continued onward.

Initially, Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan were rather concerned by the sight of the ferocious sandstorm outside, but as time passed, it became clear that there was no way that the sandstorm would be able to break through the spirit ark's protective barrier. Hence, their concerns were put at ease, and they began to marvel at the rare scenery outside the white light barrier.

Gu Yunyue was controlling the spirit ark, carefully maneuvering it so that it avoided the tornadoes up ahead, and the speed of the ark's advance wasn't hampered by much.

Soon, they had already been traveling through the sandstorm for several hours, and thankfully, they were yet to encounter any Flying Sin Ants.

Han Li was standing at the head of the ark with a calm expression and his hands clasped behind his back, but a hint of blue light suddenly flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction up ahead.

Gu Yunyue immediately noticed the slight change in Han Li's expression, and she asked, "What is it, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Looks like we have trouble, Fellow Daoist Gu," Han Li replied as he turned to her with a faint smile.

Gu Yunyue faltered slightly upon hearing this, unsure of what Han Li was referring to.

Right at this moment, one of the tornadoes up ahead suddenly moved directly toward the spirit ark.

This tornado was particularly thick, and it extended all the way up into the heavens. Even before it arrived, the spirit ark was almost swept up by the ferocious gusts of wind that it was releasing.

Gu Yunyue's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and she had no time to ponder what Han Li had just said as she quickly stomped a foot down onto the ark.

The flying ark immediately began to glow brightly as it sped forward rapidly, instantly covering a distance of close to 1,000 feet, allowing it to just barely evade the tornado.

However, before Gu Yunyue had a chance to catch her breath, the ground around the ark suddenly fell away, and pillars of yellow light erupted into the sky.

These pillars of yellow light instantly intertwined with one another to form a huge yellow array in the blink of an eye.

In particular, the array that had appeared on the ground was extremely complex and over 1,000 feet in size.

Gu Yunyue was naturally quite alarmed to see this.

All of a sudden, the surrounding scenery took on a drastic change, and they were transported into a glittering and translucent world. They were surrounded by a series of mountains, and the sky and the ground were shimmering with yellow light.

A burst of enormous spiritual pressure compressed toward the spirit ark from all directions, and countless cracks quickly appeared on the white protective barrier around the ark, looking as if it were going to crumble away at any moment.

Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan immediately let loose cries of alarm upon seeing this.

In contrast, Han Li remained as calm as ever as he reached out a hand to summon a small copper bell, which swelled to several dozen feet in size before descending onto the spirit ark, encompassing Liu Le'er and Yu Menghan beneath it.

The yellow bell was a defensive treasure that Han Li had found in the long-faced young man's storage bag, and it was perfect for this situation.

Almost at the exact same moment, the white light barrier around the spirit ark was shattered, and an enormous burst of pressure descended upon the ark.

The spiritual light around Han Li and Gu Yunyue's bodies wavered slightly, but they were able to bear the pressure without much difficulty.

The spiritual light radiating from the yellow bell also flickered erratically for a moment before returning to normal again.

"Could it be that the Heavenly Ghost Sect has sent more people after us?"

Gu Yunyue was doing her best to maintain her composure, but judging from the immense pressure being released by the array, she could tell that it definitely couldn't have been erected by a normal Nascent Soul cultivator, and that was making her feel a little panicked.

"The Heavenly Ghost Sect sure is persistent!" Han Li chuckled.