Chapter 384: Abnormalities

Having already successfully refined one Origin Void Pill, Han Li was quite confident that he would be able to refine at least one more with the remaining ingredients in his possession.

This time, he was going to see exactly what was so special about these pills.

Having decided on this course of action, he flipped a hand over to summon the Wind Shelter Bead, then injected some immortal spiritual power into it, and it immediately released a burst of black ripples that spread outward in all directions to scatter the surrounding Soul Stirring Winds.

He turned and cast his gaze deep into the Soul Stirring Winds as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

He was quite curious about what laid deep within the Soul Stirring Winds, and now that his spiritual sense crisis was behind him, he was considering exploring the area.

However, he then quickly shook his head to rid himself of that idea as he flew away toward the Black Wind Sea as a streak of azure light.

A day and a night later, Han Li reappeared in the sky above a certain region of the Black Wind Sea, and he stowed his Wind Shelter Bead away as he heaved a faint sigh of relief.

Even though the Soul Stirring Winds were no longer able to affect him thanks to the Wind Shelter Bead, it was still quite an uncomfortable experience flying through them for an extended period of time.

Right at this moment, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he flipped a hand over to produce his crimson mask before putting it on.

After that, he made a hand seal, and a projection of the missions platform emerged from the mask.

After taking a moment to inspect the missions that he had released, an elated look appeared on his face, and he summoned a small pouch of Immortal Origin Stones that he placed onto the vortex at the center of the missions platform while making a hand seal.

Moments later, those Immortal Origin Stones had turned into seven or eight different types of materials, namely two spirit plants, two demon beast materials, and the rest were all crystals of different colors.

These were all ingredients required to refine the Golden Soul Pill, and he wasn't expecting to gather all of them so quickly.

Han Li carefully examined these materials, and after ensuring that there was nothing wrong with them, he categorized them before stowing them away one by one.

The Golden Soul Pill refinement process wasn't very complex, and given his current pill refinement skills and the trump card that was the Mantra Treasured Axis, one batch of ingredients was sufficient.

After doing all of that, Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light in an unhurried fashion.

Even though he had told Wyrm 3 that he was going to begin cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique, he wasn't actually planning to begin right away. Now that he had temporarily overcome his spiritual sense crisis, his top priority was naturally to make a breakthrough to the Golden Immortal Stage.

Even though he had joined the Reincarnation Palace and become a so-called Reincarnation Disciple, he was still being hunted by the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, and his new status as a Reincarnation Disciple would most likely only make him even more of a wanted fugitive in the Immortal Palace's eyes.

In order to weather this storm, he had to do everything in his power to advance his own cultivation base before he considered anything else.

With the Golden Soul Pill all but obtained, he would have no problems undergoing the spiritual evolution process, so the only obstacle in his way right now was that final immortal acupoint.

It certainly sounded simple, but this was the very same hurdle that had stood firm in the face of countless late-True Immortal cultivators in the past.

Han Li couldn't help but heave a faint sigh as this thought occurred to him.

He had been constantly searching for ways to make breakthroughs to the Golden Immortal Stage, and that included trying to find the complete cultivation art for the Great Universe Origin Arts.

He had released multiple missions in the Transient Guild alone, searching for any methods that could help him make a breakthrough or open that final immortal acupoint, and the rewards offered for those missions were all quite substantial, but there had been no responses thus far.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as a determined look appeared on his face, and he made a hand seal, upon which the crimson mask on his face released a layer of crimson light to envelop his entire body.

In the next instant, the crimson light faded, and he had taken on the form of a square-faced middle-aged man with bushy brows.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and the speed of his flight increased by roughly twofold as he flew directly toward Black Wind City.

However, he had only flown less than 100,000 kilometers when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out from the sea down below, and the calm surface of the sea suddenly began to churn violently as enormous waves swept forth in all directions, clashing against one another to cause a deafening commotion.

Additionally, the surrounding space had also begun trembling slightly, and Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this.

What's going on?

This earthquake-like disturbance felt like an eruption of energy that had been accumulating for a long time, and it was certainly not a commonplace occurrence in the Black Wind Sea.

Han Li looked down at the sea for a while longer before withdrawing his gaze and continuing onward.

……

In a region of the sea near Black Wind Island, the area was littered with coral, upon which grew a type of crimson seaweed. Looking down from above, it was as if this area were a massive go board that was riddled with countless crimson go stones.

This area had been named the Go Board Sea, and it was millions of kilometers away from Black Wind Island. On top of that, it deviated away from all of the main waterways, so it was also a very sparsely populated area.

The world's origin qi here was quite rich, and there was also an abundance of ore resources on the seabed. On top of that, there were many demon beasts residing in the area, several species of which possessed very precious demon cores and materials, so there were many cultivators who frequently visited the area on hunting trips.

There were similar places all over the Black Wind Sea, so this wasn't a rare sight.

After all, in the context of the entirety of the vast Black Wind Sea, the islands that were inhabited by cultivators only made up a tiny area, while the rest of the region was still predominantly inhabited by demon beasts.

While it was a common occurrence for cultivators to hunt for demon beasts, it was also not uncommon to see cultivators being slain and devoured upon encountering demon beasts too formidable for them to handle.

At this moment, there were several human cultivators on the Go Board Sea that were at risk of suffering this exact grisly fate.

It was a group of three cultivators consisting of a middle-aged man with a coarse beard, a red-robed young woman, and a black-robed young man controlling an azure flying boat treasure that was racing through the air.

They were being pursued by a ball of blue light, and it was unclear what type of demon beast the ball of light contained, but there were arcs of blue lightning flashing over its surface.

All three cultivators were at the Deity Transformation Stage, and the azure flying boat was riddled with complex spirit patterns while moving at a decent speed, indicating that it was an outstanding treasure.

However, the ball of blue light was slightly faster than the azure flying boat, and it was gaining on the three human cultivators with each passing second. Before long, the distance between them had been reduced to less than 10 kilometers.

"We won't be able to get away at this rate!" the man with the coarse beard said in an urgent voice.

"What do we do then? This is already as fast as the flying boat can go!" the red-robed young woman said in a panicked voice.

There was also an urgent look on the black-robed young man's face, but he appeared relatively calm and collected in contrast with his two companions.

"Fellow Daoist Mu, I recall that you possess a True Lightning Talisman. Use that to attack this LIghtning Worm Beast and I'll simultaneously unleash my Extreme Yin Dome to trap it. Perhaps that'll buy us enough time to get away," the man with the coarse beard urged.

"That won't work," the red-robed young woman immediately said with a shake of her head. "Your Extreme Yin Dome is a yin-attribute treasure that's completely suppressed by this Lightning Worm Beast's lightning power, so you won't be able to buy much time at all."

"I know, but we have no other alternatives right now. The longer we manage to keep that thing at bay, the greater our chances of survival will become. If we let that thing catch up to us, we'll be torn to shreds in an instant! Hurry, Fellow Daoist Mu!" the man with the coarse beard urged.

The black-robed young man gritted his teeth as he flipped a hand over to produce a purple talisman.

There were arcs of purple lightning flashing over the talismans, and even though it hadn't been activated yet, the black-robed young man's two companions were already shuddering in the face of its power.

The black-robed young man swept a hand through the air, and the purple talisman immediately shot forth as a bolt of purple lightning that hurtled directly toward the ball of blue light.

A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out as the purple talisman exploded into around a dozen bolts of purple lightning, all of which were as thick as water vats, and they were converging toward the ball of blue light with astonishing power.

The ball of blue light instantly fell away to reveal the demon beast inside, and it was a blue demon beast that was over 100 feet in length and resembled a giant python.

However, there wasn't a single scale on its body. Instead, its body was split up into numerous segments, giving it the appearance of an enormous blue worm.

After shattering the ball of blue light, the thick bolts of lightning struck the Lightning Worm Beast's body with tremendous force, causing it to let loose a sharp screeching sound akin to the crying of an infant.

A series of wounds were inflicted onto its body, and blue blood came pouring out from within, but the wounds weren't very deep at all and were only minor injuries.

However, the Lightning Worm Beast was infuriated by the attack, and a series of thick bolts of blue lightning instantly emerged over its body to keep the bolts of purple lightning at bay.

Right at this moment, a huge black dome-shaped net appeared in the sky above the Lightning Worm Beast, then descended upon it.

The net was glittering and translucent in appearance with wisps of black flames on its surface, but it was giving off an extremely cold and forbidding aura.

The net descended upon the Lightning Worm Beast before tightening forcefully to bind the beast, and a series of black gashes instantly appeared all over its body.

Plumes of smoke rose up out of the gashes, and the Lightning Worm Beast's screeching instantly became even more shrill and high-pitched as it stopped in its tracks.

"We have to go! Hurry!" the man with the coarse beard yelled.

The red-robed young woman hurriedly made a hand seal while opening her mouth to release a ball of crimson light, which vanished into the azure flying boat.

All of the spirit patterns on the flying boat lit up in unison, releasing bursts of azure light as it shot forward through the air at an incredible speed.

Meanwhile, the Lightning Worm Beast was thrashing around violently inside the black net.

At the same time, a gash appeared on the front of its body, then opened up to reveal a terrifying mouth, inside of which were two rows of sharp white fangs.

Immediately thereafter, all of the blue lightning all over the Lightning Worm Beast's body converged toward its mouth, forming an enormous ball of blue lightning in the blink of an eye before being blasted forward with tremendous force.

A string of earth-shattering explosions rang out as blue lightning erupted in all directions, instantly tearing the black net apart.

The man with the coarse beard let loose an involuntary groan, and blood began to trickle down from the corner of his lips as his complexion turned as pale as a sheet.

"Uncle!" the red-robed young woman exclaimed in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me! Hurry, we need to get out of here!" the man with the coarse beard yelled.