Chapter 538: Unfamiliar Aura

Han Li's cabin was quite spacious, roughly twice the size of a normal room, and it was split up into two sections.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The inner room was the bedroom that housed a bed, while the outer room held a redwood table and a gray cushion.

The spirit fruits placed on the table weren't exactly of the highest caliber, but they were giving off a very sweet and fragrant aroma.

Upon entering the room, the ring on Han Li's finger immediately transformed into a golden beetle, then flew down onto the cushion, where it transformed into an adorable little girl wearing a red coat.

Jin Tong's eyes immediately locked onto the spirit fruits on the table, and her hand shot out like lightning to grab onto an ovular spirit fruit that was riddled with golden seeds. She sank her teeth into the fruit, and the entire room was instantly filled with a fruity aroma.

"Why didn't you let me show myself to that guy before, Uncle? The two of us get along quite well," Jin Tong asked while munching on her fruit.

"That man's aura indicates that he's a demonic cultivator, but it's also somewhat different. I'm unable to see through him without using my Eye of Truth. On top of that, he clearly knew that you were the ring on my finger, yet he still asked where you were, and I can't get a good grasp on his intentions," Han Li said in a thoughtful manner.

"Are you saying that he's plotting against us, Uncle?" Jin Tong asked.

"I can't say for sure for now, but given that we're in a completely unfamiliar place, it would be best to avoid trouble as much as possible," Han Li said.

"It would be great if he's considering coming after us. I'd have another Golden Immortal Stage nascent soul to eat then!" Jin Tong mused with a sly grin.

Han Li was left feeling rather speechless upon hearing this.

He was just about to warn Jin Tong not to start any trouble when his expression abruptly stiffened slightly.

"What's wrong, Uncle?" Jin Tong hurriedly asked.

"Just now, an extremely powerful aura locked onto the ship, but it vanished in a flash. Did you not sense it?" Han Li asked with slightly furrowed brows.

Before Jin Tong had a chance to reply, Han Li held up a hand to stop her as he said, "There it is again..."

Jin Tong hurriedly focused on her senses upon hearing this, but she was only able to detect a slight trace of what Han Li had detected.

"Did you feel that, Xiao Bai?" she asked in a hesitant manner.

The jade Pixiu offered no response as it hung motionlessly from Han Li's waist.

"How dare you ignore me? I think you're asking for a beating!" Jin Tong threatened as she placed her hands on her hips in an angry display.

"I'm not ignoring you, I just didn't want to show you up. I already sensed that aura the first time that it appeared," the jade Pixiu explained.

"So you're saying you're better than me?" Jin Tong asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, not at all! I came from the primordial land, so I'm naturally more sensitive to the auras of primordial beings," the jade Pixiu hurriedly explained.

"Can you determine the origins of this aura?" Han Li asked.

"I was born in the primordial land, but I was captured by primordial hunters not long after I was born, and I only learned from Gongshu Jiu that I was a primordial true spirit. Hence, I don't actually know much about the primordial land. All I can do is detect this aura, but not discern it," the jade Pixiu replied.

Right as Han Li was about to speak, that faint aura encompassed the entire ship once again.

"You stay here," he said to Jin Tong, then flew out of the room to emerge onto the deck outside.

As he did so, he discovered that there were only around 20 people on the deck gathered together in small groups, chatting with one another in a relaxed manner, and it was clear that none of them had detected this aura.

On the other side of the deck, he spotted the familiar figure of Shi Chuankong, who was currently looking around with a peculiar expression.

He faltered slightly upon spotting Han Li, then gave him a knowing smile, in response to which Han Li gave a slight nod before returning to his cabin.

After sweeping over the ship three more times, the powerful aura finally disappeared once and for all.

However, Han Li remained on his guard, not daring to grow complacent at all. In fact, his wariness was only continuing to grow by the day.

......

Over five months passed by in the blink of an eye.

The journey proved to be rather uneventful, and the ship was about to reach the primordial land.

Early in the morning, a cool morning breeze was blowing from the primordial land. Han Li stood on the ship with his hands clasped behind his back, peering into the distance with blue light flashing in his eyes. At the end of his field of vision was a speck of green, indicating that there seemed to be an oasis on the distant horizon.

There were already close to 100 people gathered on the deck, all of whom were passengers who were eager to disembark.

Jin Tong was standing beside Han Li, copying him by clasping her hands behind her back as well, and she asked, "Are you still worried about that aura, Uncle?"

"No, I'm thinking about how we should proceed once we reach the primordial land. There are quite a few disparities between the maps we purchased and the one given to me by Wyrm 3. I feel like the route that she gave me isn't actually the safest one, seeing as I haven't truly agreed to join the Reincarnation Palace. At the very least, the supplied route seems to be incomplete," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Aren't you tired thinking about so much all the time? If there's no good path to take, then let's just establish one of our own!" Jin Tong proposed with a nonchalant smile.

Right at this moment, an alarmed voice rang out from within the crowd.

"What's that?"

"Something's coming from over there!"

Han Li turned to discover a long black line that was rapidly surging over the distant horizon like a black wave, and he could clearly see that this black line was comprised of countless giant creatures with human faces and black scorpion bodies.

Each of the creatures had a thick and burly tail, at the end of which was a crescent-shaped hook that was giving off a cold and menacing gleam.

"Those are Man-faced Scorpions!" someone exclaimed.

Man-faced Scorpions weren't particularly powerful among the demon beasts residing in the sea of sand, but there was an extremely vast number of them, and in the face of a beast tide of Man-faced Spiders, even True Immortals would struggle to keep them at bay.

Right at this moment, a deep and resonant voice rang out from the top floor of the louchuan.

"There's no need to panic."

The ship overseer was standing there behind the railing, looking on with an unflustered expression, and hsi calm demeanor instilled within everyone on the ship a sense of confidence and reassurance.

"Those Man-faced Spiders aren't anywhere near enough to pose a real threat. Make sure to keep yourselves grounded so that you don't get jostled out of the ship. If you fall off the ship, no one will come to save you," the ship overseer declared in a cold voice.

All of the passengers with lackluster cultivation bases hurriedly distanced themselves from the railing of the ship upon hearing this for fear of falling overboard, and some of them returned to their cabins altogether.

Han Li paid no heed to the warning as his gaze remained firmly fixed on the black wave in the distance.

"There's something else there in addition to Man-faced Scorpions," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

Jin Tong had also climbed onto the railing of the ship to look into the distance through narrowed eyes.

The sand beneath the wave of Man-faced Scorpions was constantly undulating, indicating that there was something traveling through the sand at a rapid speed.

"It's coming!" Han Li said as he hoisted Jin Tong down from the railing.

The wave of Man-faced Scorpions quickly arrived to block the ship's path.

Each Man-faced Scorpion was the size of a fully grown ox, and they were climbing on top of one another in layers, forming a small black mountain in front of the ship in the blink of an eye.

The ship overseer's brows furrowed slightly, and he seemed to have also realized that something wasn't quite right.

Such a large-scale scorpion tide wasn't very common, but it wasn't an unprecedented occurrence, either. However, never had the Man-faced Scorpions ever attacked in such an organized fashion.

Before he had a chance to get a grasp on what was happening, the ship had already crashed heavily into the black mountain with a dull thud.

The ship shuddered violently as it was slowed down significantly, and the yellow light barrier around it instantly began to glow brightly.

Immediately thereafter, all of the patterns engraved onto the ship also lit up, and the ship abruptly began to accelerate, forcing its way straight through the black mountain.

A string of grotesque cracks rang out incessantly, and it was the sound of countless Man-faced Scorpion exoskeletons being shattered one after another.

Everyone on the ship stabilized themselves while cheering at what they were seeing.

Han Li was holding onto Jin Tong with one hand while leaning over the ship's railing to peer into the sea of sand down below.

The yellow sand down below was churning incessantly, and there were countless yellow demon beasts that resembled maggots the size of dogs squirming and writhing within the sand.

Han Li was quickly able to identify these things, and he immediately yelled, "There are sand beasts that are eating away at the ship from below!"

Everyone was very alarmed to hear this, and they hurriedly rushed over to the railing of the ship to look down below.

At this point, there were already countless squirming sand beasts clinging to the ship, and its metal casing was already riddled with countless holes. To make matters even worse, there were several sand beasts that were significantly larger than their brethren eating their way through the dragon bones at the front of the ship in a frenzy.

These sand beasts had virtually no facial features, and if it weren't for their circular mouths that were lined with sharp fangs, it would be impossible to tell which end was their head and which was their tail.