Chapter 650: Emergence

Chapter 650: Emergence

"This is a city inhabited by both mortals and cultivators, and only cultivators will be screened, while mortals are left alone. Even the tests administered on cultivators are nothing more than a formality. After all, the city lord is only a mid-Golden Immortal cultivator, so he'd do well to stay out of trouble," Fox 3 said.

"That makes things much more convenient. It sounds like you considered the options carefully before choosing this place," Han Li said.

With that, the group passed through the northern part of the city, which was inhabited by mortals, and arrived in the southern part of the city.

The southern section took up a third of the city, and the city lord's manor was situated there.

In the city not far away from the manor was a small mountain by the name of Smoke Watch Mountina, and it was only around five thousand feet tall. The largest immortal inn in the entire city was perched on the mountain summit, and that was where Han Li's group chose to stay.

According to information from the Reincarnation Palace, the last time that the illusory smoke appeared on the Illusory Smoke Swamp was around 3,500 years ago, so it should only be about a century before the illusory smoke was set to appear again.

For cultivators of Han Li's caliber, a century was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

Han Li and the others had thought that it wouldn't be long before they entered the Illusory Smoke Swamp, but even after over 130 years had passed, there was still no sign of the illusory smoke that they were searching for.

Fox 3 was naturally the one who was feeling most agitated by the unexpectedly long wait, and Shi Chuankong and Immortal Lord Hot Flame were also feeling rather apprehensive, while Han Li remained unbothered. He was much more interested in getting his hands on a baleful qi eradication method, but unfortunately, there had been no responses to the missions that he had released in the Reincarnation Palace.

On the bright side, through his extensive seclusion, he had begun to make some very encouraging progress in the fifth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique, and all of hte spirit plants in the Flower Branch domain were also coming along nicely.

On this day, Han Li had just finished watering his Dao Warrior primary beans, and he emerged from the domain, then cast his gaze out of the window of the room that he was staying in to observe the Illusory Smoke Swamp in the distance.

At the moment, it was around noon, and it was also a bright and sunny day, so most of the mist above the swamp had cleared up. As a result, he was able to see Serene Floating Island in the distance even without using his spirit eye abilities.

Strictly speaking, Serene Floating Island wasn't really an island. It was nothing more than a conglomeration of waterweeds and mud with a layer of soil on top. It was less than ten kilometers in size, and there were some shrubs with shallow root systems growing on it.

Han Li's plan was to look at the island for a short while before resuming his cultivation of the Spirit Refinement Technique, but right at this moment, an intrigued look appeared on his face as he activated his Infernal Devilish Eyes.

He had spotted a gray stone pillar jutting out of the shrubs on the island in a rather jarring fashion. It was as if it had grown out of the island, and it was only around six feet tall, just barely taller than the shrubs, so it would've been almost impossible to spot had it not been for Han Li's exceptional eyesight.

Immediately thereafter, wisps of pink mist suddenly began to emerge from around the stone pillar, and it was becoming thicker and thicker while quickly spreading over the surrounding area to inundate the entire island.

Finally...

Almost at the exact same moment, a voice rang out from outside his room.

"Fellow Daoist Li, the illusory smoke has already emerged, we must set off right away."

"Just because the Reincarnation Palace can't acquire these pills doesn't mean that the Vast Origin House is in the same boat," Shi Chuankong replied, then opened the jade box and plucked out one of the pills before swallowing it.

"This will certainly make things a lot safer," Fox 3 said as he also took one of the pills.

Meanwhile, Immortal Lord Hot Flame turned to Han Li with a slightly hesitant look in his eyes.

"You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li said with a smile, then plucked out a pill for himself.

He briefly inspected the pill to ensure that there was nothing amiss about it, then promptly swallowed it.

However, as soon as he closed his mouth, a burst of silver flames emerged from his throat to envelop the pill, sealing it within his stomach.

He was quite confident in his own spiritual sense, so he wasn't planning to actually take the Divine Spirit Pill unless it was absolutely necessary to do so.

With the example set by Han Li, Immortal Lord Hot Flame also followed suit, taking a pill as well.

"Fellow daoists, all of us have to make sure to maintain our spiritual connections with one another so we don't get split up in the illusory smoke," Fox 3 said, then swept a sleeve through the air to produce an intricate silver flying boat that landed on the surface of the swamp.

Everyone stepped onto the boat, and Fox 3 made a hand seal, upon which a burst of silver light emerged from all of the runes on the boat, and it was lifted up by about half a foot before shooting over the water.

Only then did Han Li notice that the water in the swamp was a lot heavier than normal water. The momentum of the flying boat should've been enough to send waves churning in all directions, but there were only slight ripples surging over the swamp's surface.

He leaned down and extended two of his fingers, the ones with the Flower Branch refined into them, into the water, and he immediately realized why this was the case.

As it turned out, the water here was interspersed with some type of black sandy substance that possessed certain corrosive properties, but of course, it was unable to harm his Golden Immortal body.

Even though the boat still hadn't entered the illusory smoke yet, the sun was already beginning to set, making the smoke on the swamp appear darker and denser than before.

As they passed by a giant mass of green duckweed, the surface of the water suddenly exploded, and a massive wave erupted upward as a huge black shadow sprang out of the swamp before crashing down upon Han Li's group.

Han Li turned to discover that it was a giant fish that was covered in black scales. The mass of duckweed was actually a plume of disheveled hair on its head, and its cavernous mouth was filled with sharp teeth.

Han Li and the others had already detected the approaching fish even before it attacked, and none of them had paid it any heed, with Fox 3 even jokingly mocking its hideous appearance.

Shi Chuankong casually swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a streak of silver light that sliced the fish into two with ease.

However, no blood seeped out of the fish's body as its wounds were sealed by a burst of spatial power, and only after it had fallen back into the swamp did its blood begin to spread through the water.