Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 827

The beast herd, realizing that Han Li meant no harm, cautiously moved away, protecting their young. Before long, they had all fled to higher ground.

Han Li quietly sat by the stream, waiting for the mist to completely dissipate before soaring into the sky.

He had almost recovered his consciousness and magic power, but he still couldn’t extend his spiritual sense very far. It was as if something was restricting him; he could only survey about ten *li* [approximately 5 kilometers] around him at best.

So, he rose high into the air to look around with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. Reaching a height of a thousand *zhang* [approximately 3.3 kilometers], Han Li surveyed his surroundings.

To the east and west, the gray-white landscape was still a continuous stretch of rocky terrain. To the south, there was greenery about thirty *li* away, and further beyond, there seemed to be mountain ranges. To the north, a large amount of water-attribute spiritual energy could be felt, suggesting the presence of a vast river or sea.

Han Li transformed into a streak of blue light and flew north.

The scene before him brightened, and an endless sea stretched out. However, what was slightly strange was that the water was reddish-brown, and there were over a thousand turtles resting on the beach.

Among them, the large turtles were about three or four *zhang* in size, while the small ones were only a few *chi* [approximately 1/3 of a meter]. They all seemed very relaxed, half-buried in the sand on the beach.

And above the sea, flocks of reddish-brown strange birds with long, pointed beaks circled in the air. Occasionally, a few of them would dive into the water, catch a huge fish, and then the other strange birds would swarm to share it.

After watching the scenery for a while, Han Li suddenly remembered something and looked up. In the sky, there were still seven blazing suns. However, unlike before, the suns appeared smaller and slightly darker.

‘I’ve been transported quite far. Otherwise, the suns wouldn’t look so different.’

He had already expected this due to the aftereffects of the teleportation, so he wasn’t too flustered.

Turning his gaze back to the beach, he noticed that besides the turtles, there were thousands of empty turtle shells piled up. Considering those buried in the sand, there was an immeasurable amount.

Han Li flipped his palm and took out a palm-sized blue turtle shell. He held the turtle shell and compared it to those on the beach. Surprisingly, it was similar to the turtle shells piled below, and there were many that were much larger.

However, upon closer inspection, he seemed to notice a difference.

The turtle shell in his hand was small, but its patterns had a faint silver tinge. However, the ones rolling around on the beach only had white patterns.

He reached out into the air and pulled over a two-*zhang*-sized turtle shell.

Bang!

With his gesture, the turtle shell turned to dust and disappeared. Startled by the loud noise, the turtles became agitated, and many of them pulled their black heads out and looked up at the sky. However, when Han Li didn’t pose any further threat, most of them put their heads back in and regained their composure.

“It’s just an ordinary turtle shell after all! Even so, the origin of this turtle shell is definitely related to this.”

With a flash of blue light, he slowly descended and forcefully released his spiritual sense to explore the surrounding few *li*.

After a while, his eyes flashed, and he turned into a streak of blue light, quickly circling the beach a few times. Then, three giant turtle shells caught his eye.

The largest was four or five *zhang* in size, the middle one was one *zhang*, and the last one was a few *chi* in size. All three turtle shells had silver patterns, but the intensity of the color varied.

The smallest one’s shell was completely silver, while the one-*zhang*-sized one was similar to the one Han Li had. The largest turtle shell only had a faint silver tinge.

All three were buried deep in the sand, making them difficult to find unless one deliberately searched with their spiritual sense. Han Li stopped in the air and gestured, and the three turtle shells lined up in front of him.

Thwack!

The blue sword energies that flew from his fingertips left holes of varying depths in each shell. The sword energy pierced through the largest shell, while the smallest shell only had a mark about half a *cun* [approximately 1.3 centimeters] deep. Nodding, Han Li then flicked his sleeve, sending out a blue light.

The three turtle shells spun in the blue aura, shrinking before being sucked into his hand.

Swish.

As the light of spiritual energy flashed, the turtle shells entered Han Li’s storage pouch. At that moment, he heard the sound of birds chirping from far away on the sea.

‘What is that now…?’

Han Li quickly raised his head and was startled.

On the sea in front of him, a giant monster, ten *zhang* in size, had appeared. Its upper body was that of a hideous man with black skin, holding bone harpoons in both arms, and its lower body was like a giant squid, with thick legs writhing.

The monster opened its mouth and spewed out black energy, and hundreds of reddish-brown strange birds were caught in it and sucked into the monster’s mouth. It looked like it was enjoying a feast.

The flock of strange birds desperately flapped their wings to resist the black energy, but it was no use. However, what was strange was that the turtles on the beach were lying still. The giant monster also seemed to have no intention of disturbing the turtles.

Han Li found it strange, but he had no reason to fear the giant monster with the aura of an eighth-level demon beast. He simply floated in place and watched.

After a while, the monster, having eaten its fill of strange birds and happily waving its tentacles, turned its head and discovered Han Li. It had not noticed him until now because he had been concealing his aura.

But then, a strange thing happened.

Splash!

The monster, upon seeing Han Li, was immediately terrified. It growled lowly and transformed into black energy, diving into the sea. Black mist rose from the sea, making it impossible to track the monster’s movements.

Han Li then rippled with blue light and looked below. The squid monster was swimming desperately into the deep sea, trying to escape. Han Li chuckled and was about to use the Wind Lightning Wings to chase after it. But then, an unknown roar echoed from the depths of the sea.

The powerful demonic aura felt from the deep sea, about ten *li* away, was comparable to that of a human Nascent Soul cultivator. Han Li paused.

Shortly after, the squid monster, encountering the powerful demonic aura, did not hesitate to hide deeper into the sea. Han Li shook his head and removed the wings from his back. It wasn’t that he was afraid of a Nascent Soul-level demon beast, but fighting an equal opponent in an unfamiliar land was too risky.

Han Li transformed into a streak of blue light and flew towards the green mountain range this time. Near the mountain range, the light dimmed, and he revealed himself.

From afar, the rugged peaks stretched endlessly, and even before reaching the mountain range, one could already feel its imposing aura.

The spiritual energy of the mountain range was also more concentrated than in other nearby areas, so Han Li approached it without much hesitation. To avoid attracting attention, he slowed down his light and passed over the peaks at about the height of the mountainside.

Within the light, he released his spiritual sense to carefully survey the area within dozens of *li*. After entering the mountain range for about a thousand *li*, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

Unexpectedly, the mountain range was filled with spiritual herbs and trees. It was natural to find low-level spiritual herbs in rugged mountain ranges, but not in such enormous quantities as here.

Han Li’s eyes sparkled. Even with a cursory glance, it was this much; if he searched thoroughly, there might be even greater gains.

‘There might be quite a few high-level spiritual herbs as well.’

Not only the spiritual herbs, but also the beast herds living in the mountain range exceeded his expectations.

As he was about to pass through a flat area between two giant peaks, he suddenly heard monkey cries and beast roars.

Giant white-furred monkeys, under the command of a giant monkey with golden fur, appeared from a giant mountain, wielding weapons like wooden clubs or stone clubs, and then jumped to the mountain next to it.

Then, from the next mountain, beasts with the heads of cows and the bodies of lions emerged with their large leader.

The two beast herds fearlessly charged at each other in the flat area in the middle of the mountains. The giant monkeys were agile and possessed great strength, while the cow-headed beasts had sharp teeth and claws, and their skin was thick, making them evenly matched.

However, what Han Li carefully observed was that the giant monkeys threw stones with one hand, and the cow-headed beasts shot out yellow light from their mouths. They were roughly at the level of third or fourth-level demon beasts.

At first, the golden-furred monkey seemed to have a slight advantage with its agile movements, but the cow-headed beasts were not to be underestimated. The two groups fought fiercely for about half an hour before finally retreating to their respective peaks at the long whistles and low roars of their two leaders.

Then, only the corpses of the demon beasts remained where they had fought, and soon, ugly-looking birds flew in and devoured the corpses clean. Han Li, who had been watching the battle with interest from high above, thought that the giant monkeys’ actions were as orderly as human soldiers.

In addition to this, as he went deeper into the mountain range, he discovered a series of strange beasts. Those living on the peaks with the most concentrated spiritual energy were at the level of sixth or seventh-level demon beasts.

He passed by the beasts and continued deeper into the mountain range. However, the mountain range was so vast that even after flying for two months, he couldn’t see the end.

Just as Han Li was wondering if he should turn back, he saw an endless black sea of clouds stretching out in front of him, enveloping countless mountain peaks.

Han Li used the power of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look inside, and he saw that under the black mist, not a single blade of grass grew, and even the rocks had turned black and cracked.

Due to this strange phenomenon, Han Li slowly reached out towards a small tree below. The tree was uprooted and came into his hand, and he threw the tree towards the black mist.

Swish!

Han Li, having gathered the power of his eyes and enhanced his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, quietly watched the situation. But the moment the small tree entered the black mist, its green leaves and brown stem withered and turned to dust in an instant.

At this, Han Li couldn’t help but show a troubled expression. He looked left and right, pondered for a moment, and then flew in one direction. He intended to explore the area around the black mist.

* * *

Half a day later, Han Li was staring at a cliff with a cautious look, near the black mist.

The small mountain, only a few hundred *zhang* in size, looked as if someone had cut it with immense divine power. And on the smooth cliff face, there were surprisingly three red characters, each a few *zhang* in size.

Han Li had studied the characters of the various alien races in the vicinity, researched by the human and demon races in the Heavenly Origin Realm, but these strange characters were completely unfamiliar, suggesting that they were the characters of an alien race that had no contact with either the human or demon races.

Although he couldn’t decipher what was written, the strokes of the characters were as sharp as swords and emitted a fierce aura. Perhaps a cultivator with low cultivation would not even be able to look directly at the cliff due to this aura alone.

Of course, Han Li was not bothered by such killing intent. After a closer look, he realized that the characters had been carved a long time ago and had become very faded due to weathering.

Han Li pondered for a while and then flew around the black mist again. And after flying for several days, he was finally able to leave the mountain range.

‘Again!’

But his joy was short-lived as he was dumbfounded by the situation before him. Not far away, another reddish-brown sea was surging. He stroked his chin and silently stared at the sea.

After a while, he changed direction and flew to the other side of the black mist. This time, he flew at full speed, and it took him only about fifteen days to reach the coastal cliff.

“Is it an island?”

It was a giant island, the likes of which he had never seen before, with a long shape, and half of it was covered by the black sea of clouds.