Chapter 1752: Flying Rainbow Fish

Though Han Li couldn't immediately discern the changes in the Leopard-Scaled Beast, he knew that anything capable of threatening him now was certainly extraordinary.

Unfortunately, he had no time for a detailed examination now. He would have to wait until after leaving the Guanghan Realm to thoroughly inspect the beast's mutations.

Pondering this, Han Li communicated with the Leopard-Scaled Beast via spiritual sense, instructed it to be vigilant, then sat down cross-legged and began meditating with his eyes slightly closed.

His magic power, which he had only partially recovered last time, was now almost depleted after the intense battle with the Horned-Yellow people.

Consequently, Han Li remained in the tree cave for seven full days, recovering nearly ninety percent of his magic power.

His original intention was, of course, to fully restore his magic power before resuming his journey.

However, at noon on the eighth day, a low growl suddenly reached his ears from the Leopard-Scaled Beast.

Han Li instantly jolted awake from his cultivation and abruptly opened his eyes.

A series of chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations shimmered nearby, accompanied by faint, intermittent explosive sounds from a great distance, as if someone were fighting overhead.

Han Li's heart stirred. Without a word, he quietly released his spiritual sense, sweeping it outside the tree cave.

The result left his expression somewhat strange.

Above the dense forest, a fierce chase battle was unfolding between two monstrous beasts.

One large, one small, two vastly different-sized exotic beasts were fighting and chasing each other thousands of feet up in the sky.

The one in front, only about a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) long, had gleaming golden fur and pitch-black eyes. It was none other than the King of Dark Beasts, the same one Han Li had seen being pursued by its own kind in the Dark Beast Forest.

However, this King-level Dark Beast appeared even more distressed now; not only was its fur scorched in many places, but its slender tail was also inexplicably missing more than half its length.

Even so, the beast's fierce aura remained undiminished. It darted forward as a golden shadow, fleeing, while constantly looking back and spewing golden wind blades.

As soon as the golden wind blades left the Golden Dark Beast's mouth, they expanded to several feet in size, flashed past, and then slashed down fiercely dozens of zhang behind it in the void.

The other exotic beast behind it, however, ignored these golden wind blades. A flash of spiritual light from its body simply deflected the attacks.

Its defensive magical ability was truly astonishing! This exotic beast was over ten zhang long, a mysterious monster with the head of a pig and the body of a flood dragon.

Its head was snow-white, its body shimmered with blue light, and its aura seemed several times stronger than that of the Golden Dark Beast.

No wonder the King-level Dark Beast dared not fight head-on, opting only to fly and engage in hit-and-run tactics.

Han Li recalled the Leopard-Scaled Beast, a blue light flashed around him, and he held his breath.

Most of the two beasts' attention was focused on their formidable opponent, so they did not notice Han Li below.

A moment later, the two beasts, one following the other, swept over the dense forest and disappeared into the distant horizon.

Han Li's brow furrowed slightly, then the blue light around him receded, and he returned to normal.

"How did this King-level Dark Beast end up here too?"

He was naturally quite surprised.

However, at his current level, he didn't feel much fear facing the two beasts, and he certainly wasn't going to needlessly invite major trouble, which was why he had hidden himself earlier.

Although the King-level Dark Beast's appearance was sudden, it had little to do with him, so Han Li didn't dwell on it.

After this disturbance, he no longer intended to stay in this location.

After all, the powerful aura left by the two beasts passing through the dense forest could easily attract other fierce beasts from the nearby area.

Fortunately, the direction of the beasts' chase did not coincide with his destination, so he didn't need to worry too much.

He removed the restrictive spell at the entrance, then transformed into a green rainbow, flying out of the tree cave and continuing his journey.

As he flew, he held a top-grade spirit stone in each hand, continuously absorbing the pure spiritual energy from them.

He believed that even without dedicated meditation, his magic power would soon be fully replenished.

Han Li traveled day and night, and this journey lasted for a full month.

Apart from encountering a few low-level fierce beasts that didn't know their place, he didn't run into any trouble or other alien teams along the way.

He was naturally delighted.

One day, while flying, Han Li saw a massive lake ahead, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The lake surface was as blue as the sea, and the sky was clear for miles, presenting a charming scene of gentle breeze and beautiful sunshine.

Upon seeing the lake, a smile touched Han Li's lips. At the same time, he cautiously released his spiritual sense, sweeping it across the nearby lake surface.

If the map wasn't wrong, his destination for this journey was very close.

A moment later, he retracted his spiritual sense. A loud whooshing sound filled the air as the green rainbow he had transformed into shot out over the lake surface, speeding towards its deeper parts.

Several hours later, Han Li's expression subtly changed.

The sheer size of this lake far exceeded his initial imagination; despite his terrifying evasion speed and such a long duration of travel, the surroundings still appeared boundless.

If not for the fact that the map he held had shown no errors along the way, he would have thought he had mistakenly entered some unnamed sea.

What made Han Li even more uneasy was that since entering this lake, aside from some common fish at the bottom, there was a noticeable scarcity of other spiritual beasts.

The few he occasionally spotted were all very low-level lake beasts skilled in concealment, hiding motionless in obscure places at the lake bottom.

Had his spiritual sense not been extraordinarily powerful, he truly wouldn't have been able to easily detect their presence.

Han Li's eyes flickered, his vigilance greatly heightened as his mind raced.

This situation was not unfamiliar to him. Most likely, an extremely formidable fierce beast resided in the lake, which had scared away all other low-level creatures.

Although the Stone Cocoon Race had clearly stated that this area was safe and contained no powerful fierce beasts...

...that statement referred to when the Guanghan Realm was last opened. So many years had passed that it seemed entirely plausible for a powerful fierce beast to have taken over the area.

As he thought this, he couldn't help but feel a touch of hesitation.

He wondered if taking such a risk for some refining materials from the Stone Cocoon Race was still worth it. It seemed he needed to reconsider.

After all, even if he didn't make this trip, Duan Tianren had promised to intercede on his behalf regarding the super teleportation array.

Given Duan Tianren's standing within the Stone Cocoon Race, he likely wouldn't break his word. But Han Li preferred to be safe than sorry.

Moreover, having traveled tirelessly for such a long time to reach this place, turning back immediately would naturally leave him unwilling.

Han Li pondered, his expression fluctuating between light and shadow, and his evasion speed unconsciously began to slow considerably.

Just then, a black speck appeared at the far end of the lake. It grew larger and larger, eventually transforming into a colossal island in the middle of the lake.

Seeing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes, stopped his flight, and gazed into the distance.

The island appeared to be over a thousand li wide, featuring two peaks, one tall and one short, rising side by side.

The taller peak reached over ten thousand zhang (approximately 33 kilometers), its surface a dusty grey, with more than half of it completely barren. The shorter peak was also three to four thousand zhang tall, but it was entirely verdant and unusually densely forested.

"It seems this is the place!" Han Li murmured. His gaze quickly fell upon the grey peak, staring intently.

The island's shape was almost identical to what was recorded on the map, and the rare material mentioned by the Stone Cocoon Race was a unique ore found on the tall mountain.

This ore was exclusively found in the Guanghan Realm and appeared to be quite important to the Stone Cocoon Race.

As Han Li was watching in rapt attention, his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly flicked his sleeve downwards.

A small green sword flashed out.

Almost simultaneously, the seemingly calm, mirror-like lake surface below suddenly erupted with a "boom," as a pillar of water shot out, directly aiming for Han Li.

A flash of green light, and the water pillar was split in two by the sword light from the small sword.

"Gua!" A strange cry rang out. A bizarre fish hidden within the water pillar was also bisected by the sword light, spilling much green blood as it fell towards the lake surface.

Han Li lowered his head, and with a flash of blue light in his eyes, he clearly saw the strange fish's appearance.

The fish was only about a foot long, entirely emerald green, with a pair of wings on its back. Upon closer inspection, its head strikingly resembled that of a venomous snake, and its belly seemed to have a pair of claws so slender they were almost invisible.

Han Li's eye twitched; he vaguely felt as though he had heard of such a strange fish somewhere before, but he couldn't immediately recall the specific details.

However, the next moment, a scene that greatly startled him unfolded.

As soon as the strange fish's severed remains fell into the lake, within a radius of several miles, tens of thousands of cries suddenly erupted.

Pillars of water shot out uniformly from the lake surface, appearing densely packed as far as the eye could see, their numbers unknown.

After the water pillars dispersed, strange fish of varying sizes all floated in the low sky, staring at Han Li with emotionless eyes.

These strange fish were identical in shape to the dead one, but their bodies were colorful, subtly emitting an unusually vibrant spiritual light, making them appear extraordinarily mysterious.

"Flying Rainbow Fish!"

Witnessing this sight, Han Li gasped aloud, finally remembering the origin of these strange fish.

Back when he was in the Tian Peng Race's holy city, he had stumbled upon a record of these fish in a very ancient classic.

Although this strange fish had a pleasant-sounding name, in ancient times, the alien races living in the sea mentioned its name with a mix of love and hate.

The love stemmed from the fact that the inner core of this strange fish was the main ingredient for an extremely rare ancient elixir called the "Seven-Colored Pill."

The Seven-Colored Pill was a special elixir used specifically to nurture ancient spirit insects.

It was said that regular consumption by spirit insects could not only accelerate their maturation but also, even for mature specimens, offer a certain chance of mutation and further advancement. In ancient times, it was extraordinarily rare.

The hate, however, came from this strange fish being incredibly venomous itself, with its sprayed venom being almost unstoppable. Furthermore, they always operated in groups, numbering in the thousands, or even tens of thousands, upon encounter.

Anyone caught alone by a swarm of these fish, unless they possessed special divine abilities, would almost certainly meet their demise.

However, these strange fish were believed to have become extinct in ancient times, with only scattered records remaining in some ancient classics of various races.

Han Li had never expected to encounter such strange fish here in the Guanghan Realm.

At this point, he suddenly understood why all the spiritual, mid-to-high-level beasts in the lake had vanished. Most likely, they had either been poisoned and devoured by these Flying Rainbow Fish, or they had been scared away long ago.