Chapter 2379: Blood Bone Sect

“Alright, since you have no objections, please go down and get some good rest for now. I hope our journey goes smoothly,” Han Li said with a sigh, waving his hand at the woman.

Xue Po, naturally not daring to disobey, withdrew from the main hall.

Han Li remained quietly seated in his chair, lost in thought.

Several days later, the Demonic Spirit Giant Vessel appeared above an emerald green lake and descended onto a seemingly desolate small island.

However, just half a day later, the giant vessel took flight again, speeding along its predetermined route.

A month later, above a well-known mountain range on the Blood Sky Continent, over a dozen Blood Sky foreigners were engaged in a fierce battle, split into two groups.

One group had fiery red skin with faint scales visible on their cheeks, while the other had thick eyebrows and large eyes, with faint traces of malevolent aura clinging to their bodies.

Below them, in an extremely secluded dense forest, several spirit herbs emitting a peculiar fragrance swayed gently in the wind.

On either side of these spirit herbs, a blood-robed elder and a grey-robed elder sat cross-legged.

Their appearances resembled the two groups fighting in the air, but their cultivation levels far surpassed those combatants. They were each activating a flower-basket-shaped treasure and a disc-shaped magical artifact, entangled in a continuous struggle above the spirit herbs, locked in a stalemate.

Clearly, these two were the leaders of the two factions, fiercely fighting over these rare spirit herbs.

Suddenly, a roar echoed from the distant horizon, and a black giant vessel appeared like a mountain, flashing into view and hurtling towards the dense forest with astonishing speed.

Before the giant vessel even reached them, a terrifying and immense aura swept over.

The two groups of Blood Sky foreigners fighting high in the sky, whose cultivation was only around the Core Formation or Nascent Soul stage, were startled by this oppressive aura and hastily ceased fighting, retreating.

The two Void Refinement stage leaders in the dense forest below also changed greatly in expression, hurriedly looking up at the giant vessel in the sky.

The black giant vessel dipped slightly, then flashed past over the dense forest like a hurricane.

The two groups of foreigners felt as if a hurricane had swept past before their eyes; their bodies involuntarily spun wildly in place like tops.

Then, with loud "bang" sounds, their bodies were sent flying dozens of feet backward before they could barely regain their footing.

The dense forest below seemed as if a barbaric beast had forcibly crashed through it, as a giant concave trench, over a dozen feet wide, miraculously appeared in its middle, with trees on both sides collapsing to the ground.

The faces of both groups, however, were filled with extreme horror.

At this moment, the black giant vessel was already more than ten miles away, and after another flicker, it transformed into a black wind and vanished abruptly.

The two foreign leaders near the spirit herbs, though fortunately positioned on either side of the trench, were also forcibly pressed backward, rolling several times by an immense, suffocating force.

After scrambling back to their feet, both their faces turned pale and bloodless. Their gazes towards the distant giant vessel were as terrified as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"It's a Grand Ascension stage expert! Only a flying vessel of a Grand Ascension stage senior could possess such astonishing power," the blood-robed elder murmured.

"I wonder which Grand Ancestor would be passing through here... Ah, no, our spirit herbs!" The grey-robed man, still visibly shaken, uttered a couple of sentences before suddenly remembering something, leaping up and anxiously looking towards the middle of the trench. He then let out a long sigh of relief.

The spirit herbs were miraculously unharmed in the trench, as if the immense force had intentionally bypassed that small area.

However, the next moment, after the blood-robed elder and the grey-robed man exchanged a glance, their expressions changed again as they activated their treasures and resumed their fight.

As for the subordinates of the two leaders above the dense forest, seeing that the awe-inspiring giant vessel had completely ignored them, they hesitated briefly before shouting and rejoining the battle.

Three months later, above the forbidden ground of a medium-sized sect, a dark giant vessel floated silently high in the sky. Simultaneously, over a thousand high-grade puppets, densely packed, almost completely filled a large portion of the sky.

Below the puppets were nearly ten thousand Blood Sky cultivators, all dressed in the same attire. Regardless of their cultivation level or status, they stood on the ground in trepidation, not daring to move an inch.

After a full hour, a disturbance arose within the forbidden ground, and a blue rainbow forcefully broke through the restrictions. After a few flashes, two figures appeared on the giant vessel.

They were none other than Han Li and Zhu Guo'er.

"Senior, have you found any clues?" Xue Po, who had been waiting there, hurriedly stepped forward and asked.

"No, this altar is not the one we are looking for. Let's go, continue our journey," Han Li instructed calmly.

"Yes!"

After Huashi Old Ancestor acknowledged, he immediately pulled out a token-shaped magical artifact and shook it towards the outside of the giant vessel. Instantly, all the puppets in the sky silently flew back into the giant vessel.

The next moment, countless black runes surged and appeared on the Demonic Spirit Giant Vessel's surface, and with a roar, it tore through the air and departed.

Only the sect members remained on the ground.

Among these individuals, several cultivators at the Body Integration stage visibly relaxed upon seeing that the Demonic Spirit Vessel had indeed flown away and was not returning.

However, a burly man with a full green beard spoke with some reluctance to the others:

"Sect Master, Elders, are we just going to let them swagger away like this? If word of this gets out, won't the reputation of our Lihuo Sect be utterly ruined?"

"What else can we do but let them go? Not to mention that the leader's cultivation is unfathomable, most likely a Grand Ascension stage expert, but even these puppets alone would be enough to annihilate our sect several times over. Is Elder Chu planning for our sect to try and break a rock with an egg?" another elder, somewhat hunchbacked with a fierce countenance, snorted and said.

The others, listening, repeatedly agreed.

"Even if our sect is no match for them, we could ask the superior sect for help. Aren't the vast amounts of spirit stones we submit every year meant for them to protect us in times like this? As long as the superior sect steps in and causes them a little trouble, our sect's reputation could largely be preserved," the burly man argued, disagreeing.

"The superior sect only has one Grand Ascension stage expert themselves. Why would they trouble another Grand Ascension stage existence over something like this? Besides, they only trespassed into our sect's forbidden ground; they didn't harm any disciples. Apart from damage to our reputation, there was no actual harm whatsoever. In such a situation, the superior sect would certainly not concern themselves with this matter," the hunchbacked elder scoffed.

"That's not necessarily true, if our sect is willing to pay a certain price..." The burly man said, his eyes darting around.

"Enough, this matter ends here. To offend a Grand Ascension stage existence for a mere bit of face, Elder Chu, have you lost your mind, or do you have some other motive?" a middle-aged man dressed in a scholar's robe, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected, cutting off the burly man's words.

"Sect Master, what ideas could I possibly have? I'm just unwilling to see our Lihuo Sect lose so much face. Since the Sect Master and the elders don't care about this matter, why should I bother further?" The burly man grumbled a couple of sentences in defense, then fell silent.

"Elder Fei, Elder Qiong, go check the forbidden ground to see if any treasures are missing. While you're at it, examine the traces left behind to see exactly where that Grand Ascension senior went." The scholar-robed middle-aged man no longer paid attention to the burly man, turning to instruct the hunchbacked elder and another person.

"Yes, we will go and investigate immediately."

The two elders, including the hunchbacked one, felt a chill in their hearts and hurriedly stepped forward, acknowledging the command.

Then, their escape lights flared, and they vanished into the forbidden ground.

As for the other sect members and disciples, they also returned to their respective areas within the sect under the Sect Master's order.

"Ancient altar?"

Half a day later, in a hidden secret chamber of the sect, the scholar-robed middle-aged man was somewhat stunned.

"Indeed, that senior only went to this one place, and even left behind traces of spellcasting," the hunchbacked elder replied with a wry smile.

"The ancient altar in the forbidden ground should have been abandoned for countless years. Why would they specifically come to our sect's forbidden ground to cast spells on the altar? What was their intention?" the scholar-robed middle-aged man murmured, unable to conceal the suspicion on his face.

"Who knows? Perhaps there's some unknown secret hidden within that ancient altar?" the hunchbacked elder speculated, stroking his chin.

"Never mind. Even if there's some great secret inside, a Grand Ascension stage expert has already appeared, so it's no longer something our sect can interfere with. Aside from doubling the number of guards in the forbidden ground from now on, let's just pretend we know nothing about this matter," the scholar-robed middle-aged man said, his expression changing several times before finally making up his mind.

"Understood. I will issue these instructions tomorrow," the hunchbacked elder nodded, showing no objection whatsoever.

At the same time, in the main hall of the black giant vessel, Han Li sat at the head of the table, observing a white screen of light suspended before him.

On the light screen, an extremely clear giant map was quietly displayed in the void.

The map not only marked some mountain ranges and lakes but also showed several circular points, faintly glowing blue, flickering slightly in various corners of the map.

"Senior Han, about seventy to eighty percent of the nearby altars have been investigated. The next altar should be about half a month away, but reaching that area means entering the sphere of influence of the Bloodbone Sect, a prominent Blood Dao sect," Xue Po explained, standing beside the light screen and pointing at one of the flickering blue dots.

"The Bloodbone Sect, that's the major power you offended. It seems we'll need to be a bit more restrained once we enter that area. Although I don't fear other Grand Ascension stage existences, it's best to avoid unnecessary conflicts," Han Li nodded indifferently.

"Senior, the Bloodbone Sect alone likely possesses five or six Grand Ascension stage cultivators within its ranks, making it one of the true major powers on the Blood Sky Continent. While their number of Grand Ascension cultivators is far less than other major powers, their Blood Dao cultivation techniques are exceptionally domineering. Almost every Grand Ascension cultivator from this sect is far superior to ordinary Grand Ascension cultivators from other sects. If we wish to avoid attracting the attention of this sect on our journey, I fear we cannot continue to travel by this Demonic Spirit Giant Vessel," Xue Po said with a hint of solemnity.