Chapter 2428: Little Spirit Heaven

The long-bearded man waved his hand again, and the sea beast army behind him immediately swarmed forward, continuing their advance.

But at that moment, a ripple suddenly appeared in the nearby void, and a crystalline light shot out from it without any warning. With a flash, it teleported to appear right in front of the long-bearded man, transforming into a shimmering sword light that swept towards him.

The long-bearded man was startled, but immediately, with unusual composure, he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple light. It expanded against the wind, instantly forming a massive shield covered in layers of purple patterns.

Simultaneously, he performed a hand seal with one hand, and with a whoosh, a shimmering blue water curtain emerged from his body, completely submerging him.

With two soft thuds, the massive shield and the water curtain shattered like paper upon contact with the crystalline light.

The crystalline light merely flashed around the long-bearded man like lightning and, to his utter horror, sliced him in half at the waist.

With a bang.

The moment the two halves of the long-bearded man's body separated, they burst into countless illusory bubbles.

Dense, semi-transparent bubbles shot out in all directions.

Just then, the crystalline light retracted, and a golden, foot-tall miniature figure materialized from within it. With a single finger, it traced an arc in the air in a certain direction, and a blurry, invisible sword qi burst forth, swiftly coiling around one of the bubbles. The bubble spun rapidly and in an instant, transformed into a miniature figure identical to the long-bearded man.

Although several extraordinary treasures protected its body, under the furious churning of the sharp sword qi, all the treasures burst open. The miniature figure, after a scream, flashed and vanished in the sword light.

From the appearance of the crystalline light to the long-bearded man's demise, it was merely a matter of moments.

The giant turtle beneath the long-bearded man and the sea beast army behind him didn't even have a chance to react. By the time they understood what had happened, they were naturally filled with both shock and fury.

After more than a dozen of the most powerful sea beasts roared, monstrous waves surged from the sea. Spiritual light flashed piercingly as a barrage of various attacks rained down upon the golden miniature figure.

Seeing this, a cold glint flashed in the golden miniature figure's eyes. Its form blurred, and suddenly the sky was filled with its illusory images. Vast swathes of invisible sword qi swept down from high above, not only shattering all the incoming attacks but also mercilessly striking the sea beast army.

These invisible sword qi were incredibly sharp; even ordinary Mahayana cultivators dared not directly confront them, so common sea beasts were naturally even more vulnerable.

Large numbers of sea beasts were instantly sliced into several pieces as the sword light flashed, and gurgling blood, along with countless dismembered sea beast remains, floated to the surface of the sea.

At this point, the sea beasts finally grew terrified. After an unknown beast let out a mournful shriek, the remaining sea beasts immediately scattered, fleeing desperately in all directions.

The sky-filling illusory figures of the miniature person flickered and converged, reforming into the golden miniature figure. After casting a cold glance at the fleeing sea beasts in the distance, it extended one hand into the void towards the sea surface below, and a storage bracelet immediately flew out from where the long-bearded man had fallen, flashing as it landed in its small hand.

The miniature figure lowered its head and merely glanced at the bracelet, then its shoulders swayed, and its body blurred, vanishing into thin air.

At the same time, at the front of the Black Spirit Sacred Ark, Han Li retracted the blue light from his eyes and muttered to himself:

"Alright," he said. "Those uninvited guests have been dealt with. Now we can calmly wait for news."

Zhu Guo'er, standing behind him, heard Han Li's words. She blinked her large dark eyes, still looking somewhat confused.

In the time that followed, Han Li closed his eyes again, resting quietly.

Half a day later, as the sunlight in the sky gradually dimmed, a talisman suddenly flew out from the sea.

Han Li's eyes opened, and he extended one hand into the void, drawing the talisman directly into his grasp.

With a bang!

The talisman burst open with a bang, transforming into a crimson fireball. Simultaneously, a piece of information directly entered Han Li's divine sense, causing a hint of joy to quickly appear on his face.

"Senior, could it be..." Zhu Guo'er asked, unable to contain herself.

"That's right," Han Li said with a hearty laugh as he stood up. "We've finally found a suspected entrance. Come, let's take the ark and go there directly."

Zhu Guo'er, upon hearing this, naturally beamed with joy.

Under the activation of Han Li's magic power, the giant ark immediately emitted a layer of black light from its hull and slowly sank beneath the sea surface.

Half an hour later, in a hidden place at the bottom of the sea, overgrown with colorful underwater plants, hundreds of puppets were neatly gathered in front of a crimson boulder.

Old Ancestor Huashi and Tu Yao stood in front of this group of puppets, pointing and gesturing at the crimson boulder.

The distant seawater suddenly surged, and the black giant ark, like a demon god from the depths of the sea, roared towards them from afar. When it reached the airspace above the crimson boulder after a few flashes, Han Li, standing at the bow, performed a hand seal with one hand.

The black light screen on the ark flared brightly, then rapidly expanded, instantly covering an area of several miles and forcing all the nearby seawater out beyond the light screen.

"Master Han!" "Fellow Daoist Han!" Old Ancestor Huashi and the Human-Faced Flood Dragon, seeing this, naturally came forward to greet him. Han Li then asked, "Is this the coordinate you found?"

Han Li's body blurred, vanishing from the ark, and instantly appeared right in front of the crimson boulder, examining it up and down.

"Yes," Old Ancestor Huashi said respectfully. "After repeated calculations by me and Senior Tu, it should be correct. Furthermore, we have indeed sensed some spatial fluctuations leaking from here."

"Fellow Daoist Huashi is absolutely right," Tu Yao added with great confidence. "I'm also seventy to eighty percent certain that this is the entrance Brother Han is looking for."

"Hmm, thank you, Brother Tu," Han Li nodded. "Since that's the case, I'll go in and take a look first. Guo'er, come here for a moment." He turned and waved at Zhu Guo'er, who was still on the ark.

Seeing this, Zhu Guo'er quickly flew down to Han Li's side.

"You come with me inside for a moment to see if this is truly the entrance to the Minor Spirit Realm," Han Li instructed. "If it is, then Huashi can bring the giant ark and the puppets in after us."

"Yes, Senior," Zhu Guo'er said. "As you command, Master Han," Old Ancestor Huashi replied. Both spoke in unison.

Although Tu Yao felt Han Li's action was slightly risky, recalling the astonishing magical power he had previously displayed, he hesitated for a moment but still refrained from voicing any words of dissuasion.

Then, Han Li's body was enveloped in a shimmering aura, encompassing Zhu Guo'er as well, and transformed into a ball of golden light, shooting towards the crimson boulder.

The seemingly ordinary boulder's surface blurred and distorted, and Han Li and Zhu Guo'er vanished into it as if intangible.

Outside, only Old Ancestor Huashi, Tu Yao, and the group of puppets remained, waiting quietly.

On the other side, as Han Li burst into the crimson boulder with Zhu Guo'er, their escape light immediately solidified. Their bodies became incredibly sluggish, as if caught in some restriction. Meanwhile, the spatial fluctuations, which had been faint outside, suddenly became incredibly intense, and not far ahead, a seven-colored halo appeared, slowly rotating without cease.

After Han Li's divine sense swept through the seven-colored halo, his expression brightened. With a loud shout, his body expanded wildly, instantly transforming into a golden-furred giant ape over ten zhang tall.

His originally sluggish body immediately regained its former agility after the transformation. Grabbing Zhu Guo'er next to him with a large hand, he then stepped towards the seven-colored halo.

With a whoosh.

After the giant ape plunged into the halo, its entire form vanished amidst a strange ripple.

In another realm, within a dense forest, an earth-shattering roar sounded.

A colossal, verdant pine tree suddenly had countless golden lights piercing through its surface. Its trunk then trembled, and its entire body burst open into countless wooden splinters, leaving only a massive, several-zhang-deep pit in its place.

About ten zhang above the pit, a seven-colored halo spun continuously. After a ripple within it, two figures flew out from it.

It was a man and a woman: Han Li and Zhu Guo'er, who had returned to their original forms.

Han Li merely glanced around and frowned:

"The spiritual energy here is slightly inferior to that of the Spirit Realm," he said. "Guo'er, is this the Minor Spirit Realm?"

"Senior Han, please wait," Zhu Guo'er said excitedly after scanning the surroundings herself. "Although I feel the spiritual energy concentration is very similar, I'll know for sure after I examine it more closely."

Then the girl flipped her hand, and a handkerchief-shaped magic tool appeared in her palm.

She tossed the handkerchief in front of her, and her fingers quickly tapped on it a few times. Immediately, a shimmering white light swept over it, and an extremely clear map instantly appeared.

"My secret technique worked!" Zhu Guo'er replied, her face full of joy. "This is indeed the Minor Spirit Realm, no doubt. Let me just check our current location... Huh? We're in the Green Sea of the Minor Spirit Realm!" she exclaimed, seemingly quite surprised after looking closely at the map on the handkerchief.

"No matter where this is, as long as it's definitely the Minor Spirit Realm, that's fine," Han Li said, nodding. "You stay here for now; I'll go bring Huashi and the others over. This passage is more difficult to traverse than originally expected, and it would be hard for Huashi to come alone."

Hearing this, Zhu Guo'er naturally bowed in assent.

So Han Li's body flickered, and he flew back into the seven-colored halo.

After only the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, when the seven-colored light source above the pit rippled again, a black flying ark, shrunk countless times, slowly flew out from it.

The moment this ark flew out, it immediately expanded against the wind, regaining its mountain-like size, and the figures of Han Li and Old Ancestor Huashi appeared at its bow.

As for Tu Yao and his daughter, they had been at the other end of the passage earlier, and after thanking Han Li once more, they had departed.

Seeing this, Zhu Guo'er naturally floated up with a joyful smile on her face.

"Alright, Guo'er, you can tell me about this Green Sea now," Han Li said with a smile. "Also, you can tell me where you used to live. My purpose in coming to the Minor Spirit Realm this time is to have a good talk with your mother."

"The Green Sea is where the Green Spirit race resides, and they are the most powerful foreign race in the Minor Spirit Realm, as well as the sworn enemies of our Minor Spirit Realm human race," Zhu Guo'er replied with a hint of melancholy. "As for where I used to live, it was naturally in the human-populated areas, which is diametrically opposite to the Green Sea's location, at the other extremely distant end of the Minor Spirit Realm."