Chapter 521: Foggy Island

A Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 4: The Overseas Wind and Cloud

Han Li now appeared inside a general store near Cunjin Pavilion. He bought a local sea chart and information on demon beast sightings, then calmly left the shop. Finding a secluded spot, he began to carefully examine the newly acquired materials.

After only a quick glance, Han Li couldn't help but furrow his brows.

The dangerous areas marked near Qiyuan Island seemed excessively numerous!

Were they all places frequently haunted by high-level demon beasts?

As for the famous Deep Sea Abyss, it wasn't far from his current location. Han Li could reach it within half a month if he flew south at full speed.

However, the Deep Sea Abyss was unbelievably vast!

It stretched tens of thousands of miles across, not to mention, according to the data, this sea area was unfathomably deep, with no one having yet discovered its exact depth.

After reviewing the information once, Han Li quickly put away the jade slip containing the data. He then stood still, his expression solemn as he lowered his head in thought.

After an unknown period, Han Li looked up, his face having returned to its normal composure.

He didn't visit any other parts of Black Stone City afterward but left the stone city without hesitation.

As soon as he exited the small city, Han Li immediately ascended, transforming into a streak of green light, and soared away.

Qiyuan Island itself wasn't very large, merely a medium-sized island.

And just as Xu Yun had said, apart from Black Stone City, there was no second city on this island. The rest of the areas were extremely desolate, appearing to lack even a single village.

It seemed other parts of this island also prohibited mortals and cultivators from residing there. He wondered why!

Han Li quickly flew off Qiyuan Island. Over the sea, he looked up at the sky, ascertained his direction, and then flew north.

For him now, finding an island with fewer cultivators and establishing a new cultivation cave was the most important task.

And there was no doubt that the vicinity of the Deep Sea Abyss would be a gathering place for many cultivators' caves. Han Li didn't want to squeeze in among them and draw unnecessary attention.

Therefore, he intentionally flew in a direction away from the Deep Sea Abyss.

In the waters near Qiyuan Island, large islands were few, and most were already occupied by cultivators and mortals.

Han Li did not linger on these islands, simply sweeping past them.

Clearly, just as he had anticipated, there weren't many cultivators in the northern sea region.

After flying for more than ten days, he rarely saw other cultivators. Those he did encounter, upon seeing Han Li's escape light, the lower-level ones immediately cautiously dodged away, while the higher-level ones became extremely wary and vigilant.

Killing and plundering treasures in this place was no different from other demon beast islands.

Han Li himself also exercised extra caution.

After flying for two more days, there were no longer any traces of other cultivators. Han Li then changed direction and flew west.

According to the sea chart, there should be some small to medium-sized islands with minor spiritual veins to the west. These islands were rarely inhabited by cultivators due to inferior spiritual veins, their distance from Qiyuan Island, or lack of guaranteed safety, among other reasons.

As for mortals, they would only reside on islands near Qiyuan Island, where their safety could be somewhat ensured.

Han Li, of course, didn't care about these conditions. He intended to see if there was an island to his liking. He hovered above a small island about fifty to sixty li in size, gazing intently downwards.

This was the fourth uninhabited spiritual island he had discovered so far.

This island was not large, but its environment was extremely complex.

There were barren lands, devoid of even a blade of grass, as well as dense forests of unknown trees. There were also lush, vibrant grasslands filled with colorful flowers, and small mountain ranges dotted with hills.

Han Li had thoroughly explored the entire island with his spiritual sense and found no trace of any cultivators having stayed on it.

This wasn't because the island's spiritual vein was so inferior that other cultivators disdained it.

On the contrary, although the island's spiritual vein was very small, the spiritual energy it provided was quite abundant. Even if it wasn't a top-grade spiritual vein, it was still of upper-middle quality.

The reason no cultivators had settled on the island was entirely due to the extremely peculiar environment surrounding it.

And this was precisely what Han Li liked most about the island.

The island was situated within a vast expanse of white sea mist, which was not naturally formed but emanated from nearby turbulent whirlpools. Even more strangely, this white mist only diffused around the island, with not a trace above it.

Han Li was utterly astonished when he first witnessed this sight.

But when he broke through the nearby water surface and dove beneath the island, he finally understood completely.

The bottom of this island was densely covered with countless finger-sized holes, from which thousands of slender silver fish ceaselessly swam in and out.

At first glance, these silver fish seemed no different from ordinary small fish.

However, when Han Li wrapped his hands in spiritual energy and casually caught one to examine closely, he discovered that these small fish had no scales whatsoever; their bodies were covered entirely in extremely sharp, silvery bone spines.

If an ordinary person were to try and catch them, their hands would undoubtedly be covered in blood.

"Sea-Swallowing Fish!" As soon as Han Li saw this, the name immediately came to mind.

Despite their amusing name, these small fish were a type of low-level, first-rank demon beast that lived in groups.

Besides being able to harden their bone spines like iron, they also liked to surface and playfully spew out white mist by swallowing and exhaling seawater. They could often be seen near certain islands.

But for this island to have so many "Sea-Swallowing Fish," producing enough mist to completely shroud an entire island, was truly an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Even Han Li himself, had he not coincidentally encountered a fourth-level demon beast, a "Silverwing Bird," mid-flight and spontaneously chased it into the misty sea, he would never have discovered this island hidden within the sea mist. He would have certainly passed it by without a second thought!

Because from a distance, this small patch of sea mist appeared to be just a common sight on the sea, countless and unremarkable.

After circling the island several times, Han Li quickly made up his mind to choose this island to establish his cultivation cave.

If not such a secluded island, what other island could be more to his liking?

The island's spiritual vein was located within a miniature mountain range, only a dozen li long and thirty to forty zhang high, with just a few small peaks.

Being so short, it was naturally impossible for Han Li to establish a cave on a mountainside.

He simply found a narrow, concave valley and began to excavate directly at the base of the mountain range.

With Han Li's current cultivation level, creating a cave identical in structure to his previous one was effortless.

In just half a day, the basic outline of the cave was complete.

Han Li had no inclination to continue meticulously refining the cave. Instead, he first used several sets of formation tools he had crafted to encompass both the cave and the mountain range, activating the restrictive spell to create an illusion.

From a distance, the mountain range seemed to vanish into thin air, replaced by a lush green forest that seamlessly blended with the real forest nearby, leaving no flaw.

Yet, Han Li stood in the air, chin in hand, staring at the ground below for a good while, still feeling somewhat uneasy.

What if someone, like him, happened to fly into the sea mist? These restrictions would not be able to deceive high-level cultivators.

He lowered his head, pondering for a moment, when an idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

Without another word, Han Li flew back into his new cave. He then briefly sorted through his materials and began refining items in a secret chamber.

Six or seven days later, when Han Li flew out of the cave again, he held a dozen identical sets of formation tools.

These formation arrays and disks appeared extremely simple, not indicating any profound formation techniques.

But after Han Li buried a set in various locations across the small island and activated them one by one, large plumes of mist surged out from these formations, immediately engulfing the entire island in a dense fog.

Before long, the mist generated by these formations merged with the sea mist outside the island, completely obscuring the entire island.

At this point, if someone were to intrude, unless they flew at a low altitude, they would find it very difficult to detect the existence of an island below.

After surveying the surroundings from the air, Han Li finally felt at ease.

Although simultaneously activating so many formations would consume a significant amount of spirit stones, he no longer cared.

He would rather suffer a financial loss than face disaster now!

Han Li transformed into a green light once more and flew downwards.

Next, he would officially set up his cave, arrange the insect chambers, plant spirit herbs...

Two days later, Han Li was in a stone chamber, holding the pale yellow jade slip given to him by Cunjin Pavilion, carefully examining its contents with his spiritual sense.

His face was filled with solemnity.

His expression shifted. His spiritual sense had already withdrawn from the jade slip, but then he fell back into deep thought.

After a while, he stood up and paced back and forth in the stone chamber for several rounds, his expression growing even more serious.

Suddenly, he reached into his storage bag, and a white jade box appeared in his hand.

Han Li gazed at it for a moment, then slowly opened the lid, revealing several small, five-colored pearls.