"There's no mistaking it; that is indeed the Devil Ape Coral," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns confirmed as she appraised the mountain.
"According to what you said, the island lies around a month's travel away in the direction that the devilish ape is looking toward, so that means we should be traveling in the southwestern direction," the woman from the Ye Family said in a calm manner.
"According to that senior of our Spirit Race, the island is indeed roughly located there, but…" A hesitant look appeared on Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's face.
"Are you still keeping secrets from us at a time like this, Fellow Daoist?" the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly with displeasure.
"That's not it, Brother Long; it's just that the senior also told us there's some type of danger lying near the island, so he told us to take extra caution when approaching it. However, he didn't reveal the specific details to us and only mentioned in passing, so I didn't divulge this information," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns explained.
"Oh? That senior of your race was Grand Ascension Stage being, so if it's something that even he's wary of, then it must be extremely dangerous to us; we'll have to be very careful while approaching the island," Han Li said with a grim expression.
"Indeed. If you have any trump cards up your sleeves, then make sure to prepare them in advance; I'll set up a few formations on the ark that'll increase its power by at least more than half," the elderly scholar among the Spirit beings said.
A grim look had also appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face. "I have a pair of stone puppets left behind from ancient times. Their attack patterns are a little one-dimensional, but in terms of defensive prowess, they're comparable with Body Integration Stage beings. However, in order to activate them, a refinement process has to commence around half a month in advance."
Han Li was silent for a moment before chiming in, "I possess a set of powerful devilish flags that can be set up on the ark."
The devilish flags had been obtained by him after he had slain a certain devilish lord, and they were quite powerful in the eyes of normal Body Integration Stage beings.
"I have a few Glacial Water Rhinoceroses that have powerful defensive capabilities and can expel formidable glacial Qi; we can use them to replace the current sea beasts," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns proposed.
With the example set by Han Li and the others, everyone else also contributed some of their treasures.
They were all aware that these things definitely weren't the true life-saving trump cards that everyone had up their sleeves, but these items would definitely bolster the giant ark significantly.
After that, the giant ark began to travel toward the southwestern direction, and everyone got to work.
Han Li set up the set of devilish flags at several important points on the ark, and the elderly scholar was carving some runes and embedding some formation plates onto the ark's surface.
Not long after that, the entire giant ark underwent a complete transformation and was now being drawn by eight shimmering blue rhinoceros-like sea beasts, each of which was around 50 to 60 feet in length.
A month passed by in the blink of an eye, and on this day, the placid black seawater around the giant art suddenly became extremely turbulent.
Massive waves came crashing toward the ark from all sides, and the dark clouds in the sky had descended to an altitude of around 500 to 600 feet.
Howling winds were blowing through the clouds, and bolts of silver lightning were occasionally crashing down to strike the giant ark.
However, the ark was enshrouded under a green light barrier, which managed to keep the bolts of lightning at bay with ease.
At the front of the ark stood Han Li and everyone else, and they were discussing something with grim expressions.
"It's already been a month, and we still haven't discovered the island. On top of that, could it be that the perils outlined by that senior of your Spirit Race are these violent weather conditions?" the Long Family patriarch asked.
"Surely you jest, Brother Long; of course the dangers wouldn't be limited to something like this. The main issue is that our spiritual sense is significantly restricted in this region of the sea, so we can only detect everything in a radius of around five kilometers. With this handicap weighing us down, it'll be a lot more difficult to find that island," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with furrowed brows.
"It's a good thing that Brother Han and Brother Bai both possess spirit eye abilities that allow them to see further into the distance. Otherwise, we'd truly be searching for a needle in a haystack," the Long Family patriarch sighed.
At this moment, Han Li was peering into the distance on one side of the ark with blue light flashing through his eyes.
On the other side of the ark stood Bai Qi, and even though his features were concealed by a layer of white light, one could make out a beam of white light that seemed to be stemming from his forehead, extending into the giant waves in the distance."Don't count on my Brightsight Spirit Eyes too much, Brother Long. In contrast with Brother Bai's innate spirit eye ability, my ability wasn't attained through cultivation, and using it expends a vast amount of magic power, so I can't use it too often," Han Li said with a wry smile.
"You're far too modest, Brother Han. Even if your spirit eye ability can't be used for an extended period of time, it would still increase our chances of finding our destination significantly if you can assist Fellow Daoist Bai," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a faint smile.
Han Li didn't offer any response to this and continued to peer into the distance.
The Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't possess spirit eye abilities, but instead of returning to their cabins, they stood still on the spot, contemplating some things in silence.
Time slowly passed by, and the blue light faded from Han Li's eyes. He then rested on the spot for a long while before activating his spirit eye ability once again.
However, on this occasion, the blue light in his eyes only flashed a few times before a bewildered look appeared on his face, and he immediately injected more magic power into his eyes.
The blue light in his eyes immediately became extremely bright, to the extent that merely looking into his eyes from afar would strike one with sharp ocular pain.
This naturally alerted the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, but neither of them said anything to disrupt him. Instead, they exchanged an elated glance before continuing to scrutinize Han Li.
"Brother Bai, come over to my side and have a look at the place around 2,500 kilometers away," Han Li said to Bai Qi.
"2,500 kilometers? You can see that far into the distance? That'll be quite a stretch for my capabilities," Bai Qi said in a bewildered manner.
He then turned toward Han Li's direction, and the beam of white light that was being released from his forehead immediately grew brighter.
After a long while, the white light that he was emitting dimmed slightly, and he said, "There does indeed seem to be something there, but it's too far away for me to make out clearly, so I can't confirm whether it's an island."
"What exactly did the two of you see, fellow daoists?" the Long Family patriarch asked.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was naturally also very interested to hear the response.
"There's a black shadow in that direction that was enshrouded in lightning, but I'm unable to see the black shadow clearly due to the lightning's interference," Han Li explained.
"Lightning? Isn't there lightning over here as well? What's the difference?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked as her brows furrowed slightly in a perplexed manner.
"It'll be easier for you to see for yourselves when we get there rather than for me to explain it," Han Li replied with a peculiar expression.
"Alright, let's head over there right away!" the Long Family patriarch said as he immediately pointed a finger at the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses up ahead.
The giant ark tremored slightly, then sped toward the direction that Han Li was casting his gaze toward.
After that, the Long Family patriarch informed everyone else of this through voice transmission, and they all emerged from their cabins with excited expressions.
Less than half a day later, they finally arrived at the area of the sea that Han Li had been referring to.
In the air above the inky-black surface of the ocean, a vast expanse of silver lightning was crashing down like a waterfall, forming countless balls of lightning before exploding one by one to form a sea of lightning.
The rumbling thunderclaps were deafening, and through the vast expanse of lightning, a huge murky black shadow could just barely be made out.
With so much lightning interfering with everyone's vision, no one could see exactly what the black shadow was.
However, at such a close range, Han Li and Bai Qi were naturally able to identify it with their spirit eye abilities.
Even as far back as 500 kilometers away, both of them were able to confirm that this was indeed a giant island. However, the entire island was surrounded by this sea of lightning, so it would be an unavoidable obstacle that they would have to overcome.
"So the true danger is this lightning. In that case, it'll be rather troublesome, but we should be able to force our way through it," the Long Family patriarch said in a contemplative manner.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's brows were tightly furrowed, but she didn't say anything.
"I'm afraid you're wrong there, Brother Long," Han Li suddenly said as he peered carefully into the sea of lightning up ahead.
The Long Family patriarch's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "Have you discovered something, Brother Han?"