"My master didn't elaborate on that before this trip, but that's most likely the case," Liu Shui'er replied with a nod.
"That's great! I didn't think that I'd be able to witness the vastly renowned High Zenith Azure Light during this trip. Even if I don't obtain any other treasures, this journey will have been a worthwhile one," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er looked down at the ball of white light, and a contemplative look appeared on her face.
All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over to produce a crimson blade before hurling it through the air.
The blade transformed into a streak of crimson light as it sped downward, reaching the white light in a flash.
However, just as it appeared that the crimson blade was about to pierce through the white light, it abruptly shuddered before separating into seven or eight segments amid an anguished wail.
It was as if several extraordinarily sharp weapons had struck it at the same time, thereby slicing through it with ease.
The segments of the blade then continued to plummet downward, only to be sliced into more and more pieces before finally vanishing as specks of crimson light.
The smile on Han Li's face faded upon seeing this, and a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes. He was unable to detect the form of the High Zenith Azure Light using his spiritual sense, but thankfully, he'd activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes in advance, and in the instant that the crimson blade was reduced to specks of light, he managed to catch a brief glimpse of several tens of thin projections striking it from all directions.
Those thin projections were clearly the true form of the High Zenith Azure Light.
Liu Shui'er seemed to have also caught sight of those projections somehow, and she heaved a faint sigh as she mused, "This High Zenith Azure Light really is quite extraordinary."
At this moment, Han Li raised an eyebrow before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a streak of azure light shot forth from within before hurtling downward.
This was an azure flying sword that was around a foot in length.
The sword descended at an astonishing speed, and after a single flash, it was only just over 100 feet away from the white light.
Meanwhile, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he looked on with an intense unblinking gaze.
All of a sudden, several tens of thin projections appeared out of thin air before striking the flying sword in a flash.
A sharp screeching sound rang out as azure light flashed erratically around the flying sword, and it managed to continue downward despite the attacks from the surrounding projections.
However, in the instant before it came into contact with the white light, countless thin projections emerged all around the flying sword before hurtling toward it in unison.
The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was finally unable to withstand the barrage of attacks any longer, and it shattered into specks of azure light amid a low cry.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, upon which the specks of azure light converged before him to form a complete flying sword again.
A peculiar light flashed through Liu Shui'er's eyes in response to this, while Han Li shook his head and stowed his flying sword away.
He had other treasures with far superior defensive properties compared to his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but if those were to be destroyed, there would be no way to recover them, so he naturally wasn't going to take that risk.
However, even though Han Li was doing his best to maintain a calm expression, he was filled with excitement internally.
The High Zenith Azure Light most likely stemmed from a High Zenith Azure Mountain, which was one of the main materials required to refine the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain.
Even though there were other treasures aside from High Zenith Azure Mountains that possessed High Zenith Azure Light, Han Li was convinced that the treasure beneath this restriction was most likely a High Zenith Azure Mountain.
There was a good chance that this restriction was left behind by a true immortal, and it had been able to maintain itself since ancient times. As such, it seemed plausible that only a High Zenith Azure Mountain could provide such a limitless source of High Zenith Azure Light.
If he were to obtain this mountain, he'd be able to refine it into a second extreme mountain alongside his Divine Essencefused Mountain.
As these thoughts were running through his mind, Han Li turned to Liu Shui'er, and said, "As expected, this High Zenith Azure Light restriction is not something that the two of us can break. We'll have to wait for Fellow Daoist Shi to get here before we make a concerted attempt to break this restriction together."
"My thoughts exactly, Brother Han. Let's find a place nearby to settle and meditate so we can recover to our peak condition," Liu Shui'er agreed with a nod of her head.
Thus, after a brief discussion, the two of them rose up into the air before flying toward a certain direction.
A short while later, their duo descended somewhere around 500 kilometers away from the ball of white light.
The winds were still quite fierce here, but Liu Shui'er had already summoned a yellow bead that was producing a yellow light barrier around them, which was keeping the wind and sand at bay.
Thus, Han Li and Liu Shui'er found themselves in a dilapidated hall, most of which had already collapsed, leaving only a small portion of the building still intact.
Half a month later, a burst of light flashed in the distance, and a streak of yellow light came flying toward them.
After just a few flashes, the streak of light appeared in the air above Han Li and Liu Shui'er before revealing a tall and broad humanoid figure.
It was none other than Shi Kun.
However, his face was slightly pale, and his eyes were also rather dull, seemingly indicating that he was far from his peak condition.
After appearing in the air over this area, Shi Kun didn't immediately make his descent. Instead, he inspected his surroundings in a cautious manner, and only after ascertaining that there were no potential hazards nearby did he flip his hand over to produce a formation plate.
He carefully inspected the formation plate for a short while before descending as a streak of yellow light.
The grains of sand intermingled with the gusts of fierce winds scraped against the layer of protective spiritual light around his body, creating a sound that was akin to metal grating on metal, but the layer of light remained completely unscathed.
When Shi Kun descended in front of the ruined hall, Han Li and Liu Shui'er were also waiting at the entrance.
Liu Shui'er was quite surprised to see the sorry state that Shi Kun was in, and she immediately asked, "Brother Shi, you don't look very well at all. Did you encounter some trouble on your way here?"
Shi Kun's expression eased slightly at the sight of Han Li and Liu Shui'er, but a wry smile then appeared on his face as he replied, "I certainly did; I almost lost my life along the way."
His body swayed, and he abruptly appeared before Han Li and Liu Shui'er, upon which Han Li asked, "Could it be that you were unable to shake off the insects that were pursuing you?"
He recalled quite clearly that Shi Kun had been pursued by a group of Silver Swarm Insects, and from personal experience, he knew that it was very difficult to get away from these insects unless they were killed.
"Those insects were indeed quite troublesome to deal with, but I know a secret technique that allowed me to escape from them relatively easily. However, after that, I encountered a group of Snow Roar beings, and I only managed to barely escape from them after being hunted for over a month," Shi Kun spat through gritted teeth.
"Snow Roar beings? The Snow Roar Race is a race of freaks! They're only allowed to cultivate ice-attribute abilities, and they think ice-attribute abilities are the origin of all abilities and cultivation arts. On top of that, they have a vendetta against every being that cultivates abilities of any other attribute; it's extremely unfortunate that you ran into them, Brother Shi," Liu Shui'er exclaimed with a shocked look on her face.
"That's them, alright. They're only a medium-sized race, and all of them are absolutely inexplicable, but when it comes to individual powers, they're not inferior to beings from major races like the Sea Monarch Race and the Jiao Chi Race. In the past, these beings mostly resided in the northernmost region of the Thunder Continent, and due to how rural their territory is, it's very rare for them to obtain Vast Glacial Badges and enter the Vast Glacial Realm. I can't believe I was unlucky to run into those freaks!" Shi Kun said in a hateful manner.
Han Li had also read about the Snow Roar Race in the past, so he was naturally also aware of their extremist tendencies. As such, he could only exchange a glance with Liu Shui'er and lament Shi Kun's misfortune.
In his current state, he clearly wasn't in any condition to help Han Li and Liu Shui'er break the Holy Zenith Azure Light formation, so they had no choice but to afford him some time to rest and recover.
Thus, six days passed by in a flash.
During this time, Han Li's puppet and Liu Shui'er's spirit beast hadn't noticed anything amiss in their surveillance of the Jiao Chi beings.
It was as if they were content to simply camp under their illusionary technique.
Han Li and the others didn't have any idea what those Jiao Chi beings were up to, but this was certainly a welcome sight for them. All they could hope for was that things would continue like this, and that they'd be able to break through the restriction without any trouble before sneaking away from this place.
Thus, on this day, the three of them rose up into the air before flying toward the restriction in a stealthy manner.
Moments later, Han Li's trio appeared above the white ball of light again. As soon as they arrived, the three of them split up, arranging themselves in a huge triangular formation in the air above the restriction.
"I'm sure all of you have already memorized the procedure required to break this restriction. The restriction consists primarily of High Zenith Azure Light, and it's split up into three major levels, which are in turn comprised of 11 minor layers. We have to break through all of those layers at once. Otherwise, if we're stalled during the process, the layers of the restriction that we've already broken will immediately repair themselves again, which would make all of our prior efforts go to waste. Back before Senior Duan had become a holy race being, he was able to rely on his astonishingly powerful body and defensive prowess to break through the first seven layers of the restriction on his own. As such, we should definitely be able to break through all 11 layers with our combined powers, especially considering our Divine Essencefused Light is effective in nullifying High Zenith Azure Light. However, we still need to be very careful here, and it would be unwise to take things lightly," Liu Shui'er said as she appraised Han Li and Shi Kun with a serious look on her face.
Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he said, "Both Fellow Daoist Shi and I expended a lot of effort to get here, so we'll definitely be giving this everything we have. I'm sure you're both aware of the agreement I made with the two seniors, right?"
"Rest assured, Brother Han, aside from the few treasures that my master and Senior Cai require, our abilities will determine what other treasures we can obtain from these ruins, and we definitely won't try to take the treasures you obtain away from you," Shi Kun chucked as he nodded in response.
Han Li nodded with a pleased expression upon hearing this.