Chapter 1373

Although Han Li's eyes were slightly closed, he naturally would not truly enter meditation like that. Instead, he repeatedly pondered some cultivation techniques he had not yet fully comprehended in his mind, while extending part of his divine sense to constantly monitor the movements around the spirit vessel, to prevent any ancient beast from suddenly attacking it.

Over the next seven or eight days, the spirit vessel traveled under the cover of giant clouds. Although it encountered other types of aerial birds and beasts along the way, they all passed through without danger. These beast groups clearly did not possess the ability to see through the spirit cloud vessel's restrictions like the four-winged strange birds encountered the first time.

In this way, it suddenly became the ninth day of Han Li's duty shift. At noon, when he stood up to replace the spirit stones on the spirit vessel with a fresh batch, and was about to return to his original meditation spot, his steps paused abruptly. He suddenly turned his head, his face showing a look of surprise as he gazed toward the front of the spirit cloud vessel.

"How could this be? How could such a thing appear here?" Han Li seemed to have sensed something; his expression instantly turned extremely grim as he muttered two sounds, then suddenly let out a long whistle.

Although the sound was not loud, it was enough to awaken the other four people who were in meditation in the quiet chamber.

Shortly after, several streaks of escape light flew out from the vessel, and in a few flashes they arrived beside Han Li.

"What happened? Han brother, why did you summon us? Is there another danger?"

"What is this? Could it be...?"

The young woman and Fang Yi appeared one after the other and began to speak. Although Xiao Hong's words were full of questions, Fang Yi immediately discovered something and was startled.

The blue-eyed youth and the young maiden also extended their divine sense at the same time.

"What is this? Could it be a true spirit-level existence?" The youth exclaimed in alarm.

The white-robed maiden, although silent, revealed a look of shock in her eyes.

At this moment, Han Li had already calmed down. In the high altitude hundreds of miles away sensed by his divine sense, there was indeed a huge black shadow almost covering half the sky, hovering in the high air.

Black clouds rolled violently near the black shadow, with hidden lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. Beneath the black clouds, countless gray-colored whirlwinds rose from the ground like pillars holding up the sky, directly connecting heaven and earth. Occasionally, a small patch of gray-scaled flesh revealed in the clouds only allowed people to be shocked by its enormous size, but they could not determine the true identity of the black shadow.

However, from afar, one could see the black shadow was round in shape. With such a huge body and this astonishing momentum, it seemed truly similar to the true spirit-level existences rumored to be as large as mountains.

This is why everyone in the jade vessel turned pale upon seeing it.

Just as everyone was shocked in their hearts, a strange sound like a bull's roar came from the distant horizon, followed by a booming thunderclap, as if countless giant thunderbolts were exploding in the distance. Even from such a distance, these thunder sounds continued continuously, exceptionally clear.

"This is not a true spirit, but an ancient beast called the 'Thunder Turtle.' This turtle is said to be one of the largest species among the ancient beasts of the wilderness, but it usually just absorbs lightning from the air through its body and does not actively attack other living beings. Of course, if it is truly provoked, it is naturally an extremely terrifying existence, and at least a Body Integration cultivator would be needed to confront it directly." Upon hearing the strange roar, the white-robed maiden's expression relaxed, and she let out a long breath.

"Thunder Turtle? That is the kind of ancient beast said to be born in heavenly thunder. I have heard that this colossal creature, as long as it has a supply of lightning, can infinitely expand its body, making it a miraculous heaven-and-earth strange beast. I have heard that the 'Chen Ling' giant turtle in the human Xuanwu realm, which possesses the power to support a city, might be a Thunder Turtle. Although the one before us is not small, compared to that it is merely a minor trick compared to a master skill." Upon hearing it was not a true spirit, the black-skirted young woman also relaxed in her heart and exclaimed in wonder.

"Whether Chen Ling is truly a Thunder Turtle, we are not entirely clear. If it really is, then the Thunder Turtle before us is probably less than one ten-thousandth the size of the Chen Ling giant turtle. Nevertheless, if we anger this beast, our lives would still be in danger. It is best to avoid it!" Fang Yi also suddenly smiled and said.

"That is true. Actually, this is also a great opportunity for us. Such Thunder Turtles usually lurk underground and rarely surface; ordinary people could hardly see them. When they do surface, it is usually... oh no, since this turtle has appeared here, there must be a terrifying thunderstorm here. Brother Fang, quickly drive the spirit vessel to leave this area!" Xiao Hong first nodded, but then suddenly remembered something terrible, her face turned deathly pale, and she cried out in alarm.

"Thunderstorm?" Upon hearing this, everyone, including Han Li, turned pale.

Fang Yi's face turned bluish as her body flickered, and she suddenly vanished from her original spot, reappearing moments later at the bow of the vessel over ten zhang away. At the same time, she flipped her wrist, and a token-shaped magical tool suddenly appeared in her hand.

Only seeing her rub the token with both hands, the surrounding white clouds instantly dissipated. Then the spirit vessel suddenly paused, abruptly changed direction, and shot out like an arrow. Its escape speed suddenly increased by more than half, transforming into a white rainbow rushing toward the horizon.

But before the spirit vessel had escaped even dozens of li, a layer of brilliant azure light suddenly appeared above the black shadow in the distance. Then, as if stimulated by something, this light suddenly began to roll and spread outward in all directions at an astonishing speed that left people speechless.

In just a few breaths, everyone could see from the spirit vessel with the naked eye a blue line on the horizon emitting a booming thunderous sound, within which countless electric lights flickered, as if countless demons bared their fangs and claws, flying and lunging forward.

"I have long heard that when a Thunder Turtle appears, a thunderstorm will surely follow. This is indeed true. Fellow Daoists, quickly come and lend me a hand." The blood-marked youth, upon seeing the speed of the blue light, sucked in a breath of cold air and shouted loudly.

Actually, he did not need to say it; the blue-eyed youth and the young woman, among others, had already seen the distant blue light rapidly approaching, and their expressions were certainly not good.

Without much thought, the two made hand seals, and various colored spiritual light burst from their bodies, flowing uncertainly as they all rushed toward the jade vessel beneath their feet.

Han Li and the white-robed maiden's actions were no slower, and they immediately performed the same movements.

Instantly, five streams of spiritual power frenziedly poured into the spirit cloud vessel!

With everyone working together, their combined effort was naturally far superior to before. After the vessel's hull transmitted a low humming sound, it suddenly shuddered violently, and all scenery outside became completely blurred.

At extreme speed, the spirit vessel transformed from a white rainbow into a flowing light-like illusion. After just a few flickers, it had already fled from one end of the horizon to the other.

However, even at this speed, the blue line behind the spirit vessel seemed to match its extreme speed, relentlessly pursuing without letting up.

This made Fang Yi and the others horrified, as they finally realized that the rumored thunderstorm was truly fearsome and lived up to its name.

But fortunately, with several people working together, they had pushed the spirit cloud vessel's escape speed to its utmost limit. If it were an ordinary Soul Transformation cultivator unskilled in escape techniques, they would probably have nowhere to flee.

Of course, Han Li and the others were not ordinary Soul Transformation cultivators; each possessed some life-preserving secret techniques, and their individual stealth escape methods might not be much slower than the current spirit cloud vessel. However, doing so would naturally leave some aftereffects—either vital energy severely damaged or essence and blood greatly depleted.

In this dangerous step-by-step wilderness realm, no one would dare to act so recklessly. Therefore, this time Han Li and the others driving the spirit cloud vessel truly worked in unison, allowing the vessel to flee tens of thousands of li in one breath.

The blue light behind finally disappeared, and the thunder could no longer be heard at all.

Only then did everyone relax in their hearts. After retracting the spiritual light from their bodies, they all withdrew their spiritual power.

The spirit vessel's escape speed suddenly slowed down.

"Phew, that was close. This time we truly owe it to Shi Xianzi's quick reaction; otherwise, even a slight hesitation would have dragged us into the thunderstorm. Although we might not necessarily perish there, we would definitely not escape unscathed." Fang Yi's expression finally returned to normal as he smiled slightly at the young woman.

"I was also fortunate. Although the name Thunder Turtle is well-known, the outside world really knows little about its habits. My clan once had an elder who single-handedly slew a Thunder Turtle, so I know a bit about it. Thunder Turtles usually lurk underground and are reluctant to surface; they only appear to absorb lightning when they sense a thunderstorm erupting somewhere. That said, adult Thunder Turtles, as miraculous beasts, give birth to two strange pearls in their bodies—one that attracts lightning, one that repels lightning. Their function is said to be miraculous beyond measure; even those without lightning spiritual roots can easily command lightning power after obtaining these pearls. However, the Thunder Turtle slain by that elder in my clan was merely a juvenile, so it did not possess these two strange pearls. Nevertheless, the Thunder Turtle's shell contains astonishing lightning power, making it an excellent material for refining lightning-attributed treasures. If a cultivator with great supernatural powers encounters this turtle, they would probably be overjoyed instead." Shi Xianzi gave a bitter laugh.

"Your clan's elder being able to single-handedly hunt such a heaven-and-earth strange beast must be one of your clan's several elders. But for us Soul Transformation cultivators, this turtle is nothing but a daydream. Escaping this calamity this time is already considered great luck." The blue-eyed youth, however, cracked his mouth into a grin, still seemingly frightened by the encounter with the Thunder Turtle and thunderstorm.

"Not bad! Even though the Thunder Turtle is covered in treasures, without a cultivation level of Body Integration or higher, one should not even dream of other things. Moreover, after the thunderstorm ends, this beast will retreat underground again, leaving no trace to follow. Let's go, hoping the road ahead will be smoother." Fang Yi nodded, but his voice sank.

Having entered the depths of the wilderness world for just over ten days, they had already encountered such a beast capable of annihilating them, which also made him feel heavy-hearted.

After this ordeal, the others obviously had no interest in continuing the conversation. After saying a couple more words casually, they all returned to their respective quiet chambers.

Han Li, however, remained in place without moving. From beginning to end, he did not utter a single word, remaining silent and reserved.

But after everyone had disappeared from the prow of the vessel, he raised his head toward the direction where the thunderstorm had erupted, his eyes flickering as he pondered what to think.

After a long while, he let out a soft sigh of regret, returned to the highest point of the jade vessel, and sat cross-legged again.

Although