Chapter 1458

"Hehe, what are you all still thinking about? Don't tell me you plan to wait here for three months." A burst of loud laughter came from the crowd, followed by a flash of a figure as someone suddenly turned into a white streak and shot straight toward the distance.

Behind him, several others followed silently, seemingly members of his own clan.

As soon as someone took the lead and left, many in the crowd immediately formed groups and flew toward the gap in the mist below.

In a short while, only a small half of those who remained in place were left.

These people, whispering among themselves, didn't mind being outpaced by other competitors.

Among them were Han Li and the Chìróng tribe, among others.

With a thunderous "Boom—boom—boom," the silver 'colored' giant gate behind slowly closed, its surface flashing with five 'colored' strange lights before vanishing completely without a trace.

The remaining people stirred with a 'commotion'!

"Let's go," Han Li swept his gaze over the wall where the silver gate had vanished, then waved his hand. His back wings trembled, transforming into a cluster of green light as he shot forward.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan, without a word, turned into a cluster of silver light and a cluster of gold light, closely following him.

After Han Li and Fang Yi departed, numerous gazes of varying 'expressions' fell upon them.

Besides the Chìróng tribespeople, there were actually several other unfamiliar branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe's holy sons, staring coldly at Han Li and the others as they gradually faded into the distance.

The Chìróng tribe waited until Han Li's escape light had vanished into the mist for a long time before, under a low command from Zhu Yinzi, they too set off.

At this moment, only about a dozen branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe remained beneath the giant wall.

Most of them were powerful branches ranked relatively high among the various divisions of the Flying Spirit Tribe. Yet these individuals kept glancing around, frequently stealing looks at the two holy sons among the remaining branches.

One was a thin, dark-skinned girl—Aò Qīng of the Seven Exceeds Tribe. The other was an unusually tall, broad-shouldered man clad in black 'colored' wooden armor.

The tall man was over thirty, with four pupils that flickered with an eerie light. He also carried on his back a broadsword nearly as tall as himself, flashing with a pale golden 'colored' chill. Such a large item was not even stored in his spatial storage.

Yet, for some reason, the holy sons of the other powerful branches, upon seeing these two's actions, found that no one could easily leave anymore.

After a while, seeing that no one had moved yet, Ào Qīng furrowed her brows, then let out a giggle and immediately led over ten of her clansmen flying away.

Seeing this, the four-pupiled tall man flashed a cold light in his eyes, took a large stride, and suddenly covered several zhang in an instant, pursuing Ào Qīng as if chasing her. Three other tall men of his tribe followed silently behind him.

The other Flying Spirit Tribe members, seeing Ào Qīng and the tall man depart, all had their 'expressions' greatly eased.

Many even immediately gathered together, discussing what to do.

After a short while, these people split into several waves and departed one by one, as if everything had been prearranged.

In this way, hundreds of Flying Spirit Tribe holy sons completely vanished into the black 'colored' earth ahead, leaving no trace behind.

The area near the giant wall was now completely empty, with not a single person remaining.

……

At the same time, Han Li, Bai Bi, and Lei Lan—two holy sons of the Tian Peng Tribe—were slowly flying through low airspace just over ten zhang above the ground. Above them, a motionless gray 'colored' mist hung less than twenty zhang above their heads, stretching endlessly in every direction, uniformly gray and dull, with no other hue, making one feel deeply oppressed upon seeing it.

Even more strangely, in such a narrow space, strong winds occasionally blew in from ahead—gray and murky, bitterly cold.

This wind naturally posed no threat to Soul Transformation-level cultivators like Han Li and the others; a flicker of spiritual light on their bodies easily deflected it.

Although many of the holy sons who had set out earlier had already departed, most had not taken the same route, with many deliberately taking large detours from another direction to advance. This was to avoid encountering holy sons of other branches before entering the Earth Abyss, which might lead to conflict.

Han Li did the same.

After flying over a hundred li, he led Bai Bi and Lei Lan away from the original path, choosing another route forward.

A distance of ten thousand li was nothing significant to these holy sons.

Even if they deliberately slowed their speed, they still approached their destination within an hour.

The scene ahead changed: the low mist sea in the air rose upward, and the evil wind blowing in from the opposite direction suddenly became violently intense, its color shifting abruptly to black-gray 'colored'. When it struck a person, it could instantly condense a thin layer of black 'colored' frost on the skin.

Of course, these black winds still posed no threat to Han Li and his companions; they merely needed to slightly thicken their protective spiritual light.

After the time it took to eat a meal, they flew out of these black 'colored' strange winds, and before them, the scene brightened as the three appeared in an astonishing place.

This was a flat space of unknown width, surrounded on all sides by black 'colored' strange winds. Above, the mist remained thick and gray, but now reached a height of over a thousand zhang, churning violently and unpredictably—nothing like the previous mist sea.

Yet none of this was what most captured Han Li and the trio's attention; their gazes all turned downward toward the ground.

The original black 'colored' earth, once empty and bare, had vanished completely without a trace.

In its place lay an unfathomably deep giant abyss, inside which black-gray 'colored' mist floated everywhere, and from time to time, bursts of strange, bitterly cold black wind blew out from within.

Han Li swept his gaze around—this giant pit, like the surrounding space, was of unknown breadth.

The three of them hovered in midair at the edge of the abyss, their small figures against the vast space and the immense chasm making them seem as insignificant as ants.

"It seems this is the Gate of the Earth Abyss. Let's go down, but be careful. Though I don't think we'll be so unlucky as to immediately encounter Earth Abyss demons, it's still wise to stay alert." Han Li did not linger long in observation, spoke calmly a few sentences, then shook his wings and plunged headfirst into the abyss. After a few flickers in the black-gray 'colored' mist, he vanished from sight.

After Bai Bi and Lei Lan's faces tightened with a 'color' change, they dared not delay and also flew in together, shoulder to shoulder.

Han Li's figure descended slowly, his body surrounded by flashing green light, while seven or eight fist-sized moonstones appeared around him, emitting a 'milky' white 'colored' glow that illuminated everything within thirty zhang with exceptional clarity.

Gazing at the swirling mist around him, Han Li let out a quiet sigh in his heart.

Upon first entering the abyss, the mist was not too dense, and even without using his spiritual eyes, he could clearly observe everything nearby.

But after descending several thousand zhang, the mist suddenly became several times denser.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan followed closely behind; since he would not lightly use his spiritual eyes, he simply released these moonstones.

In this way, they could adequately cope with the current situation.

Just as Han Li had anticipated beforehand, the Earth Abyss Gate was so vast that, despite their deep descent into the giant pit, they had encountered no demonic obstruction.

For Han Li, this was naturally exactly what he wished for.

After descending further for an unknown duration, the mist below began to thin, and at the same time, the previously occasional black winds vanished completely.

Han Li and the two others felt their spirits lift, knowing they had finally reached the first layer of the Earth Abyss.

After another moment—about the time to finish a cup of tea—Han Li slightly narrowed his gaze downward, and through the thin mist, he finally saw a scene unlike any before.

A vast expanse of black-and-yellow interlaced land suddenly appeared before Han Li's eyes: the ground was lush and verdant, covered with extraordinarily dense giant trees, and even a few strangely shaped gray 'colored' large birds circled low in the air.

"This is the Earth Abyss world," said Bai Bi, unable to hold back as she and the others hovered in midair, carefully observing the land below. "It looks like there's nothing particularly special about it."

"Although the first layer of the Earth Abyss has long been eroded by dark qi, it is actually the shallowest of the seven layers. Generally, aside from some lowest-level demons, it is indeed inhabited by large numbers of ordinary beasts. However, these beasts all have explosive 'natures', and nine out of ten are carnivorous ferocious creatures. Some powerful ones are even not inferior to low-level demons." Lei Lan, seemingly well-informed, offered a brief explanation.

Han Li, however, remained expressionless, as if seeing nothing of it. In reality, his spiritual sense had already swept through everything within a radius of over a thousand li at that very moment, detecting no other holy sons or powerful auras. It seemed this place was absolutely safe.

"Go on down. If I remember correctly, lingering in the air for too long will cause some trouble." Han Li gave an order, then flew downward on his own.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi naturally followed behind him.

With a strange cry, the few gray 'colored' strange birds below seemed to have spotted the three figures, and without hesitation, they immediately rushed straight toward them.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, finally getting a clear look at these strange birds: their beaks were thick and long, filled with fangs, their bodies bore not a single feather, covered instead in a layer of ashen, strange skin, and each had a curved horn growing on its head.

Han Li let out a low grunt, and lightly flicked a few fingers.

With a few "puff" sounds, several streaks of golden 'colored' sword light flashed and vanished, instantly piercing through the bodies of these strange birds. Amid a shower of blood, the birds fell one after another to the ground.

As the corpses Fang Yi sank into the forest, suddenly several loud roars echoed out, followed by a tremor in the ground below, as if many massive beasts were scrambling for something.

Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise 'colored', he glanced several times toward the source of the sound, then, after circling once at a height of over a hundred zhang above the ground, he led the two behind him toward a direction he had already identified.

"The entrance from the first to the second layer, according to what the former holy sons of the clan said during their trials, there are many, but only a dozen or so are relatively safe. The chance of finding the Netherflame Fruit on the first layer is almost none, so we'll head straight for the second layer. The entrance I've chosen is the most remote one from us, though it will take more time, but it allows us to avoid ambushes by those hostile to our clan." Han Li explained lightly while flying.

Bai Bi furrowed his brow slightly, seeming to disagree somewhat, but said nothing, while Lei Lan appeared indifferent.

Seeing this, Han Li smiled and said nothing more.

His explanation to these two did not mean he was open to discussion. Since the Tian Peng clan had tasked him with using his strength to safeguard these two holy sons during their trials, naturally all actions would be led by him. And with his cultivation level, he need not fear that these two holy sons, whose cultivation was far inferior to his, would disobey his orders.

Thus, for the time being, the three flew in silence through the low skies, fleeing straight toward the direction of the second layer's entrance.

Net