Chapter 2279

After hovering on the sea surface for a moment, the black giant vessel let out a thunderous roar and shot through the sky again, vanishing at the edge of the horizon. (This chapter was uploaded by a netizen)

Two months later, above a forest of towering trees, the massive silhouette of the Devil Spirit Holy Vessel flickered into view.

On the deck at the front of the giant vessel, Han Li appeared there with Silver Moon and Zhu Guo'er.

The Flower Stone Old Ancestor, a Body Integration Stage demon cultivator, stood respectfully a short distance behind the three.

By now, this high-ranking demon race had learned Han Li's identity as a newly ascended Mahayana Stage human ancestor; after the initial shock, any petty thoughts he once harbored were naturally long gone to the winds.

During this time, he had honestly escorted Han Li and the others across most of the surrounding region, even visiting several places where the ancient altar was known to appear.

Yet, up to now, Han Li and the others had searched in vain and found no trace of the altar.

"Is this the place you mentioned?" Han Li asked without turning his head.

"Yes, Senior! This Gloomy Cloud Ferocious Forest is notorious even among our demon race, known as a deadly zone for those below Soul Transformation. Only those at Void Refinement or above can barely protect themselves upon entry; those with lower cultivation who enter will almost certainly lose their lives. For besides the unusually vicious natural traps, there are also extremely powerful uncultivated demon beasts, and several kinds of unique poisonous insects that are hard to provoke. Of course, for an existence like you, Senior, all this is naturally insignificant." Flower Stone Old Ancestor replied respectfully after acknowledging.

"Has the South-Pointing Four-Sides Altar truly appeared here before?" Han Li nodded, his expression unreadable as he asked again.

"Reporting to Senior, in the center of the swamp below, some fellow cultivators have occasionally glimpsed the ancient altar from afar. However, the altar itself is damaged; aside from some ancient runes on its surface that may still offer reference value to formation masters, it is of little use to ordinary people. Thus, no one has truly gone over to examine it closely." Flower Stone Old Ancestor replied.

"Hehe, since that's the case, let's go down. I have a feeling. There's a seventy to eighty percent chance the altar is right here." Han Li said with a hehe laugh.

Hearing this, Zhu Guo'er and Silver Moon both felt delighted.

Immediately, the group descended from the giant vessel and flew straight toward a vast swamp in the dense forest below.

A thin layer of green poisonous mist hovered above the swamp. Cultivators below Void Refinement cannot remain inside for long without a protective treasure.

Moreover, the mist harbors a type of tiny poisonous insect resembling locusts; once unnoticed and entering the body, expelling it is extremely difficult.

Thus, for ordinary demon cultivators, this place is indeed extremely perilous.

But for Han Li, all this was as trivial as walking on flat ground.

His body surface merely emitted several clusters of silver flame that whistled out, and waves of heat instantly surged outward in all directions, sweeping away the poisonous mist within a radius of several mu. Those poisonous insects and the like were instantly incinerated by the silver flame, unable to approach Han Li and his companions even half a step.

Occasionally, a few ill-tempered demon beasts appeared. Han Li needed not lift a hand; Silver Moon alone sliced them down with ease.

Not long after, the group arrived at an inconspicuous corner of the swamp.

Han Li's eyes suddenly brightened. From several li away, he instantly spotted a hundred-zhang-high ancient altar hovering above a pool of water.

"Found it! Flower Stone, you stay here. We'll go ahead." Han Li instructed with a faint smile.

Flower Stone Old Ancestor naturally had no objection and hastily bowed in agreement.

Silver Moon and Zhu Guo'er eagerly followed Han Li as they rushed toward the towering altar.

After a short while, the group simultaneously appeared before the altar.

Han Li paused, raising his head to carefully examine the towering structure before him.

He saw that the altar was quadrangular, divided into three layers from bottom to top, its surface covered with unknown ancient characters, though most were obscured by a layer of dark green moss.

Moreover, all four corners of the altar were sunken and missing, giving it an appearance of extreme antiquity.

"Indeed, not bad. It is truly the South-Pointing Ancient Altar passed down from ancient times! According to Baohua's words, as long as at a specific time, one uses a secret technique to activate and calculate the spatial coordinates it speaks of, one can locate the entrance to the Small Spirit Realm."

"Guo'er, you were born in the Small Spirit Realm. Your soul naturally carries some of this realm's aura; later, I will need to borrow a thread of your divine sense for this, so the measured position may be more precise." Han Li turned to Zhu Guo'er and said.

"Yes. I will do my utmost to assist!" Zhu Guo'er replied hastily upon hearing.

From her overjoyed expression, it was clear she also eagerly anticipated returning to the Small Spirit Realm.

Silver Moon beside her merely smiled silently.

Han Li did not conceal from this red-faced confidante the matter of Nan Nangong Wan possibly being in the Small Spirit Realm; he had already informed her earlier.

Given Silver Moon's current state of mind, she would not harbor the usual jealousy of a mortal woman; instead, she willingly agreed to accompany him to the Small Spirit Realm to find and bring back Nan Nangong Wan.

Although Han Li was confident Baohua could not deceive him in this matter, using this ancient altar to calculate the entrance to other realms was truly something he had never done before.

During the ritual, what mishaps might occur, or how large the margin of error in the calculations might be, are uncertain.

Thus, Han Li appeared calm on the surface, but as the moment approached, he could not help but feel a trace of solemnity in his heart.

Had it not been for Baohua's statement that using this ancient altar to calculate the Small Spirit Realm's location requires a specific time and moment, he would have begun this long ago and would not have waited until today.

Han Li gazed at the altar before him, his thoughts racing; his sleeve suddenly shook, and a sheet of golden light swept sideways, enveloping both him and Zhu Guo'er as they vanished.

The next moment, at the highest level of the altar, a ripple occurred, and the two appeared there simultaneously.

Silver Moon, however, remained at the altar's lowest level, merely raising her head to watch Han Li's every move, her face showing a hint of concern.

Han Li swept his gaze around!

The altar's surface was empty and bare, with not a single object in sight.

But when his gaze swept downward, he immediately saw a circular pattern with some scale markings along its edge.

The entire pattern spanned over ten zhang in size, nearly covering every part of the altar's top layer. However, some runes in the corners showed signs of wear, appearing extremely blurred.

Han Li's expression shifted slightly, without showing too much surprise.

At the same time, having already gathered information, he knew that as long as the pattern was largely intact, minor local defects would not significantly affect its use for calculation.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li pinched a seal with both hands; instantly, a magical seal struck into the pattern.

"Boom."

The pattern below, whose age was unknown, flashed violently several times before being suddenly activated; simultaneously, multicolored light points began appearing above the altar, pouring downward onto it.

Seeing this, Han Li's brows twitched; his fingers flicked repeatedly, sending out more magical seals.

The pattern's roar grew increasingly fierce; gradually, the entire altar began to tremble slightly, while soft light bands began to condense nearby, then swirl and dance upward.

The spectacle was nothing short of astonishing!

At that moment, Han Li let out a low shout, his hand seal paused, and he spread his five fingers, pressing his palm down onto the ground.

"Pfft!"

A column of greenish misty essence shot from his palm, passing through the pattern and flooding wildly into the entire altar.

After absorbing this pure magical power, the altar's roar grew even louder.

This situation lasted for the time it takes to finish a meal, and the magic power Han Li poured into the altar was nearly a quarter of all his true essence.

And the faint suction force emanating from the pattern array still showed no sign of stopping.

Seeing this, Han Li drew in a sharp breath of cool air.

No wonder, although many people know of the existence of such ancient altars, very few are truly interested in them.

The magic power required to activate this altar is absolutely not something that beings below the Nascent Soul stage can consider.

Of course, if combined with some top-grade spirit stones, some beings of ample magic power in the Body Integration stage might possibly have a chance to trigger some functions of the altar, but how effective it would truly be is uncertain.

Moreover, the functions of such ancient altars are mostly minor auxiliary types, unnecessary for Nascent Soul beings, and they would likely not bother with such thankless efforts.

Han Li was thinking this when the pattern array below suddenly flashed with light, and the suction force vanished instantly.

Immediately afterward, the pattern array emitted a "Peng" sound, and countless multicolored talismans burst forth from it, spinning rapidly before forming a huge, hazy glowing disk above the altar.

Ring upon ring of symbols similar to the markings in the pattern array were nearly spread across the disk, some blazing brightly, others extremely dim.

Han Li witnessed all this, and a look of delight involuntarily appeared on his face; his body straightened, and his palm directly left the pattern array, but then his other sleeve flicked, and suddenly an object flew out from within.

It was a hazy green ancient mirror.

Without a word, Han Li suddenly pointed his finger repeatedly into the void toward the midair disk.

A sound of breaking space rang out.

Several crystal threads shot from his fingertips, flashed briefly, and then sank into several widely spaced calibration symbols on the disk.

After a few "Pu" sounds, these originally dim symbols suddenly blazed brightly and began to rotate slowly on their own.

"Guo'er, now is the time." Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly gave the command.

"Yes, Senior!" Zhu Guo'er heard this, answered without hesitation, and merely touched her forehead with a finger.

Instantly, a thread of divine sense shot from her brow, flashed briefly, and sank into the center of the huge disk.

In that instant, the several symbols that had been rotating slowly trembled simultaneously, then began to spin wildly at an inconceivable speed.