231: Chapter 231 Battle Above the Heavenly Palace Sea

"Han Li's Five Elements Spirit Body is truly extraordinary; even the Qi of this realm can be refined. I am truly envious," a male voice sounded from the entrance of the hall.

Walking into the hall was a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance. He wore grey robes and looked at Han Li with a faint smile on his lips.

Although this man appeared plain, his arrival immediately caused everyone to stand up and salute.

"Captain."

"Lord Galen."

This person was none other than the captain of the Sati Guards, Captain Galen, a formidable powerhouse at the Three-Star Dou Sheng level.

"Is everyone here?" Seeing everyone salute, Captain Galen said with a smile.

"Captain, Vice-Captain Weiyue has not arrived yet. Hmph, that person is nowhere to be seen all day; every time we go on a mission, we have to go find her," Shaluo said, frowning. It seemed this team member named Vice-Captain Weiyue had been late more than once.

As they were speaking, a sharp sound of wind breaking came from outside. The next moment, after a gust of wind swept through, a graceful figure appeared before everyone.

"Who said that? Did I ask anyone to look for me this time?" As soon as the figure arrived, a bold and slightly impatient female voice rang out.

Like Jia Lan, the woman had a pair of snow-white wings behind her back, and her slightly tight robes revealed her graceful figure.

Her face tilted slightly upward. Looking at Shaluo, she said in an unceremonious tone, "It's you again, Shaluo. Stop slandering me; I'm not like you lot, doing nothing all day!"

"Tch." Shaluo looked like a tough guy on the surface, but in front of Vice-Captain Weiyue, he didn't actually retort directly.

Captain Galen, who was in front of Vice-Captain Weiyue, shook his head at this and said, "Alright, since everyone is here, let's prepare to depart."

He then looked at Han Li and pondered for a moment before saying, "Han Li, since this is your first mission, stay by Vice-Captain Weiyue's side."

"Yes." Han Li had no objections upon hearing this. It seemed Vice-Captain Weiyue had a difficult personality, but her strength was unquestionable. She was one of the only two Dou Sheng powerhouses in the squad and was also the vice-captain of the Sati Guards.

"Han Li, make sure to stick close to your sister when we get there. It's a place where you can easily get lost if you're not careful," Vice-Captain Weiyue said with a smile, shifting her gaze to Han Li after hearing Captain Galen's instruction.

"The anomalous energy outbreak point we are heading to this time is located in the Heavenly Palace Sea. There are two outbreak points in the Heavenly Palace Sea, one of which occurred at the Tianhai Sanctuary. It has already been three months since the outbreak. Our target this time is that Tianhai Sanctuary. Because three months have passed, the danger is not very high, but the location is rather special, so we still cannot let our guard down," Captain Galen said to the group.

Everyone else was aware of this, but since it was Han Li's first time participating, Captain Galen mentioned it extra.

The personnel heading to the Heavenly Palace Sea this time, in addition to the seven members of the squad, included six researchers: two Advanced researchers and four Intermediate researchers.

As for Fenger, she did not leave with the group. She was good friends with Ai Wen, and every time Ai Wen went on a mission, she would come to see her off.

After the group left the Sati Sanctuary, they headed straight toward the west.

The group flew openly at high altitude, killing countless strange beasts along the way. If it were ordinary semi-Saint powerhouses, they would likely have been exhausted to death by these nearly endless strange beasts before even traveling halfway.

"Outside of the general sanctuaries, there aren't many powerful strange beasts. The most dangerous places, besides the strongholds of those True God Sect scumbags, are the sites of anomalous energy outbreaks," Vice-Captain Weiyue explained casually while flying leisurely beside Han Li.

"If that's the case, does that mean there are some small gathering places besides the large sanctuaries?" Han Li speculated upon hearing this.

"Correct. I usually clear out and drive away powerful strange beasts outside. These slightly larger gathering places also fall within my range of protection," Vice-Captain Weiyue nodded and said.

"Are the True God Sect and the sanctuaries hostile factions?" Han Li felt curious upon hearing the name True God Sect again. Judging by Vice-Captain Weiyue's tone, this True God Sect seemed to have some conflict with the sanctuaries.

"Hmph, I just can't stand those people. If it weren't for the fact that they are still somewhat useful, I would have led the troops to completely wipe them out long ago!" As Vice-Captain Weiyue spoke, her gaze subtly shifted toward a white-haired old man in the middle of the team, her eyes appearing somewhat displeased.

Han Li followed Vice-Captain Weiyue's gaze to the white-haired old man, harboring some speculations in his heart. It seemed this True God Sect was not simple; it must involve quite a few people.

The white-haired old man noticed Han Li's gaze, turned around, and nodded at Han Li with a smile on his aged face.

This old man was the other Advanced researcher. He had immense prestige in the Sati Sanctuary and was a powerful Advanced semi-Saint before the anomalous energy outbreak.

Han Li and the others did not stop along the way, and it took about three days before they finally reached the edge of the Northern Continent.

This was a steep cliff. A biting, fierce wind blew from the endless black ocean, flapping everyone's robes.

"This is the Heavenly Palace Sea. Actually, at the beginning, it wasn't called the Heavenly Palace Sea. It is said that three hundred years ago, the Heavenly Emperor passed by this place, and ever since then, there have been constant strange phenomena. The most astonishing one was seven-colored sparks filling the sky and a boundless crystal palace appearing on the sea surface; the name Heavenly Palace Sea was born from this… Later, according to some members of the Sea Clan, it was the Heavenly Emperor proposing to the Empress here. How romantic…" Ai Wen's eyes shone with longing as she spoke.

"It's just a pity that ever since the anomalous energy outbreak, the ocean here is no longer blue but completely pitch black," Ai Wen sighed again, looking at the boundless black ocean.

Before the anomalous energy outbreak, her favorite place was the Heavenly Palace Sea, and she would even occasionally visit the Heavenly Palace to seek out Lord Feng Wu to study heaven and earth energy together.

The reason she was most intoxicated by it might have been the beautiful scenery, or perhaps it was the longing for that romance between the Heavenly Emperor and the Empress.

"So there is such a history." Han Li's expression was as if he had heard some secret. He had not expected that his original self would have such a romantic moment. In his impression, the invincible and immeasurable Heavenly Emperor Shangyan was not a sentimental person.

"The Tianhai Sanctuary is in the center of the Heavenly Palace Sea. Let's go." After Captain Galen finished speaking, the group set off again toward the sky above the sea.

"Boom!" They had only flown a few dozen kilometers when a huge splash suddenly erupted. A giant sea snake, several thousand meters long, lunged out and snapped at Han Li and his group.

The giant snake's fangs were a full ten meters long, its mouth reeked terribly, and one could vaguely see poison dripping from its fangs.

The team did not stop. In the next instant, Shaluo's figure disappeared from the rear of the team, and when he reappeared, he was right in front of the giant snake's massive maw.

Han Li could vaguely see a giant beast resembling a lion on Shaluo. As soon as the giant beast's phantom appeared, it merged with Shaluo, and immediately, a monstrous Aura erupted.

"Bang!" A giant golden energy palm, several hundred zhang in size, appeared in the sky and slammed onto the giant snake, blasting it into the seabed and kicking up huge waves.

The entire process took less than three seconds. The group, led by Captain Galen, continued forward without slowing down at all, and Shaluo, who had repelled the giant snake, turned into a golden stream of light and rejoined the team.

Everyone was clearly accustomed to such things; without a word, the group continued toward the center of the Heavenly Palace Sea.

The further they went toward the center of the Heavenly Palace Sea, the more powerful the strange beasts they encountered became. By the second half of the journey, Shaluo alone could not handle them, and the three of them—Shaluo and two other low-level semi-Saints—had to join forces to intercept them.

"The strange beasts are appearing more and more frequently. This is very strange; such changes would never occur in the past," Captain Galen suddenly said, seemingly puzzled by this phenomenon.

"Could it be that the anomalous energy has erupted again at the Tianhai Sanctuary?" An aged voice sounded. The white-haired old man also felt that something was wrong. He had been to the Tianhai Sanctuary four times, but except for the first time, never had such dense numbers of strange beasts appeared.

Under normal circumstances, such an incident would not occur. It was said that in the Eastern Continent, there had been phenomena where anomalous energy erupted multiple times at the same location.

That routine inspection almost wiped out the guard team, but because of it, this phenomenon became known to many sanctuaries on the continent.

"If that's the case, we must notify the Jiama Sanctuary in the Northwest Continent and request their assistance." The group stopped flying, and Captain Galen said with a serious expression.

"Of course, before that, we must first go to the periphery to investigate. If it's just a coincidence, then it's fine, but if the situation is indeed abnormal, we will evacuate immediately. Do not disperse the formation. The next strange beasts will be intercepted by you two, Vice-Captain Weiyue and Han Li." Captain Galen immediately made a judgment and gave the order.

Han Li felt a shiver in his heart upon hearing this and nodded solemnly.

After flying another few dozen kilometers, an incomparably huge fish-shaped strange beast leaped out of the water, and a rotting stench immediately rushed toward them.

Looking down from high altitude, this fish-shaped strange beast flying rapidly toward them was incomparably huge, with a length of several dozen kilometers. Its flesh was a deep black color and was rotten to the core. Countless huge, sharp-toothed maggots were packed densely upon it, and in some places, one could even see exposed giant grey bones.

"Han Li, attack!"

"Whoosh!" Ten huge blue Fire Flood Dragons appeared instantly. Their sky-blue color reflected a strong blue light onto the surrounding pitch-black ocean. The intense high temperature would be enough to make the ocean boil if it lasted for even a short moment.

As soon as the blue Fire Flood Dragons appeared, they immediately pounced toward the strange beast.

"Sizzle!" This flame seemed to be extremely effective against strange beasts. After only a few seconds, it set the entire strange beast ablaze. When the rotting flesh came into contact with the flames, it made a "sizzling" sound.

"Roar!" A piercing shriek came, and the giant strange beast spat out a pitch-black beam of light from its mouth, shooting fiercely toward Han Li.

When the giant strange beast opened its mouth, the hand seals in Han Li's hands had already changed instantly. A magnificent sky-blue wall of fire suddenly appeared in front of him, isolating the massive black light.

"Crack!" The violent collision of energy shattered space. In an instant, the sky and a portion of the ocean were shattered directly into the Void Realm. Under the illumination of the blue light, the pitch-black seawater poured into the Void Realm, where it was torn into powder by the turbulent currents of the Void Realm.

"Roar!" The strange beast was emitting black gas all over, resisting the blue flames that were constantly burning its body. A massive Aura erupted. In an instant, the ocean churned violently, and countless grey mists surged from the seabed, completely covering the surface of the ocean and rising continuously into the sky.

Seeing this, Han Li changed his hand seals again. Several Fire Flood Dragons immediately headed toward the strange beast, then emitted a blinding light and actually detonated with a boom!

"Rumble!" The explosion rolled like thunder, sending ripples through space. From the shattered Void Realm at the center of the detonation, endless flames instantly surged out, sweeping across the sea surface and timely stopping the spread of the grey mist. The contact between the grey mist and the flames once again produced a "sizzling" sound.

Under the burning of these flames, the entire ocean and the space above the ocean were twisting violently.

Han Li stood in the high sky, blue light flowing in his eyes, looking through the flames and the pitch-black ocean toward the seabed.

A moment later, seeing that there was no movement on the seabed, Han Li recalled the remaining Fire Flood Dragons and turned into a sky-blue stream of light, chasing after the group that had gone ahead like a shooting star.

When Han Li arrived, he found that another huge strange beast had appeared, and its might was not inferior in the slightest to the previous one.

This time, it was Vice-Captain Weiyue who attacked.

Looking from afar, Han Li saw the snow-white wings behind Vice-Captain Weiyue flapping. Silver light slowly scattered and condensed, and a silver-white longsword appeared in Vice-Captain Weiyue's hand.

The sharp energy contained within the silver longsword made even Han Li, who was watching from afar, feel a sense of shock. Just by looking at the longsword, he felt as if he were being sliced into several pieces.

The longsword in Vice-Captain Weiyue's hand slashed through the air. From afar, Han Li saw the huge strange beast instantly split into several pieces, crashing into the sea surface and kicking up huge waves.

"Hum!" When the shockwave arrived, it was only then that the sound of the longsword's slash reached Han Li's ears.

"She didn't even use a Dou Technique!" Han Li watched this scene in astonishment, his heart filled with shock.

In fact, the people of the Fighting Qi Continent at this time were much, much stronger than before Xiao Yan sealed the Fighting Qi Continent.

Even if they were both One-Star Dou Sheng, a One-Star Dou Sheng of this time was enough to confront two One-Star Dou Sheng of the past head-on!

The heaven and earth energy accounted for part of the reason, but more of the credit went to the various Heaven Rank Cultivation Techniques created by Xiao Yan. Anyone who had cultivated them would have a very significant improvement in both talent and strength.

And this was not the most powerful aspect. The Heart Seal condensed by cultivating the Mindfulness Technique was the most powerful means. The Heart Seal could not only nourish the body and Soul at all times but could also be activated at critical moments to release the phantom of the Heavenly Emperor to fight the enemy.

Speaking of this Heart Seal, it was also a very interesting thing. Because the Heavenly Emperor phantom summoned by activating the Heart Seal was everyone's most powerful means, when two people had a life-and-death feud for various reasons, the summoned Heavenly Emperor phantom would usually remain motionless, quietly watching the two fight like a person watching children fight, with no intention of killing at all.

However, if one encountered some natural disasters or other irresistible reasons and was on the verge of death, if the summoned Heavenly Emperor phantom was powerless, it would also summon nearby powerhouses to come and help.

Therefore, when Han Li learned of this, he was shocked for quite a while. His original self's methods seemed to be even more outrageous than he had imagined!