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Chapter 698: Agreement
Chapter 698: Agreement
Chapter 698: Agreement
Seven days and seven nights flew by in a flash.
Han Li remained in the valley this entire time, and he noticed that in this area, the dark clouds in the sky were perpetually present regardless of whether it was daytime or nighttime.
There were three suns in the sky during the day and six moons at night, and the moons were perpetually full, never going through any type of lunar cycle.
With the ever-present dark clouds in the sky, Han Li wasn't able to produce any spirit liquid with his Heaven Controlling Vial.
At times, bursts of rumbling would ring out deep within the dark clouds at night, striking him with the impression that there could be certain powerful beasts lurking in the clouds, but nothing ever arose from that.
One morning, a layer of dense mist rose up from the ground, causing the surrounding baleful qi to become even denser.
While meditating, Han Li suddenly heard a faint cough, and he opened his eyes to discover that Shi Chuankong had regained consciousness.
He struggled into a seated position, then took a glance at Han Li before examining his own storage tools in a slow and methodical manner, following which a puzzled look appeared on his face as he asked, "Why?"
"Why did I save you, or why didn't I kill you?" Han Li asked in an expressionless manner.
Shi Chuankong massaged his own glabella as the memories leading up to his loss of consciousness gradually returned to him, and he said, "I was attacked by some type of demon beast as soon as I got here. Were you the one who saved me?""I don't think it was a demon beast. At the very least, it was a demon beast in the sense that we're used to. Instead, it was a creature unique to this place," Han Li replied.
"What is this place?" Shi Chuankong asked as he inspected his surroundings.
"If I'm not mistaken, we were sucked into the Gray Realm through a spatial vortex in the True Mantra Sect ruins," Han Li replied.
Han Li had speculated that this was the Gray Realm upon his arrival, but he wasn't able to confirm that this was indeed the case. However, in light of the observations that he had made here and everything that he had learned about the Gray Realm in the past, he felt sufficiently confident in passing judgment on the matter.
"The Gray Realm?!" Shi Chuankong exclaimed in an incredulous fashion, then hurriedly began taking a closer look at his surroundings, following which a contemplative look appeared on his face.
"I didn't think that I would come to the Gray Realm under such strange circumstances," Shi Chuankong mused with a wry smile after a long silence.
"Earlier, your body was infiltrated by the baleful qi here, and I fed you a Baleful Quelling Pill to clear out some of it, but it looks like there's still some left. Now that you're awake, I'm sure you have a way to take care of it yourself," Han Li said.
"Why were you willing to feed me a Baleful Quelling Pill? Surely it would've been more beneficial for you to allow that thing to kill me or even kill me yourself so you can take my treasures," Shi Chuankong asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're no ordinary devilish being. Instead, you have very close ties with the Vast Origin House, right?" Han Li asked.
"You saved me because of my status? I don't think you're that type of person, Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Chuankong scoffed in an unconvinced manner.
"Regardless of what you think, you owe me your life now. Once we return to the True Immortal Realm, I need you to draw upon as much resources as you can from the Vast Origin House to help me find a person. That shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?" Han Li asked.
Shi Chuankong could tell from the look in Han Li's eyes that he seemed to be telling the truth, and he didn't know what to make of this situation.
"That's the only reason you saved me?" he asked in a skeptical fashion.
"There's no point in discussing this matter now, I'll give you more details once we return to the True Immortal Realm. At its core, the Vast Origin House is a business organization, so I'm sure it takes its reputation very seriously right?" Han Li asked.
Shi Chuankong was finally convinced upon hearing this, and he nodded in response. "I can help you find whoever you're looking for, and I can even do everything in my power to help you once at some later date should you ever encounter any trouble."
"What are your conditions?" Han Li asked.
"No conditions. My life isn't worth so little that I have to attach further conditions to my compensation," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile.
"Alright, in that case, we'll stay here for a few more days so you can rest and recuperate, but we'll have to leave after that. We have to figure out where we are right now, then find a way to return to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li said, then closed his eyes to resume his meditation.
Shi Chuankong took a long glance at Han Li, finding him to be a complete enigma. He then shook his head and took a pill before sitting down with his legs crossed to meditate.
Several days later, the two of them set off in a certain direction atop Han Li's green jade flying carriage, departing from the valley.
Even after flying for a few days, the surroundings were still as drab and gray as ever, and the terrain remained largely unchanged as well.
Han Li was standing at the front of the carriage, watching the monotonous scenery flash past.
Despite how drab the color tone here was, it wasn't actually completely barren. There was a great deal of vegetation on the ground, and Han Li had even spotted some insects and small beasts.
Somehow, these living creatures were completely unaffected by the great abundance of baleful qi in the environment, and it seemed that they were sustained by the baleful qi, just as living beings of the True Immortal Realm were sustained by the world's origin qi.
"Looks like this really is the Gray Realm. We may be in some trouble," Shi Chuankong mused as his brows furrowed slightly with concern.
"Why do you say that, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Han Li asked.
"I've never been to the Gray Realm, but I've heard that there are many powers in this realm that harbor a great deal of enmity toward cultivators of the True Immortal Realm and the Devil Realm like ourselves, so we'll be in a great deal of trouble if anyone finds out who we are," Shi Chuankong replied in a grim voice.
"I've heard about that as well. In that case, it would be a good idea to put up some disguises," Han Li mused as he made a hand seal, and a burst of black light surged out of his body to envelop the entire flying carriage.
Countless strands of black light then shot out at Han Li's behest before wrapping themselves around the flying carriage, and they were also releasing steady streams of black runes that were also surging into the carriage.
The green coloration of the carriage quickly turned black, as did the green light that it was emanating, and it was also giving off bursts of baleful qi fluctuations.
"I didn't know that you were such a skilled tool refinement master as well, Fellow Daoist Li. This carriage looks nothing like it did just a moment ago," Shi Chuankong praised.
"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Shi. Cosmetically altering the carriage is quite simple, but it'll be much more difficult to alter our auras," Han Li replied.
At the moment, his body was filled with baleful qi, and he also had Mo Guang with him, so it would be very easy for him to pass as a Gray Immortal. The problem was whether Shi Chuankong would be able to do the same.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, I can handle that myself," Shi Chuankong assured with a faint smile.
Han Li nodded in response, then focused on piloting the flying carriage.
Meanwhile, Shi Chuankong flipped a hand over to produce a small white bead, then cast an incantation seal onto it.
The bead immediately began to release bursts of white light, and a rapidly revolving white vortex appeared within it.
All of the baleful qi in the nearby air instantly converged toward the bead, and the white vortex within it quickly turned gray, as did the light that it was giving off.
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he took a glance at the bead before quickly looking away again.
After flying onward for close to half a day, the terrain down below finally began to change. The ground became flatter and more level, and countless dark gray wheat-like plants appeared down below, making the area resemble a grassland.
The gray plants in the grassland swayed in the wind like rippling waves, presenting a majestic sight to behold.
After flying onward for a while longer, Han Li suddenly raised an eyebrow as he brought the flying carriage to an abrupt halt before turning his gaze to a certain direction.
Shi Chuankong turned to the same direction, and there, he spotted a long procession slowly advancing forward close to a thousand kilometers away. At the forefront of the procession was a convoy of around a dozen large carriages that were drawn by giant rhinoceros-like beasts.
The convoy of carriages was accompanied by three thousand to four thousand tall and imposing humanoid figures.
These figures had humanoid lower bodies, but the heads of lizards, and their skin was also covered in gray scales.
At the very rear end of the procession was a herd of gray deer-like creatures with translucent, coral-like antlers growing on their heads. There were over ten thousand of them, and they were slowly being ushered along.
This procession appeared to be a traveling tribe of farmers migrating across the grassland.
These humanoid lizard creatures were clearly intelligent life forms, and their auras were also quite powerful. In fact, one of them was at the Grand Ascension Stage, and Han Li and Shi Chuankong exchanged an elated glance with each other at the sight of these creatures.
Finally, they had someone to enquire about their current whereabouts.
Han Li immediately stowed his flying carriage away, following which a vast expanse of gray mist surged out of his body. In the blink of an eye, his aura had changed drastically, and his entire body was releasing dense baleful qi, while his eyes had also turned a gray color.
In an instant, Han Li's aura had changed into one that was virtually identical to those of the Gray Immortals that had appeared in the True Mantra Sect ruins, and Shi Chuankong was astonished to see this.
For his part, he swallowed the bead that he had summoned earlier, and bursts of gray qi surged out of his body as well, while his eyes also took on a gray color.
Shi Chuankong's transformation wasn't as perfect as Han Li's, but it was quite convincing, nonetheless.
After completing their transformations, the two of them were just about to approach the process of humanoid lizard beings when a resounding boom suddenly rang out from up ahead.
"Looks like we're in luck!" Han Li said with a faint smile, then shot forth through the air, vanishing in a flash.
Shi Chuankong's eyes also lit up slightly as he flew along close behind Han Li as a streak of gray light.
At this moment, the procession of humanoid lizard beings had been thrown into a state of panic, and the reason for this was a flock of seven strange gray birds that were flying toward them from deeper within the grassland.
These birds were each over a hundred feet in length, and they resembled giant featherless bats with draconic heads. The sharp fangs in their mouths were giving off a cold gleam, and they had sets of sharp black claws that were several feet in length, resembling a series of lethal black swords.
The gray birds were squawking excitedly as they swooped down toward the herd of deer at the rear end of the procession with their claws extended.