A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

"It looks like it's not going to be easy to pass through here," Han Li remarked.

"The other island is only several thousand feet away, can we really not just jump across?" Shi Chuankong asked.

In response, Daoist Xie merely picked up a rock from the ground, then hurled it at the opposing island.

The rock sped through the air, but as soon as it flew into the air above the black mist, it abruptly stopped cold in its tracks.

Immediately thereafter, it was as if it had suddenly been slapped down by an invisible hand, and it was sent plummeting down into the mist.

Han Li's trio listened intently for a while, but they couldn't hear the sound of the rock landing, and Shi Chuankong looked down as he remarked, "It seems like whatever's down there, it's extremely deep."

"My guess is that there's nothing but boundless space beneath this black mist. If we fall into it, we'll plummet perpetually through space, and there's no telling when we'll reach the bottom. In fact, there's a very good chance that there is no bottom," Han Li speculated as he peered into the black mist.

"Doesn't that mean that we're trapped on this island? It seems like the beasts on the island are even more active at night, so things will only get more dangerous from here onward," Shi Chuankong said with tightly furrowed brows.

Han Li was just about to respond when the sound of flapping wings suddenly rang out form the opposing island, and he hurriedly cast his gaze in that direction to find a strange bird that was around twenty feet tall flying toward them over the black mist.

The bird had a bulky body that was covered in stiff azure feathers, with a long neck and a disproportionately large head, and its wingspan was around ten feet wide.

It was flying in a very strange fashion in that not only was it flapping its wings with all its might, it was also frantically stepping down onto the space beneath it with its talons, looking extremely awkward and uncoordinated.

However, its methods were clearly effective, and with each step that it took, the air beneath its talons would explode to create a burst of upward propulsion force that counteracted the spatial pressure above the black mist, thereby allowing it to fly over the area.

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes as he yelled, "Those azure feathers on this bird's body seem to be able to drastically reduce the spatial pressure exerted upon it, thereby allowing it to fly over the black mist. If we can capture it, perhaps we can ride it to the other side."

As soon as his voice trailed off, hundreds of the same birds flew out of the black mist, and all of them were flying in the same frantic and uncoordinated manner toward the island that Han Li's trio was on.

The birds paid no heed to the trio, displaying no fear at all, and they were galloping toward the mountain ridge at the center of the island.

Han Li's trio hurriedly ducked and weaved from side to side to evade the flock of birds, and before long, all of the birds had flown past them.

"With that many of them, there will definitely be enough for us to use!" Shi Chuankong said with an exultant smile.

"Let's go after them," Han Li said, and the three of them immediately set off after the flock of birds.

Even as the birds were galloping along the ground, the same explosions of air were erupting beneath their talons with every single step, propelling them forward at an extraordinary speed.

In contrast, Han Li's trio were only able to rely on their own physical prowess, and they were being outsped.

Han Li was still able to somewhat keep up, but at this point, Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie had already been left close to ten kilometers behind.

Over the course of the chase, the sun completely set, and stars began to appear in the sky.

Even as Han Li continued to gallop along, he was constantly scouring his surroundings in a wary fashion.

On a barren plain, one dark shadow after another popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and they came in all shapes, forms, and sizes, but all of them were laying quietly on the ground, seemingly waiting for something.

Han Li was rather bewildered to see this, but he continued his pursuit of the flock of birds without pause.

By the time the pursuit reached the mountain range, night had already completely fallen. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and a lone moon was hanging high up above, surrounded by countless bright stars.

Under the moonlight night sky, Han Li's trio was treated to an astonishing sight.

Countless White Armor Crabs had appeared all over the entire mountain ridge from top to bottom, and they even spilled out onto the flatter areas outside of the ridge.

At this moment, all of their shells were gleaming with specks of hazy white light that resembled tiny lamp flames, and it was as if a starry night sky had appeared on the plain to mirror the one up above, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.

Han Li was standing on the ridge as he observed the surrounding area, and he discovered that all of the creatures on the island were also glowing with the same specks of white light, except most of them were concentrated on their heads.

At the same time, he could sense a faint yet familiar power from the light.

It was none other than the starpower that he had drawn upon while cultivating the Great Universe Origin Arts.

The more Han Li saw, the more bewildered he became. Could it be that this starpower was what allowed all of these creatures to survive and cultivate in the bleak environment of the Scalptia Spatial Domain?

Right at this moment, a string of loud cracks rang out, and Han Li hurriedly turned to discover the flock of strange birds that had flown to this area preying on the White Armor Crabs on the ground with their long beaks.

A small disturbance ran through the cluster of White Armor Crabs, but they didn't flee en masse, nor did they retaliate against the flock of birds.

More commotion was also ringing out further away, and Han Li could see that some of the larger beasts had begun preying on the smaller beasts present.

"So they're here to feed on the White Armor Crabs. Should we go after them now?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Let's wait for a bit longer. If we strike now, we could attract a lot of unnecessary trouble. Let's approach them slowly, then find a suitable location to strike from," Han Li said.

With that, the three of them each snuck over to a vantage point before hiding behind some cover so that they were out of sight.

Around an hour later, the flock of birds seemed to have had their fill, and they began galloping back in the same direction that they had come from.

Han Li immediately made a hand signal to Shi Chuankong upon seeing this, and the latter instantly sprang into action, springing up into the air to pursue the flock of birds.

Right as one of the birds ran past him, he attempted to pounce onto its back, but the bird suddenly dodged to the side, then raised one of its thick and strong legs before aiming a kick at Shi Chuankong's chest.

Despite the bird's rather dumb and bulky appearance, it was extraordinarily fast and agile, and Shi Chuankong was caught completely off guard, taking a kick straight to the chest.

A series of profound acupoints instantly lit up over his chest, and his entire body seemed to have been enshrouded in a layer of hazy light.

Right as the ninth acupoint on his chest lit up, a loud explosion rang out, and a burst of invisible force erupted out of a small hole on the underside of the bird's food before exploding right in front of Shi Chuankong's chest.

Shi Chuankong felt a burst of tremendous force crash into his chest, striking him with a sense of asphyxiation, and he was launched back through the air before crashing heavily down onto the ground, only drawing to a halt after rolling end over end around a dozen times in a row.

On the other side, Han Li was also just about to jump onto a bird's back, but upon seeing what had happened to Shi Chuankong, he immediately ducked down preemptively. Sure enough, the bird aimed a kick at him as well, but he was able to evade the attack, then slid right along the bird's body before straddling onto its back.

The bird shuddered slightly under his weight, but then immediately stabilized itself and continued to gallop onward.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie rushed over to examine Shi Chuankong's condition, and the latter had already risen to his feet and was dusting himself off.

It appeared that he hadn't sustained any injuries, but there was a slightly awkward look on his face as he said to Daoist Xie, "There's an opening on the underside of these birds' feet that can release bursts of powerful force. No wonder they were able to run over that area with the black mist."

He then turned his attention to Han Li, upon which he discovered that Han Li was straddled atop his bird's back with his arms wound tightly around its long neck.

His body was bobbing up and down in a rather comical fashion as the bird galloped along, but overall, he appeared to be quite stable, and the bird didn't seem to have been down much by his added weight.

However, right at this moment, the bird's head suddenly swiveled around close to 180 degrees, and it pecked down at Han Li's left eye at an extraordinary speed.