Feng Xi also spotted Han Li within the teleportation array. Though he had suspected that Han Li would deliberately seek his death by retreating to the small island, he had never imagined a teleportation array would be present here. Watching as Han Li combined a spell with a surge of refined blood, expending immense inner energy to activate the array, the sound of resonant hums grew louder. "No!" Feng Xi roared in shock and outrage, launching a burst of glowing, misty light from his mouth directly toward one corner of the array. As long as he destroyed the array, Han Li would be entirely within his grasp. At the same time, the immortal cultivator spun around, his face contorted in fury, charging full force toward the array, aiming to interrupt Han Li's teleportation. However, his movements clearly came too late. Han Li, aside from launching a dozen sword-like energy blasts at the glowing orb to briefly delay its approach, showed no intention of evading the charging Liefeng Beast. The spell array had radiated a milky glow, instantly drawing Han Li into its embrace. When Feng Xi leaped forward with the force of a gale, Han Li had already vanished from view, his form blurred within the light. In the hall, the Liefeng Beast remained furious, its rage boiling over. It had no idea where the array led, nor did it carry a transmission scroll—thus, it dared not rush into the array to follow Han Li. At that moment, Miao He arrived on a white crane, flying through the shattered roof, only to witness the spell's glow dimming, and was equally stunned and exasperated. Yet suddenly, Feng Xi turned sharply, fixing the Taoist with steely, blazing eyes, a cold, lethal intensity flashing across his face. "All of these humans shall die!" The Liefeng Beast, whose fury had been ignited by Han Li's sudden escape, now erupted into full-blown rage, channeling all its wrath upon Miao He as soon as he entered. Then the immortal cultivator radiated a brilliant jade glow, instantly transforming into a streak of jade light that surged forward with great momentum, charging directly at the miraculous crane. Upon seeing this, the crane's face paled, and without hesitation, he simultaneously summoned his ancient mirror and jade mallet. A myriad of luminous hues wove together in the air… A month later, human cultivators in the surrounding seas began to hear the tale. The crane, an immortal cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage, had been utterly overwhelmed by a nine-tiered beast, suffering complete bodily collapse—only by drawing upon every ounce of strength did he manage to safely retreat his Yuan Ying essence back to his abode. For a time, humans were once again struck with fear and trembling at the ferocity of the beasts. They could never have imagined that this was merely the beginning. Just a few months later, the family of the dragon race dwelling deep in the abyss suddenly dispatched large numbers of high-ranking members, flying out of the deep sea to launch widespread attacks and pursuits against human cultivators at the Jie Dan stage and above. Though the campaign lasted only a few years, the number of high-ranking cultivators lost was even greater than the Among them were two other senior immortals at the Yuan Ying stage, also besieged by several tiered dragon serpents, suffering severe injuries as a result. Henceforth, cultivators throughout the nearby sea region grew increasingly fearful of the dragons, hesitating to venture out of their domains. This state of affairs persisted for over a decade before gradually returning to normal. However, what puzzled some cultivators who had narrowly escaped the attacks of the beasts was that, each time the beasts launched an assault, they would first inquire whether there was any Ji surname cultivator at the Jie Dan stage among them. If no such person could be identified, they would promptly launch a vigorous attack. As a result, these cultivators began to suspect that the recent large-scale assaults by the dragons were directly triggered by the Ji surname cultivator. They wondered how this individual had so deeply angered the dragon lineage. The consequences of this incident naturally led to widespread resentment and curses directed at the Ji surname cultivator. It was likely that, should the identity of this Ji surname cultivator be uncovered, he would be seized and delivered to the dragon clan as an offering of apology. Yet what puzzled them was that although there were still a few severely injured senior cultivators, not a single Li-family member had suffered such a fate. Even if they wished to raise formal complaints, they simply couldn't find the culprit. Seeing Han Li look his way, he raised his head and smiled at him, revealing a bright, gleaming set of white teeth. But as Han Li studied the man's features closely, he was immediately startled. The man looked truly terrifying—his face was dry and gaunt, as if he were a living skeleton. Moreover, after smiling at Han Li, his eyes glowed with a deep,幽blue light. Despite his astonishment, Han Li didn't dare to dismiss him lightly. After a quick glance, he had clearly recognized the man as a Jin Dan stage mid-level cultivator—an already rare high-ranking cultivator in the chaotic Star Sea. The skeleton, in turn, evidently sensed Han Li's Jin Dan late-stage cultivation level, and with a look of surprise, his tone became much more courteous. "Brother, please take a moment to rest over here. The others should be arriving shortly. This mission should yield us considerable benefits," the skeleton said with a cheerful chuckle. Han Li was quietly amazed, yet, in the absence of clear information, he remained composed, nodding subtly without revealing any signs of surprise. At that moment, Han Li finally got a clear view of the surroundings and felt a slight relief. This was a cave-like structure, measuring about twenty paces in length, width, and height. In addition to the ancient teleportation array beneath his feet, there were two other teleportation arrays set up nearby. Everything here was exactly as Lady Fan had described—the teleportation arrays on the皇明island. He had not experienced any mishaps during the journey and had truly arrived at the Inner Stellar Sea. Indeed, earlier, when he had heard the disciples of Miao Yin Monastery mention that the teleportation arrays had not yet been tested, he had been somewhat anxious. Now it seemed his luck had held up well. As the skull was speaking to him, the other array began to glow with yellow light, and a tall figure seemed to emerge from the haze. The black-robed man brightened immediately, stood up, and hurried over. Taking this opportunity, Han Li silently emitted a thin streak of green sword energy from his feet, creating a barely visible crack in the teleportation array beneath him. Thus, the ancient teleportation array beneath their feet lost its effectiveness. Now, he needn't fear either Miao He or the Rift Wind Beast, should any of them send a teleportation scroll after him. Han Li's subtle movements were so discreet that neither the black-robed figure nor the newly arrived, imposing man noticed his actions. The two began to recognize each other, exchanging laughter and conversation. Seeing this, Han Li moved silently down the teleportation array and stepped toward the entrance of the cave. Yet, he only walked a few steps before a sudden voice from behind—somewhat surprised—spoke up. "Sir, the team hasn't gathered yet. I was instructed that five people should arrive together. The messenger and one other person have still not arrived. We'd better remain inside the cave for now and wait. Otherwise, we'll have difficulty explaining ourselves when the time comes. Perhaps this is your first such mission? I must say, your face seems rather unfamiliar to me!" The black-robed figure had initially been surprised, but eventually found himself at ease with this explanation. He never once doubted Han Li's identity throughout the entire process. Han Li furrowed his brows slightly, then murmured with a deliberately displeased tone, "How troublesome. When I arrived, no one mentioned any of these formalities." "Ah-hah! It must be that you're so highly accomplished," the skull-head chuckled lightly, "that the messengers who conveyed instructions to you naturally didn't dare to speak up. But just bear with it a little longer. Once your task is completed, you'll be free to enjoy your own peace once again." By the time Han Li heard this, he had already pieced together most of what was going on. As he subtly shifted his gaze, preparing to extract a few more details, another array shimmered to life—this time, two figures appeared simultaneously. One was an elderly man in a gray robe, his hair and beard snow-white; the other was a lean, well-built man. Han Li's eyes flashed with recognition as he noticed that embroidered on the broad sleeves of the elder were distinct, jade-like flame symbols. Lively and full of subtle spiritual energy, as though it were no ordinary emblem. As soon as these two arrived, five people gathered in the cave. Among them, Han Li was at the late stage of Jin Dan, the skeleton head at the mid stage of Jin Dan, the tall Han man and the elder both at the early stage of Jin Dan. As for the refined young man, he had only reached the late stage of Zhu Ji.