Han Li seemed entirely unheeding to the words of the two, yet as his eyes flashed with a blue glow, his vision instantly pierced through the thick layers of wind and sand. At a distance of over a hundred li, an astonishing celestial phenomenon was clearly visible. High on the horizon, the sky appeared black above and yellow below, with a straight, luminous white line extending endlessly to either side, as if stretching into infinity. However, due to the distance, the scene was only roughly discernible. Han Li raised a brow, then his inner light faded. At that moment, the group once again activated their flight spells and headed directly toward the celestial sign. A short while later, Lengdong and the young woman, along with the others, also observed the unusual sight. It turned out that above, a dense black mist was swirling incessantly, while below, a powerful yellow gale surged forward. Where the mist and gale met, a massive, luminous channel of over a hundred zhang in height had formed, clearly separating the two. Both the black mist and the yellow gale flowed continuously into this channel, as if descending into an endless abyss. "This is indeed the 'First Sky Passage'—what a fascinating sight!" The white-robed maiden gazed at the tree, a gentle smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Come on, now is the weakest moment of the sandstorm. If we wait any longer, simply entering through this entrance will require considerable effort." Longdong, having examined it thoroughly, said seriously. With scarcely any thought, the several figures had already reached a distance of less than a thousand zhang from the heavenly phenomenon. Without needing to activate their flight spells, an invisible, immense force spontaneously arose nearby, swiftly drawing several streaks of light into vast fissures. As soon as Han Liang entered the fissure, the suction eased, and he regained full freedom. Yet, before him surged countless white wind blades, and in his ears rang an intense, piercing cry—this wind within the fissure was no less than ten times stronger than that outside. Had he not sensed the presence of his stabilizing wind pearl, he would have immediately summoned protective artifacts to shield himself. Yet, such a course would have inevitably consumed a considerable amount of spiritual energy. Now, these wind blades vanished upon touching the luminous glow. Han Liang scanned the surroundings, only to find that his spiritual awareness had become detached from his body, and his clear, refined eyes could perceive only up to a hundred zhang away. As for the others, they were completely absent from this range. His brow furrowed slightly, and without hesitation, a brilliant glow radiated from his body as he surged forward, transforming into a streak of jade-green light that plunged directly into the hurricane ahead and vanished. Several days later, at the entrance of the One-Line Sky, a sudden flash of light appeared, and two streaks of light sped in from the distance. As the glow subsided, two middle-aged cultivators in rich brocade robes emerged. Dressed similarly, both wore purple headbands and their eyes shone with intense vitality. Upon closer inspection, however, their appearances bore a striking resemblance to Longdong—yet one of them had a strangely pale complexion, while the other's long robe was missing half, as though they had just emerged from a fierce battle. With careful scrutiny of the vast opening before them, the two exchanged a few whispered words and then entered together in unison through the rift. Not long after, a crimson streak emerged from the sandstorm, only to pause and hesitate near the One-Line Sky before finally emitting several sharp protests of frustration, then spiraling around before retreating. Thus, besides the roaring wind, there was no trace of human presence anywhere. …… Several months later, Han Li stood alone on a massive boulder at the summit of a small, emerald-green hill, his eyes flickering as he gazed toward the distance. About forty li away, a vast forest stood there, strikingly unusual. The trees within it were peculiar—while their leaves were generally emerald, they bore patches of deep, almost black, patterns with subtle shimmering veins. From afar, the entire forest appeared as a uniform, dark green. This was precisely the destination of Han Li and his companions—the farthest edge of the Wood Clan's influence, known as the "Black-Leaf Forest." After studying it carefully, Han Li finally turned his gaze inward, his brows furrowed in thought. Though he had traversed the "Sky-Thread" passage with relative ease, taking considerable time but encountering no unexpected difficulties, he now found himself troubled—whether the other three had taken a wrong path, or whether they had encountered some unforeseen event. He waited for several days near the exit, yet could not reach a single person. After careful consideration, he decided firmly to no longer wait and came here alone. Along the way, he encountered various minor difficulties and even defeated several waves of lower-ranked Woodfolk who occasionally appeared. Only then did he finally arrive at this location. On his journey out, the young man with the blood spot and the young woman had already fully briefed everyone else on the details of their mission. As a result, Han Li was well aware of the specifics of the mission. According to them, both clans had sent agents who were stationed deep within the Woodfolk territory, and these agents appeared to hold significant positions. Their objective was to enter a specific area of the Black-Leaf Forest, retrieve the detailed intelligence gathered by these agents, and then observe the Woodfolk's movements closely to determine whether any major developments or anomalies had emerged. This mission appears quite daunting, yet half of its peril lies in crossing the wild expanse between the two clans—just a short stretch of untamed terrain—while the other half stems from how to enter the Blackleaf Forest silently without being detected by the woodfolk. Among the neighboring clans, the human and woodfolk have the least contact, knowing only a general picture of conditions within the Blackleaf Forest. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to send them out to retrieve woodfolk intelligence just before the great battle commenced. Han Li has been waiting here for nearly a month, yet no word from the others. And as the deadline for the mission draws ever closer, his patience begins to wane. After estimating the time required for infiltration and potential obstacles, he simply can no longer remain in passive wait. Han Li pondered for a long time, then looked up at the sky. There, three moons and four suns now hung in the heavens—soon, the sky would be completely dark. According to known records, the people of the Wood Clan are naturally weak in their five senses, relying mostly on their spiritual perception for communication and combat. Therefore, senior cultivators recommend that when entering the Black Leaf Forest, they act at night and remain concealed during the day, which would provide a more stable situation. After glancing once more at the distant forest, Han Li finally made up his mind. Regardless of whether the others actually arrive, he would absolutely secure that vial of Mochen Pill. Even if he were to accomplish this mission alone, he would have to press on. With his plan settled, Han Li immediately sat cross-legged on the large stone and closed his eyes. Several hours later, the sky turned completely dark, and the distant night forest appeared like a massive beast lying quietly beneath the night's veil, motionless and silent. As Han Li opened his eyes, brilliant light shot forth, only to fade shortly thereafter, his gaze dimming. With a series of hand gestures, his form briefly blurred, and then he seemed to vanish entirely from the stone as if a phantom. In fact, Han Li had already activated his concealment technique and ascended into the air, drifting slowly toward the distant forest under the cover of night. Though he had minimized his speed as much as possible, it still took half an hour for him to reach the edge of the forest, covering a distance of several dozen miles. Given the vast expanse of the forest, it was naturally impossible for woodfolk to be present at every spot. Yet Han Li dared not simply fly directly overhead with full confidence. Generally, within the territories of the woodfolk, there would always be a Meng Luo Ling tree planted—believed to be the unique guardian tree of the woodfolk, capable of controlling a certain range and number of other trees, and possessing several astonishing powers such as monitoring and surveillance. Of course, the specific monitoring capabilities of each Meng Luo Ling tree would vary depending on the scope of its coverage and the number of trees it controlled. This Mengluo tree in the Blackleaf Forest has already been thoroughly investigated by Tianyuan City for its monitoring capabilities... Since the Blackleaf Forest lies at the very edge of the Wood Clan's territory, the tree's monitoring range is exceptionally broad, nearly covering every part of the forest. In contrast, however, the number of trees under this spiritual control is relatively small, and it can only roughly detect entities at the Lingxu level and above. Of course, if an outsider were to fly openly through the air, even if the Mengluo tree failed to notice them, they would certainly be detected by the spiritual senses of other Wood Clan members. Therefore, Han Li not only completely concealed his presence but, after stepping firmly to the ground, flashed into a faint, translucent silhouette, directly vanishing into the forest. With a few swift movements between towering trees, he disappeared entirely. Given Han Li's exceptional strength, combined with the synergy of the Ji Feng Jiubian and Luo Yan Steps, his movements within the forest appear as ghostly and elusive as if he were still hovering in the air. A faint, blurred green silhouette appeared and vanished, then reappeared, swiftly penetrating deep into the forest, covering over a hundred li within moments. Han Li listened to the rushing wind at his ears, calmly pondering. According to the mission's instructions, everything going smoothly, they should reach the agreed-upon location within three days. Once the intelligence was secured, the mission would be considered complete—this would be a success. The task of gathering information about the wood elves was merely incidental; the better, the more discoveries, but even if nothing was found, it would still be acceptable. A short while later, two massive green beasts, each ten zhang long and resembling giant apes, each bearing a towering copper fork, strolled gracefully past beneath the trees.