Stirring the Seas Beyond; Giant Beast Attacks

Chapter 590: Stirring the Seas Beyond; Giant Beast Attacks

Although Han Li and Mei Ning were unfamiliar faces, the guards barely glanced at them. They didn’t question the pair, instead gathering around the others who had returned, chattering excitedly. They gestured for the tall men to show the fish and shrimp in their leather bags, and each time, a wave of exclamations rose from the crowd.

Seeing this from the sidelines, Han Li’s brow furrowed slightly.

It seems fish and shellfish are either extremely rare here, or all food is in very short supply.

He then swept his gaze over the entire village.

The whole settlement was surrounded by tall stone walls, identical in construction. All the buildings inside were made of black stone, most of them crude, rough, and square in shape.

The most eye-catching structure was a stone platform at the village center.

It wasn’t very large, but it stood several times taller than the other buildings, a good thirty to forty zhang high. A faint purple mist was released from its top, covering the entire village. Whenever a bolt of blue lightning fell from the sky, the violet mist immediately absorbed it completely.

This purple mist is definitely some kind of formation restriction. Yet he couldn’t sense any spiritual energy from the stone platform. Instead, there was a yin-cold energy lingering there.

He knew that although his divine sense could not extend beyond his body, his sensitivity to spiritual energy was still extremely sharp. He was absolutely certain of this.

A flicker of shock and suspicion passed through Han Li’s mind.

Near the high platform stood several halls much larger than the ordinary stone houses. A few people at the entrance were pointing at the lean man and whispering among themselves. One of them, his eyes glinting with sharp light, glanced over at Han Li.

Han Li’s heart tightened.

This was the first person he had seen here who possessed a high level of internal martial arts skill.

Outside this place, he could crush such a man with a single finger without a second thought. But now, he would have to be on full alert just to deal with him.

Just then, the lean man walked over to the group, said a few words, and pointed back at Han Li and Mei Ning a couple of times. The group’s gazes swept over them.

Han Li remained expressionless, showing no fear. Beside him, Mei Ning looked uneasy, unsure what fate awaited them.

“You two, come over. The village elders have some questions for you,” the lean man said, beckoning.

Han Li nodded and walked over calmly, with the woman following.

The group turned and entered the hall behind them. Han Li followed them in.

“Please, have a seat. Since you’ve arrived here, as fellow members of the human race, we will naturally do our best to help. But this place is indeed quite different from the outside world. Could you two first introduce yourselves, and then I will tell you about this place.” Inside the hall, a slightly plump old man seated in the center spoke with a kind expression.

On either side sat several others. One of them, a pale-skinned man with thin, narrow eyes that held a trace of ruthlessness, was the one who had scanned Han Li outside the hall.

His eyes gleamed with sharp light, but now he only glanced briefly at Han Li’s face before his gaze fell on the beautiful woman behind him. He remained silent, but a peculiar glint flickered in his eyes.

“There’s not much to say about us. We just ran into a ghost mist at sea and got swept up here. As for our former identities… what use are they in a place like this? No need to mention them,” Han Li said with a casual smile, speaking very calmly.

Hearing such a vague answer, the old man chuckled.

He narrowed his eyes and looked the pair up and down a few times, then suddenly said something that startled Han Li.

“You two are cultivators, aren’t you? There’s no need to hide that identity.” After saying this, the old man’s gaze settled on the bulging storage pouch at Han Li’s waist.

Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, but he fell silent for a moment.

Mei Ning’s pretty face had turned pale, and she grew anxious.

“Don’t be afraid, you two. We’ve had cultivators arrive here before. Not many, but not too few, either. Compared to ordinary people, we welcome former cultivators to join our village. But as you’ve probably realized by now, in this Netherworld Domain, things like spiritual power and mana cannot be used. The only power available is the netherworld force and some rudimentary martial arts,” the old man explained calmly.

“Netherworld force?” Han Li asked, a flicker of doubt in his voice.

“That’s right. It’s an external force similar to mana. Although you can’t cast spells with it directly, cultivators can use the netherworld beast crystals from certain yin beasts to set up small formations. That’s quite useful for the village. And even if you aren’t skilled in formations, a cultivator’s body is much stronger than an ordinary person’s. That alone makes you a good helper.” The old man stroked his short beard as he spoke slowly.

“It seems you know quite a bit about us cultivators. Are there any other cultivators in the village?” Han Li asked after a moment of thought.

“There are. Five or six of them, in fact. I am one of them, unworthy as I am. Before I was sucked into the ghost mist, I had already established my foundation.” The plump old man smiled, the corners of his mouth curving upward.

A flicker of surprise crossed Han Li’s face. Just as he was hesitating and about to ask another question, the entire hall suddenly trembled. Then, one after another, booming sounds came from a distance, as if some enormous creature was charging toward the village.

The faces of everyone in the hall changed. Forgetting Han Li, they all stood up at once and hurried outside.

Han Li, his face full of doubt, followed without delay.

Outside the hall, the village elders were already standing with grim expressions, directing several hundred able-bodied young men and women. They were swarming up onto the thick stone walls, armed with white spears and crudely made bows.

Although everyone looked tense, they moved in an orderly fashion without a trace of panic. It was clear they had been through this many times before.

Han Li turned his gaze toward the direction of the booming sound. But because the stone wall blocked his view, he could only feel the ground trembling more and more violently; he couldn’t see anything.

Rubbing his chin, Han Li glanced around, then took a few quick steps to a nearby tall building. Making sure no one was watching, he used the wall for leverage and easily climbed onto the roof. Standing there, he looked out.

Now he could finally see what was happening farther away.

In the distance outside the village, sand and stones were flying, and wild winds were howling. A strange black gale obscured everything in its path. Wherever the black wind passed, a layer of black frost formed on the ground, radiating an intense, bone-chilling cold.

So this is the yin wind the lean man mentioned. It’s certainly not something an ordinary person could withstand.

But as soon as the yin wind approached within a hundred zhang of the village, it dissipated on its own, as if it had hit an invisible boundary.

And from within that black wind, a series of heavy footsteps could be heard. Although still some distance away, the oppressive momentum was already palpable. Moments later, a giant black shadow, over ten zhang tall, burst out from the wind.

When Han Li saw its true form clearly, he drew in a sharp breath.

At first glance, the black shadow looked like a giant grey ape, magnified a dozen times. But this beast had four eyes on its face, a pair of fleshy wings sprouting from its ribs, and it was carrying a strange black club in one hand. It charged furiously toward the village, its four strange eyes glowing blood-red, radiating an endless aura of slaughter.

“It’s a Jiaozheng beast! A Jiaozheng beast this time! Get the large shields over here, now!” Several people shouted at once the moment they recognized the beast.

Instantly, a large group of women, children, and white-haired elders emerged, carrying a variety of shields, which they handed up to the people on the wall. Then they hastily scrambled back down.

By now, the giant beast was less than a hundred zhang from the stone wall. The tremors from its massive feet hitting the ground made Han Li almost wonder if the seemingly sturdy wall would collapse under the vibration before the beast even reached it. But fortunately, that didn’t happen.

In the blink of an eye, the giant beast had closed to within thirty zhang.

But at that moment, several enormous tentacles formed from the purple mist suddenly shot up from the ground, firmly binding the beast’s legs.

The off-balance giant slammed heavily to the ground right before the stone wall, shaking the people on the wall so hard they staggered.

Startled, Han Li subconsciously turned his head to look back at the high platform.

He was astonished to see that four people had appeared on the platform at some point, their bodies faintly emanating a purple aura as they performed some kind of technique.

Is this the netherworld force? Han Li’s heart stirred.

“Attack!” Almost instantly, an order was given.

A dense rain of spears and arrows shot toward the fallen giant beast, completely covering it.

Watching this, Han Li’s heart tightened.