Shi Kun was a menacing-looking man who appeared as if his entire body had been constructed from grey rocks, and he shook his head as he said, "Why do we need to go through the hassle of doing that? With our combined powers, as long as we don't encounter some of the most powerful beings in this realm, we'll be more than able to look after ourselves. Even though we have an entire year before we get teleported back to Cloud City, we still don't know where we are at the moment, and there may not be enough time for us to make breakthroughs and also track down those restricted ruins. As such, I think we should make haste and skip any trivial activities that aren't necessary."
"Fellow Daoist Shi, The Divine Essencefused Light combination secret technique is something that my master invented specifically for this trip after expending an extensive amount of painstaking effort, and it's far more powerful than you can imagine. I insist that we should rehearse the technique first. Otherwise, it'll be too late for regrets once we encounter a powerful enemy," Liu Shui'er countered in a slightly cold voice, clearly rather displeased by Shi Kun's words.
"Is that so? I still think that compared to this, it's much more important for us to get to the restricted ruins as quickly as possible, then use the remaining time to break through our bottlenecks. I haven't cultivated any combination techniques in the past, but I've still reached the current level of power, have I not?" Shi Kun chuckled coldly, clearly unwilling to back down, either.
Liu Shui'er expression cooled even further upon hearing this, and she turned to Han Li as she asked, "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Han?"
Han Li thought about this for a moment before suggesting, "I think that seeing as neither of you is willing to back down, we should find a middle-ground that both of you can agree on. I suggest that we do practice this combination secret technique, but we only spend half a month doing so. At the conclusion of that period of time, we set off in search of the restricted ruins regardless of whether we've mastered the technique or not. In that case, we'll be able to familiarize ourselves slightly with the secret technique, and I'm sure half a month isn't too long to wait for Brother Shi."
"Well…"
"Alright, we'll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Han."
Liu Shu'er was rather hesitant upon hearing this proposal, but Shi Kun quickly agreed to it after a brief moment of contemplation.
"Seeing as both of you support this course of action, I have no choice but to agree as well," Liu Shui'er replied with a reluctant nod.
"In that case, let's find somewhere suitable for us to practice the secret technique first," Han Li said with a smile.
Neither Shi Kun nor Liu Shui'er had any objections to this, so the three of them immediately sped up by about twofold, hurtling through the air like a trio of shooting stars while releasing their spiritual sense into the area around them.
They had thought that they'd be able to find a small island quite quickly, but much to their surprise, they only caught sight of a small island in the distance that was less than 10 kilometers in size after flying for an entire day and an entire night.
At this point, the sun was just beginning to set, and the entire sky above the island was filled with a warm red light. However, the surface of the nearby ocean was completely black, as if it had been stained by a vast spillage of black paint.
Upon seeing this island, Han Li's trio immediately slowed down, then reappeared several kilometers away as they appraised the area with wary expressions on their faces.
"My spiritual sense can't detect what lies below the island, and the sea around it is also teeming with demonic Qi. It appears that a certain demon beast has taken over this island," Shi Kun speculated with a grim expression.
"Indeed. There's only one sea beast under the island, but it's not a very powerful one; its cultivation base seems to be comparable to my own," Han Li said in a slow voice as blue light flashed through his eyes.
"You can sense what lies beneath this island?" Liu Shui'er was rather surprised to hear this.
She was in a similar situation to Shi Kun in that as soon as her spiritual sense approached the island, it would become quite blurry and indistinct. It appeared that the sea in the nearby area possessed certain properties that hampered one's spiritual sense.
"I was lucky to have mastered some special secret techniques in the past, and possess an alternative sensory ability aside from my spiritual sense," Han Li replied in a calm manner.
"That's fantastic! With that ability of yours, we'll be able to avoid a lot of danger, Brother Han." Shi Kun was quite elated to hear this.
Han Li merely offered a smile in response.
Liu Shui'er's eyes also lit up, and she said, "Indeed, our trip will be made a lot safer by this ability of yours, Fellow Daoist Han. Seeing as this island has been taken over by a sea beast, let's go and find another place to settle. It's not worth wasting magic power fight for an island like this."
On this occasion, Shi Kun agreed with Liu Shui'er suggestion, and he immediately nodded to express his approval.
However, Han Li shook his head after a brief moment of contemplation.
"Even if we find some other place, the situation won't be any better."
"Oh? What do you mean by that, Brother Han?" Shi Kun was rather taken aback to hear this.
Liu Shui'er also turned to him with a hint if befuddlement in her eyes.
As opposed to answering the question, Han Li replied with a question of his own. "What did you two think about the speed that we traveled at to get here?"
"It was alright. We didn't travel at full speed, but for me, that was around 60% to 70% of my full speed," Shi Kun replied.
"That's exactly the point. We've traveled for an entire day and an entire night at this speed, so we must've covered millions of kilometers already. On top of that, we've been using our spiritual sense to scour through the surrounding area this entire time, so don't you find it strange that we've only come across this one island after all this time?" Han Li sighed.
"What are you trying to say, Fellow Daoist Han? I'm not the sharpest when it comes to things like this, and I hate it when people speaking a roundabout manner," Shi Kun harrumphed in an impatient manner.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this; he certainly wasn't going to believe that Shi Kun was as ignorant as he was making himself seem.
"Are you trying to say that something's a little off about the sea here, and that even if we were to find other islands, they would've most likely been taken over by other sea beasts already?" Liu Shui'er asked.
"That's exactly what I mean. This island has already been taken over by a sea beast, but it's not very powerful at all, and we'll be able to take care of it easily. I think that's a much better course of action than wasting time searching for other islands," Han Li explained in a slow voice.
"That makes sense. Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Han. In any case, the three of us will definitely be able to take care of this sea beast without any problems," Shi Kun said as a ferocious look flashed through his eyes.
"I also think this is a good idea." Liu Shui'er nodded in agreement after a brief pause.
"Alright, in that case, let's make some preparations. As a safety precaution, I'm going to set up a temporary formation so we can kill this sea beast without any being noticed by any other beasts in the area," Han Li said in a calm manner.
Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er naturally posed no objections to this.
Thus, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a stack of formation flags appeared over his palm. He tossed the formation flags into the air, then made a hand seal as he began to chant something.
A dozen or so streaks of light of different colors immediately surged toward the ocean before vanishing in a flash.
In the next instant, a dozen or so thick pillars of light suddenly erupted from the sea down below. These pillars of light then dispersed to form a barely-visible white light barrier than encompassed the entire island.
"I'll also lend you my assistance," Liu Shui'er suddenly said as she raised a hand into the air, sending a yellow disk hurtling forth before instantly flying into the air over 1,000 feet above the white light barrier.
She then pointed a finger up above, and the yellow disk rotated on the spot before also emitting a yellow light barrier that encompassed Han Li's white light barrier within it.
"With these restrictions set up, I'm sure we won't attract any attention even if we battle all-out in there," Liu Shui'er said in a calm voice.
"Haha, in that case, I'll be able to fight to my heart's content," Shi Kun chortled with glee as yellow light flashed from his body, and he immediately donned a suit of yellow armor.
Immediately thereafter, Shi Kun flew through the two restriction barriers, hurtling directly toward the island.
From afar, he looked like a yellow shooting star plummeting from the sky.
The streak of yellow light crashed down into a forest at the very center of the island with a resounding boom, and yellow shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye proliferated in all directions. All of the trees, rocks, and mountains that stood in the path of these yellow shockwaves were all instantly pulverized into powder.
In the blink of an eye, the entire island had been razed to the ground.
At the center of the island, Shi Kun stood proudly in a massive crater that was several feet deep, and he was in the process of slowly withdrawing his fist from the ground.
He had essentially destroyed everything on the island with just a single punch.
Liu Shui'er shuddered slightly at the sight of Shi Kun's terrifying destructive power, and Han Li's eyes also narrowed slightly.
It appeared that Shi Kun's confidence and his unwillingness to cultivate the combination secret technique certainly wasn't unwarranted.
"I'd always known that Stone Cocoon beings were renowned for possessing powerful bodies, but it appears that Fellow Daoist Shi must've also used quite a powerful cultivation art. Otherwise, there's no way that an upper race being could be capable of unleashing such devastating might," Liu Shui'er murmured to herself, but also seemingly to Han Li as well.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't even heard what had just been said.
Shi Kun seemed to be quite pleased with his own handiwork, and he raised his head as if he were about to say something to Han Li and Liu Shui'er.
However, right at this moment, the entire island tremored violently, and the black seawater around it also began to churn as if it were being boiled.
Seven or eight thick black objects then erupted from the seawater around the small island, and each of these objects was 2,000 to 3,000 feet tall, extending into the clouds like giant black pillars.
However, these pillars had fleshy bumps all over them and were squirming incessantly, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.
Han Li immediately focused his gaze to discover that these were all gargantuan tentacles.
