As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release the Domain Bead without waiting for a reply from the Space Fish beings.
As soon as the bead emerged, it began to revolve on the spot before releasing a burst of five-colored light.
As the burst of light swept over the plaza, all of the Space Fish beings quickly vanished, and after just a few seconds, the plaza was completely empty.
Han Li also vanished in a flash amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then reappeared within a mysterious space.
Most of the space was comprised of a massive body of water with only four islands, one large and three small, at its center.
Han Li had appeared directly above the largest island, and he quickly caught sight of the Space Fish beings that had just been transferred into this space.
All of them were standing on a lawn, appraising their surroundings with elation in their eyes.
"So this is the realm within the Domain Bead. Build some houses and reside in here for now; I'll release all of you from the bead once I find a suitable place for you to live," Han Li instructed in an implacable voice.
"Yes, Master!" the Space Fish Chieftain replied without any hesitation as he extended a deep bow, and all of the other Space Fish beings echoed him as they fell to their knees.
"Hehe, there's no need for such formalities," Han Li said with a faint smile before stepping forward to depart from this space.
Only then did the chieftain repress his excitement before calling out to his brethren, and they began to find a suitable place to live on the islands.
Meanwhile, Han Li reappeared in the outside world before descending onto the ground, where he sat down with crossed legs before closing his eyes.
He could already sense an invisible force rejecting him from all directions, and it was quite uncomfortable.
Time slowly passed, and after a long while, a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations suddenly erupted overhead, while a blanket of dark clouds appeared.
The air around Han Li began to twist and warp, making it impossible to see through it.
All of a sudden, Han Li opened his eyes and flipped a hand over to produce a certain item, which then instantly exploded.
A thick bolt of silver lightning came crashing down from above, and Han Li vanished on the spot in a flash amid the lightning.
……
A burst of loud rumbling rang out on the summit of a barren mountain in the Spirit Realm, and a white spatial rift was opened up, following which a ball of five-colored light emerged from within.
The ball of light then transformed into a giant light formation that was over 100 feet in size.
In the next instant, a burst of spatial fluctuations surged forth amid flashes of countless arcs of lightning, and Han Li stumbled out of the formation.
He took a moment to steady himself, and the spatial rift and formation below it both disappeared amid a dull thump.
Everything returned to normal, and aside from the sudden emergence of Han Li, it was as if nothing had changed.
Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings before pointing a finger toward his own glabella.
A burst of enormous spiritual sense was instantly released, surging in all directions around him.
"Looks like I'm not too far away from the predetermined coordinates; this has been quite a successful trip," Han Li mused to himself as he removed his finger from his own glabella.
However, instead of immediately departing, he sat down onto the clean rock and began to meditate there while a treasure was flashing incessantly up one of his sleeves.
Around six hours later, a streak of white light shot forth toward him from the distance before reaching the mountain summit in just a few flashes.
The light then faded to reveal Mo Jianli, who said with an ecstatic expression, "I'm glad to see you've returned safely as well, Brother Han; I knew you wouldn't be too far away."
"Hehe, it would've been unnecessary to set the coordinates in too secluded a location. Seeing as we've both returned, let's go and see the Spirit Monarch. It wouldn't be a very good situation if he doesn't have enough Sanqing Lightning Talismans and all of them get taken by Xue Ran and Hei Lin," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.
Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "That's true. Let's head to Concealed Spirit Mountain right away."
Han Li nodded before making a hand seal, rising up into the air as a streak of azure light before flying toward a certain direction, followed closely by Mo Jianli.
The two of them quickly vanished into the distance, and shortly thereafter, they arrived near Concealed Spirit Mountain before immediately heading toward the mountain summit.
A dull thump rang out up ahead as restrictions of different colors emerged to stop them.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to destroy these restrictions by force, a male voice suddenly rang out.
"Greetings, seniors, the Spirit Monarch has instructed us to lead you to him."
As soon as the voice trailed off, the bald Holy Spirit by the name of Ling Yin appeared, and he extended a respectful bow toward Han Li's duo.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he instructed, "Lead the way."
"Please follow me, Senior." Ling Yin extended another slight bow before doing as he was told.
All of the restrictions up ahead automatically parted for him, and Han Li's duo trailed along behind him.
A short while later, they were taken to the hall where they had first met the Spirit Monarch, and upon their entry, they immediately caught sight of two familiar figures.
Xue Ran and Hei Lin were seated on one side of the hall, discussing something in a quiet voice.
However, their voices drew to an abrupt halt as soon as Han Li and Mo Jianli entered the hall, and they both turned their attention toward Han Li's duo.
Mo Jianli's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he feigned nonchalance as he chuckled, "I had thought that we had already arrived quite early, but it seems we're still a little late. How long have you two been here for? Have you already completed your trade with Brother Spirit?"
Xue Ran cast a reflexive wary glance toward Han Li, then forced a smile on his own face as he explained, "The two of us have only just arrived as well, and we still haven't even met Brother Spirit yet."
Mo Jianli heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. "I see, so we're not too late then. Where is Brother Spirit and when is he coming out to meet us?"
"He should be here soon. I was just informed that Brother Spirit has been in seclusion these past few days, so it'll take him some time to get here," Xue Ran replied."I see," Mo Jianli replied with a smile before taking a seat on the other side of the hall with Han Li.
Han Li had remained silent thus far, but he could naturally see the wariness that Xue Ran and Hei Lin harbored toward him.
It seemed that the battle in the Small Asura Realm had left quite a lasting impression upon them.
"By the way, did you manage to find that Che Qizi?" Han Li suddenly asked.
"We did, but that creature was extremely cunning, and it only clashed with us once before abandoning its lair. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in the Small Asura Realm for too long. Otherwise, we would've definitely hunted it down," Xue Ran replied in a disappointed manner.
"That's quite a pity," Han Li replied, and it was unclear whether he actually believed this story.
Just as Xue Ran was also about to ask him something, an elated voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall.
"Haha, you've finally returned, fellow daoists; I've been waiting for quite some time."
An elderly white-robed figure then appeared outside the hall before making his way into the room.
Hei Lin was ecstatic to see the elderly man, and he immediately stood up as he said, "Brother Spirit Monarch, we've already obtained the Asura Spider cores you requested."
"Is that so? Would I be able to examine them?" the Spirit Monarch hurriedly asked as a hint of elation flashed through his eyes.
"Of course."
Hei Lin flicked a wrist to send a green storage bracelet flying through the air without any hesitation.
The Spirit Monarch caught the bracelet before sweeping his spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face. "These are indeed mature Asura Spider cores, and the power of time within them should be enough for me to refine a Thread of Time."
"In that case…" A rather anxious look appeared on Hei Lin's face.
"Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Hei," the Spirit Monarch chuckled before stowing the storage bracelet away, then swept a sleeve toward Hei Lin to release a jade box that had several talismans plastered to it.
Hei Lin was ecstatic as he opened his mouth to release a burst of black light, which swept up the jade box before dragging it toward him.
Meanwhile, Xue Ran had his gaze fixed firmly on Mo Jianli and Han Li with a nervous look in his eyes.
