Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he stood still on the spot as he continued to look on into the distance.
The soil on the horizon suddenly began to churn and bulge, as if there were some type of giant creature rapidly approaching Han Li from underground.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to do anything, a silver giant that was several hundred feet tall emerged from the soil.
The giant had a head of long green hair, and his upper body was completely bare, while an azure leather kilt covered his lower body.
His bulging muscles were of a shimmering silver color, as if they were constructed from silver, and with just a single stride, the giant covered a distance of thousands of feet, causing the nearby ground to tremor violently.
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of the silver giant, and right at this moment, the giant sprang up into the air, then let loose a low roar before thrusting his palm viciously toward the ground down below.
Two earth-shattering booms rang out as the earth within a radius of several kilometers around the giant completely collapsed, creating a small basin that was over 1,000 feet deep.
A sharp cry rang out as a massive yellow beast rushed out of the basin, then fled toward the distance with all its might.
However, the silver giant seemed to have anticipated this, and it appeared directly above the huge beast in a flash before stomping down viciously with a massive foot.
As soon as the yellow beast and the silver foot came into contact with one another, the former immediately plummeted out of the heavens before being stomped into the ground amid a dull thump.
Only then Han Li was able to identify the giant yellow beast as an earthy yellow turtle that was around 600 feet in length, and its shell was over five feet thick with sharp yellow spikes all over its surface.
There was a single horn on its head, which was locked under the massive silver foot, and it was trying with all its might to withdraw its head back into its shell, but to no avail.
In the next instant, the silver giant unleashed a series of silver fist projections that came crashing down in a frenzy.
All of the fist projections quickly exploded upon the huge yellow turtle's body, and astonishing shockwaves were surging in all directions.
Despite the turtle's incredible defensive prowess, its head was reduced to mincemeat within the span of just a few breaths, and even its shell had been shattered, allowing the silver giant to plunge his hand into its body before pulling out a head-sized yellow bead.
The giant was ecstatic to see this bead, and he tossed it into his own mouth before devouring it.
A burst of yellow light immediately flashed over his body, only to quickly fade after he made a hand seal.
Right at this moment, the giant suddenly turned toward Han Li.
His eyes were glowing with piecing silver light and completely devoid of pupils.
He then rushed directly toward Han Li, and even before reaching Han Li, he yelled, "Are you here to attend the gathering at Sky's Beyond? I am Ying Gangzi of the Sky Dread Race."
"Greetings, Fellow Yin Gangzi, I am Han Li of the human race," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"You must be the Fellow Daoist Han who slew the Stemborer Queen in the Elder Devil Realm; what a coincidence it is meeting you here! I've heard much about you." A hint of surprise flashed through the silver giant's eyes as he spoke, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which his body shrunk down to a size similar to Han Li's.
"You're far too kind, Brother Yin; I was very fortunate to have been involved in the slaying of the Stemborer Queen. Similarly, I've heard much about your Sky Dread Race. That form you displayed just now was the Fortune Physique of your Sky Dread Race, right?" Han Li replied with a polite smile.
The Sky Dread Race was a vastly renowned race on the Tian Yuan Continent. It didn't have a huge population, but all Sky Dread beings possessed incredible aptitude and were able to progress far more quickly in cultivation than the average being.
Furthermore, once they attained the Fortune Physique, they would be able to instantly enhance their power by severalfold.
The Sky Dread Race was also one of the four most mysterious races of the Tian Yuan Continent, and high-grade Sky Dread beings very rarely appeared before the public eye, so Han Li was quite surprised to be meeting one here.
"Hehe, you're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Han. The inner core of that Earth Turtle Beast that I encountered on the way was quite useful to me, which was why I adopted my Fortune Physique to hunt it down. How about we head to Sky's Beyond together?" Yin Gangzi offered.
"I would be honored," Han Li accepted.
"Haha, the honor is all mine. Let's continue onward. By the way, I have some questions about the true immortal that we're hunting. Ming Zun only gave me some very vague information, and I was wondering if you knew any further details," Yin Gangzi said in an elated manner.
"I met Fellow Daoist Ming Zun once recently, so I do have some information; I'll do my best to answer your questions," Han Li replied with a smile.
"I'll have to thank you in advance then. Why don't you accompany me on my Green Wave Carriage, Fellow Daoist?" Yin Gangzi said in an elated manner, then opened his mouth to expel a burst of green light, which transformed into a green flying carriage that was around 300 feet in length.
The carriage was triangular in shape and was intricately constructed, giving off a faint pleasant aroma.
There were also four silver puppets standing at the front and back of the carriage, and Han Li accepted the offer, flying onto the carriage with Yin Gangzi.
Moments later, the carriage shot forth deeper into the blackish-green landscape as a ball of green light, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.
……
Half a day later, the flying carriage was flying through a sea of black winds at the center of Baleful Cry Point.
All of a sudden, the black wind up ahead faded, and a strange world was revealed up ahead.
At an altitude of several tens of thousands of feet, the entire region was split into two distinct halves, one black and one white.
The lower half was still comprised of the sea of black wind, while the upper half was a white light barrier, within which hovered countless giant rocks.
The smallest of these giant rocks were only around the size of houses, while the largest ones resembled giant islands, and all of these rocks had buildings constructed upon them.
"So this is Sky's Beyond. How interesting," Han Li mused with an intrigued expression as he stood at the front of the green flying carriage.
"This is indeed quite an interesting place. Apparently, this was once a restricted area of a major race in ancient times. However, that race disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and the Baleful Yin Qi pouring out from underground in this region has made this place completely devoid of all living beings," Ying Gangzi said.
During their trip, Han Li and Yin Gangzi had gotten along quite well, and it was as if they were a pair of old friends.
"Looks like that race must've invoked some type of insurmountable natural disaster that led to their disappearance; I don't think the actions of people could make an entire race disappear without any news emerging," Han Li speculated.
"Hehe, perhaps so. Oh, that looks like people from the trade guild coming to welcome us," Ying Gangzu said as he cast his gaze upward, just in time to see a white flying boat descending through the light barrier up above before approaching their flying carriage.
Han Li and Yin Gangzi exchanged a glance before waiting at the front of the carriage, which slowly drew to a halt.
Moments later, the white flying boat stopped beside the carriage, and a blue-robed man on the flying boat cast his gaze toward Han Li and Yin Gangzi before hurriedly extending a respectful bow.
"Welcome, Senior Han Li of the human race and Senior Yin Gangzi of the Sky Dread Race; I was instructed by Master Ming Zun to welcome you and guide you to Sky's Beyond."
"You recognize us? Looks like Fellow Daoist Ming must've shown you all of our portraits. Lead the way then," Yin Gangzi instructed in an expressionless manner.
"Yes, please come with me, Seniors," the blue-robed man replied in a respectful manner before turning the flying boat back around and flying on ahead.
The green flying carriage followed along at Yin Gangzi's behest, and around 15 minutes later, the carriage finally descended onto one of the massive levitating rocks in Sky's Beyond.
On this giant rock was a massive white hall, at the entrance of which stood two rows of armed trade guild guards.
Yin Gangzi stowed the flying carriage away before making his way toward the hall, and none of the guards made any effort to stop them.
After entering the hall and passing through a short corridor, Han Li and Yin Gangzi were greeted by the sight of Ming Zun in a cavernous room.
Ming Zun was currently conversing with a few other Grand Ascension Stage beings, but he immediately rose to his feet in an elated manner, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Yin, I didn't think the two of you would arrive together."
None of the other people in the room stood up, but all of them directed their attention toward Han Li's duo.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Han and I had a chance encounter on the edge of Baleful Cry Point, so we came here together. It's been several thousand years since we last met, but you're looking as healthy as ever, Brother Ming," Yin Gangzi said with a warm smile.
Meanwhile, Han Li merely extended an obligatory greeting toward Ming Zun before directing his attention toward the other people in the room.
