“It seems there’s some trouble. It won't be easy to get across,” Han Li muttered to himself, retracting his gaze.

“The opposite island is only a few hundred zhang away from here. Are we really unable to leap across?” Shi Chuan Kong asked, gazing at the opposite shore.

Crab Daoren remained silent, bending down to pick up a palm-sized brown stone from the ground. He channeled hidden strength into his hand and hurled it fiercely toward the opposite island.

With a "whoosh," the stone shot out like a thin line, but its momentum suddenly ceased when it reached above the deep black mist.

As if struck head-on by an invisible palm in mid-air, the stone plummeted straight down into the black mist below and disappeared.

Han Li and the others listened intently, but after a long while, the sound of the stone hitting the ground never returned.

“It seems the depths below are unfathomable!” Shi Chuan Kong muttered, his gaze sweeping across the area below.

“If I'm not mistaken, beneath this black mist, there is nothing but endless void. Once you fall into it, you'll be trapped in a void space, falling endlessly, and no one knows when you'll reach the bottom. It's even highly likely that there is no bottom at all,” Han Li said slowly, watching the deep black mist, his purple eyes faintly flickering.

“This is troublesome. If that's the case, won't we be trapped on this tiny island? Judging by the situation on the island, it seems like night is when various strange beasts come out to roam, making it even more dangerous...” Shi Chuan Kong said, his brow furrowed.

Just as Han Li's gaze narrowed and he was about to speak, a loud "flapping" sound suddenly came from the other side of the black mist. He quickly focused his attention.

A strange, large bird with an unusually large head, an extremely long neck, and a stout body about two zhang tall was flapping its massive wings, almost skimming the black mist as it "flew" towards them.

Han Li's purple eyes flashed, and he immediately saw the bird's appearance clearly.

Its neck and head were covered in grayish-white down, while its body was covered in coarse, stiff cyan feathers. Its wings, when spread, were over ten zhang wide.

Its flying posture was very peculiar. Not only were its wings flapping vigorously, but its thick legs were also constantly treading in the void, making it look like a duck treading water on a lake. It was as awkward as could be.

However, miraculously, each time it treaded in the void, a ball of air seemed to explode beneath its feet, generating a recoil force that helped it resist the spatial pressure above the black mist, allowing it to traverse the void.

Seeing this, a look of delight flashed in Han Li's eyes, and he exclaimed:

“The cyan feathers on this bird seem to be different, greatly reducing the immense pressure exerted by the void. Coupled with the airballs exploding beneath its feet, it can fly across this black mist void. If we can capture it, perhaps we can try riding it to the other side.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the "flapping" sound in the black mist grew louder. Hundreds of strange, large birds, almost identical to the first one and maintaining the same bizarre posture, flew over together and landed in the direction of the island.

These birds ignored Han Li and the others, showing no fear. After landing, they began to run wildly on their two thick legs, charging towards the mountain ridge in the center of the island.

Seeing this, Han Li and the others quickly twisted their bodies, dodging among the flock of birds.

Before long, the birds roared past them and continued to rush towards the rear.

"Great! There are so many; enough for us!" Shi Chuan Kong breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled.

“Let's go, we'll follow them,” Han Li said immediately.

Thus, the three of them also quickly followed behind the flock of birds, running wildly.

However, the birds' running posture was also very different. It seemed like air was exploding beneath their feet as well. Each time they took a step, their bodies were bounced up by this force, covering a great distance with each stride, making them extremely fast.

Han Li and the others were unable to fly now, and their speed was somewhat lacking, relying solely on their physical strength to chase after them.

Han Li was slightly better off, but Shi Chuan Kong and Crab Daoren were even more inadequate, already lagging behind by more than ten li.

As they were chasing, the sun had completely set, and faint starlight had already appeared on the deep, drooping sky above the wilderness.

Han Li dared not relax his mind. While running along the way, he still glanced at his surroundings from the corner of his eye.

One after another, dark shadows emerged from nowhere on the desolate plain. Some were as large as tigers and leopards, while others were as small as snakes and rats. They were all silently lying prostrate on the ground, as if waiting for something.

Han Li was surprised and suspicious but did not stop to investigate, still chasing after the flock of strange, large birds.

By the time they finally caught up to the mountain ridge, night had completely fallen. There were no clouds in the sky, and a lone moon hung high, surrounded by a dense array of glittering stars.

Beneath the stars, Han Li and the others saw an astonishing scene.

As far as the eye could see on the mountain ridge, hundreds of thousands of white-armored crabs crawled from the ridge down to the area below, gradually spreading out to the more level ground around it.

At this time, the shells of the white-armored crabs were all glowing with hazy white light, like small, bean-sized lamps. Spreading across the mountains and fields, they seemed to create another starry sky on the plain, making it extremely beautiful!

Standing on the mountain ridge, Han Li looked around and saw that it wasn't just the white-armored crabs that were emitting these fluorescent white lights. Countless strange beasts of all sizes on the island also had them, though the light was mostly on their heads.

Within that light, he sensed a faint, yet familiar power.

It was the power he had used when cultivating the Great Zhou Heavenly Stellar Art – the power of the stars!

The more Han Li looked, the more surprised and uncertain he became. Could it be that in this desolate Scale Accumulation Void Realm, these white-armored crabs and strange beasts were able to survive and cultivate by absorbing the power contained in the stars at night?

While he was pondering, a series of "clicking" sounds rang out.

Han Li quickly shifted his gaze and saw the strange, large birds that had flown here earlier, stretching out their necks and pecking at the white-armored crabs on the ground with their sharp, black beaks.

Under the starlight, these white-armored crabs only caused small-scale commotions, but did not flee on a large scale, nor did they attack the strange birds like they did when they devoured giant lizards and centipedes during the day.

On the distant island plain, there were also faint sounds of chaotic roars. Han Li looked up and could vaguely see some larger strange beasts devouring smaller ones.

“So they’ve come here to forage for food. Should we make a move now?” Shi Chuan Kong said, eager to try.

“Wait a bit longer. Attacking now will likely attract unnecessary trouble. Let's slowly approach and find a suitable spot,” Han Li said, shaking his head, his gaze sweeping around.

The three of them then crawled forward, each finding a relatively high place with cover and hiding themselves.

About half an hour later, the strange, large birds seemed to have finished eating and began to stride off in the direction they had come from, one by one.

Seeing this, Han Li immediately made a gesture to Shi Chuan Kong.

As soon as the sound started, Shi Chuan Kong's figure moved.

He leaned his body, pushed off the ground with his legs, and ran swiftly with the flock of birds. When a strange bird ran past him, he suddenly leaped up and flipped onto the bird's back.

Just as he was about to land on the bird's back, the bird suddenly tilted its body and raised a thick leg, kicking it fiercely towards Shi Chuan Kong's chest.

Shi Chuan Kong never expected that this seemingly foolish and clumsy strange bird would be so agile and quick. He had no time to dodge and was kicked in the chest by its huge foot, which only had four toes.

"Not good," he thought to himself, and bursts of cracking sounds rang out on his body.

With a series of "bang, bang, bang" sounds, Xuan Qiao light points on Shi Chuan Kong’s chest actually lit up one by one, and a layer of hazy light seemed to envelop his body.

Just as the ninth Xuan Qiao on his chest lit up, a sound of air explosion rang out.

A black pore, as thick as a thumb, could be seen beneath the strange bird's foot, and an invisible force suddenly erupted from it, exploding on Shi Chuan Kong's chest.

Shi Chuan Kong only felt a tremendous force suddenly strike his chest. He couldn't help but gasp for air, and his body flew backward like a ripe shrimp, crashing heavily to the ground and rolling for more than a dozen circles before barely stopping.

On the other side, Han Li was about to jump onto the back of a strange bird when he caught sight of this scene from the corner of his eye. His rising body suddenly sank downward, and the strange bird, like the previous one, raised its leg and kicked towards Han Li’s side, but he managed to dodge it.

Han Li’s figure slid under the strange bird and flipped up from the other side, directly riding on it.

The huge strange bird only trembled slightly when he pressed down on it, then regained its balance and continued to run forward without stopping.

Having been warned by Han Li, Crab Daoren naturally didn’t try to make a move. Instead, he stepped forward to check on Shi Chuan Kong's condition.

The latter had already gotten up from the ground and was patting the dust off his body and the white-armored crabs that were clinging to his clothes. His expression was normal, and he didn't seem to be injured.

“These strange birds seem to have air vents on the soles of their feet. The impact force created when they spew out is really not weak. No wonder they can walk in the air in those black mist areas,” Shi Chuan Kong said somewhat awkwardly when he saw Crab Daoren looking at him.

After saying that, he didn't care what Crab Daoren’s reaction was and looked toward Han Li.

At this time, Han Li was riding on the back of the strange bird, clutching its long neck tightly with both hands. His body was rising and falling with the bird's movements, looking a bit comical, but overall, he seemed stable. The strange bird’s movements didn’t seem to be greatly affected.

However, at this moment, the huge strange bird's head suddenly turned sharply, almost twisting directly around. Its sharp beak, gleaming with dark light, was like a black dagger, stabbing fiercely towards Han Li's left eye.

The speed was astonishing!