"Is it good-looking?"

Just as Han Li was engrossed in watching, a somewhat strange voice came from behind the mahogany desk.

Hearing this, Han Li quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw an old man with a lotus crown on his head and wearing a gray-white, old Daoist robe, leaning lazily on a wide armchair behind the desk. His hair was graying and disheveled, and his nose was slightly red. No matter how you looked at him, he seemed unkempt.

On either side of his waist, hung a gourd, one silver and one vermilion, each engraved with complex runes, which looked quite extraordinary.

"Good-looking," Han Li's heart stirred, and he answered.

"More good-looking than those fairies with big breasts and big buttocks?" The old man grunted, straightened up a bit, and said.

Han Li was slightly stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment.

This old man in front of him, from top to bottom, inside and out, exuded a strange aura.

However, since he was sitting here, he should be an elder in charge here, but he wasn't wearing the attire of an inner sect elder. Looking at the spiritual herb potted plant on the table and the two gourds on his body, they didn't seem like something ordinary people could possess.

What puzzled him the most was that the person's aura was very strange. When he probed with ordinary divine sense, he couldn't sense the person's specific cultivation realm.

"Senior, please don't jest with me. I'm here to receive a regular duty-level task," Han Li cupped his fist and said.

Since he couldn't see through the other party's depth, he felt it was safer to address him as Senior.

The old man, as if he hadn't heard Han Li's words, muttered to himself, "This job is really inhuman, so boring. It's more interesting to grow some flowers and plants..."

He leaned forward, took down the silver gourd from his waist, and with a "pop," pulled out the stopper at the mouth of the gourd. A scent full of honey immediately filled the entire side hall.

Han Li's eyes lit up when he smelled the scent. The silver gourd seemed to contain a spirit liquid blended after birth.

The old man glanced at Han Li's reaction and a smug smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He held up the gourd and slowly tilted the mouth, carefully pouring a drop of light golden liquid onto the root of the potted plant.

Golden light suddenly flourished on the potted plant, and golden rays of light, like liquid, slowly flowed from its roots, all the way to the branches and the ends of the pine needle-like leaves.

After repeating this several times, the golden light gradually disappeared.

Seeing this, the old man nodded with satisfaction, hung the silver gourd back on his waist, and took down the vermilion gourd on the other side.

Han Li thought he had other spirit liquids to use, but the old man slowly leaned back, pulled out the gourd stopper, and directly brought it to his mouth, drinking with a "glug, glug" sound.

A more intense smell immediately overflowed the entire hall, even covering up the fragrance of the original spirit liquid.

Obviously, this gourd didn't contain any spirit liquid, but an incomparably mellow wine.

Seeing this, Han Li was speechless, and his gaze turned to examine the potted spiritual herb.

After the old man had his fill of wine, he wiped his mouth. His nose, which was already slightly red, became even redder.

He glanced at Han Li, and seeing that he was very interested in his spiritual herb potted plant, looking at it as if he couldn't get enough, he became even more smug.

Little did he know that Han Li was already thinking about how to get this technique for himself, so that he wouldn't have to plant precious spiritual herbs in the medicine garden, and could directly plant them in his secret chamber.

"Boy, looking at the order in the Merit Points Book, the task you're taking is to go to Cloud Lake Island in the eastern overseas region of Gu Yun Continent, find the nest of a Mirage Essence Beast, and bring back its shed spiritual shell."

The old man took out a thick cyan book from somewhere, flipped to a page, pointed to the words on the page with one finger, and read it out word by word.

"Just retrieve the spiritual shell?" Han Li was slightly startled when he heard this.

"Hehe, boy, don't underestimate this Mirage Essence Beast. As far as I know, its strength has reached the mid True Immortal Realm. It's not easy to sneak into its nest and steal the spiritual shell," the old man glared at Han Li and said.

"Senior is right, I was reckless. I wonder if Senior has any other information about this beast here?" Han Li's heart stirred, and he quickly said.

"Seeing that you have good eyesight and are courteous enough to me, I'll give you a word of advice. This beast is usually in seclusion, but it leaves its nest for seven days every ten years to wreak havoc in various places. At this time, you will have a chance to take out its spiritual shell... If you're unlucky, you'll have to wait a few more years, but don't rush in rashly and lose your life in vain," the old man glanced at Han Li and said, shaking his head.

"Thank you for telling me, Senior," Han Li said.

"This task is not difficult, nor is it simple. As long as you have patience, there will naturally be no risk. The reward given by the sect is 200 merit points. After completion, come here to receive it," the old man glanced at the Merit Points Manual again and continued.

Han Li responded and handed over his Elder Token.

After receiving the task and obtaining the relevant map and information, he bid farewell and left the side hall.

In the sky above Tai Xuan Hall, Han Li pondered for a moment and decided to set off for Cloud Lake Island immediately.

This wasn't because he was overconfident in his cultivation, or eager to complete the task, but because he didn't know when the Mirage Essence Beast would leave its nest. If he delayed for a few days and arrived late, and the demon beast had just returned from wreaking havoc, wouldn't he have to wait another ten years to complete this task?

So it was best to arrive there early to avoid missing it.

With this in mind, Han Li immediately came to the Lin Chuan Hall in the square, and through the teleportation array, arrived at Wanghai Peak in the eastern Zhongming Mountain Range.

This mountain peak was already close to the eastern edge of the Zhongming Mountain Range, and was the farthest area Han Li had been able to reach by teleportation array so far.

Standing on the summit of this peak, looking east into the distance, with his eyesight, he could only see a thin black line at the end of his gaze, which was the Dongliu Sea area near the Zhongming Mountain Range.

Cloud Lake Island, the target of Han Li's trip, was one of the thousands of islands in this Dongliu Sea area.

He took out a copy of the sea area route map he had obtained from the sloppy old man and carefully examined it for a long time. Then, he found a direction, and with a burst of speed, he transformed into a long rainbow and flew away.

……

Several months later.

In the northeastern direction of the Dongliu Sea area, there was a huge island shaped like a lotus leaf, floating alone on the azure sea surface.

A huge lake, occupying one-tenth of the entire island's area, like a green pearl inlaid in the center of the island, and the water system branching out from it meandered around the island like the veins of a lotus leaf.

This lake is called "Cloudshade Lake," and is the freshwater source of Cloud Lake Island. It is also the origin of the entire island's name. The freshwater system branching out from it nourishes tens of millions of creatures on the island. Cities and towns, large and small, are distributed along the banks of these water systems.

To the west of Cloudshade Lake, there is a main tributary called "Sinking Sand River." Upstream, tens of thousands of miles away from Cloudshade Lake, on the left side of the river section, stands a huge city with a height of a hundred zhang, named Sinking Sand City.

As the name suggests, this city was built by collecting the unique black sinking sand in the Sinking Sand River. It has been nearly 100,000 years since the city was built. It not only houses millions of ordinary mortals, but also a immortal cultivation sect that has stood since the city was built.

It was evening, and the sky was getting dark, but the sun had not yet set.

A blood-red sunset was almost touching the sea surface, and its remaining light dyed most of the ocean blood-red, and also illuminated the tall city walls of Sinking Sand City into a blood-red color.

In the high sky, a cyan light swiftly came from the horizon and landed on the city head, revealing a figure from it.

This person was wearing a cyan robe, with a tall stature and unremarkable appearance, but his eyes were very deep and bright, flashing with captivating light. It was Han Li, who had traveled thousands of miles to come here.

His gaze swept over the city walls and houses below him, and his expression gradually became serious.

The city wall under his feet, which should have been as solid as gold, had collapsed for the most part, opening up a huge breach. Even the arrow towers on the city had been completely shattered, and he couldn't see any of their original appearance.

The remaining city walls, both inside and outside, were covered with blood. Some of it had already solidified and turned black, emitting a stench that made people want to vomit.

Everywhere in the city were collapsed and damaged houses. Among the ruins and broken walls, one could vaguely see many human limbs and corpses, as well as the remains of many poultry and livestock, all of which were bloody and miserable.

After the sunset gradually sank into the sea, the entire city was swallowed by a huge shadow and plunged into darkness. There was no sound in the city except for the wailing wind, and it was like a dead city.

Just then, Han Li's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and he saw a point of yellow light lit up in the central area of the city, as if someone had lit a bonfire.

His mind stirred, and his divine sense suddenly opened, covering the area.

After a moment, his toes tapped on the city head, and his whole person, like an arrow, suddenly shot away, falling towards the place where the bonfire was.

Only a loud "boom" was heard!

Han Li's figure heavily crashed into the center of a slightly open courtyard, directly shaking the entire courtyard violently. The surrounding houses, which were already crumbling, immediately collapsed completely, making a series of roars.

The bonfire lit in the center of the courtyard was also scattered by the impact, and a large number of scarlet sparks rose up.

The three people who had been gathered around the bonfire were suddenly frightened and knelt on the ground.

One of the brown-clothed youth and a middle-aged beautiful woman trembled with fear, and cold sweat dripped down. A black-skinned man was so frightened that he kowtowed like a pounding garlic, not daring to look up, and repeatedly shouted:

"Senior, spare my life, Senior, spare my life, we will leave now... we will leave now..."