Chapter 1696: Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact

A ferocious look appeared on the Sea Monarch man’s face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion with a single hand, upon which the trident that was originally strapped to his back abruptly appeared in his hand amid a flash of blue light.

Immediately thereafter, arcs of silver lightning appeared around the sharp tips of the weapon, and it began to emanate an extremely astonishing aura.

"Wait!"

"Brother Shi, stop!"

Liu Shui’er and the seductive Sea Monarch woman exclaimed in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the Sea Monarch woman began to transmit her voice to her companion.

"Have you forgotten what we came here for? This is not the time to be engaging in unnecessary battles; we still have an important mission that we need to carry out."

The Sea Monarch man stopped cold in his tracks upon hearing this before transmitting his voice in reply, "We can just release the Nine-eyed Holy Whale and kill these three with ease!" He clearly didn’t think that Han Li’s trio could pose a threat to them at all.

"I’ve managed to persuade the Nine-eyed Holy Whale to accompany us, but it’s best not to release it unless we absolutely have to. Otherwise, if we were to ask it to go into battle for us too many times, it could become enraged and turn on us. After all, I don’t possess much of the royal bloodline within my body, so I can only just barely communicate with the holy whale. Besides, we may be allies of the Jiao Chi Race, but we’re not direct enemies of the Heavenly Cloud Races; there’s no need to engage in such a pointless battle," the Sea Monarch woman persuaded.

"I see..." The Sea Monarch man became rather hesitant upon hearing this.

At the same time, Liu Shui’er also transmitted her voice to Shi Kun.

"Brother Shi, we’ve just managed to shake off those Dark Beasts, and both of us have expended a lot of magic power. Those two Sea Monarch beings certainly aren’t to be underestimated; even if we can take them down with Brother Han’s help, there’s no way we’d be able to emerge unscathed. Our main objective is to find the restricted ruins, so it’s best not to draw unnecessary trouble to ourselves"

Shi Kun wore a dark expression on his face as he replied, "Even if we don’t want to fight, they may not be of the same opinion."

"Rest assured, Brother Shi. Allow me to converse with them first, and if they really do harbor ill intentions and insist on a fight, we certainly won’t have to fear them with Brother Han on our side." Liu Shui’er’s voice also cooled slightly as she spoke.

After that, she transmitted her voice to Han Li and said something to him as well, in response to which Han Li nodded slowly in agreement.

After that, a smile appeared on Liu Shui’er’s face, and she said in a pleasant voice, "Our Heavenly Cloud Races don’t seem to have any direct conflict with your Sea Monarch Race, so there’s no need for us to fight one another. I can tell that you’re not entirely confident in your abilities to kill the three of us either, so why don’t we just go our separate ways and pretend as if this encounter never happened?"

"My thoughts exactly, Sister. The two of us aren’t Jiao Chi beings, so there’s certainly no vendetta between us. In that case, we’ll be taking our leave now," the Sea Monarch woman agreed as a vibrant smile appeared on her face.

After that, she turned to her companion with a meaningful look, and the white Qi encompassing her lower body swelled to sweep up the Sea Monarch man as well.

The man hesitated momentarily, but didn’t raise any objections in the end.

Thus, the clouds of white Qi around their lower bodies combined together, and they flew into the distance as a ball of white light, disappearing from view after just a few flashes.

Han Li remained still on the spot, yet his brows were slightly furrowed as he looked on at the direction the two Sea Monarch beings had departed in.

For some reason, the Sea Monarch woman had two completely different auras within her body, and she struck him with a sense of uneasiness, as if she were quite a dangerous being.

It seemed that she had either cultivated some kind of powerful ability or was carrying a fearsome treasure. Han Li neglected to consider the possibility that a spirit beast could be responsible for this sense of foreboding he was feeling as under normal circumstances, most spirit beasts were far weaker than their masters and could only play minor assistance roles in battle. After all, not all spirit beasts were mature Gold Devouring Beetles and Weeping Soul Beasts.

After that, Han Li’s trio didn’t remain there for much longer. After a brief discussion, all three of them also departed toward another direction.

Meanwhile, the cloud of white Qi had already sped to thousands of kilometers away, and within it, the pair of Sea Monarch beings were also conversing with one another with grim expressions on their faces.

"What? You’re saying that seventh-tier upper race being is even more dangerous than the other two?" the man exclaimed with a bewildered look on his face.

"I’m sure of it. That was why I insisted on avoiding a battle back there. It’s just that the situation at the time wasn’t appropriate for me to explain this to you," the Sea Monarch woman confirmed in a confident voice as she gently stroked her shoulder-length back hair.

The Sea Monarch man recomposed himself before asking, "I’m sure you’re not saying this without any evidence; why don’t you tell me how you came to this conclusion?"

The woman was silent for a moment before replying, "My Profound Heavenly Treasure replica, the Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact, displayed a reaction just then."

"What? Your Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact reacted to him? Could it be that he also has one as well?" the Sea Monarch exclaimed in an astonished manner.

"Perhaps so, but it may not be the case. The holy artifact within my body reacted extremely vehemently on this occasion, seemingly more so than when I’ve encountered other beings carrying such artifacts in the past," the woman replied in a slow voice.

"If it’s not a holy artifact, then it can only be a Profound Heavenly Treasure! There’s no way a seventh-tier upper race being could be carrying something like that. Haha, you must’ve been overly sensitive." The man suddenly burst into raucous laughter.

"Perhaps I really was mistaken back there. After all, the elders only gave me this treasure that was specifically made to detect Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts right before this trip, so I may not yet be accustomed to its reactions. However, even if there’s only a one percent chance that that man has a Profound Heavenly Treasure, then we can’t afford to engage him in battle," the woman sighed.

"There’s a vast difference between Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts and Profound Heavenly Treasures. If he really does possess one of the latter, then even with the Nine-eyed Holy Whale on our side, we would’ve been killed for sure. If that were the case, then we’ve really just brushed shoulders with death," the man said with a wry smile.

"That’s not necessarily the case. Possessing a Profound Heavenly Treasure and being able to use one are two completely different concepts. Generally speaking, there’s no way for a mere upper race being to be able to use a Profound Heavenly Treasure. However, there are a few extremely rare secret techniques that can allow beings of this caliber to unleash a small portion of a Profound Heavenly Treasure’s power. Having said that, I think that man isn’t actually carrying a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Instead, I think it’s more likely that he’s carrying a top-grade Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact that is extremely close to replicating a true Profound Heavenly Treasure. Even so, it would still be very unwise to engage him in battle," the woman analyzed.

"Indeed, you’ve made the right decision there," the man immediately agreed with a nod.

"In any case, our objective is definitely different from theirs, so it’s quite unlikely that we’ll encounter them again, which means we don’t need to think about them any further. As long as we can complete the mission assigned to us by our race, we’ll be given handsome rewards following our return. Come to think of it, we’re actually very lucky. Only through the efforts of our predecessors that entered the Vast Glacial Realm was this opportunity opened up to us," the woman said with a smile.

"That’s true. No matter how dangerous that man is, it has nothing to do with us. We should focus on the task at hand. By the way, that group of Jiao Chi beings that we encountered a few days ago also seemed to be going in the same direction as those Heavenly Cloud beings; they’re not going to bump into each other, are they?" A peculiar look flashed through the man’s eyes.

"Who knows? The Vast Glacial Realm is an extremely huge place, so it’s probably quite unlikely that they’ll encounter one another. However, one thing is for sure; if their paths do cross, the outcome certainly won’t be a peaceful one like ours. If we could witness the battle between them, perhaps I’d be able to figure out what kind of treasure that man is carrying." The woman’s eyes lit up slightly as she spoke.

"Hehe, there’s no way that we’ll be able to witness that in person, even if it does happen. Let’s keep going; we should be able to get to our destination in a month or so," the man chuckled, and before the woman had a chance to respond, he immediately accelerated into the distance.

The woman naturally had no objections, and spiritual light flashed from her body as she also sped up as well.

Han Li was naturally unaware of the fact that the Sea Monarch woman had seen through one of his secrets.

Of course, even the Sea Monarch woman herself was unaware that the treasure that she’d detected was only the blade segment that Han Li was carrying. As for the Profound Heavenly Fruit that was sealed within his arm, that was beyond the detection capabilities of the Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact within her body.

At this moment, Han Li was currently flying slowly over the boundless grasslands alongside Shi Kun and Liu Shui’er.

"Brother Han, are you suggesting that we rest here for several days before continuing onward? There’s no need for that, is there? Brother Shi and I did indeed expend some magic power back in the Dark Beast Forest, but as long as we travel at a slower pace and the two of us use spirit stones to replenish our energy, we’ll be able to recover along the way," Liu Shui’er said with a surprised look on her face.

"You’re not wrong, but this Vast Glacial Realm seems to be far more perilous than we anticipated. Just that Dark Beast Forest alone had been an extremely treacherous place, and I’m sure the rest of our journey won’t be much better. As such, I think it’s best that we take some time to recover before we encounter any other perilous situations. Besides, I’m sure you’ve also expended some of the power of your true essence rather than just your magic power, right, Fairy Liu?" Han Li asked with a meaningful smile.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Brother Han. It’s just that if we were to delay here over something so trivial..." Liu Shui’er was becoming rather hesitant.

"Brother Han’s right, Fairy Liu. It would be unwise to continue in our journey without replenishing our magic power first. I also need to rest and recuperate for a few days, so why don’t we find a safe place nearby to meditate for a while?" Shi Kun sided with Han Li on this matter.