Besides the giant clam and other gains, Zhang Ling also found Hai Hongtao's storage bag within the silver giant clam.
However, it had been damaged by the fire flame sword talisman that he had used at the end. It only contained a pile of broken magical artifacts and some spirit stone fragments, with nothing of value left.
This experience could be described as fraught with danger. Although there weren't many direct threats, being in the illusion was the most perilous.
And finally, killing the silver giant clam had exhausted the power of the talisman treasure and two sword talismans. Now, he had no powerful killing weapons in his hands.
More than an hour later, after sorting out the contents of the storage bag, Zhang Ling directly controlled his magical instrument to fly back towards Windless Valley.
Only he was left alive in their five-person team, which was also a problem. He had to think about how to explain this to the higher-ups.
In the blink of an eye, a day had passed. Looking at the vast sea, he had no idea how far he was from Windless Valley. He also didn't know where the coral island he had stayed on before was.
Zhang Ling could only fly northeast, hoping to return quickly. Danger existed at every moment in this boundless sea.
Especially during this period of rising sea levels, the number of sea beasts had greatly increased. After flying with his instrument for so long, another two days passed.
But things in life are unpredictable. At noon on the third day, the originally clear sky instantly turned dark, and large patches of dark clouds blocked the sunlight.
Almost in an instant, the sea surface was swept by strong winds, and booming thunder rumbled continuously. Bean-sized raindrops fell down with a crackling sound.
Cumulonimbus clouds were dark and oppressive, so low that it was suffocating. Blue-purple electric light jumped in the boundless dark clouds, but no thunder could be heard falling, as if it was gathering power.
The sea also stirred up waves. This situation seemed like a storm was about to arrive.
Zhang Ling looked at the sky. Such weather was no longer suitable for flying. He began to look for a place to stay and avoid the storm.
After a quarter of an hour, the sky had become as dark as night, with constant lightning and thunder. The sound of wind and rain raged on the sea under the dark clouds, and gusts of whistling wind resounded between heaven and earth.
Standing on a stone mountain on a small island, Zhang Ling saw this scene and sighed in his heart. It was the first time he had seen such a storm at sea.
This kind of weather wasn't much for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but flying outside would consume several times more spiritual power than usual.
It seemed he could only wait for the storm to pass before leaving. Zhang Ling found a place on the island and used the flying sword in his hand to open up a small stone cave about ten feet in size, sitting inside to meditate.
He waited for a full day, and it wasn't until the next morning that the storm weakened. Zhang Ling also re-controlled the magical artifact and left the island.
But he immediately discovered that the surrounding sea hadn't calmed down. Instead, it was turbulent, with waves sweeping in and the sea level rising a lot.
This startled him, and he thought of the news he had heard before. It was said that there would be an even larger wave of sea beasts attacking.
Could it be that the time had come? Zhang Ling increased his speed and flew towards the location of Windless Valley.
But before he had flown for long, he encountered several sea beasts attacking. At first, they were just some low-level sea beasts, but soon after, a third-order black-skinned shark emerged from the sea to attack.
Although he was flying in the sky with his instrument, the third-order sea beast was no slower than him in the sea.
Zhang Ling didn't want to fight this sea beast in the sea, so he directly controlled the magical instrument to fly into the high sky. When he reached a height of fifty feet above the sea, the sea beast's attack couldn't reach him.
This wasn't safe either. If he encountered demon birds and other avian demon beasts, he would also be attacked. Fortunately, the storm had just passed, and no avian demon beasts had appeared yet.
Zhang Ling held a medium-grade earth-attribute spirit stone in his hand, replenishing his consumed spiritual power while flying.
After two hours of peace, he suddenly saw a huge mountain peak hundreds of feet high not far ahead. What was strange was that the mountain peak was cyan-blue, with a layer of ink-like black light flowing on it. It wasn't ordinary mountain rock.
Was this an island!
Zhang Ling looked at the somewhat abrupt mountain peak and became suspicious. The size of the mountain peak exposed above the sea was also several miles wide. It was bare and without any plants, which was very unusual.
Looking at the color of the mountain rock, it was also very strange. Zhang Ling couldn't help but fly to the front of the mountain peak and carefully looked at it. This mountain was so strange, and it was covered with black light. Could it be a spirit mine?
Could it be that his luck was good and he had discovered an entire spirit mine? This kind of thing was also recorded in some cultivation memoirs.
When he was in Windless Valley, he had also been to the market a few times. Some classics recorded the deeds of cultivators exploring the Boundless Sea.
Speaking of which, the Boundless Sea was also a rich treasure land. Cultivators often went out to sea to hunt sea beasts. They would also discover some spirit mines and other resources.
Looking at the cyan-blue mountain hundreds of feet high, if it was really a spirit mine, he wouldn't be able to take it away. But if he reported it to the high-level cultivators, he might be able to exchange it for a lot of resources.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ling pursed his lips. Arriving at the middle of the mountain peak, the cyan-blue mountain rock was smooth, with some mysterious dark patterns on it, and strands of black gas wrapped around it.
Zhang Ling released his divine sense to explore it, but his divine sense was bounced away as soon as it touched the mountain rock. His brows furrowed. Could this be a special spirit mine that could block the invasion of divine sense?
Then he flew around the mountain for a distance of twenty feet. All around were this kind of cyan-blue smooth mountain rock, which looked like a whole piece of mountain rock without a trace of cracks.
Searching through the classics he had read in his mind, there was no spirit mine corresponding to this mountain rock.
Zhang Ling thought for a moment, flipped his hand, and the flying sword appeared in his hand. He slashed out a yellow sword light, hitting the mountain rock.
But to his surprise, the sword light only sparked a few sparks when it hit it, without a trace on it. Zhang Ling then injected a large amount of spiritual power into the flying sword and slashed out with all his strength, but still didn't leave a trace on it.
He also released fireballs, ice cones, and other types of methods to attack the cyan-blue mountain wall, but still without any effect. This really shocked Zhang Ling.
What kind of spirit mine was this? A full-strength attack didn't leave any damage, not even a trace.
Zhang Ling couldn't help but think in his mind, constantly searching through the classics he had read. Even some legendary spirit mines didn't correspond to this cyan-blue mountain rock.
Hehe!
Zhang Ling smiled bitterly. Was it that he had little knowledge, or was this not a spirit mine? If he couldn't break even a trace, then his desire to bring back a piece for research was shattered.
This kind of mountain rock was so strange, it must be a material he had never seen before, and its value was extraordinary.
Zhang Ling circled around and marked the location. He couldn't take a piece of mountain rock, nor could he move this mountain. He could only leave a mark first, and report it to those high-level cultivators when he returned to Windless Valley.
