Chapter 1386

These two giant beasts, at first glance, seemed like two giant apes, but their entire bodies were covered in unusually long green 'hair', and they each had three black eyes that rotated simultaneously, making them appear exceptionally alert.

Han Li silently watched as the two long-'hair' beasts walked from beneath the trees and gradually faded into the distance before his figure flickered and he reappeared beneath the giant tree.

Gazing in the direction the giant beasts had disappeared, a trace of surprise and doubt appeared on his face.

These two creatures, seemingly on patrol, were naturally not of the Wood Tribe, but why would they appear in the Black Leaf Forest? The enormous bronze forks they carried on their shoulders clearly indicated they possessed high intelligence.

Could they be another unknown foreign tribe?

Han Li pondered for a moment, then unconsciously shook his head.

According to his knowledge, the Wood Tribe was extremely xenophobic; under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for foreign tribes to move about so openly within their territory. Could these be war beasts trained by the Wood Tribe?

Han Li thought to himself.

So-called war beasts are essentially the same as spirit beasts, merely called by a different name. Like the human and demon races, they use various secret arts to refine and command spirit beasts, while other foreign tribes understand how to train ancient beasts using 'medicinal' substances or other methods to make them serve their masters.

Of course, due to differing racial talents, the types of beasts that can be trained and controlled vary greatly. Moreover, not all ancient beasts can be tamed.

The double-headed monster beast he had previously seen belonging to the Shadow Tribe was indeed a powerful war beast unique to that tribe, though such ancient beasts could likely only be subdued by the Shadow Tribe.

As for the Wood Tribe, according to his knowledge, they had previously had no war beasts at all—could these be newly successfully trained ones?

Han Li mulled over these doubts for a long time, but ultimately decided not to dwell on the matter further.

Since these long-'hair' beasts failed to detect him even at close range, they were likely of the thick-skinned, tough-fleshed variety and not worth fearing.

With his mind made up, Han Li's figure flickered and transformed into a phantom before vanishing.

……

One day later, beneath a large tree in the forest, Han Li's face wore a grim expression as he stared at the eight long-'hair' beasts before him.

These beasts, resembling giant apes, differed from the previous two: not only were their bodies reduced to about half the size, but their entire forms were fiery red in color, and instead of bronze forks, they held eight jet-black, gleaming wolf-tooth clubs.

The eight giant beasts bared their teeth and glared at Han Li, exuding a fierce and aggressive aura.

Han Li's mouth twitched slightly.

Originally, he had assumed these long-'hair' beasts would have extremely dull spiritual perception, but just moments ago, when this troop passed nearby, they instantly detected him hiding behind a tree and immediately surrounded him.

As Han Li watched the third eye on the foreheads of these eight monsters continuously flash with black light, his brows furrowed, and he faintly realized something.

When he had encountered the two green-'hair' beasts earlier, their third eyes had seemed tightly shut.

At this moment, the eight red-colored monsters let out a low roar from their mouths, then leapt forward simultaneously, swinging their wolf-tooth clubs with fierce force.

The surfaces of these weapons instantly flared with a green glow, while several gusts of violent wind surged straight toward Han Li, aiming to crush him from above.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, made no attempt to dodge, and simply flicked his sleeve robe calmly toward the sky.

Eight golden 'color' small swords flashed into view, then in an instant transformed into eight golden threads that 'shot' out, circling the eight long-'hair' beasts once.

With a few 'puff puff' sounds, the eight large heads rolled off like chopped vegetables.

When the eight golden threads of light flashed and reformed into small swords, then trembled and flew 'shot' back, eight corpses mixed with emerald-green 'color' fresh blood had already crashed heavily to the ground.

Han Li's other long sleeve swept over the corpses, and eight crimson fireballs flew out, striking the bodies.

After a few soft sounds, they instantly turned to ashes in the red firelight.

Having done all this, Han Li's expression remained blank as his figure flickered, trailing a string of afterimages before vanishing once more into the forest.

Han Li did not notice that, shortly after he left, on the thick trunk of a nearby giant tree, two points of green light suddenly flashed, and two green eyes about a foot wide opened, their emerald 'color' eyeballs turning twice without emotion before slowly fixing on the direction where his figure had disappeared, unblinking.

At a distance of tens of thousands of li from this spot, beneath an inconspicuous large tree sheltered by other trees, a pair of eyes with a faint green glow similarly opened.

In the direction this pair of green eyes gazed, over a hundred feet away in a slightly open clearing, a man and a woman stood shoulder to shoulder— the man in a purple robe, the woman in a black skirt, clearly Long Dong and Xiao Hong.

The two were moving their lips slightly, transmitting sound to each other, while on the ground nearby lay more than a dozen corpses of red and green long-'hair' beasts.

"Long Brother, these things seem weak in strength, but how could they see through our concealment technique? My Phantom Xia Banner, even cultivators of the same level cannot see through it." The young 'woman' frowned slightly as she transmitted her words.

"Probably related to their third demon eye. Generally, beasts born with multiple eyes possess some special divine abilities. If so, we must be even more cautious." Long Dong's face also showed some surprise, but he replied in this manner.

"Most likely so. Let's set out—we must arrive there before that little girl. Otherwise, that item might very well fall into her hands." The young 'woman's' expression suddenly darkened.

"Hehe! I never expected you and that girl to participate in this mission—indeed, you harbor such schemes. Unfortunately, this item is of little use to our Long family, like chicken ribs. But Fairy, don't forget our prior agreement: the item goes to you, the person belongs to me." Long Dong let out a strange, soft laugh, yet spoke sternly.

"Hmph, although I also greatly desire the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix, compared to major affairs of our clan, what is more important and what is less, I am still quite clear about." The young 'woman' let out a cold snort.

"Haha, that's good. Let's go!" The youth with a blood mole laughed heartily.

Immediately, the two figures flickered and vanished into the nearby forest just the same.

In another direction, a path of extraordinarily faint white 'color' phantom was swiftly shooting through the forest ground, its escape speed so fast it seemed almost unbelievable……

In a heavily restricted and extremely hidden part of the Black Leaf Forest, beneath a six- or seven-zhang-tall silver 'color' small tree, several dark human figures sat cross-legged; one of them suddenly strained his eyes open, 'revealing' a pair of emerald eyeballs with four 'rays' of golden light shooting forth, and then let out several short, strange sounds from his mouth.

The other nearby figures also opened their eyes simultaneously; among them, a figure towering far above the others suddenly spoke in a voice full of dignity, as if asking something.

The figure who had first opened his eyes immediately dropped to the ground, kneeling respectfully and replying with a few sentences.

After listening, the latter immediately lowered his voice and issued a command.

The other several figures immediately rose to their feet, scattering around the silver 'color' small tree and standing in place.

The towering figure let out a loud shout, pointed a single finger at the small tree, and instantly a green line 'shot' out, flashing briefly before vanishing into the silver 'color' small tree.

Immediately, the silver 'color' small tree violently trembled, then suddenly opened its entire body with only silver 'color' light eyes, and simultaneously flashed, 'shooting' out several thick silver 'color' light pillars, each as thick as a bowl's mouth, each striking precisely upon one of the figures.

An unbelievable scene appeared.

The figures struck by the light pillars blurred slightly in form, then vanished completely from sight.

Meanwhile, Han Li, naturally unaware that his movements had already been observed by others, continued to appear and disappear furtively in the forest.

The latter part of the journey went surprisingly smoothly; aside from occasionally encountering a few isolated long-'hair' beasts, he met not a single Wood Tribe member along the way.

This made Han Li feel delighted, yet he could not help but grow suspicious and uneasy.

But after a moment's thought, given the vast expanse of the Black Leaf Forest, it was not strange that he had not encountered the Wood Tribe in such a short time.

This mission concerned the Extinction Dust Pill; he had already penetrated deep into the forest, so naturally he could not turn back now.

Even if he felt a hint of unease, Han Li merely added a bit more caution, but his feet never stopped moving for even a moment.

……

Two days later, Han Li stopped on a thin tree branch, his body swaying with the wind as if weightless, but his eyes fixed on a small hill about a hundred zhang high not far away.

The trees on the hill were extremely sparse; aside from a few ancient trees that had stood for ages, there was no other vegetation.

After observing the hill for half a day, Han Li suddenly flipped one hand, and a dark, mysterious triangular magic disk appeared out of nowhere.

At the center of the disk, a speck of 'milky' 'white' light flickered unstably.

After staring at the disk for a while and then glancing at the distant hill, he made a hand seal and shot a streak of green light toward the disk.

Instantly, the disk flashed with black light; the 'milky' 'white' speck shot out, spun rapidly on the disk, and then spat out a thin white thread that unmistakably pointed to an ancient tree on the hill.

Han Li's eyes twitched.

This tree was actually a half-withered remnant among the ancient trees, over thirty zhang tall, its upper half scorched black as if struck by lightning, while the lower half was somewhat yellowish, and near the roots, it showed a faint greenish tinge.

Han Li watched for a moment, then suddenly closed his eyes and slowly extended his spiritual sense, carefully searching the vicinity.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, revealing a trace of relieved 'color'.

Indeed, there was no one nearby, and nothing unusual at all.

Han Li did not descend immediately; after narrowing his eyes in thought for a moment, he flicked his sleeve, and several silver-glossy beads appeared in his hand. Then, opening his mouth, he let out a "puchi" sound, and a fist-sized silver-'colored' firebird spat out from his mouth.

After the firebird circled his body once, it shrank to about a foot long, lunged toward his palm, and actually swallowed several silver beads in one gulp. Then, after a flash, it burrowed into the ground and vanished without a trace.

After doing this, Han Li swept his hand over his storage bracelet, and another stack of azure-hued formation flags appeared in his hand. Without a word, he threw them forward in that direction.

Seven or eight streaks of green light shot out 'like arrows', instantly sinking into the surroundings of the hill and disappearing.

Han Li made hand seals and silently chanted a few incantations.

Immediately, a layer of green-'colored' spiritual light appeared around the hill, but as soon as Han Li activated his spell, it flickered faintly a few times and then vanished completely.

Seeing this, Han Li exhaled lightly, his body elongated as he leapt down from the branch. After a few flashes, he reached the edge of the hill.

A flash of green light, and the entire person vanished without a trace.

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