Chapter 1574

The wooden house gate at the foot of the mountain, flashing with white light, had not been opened for over ten days since the 'woman' and the girl left.

At this time, the defenses on Huoyun Island became several times stricter.

Not only did the Huoyang tribe snake people on the island no longer leave to hunt and gather materials, but over a hundred thousand tribe members had all retreated into the earthen city, and several major restrictions in the city were opened one by one without sparing spirit stones.

The earthen walls, which originally seemed incapable of withstanding attack, were instantly enveloped by three layers of red, yellow, and green light curtains.

Moreover, within the earthen city, as many as several thousand elite snake people, fully armed, took turns patrolling the city, while at the center, all the Huoyang tribe priests gathered together, under the guidance of the 'woman' and the girl, sitting in meditation in the main hall to nurture their essence and energy.

This main hall was similarly submerged in another layer of five-colored light and mist, suggesting some profound mystery, and the source of the five-colored light and mist was none other than the conical magical artifact in the center of the square.

As for the ordinary snake people in the earthen city, they had received prior instructions from the tribe's higher-ups, rarely going out, mostly staying at home.

Under such strict defenses, the earthen city unknowingly gave rise to an astonishing killing intent.

On this day, as the 'woman', the girl, and the assorted priests in the main hall quietly waited to nurture their qi, a faint voice suddenly pierced the restriction and echoed leisurely in the hall:

"Fellow Daoist of Fire, I have already refined the medicinal pill and emerged from seclusion. I hope you will lift the restriction and allow Han to enter."

This voice was none other than Han Li's!

Upon hearing this voice, the remaining white-robed priests stirred with commotion, while the 'woman' revealed a look of great joy on her face.

To say she had not previously worried whether Han Li would break his promise and not come would naturally be somewhat false. But with the extermination crisis imminent, there was fundamentally no second choice. Giving the pill to the other party might gain a powerful ally; not giving it would mean even this slim chance would be lost.

Clearly, she had guessed correctly—Han Li was indeed not the type to go back on his word.

Overjoyed, the 'woman' flipped her wrist, and a brilliant red jade plate suddenly appeared in her hand; she then tapped it several times with her finger.

The five-colored light and mist protecting the main hall flickered, instantly parting to reveal a gap, but after a few breaths, the light and mist flickered again and sealed as before.

At that very moment, golden light flashed at the hall's gate, and a strange figure appeared there, walking calmly into the hall.

The figure wore a green robe, had an ordinary face, but his eyes shone with flowing luster—it was Han Li.

His complexion, compared to just over ten days ago, was completely different, clearly showing that the medicinal power of the Blazing Yang Divine Pill was indeed extraordinary.

"Thank you, Mr., for coming to assist; has your magic power been fully restored?" the 'woman' rose eagerly to greet him and asked enthusiastically.

The girl named Zhu'er, though somewhat reluctant, could only rise as well, pursing her lips slightly.

"Although the Blazing Yang Pill is extraordinary, the injuries I sustained are truly beyond the ordinary; I have only recovered seven or eight tenths. The remaining portion cannot be healed by medicinal power. However, if the enemy clan is not too strong, I believe I can still contribute some strength." Han Li said with a slight smile.

Upon hearing that Han Li had not fully restored his divine powers, the 'woman's' expression changed slightly, but upon hearing his confident words afterward, her heart leapt with joy again.

It seemed his divine powers should still be within—no, above—estimation; otherwise, how could he speak with such boldness?

Many of the Huoyang tribe priests in the hall had seen Han Li before, while others were seeing this "Mr. Han" for the first time.

Han Li's arrival naturally provoked a murmur of whispered conversation among them.

Han Li paid no heed to the various gazes of delight and suspicion from either side.

The 'woman' welcomed him to sit beside her; after exchanging a few polite words, he closed his eyes and said nothing more.

After the 'woman' swept her stern gaze across both sides, the snake people who had been whispering were startled and immediately fell silent.

The entire main hall returned to tranquility.

But at this moment, Han Li felt a gaze still cautiously directed at him; he immediately raised his eyebrows and snapped his eyes open, meeting a pair of pitch-black, extraordinary pupils.

It was none other than Zhu'er, sitting beside the 'woman', cautiously glancing over.

As soon as Han Li looked at her, the girl's eyes flashed with a hint of fright, and she quickly averted her gaze.

It seemed that when delivering the pill earlier, the Wihun had nearly sucked away her divine sense, which had truly frightened the girl greatly.

Han Li's mouth curled slightly, a hint of a smile flashed across his face, and he closed his eyes again, then silently pondered everything before him.

The Blazing Yang Divine Pill, after he used the Soul-Devouring Firebird to absorb all the fire spiritual power within it, was easily swallowed and refined by him.

The 'woman' did not exaggerate the pill's medicinal power; although it did not immediately restore him to his former state, it was indeed not comparable to the medicinal pills on his person. Whether essence blood or divine sense, the losses had actually been restored to a large half in an incredibly short time—truly astonishing. As for the recovery of magic power, even without the pill's aid, these past days had been sufficient for complete restoration.

Since the opposing spirit pill truly had remarkable effects, Han Li naturally would not break his promise and deliberately not come. He had already advanced to the Void Refinement stage, and his various divine powers had greatly improved; even if he encountered a being of the Body Integration level, he would still have some self-preservation capability.

Therefore, he naturally had no fear of the Huoyang tribe's enemies.

It is unknown whether it was coincidence, but just half a day after Han Li arrived here, the enemy's traces finally appeared.

With a "Boom—", the sound of the earth trembling suddenly erupted from all four sides of the earthen city, as if numerous huge monsters were madly rushing toward the city.

The Huoyang tribe priests who had been sitting quietly in the main hall almost simultaneously rose to their feet, most displaying expressions of extreme tension.

Although the 'woman' had not revealed specific information about the Wuluo tribe, the strength of this invading enemy allowed them to guess a few points.

Conversely, the 'woman' displayed extraordinary composure; even feeling the ground tremble, she only furrowed her brow slightly.

"What is there to panic about! Our tribe has long prepared a complete strategy. With three layers of restriction protection, even if the enemy is mighty, they will surely not break into the city at once. First, let us clearly see who the enemy is and how many have come—then we shall speak!" The 'woman' fully displayed the true nature of a clan leader, shouting loudly in rebuke.

Han Li's brow twitched, and he also opened his eyes, but his face remained expressionless.

Having experienced such grand scenes before, the events before him were indeed utterly incapable of moving him.

At this moment, the 'woman' merely flicked her sleeve, and suddenly a red token appeared in her hand; she lightly waved it toward the center of the main hall.

Instantly, red light flashed on the token's surface, a mass of red light shot out and vanished into the hall's floor without a trace.

A loud humming arose, red light and mist flickered on the ground, and indeed a crimson-colored magic formation emerged, with flames rolling at its center.

After the 'woman' rapidly shook the token in her hand a few times, the flames converged toward the center, actually manifesting a red crystal ball about a zhang in diameter.

The surface of this crystal ball was crystal clear and translucent, slowly rotating within the flames.

Eight white-robed snake people suddenly walked out from both sides, took their seats again at the edge of the formation, and then, murmuring incantations, cast one formula after another into the crystal ball.

Instantly, the firelight in the formation blazed wildly; countless flames transformed into finger-thick fire snakes, which plunged one after another into the crystal ball.

A startling scene appeared!

Only to see the originally sparkling red crystal ball suddenly flash wildly on its surface several times, then, amidst the firelight, suddenly vivid, lifelike images emerged.

The scenes in these images were eerily familiar—indeed, they were events currently unfolding in various parts of the earthen city.

In the images, squads of fully armed snake people surged toward the city walls on all sides, and moreover, squads of snake people riding lizard beasts gathered near the city gates everywhere.

Among these troops, some of the higher-ranking snake people continuously shouted rebukes, each with a murderous look on their faces.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of snake people had already gathered, as if complete.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.

The effect of this magic formation and crystal ball is somewhat similar to his Wanlong Pearl. Even a small Huoyang tribe possesses such mysterious things. This is truly somewhat unexpected.

"Change the view to outside the city walls!" The woman's expression turned grim as she ordered.

The trembling sound from the ground grew louder and louder, clearly indicating those huge things were not far from the earthen city.

The eight white-robed snake people responsible for activating the crystal balls all activated their hand seals; instantly, the images in the crystal balls blurred slightly before being flooded by sheets of red haze, and moments later, new images appeared.

It was indeed the view outside the four city walls.

At this moment it was evening, the sky had already grown somewhat dark, and the scene on the crystal ball appeared quite dim from afar, but when the snake people stared intently, they could not discern anything for a moment.

However, the breathing of the snake people in the hall all unconsciously held at this moment.

Only Han Li coldly observed all this, his expression unchanged from before.

The people's wait did not last long; suddenly the ground's tremor paused, and the rumbling sound vanished strangely.

Not long after, about half of the white-robed snake people gasped in shock, while the other half suddenly changed expression.

Only then did they see, in the originally dim night, a black-scaled monster resembling a giant ox suddenly emerge—about seven or eight zhang tall, ten or more zhang long, its entire body covered in black scale armor.

And on the backs of these monsters was a frame the size of a house, inside which stood figures of varying heights, densely packed, each giant ox's back completely filled.

Though these giant oxen were enormous in size, they now walked slowly, yet each moved like a ghost, making no sound at all, slowly approaching the earthen city's walls.

"This looks like a 'Wujia Beast'; could those above be…?" One white-robed snake person widened his eyes, stammering.

"The Wuluo Tribe? Impossible! They should have long been wiped out by our Nuwa Tribe!" Another snake person, in panic, loudly denied.

"Indeed, how could it be this tribe's people!"

"Exactly, they should have vanished tens of thousands of years ago!"

……

Other nearby white-robed snake people also chimed in, seemingly bolstering their courage.

But when these giant oxen fully emerged from the night, and the figures on their backs became clearly visible, the snake priest who had been speaking suddenly fell silent, his expression turning extremely grim.

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