Chapter 546: Large Primordial Tribe
Chapter 546: Large Primordial Tribe
Chapter 546: Large Primordial Tribe
Over a month flew by in the blink of an eye.
In the sky above a lush, primordial forest, giant flying creatures of different descriptions were soaring through the air, carrying Longneck beings on their backs as they descended toward the center of the forest.
There was an unremarkable-looking male human among these Longneck beings, standing out like a sore thumb, and it was none other than Han Li.
Taj was straddled atop a winged black deer while flying alongside Nuo Yifan, who was riding a white snow eagle, and they were on a diagonal descent toward a clearing at the center of the forest.
As for Han Li, he was riding a gray mammoth with a pair of ears that were as large as wings, and he was also descending out of the sky a little behind the Longneck beings.
After landing on the ground, Han Li inspected his surroundings briefly to find that there were some dome-shaped buildings concealed within the foliage, blending into the surrounding environment in a harmonious fashion.
However, most of these buildings had already been damaged. Some were half-collapsed, while others had been completely razed to the ground, and a series of lifeless bodies were littered around the buildings.
Most of these bodies belonged to a type of short and petite gray-skinned creature with large heads and facial features that were very similar to those of humans, except their eyes, noses, and mouths were all squished together, presenting a rather peculiar sight to behold.
Additionally, there were also many bodies belonging to Longneck beings and demon beast carcasses strewn around the area, most of which had been horribly disfigured by spirit insect bites.
After conducting a brief search through the area, the expressions of all of the Longneck beings had darkened significantly, and all of them were clearly infuriated by what they had seen.
Shortly thereafter, Han Li saw Taj carrying the body of an elderly Longneck being out of the one of the semi-collapsed buildings, and there was a grief-stricken look on his face.
The body's facial features bore a strong resemblance to Taj, and this observation made it apparent to Han Li that this was most likely Taj's father and the chief of the Longneck Tribe.
Nuo Yifan made her way over to Taj, then crossed her arms in front of her chest and extended a deep bow toward the lifeless body in Taj's arms. After that, she patted Taj on the shoulder and said something to him in the primordial language.
Having already learned some of the primordial language from Xiao Bai on the way here, Han Li was able to discern that she was offering him some condolences.
Taj took some time to compose himself, then fished a long length of black bone that was as smooth as jade out of his father's pocket. He raised the bone up high as he let loose a cry of grief, and all of the other Longneck beings immediately gathered around him while echoing the same sound.
Meanwhile, Nuo Yifan made her way over to Han Li's side as she explained in a slight weary voice, "Taj's father died in battle, and he's about to become the new chief of the tribe."
"It looks like your Beast Race isn't in a very good place right now," Han Li remarked.
"Ever since we defeated the Insect Race during that war several million years ago, all of our tribes have been far too complacent. We've always been keeping close tabs on the Insect Race's activities, but they've been planning these attacks for a very long time, and they struck without any warning, so we were caught completely off guard.
“Having said that, the king of the true spirits that we worship are definitely far more powerful than their insect spirits, so once all of our tribes unite to summon our king, the complete eradication of the Insect Race will be imminent," Nuo Yifan replied in a determined voice.
Han Li wasn't very interested in hearing about these matters, and he said, "I suppose I can only wish you the best of luck. How long left until we reach your Calm Dawn Tribe?"
"At our current speed, we'll be able to return to our Calm Dawn Tribe in three more months at most," Nuo Yifan replied.
Han Li nodded in response and didn't say anything further.
The Longneck beings held a simple ceremony to grieve the dead, then packed up the bodies of all of their fellow tribesmen and the Peacock Spirit beings before setting off once again.
After leaving the settlement of the Peacock Spirit Tribe, everyone clearly sped up significantly, perhaps because they were out of the territory under the complete control of the Beast Race. Aside from several occasions where they had to slow down to avoid some particularly powerful primordial beasts, the rest of the time was spent traveling at full speed.
During this time, Han Li continued to learn the primordial language from Xiao Bai while keeping tabs on the area that they had passed through so that he could incorporate them into the map that he was compiling.
At this point, the maps that he had purchased from Primordial Origin City early were largely useless. The map given to him by Wyrm 3 was still somewhat useful, but it had no overlap with the route that he was currently taking, so he could only use it to ascertain his approximate location.
Two and a half months later, Han Li and the Longneck beings finally made it out of the vast forest.
The Longneck beings were very familiar with this forest, so they were able to pre-emptively avoid many of the powerful true spirits residing in the area, but they were still intercepted by a few ambush attacks from enemy Insect Race beings. Han Li had refrained from getting involved in those battles, leaving Jin Tong and Xiao Bai to do the fighting for him.
Over time, the animosity and wariness that the Longneck beings harbored toward Han Li gradually faded, and Han Li was able to learn more about the primordial land from Nuo Yifan and Taj.
At this moment, they had arrived in front of an enormous canyon.
This was the Dark Star Canyon where the Calm Dawn Tribe resided.
Even though Han Li had already been made aware that the Calm Dawn Tribe was one of the most powerful tribes of the Beast Race, he was still astonished by the sight laid out before him.
Ahead of him was a majestic mountain range that stretched as far as the eyes could see, and there were countless acres of lush vegetation separated by a gargantuan white rift, much like a gash on the body of a giant beast.
At the entrance of the white canyon stood an enormous white stone pass, which was riddled with watchtowers and flags, giving it the appearance of a massive white fortress.
The entire fortress was over 100,000 feet tall, virtually the same height as the two lips of the canyon, and there were three giant arch gates that were around 60,000 to 70,000 feet tall standing at the center of the fortress, in front of each of which was a black metal fence.
A massive, turbulent river was flowing through the central arch gate, and the water in the river was a rather murky green color, churning along while producing a sound akin to that of rumbling thunder.
Upon arriving at the fortress, Nuo Yifan removed the long gray cloak that she had been wearing the entire trip, revealing the luscious curves of her body, which were only accentuated by the light and tight-fitting clothes that she was wearing underneath the cloak.
All of the male Longneck beings couldn't help but gawk at her for a moment before hurriedly looking away.
As for Han Li, he was watching Nuo Yifan with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He didn't know what material the gray cloak was woven from, but it had completely concealed Nuo Yifan's aura, and only now did he realize that she was at the late-True Immortal Stage.
It seemed that even in the primordial land, there existed some tool refinement techniques, but he presumed that only a small number of powerful primordial tribes would be able to afford the services of these tool refinement masters.
Right at this moment, several dozen figures flew out of the fortress, and all of them were rather similar to Nuo Yifan in appearance, with light blue skin and tapered ears, clearly indicating that they were also Calm Dawn beings.
The majority of them were men, who were slightly taller than their female counterparts and had some dark patterns on their skin. However, they weren't physically imposing at all, and not only were they all quite handsome, there was a slightly effeminate appearance about them.
Their leader was a middle-aged man holding an azure jade staff, and he bore a strong resemblance to Nuo Yifan, except the lines of his face were more angular and defined, and he was wearing a long off white robe that gave him a scholarly appearance.
"Yifan," the man called out, and an ecstatic look immediately appeared on Nuo Yifan's face upon catching sight of him.
"Father!"
Meanwhile, the Longneck beings and Han Li were all hovering in the air some distance away.
At this point, Han Li was able to understand the primordial language without much trouble, but he still had some trouble speaking the language due to lack of practice.
"I'm sorry for putting you through such an ordeal, my precious daughter. I'm so glad that you've returned safe and sound," the middle-aged man said with a pained expression as he gently stroked Nuo Yifan's hair.
"I wanted to go on this trip, so you're not to blame, Father. It was a dangerous trip, but thankfully, we've managed to contact all of the northern tribes, and they've all decided to join forces with our Dark Star Canyon. I'm sure it won't be long before we unite the entire Beast Race in the war against the Insect Race," Nuo Yifan said.
"You did very well, my daughter. Over the past half a month or so, some tribes have already arrived at our Dark Star Canyon. However, I heard from them that the Longneck Tribe and the Peacock Spirit Tribe were attacked. Were you affected by the attacks?" the middle-aged man asked.
"While I was at the Longneck Tribe, we were attacked by several enemy tribes, including the Gray Toad Tribe and the Azure Scorpion Tribe, but Chief Tak of the Longneck Tribe was able to divert most of the enemy forces away by fleeing to the Peacock Spirit Tribe, while the other Longneck beings and I fled to Bright Deer Hill.
“After that, the Gray Toad beings caught up to us, but thankfully, Senior Li here intervened to save us and eradicate the Gray Toad beings," Nuo Yifan replied as she gestured to Han Li.
A hint of lingering fear appeared in the middle-aged man's eyes upon hearing this, and he was feeling even more remorseful after hearing about his daughter's close call.
Upon hearing that it was Han Li who had eradicated the Gray Toad beings, he cast his gaze toward his daughter's savior, upon which his pupils instantly contracted slightly.
Not only was he very much taken aback to see that Han Li was a human, all of the other Calm Dawn beings displayed a similar reaction upon catching sight of him.
Due to the fact that Calm Dawn beings were quite similar in appearance to humans, Han Li could clearly see the detest and wariness etched on their faces.
Nuo Yifan could also see the animosity that everyone was displaying, and she immediately added, "It was only thanks to Senior Li's protection that we were able to make it back here safely."
The middle-aged man's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he flew toward Han Li with everyone else.
"Thank you for saving Yifan and escorting her back to our Dark Star Canyon. If you want anything for compensation, feel free to state what you desire," the middle-aged man said in the language of the immortal regions as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li.
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
It was clear that the chief of the Calm Dawn Tribe intended to send him away with some treasures, as opposed to allowing him to enter the Dark Star Canyon.