Chapter 1503: 蜉蝣族

The purple-armored general, whose origin was unknown, glanced at the two women and immediately discerned the true nature of Yuan Yao and Yan Li, losing interest in them. Then, he shifted his gaze to Han Li.

Almost instantly, Han Li felt a spine-chilling spiritual sense sweep over him, as if trying to scrutinize him completely. Han Li frowned, and with a slight activation of his Grand Evolution Arts, he immediately blocked most of the opponent's spiritual sense from entering his body. At the same time, his spiritual sense swept back towards the general.

As a result, just as the purple-armored general let out another soft exclamation, Han Li's expression also changed. This general's body was abnormally cold; it was not a flesh-and-blood body, but neither did it contain the power of spectral ghosts. After sweeping his gaze over the other two generals and the blood-armored soldiers, he noticed that, aside from the monstrous beasts pulling the chariots, they all seemed devoid of any life force.

“Puppets!”

A thought flashed through Han Li's mind. He recognized the identities of the purple-armored general and his subordinates, and the astonishment on his face was evident. Judging by the appearance of these puppets, they seemed to have taken control of the spectral beings in the Underworld River Land; otherwise, how could they have spoken such words just now? Not to mention the crimson-armored soldiers behind the three generals, the three puppet generals themselves had distinct auras, suggesting they were possessed by beings of great power.

Mu Qing and the beautiful woman did not immediately attack these puppets. It was clear that the puppets' strength was not inferior to that of the two women and the spectral soldiers. Otherwise, the current standoff wouldn't exist; the two women would have long since annihilated them using their powerful abilities. As for Six-Legged and Old Fiend Earthblood, they were not here. Considering the monstrous roars of malevolent ghosts that had come from the mist earlier, it seemed both were still trapped within and had not managed to escape the fog. Han Li's thoughts raced as he considered this.

“You two, come over!” Mu Qing suddenly beckoned to Han Li.

Despite his reluctance, Han Li had no choice but to activate his escape light and fly over, steeling himself. “Greetings, Seniors!” Han Li, upon reaching Mu Qing and the other woman, respectfully clasped his fist and said.

“Fellow Daoist Han, isn't Golden Spirit with you? Where is it now?” This question was beyond Han Li's expectation. Mu Qing did not inquire about Han Li and the others' escape from the ghostly mist; instead, she asked about the golden ape.

“I don't know either, Junior. Earlier, Brother Jin and I were separated when we were attacked by spectral beings in the mist.” There was nothing to hide about this, so Han Li honestly replied.

“Separated!” Mu Qing frowned.

“Senior Mu, who are those people opposite? Was that ghostly mist laid down by them?” Han Li glanced at the puppets opposite them and slowly asked.

“Fellow Daoist Lan and I only broke out of this mist a short while ago. We originally intended to cast a spell to dispel the entire restriction, but we ended up entangled with these things and haven't had time to investigate thoroughly. However, the last time we entered this place, we didn't encounter these things. I estimate they are like us, from the outside world, having entered the Underworld River Land.” Mu Qing also seemed somewhat perplexed.

“Outsiders!” Han Li's expression shifted.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I presume you've already noticed that what we face is an army of puppets. But they cannot be underestimated. The three leading puppets are extraordinary; even if we personally intervened, we wouldn't be certain of truly destroying them.” Mu Qing's voice grew heavier as she looked at the opposing side.

On the other side, the white-haired beautiful woman did not ask Yuan Yao and Yan Li any questions upon their return. Instead, she looked at the three puppet generals in the distance and coldly asked: “This old one doesn't care what your true forms are. I'll ask you one more thing: will you remove the restriction below or not?”

“Remove the restriction? Don't be delusional! You outsiders, how dare you trespass into our Fuhang tribe's sacred land and covet our sacred object! You were the ones who intruded last time too, almost interfering with our plans. This time, we won't let you leave this place.” The purple-armored general said with a chilling voice.

“The Fuhang tribe!” The white-haired beautiful woman's expression greatly changed, and Mu Qing's heart also skipped a beat. Han Li, however, frowned, as he had no information whatsoever about this strange tribe in his mind.

“It's good that you know our tribe. If you surrender obediently, perhaps we can spare your lives. Otherwise, even if you manage to escape this time, our tribe will send people to eradicate you from the Spirit Realm.” The purple-armored general seemed somewhat surprised but immediately spoke grimly.

Hearing the purple-armored general's threatening words, the white-haired beautiful woman and Mu Qing exchanged glances, a solemn expression appearing on their faces. Then, the two began to communicate telepathically, their lips barely moving. Seeing this, the purple-armored general sneered and made no attempt to stop them verbally. As the telepathic communication continued, the white-haired beautiful woman's expression grew uncertain and contemplative, while Mu Qing frowned deeply, her eyes flickering, seemingly indecisive.

“You claim this place is the sacred land of the Fuhang tribe; someone has to believe that. When did the Fuhang tribe start cultivating spectral ghost power?!” The white-haired beautiful woman retorted.

“You don't need to know that! Do you truly believe the Underworld River water surrounding this space was generated out of thin air?” The purple-armored general replied dismissively.

The beautiful woman and Mu Qing's expressions subtly changed again, and they found themselves believing the other party's words a little more.

“Hmph, who knows if you're the Fuhang tribe or just imposters! Even if you were truly the Fuhang tribe, unless Sun Feng existed here in person, we'd still be somewhat wary. As it is, only a few mere possessed puppets have shown up, yet you dare boast about making us surrender.” After a moment of silence, a sharp look flashed across the white-haired beautiful woman's face.

Mu Qing did not speak to stop her, but a hint of sternness also appeared on her face.

Hearing these words, the purple-armored general's eyes, behind his faceplate, flashed with red light. He stopped speaking nonsense and suddenly slammed his hand onto the monstrous beast beneath him, which resembled a rhinoceros. Immediately, the beast raised its head and took a sudden inhale. With a 'whoosh,' the surrounding air seemed to be sucked dry. Then, it opened its mouth again, and after a low roar, a ball of green light, radiating dazzling brilliance, burst forth and shot directly towards the beautiful woman and her companions. A thunderous roar, like an explosion, surged from within the green light ball!

The beautiful woman's expression darkened. She performed a hand seal, and a flash of grey light appeared behind her, revealing a massive, disheveled ghostly figure. Its body swelled several times in size, and from its mouth, it similarly shot out a ball of dark energy. The moment the two light balls collided, an earth-shattering roar erupted! As green light and black energy intertwined, a colossal mushroom-shaped cloud formed between the two groups, rumbling as it surged skyward.

Seeing this, the beautiful woman's eyes flickered with fierce light. She opened her mouth and let out an exceptionally piercing long howl. Immediately, thousands of spectral soldiers behind her, led by eight Ghost Kings, transformed into swathes of dark, shadowy winds and swept towards the opposing side.

The purple-armored general opposite snorted coldly, his shoulder suddenly shifted, and the two golden hammers hanging on his back vanished with a tremble, instantly appearing in his hands. “Although it's just a puppet body, it can still exert half of my strength,” the purple-armored general muttered to himself in a voice barely audible, then both his hands trembled.

With a 'whoosh,' the two golden hammers simultaneously flew into the air. They spun rapidly, emitting myriad golden lights, and miraculously transformed into hundreds of golden hammer illusions in mid-air, silently smashing down towards the shadowy winds below. Eight long howls simultaneously erupted from within the shadowy winds, followed by flashes of dark shadows as the eight armored Ghost Kings appeared in the low sky. Some threw their weapons, which transformed into several black rainbows, while others wildly struck the empty air with both hands, or opened their mouths to spew torrents of black mists. Various streams of black light dispersed, forming a black light curtain. As the golden hammer illusions fell into it, they became trapped as if fish caught in a net, unable to break free.

“Mere tricks!” The purple-armored general's gaze darkened as he said dismissively. He then activated an incantation in his mind, and the golden hammer illusions within the net suddenly exploded simultaneously. The black light curtain was shattered into pieces amidst the golden light. Then, the golden light clusters descended, threatening to engulf all eight Ghost Kings.

But at this moment, Mu Qing made her move. With a flick of her wrist, she made a grabbing motion in the empty air. Below the golden light, a sudden rush of intensely fragrant aroma assailed the senses, followed by a flash of colorful spiritual light, and countless gigantic floral illusions appeared out of thin air. With a deafening rumble, the floral illusions forcefully lifted the golden light spheres, stopping them in mid-air.

With this significant delay, the shadowy winds formed by the spectral soldiers had already surged towards the opposing side. The purple-armored general remained silent, merely waving one hand. Immediately, a row of blood-armored puppets armed with bows and crossbows behind him stepped forward in unison and simultaneously drew and fired their crossbows. With a chorus of 'whooshes' and 'swishes,' breaking through the air, countless blood-red arrows rained down into the shadowy winds. Bursts of crimson light exploded within the shadowy winds. After a fleeting flash, several vague ghostly figures plummeted from the sky. But in that instant, the shadowy winds, led by the eight Ghost Kings, plunged headfirst into the army of blood-armored puppets. Immediately, the battle cries of the spectral beings shook the heavens!

Neither the eight Ghost Kings nor the ordinary armored spectral ghosts attempted to provoke the three puppet generals. And these three puppets also paid no attention to these spectral soldiers, instead focusing their full attention on the white-haired beautiful woman and Mu Qing on the other side. As for Han Li and the two women, Yuan Yao and Yan Li, they were naturally ignored and left aside. And the two women naturally also gazed solemnly at these three puppets.

Aside from the purple-armored puppet, the other two puppets, dressed as generals, were truly peculiar. One was a colossal four to five zhang tall, with three eyes on its head, holding a gigantic axe in its hands, and clad in strange blue battle armor covered in glistening, black sharp spikes, making anyone who saw it tremble with cold. The other was only about two zhang tall. It wore crimson battle armor, had two heads and four arms, each holding a different weapon: a saber, a sword, a spear, and a halberd. Their mounts, however, were identical: unknown monstrous beasts with blood-red bodies, resembling water buffalo. These two puppets had remained silent from before the battle until now, as if all matters were left to the purple-armored puppet.

But at this very moment, the three-eyed puppet suddenly spoke: “There's no need to fight head-on with these outsiders. We just need to hold them off for a short while. I've already informed the others. Soon, they will assist those spectral beings. Once they've completely annihilated the other wave of outsiders, they can come to our aid.”