Chapter 1563: Wu Jia Beast

**Volume Seven: Traversing the Human Realm — Volume Nine: A Hundred Tribes of the Spirit Realm**

The wooden door of the hut, glowing with white light at the foot of the small mountain, had not been opened for ten consecutive days since the woman and the young girl departed.

At this time, security on Firecloud Island became several times stricter. Not only did the Fire Phoenix Tribe's snake people on the island stop leaving to hunt or gather materials, but over a hundred thousand tribe members all retreated into the earthen city. Several large restrictions within the city were activated one by one, regardless of the spiritual stones consumed. The earthen walls, which previously seemed vulnerable, were immediately enveloped by three layers of light screens: red, yellow, and green. Furthermore, thousands of elite snake people within the earthen city, all fully armed, were patrolling the city in shifts.

At the center, all the Fire Phoenix Tribe priests had gathered, meditating in the grand hall under the leadership of the woman and the young girl, recuperating their energy. This grand hall was also submerged in another layer of five-colored light, seemingly possessing its own mysterious qualities. The source of the five-colored light was none other than the conical artifact in the middle of the square. As for the ordinary snake people in the earthen city, they had all received prior instructions from the tribe's high-ranking members to stay indoors, rarely venturing out. Under such stringent security, the earthen city inadvertently exuded an astonishing aura of hostility.

On this day, as the woman, the young girl, and the priests waited quietly in the grand hall, a faint voice suddenly penetrated the restriction and echoed leisurely through the hall: "Fellow Daoist Huo, I have refined the medicinal pill and emerged from seclusion. Please open the restriction and allow me to enter."

This voice was Han Li's!

Upon hearing this voice, the other white-robed priests stirred, but the woman's face lit up with great joy. To say she hadn't worried about Han Li breaking his promise and not coming would naturally be somewhat disingenuous. However, with the crisis of tribal annihilation imminent, there was simply no second choice. Giving the pill to him might secure a great aid. Without giving it, there wouldn't even be this slim chance. Clearly, she seemed to have gambled correctly; Han Li was indeed not one to go back on his word.

In her joy, the woman flipped her hand, and a radiant red jade plate suddenly appeared. She pointed her finger at the plate several times. The five-colored light protecting the grand hall flickered, instantly opening a gap. But within a few breaths, the light flickered again, closing as before. And in that brief moment, a golden light flashed at the hall entrance, and a figure mysteriously appeared there, walking unhurriedly into the hall. The figure wore a green robe, had an ordinary face, but his eyes shone with a radiant glow – it was Han Li. His complexion was completely different from a dozen days ago, clearly demonstrating the extraordinary medicinal power of the Fiery Sun Divine Pill.

"Thank you, sir, for coming to our aid. Has senior's magic power fully recovered?" the woman proactively rose to greet him, asking with unusual enthusiasm. Although the young girl named Zhu'er was somewhat reluctant, she could only pout slightly and stand up as well.

"Although the Fiery Sun Pill is extraordinary, the injuries I sustained were truly uncommon. I've only recovered about seventy to eighty percent. The remaining portion cannot be healed by the power of pills. However, if your tribe's enemies are not too strong, I believe I can still contribute some strength," Han Li said with a slight smile. The woman's expression changed slightly when she first heard that Han Li had not fully recovered his divine abilities, but her heart brightened again after hearing his confident words that followed. It seemed his divine abilities must be even greater than she had initially estimated, otherwise, he wouldn't speak with such confidence.

Many Fire Phoenix Tribe priests on both sides of the hall had seen Han Li before, while others were seeing "Mister Han" for the first time. Han Li's arrival naturally caused a flurry of whispers among them. Han Li paid no attention to the various gazes of joy and surprise from those around him. The woman welcomed him to a seat on her side, and after a few polite exchanges, he closed his eyes and said no more. After the woman swept her gaze sternly across both sides, the still whispering snake people immediately fell silent in surprise. The entire grand hall returned to tranquility once more.

But just then, Han Li felt a gaze still cautiously directed at him. His eyebrow twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes, meeting a pair of exceptionally dark pupils. It was Bai Zhu'er, sitting on the woman's other side, cautiously peeking over. As soon as she saw Han Li looking, a hint of fear flashed in the girl's eyes, and she immediately shifted her gaze away. It seemed that the scene when she delivered the pill, where Crying Soul nearly absorbed her spiritual sense, had genuinely frightened the young girl.

Han Li's lips curved upward, a slight smile flitting across his face as he closed his eyes again, then secretly pondered everything before him. The Fiery Sun Divine Pill, after he used the Spirit-Devouring Firebird to absorb all the fire spiritual power within it, was easily swallowed and refined by him. The woman had not overly exaggerated the pill's medicinal power; although it didn't immediately restore him to normal, it was indeed incomparable to any pills he possessed. Both the depletion of his vital essence and spiritual sense had unbelievably recovered by more than half in a short period. As for the recovery of his magic power, even without the aid of the pill, enough days had passed for it to fully recover. Since the opponent's spiritual pill was indeed remarkably effective, Han Li naturally wouldn't break his agreement and deliberately not come. He had already advanced to the Void Refinement stage, and many of his divine abilities had greatly improved. Even encountering an Integration-stage being, he would have some self-preservation capability. Therefore, he naturally had no fear of the Fire Phoenix Tribe's enemies.

Perhaps coincidentally, only half a day after Han Li arrived, signs of the enemy finally appeared. A "rumbling" sound of earth tremors suddenly erupted simultaneously from all directions around the earthen city, as if numerous enormous monsters were rushing towards it. The Fire Phoenix Tribe priests who had been meditating in the hall almost immediately stood up, most of them showing extremely tense expressions. Although the woman had not disclosed specific information about the Wu Luo Tribe, they could naturally infer the strength of the attacking enemies. The woman, however, remained unusually calm; even when she felt the ground shake, she merely furrowed her brow slightly. "Why panic! Our tribe has long prepared a complete strategy. With three layers of restriction protection, even if the enemy is powerful, it will be extremely difficult for them to breach the city immediately. First, let's clearly see who the enemies are and how many have arrived!" the woman, displaying her true nature as tribal chief, reprimanded loudly. Han Li's eyebrow twitched, and he also opened his eyes, but his face remained expressionless. Having experienced such grand spectacles before, the current situation was indeed incapable of moving him in any way.

At this moment, the woman merely flicked her sleeve, and a red token suddenly appeared in her hand. She gently waved it towards the center of the grand hall. Immediately, a red light flashed on the token's surface, and a ball of red light shot out, disappearing into the hall floor. A loud buzzing sound erupted, and red light glowed on the ground, revealing a crimson magic array with flames churning at its center. After the woman rapidly shook the token in her hand several times, the flames condensed towards the center, and a crimson crystal ball, about a zhang (approx. 3.3 meters) in diameter, emerged. The surface of this crystal ball was crystal clear, slowly rotating within the flames.

Eight white-robed snake people suddenly stepped out from both sides and sat down again at the edge of the magic array. Then, muttering incantations, they sent one spell after another into the crystal ball. Immediately, the firelight in the magic array intensified, and countless flames transformed into finger-thick fire snakes, drilling into the crystal ball. An astonishing scene appeared! The originally red-glowing crystal ball suddenly flickered wildly a few times, and then vivid images abruptly emerged within the firelight. The scenes in these images were unusually familiar, clearly depicting events happening throughout the earthen city. In the images, fully armed teams of snake people were rushing towards the four city walls, and other teams of snake people riding lizard beasts were gathering near the various city gates. Among these teams, some higher-ranking snake people were constantly shouting orders, each displaying murderous intent. In the blink of an eye, thousands of snake people appeared to have already assembled. Seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Han Li's eyes. The function of this magic array and crystal ball was somewhat similar to his Myriad Dragon Pearl. For a small Fire Phoenix Tribe to possess such a mysterious item was truly somewhat beyond his expectation.

"Switch the view to outside the city walls!" the woman commanded, her expression grim. The sound of the ground shaking was growing louder, indicating that the enormous things were clearly not far from the earthen city. The eight white-robed snake people responsible for activating the crystal ball immediately cast their spells. The scenes in the crystal ball briefly blurred, then were submerged by a reddish glow, and moments later, new images appeared. It was none other than the scene outside the four city walls. It was evening, and the sky was already somewhat dark. The scene on the crystal ball appeared quite dim from a distance, but despite the snake people focusing intently, they couldn't discern anything immediately. However, the breathing of the snake people in the hall involuntarily stopped at this moment. Only Han Li watched all this with a cold expression, identical to his previous one.

Their wait wasn't long. Suddenly, the ground tremors ceased, and the rumbling sound strangely disappeared. Soon after, most of the white-robed snake people gasped in shock, while the other smaller portion's faces drastically changed. Emerging from the previously dim night, enormous ox-like monsters, about seven to eight zhang (approx. 23-26 feet) tall and over ten zhang (approx. 33 feet) long, covered in black scales, suddenly appeared. On the backs of these monsters were house-sized giant frames, packed with figures of varying heights and sizes, each giant ox's back seemingly full. Although these giant oxen were enormous, they were now moving slowly, like ghosts, making no sound as they gradually approached the earthen city walls.

"These look like... Black-Scaled Beasts..." "Are those on top...?" one white-robed snake person mumbled, eyes wide and somewhat stammering. "The Wu Luo Tribe? That's impossible! They should have been completely eradicated by our Nuwa Clan long ago!" another snake person frantically denied loudly. "Exactly, how could it be them!" "Right, they should have vanished tens of thousands of years ago!" Other white-robed snake people nearby also chimed in with agreement, as if emboldened. But when these giant oxen fully emerged from the darkness and the true faces of the figures on their backs became clear, the snake priests who had been speaking immediately fell silent, their expressions turning extremely grim.