Chapter 1594: Encounter on the Road

Volume Seven: Roaming the Human Realm – Volume Nine: Hundred Races of the Spirit Realm

Because Han Li deliberately wanted to bypass nearby cities, the paths he chose were desolate and remote. For the first few days, he traveled safely and encountered no trouble.

He only occasionally saw some cultivators of other races swiftly passing by in their escaping light from a distance.

Observing the direction these foreign cultivators were fleeing, it was clearly towards the nearby cities.

Han Li could only secretly shake his head upon seeing this, with no intention of going forward to warn them.

These people had extremely low cultivation levels, only at the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stages. Faced with the sudden attack of the Horned Chi Race in this region, they naturally wanted to escape into the cities, either to use teleportation arrays to other areas, or to find safety by relying on the high-level beings within the cities.

However, after Han Li had traveled alone for more than ten days, he finally encountered a patrol team of Horned Chi armored soldiers.

Their numbers were not large, only about a dozen people, but each of them rode a snow-white two-headed eagle.

The highest-cultivated among them was a Nascent Soul stage being, while the rest were at the Core Formation stage.

When Han Li saw these armored soldiers, his heart sank.

If he remembered correctly, there were no cities nearby. Where did these Horned Chi come from, appearing in such a remote place?

Han Li was greatly surprised and suspicious, but the individuals before him were not worth his attention at all; eliminating them would be effortless.

However, having detected the Horned Chi team in advance, he had concealed himself much earlier. Only after watching them leave did he reveal himself again.

His face grim, he watched the disappearing team in the distance. Without further hesitation, he immediately resumed his journey, enveloped in escaping light.

But since encountering the first team of Horned Chi armored soldiers, in the following days, he encountered a second team, a third team, a fourth team…

The number of times Han Li encountered Horned Chi patrol teams gradually increased.

Although they couldn't detect Han Li's presence due to the vast difference in cultivation levels, it still gave him a faint sense of foreboding.

Could it be that this entire region had truly fallen into the hands of the Horned Chi?

Just as Han Li became vigilant once more, in a city recently conquered by the Horned Chi, a city several times larger than Greenlight City, three high-ranking Horned Chi individuals were in a grand hall, discussing related matters.

A woman with fiery red hair and a shriveled, thin old man stood on either side of a golden chair in the hall.

Seated on the chair was a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties.

This woman had a beautiful face, but her skin was a light, metallic silver. As her lovely eyes shifted, her pupils were a shimmering purple-gold, causing a faint stinging sensation in the eyes of those who looked at them.

A small horn, several inches tall, between her eyebrows, was crystal clear and exceptionally delicate.

Both the thin old man and the red-haired woman were at the peak of the Soul Transformation stage, but before this woman, they were utterly obedient and showed deep respect.

"What? Still no sign of that person?" The woman suddenly spoke, her voice clear and pleasant, yet her expression was unusually cold.

"Reporting to Revered One Yin, none of the patrol teams have sent back any news yet. Could that person have found a hidden place to conceal themselves? If so, finding this person might be quite difficult," the thin old man respectfully replied.

"Hiding is unlikely. Since he knows our race is launching a large-scale attack on this region, he should be well aware that once we gain complete control, no matter how high his cultivation, it will ultimately be a dead end for him. I didn't expect that at the very beginning of assaulting this region, we would encounter such a big fish. If we can truly capture this person alive,

we will certainly have accomplished a great deed." The woman frowned and slowly said.

"This subordinate is naturally aware of this person's importance to the Thirteen Skycloud Races. We will absolutely not let him escape from this place. I have dispatched a large number of personnel to blockade the entire region. Additionally, two teams are on standby at all times; as soon as there's any news, they will teleport there immediately. Although this kind of teleportation is limited by distance and incurs significant costs, for this person, it is certainly worth it," the red-haired woman respectfully chimed in.

"Hmm, that puts my mind at ease. Oh, by the way, didn't Envoy Tu also ask us to cooperate in intercepting someone a few days ago?" The woman nodded, but suddenly changed the subject.

"Yes! Lord Tu and his group did send an image, asking the patrol teams in various cities to keep an eye out for this person. They said he was a seventh-tier existence of an Upper Race, carrying important items related to their current mission," the thin old man hesitated for a moment but immediately replied truthfully.

"Hmph, they truly are useless. Two beings with one foot in the Sacred Race, yet they allowed a mere Upper Race member to escape right before them. If we hadn't already planned to completely blockade this area, I wouldn't have bothered with this request at all." The woman's eyes flashed, and she spoke with a hint of disdain.

Hearing the woman's words, the old man and the red-haired woman looked straight ahead, daring not to interject.

"Still, I am somewhat curious. What exactly did the Elder Council send those two here to seize? They even went so far as to make me allocate one of our only two fortress-class battle chariots to them. This forced changes to our original plan, and we haven't even fully occupied this region yet." The woman surnamed Yin sneered, appearing greatly displeased with the matter concerning the two individuals surnamed Tu.

"Revered One! The allocation of the fortress-class battle chariot was a direct order from the Elder Council. We cannot disobey. Since the Elder Council places such importance on this matter, the item they wish to seize must surely be of great use to our race. As for the shortage of personnel, fortunately, the clan has sent us a new batch of battle puppets. They are sufficient for us to fully control this region. Currently, only two cities in this region have yet to be conquered, but they are completely surrounded," the red-haired woman replied cautiously.

"While those battle puppets are somewhat useful, they can only be employed in large-scale campaigns. They are useless for patrolling, tracking, and similar tasks. Currently, blockading this area consumes most of our manpower. And the remaining two unconquered cities have strong defenses; we still haven't taken them down. It seems we cannot delay any longer. We must fully control this region before our clan's follow-up army arrives, so that our clan's main camp can be built! It seems I must personally make a trip. Otherwise, it will be difficult to account to the Elder Council." The woman thought for a moment, then a cold light flashed in her eyes as she spoke.

"If the Revered One personally takes action, those two cities will naturally be taken with ease!" The old man was startled at first but immediately replied with a fawning smile.

"Then it is decided! As soon as matters here are settled, we will depart by battle chariot tomorrow." The woman surnamed Yin swept her gaze over her two subordinates and instructed.

"Yes!"

"As you command!"

The red-haired woman and the thin old man immediately bowed in acknowledgment of the order.

Half a month later, Han Li was beneath a large, lush tree at the foot of a small mountain, clad in a black veil that completely concealed his aura, while looking up at the sky, his face showing a grave expression.

High in the sky not far away, two identical silver islands simultaneously appeared.

The appearance of these two "silver islands" seemed very similar to the one above Greenlight City, but their size was only a few hundred zhang. Even so, near these two small battle chariots of the Horned Chi Race, there were countless silver-armored soldiers and a large number of two-headed giant eagles circling.

The Horned Chi Race had set up such a grand formation in this place, yet it was merely for a single foreign cultivator whom they had completely surrounded.

This person had disheveled, graying long hair, an ancient and peculiar face, appearing to be in his fifties or sixties. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood motionless on a shuttle-shaped flying boat.

And on either side of him, there was surprisingly a beast-shaped puppet.

One had the body of a horse and the head of a dragon, with twin wings on its back, glowing with green light all over, and was several zhang in size. The other was a bizarre lion with seven heads, one large and six small, appearing exceptionally ferocious, and it was over twenty zhang tall.

These two puppets were clearly extraordinary at first glance, seeming quite unusual.

The nearby Horned Chi acted as if facing a formidable enemy, daring not to make a move, which also seemed to confirm this point.

Han Li watched, his mind filled with murmurs of doubt.

It was worth noting that when he first discovered the battle chariots and so many Horned Chi here, he was quite startled.

But upon realizing that none of the Horned Chi present were above the Soul Transformation stage, and that they were surrounding an unfamiliar foreign cultivator, he immediately felt some interest and quietly went to the vicinity to observe secretly.

Han Li saw through the cultivation level of this foreign cultivator at a glance. It was merely a Deity Transformation stage being.

However, the aura emanating from the two puppets beside him was equivalent to Soul Transformation stage beings. One was at the mid-Soul Transformation stage, and the other was even more powerful, appearing to be at the late Soul Transformation stage.

The power of the two puppets certainly greatly astonished Han Li. But what puzzled him more was, why this foreign cultivator, possessing such powerful puppets, didn't command them to eliminate these Horned Chi armored soldiers and giant eagles. Instead, he remained in a stalemate here!

Although these giant eagles and armored soldiers were numerous, the highest cultivated among them were merely a few Deity Transformation stage leaders.

The only potentially troublesome factor was the two silver battle chariots, whose capabilities were unknown.

Han Li's thoughts raced as he pondered.

Just then, the surrounded foreign cultivator high in the sky turned his head, swept his gaze over the armored soldiers and giant eagles, and suddenly formed a hand seal with one hand. The two puppets finally moved.

The horse-bodied, dragon-headed monster suddenly spread its wings. Its pair of wings transformed into two massive blades, and with a flash of green light, they shot forth.

The next moment, the green light vanished into the encirclement.

Wherever it passed, more than a dozen giant eagles and armored soldiers were instantly cut in half.

As for the strange lion puppet, with all seven heads opening their mouths, a flash of fire erupted, and countless fireballs shot out densely, instantly converging into a sea of flames, engulfing all the enemies in the other direction.

The surrounding armored soldiers were startled at first, then, under the loud commands of the leading officers, all the soldiers raised their weapons, and countless rays of light shot directly towards the two puppets.

Meanwhile, the giant eagles soared into the air one by one, also charging straight towards the puppets.

For a moment, the encirclement was filled with continuous explosions and sharp cries, as a fierce battle commenced!