Chapter 1052: The Fastest Runner

"Then I wouldn't know. I just found this skeleton a bit strange, so I wanted you to take a look too," Tihun shook her head and said.

Han Li nodded, looked at the skeleton, and fell silent in thought.

At that moment, he suddenly turned his head to look behind.

"Su Quanxi, Jin Liu and the others are coming. Tihun, hide in the Flower Branch Space first, don't let them find you." Han Li's eyes flickered, and he immediately waved his hand to open the entrance to the Flower Branch Space.

Tihun acknowledged, turned around, and flew into it.

Han Li immediately soared into the air and flew off in one direction.

After a moment, various colored beams of light appeared on the horizon behind, their direction slightly deviating from Han Li's.

Han Li looked at these beams and immediately flew to meet them.

Those beams also immediately adjusted direction and shot down toward him, and the two sides soon met.

Han Li stopped, and the beams landed nearby. As the various lights flickered, figures of Su Quanxi, Jin Liu, and others emerged, only thirty to forty people, much fewer than before.

However, Valley Master Fu and other Tai Yi stage cultivators were still there, but almost everyone was injured, looking quite battered.

Han Li's mind stirred, and he immediately guessed roughly what had happened to them.

"I remember you are that Fellow Daoist Shi beside Fellow Daoist Yu, right? You're still alive? Why are you alone? Where are the others?" Su Quanxi looked at Han Li and asked.

"We encountered many metal beasts after the golden gate. Fellow Daoist Yu Kuohai and the others died in their mouths. I and a few other fellow daoists were lucky to escape in the chaos, but we got separated later. Fellow Daoist Su, Fellow Daoist Jin, I'm relieved to have met you." Han Li said with a look of lingering fear.

Although the others had anticipated it, they still looked grim upon hearing this.

"Then you are really lucky." Jin Liu saw Han Li's timid look, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes, and said sarcastically.

"You are absolutely right. Fortunately, my luck has always been pretty good, otherwise I would certainly have died in those metal beasts' mouths by now." Han Li seemed not to catch Jin Liu's sarcasm and nodded in agreement.

Jin Liu was taken aback, glared at Han Li, and instead of continuing his sarcasm, asked: "Shi Mu, your team entered the golden gate first. There should be some treasures inside, right? What were they? And who has them now?"

As he said this, a hot gleam flashed in his eyes.

"Alas, the golden gate was completely empty inside, no treasures at all. Moreover, as soon as we entered, we were attacked by metal beasts. We barely escaped with our lives and got nothing." Han Li was startled, then immediately shook his head and said.

"Is that so?" Jin Liu raised an eyebrow, clearly very suspicious of Han Li's words.

"Fellow Daoist Jin, we have already agreed that treasures obtained inside the golden gate belong to the finder. Pressing him like this seems inappropriate." Valley Master Fu suddenly spoke up.

"Valley Master Fu, don't misunderstand. I have no intention of robbing others of their treasures. I just wanted to make a deal with this Fellow Daoist Shi. Since there's nothing there, forget it." Jin Liu laughed and said.

"If you want to make a deal, wait until we leave this Time Tower. Fellow Daoist Shi, you arrived at this second floor earlier than us. Have you found anything?" Su Quanxi glanced at Jin Liu and asked Han Li.

"No, I've been wandering around here for half a day and haven't encountered anything but sand." Han Li shook his head.

"In that case, let's continue exploring ahead." Su Quanxi frowned slightly upon hearing this, then said.

The others had no objections either, and the group did not linger there, continuing to fly forward.

In the blink of an eye, another half day passed.

The desert below finally began to show some changes, with large rocks emerging and real low hills appearing ahead.

The further they flew, the more of those peculiar weathered skeletons appeared on the ground below.

Han Li lingered at the very end of the group, his eyes flickering, and his unease grew.

Su Quanxi and the others also noticed the skeletons on the ground, but they thought they were just ordinary remains and paid them no heed.

As the group flew, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the sky ahead. At first it was faint, but after a few breaths it became deafening.

"What's going on!"

Su Quanxi and the others stopped immediately and probed ahead with their divine sense. Their faces instantly turned deathly pale.

Just then, their divine sense detected a huge dark red cloud mass on the distant horizon, rapidly pressing toward them.

Inside the crimson cloud were countless tiny dark red insects, each the size of a grain of rice, with tiny red flames burning on their bodies, densely packed beyond count.

"Fire Years Fireflies!" Han Li quickly recognized the true form of the red cloud—it was the same Fire Years Fireflies he had encountered in the True Word Sect's forbidden area—and was greatly alarmed.

At the same time, he understood the origin of those skeletons: they had been killed by Fire Years Fireflies, no wonder they were so weathered.

Without any hesitation, Han Li immediately turned into a golden rainbow and flew off into the distance.

Back in the True Word Sect, when Chi Rong had released nearly ten thousand Fire Years Fireflies, they had already caused them trouble. The number of Fire Years Fireflies before them now was many times greater, impossible to fight head-on.

Although the others did not recognize the Fire Years Fireflies, they were shocked by the immense power of the red insect cloud and immediately turned to flee into the distance.

Among them, many represented by Jin Liu sneered at Han Li for hiding at the back yet running the fastest, like a cowardly mouse.

The swarm of Fire Years Fireflies seemed to sense Han Li and the others' presence, and the rumbling grew louder as they emitted excited chirps, like sharks smelling blood, chasing after the group.

The insect cloud moved at an astonishing speed, and it seemed unaffected by the time restrictions here. Although everyone was flying at full speed, they could not outrun it, and the distance between them slowly closed.

A few loose cultivators at the Golden Immortal stage flying at the very back were soon overtaken by the swarm.

"What kind of bugs are these? I don't believe they're that powerful!" Among them, a burly man with a red face roared and suddenly stopped.

A red light flashed on his body, and blazing red-gold flames erupted, spreading out to cover an area of several hundred zhang, forming a sea of red-gold fire.

An indescribable heat radiated from the red-gold fire sea, causing the nearby void to tremble violently as if about to ignite.

The red-faced man opened his mouth and spat out. The red-gold fire sea surged, turning into a hundred-zhang-tall wave of fire that rolled toward the insect swarm, engulfing several thousand Fire Years Fireflies.

The red-gold flames roiled, and the trapped Fire Years Fireflies tumbled up and down, sizzling, while the nearby swarm was thrown into chaos by the fire wave.

A hint of joy appeared on the red-faced man's face, but it vanished in an instant.

Because the Fire Years Fireflies wrapped in the red-gold flames, after tumbling a dozen times, spread their wings and steadied themselves, then flew straight at the red-faced man, seemingly unharmed, and reached him in the blink of an eye.

The red-faced man's face was a mix of shock and anger. He roared and raised a fiery red scroll, which emitted astonishing flame spiritual power, clearly a high-quality immortal artifact.

He quickly formed hand seals and struck several spells into the fire phoenix scroll.

With a "whoosh," the scroll turned into a brilliant fire curtain, protecting the red-faced man inside.

The next moment, countless Fire Years Fireflies swooped down, enveloping the red-faced man and the red fire curtain, forming a huge cocoon.

Then, one by one, the Fire Years Fireflies dove onto the red fire curtain, their dark red flames burning fiercely and merging into it.

The red fire curtain brightened suddenly, then rapidly shrank at a visible rate, extinguishing and dissipating in an instant, with a "puff" sound reverting to the red scroll.

But the scroll had aged ten thousand times, its surface covered with wrinkles and cracks, devoid of any spirituality.

Countless Fire Years Fireflies then shot down, covering the red-faced man inside, like countless mosquitoes biting him. His protective flames were useless and easily breached.

The red-faced man let out a miserable scream, struggling desperately. Flames roiled on his body, turning into fiery hands that frantically grabbed at his body, trying to drive away the Fire Years Fireflies, but to no avail.

The man's once radiant face rapidly aged, wrinkles appearing, and his fiery red hair quickly turned white.

In just a few moments, the red-faced man turned into a skin-and-bones mummy, his clothes also becoming decayed, and he fell downward.

The swarm lost interest in him, letting him fall to the ground, and flew toward the others.

The others at the back were soon overtaken by the swarm and submerged in it.

A few miserable screams came from within, but were immediately swallowed and silenced.

"Fire Years Fireflies! I remember now, those bugs are Fire Years Fireflies! They are born with the power of time law, able to spew out flames of years that burn the lifespan of living beings! Wherever they pass, nothing grows. They are extremely terrifying spirit insects, and there are so many here!" Jin Liu, seeing the scene behind, trembled and roared.

The others, upon hearing this, changed expression drastically. Each used some acceleration secret technique, increasing their speed by twenty to thirty percent, and fled forward, basically keeping pace with the swarm behind.

"Fire Years Fireflies are extremely sensitive to the aura of flesh and blood. Everyone, conceal your physical aura and fly to the side to avoid the main front of the swarm!" Su Quanxi said in a deep voice.

The others quickly concealed their physical auras and flew to the left front.

Han Li showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this, then immediately activated the "Ten Thousand Apertures Void Silence Art" to hide his physical aura.

As a result, the swarm behind became somewhat chaotic, seeming to lose perception of Han Li and the others, and did not turn to chase them.

The group breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the tragic fate of the red-faced man and others was still fresh in their minds, so they dared not let their guard down and continued to accelerate with all their might.