Chapter 1165: The Second Scale

Qing Dian looked at Liu Le'er's figure and the Transforming Feather Scale in her hand, seemingly finally recognizing her identity. However, when his gaze fell on Han Li, his expression grew even darker.

“This is my friend. I hope you can let bygones be bygones and allow them to enter the city with me, considering the token and the thin face of my Celestial Fox clan,” Liu Le'er said with a smile as she put away the token.

Upon hearing this, Qing Dian began to show a mocking expression and laughed:

“I've long heard that your Celestial Fox clan likes to have ambiguous relations with humans. Now it seems that saying wasn't wrong at all. This person beside you must have some ulterior motive for sneaking into our Barbarian Wasteland Realm, yet you go out of your way to protect him. Could it be that you intend to rebel against the Barbarian tribes?”

“Your words are utterly unreasonable. I dare not accept such a heavy accusation laid upon me,” Liu Le'er replied, her expression shifting slightly as she spoke unhurriedly.

She was already well aware of the Barbarian tribes' deep disgust for humans. This fellow had exposed Han Li's human identity, which was undoubtedly forcing him into a dead end.

As expected, when the surrounding crowd heard that Han Li was human, their expressions immediately changed. Some looked him up and down with suspicion, while others stared at him with eyes full of hatred.

Even Sang Tu and Cloud Leopard looked over from the carriage with complex expressions.

They had not been without doubts about Han Li's identity, but deep down they were unwilling to accept it, partly because of his strength and partly because without him, they might never have had the chance to come to Zhenhuang City.

Moreover, not long ago, Han Li had saved them, so they felt both fear and awe toward him, along with gratitude.

“Your name is Qing Dian, right? You can eat recklessly, but you can't speak recklessly. My true spirit bloodline is genuine, so why do you insist on calling me a human?” Han Li said coldly, his expression unchanged.

“Bloodline is not only passed down through offspring. Over the years, humans have often stolen the bloodlines of demon beasts and even true spirits for cultivation. Though you possess a true spirit bloodline, that doesn't mean you are one of our Barbarian races. Besides, when she took out the Transforming Feather Scale, you didn't bow at all. This shows that you have no reverence for the True Spirit King and cannot possibly be one of our Barbarian tribes,” Qing Dian sneered.

“Your analysis... does make some sense, but it's all just wild speculation. Let me ask you one thing: if I were a spy sent by the humans, would I possibly have this item in my hand?” Han Li nodded and said with a smile.

As he spoke, he flipped his hand, and a light flashed in his palm. A Transforming Feather Scale, identical to the one Liu Le'er had taken out earlier, appeared in his hand.

“Another Transforming Feather Scale...” A cry of surprise came from the crowd.

“Could it be a fake?”

"This person must also be someone trusted by the True Spirit King!"

Seeing this, the crowd was astonished once again, and even Liu Le'er's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.

But this time, aside from some who bowed in salute, a considerable number did not move, their eyes seemingly filled with doubt.

"Hmph, what a joke! Your token must be a forgery. The True Spirit King's tokens number only seven in the world. How could it be such a coincidence that two appear here at the same time?" Qingdian said, his expression hardening, his voice loud.

"Whether this token is real or fake, Fellow Daoist should know in your heart. You yourself said there are only seven such tokens. Who has the ability to forge a token identical in aura and appearance?" Liu Le'er said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Qingdian hesitated for a moment but still did not step aside.

"I have shown you the token. If you still refuse to yield, don't blame me for disregarding the face of your Qingyuan Clan." Han Li said with a cold laugh.

"Fine! I want to see whether you can damage the face of my Qingyuan Clan, or I can expose your true identity!" Qingdian said as if he had made up his mind.

Han Li's gaze sharpened as he swept his eyes around.

The reason for Qingdian's brief hesitation earlier was most likely due to secret instructions from someone.

That person, upon seeing the token, still decided to have Qingdian attack him, presumably fully confident in identifying him as a human. One capable of such certainty was likely at the Da Luo level.

With this thought, Han Li became more cautious and transmitted a message to Liu Le'er:

"There will surely be chaos here soon. My identity is likely to be exposed. It's not safe for you to stay by my side. Return to your Tianhu Clan first. After I extricate myself, I will find a way to contact you."

"Stone Brother, Le'er is no longer the little girl who used to hide behind you back then. Rest assured, even if a fight breaks out, I can protect myself." Unexpectedly, Liu Le'er grinned and said directly.

Han Li's heart stirred at her words. Remembering that her clan was the Tianhu Clan, one of the sixteen great wild clans of the Barbarian Realm, he felt somewhat reassured.

"Death is upon you, yet you remain unaware. Offer up your life!"

Seeing the intimate exchange between Han Li and Liu Le'er, Qingdian's jealousy flared. With a furious roar, he charged straight at them.

With each step he took, a dark red halo rippled out from under his feet, shaking the entire city wall so violently that the onlookers retreated one after another, clearing the central area and leaving only Han Li and Liu Le'er standing there.

Han Li's gaze sharpened as he saw Qing Dian's eyes turn crimson, and on the exposed skin of his body, ancient red patterns emerged, emanating a wild and bloodthirsty aura.

At the same time, his figure only grew about twice as large, not as exaggerated as Qing Chu's, but his face underwent a more obvious change: his nose shortened, his mouth protruded outward, and two huge fangs extended from the corners of his mouth, making him look more and more like a ferocious white-headed ape.

Seeing him charging close, Han Li's eyes suddenly focused, and he stepped forward, shielding Liu Le'er behind him.

Liu Le'er was about to do something when she felt a gentle force push her body backward, landing steadily hundreds of feet away.

Han Li suddenly thrust both hands forward, and thunder roared around him as streams of silver electric threads surged out, twisting in the void into two enormous silver claws of the Roc, which collided heavily with the white-headed ape's fists.

"Crackle..."

Amid a surge of electric light, Han Li simultaneously activated the Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art within his body, channeling all his strength into his arms. He suddenly grabbed Qing Dian's fists and twisted with all his might, intending to flip him to the ground.

But under this twist, he felt the opponent's form as steady as a mountain, completely unmoved.

"Hmph, daring to compete with me in strength, you're just asking for humiliation," Qing Dian sneered, suddenly withdrawing his fists. Han Li couldn't control it and had to let them slip from his grasp.

Han Li was quite surprised. Among his Twelve Awakening Transformations, the Roc's strength was indeed not as great as the Mountain Giant Ape's, but it was by no means weak. Yet this Qing Ape clan member was even stronger than him.

Before he could figure it out, Qing Dian threw a punch in pursuit, smashing down toward his head.

A flash of silver electric light on Han Li's body, and his figure instantly vanished from under Qing Dian's fist, reappearing behind his head the next moment.

At the same time, a green light flashed in his hand, and a Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword materialized. With a crackling sound on the blade, golden electric light surged out, thrusting straight toward the back of Qing Dian's neck.

This strike was too fast; Qing Dian had no time to turn around.

But with a loud roar from his mouth, the patterns on the skin of his nape lit up, and the skin instantly became crystalline and translucent red.

With a "boom" of an explosion, a brilliant golden light burst forth!

Countless electric sparks burst forth, transforming into myriad tiny golden serpents that shot out in all directions.

Amid the brilliant golden light, a strange fluctuation suddenly emerged, and a ring of blood-red light waves abruptly shot out from within, speeding toward Han Li.

Han Li's heart tightened, and he instinctively reversed the True Word Wheel within him, his body instantly shifting sideways.

The blood-red light wave grazed past his body and struck the city wall behind him.

With a thunderous roar, the entire wall shook.

Han Li felt a sharp burning pain on one shoulder; glancing sideways, he saw that the cloth on his shoulder had been completely torn away, revealing blood-red skin beneath.

He concentrated and examined it, finding that a layer of scarlet magma seemed to be attached to his shoulder, flowing and spreading toward his forearm, and the True Extremity Membrane covering his body had been burned through by this force.

Turning back to look, he saw that the city wall behind him had also been dented into a hole, and even the wall, reinforced by formations and extremely hard, seemed to have been burned through, with bubbling scarlet magma flowing down along the brick and stone crevices.

Han Li frowned slightly, raised a hand with a layer of silver flame attached to his palm, and, fingers together like a knife, scraped across his shoulder, gradually peeling off the magma-like substance.

However, even after removing the magma attached to his shoulder, Han Li still felt a faint, elusive strange force lingering at the wound, causing the flesh there to heal extremely slowly.

"Brother, don't fight this man with brute force. Le'er can help you!" Liu Le'er called out from afar.

But Han Li shook his head at her, signaling that he was fine and unwilling to let her get involved.

Meanwhile, on the city wall, a stooped white-haired old man, with his back bent and hands behind him, was looking down at Han Li, his old eyes narrowed, muttering to himself:

"Impressive physique, and he even cultivates the law of time. Though it's mostly just superficial, it's still a supreme law. Dian'er will probably have to put in some effort..."

The old man had dark skin, but his face was quite fair, covered with deep wrinkles, looking rather peculiar, and his aura was extremely restrained, standing there without revealing anything.

As he was pondering, he saw the void below the city wall suddenly become somewhat distorted, as if a faint red mist was spreading through it.

"He's even using that move. It seems there won't be any surprises." A smile appeared on the old man's face as he murmured to himself.