Chapter 546: The Barbarian Tribe

Time passed, and more than a month had gone by.

Above a primeval forest with dense vegetation, enormous birds of various shapes streaked across the sky, each ridden by alien beings with green skin and long necks, descending toward the center of the forest.

A middle-aged man with a wooden expression, a human among these aliens, stood out somewhat conspicuously.

The man was none other than Han Li, who had followed the Neck Tribe back to the Youchen Tribe.

Tanshi rode a black elk with wings on its back, while Nuoyifan rode a snow-white eagle with pure white feathers. Together, they angled downward, landing in an open area in the center of the forest.

Han Li rode a gray long-haired elephant with ears as large as fleshy wings, lagging slightly behind the other Neck Tribe members as he also descended.

After landing, Han Li swept his gaze around and saw that hidden within the dense forest were numerous semi-subterranean sloped-roof buildings, densely distributed among towering ancient trees, blending harmoniously with the surrounding environment.

But at this moment, most of these buildings had been damaged—some half-collapsed, others completely razed. Scattered around were the miserable and horrifying corpses of various alien beings.

Most of these were small, plump gray-skinned dwarves with large heads. Their facial features were almost identical to humans', but their eyes, nose, and mouth were all squeezed together, looking somewhat awkward.

Additionally, there were many green-skinned Neck Tribe corpses and numerous demon beast carcasses scattered about, most of which had been gnawed beyond recognition by spirit insects, making them too gruesome to look at.

After inspecting the entire area around the buildings, all the Neck Tribe members' expressions turned extremely grim, and flames of anger blazed in every pair of eyes.

Before long, Han Li saw Tanshi emerge from behind a sloped-roof hut, carrying the corpse of an elderly Neck Tribe member in his arms, his expression mournful.

Taking a closer look at the corpse's face, Han Li found it bore a striking resemblance to Tanshi—about seventy percent similar. He understood that this was most likely Tanshi's father, the chieftain of the Neck Tribe.

Seeing this, Nuoyifan stepped forward, crossed her hands over her chest, bowed to the corpse in Tanshi's arms, then patted Tanshi on the shoulder and said a few words in the barbarian tongue.

Having learned the barbarian language from the white Pixiu, Xiao Bai, during the journey, Han Li could now roughly understand Nuoyifan's words—they were something like “The dead are gone; accept your loss and mourn in peace.”

After Tanshi's expression returned to normal, he pulled a black, jade-like long bone from his father's bosom and raised it high, letting out a mournful low cry. The other Neck Tribe members immediately gathered around, encircling him, and also let out cries.

Nuoyifan walked out from the crowd and came to Han Li's side.

“Tanshi's father died in battle. He will become the new tribal chieftain,” she said slowly, her tone somewhat weary.

“It seems the situation for your beast tribe is quite dire,” Han Li remarked.

“Since the war millions of years ago that defeated the insect race, our beast tribe's various clans have grown too complacent. Although we have always sent people to closely monitor the insect race's movements, this time they had long plotted, and there were no prior signs, so we were caught off guard. However, the True Spirit King we worship is far more powerful than their insect spirits. Once our clans unite and summon the King's true form, that will be the end of the insect race,” Nuoyifan said firmly.

“Let's hope so. How much farther is it to your Youchen Tribe?” Han Li asked, changing the subject, showing little interest.

“At our current speed, we should be able to return to the tribe in at most three months,” Nuoyifan said after a brief pause.

Han Li nodded and said nothing more.

After the Neck Tribe held a simple but dignified ceremony, they gathered the corpses of their own people and the Kongling Tribe members, then set off again.

After leaving the Kongling Tribe's settlement, perhaps because they had entered the beast tribe's fully controlled territory, their travel speed noticeably increased. Apart from occasionally detouring to avoid some powerful fierce beasts, they flew at full speed all the way.

During this time, Han Li continued learning the barbarian language from the white Pixiu while quietly observing the terrain and landmarks along the way, incorporating them into the map he had previously pieced together.

In fact, the maps he had bought in Yuanhuang City were now essentially useless. The one given by Jiao San was still somewhat helpful, but it did not intersect with the path he was currently taking and could only be used to determine the general direction.

Two and a half months later, Han Li and the Neck Tribe finally crossed the vast forest.

During this period, although the Neck Tribe were quite familiar with this forest and avoided many powerful true spirits dwelling there, they were still ambushed and intercepted by insect tribes several times. Han Li himself still did not intervene much, leaving most matters to Jintong and the Pixiu Xiao Bai.

These experiences gradually dispelled the Neck Tribe's hostility and wariness toward Han Li, and he took the opportunity to learn some rumors and anecdotes about the barbarian lands from Nuoyifan and Tanshi.

Now, they arrived before an enormous canyon.

This was the habitat of the Youchen Tribe: the Dark Star Canyon.

Although he had known beforehand that the Youchen Tribe was one of the most powerful beast tribes, Han Li was still shocked by the scene before him when he actually arrived.

Looking into the distance, a vast mountain range stretching for who knows how many thousands of miles lay ahead. Amid the lush greenery, a huge white chasm split open, like a wound cut into a giant beast's body, a shocking sight.

At the entrance of the white canyon stood an enormous white stone fortress, with watchtowers clustered and banners fluttering, resembling a massive white castle.

The entire castle was over ten thousand zhang high, almost level with the canyon walls on both sides. It had no formal gate, but only three huge arched openings, each over six thousand zhang high, in the center, blocked by black metal grilles.

Through the central arch, a mighty river with fierce currents passed, its turbid green water rolling out with a thunderous roar, flowing endlessly.

Once outside the castle, Nuoyifan took off the gray cloth robe she had been wearing, revealing her curvaceous figure. Dressed in light, form-fitting clothes, she drew the gazes of the Neck Tribe men, who felt their blood rush but dared not stare too long.

Han Li glanced at her, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He realized that with the gray cloth robe of unknown material blocking his perception, he had not detected that Nuoyifan's aura had actually reached the late True Immortal stage.

It seemed that in these barbarian lands far from the Immortal Realm, there were special artifact-refining techniques and禁制 methods, but presumably only a few powerful major tribes could afford such artifact refiners.

As he pondered, dozens of figures flew out from within the castle together.

These people resembled Nuoyifan in appearance—light blue skin and long, pointed ears—clearly all Youchen Tribe members.

Among them were both men and women. The men were generally taller, with darker markings on their bodies, but they did not look strong; their features were handsome but somewhat effeminate.

The leader was a middle-aged man holding a green jade staff. His face was ninety percent similar to Nuoyifan's, but with sharper contours. His light blue hair was tied behind him, and he wore an off-white robe, giving him a somewhat scholarly air.

“Yifan...” Before reaching them, the man called out loudly.

“Father!” Nuoyifan's face lit up with joy as she called back and hurried to meet him.

The Neck Tribe members and Han Li remained hovering at a distance, not immediately following.

By now, Han Li had little trouble with the barbarian language, though he rarely spoke it and still found it somewhat difficult to express himself.

“It's all my fault for making you suffer. I'm just glad you came back safely. It's good that you're back, it's good...” The man, who was the Youchen Tribe chieftain, gently stroked his daughter's hair, speaking with concern.

“I chose to go myself, Father, so don't blame yourself. Fortunately, I have united the northern tribes, and they have all decided to gather at our Dark Star Canyon. I believe we will soon consolidate all the beast tribe's strength,” Nuoyifan shook her head and said.

“You did well. Over the past ten days or so, some tribes have already moved here in full. But from the news they brought, the Neck Tribe and Kongling Tribe were attacked. You didn't encounter any trouble, did you?” The white-robed man nodded and asked.

“When I was with the Neck Tribe, the Gray Toad and Green Scorpion tribes attacked together. Neck Tribe Chieftain Tanka led the people to flee to the Kongling Tribe, drawing away most of the pursuers. I and the remaining Neck Tribe members escaped to Luming Hill, but the Gray Toad tribe caught up. Fortunately, we met Senior Li, who killed the Gray Toad tribe,” Nuoyifan said, her gaze finally falling on Han Li.

The white-robed man listened with a pounding heart, filled with even more regret for putting his daughter in danger.

When he heard that Han Li had wiped out the Gray Toad tribe, his gaze also shifted, and his pupils involuntarily contracted.

“A human...”

Not only he, but almost all the Youchen Tribe members showed similar emotions the moment they saw Han Li.

Since the Youchen Tribe shared many similarities with humans, Han Li could clearly sense a deep-seated disgust and wariness.

Seeing this, Nuoyifan quickly added, “Father, it was Senior Li who escorted us all the way, allowing us to return safely to the tribe.”

Hearing this, the white-robed man's expression softened slightly, and he led the group flying toward Han Li and the others.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li, for rescuing and escorting Yifan back to the tribe. If you want any reward, just name it,” the white-robed man said, not using their tribal etiquette but cupping his hands slightly to Han Li and speaking in the Immortal Realm language.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and sneered inwardly.

This Youchen Tribe chieftain clearly wanted to send him off with some treasure and had no intention of letting him enter the Dark Star Canyon.