Chapter 545: Esteemed Guest
Chapter 545: Esteemed Guest
Tureev could see that escape wasn\'t going to be possible, and he immediately fell to his knees as he pleaded, "Please spare us! Why are you killing us when you\'re a member of the Insect Race yourself? All of us Gray Toad beings are insect envoys, we are loyal servants of the revered insect spirits! I only asked him to leave you behind so that we could take you back to our Insect Race and save you from having to serve as that human\'s pet!"
Jin Tong ceased in her attacks upon hearing this, and she reverted back to her human form before returning to Han Li\'s side, then asked, "What is this insect spirit that you speak of?"
"I... I\'m afraid I don\'t know. Our Gray Toad Tribe is nothing more than a tiny branch of the Insect Race. Even though I\'m the chief of the tribe, I\'ve only ever heard of the revered insect spirit and never actually had the honor of meeting them," Tureev replied in a hesitant voice.
Jin Tong turned to Han Li upon hearing this, then asked, "Can we use a soul search technique on him, Uncle?"
"Sure," Han Li replied with a nod, then pointed a finger forward, upon which a thread of translucent light flew into Tureev\'s glabella.
"No!" Tureev wailed with a horrified expression, only for his head to explode violently just an instant later.
"That\'s quite a nasty restriction," Han Li remarked as his brows furrowed slightly.
The remaining Gray Toad beings were furious to see the demise of their chief, and they began charging at Han Li once again.
Several seconds later, the entire clearing fell completely silent, and all of the Gray Toad beings had been eradicated.
After stowing his Dao Warriors away, Han Li turned to the Longneck beings, who were clearly apprehensive of him, but didn\'t dare to leave without permission.
All of the Longneck beings were also looking back at Han Li with a mixture of fear and confusion in their eyes, and it was clear that they didn\'t know how to react to what had just happened.
The man by the name of Taj hesitated momentarily, then voluntarily approached Han Li before extending a grateful salute as he said in the language of the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, "Thank you for saving us, Senior."
"Seeing as you can understand my language, I\'m sure you\'re already aware that I didn\'t kill those Gray Toad beings to save you and your tribesmen," Han Li said as he took a glance at Taj.
"In any case, you\'ve saved all of us by killing those Gray Toad beings, and that is a great kindness that we must repay. However, at the moment, our tribe has been severely ravaged by the Insect Race, so I\'m afraid we\'re in no position to be holding a reception. Otherwise, we would be sure to invite you to our tribe as an esteemed guest," Taj replied in an apologetic manner.
Han Li wanted to dismiss the Longneck beings, but after taking a glance at Jin Tong, he decided to raise some questions instead. "What\'s going on with the Beast Race and the Insect Race?"
A hesitant look appeared on Taj\'s face, and only after a brief pause did he reply, "The Insect Race and our Beast Race have different beliefs, and as a result, we\'ve become sworn enemies. We\'ve been fighting relentlessly against each other over the years, and many large-scale wars have taken place between our two races."
"What are these differing beliefs of yours?" Han Li asked.
"Our Beast Race is split up into many different tribes, and all of us worship different true spirit holy beasts. We don\'t always see eye to eye, but all of us revere true spirits, while all of the tribes of the Insect Race worship different insect spirits," Taj explained.
"I see. That\'s all I have to ask, you can go now," Han Li said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Thank you, Senior," Taj hurriedly replied with a respectful bow, then began making his way back to his tribesmen.
"Let\'s go," Han Li said as he turned to Jin Tong and Xiao Bai, the latter of which reverted back into a jade pendant before flying back to Han Li\'s waist.
Meanwhile, Jin Tong was looking a little hesitant, and Han Li knew that this had to have something to do with those Gray Toad beings, so he didn\'t try to rush her.
Right at this moment, Taj made his way back to Han Li, then extended another respectful salute as he said, "After careful consideration, I feel that it\'s necessary to invite you to travel to the Peacock Spirit Tribe with us so we can show you some hospitality and repay you for your kindness."
"If you really want to display your sincerity, then get your true leader to come out and see me," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.
A surprised look appeared on Taj\'s face upon hearing this.
Immediately thereafter, the group of Longneck beings parted to open up a path, following which a a figure dressed in a large gray cloak with a gray cloth concealing their facial features emerged.
"Young Mistress Yifan, you can\'t..."
Taj hurriedly tried to stop them, but the cloaked figure paid no heed to him as they made their way over to Han Li, then crossed their arms of their chest before extending a salute to him.
After that, they removed the gray cloth that was concealing their face to reveal an extremely intricate set of facial features that were virtually no different from those of a human. The only difference was that their skin was light blue, and their ears tapered to sharp points, while a pair of sharp fangs were protruding out from behind their lips.
"You\'re not a Longneck being?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.
Earlier, he had noticed that Taj seemed to have been acting under the instructions of someone else, and he had thought that perhaps the chief of the Longneck Tribe was among them, but that didn\'t appear to be the case.
"I am Nuo Yifan, the daughter of the Calm Dawn Tribe, and I was sent here to unite all of the tribe of the Beast Race to put up a collective resistance against the Insect Race, but as soon as I arrived at the Longneck Tribe, we were attacked by the Gray Toad Tribe and several other tribes, and we fled all the way here. It\'s only thanks to your timely intervention that we were able to survive, Senior," the blue-skinned woman said.
"Seeing as you\'re the one calling the shots here, I presume it\'s you who\'s inviting me to the Peacock Spirit Tribe?" Han Li asked.
"That\'s right. You must be a primordial hunter, right, Senior? The Insect Race has recently become more and more aggressive. Not only are they attacking our Beast Race, I\'ve heard that they instructed the Sand Beasts to attack a ship not long ago. If you\'re not familiar with this area, then you could easily stumble into their territory, and even with your unfathomable powers, a grueling battle would be inevitable," Nuo Yifan said.
"So you\'re extending this invitation to me for my sake?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"I wish to repay you for saving all of us, but of course, my motives aren\'t entirely unselfish. I\'m hoping that you can protect us on the way back to the Calm Dawn Tribe," Nuo Yifan replied in a candid fashion.
"Would your tribe happen to have a map of the primordial land?" Han Li asked.
"The primordial land is an enormous place, and many areas are ruled over by different powerful beings and tribes, making them inaccessible to others. Hence, even our Calm Dawn Tribe only has a map of some areas occupied by our Beast Race. As long as you\'re willing to escort us back to our Calm Dawn Tribe, I\'ll do my best to collect all of the maps in the possession of the nearby tribes," Nuo Yifan promised.
Han Li considered the offer for a moment, then decided to agree.
A hint of elation immediately flashed through Nuo Yifan\'s eyes as she said, "Thank you, Senior! May I ask your name?"
"My name is Li Feiyu," Han Li replied.
As Taj brought Han Li and Jin Tong back to the rest of the group, the other Longneck beings all began to watch Han Li\'s duo with clear apprehension and fear in their eyes.
Taj said something to everyone in the primordial tongue, and only then did all of the Longneck beings look away from Han Li and Jin Tong before commencing the process of cleaning up the battlefield.
At the same time, some of them began to collect the carcasses of the Gray Toad beings and the spirit insects, clearly finding them to be useful as materials.
Shortly thereafter, one of the Longneck beings exchanged a glance with Nuo Yifan, following which the former carried a storage ring that was crafted out of bone and laden with materials to Han Li.
Han Li wasn\'t particularly interested in these materials, but he still accepted the storage ring. After all, if he were to refuse, then that would most likely only make the Longneck beings even more uneasy as they could develop the false impression that he was harboring certain ulterior motives.
However, after accepting the storage ring, he immediately assigned its contents to Xiao Bai and Jin Tong for them to split and devour as they pleased.
Shortly thereafter, the entire group of Longneck beings set off once again, this time toward the south.
Taj was leading the way from the forefront, while Han Li and Nuo Yifan were walking alongside one another at the center of the unit, surrounded by all of the other Longneck beings. As for Jin Tong and Xiao Bai, they had already turned back into a pair of accessories that were fitted around Han Li\'s finger and hanging from his waist, respectively.
"Once we pass over this hilly region, we\'ll enter an area where a Hundred-eyed Centipede is active. The centipede is extremely formidable and aggressive, and it\'s been known to attack anything flying overhead. Hence, we\'ll only be able to take flight on demon beast steeds once we\'ve passed through that area," Nuo Yifan explained.
"That\'s fine. The primordial land is a very dangerous place, so it makes sense to take some safety precautions," Han LI replied in an indifferent voice.
At this point, they were already deep in the primordial land, so he naturally had no interest in taking any risks unless it was absolutely necessary to do so.
As he continued to walk along, Han Li declared through voice transmission, "Xiao Bai, I want you to teach me the primordial language."
Xiao Bai was very much taken aback to hear this, and it exclaimed, "The cultivators of the immortal regions have always regarded the primordial language as a lowly language that\'s completely beneath them. Are you sure you want to learn it, Master?"
"Languages are but tools for communication, so I don\'t perceive any languages to be above or below others," Han Li replied.
"Alright, if you want to learn, then I\'ll teach you," Xiao Bai replied.