Chapter 1548: Emergence of the Enemies
The upper bodies of these humanoid figures on the Black Armor Beasts were those of women with purple skin and dark green eyes. All of them had long shoulder-length hair and were wearing suits of black armor while wielding all types of black weapons, creating a stark contrast with their gorgeous features.
However, once the women leaped down from the giant cow beasts and revealed their full bodies, Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted.
These women possessed lower bodies of centipedes!
Even Han Li couldn't help but shudder at the sight of these beautiful women with abhorrent centipede lower bodies.
These women seemed to have all been well-trained, and they managed to arrange themselves in an orderly formation in mere moments.
One of the higher ranking beings among them abruptly stepped strode toward the earthen wall, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face. However, this was a grotesque smile that literally spread from ear to ear, revealing rows of small sharp teeth and a serpentine forked tongue.
What had been a beautiful woman just a moment ago had suddenly transformed into a sinister nightmarish creature. It would not be impossible for a more cowardly person to faint from fear upon witnessing these beings for the first time.
Han Li naturally wasn't that inept, but he had still been given a massive fright.
The woman and Bai Zhu'er looked on with grim expressions, while hints of fear crept into the eyes of all of the other priests present.
"Hmph, so what if these are Black Rakshasa beings? They're just a bunch of pathetic cowards that managed to escape the extermination tens of thousands of years ago through sheer luck! Our Naga Race was able to eradicate them so many years ago, and we can replicate that feat now! The other two races must have only been destroyed as they'd been caught completely off-guard. In contrast, we've set up ample defenses in advance, so we have nothing to fear," the woman harrumphed coldly as she swept a sleeve toward the crystal ball.
Red light instantly flashed, and the entire formation ceased functioning, following which the image being broadcasted by the crystal ball also abruptly disappeared.
All of the other white-robed serpentine beings stirred upon hearing this, and they immediately bowed as they nodded in agreement. Following the woman's brief yet rousing speech, all of them had been injected with renewed courage, and the fear in their eyes was immediately wiped away.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of a meaningful smile appeared on his face.
The woman didn't appear to have done anything, but in reality, she's unleashed a secret technique while spurring on the priests present.
The secret technique was quite discreet, but it was naturally unable to escape Han Li's notice, seeing as he'd cultivated the Great Development Technique.
Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to reinvigorate these low-grade priests.
"Knowing who our enemies are makes things a lot easier for us. All of you, split up into four groups and direct our troops at the four city gates. If you encounter any Black Rakshasa priests, make sure to keep them at bay. Any deserters will be severely punished!" the woman instructed with a stern look on her face as she rose to her feet.
The serpentine beings all accepted their orders with respectful bows before exiting the hall.
Thus, the woman, her daughter, Han Li, and four other serpentine beings were the only ones left in the palace.
All four of these serpentine beings were quite old and possessed Core Formation Stage cultivation bases, thus, making them the most powerful beings within the race aside from the high priestess.
Han Li merely glanced at the four serpentine beings in an indifferent manner before withdrawing his gaze.
The woman heaved a long sigh before turning to Han Li with the intention of saying something.
However, right at this moment, earthshattering booms suddenly erupted from all sides, and the ground began to rumble once again.
"They're already beginning to attack the city." A wry smile appeared on her face.
"Are you not going to go out there and join the defensive efforts?" Han Li asked with a curious expression.
"There's no need for that. If I'm not mistaken the higher-ups of the Black Rakshasa Race will seek me out," the woman replied with a shake of her head.
"Is that so?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.
"Our Naga Race has always been the sworn enemy of the Black Rakshasa Race, so I'm aware of their habits and mannerisms. Even though we've activated all of our restrictions, we still most likely wouldn't be able to stop the truly powerful beings among them from infiltrating the city. They're extremely proficient in concealment secret techniques, and in battles, they prefer to slay the most powerful being among their enemies before killing the rest of the rest," the woman explained with a forced smile on her face.
"I see."
Han Li stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face. He then chuckled and said something that came as quite a shock to everyone present.
"So that means the one hiding over there isn't a helper that you summoned here in advance. How about I invite them to join us?"
"What? They're already in here?" the woman exclaimed.
As soon as her voice trailed off, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion toward a nearby wooden pillar.
A massive translucent hand immediately appeared out of thin air before grabbing viciously toward the pillar.
However, before the hand had closed itself around the pillar, a streak of black light shot forth from within before appearing over 200 feet away in a flash. Spiritual light flashed, and a Black Rakshasa being was revealed.
The woman and all of the serpentine beings were stunned to see this as they immediately prepared for battle.
The woman flipped over a hand to produce a short crimson rod that appeared to be constructed from stone.
The other four white-robed serpentine beings also produced long silver blades that shimmered and swayed like slithering silver snakes.
The young woman's hands blurred, and the bow on her back appeared in her hands with a bone arrow already nocked and ready to fire.
The Black Rakshasa being that had just been forced to reveal itself looked on with a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.
She turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner, completely ignoring everyone else as she said in a cold voice, "Your aura isn't right; you're not a being from the Naga Race. Which race are you from? For you to be able to see through my concealment technique; are you from the White Eye Race or the Thousand Illusion Race?"
This Black Rakshasa being was clearly under the false impression that Han Li was some kind of foreign being from the Thunder Continent.
Han Li smiled, but didn't offer a reply. Instead, he cast his gaze toward a shadowy corner of the palace before pointing a finger toward that direction.
A small azure sword shot forth like lightning, striking the corner in the flash.
A dull clang rang out as a streak of black light hurtled forth from the shadows to clash with the small sword.
At the same time, a shadowy figure slowly emerged.
Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and brilliant azure light erupted from the small sword. It then instantly destroyed the streak of black light that it was locked in combat with before rushing toward the black figure at a speed that was more than twice as fast as before.
The black figure was given a massive fright by the azure sword's sudden acceleration, but she reacted extremely quickly as her body twisted, and she flew through the air as a black thread.
The black thread appeared over 100 feet away after just a single flash, but to everyone's surprise, the small sword also transformed into an azure thread before setting off in hot pursuit.
The black thread had only paused for a split second before the azure thread was almost upon it, and it was forced to flee again.
Thus, an azure thread and a black thread flashed through the air one after another in the air, appearing on one side of the palace in one instant before suddenly appearing in another corner before anyone could trace them.
The threads were moving at such an incredible speed that everyone in the palace could only look on in astonishment.
All of a sudden, the black thread blurred before suddenly transforming into seven or eight identical threads that hurtled forth in different directions.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he raised a hand to summon the small sword back to him before drawing it up his sleeve.
Throughout this entire process, Han Li's expression remained completely calm and collected, as if what he'd merely been toying with his opponent.
The black threads in the air converged to form a single thread again in mid-air, and black light flashed before a Black Rakshasa being with a pair of golden eyes appeared.
This woman was glowering at Han Li with a vicious expression of fury on her face.
The woman immediately shuddered at the sight of the Black Rakshasa being's golden eyes, and she exclaimed, "Golden and silver eyes! You really are Black Rakshasa Monarchs! You two must've been the ones who killed the high priests of the other two races!"
"Hmph, looks like you've done your homework. However, your knowledge isn't going to save you. I've come to eradicate your race in person, so your fates are sealed," the golden-eyed Black Rakshasa being said in a sharp voice.
At this moment, the first Black Rakshasa being to have appeared suddenly vanished in a wraith-like manner, then reappeared beside her golden-eyed companion.
Han Li inspected the two women through narrowed eyes to find a strange layer of spiritual light draped over their bodies, thereby preventing him from being able to ascertain their cultivation bases despite his immensely powerful spiritual sense.
As such, they had to be carrying some kind of special concealment treasure.
With that in mind, Han Li decided against immediately attacking them.
Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Bai Zhu'er suddenly raised her bow before drawing it and letting loose the nocked arrow.
The bone arrow shot forth before tremoring mid-flight, immediately transforming into countless identical arrows that enshrouded the Black Rakshasa beings down below.
In her mind, a battle was unavoidable, so there was no need for words. As such, taking the initiative by attacking first was clearly the best option.
The woman was initially rather surprised to see this, but she then immediately gritted her teeth before waving her short red rod through the air, and it escaped her grasp before transforming into a crimson fiery wyrm.
The four white-robed serpentine beings glanced at one another before also slashing their silver blades through the air, sending silver saber projections hurtling toward the two enemies.
Thus, all of the Fire Yang beings were attacking in unison.
Spiritual lights of different colors intertwined with one another, instantly inundating the two Black Rakshasa beings.
However, the two women remained completely unfazed in the face of such ferocious attacks, and they merely raised a hand each to blast forth two balls of black light.
The balls of black light then immediately expanded before rapidly revolving around the two of them.