Alien Race: The Nine Li Tribe

Seeing this, Chen Xuan's expression gradually turned grave. He took out a firewood knife and a rope from the woven bag.

He first used the rope to tie the mouth of the woven bag shut.

Then he tied the woven bag to his back and pulled the black robe over himself.

At this moment, Chen Xuan looked very bulky, like a hunchbacked old man.

"Old Chen, what's wrong?"

Xu Mu looked at Chen Xuan and asked.

"Brother Mu, from the moment we entered until now, you've been walking in front. I feel bad about it. This time, I'll go first."

Chen Xuan, holding the firewood knife, looked at the black-clothed figure in the distance and leaped forward.

He jumped from one stone pillar to another along the way.

Finally, he arrived at the central location, on top of this largest cylindrical pillar.

The pillar was roughly ten meters in diameter. The black-clothed figure sat cross-legged in the center.

"Greetings, senior."

Chen Xuan took off the hood of his black robe and bowed to the black-clothed figure here.

The figure was completely wrapped up, revealing only a pair of lifeless eyes.

Chen Xuan looked closely and found his eyes were a dark red.

The black-clothed figure grabbed the black longsword beside him and stood up from the stone pillar.

Without a word, he swung his sword towards Chen Xuan.

Boom!

The surrounding air erupted with a sonic boom. A golden sword energy, a full ten meters or so in length, instantly shot towards Chen Xuan.

Seeing this golden sword energy, Chen Xuan immediately leaned back to dodge.

The color of the released attack, infused with Qi, proved this person had already reached the Divine Ability realm.

Swish!

As Chen Xuan leaned back, the black-clothed figure had already arrived before him, slashing out with his sword.

Chen Xuan did a somersault on the ground. Seeing the longsword closing in on him, he swung the firewood knife in his hand with all his might.

Clang!

The longsword and firewood knife clashed, sending sparks flying everywhere.

"Brother Mu! You go first!"

Chen Xuan shouted to Xu Mu.

"Old Chen, how can I leave you behind!"

Xu Mu was also stepping on the stone pillars, closing in towards this location.

"Don't worry, I have a way to leave!"

Chen Xuan shouted to Xu Mu.

"Then I'm really pulling back."

Xu Mu didn't hesitate too much either. After all, Chen Xuan was the protagonist; he must have some reliance to dare say such a thing.

Since he wanted to fight here, Xu Mu would certainly give him the chance.

The black-clothed figure noticed Xu Mu had already jumped past him and immediately moved to intercept.

But Chen Xuan's figure instantly appeared in front of Xu Mu, blocking the black-clothed figure. "Your opponent is me!"

Xu Mu glanced back at Chen Xuan, then continued stepping on the pillars, jumping deeper in.

Finally, passing through the area of stone pillars, Xu Mu once again arrived on a path over three meters wide.

This time, he walked less than a hundred meters before reaching the end.

Ahead was a stone door, carved with a wing pattern.

Finding the stone door already slightly ajar, Xu Mu continued walking deeper.

As soon as he arrived here, he noticed a luminous ring had once again appeared on his wrist.

Inside this ring, he could see a strange symbol.

He reached out and touched it, finding that this time, the ring was actually tangible.

He could even take the ring off.

Looking around, Xu Mu found himself in a world of yellow sand, with many stone structures scattered about.

They stood upon the yellow sand; the buildings here were densely packed, with one roughly every twenty or thirty meters.

"This ancient ruin is truly incredible."

As Xu Mu spoke, two butterflies suddenly flew out from a nearby stone structure. "Miao He! What are you trying to do?"

Hearing the familiar voice, the two butterflies immediately slowed down.

They flew a circle and returned to the structure.

At that moment, Miao He walked out from inside.

"You really keep your cards close to your chest. I originally thought to protect you, never expecting you to get here first."

Xu Mu stared at the Miao He before him and questioned, "Or should I say, you're not Miao He at all?"

"I am, of course. It's just that I've seen the formations here and know a shortcut."

Miao He was now staring at the luminous ring on Xu Mu's wrist.

"How do you know about the formations here?" Xu Mu asked.

"Because... I can't say."

Miao He shook her head. "You just need to know we're on the same side. I definitely won't harm you."

Just then, the ground all around began to tremble.

Seeing this, Miao He immediately stepped forward, grabbed Xu Mu, and pulled him into a nearby stone structure.

Within seconds, a burly man clad in black armor descended from the sky, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand.

Xu Mu looked at this burly man and saw he had silver hair and red eyes.

He now held a giant axe, looking left and right, before leisurely walking away.

"What was that just now...?"

Xu Mu's face was full of gravity.

"A tomb guardian."

Miao He explained. "Normally, most ancient ruins are the remains of destroyed sects. But this place is a tomb."

"That's not what I'm asking about!"

Xu Mu pointed in the direction the burly man had left. "His body is full of Gu insects."

"You... how do you know that?"

Hearing this, Miao He's eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Miao He, you know this is a tomb. You know the formations here. Both you and he have Gu insects on you, and you both have silver hair."

As Xu Mu spoke, his expression gradually darkened. "I'll give you one chance to explain."

"I..."

Miao He now clenched her fists, shaking her head vigorously. "Xu Mu! Don't ask! I don't want to say!"

"You think I don't understand anything? Then I'll say just one word: Nine!"

Xu Mu stared at Miao He. "I'll give you one last chance. If you don't speak, our cooperation ends here."

Hearing the word "Nine" from Xu Mu, Miao He's eyes widened.

She stumbled back several steps, her face full of astonishment. "Xu Mu, you actually... Fine, I'll tell you!"

Hearing this, Xu Mu stared at her, waiting for what came next.

Miao He didn't speak. Instead, she lifted the silver hair covering her eye and reached to pinch it.

Then, she removed a black colored contact lens.

And now, this eye of hers had turned red, with a pupil that was a dark red, almost black.

"That's right, I am of the Nine Li tribe."

Miao He said calmly, then pointed to her other, still covered eye. "I don't need to take this one off, do I?"

"No need. So your silver hair is natural. No wonder I noticed last time your eyelashes were silver too."

Xu Mu leaned against the stone wall beside him, a slight smile appearing. "I was going to ask back then if all the other hair on your body was that color."

"You're not afraid of me looking like this?"

Miao He was full of confusion. "When I ran away from home as a child, people called me a ghost and threw stones at me."

"The Nine Li tribe is also one of the ancestors of our Dragon Country. Quite a few Dragon Country people probably have a bit of Nine Li bloodline mixed in, right?"

Xu Mu knew the mid-to-late plot.

So, back when he was explaining cultivation realms to Xu Ningbing, he had thought of these human-yet-not-quite-human beings.

In ancient times, the land of Dragon Country had three extremely powerful tribes.

Their leaders were respectively: the Yellow Emperor, the Flame Emperor, and Chi You.

The Yellow Emperor and the Flame Emperor joined forces, defeated Chi You, and established Dragon Country's civilization.

The people of Dragon Country are also called the descendants of Yan and Huang (the Flame and Yellow Emperors).

But before defeating Chi You, the Yellow Emperor and the Flame Emperor had also fought each other, in a conflict known as the Battle of Banquan.

The battle was exceptionally fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides. In the end, Emperor Yan suffered a major defeat, leading to the fusion of the two great tribes.

Emperor Huang respected Emperor Yan, naming their combined tribes "Yan Huang," placing "Yan" first.

However, facing Chi You, Emperor Huang adopted a different approach.

He dismembered Chi You's body, burying the parts in separate locations, ensuring his head and body would never rest together.

There are many legends about Chi You, but most depict him as non-human in form.

He is described with horns on his head, wings on his back, crimson red eyes, and skin as hard as iron.

In the narrative, the fundamental reason Emperor Huang accepted Emperor Yan yet dismembered Chi You

is that the Jiuli tribe led by Chi You and the Yan Huang tribe were not the same kind of people.

In other words, from the perspective of the Yan Huang tribes, the Jiuli people were considered a foreign, alien race.