There were several dismembered wolf-like beast carcasses strewn around the lava, clearly having been sliced apart by some type of sharp blade.
"Jin Tong," Han Li called as he withdrew his gaze. [1]
Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch instantly appeared before extending a deep bow toward Han Li, then said something to Han Li in an unintelligible language, but Han Li seemed to be able to understand it.
"So these things arrived here not long after I left; they must've been sent here by the Asura Spiders. It's a good thing I left you here. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what the Asura Spider Race was planning. Come back for now," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air, and Jin Tong immediately flew over to him before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash.
Jin Tong was a name that Han Li had given the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch on a whim, and he felt it to be quite appropriate.
After that, Han Li flicked a finger toward the dismembered beast carcasses, releasing several crimson fireballs that incinerated everything into ashes.
Only then did Han Li direct his attention toward the lava lake again, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
He flipped a hand over to produce the talisman-covered jade box that contained that blue bead, then swept a hand over the box, upon which all of the talismans and the lid was removed, revealing the bead inside.
As soon as the bead appeared, it immediately released a burst of powerful law fluctuations that were guided into the lava lake by Han Li's magic power.
Upon first seeing the blue stone and this bead at the glacial pond, Han Li had discovered that they imbued with a familiar aura in addition to their immense spatial power.
After pondering the matter, he discovered that this aura was identical to that of the Space Fish beings he had encountered earlier.
However, this aura was extremely feeble on these two items, to the extent that it was barely detectable.
If it weren't for the fact that he had only encountered the Space Fish beings only several days prior, he most likely wouldn't have been able to detect it, either.
As such, even though Han Li didn't know that the treasures in the glacial pond were the so-called sacred treasures of the Space Fish Race, he had guessed that there was a connection.
Furthermore, he didn't have any concrete evidence to support this, but he felt like this treasure was hiding a secret.
Thus, as soon as he obtained the bead, he immediately traveled to this lava lake.
The blue bead within the jade box was flashing erratically, and the law fluctuations it was giving off were becoming more and more potent, causing the nearby space to buzz incessantly while blurry bands of light materialized in the air.
The entire underground cave also began to tremor slightly, sending countless rock fragments raining down from above.
If a normal person had been in Han Li's shoes, they would at least be dealt some injuries, if not killed, by this rain of rocks, but as a Grand Ascension Stage being, Han Li was naturally able to eradicate the falling rocks with ease with his protective spiritual light.
All of a sudden, the lava lake parted, and several human-fish hybrid creatures emerged, wielding all types of different weapons.
These were none other than the Space Fish beings that Han Li had seen a few days ago, and they immediately surrounded him before appraising him with bewildered expressions.
There was a burly male Space Fish being among them, and he was that Spatial Tempering Stage leader of the Space Fish Race
His gaze was firmly locked onto the jade box, and there was a hint of indescribable excitement intermingled with the bewilderment in his eyes.
Han Li merely appraised the Space Fish beings in silence with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Who are you and why are you unleashing your power here, Senior? Are you targeting our race?" the burly Space Fish being asked in a wary voice.
He possessed the most advanced cultivation base among all of the Space Fish beings present, yet he had only just reached the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was completely unable to glean Han Li's cultivation base, so he was naturally feeling very anxious.
"I want to meet your leader," Han Li said in an implacable voice as he stowed the jade box and bead away amid a flash of white light.
The burly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and following a brief moment of contemplation, he replied with a slightly forced smile, "Yes, Senior; we'll take your to our chieftain right away."
He was clearly well aware that Han Li was far too powerful for him to turn down.
Even so, he still turned to two of his companions and quickly communicated something to them through voice transmission, then made an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.
The two Space Fish beings immediately plunged into the lava lake as two balls of red light at his behest.
Han Li paid no heed to this and drifted down into the lava lake in an unhurried manner as well.
In the instant that Han Li descended into the lava lake, it immediately parted to create a massive passageway several tens of feet wide.
The passageway was unfathomably deep and seemed to reach all the way to the lakebed.
"That's the Fire Evasion Technique!"
The burly man was quite stunned to see this.
The Fire Evasion Technique was a very commonplace technique that even elementary cultivators could master, but it was astonishing that such an incredible phenomenon could be created using such a simple technique.
The burly man took a moment to compose himself, then descended into the lake along with his companions.
The lava lake didn't appear to be all that large, but it was unexpectedly very deep.
Only after descending for about 3,000 to 4,000 feet did Han Li finally catch sight of a blue light barrier down below.
His expression changed slightly as he passed directly through the light barrier, upon which he arrived in another small space.
As soon as he entered this space, loud sirens rang out in all directions, and around a dozen patrolling Space Fish beings immediately surrounded him with menacing expressions.
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and just as he was considering whether he should teach these Space Fish beings a lesson, the burly man also rushed into the light barrier before hurriedly yelling, "Get back! This senior is an esteemed guest of our race, and he's here to see our chieftain!"
All of the guards were rather hesitant upon hearing this. "What? He wants to meet our chieftain? Surely that's not appropriate."
Right at this moment, a ball of red light shot forth from another direction, then faded to reveal a female Space Fish being holding a badge aloft in her hand. "The chieftain wishes to meet the esteemed guest in the Heavenly Domain Hall; no one is to stop him!"
The Space Fish guards were still rather bewildered by the situation, but they all backed down as instructed. "In that case, please go on ahead."
Only then did Han Li carefully inspect his surroundings with a faint smile on his face.
This area only had a radius of less than 10 kilometers, and there were hundreds of triangular buildings of different heights constructed here.
The surfaces of these buildings were all etched with extremely primitive-looking squiggly text, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the text seemed to contain some type of profound meaning.
Han Li didn't know how many Space Fish beings were living in those buildings, but there were less than 300 outside the buildings, and the vast majority of them were elderly, women, or children.
It seemed that even if all of the Space Fish beings were to vacate the buildings, there would only be around 500 to 600 of them at most, so this definitely wasn't a prosperous community.
The burly man was growing rather uneasy at the sight of Han Li inspecting the surrounding area, and he volunteered, "Please come with me, Senior."
"Alright, lead the way," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.
The burly man extended a bow before rising up into the air and flying toward a certain direction.
As for Han Li, he took a step forward and immediately appeared over 100 feet away, following along behind the burly man in an unhurried manner.
After just a few flashes, the two of them arrived in front of an ordinary-looking building.
There were no guards stationed at the entrance of the building, and the burly man stopped here before turning to Han Li with a respectful salute.
"Our chieftain is inside, Senior. I can't come in with you, so I'll be waiting outside."
Han Li nodded in response before making his way into the building.
After passing through the entrance, he arrived in a hall that was around 100 feet in size with only some simple tables and chairs in the room.
On the chair at the end of the hall sat a thin grey-haired elderly man with a completely human body as opposed to a human-fish hybrid body.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man to find that he was only at the early-Body Integration Stage.
"Are you the Space Fish Chieftain?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.
The elderly man had already risen to his feet as soon as Han Li entered the hall, and after briefly sweeping his spiritual sense toward Han Li, his expression changed slightly as he replied in a respectful manner, "My name is Liu Shuo, and I am indeed the chieftain of the Space Fish Race. May I ask where you've come from, Senior? Are you a Grand Ascension Stage being?"
There was a hint of peculiar excitement intermingled with the elderly man's respectful expression.
"That's right, I am a Grand Ascension Stage from a foreign realm," Han Li replied with a faint smile.
A mixture of grief and elation appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this, and he suddenly fell to his knees before kowtowing toward Han Li. "Thank heavens! A powerful being from a foreign realm has finally blessed us with his presence! Please save our race, Senior. If you can save us from the Asura Spider Race, we'll accept you as our master and serve you for generations to come."
[1] [Jin(金) Tong(童) literally translates to golden child.]
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