Chapter 1542: High Priestess
The island was several hundred kilometers in size, and even though these serpentine women were slithering quite quickly, it would still most likely take them a long time to reach the center of the island.
However, with Yan Wu leading the way, a crude shack appeared up ahead after the group had traveled for several kilometers. There were a few male and female serpentine beings inside, looking after a dozen or so lizard beasts. On the other end of the shack was a black carriage that had been covered by a black cloth made from some unknown material.
As soon as they caught sight of their assistant priestess, two of them immediately rushed out to greet her in a respectful manner.
Yan Wu issued a few instructions in response while pointing at the aforementioned black carriage.
The two serpentine beings were seemingly rather surprised by what they'd heard, and they couldn't help but steal a few glances at Han Li while nodding emphatically in response.
They then immediately returned to the shack and strapped a pair of lizard beasts to the black carriage before drawing the other three over as well.
Thus, Han Li was carefully lifted onto the black carriage by the serpentine women, and two of them sat on the lizard beasts drawing the carriage while the others got onto the other three lizard beasts.
Due to the fact that these serpentine women were lacking legs, there was a tubular saddle strapped to the backs of each of these lizard beasts that allowed them to slide their tails into.
Thus, the group continued onward.
These lizard beasts were rather maladroit and made for a rather bumpy ride, but they were quite fast in their movements, making a significant improvement compared to the ground being covered before.
Four hours later, they arrived in front of an earthen city.
This was a true earthen city completely constructed from yellow mud, and it was only a few kilometers in size.
The buildings in the city were also mostly constructed from mud, and there were very few stone buildings within.
Han Li was slightly surprised to see this, but his expression remained unchanged as he cast his gaze toward the dozen or so serpentine guards standing at the city gates instead.
These guards were also mostly women with a minority of men among them, and all of them were wearing armor constructed from unknown materials. They were all holding shimmering silver halberds with silver long silver projectiles on their backs, giving off the impression that they were armed to the teeth. From a distance, Han Li could tell that there were also many armed serpentine beings standing atop the nearby earthen walls, and it seemed that all of them were on high alert.
After arriving at the city gates, Yan Wu brought her lizard steed to a halt before jumping down from its back.
A serpentine woman among the guards at the gates immediately made her way toward Yan Wu before extending a smiling greeting.
Yan Wu also said something in response, but the smile on her face gave way to a serious expression as she pointed toward the carriage behind her.
The female guard's smile also faded as she nodded in a solemn manner. She then waved a hand, and the guards behind her immediately opened up a path to allow everyone through.
Thus, Yan Wu jumped onto her lizard steed again, and the group entered the city.
Han Li sat within the carriage and appraised his surroundings.
The earthen city wasn't very large, but the streets were very wide and paved with faint white stones, creating a stark contrast with the earthy yellow buildings around them.
There were many serpentine beings slithering along the streets. The men were all powerful and musclebound, while the women were also lithe and athletic, and most of them were carrying weapons.
Even the serpentine children that were only several feet tall were also carrying some smaller weapons that appeared to have been constructed from wood.
Han Li fell into deep thought upon making these observations.
This was the first time he'd heard of this Naga Race, but this was clearly a warrior race. He was curious about whether this race had a large number of cultivators These mortal serpentine beings were already quite powerful for mortal standards, and if they had a large proportion of cultivators among their ranks, then this was most likely quite a powerful foreign race. In that case, how could he have never heard of them?
Han Li had also noticed that there were clearly more female beings than their male counterparts in this Fire Yang Race.
From the rough tally that he was keeping in his head, it appeared that there were more than twice as many female beings compared to male ones here.
Furthermore, their serpentine lower bodies were all of different colors.
Most of them were green or yellow, and they seemed to be of the lowliest ranks as well. There were very few beings with white and black tails, but most of them were treated with respect and revered by their brethren, indicating that they were important figures within the race.
Han Li analyzed everything that he'd seen in silence, and soon after that, the carriage arrived at a plaza that was paved with smooth and even stone panels. On one side of the plaza was a large palace that had been constructed from wood and mud, and shells of all types of different colors had been used to embellish the building.
However, none of that had caught Han Li's attention. His gaze was instead fixed on a strange object at the center of the plaza.
This was a conical object that seemed to have been constructed from a copper-like material. It was over 100 feet tall and had a wide base that tapered at the top. There was a series of strange patterns all over the surface of the object, as well as a faint layer of white light that was flashing from it.
There were seven or eight white-robed serpentine beings standing around the object, all of whom had spiritual light shimmering from their hands.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he immediately identified what these beings were loading into the underside of this strange object. They were fist-sized objects, but they were of all types of different colors and didn't appear to be spirit stones.
Furthermore, even though all of these white-robed serpentine beings were emanating spiritual Qi fluctuations, their cultivation bases were inferior even to that of Yan Wu.
As soon as Yan Wu's group arrived, two of the white-robed beings approached them.
At this moment, Han Li was carried off the carriage, and carefully placed onto a bamboo chair that someone had sourced for him.
Han Li looked on with an indifferent expression as the serpentine beings conversed with one another. He couldn't understand anything, but it was quite clear that the two white-robed beings were quite respectful toward Yan Qu.
Right at this moment, two rows of white-robed serpentine beings suddenly emerged from within the palace on the other side of the plaza. One row consisted solely of women while the other was solely of men, and they slowly made their way toward Han Li.
All of the conversing serpentine beings' expressions changed upon seeing this, and they immediately backed away to the sides with respectful expressions on their faces.
The two rows of white-robed beings also stopped before a red-robed being emerged from among their group.
A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this being.
This was a female being with a set of ordinary features and a thin body. Her lower body consisted of a pair of human legs rather than a serpentine tail, and what was even more surprising to him was that he could sense Nascent Soul Stage magic power fluctuations emanating from her body.
All of the white-robed serpentine beings present also possessed spiritual Qi fluctuations, but the ones with the highest cultivation bases among them was merely a pair of male beings that were around the Foundation Establishment Stage. The rest were all only at the Qi Condensation Stage, just as Yan Wu was.
As such, a high-grade cultivator like the red-robed woman naturally stuck out like a sore thumb.
A surprised look appeared on the woman's face after glancing at Han Li, but she soon recomposed herself before hurriedly slithering over to him.
"Junior Huo Yue pays her respects to Senior Han!" The woman extended a bow and spoke in extremely fluent Flying Spirit Race language.
"You're the high priestess of the Fire Yang Race?" Han Li asked.
"Indeed! This is not a suitable place to talk; I suggest we converse in the hall, Senior," the woman said with a smile.
"Sure, I have many things I want to ask you as well," Han Li replied with a nod.
"Thank you for gracing me with your presence, Senior! All of you, hurry and invite Senior into the palace." The woman was ecstatic, and immediately turned around to issue an instruction to the white-robed serpentine women.
The row of serpentine women immediately sprang into a chaotic frenzy, following which two of them hurriedly rushed forward, then carried the bamboo chair that Han Li was sitting on toward the palace in an extremely careful manner.
The woman then waved a hand, and everyone else also followed along.
Moments later, Han Li found himself inside a hall within the palace. Han Li and the red-robed woman were the only ones seated within the hall, while all of the other serpentine beings stood off to the sides in a respectful manner.
"How is your condition, Senior? I can see that you're having a lot of trouble with movement. I have some pills that I refined which can assist in replenishing one's energy and repairing one's body. Would you like some, Senior?" the woman asked in a respectful manner.
"It's alright, I only encountered a minor issue with my cultivation; I'll be fine after some rest," Han Li replied with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Hehe, that's good to hear. I received a message from Wu'er informing me that you'd like to ask me some questions, Senior; I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," the woman said.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you what this region of the sea is known as well as whether there are any renowned cultivators in this area," Han Li replied.
A peculiar look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, but she still replied, "This area is known as the Flame Coral Islands, and there aren't any particularly powerful fellow Daoists in the nearby area. The most powerful ones only possess cultivation bases that are comparable to my own."
"The Flame Coral Islands? Do you have a map of the area?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.
"Of course. However, the maps I have are all annotated with text from our Naga Race, so I suggest that you learn our language first before inspecting the map, Senior," the woman proposed with a smile.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and only after a short while did he nod in response. "Sure." The little spiritual sense that he'd retained couldn't be released out of his body, but it was naturally no problem for him to read a jade slip or something like that.
A fawning smile appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, and she produced a glossy black stone shard before tossing it toward Han Li.
After resting for so long, Han Li had recovered some of his magic power, but he was still feeling quite weak and feeble.
He could tell that the stone shard was something that was similar to a jade slip, so he opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, sweeping the jade slip toward his forehead to try and examine its contents.
However, right at this moment, the stone shard abruptly exploded amid a dull thump, and a burst of inky-black mist dispersed through the air, enshrouding Han Li's entire body within.