I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts-Chapter 409 - 308: Formidable Foe

"Get on."

Understanding instantly, Li Wu didn’t hesitate any longer, extending his hand to Han Zhan and pulling him onto his mount.

The mounts of the Jiuli Tribe were a group of giant beasts that crawled on four legs.

They resembled lizards in appearance, but were countless times larger in size. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Only such massive bodies could bear the weight of the warriors of the Jiuli Tribe.

Black iron armor encased their heads and the joints of their limbs, with a black and red rein secured from their necks.

Heavy breaths puffed out from two pitch-black "chimneys."

After pulling Han Zhan up, Li Wu violently whipped the reins with his other hand.

A thunderous crack resounded.

The giant beast, which had been resting, propped up its limbs and began to gallop forward.

Behind them, the fierce beast soldiers from the Yellow Emperor Tribe were almost upon them.

"Faster!"

Li Wu shouted loudly, and the giant beast he was riding seemed to understand, its muscular tail swinging and smashing heavily onto the ground.

Thud, thud, thud!

With this momentum, it charged forward like a beastly tank at full throttle.

In the dense forest, even the towering trees that took three to five people to encircle couldn’t withstand such a collision, their trunks shattering in a second, with wood chips flying.

The gigantic tree bodies, losing their support, toppled from both sides toward the center, emitting the booming sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground, scaring flocks of birds into flight.

In the rear.

The fierce beast soldiers that had been parasitized by the Suo were not so lucky.

Unlike the heavily armored giant beasts of the Jiuli Tribe, the fierce beast riders of the Yellow Emperor Tribe had speed and number advantages but were inferior in power and defense.

Unable to halt their forward momentum, they crashed one after another into the tree obstacles that suddenly appeared.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

The successive dull thudding noises made one’s scalp tingle.

Heaven knows how many fierce beast riders were engulfed in the billowing dust.

"Why are there so many?"

Han Zhan frowned and asked, unable to hold back, as he watched the dust rising in an endless stream behind them.

"Many? Aren’t you a priest of the Yellow Emperor Tribe, and don’t even know this?"

Li Wu chided urgently, yet still gave an explanation.

"They’re bodies."

"These fierce beast riders are all corpses from the battlefield. They’ve been parasitized by the Suo."

"What about the Suo?"

"There’s only one Suo!"

Just as Li Wu’s voice fell, in the dust behind, clusters of ghostly flames began gathering from the crushed bodies.

Soon, a massive black silhouette emerged abruptly.

On the Jiuli Tribe’s side, the two warriors at the tail end of the team, along with their heavily armored giant beast mounts, were swiftly devoured in one gulp!

This allowed Han Zhan to see its form clearly.

It was a creature entirely black in color.

It had no limbs, no tail, no fur – none of those extraneous features.

It only possessed a gigantic head.

It floated in mid-air, its mouth agape, showing remnants of chewed-up Jiuli Warriors’ flesh between its teeth.

Thick black ink dripped from its massive head.

The dripping ink corroded the grass below, creating fist-sized holes one after another.

Seeing this, Li Wu’s face became extremely grim.

"Aren’t you a priest of the Yellow Emperor Tribe? Come up with something!"

"Otherwise, we’ll all die here today!"

"What is it afraid of?" Han Zhan asked reflexively.

This question made Li Wu’s eyelids twitch; instinctively, he retorted, "Aren’t you part of the Yellow Emperor..."

Halfway through his sentence, Li Wu simply stopped speaking.

If, by now, he still didn’t realize Han Zhan had been bluffing him earlier, he would truly be a fool.

"The evil creature known as the Suo, loves the dark and abhors the sun, loves wood and hates fire."

Hates fire?

If it hates fire, then it’s more manageable.

Moving swiftly, Han Zhan conjured the Fu Xi Zither before him, sitting cross-legged, playing fluidly.

Fu Xi’s Zither Tune, Spring Field Fire.

Strum!

As the resounding zither notes echoed through the woods, tiny sparks began to ignite on the nearby trees and grass.

Watching Han Zhan play the zither, Li Wu’s tone carried a hint of amazement.

"Are you from the Fu Xi Clan?"

"How did you end up with the Yellow Emperor Tribe?"

Han Zhan had no time to answer.

All his focus was placed on playing the zither tune.

Facing an evil entity that could swallow a Tier Seven Jiuli Warrior in one bite,

carelessness was not an option.

With his heart in tune, Han Zhan plucked the zither strings at an accelerated pace.

The hastened zither melody sparked more flames to grow.

Increasing flames turned into a raging fire, growing larger and larger, turning into a sea of fire!

Spring grass wildfires.

Burning mountains and boiling seas.

The rolling waves of flame and heat blocked the Suo from any further pursuit.

The increasingly swollen and massive black head stared with empty eyes toward where Han Zhan and others were escaping in the distance.

Yet it stilled, halting its actions begrudgingly.

In the next moment, it opened its mouth.

A terrifying, piercing screech, condensed into almost tangible sound waves, swept through the entire forest.

This completely drowned out Han Zhan’s Fu Xi Zither tune, snuffing out the intense Spring Field Fire!

Han Zhan staggered, nearly falling off the back of the heavily armored giant beast.

Luckily, Li Wu was quick, grabbing his shoulder.

"That was careless."

"I didn’t realize a creature like the Suo would have such a blaring soundwave attack!"

It was the first time Han Zhan encountered an opponent capable of countering the effects of his Fu Xi Zither.

This creature known as the Suo was indeed formidable!

But fortunately, the fire had taken hold.

The wind aided the fire, and soon the entire forest was steeped in dense smoke, obscuring vision.

The initial forest area ignited was now left with charred and carbonized trees, cracked soil, scattered embers, and extreme heat.

Here, many scorched skeletons lay, some human, some beast.

In the next instant, bits of black viscous matter sprinkled onto the earth.

One of the skeletons twitched slightly.

...

"Did we make it out?"

"Yes, we made it out." Li Wu glanced behind; the massive Suo hadn’t pursued, likely due to the forest fire’s handiwork.

Reflecting on this, he gazed at Han Zhan with a calmer demeanor.

"We owe our escape to you this time; otherwise, we might not have survived."

It was hard to imagine hearing such words from a priest of the Jiuli Race at the Tier Seven Peak Realm.

"Is the Suo really that terrifying?"

"Far more terrifying than what you’ve seen today."

As they conversed, they maneuvered their heavily armored giant beast to a halt.

After a long chase, the heavily armored beast was utterly exhausted, sprawling on the ground, panting, and drinking from a nearby stream.

Originally, there were ten warriors in the Jiuli team; now only five remained.

The losses were substantial.

At this moment, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from afar once again!