"Afraid? When has this fairy been afraid of anything! He's just a tiny… little bit stronger than me. Even if I can't beat him for a while, I can cripple him. And if I can't cripple him… well, isn't there you, Uncle… right?" The more Jin Tong spoke, the softer her voice became, until it was barely a whisper.

"With my current strength, I am definitely no match for him. If it weren't for that True Spirit King Youhu of the Beast Clan acting first, things would have been troublesome," Han Li sighed.

"Uncle, actually… before I met him, I only had a vague feeling. But after facing him head-on this time, he has completely locked onto my aura. I'm afraid that if we don't escape the Desolate Wasteland, he will be able to find me," Jin Tong said listlessly, her voice slow and dragging.

Han Li shook his head and sighed softly.

This time was different from the past. Facing another Gold Devouring Immortal whose strength far surpassed her own, Jin Tong had the instinctive desire to devour him, but also the instinctive fear of being devoured by him.

"U… Uncle…" Jin Tong reached out and tugged at the corner of Han Li's clothes.

"If that's the case, then it's a bit troublesome… Not to mention that we don't have all the maps of the surrounding area, even if we leave here, we'll only be wandering around aimlessly. Even with the nearby maps, it's impossible to escape the Desolate Wasteland in a short time," Han Li mused.

"Then what should we do?" Jin Tong said, sounding frustrated.

"Although that guy's Nascent Soul is temporarily sealed by me, with his level of cultivation, he will surely make a comeback before long. The next time he attacks, even if I join forces with Youhu, I may not be able to gain any advantage. During the time he is healing and recovering, I need to speed up my cultivation and see if I can further improve my strength. At the same time, I need to restore the power of my Mantra Treasure Wheel as much as possible. That way, I might have a chance of winning," Han Li said with a frown.

"I knew you'd have a way, Uncle… Roughly, how much of a chance?" Jin Tong's eyes lit up.

"Ten percent," Han Li said, holding up one finger.

"That's a nine-out-of-ten chance of dying!" Jin Tong said with a droop.

"That's still putting it nicely… It's good if there's even ten percent," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Right, Uncle, do you have any treasures like that furnace from before? Give me three or five more, I'll quickly eat them, and then take a nap. Maybe then I'll be able to beat him!" Jin Tong first looked miserable, then suddenly thought of something and asked.

"Those kinds of treasures are hard to come by, and besides, I didn't even have time to check it out before you ate it all up. I don't even know what kind of treasure it was," Han Li said, shaking his head.

"Little White, quickly use your dog nose to sniff around and see if there are any good treasures anywhere?" Jin Tong, in desperation, asked the White Jade Pixiu.

The latter rolled its eyes, looking annoyed.

…

Several months later.

In the grand hall below the waterfall in Dark Star Canyon, around a bonfire surrounded by dozens of large beast-hide chairs, sat seven or eight strangely shaped and diverse members of different alien races.

Despite their small numbers, they were all the chiefs of the largest tribes in the entire Beast Clan, representing the highest power group in the entire Beast Clan, second only to the True Spirit King.

"Chief Qing Lin, you didn't wait for all the tribes to gather before summoning the King's true form. How do you explain this?" A purple-skinned man with a human body but a yaksha-like face looked at Nuo Qinglin and asked.

"Chief Deng Gui, what explanation do you need from me? If the Insect Spirits suddenly invaded your Night Owl Clan with a large army, what would you do?" Nuo Qinglin glanced at him coldly and said.

"Don't wrongly accuse Chief Qing Lin. The King was invited by Lord Su Liu," Wu Lu said, glancing at the yaksha man with displeasure.

"Let's not engage in this pointless argument. The Insect Spirits will definitely not let this go, so let's discuss how to counterattack next," said a white-clothed woman whose body was almost transparent, like a hazy mist gathering.

Her face was seventy percent similar to that of a human, and faint cyan patterns grew around her eyelids, making her eyes appear extremely large, shimmering with a strange light that captivated the soul.

"Chief Yin Mei is right, let's talk about something useful. Chief Qing Lin, I heard that the ability to repel the Insect Spirits this time was greatly aided by a human man. Is this true?" A sturdy man with black thorns all over his body, resembling a wild boar, said.

Despite his crude appearance, his cultivation was the highest among everyone present.

As soon as he spoke, everyone's eyes turned to Nuo Qinglin.

"That's right. This person saved my daughter Yi Fan and the Xiangjing Clan at Deer Cry Hill, and escorted them back to Dark Star Canyon. I ordered him to stay in the valley temporarily," Nuo Qinglin said after a slight hesitation.

"Chief Qing Lin, are you confused again? You actually dare to accept a human?" The purple-skinned man resembling a yaksha sneered.

"I have ordered people to closely monitor this person. He only wants to exchange for some Desolate Wasteland maps. After I sort them out and hand them over, I can let him leave immediately," Nuo Qinglin said coldly.

"A mid-Golden Immortal cultivator can join forces with the King to repel the Insect Spirits?" The stout man resembling a wild boar clasped his hands in front of him, and said with doubt.

"Chief Qing Lin, haven't you thought about the fact that he arrived at Dark Star Canyon, and the Insect Spirits attacked right after. It's too much of a coincidence, isn't it? Maybe he's a wedge that the Insect Spirits planted here, cooperating to put on a show, just waiting for us all to gather before wiping us out in one fell swoop," Deng Gui raised an eyebrow and continued.

Although his guess had little basis, it was an extremely powerful heart-wrenching statement.

Sure enough, most of the tribal chiefs, including Yin Mei, all had subtle changes in expression and looked at Nuo Qinglin.

"This person is not an ordinary mid-Golden Immortal cultivator. He brought a spirit pet with the aura of a Desolate Wasteland True Spirit, and he himself seems to have multiple True Spirit bloodlines. Do you think that according to the Insect Spirit's temperament, he would cooperate with someone who carries the bloodline of a Beast Clan True Spirit?" Nuo Qinglin asked without changing his expression.

"What… he has the True Spirit bloodline?" Deng Gui said with a look of surprise on his face.

"If that weren't the case, how would I have let him step into my Dark Star Canyon?" Nuo Qinglin said indifferently, without even looking at him.

"Chief Ze Wushi, what do you think?" Yin Mei's body rose with wisps of smoke, looking at the stout man and asking.

"Since he carries the True Spirit bloodline, then it is impossible for him to be a spy of the Insect Clan. However, this person's identity is, after all, human, and he must never be trusted. If he can be used later, then use him. If not, then let him leave as soon as possible," Ze Wushi, resembling a wild boar, pondered.

"After all, he is a mid-Golden Immortal cultivator with considerable combat power. It's best not to antagonize him if we can avoid it at this time," Yin Mei also agreed.

"Since the Qingzhi and Meiyao clans have both said so, then I have no objection," Deng Gui shrugged, and said indifferently.

"If that's the case, then…"

"Hold on…" Nuo Qinglin was interrupted by an old voice before he could finish speaking.

Everyone heard the sound and hurriedly looked at the position opposite Ze Wushi.

They saw an alien elder with white hair and wrinkles all over his face, slowly leaning forward and sitting up from the large chair.

His appearance at first glance was exactly the same as that of a human. Upon closer inspection, however, one could see that around the edges of his human face, there was a circle of fist-sized lion heads, as many as eight or nine.

Previously, while everyone was discussing, he had been leaning back on the chair, burying most of his body in the shadows of the bonfire, his eyes closed, looking as if he had fallen asleep, only to suddenly wake up at this moment.

"Senior Yin Shen, I wonder what you have to teach us?" Nuo Qinglin frowned slightly, and asked.

This person was the previous patriarch of the Hushi Clan, with extremely high seniority. He had originally passed the throne to his only son and gone to concentrate on his cultivation. However, his only son was designed and killed by the human race in a conflict with a group of wilderness hunters.

Enraged, he left seclusion and chased that group of human cultivators for millions of miles in one breath. Finally, he killed the last human cultivator on the city wall at the northern end of Yuanhuang City. Then, carrying hundreds of cultivators' heads, he returned to his clan, piling a mountain of human heads in front of his son's tombstone, and resumed his position as patriarch.

"You all know how powerful the Insect Spirit is, even more so than the King, and its recovery ability is even greater. This time, its sudden attack caught not only Dark Star Canyon unprepared, but also the Insect Clan themselves were unable to mobilize all their forces. But when it recovers its strength and attacks with the full Insect Clan army, I'm afraid the King's injuries will not have healed yet. How can we resist with just the few of us?" Yin Shen asked expressionlessly.

Everyone either pondered in silence or looked at each other, unable to give an answer.

"Clan Chief Yin Shen, don't beat around the bush. If you have a solution, just say it directly," A wizened old woman with snow-white hair, unusually large ears, and an upturned nose leaned forward and said.

Judging by her age and seniority, she was about the same as Yin Shen, and was the patriarch of the Divine Elephant Clan.

"Senior Yin Shen, if you have a good plan, please speak frankly," Ze Wushi also said.

"Since that human carries the True Spirit bloodline, how can we maximize its use? I don't think I need to say it, you all know it…" Yin Shen glanced at Nuo Qinglin and said slowly.

"You mean to refine him using the Blood Refinement Method, to extract the essence of the True Spirit blood and supply it to the King to restore his injuries," Deng Gui's eyes lit up and he said with a "hehe".

"This must not be done. Although he is human, he has been kind to our Beast Clan. How can we do such an ungrateful thing?" Nuo Qinglin frowned and said immediately.

"Ungrateful… Chief Qing Lin, have you forgotten how your wife died a tragic death? What kindness are you talking about with humans? Are you crazy?" Deng Gui said with a stern expression, and rebuked.

"The survival of a clan is more important than the life of an individual. How to choose, I believe Chief Qinglin knows, right?" Ze Wushi turned to look at him, and asked indifferently.

"He once fought alongside the King to repel the Insect Spirits. The King will not agree," Nuo Qinglin said, sighing lightly in his heart, not committing himself.

"I wasn't really sleeping just now. I've already communicated with the King, and he agreed to do this," Yin Shen said with a smile.

Nuo Qinglin heard this, and was silent for a long time, sighing and saying, "Since that's the case, then I have no more concerns…"

"Good, then let's discuss how to besiege and kill this person next…"