The Centaur Chieftain Xieli Tribe was hidden among the mountains, with winding paths crossing one another like a maze.
It could be said that unless you belonged to the tribe, almost anyone entering would lose their way.
Lan Ling guided the griffin down slowly.
The moment he landed, dozens of black figures shot out like lightning and surrounded him.
Half of them aimed bows at him, while the other half levelled javelins at him.
It was Lan Ling’s first time seeing centaurs.
No wonder they were hailed as the kings of land cavalry. Every one of them stood over three metres tall and measured six to seven metres in length.
Their muscles looked as though they had been forged from steel. Each arm was almost as thick as one of Lan Ling’s thighs, and their four legs were unbelievably powerful.
By Lan Ling’s estimate, every centaur weighed more than ten thousand jin.
Moreover, every centaur soldier here wore armour. Although they were already so strong, they still wore armour, unlike the Rakshasa soldiers who fought without it.
An ordinary family car, taking a standard mid sized saloon as an example, weighed only around three thousand jin. Yet each centaur weighed more than three such cars combined.
Their hooves also looked as though they had been cast from steel. Anyone trampled beneath them would undoubtedly be crushed into minced flesh.
Their faces were also very different from those of humans.
For example, they had large noses, deep set eyes, very thin lips, and pointed ears like horses. Even their hair resembled a horse’s mane.
“You lowly Near Human, you have trespassed into the territory of Chieftain Xieli. We will execute you,” the leading centaur warrior declared as he drew an enormous greatsword.
Lan Ling replied, “Brave centaur warriors, I come without any ill intent. On the contrary, I was guided here by a dream. Please take me to meet your Chieftain Xieli.”
The centaur leader sneered. “Our great chieftain is not someone a lowly Near Human like you is worthy of meeting. The only thing awaiting you is death.”
With that, he brought his huge sword crashing down.
Lan Ling unleashed his powerful spiritual force.
Spirit Binding Technique!
In an instant, the centaur warrior’s body froze in place. His greatsword remained raised high in the air, unable to fall.
“This is an evil sorcerer. Burn him alive!” the centaur warriors roared angrily.
Lan Ling infused his voice with spiritual force and said, “Calm yourselves. I came because of your chieftain’s son. I heard that he has gone missing. Take me to your chieftain. I know where his son is.”
His voice, strengthened by spiritual force, carried an overwhelming authority. At once, every centaur warrior fell silent.
All of them were stunned by his words.
It was true. Their chieftain’s son, Xieli II, had disappeared. He was not only Chieftain Xieli’s beloved son, but also the heir of the entire tribe.
His disappearance had dealt Chieftain Xieli a devastating blow.
(In the Barbarian World, as long as a chieftain is not overthrown, the title always remains the same. For example, the Chimera Tribe’s chieftain is called Constantine, while his son is called Constantine II. When Constantine dies, Constantine II inherits the position and automatically becomes Constantine, while his own son becomes Constantine II. Therefore, whenever someone bears the title “II”, everyone knows that person is the tribe’s heir. Of course, not every tribe follows this naming tradition.)
It could be said that without a son and heir, Chieftain Xieli would lose everything. He would not even be able to keep his own name.
The next chieftain would automatically become Xieli.
To find his missing son, Chieftain Xieli had sent out countless centaur warriors, but they had found nothing. He had even spent astronomical sums buying intelligence from Rakshasa City, yet there was still no trace of his son.
Now that Lan Ling claimed to know where the young chieftain was, the surrounding centaur warriors looked at him with both suspicion and hope.
After all, Chieftain Xieli had offered an enormous reward. Anyone who could provide his son Xieli II’s whereabouts, once verified, would receive two hundred thousand gold coins.
Lan Ling released the centaur leader from his restraint.
The centaur leader said, “Lowly Near Human, I must warn you. More than dozens of people have already come to claim the chieftain’s reward. None of them received any reward. Instead, their heads now hang from the trees. No lie can deceive our great chieftain’s sharp eyes.”
Clearly, many people had valued money more than their own lives and tried to cheat for the reward.
Lan Ling smiled.
“If I am a fraud, then let my head hang from the tree as well.”
The centaur leader stared at Lan Ling for a long moment, then covered his eyes with a black cloth before letting out a whistle.
A magnificent horse over three metres tall came charging over.
This was a failed centaur transformation.
A female centaur could bear four or five offspring in her lifetime. Half would become centaurs, while the other half would simply be ordinary horses.
That was why countless centaurs prayed to the Moon Demon, hoping to be reborn as centaurs again in their next life instead of becoming horses.
Even so, the tribe’s horses were far taller and stronger than ordinary steeds.
The centaur warrior threw Lan Ling onto the horse’s back, and the group rode deep into the Xieli Tribe through the maze like mountain paths.
The routes within the centaur tribe were absolute secrets to outsiders.
That was why they had blindfolded Lan Ling.
Of course, it was completely pointless. Lan Ling did not need his eyes. His spiritual force allowed him to perceive everything.
They galloped for a full hour, covering more than three hundred li through the maze like mountain roads.
Indeed, despite not charging at full speed along the narrow paths, the centaurs still travelled at an astonishing seventy to eighty kilometres per hour.
Such strength, such speed, such size, such weight.
It was no wonder centaurs were regarded as the greatest cavalry on land. When five thousand centaurs charged together, even fifty thousand infantry could not stop them.
“We’re here.”
The group halted, and someone removed Lan Ling’s blindfold.
…
This was the core region of the centaur tribe.
Lan Ling had imagined a settlement filled with tents and grasslands.
Instead, there were stone caves, stone towers, and pyramids everywhere.
There were also Moon Demon statues throughout the settlement, each piled high with gold coins and fine silks.
The centaurs plundered relentlessly, yet they kept none of the wealth for themselves. They offered it all to the Moon Demon, praying that they would be reborn as centaurs again.
“Hahaha…”
“Clatter, clatter, clatter…”
Throughout the tribe’s heartland echoed the shrill yet bold laughter of centaurs.
There were contests of strength and even duels taking place everywhere.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Arrows constantly streaked through the sky.
The centaur tribe possessed more master archers than any other race. They practised archery wherever they pleased.
The air was filled with a strange smell, mixed with a heavy scent of blood.
Their contests frequently ended in death.
They fought without reason.
They dueled without reason.
The centaurs were an extraordinarily warlike race.
When they noticed a Near Human like Lan Ling, they immediately began roaring loudly, trying to frighten him.
Some even fired arrows directly at him.
Each arrow passed dangerously close to his ears or neck.
Lan Ling ignored them completely and simply continued walking forward.
At last they arrived before a huge pyramid.
The centaur leader announced, “Great Chieftain, this lowly Near Human claims to know where your son is.”
A deafening roar immediately came from inside the pyramid.
Lan Ling could even feel the ground trembling.
“Another fool who values money more than his own life? Another liar?”
This was Chieftain Xieli’s voice.
Even through the massive stone gate, it crashed like thunder and almost burst one’s eardrums.
Chieftain Xieli was in a terrible mood.
He wished he could order Lan Ling torn to pieces immediately.
But he could not ignore even the slightest possibility.
If he failed to find his son, he would lose everything.
“Bring him in,” Chieftain Xieli commanded.
“If he is lying, I will tear him apart with my own hands.”
“Rumble…”
The enormous stone gates slowly opened.
Inside the great pyramid hall, the first thing Lan Ling saw was a large number of servants.
Most were native barbarians who walked upright.
They had clearly been captured by the centaur army and enslaved.
At the far end of the hall stood a staircase with more than a dozen steps.
Standing proudly at its summit was an enormous centaur warrior.
He was Chieftain Xieli.
He wore golden armour, and even the mane upon his head was golden.
He stood over five metres tall and more than eleven metres long.
Dressed in majestic armour, wearing a simple yet imposing crown, and carrying a greatsword more than three metres long that weighed several thousand jin.
Merely looking at such a gigantic figure was enough to make one’s heart tremble.
He was already over five metres tall, and standing atop the staircase made him appear even more towering.
Chieftain Xieli had a broad square face with sharply defined features. From his cheekbones down to his chin, his face narrowed as though carved by a blade.
It made him appear both dignified and extremely cold.
“Lowly Near Human, tell me immediately where my son is,” Chieftain Xieli demanded.
“No lie can escape my eyes. If I discover that you are deceiving me, I will chop you into minced flesh and feed you to my pets. Now speak.”
Lan Ling replied, “Your Majesty the Chieftain, before I reveal your son’s whereabouts, I wish to discuss the price.”
“Two hundred thousand gold coins, three hundred thousand gold coins, as long as you truly know where my son is, you may name any amount,” Chieftain Xieli said.
“No, I do not want money,” Lan Ling replied.
“I want to borrow an army.”
“I want five thousand centaur cavalry.”
…
Time turned back two years.
After Chi Li, Lan Tu, and Yan Mo drank the Tears of the Demon, they completed their final transformation.
They lost their physical bodies and became masses of ghostly light formed from countless vengeful spirits.
They became incomparably powerful, continuously drawing ancient dark energy from the depths of Hell.
The Headless Knight said, “Faceless One, we are going to rescue A Shi Luo. Prepare the Tears of the Demon.”
The Faceless One replied, “He already wasted one portion of my Tears of the Demon. After obtaining it, he failed to drink it immediately, and ended up dying. That portion eventually fell into the hands of the Divine Dragon Temple.”
The Headless Knight said, “Perhaps this was fate. The Fourth Brother betrayed His Majesty the Demon Emperor and died beneath the Ancient Desert City. That left an extra portion of the Tears of the Demon.”
Chi Li was stunned.
“Can Hell Knights betray their master?”
The Headless Knight answered, “That remains an unsolved mystery. The Hell Knights are the most loyal organisation in this world. Our lives, souls, and wills all originate entirely from His Majesty the Demon Emperor. He does not even need to act. A single thought from him is enough to determine our life, death, and even our will. Therefore, Hell Knights should never be capable of betrayal. I still do not know what truly happened to the Fourth Brother.”
Then the Headless Knight continued, “Enough talking. We are going to the Yanjing Temple to rescue Brother A Shi Luo. Raise your hands and vote. Shall we devise a plan, or simply charge in and seize Brother A Shi Luo’s soul fragments?”
“Charge in!”
“Fight our way in!”
“Kill our way in!”
The Headless Knight fell silent for a moment.
“Very well, then we shall storm the Demon Laboratory beneath the Yanjing Temple.”
The four Hell Knights mounted their skeletal warhorses, galloped across the sea under the cover of darkness, and headed towards the Yanjing Temple.
…
Once, A Shi Luo’s soul fragments had been one of the Divine Dragon Temple’s greatest secrets.
The hope of capturing the World Destroying Demon Emperor rested upon those fragments.
However, after Fu Lingxi made a tremendous contribution by locating the Demon Emperor, the value of A Shi Luo’s soul fragments plummeted.
They were transferred from the Temple’s central pyramid into the Demon Laboratory.
Although it was only a secondary Demon Laboratory, it remained one of the Temple’s most heavily guarded locations.
The entire laboratory had been built hundreds of metres underground and was protected by five hundred Divine Dragon Temple warriors.
The place was filled with mechanisms and energy traps.
Breaking into it from outside should have been impossible.
However…
That very night, all five hundred Divine Dragon Temple warriors guarding the Yanjing Temple’s Demon Laboratory were slaughtered.
Every important item and treasure inside was looted.
The Four Hell Knights carried out a merciless massacre.
Exactly as they had said before, they stormed straight in, seized A Shi Luo’s soul fragments, took every treasure they could carry, and destroyed everything else.
Afterwards, the Four Hell Knights retreated thousands of li to the south western desert.
There, they began resurrecting the Hell Knight, A Shi Luo.