Xiang Beifei just sat on the wall of the ruined Floating Immortal Grand Hall. At this moment, the once majestic and solemn great hall had already become a pile of ruins, with the roof overturned and a mess inside. The vermilion pillars in the hall were also corroded and cracked by the yellow spring water.
"Each of us from the Hanxia Human Race is branded at birth with the Human Race mark. You are not from Hanxia," Daoist Qingde stared at Xiang Beifei and said.
The barren land is very dangerous, with the Moon God Race and the Demon Tentacle Race able to disguise themselves as humans. Branding the mark of the Human Race is meant to distinguish friend from foe, to avoid accidental harm, which is why Xiang Beifei was initially treated as a member of the Yi Tribe.
Xiang Beifei shook his head and admitted, "No."
"Then why have you come?" Daoist Qingde continued to ask.
Xiang Beifei said, "Just traveling by and happened to pass through here."
"Traveling by? Within ten thousand miles of our Hanxia Kingdom, there are no other Human Races. Hanxia is the only Human Race within the desolate land," Daoist Qingde said.
This place was the barren land, filled with powerful desolate beasts and the Yi Tribe. Daoist Qingde had of course searched within ten thousand miles but saw no other Human Races, and he remained skeptical of Xiang Beifei's origins.
Yet, aside from not having the brand of the Hanxia Human Race, the aura emanating from Xiang Beifei's body was unmistakably human.
"I come from a very distant place," Xiang Beifei thought of his long journey and said, "All the Way North, and I just happened to encounter you all."
"All the Way North... so you came from the south?"
Daoist Qingde looked at Xiang Beifei, a hint of a strange light flickering in his eyes.
"Suppose so?" Xiang Beifei said.
"Why did you help us, Hanxia?"
"Uh, we are the same Human Race, aren't we?"
In fact, Xiang Beifei had initially not wanted to intervene, for this place seemed like the past events of the Floating Immortal Isles, like an illusion, where intervention seemed meaningless.
It was only after seeing Daoist Qingde, and the Wufeng longsword still unbroken in his hand, that he realized this represented his grandfather's youthful image.
"Speaking of which, why did those Meat-Winged Monsters and Tentacle Monsters break in?" Xiang Beifei asked.
Daoist Qingde shook his head and said, "No matter how solid the defense is, there are flaws. We have always been very careful, but we never expected to be infiltrated from within, breaking the Great Wall of Hanxia's outer defenses."
Is there also a Great Wall in the outer parts of Hanxia?
Xiang Beifei was puzzled.
Daoist Qingde looked down. All the structures on the eight Floating Immortal Isles had been destroyed by the Yi Tribe into ruins. Those who survived were still huddled together in fear, watching the Meat-Winged Monsters and Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage that were eyeing them covetously outside.
Many cultivators were gravely injured, receiving treatment there, and many ordinary people without cultivation were even on their last breath. Those who survived were still fraught with fear; they had not yet escaped danger.
"Five million of our Human Race brethren!"
Daoist Qingde murmured to himself. Hanxia had over five million people, but this sudden attack by the Yi Tribe had left countless dead or injured. Looking across the eight Floating Immortal Isles, only fifty to sixty thousand people remained.
Those who survived had been rescued onto the Floating Immortal Isles, and those left outside were almost certainly dead. For the Human Race, this was a devastating blow.
The population plummeted to fifty to sixty thousand, which was nearly the brink of extinction.
"Condolences," Xiang Beifei said.
Daoist Qingde sighed deeply, then turned around with a solemn face and knelt on one knee before Xiang Beifei: "On behalf of all the surviving members of Hanxia, I thank you, young brother, for your lifesaving grace."
Xiang Beifei was startled and reflexively turned and fell from the rooftop, landing with a "plop" onto the broken tiles below.
Daoist Qingde was slightly taken aback.
"Don't! Don't... Don't do this, grandfather... no, elder... I mean, senior," Xiang Beifei climbed out of the broken tiles, brushed the debris off his head, and felt a wave of unease.
That was his grandfather, after all!
If he accepted the gratitude, it might shorten his own life!
But Daoist Qingde was clear that it was Xiang Beifei who had eliminated all the Meat-Winged Monsters and Ghostly Visage in the Floating Immortal Isles. If it had not been for Xiang Beifei's help in shielding the people below, Daoist Qingde wouldn't have dared to let loose and battle against so many Heavenly Connection realm masters from the Yi Tribe. There were far too many things for him to worry about.
Protecting the safety of the Human Race was his duty, and this was also the reason for Hanxia Human Race's defeat. If they could fight freely, not to mention the Heavenly Connection realm, even a full-strength strike from the God Refining stage could level a ten-mile radius, which ordinary people could not withstand.
If they had fought these Yi Tribe members outside of Hanxia's land, the Human Race would not have been so distressed.
But every cultivator took it upon themselves to protect the people of Hanxia. They all understood their mission and responsibility. In populated areas, they could only defend passively.
It was also thanks to Xiang Beifei's assistance just now that they could go all out in exterminating the enemy.
In Daoist Qingde's eyes, although Xiang Beifei's cultivation was only in the late stage of orifice transforming, the abilities he displayed were extremely special. He could even accurately channel his overflowing Sword Qi to attack others, his lone efforts nearly ensuring that Hanxia's last bastion did not fall.
Otherwise, by the end, there might not just be fifty to sixty thousand people left; total annihilation was a possibility!
This act of gratitude, from Daoist Qingde's perspective, was fully appropriate.
"Senior, please refrain from such formalities. We are still not out of danger," Xiang Beifei sat back on the stone and spoke earnestly.
Daoist Qingde found the young man's reaction puzzling but after a brief contemplation, he no longer persisted. Instead, he landed beside Xiang Beifei and said, "Understood. I haven't asked for the young brother's name yet?"