Medusa and Hancock turned pale upon seeing them.
"It's you—Toras!"
The eagle-man Toras stared at them coldly, his eyes fierce.
Li Zekai made an exaggerated gesture and burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Medusa, Hancock, didn't expect that, did you?"
"I kicked everyone out of the guild and added your natural enemy, the eagle-men, to the mix, all to tear you all apart."
"By the way, let me tell you, Toras is level 700, hahahaha!"
Medusa, Hancock, and the other snake-men felt an involuntary fear upon seeing the eagle-men; it was a natural racial antagonism, a fear ingrained in their bones.
"Despicable!"
Wu Lingtian hadn't expected Li Zekai's secret weapon to be—the eagle-men.
The eagle-men lived in the Northern Forest ruled by the Elf King, a great distance from their Central Holy Land.
The reason Hankku and his group of snake-people braved countless hardships to reach the Central Sacred Land was to avoid persecution from the eagle-people.
Through evolution, the snake-people have become virtually indistinguishable from humans in appearance, lifestyle, and physical structure, allowing them to integrate well into human territory.
However, the eagle-people are evolutionarily unsuccessful, retaining most of the characteristics of an eagle.
In the human world, this appearance is unwelcome, making it difficult for them to survive in the Central Sacred Land.
To overcome the problems caused by their evolutionary failure, they must prey on a large number of snake-people to evolve again.
Therefore, Li Zekai had long ago secretly planned this scheme, contacting the eagle-people early on. Trust, upon receiving Li Zekai's plan, readily agreed.
With the status of the young city lord of the Asian region, the eagle-people wouldn't be able to enter easily. They waited patiently, anticipating this moment.
Medusa and Hankku, among other snake-people, harbor an innate fear of snake-people, while Wu Lingtian, Jin Yaoyang, and Petrov fear the Eagle-people Trust at that level.
That's a genuine level 700.
It's important to understand that the experience required to break through level 500 is terrifyingly high.
Furthermore, high-level monsters in the Blue Star region are not only scarce but also have extremely long respawn times, severely hindering leveling after level 500.
Therefore, Wu Lingtian, knowing Fang Xian's rapid leveling, was eager to know the reason and see if he could solve the leveling problem.
However, he was unfortunately delayed by Li Zekai when preparing to sign the contract with Fang Xian.
Currently, the highest level in the Eastern Alliance is only Petrov at level 558, who is no match for the Eagle-people Trust.
Even at similar levels, humans have virtually no chance of defeating Eagle-people.
Eagle-people aren't considered a particularly advanced race, but to snake-people and humans, they are an incredibly powerful race.
In this way, the situation instantly reversed.
"Hahahaha! Mr. Trust, let's go to the waiting area first. You can feast to your hearts' content once the alliance war begins."
Li Zekai laughed arrogantly, inviting the eagle-man into the Western Alliance's waiting area.
Trust glanced greedily at Medusa and Hankku, then turned and followed Li Zekai into the waiting area.
Since the alliance war hadn't started yet, everyone's skills and basic attacks were unusable against anyone.
"It's over, all over."
Many snake-people slumped to the ground, trembling, their faces filled with despair.
The rest of the alliance were equally dejected, their fighting spirit completely gone.
Medusa and Hankku bit their lower lips, desperately trying to suppress their instinctive fear.
They wanted to say something, but found their trembling bodies unable to utter a sound.
Just then, a massive beam of light shot into the sky, piercing through the clouds and illuminating the heavens.
Everyone looked on in astonishment, only to see Wu Lingtian holding his longsword high, his eyes resolute, his tightly pursed lips revealing an unyielding stubbornness.
"My lords, think of all the invasions our human race has endured, and how many times have we triumphed over them!"
"Our past glory was forged with the blood and courage of our ancestors. Are we, today, inferior to them?"
"I believe we can reclaim our former glory!"
"We will—be invincible!"
Jin Yaoyang and Petrov weren't fools. They immediately raised their weapons and shouted.
"Invincible!"
"Invincible!"
One shout, ten responded, a hundred echoed, a thousand were roused.
As the crowd shouted, more and more became excited, shouting
—"Invincible!"
The exhilarating sound resounded through the sky.
Fang Xian truly admired Wu Lingtian. Even in such a disadvantageous situation, he could still boost morale; he was truly a born king.
However, it was a pity that Wu Lingtian could inspire humans, but he couldn't make the snake-men stand up.
The trembling of Hankku and Medusa, the snake-people, was a tremor that came from the very soul, something that couldn't be resolved with a few words.
Moreover, they resembled humans, yet were not human; lacking human cultural foundations, they were difficult to empathize with.
Wu Lingtian naturally realized this. If Hankku and Medusa, the snake-people, couldn't recover, the battle situation would remain dire.
...
Waiting Area.
Wu Lingtian and several alliance leaders moved away from the crowd to a quiet area to discuss solutions.
She looked at Hankku and Medusa, asking with concern.
"How are you feeling now?"
Hankku took a sip of warm water, his body no longer trembling.
"I'm feeling a little better, but if we see the Trust again, we'll still be suppressed by our bloodline..."
Medusa's eyes were bloodshot, her gaze fixed on the ground with unbearable resentment.
Her body trembled slightly, her fists clenched tightly, and she punched the ground in despair.
"Damn it! Why can't we ever overcome bloodline suppression!"
Hankku lowered his head dejectedly, biting his lower lip.
"If it weren't for the bloodline suppression, we could definitely fight back."
"Even if I die, I don't want to die so pathetically!"
Wu Lingtian and the others knew the terror of bloodline suppression, but humans didn't have it. Therefore, the lower limit for humans was very low, but the upper limit could be infinitely high.
"Is there any way for you to overcome bloodline suppression? Or at least temporarily?"
Jin Yaoyang knew this question was foolish, but he couldn't help asking it anyway.
Hankku and Medusa shook their heads, then seemed to think of something, but shook their heads again.
Wu Lingtian seized on this information and hurriedly asked.
"Is there any way? Tell me."
Medusa sighed softly and slowly spoke.
"If we had the 'Blood of Xuanwu,' we could evolve and surpass the Eagle-Man bloodline."
"But… the 'Xuanwu,' a snake-turtle, is extinct; it's impossible to obtain its blood."
Everyone shook their heads upon hearing this.
No wonder Hankku and Medusa hesitated; this was the reason.
Just then, Fang Xian coughed lightly with a smile.
"Ahem! I heard you're looking for the 'Blood of Xuanwu'?"
Hankku and Medusa looked at Fang Xian with surprise, a hint of expectation in their eyes.
"You have it?"
Fang Xian looked at Hankku and Medusa with an innocent expression.
"I don't have it, but I know who does."
"Who?"
"Before I tell you, you have to sign a contract with me, okay?"