A hint of bewilderment flashed through the Body Integration Stage priest's eyes before he shook his head.
These were only a few low-grade blackback iron lizards, so they weren't worthy of his attention.
The other Body Integration Stage priest also quickly discovered the presence of these blackback iron lizards, but just like the first priest, he didn't pay them much heed after a brief moment of contemplation.
However, as the flying ark continued onward, the expressions of the two Body Integration cultivators gradually became more and more grave.
More and more iron lizards were appearing up ahead. In the beginning, there were only a few of them, but they soon began to appear in groups, and they were also becoming more and more powerful. There were already iron lizards at the Core Formation Stage or above that were as large as water buckets.
"Fellow Daoist Liu, why do I feel like something's amiss here?" the Body Integration Stage priest on the left asked.
"Could it be that Fellow Daoist Qi is referring to..." The priest on the right seemed to have thought of something and hesitated.
The spiritual sense of everyone else on the flying ark wasn't as vast as that of the two Body Integration Stage priests, but they had also discovered that there were many blackback iron lizards in the surrounding area.
This unusual situation caused them to feel slightly uneasy in their hearts.
The man with the surname Kou flew over and asked anxiously, "Elders, Senior Liu, what's going on with these Iron Lizards?"
"I don't know at the moment, but these blackback iron lizards are dark beasts, and we've encountered them in the past.
Let's hurry up and get out of here; there shouldn't be any issues, "the priest said as he exchanged a glance with the priest.
"Send out the order to advance at full speed!" The priest immediately waved a hand upon hearing this.
During this entire process, Han Li stood off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back, looking around in silence.
The priest was rather displeased by Han Li's lack of response, but he naturally didn't say anything, so he merely shook his head in response.
Of the two Body Integration cultivators they had hired, one had suddenly disappeared, while the other was clearly unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain. They could only pray that no major mishaps would occur and that they would be able to escape from this perilous region as soon as possible.
The flying ark continued onward, and the gravitational pull from the ground down below grew stronger and stronger.
Even though the white ark was of a high caliber, it was far too large, and the gravitational pull from the ark had significantly reduced its speed.
Coincidentally, the number of blackback iron lizards up ahead was also increasing, and some of them had begun to roar incessantly toward the flying ark from afar, seemingly intent on attacking.
At the sight of even larger Nascent Soul Stage iron lizards appearing in the surrounding area, the two Body Integration Stage worshippers were no longer able to maintain their calm facade.
"Gentlemen, if the situation is bad, why don't we turn back and wait for two days before crossing the Black Flame Desert? It won't take too many days anyway, so safety first." The man surnamed Kou had clearly noticed that something was wrong with their surroundings, and so he said.
As soon as these words were spoken, the two Body Integration Stage cultivators were tempted.
They hadn't been in the Black Boulder Desert for too long. If they retreated the way they came, they should be able to make it.
A loud rumble came from the front, and the ground within a radius of a hundred kilometres shook violently. The flying boat that was flying in the air was also affected, and it swayed for a while.
All of a sudden, a resounding boom erupted up ahead, and the ground in a radius of over 50 kilometers began to tremor violently.
Far away in the distance, thick black pillar-like objects shot into the sky, as if black mountains had suddenly emerged from the ground.
The black pillar-shaped objects immediately collapsed and turned into countless black particles. Like a black ocean, they quickly surged towards the flying boat.
Everyone present could sense with their spiritual sense that these black particles were all blackback iron lizards of different sizes.
All of a sudden, everything up ahead was enshrouded in darkness, obscuring heaven and earth, making it almost impossible to see anything else.
"Crap... This is a Beast Tide of Iron Lizards!" Elder Qi exclaimed in shock.
Everyone's faces instantly turned deathly pale, and Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
The tome that he had read about the Black Rock Desert in the past had mentioned this Beast Tide. It was an extremely perilous situation in the desert, and under some circumstances, even immortals could perish here.
"Hurry!
Turn the ark around! "A layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on Elder Liu's forehead as he yelled.
Chaos immediately erupted on the flying ark, and everyone began to flee in a panic.
Brilliant white light erupted from the white ark as it came to an abrupt halt. It then quickly turned around and fled in the opposite direction.
However, it didn't get very far before another resounding boom erupted up ahead. Another large section of the ground abruptly split open, and countless blackback iron lizards emerged from within to form a dense barrier.
Countless iron lizards had sandwiched the white ark between them, and they were constantly closing in on it.
There were still some gaps on the left and right sides of the ark, but there were far too many iron lizard hordes, and they were rapidly spreading out. As a result, the area on the left and right sides of the ark was completely surrounded.
The white flying boat was already at a dead end!
Everyone on the ark instantly turned deathly pale. No matter how sturdy the ark was, it most likely wouldn't be able to last long in the face of the onslaught of so many blackback iron lizards.
"Seniors, what should we do now..." Elder Liu's face was drenched in cold sweat as he looked at Han Li and the other two Body Integration Stage beings with a trembling body.
The two Body Integration Stage beings wore dark expressions on their faces, but at this point, they had no choice but to fight.
With their cultivation bases, if they were to abandon the ark now, there was a 50% chance that they'd be able to escape safely. However, as beings of the Cheng Quan Chamber of Commerce, one of the three largest chambers of commerce in the Northern Glacial Celestial Realm, it was their duty to protect the interests of the chamber of commerce in times of peril. If they were to flee now, they would no longer be able to establish a foothold on this continent, or even the entire Northern Glacial Celestial Realm.
Han Li's brows were furrowed, but his expression remained relatively calm. He glanced around before suddenly letting loose a cry of surprise.
"Have you discovered something, Fellow Daoist Liu?" Liu hurriedly asked upon seeing this.
"Look carefully; these iron lizards don't seem to be targeting us," Han Li said as he pointed.
Everyone turned to look at him, and they faltered slightly upon hearing this. Then, a hint of elation and concern appeared on the faces of the two Body Integration Stage beings.
The two groups of iron lizards had already clashed with one another, and they were engaged in a fierce battle in mid-air, tearing and clawing at one another in a frenzy.
Furthermore, upon closer inspection, everyone noticed that the iron lizards in the front and the back were slightly different. The iron lizards at the front had some dark red patterns on their bodies, while the iron lizards at the back were completely black, indicating that they were two different breeds.
"I see! These two groups of blackback iron lizards are fighting over territory; no wonder they've appeared in broad daylight," Qi Long exclaimed.
"Let's not worry about that. Seeing as we're not their target, we have to think of a way to get out of here. Otherwise, we're going to have to suffer for nothing," Liu said in a grim voice.
The white-robed man immediately nodded in response before issuing a series of instructions, and the white flying ark shone with brilliant white light as it attempted to fly toward the left.
At this point, the groups of iron lizards in the front and the back quickly clashed with one another before engaging in a fierce battle.
The white flying ark had appeared out of nowhere, and these iron lizards naturally found it to be an eyesore, so many of them pounced toward it.
A protective light barrier immediately appeared over the flying ark, and it withstood the attacks of countless iron lizards as it advanced with great difficulty.
Upon seeing this, Han Li and the other two Body Integration cultivators immediately sprang into action.
Liu chanted an incantation as his fingers rapidly made a series of hand seals, and a vast expanse of black flames immediately surged over his body.
As he made a hand seal, the black flames transformed into black threads that were also burning with black flames.
The black threads intersected with one another to form a gargantuan net of flames that was several thousand feet in size. The net hurtled toward the army of iron lizards up ahead, immediately enshrouding many of them.
Rumble!
The black net of flames abruptly exploded, and the surrounding space tremored violently. Waves of flames proliferated in all directions, instantly transforming into a sea of black flames that encompassed several kilometers in size.
The blackback iron lizards within the sea of flames were instantly blasted into pieces, and they were then reduced to charred black corpses that fell from the sky.
Qi made a hand seal with one hand, and blue light flashed around him. Two gargantuan blue lightning pythons appeared, each of which was several hundred feet tall. They were surrounded by dazzling blue lightning that crackled and pounced toward the tide of iron lizards.
As soon as they came into contact with the iron lizards, the blue lightning pythons immediately exploded, and countless arcs of lightning that were as thick as the mouth of a bowl scurried in all directions.
Wherever the arcs of lightning touched, the bodies of the iron lizards immediately exploded, and countless pieces of their corpses fell down like rain.
As for Han Li, he did the same as before. He flicked his sleeve and summoned nine flying swords, which transformed into countless sword threads that sliced through the air. Wherever they passed, large swathes of iron lizards were easily killed.
The three of them each stood on one side of the flying ark, doing their best to kill the iron lizard army that was surging toward them.
However, there were simply too many iron lizards around them. Although the three of them did their best, they could only block a portion of them. There were still countless iron lizards that madly crashed into the flying ark.
For a time, a series of resounding booms rang out incessantly!
The white flying ark was surrounded by countless iron lizards, and it was like a small boat in the middle of a raging sea. It was rocking incessantly, and the light barrier around it was trembling violently. Everyone on the ark was horrified.
"Roar!"
All of a sudden, a loud and hoarse roar rang out from up ahead. It was extremely unpleasant to the ear, as if two pieces of iron were rubbing against each other. Even though there was a cacophony of battle around them, it was still clearly audible to everyone.
The middle-aged man surnamed Kou and the others felt a sharp pain in their heads, as if they had been pricked by a steel needle. Their faces, which had originally been slightly flushed with blood, immediately turned deathly pale.
The two Body Integration Stage elders were also shocked to hear this.