The only surviving humans today belong to one kind — Homo sapiens under the genus Homo.
But once upon a time, "humans" were not limited to one kind.
Just as the feline genus Panthera includes tigers, lions, and jaguars, the genus Homo also had multiple species.
However, Homo sapiens proved too dominant, wiping out all other human species.
Even so, some remnants survived.
Among those remnants was a tribe that evolved into the Jiuli Clan.
The Jiuli Clan are an alien race — distinct from the yellow, white, or black races of humankind.
The yellow, white, and black races are all Homo sapiens, the same species without reproductive isolation.
In other words, they can interbreed and have children.
But the Jiuli Clan differ at the species level, possessing reproductive isolation — it's very difficult for them to produce offspring.
Still, nothing is absolute; just as tigers and lions, though different species, can produce ligers, so too were there rare exceptions.
In ancient times, after Chi You was defeated, the Jiuli Clan lost their leader.
The Yellow Emperor was merciful and chose not to annihilate them. Instead, he accepted them.
Though crossbreeding between races was difficult, occasional offspring survived — and those who did became more likely to bear children, leading to gradual assimilation.
Thus, most descendants of the Yan and Huang lineages today carry trace amounts of Jiuli blood.
But a small number of Jiuli secretly went into hiding, refusing to mix their blood with the Yan-Huang people.
As a result, their appearance remained that of the original Jiuli — distinctly different from modern humans.
Miao He was one of them.
Of course, this was something revealed later in the story.
The Dragon King's true enemies were these very alien tribes.
"I didn't expect your Jiuli Clan to have appeared already — and in this way."
Xu Mu muttered, realizing he had never suspected it before.
"If I'm not mistaken, those corpses you buried earlier were Jiuli, right?"
"That's right. Among our Jiuli Clan, besides the hair and eye color, the greatest difference from the descendants of Yan and Huang lies in our ribs,"
Miao He explained.
"We have thirteen pairs."
"I've got another question… is the hair on the rest of your body also silver?"
Xu Mu asked curiously.
"You mean my underarm hair? I don't grow much, but the rest of my people do — it's all silver, maybe a bit darker, but similar overall,"
Miao He replied innocently.
"Y-yeah… I was talking about that," Xu Mu said awkwardly, realizing Miao He wasn't part of his judo club and he'd never seen her before.
According to Miao He, she had run away from home two years ago and happened to meet the leader of the Mourning Love Clan during a mission.
When he saw her silver hair and red eyes, he mistook her for one of their own and brought her back.
Within the Mourning Love Clan, Miao He's appearance was utterly ordinary.
Feeling she'd found her kindred spirits, she had been active within the organization ever since.
"Someone else just entered," Xu Mu said, sensing another presence.
It was Chen Xuan, who appeared with a bracelet now visible on his wrist.
"What's that bracelet?" Xu Mu asked.
"It's part of an array commonly found in Jiuli tombs," Miao He explained.
"Each bracelet has a different symbol — there are nine in total. Only by combining all nine in the right order can one enter the true tomb."
"What if we can't gather nine people?" Xu Mu asked, puzzled.
"Then no one can leave this formation," she said seriously.
"The formation's purpose is sacrificial worship — every year, the descendants gather nine people to honor their ancestors. That's why nine are always present."
Xu Mu narrowed his eyes.
"But we don't have nine people here. Does that mean we have to cooperate with others?"
"No need to cooperate," Miao He replied calmly.
"Just take their bracelets."
"Take them by force…" Xu Mu murmured.
If that was the case, then a battle would inevitably break out in this sandy world — but first, nine people had to appear.
Just as he thought that, Xu Mu noticed another young man in the distance — the same ordinary guy he'd met near the magma earlier.
He'd entered too.
"Is that tomb guardian protecting this place?" Xu Mu asked.
"Yes," Miao He nodded.
"During the day, you can hide inside the buildings, but at night, this place becomes a killing ground.
Each guardian has different abilities depending on the tomb owner's strength. If the tomb owner was a top expert… then we're in trouble."
Boom!
A thunderous explosion echoed in the distance, shaking the entire structure.
Xu Mu extended his perception — the tomb guardian was fighting Chen Xuan!
"Old Chen! Hide inside a building!" Xu Mu shouted.
Chen Xuan obeyed instantly, sprinting into the nearest structure.
The ordinary guy followed his lead, hiding inside another building.
The guardian looked around in confusion, then began wandering aimlessly again.
Once it left, Chen Xuan rushed over toward Xu Mu, with the ordinary guy trailing behind.
Both eventually reached Xu Mu's location.
"Brother Mu!" Chen Xuan called out, surprised to see Miao He.
"You're here too?"
"Just lucky," she replied coolly.
She no longer wore her black contact lenses — her silver hair covered one of her red eyes anyway.
"This guy deserves the thanks. If he hadn't drawn the guardian's attention, I wouldn't have made it here," Chen Xuan said, nodding toward the ordinary man.
Xu Mu used his Divine Eye to inspect him:
Name: Wang Fugui
Affiliation: Kunlun Mountain disciple
Favorability: 1
Fate Level: 5 (Max 10)
Xu Mu's heart trembled — he hadn't expected this man to be from Kunlun Mountain, one of the top three sects in the Dragon Nation.
This plain-looking, plain-named "ordinary guy" had an extraordinary identity.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Xu Mu — I believe I already introduced myself earlier," Xu Mu said with a smile.
"I'm Wang Fugui," the man replied honestly, scratching his head.
"From Kunlun Mountain."
"What? Kunlun?" Miao He exclaimed.
"That's one powerful sect!"
"I'm just a regular disciple," Wang Fugui said bashfully.
Xu Mu didn't expose him — someone with a Fate Level of 5 was definitely no ordinary disciple.
Suddenly, Xu Mu sensed more presences — this time, a group of black-robed figures, followed by several janitors from before.
He glanced at Miao He. Counting everyone now present, they finally had nine people.
"Miao He… what should we do?" Xu Mu asked.