"Huh, Man tribe wants to devour our Ge tribe?" Ge Guang screamed.
Old Ge tribe leader sighed: "Sigh, your sister is already dead, they were not willing to listen to my explanation, why do you think that is the case? Because this excuse is perfect for them to send their troops! But father found Chang Shan Yin to assist us, he was the hero of northern plains, he had great reputation, and had Chang tribe behind him. Man Tu did not dare to accuse us blindly, thus he did not attack us tonight."
Ge Guang exclaimed: "There is such a twist behind it? But father, I do not understand, since you understood Man tribe's intentions already, why did you agree to this wedding, and betrothed sister to that monkey Man Duo?"
Ge tribe leader raised his finger, knocking on Ge Guang's head: "Do you not have a brain? Why did I agree to the wedding? Did you think I want to torture my own daughter?! It is because the great blizzard is coming, if we can become relatives through marriage, we can stay inside Hong Yan valley, and protect all our tribesmen! Sacrificing your sister's happiness to protect Ge tribe. This wedding is a transaction, sigh, but your sister ran away from her wedding, and died in poison grassland!"
Ge Guang frowned, blinking: "Father, I understand now."
"No, you know nothing." Ge tribe leader understood his son well, he explained in a disappointed tone: "Tonight, Man tribe leader invited Chang Shan Yin, and we followed him. But the truth is, their target was us, and I dragged Chang Shan Yin along as our shield."
"That Man Duo used the chase smoke Gu, he is truly evil! When all of you suspected Chang Shan Yin, I said to him that I trusted him completely. Did you think I was not suspicious? I am not so muddleheaded yet!"
Ge tribe leader stomped his foot, his tone was grim: "But father did not dare to suspect him. The reason we could contend with Man tribe is because of Chang Shan Yin. If we suspected him, their instigation would have succeeded, and ruined our relationship with Chang Shan Yin. If Chang Shan Yin did not side with us, we might not return alive from tonight's banquet."
Shock was written all over Ge Guang's face: "Ah, are they so daring, would they try to kill the both of us?"
"Hmph, why did you think that you met so many wind wolves during the search? In northern plains, there are lots of instances where beast groups were used to commit murder. But tonight, Man tribe might not kill us, but they would imprison us. By then, they would use Ge Yao's matter as an excuse to devour our Ge tribe, without us, Ge tribe would be without a leader, the result would be disastrous."
Hearing his father's explanation, Ge Guang finally understood the danger they were in, showing after-fear on his face.
"For the sake of the tribe, for the big picture, even if Chang Shan Yin was the killer, we cannot suspect him! Did you really think I forgot the hints and clues Gu? How can that be! But you had to mention it, if the killer was really Chang Shan Yin, what would we do?" Old Ge tribe leader spoke meaningfully.
Ge Guang fell into deep silence, after a long while, he said: "So that is why father gave the precious hints and clues Gu to Chang Shan Yin. It is to mend our relationship with him, so that he would side with us?"
Old Ge tribe leader nodded: "You are finally learning. Son, although you have outstanding aptitude, and high cultivation, you are still far from being the new Ge tribe leader."
"Father, it is great to have you around. I will have to learn more from you, Ge tribe can lose anybody but you father." Ge Guang said in admiration.
Ge tribe leader shook his head: "Time waits for no man, I am already old, Ge tribe is counting on you. Sigh... after this matter, I have understood Man Tu. He is a greedy jackal, no matter how much his wealth is, he would never be satisfied."
"Now that your sister is gone, we have no excuses left to use Hong Yan valley. But we cannot disband and join Man tribe right? Ge tribe cannot go extinct like this, otherwise I will be the greatest sinner of our tribe! After this night, I have already learnt that we cannot stay here any longer, otherwise we will definitely be devoured by Man tribe. A few days later, we will depart for the heroes assembly."
"Father, if we leave like this, will they let us go so easily?" Ge Guang was worried as he asked.
"Of course they are not willing to let us go, but we are travelling with Chang Shan Yin. Man Tu is wary of Chang Shan Yin, he would not strike." Ge tribe leader snickered.
"But, we are making use of senior Chang Shan Yin like this, isn't that..." Ge Guang was apprehensive.
"You fool! Why would we not make use of him? What's wrong with that? A good hunter makes full use of his surroundings. When we have insufficient strength, we use knowledge to supplement it. This is all for the survival of the clan!"
After Ge tribe leader scolded, he stopped and showed a complex expression: "But this Chang Shan Yin is truly a legendary heroic character... he might've already understood the situation, yet he still chose to side with us. Such a righteous and upright person, choosing to assist the weak, he is truly the role model of the righteous path, the light of the people. Son, rejoice, we Ge tribe actually met such a person!"
...
Time passed quickly, a few days went by.
Inside the room, Fang Yuan held his bone bamboo Gu as the ghost fire burnt it completely, breathing out heavily: "This is the final bone bamboo Gu."
These days, he worked hard and used up all hundred of the bone bamboo Gu in the gift box.
After his treatment, eight of battle bone wheel's most severe wounds were healed. Now, although the wheel was still covered in injuries and cracks, it had left the emergency stage.
Sending the battle bone wheel back to the aperture, Fang Yuan started to inspect his aperture.
He had rank four peak stage cultivation.
Thus, his aperture walls were in the form of transparent crystals. His primeval sea was at ninety percent full, all of it was true gold primeval essence.
But Fang Yuan had just arrived in northern plains, before he adapted to the environment, his true gold primeval essence was only at the initial stage light gold primeval essence.
Thus, Fang Yuan's cultivation was not progressing. Using light gold primeval essence, I cannot breakthrough the aperture walls and become a rank five Gu Master.
"To accelerate my adaptation, there are ways to do so, most commonly, it is to use the third watch Gu, to accelerate my own time. But that way, the Gu Master's lifespan will also be shortened proportionally.
Such a measure that pursued quick success was not acceptable to Fang Yuan.
It was not because he treasured his lifespan, but because of Spring Autumn Cicada.
If Fang Yuan used third watch Gu on himself, the river of time on him will flow three times faster. That way, the Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery will also be three times as fast.
Other than his vital Gu and fixed immortal travel Gu in poison grassland, Fang Yuan still had multiple Gu worms. @@novelbin@@
Among them were two rank five Gu from northern plains.
One was battle bone wheel, it was recovering and could not be used in the meantime.
The other was hints and clues Gu, it could be used to scout or track people.
"Ge tribe still had some foundations, they actually had a rank five hints and clues Gu. This Gu can be used to track Gu worms, it is used to capture wild Gu worms to prevent them from escaping. Unfortunately, even though Ge tribe leader had this Gu worm, he did not dare to search for his own daughter."
Towards the conflict between Ge tribe and Man tribe, Fang Yuan was clear as day.
Man Tu's third son Man Duo had great ambition, he wanted the tribe leader position, but because of his low cultivation, he wanted to have Ge tribe. After marrying Ge Yao, and making Ge tribe related to him through his wife, they would be able to fight for the tribe leader position.
Man Tu was not necessarily ignorant of his son's intentions, but he was very interested in devouring Ge tribe.
Meanwhile, Ge tribe wanted to use the marriage to sacrifice Ge Yao in exchange for Hong Yan valley, to survive the once in ten years great blizzard, and get through this difficulty.
Ge tribe naturally did not want to dissolve, but Man tribe wanted to gain the benefits of absorbing them without facing any consequences.
After Ge Yao escaped, Man tribe used this excuse to turn on them, in fact, they might have even caused Ge Guang's incident.
As long as they killed Ge tribe's father and son, Ge tribe would be leaderless, and they would fall into chaos, easily taken over by Man tribe.
Ge Guang was ignorant and naive, but old Ge tribe leader was experienced and wise, he knew the circumstances they were in, and found out that he was unable to satisfy Man Tu's greed, but at this point, they had no way out, thus he controlled himself and stayed inside the tribe, not giving Man tribe a chance to strike.
Chang Shan Yin's arrival gave Ge tribe hopes of getting out of this problem.
When old Ge tribe leader found out Fang Yuan's identity as Chang Shan Yin, he thought of using him. Thus, he attended to Fang Yuan warmly and even gave a million primeval stones as a gift.
Next, he did well, using Chang Shan Yin's power to contest with Man tribe.
At that moonlight banquet, it might have looked like a cosy gathering, but the three sides were competing, danger was lurking at every corner, and everyone was hiding their lethal weapons.
The result was —
Man tribe suffered a setback, not only did they fail to deal with Ge tribe, they even lost the excuse that they had, Ge Yao. But they did not lose, they were still the strongest among the three.
Ge tribe used Chang Shan Yin, making use of his reputation to protect their tribe, surviving this crisis. Even though they succeeded, they were still at the weaker position.
As for Fang Yuan, he pretended to be ignorant, using the two sides and their conflict to achieve his goal of spreading his name, while benefiting from their competition and strengthening himself.
Man is the spirit of all beings, when humans competed, it was not simply through fights and killing. Even in this primitive and open northern plains, knowledge and schemes was still used to compete..
As for Ge Yao...
This innocent young girl was only a sacrifice for the two tribe's political struggle.
In fact, according to Fang Yuan's personal guess, Ge Yao's escape was unnatural, she was able to get out of the tightly secured Ge tribe camp, mostly likely the old Ge tribe leader had arranged for it in an attempted to probe Man tribe. But accidents always happened in reality, plans cannot keep up with changes, Man tribe's eldest son or second son might've struck, afraid of Man Duo gaining power, hoping that Ge Yao would die. Anyway, after Ge Yao escaped to poison grassland and met Fang Yuan, the series of events unfolded.
Shaking his head, Fang Yuan cleared these guesses out of his mind: "The basis of any scheme is power. Why did Man tribe not attack Ge tribe directly, that is because they were not a super tribe but a large tribe only, they had limited strength. Why was Ge tribe able to stay safe until now, not just because of me, but also because of their foundation as a former large tribe. If old Ge tribe leader had rank five cultivation, he might've used hints and clues Gu long ago."
"No matter which world, strength is the foundation for everything. But now, the astute Ge tribe leader might be planning to migrate his tribe again. To deal with the ten year blizzard, he might need to borrow the imperial court's power!"
-x-X-x-
What happened next was all according to Fang Yuan's expectations.
Just a day later, Ge tribe leader visited Fang Yuan, saying he had thought it through, he did not want to stay in Hong Yan valley, but instead wanted to migrate the entire tribe, to participate in the heroes assembly and fighting for a place in the imperial court.
Fang Yuan knew old Ge tribe leader's intentions, it was to make use of Chang Shan Yin once more to get free of Man tribe's control.
Fang Yuan agreed immediately, if he was to travel on the grassland alone, it would be troublesome. With the accompaniment of Ge tribe, the risks would be much lower, and he would have a layer of protection.
"Brother Ge is wise, but we cannot wait anymore, we should leave as soon as possible. Once we make a move, I'm sure Man tribe would notice immediately." Fang Yuan reminded.
Old Ge tribe leader's heart shook, just hearing this sentence, he knew Chang Shan Yin was aware of what was happening.
Fang Yuan continued: "I had originally promised Man tribe to visit them. But since Ge tribe is relocating, to play safe, I will not go to them. Just say that I had felt my cultivation returning during these few days and have gone into closed cultivation. I will write a letter now, I will have to trouble brother to find someone to send it over for me."
If Ge tribe did not relocate, then Fang Yuan would have no issues visiting Man tribe.
But if Ge tribe wanted to leave, Man tribe would not let go of them. Man tribe is worried about Ge tribe and Chang Shan Yin cooperating, they might even hold him captive, to deal with Ge tribe separately.
Earlier, when Ge Guang was attacked by the wind wolves, it was most likely done by Man tribe. Man tribe was after all part of the righteous faction, to prevent rumors from spreading, they would not kill Chang Shan Yin, but Ge tribe was too alluring, they could use all sorts of reasons to place Chang Shan Yin under house arrest, that was something they could do.
After old Ge tribe leader heard Fang Yuan's words, he looked at him deeply and stood up, bowing: "Standing before brother, my wisdom is nothing. I was muddleheaded earlier, brother has a clear picture of the current situation."
"Hehehe, as someone involved in this contest, it is easy for you to be misled, that is normal, do not worry about it. As long as we leave this area, Ge tribe would be free!" Fang Yuan consoled old Ge tribe leader as he wrote a letter and handed it to Ge tribe leader.
"Brother Ge, I have to cultivate, I will not send you off."
"Today, I will start the preparations for moving off, the letter will definitely be sent, goodbye."
Old Ge tribe leader took the letter and left the room.
After he returned to his tent, he called the elders for a meeting and gave the instructions to prepare for migration.
After Ge Yao's supposed marriage, Ge tribe elders have a terrible impression of Man tribe, they praised this ingenious decision.
After Ge tribe father and son returned to their study room, old Ge tribe leader opened Fang Yuan's letter immediately.
"Father, isn't this a bit..." Ge Guang felt embarrassed.
"Heh, let father teach you another lesson today. This is the letter Chang Shan Yin wrote to Man Tu, but he did not use a letter Gu, why do you think that is so?" Old Ge tribe leader snickered.
"Because he doesn't have a letter Gu? No, if he wants to use it, he can borrow it from us." Ge Guang thought about it, as his eyes flashed: "That mean, this is intentional?"
"Hehehe, that's right. The reason why he is sending a normal letter is so that we can see it. Ge tribe is about to migrate, next we will travel together, this letter is to display his intention to cooperate with us along the journey. Come here, we will look at this together." Saying so, Old Ge tribe leader unsealed the letter.
The content in the letter was very simple, it explained that Fang Yuan needed time to recover his cultivation through closed cultivation. He expressed great regret for not being able to visit Man tribe, and he would definitely make up for it in the future.
Next, he wanted to purchase bone bamboo Gu from Man tribe, saying that he will pay 120% of the market price for them. At the same time, he wrote a large number of Gu refinement materials, as well as Gu worms like third watch Gu, hoping they could have a transaction.
"Oh, so uncle Chang Shan Yin needed these Gu worms. Father, I think we should try and give them to him, after all, he has helped us so much." Ge Guang said.
Old Ge tribe leader stared at this letter, his eyes shining brilliantly as a chill emerged in his heart.
This battle between Ge tribe and Man tribe was mostly through hidden schemes, they did not fall out with each other on the surface, this was the rule of the righteous path that had to be adhered to.
They sacrificed many people, one of Ge tribe's elder died after being challenged by Man Duo, and Ge Yao also died in poison grassland. Other than that, many Gu Masters became the wolves' food.
In this contest, be it Man tribe or Ge tribe, neither of them were winners. Man tribe did not achieve their aims, and Ge tribe also had many sacrifices.
However, there was one person who benefited completely.
This person was 'Chang Shan Yin'.
Look at it this way, when 'Chang Shan Yin' left poison grassland, he was empty handed, without a proper set of Gu worms, but now?
In this hidden battle, he earned till his pockets were full, having over a million primeval stones as gains, not to mention the rank five hints and clues Gu.
Ge tribe leader suddenly understood: Ge tribe was making use of Chang Shan Yin, but was Chang Shan Yin not making use of them as well? Chang Shan Yin might seem like he was trapped between two tribes, forced into their political strife, and attracted problems for himself unnecessarily. But the truth was, neither of them wanted to offend him, thus he gained benefits from both sides!
"We do not need to prepare these for Chang Shan Yin. Man tribe will send these things over, in fact, they might even give these to him for free." Ge tribe leader heaved a sigh as he tried to expel that cold feeling in his heart.
"Huh?" Ge Guang was shocked: "How is that possible? Uncle Chang Shan Yin is evidently helping us, is Man tribe so stupid?"
"Someone in a high position sees things differently. What is the value of these things? Merely a few hundred primeval stones, it is nothing to Man tribe. Using these goods to gain the friendship of an expert, isn't that a good deal? Have you thought about how much we gave Chang Shan Yin already?"
Ge Guang immediately thought of the million primeval stones and the rank five hints and clues Gu.
Ge tribe leader sighed deeply, there was another meaning to this, but it was still too early for Ge Guang to comprehend.
Why did Chang Shan Yin want to deal with Man tribe?
He was not making a deal, he was establishing a relationship with them! Using this, Chang Shan Yin expressed to Man tribe that although he went back on his word and did not visit Man tribe, he was not their enemy despite being at Ge tribe. He did not want to be enemies with Man tribe, in fact he wanted to be friends, thus, they could undergo transactions. @@novelbin@@
Man Tu was not a fool, he would understand what Chang Shan Yin was trying to express in his letter, his goodwill. If Man tribe rejected this deal, that would be rejecting Fang Yuan's kindness. If they sold the goods according to their price, this would show an indifferent attitude. If they gifted the goods to Fang Yuan, that would mean Man tribe was accepting this kindness, and was willing to be friends with Chang Shan Yin.
This deal was not important, the underlying meaning was.
Such a hidden and implicit communication method was something the righteous path higher-ups often did.
Ge tribe leader suddenly had a flash of inspiration, thinking: "This Chang Shan Yin, the reason why he is helping Ge tribe might not be due to his righteous nature. But because he can have the greatest benefits by siding with us."
Man tribe was huge and powerful, having a Chang Shan Yin was only adding icing on the cake. But Ge tribe was weak, with Chang Shan Yin, it was simply a great asset as he had the ability to stabilize the power balance between the two.
With this thought, old Ge tribe leader shuddered, the coldness in his heart became thicker, almost freezing his bones.
The old tribe leader subconsciously rejected this thought: "If Chang Shan Yin is such a scheming person despite being a hero of this magnitude, would there still be righteousness and light in this world? I am simply measuring the stature of great men by the yardstick of small men."
Three days later.
Man tribe's father and son stood on the mound, watching Ge tribe leave towards the south.
"Lord father... there is something I don't understand, I would like to ask father." Man Duo asked.
"Speak."
"You gave the things mentioned in the letter to Chang Shan Yin for free, I understand the meaning of that. But why did you also give Ge tribe a thousand and five hundred tonnes of provisions. Not only is our prey escaping, we even have to supply them, this..." Man Duo felt indignant.
Man Tu's expression was solemn, looking at the leaving Ge tribe, he said: "Man Hao, explain."
Elder Man Hao who was standing at the side laughed as he explained: "No need to worry third young master, lord tribe leader had planned this long ago. Ge tribe is dreaming if they want to leave so easily, there are a large number of wolf lure Gu inside the provisions, at the same time, we have tribesmen ahead, with three myriad wolf groups waiting in ambush for them."
"So that's it!" Man Duo understood at once: "Father is wise, once Ge tribe is unable to resist the wolf pack, our tribe will move out and save them, assimilating them using this chance. In future, if anyone suspects us, father can use this thousand and a half tonnes of provisions to show his sincerity and magnanimity, it will shut those suspicious people up. But..."
Towards the end, Man Duo was hesitant.
Man Hao sighed, saying: "But this way, Ge tribe would suffer great losses, and the gains of our tribe from taking over Ge tribe would be far less. In fact, we might even have to invest an amount of resources to take care of the injured."
But Man Duo shook his head, Man Hao's concerns were not the same as him: "Ge tribe has that Chang Shan Yin, he is hailed as the Wolf King, can these wolves stop him?"
Man Tu started frowning.
Man Duo expressed his own worry, he had such thoughts as well.
But Ge tribe left too quickly, Man tribe was part of the righteous path, they could not act recklessly, in this short period, they could only gather three myriad wolf groups.
If Ge tribes survives this assault, Man tribe can only watch them leave. But if they suffer great losses during the process, Man tribe would have the excuse to send 'reinforcements'.
The greatest uncertainty in this plan was Chang Shan Yin.
"Don't worry third young master, although this Chang Shan Yin is known as the Wolf King, that is over twenty years ago. His current cultivation is only rank four initial stage, and during the banquet, we checked secretly, his soul is no longer thousand man soul but has dropped to hundred man soul." Man Hao spoke with disdain.
"Hehe, even if he is the Wolf King, he is only a weak and barely surviving Old Wolf King. Moreover, what trump cards does he have? Only a thousand wind wolves and a thousand poison beard wolves, and a thousand water wolves. Hahaha, against three ten thousand wolf groups, what can his wolves do? The way I see it, his reputation will be ruined soon enough. We can prepare to devour Ge tribe already."
Man Duo did not rebuke him, but said: "Hopefully so."
-x-X-x-
"Urgent report! A large group of turtleback wolves has appeared three thousand li ahead. They have a huge number, estimated to be a group of ten thousand wolves!" Ge tribe's investigative Gu Master came running over and reported to Ge tribe leader.
Ge tribe leader's expression turned solemn and waved his hand to the Gu Master: "Investigate it again."
Not long earlier, he had already received a letter Gu from investigative Gu Masters. But often in the battlefield, to prevent the letter Gu from being cut off by the enemies, investigative Gu Masters would come over to personally deliver the message.
"Turtleback wolf is the wolf species with the strongest defense. Ten thousand of these wolves will be a difficult bone to chew."
"We have already ordered Gu Masters to lure them, but there has been no results. This wolf group is heading towards us."
"Hmph, how long has it been since we started migrating? It seems Man tribe doesn't want to let us go...."
"Fortunately, these wolves are not fast which leaves us time to arrange our formation."
Ge tribe's elders made comments one after another.
In the chaotic northern plains, none of the Gu Masters that could climb to a high position was a fool. Right now, all the elders had already realized the truth.
Most of Ge tribe's troops had already halted their movements and formed into a circular formation. Large number of Gu Masters were nervously using Gu worms to erect high walls, archer towers and many layers of defense.
The higher-ups of the Ge tribe were overseeing the situation from the central tent.
"Son." Ge tribe leader softly called.
"Father, I am here." Ge Guang immediately answered.
"Invite Lord Chang Shan Yin to come over." At this battle which concerned the survival of the tribe, Ge tribe leader was not willing to let go of any battle strength.
"Yes." Ge Guang bowed and left; he had just walked of the main tent when he saw Fang Yuan.
"Uncle." Ge Guang greeted cheerfully.
Fang Yuan nodded his head, directly walking towards him and said in a slightly urgent tone: "I know about the wolf group's invasion. How is the situation?"
"We have about eight minutes before the wolf group reaches. Since our relocation, to prevent Man tribe from playing tricks, father had assigned light cavalries to scout a distance of six hundred li !" Ge Guang followed Fang Yuan and reported to him from the side.
The two walked inside the main tent which was situation on a mound.
The mound had already been raised by using Gu worms; the higher-ups of Ge tribe had excellent field of view from the mound.
This was because they encountered the wolf group. If they had ran into the eagle or owl group, they would have dug a tunnel. Different methods dealt with different situations.
Seeing Fang Yuan, the Ge tribe higher-ups hurriedly greeted him. The atmosphere here was tense like a storm was brewing.
"Our Ge tribe is really fortunate to have brother Wolf King to help us, I can be at ease." Ge tribe leader sighed and spoke with gratitude.
"Hehehe, the fate between me and the Ge tribe is not shallow. Friends should help each other when they walk the same path! How is the situation?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Please take a look." Ge tribe leader led Fang Yuan towards a table where there was a sheepskin which had a map drawn on it. He pointed towards it and introduced the surrounding terrain, Ge tribe's defensive lines and wolf group's movement.
"Sir has arranged it properly, there is nothing wrong." Fang Yuan first praised, then pointed towards a mark on the map.
Everyone's gaze followed his finger; it was a river beside their camp.
"Since there is such a danger area, why don't you use it for defense?" Fang Yuan proposed.
"Brother might not know yet, we have already thought of it, but most of the troops have slow movement and it will be too late by the time we reach the river, set up a camp again and arrange new defensive lines." Ge tribe leader gave a bitter smile.
For the tribe's migration, most of the tribesmen were using big stomach horses. However, due to many things being stored in the big stomach horses, their speed was slow.
Ge tribe's Gu Masters could quickly reach the riverside on the hump wolves. But most of the mortals would fall behind and once the wolf group arrived, all the mortals might be annihilated.
Without mortals, how could there be any future new Gu Masters in any tribes? Mortals were the cornerstone of all tribes.
However, Fang Yuan gave a bright smile: "Brother, I am also a northern plainsmen, I naturally know this. We are not able to go to the riverside, but we can let the river come to us."
The Ge tribe's higher-ups' eyes brightened at these words.
"Right, we can dig a canal and draw in the river to help us defend."
"Turtleback wolves have heavy bodies and are unable to swim; once they fall into the river, they will sink to the bottom and drown to death."
"Lord tribe leader, send the command quickly!"
Ge tribe leader also directly sent the command: "I command Ge Cui, Ge Xiang, and Ge Mi to lead the first, seventh and eighteenth troop respectively, immediately stop all current tasks and go to the riverside to dig a canal. As for the third, fifth and the sixteenth troop, you shall take over the unfinished tasks of first, seventh and eighteenth troop."
"Yes!" The investigative Gu Master outside the tent immediately received the order.
Several breaths later, three letter Gu flew out separately towards distant locations.
"Fortunately, brother was here to guide us out of this bewilderment." The old tribe leader greeted Fang Yuan again with a grateful expression that came from the depths of his heart.
Just relying on this suggestion from Fang Yuan, they could preserve around a hundred Gu Masters and even could reduce the casualties.
He is the Wolf King after all...
Instantly, all the Ge tribe's elders' gaze towards Fang Yuan faintly changed into that of praise and admiration.
During this tense and busy period, time passed quickly.
Investigative Gu Masters came to the camp one after another to report the position of the wolf group. At the same time, they had also clearly scouted the numbers of the turtleback wolves.
Over thirty-eight thousand!
When the wolf group was only eight hundred li away from the camp, Ge tribe leader began to call back the investigative Gu Masters orderly.
By the time the wolf group reached five hundred li away from the camp, the canal was formed and the river water was drawn in.
When they reached three hundred li , three defensive lines finished forming and combat troops were deployed urgently. The support and logistics Gu Masters in charge of the construction retreated one after another, using primeval stones to quickly recover their primeval essence. They did not dare to relax for even a moment. When the battlefront was unable to endure, they would have to go as reinforcements.
At a hundred li away, everyone could see a large number of ghostly shadows of the wolves in the horizon.
In the main tent, eight investigative Gu were activated; smoke rose and could be seen from all directions.
Turtleback wolf group was mainly coming from the northern side. At the same time, there were also a lot of wolves coming from the northeast and southeast.
As the wolf group neared closer and closer, all the mortals could see them clearly.
Turtleback wolves possessed broad physique, their whole body was dark-green and had dark-blue eyes. On their back was a shell like that of a turtle.
This shell was very heavy and about one-third of a turtleback wolf's weight was due to it. Apart from defensive purpose, it could also store nutrition just like camels.
The charging of a few tens of thousands of wolves caused the ground to start shaking.
Fang Yuan walked out of the main tent and gazed at the grassland only to see large numbers of wolves moving on the ground. He then looked at the camp below; the Ge tribesmen were moving about busily without disorder, it was a normal thing to encounter beast attacks in northern plains. Thus, whether it were Gu Masters or mortals, they had cultivated a strong mind.
The first defensive line at the north was the first to meet the attack.
"Fight!" A Gu Master leader who was watching from a tower shouted loudly and threw a wind blade.
Soon after, the surrounding Gu Masters also began to make their moves.
A row of wind blades flew far, cutting over dozens of turtleback wolves instantly.
When the wolf group reached closer, the Gu Masters abandoned the wind blades and used the more powerful fire Gu, lightning Gu and so on.
For a moment, countless colorful lights burst out in the battlefield, like simultaneously fired fireworks. Human shouts, furious wolf howls and the piercing sound from the wind blades formed into a medley of sounds.
The wolf group's offensive was like a rain that came unceasingly, and succeeded in charging over. They first came across the earth walls.
The earth walls were thick, and their foundation had been reinforced with copper and iron.
Countless turtleback wolves were badly bruised when they smashed against these earth walls and even died on the spot.
However, the wolf group advanced wave upon wave, some trampled upon the corpses and leapt high, while some clawed the earth walls to pierce through.
Next, the defensive lines at the south east and north east also entered the battlefield.
Shouting resounded all over the sky and casualties began to appear. Healing Gu Masters began to show their worth.
Because they had made sufficient preparations, the whole Ge tribe was moving very orderly.
"Look, it is a myriad wolf king!" Someone shouted while pointing at a certain direction.
Everyone immediately followed the voice and looked.
This turtleback myriad wolf king was enormous, even ten times the size of a normal turtleback wolf was slightly inferior to it. Its tyrannical aura manifested as it crouched on the ground and howled, commanding the wolf group to divide.
Turtleback wolf group divided into five to six groups and began to circle around the Ge tribe camp, searching for a hole in the defense.
Like this, Ge tribe was surrounded by wolves from every directions, and battle unfolded everywhere.
On a nameless hill outside of the battlefield, a group of man tribesmen were using Gu worms to conceal themselves and were using investigative Gu to observe the situation.
"The battle has started!" Man Hao smiled, taking joy in Ge tribe's calamity.
"Ge tribe actually channeled the river through a canal, Ge tribe leader is truly an old fox! But, there are over thirty thousand turtleback wolves, even if Ge tribe is able to resist them, they would suffer serious losses." Man Hong smiled coldly.
His appearance was strikingly similar to the tribe leader Man Tu; he was Man Tu's eldest son and had a cultivation of rank three middle stage.
"Young tribe leader is right. Even if Ge tribe can block the first wave of the wolf group, there is still the second wave and also third wave." Man Hao flattered.
Although Man Hong was the eldest son, but he was still not truly the young tribe leader. However, Man Hao had already pledged his allegiance to Man Hong and was his zealous supporter; he called Man Hong as young tribe leader, it was a flattery and also his expectation.
"Young tribe leader?" Man Hong did not refute and instead nodded his head, "Father has given this important task to me, I will be establishing great merits by finishing this and might indeed be a young tribe leader when we return to the tribe. Unfortunately, that sneaky brat Man Duo did not come over, otherwise I could borrow the strength of others and conveniently get rid of that sinister brat!"
"Man Duo might be somewhat intelligent, but his aptitude is lacking and he is simply not young tribe leader's match. Look, hundred wolf kings have made their move!" Man Hao said.
Hundred beast kings had rank two Gu worms residing in their bodies, and were very strong. Their appearance immediately caused the pressure on the Ge tribe's frontline forces to increase greatly. The number of casualties increased sharply, and 2 to 3 hundred wolf kings smashed the earth walls and pierced through the Ge tribe's defense.
"Hehehe." Looking at the Ge tribe's Gu Masters dying one after another, Man Hong showed a pleased, sinister smile.
This ignorant bunch of fools actually did not join Man tribe, now weren't they suffering their just desserts?
"Hmm?" Man Hong's smile stiffened; through the investigative Gu worm, he saw a wolf enslavement Gu entering a hundred wolf king.
It immediately changed its alignment and let out a howl, causing the wolves beside it to fall into chaos.
Soon after, these turtleback wolves followed the wolf king towards the Ge tribe's camp and gathered under a Gu Master.
Man Hong narrowed his eyes and looked at this Gu Master: "Could this person be the Wolf King, Chang Shan Yin?"
"Yes, young tribe leader." Man Hao confirmed.
Man Hong scoffed: "Father said he was the greatest uncertainty. Let me see what ability he has!"
-x-X-x-
"Look there, it is the great hero of northern plains, Chang Shan Yin!"
"Chang Shan Yin struck, he truly is spectacular!"
The camp was cheering.
Not only Man tribe, but even Ge tribe Gu Masters were looking at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan had just tested his skills, subduing a hundred wolf king and instantly made several hundred turtleback wolves part of his force, it turned this battlefield into a safe zone.
"Chang Shan Yin..." High up on the mound, old Ge tribe leader looked at Fang Yuan's back view as he muttered.
In everyone's mind, there was one question — The former Wolf King, the genius of northern plains, how much battle strength did he have left now?
Fang Yuan looked at the tens of thousands of turtleback wolves in front of him with an earnest gaze.
In other people's perspective, these wolves were a threat, but in Fang Yuan's eyes, these were presents sent to him.
He was worried about not having enough wolves in his group, but if he could subdue these wolf kings, his battle strength would surge!
At this time, it was a clear blue sky as sunlight shone down, vision was clear as the battle was ongoing.
Ge tribe had prepared sufficiently, having three earth walls to defend them, and also built water canals to divide the incoming wolves into segments, preventing them from encircling the Gu Masters, this was a terrain advantage.
Looking at themselves, Ge tribe's Gu Masters were defending with young tribe leader Ge Guang leading, they were extremely safe. Ge tribe were united in defending against the wolf groups, their hearts were as one, this was the most favourable condition.
"If I travelled alone, I would have to run away from a beast group of such a grand scale. But now, all the conditions were perfect for me! This is a godsend opportunity placed in front of me, how can I not make full use of it?"
Thinking so, Fang Yuan laughed cheerfully, his battle intent rose as he said to the people: "Everyone, come with me!"
Ge Guang and the others responded.
Under Fang Yuan's lead, the Gu Masters started to move their formation, going to another area of the battlefield.
Bam!
A tall arrow tower fell onto the ground, smashed into pieces.
The culprit behind this roared loudly as it battled a dozen rank two Gu Masters around it.
This was a hundred wolf king.
At this point, all the wolves around it had died, it was battle alone fiercely.
The surrounding Gu Masters used their Gu worms to attack from a distance, trapping it as they whittled away its life slowly.
On the battlefield, there were three Gu Master corpses.
At this point, Fang Yuan and the others ride their hump wolves and arrived.
"Wolf enslavement Gu, Go!" Fang Yuan pointed with his finger and the rank two wolf enslavement Gu turned into a light smoke, landing on this hundred wolf king's body.
The wolf king howled angrily, unwilling to be enslaved, resisting with all its energy.
Fang Yuan's eyes shone as he suppressed it with his hundred man soul!
The wolf king whimpered as the smoke settled into its body, turning it into Fang Yuan's personal pet instantly.
The hundred wolf king sprawled on the ground, keeping its claws and teeth as its body was covered in injuries, oozing with blood.
"Healing Gu Master." Fang Yuan instructed, and a Gu Master walked out from behind him, activating his Gu worm and healing this hundred wolf king.
"This goddamn beast! He killed my brother!" A young Gu Master who had entered battle still wanted to attack.
"Ge Can!" Ge Guang shouted, staring at this person.
The young Gu Master's neck stiffened as he walked to the hundred wolf king, kicking it fiercely, but did not try to kill it.
Next, he covered his face and cried, sobbing uncontrollably.
The surrounding Gu Masters felt a strong resonance with him.
After the young Gu Master cried for a while, he raised his head, wiping his tears as he said: "Go, let's continue killing wolves!"
"Alright!"
"Let's follow brother Ge Can."
This ordinary small group entered the battlefield again.
"Let's go to the next stop." Fang Yuan continued to move ahead.
At the northwest area, three hundred wolf kings broke through the earth walls and ravaging the line of defense.
Fang Yuan quickly arrived: "I am Wolf King Chang Shan Yin, all Gu Masters listen to my instructions."
With Ge Guang beside him, he successfully gained the commanding rights.
"These three hundred wolf kings, what are their respective Gu worms?" Fang Yuan asked.
Immediately someone reported.
Fang Yuan's eyes shone as he split the people into three groups.
"Group one will lure the left hundred wolf king, and bring it to the second line of defense." Fang Yuan instructed.
"Bring it there?" A Gu Master was shocked, expressing his concern.
Fang Yuan stared at him fiercely: "I said bring it over, so do as I say. This is an order!"
"Yes!" @@novelbin@@
"Group two, restrict the wolf king on the right, make sure you destroy its defensive Gu."
"Yes!"
"Group three, follow me." Fang Yuan waved his hand and entered the battlefield personally.
After a bit of battle, he used the wolf enslavement Gu.
The light smoke was about to land, when this wolf king shot out a flame that burnt the smoke away.
Fang Yuan's expression turned cold, he felt heartache losing this rank two wolf enslavement Gu.
Ge Guang scolded: "Why did it still have a firelight Gu?"
"Please forgive me young tribe leader, this is the first time this Gu has been used!' The subordinate quickly reported.
"Ge Guang, you are in charge of this firelight Gu, use all methods you have, I will come back shortly." Fang Yuan saw that this wolf king could not be handled in the meantime, thus he gave his instructions and passed the trouble to others. Meanwhile, he swapped his target to another wolf king, using a wolf enslavement Gu.
This wolf king's defensive Gu worms was already destroyed by Gu Masters, without any accidents, Fang Yuan easily captured it.
When he turned around, Ge Guang already created trees and sealed this hundred wolf king's mouth with vines, it could not shoot out any more flames.
"Good job." Fang Yuan praised as he used a wolf enslavement Gu.
The hundred wolf king watched the light smoke enter its body, after a mild resistance, it lost to the hundred man soul, becoming another one of Fang Yuan's pet.
After keeping these two hundred wolf kings, Fang Yuan turned around and captured the hundred wolf king at the second line of defense as well.
In just a short time, Fang Yuan divided the three hundred wolf kings up, and captured them one by one, resolving this crisis.
Everyone was amazed, they continue following behind Fang Yuan, listening to his commands. Eventually, they realised that as long as they followed his commands, they would result in the least injuries or deaths possible.
"This Chang Shan Yin has some skills." Outside the battlefield, eldest son Man Hong used his investigative Gu worm to watch Fang Yuan's performance, his expression sinking.
"His soul is a hundred man soul, it is not hard to subdue these hundred wolf kings. But just this cannot change the situation. It will depend on his wolf manipulation skill!" Man Hao consoled at the side.
"Mmm..."
Fang Yuan sat on the ground directly, holding two primeval stones as he recovered his primeval essence.
Activating wolf enslavement Gu did not expend much primeval essence, but most importantly, it was the burden on his soul.
Fang Yuan subdued hundred wolf kings one after another, he used his hundred man soul to suppress the wolf kings. After the competition between souls, Fang Yuan's soul became more impatient and impulsive, while the annoyed feeling in his heart intensified.
If he left this symptom alone, he might develop dizziness, or worse his soul might get damaged, losing his memories or lowering his intelligence.
Fang Yuan closed his eyes and mediated, calming his mind and soothing his soul.
After resting for a while, the hundred man soul stabilized, all his negative emotions vanished into thin air!
"Everyone, continue following me on our conquest." Fang Yuan rode on his hump wolf as Ge Guang and the others followed.
Like this, after moving around the battlefield for a while, Fang Yuan subdued three hundred wolf kings, and eight hundred ordinary turtleback wolves.
Howl!
Fang Yuan's actions angered a thousand wolf king.
Seeing his subordinates surrender to an enemy, this thousand wolf king howled as it led the wolf group towards Fang Yuan, attacking fiercely.
A thousand beast king could control thousands of wild beasts, while also having several hundred beasts kings under it.
There were rank three Gu worms in its body, ignoring the wolf group, at least three cooperative Gu Master groups were needed to kill one thousand beast king. If there were three rank three Gu Masters, they could barely match evenly with it.
Seeing the thousand beast king charging over, Ge Guang and the others' expression changed. They were mostly rank two elites, only Ge Guang was a rank three Gu Master.
"Don't worry young tribe leader, we are here to give you a hand!" Just at this moment, three Ge tribe elders came over.
Fang Yuan had made an agreement with Ge tribe higher-ups in the main tent, Ge tribe had to help out in this.
"Hahaha, with your help, this wolf is as good as ours." Fang Yuan laughed heartily.
An intense battle occured.
This thousand wolf king attacked in a frenzy, it used its claws and teeth, and was even able to summon a wolf strength phantom. On the battlefield, it rampaged and moved about without restraints, attacking mercilessly.
But on Fang Yuan's side, they had greater strength. Four rank three Gu Masters, one rank four Gu Master, as well as a number of rank two elites.
After two elders were mildly injured, Fang Yuan found a good opportunity and used a rank three wolf enslavement Gu.
The rank three wolf enslavement Gu turned into a light smoke, much thicker than the rank two version, as it landed on the thousand wolf king.
Fang Yuan used his hundred man soul to suppress it, and after a dozen breaths' time, the light smoke succeeded and completely fused into the thousand wolf king's soul.
This was the first thousand beast king Fang Yuan subdued in this battle.
After the thousand wolf king surrendered, the two hundred wolf kings and several thousand ordinary turtleback wolves under it also changed allegiance.
Such a great number of turtleback wolves revolted and switched to Ge tribe's faction, causing this part of the battlefield to cease battle.
The entire wolf group only had around fifteen thousand wolf kings, but now one was taken by Fang Yuan.
At this moment, even the myriad wolf king felt something amiss, it howled as a huge four-leaf windblade rotated and shot towards Fang Yuan.
"Three claw water dragon Gu!" A clan elder shouted, pushing with his hands as a light blue water dragon crashed into the windblade, exploding and causing a small drizzle.
"Fist stone Gu!" The second elder punched with his right fist, as a large rock was created in mid air, flying forward like a fist, but was shaved by the windblade.
"Lightning web Gu!" The third elder shot out a large web made of lightning, covering the windblade.
The windblade was weakened, after it was covered by the lightning web, it rotated furiously and cut the web open, but it was at its final moments. As it flew in the air, it slowly dissipated.
Throughout the whole process, Fang Yuan did not do anything.
Ge tribe's Gu Masters were very protective of Fang Yuan, even if he was a rank four Gu Master that had higher cutlivation than them.
Enslavement path Gu Masters' lives were extremely important. Thus, when they battled, there were often Gu Masters in charge of protecting them.
Ge tribe's actions were not overly protective, it was just a norm of the Gu Master world.
-x-X-x-
Myriad wolf king's attack caused all of Ge tribe to be nervous.
Far away, Man Hong's eyes brightened: "Is this myriad wolf king going to join the fight?"
But soon, his gaze dimmed.
After myriad wolf king failed in its attack, it did not make another attack and instead continued sitting at the rear while commanding the wolf group.
A branch of a thousand wolf group moved over to fill the gap created due to the previous thousand wolf king's surrender.
Crimson flames burned all over this thousand wolf king and its nose let out thick black smoke from time to time.
"A rank three self-ignition Gu." Fang Yuan recognized one of the Gu.
With this Gu worm protecting the thousand wolf king, wolf enslavement Gu's smoke would be burned off before it even landed.
Fang Yuan's eyelids twitched and he glanced at the far away myriad wolf king. Myriad wolf king also seemed to be staring back at him; when beasts evolves to myriad beast king stage, their intelligence would greatly surpass similar species, and this myriad wolf king was clearly indicating its decision to target Fang Yuan.
"Ge Guang stay behind and cooperate with three elders to kill this wolf! As for the others, follow me." Fang Yuan turned around and walked; subduing this thousand wolf king was not an impossible matter, but it would be very troublesome and time consuming.
This wolf was not suitable, so it was better to go to another. Anyway, the battlefield was so large, Fang Yuan did not believe all of them would have methods to suppress wolf enslavement Gu.
Sure enough, he moved around to several places and reaped great harvests. In just about two hours, he subdued seventeen hundred wolf kings and two thousand wolf kings.
Adding in all the wolves, Fang Yuan now had four thousand wolf kings, over thirty hundred wolf kings and ordinary wolves were already over eight thousand in number, nearing ten thousand.
Most of them were all turtleback wolves, but there was also a thousand beast level wind wolf king. Among the hundred wolf kings, there were also poison beard wolf king, water wolf king and wind wolf king.
With his actions, the military strength between the two sides in the battlefield was being equalized. A portion of the thirty thousand ten thousand wolf group was incorporated by Fang Yuan into his troop and adding in countless deaths, the wolf group only had about twenty thousand remaining now.
The battle surged on like wildfire and Ge tribe leader eased his brows, seeing the hope of victory.
"With Chang Shan Yin making his move, the pressure on my tribe's troops has greatly decreased."
"He is after all the legendary hero, his skills are truly exceptional!"
"This is not strange, he is a rank four Gu Master, moreover he walks the enslavement path; such battlefields are his domain."
All the elders praised and the atmosphere in the main tent became relaxed.
"Don't be careless, myriad wolf king still has not made its move, the outcome of this battle is yet to be certain." Ge tribe leader timely warned others.
"Lord tribe leader is right, we can't relax yet."
"In my opinion, this myriad wolf king might not join the fight. The wolf group has suffered huge losses, it is normal for the wolf king to retreat in this situation."
"Huh? Not good!"
Just as they were talking of it, myriad wolf king suddenly let out a long howl. All the wolves in the battlefield simultaneously went into crazed offense when they heard this howl.
Over twenty thousand turtleback wolves charged towards the camp without caring for their lives; for a moment, Ge tribe was caught off-guard and was utterly losing.
"Order the frontline to quickly retreat to the second defensive line." Ge tribe leader immediately commanded.
"The wolf group is making an all-out attack!" Ge Guang who was on the frontline paled.
"Go help the Gu Masters to retreat, I will go back to the ranch to rest and organize, wait for my support." Fang Yuan's expression was dark.
"Lord, we have been ordered by the tribe leader to protect you." Some Gu Masters hesitated.
Fang Yuan opened his eyes and let out a sharp gaze; the Gu Masters where his gaze landed all lowered their head.
"Ge Guang." Fang Yuan looked at the young tribe leader of Ge tribe.
Ge Guang gritted his teeth: "I shall listen to uncle."
He then waved his hand: "All of you follow me!"
Fang Yuan returned to the ranch alone, surrounded by wolves.
He gathered all the wolves together. With close to ten thousand wolves crowding together, this temporary ranch immediately felt narrow.
Fang Yuan willed and a strong vigorous water wolf moved out of the wolf group.
To ordinary people, this was a water wolf. But in Fang Yuan's eyes, it was a white-eyes wolf.
White-eyes wolf was a mutated beast, like Biao among tigers and lightning boar among boars. Every single ordinary adult mutated beasts would attract wild Gu worms and possessed the strength that could match myriad beast kings.
However, this white-eyes wolf was still in infancy and had not matured yet. The fur on its whole body was like water and was dyed with a light blue color; the appearance of a common water wolf. But as long as people carefully observed it, they would discover its pupils was more white with little black, greatly differing from ordinary water wolves.
When it completely reached adulthood, its pupils would become white. At the same time, its vision would be greatly magnified, comparable to some rank four investigative Gu and even at night, its vision would not be affected.
Fang Yuan had accidentally discovered this white-eyes wolf in the market, and without making any suspicious movements, he bought all the water wolves.
At present, this white-eyes wolf had already been planted with rank three wolf enslavement Gu by Fang Yuan. And to speed up its growth, he had used third watch Gu.
This created a violent increase in the white-eyes wolf's appetite, about thirteen times more than the ordinary water wolves. Also, its lifespan had shortened.
"Go." Fang Yuan gave a command and this white-eyes wolf whose speed already surpassed that of the wind wolves, quickly moved out of the ranch towards the higher grounds.
Wolf care Gu!
Fang Yuan covered his right eye and only used his left eye to look at the white-eyes wolf. At the same time, he poured his primeval essence into Chang Shan Yin's investigative Gu.
Instantly, the scene in his left eye changed; as if he was overlooking the battlefield from a high ground.
This was the ability of the wolf care Gu; it could share the sight of the specific wolf to the Gu Master's eyes.
Fang Yuan then opened his right eye, and two different scenes transmitted to his brain at the same time.
His left eye showed the battlefield, letting him be clear on the situation; and his right eye showed the ranch where the wolves were crowded together.
Fang Yuan summoned all the wolf kings and searched through the Gu worms in their body.
If there were any rare Gu worms, Fang Yuan would take them so as to not let them be destroyed in the battlefield.
Naturally, his main focus was the wolf enslavement Gu.
Wolf enslavement Gu was a one time expendable Gu.
To capture so many wolf kings, Fang Yuan had used up a lot of wolf enslavement Gu.
Generally speaking, wolf kings would have corresponding wolf enslavement Gu on them.
Sure enough, Fang Yuan got a rank three wolf enslavement Gu and five rank two wolf enslavement Gu from these wolf kings.
As for other Gu worms, they were all ordinary with only one or two being better. But they could not catch Fang Yuan's eyes, so he left them on the wolf kings to preserve their battle strength.
Wolf smoke Gu!
Fang Yuan activated this rank four healing Gu which was especially used to heal the injuries on wolves. Surging smoke enveloped the whole ranch for a long time.
Fang Yuan's primeval sea rapidly lowered to the bottom.
The primeval essence consumption to heal so many wolves at once was very huge.
When the primeval sea hit the bottom, Fang Yuan took out primeval stones and quickly recovered his primeval essence.
After healing them twice more, Fang Yuan saw Ge tribe leader lead a group of elders and rush towards the frontlines. Soon, intense explosions sounded out from the frontlines. @@novelbin@@
Through his left eye, Fang Yuan saw that the motionless myriad wolf king had also joined the fight. Ge tribe leader and others all went all-out against it.
With myriad wolf king joining the fight, there was a tremendous influence on the wolves and under its lead, the wolf group began to fight with even more madness.
The second defensive line of Ge tribe was also thus broken.
Fortunately, with the canal blocking the way, most of Ge tribe's Gu Masters could smoothly retreat towards the third defensive line and maintain the defense. For a moment, the atmosphere on the battlefield intensified to the extreme, causing great palpitation in the people.
The third defensive line was the final defense. Behind it was the weakest mortals, in case it was broken through, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"There is no time to heal again." After recovering the primeval essence in his aperture to ninety percent, Fang Yuan looked at the surroundings.
After three rounds of healing, the heavy injuries on these wolves had become light injuries while the light injuries were completely healed.
Wolf howl Gu!
Fang Yuan howled towards the sky, letting out a furious howl like that of a wolf king.
Under the effect of the Gu worm, the wolf group on the ranch faintly enlarged, their energy inflated and their battle strength multiplied!
Fang Yuan laughed loudly and rode on a hump wolf, with a shift of his mind, the wolf group immediately started howling together.
Howl---!
At this moment, when the sky was dyed red with the setting sun, when the wind was starting to blow strongly and when the battle was raging, the wolf howl spread without restrain, travelling a thousand li.
"Eh? Chang Shan Yin is making his move!" Outside the battlefield, Man Hong and Man Hao's expression turned grave.
Ge tribe, however, was jubilant.
"Chang Shan Yin, it is lord Chang Shan Yin!"
"We still have lord Chang Shan Yin..."
"Lord Chang Shan Yin is coming to support us, everyone persevere!!"
"Step aside, open up a path for lord Chang Shan Yin."
Instantly, Ge tribe's troop morale rose rapidly.
Fang Yuan sat upright on the hump wolf and lightly waved his hand; close to ten thousand wolves surged forward, moving past the simplistic fence around the ranch, but they did not go to rescue the northern side, but instead moved towards the south.
Just like the collapse of a large dam, a powerful flood burst out! The whole wolf group rapidly charged out of the camp; twelve hundred wolf kings arranged as the arrowhead ruthlessly charged into the battlefield
The enemy wolf group had fought for a long time and was already exhausted, and now this new battle force attacked them, causing countless deaths in moments.
With only one assault, Fang Yuan collapsed the offense of the turtleback wolves on the southern side of the camp.
Wolf enslavement Gu! Wolf enslavement Gu! Wolf enslavement Gu!
Under the protection of the wolf group, Fang Yuan repeatedly activated three wolf enslavement Gu; the enslavement Gu changed into faint smoke and subdued three hundred wolf kings in moments.
"Charge to the left!" He willed it and the whole wolf army smoothly changed direction and charged towards the southeast battle.
Fang Yuan's gaze scanned the battle like an eagle and soon locked onto the thousand wolf king.
Thousand wolf king howled and did its utmost to command the wolf group. But most of the wolf group were in deeply locked in the battle in the frontline and would be difficult for them to turn around for a while.
This thousand wolf king could only mobilize a few hundred wolves which were easily drowned by Fang Yuan's army.
Rank three wolf enslavement Gu!
Fang Yuan caught the chance and a faint smoke drilled down into the thousand wolf king; this thousand wolf king might have been scared stiff as it let out a whimper, its soul did not give any resistance and was quickly subdued.
This was the fifth thousand wolf king!
The wolf group that had been fighting with the Gu Masters, under its beckoning, stopped the fight and gathered under Fang Yuan's army.
The chaos at the southeast area immediately ceased!
-x-X-x-
The battle that the Gu Masters had been fighting with their lives on the line was settled in the blink of an eye. Their mortal enemies had instead become their allies.
"Is this the ability of lord Chang Shan Yin?"
"Terrifying, terrifying..."
"Leading myriad wolf groups by himself, no wonder he is called Wolf King!"
Gu Masters looked at Fang Yuan with stupefied gazes. Their gazes looked at his receding figure, leaving this place towards another battlefield.
Moving unhindered, truly unhindered!
All those who dared to block his way were completely swept away.
Under his will, tens of thousands of wolves rushed forward. Under his indication, his troops moved everywhere, unrivalled!
With just his lone strength, he was overturning the crisis, changing the whole situation; he was the light of the enslavement path!
Outside the battlefield, Man Hong, Man Hao and the rest all lost color in their face.
Under their complicated gaze, Fang Yuan's wolf group rapidly expanded like a rolling snowball, getting bigger the more they killed. Everywhere they moved, they would leave behind ruins and a group of stupefied Gu Masters, before they swaggered off.
This wolf commanding tactic was simply unreasonable and also extremely domineering!
Under this huge strength, small hindrances were directly crushed.
Fang Yuan intentionally avoided the myriad wolf king's battlefield and circled around the Ge tribe camp, subduing three thousand wolf kings. In total, the number of thousand wolf kings he had reached eight.
As for the number of hundred wolf kings, they had almost doubled, reaching fifty-nine.
Fang Yuan's wolf formation was like a mythical beast, swallowing all turtleback wolves on its path and expanding itself.
After repeatedly subduing these wolf kings, Fang Yuan's soul also suffered from backlash; he felt jittery and nauseous.
Fang Yuan endured this feeling and gathered the wolf group before returning to the ranch.
The ranch could not hold these wolves anymore.
There were too many wolves, Fang Yuan also did not know the exact amount clearly, he could only guess the amount had surpassed twelve thousand.
Fang Yuan did not hurry to join the battle.
The situation was already determined now. He got off the hump wolf and closed his eyes to rest his spirit.
Every set interval, he would open his eyes to observe the battlefield through the white-eyes wolf's vision and keep an eye on the situation of Ge tribe leader and the others. These higher-ups of Ge tribe could not die. If they died, Man tribe might be roused into making a move.
After resting for a while, although Fang Yuan had not fully recovered, there was no problem in commanding the wolves. He joined the battlefield again.
This time, he only mobilized the eight thousand wolf kings to the battle. Ordinary wolves was too low of a threat against myriad wolf king.
On his way, every Ge tribesmen would call out his name loudly.
"Chang Shan Yin has come to assist!" Hearing such voices, Ge tribe's higher-ups who were surrounding the myriad wolf king all felt their spirits invigorated.
"Everyone, please take a step back and rest for a moment, let me handle this!" Fang Yuan reached the battlefield and under his will, the eight thousand wolf kings encircled the myriad wolf king.
Myriad wolf king already had the intention to retreat, but whether it charged left or right, it could not break through the encirclement.
"Such wolf manipulation skills!" Seeing the myriad wolf king being played around by Fang Yuan, Man Hao, Man Hong and the rest revealed astonished expressions.
Previously, Fang Yuan had charged with grand troops, flattening everything on his way, so they were not able to see his wolf manipulating skill. Now, he was commanding the wolves meticulously, revealing the top-tier wolf manipulation skill of the northern plains. @@novelbin@@
There were merely eight thousand wolf king, and seven of them could not display their full strength due to the pressure from the myriad wolf king.
However, under Fang Yuan's control, the myriad wolf king felt like it was encircled by thousands of soldiers, as if it was a fly that was trapped in spider web.
Finally, the myriad wolf king was thoroughly exhausted to death by Fang Yuan, and in its final counterattack before death, it took away a thousand wolf king's life.
"Wolf King! Lord Chang Shan Yin is truly the Wolf King!" Looking at the myriad wolf king's enormous body falling down loudly, all the Gu Masters cheered loudly.
"Wolf King!"
"Wolf King! Wolf King!"
With this battle, everyone felt the nickname of Wolf King was truly fitting.
The shouting surged one after another and soon many joined in, shouting loudly with fervent gazes, and some even had tears falling from their eyes.
This was a type of emotional feeling, a type of worship towards the heroes, reverence towards the strength.
"With this person here, it is easier said than done for us to annex Ge tribe!" Man Hong's expression looked ashen to the extreme, this battle had thoroughly dispelled his ambitions.
"Wolf King..." Man Hao who had felt contempt towards Chang Shan Yin, absent-mindedly muttered this name. He had never felt how heavy the weight of this name was as much as this moment!
On the battlefield, Ge tribe leader brought the elders towards Fang Yuan.
"The might of the former hero still remains! Today's battle really makes me prostrate in admiration. I, on behalf of the whole Ge tribe, express my utmost gratitude to your favor of helping us!" Ge tribe leader deeply bowed towards Fang Yuan.
"Brother Ge, you speak too highly of me. Let's clean up the battlefield quickly." Fang Yuan smiled.
The myriad wolf king's corpse was lying on the ground, but Fang Yuan did not take the matters into his own hand to avoid suspicion.
"If I had a rank four wolf enslavement Gu, I could have taken in this turtleback wolf myriad wolf king, such a pity." Fang Yuan felt regret in his heart.
Rank four beast enslavement Gu could control myriad beast kings. A myriad beast group was a huge force to a tribe.
Thus, normally, rank four beast enslavement Gu was not sold in the markets of northern plains.
For the price of many Gu worms, once they reached rank four, would rise sharply. Beast enslavement Gu was one of them, there was also relic Gu besides this.
Fang Yuan had only been able to purchase rank two and rank three wolf enslavement Gu in the market, and did not get a rank four wolf enslavement Gu.
"Right now, I have a large amount of rank two and three wolf enslavement Gu. But it seems I will have to refine the rank four wolf enslavement Gu myself."
Fang Yuan currently lacked rank four wolf enslavement Gu; with rank four wolf enslavement Gu, he could control myriad wolf king, and the burden on his soul to control the wolf group through the wolf king would decrease by a lot.
His mutated beast white-eyes wolf was currently an infant and could be enslaved by rank three Gu. But once it matured, it would require rank four enslavement Gu, otherwise it would not listen to commands and could even flee.
"Lord, we have found a rank four wolf enslavement Gu!" Right at this time, a Gu Master that was searching through the myriad wolf king's corpse shouted loudly.
"What?" Ge tribe leader's eyes flashed brightly and soon after, laughed, "Haha, precious Gu should fit a hero, this Gu should be give to brother Chang."
Although there was a great probability for a rank four beast enslavement Gu to reside in myriad beast king, Fang Yuan was still happy.
There might have been some flaws in today's battle, but the outcome still made Fang Yuan very satisfied.
It was regretful to have killed the myriad wolf king, but he was still able to obtain a rank four wolf enslavement Gu.
This Gu worm's arrival was really at great timing, it had been a long time since Fang Yuan had such a good thing happen to him.
He carefully accepted this Gu worm and said his goodbye to the Ge tribe's higher-ups, he did not even join in the celebratory banquet, using the excuse of refining this rank four Gu to evade it.
Nightfall.
The celebratory bonfire outside the tents was burning brightly. The victorious shouts and the cries for the casualties mixed together and spread towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his mind was calm as he looked in his aperture.
The ninety percent primeval sea was tranquil, the water shining brightly like gold. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had still not completely adapted to the northern plains, thus there was still the suppression, causing his cultivation to temporarily stagnate; the true gold primeval essence looked amazing but was useless right now.
However, cultivation was only one part of strength.
There were other ways for Fang Yuan to increase his strength.
For example, the strength of ten jun Gu he was currently holding.
This Gu was also a rank four Gu, but its price was much lower than a rank four beast enslavement Gu. And because it could be easily refined and the manufacturing costs were also low, it was rather common in the market.
Strength of ten jun Gu did not look anything special, looking just like a common iron weight.
Fang Yuan poured primeval essence to it, it then floated above Fang Yuan and let out dreamy light which shone upon Fang Yuan's whole body, engraving some Dao marks of the strength path on Fang Yuan's body.
After a while, the strength of ten jun Gu suddenly let out a slight explosion and broke into pieces, falling down on Fang Yuan's hair.
Strength of ten jun Gu was an expendable Gu, this was the third strength of ten jun Gu Fang Yuan had used.
Fang Yuan shook off the iron pieces and grasped his fists, feeling an increased strength: "The strength increase has reached a bottleneck. Next, I need to enhance my skeleton, skin, tendons and so on, to cause the water bucket - my body - to become deeper, larger and firmer, so it can hold even more strength.
Fang Yuan's gaze flashed as he took out a wolf soul Gu.
"This is the final wolf soul Gu."
Fang Yuan poured his primeval essence into the wolf soul Gu; the wolf soul Gu burst and changed into a grey wolf soul that smashed into his body.
Hundred man soul and wolf soul tangled with each other, the difficulty this time was many times more than before. Previously, when Fang Yuan used the wolf soul Gu, he only had over three thousand wolves under him. Now, after today's battle, he had taken in many wolf kings and thus the burden on his soul was much bigger.
Fang Yuan's brows furrowed into a knot, sweat perspired out of his forehead and he gritted his teeth to persevere; finally, the hundred man soul and the wolf soul merged together.
Boom!
A soft sound echoed in his ears, the long term quantitative accumulation had brought a qualitative change at this moment.
Hundred man soul had thoroughly changed into the wolfman soul.
The wolfman soul looked like a grey color that had been condensed to an extreme. The soul's appearance was mostly like Fang Yuan's, except the bridge of the nose was longer, eyes sharper and his body thinner. There were two sharp wolf ears, long hair that reached his waist and a hairy wolf tail that grew out of his butt.
With the formation of the wolfman soul, Fang Yuan felt relaxed as if he had gotten rid of a very heavy burden.
In his mind, the connection to the wolves became much more close, and he could even feel a faint familiar feeling from the wolf kings' souls.
This was not there when he had the hundred man soul.
After forming the wolfman soul, Fang Yuan gained the aura of a wolf, causing these wolf kings to think him as one of their species. Thus, it was no longer the pure suppression using the hundred man soul, but also a feeling of approval from the wolves.
"Hundred man soul was almost reaching its limits after enslaving so many wolves. Now, with wolfman soul, I can take in three times more wolf kings!"
"It is just that there will probably be few opportunities like today. But the grassland is so big and the wolf group are plenty, I will at least be able to double this wolf group on our way to the heroes assembly."
Looking at the large amount of rank two wolf enslavement Gu in his aperture, many rank three wolf enslavement Gu and one rank four wolf enslavement Gu, Fang Yuan was full of expectations towards the future.
-x-X-x-
There were few stars in the sky.
Bone-chilling wind blew through the grassland at night.
Two hump wolves were moving through this night; carrying Ge tribe's investigative Gu Masters, one old and one young.
"Huff huff huff, so cold." The young Gu Master curled up his body and blew out hot air.
"I told you to wear some more clothes, but you didn't want to. This is called suffering from not listening to your elders ." The old Gu Master laughed, he was wearing a thick leather robe with long sleeves and long boots, along with a felt hat; he did not feel the slightest bit of cold.
"Uncle, this is my first time scouting, I lack experience." The young Gu Master mumbled in a soft voice before swearing, "F*ck, when I go out to scout tomorrow, I will definitely wear the thickest clothes."
"It should not be overly thick. Overly thick clothes will only affect your movement in battle. Moreover, you are likely to doze off if it is too warm. We are the eyes of Ge tribe, we need to be vigilant at all times. The best would be clothes that will keep you just warm, so you will feel cold if you stay still for long, this will urge you to keep on scouting." The old Gu Master shared his experience solemnly.
It was already the third day since the battle with the turtleback wolves.
The old Gu Master's partner had died in the battlefield, thus the young Gu Master was sent over to make up for the gap; the young Gu Master was still inexperienced and needed the old Gu Master's guidance.
"Uncle..." The young Gu Master was just about to open his mouth.
"Shush!" The old Gu Master suddenly stretched out his hand to signal a stop, his eyes squinted and looked at the light that suddenly emerged far away.
"What is that?" The old Gu Master was immediately on guard, he used his investigative Gu but could not make out anything.
"Kid, use your hand-ear Gu to listen!" The old Gu Master commanded.
"Yes!" The young Gu Master did not dare to be careless, he immediately turned over his body and got off the hump wolf and stretched out his right hand.
He transferred primeval essence towards his right palm; grass sprouted out from the palm, creating a flesh bud. The flesh bud then opened up to form an ear. @@novelbin@@
The young man closely stuck this ear on the ground and attentively listened.
"There is nothing other than the sound of the wind." The young Gu Master did his best to listen but got no result.
He laughed: "Uncle, are you trying to scare me? There is not even a fart."
"The battle just ended, so maybe I was too nervous." The old Gu Master heaved a sigh. He again looked at a distance, but there was nothing unusual; he felt his eyesight might have blurred just before.
"What is there to be nervous about, there is the old tribe leader here and we also have the Wolf King Chang Shan Yin with us. There is no need to be afraid even if another group of turtleback wolves come." The young man's gaze flashed when he talked of Fang Yuan, unable to conceal the worship in his eyes.
"Yes, it is indeed our tribe's fortune to have the help of the Wolf King." The old Gu Master sighed as he recalled the scene in the battlefield.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Suddenly, the sound of arrows quickly moving through the air spread towards them!
"Who?" The old Gu Master shouted, he subconsciously jumped off the hump wolf and smoothly rolled several times.
Thud thud thud...
Sharp bone spears pierced the ground one after another.
"Enemy attack!" The old Gu Master had this thought the first moment. He quickly stood up and hurriedly warned towards the young Gu Master.
The young man had already been pierced by a bone spear and had died on the spot.
The old Gu Master's heart twitched, but he did not have the time to grieve, immediately taking out a signal Gu from his aperture.
But before he was able to activate it, he was hit by a fatal attack.
He stiffly stood on the spot like a statue. A line of blood slowly appeared on his neck, becoming clearer and clearer.
Finally, his head inclined towards the side and fell on the ground, completely separated from the neck.
Fresh blood spurted out like a geyser from his neck.
Several figures walked out of the darkness, leading them was Man tribe's external elder Shi Wu. He looked at the two corpses and proudly said: "These ants, killing them is as easy as flipping my palm."
"Lord elder is formidable!"
"With lord elder here, Ge tribe's investigative Gu Masters are only empty shells!"
Several Gu Masters following behind flattered.
Shi Wu narrowed his eyes in joy and looked towards the direction of the Ge tribe's troops: "Hmph, this Ge tribe could win earlier because of their scouting, being able to make ample preparation in advance. This time, lord tribe leader has dispatched almost all the elders, Ge tribe will not be able to escape the calamity this time! Hehehe, I really want to see the shocked and frightened expressions on these people when ten thousand nights wolves attack them at once."
Ge tribe might have already been on the move for several days, leaving Hong Yan valley and succeeding in defeating the turtleback wolf group, but Man tribe had no intention to let them go.
Three days after the attack of the turtleback wolf group, Man tribe Gu Masters secretly led night wolf group to make the second wave of attack on Ge tribe. At the same time, Man tribe's elders also moved out to kill large numbers of Ge tribe's investigative Gu Masters.
A large conspiracy against Ge tribe was already unfolding.
When this ten thousand wolf group was discovered, they were only hundred li away from the camp.
"Wolf attack! Wolf attack!" An investigative Gu Master observing from a watchtower shouted.
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh...
Several signal Gu were shot out into the sky, bursting into bright fireworks.
"Everyone get up, there is an attack, it is a group of ten thousand night wolves!!" The Ge tribesmen who were in a deep sleep were startled awake.
"Quick, notify the tribe leader!" Investigative Gu Masters rushed about as quickly as they could.
Human figures gradually appeared from everywhere in the Ge tribe camp; doubts and panicked shouts mixed to form a commotion.
In the main tent, Ge tribe leader's expression paled when he got this news.
"Those damned investigative Gu Masters!" This was the first thought of the old tribe leader.
But he soon frowned.
Even if the night wolves were difficult to detect at night, but with so many night wolves, why hadn't the investigative Gu Masters reported sooner?
His sharp senses smelled a trace of conspiracy.
He quickly threw these thoughts to the back of his mind. It was not the time to think of these!
"The night wolves are already so close to the camp, there is no time to construct defensive lines! What do we do?""
In this boundless darkness, there was no clear intel on the enemy situation.
Ge tribe leader only knew this wolf group was large, at least a ten thousand wolf group. But he did not know if there were other wolf group or if Man tribe's Gu Masters were hiding in the surroundings.
At this urgent moment, Ge tribe leader could not think of a countermeasure and could only send an order: "Send my command, all Ge tribe Gu Masters shall gather in the main tent!"
The night wolf group was fast and had reached the camp.
"The wolf group is here!"
"Block them, we must block them!"
"Quick, activate light sphere Gu."
A Gu Master who was at the frontline shot out a rank two light sphere Gu towards the sky.
Under the illumination of the light sphere, the densely packed night wolf group showed their appearances.
These night wolves were thin with strong posture, they had black glossy skin but had no fur. Their black pupils and claws gave off a cruel light.
A hundred wolf king growled and charged over.
"My god!" The Gu Master could only shout in shock before he was killed instantly by the wolf king.
The night wolf group was like a torrent, bursting through the simplistic stakes around the camp, and started their massacre.
Right now, Ge tribe's Gu Masters were still gathering towards the central main tent.
The vast outer camp had already turned into a sight of the netherworld. The wolves were howling excitedly, humans were wailing in grief and the cries of fear bursted forth together.
Night wolves were fast, and were tearing through the tents. Many mortals who were still in their sleep died cruelly under their claws.
They used death and blood as a warning.
The inner camp was in an uproar; the terrified humans surged out and tried to run away, trampling over each other.
A night raid!
Ge tribe leader stood outside the main tent; the corners of his eyes were almost tore open at this sight, his heart was bleeding.
The wolf group's massacre indeed caused many deaths, but even more deaths were caused by the people trampling on each other. Such a chaotic situation already was already beyond control, causing the Ge tribe leader's plan to counterattack after organizing the troops to be in vain.
Most of the Gu Masters were trapped among the chaos.
Only many of the elders and a few elite Gu Masters were able to successfully gather in the main tent.
"Our advantage is no more!"
Ge tribe leader closed his eyes in pain, his body was cold as he fell into deep despair and grief.
"With this battle, even if we luckily gather in the remaining people, Ge tribe will fall down to a small scale tribe! Ge tribe had fallen in my hands! I am ashamed to face my ancestors! I am Ge tribe's sinner!"
In the main tent; some elders were shouting, some had lifeless expressions and some were panicking.
"Ge tribe is still not finished, everyone, there is only one way left to turn around this situation!" Following the sound, Fang Yuan walked into the main tent.
Ge tribe leader's eyes brightened like a drowning person finding a life-saving log.
"Brother, please speak quickly!" He looked at Fang Yuan and asked hurriedly.
Fang Yuan got right to the point and said resolutely: "Now, the camp is in chaos, we cannot simply defend, the situation has gone out of control. Only by using offense as defense, can we have a chance at survival."
"Wolf King, your meaning is?" Ge tribe leader mumbled.
Everyone looked at each other.
Fang Yuan smiled lightly: "Brother Ge, did you forget that I have a rank four wolf enslavement Gu with me?"
He looked at everyone's expressions and continued: "The ones here are all Ge tribe's elites, its strongest battle strength. We will form into a group and immediately move out, flowing against the wolf raid towards the myriad wolf king. In the battle, I will subdue the myriad wolf king, and the whole situation will turn around!"
Everyone's expressions changed.
This was a thoroughly messed up plan!
One should know, Gu Masters would rely on terrain advantage to resist the myriad beast group and fight a war of attrition, but even this would create huge casualties. Now, Fang Yuan wanted them to use their blood and flesh body to charge against the offense of the myriad beast group and kill myriad wolf king among the countless wolves; this was simply courting doom.
This method was too risky, if someone else said it, they would have been furiously rebuked and even ruthlessly ridiculed it.
However, it was Chang Shan Yin proposing it which caused everyone to fall into silence.
"Madness, this is complete madness." An elder mumbled.
Others showed hesitant expressions; going against the momentum of the wolf group would result in deaths nine out of ten times. Frankly speaking, it was asking them to give up their lives in exchange for the survival of the whole clan.
These rank three Gu Masters had been higher-ups for a long time and would normally be living luxuriously. All of them cherished their lives.