The Giant Stone Valley was located in the southern desolate region of the Eastern Continent. It was just a valley surrounded by the huge Falling Dragon Mountain Range. Even so, the Giant Stone Valley still spanned more than 100,000 kilometers, and there were millions of creatures living there.
Thousands of kilometers away from the exit of the Giant Stone Valley, there was a city made entirely of bluestone, lying in the boundless world like a wild beast. The bluestone shone with starlight under the sunlight, and it could be clearly seen from several kilometers away.
On the bluestone city, every few steps, there was a clan soldier wearing leather armor and holding a spear. What was even more exaggerated was that every 100 feet, there was a huge bronze crossbow with jet-black beast tendons as thick as a baby's arm entwined around its turntable. It was firmly pulling the fifteen-feet-long steel arrows, and there were even thumb-deep blood grooves on the giant arrows that flickered with a bloodthirsty light, pointing straight into the sky.
At this moment, the bluestone city was bustling with people, especially at the city gate, which was surging with people. In just a short 15 minutes, there were thousands of people going in and out. The city was filled with stone houses and pavilions, and the underground roads were paved with bluestone, which crisscrossed and connected with each other. Countless heads were moving about, densely packed.
Rough men, either in groups, carrying sabers on their backs, or dragging ferocious beasts that they had just killed, or carrying rare medicinal materials that they had collected, hurriedly shuttled through the crowd.
Outside the city gate, there was a huge arched gate that was several tens of meters high, with two powerful characters engraved on it: "Iron Hoof". Between the strokes, it revealed the sharpness of a powerful army. This was the Iron Hoof City, the base of the middle-rank Iron Hoof Tribe. In the vast and boundless desolate region, it was a big city with some prestige.
The Iron Hoof Tribe was a middle-rank tribe, and its influence spread over hundreds of thousands of kilometers. It had more than a million people, 100,000 guardian soldiers, and countless Blood Refining Realm warriors. It was the leader tribe of countless low-rank tribes, and even the Gu Yuan Tribe was its vassal tribe.
As the center of countless tribes, it attracted many outsiders to stay here. As a result, the permanent population of Iron Hoof City reached an astonishing two million.
At this moment, in a black stone building in the city called the Immortal Assembling Pavilion, there was a hubbub of voices. In the enormous hall, the floor was covered with a brightly colored carpet. If one were to look carefully, they would notice that this 300m large carpet was actually made from the fur of a high-rank fierce beast, the Raging Flame Fox, and the fur of a Raging Flame Fox could only be woven into a carpet that was a few square feet in size. It was unknown how much manpower and material resources were expended to make such an enormous multicolored carpet, and it could be said to be extremely precious.
The hall was filled with singing and dancing. More than ten people were toasting each other, and a decadent atmosphere lingered in the hall. Even so, on the main seat in the middle of the hall, there was a handsome young man wearing a green and white battle suit. His expression was deep like a ghost, and his eyes flickered with a bright light, showing that this person was not attracted by wine and women.
This young man was the Young Patriarch of the Iron Hoof Tribe, also known as the Mad Blue Blood Saber, Qin Wanchuan. He was a young heaven's pride ranked 48th in the Heaven's Pride List of the Desolate Border Region.
The youths in the hall also had extraordinary backgrounds. They were all the young geniuses of the various tribes in the Iron Hoof Tribe's territory. Usually, these geniuses would gather every once in a while to exchange martial skills and martial arts experiences.
Today, there were heaven's pride from other tribes that had come from afar. As the host, Qin Wanchuan had specially come to this Immortal Assembling Pavilion to welcome them.
After three rounds of wine and five different dishes, the originally moving singing and dancing had long since disappeared. In the huge hall, there were only a dozen or so young heaven's pride left.
These cultivators were not very old. None of them were more than 25 years old. There was an unwritten rule on the continent that if one could not break through to the Blood Refining realm before the age of 25, then they would not have much success in the future.
Of course, this rule was not absolute. It did not mean that if one could not break through to the Blood Refining realm before the age of 25, there would be no more chances in the future. After the age of 25, the meridians in the human body would already be formed, and the difficulty of cultivating in the Blood Refining realm would increase by several times.
"Wanchuan, I heard that a genius appeared in your Iron Hoof Tribe a few days ago. He had just broken through, but he could already kill ordinary Blood Refining cultivators."
And the person who spoke to the Iron Hoof Tribe's young tribe leader could only be a guest that had come from afar. As cultivators of the same level, they naturally treated each other as equals.
The youth who spoke was dressed in a white leather robe. His eyes were as gentle as jade, and he exuded an aura of being unshakable even if the world collapsed.
This person was one of the heaven's pride that had come as a guest. He came from another mid-grade tribe, the Azure Cloud Tribe. He was ranked 30th on the Desolate Border Region's Heaven's Pride Roll, which was more than 20 places higher than Qin Wanchuan. He was known as the White-Robed Scholar Wang Lun, and his swift sword was superb.
The Desolate Border Region's Heaven's Pride Roll had a total of 99 spots. Wherever there were people, there would be fights. As a result, these people on the Heaven's Pride Roll had formed alliances to defend against external enemies. At the same time, they would go on expeditions and kill foreign races. Wang Lun and Qin Wanchuan were a small group.
Hearing Wang Lun's words, Qin Wanchuan was a little puzzled. He pondered for a moment and said with an unconcerned smile, "Haha, you're talking about that Yuan tribe leader Xiao Chen, right? I didn't expect Brother Wang to have already heard of such a small matter. I only heard a servant mention it a few days ago. What kind of abilities does a newly advanced Blood Refining cultivator have? It's probably just a rumor spread by the ignorant commoners in the remote lands."
Qin Wanchuan did not care about matters regarding Xiao Chen. After all, the Gu Yuan tribe was too weak. Over the past few centuries, they had only produced one Blood Refining cultivator. They were at the bottom of the low-grade tribes, and there were many such small tribes within the Iron Hoof Tribe's territory.
As for ordinary Blood Refining realm warriors like Xiong Li and Ku Mu, Frenzied Jade Blood Saber thought nothing of them. As a figure on the Heaven's Pride Roll, it was common for him to kill enemies above his level. It was as simple as eating and drinking.
As for the battle between the Gu Yuan tribe and the Black Mountain tribe, it was just child's play in his eyes. If not for his father breaking through to the Heavenly Building realm in seclusion, he would not even know of Xiao Chen's name.
Upon hearing Qin Wanchuan's words, before Wang Lun could react, a young man jumped out and said, "Young Tribe Leader is right. Our Li Shang Tribe is closer to Xiao Chen's Gu Yuan tribe. This tribe's heritage is shallow, and the previous tribe leader has mysteriously disappeared. I believe this so-called Xiao Chen might have gotten lucky and managed to break through to the Blood Refining realm."
When Wang Lun saw the young man jump out and say so, he smiled gently. He did not agree or object. No one could tell what he was thinking from his deep eyes.
Below Wang Lun, there was a red-haired youth who gave off an intense feeling of suffocation. His red hair was like fire, and he had a murderous aura that surged into the sky. Blood Qi lingered around him, making him look like a demon. There was a demonic look on his face, and every wave of his hand seemed to bring about a bloody storm. It was unknown how many lives he had killed. The murderous aura lingered around his body without dissipating, condensing into endless murderous aura.
As the saying went, a strange person definitely had something extraordinary about him. This demonic youth's strange figure naturally attracted the attention of many people in the hall. It was inevitable for many youths to whisper.
"Brother Li, which Heaven's Pride is this crazy man? How many people has he killed?"
A youth in blue asked his friend beside him softly. As he spoke, his body involuntarily shivered, as though he had been frightened by the red-haired youth.
Upon hearing the youth's question, the youth with the surname Li's face was filled with pride. "Brother, you have asked the right person. This red-haired youth is known as the Bloodfiend Night Massacre. He is the fifth young master of the high-grade Eternal Night Tribe. He is ranked 71st on the Desolate Border Region's Heaven's Pride Roll. He once single-handedly massacred multiple tribes. He is ruthless and merciless. It can be said that every move he makes can kill."
With that said, he paused for a moment. Upon seeing this, the youth who had asked the question hurriedly filled his cup. The youth with the surname Li revealed a look that said, "You are very sensible." He gulped down the wine in his cup and said, "In that case, the leader of the Guyuan Tribe in our Iron Hoof Weave is somewhat similar to this killing god. They both single-handedly massacred an entire tribe."
However, he immediately shook his head and chuckled. He felt that he was daydreaming. The Bloodfiend Night Massacre was a peerless genius on the Heaven's Pride Roll. What was he, Xiao Chen? He was just a nobody.
On the main seat, Qin Wanchuan saw that Wang Lun was silent, so he took the lead to propose a toast. Soon, the banquet came to an end. Qin Wanchuan said, "Since Brother Wang is interested in Xiao Chen, in a few days, it will be the day when the tribes pay tribute to our Iron Hoof Tribe. I will send someone to the Guyuan Tribe to pass the message and get this Xiao Chen to come to Iron Hoof City on the day of the tribute. I will see if this person has the strength to become a genius or if his reputation is undeserved."
"Since Young Patriarch has the intention, and it just so happens that I have not returned for several months, why don't I make a trip to the Guyuan Tribe?" At this moment, the young man who claimed to be from the Dark Wood Tribe volunteered to take on this mission.
The white-robed Wang Lun turned his head to look at the Bloodfiend. Upon seeing this, the Bloodfiend lazily said, "I heard that he also massacred a tribe branch and shattered their legacy statue. I, the Bloodfiend, would like to see if his spear or my saber is faster."
With that said, Battle Aura surged into the sky and the stench of blood erupted. In an instant, the hall was filled with demons and killing intent.