Xiao Chen withdrew his gaze as he watched Pinching Hua land in a bluestone building on Herb Mountain. There were no ferocious beasts above three-star in the thousands of miles of desolate mountain forest outside the Gu Yuan Tribe, so Xiao Chen was not worried about the safety of Mu Qing and Pinching Hua.
The thousands of miles of ancient mountains outside the mountain city had been combed through by the Heavenly Building Realm martial artists of the tribe. The few peak two-star ferocious beasts had either been subdued or killed, leaving only some weaker ferocious beasts as whetstones for the martial artists of the tribe.
Not only that, but they had also divided the thousands of miles of desolate mountain forest into several areas, marking out the suitable hunting grounds for warriors of different realms in the clan. This way, they could hone the martial arts of the clan without suffering heavy losses.
Not long after, Great Elder Tie Shi appeared at the top of the ancient mountain in a hurry. When he saw Xiao Chen, he said hurriedly, "The tribe's Green Feather Soldiers have sent news that a middle-grade primordial stone vein has been discovered in the central area of the Fallen Dragon Territory. Several tribes have made a big move for this primordial stone vein!"
More than a hundred low-ranked combat divisions in the vast wilderness around the Gu Yuan Tribe had migrated to the central area of the Fallen Dragon Territory. They had rebuilt their tribes and cities, and they had chosen their own tribal lands. Their relations with each other were relatively stable.
"A middle-grade primordial stone vein."
Hearing this, Xiao Chen nodded lightly. The Fallen Dragon Territory was now at the edge of the wilderness, and the resources there had become a little barren compared to other places.
However, tens of thousands of years ago, martial arts had been prosperous and rich in resources. Now, what had decreased were all kinds of creatures. Some of the minerals were buried underground and had not been mined for tens of thousands of years, so there was no shortage of various mineral veins.
Now, the Gu Yuan Tribe was on the right track. Over the past few days, the Gu Yuan Tribe had used the map of mineral veins of the Fallen Dragon Territory to explore dozens of mineral veins, including two spirit mines and nine primordial stone veins. Among them, there was one high-grade primordial stone vein, three middle-grade primordial stone veins, and four low-grade primordial stone veins.
Every day, they would mine large amounts of primordial stones and send them back to the tribe. In a short period of time, there was no shortage of primordial stones. Therefore, Xiao Chen was not too surprised by these mid-grade primordial stones.
"Have the Dark Guard Palace send an elder to the center of the Fallen Dragon Valley and warn all the tribes to stop fighting. Our Gu Yuan Tribe will take 30% of the mid-grade Yuan Stone Vein's production, and the rest will be divided equally among the tribes near the vein!"
"Here!"
Great Elder Tie Shi was not surprised by Xiao Chen's arrangement. The Gu Yuan Tribe was the ruler of this vast wasteland, and the entire Fallen Dragon Territory was the Gu Yuan Tribe's territory. All the military divisions were the Gu Yuan Tribe's vassals, and the Gu Yuan Tribe had the right to take all the products from this wasteland.
However, Xiao Chen was not an insatiably greedy person. The Gu Yuan Tribe would take 30% of the production, which was an amount that both sides could accept. It was impossible for the Gu Yuan Tribe to eat the meat while the remaining small tribes did not even get a share.
"Great Elder, it has been almost a year since our Gu Yuan Tribe moved to the Fallen Dragon Territory and established our tribe. The last annual sacrifice was held in a hurry because our tribe had no permanent residence and the Demon Clan was nearby!"
"Yes, last time, our Gu Yuan Tribe was like a stray dog. We were bullied by the Iron Hoof Combat Division and were forced to move to the Fallen Dragon Territory."
The Great Elder echoed Xiao Chen's words as he recalled the Gu Yuan Tribe's various encounters in the past. However, the Gu Yuan Tribe had survived all of them.
"Before the annual sacrifice, this will be the first time the vassal tribes will pay tribute to my sect master, the Gu Yuan Tribe. Furthermore, in order to deal with the future crisis, I'm prepared to slightly increase the strength of the vassal tribes under my command."
"You must be talking about the Barter Convention, right?"
"That's right. While the large tribes are paying tribute, the tribe will take out some elixirs, battle armors, and some items that can enhance one's strength for the barter. These tribes are now our Gu Yuan Tribe's vassal tribes, so to a certain extent, they can be counted as part of our Gu Yuan Tribe's strength. We will increase their strength appropriately in order to deal with the invasion of the Outsiders in the future."
"I have already instructed the Hundred Herb Hall to start refining a large number of elixirs from the Bone Tempering Realm to the Blood Refining Realm in preparation for the Barter Convention of the various tribes during the annual sacrifice."
At the peak of the ancient mountain, the Great Elder Tie Shi stood behind Xiao Chen. With sufficient cultivation resources, his strength had become more and more profound. This was something that Tie Shi had never dared to imagine in the past.
However, there were too many things that needed to be dealt with in a tribe with millions of people. Even with his peak Blood Refining Realm cultivation base, he still felt a little tired.
"Great Elder, the tribe has temporarily stopped absorbing people. Although there are some hidden dangers in the tribe, the overall situation is still stable. You can choose some talented people from the tribe to help you deal with the tribe's affairs."
Tie Shi smiled gently and said, "I have already chosen some warriors from our Gu Yuan Tribe to help me deal with the tribe's affairs. However, they have just come into contact with the tribe's affairs, so they are still a little unfamiliar with it. They will need me to oversee them. In a few days, I will be able to let go and let the tribe's younger generation do it."
Xiao Chen did not say anything about why Tie Shi had chosen the original Gu Yuan Tribe's elders from the tribe. This was a tacit understanding.
The current Gu Yuan Tribe had millions of people. The original Gu Yuan Tribe's members made up less than one percent of the tribe's total population, but the original tribe's members were still the leaders of the tribe.
This was also something that Xiao Chen had done deliberately. After all, compared to the new tribe members, the original Gu Yuan Tribe's members, who had supported each other for hundreds of years, were the ones he knew the most. They were also the ones he trusted the most.
On top of the tribe's volcano.
Xiao Chen stood at the edge of the lava. This was an earth vein that had been pierced during the great battle tens of thousands of years ago. The lava had been spewing out for tens of thousands of years and hadn't been extinguished for a long time.
Amidst the blazing lava, a pegasus about half a zhang long was frolicking in the lava. The surging flames were like fairies dancing on its golden body.
The lava was so hot that it could melt metal. The rocks at the edge of the flames were dark red. After being burned for tens of thousands of years, they had long since become as hard as iron.
Roar!
Seeing Xiao Chen arrive, the pegasus was extremely excited. It constantly let out roars, signaling Xiao Chen to come down and play with it.
Xiao Chen could not help but roll his eyes at this sight. The mouth of the lava was at least a hundred meters wide. The golden-red lava churned like it was boiling hot water, continuously giving off bubbles and giving off a scorching aura.
Although Xiao Chen had already reached the Heavenly Building Realm and had a strong body and abundant battle qi, he was not afraid of the surging lava. However, he was not willing to take a bath in the lava. Not only was the temperature extremely high, but it was also filled with endless fire poison, which was very harmful to the body.
That day at the Barter Convention in Desolate City, when Venerable Myriad Edge took out the sacrificial drawing of the void battleship, the pegasus had told him that there was a void battleship under the lava.
This made Xiao Chen feel incredulous. What kind of material could burn in the lava for tens of thousands of years and not decay?
All of a sudden, the lava lake started to boil violently.
Then, the entire lake seemed to be separated by an invisible hand, and a golden figure jumped out of the lake.
Roar roar roar.
Xiao Chen's mind shook, and the young voice of the little Heavenly Horse appeared in his mind.
Lightly patting the pegasus' head, Xiao Chen closed his eyes. Suddenly, an invisible wave of energy was emitted from his body.
The invisible wave of energy kept probing into the depths of the lava. Xiao Chen's willpower was comparable to an ordinary Venerable's. At this moment, waves of energy penetrated through the surging lava and spread downward.
According to the pegasus, the void battleship was three hundred meters below the lava. Although the lava mouth was only 30 meters wide, Xiao Chen's soul perception could tell that the deeper he went, the bigger the diameter of the lava cave became.
Five hundred meters … eight hundred meters … one hundred meters …
At this moment, Xiao Chen's soul perception had already penetrated a hundred meters into the lava. In his mind, there was a sea of red flames. The surging lava was like liquid, mixing with each other.
The temperature of the lava a hundred meters below was a few times higher than the lava on the surface. Xiao Chen could even sense that on the surrounding walls, there were some scarlet crystals embedded in them. They were high-grade, and could be used to forge high-grade fire-attributed combat weapons.
One hundred and fifty meters … two hundred meters …
At the edge of the volcano, Xiao Chen's face slightly frowned. His majestic soul perception surged out, causing him to feel dizzy. Not only that, the temperature of the lava two hundred meters below the surface even made his soul feel a burning sensation.
Two hundred and fifty meters … two hundred and sixty meters …
At this moment, with Xiao Chen's soul perception, the consumption of his soul energy for every three meters below the surface was comparable to the consumption of ten meters below the surface of the lava. Furthermore, the consumption of his soul energy increased as he went deeper.
The density of the lava that had been burning for ten thousand years was startling. Even though it was comparable to the will of soul of a Venerate, Xiao Chen still found it extremely heavy. That scorching heat even stuck to his soul perception, continuously burning his soul.
Two hundred and eighty meters … two hundred and ninety meters … two hundred and ninety five meters …
This is …!
Suddenly, within Xiao Chen's soul perception, a faint blue color was emitted from the originally dark red lava.
The Void Battleship!
Xiao Chen took a deep breath. The Void Battleship was right in front of him. Even the burning sensation that was like maggots in his bones could not stop his will.
Enduring the burning pain coming from the depths of his soul, his soul perception that had already calmed down once again erupted with a powerful energy wave.
Puff!
His soul perception turned into a sharp sword, piercing through the thick lava and piercing into the faint blue light shield. The sound was like a bubble bursting.
"This …!"
In the next moment, Xiao Chen was stunned. In the depths of his mind, the bow of a ship carved with a ferocious beast appeared.
Even though it had been hidden in the depths of the lava for ten thousand years, it still emitted a dense killing intent.