The starlight shone brightly, and the Wasteland under the night sky seemed very quiet at this moment. However, over a thousand miles south of the Gu Yuan Tribe, there was a low hilly area that seemed very lively.
This area was originally the hunting territory of the Black Mountain Tribe. After Xiao Chen led the Gu Yuan Tribe to annex the Black Mountain Tribe, this hunting territory that originally belonged to the Black Mountain Tribe became the Gu Yuan Tribe's. Correspondingly, the Gu Yuan Tribe's sphere of influence expanded from a thousand miles to almost three thousand miles.
The expansion of the hunting territory also allowed the Gu Yuan Tribe to obtain many times more prey and resources than before. The tribe's strength was also growing slowly. It could be said that if this continued, the Gu Yuan Tribe's strength would double in no time, and it would only be a matter of time before the glory of their ancestors was restored.
However, the Gu Yuan Tribe's tribesmen who went out to hunt and gather all kinds of resources had long disappeared. They had all holed up in the city to defend against the enemy's attacks, and the vast Wasteland had become a hunting ground for other tribes.
Under the dim starlight, over a thousand scantily clothed human slaves were shouting softly on an undulating slope, using simple tools to cut down trees on the slope. They were sweating profusely as they hurried back and forth. Trees were cut down one after another, quickly kicked off their branches and leaves, and carried to an empty space on the side.
Not far away, hundreds of fully-armored human warriors had been guarding these busy slaves. Facing these fierce-looking human warriors, these slaves dared not to slack off for even a little bit. The tens of corpses hanging under the hill, which hadn't even dried up yet, were a warning to them.
"Clang clang!" "Clang clang!" "Clang clang!"
The sound of all kinds of tools continuously echoed on the entire slope.
"Commander Xia, I think the residences of these lowly slaves will be finished by tomorrow afternoon. The day after tomorrow, we can start mining this yuan stone mine."
On a huge rock, a sturdy man said to the sturdy man next to him. When he mentioned primordial stones, a fiery light shone from his eyes.
Behind them, beside a small stream, a row of dozens of tall wooden houses had been built. On a steep cliff above their heads, dozens of slaves were working hard to cut the cliff and build a watchtower on it. A few grass vines as thick as an arm hung from the top of the cliff, constantly pulling the neatly cut logs up the cliff.
Looking at the watchtower that was about to be completed, the commander surnamed Xia looked a little grim. "If it weren't for that damn tribesman of the Gu Yuan Tribe being so stubborn, it wouldn't have taken us half a month to find this mine. Fortunately, the tribe's exploration and mining tools should be here tomorrow. By then, this yuan stone mine will be the capital of our two tribes."
"Brother Xia, don't be angry. So what if he is stubborn? Didn't we get the address of this yuan stone mine from him? So what if a thousand slaves are not enough? We don't know when the next batch will arrive."
"Haha, Commander Yu, don't worry. There will be a new batch of slave miners sent tomorrow when the mining tools are escorted. At that time, they will be able to support us for a while, so that our two tribes have time to go further to capture other scattered tribes."
In the Wasteland, mining ore veins was an extremely dangerous and arduous job. Even a strong adult man would become a cripple after mining in the dark ore veins for a period of time due to the corrosion of various toxins in his body. Moreover, there were dangers everywhere in the ore veins. The miner would lose his life if he was not careful. Even if he was lucky enough to survive, it was inevitable that he would lose an arm or a leg.
"Commander Xia, as far as I know, the scattered tribes around our two tribes have already been captured. It has only been a few days, so how could there be slaves?"
"Haha, there are no slaves around our two tribes, but there are in the Gu Yuan Tribe. The patriarch of the Gu Yuan Tribe showed off his might a few days ago and attracted many scattered tribes to join him. Now that the Gu Yuan Tribe has been beaten to the point where they don't dare show their faces, and hundreds of their own tribesmen have been captured, how can they manage these scattered tribes?"
"Oh, the patriarch of the Gu Yuan Tribe, Xiao Chen, is not simple. He has killed three Blood Refining Realm warriors in a row."
"When there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey becomes the king. No matter how powerful Xiao Chen is, our two tribes have four Blood Refining Realm warriors. At that time, even if Xiao Chen has three heads and six arms, he will not be able to escape. If he wants to blame someone, he can only blame himself for possessing a treasure that he shouldn't have."
Sinister laughter came from the two of them, echoing through the surrounding forest. However, the slaves on the ground could not help but tense up in the face of the two's savagery.
"You are courting death!"
Suddenly, the commander surnamed Xia jumped down from the boulder. The whip in his hand ruthlessly lashed at a skinny figure. The skinny figure in the crowd in front of him was instantly sent flying. Blood spurted out from the skinny figure's body. Not long after, there was no sign of life.
"Drag your corpse away. Damn lowly slaves, this is what will happen to you if you don't work properly."
Just as these slaves were busy building the houses, Xiao Chen had traveled for several nights and was only a day away from the Guyuan Tribe. At this moment, the mount he was riding on had already been changed to a tall and long unicorn. The two warhorses he borrowed from the Shadowwood Tribe had already died of exhaustion on the way. This unicorn was the Inferior Grade One Star Unicorn King that he had tamed along the way. It was the most suitable to be used for traveling.
After several days of traveling, Xiao Chen's originally anxious heart had gradually calmed down. Along the way, he thought about the situation of the Gu Yuan Tribe.
The tribes around the Gu Yuan Tribe had to be mentioned. To the south of the Gu Yuan Tribe was the Black Mountain Tribe, which had already been annihilated. The two tribes that besieged the Gu Yuan Tribe were its eastern and western neighbors.
To the east of the Gu Yuan Tribe was the Black Snake Tribe, while to the west was the Kuishui Tribe. Originally, these two tribes and the Gu Yuan Tribe minded their own business. The bordering areas were not rich in resources, so there was not much interaction between the tribes. This also caused Xiao Chen to inadvertently ignore these two tribes.
The rise of the Gu Yuan Tribe under Xiao Chen's leadership caused these two tribes to feel a strong sense of crisis. In private, they even formed an alliance to jointly curb the Gu Yuan Tribe's development.
As the saying went, wealth moved people's hearts. This time, the Gu Yuan Tribe had discovered a Yuan Stone Vein in the former Black Mountain area, which became the fuse for the two tribes to attack the Gu Yuan Tribe. In order to seize the Yuan Stone Vein, the Black Snake Tribe and the Kuishui Tribe turned out in full force. They caught the Gu Yuan Tribe off guard and even captured hundreds of their tribesmen as slaves.
As for why they did not take the opportunity to attack the Gu Yuan Tribe, it was because they were concerned about the righteousness of humans not killing each other. They also wanted to wait for Xiao Chen to arrive and kill all of them in one fell swoop. As long as Xiao Chen was killed, the Gu Yuan Tribe would be easily destroyed. Otherwise, Lin Shan and the Black Snake Tribe would not have been able to escape so easily to inform Xiao Chen.