Marching on Mountain Ape
He casually grabbed a handful of pills, stuffed them back into the priestess's arms, and loudly issued the royal decree.
"Pass down my order: all captured spirit stones, blood potions, and beast blood shall be distributed according to merit! The families of fallen brothers shall receive triple compensation; wounded warriors shall have ample Blood Pills; even the sentry brat shall have a bowl of ferocious beast blood soup tonight!"
Upon hearing this, the surroundings became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone stared blankly at the boy illuminated by the firelight.
"Leader... this is a life-saving elixir for breaking through to a higher realm, are you really not keeping a single one?"
A young soldier stammered.
"Are you keeping them to breed?"
Chen Fan patted the bone knife at his waist, grinned to reveal a set of white teeth, and his eyes revealed a wild and domineering look.
"You're all as Qi and Blood and feeble as withered grass in the dry season. How are you going to compete with me for bigger territory? What's this scrap? Eat your fill, drink your fill, and then conserve your energy."
The boy raised his hand and pointed due north, towards the Blackstone Mountains.
"Within five days, follow me into the Mountain Ape Ancestral Land, seize their Spirit Spring Fire Seed, and occupy their hundred miles of fertile land! From this day forward, the Fire Crow rules this Wasteland!"
Boom!
Like hot oil poured into burning coals, the entire Fire Crow Tribe erupted in cheers that shook the mountains and rivers!
"Charge into our ancestral lands!"
"May the Fire Crow live on forever!"
In the following days, the Fire Crow Tribe went through an almost frenzied transformation.
Under the abundant nourishment of Blood Pills and the Ferocious Beast Blood Essence, the warriors' Qi and Blood surged violently.
Dozens of elites who were originally stuck at the Fourth Tier and fifth tiers broke through one after another, and their heavy bronze armor was re-polished and replaced with ferocious Fire Crow patterns.
On the morning of the fifth day, thick fog enveloped the mountains and forests.
Chen Fan changed into a well-fitting set of Black Mystic Light Armor, then mounted a giant, heavily armored Ground-Walking Giant Lizard.
Behind him, five hundred elite cavalrymen, their Qi and Blood rejuvenated, stood solemnly in formation, their swords flashing like a forest, their murderous aura solidifying into a tangible blood cloud.
The boy gripped the knife in one hand and slashed forward into the Void.
"Move out!"
The earth shook and mountains trembled as a torrent of black-armored soldiers surged forth, kicking up billowing yellow dust, and fiercely marched northward!
At the same time.
A hundred miles away, at the heart of the Blackstone Mountains, Mountain Ape Main Stronghold.
Inside the spacious and rugged main hall, two braziers crackled and popped as they burned.
The Mountain Ape leader Yuan Ba, sat on the White Bone Throne, his brows furrowed into a deep knot.
He was bare-chested with a strong upper body, and the earth-yellow Totem Battle Runes all over his body were faintly rhythmic, exuding a heavy and oppressive aura of Peak Seventh Rank expert.
"Shi Tu has been gone for five whole days, why hasn't he sent back a single message?"
Yuan Ba spoke in a muffled voice, his voice echoing like rolling thunder throughout the hall.
Your Highness, the two Seventh Rank priests who were left behind were slowly tearing apart the roasted animal leg.
Upon hearing this, the white-haired priest on the left chuckled and shook the stone bowl in his hand.
"Why should the chieftain worry? It's just a lowly tribe whose old leader has died; they don't even have a single decent fighter. You know that old bastard Shi Tu; he's incredibly cruel. He's probably skinned that brat alive and is torturing his captives in the ruins of Fire Crow for his own amusement."
"Exactly," another short, stout priest burped, and said sarcastically, "Who knows, tonight, that old fellow might come back with cartloads of stripped slaves and stone bones..."
Rumble!!
Before the joking had even faded, a deep, earth-shattering roar, like the collapse of the heavens, suddenly exploded from the far distance!
The ground of the entire Blackstone Mountains began to shake violently, and rubble from the roof of the temple fell in a flurry.
"Report!!"
A blood-soaked gatekeeper stumbled and crawled through the palace doors, his terrified scream shattering the tranquility within, "Chief! All seven outer checkpoints have been razed! Enemy attack! It's the Fire Crow Tribe's battle flag!!"
"Bullshit! What makes Fire Crow think it can conquer this pass?!"
Yuan Ba Tyrant suddenly stood up, and his violent energy shattered the stone table in front of him.
He rushed out of the main hall and climbed onto a high observation platform.
As far as the eye could see, the outer defenses of the Blackstone Mountains were engulfed in flames.
Amidst the swirling smoke and blood mist, a raging crimson and black rainbow tore through the sky, crashing headlong into the Giant Gate of the main stronghold with the force of crushing everything in its path!
Boom!!
With a deafening, muffled explosion, the massive gate of the Mountain Ape Main Stronghold, which was ten zhang tall and cast entirely from a mixture of Deep-Sea Black Iron and bronze, shattered like paper under the impact of the violent shockwave!
The heavy Bronze Fragments, weighing tens of thousands of pounds, spun and flew out, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle, and wedged deeply into the hard Blackstone cliffs on both sides.
Dust and gravel mingled with the sweltering heat, violently pouring into the main village square.
Before the thick smoke had even cleared, the dull, thunderous sound of animal hooves had already shattered the ruins.
Tap, tap, tap!
A giant, Ground-Walking Giant Lizard covered in jet-black armor strode out of the smoke, its thick forepaws creating spiderweb-like cracks in the bluestone ground with each strike.
Behind it, five hundred Fire Mystic Armor cavalrymen, clad in Fire Crow Battle Axe and wielding battle axes, stood in neat formation, their swords drawn.
The icy malevolent energy and the crimson Fire Fiend Qi rose up, condensing into a oppressive, blood-red cloud in mid-air.
At the front of the cavalry formation, ten-year-old Chen Fan sat steadily on the back of the giant lizard.
He held a seemingly crude White Bone Battle Saber in one hand, his bangs fluttering in the wind, and a harmless smile on his fair face as he surveyed the massive fortress built against the mountain with great interest.
On the high platform, the stone bricks beneath Yuan Ba's feet had been crushed into dust by his rampaging energy.
He stared intently at the boy at the very front of the cavalry, his chest heaving violently, his eyes bloodshot.
Having spent most of his life fighting on the wild land, he had seen countless powerful and domineering opponents, but he never imagined that one day his own bronze mountain gate would be smashed into scrap metal right in front of him by a callow youth leading hundreds of people!
What made his heart pound even harder was that Shi Tu had led three thousand heavily armored elite troops to Fire Crows, and now the Fire Crow had arrived at his doorstep unscathed. But where was Shi Tu?
"You little bastard!"
Yuan Ba's voice rolled across the valley like muffled thunder, unleashing his violent, Peak Seventh Rank aura without reservation, causing the surrounding wooden beams to creak.
"Where is the Shi Tu?! Where are the three thousand men of my Mountain Ape Tribe?!"
Chen Fan tilted his head back, raised his little finger and picked at his ear, seemingly annoyed by the loud noise from the other person.
"Does having a loud voice get you a meal early in the morning?"
The boy pursed his lips, slung the bone knife over his shoulder, and spoke with a smile.
"Shi Tu? That old man's body is so brittle, he insisted on bumping his neck against my blade. Look, he's fast asleep with his head in the mud, I reckon he won't be able to get up to answer you."
Hiss!!
The white-haired priest and the short, stout priest standing beside Yuan Ba gasped, their faces turning deathly pale.
Shi Tu has truly fallen!