The Fat Priest's Fear

Chen Fan flicked the few drops of blood off his fist, tore a clean piece of animal hide from the ruins and wiped it off casually, without chasing after the terrified henchmen.

He walked up to the two terrified surviving guards and lightly kicked their heavy helmets with his toe.

"Stop playing dead."

The two guards knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing frantically, their foreheads hitting the gravel and blood flowing freely.

"Sir, spare me! Sir, spare me!"

"Go back and tell your superiors a message."

Chen Fan remained calm, his cold gaze sweeping over the two of them, his tone completely flat.

"If you want the Blackstone Mountain mines, or if you want revenge for this piece of trash, have those capable Eighth-Order monsters in your city come to me personally to get them."

"Bring more skilled fighters, don't let them get so easily defeated like they did today. I don't want to get my hands dirty."

"Roll."

"Yes! Yes! I'll get out of here right away! I'll get out of here right away!"

The two felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and rolled around on the ground several times with tears streaming down their faces. Then they scrambled and crawled wildly towards the outside of the mountain, wishing their parents had two fewer legs.

Only when the figures of these defeated soldiers completely disappeared at the edge of the Great Wilderness did the silent valley regain its sound of wind.

Chen Fan turned around, raised his hand, and two streams of gray True Qi transformed into sharp blades, severing the ropes that were suspending the miners at the mine entrance and catching several seriously injured and dying tribal members safely.

After doing all this, Chen Fan turned around and looked at the short, fat priest who was still lying paralyzed in the mud and unable to get up.

"What are you standing there for? Come over and put the flag up."

The short, stout priest shuddered, scrambled over, and shakily picked up the mud-covered battle flag.

He looked at the pieces of flesh scattered on the ground, then at Chen Fan, whose expression remained calm and composed. His two fat hands trembled violently, and he swallowed several times before cautiously approaching.

"Chief... leader..."

The fat man's voice was choked with sobs, filled with fear and overwhelming shock.

"Your punch was satisfying... but that Profound Nether Main City... there really are six Eighth-Order giants guarding that Profound Nether Main City!"

"They've dominated the Great Wilderness for centuries. If they're truly provoked, all the experts in the city will come out to attack... Can our Blackstone Mountain really withstand them?!"

The fat priest's bloated face was covered in cold sweat, tears and snot mingling with the rain as he muttered incoherently about the ominous reputation of the Profound Nether Main City.

Six Eighth-Order —these are extraordinary individuals capable of turning the Great Wilderness upside down. With a mere flick of their toes, the Fire Crow Tribe's meager resources would be reduced to ashes.

A hand was stretched out in front of him.

Chen Fan bent down, grabbed the fat man by the back of his collar, and pulled the hundred-pound lump of flesh out of the mud pit with one hand.

"Clap clap."

Chen Fan casually patted the mud off the fat man's robe, looked at the man's round face that seemed to be shrinking into his neck, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What are you howling about? Anyone who didn't know better would think Duan Heavenly Wolf punched you."

"My leader!"

The short, stout priest was put down by Chen Fan, but he was still unsteady on his feet, clutching Chen Fan's sleeves with both hands.

"Those are six Eighth-Order! A full six! In all my years, I've never seen a stronghold dare to challenge the Profound Nether Main City! If they send troops, our Blackstone Mountain will instantly become a crater of ashes!"

Use your pig brain!

Chen Fan raised his hand and tapped his forehead, making a crisp thud.

"If Profound Nether Main City were truly unified, would Duan Heavenly Wolf have led dozens of scoundrels out to hoard the spoils? He seized the mine, hoarded the Red Essence Copper Marrow, and now he expects to share it with the other five families upon returning to the city? These people are nothing more than stray dogs kept by some sect in the main city, just out here to snatch bones."

Chen Fan withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent.

"If those six old monsters were truly united, they would have devoured the entire Great Wilderness long ago. How could Sunset Gorge have formed an alliance for thirty years? They each have their own agendas, none of them are willing to easily move their positions, and they certainly wouldn't mobilize the entire city to fight me for the death of a dog."

The short, stout priest was stunned for a moment, sniffed, and finally his mind started to clear up a little, but the horror in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

Even if... even if it's not six...

The fat man gestured with both hands and cried out.

"Even if it's just one! Even if it's just an Early Stage of Rank Eight monster, it's still Eighth-Order! It can break a mountain with a wave of its hand. How are we going to stop it? There are still hundreds of elderly, weak, women, and children in the old village!"

Seeing the priest so anxious he was about to faint, Chen Fan's playful expression vanished, and his eyes became calm.

He raised his hand and placed it on the fat man's trembling shoulder.

"Even if the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

Chen Fan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable power.

"Now that I have taken up the Fire Seed of the Fire Crow Tribe and assumed the position of Alliance Leader, I will not let my people die in vain. If dogs come to the Profound Nether Main City, I will fight them; if tigers come, I will skin them alive. I, Chen Fan, will bear all the consequences."

The short, stout priest stared wide-eyed at the black-robed youth before him.

The boy was thin and hadn't even grown to the height of a typical adult barbarian cultivator, but standing on the scorched earth that had just been torn apart by the violent force of the fist, his back was as straight as an iron spear driven into the earth.

"Alright, stop standing there like a stone lion."

Chen Fan withdrew his hand and pointed in the direction of the mine.

"Put the flags back on the ground. Organize people to inventory and seal all the Red Essence Copper Marrow, armor, and spirit stones left behind by the Profound Nether Guards. Also, have the uninjured miners boil two pots of hot soup to feed the wounded."

After saying that, Chen Fan ignored the bewildered fat man and walked straight to the pile of rocks next to the mine.

There lay an old tribal miner whose legs had been broken, his chest sunken, barely breathing.

Chen Fan squatted down without the slightest disgust, reached out and steadily carried the blood-covered old man on his back, and strode towards the dry stone house at the back of the camp.

"Hang in there, you old bones, you won't die."

The boy carried the old man on his back, his steps steady, leaving a clear trail of footprints in the muddy ground.

The short, stout priest stood frozen in the wind, holding the tattered battle flag in both hands, watching Chen Fan's departing figure, his eyes welling up with tears again.

He wiped his face hard and sniffed.

"This is insane... utterly insane! How did I end up on this pirate ship?!"

The fat man stomped his feet and cursed under his breath as he stumbled towards the high ground of the mine, carrying the battle flag. He then opened his hoarse voice and began to order the surviving barbarians to work.

Profound Nether Main City, Eastern District.

Unlike the primitive and rugged nature of the other tribes in the Great Wilderness, the entire main city is built of Black Profound Stone that have been piled up for thousands of years, with city walls reaching a height of hundreds of feet, making it solemn and majestic.

In front of a massive mansion built against a mountain in the east of the city, two Anomalous Beasts on horseback crashed through the rain curtain on the street. The Black-Armored Guards on horseback tumbled off and scrambled into the main gate, letting out desperate screams.

"Report! Something terrible has happened! Sect Master, help!"