The tribal chief felt rather downhearted as he looked at his people, whose numbers had dwindled by half.
But the thought that he could travel to Eastern Jin soon lifted his spirits.
Looking at his people, the chief smiled gently. "All right, go back and pack your things, then gather in the square again. We'll depart for Great Jin in six hours."
"Yes, Chief."
The tribespeople left in high spirits.
Once everyone had left, the chief looked at Chen Changming and smiled sheepishly. "It seems our Heavenly Toad Tribe will be split into two tribes from now on, one in Great Jin and one in Great Qin..."
"Years from now, when all of you return to Great Qin as Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators, they'll regret their choice."
Chen Changming smiled.
"Haha, I look forward to that day."
The chief laughed heartily, then turned and left.
Now that the Heavenly Toad Tribe had split, he needed to pass his position as chief to someone else.
Chen Changming stood where he was, waiting silently.
Before long, the chief was the first to return, bringing his whole family, young and old.
Next, Saintess Ruoyou arrived with an elderly maidservant.
Over the following hours, the members of the Heavenly Toad Tribe arrived one after another.
Six hours later.
Leading tens of thousands of Heavenly Toad tribespeople, Chen Changming flew out of the Southern Border Kingdom in a vast procession, heading straight for Heaven-Piercing Pass.
Several days later.
They arrived outside Heaven-Piercing Pass.
Heaven-Piercing Pass was only a small city with limited space, so it could not accommodate the Heavenly Toad Tribe's tens of thousands of people all at once.
"Huh? Why have so many people come?"
Inside Heaven-Piercing Pass, a second-layer Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator moved in a flash and appeared atop the city