Among the remaining 301 Gnomes, Zhao Fu also selected 100 Goblin Crossbowmen. After returning to Great Qin Village, he first reestablished Goblin Village and Bandit Village.
After that, he went to the west of Great Qin Village and took out a cube emitting blue light. He pressed it to the ground, and waves of blue light spread outward.
"Notice! Would you like to use the City-Building Stone?"
Zhao Fu selected "Yes!"
The faint outlines of several buildings slowly appeared, followed by another prompt: "Please name your village!"
Zhao Fu gave it little thought. Since the village was west of Great Qin Village, he chose the name Ximu Village, with "Xi"—meaning west—as its first character.
After the name was confirmed, four figures slowly appeared: an old man with a white beard and three others—a blacksmith, an apothecary, and a tailor. The old man had B-rank aptitude, while the other three had C-rank aptitude. Zhao Fu sent over a dozen people from Great Qin Village to build some basic facilities in Ximu Village.
After taking care of that, Zhao Fu ordered some men to bring the bandit leader they had killed earlier to Bone Space. Although Zhao Fu still hadn't developed a skill for checking the aptitude of corpses, he could make a rough guess about who might have high aptitude. For instance, the leader of a village would certainly have the highest aptitude.
He placed the Bandit Village leader's corpse on the altar and used the Heaven and Earth Refining Array, obtaining an S-rank aptitude orb. The crystal energy in the jade trough had now been depleted by about one percent. It should be able to refine another hundred corpses before its energy ran out completely.
Zhao Fu already had someone in mind for the S-rank aptitude orb: Li Wen. He felt he owed Li Wen something, since he had him spend every day exploring those dark, sunless tunnels.
"Here, Li Wen."
Zhao Fu called Li Wen over and personally placed the aptitude orb in his hands.
Li Wen knelt on one knee, his face alight with excitement and emotion. Zhao Fu had thought of him first. After thanking him profusely, Li Wen took the aptitude orb and chose to use it.
The aptitude orb gave off a faint blood-red glow and floated above Li Wen's head. It slowly grew larger, turning into a bubble that enveloped him. Inside, Li Wen kept his eyes tightly shut, as if some change were taking place. A while later, the bubble dissipated, and Li Wen's aptitude had risen to S-rank.
After seeing Li Wen successfully improve his aptitude, Zhao Fu returned to the surface.
Zhao Fu now had a total of eleven villages under his command: six human villages, three Goblin villages, and two Gnome villages. Their combined forces numbered 1,800 soldiers.
Looking at this large force, Zhao Fu thought they could go and assess the Orc Tribe a hundred miles away. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to reveal any information about his own villages. He wanted to investigate the tribe's true strength. Rather than live in fear every day, worrying that the Orc Tribe might attack, it was better to take the initiative and at least seize control of the situation.
Just as he was gathering the troops, a Goblin Mechanist hurried over and said something to him. Zhao Fu's expression brightened, and he decided to postpone the expedition and stay in Great Qin Village for a few more days. He also handed all 1,800 soldiers over to Bai Qi, telling him to continue training them well.
A few days later, Zhao Fu gathered the troops once more. They brought some provisions, and everyone prepared to set out.
Suddenly!
Zhao Fu's body stiffened as another prompt sounded in his mind.
"You have received a divine oracle!"
Zhao Fu looked puzzled. He had almost forgotten that he was a Demon Priest. The so-called divine oracle must have come from God Kerr, who had granted him the Demon Priest class.
He checked the oracle's contents. It called on him to vigorously expand the number of believers and make another sacrifice.
After reading the oracle, Zhao Fu frowned. He was willing to make a sacrifice, but he had no intention of expanding the number of believers. He wouldn't let his people worship any god. Of course, Zhao Fu himself wouldn't worship one either, because he believed that human will could overcome fate.
Suddenly!
Zhao Fu recalled the description of the Heaven and Earth Refining Array: it could refine all things in heaven and earth. Then... could it refine a god, too?
The thought surfaced in his mind, and Zhao Fu grew increasingly excited. A string of plans formed in his head, and he had a feeling this might actually work.
God Kerr had no idea that Zhao Fu was already plotting against it. Of course, Zhao Fu wasn't about to go straight out and slay a god. The planes were different, and Zhao Fu didn't yet have the power to cross between them. Even if he could, he and his men would be killed instantly. God Kerr might be a lesser deity, but it was still a god, and its power was beyond anything Zhao Fu could withstand.
Zhao Fu understood all of this perfectly. But he had thought of a compromise, and he would keep that to himself for now. First, he needed to deal with the threat posed by the Orc Tribe.
They set out at last!
It was a heavily overcast day, the sky completely blanketed by clouds and the light dim. A cool breeze blew through the woods. After several days on the road, Zhao Fu and his party finally reached a place a hundred miles away. With a few Gray Dwarves guiding them, they soon found the Orc Tribe, which had a population of five thousand.
The Orc Tribe was situated at the foot of a slope. Its population had already exceeded five thousand, including over a thousand elderly people, women, and children. The remaining four thousand were Orc Warriors. Each was tall and powerfully built, with grayish-white skin and a terrifying face. They wore animal hides and usually carried an axe or a spiked club.
Facing so many Orcs, Zhao Fu knew they would never win in a direct fight. Orcs were naturally strong, and ordinary people would be at a disadvantage against them. Fortunately, his side had the advantage of various class attributes.
Even so, Zhao Fu's forces would have a hard time beating the Orc Tribe. He fell into deep thought.
Seeing this, Bai Qi reminded him, "Your Highness, we should first ask whether there are any other factions nearby. Since we've come from a hundred miles away, we should gather all the information about this area before choosing a suitable strategy."
Zhao Fu nodded, realizing he had been a little too eager. He asked the Gray Dwarves he had brought along to give him a full account of the area.
After hearing the Gray Dwarves' report, he learned that there were three other major factions within fifty miles. One was an approximately five-thousand-strong Goblin settlement eighteen miles to the south. Another was a Kobold settlement with a population of about four thousand, twenty-one miles to the west. The last was an Elf Tribe of over three thousand, twenty miles to the east.
Now that Zhao Fu had all the information about the area, his thoughts became clear.
There were two possible approaches. The first was to ally with the three settlements and attack the Orc Tribe together. Given the Orcs' savage and aggressive nature, the three settlements near them had surely suffered at their hands. This approach was feasible.
The second was to make the three settlements and the Orc Tribe fight each other, letting the snipe and clam struggle while the fisherman profited. That way, he could destroy the Orc Tribe and annex the other three settlements as well.