Arrival

To be honest, Lin Yi did not really want to leave Bluestone Tribe just like that.

There were many reasons. The bonds he had formed with the people of the tribe were one of them. Mang, Biao, Xiao Hu, the village chief—every one of them had treated him with genuine kindness. He could not pretend it meant nothing.

On the other hand, he had turned it over in his mind again and again, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that joining Flamewaste Tribe might not necessarily be a good thing.

Living under another's roof meant being restrained at every turn. If there were missions, he would have to follow arrangements; if there were rules, he would have to obey them. How could that compare to the freedom he had now?

With his Dragonlike Blood-Qi Realm strength, he would have little trouble striding sideways through the edge of the Great Wilderness alone.

Lacking cultivation arts and martial skills? He could simply enter the forest and record them from fierce beasts. What was more, they would be tailor-made for him, better suited to him than any inherited cultivation art.

What truly held him back was the basic knowledge of cultivation.

But Lin Yi figured that cultivation knowledge was different in nature from cultivation arts and martial skills. The latter were core secrets, while the former were, at most, introductory common knowledge. They should not be guarded as tightly as a tribe's inherited arts.

There would be people coming and going at the Tribal Exchange Gathering. Perhaps he might find something useful there.

"Besides..." Lin Yi leaned against the stone wall as Little Flame nestled in his arms, letting out steady snores.

"It's not as if this is my only path. Flamewaste Tribe is a thick thigh, but it's not one I absolutely have to cling to."

He rubbed his temples and flung all his tangled thoughts out of his mind in one sweep.

"Enough thinking. I'll study the Lava Divine Marking first."

He closed his eyes. That incomplete dark-red scroll slowly unfurled in his mind, its hair-thin lines crisscrossing one another.

Though his progress was slow, every line he understood deepened his comprehension of the essence of blood-qi. Lin Yi spent the entire night immersed in study, only ending his cultivation when morning light filtered through the cave entrance.

Before dawn had fully broken the next day, the people of Bluestone Tribe had already set out.

The Bluemane Horses truly had astonishing endurance. More than twenty horses galloped along the gentle slopes at the edge of the Great Wilderness. Their journey was completely smooth, without even a worthwhile setback.

As evening neared, the terrain ahead suddenly opened up.

Lin Yi's sharp eyes spotted a sprawling cluster of wooden houses in the distance. Its scale was more than ten times that of Bluestone Tribe.

The houses were arranged in orderly layers. Around them stood thick wooden fences more than twice a man's height, with watchtowers spaced at intervals. Armed guards patrolled back and forth atop the towers.

Through gaps in the fences, he could see broad stone-paved roads, furnaces taller than a person, and figures constantly coming and going.

At the edge of the Great Wilderness, there had never been such a dense air of human habitation.

"We're here ahead—Flamewaste Tribe."

The village chief slowed his horse, his tone carrying a trace of emotion. He only came here once every few years himself, yet every time he saw this sight, he was struck with awe.

After the mounted group advanced a little farther, the village chief turned to Lin Yi. "Lin lad, have you thought it over? Do you want to join Flamewaste Tribe?"

Lin Yi shook his head. "Not yet. I want to wait until after the Trade Gathering before deciding."

The village chief pondered for a moment, then nodded. "That works too. Seeing the world before making a decision is better than choosing blindly now." He paused, then added, "But there's one thing. To avoid trouble, suppress your aura first. Don't let the Flamewaste people see that you're in the Dragonlike Realm."

Lin Yi understood what the village chief meant.

If a young Dragonlike Realm cultivator suddenly appeared in a small tribe, it would be difficult not to draw attention.

He immediately circulated the Breath-Concealing Art. The fluctuations of blood-qi within his body contracted layer by layer, suppressing his Dragonlike Realm aura down to the Tidal Surge Realm. He now looked like nothing more than an ordinary young hunter with some talent, utterly unremarkable.

The people of Flamewaste Tribe soon noticed them.

More than twenty Bluemane Horses approached in a mighty procession. The commotion was simply too great.

A group of roughly ten people strode out from within the fenced gate. Every one of them had abundant blood-qi, sturdy physiques, and the aura of the Mountain-Sinking Realm.

At their head stood a burly middle-aged man with a square face and sharp eyes. The thickness of the blood-qi surrounding him clearly surpassed that of everyone behind him.

Dragonlike Realm.

Lin Yi swept him a glance without changing expression, quietly assessing him.

The other man's blood-qi was less solid than his own, but at the edge of the Great Wilderness, that was already enough to reign supreme.

"Which tribe are you from? Here for the Trade Gathering?" the middle-aged man at the front asked. His voice was loud, carrying the businesslike tone of official duty.

The village chief cupped his hands. "We are from Bluestone Tribe, here to participate in this year's Trade Gathering."

The middle-aged man's gaze passed over the village chief, then swept across the row of Bluemane Horses behind him. His brow twitched slightly. "Bluestone Tribe? A small tribe." He paused.

"But you have some skill, to get your hands on so many Bluemane Horses."

Lin Yi's heart lifted slightly.

Countless webnovel plots flashed through his mind in an instant: experts from a large tribe becoming greedy over wealth, forcing a sale, smiling politely while stabbing people in the back... But on second thought, he felt that he was overthinking it.

It was currently the Tribal Exchange Gathering. What Flamewaste Tribe, as the host, wanted was reputation and talent. If they even touched their guests' belongings, who would dare come in the future? Wouldn't that be like lifting a stone only to smash their own feet?

Sure enough, he had read too many trashy novels before transmigrating.

He silently mocked himself, while his expression remained unchanged.

The middle-aged man did not ask any further questions. He merely stepped aside and gestured for them to follow, then turned and walked toward the fenced compound.

Lin Yi and the others led their Bluemane Horses after him. As they passed through the thick wooden gate, they could feel the gazes from the watchtowers on both sides following them the entire time.

The interior of Flamewaste Tribe was far larger than it had appeared from outside.

After walking along the main road for the time it took to burn an incense stick, the middle-aged man led them into a separate area on the outskirts of the tribe.

Several rows of neat wooden houses stood here. They were much more orderly than the stone houses of Bluestone Tribe, each one fitted with a door and windows, with crushed stone spread across the ground in front.

There were already people in this area.

With his sharp eyes, Lin Yi saw seven or eight small groups dressed differently scattered before and behind the various wooden houses. Some were making fires to cook, while others were counting supplies.

Judging by their clothing and auras, they should all be fringe tribes here for the Trade Gathering. When they saw Lin Yi's group leading more than twenty Bluemane Horses inside, obvious surprise rose onto every face, and they whispered among themselves for quite a while.

But they soon withdrew their gazes and went back to their own business.

Having so many Bluemane Horses was itself proof that this group was not to be provoked. The people from fringe tribes had an unspoken understanding about such matters: do not ask blindly.

The middle-aged man stopped before a row of vacant wooden houses and pointed. "These rooms are assigned to your tribe for the time being. There are still two days before the Trade Gathering officially begins. You may move about freely during those two days,

but some areas within Flamewaste Tribe are forbidden. Someone will explain them to you when the time comes."

After saying that, he gave the village chief a slight nod and left. He was clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary word.

"Put your things away first, then come back out to gather," the village chief instructed in a low voice. Everyone led their horses into their assigned wooden houses. Lin Yi chose one at the edge, unloaded and stored his supplies, then found a wooden post outside to tie Xiao Qing to and fed her a handful of dry grass.

By the time everyone had settled in, the sky had completely darkened.

Specks of firelight lit up throughout Flamewaste Tribe, and the scent of roasted meat and herbs drifted through the air.

The village chief gathered everyone before the wooden houses and gave them a few simple instructions, telling them to return to their rooms and rest well to build up their strength.

"Lin lad," the village chief called to him before leaving, "you can take a walk around Flamewaste Tribe tomorrow. Although the Trade Gathering has not officially begun, some people have already started setting up stalls in the tribe. It would be good to try your luck."

Lin Yi's eyes lit up. "All right, I'll go take a look tomorrow."

He turned and returned to his wooden house, shut the door, and placed Little Flame on the animal-hide mat beside the bed.

"Hopefully my luck will be good tomorrow," Lin Yi muttered. Then he once more immersed himself in studying the Lava Divine Marking.