Vast Sea Forest

Beneath the stars and moon, they pressed onward day and night!

Seven times, the sun rose and set.

They crossed mountains and great rivers, deep valleys and dark forests.

At last, Jiang You led his tribe's warriors to the Vast Sea Forest.

It was an immense forest, true to its name, its greenery stretching like a boundless sea.

A long river wound through the forest and flowed into the distant ocean.

This was the edge of the territory ruled by the Thunder Titan Yateli, bordering the domain of the Primordial Blue Dragon King Arillethos.

The two had fought for many years, with neither gaining the upper hand.

The Vast Sea Forest now resembled a vast military camp, with races from all across Ferland gathered there.

He saw centaurs patrolling the forest, Eaglemen circling in the sky, Trolls camped among the trees, Dwarves riding sheep through the valleys, Goblins felling trees, Merfolk dwelling along the great river, fishmen wielding stone forks, mixed-blood giants overseeing the troops, Fairies and Dryads gazing upward from the treetops, Boarfolk lying on the ground... and many more.

These were the subordinate races of the Titans, who had ruled half the world since the beginning of the Titan Giants' era.

The Primordial Dragons' side was no less formidable than the Titan Giants'.

Jiang You gazed farther north across the Vast Sea Forest and saw a stone throne three hundred meters tall standing in its northern reaches.

It looked as though it had been carved from an entire mountain.

A giant nearly two hundred meters tall sat upon it. He had purple hair and golden eyes, and his entire body radiated a magnificent presence that made others tremble.

His majesty was as vast as mountains and seas, and the immense pressure left Jiang You awestruck!

At every moment, purple lightning that seemed to span heaven and earth coiled around his powerful body, as terrifying as an abyss, as dreadful as a prison!

"That is Yateli, the Titan Giant who commands thunder!"

According to the terminology of the Fifth Chapter era, Titan Giants were born Legendary and could reach the Demigod realm upon adulthood.

And the mighty Titan King possessed power rivaling the gods, even without raising his Divine Throne on high!

These were the Titan Giants, masters of half the Primordial Ferland World!

After sensing the Titan Giant's towering presence, Jiang You grew even more cautious, burying his pride as a transmigrator deep within his heart.

He was still a mortal, not even Transcendent. In this world filled with extraordinary might, where death could strike at any moment, he could only tread carefully.

As they flew over the Vast Sea Forest, the Eaglemen and Hippogriffs patrolling the skies did not stop them, allowing them to land directly in the camp where the Eaglemen had gathered.

The moment they landed, a soldier from the Eaglemen Royal Court approached them.

He was a middle-aged Eagleman draped in wolfskin. Although he gave off no Transcendent aura, he carried the bearing of a veteran of countless battles.

He asked flatly.

"Which tribe are you from, and who is your leader?"

Jiang You stepped forward and answered.

"Elder of the Royal Court, I am the leader. We come from the High Barbarian Mountain Tribe."

The middle-aged Eagleman soldier gave an indifferent grunt, clearly having never heard of the High Barbarian Mountain Tribe.

He glanced at the bronze weapons and armor Jiang You's group carried, but paid them no mind.

What was there to care about in a tiny band of tribal Eaglemen that even included females?

"Come with me. The Eaglemen tribes from the east are under Lord Windwing's command."

The middle-aged Eagleman soldier led them through half the camp to a sprawling encampment that was filthy and chaotic.

All the trees here had been cut down, leaving an open expanse of dirt and grass.

Jiang You swept his gaze over the area and roughly estimated that around ten thousand Eaglemen warriors were stationed here. Their gray-black wings dotted the ground, overlapping like an enormous gray-black net.

The middle-aged Eagleman casually pointed to a corner.

"Stay over there for now."

With that, he turned to leave.

They were all cannon fodder destined to die on the battlefield anyway. He had little desire to talk to them.

Jiang You hurriedly called him back and asked with a sincere expression.

"Elder, may I ask your name? Also, where is Lord Windwing's camp, and how are we to receive his military orders?"

The place was a complete mess, with Eaglemen gathered in haphazard clusters. There was no telling how they could be commanded as one.

Jiang You felt it would be better to get things clear.

At his words, the middle-aged Eagleman soldier glanced back in surprise. The disdain in his eyes was utterly genuine as he said with amusement.

"What makes you qualified to receive Lord Windwing's orders? Someone will come for you when the time comes."

As he spoke, he pointed toward an Eaglemen camp not far away.

A Royal Court Eagleman warrior holding a bone spear hovered in midair, shouting abuse at several Eaglemen tribes below.

"You, you, you, and you! Bring your tribesmen and come with me!"

The Eaglemen who had been called did not dare resist. They gathered their tribesmen and followed him.

The larger groups numbered a dozen or so, while the smaller ones had only a handful. Every Eagleman's eyes were filled with numb resignation.

Clearly, this was not the first time they had been conscripted like this.

Every small tribe had arrived with fifty members. As for where the rest had gone, they had obviously long since died.

Watching this, Jiang You's gaze grew heavy.

"I understand, Elder."

"Good. As long as you understand. There are things I would rather not put too harshly. Small tribes like yours live under the Royal Court's protection. Obey your orders, and perhaps a few of you will make it home when the war ends."

"As for my name, you have no need to know it."

The middle-aged Eagleman soldier spoke indifferently, pointing toward the edge of another patch of woods.

"Oh, and don't even think about running. Look over there. That is what happens to deserters!"

Jiang You looked where he pointed and saw densely packed rows of Eaglemen corpses impaled on wooden stakes. The stakes entered through their mouths and emerged from their lower bodies, planted in the earth and drenched in blood.

He fell silent, while the middle-aged Eagleman burst out laughing.

"Boy, don't try to be clever. Eaglemen like you are nothing but ants and weeds. You live only if the Royal Court lets you live, and if it orders you to die, you must die. Know your place."

With that, he spread his wings and flew off to receive the next tribe.

Jiang You remained where he stood, his clawed hands clenched tight, his eyes dark.

What future could the Eaglemen have under a Royal Court like this? No wonder they became one of the weakest kinds of monsters in the future. Sooner or later, I'll replace it!

Behind him, the Eaglemen warriors who had grown up alongside him also looked indignant, but they all held themselves back.

Only after the middle-aged Eagleman had left did one of them step forward and ask.

"You, what should we do next?"

At the question, Jiang You glanced at an Eaglemen scouting squad flying overhead and smiled.

"Let them shout their orders. We'll do things our own way. Lai, bring out the bone spear we copied earlier. We're going on patrol ourselves."

An Eagleman stepped forward and handed Jiang You a long object wrapped in animal hide.

Jiang You removed the hide, picked up the bone spear, and smiled at the Eaglemen.

"From now on, I'm a Royal Court soldier taking you out on a scouting mission. Follow me!"

"Right!"

He needed to find where Old Tortoise was. Even without orders from the Eaglemen Royal Court, he was willing to go scouting.

Still, it would be safer if he decided the scouting route himself.

As for whether they would be found out, he could no longer worry about that.

He faced death either way. To awaken his Transcendent power, he had to take the risk.