Whoosh!
A streak of purple light shot across the sky.
Leijia flew at tremendous speed, the fierce wind scraping his cheeks and leaving a faint sting.
Flying at full speed, Leijia unleashed his divine sense to its fullest, spreading it out around him.
He recalled that the Life Divine Realm, created by the Life Overgod, had been described as a place where most God-level beings disliked fighting. Compared to the other three Overgod Planes, it had the least slaughter.
Even so, Leijia did not lower his guard. Less slaughter was one thing, but if he actually let his guard down because of it, he might end up dead without even knowing how.
His spiritual energy continued spreading outward. After roughly half a day of flying at full speed, Leijia finally detected a tribe ahead with his divine sense.
Whoosh!
Just as Leijia's divine sense detected the tribe, a streak of light flew toward him from its direction.
"A Midgod." Sensing the newcomer's soul aura, Leijia was not particularly surprised.
The aura Leijia displayed was that of a Midgod, so it naturally would not attract the attention of the tribe's Highgods.
Highgods were the pillars of a tribe. Unless they encountered another Highgod, they would wear themselves out if they had to personally investigate every Midgod.
As he pondered this, the divine sense of the Midgod flying toward him swept over him.
A Soul Transmission clearly entered Leijia's mind. "Brother, I'm Milo of the Heavenly Wind Tribe. Are you from another plane? Would you be interested in joining our Heavenly Wind Tribe?"
In the distance, a figure drew steadily closer to Leijia.
Hearing Milo's Soul Transmission, Leijia immediately slowed down and replied through Soul Transmission, "How do you know I came from another plane?"
A dozen or so breaths later, the Midgod Milo appeared beside Leijia.
Milo had a thin face and long brown hair tied behind his head. Dressed in a cyan robe, he had the looks of a handsome young man.
Sensing the Midgod aura emanating from Leijia, Milo's eyes flashed with delight. "Brother, what should I call you?"
"Leijia."
Milo smiled at Leijia. "Brother Leijia, quite a few God-level beings have come from other planes through the nearby teleportation array over the past few thousand years. Many of them have joined our Heavenly Wind Tribe. A Midgod like you could even receive a Highgod Artifact from the chief if you earned enough merit in battles between tribes."
As he spoke, a glimmer of longing for a Highgod Artifact flashed through Milo's eyes.
For the vast majority of Midgods, Highgod Artifacts were highly tempting.
Seeing that Leijia still showed no reaction, Milo continued trying to persuade him. "Brother Leijia, our Heavenly Wind Tribe may not be the strongest of the twelve tribes in the area, but we definitely offer the best treatment to God-level experts. If you don't believe me, you can come see the tribe for yourself."
Leijia nodded slightly. "Lead the way."
Seeing little change in Leijia's expression, Milo had thought it would take more persuasion to get him to visit the tribe. He had not expected Leijia to agree so readily.
His smile bloomed like a flower as he flew toward the Heavenly Wind Tribe. "Brother Leijia, follow me."
Leijia shot forward, electric arcs dancing over his body as he followed close behind Milo.
The two flew one behind the other, turning into two streaks of light as they headed toward the Heavenly Wind Tribe.
Following Milo, Leijia chatted with him on and off, trying to learn more about the Life Divine Realm.
Fortunately, Milo was a chatterbox. Leijia barely had to say anything before Milo poured out everything he knew.
There were twelve God-level tribes around the teleportation array. Because of the array, most tribes strengthened themselves by recruiting experts who came through it from other planes.
Of the twelve tribes, even the weakest had one Highgod expert, while the stronger tribes had several.
The Heavenly Wind Tribe had three Highgods in total and ranked sixth, making it neither strong nor weak.
The twelve tribes around the teleportation array kept one another in check and helped one another. Together, they made up a considerable force.
As the two chatted and flew, the outline of a tribe gradually appeared before them.
Milo pointed at the distant tribe and smiled. "That's the Heavenly Wind Tribe up ahead. With your strength, if you join the tribe's guard army, I reckon you could get a Highgod Artifact from the chief in just a few thousand years. If you fight other tribes and earn merit by killing their God-level members, it might be even faster."
"Of course, the chance of dying in battle isn't small either. You could also do as I do and earn merit by finding God-level beings to join the tribe. It's slower than joining the guard army, but it's safer, and the chance of dying is much lower."
As they spoke, they entered the tribe, and Milo led Leijia into a house built of stone.
"Hey, Old Neil, wake up! I've brought back a newcomer."
As soon as he entered, Milo walked straight to a wooden table by the door and rapped his knuckles on it, trying to wake the old man sleeping with his head on the table.
Roused by Milo's knocking, Old Neil sat up.
He stretched and rubbed his sleepy eyes before noticing who had arrived. "Oh, it's Milo. You've brought another newcomer to join the tribe, lad?"
"That's right!" Milo was still smiling. "Old Neil, this time I brought back a Midgod. He's pretty strong, so you can't shortchange me on merit like you did last time."
Old Neil's nostrils twitched slightly. When he spoke, a faint smell of alcohol drifted into the air. "What do you mean, shortchange you? I always follow the tribe's rules."
"Bringing Lowgods and Saint Domain members into the tribe is one thing. But bringing in people below the Saint Domain just to meet your quota is a bit much, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Old Neil gave Milo a somewhat unfriendly look.
Old Neil's stare made Milo's scalp prickle. He gave an awkward laugh. "That's all in the past. This time I brought back a Midgod."
Old Neil nodded, took a beast-hide book from his interspatial ring, and looked Leijia over. "Interested in joining the guard army?"
Leijia shook his head and declined.
On the way to the tribe, he had already heard from Milo that joining the guard army meant, to put it bluntly, becoming the chief's enforcer.
Leijia had even refused Uhtred's attempt to keep him on Black Kun Island, so how could he possibly join the so-called guard army after coming to the Life Divine Realm?
Old Neil was not surprised by Leijia's refusal. He nodded to him, then took out a wooden token and tossed it to him.
"This is a token of our Heavenly Wind Tribe. It's replaced every hundred years, and each replacement costs merit..."
From Old Neil's explanation, Leijia understood that anyone seeking the Heavenly Wind Tribe's protection had to contribute to the tribe. They could join the guard army, recruit new God-level members for the tribe, or forge divine artifacts for it...
In short, anyone who contributed to the tribe could earn merit.
As for the tribal tokens, they were replaced every hundred years. Only those who held a token were members of the Heavenly Wind Tribe; anyone unable to exchange merit for a new token would be driven out.
Leijia did not mind. He had plenty of divine artifacts in his interspatial ring, so if he ran short of merit, he could simply exchange a couple of them.