He had concluded that this grey sphere was the heart of this entire underground lair, but its specific function was unknown. Without a certain grasp of the situation, Qianye had no intention of agitating it further. It would be regrettable if some changes were to happen and he had no choice but to destroy it.
Qianye retracted his aura and slowly backed out of the lair. He roamed the forest for a while but found nothing abnormal. It would seem that the only enemies left were the unhatched eggs in the lair. Qianye had given them a rough count—there were several thousand eggs there, a number that could be easily cleared away even if they were to hatch.
Qianye returned to his forces and ordered them to reinforce the fortifications outside of the forest. They would turn this place into a permanent forward supply base and build a sentry post outside of the beast lair for early warnings. At the same time, Qianye extracted a good amount of water from the Holy Tree lake to bring more soldiers in.
In this matter, the forward base was completed in two days. The conversion of the follow-up forces also progressed at a great speed, adding twenty thousand more soldiers to the new world. A group of researchers also arrived to study the Holy Trees.
Qianye didn’t have high hopes for them to be able to figure out the Holy Trees’ function in a short time. It was fine if they could find the most efficient way to extract their sap without harming the trees.
During this period, the underground beast lair remained fairly quiet. Qianye investigated the place several times but saw no signs of the eggs hatching. Perhaps the core of the beast lair required instructions in order to operate.
The situation around the forest had stabilized, and the troops under his command had exceeded a hundred thousand. They could now explore deeper into the world. Qianye traveled alone in the direction of the forest with the three Holy Trees. After several hundred kilometers, he noticed several stone pillars over the distant horizon.
Each of these pillars housed several crystals that could help creatures evolve to a higher level. Their effects were so strong and precious that Qianye didn’t want to use them carelessly on humans and werewolves. There were too many uncontrollable risks in doing so. He wanted to collect some samples and send them to the Empire for research. He would only come back and mine them when there was a suitable use for them.
Qianye became spirited when he saw the distant pillars and ran over in swift steps.
As expected, there was yet another forest near the stone pillars. Qianye already knew at this point that every forest contained one or more Holy Trees, and was also home to a six-armed creature and a beast lair.
Qianye was quite confident about his strategy after taking down two forests in succession. He first sneaked into the forest and confirmed that the six-armed creature was still in petrified form and that there were two Holy Trees in this forest. According to his previous experience, the six-armed commander’s strength was closely related to the number of Holy Trees. The creature with only one Holy Tree was on par with Qianye, but he could kill it if he went all out.
The one with three Holy Trees was extremely powerful. Qianye wasn’t a match for the previous one if he weren’t heavily injured by Qianye in his resting state.
His rank was likely at the level of a great duke by Evernight standards, and his fighting power might be even stronger. Even in an injured state, Qianye and Caroline had to work together to kill that six-armed creature. If that entity hadn’t come out of the forest, Qianye would be helpless to do anything to him.
The six-armed creature in this forest was between the two, likely at the duke rank. Qianye’s overall combat strength was at least at the vice-duke rank now. He also held the initiative of an ambush, so his chances were quite good.
Having decided, Qianye followed the same plan of waking up the six-armed creature with his origin flames and firing at the Holy Tree. As expected, the six-armed creature moved to save the Holy Tree at the risk of sustaining injuries. Qianye quickly destroyed the stone chair during this process. Without the chair, his control over the beast horde was broken and his threat, greatly reduced.
The six-armed creature was infuriated by the ambush, yet his strength was limited. Qianye used Spatial Flash and blessed him once more with Heartgrave before retreating from the forest to guard his base.
He left traces during his retreat. As expected, a beast army appeared outside of their base at dawn the next day. The enemy squad was only eighty thousand strong and adopted the same lengthened formation. Their vanguard was already destroyed before their forces in the rear could enter the battlefield.
Equipped with their previous experience, Qianye and Caroline worked together to find the beast hiding the six-armed creature and killed him with relative ease.
Without the six-armed creature and the beast army, the third forest also fell into Qianye’s hands. There was also a beast lair here, but it was incomparable to the one in the forest with three Holy Trees. The first forest with only one Holy Tree did not even have a beast lair, only a simple nest.
The third forest was several hundred kilometers from the door, a distance that would take a while even for an airship fleet. Hence, Qianye did not continue pushing forward. He set up a forward supply base around that forest and went back to Fort Continent to learn more about the situation on the other continents.
Qianye was quickly surrounded once he returned to Fort Continent.
The werewolf great shaman squeezed toward Qianye, saying, “Sire, the new batch of tribal soldiers have been completely mobilized and are currently undergoing training. The children have never been so passionate before, they’re willing to do anything for you! The training went smoother than expected, and they will be qualified soldiers in two weeks at most.”
Qianye glanced at Xu Jingxuan in surprise, to which the latter nodded in confirmation. “Werewolves are born warriors. Their combat technique is actually sufficient as it is, the training is just to drill them on following military discipline. Now that they are more accepting of this, most of the time is spent learning the rules by heart. This should only take about two weeks under normal circumstances.”
Qianye nodded. “We have enough forces inside the new world for now, so the new troops don’t need to be rushed. Be sure to give them a solid foundation.”
After Xu Jingxuan accepted his orders, Song Lun pushed his way forward and said, “Sire, regarding the aristocracy, the newest batch of equipment and resources are already on the way, and we have already completed the delivery of dark golden sandstone. There’s one more thing, though. The Kong and Yin family elders are here, currently residing in Expansive. They insist on seeing you.”
Qianye was surprised. “The Kong family is here?”
”Also, the Yin family’s elder said you two are old acquaintances. She said she’ll come over here directly if she doesn’t see you in three days.”
Qianye was startled. “Old acquaintances? Which elder?”
“An elder named Yin Qiqi.”
Qianye was startled. His expression turned odd as he said, “She’s an elder of the Yin family?”
“Reportedly, she became an elder rather recently,” Song Lun replied.
The Yin family was also a part of the aristocratic families investing in Qianye’s expansion plan. It was just that their participation was rather limited. The first time, they only provided funds and relevant resources in an evident display of their wait-and-see attitude. Now that Qianye had taken over the werewolves of the great corridor and the Jade Sea, his expansion speed was far beyond normal expectations. Hence, The change in stance came as no surprise.
Why the Yin family sent an elder over—Yin Qiqi at that—was something worth pondering.
The aloof Kong family, on the other hand, was part of the aristocracy eyeing an upgrade to major clan status. Their original stance toward Qianye was neutral, but now that they had sent an elder to serve as a messenger, this proved that they were eager to jump into the train.
According to convention, Qianye should be running to Expansive to meet these two big sponsors. This would only take half a day of his time. However, matters in the new world were urgent, and Qianye was the pillar of the army, the only one who could fight a six-armed commander face-to-face. How could he leave the front lines without thought?
He stood with his arms behind his back, frowning in contemplation.
Song Lun’s group didn’t disturb him and only waited quietly to the side.
Moments later, he said, “Is the support of these families important to us?”
Who would’ve thought Qianye was thinking about this. Song Lun was the only one here who could reply.
He gathered his thoughts for a while. “It’s fairly important judging from the current situation. In the short term, the funds and equipment they supply us can outfit over a hundred thousand soldiers. Mid-term, their surveyors, smelting equipment, and processing technology can help us get our industries off the ground. In the long run, they can help you with pioneering new land. They will be tied firmly to your benefits once they obtain land in your new nation.”
Everyone secretly nodded at this analysis. This was especially true for the werewolves—they felt that the aristocracy of the Great Qin were powerful as they had never seen the things these people had brought with them.
“Since they are so important, why would they give us so many good benefits? The Yin and Kong are outstanding entities among the aristocracy. Why would they come all the way here to see me?”
Song Lun had no answer to this question.
Qianye wasn’t hoping to get a reply, either. He gazed into the distance, where countless werewolves were undergoing training in groups of a thousand. There were a hundred thousand of them in total, so the rotation seemed endless.
Farther out, he could see the outline of Cerulean Wave City, a majestic silhouette that almost seemed to connect the sky and the lake.
Under the walls of Cerulean Wave was the temporary base of the new werewolf army. Tents stretched far and wide, almost covering up the entire horizon.
A grand city, army tents, and combat wolves—truly an exceeding display of military might.
Qianye pointed at the endless tents and the majestic lineup of werewolf soldiers. “We have to repay those aristocratic families of course, but the reciprocation they seek will only come in ten years, decades, or centuries even. Isn’t this what they want to see right now? Since they want to see, then why hide from them?”
Qianye turned back and said, “Invite the Kong and Yin family elders here, along with all the other aristocratic families. I’ll meet them here!”
