In a corner of the Perpetual Night Forest, a group of warriors was building a stone house. It looked plain, without any formations or barrier to strengthen it. This house was used only for shelter.
Half a month ago, they were struggling in despair as they wanted to leave this place and go to the Secret Domain of the seven ancient factions… They thought that they would die shortly.
Half a month later, their faces were bright and smiling, when they could have a new life eventually. Everybody was excited and enthusiastic, as if they wouldn’t ever be tired.
"Have you heard about Li Hai’s treasure, which upgraded to Rank 1 of Spirit Grade from the original Rank 4 of Mortal Grade?" A teenager at Human Realm talked with his young, eager face, while he was pouring energy into the stone. He wanted to vent out his excitement.
"Haha, I will be in the next group! I’m so excited! Haha, those stray dogs who left will never know what they have missed!" Another young man with a scattering beard laughed evilly.
The same conversations arose in every corner.
Around a lake with many stone houses surrounding it, a young man sat neatly with a severe countenance. He was making numerous hand seals, falling like constellations into the formation in front of him.
Yang Tian Emperor, s.h.i.+ Jian, Mo Dun Huan, and Ling Ming were waiting, their eyes longing.
"There it is." Radiant halo bloomed from the formation. The young man was still making more hand seals. He exhaled heavily, but his eyes were bright.
"Done?" s.h.i.+ Jian couldn’t help but step forward. He scooped and observed the formation, but he couldn’t see it through. "Is it enough to teleport? Little Yan, when did you learn how to create the Teleportation Formation?"
"Can’t explain briefly," s.h.i.+ Yan smiled brightly, then he contemplated, his face hesitant. "Do you really want to bring Cao Qiu Dao’s group here? If they come here, we will have more unpredictable factors. Have you guys decided yet?"
"Just let them come here," Yang Tian Emperor nodded. "We don’t have enough materials to refine treasures anymore. We still have many warriors waiting for you to refine their treasures. We need to take care of it. Although Cao Qiu Dao’s cunning, he has abilities. When he comes, we will be strengthened."
Mo Dun Huan and Ling Ming also agreed with him.
"Alright then," s.h.i.+ Yan smiled and didn’t say anything else. He closed his eyes to concentrate, urging his Soul Consciousness. He calibrated the s.p.a.ce nodes inside the Formation in front of him.
Magical light dots that were as bright as stars emerged, as if they had come from a strange s.p.a.ce, floating in the center of the Teleportation Formation.
s.h.i.+ Yan’s eyes squinted. All of a sudden, a soul flow that was as strong as a gus.h.i.+ng flood lunged directly to the nodes.
Swoosh Swoosh Swoos.h.!.+
Delicate light fibers weaved a fine net above the sacrificial altar. It had a thick mesh, but it looked very orderly. Electric currents shot out like rainbows, while energy waves rippled visibly.
The sealed Teleportation Formation inside a mountain of the Northern Gem Mountain glowed abruptly.
Cao Qiu Dao’s group of warriors had been waiting for so long. Gradually, they became desperate. But at this moment, they all jolted up with a stirring heart and an excited mind.
A shadow slowly appeared. It was s.h.i.+ Yan in the Perpetual Night Forest. His phantom became clear. People then saw him waving, signaling them to come over.
Cao Qiu Dao was overjoyed, shouting to his men. "Come over here. We’ll leave immediately."
Shortly, human warriors of the Endless Sea all gathered inside the Teleportation Formation.
A white halo flashed, and everybody disappeared.
"Cao-ge," Yang Tian Emperor smiled, greeting, "Welcome."
Cao Qiu Dao couldn’t help but smile. He nodded to Yang Tian Emperor then s.h.i.+fted his look to s.h.i.+ Yan. He talked to him with respect. "Thank you."
s.h.i.+ Yan was embarra.s.sed, shaking his head. "Don’t rush to say thanks. The situation isn’t like what you’ve thought."
"Yeah?" Cao Qiu Dao was surprised.
"Let me explain," Yang Tian Emperor frowned. He briefed the situation and then extended one arm, speaking begrudgingly. "You guys can choose to leave. I know the general direction of the seven ancient factions’ Secret Domain. If you want to go there, I will not compel you."
"Argh. For the payment, I’ll take a part of cultivating materials you have," s.h.i.+ Yan beamed a wry smile, pointing at the Teleportation Formation next to them. "It cost me a lot to build that formation. You guys should make it up for me."
Cao Qiu Dao kept silent for a while then spoke up. "Yang-ge, will you give us time to consider? I need to discuss with them."
Yang Tian Emperor nodded.
"What do you think?" After Cao Qiu Dao and the others reached another area, he went straight to the matter. "From the current situation, the Secret Domain of the seven ancient factions is the safest place. However, s.h.i.+ Yan can always surprise people. When he was in the Endless Sea, he had discovered a whole new world. We aren"t familiar with the seven ancient factions. When we get there, I"m not sure what would happen…"
"It"s all because of you that we can survive until this moment. We will follow you." Fan Xiang Yun was frank enough to throw back the ball to him.
Cao Qiu Dao and Fan Xiang Yun’s group consisted of around five hundred warriors. They were all the core members of the Cao family, the Yin Yang Fairyland, and the Desolate Barbarian Sect. Different from the Yang family, they didn’t have many external disciples. Their men were all loyal and trustworthy. Well, the ones with different thought were soon trashed away.
"Little Lan, what do you think?" Cao Qiu Dao frowned. At this moment, he couldn’t make the decision shortly.
"The only thing I regret the most in my life is that I didn"t trust him that year. I couldn’t see his potential." A strange light sparkled in Cao Zhi Lan’s face, her eyes determined. "This time, I won’t make the same mistake. When he had overturned the situation of the Endless Sea, he only had the Sky Realm cultivation base. At that time, peerless warriors in the Endless Sea were at Spirit Realm. Today, he’s reached the Spirit Realm, and the experts in the Divine Great Land have the True G.o.d Realm cultivation base. How similar is it? I believe he can overturn the whole sky the second time!"
Cao Qiu Dao and Fan Xiang Yun were moved.
"It’s true. Little Lan’s correct. Your vision is wide, too." Fan Xiang Yun sighed in relief, then shot up from her spot. "Although the background has changed, the situation’s strangely similar. Moreover, at that time, he was alone!"
"Then, we should stay here. I hope he can create miracles once again," said Cao Qiu Dao determinedly.
Soon, they would know how wise their decision was.
Seeing s.h.i.+ Yan refining treasures and his magical technique to upgrade the treasures and after he said that he could help them refine their treasures too, Cao Qiu Dao and his group of five hundred were filled with enthusiasm.
Increasing the quality of the secret treasures could enhance the warriors’ competence. In this Perpetual Night Forest, where dangers appeared in every corner, having additional power meant having more chances to survive.
Anyway, s.h.i.+ Yan’s refining process didn’t include only one or two weapons. He was carrying out a ma.s.sive scale refining procedure, including everyone else!
This sounded intimidating to them. Added with Cao Qiu Dao’s group, they now had around one thousand and five hundred warriors. After their treasures and weapons were upgraded, their general power would leap up one more level!
"Great Grandpa, if I bring the Dark Devil Clan and the Winged Clan here, can you arrange for them properly?" s.h.i.+ Yan talked with a serious complexion while glaring at Cao Qiu Dao.
"Don"t worry. People who stay will all follow your decision. They won’t oppose us," smiled Yang Tian Emperor.
"I have no problem with it," said Cao Qiu Dao.
s.h.i.+ Yan nodded, smiling brightly. "The future picture will be beyond your imagination. We need to improve the previous operation. Anyway, I don"t care about races. I don’t bother with the Monster Clan or the Dark Clan. As long as they walk the same way with me, I will protect them. If they can bring benefits to me, I will establish a good relations.h.i.+p with them. From now on, this is my working principle. I don’t cla.s.sify races, I just consider the att.i.tudes and manners. If the alien tribes have a good relations.h.i.+p with me, I’ll treat them well. If they aim at me, I’ll kill them all!"
Cao Qiu Dao shuddered in his heart as he felt lucky somehow.
Cao Zhi Lan"s eyes brightened with a strange light. She was touched. She suddenly felt that s.h.i.+ Yan’s demeanor was more charming than before. Now, he had brave but callous makings that attracted her more.
"Alright!" Yang Tian Emperor nodded. "I believe in your decision. As long as we can earn benefit and survive, we will do anything."
s.h.i.+ Yan grinned. All of a sudden, he felt this hard situation wasn’t unbreakable.
Three days later, the clansmen of the Dark Devil Clan and the Winged Clan moved to this shelter. Since they had talked it through, the ones who decided to stay here understood. They didn"t say anything against this move.
After the Dark Devil Clan and the Winged Clan arrived, the number of people here had increased to four thousand and five hundred, including two thousand clansmen of the Dark Devil Clan, one thousand clansmen of the Winged Clan, one thousand members of the Yang family and the s.h.i.+ family, and five hundred people of Cao Qiu Dao and Fan Xiang Yun"s group.
The alien tribes took account of half the number of the population here, which made the number of the Human Clan smaller. However, this force was far behind the ancient seven factions, whether it was the number or the qualification of the warriors.
Still, no one had thought that this small force could quickly unite and improve their general competence under s.h.i.+ Yan’s influence in such strenuous situation.
Swoos.h.!.+
A snow-white feather attached with a piece of animal skin shot to an ancient tree where the Winged Clan stayed. A member of the Winged Clan picked up the leather piece, took a look, then hurried to find Yu Ruo, handing it to her.
Fifteen minutes later, s.h.i.+ Yan, Yang Tian Emperor, Cao Qiu Dao, Yang Zhuo, s.h.i.+ Jian, Di Shan, and Yi Tian Mo gathered in a stone meeting room by the lake, their faces grim.
"It"s the order of the Monster Clan. I think Fiery Dragon wrote it. He said that if we don"t move, he will kill us all three days later," Di Shan frowned, looking at the vulgar writing, his face cold. "Although Fiery Dragon has reached level 9, and is as strong as a True G.o.d Realm warrior, he hasn"t entered the realm for a long time. I think we can endure a battle with him."
Cao Qiu Dao nodded. "With our competence, when we join hands to deal with Fiery Dragon, even if we get hurt, we won’t lose."
"No," s.h.i.+ Yan shook his head, "We are not going to fight with them. Among the alien tribes, the Monster Clan seems easy to contact. We can deal with them."
"Deal with them?" Everybody was stunned.
"Yeah," s.h.i.+ Yan’s face darkened as he moved his line of sight to the further area. "I think, compared to the Monster Clan, some people are more wicked. We should maintain our power to deal with the tougher enemies." He was looking in the direction where the seven ancient factions gathered.