All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 502 - 116 Isn’t this my son? (1/3)

Chapter 502: Chapter 116 Isn’t this my son? (1/3)

An Qianshan’s Tagu Tribe was dispatched to the battlefield as a logistical tribe due to an awkward mishap.

The current residence of Tagu Tribe is located south of the former Hanbei Island, close to a forest near Dust Li. The area, nestled between mountains and rivers, is less affected by the Frost Calamity. The land is fertile, and even in cold temperatures, some rutabagas and potatoes can be grown.

Moreover, with the supplies collected from Da Chen City, there was no immediate worry about food shortages.

Upon An Qianshan’s suggestion, the Tagu Tribe excavated many tunnels in the mountains based on natural caverns.

They did not rest in open encampments, but lived in the mountain and underground caves, effectively solving the issues of accommodation and warmth.

Additionally, there was an unexpected joy: a member of the Tagu Tribe, while widening a cave, accidentally fell into a pre-existing semi-natural cavern, and while he was battered from the fall, he also joyfully discovered a huge underground community beneath the mountain.

The creatures there include but are not limited to moles, earth snakes, and large insects that feed on tree root sap... Deeper inside, there is even a warm unfrozen underground river teeming with fish.

With these resources, the tribe’s food source was secured, and their days were getting better.

With sufficient food and leisure, An Qianshan and Taku Lang focused on training in martial arts.

Perhaps due to various setbacks changing his mindset, An Qianshan suddenly broke through the bottleneck that had held him back for years, reaching the Inner Breath like Tide realm. From then on, he became a notable minor expert and leader in Northern Border.

Taku Lang had even more breakthroughs, not only solidifying his previously formed Circulatory Organs but also condensing the third Divine Abnormality, Silver Mercury Blood.

With three Divine Abnormalities plus the Giant Spirit Bloodline, Taku Lang had become even more powerful than the founder of the Tagu Tribe, his own ancestor.

With his strength, Taku Lang gathered many scattered small tribes.

Currently, in Northern Border, while the large tribes confront the Da Chen Martial Army, the small tribes are used for probing and as cannon fodder. Every day, numerous northern tribes unable to survive are forced to move south, and many small tribes perish.

Perhaps when this war eliminates all redundant populations, it will cease, satisfied and full.

But for now, the war has not yet ended.

In any case, the power of the Tagu Tribe continued to grow, eventually drawing the attention of Iron Li.

They felt that the Tagu Tribe was no longer a small tribe that could be ignored, and assigned them a designated ’pasture’ area on the land where they resided.

This was good news, signaling that the name of the Tagu Tribe was no longer that of an incidental, easily extinguished tribe, but one worthy of mention in major negotiations.

And indeed, the mountain region was rich in resources, making it an excellent place for development as a fixed territory.

But, every benefit has a cost.

Because it had grown too strong, the Tagu Tribe, now a medium-sized tribe, would have to start paying a Blood Tax.

"Ah? We’re going to fight Da Chen?"

Both Taku Lang and An Qianshan were stunned when they heard the news delivered by the King’s Envoy.

The King’s Envoy, a man whose face resembled a horse and beard like a lion, sternly said: "Your Tagu Tribe was one of the first groups to enter Green Jade Pass. By rights, all the obligations of your tribe and its descendants should have been fulfilled back then. Now, if you don’t wish to fight, indeed you can choose not to."

"But these defeated soldiers you’ve taken in, they aren’t from your tribe. They still have unfulfilled Merits. They must fight."

The King’s Envoy’s meaning was quite simple: either the Tagu Tribe must hand over the group of small tribe members who had recently integrated into the tribe or they must send their own people to the front line.

If it were the latter, their tribe would need to send a significant tribal leader to lead the troops.

If it were a traditional Dust Li tribe, they would choose the former option at this point.

But An Qianshan could see that this was the major tribes above suppressing the effectiveness of medium and small tribes, either by splitting them or by bleeding them dry.

Choosing the former, the original tribespeople would solidify their belief that ’only we are Tagu tribespeople’, consequently becoming more xenophobic, and those from other tribes who were left would feel disheartened.

If this news spread, then the Tagu Tribe wanting to grow stronger would be impossible to attract outsiders and would only rely on their own procreation.

And missing the window period of the Northern Border War, wishing to quickly expand tribal power and attract more people would similarly be nearly impossible.

But choosing the latter, it might be that the tribe’s potential leaders or current leaders would have to go to the battlefield, and if they die at the front, a tribe with the potential to rise would completely falter.

"I’ll go."

After discussing this matter with Taku Lang, An Qianshan volunteered to lead the team himself.

Taku Lang disagreed, but he had no reasons to object.

After all, An Qianshan at least understood the Northern Border terrain, was familiar with the hydrology of mountains and rivers, and would know where to hide and escape should any location arise; what did Taku Lang know?

Not to mention, Taku Lang was the leader of the Tagu Tribe; if he died, the Tagu Tribe would disband—then, what difference would there be between the front and the rear?

"You just stay in the tribe and quickly have a few children... don’t spend all day practicing martial arts; what if you die from Deviation?"

"You won’t suffer from Deviation? Only get minor injuries? Go to hell, you Giant Spirits, I have no words for you talented folks, I’m leaving!"

Before leading a small troop to pay the Blood Tax, An Qianshan also paid a large bribe to the King’s Envoy.

With this, he learned the main directions of the major Dust Li tribe’s advances.

Attack Gaolin City, occupy Watai Ridge, defend the shore of North Lake, cut down Broken Blade Mountain... It’s either large troops attacking, heavy troops defending, or elite squads conducting raids.

Every mission was not simple.

And there were more than a dozen such tasks, with the Northern Border being a battlefield everywhere.

"My God..."

An Qianshan was originally patiently speculating and thinking, but upon seeing the fourth one, he couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart: "Isn’t this my son?"

The Tagu Tribe had some connections with the Tianyi Demon Sect; after all, in the entire northwest area of North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent, besides the backing of the Dust Li Five Sects, only a few Taiyuan Great Demon Spirit Mountain factions and the Tianyi Demon Sect were willing to provide technical support to the Iron Li.

An Qianshan bought quite a few farming tools and seeds from the Demon Sect side and also learned from them that his son had occupied Linjiang City next to Broken Blade Mountain and was now officially a lord of a city.

At that time, An Qianshan was extremely relieved: "I always said robbery is faster than building, I, Old An, built Gufeng Village in my era, but never expected a village to become a city—well done on the robbery!"

But now, it was not good; An Qianshan sighed deeply in his heart: "Ah, what’s good about it, the gun hits the bird that sticks out!"

He initially thought that An Jing cultivating safely in a city was secure and wouldn’t arbitrarily end up dying at the hands of random soldiers on a battlefield, but who knew, his own son had already made it onto Iron Li’s important task list!