Wu Tie peered from the side.
The techniques that Lao Tie had taught him were very useful. In terms of hiding and blending into the wilderness, Wu Tie had become extremely skilled. With the assistance of those metal spiders, ordinary people couldn't detect Wu Tie's whereabouts.
The Three Wooden Boats of the Changsheng Sect had found the place where Hong Mama, Shi Lingqing, and others had fallen.
The body of Niu Yingxiong had completely disintegrated, and the cave where his remains were located had collapsed completely, leaving behind a large crater hundreds of miles in diameter and thousands of kilometers deep.
Countless giant rocks were stacked heavily on top of each other.
Chì Mama and her two companions had already sensed that Hong Mama's wooden boat was directly beneath the thick layers of rock. They had tried for several days, using young men and women to excavate a large pit tens of meters deep, but ultimately had no choice but to give up their search.
The wooden boat was buried too deep for human strength to dig it out.
Giving up on searching for the corpses of Hong Mama and the others, Chì Mama and her two companions became greatly interested in this extraordinary place itself.
Never mind the desert wasteland surrounding it, the central part of this extraordinary place was a fertile basin with a diameter of about a thousand miles. The soil was rich, water was abundant, with lava rivers providing sufficient thermal energy. There were also original vegetation and biological communities.
It was a truly treasured land.
How big was the Wu Family's Wu Valley? It was only a few dozen miles in diameter. Even if the tunnels, mines, and the Xiong Family territory that the Wu Family had conquered were combined, how large was the total area the Wu Family controlled?
This basin with a diameter of a thousand miles was enough to accommodate over a thousand Wu Families.
Only substantial benefits could move people's hearts, as for those who had already died, the dead hold no value.
The Changsheng Sect was by no means a benevolent force. Even Chì Mama, who seemed to have a close relationship with Hong Mama, quickly abandoned the matter of investigating the "truth."
The three wooden boats repeatedly surged against the rushing waterfall and returned to the Yin River, each time bringing people back along with them.
Wu Tie saw the shuttle-shaped means of transportation that Shi Lingqing and Luo Lin had mistakenly entered this extraordinary place with that day. It was a fully enclosed stealth ship capable of long-term navigation in the Yin River.
Chì Mama and her two companions commanded the wooden boats, attaching long strings of these shuttle-shaped stealth ships behind them. These ships contained various numbers of dwarves, rock goblins, and other personnel, constantly shuttling between the extraordinary place and the outside world.
In just over a month, Chì Mama and her two companions made several round trips just like ants moving homes, forcibly bringing over three thousand dwarves and rock goblins, as well as hundreds of brave servant warriors.
Near the riverbank where Shi Lingqing and others had landed that day, a small settlement quickly took shape.
The dwarf slaves worked hard. They built a stone wall about two miles long and wide to fend off attacks from wild creatures and constructed huts for shelter. They even opened three farmland areas outside the settlement and planted a large number of earth rice mushrooms and large meat mushrooms.
Wu Tie had been observing the actions of the Changsheng Sect. He felt a strong sense of unease.
It was the unease that came from the depths of one's blood after a powerful beast had been invaded by another group of beasts and lost its territory.
But Wu Tie did not have a good countermeasure. He could only watch the settlement of the Changsheng Sect gradually expand and see more and more people being brought in.
Two months later, the settlement of the Changsheng Sect began to dispatch exploration squads to make meticulous surveys of the entire basin.
Wu Tie did not dare to rashly approach or take action against the exploration squads of the Changsheng Sect. He could only keep his distance.
Because the Changsheng Sect's stronghold was not too far from the Ancient Divine Soldiers Camp, and the camp was within the scope of their exploration, Wu Tie's range of activity quickly shrank, and hunting became much more difficult.
Wu Tie didn't dare to leave obvious hunting traces, so he could only target smaller prey such as the Greyrock Lizards, snakes, and rodents, instead of the massive Hippopotami and Water Pythons.
Such hunting efficiency was low, but fortunately, Wu Tie had been suppressing his foundational cultivation. His demand for foundational cultivating elixirs had decreased during this time. Otherwise, the supply of his foundational cultivating elixirs would have become a problem.
More than two months later, something that shocked Wu Tie happened.
On that day, Wu Tie lay on a small hill hundreds of meters away from the Changsheng Sect's stronghold, watching the activities inside from a distance.
The waterfall in the distance suddenly made a deafening noise. A water column with a diameter of dozens of meters shot out and splashed waves everywhere. The three wooden boats of Chì Mama and the others glided out of the waterfall, three iron cables stretched straight behind them.
The iron cables emitted a buzzing sound. A fully enclosed giant stealth ship shot out of the waterfall.
With a diameter of more than twenty meters and a length of over a hundred meters, this was a specially made giant stealth ship. However, it was apparent that it did not possess the flying ability of the three wooden boats; it was just an ordinary stealth ship.
After rushing out of the waterfall, the massive stealth ship quickly plummeted under the force of the waterfall's surging flow.
The sail of the three gliding wooden boats suddenly lit up with the characters "Changsheng," a dazzling light bursting forth. They strained to pull the iron cables forward, slowing the descent of the stealth ship. Even with the full flight power of the three wooden boats, the descent speed of the stealth ship was still greatly reduced.
Despite this, the enormous stealth ship landed on the turbulent river surface, emitting a harsh tearing sound. The thick black skin on its surface cracked open and water poured in.
The three wooden boats landed heavily on the surface of the river.
Chì Mama's scold could be heard from a distance as the three wooden boats raced forward, pulling the slowly sinking stealth ship towards the shore. Hundreds of dwarves and rock goblins emerged from the stealth ship after it was dragged onto the shallows.
Wu Tie lurked in the distance, frowning as he watched this.
A stealth ship of such enormous size must have cost Chì Mama and the others a great deal.
The rock goblins continuously entered and exited, carrying many strange and unique metal components out from the stealth ship.
Over the following days, Wu Tie witnessed Chì Mama and the others fly their boats to the dome and carve out complex grooves on its surface, fixing a large number of metal components in these grooves.
After half a month, something that Wu Tie was familiar with completely took shape on the dome.
It was a nearly hundred-meter diameter "False Sun"!
Chì Mama and the others had actually assembled a "False Sun" here!
A few more days passed, and Chì Mama and the others gathered around the "False Sun," Wu Tie didn't know what they were doing exactly, but gradually, the edge of the "False Sun" began to glow and the brightness became stronger. Gradually, the entire "False Sun" lit up, emitting a warm, filled with vitality radiance that illuminated the entire basin for miles.
The power of this "False Sun" was much stronger than the "False Sun" above the Wu Family's stone fortress. Its coverage area reached an astonishing hundred-square-miles, and its brightness and heat were unmatched by the "False Sun" of the Wu Family's stone fortress.
Directly below the "False Sun" was the Changsheng Sect's stronghold. The rock goblins opened up new farmlands and brought peculiar seedlings to the area. These seedlings were neatly planted in the farmlands.
In these days, Wu Tie was amazed watching the actions of Chì Mama and the others.
He witnessed the birth of a "False Sun" with his own eyes.
These False Suns, which brought life and light to the stone fortress world, were actually built in this way through artificial means.
Even though he didn't completely understand the process of creating a False Sun or its working principles, Wu Tie still thought that it was truly remarkable, truly extraordinary.
An unprecedented excitement filled his whole body. Wu Tie lay on the ground, staring blankly at the powerful and radiant False Sun, his body covered in sweat, he was extremely moved.
Suddenly, he vaguely understood what Greymane had been emphasizing about "wisdom."
"Wisdom is the most powerful force." Wu Tie sincerely agreed with this statement.
Even though he dealt with the Ancient Divine Soldiers Camp and these strange creations like Lao Tie, Wu Tie was still shallow in his understanding and couldn't comprehend their greatness.
The False Sun, the False Sun that had accompanied Wu Tie since childhood and provided light and heat to everyone in the Wu Family's stone fortress, the source of life. This was the extraordinary power he was most familiar with and understood the most.
Wu Tie smiled as he looked at the False Sun, truly incredible!
Wisdom, it truly was an extraordinary and mighty force.
Chì Mama and her two companions stood at the bow of the wooden boats, floating hundreds of meters above the ground, laughing joyfully.
This extraordinary place was extremely precious. A land with such vast territory was an immeasurable treasure that could not be described as priceless.
With this False Sun, they could truly establish roots in this extraordinary place.
Wu Tie was still young, and there were many things he hadn't encountered before, which he couldn't comprehend.
Only Chì Mama and her companions could understand. Only in the presence of the False Sun could they have their true "home."
"From today onwards, this territory is the property of the Cang Yan Domain Branch Hall of the Changsheng Sect." Chì Mama stood at the bow of the boat, overlooking the stronghold below with a satisfied expression. "This territory is enough to support millions of people...with this accomplishment of opening up new territory..."
Old man with two blood-red skulls embroidered on his robe, through these days of spying, Wu Tie had learned that he was called "Bone Guard."
Bone Guard nodded with a smile after hearing Chì Mama's words. "That's right, with this territory, Hong Meizi's death means nothing...compared to this accomplishment, what does the death of three or five Hong Meizis count for?"
Chì Mama's face suddenly darkened.
Another old man, whom Wu Tie had heard was called "Lan Guard," deliberately brought up the atmosphere and laughed loudly. "Old Bone, you can't say it like that...after all, they are our own sisters, hahaha...hahaha, we still have to be grateful to her. She found this treasure land for us but didn't contribute in any way herself..."
Chì Mama stomped her foot in anger. "That's enough! You two have enjoyed the benefits but still want to conspire against Hong Mama like this?"
Bone Guard and Lan Guard chuckled twice, arrogantly tilting their heads and casting their gazes over the vast land below.
They completely disregarded Chì Mama's anger.
The Cang Yan Domain was only an impoverished wilderness, and the highest leader of the Changsheng Sect's branch within the Cang Yan Domain was the four of them.
The four of them would form alliances and compete for power and profit with each other. It was originally a means for the Changsheng Sect to control its branch halls.
With Hong Mama dead, in the eyes of Bone Guard and Lan Guard, who else could Hong Mama, who had formed an alliance with them, intimidate?
Moreover...
Bone Guard's eyes flickered, and he exchanged a glance with Lan Guard.
If they could make Chì Mama perish here, this extraordinary treasure land would fall into their personal hands, right?
Lan Guard's gaze flickered as he stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly deep in thought as he surveyed the surroundings.
Chì Mama instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Her boat quickly drifted hundreds of meters to the side, leaving Bone Guard and Lan Guard's boat far behind.
"Hmph, I will appeal to the higher-ups about Hong Mama's death." Chì Mama said in a deep voice, "Even if I'm branded as 'incompetent' from above, I... "
Just as Chì Mama's boat quickly flew towards the direction of the waterfall, Bone Guard and Lan Guard hastily spoke, "Chì Mama, let's stop, no need to get excited, no need to get excited!"
"Everyone has such a close relationship, don't misunderstand."
"Chì Mama, take a break for now, don't get excited."
Bone Guard and Lan Guard drove their boat towards Chì Mama's boat, as they chased it, they loudly persuaded her.
Their gazes flickered, and their facial expressions changed rapidly. Obviously, they were still hesitant about whether to take immediate action or think it through first.
Wu Tie stared with wide eyes at what was happening high in the sky. Having followed Greymane all this time, especially after the events before, Wu Tie had grown a lot. He had already seen that Bone Guard and Lan Guard held ill intentions towards Chì Mama.
He couldn't figure out the deeper issues, but it was obvious that the two guards harbored evil intentions towards Chì Mama.
"Fight, beat them up!" A fist-sized metal spider landed on Wu Tie's shoulder, and Old Tie's voice full of malice came out.
Wu Tie nodded repeatedly. Outside the base of the Changsheng Sect, on the river surface, black figures suddenly shot up into the sky, stepping on the water, causing ripples of water to emerge. They swiftly charged towards the stronghold.
At first glance, there were nearly a thousand of these black figures. They all wore black soft armors, carried straight blades, and dressed identically to Luo Lin and the others.
From the stronghold, it was still nearly a hundred meters away. These black figures simultaneously waved their hands, hundreds of egg-sized projectiles emitting a cold glimmer of metal whistled through the air and heavily landed in the stronghold.
Explosions engulfed the entire stronghold. In the noise of explosions, large numbers of dwarf and rock goblin corpses were sent flying, raining down limbs and arms.
Inside the stronghold, many of the Changsheng Sect's servant warriors were sent into a panic, running around aimlessly while carrying their weapons.
The black figures drew their long knives and silently rushed into the stronghold.
Their attacks were ruthless, completely desperate, regardless of their own safety. Each move and style was made with all their might.
The fighting capacity of the dwarf and rock goblin warriors was nearly zero. With just one charge, hundreds of dwarf and rock goblin warriors were slain.
The Changsheng Sect's servant warriors also lost their composure. They were unable to withstand the fierce assault of these desperate killers, and they suffered serious injuries within a few breaths.
From the distance, a loud and powerful laughter could be heard. "Now that the False Sun has been built, I, Wu Dao, shall accept this great offering."
(End of the chapter)