The ash-gray lizards pulled the large carts at lightning speed.
This area was already the territory directly under the Shi clan. The infrastructure was well-built, with carefully crafted and polished transport passageways. The roads were wide and smooth, much easier to traverse than the wilderness.
Along the way, they passed dozens of large and small stone caves. The larger ones had a diameter of about ten li, while the smaller ones were only a few hundred meters in diameter. Numerous fortresses were scattered among them, each occupied by a varying number of soldiers.
The Shi clan truly lived up to its reputation as one of the three major families in the Cangyan region, relying on their exquisite mining techniques. The entrances to mining pits were visible everywhere in these stone caves, and the stone walls were covered in dense mine tunnels.
Inside each stone cave, one could always hear the rhythmic sound of "ding ding," indicating the continuous striking of tools. Countless mine slaves tirelessly worked day and night in the mine tunnels.
Accompanying Wu Tie on the journey were a group of newcomers recruited by Shi Er Ye for the external affairs department.
They were all so-called "wild people," lacking family or faction affiliations.
There was a group of Bull Tribe warriors who lived on the go and ate wherever they went, two groups of Wolf Tribe warriors who moonlighted as bandits collecting "road maintenance fees," a group of Lizardmen with excellent archery skills, and the largest group of all, a nest of Rat Tribe people.
Just like the rodents in the stone caves, these Rat Tribe people reproduced rapidly and were easily fed.
Outside the city gates where Shi Er Ye recruited laborers, there were originally only seven or eight Rat Tribe people gathering information. When they discovered that Shi Er Ye was truly hiring workers and not capturing slaves, they blew a whistle, and over three thousand young and strong warriors and their families quickly swarmed in.
Fortunately, Rat Tribe people were small in stature and ate less compared to the Rock Dwarf people. Moreover, they were agile, good at stealth, and excellent candidates for scouts. After pondering for a while, Shi Er Ye used the lowest recruitment standards and brought them in.
The long convoy raced forward, with groups of Rat Tribe people trailing along the carts. Even as the ash-gray lizards galloped, they were able to keep up without making a sound.
"Brother, do you know why the Shi clan suddenly recruited so many people?" Wu Tie remained lost in thought as he sat in the cart. Suddenly, a black-furred Wolf Tribe warrior, one of the leaders of the "Black Wind Thieves," leaned in and asked him in a low voice.
This was "Blackskin," the head of one of the two Wolf Tribe groups, the "Black Wind Thieves."
The Black Wind Thieves comprised over a hundred powerful Wolf Tribe warriors. Blackskin was fortunate enough to stumble upon a martial technique inheritance called the "Black Wind Slash" in some remote cave when he was young. Together with his two brothers, "Black Claw" and "Black Fang," they advanced to the Sensing Profound Realm by relying on the "Black Wind Slash."
Thanks to their three Sensing Profound Realm leaders, the Black Wind Thieves lived quite well on a daily basis. They intercepted passing caravans, ambushed medium-sized families, and occasionally even took on assassination jobs similar to the "Mist Blades."
In any case, the Black Wind Thieves' appearance was much better than that of the other group of "Maimed Wolves."
Just like Wu Tie, Blackskin, Black Claw, and Black Fang were all treated as first-class stewards of the Shi clan's external affairs department. Their group of Wolf Tribe warriors wore third-class steward badges, enjoying much better conditions than they did while wandering in the wilderness.
"Blackskin, do you know why? Just tell me honestly... Don't pretend... Believe it or not, I'll hit you?" Sitting on the same cart, Chief Iron Eighty Eight of the Bull Tribe shouted in a barrel-like voice. He vigorously shook his head, proudly showing off the newly acquired pure gold nose ring on his nose.
Originally, this guy had a nose ring made of iron. After successfully joining the Shi clan's external affairs department, Shi Er Ye immediately gave him a pure gold nose ring as a gift. For the past two days, this guy had been shaking his head whenever he saw someone, making the nose ring swing back and forth like a windmill, until he was satisfied.
To the Bull Tribe warriors, the material of the nose ring and its size were matters of fanatic ardor.
Iron Eighty Eight actually hadn't cultivated any martial techniques; his name came from his weight at birth.
In the Bull Tribe, the average weight of newborn babies was around thirty jin. Being eighty-eight jin at birth, Iron Eighty Eight undoubtedly set an astonishing record.
So he used his birth weight as his name.
And he lived up to this name. Although he hadn't cultivated, he mysteriously activated a powerful bloodline. With a height of nearly four meters, his muscles and bones were firmly strong, and his cowhide-like skin was extremely tough, enabling him to endure heavy axe and machete strikes without any injuries.
Especially his pair of bullhorns, long and bent with a gleaming and chilling metallic coldness, black as jet and gloomy. At a glance, they appeared to be quite substantial.
During a demonstration before Shi Er Ye, Iron Eighty Eight used one bullhorn to pick up a foot-thick iron city gate, which left Shi Er Ye pleasantly surprised. On the spot, he immediately approved him and his tribe to join the Shi clan.
Iron Eighty Eight had a higher rank in the external affairs department than Wu Tie and Blackskin. He was a specially appointed first-class steward of the Shi clan, receiving more than three times the resources Wu Tie and Blackskin received each month.
As naturally cautious and crafty creatures, the Wolf Tribe warriors wanted to sell a favor to Wu Tie. Iron Eighty Eight didn't indulge them either.
Thrusting his fist, the size of a wine barrel, in front of Blackskin, Iron Eighty Eight let out a deep hum and the fist made a creaking sound.
Blackskin bared his teeth and let out a low roar at Iron Eighty Eight.
Iron Eighty Eight chuckled and proudly patted the finely crafted steel axe placed beside him, which was the same gift from Shi Er Ye.
Blackskin snorted disdainfully and looked at Wu Tie. "We all make a living in the Cangyan region. Have you ever heard of the Mist Blades?"
Speaking of the "Mist Blades," Blackskin instinctively lowered his voice and cautiously glanced around several times.
Iron Eighty Eight's expression also turned serious, and he too lowered his voice. "Hmm, the Mist Blades' reputation, who hasn't heard of it? It is said that anyone who offends them... has to sleep with one eye open, otherwise, their head will be gone."
Even though Iron Eighty Eight lowered his voice, it still rumbled like thunder, and the sound of their conversation spread far away.
From the cart behind, a leader of another group of Wolf Tribe warriors, the "Maimed Wolf Pack," rushed over. This old Wolfman, "One-eyed," had yellowing fur, lost an eye and an ear, and his whole body was covered in patchy and balding fur. He crouched beside Wu Tie and silently watched Blackskin.
Blackskin felt somewhat wary and glanced at One-eyed.
Both belonging to the Wolf Tribe and being rogue bands in the wilderness, the Maimed Wolf Pack had a much stronger reputation than the Black Wind Thieves.
Although the Maimed Wolf Pack only had about fifty to sixty members, their achievements surpassed those of the Black Wind Thieves by quite a bit. They even survived a joint pursuit by several major families in the Cangyan region, and retaliated by killing numerous experts from those families.
One-eyed, the last old Wolfman, had one lifeless eye and a gloomy, dead appearance without any hint of vitality.
He stared directly at Blackskin, who felt a chill creeping up his neck, as if a knife were poised at his throat.
"It must be because something happened to the Mist Blades... Some time ago, our brothers were starving and wandering outside, looking for a small family to plunder... Instead, in a certain mine, we found the corpses of over a thousand Mist Blade assassins."
Blackskin shrugged, not knowing when "Old White," the chief of the Rat Tribe, a big white rat with glossy fur who wore a tight-fitting leather armor, had quietly climbed onto the carriage. Old White squatted beside Wu Tie, a glimmer of light hiding in his green eyes.
He spoke softly, "Blackskin, it's not just those over a thousand Mist Blade assassins... As far as we know, the nine main sects of the Mist Blades in the Cangyan region have all been eradicated."
Old White continued in a soft voice, "It is said that the culprit is the Everlasting Sect. The nine main sects of the Mist Blades, tsk, not a single one escaped."
Blackskin gave a wry smile. "Old White is well-informed... Of course, the Rat Tribe knows the most... Hehe, the Everlasting Sect are outsiders, but the Mist Blades are native to the Cangyan region... The Everlasting Sect... It's terrifying!"
Iron Eighty Eight blinked his eyes, then spewed out a burst of hot air, blowing Old White's slick fur into disarray.
With a loud snort, he looked at Wu Tie. "Let me tell you, Wu Tie, the Shi clan is recruiting men to guard against the Everlasting Sect, right?"
Wu Tie suddenly realized and nodded.
It seemed that the Everlasting Sect had indeed boldly infiltrated the Cangyan region.
The total commander of the Mist Blades had not finished tidying up the situation after all. The news about that secret realm had indeed spread.
It was just that the Everlasting Sect suddenly made a ruthless move, exterminating the Mist Blades but sending the three major families of the Cangyan region into a panic. The Shi clan recruiting laborers was probably a measure to strengthen the family's self-defense capability.
"The Everlasting Sect...," One-eyed suddenly muttered softly, "It's a pity they only recruit handsome men and beautiful women. If we were to join them, we would be no different from slaves. Compared to that, it's better to join the Shi clan."
Shaking his head, One-eyed dashed back to the rear of the carriage like an old man in deep twilight, leaning on the carriage, and gently fell asleep with his head tilted.
The convoy, along with the large group of Rat Tribe people, continued moving forward. After passing several medium-sized stone caves, they finally arrived at "Great Stone City."
In the Cangyan region, there were eight large caves, the largest being about six hundred li in diameter, and the smallest being a mere hundred or so li. The three major families, Lu, Yan, and Shi, divided these eight caves among themselves, and the Shi clan possessed three of the largest caves.
Great Stone City was the smallest of the three large caves owned by the Shi clan. It was roughly rectangular, with a length of over a hundred and fifty li and a width of about seventy li.
An artificial sun with a diameter of three hundred meters was embedded in the center of the dome, bringing light and warmth to this cave.
When Wu Tie and the others arrived, this artificial sun's light was dazzling, having just lit up not long ago.
Wu Tie, Blackskin, and Iron Eighty Eight were astonished as they raised their heads, looking at the brilliant radiance of the six suns on the dome.
After a while, Blackskin muttered to himself, "Truly one of the three major families... Dammit, they're so damn rich... If only we could take them on...," realizing he didn't know what he was talking about much to his own astonishment.
Wu Tie quickly caught sight of the aura all around him and realized what was happening. He thought that Hilltop Fort, the small, faint artificial sun he had seen above the Wu family's stone fortress, was never enough to be mentioned.
The convoy proceeded along a spacious road, heading towards the central area of the stone cave. In the distance, they could see a massive boulder towering like a screen. Beneath it, a fortress with a circumference of about a li was built.
This massive boulder was the origin of the name Great Stone City.
After traveling for a dozen or so li, a team of knights galloped toward them from the front.
Bull Tribe warriors clad in heavy armor rode on the backs of ash-gray lizards, which were also armored. They charged forward like moving iron towers. When they were about a hundred meters away from the convoy, they shouted loudly, gradually slowing their speed with their mounts.
Among those accompanying Wu Tie was one of Sir Shi's subordinates.
Similar to Sir Shi, this guy was also plump and quite rich. Wu Tie remembered that Sir Shi called him Shi Quan.
Seeing the team of knights, the round and plump Shi Quan jumped off the carriage like an agile papillon dog. With lightness, he approached the leader of the knights and exchanged a few words. Then he turned back, waving his arms vigorously.
"Where is it, Steward White? You have too many of your people. It's impossible for them to move into Great Stone City."
"We have already built enough stone houses outside the city for your people. Your tribesmen will be arranged to stay in the houses while you, Steward White, can bring no more than a hundred warriors to settle in Great Stone City."
"Here, Blackskin, Chief One-eyed, Chief Iron Eighty Eight, and Little Iron Steward... You all come with me."
"This is Great Stone City, our Shi clan's Great Stone City. From now on, it will be your home."
"Hahaha, welcome everyone to the Shi clan. I'm sure you won't regret joining us, the Shi clan."
Shi Quan laughed infectiously, his smile extremely radiant.
Wu Tie surveyed the surrounding scenery and didn't pay much attention to what Shi Quan had said.
Carrying Old White and his imposing clan members, they followed a small team of knights. With the carriage, Wu Tie and the others proceeded along the road until they arrived at the gate of Great Stone City.
The city wall of Great Stone City was quite high, about twenty meters tall, and made entirely of thick stone blocks mixed with molten iron.
The buildings inside the city had the same architectural style as the city walls. Each small building was tremendously heavy, with narrow windows that not even Rock Dwarfs or Rat Tribe people could squeeze into.
Many of the buildings' rooftops were equipped with arrow towers and lookout towers.
It appeared that when building Great Stone City, it was initially designed purely as a fortress for war.
Wu Tie noticed the shimmering glow flowing on the walls of some buildings. These small buildings had clearly been enhanced by formidable powers.
While surveying the surrounding structures, a deep voice came from ahead.
"Shi Quan, are these the recruits you brought back?"
"Hmph, look at them, in such a miserable state... This group of 'wild people,' bandits, what use can they be?"
(End of this chapter)