Chapter 775 - The Gathering (2/2)

“Ten!”

“I’m guessing twenty!”

“There probably won’t be twenty. I’m guessing fifteen.”

……

The Flaming Horns were not the only ones discussing this though. The expedition teams that had come to the trading point were all discussing it in the inns. Initially, many of them planned to leave as soon as they finished trading, but after hearing the Flaming Horn’s announcement about the alliance, all of them became curious and decided to stay for a few more days to watch how successful this alliance was. Some couldn’t wait to see the Flaming Horns become the laughingstock of the region.

“Let’s make a bet! Let’s have a guess of how many tribes are going to join this alliance!”

“I’m betting for less than ten tribes!”

“I agree with him!”

“I think the Flaming Horns will do well. I’m betting less than fifteen.”

“I’m betting twenty!”

“Twenty? Have you gone crazy?!”

“Since the Flaming Horns are so strong, there should be many tribes coming!” the person who bet twenty put on a serious face and said confidently.

‘What a bootlicker!’ the others thought. He knew that there were Flaming Horns watching around them. He purposely said it to flatter them. Or else why did he only place one beast fang on the table? If he was so confident, why not place a bigger bet?

All the foreigners and Flaming Horns in the trading point perked up their ears and waited for the horn to sound. Unfortunately, they didn’t hear any horn sounds for a few days straight.

However, they knew that many of these tribes were coming from distant places so they wouldn’t be able to make it here so soon. Plus, this was a huge matter, so they had to discuss before deciding whether or not to come. Days passed by, and yet the horn remained silent.

Up till the seventh day, the horn finally sounded. The Tu tribe arrived.

On the tenth day, the Ya chief also appeared at a tunnel nearby and entered the trading point with around a hundred Ya tribesmen. This was the second time the horn sounded.

On the fifteenth day, the Gu tribe and Jing tribe both arrived at the same time, so the horn sounded twice at the Beast Head Gate.

After the fifteenth day, the horn sounded even more frequently. It would sound every day, sometimes even continuously within one day. Some of these smaller tribes were allies after all, so they felt safer travelling to the trading point together.

These weren’t the only tribes that were in the Flaming River Drainage Basin. The number of tribes that were deciding to join the alliance and abide by the new rules were increasing day by day. Perhaps there were still some who were watching the commotion and hesitating on joining, but many had commenced to take action.

On this very day, Shao Xuan was taking a walk outside the petrified grounds.

The man made canal surrounded the trading point and the petrified grounds. This canal served as a waterway for people to go around the Giant Bridge and also functioned as a line of defense.

The suspension bridge across the man made canal was lifted upon sunset everyday. As soon as the bridge was lifted, people would have to wait til the dawn of the next morning to cross it.

When Shao Xuan crossed the suspension bridge, he saw some green-black coloured figures in the river. Some even had protruding bone plates on their backs. As these fishes swam across the waters, ripples spread out from their bodies.

These were the fishes gifted to Shao Xuan by the Di Mountain tribe. Shao Xuan had stopped caring about them ever since he dumped them into the canal. After he came back from the trip to the Lu tribe, these fishes were already as long as his arm. It was shocking to see how rapidly they grew. The warriors who were guarding at the post here told Shao Xuan that the pterosaur had been feeding these fishes all this time, and it hadn’t stopped.

Shao Xuan had no clue what the pterosaur was planning this time, but as long as it didn’t eat these fishes, he didn’t mind. It was helping him care for these fishes anyways.

“Woo—”

A low and deep horn sound rushed up to the clouds and echoed across the forest.

Shao Xuan looked over to the trading point. Another tribe had arrived. They didn’t come from the suspension bridge, so they probably came by boat on the Flaming River.

Zheng Luo and the others felt more at ease after seeing the number of tribes increase day after day. There were already more than ten tribes here, even more than they had expected. Now, all they had to do was wait for tribes that were farther away to arrive. They might need a few more days before they get here.

Shao Xuan didn’t go back to the trading point. After crossing the suspension bridge, he took a walk outside. He observed the topography of the ground and checked to see if they needed to add more defenses here.

“We need to chop down more trees. The people on the whistle tower can’t see what’s happening on the other side of the canal,” Shao Xuan muttered to himself. He suddenly halted and looked toward the trees not far away.

Someone else had arrived. There were quite a lot of them too.

Whoosh—

The sound of their bodies rubbing against the bushes. It was barely audible. It was clear that these people were vigilant and careful about their movements.

Cling, cling, cling—

Hard objects clinked loudly. It sounded like bone ornaments.

Shao Xuan stopped moving and just stood there. He wasn’t trying to hide himself because the other party probably noticed him already. That was why the leader of this group halted for a moment before he started walking again.

Very soon, those people came out of the woods. The material of their clothing was mainly made from beast hide and many of them wore bone ornaments, especially the leader. Beast fangs and beast bones decorated their bodies from head to toe. Just like most tribesmen would, they dressed up before they came here.

Shao Xuan’s eyes scanned this group. They were all young and strong totemic warriors. All of them, male or female, had a combative spirit that was sharp as daggers.

This was a combative tribe.

“Who are you?!” a member of this team took a step forward and glared at Shao Xuan.

The leader of this group turned his head sideways and his laser beam eyes scanned the grounds around them. He raised his hand to stop those who were about to speak. His arms were like a strong wall, stopping those who were about to take a step forward.

“Are you an expedition team member? Or did you come here because of the announcement?” the person asked in a deep voice.

Shao Xuan was frowning. He was about to answer this question but his head turned to one direction. Someone else had arrived.

Boom!

The person who asked him this question stomped his feet into the ground and his energy surged. The beast hide clothing he was wearing started to flap due to the strong energy currents emanating from his body.

The clothes seemed loose on his body, but as totemic lines began to surface and his energy increased, his body began to bulge. All of a sudden, his clothes became tight on his body. The air whistled where his arms swept, like a cold winter wind ready to strike.

Behind this person, everyone else in the team also activated their totemic energy as they looked cautiously in one direction.

Very soon, another group appeared in the direction they were facing. The leader of this new group scoffed, “Thunder Mountain tribe? I never thought I would see you guys here!”

“Sickle tribe?! What are you guys doing here?” The Thunder Mountain chief’s tone was extremely rude. It was clear that these two parties didn’t get along.

“Of course we came for the same reason,” the Sickle chief said with cold eyes.

The two parties were in a tense standoff. Standing between the two tribes, Shao Xuan was completely ignored by both sides.