Thirty-two tribes, plus the three tribes that didn't make it to the gathering because it was too far away for them to travel for the first time, made up a total of thirty-five tribes. They followed the Yanjiao hunting team into the forest.
The three teams that were late arrived at the trading point after the gathering ended. They didn't go back immediately. Instead, they waited for the hunt to end before going back because their tribes were too far away. Speaking of this, two tribes even expressed that if they could successfully merge their fire seed, they might move upstream.
In the past, they lived in deserted places far away from other tribes for safety reasons. Now, they planned to move to places with more tribes for safety reasons as well. The situation was different, so was the way to do things.
Of course, not every tribe that came joined the hunt. Tribes that weren't good at fighting and didn't have much of an advantage only sent a few people. Some even sent only one or two people. Compared to the Thunder Mountain tribe and the Water Tiger tribe, they were nothing. But after all, the tribes had different styles. Some people didn't hunt for a living, so they didn't have any experience in this area. If they insisted on going, not only would they be a burden, they might even lose their lives before entering the forest.
Even the weakest tribe would send out one or two people to go hunting with the team. Some were chiefs, and some were excellent warriors of the tribe.
For example, the Drumming tribe absolutely didn't want to fight fearsome beasts. In the past, they wouldn't have the guts to go into the forest with fearsome beasts either. But now, with so many tribes joining the alliance and so many people going hunting, if they didn't send anyone to join the hunt, they would definitely be laughed at by other tribes. That was why Abuli, who was the chief and considered himself the strongest in the tribe, brought two warriors from the Drumming tribe to join the hunt. The three of them were the three people with the biggest legs in the Drumming tribe. They were also the fastest. If they encountered any danger, they could run away even if they couldn't win.
In the minds of most tribesmen, strength was everything. That was why the tribes that were good at fighting were more arrogant and confident. Those who didn't like to solve problems by force and weren't good at fighting chose to use their skills in exchange for survival resources. Those who didn't join the hunt would wait in the trading area. While waiting for the hunting team, they would adapt to everything in the trading area. Some of them would also participate in Yanjiao's expansion of the trading area.
Before they set off, Shao Xuan had called the leaders of each tribe or hunting team together and told them what they should pay attention to in the forest. The inexperienced tribesmen should observe the experienced Taihe tribesmen or Yanjiao warriors. They shouldn't use the same techniques they used to deal with wild beasts.
The hunting route Yanjiao chose wasn't one of the six routes they used before, but the newly opened seventh route. The number of fierce beasts on this route was less than the other six because there were many places that weren't suitable for plants to grow. Naturally, the number of fierce beasts on this route was lower than the other six routes.
This route wasn't suitable for Yanjiao alone, but it was very suitable for these tribesmen. If there were too many fierce beasts, Yanjiao wouldn't be able to save them even if they had more people.
There were about three hundred people from the other tribes in the hunting team. Tribes like the Thunder Mountain tribe and the Drumming tribe each had about fifty people, but most of the other tribes had less people. Tribes like the Drumming tribe didn't have a large population and weren't good at fighting or hunting. The number of people in their teams could be counted on one hand.
Luckily, the Thunder Mountain tribe, the Drumming tribe and the Water Tiger tribe were divided into three different water systems when they were hunting. The three tribes didn't have any conflicts at the moment, but they still wanted to compete with each other.
After crossing the Flaming River Bridge, they walked deeper into the forest. The trees around them grew taller and taller, and the grass grew thicker and thicker. In some places, the grass was so thick that it could drown a person.
Even the roots of the trees were thicker than the strongest person in the group, let alone this forest full of ancient trees. The five hundred people in the group were like ants in the forest.
The fog surrounding the mountains seemed to exude a quiet murderous aura. It was as if something dangerous was hiding in the fog, silently looking down on the group.
Tiny!
This was the first impression they had when they entered the forest for the first time. They seemed to understand why Yanjiao brought them here. If they didn't come, they wouldn't know how tiny they were.
The Yanjiao tribesmen chose to hunt as their first group activity because they wanted to change some of the tribesmen's personalities, especially those who were usually arrogant. The masters of this forest were not the wild beasts they usually hunted, but the fierce beasts that were even more dangerous than wild beasts.
Their ancestors might have encountered fierce beasts a thousand years ago, but their descendants had been isolated by the river for almost a thousand years, so they didn't have the experience to deal with fierce beasts.
If one were to say that these tribes were swords, then these swords were rusty or blunt swords that had not been sharpened yet. After experiencing the hunting in the forest, these swords would become much sharper. In order to prevent more people from being taken away by the slave masters, these tribesmen would also sharpen their knives.
The roar of a beast came from afar. It sounded excited. The Yanjiao tribesmen who often hunted could tell that it was the roar of a fierce beast after successfully chasing away an intruder. There must have been a fierce battle before this.
"Roar roar roar —"
A roar came from the group.
The Ya tribesmen, who were looking around nervously, were so scared by the sudden roar that they started digging into the ground. Abuli had already taken a few steps forward when he realised that the roar came from the team.
Everyone looked over and saw the Chief of the Water Tiger tribe, Qu Li, roaring at the top of his lungs. The veins on his neck were bulging.
The other Water Tiger tribesmen behind him were about to speak too.
"Shut up!" Shao Xuan said in a low voice.
Hearing this, Qu Li stopped roaring. He realized that the Yanjiao tribesmen in front of him were looking at him speechlessly. The other tribesmen didn't look too happy either. Some even looked like they were about to rush over.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Qu Li also realized that his actions were inappropriate. But when he heard the roar from afar, he suddenly felt like he had an epiphany. The blood in his body seemed to be bubbling. He was so excited that he couldn't describe it with words, so he could only roar out loud.
The Water Tiger tribesmen liked to vent their emotions by roaring when they were emotional. No matter if it was anger, sadness, or excitement, they would all do it. This was a habit that had been passed down for thousands of years. The ancestors of the Water Tiger tribe had passed down this habit even longer ago. This was also why Qu Li couldn't help himself just now.
But in this situation, Qu Li's actions were courting death. In the forest, some fierce beasts would roar like this to declare their territory and warn outsiders. Besides that, roaring was also a form of provocation.
What an idiot!
Many people cursed in their hearts. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't convenient to speak loudly here, they would definitely have cursed him on the spot. They might even have rushed over to beat him up.
"In this forest, sometimes, you'll die faster if you roar." Shao Xuan said. Roaring in the forest also required skills and techniques. When to roar and when not to roar depended on the specific situation. And that moment just now was clearly not the time to roar.
As they walked forward, they didn't need any more instructions from the Yanjiao tribesmen. They were all silent, as if their bodies were on the highest alert. Even the Water Tiger tribesmen kept their mouths shut.
Everyone who followed them, even if they weren't the best warriors in their tribes, was definitely outstanding. Their instincts were also quite sharp. There were threats all around. Although the towering trees and tall grass blocked their vision to a large extent, many people could still intuitively sense some things that could not be seen with their eyes.
Around them was a patch of grass taller than a person. There were things hidden in the grass, and there were many eyes filled with killing intent staring at them from all directions.
Seeing how nervous everyone was, Shao Xuan said, "Don't worry, those are shadow sparrows. They're very cunning. The stronger and calmer you appear, the less likely they'll attack you. But if you cower, they'll list you as targets to test. "
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of flapping wings came from a hundred meters ahead. Looking up, they saw grey-green birds about half the height of a person taking flight.
Caesar, who was beside Shao Xuan, bared his fangs and let out a low growl.
Shao Xuan stopped in his tracks and raised his hand to signal.
Eight Yanjiao warriors raised their weapons and snuck forward.
"What … what's going on?" Abuli asked.
Before Shao Xuan could explain, a deafening bestial roar sounded in front of them.
Ci Du leaped onto the nearest tree and looked ahead. Without the cover of the bushes, he could see what was happening even though the trees were blocking his vision.
The others in the group also climbed up the tree and looked in that direction.
It was a huge Vicious Beast. Standing on the ground, its back alone was four times taller than them. Its fur was dark brown and thick.
A tree with a trunk as thick as ten people hugging it was broken. Two powerful hind legs pushed off the ground, pushing its huge body into the air and pouncing in a certain direction. Other than that Vicious Beast, Ci Du also saw a few figures moving about. Those were the eight Yanjiao warriors who had just passed by.
Even though they were a little far away, everyone in the group could clearly feel the ground trembling. That was the sound of the Vicious Beast's powerful hind legs stomping on the ground. It went without saying that the Yanjiao warriors who were close to the Vicious Beast could feel the tremors.
Ci Du, Qu Li, Lu Zhai and the other leaders of the Thunder Mountain tribe all stared unblinkingly in that direction. That Vicious Beast's attacks weren't flashy. They were simple, direct, and effective. It made full use of its natural advantages to create even more lethal attacks.
It waved its claws repeatedly, making whooshing sounds in the air. It was as if sharp blades were dancing in the air.
Not only did it have great strength, but it also had great lethality. Everyone who saw this scene had no doubt that those claws could slice a person into several pieces. In the face of such a ferocious attack, even the Flaming Horns, who were considered strong in the tribe, seemed weak at this moment.
Boom!
Another series of crashing sounds rang out as more trees were knocked down. The sound of tree trunks breaking was like the sound of thunder. Countless wood shavings flew into the air, along with bits of grass. For a moment, it was hard to see what was going on. The only thing that was clear was the sound of the ground shaking and the thunderous sound of tree trunks snapping.
The tribes that didn't hunt for a living all sucked in cold breaths when they saw this scene. To them, against such a Vicious Beast, there was no way they could survive. It wasn't because they were weak, but because they had no experience. Their faces were pale with fright.
Even the Yanjiao warriors, who had superior strength and physique, couldn't gain the upper hand against a Vicious Beast of this level. Most of them relied on teamwork and hunting techniques to kill the Vicious Beast bit by bit.
If even the Yanjiao warriors were like this, then the other tribes who weren't as strong as the Yanjiao warriors were naturally even more cautious. And Yanjiao's actions were a warning to the other tribes: Don't be arrogant, don't be pretentious. If you really wanted to fight those Vicious Beasts one-on-one and think you could fight them head-on, the result was that you'd be killed instead of being pretentious.
The Yanjiao warriors who didn't participate in the battle shared some knowledge with the other tribes who came to the forest for the first time. They also warned them not to fight those Vicious Beasts one-on-one. If they got separated from the group and encountered such Vicious Beasts, they definitely couldn't fight them head-on. If they couldn't escape, they had to use their wits to win. They had to try their best to grind out a chance of survival.
"Even the Yanjiao warriors can't fight it one-on-one?" Ci Du, the chief of the Zhi tribe, suddenly asked.
"Who said that?! Chief, Elder Zheng Luo, Elder Ao, Team Leader Ta, and Team Leader Duo Kang all had the experience of fighting such Vicious Beasts one-on-one. But not everyone has the strength to fight such a Vicious Beast. "
Some people in the group didn't agree with the Yanjiao warrior's words. If the Yanjiao warriors could fight such a Vicious Beast one-on-one, why couldn't their chief do the same?
"Chief, Elder, Team Leader … Hey, can't your Grand Elder do it?" Ci Du asked.
The Yanjiao warrior who explained to them felt that Ci Du had asked a pointless question. "Our Grand Elder even fought a Vicious Beast one-on-one. Do you think he can do it?"
Ci Du's expression became more serious, but at the same time, he was secretly happy. Sure enough, not all Yanjiao warriors were as strong as Shao Xuan. It seemed that the difference between the Yanjiao and the Zhi tribe wasn't that big. Maybe they could catch up.
Shao Xuan didn't know what the others were thinking. He was only paying attention to the battle. Even if he couldn't see, he could sense the life auras of the eight Yanjiao warriors.
"Roar —"
There was a mournful roar of a Vicious Beast.
Ci Du, who was on the tree, noticed that the ferocious beast, which was four to five times taller than them, had begun to panic and fear, and wanted to escape. It had been injured by the Yanjiao warriors, but the Yanjiao warriors didn't give it a chance to escape.
Not long after the commotion died down, the Yanjiao warriors who had gone past dragged a Vicious Beast back.
The group immediately went over to take a closer look at the Vicious Beast.
"Don't look. You'll see more if you keep going," Mai said to the people who wanted to squeeze in to see the Vicious Beast.
"Let's find a place to eat first," Shao Xuan said.
They were almost at the place they had chosen. If they kept going forward, the grass wouldn't be as deep, and the forest wouldn't be as dense.
Before they reached the hunting spot, the Yanjiao warriors had demonstrated hunting methods to the people who were entering the forest for the first time. Of course, different tribes had different styles of doing things, so the Yanjiao warriors had only demonstrated a few times. As for how to do it, the people of each tribe had to figure out a method that suited them.
The people of each tribe could learn a lot from the Yanjiao warriors when it came to the larger Vicious Beasts, but they couldn't learn the Yanjiao's methods when it came to the smaller Vicious Beasts.
Even the smaller Vicious Beasts were much larger than humans. The Yanjiao warriors could lift them up like salted fish. They slammed the Vicious Beasts to the ground, flipped them over a few times, and then slammed them down again in a different position. The thick grass on the ground was destroyed into a mess. Bits of grass flew everywhere, and rocks scattered in all directions. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have worked. They simply couldn't lift the Vicious Beasts up so easily.
"In this forest, the grass grows very quickly. Look over there now, it's almost like a layer of grass has been peeled off. But ten days later, when you return, you'll see that it's covered in a layer of green again," Shao Xuan said to the others as he pointed to the battlefield where the battle had already ended.
When they finally reached the hunting area, the hunting team split into three groups. The tribesmen of each water tribe formed a branch team, and the Yanjiao warriors also followed the three teams.
However, what made Shao Xuan alert was that he found traces of other human activity in this hunting area.
"Tell everyone to be careful. It doesn't matter if those people's goal is us or not. It's always good to be on guard."
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