201: Chapter 201 The Beginning of the Beast Tide

Chapter 201: The Beginning of Triggering the Beast Tide

The sun slanted westward, and the rosy clouds dyed the miles of clouds in the sky orange-Red.

The cold wind, as biting as swords, swept across the mountain range and lashed wildly against the bodies of the group of five, but was kept out by the battle qi covering the surface of their bodies.

After practicing Wizardry for an afternoon, Lister led the team to the westernmost side of the Tianping Mountain Range.

The sense of urgency brought by the superposition of divination and various matters made him accelerate his plan against the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

Triggering a Beast Tide was not an easy task and required various factors to align before it could be accomplished.

And now the blizzard was in a brief period of stagnation, making the timing most appropriate.

Reining in his horse and stopping atop a high slope, Lister's gaze swept from near to far, looking far away toward the due west.

At the foot of the mountain range, a buffer zone over a hundred meters wide meandered and extended to the ends of the sky on both the north and south sides, separating the Iron Thorn Territory Branch from the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

In the bare woods on the west side near the buffer zone, watchtower-like structures stood tall, separated from each other by a distance of over a hundred meters.

In the observation rooms at the top of the watchtowers, two tribal Soldiers holding bows and arrows and wearing grey-black animal skin armor paced back and forth from time to time to observe the surrounding information.

Directly below the watchtowers, a small circle of tents was surrounded, and a dozen or so similarly equipped Soldiers warmed themselves by the fire while bantering.

Seeing this scene, he had to admit that although the Shadow Leopard Tribe was not a good thing, they did a fairly decent job in military defense.

Shifting his gaze into the distance, the bare woods gradually transitioned into lush and verdant winter tree forests, from deep inside which dark grey thick smoke drifted out from time to time.

His eyes narrowed slightly, as he knew that was precisely the target of their trip—the Shadow Leopard Tribe settlement.

According to his understanding during this period, the Shadow Leopard Tribe had existed on this land for more than two hundred years.

They did not bear this name at the very beginning; they were just a small, obscure, and weak tribe.

Until over two hundred years ago, the great chieftain of the tribe, who was also the founder of the Shadow Leopard Tribe—

One night, he suddenly led an army in rebellion, killed the tribal leader at that time, and successfully seized supreme power over the entire tribe.

Ever since then, the Shadow Leopard Tribe abandoned the peaceful development method of the original tribe and began using aggression as the cornerstone for the tribe's growth.

Precisely because of this method, they rapidly developed into a powerful tribe that the surrounding forces now feared and dreaded.

Originally, given their development speed, there was a high probability they could have developed into a tribe as powerful as the Flame Tiger Tribe.

But a few years ago, the Pedan Kingdom suddenly launched an unreasoned fierce attack on the tribal forces of the Western Frontier, causing many tribal forces to perish.

At that time, the leader of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, who had already stepped into the half-step senior Totem Warrior realm, was slain by a Golden Knight of the kingdom due to arrogance.

This caused a huge impact on the development of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, and they recuperated and lay low until the past two years when they began acting wildly again.

Because of this unbearable past, the Shadow Leopard Tribe had always held a strong hostile mentality toward the Pioneer Territory forces.

He felt this was completely normal; throughout history, winners are kings and losers are villains, and it had always been so.

Retracting his gaze, he looked up at the orange-Red clouds in the sky, where the edge of the horizon had just begun to be stained by nightfall.

Turning his head, he looked at everyone and ordered: "Everyone stand by in place, and begin actions after nightfall."

As the neat and respectful response fell, under Red's command, the knights quickly set up a simple resting area.

The sky grew increasingly gloomy, and the biting cold wind swept through the dense winter woods, making the leaves rustle with a " splash splash splash" sound.

Inside the simple tent, Lister held a cup of hot milk and sat upright on the soft cushion in the exact middle, with Baize lying prone on the ground resting beside him.

Red, Spartacus, Sejin, and Aier sat around the two sides, and the burning campfire in the middle occasionally emitted a " Sizzle sizzle" sound of sparks.

In view of the importance and particularity of this mission, Baize also came along with them; with its bloodline, it could well deter the beasts.

Coming along at the same time was Raymond the lion, whose task was to be responsible for the reconnaissance and transmission of the overall situation; with his flying ability, he could not be more suitable.

Sweeping his gaze across everyone's faces, Lister said with a calm expression: "The core settlement of the Shadow Leopard Tribe is still some distance away from the Tianping Mountain Range. If we want to successfully lure the Beast Tide over, we must penetrate deep into the vicinity of the Shadow Leopard Tribe settlement."

"But you should have all observed the situation just now; the border defense deployment of the Shadow Leopard Tribe is done very well."

"As long as the Beast Tide is successfully triggered, the patrolling Soldiers will definitely notice the abnormalities in the Tianping Mountain Range at the first moment, and thus all we will face is failure."

"Therefore, we must clear out these patrolling Soldiers in advance—"

Speaking of this, his gaze looked toward Red on the side and commanded: "Red, this mission is handed over to you. Begin actions after nightfall."

"Understood." Red respectfully complied.

Nodding slightly, Lister continued: "Although our purpose this time is to trigger a Beast Tide to attack the Shadow Leopard Tribe, there are many uncertainties within it."

"To ensure that the final result meets our expectations, I think we need to add another layer of safeguard measures."

"Each of you four will lead a knight squad. After the Beast Tide is successfully triggered, you will observe along the periphery of the Beast Tide."

"If you find that the effect of the Beast Tide is insufficient during this period, each of you will add fuel to the fire and increase some trouble for the Shadow Leopard Tribe."

The four nodded to indicate they understood, and then everyone discussed some operational details.

The howling cold wind blew the trees and tents flapping loudly, and the ink-like night gradually shrouded the entire sky.

Until the moonlight poured down and the stars faintly emerged, the quietly waiting knights began their respective actions.

Everyone was divided into four squads. One squad, led by Red, quickly sneaked toward the border defense outposts of the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

The remaining three squads, led by Spartacus, Sejin, and Aier respectively, galloped rapidly toward three directions in the mountain range.

Their task was to harass and attack the magical beasts and wild beasts in the mountain range, attracting their hatred and drawing them toward this direction.

The purpose of doing this was to maximize the triggering of the Beast Tide.

Since they were going to do it, they should do it thoroughly. Ever since Lister learned from Sejin about the heinous crimes committed by the Shadow Leopard Tribe, he no longer had any sense of guilt about triggering this Beast Tide.

As the four squads left respectively, Lister gazed at the pitch-black and gloomy mountain range, with Baize, which had grown to waist height, and several knights standing quietly on both sides of him.

The silver-blue moonlight sprinkled into the mountain forest, carrying a trace of chilliness, as if it also portended the terrible attack that was about to happen next.

The deafening sound of the wind blew past his ears. Lister's gaze stared closely at the outpost on the border of the Shadow Leopard Tribe in the distance, with not a trace of expression visible on his face.

Within his visible sight, there were a total of three outposts on the eastern border of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, each separated by a hundred meters.

If it were daytime, with his five-sense attributes as a high-tier Silver Knight, he could easily see the figures and states in the observation room of each outpost.

But now, after nightfall had completely descended, the only outpost he could see clearly was the closest one directly ahead.

Although the other two outposts could still be seen, he could only make out the general outline of the outposts and the bright firelight flickering in the dark.

In comparison, those Soldiers, most of whom were not even elementary Totem Warriors, naturally found it even more impossible to see the situation of adjacent outposts.

Therefore, as long as no major commotion was caused, after Red assassinated the Soldiers of the closest outpost, he could still remain without attracting any attention.

During this period, the Shadow Leopard Tribe was confronting the Giant Elephant Tribe, and most of their military force had been placed in the west, so the defense strength of the borders in other directions was reduced a lot.

After taking down the outpost, the road leading to the core settlement of the Shadow Leopard Tribe could be easily cleared by Red with his high-tier Silver strength.

Next, as long as he waited for the missions of the three squads to be completed, he could take out the essence blood of the Black Flame Demon Bear and complete the next crucial step.

Just as his thoughts were surging, Red led his squad and had already sneaked close to the outpost.

The firelight emanating from within the outpost camp was greatly restricted in the pitch-black night where one could not see one's fingers, and could only illuminate a range of less than thirty meters around.

Located at the junction of light and darkness, Red quickly observed the number of patrolling Soldiers around the outpost.

Immediately afterward, he took out a grayish-white longbow made of magical beast bones with full hardness and toughness, and sharp arrows carrying a trace of residual magical aura.

Nocking five arrows neatly onto the longbow, he raised the bow and arrows, his sharp eyes aiming at five of the patrolling Soldiers below the outpost.

As the bows and arrows were aimed at the Soldiers' bodies, without any hesitation, the hand gripping the bone arrows instantly released.

With a " call out" sound, a piercing sound of breaking through the air like an eagle's cry rang out. In the blink of an eye, the five patrolling Soldiers were hit in their vital parts without any reaction, and immediately fell to the ground dead.

The sudden death of their comrades made the expressions of the surviving patrolling Soldiers around change drastically, just as they prepared to shout loudly and make defensive reactions.

Several harsh sounds of breaking through the air rang out again in the gloomy sky. Within a few breaths, all the patrolling Soldiers around the outpost died, and the patrolling Soldiers in the observation room had already fallen into endless slumber long ago.

This series of assassinations was extremely fast, and the commotion caused was limited to a range of fifty meters around. The patrolling Soldiers of the outposts on the north and south sides did not notice it at all.

"Red and the others have succeeded. Next, it depends on Spartacus and the others."

Taking all this in, a trace of joy could not help but surface on Lister's face.

Time passed minute by minute, and the howling sound of the cold wind grew louder and louder, blowing the entire mountain range as if it were shaking.

The operation of the mission to attract the beasts was not easy, and unexpected situations were very likely to occur in the middle, so Lister was not the least bit anxious.

Taking advantage of this time, he summoned the white ancient book in his mind and began today's divination, lest he forget after plunging body and soul into the action next.

On the quaint and vicissitudinous blank pages, four divination messages slowly emerged.

[Divination 1: The Cyan Pig Tribe perished under the joint invasion of the Giant Elephant Tribe and the Shadow Leopard Tribe, and a small number of tribal people were captured alive.]

[Divination 2: Due to the buyer's urging, the Shadow Leopard Tribe will tonight follow the decree of the "Shadow Leopard Beast God" in advance, and conduct a five-viscera sacrificial ritual on the captured Serfs of the Cyan Pig Tribe.]

[Divination 3: Among the Serfs of the Cyan Pig Tribe captured by the Shadow Leopard Tribe, there are more than a dozen people specialized in agricultural knowledge.]

[Divination 4: After discussion, the lords Primo, Raglan, and Malz decided to personally visit you tomorrow to seek cooperation.]

Sweeping his gaze quickly across the first three divination messages, his eyes held both anger and surprise.

What made him angry was that the Shadow Leopard Tribe actually started doing such filthy, heaven-defying things again, and even claimed to follow the decree of the Shadow Leopard Beast God in advance.

It was clearly urged by the buyer behind the scenes, and their leaders just borrowed this pretext to conduct the so-called sacrificial ritual.

For a moment, he felt somewhat regretful that when the kingdom's army swept through a few years ago, why didn't they go a step further.

In that way, the Shadow Leopard Tribe could have been completely annihilated, and there wouldn't be this damned nonsense of them continuing to do evil now.

"They really are a group of fellows with great luck." He couldn't help but sneer softly and coldly.

However, after his anger subsided, what surprised him was that among the Cyan Pig Tribe captives, there were actually more than a dozen people proficient in agricultural knowledge.

He had learned about the Cyan Pig Tribe before; this was a tribe with a mature agricultural irrigation system, and the people in the tribe were skilled in agricultural knowledge.

And agricultural talents specifically emphasized by divination must surely be top-tier talents within the Cyan Pig Tribe.

Thinking of this, his heart, which originally only wanted to trigger a Beast Tide to attack the Shadow Leopard Tribe, suddenly had other changes.

Although he now possessed two territories and the rear base camp could continuously provide human resources, talents in various aspects were still scarce.

Especially talents proficient in agriculture; as long as one came, he would not refuse, let alone more than a dozen professional talents.

The farming environment of the Western Frontier Territory was different from that within the kingdom, and the agricultural farming methods of the two must also be different.

If the farming methods of agricultural talents within the kingdom were moved here, not to mention whether they could be completely suitable, even if they could be suitable—

The efficiency, yield, quality, and other aspects of farming would probably not be too good, at least in the early stage without experimentation, which was highly likely the case.

Under this circumstance, if he could absorb the agricultural talents of those tribal forces, it could not only eliminate the aforementioned problems.

It could also allow the agricultural talents within the kingdom to learn from each other's strengths and share and learn mutually, thereby cultivating more comprehensive agricultural talents.

Thinking of this, he secretly made a calculation in his heart: "Perhaps I can try to rescue them amidst the chaos later."

After the cold winter came spring, and the time when all things revive was also the beginning of farming.

In order to successfully complete the spring plowing and do it well, he felt that taking this risk was still worth it.

Then, shifting his gaze to the last divination message, he felt slightly surprised and puzzled.

Regarding his unacquainted neighbor Primo, he only knew a shallow surface, and was not very clear about aspects such as personality and strength.

Now that Primo was suddenly coming to visit, he originally thought that Primo had discovered the mastermind behind the Earth Dragon Fish last time and was coming to make a scene of questioning.

But what was written on the divination was seeking cooperation, which made him breathe a sigh of relief while also feeling somewhat baffled.

After thinking about it for a while and failing to figure it out, he couldn't be bothered to keep thinking: "Forget it, everything will be clear when he comes tomorrow. Since we are here, we take things as they come."

Just as he finished his divination, a violent commotion emanated from the abyss-like gloomy mountain forest.