Chapter 53

**（Request for a steady monthly vote, brothers, if you have a steady monthly vote, please cast it for me...)**

Seeing the camel caravan led by Lou Li's copper carriage continue north along the east bank of Wild Horse Creek, Gu Hu, Wu Gong Zong Tu, and others could only deeply hide their doubts in their hearts and invite Ge Yi to rest at the Black Mountain Stone Fort.

Ge Yi, representing the Xuwu Wei Prefecture, entered the stone fort and, after a brief rest, had the Canglan warriors under his command go to various places in the Northern Mountains to notify the tribes to gather their recommended young people at Heavenly Horse Lake for selection.

As for how the selection would be conducted, Ge Yi was unwilling to say more.

Ge Yi was accompanied by Gu Hu, Zong Tu, and others; Chen Xun, who was still a "young man" of fourteen in their eyes, could not join them and instead went with Gu Jianfeng to the southern mountains of Heavenly Horse Lake. They saw the caravan stop in the valley on the southern cliff of Heavenly Horse Lake and no longer move north.

Although the camel caravan only had five or six hundred people, the group included two or three hundred tall camels and horses carrying heavy goods, making the caravan seem exceptionally large.

The people and horses of the caravan were now scattered, occupying an area of about a mile in the valley.

Lou Li's copper carriage, which the Ghost Xi Chieftain rode, was positioned in the middle of the caravan.

Chen Xun and Gu Jianfeng squatted in the bushes on the ridge, and from a distance, they could see Lou Li, dressed in a snow-white fur coat, standing in front of the copper carriage, talking to a few people who seemed to be the leaders of the caravan.

On the outskirts of the caravan, over two hundred fully armed warriors were divided into four groups, guarding key terrain to prevent wild beasts or any disrespectful barbarian tribes from attacking the caravan.

Other servants were orderly unpacking the animal skin bundles on the backs of the tall camels and horses, and tents were quickly being set up in the valley.

Many people were also cutting down giant trees from nearby mountains, dragging them back to the camp with camels and horses, and soon, huge wooden stakes would be erected around the camp.

This caravan seemed to be planning to set up camp on the south shore of Heavenly Horse Lake!

"What are they planning to do?" Gu Jianfeng asked, his brows deeply furrowed.

Chen Xun shrugged and said, "If they set up camp, they probably won't move again, right?"

He knew that Gu Jianfeng should be able to see this possibility, but the area around Heavenly Horse Lake had always been the territory of the Black Mountain tribe, less than twenty miles from the Black Mountain Stone Fort. The sudden intrusion of the caravan, without even a greeting, to set up camp in the southern valley of Heavenly Horse Lake, would make anyone in Gu Jianfeng's position, as the young chief of the Black Mountain tribe, feel uncomfortable.

But what could Gu Jianfeng do, even if he was angry?

Not to mention that the caravan had hundreds of people, including many experts, and perhaps Lou Li alone could crush the Black Mountain tribe.

Of course, Chen Xun could not mock the Black Mountain tribe's misfortune. The Black Mountain tribe could still choose to submit to the Ghost Xi tribe to survive. The survival of the fittest and the submission of the weak to the strong had been the law of the wilderness for thousands of years, and there was nothing to mock.

Chen Xun was worried that the distance from Wuyang to here was only thirty to fifty miles. Thirty years ago, the Ghost Xi tribe had almost wiped out the Wuyang tribe, and only a thousand survivors were forced to flee into the Northern Mountains. Could the Wuyang tribe now submit to the Ghost Xi tribe?

***

Chen Xun and the silent Gu Jianfeng returned to the Black Mountain Stone Fort, just as Grandpa Zong Tu was about to return to Wuyang. The two of them and several tribal warriors set off on their journey back.

Chen Xun told Grandpa what he had seen on the south shore of Heavenly Horse Lake:

"From the looks of it, the Su family intends to establish a permanent camp on the south shore of Heavenly Horse Lake, with the Ghost Xi tribe as the main force..."

"Yes," Wu Gong Zong Tu looked at the layered mountains, his eyes full of worry, and said, "Officially, it's to build a trading post to facilitate the entry of merchants from Canglan City and trade with the tribes in the Northern Mountains, but in reality, it's the first foothold of the Su family in the Northern Mountains."

Although the Wuyang tribe was a small tribe of only a thousand people, Zong Tu, who had experienced the clan's split, had far more insight than the leaders of other small and medium-sized tribes.

Although Ge Yi, representing the Xuwu Wei Prefecture, tried to distance himself from the caravan and acted separately from the Black Mountain tribe, any discerning person knew that without the support of the Su family, the Ghost Xi tribe would not have such great influence in Canglan to organize such a large caravan to enter the Northern Mountains.

Chen Xun had heard from Su Tang that the area between Pythontooth Ridge and Xi Ridge was actually a buffer zone between the Su family and the Xuanhan Sect, which was located in the northern ice plains.

The Xuanhan Sect and the Su family were not supposed to directly extend their influence into this area.

The Ghost Xi tribe originally lived in Xi Ridge and was one of the hundred Xi tribes. A hundred years ago, they submitted to the Su family and gradually moved to the southern foot of Pythontooth Ridge. Thirty years ago, they finally seized the fertile land along the White Wolf River from the Wuyang tribe, firmly establishing themselves in Canglan.

To avoid provoking the Xuanhan Sect, the Su family could not directly enter the Northern Mountains of Pythontooth Ridge. Using the Ghost Xi tribe as a vanguard and establishing a trading post in the Northern Mountains under the guise of a trading post was a flexible method.

The Xuanhan Sect might be dissatisfied with this, but it would be difficult for them to react strongly, and perhaps their influence had already penetrated south of Xi Ridge.

The ultimate goal of the Su family in driving the Ghost Xi tribe as a vanguard was to unify the tribes in the Northern Mountains.

The Wuyang tribe had a deep blood feud with the Ghost Xi tribe thirty years ago. Now, with the Ghost Xi trading post only thirty to fifty miles from Heavenly Horse Lake, the Wuyang tribe was likely to be the first target for the Ghost Xi tribe to establish its authority in the Northern Mountains.

Chen Xun expressed his concerns:

The current strength of the Wuyang tribe was far from enough to resist the Ghost Xi tribe. Although the Black Mountain tribe had made peace with the Wuyang tribe, it would never risk the lives of its five thousand people to ally with the Wuyang tribe against the Ghost Xi tribe's entry into the Northern Mountains.

Even if the Black Mountain tribe were to risk everything, the combined strength of the two tribes would still be far from enough to resist Lou Li alone, let alone the will of the Su family behind him.

"The Su family will not really allow the Ghost Xi tribe to unify Pythontooth Ridge," Wu Gong Zong Tu said, "Especially in the early years, even with the support of the Su family, the Ghost Xi tribe will likely focus mainly on operating the trading post and gradually expand. But the time left for the Wuyang tribe will not be long..."

***

"The Ghost Xi tribe is really too arrogant. Is the Black Mountain tribe really so weak that they have no reaction at all?" Zong Sang was indignant upon hearing that the caravan had set up camp in the valley on the south shore of Heavenly Horse Lake.

"What can the Black Mountain tribe do?"

Back in the fort, Zong Tu gathered everyone to discuss the matter. He had calmed down and did not want to affect the morale of the tribe, but his worries were deep in his heart.

"This caravan from Canglan to the Northern Mountains is about one-third Ghost Xi tribe. Even without Lou Li, the two hundred elite soldiers of the Ghost Xi tribe are enough to crush any stone fort in the Northern Mountains."

Nan Liao looked grim and said, "We don't need to worry about or interfere with how the Ghost Xi tribe and the Black Mountain tribe negotiate the use of the land, but this time, the Wuyang tribe must have its young people selected to enter the Canglan Academy..."

Zong Tu and the elders of the fort nodded, knowing that if the Wuyang tribe did not want to relocate to avoid disaster, this might be the only feasible solution.

The gap between ordinary barbarian warriors and the Tianman who had reached the Rebirth Realm was too great, and the Ghost Xi tribe had more than just Lou Li as a Tianman.

Although the Su family had defeated the Wuyang tribe and established their dominance in Canglan seven or eight hundred years ago, the current decline of the Wuyang tribe would not cause the Su family to have too many suspicions.

If the Wuyang tribe's young people could be selected to enter the Canglan Academy, the significance would not only be the potential for great improvement in personal cultivation or the ability to bring back mystical techniques to the tribe after graduation, but more importantly, it would provide the Wuyang tribe with a protective charm against the powerful Ghost Xi tribe.

As long as the Wuyang tribe had young people enter the Canglan Academy, it could be considered a subordinate tribe of the Su family. Even if the Ghost Xi tribe were powerful, they would not dare to exterminate the Wuyang tribe, which was also a subordinate tribe of the Su family.

"Damn it, how many people does the Xuwu Wei Prefecture plan to select from the Northern Mountains to recommend to the Canglan Academy?" Zong Sang asked angrily, knowing that he had to bow before the powerful, but he could not help feeling resentful.

"The Canglan Academy will admit two hundred tribal young people this time, and the Xuwu Wei Prefecture has the right to recommend twenty people from the Pythontooth Ridge tribes," Zong Tu said.

"Damn, only that many!" Zong Sang spat in anger.

The Canglan City's three orders and six prefectures, among which the Xuwu Wei Prefecture mainly controlled the tribes around Pythontooth Ridge, and the recommendation of tribal young people to the Canglan Academy was mainly from the tribes of Pythontooth Ridge.

However, the area around Pythontooth Ridge was not limited to just thirty to fifty tribes in the Northern Mountains. Including the southern, eastern, and western slopes, there were three to four hundred tribes in total. The Wuyang tribe was just one of the least noticeable among them. How could they compete for one of the twenty recommendation slots from the other three to four hundred tribes?

Chen Xun asked Grandpa Zong Tu, "Did General Ge Yi say how the selection would be conducted?"

The Xuwu Wei Prefecture could only select twenty to thirty people from Pythontooth Ridge to enter the Canglan Academy, and he was more concerned about how the Xuwu Wei Prefecture would select the candidates.

The resources, strength, and traditions of the tribes in the southern mountains of Pythontooth Ridge, such as the Ghost Xi tribe, were much more substantial than those of the Wuyang tribe. This meant that Zong Ya or Zong Ling would face unimaginable difficulty in competing for one of the twenty slots against the young people of these tribes.

When Grandpa Zong Tu and others accompanied Ge Yi and his group to the Black Mountain Stone Fort, Chen Xun was not present and did not know the details of the selection process.