The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 338 Extra Chapter: Unless I Die
The war in the south started earlier than planned. Ling Chengen's original intention was to cut off the encirclement before attacking, since the salt supply in the entire Northern Wilderness was firmly controlled by them. If the salt supply channels in the south were cut off, they would have to mine salt rocks to get salt for daily use.

However, the salt reserves in the entire Northern Wilderness are not abundant. Before Ling Chengen and the Hailing tribe started seawater salt production, the main source of salt for the beastmen in the entire Northern Wilderness came from the salt mines in the south. After thousands of years of mining, the salt resources in the south have gradually become scarce, and this was already evident in the year Ling Chengen arrived in the Beast World.

After that, sea salt replaced mineral salt in the south and gradually supplied the entire southern tribes.

If the salt supply to the south is cut off now, the southern tribes will immediately fall into panic due to the lack of salt.

Ling Chengen was unsure how long the salt from the southern mines could sustain them, but the south lacked the technology to refine clean, fine salt. Having tasted the pure white, clean fine salt, returning to a life reliant on bitter, astringent salt would be a huge challenge.

Most of the nobles and their descendants who were exiled from the Southern Plains lived a life of extravagance. After arriving in the desolate Northern Lands, their standard of living plummeted. That's why they banded together to oppress the natives of the Northern Wilderness and brought the cruel slave system of the Southern Plains to the Northern Wilderness...

The ultimate purpose of doing this is to plunder resources and enslave more people to ensure their extravagant lifestyles.

Therefore, cutting off the supply of fine salt would definitely provoke the anger of the orcs in the southern region.

Ling Chengen wasn't afraid of them making any moves; what he feared most was them remaining inactive.

Although the south is not as unified as the central, eastern and northern regions, it is actually quite a monolithic entity.

Although the large tribes in the south operated independently, they were also very cooperative. Especially after the rise of the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, their connections became even closer, and they reached a consensus on how to fight against the army of the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, standing on the same side.

……

Chang Tianchen looked at Ling Chengen, who was sitting at her desk reviewing official documents. He casually ripped off his tie, wrapped it around his wrist a few times, and slowly walked to her side. He rested one hand on the desk and said, "Are you just going to continue ignoring me like this?"

Ling Chengen, without looking up, was reviewing documents and said, multitasking, "Didn't I receive you earlier? We finished our official business, but you didn't want to leave and insisted on staying here. I don't have that much time to chat with you. There's a pile of official business to handle, especially since Chongzhen isn't here. If I don't do these things, they'll just pile up."

Chang Tianchen leaned against the edge of the table beside her and sighed deeply: "Don't you have any capable helpers? As the true master of Ten Thousand Beasts City, you live a life busier than livestock..."

Ling Chengen paused abruptly, her hand holding the pen. She looked up sharply, her beautiful eyes flashing with anger, and glared at him, saying, "Can't you speak properly? I'm taking responsibility. If I replaced you with someone incompetent, you'd be the ones working your butts off..."

Chang Tianchen tugged at his collar, tilted his head to stare into her eyes, and said with satisfaction, "Finally, you're willing to look at me properly."

His gaze swept over the documents in Ling Chengen's hands, and he snatched away the reply she hadn't finished: "Anyway, I just got back, and I'm very free when there's no war. I have a lot of time every day, so why don't I help you?"

Ling Chengen looked him up and down for a while, then decisively shook his head and said, "You can't do this kind of delicate work."

Chang Tianchen immediately retorted, straightening up and saying, "Who do you think you are? How come I can't do fine work? That fox can help you with these chores, so can I!"

Ling Chengen pointed to a stool not far away: "Okay, move the stool over here and try processing two portions first. If it doesn't work, get out of here!"

Although Chang Tianchen was not interested in this kind of work of sitting in a study, he felt that it would be a different story if Ling Chengen were by his side.

Chang Tianchen pulled over a few of her unprocessed documents, took a pen from the pen holder, leaned back in his chair without any proper posture, scanned the documents, and raised an eyebrow slightly, saying, "What? Market commodity prices have gone up? Do you really need to report such a trivial matter to me?"

Ling Chengen snatched the official document from his hand, glanced at it, and said speechlessly, "Look beyond the surface to see the essence, do you understand? Fluctuations in commodity prices are often closely related to things happening around us. For example, the recent fluctuations in salt prices are because we are cutting off the supply of sea salt from the south, but the sea salt production in coastal areas is very stable. After we stop supplying the southern market, that batch of salt will flow into our central and eastern regions, as well as the northern regions..."

"However, the population cannot grow on a large scale in a short period of time, so the consumption of sea salt in these three regions is relatively stable. Therefore, the price of salt on the market has started to drop due to the large influx of sea salt."

"To ensure the profits from fine salt, there are usually several ways. One is to expand the market, such as developing fine salt trade in the western region..."

Ling Chengen patiently explained the matter to him in detail.

Chang Tianchen rested his chin on his hand, looking somewhat nonchalant, but he was actually listening very attentively...

After Ling Chengen finished speaking, he asked, "So how do you plan to resolve this?"

"How many people are there in the western region? The southern region has the largest population in the entire Northern Wilderness, while the western region has the smallest population. Even if the salt supply and sales channels in the west are agreed upon, the fine salt in the coastal areas will still be stockpiled, right?"

Ling Chengen smiled and said, "Smart! But every little bit helps. Not everything in this world has a perfect solution."

"Furthermore, I've been considering promoting pickled foods."

"Although we have started animal husbandry in recent years, the scale has remained small and is growing slowly because we don't have many breeding animals. Currently, the meat source for the Northern Wilderness beastmen mainly relies on hunting..."

"Whether it's hunting or farming, there's a common problem: preserving fresh meat is difficult."

"After all, warriors who awaken ice-type abilities are one in ten thousand."

"The cost of building an ice storage facility is very high, and the subsequent maintenance costs are also very high..."

"So when the weather is hot, a lot of meat is wasted because we can't finish it."

Even if the prey resources in the Northern Wilderness are abundant, they cannot withstand such consumption.

Therefore, in the past, orcs, who lived in tribes, would usually eat their fill for one day and then go hungry for two or three days afterward.

The Ling family was known for its strong hunting skills, but before Ling Chengen transmigrated, Ling Xiaoxi often went hungry, and the child had become accustomed to this irregular lifestyle.

So when Ling Chengen first took over this body, he found that Ling Xiaoxi always tried to eat until she was stuffed at every meal, just because she was worried that she might have to wait several days for her next full meal.

Later, Ling Chengen started hunting regularly, ensuring the family's daily meat supply. It took a long time before Ling Xiaoxi finally realized that she would no longer go hungry so often and changed her bad habit of eating until she was stuffed at every meal.

Chang Tianchen curled his lip and said, "Cured meat doesn't taste good."

Ling Chengen reached out and poked his side, baring his teeth and saying, "You're lucky to have anything to eat, why are you being picky?"

"You really think every orc is as skilled at hunting as you?"

Most orcs are probably at the same level as Yu Shaochen, or even worse.

These people are living a very difficult life. If the pickling method can be spread, although it cannot guarantee that the problem will be solved 100%, it can still provide some relief.

Ling Chengen didn't use much force, and his physical defense was also strong, so Chang Tianchen didn't feel any pain at all. He just shrugged innocently and said, "Pickling food, don't many people in Beast City know how to do that?"

"It hasn't been rolled out in the northern and eastern regions yet."

"Furthermore, there are several mountain tribes along the coast that are influenced by the sea creatures of the far north. They are also willing to deal with us and have expressed their intention to supply seafood and sea beast meat to our inland areas. This way, our inland beastmen can have another source of meat." Chang Tianchen watched as she picked up her pen to approve the document, clearly writing down the specific suggestions, implementation plans, and who would be in charge. Then he closed the document, casually pulled the small bell hanging above the right side of the desk, and soon a gyrfalcon dressed in a small black uniform flew in, folded its wings, landed on the window, and tilted its head to look at Ling Chengen.

Upon seeing the small gyrfalcon, Chang Tianchen narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Is this a beastman?"

Ling Chengen handed the documents in her hand to the gyrfalcon. After the bird of prey left, she said, "These are messenger birds trained by the White Eagle Clan, mainly used to run errands within the city."

Although the gyrfalcon was called a bird of prey before her apocalypse, its fighting power in the beast world ranked low among birds of prey because there were too many large birds of prey, and even small winged dragons like Bao Bao that ruled the sky.

Chang Tianchen didn't know much about these bird species, but he felt that it was similar to how their snake-like beastmen used snakes to communicate. After confirming that the cute bird was not an adult male beastman, he stopped paying attention and began to handle the pile of official business in the same way as Ling Chengen.

Thanks to help, Ling Chengen finished his work early today, before 3 p.m.

My back is a little uncomfortable from sitting for too long.

She stood up and stretched, then turned to look at Chang Tianchen, who was slumped in his chair, asleep with his chin resting on his hand. She sighed softly, didn't disturb him, and instead went to another quiet room, lit the stove, and slowly brewed herself a pot of milk tea.

As he poured milk into the earthenware pot, Ling Chengen leaned against the armrest and muttered with a hint of regret, "I kind of want to eat mangoes..."

However, there are no mangoes in the Northern Wilderness.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Chang Tianchen's voice rang out behind her: "What is a mango?"

Ling Chengen glanced back at him and pointed to the chair opposite him: "Sit wherever you like. I'll share a drink with you later, considering how much you helped me today."

Chang Tianchen glanced at the chair across the table, then dragged a stool over and placed it next to Ling Chengen. He plopped down and leaned against the armrest of her chair, asking with a curious look, "You haven't answered my question yet."

Ling Chengen reached out and pressed his forehead, pushing his face away as he leaned closer: "Don't get so close, you really have no sense of boundaries!"

"Mango is a kind of fruit, and it tastes sweet."

"However, this thing lives in warmer and more stable climates, so it shouldn't exist in the Northern Wilderness."

Her description was ambiguous. Although Chang Tianchen was from Nanyuan, there were many things in Nanyuan that he had never seen before, so he was not sure what Ling Chengen was talking about.

He leaned back in his chair and said, "If you like, I'll make time to go to Nanyuan and help you find it."

Ling Chengen waved his hand and laughed, "I'm not that noble. I wouldn't make you risk your life to find something just because of a little bit of food..."

Chang Tianchen sighed softly, then said, "Would you like to take a trip to Nanyuan? Or shall we go to Nanyuan first and capture a city? That way we'll have a place to stay."

Ling Chengen stared at his profile for a long time before saying, "You really are arrogant! Aren't you afraid of biting your tongue when you talk big?"

Chang Tianchen raised an eyebrow and said, "With our current forces, taking down a beast city in Nanyuan is absolutely no problem."

However, the losses will definitely be substantial.

Ling Chengen pointed his finger at his nose and said, "I painstakingly built up hundreds of thousands of troops, not for you to squander like this! Every single one of them is a living, breathing person, with parents, partners, and children... Every time one of them dies, a family is torn apart, understand?"

Chang Tianchen blinked, reached out his right hand and grasped her fingers, gently squeezing them in his hot palm.

"I'll do it if you want it."

"In war, there are always deaths."

"Moreover, we'll have to fight in Nanyuan sooner or later! Some sacrifices are unavoidable."

Ling Chengen took a deep breath: "We'll make our move only after we're fully prepared. We won't fight a battle we're not ready for! And we certainly won't make any unnecessary sacrifices!"

Chang Tianchen looked at her serious and stern expression, nodded calmly, and suddenly asked, "Can I kiss you?"

She looks quite cute when she's serious, especially when she wants to get angry at him, but in the end she looks helpless.

Ling Chengen was taken aback by his question, staring at him blankly with a puzzled look. "I'm talking to you about something serious. Is this all you're thinking about?"

Chang Tianchen gazed at her with smiling eyes, not letting go of her index finger. He suddenly moved his face closer and said, "You didn't refuse, so that means you agree."

Ling Chengen was about to retort, "Of course I..."

But before he could finish speaking, Chang Tianchen suddenly kissed him.

A fleeting kiss landed on her lips, a brief touch that vanished almost instantly, as gentle as if it had never happened.

Ling Chengen opened his eyes wide, leaned back slightly, frowned and stared at him without saying a word.

After a long pause, she regained her composure and asked, "What do you want to do? I already have partners, and more than one."

Chang Tianchen rested his chin on his hand and asked leisurely, "So?"

"Since you already have several, one more doesn't seem to be a problem."

Ling Chengen said, "I won't marry anyone else. There are already too many people in my family."

Chang Tianchen raised an eyebrow and said, "Then let's not become partners. I'll just be your lover."

"If you want to try a secret relationship, I'll go along with it."

"I guarantee no one will know."

Ling Chengen said speechlessly, "Do you think my partners at home are stupid? I don't want any secret relationships. Just stop here..."

Chang Tianchen grabbed her wrist, his tone unusually firm this time: "Stopping is absolutely impossible."

"My only goal has always been to stay by your side."

"You'll only let me go if I die."