After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 165 Aoshan is coming from the north!

Shortly after the message from the Earl of Jishan, the Chief of the Yanran Clan quietly entered the Sanhuo Tribe again and found Shen Can.

Yan Wanyun brought a piece of luminous iron.

The precious iron is about the size of a palm, with a mixture of blue and black light throughout, and it will generate a misty vapor when held in the hand.

"Is this thing any good?"

Yan Wanyun waited until Shen Can finished inspecting the precious iron before speaking, "It was obtained by the Marquis of Luoshui."

Upon hearing this, Shen Can was taken aback.

Good heavens, what did Luoshui do to deserve this?

"Seeing so many Luoshui soldiers and bronze chariots in your clan's city reminds me that the Luoshui tradition has been passed down for so many years, it must be hiding some good things."

Shen Can didn't say much. The Luoshui Marquis's territory stood right on the banks of the Luoshui River, so there was no reason why he had to go and steal it himself.

Looks like I need to hurry up and get things moving, lest someone else take everything.

The entire piece of precious iron possessed both water and wood attributes, making it very compatible with the soul. Yan Wanyun personally refined it with his blood energy and, following Shen Can's instructions, forged nine slender silver needles as thin as cow hair.

Shen Can spent three days refining the silver needles and then inserted them into one of the nine meridians of Yan Wanyun.

Once the silver needles are activated, they can sever the veins of the three-headed tattoo to extract blood and energy from the divine treasure.

However, Yan Wanyun's entire body was covered by the three-headed tattoo, so the silver needles could not completely stop the flow of energy through his meridians; at most, they could only maintain the effect for a quarter of an hour to half an hour.

Shen Can had another method, which was to use more silver needles to cut at the nodes of the meridians that run through the three-headed tattoo.

But in that case, Yan Wanyun would also be unable to use his blood energy.

If there's no way to take action, then one is at the mercy of others, and Yan Wanyun directly rejected this method.

As the silver needles entered his body, a cool sensation came from his nine meridians, and Yan Wanyun began to try circulating his blood energy once.

After a long while, Yan Wanyun finished circulating his internal energy.

"Thank you very much."

"I'd be at ease if I had the strength to fight; I'm just afraid I wouldn't even have the chance to make a move."

Yan Wanyun bowed to Shen Can in thanks.

"The Lord of Jishan has sent me a message."

Shen Can led Yan Wanyun to a seat and began to talk about the arrival of the Jishan War Envoy.

"Mu Xiao has great ambitions, as can be seen from its name. Xiao was once the surname of the Xiaoyang royal family, but it has now been changed to its name."

It has always wanted to swallow up the two major branches of Mukang and Qiuyin, and this southward journey is probably for this purpose.

Perhaps swallowing Mu Kang and Qiu Yin is only the first step; the second step is to devour Ji Di.

If we can occupy Ji, using the people of Ji as food, cultivating the land and forging weapons for them, then we will have the confidence to unify the various branches of Xiaoyang.

Yan Wanyun spoke up, "After Xiaoyang went south, the retreat of Yanran and Jishan was the result of discussions with the Earl of Jishan."

My original intention was simply to let the various tribes of the Ji region experience the onslaught of the Xiaoyang army, so that at least for now, my Yanran and Jishan tribes could hold on.

"See, with our two ministries withdrawing, your ministry has gone against the tide."

At this point, Yan Wanyun added, "Originally, I had discussed with the Earl of Jishan that we should retreat another 10,000 miles to let more tribes experience the might of Xiaoyang's army."

Upon hearing this, Shen Can understood that both departments were planning to gradually loosen restrictions, since the Xiaoyang forces were becoming increasingly difficult to resist.

If the two forces hold out and completely collapse, then Xiaoyang will advance unimpeded, and the entire Ji region will fall under Xiaoyang's iron hooves.

Faced with Xiaoyang's formidable military might, the fighting spirit of Jidi may be completely extinguished.

Rather than letting the situation spiral out of control, it's better to take advantage of the fact that both departments still have some support and let everyone 'communicate' with Xiao Yang more, so that they won't be unable to even put up a fight when the time comes.

To be fair, over the past few years, many human warriors in the fallen lands have indeed undergone a baptism of blood and fire, becoming even more resolute.

But the cost is high.

"The retreat of Yanran and Jishan has brought another great gain."

Some tribes that had previously shirked their duties under the orders of the Jishan tribe were so frightened that they immediately sent additional troops to garrison Xueguan Mountain City, fearing another defeat for Jishan and that Xiaoyang would invade their territory.

Hearing Yan Wanyun's slightly sarcastic words, Shen Can frowned slightly and looked at the map.

The land of Ji is somewhat long and narrow from east to west, and relatively short from north to south, only about 30,000 li. The 10,000 li of land that Xiaoyang conquered to the south was equivalent to occupying the northern part of Ji.

Because of the presence of Xiaoyang to the north, the number and strength of tribes in Jidi decrease from north to south.

In the central region of Ji, there are even two former Bo tribes.

As for the southern part of Ji, the vast plains near the north bank of the Luo River are home to an even larger number of tribes.

"The Earl of Jishan's knife is too dull."

After a long silence, Shen Can spoke.

Are they showing up but not putting in the effort?
Come and try to face him, or he'll beat your entire tribe to a pulp.

“Jishan has a history of eight thousand years. Over the past eight thousand years, women from various tribes in Ji have married into Jishan. Some superior tribes have even had women from their own tribes marrying into Jishan in every generation.”

Yan Wanyun spoke up. Although he admired the Earl of Jishan, he also felt that the Earl of Jishan was somewhat weak in handling certain issues.

Shen Can now understood: it wasn't that the knife was dull; it had accidentally chopped off its own end.

These superior tribes each had their own independent vassal tribes. Although the superior tribes were subordinate to Jishan, their vassal tribes only listened to the superior tribes.

In this case, apart from some small tribes near the Jishanbo tribe that are directly subordinate to Jishan,

On the vast land of Jishan, most small tribes were subordinate to the superior tribes in various places.

The superior tribes continued to select women from their tribes to marry into Jishan, maintaining a subordinate relationship.

The same applies to the Blazing Flame Tribe. After the Blazing Flame Tribe was promoted to a superior tribe, many women from the vassal tribes married into the Blazing Flame Tribe.

Given this continuous practice of marriage alliances over thousands of years, even the mother of the Earl of Jishan might have come from a superior tribe.

From top to bottom, relatives are all connected, making it truly difficult for the Earl of Jishan to bring himself to strike. He has to consider the feelings of his own family members, even if he has to disregard his maternal relatives.

This is also a common problem faced by tribes with a long history of tradition.

Relying on their maternal relatives' relationship with the Bo tribe, the superior tribes directly gathered their tribe soldiers from their vassal tribes and sent them to the Jishan camp to receive orders in response to the clan's command.

The orders of the Bo tribe must be strictly followed. In addition to the extra lower-ranking tribal soldiers, a contingent of elite troops from within the tribe will be dispatched.

The Bo tribe ordered the conscription of 10,000 men, combining 1,000 from the main tribe with 9,000 elite soldiers from lower-ranking tribes.

More than a thousand? Then let's make it five hundred, and give the vassal tribes an extra five hundred.

On the surface, the clan order is being followed completely; just tell me whether or not troops were sent.

In reality, the soldiers of lower-class tribes are far inferior to those of higher-class tribes in terms of armor and strength.

If one superior tribe does this, other superior tribes will naturally follow suit. If you send your vassal tribes to their deaths, I can't send my own people to their deaths, can I?

In other words, the younger generation of the Jishan tribe was almost entirely assassinated by Xiaoyang; otherwise, these superior tribes would have definitely caused other trouble.

……

"If we follow the agreement and suffer another crushing defeat, we'll just have to retreat all the way to the Lao Lao tribe in Jishan."

Looking at the map, Shen Can realized that according to Yan Wanyun, if Yanran and Jishan were to retreat further, they would have to give up the central part of Ji.

This area once had two Qibo tribes and five superior tribes. It can be said that these tribes are now trembling with fear, lest Jishan retreat again.

"If you ask me, what's a retreat of ten thousand miles? Just retreat to the east and west, make way for the roads into Luo and Yu, and let the other tribes of Yongyi taste what Xiaoyang is like."

At that moment, Shen Can pointed to the map and drew a straight line from the north of Ji to Luo.

"It was because Jidi carried Xiaoyang that the old geezers of Luoshui had a place to live, and that Aoshan went north and clamored about raising horses in the north."

"Back then, when the Marquis of Yongshan convened a meeting of various tribes to launch a joint northern expedition, Xiaoyang should not have been resisted only by the warriors of Ji, making it seem as if our Ji region is not part of Yongyi."

Yan Wanyun was stunned by Shen Can's words. "You really are a temple deity?"

Why does it look like Xiao Yang?

If Shen Can hadn't helped him suppress the three-headed tattoo, Yan Wanyun would have wanted to rip Shen Can's face to see if he was possessed by Xiao Yang.

On one hand, they killed the most Xiaoyang prisoners, and on the other hand, they allowed Xiaoyang to move south.

"Whether you open up ten thousand miles or a hundred thousand miles, what difference does it make?"

"Didn't Lord Jishan say that someone was secretly colluding with Xiaoyang? We've worked so hard to block Ji, and they're stirring up trouble behind the scenes."

"I'm flipping the table, I'm not playing anymore."

"Let me slow down."

Yan Wanyun fell silent, feeling somewhat unable to keep up with Shen Can's thought process.

That seems to make a lot of sense.

Should we allow Xiaoyang to advance south?
No, they've already let Xiaoyang go south.

"Senior Ji Tianlong, do you think I'm right?"

Shen Can looked at the sacrificial artifact. The sacrificial spirit was a soldier from Yongshan Town who had participated in the great battle that destroyed Xiaoyang. He was ranked above the commander and his status was comparable to that of an elder.

"When people's hearts are corrupt, only knives can be used."

“When the Marquis Bo rose to power, Yongyi was in the same state.”

"Perhaps it was because the Marquis's overthrow of the throne was incomplete that he was ultimately attacked by the remnants and suffered a calamity."

After the recovery, Ji Tianlong learned the general news of Yongshan's destruction through Shen Can's description.

Back then, Yongshan was incredibly powerful. Even without the Marquis of Yongshan, it still had two fifth-tier experts, the Wind Master and the Rain Master, and dozens of fourth-tier divine treasures under its command.

It just so happened that it was destroyed.

His memory is incomplete, so this is the only way he can speculate.

After all, when the Marquis and the Counts convened the alliance of the nine tribes, it wasn't just through imperial edicts that they came; it was through real strength that they were brought to justice, and those who disobeyed were annihilated.

It took a long time to subdue the surrounding area.

Then, not long after, the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition were launched.

The first step in conquering external forces is to consolidate internal power. It seems that there are too many reasons for the downfall of Jishan. Too much of its fighting force was tied up by these vassal tribes, not only because its own middle and young generation was assassinated by Xiaoyang.

Now some tribes are starting to get anxious and are sending their troops to Blood Pass Mountain City, fearing that Jishan will fall again.

All of this is enough to show that some people still need to be pushed, otherwise they will really hold us back.

Retreating ten thousand miles is at best like scraping the bone to heal wounds; it's still a long way from a complete transformation.

Even with this bone-scraping treatment, it wasn't thorough; it was done intermittently and slowly.

If Xiao Yang doesn't move, then we can only passively deal with Xiao Yang.

They were at a complete disadvantage in this battle.

This was quite different from Shen Can's idea; the Earl of Jishan was being somewhat indecisive.

As for Yan Wanyun, he's practically becoming Mu Xiao's puppet.

Previously, he had planned for the three departments to join forces and fight against Xiaoyang. If they could severely damage Xiaoyang, then Sanhuo could take advantage of the situation to head north and become the backbone of the force that could hold off Xiaoyang.

But with the arrival of the secret letter from the Earl of Jishan, Shen Can wondered what the point of holding off Xiaoyang was.
Even if the lineage of the Marquis of Yongshan is genuine, there are people in Yongyi who are in cahoots with Xiaoyang.

Leading an army north to destroy Xiaoyang, wouldn't that also grant me the inheritance?

But he secretly conspired with Xiao Yang.

If Marquis Yongshan could come back to life, he would definitely clean up all these bastards.

Yan Wanyun left in shock, carrying Shen Can's words with him, as he still had to return to oversee the main camp.

Less than one-fifth of the Luminous Iron was used; the rest remained with Shen Can.

Shen Can held the precious iron and played with it, letting out a long, melancholy sigh.

The two chieftains of the "Bo tribe" are alike: one is indecisive, and the other is in crisis.

Absolutely.

How should we fight this battle from here on out?
It seems we need to rethink our plans. Without both departments working together, the previous plan would be impossible to complete with Blazing Flame's current strength alone.

Being led by the nose by Xiao Yang, they could only step into the trap step by step.

In Shen Can's view, since Mu Xiao has been planning for many years and has many methods, then he should completely disrupt his plans. No matter how many plans you have, he will simply stop fighting with you.

You fight your way, I'll fight mine, let's see who can hold out the longest in the end.

……

Several days later, in the southwest direction of the Sanhuobo tribe, a black wild bird cried out loudly, and its vast pressure resounded through the sky.

At the same time, the Azure Phoenix leader, who was resting in the clan city, suddenly awoke from his slumber, his sharp eyes gazing into the distance.

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In the southwestern sky, a black eagle, its body as black as if cast in iron, gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

Its wingspan exceeded twenty feet, and each feather shone with the sharpness of a sword.

The cry of the Azure Phoenix caused a stir both inside and outside the clan city, and giant crossbows were pulled out from the four camps.

At the same time, Shen Can also walked out of the ancestral temple and looked into the distance.

"Someone!"

There's someone on the eagle's back!

Inside the clan city, someone saw a figure on the back of an eagle.

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The Black Hawk was incredibly fast; it had been on the southwestern horizon just moments before, and in the blink of an eye, it was flapping its wings and soaring across the sky.

A blue storm band rose from the sky, whipping up sandstorms across the wasteland and surging towards the clan city.

As the storm struck, houses and roofs were ripped off, and figures were torn to pieces.

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The massive black eagle abruptly stopped in mid-air outside the city, its eyes filled with mockery as it gazed at the chaotic scene within the city below.

On the eagle's back sat an old man, his body surging with earthy-yellow blood energy, allowing him to stand steadily on the eagle's back.

His gaze was sharp as he looked down.

"The Three Fire Departments?"

"I ask you all, who is driving the bronze chariot?"

The old man's eyes were disdainful, and his voice was booming, as if he were looking down on some wild man from outside the mountains.

"Get off!"

Suddenly, a sound rang out.

Inside the clan city, many clansmen saw Shen Can step into the air from the ancestral temple and land on the city wall.

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In an instant, the giant eagle, which had just been looking at the eagle with a mocking gaze, let out a miserable cry. The mockery in its eyes vanished, replaced only by terror.

The eagle flapped its wings and spun as it plummeted through the air. The old man who had been looking down on the eagle from its back no longer had his hands behind his back and was now frantically grabbing the feathers on the back of the giant eagle.

Boom!

The giant eagle fell.

The old man on the eagle's back leaped up in a disheveled manner, landing far behind, covered in dust kicked up by the falling black eagle.

(End of this chapter)