Legendary Clan Chief
Chapter 1167 - 1145: The Path of Migration, Full of Obstacles!

Chapter 1167: Chapter 1145: The Path of Migration, Full of Obstacles!

The Wind Fire Area and the Border Wasteland Region are separated by the vast expanse of the Great Wasteland that stretches above the Earth, and looking down from the Sky Vault, a black Great Dragon can be seen moving through the dense Ancient Forest.

Roar, roar, roar! Roar, roar, roar!

On the twisting and winding road ahead, fierce beasts could be heard roaring from time to time.

Within a thousand miles surrounding this moving black Great Dragon, thousands of Warriors were patrolling, and scattered riders were continuously roaming the Void.

"Reporting to the Lord of the Hall, within ten thousand miles ahead, all the way to the next resting point, the Ancient Forest along the path has been cleared. The Exotic Beasts within a thousand miles on both sides of the small road have either been subdued or slain!"

A Warrior swept through the Void and came forward, cupping his fists and shouting to a robust Great Han.

"Good, pass the order down that all the roving riders must not let their guard down. We must strictly prevent any Exotic Beast from charging out of the Ancient Forest."

Upon hearing this, Ding Shan shouted the instructions to the approaching Warrior, who then left to carry out his orders.

He stood atop a solitary peak a thousand zhang in height, and below the peak was the vast group of women and children of the Wind Fire Area, who were being relocated this time, numbering a full hundred thousand.

However, the Gu Yuan Tribe Soldiers escorting these hundred thousand women and children, along with the rest stops set up along the way by various tribes, totaled nearly three hundred thousand.

It had to be said, for this migration, the Gu Yuan Tribe had expended a tremendous amount of effort!

Among the hundred thousand women and children, the few strong youths that were present naturally had been drafted and temporarily integrated into the ranks of the War Masters to serve as Guards.

The mountain foothills wound back and forth and were not suitable for the passage of vehicles at all; thus, the reliance on war beasts dramatically increased. There were nearly thirty thousand different kinds of Exotic Beasts among this migrating caravan.

Fortunately, the Desolate Wilds never lacked the presence of fierce beasts, and they did not have to worry too much about Blood Food supplies along the way. The only concern was the health of these women and children.

In just over half a month’s time, even though they set out at sunrise and always set up camp to rest early in the evening, it was still a massive challenge for these women and children, especially for some of the women who carried children not yet a year old in their arms.

Beyond that, deep within the Ancient Forest, things were unpredictable, and after sunset, a dense Shadow Energy would even pervade the area, almost casually eroding those who were trekking on the long journey.

Thunderous booms!

A hundred miles away, a roaring sound erupted, and the Combat Qi exploded throughout the sky; nearby Warriors roaming the Void hurried towards the source of the noise.

Ding Shan quickly shifted his gaze away from the site of the great battle; such events were no longer surprising.

Deep in the mountains and old in the Forest, many strange beasts lay hidden, stirring.

As the migrating Tribe People and Tribal Warriors, numbering in the tens of thousands, passed through, even though the Warriors of the Gu Yuan ahead of them had swept through and cleared the fierce beasts within a thousand miles along the way, more beasts from deeper within pursued and killed following the trail of energy.

The vast caravan, migrating through the Ancient Forest, simply could not shake off these fierce beasts!

A solemn look appeared in Ding Shan’s eyes; this was only just the beginning. Only a hundred thousand people had set off, yet according to the Gu Yuan Tribe’s established plan, at least five million people needed to be relocated this time to reach a total of ten million in the tribe, which was already the minimal standard.

This number was also the result of multiple deliberations by the Tribal Elders; it was tantamount to doubling the current population of the Gu Yuan Tribe.

This was precisely why most of the people migrating from the Wind Fire Area this time were women, children, and youths, which related to the issue of tribal integration.

Yet, this made the migration even more difficult; with only half a month into the journey, nearly a thousand people had already fallen and been buried along the way.

The journey was rough and arduous, with the locals not acclimated to the new environment. In truth, the physical health of these people gathered from the Wind Fire Area was not very robust to begin with; enduring the trek, coupled with being in a state of perpetual fear, death was inevitable.

Standing at the peak’s summit, a deep earnestness filled Ding Shan’s eyes; if they continued this way, by the time these hundred thousand people reached the southern end of the Border Wasteland Region, the Gu Yuan Tribe, at least twenty to thirty percent would have perished.

"Increase the pace; we will enter the gathering point of the Hongshan Tribe for rest by sunset." His gaze turned sharp, and he bellowed loudly towards the crowd below.

Roar!

With a roar, the fierce beasts’ cries echoed ceaselessly, intimidating the forests and sending their wild energies surging into the heavens.

At the head of the entire troop was the Dragon Blood Moon Gazing Rhinoceros, the same one Xiao Chen had tamed from the Moon Gazing Rhinoceros herd. Around the whole caravan, over three hundred Moon Gazing Rhinoceros riders roamed back and forth, hovering around the front and back, left and right of the group.

As the sun set,

this caravan of tens of thousands finally emerged from the continuous mountains and Ancient Forest and entered the Desolate Land. Facing the direction of the setting sun, trails of grey smoke rose gently, concealing half of the Sky Vault.

"We’ve arrived at the Hongshan Tribe, and the Tribe People have prepared a rich bounty of Blood Food for everyone—it’s right ahead of us!"

Upon entering the wilderness, they found themselves in vast, open surroundings that allowed the warriors, who had been vigilantly scanning the sky and those wandering deep in the ancient forest, to finally breathe a sigh of relief; at least here they didn’t need to be constantly on guard for the sudden emergence of dangerous beasts.

Led by the Dragon Blood Moon Gazing Rhinoceros, this group of nearly thirty thousand large and small exotic beasts headed in the direction where smoke rose from cooking fires.

Of course, the procession of a hundred thousand people, mostly made up of women and children, appeared very disordered. The Gu Yuan Tribe settled those who were acquainted or originally from the same tribe together in one place.

This also facilitated management; as for how they would be arranged once back at the Gu Yuan Tribe, that would be a matter for the tribal elders to decide.

Just outside the city walls near the Hongshan Fort, a simple great camp had already been constructed, with rows and columns of wooden houses built in the typical style of settlements in the Desolate Wilds.

There were tall defense walls on the perimeter, and watchtowers, which were already filled with Gu Yuan Tribe soldiers on guard.

Although the majority were women and children, there was still a portion of able-bodied young adults. Most of these young adults had families with small wives and children, and the Gu Yuan Tribe naturally gathered all their families together.

Hongshan Fort.

This was one of the eight rest points that the Gu Yuan Tribe had set up along the route through the Ten Thousand Spirits Domain. It was not the largest, but the entire Hongshan Tribe had already been taken over by the Gu Yuan Tribe.

The role of the Hongshan Tribe was to provide supplies to the migrating tribe people throughout the entire process, similar to the eight rest points along the way like Hongshan.

The throng of a hundred thousand did not directly enter the camp; outside the camp, Gu Yuan warriors checked each tribe member one by one, categorizing them before arranging for them to enter a section of the housing in the camp to rest.

Those tribe members who entered the camp found their allocated houses based on the number tags they received; they would be provided with dinner by the people of Hongshan Tribe, as well as some calming medicinal herbs to relieve fatigue.

As night fell, besides the flames illuminating the area around the camp and the silhouettes of warriors flickering with the flames, the camp itself was incredibly quiet, with hardly any flickering flames.

However, in the center of the camp stood a great hall, where the voices of warriors could be heard without end.

"Hall Master, we can’t go any further," said a warrior as he stood up and spoke out.

At this moment in the great hall, shadows danced in the light of the flames.

Ding Shan, Shi Ya, Xue Sha, Huang Liang, Tie Wen—these were the peers who had followed Xiao Chen from being weak to conquering the wilderness.

Lord Qingjiao and Chun Mu Venerable—two half-king level warriors—were present, along with dozens of other Towering Realm Martial Artists.

"Without solving the problem, indeed, we can’t move forward anymore. This is only a hundred thousand people; there are still millions more who need to migrate, and we must come up with a solution," said Ding Shan, nodding slightly.

"First and foremost, the biggest issue is the physical condition of the tribe people. Despite having cleared safe paths along the way, there’s still a great deal of toxic marshes to contend with. Initially, it’s mostly women, some even carrying children under the age of a few years, and in this half a month, nearly ninety percent of the casualties have been these women and young children," he continued.

"Besides that, the rest of the people have also shown signs of fatigue in this half a month of migration, and even a small portion has started to feel unwell."

At these words, everyone fell silent. Although the creatures of the Desolate Land inherently possessed strong physiques—with even the women practicing martial arts—the corresponding toxicity of the marshes and other crises had multiplied their toll.

For those youths who had not yet fully matured, their bodies were still developing and their soul power was weaker, making them most vulnerable to external harm.

"The palace has already sent orders back to the tribe to send more alchemists from the Hundred Herbs Hall and abundant medicinal herbs and elixirs. But even with these measures, we are only treating the symptoms, not the root cause, and this will not fully solve the problem of the physical exhaustion caused by the migration," Ding Shan said with a furrowed brow, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Does anyone have a good strategy?"

"Unless we let all the migrating warriors stop and recuperate for a while, this not only would greatly slow down the migration but also the consumption would greatly increase; I’m afraid we simply wouldn’t have enough to supply everyone," said a brave warrior who spoke up.

"Hall Master, I think we should only migrate those with good constitution to the Gu Yuan Tribe. With so many people in the Wind Fire Area, can we really select from millions?" another warrior asked.

"No, choosing between weak mothers and children, taking the healthier mothers but abandoning the children, or vice versa—once they are welcomed into the Gu Yuan Tribe, how could we possibly make them feel at home!" Ding Shan replied.

"Hall Master Ding, since it’s troublesome whether we take them or leave them, why not combine the two approaches?" suggested Chun Mu Venerable from the side.

"Please do elaborate, elder," Ding Shan said in response to the suggestion.

"Since we’ve already built eight assembly points within the Ten Thousand Spirits Domain, we can still increase the number of these points. At the same time, we can keep each migration group to a fixed number. That way, each time we reach an assembly point, those who are physically unable to continue naturally stay behind to recuperate," the elder paused before continuing, "The great migration of the Gu Yuan Tribe doesn’t stop; we’ll let each batch of tribe people who can’t keep up stay at a resting place to recover, and when they are ready, they can follow another migrating group to continue the journey!"