Ten days had passed since the Lie Tribe withdrew from the lands adjacent to the Gan Tribe. However, contrary to expectations—and the hope for a better future and greater room for the Tribe's growth that the elders had spread and the higher authorities had promoted—
the road was difficult, exhausting, and filled with grueling labor.
At first, the work was limited to mortals and Gu Masters specialized in logistics, most of whom were Rank one Gu Masters. Even so, morale remained high throughout the Tribe.
Even when the Heavy Earth Hyenas attacked and they fought a hard battle, it was not overly difficult. In fact, the victory pushed the tribesmen's confidence to its peak. They gained a large amount of resources from killing the beasts, and the profits far exceeded the losses by a huge margin.
This gain, on the first day of their journey, was considered an auspicious sign by some.
But this morale did not last long.
On the very next day, they were subjected to a powerful attack by another beast group. This time, the attackers were not the slow and heavy-bodied Heavy Earth Hyenas. Instead, a massive group of White Cloud Foxes assaulted them.
They suffered severe losses because of the Cloud Foxes. The defensive lines proved useless against this type of beast. The Cloud Foxes were not ordinary creatures to begin with.
Normal foxes moved on the ground and did not dare approach humans. But these Cloud Foxes were twice the size of ordinary foxes and possessed the ability to step and move upon clouds. Because of this innate ability, the Lie Tribe's defensive lines were completely ineffective.
More than thirty thousand Cloud Foxes attacked from the sky, falling upon the Lie Tribe like rain.
The Lie Tribe was unprepared for such an unconventional assault, and by the time they regained their senses, the losses had already occurred. Yet somehow, the Tribe Leader and the elders charged forward and led the tribesmen to confront the beasts.
The situation stabilized quickly after the first wave of beasts was slain. The tribesmen managed to regroup into formations and launched coordinated attacks under the protection of the elders. At the same time, the Tribe Leader advanced toward the Ten-Thousand Beast King to behead the enemy and prevent further losses.
It could be said that he both succeeded and failed.
He killed the Ten-Thousand Beast King, but it was not as if the Tribe's foundation remained unharmed. Many mortals died in the attack, along with a considerable number of Gu Masters.
This resulted in a shortage of manpower, giving the Lie Tribe Leader a splitting headache. He barely managed to maintain the current situation by forcing the entire Tribe to operate at maximum capacity.
Scenes of Gu Masters moving about and driving livestock—such as Big Stomach Horses, Claw Horses, and other creatures belonging to different Gu Masters—became extremely common.
Meanwhile, the one responsible for all of this was enjoying himself, moving among the crowds of Gu Masters and mortal humans.
This was a market that had formed after several Tribes gathered together to establish it—for selling or exchanging resources. It included Gu worms, refinement materials, food, furs, leather, clothing, and many other items useful to both mortals and Gu Masters alike.
Fang Tian discovered this large tribal gathering while tracking their traces. Naturally, his interest was piqued. Although he already knew of such markets from searching the souls of Gu Masters from the Lie Tribe and Gan Tribe, he was still curious about what he would find here.
Especially since he lacked primeval stones native to the Northern Plains.
Fang Tian could sell some of the mortal Gu recipes he possessed to obtain a good amount of Northern Plains primeval stones for open transactions.
As for refining Gu worms, he could use the primeval stones from the Southern Border and Western Desert that he had brought with him.
Fang Tian suddenly turned and entered a hastily constructed two-story shop within the market, drawn by the aura of Gu worms inside.
Inside the Gu worm shop, he was greeted by a hunched old man who released a Rank three aura toward Fang Tian without restraint. Fang Tian did not mind. At the moment, his Rank five aura was already concealed, and he only emitted the aura of a Rank three initial stage—lower than that of the old man.
"Oh, another young man comes here… Let me guess, you're a lone or demonic cultivator?"
Fang Tian was slightly surprised by the old man's initiative before replying, "Senior is truly in a fine mood to begin speaking with someone beneath him. This junior is honored."
"Hehe, you're quite polite, young man. There's no need for such formality—it was just casual talk…"
"As you wish, senior. I have a question—would senior be interested in purchasing a Gu worm recipe?"
The old man's eyes flashed for a moment before returning to normal, but this did not escape Fang Tian, who was observing him closely.
"That depends, young man. Is this a practical and valuable Gu recipe? Or do you possess higher-rank versions of it?"
Fang Tian smiled faintly, took out a Gu worm, and handed it to the old Gu Master.
An hour later, Fang Tian exited the Gu worm shop wearing a pleased expression. In contrast, inside the shop, the old Gu Master wore a troubled and gloomy look.
"This young man isn't polite at all! He's outright shameless! He knows he's lying, and I know he's lying—but he presents excellent Gu worm recipes… yet they're definitely not worth what he claimed! But somehow…"
The old man realized something strange—he had paid far more than he should have. Despite his long experience in trading, he had suffered a baffling loss.
"Forget it, forget it… these recipes are still valuable, and I can definitely make a good profit. This isn't a complete loss."
The old man was somewhat satisfied. After all, he had obtained new Gu worm recipes—ones he had never heard of despite his experience—making them a profitable and exclusive trade for him and his descendants.
After leaving the shop, Fang Tian wandered through the tribal market for a while, gathering information and familiarizing himself further with the surrounding environment.
He benefited greatly, learning many new and interesting things.
For example, this tribal market was merely a precursor to a much larger market that would form once more lone cultivators and Tribes arrived to trade and sell their goods.
This discovery made Fang Tian certain that the exhausted Lie Tribe would eventually come to this market to rest and take refuge from the waves of beasts that had attacked them along the way.
"Perhaps this is a perfect opportunity to blend in with them… I could pose as a lone cultivator emerging from seclusion in search of stability within a Tribe?…"
Fang Tian felt confident in this plan and decided to proceed with it after making a few preparations.