Between the Serel Wilderness and the Permafrost Tundra lies The Borderlands.
As time passed, the Molten Iron Tribe thrived. With the digestion of the fruits of victory, their foundation grew in all aspects, radiating vitality.
Regarding population:
The Gnolls, Kobolds, and Lizardfolk—these three 'phantom god-like' dependents—need no further mention.
As long as there is enough food, they grow like weeds, reproducing at an extremely fast rate. Even though the Molten Iron Tribe had unified The Borderlands and utilized resources more efficiently than before, they still had to enforce reproductive controls on these major dependents, setting up 'Breeding Halls' and many corresponding rules within their respective tribes.
The Ogres, Centaurs, and Grey-mane Werewolves have longer growth cycles and limited reproductive efficiency, but they are individually quite formidable and produce many elites.
For these backbone dependents, the Molten Iron Tribe adopted a strategy of encouraging reproduction.
This also included the Wyverns.
Wyverns are evil-aligned Sub-dragons that do not like to raise or care for their offspring. Under normal circumstances, when they feel the tribe is under too much burden, they might even abandon their dragon eggs or eat them directly when hungry to replenish nutrients.
For this reason, their dragon eggs were collected and cared for uniformly.
The Wyverns no longer need to worry about caring for offspring and are encouraged to reproduce. The tribe has already accumulated quite a number of dragon eggs. Once they hatch and grow, the Molten Iron Tribe's air force will grow once again.
As the environment stabilized, resources became abundant, and the population increased, the number of excellent leaders in the major tribes also grew steadily.
These species, which have lived in barren lands for years, seem to have a unique 'evolution' mechanism.
When their scale becomes large enough, they naturally give birth to more Sorcerers, Warlords, and other elite leader individuals.
For example, in the Gnoll tribe from long ago, there was only one Warlord, Blood Tooth Hodge, but now, there are no fewer than ten Gnoll Warlords similar to a young Hodge, mainly serving as leaders in the Iron Will legion.
Simultaneously with the development of population and leaders, due to the supply of mineral resources from the entire Borderlands, the existence of a Black Oil Field, and core tools obtained through trade, the Molten Iron Tribe's Alchemy industry was also developing steadily.
Weapons and armor forged from refined steel were produced daily through assembly-line production.
The leaders were even able to equip themselves with rune weapons and armor enhanced by Alchemy.
Various Alchemy Golems were also being crafted one by one; although the models were not the latest and were a bit outdated, they were barely sufficient.
When resources are sufficiently abundant, the speed of Alchemy industrial development is far beyond that of other aspects.
The current Molten Iron Tribe is like a gluttonous beast, eating all kinds of resources from The Borderlands every day, becoming massive at a speed far exceeding before, growing rapidly, and gradually becoming formidable.
Even without counting the presence of Garros, the comprehensive level of the Molten Iron Tribe has far exceeded any of the previous Four Great Tribes of The Borderlands.
And although it is called a tribe, it actually has the level of a city-state, occupying vast territory with a large population, and has the strength to fight against some weak Duchies.
With the consolidation of the Molten Iron Tribe's rule over The Borderlands, batches of carefully trained Kobolds dispersed into the Permafrost Tundra.
They will make contact with the northern tribes in the Permafrost Tundra and transmit first-hand information about the Permafrost Tundra to the Molten Iron Tribe.
There were also elite vanguards such as Centaurs, Ogres, and Werewolves who crossed the Estonia Great River in batches, supported by the base camp, to return to the Serel Wilderness first, preparing for subsequent plans.
The metal-based fortress was officially completed after more than three months.
Because its wall building materials were mainly made of red steel blocks, it reflected a luster like burning steel under the light, so it was named the Burning Steel Fortress.
Garros's days became very stable and peaceful.
He rarely worried about managing territory affairs; this aspect was mainly handled by Solrog. His time was mainly focused on his own training and strengthening, not slacking off because of empty titles like King of the Borderlands.
Day after day, night after night, the Red-Iron Dragon practiced tirelessly. Through constant body tempering and Adaptive Evolution, his physique attributes, which seemed exaggerated for his age, were still growing steadily.
Deborah was often with him. Although she couldn't keep up with the Red-Iron Dragon's pace, the Red-Silver Dragon also grew, with even ridges on her back and strong, agile limbs.
"Whoosh!" The biting cold wind whistled and swept through the air.
The climate in The Borderlands had no pattern. The heavy snow from a while ago had lasted for more than half a year, and since then, sporadic snowflakes had been falling until now. Cold winds and cold currents continued to blow from the north, lasting longer than ever before, making people wonder if this place was about to be swallowed by the Permafrost Tundra.
In the southwest of The Borderlands, the Fertile Plains, at the Abyssal Rift.
Dust-like snowflakes were swirling down with the wind.
A special training was taking place here.
Under the curious gaze of some surrounding dependents, the Snake Woman Sword Saint had her tail muscles tense and coiled, her upper body standing straight, and her arms unfolding like petals. The blades that had tasted the blood of countless demons were sharp and dangerous.
"Dragon Lord, I am coming."
She took a deep breath and said to the Red-Iron Dragon in front, who had a towering and sturdy posture. Immediately, her gaze became sharp, and her temperament was like an unsheathed sharp sword.
"Whoosh!"
Dozens of meters were crossed in the blink of an eye.
The Snake Woman Sword Saint was like a bolt of lightning, appearing in front of the Red-Iron Dragon in an instant. Six long swords drew dangerous arcs, and the Red-Iron Dragon's figure was reflected on the blade edges simultaneously.
"Movements like the tide!"
"Extra Attack!"
"Sharp Sword Shadows!"
The Six-Armed Snake Woman let out a low shout, and several long swords turned into a sky full of afterimages, simultaneously enveloping and sweeping across the Red-Iron Dragon. It was continuous and endless, like a surging tide. After every sword strike, before one could react, another sword would be added, and the afterimages brought by the blade edges also carried a certain amount of damage.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The dense sound of metal collisions was incessant, and scorching sparks splashed continuously.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the Six-Armed Snake Woman Sword Saint's long swords slashed dozens or hundreds of times like a rainstorm. Even if a solid ingot of refined steel were in front of her, it should have been shattered under her unparalleled sharp attacks.
However, the Red-Iron Dragon, bearing the Sword Saint's attacks, remained unmoved.
It was like a reef beaten by the tide; even if the tide shattered against it time and time again, the reef itself remained firm and unharmed.
The combination of the Six-Armed Snake Woman race and the Sword Saint profession also had a kind of "beauty of numerical values" when fighting. It was almost equivalent to three human Sword Saints of the same level with connected minds attacking at the same time. Not to mention being able to sweep through the same level, it was definitely a powerful path combination ranked among the best.
However, when it came to numerical values, there was always someone higher.
Compared to the Red-Iron Martial Dragon, she was like a "rookie" in terms of numerical values.
The offense and defense continued.
The Six-Armed Snake Woman Sword Saint vented her slashes around the Red-Iron Dragon, while the Red-Iron Dragon used his body to withstand her attacks, never once counterattacking.
"Crack!"
Not long after, the Frostburn Scales shattered completely, and the Red-Iron Dragon revealed a second layer of black-red scales.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss." With the slight opening and trembling of the scales, rolling heat waves radiated from the Red-Iron Dragon's body. The high temperature distorted the air and evaporated moisture, forming dense, scalding white mist.
"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!"
The sound of metal clashing continued.
The Six-Armed Snake Woman was drenched in sweat, and her skin had turned slightly red due to the high-temperature field, but her attacks did not stop. She even used explosive methods, and the blade edges slashed onto the Red-Iron Dragon's black-Red Dragon scales, tearing the scales open and leaving behind one bleeding sword mark after another. The escaping Sword Qi scraped across the surrounding ground, immediately leaving deep sword marks.
"That is enough."
After a while, the Red-Iron Dragon spoke.
The Six-Armed Snake Woman felt as if she had been granted amnesty. Her chest heaved violently, and she gasped rapidly, her stamina almost bottoming out.
Looking at the Red-Iron Dragon.
Although he was covered in sword marks of varying depths that were seeping blood, and the dragon scales were covered with spider-web-like cracks, his aura had not decreased much. Those seemingly bloody injuries were just insignificant minor wounds on his body.