"In the team entering the eastern mountain range, everyone carried a beast skin bag on their back. Useful herbs they collected were all stored in these bags.
When facing daring monsters on their path, they showed no mercy.
However, when dealing with these herbs, they were cautious. They carefully dug out the roots, wrapped them with a bit of soil, and placed them in the beast skin bags.
Someone picked a Returning Yuan Grass, carefully placing it in the bag.
"Lord Yu Su is truly powerful. A few days ago, I was injured, but after taking a Returning Yuan Pill he refined, my vitality quickly recovered."
"That's a high-grade pill, of course, it's powerful. Yu Su even mentioned that as his alchemy skills improve, he can refine even higher-grade pills, capable of refining Foundation Building Pills."
"But Yu Su also said Foundation Building Pills shouldn't be taken casually, unless there's uncertainty in building the foundation or facing a bottleneck in the ninth level of Qi refining. It's not recommended."
"I'm just saying, not planning to take it. I'm so powerful; I surely don't need Foundation Building Pills."
"You're just bragging!"
While collecting herbs, the mountain monsters already knew their origin.
A group of monsters gathered, communicating in the language of beasts.
"Those despicable humans are minions of that calamity star."
"That calamity star is truly hateful. Not content with causing trouble himself, he even sends his underlings to harm us!"
"We must show them some colors, let those despicable humans know we are not easy to bully."
"Right, we must show them some colors."
After deciding, these monsters huddled together, murmuring and discussing.
The Five-Element Warriors of Yu Village were unaware that the mountain monsters had decided to confront them until one group was surrounded, led by Lu Yan.
Lu Yan's eyes narrowed, drawing his sword, scanning the surroundings.
Eight first-tier monsters surrounded them, with strength around the fifth or sixth level of Qi refining.
"Face the enemy."
"Yes!"
Behind him, four people swiftly unsheathed their weapons.
The monsters immediately sensed the threat, especially from Lu Yan.
They regretted a bit; they didn't expect these humans to have some tough ones.
But it was too late to retreat; Lu Yan's sword had already struck.
"Roar!"
"Howl!"
Next, the forest echoed with the pitiful cries of monsters.
The monsters that planned to come down the mountain for assistance heard these sounds and hesitated.
After exchanging glances, they showed a hesitant expression.
At this moment, the screams from the forest became even more intense.
The monsters retreated several steps decisively.
After a moment, they abandoned their "comrades" and ran back into the deep mountains.
The calamity star is terrifying, and his underlings are also formidable!
Showing some colors might not be a good idea; self-preservation is crucial.
After Lu Yan and his team dealt with the eight monsters, they found the mountain eerily quiet, as if everything had hidden away.
They roamed the mountains for a long time, not encountering a single monster.
With the sky darkening, Lu Yan ordered, "Return to the village and bring back the corpses of those monsters."
...
In the following period, Lu Yan frequently led his team in and out of the eastern mountain range. The monsters in the mountains swiftly hid upon hearing their footsteps, making it increasingly difficult for them to find monsters.
Meanwhile, in the north, Iron Village.
Since receiving the blueprints from Yu Su, Iron Village produced more and more types of iron tools. After neighboring villages learned about the uses of these tools, they rushed to buy, and Iron Village prospered.
Iron Village underwent significant changes, constructing sturdy houses, refurbishing streets, and villagers donning linen clothes purchased from Yu Village, leading to an improved lifestyle.
Everyone in the village knew their lives changed because of Yu Su, so they held immense respect for him, and their favor towards Yu Village was high.
During the spring of this year, the village head of Salt Village, Salt Qi, set out with a team to Fengcheng. Once they discovered the situation, they immediately relayed the information to Yu Village.
Therefore, when the trading team from Iron Village saw Salt Qi returning with envoys and warriors from Fengcheng, they hurried back to Iron Village.
"Village head, something's not right. Salt Qi and the others have returned from Fengcheng, and with them are envoys and warriors from Fengcheng, a long procession!"
Iron Eagle stood up abruptly, "What? Did you see clearly? How many people are there?"
"I saw it clearly. It's the Fengcheng team, probably close to a thousand people," the messenger said.
After hearing this, Iron Eagle's face changed drastically. He looked at Shaman Iron Cyan, "Shaman, what's your view?"
Iron Cyan frowned, "I didn't expect Salt Qi to really bring reinforcements from Fengcheng. Now that Fengcheng has sent so many warriors, this wilderness won't be calm. We need to inform Lord Yu Su as soon as possible."
Iron Eagle nodded immediately.
At first, when they interacted with Yu Su, Iron Cyan and the others intended to take advantage of the conflict between Yu Village and Salt Village. However, after Salt Village suffered a major defeat and Iron Village gained many benefits from Yu Su, their allegiance firmly shifted to Yu Village.
...
Soon, Yu Su received the message sent by Iron Village.
After hearing the content, Yu Su raised an eyebrow.
An envoy from Fengcheng bringing nearly a thousand warriors?
It's hard not to think that Fengcheng intends to help Salt Village reclaim its dominant position.
A glint flashed in Yu Su's eyes.
With Yu Village's current strength, even if he didn't intervene, they could handle Fengcheng's warriors. After diligent training, the ordinary warriors' spirit training had begun to show results. Facing enemies stronger than the barbarians was no issue. Moreover, according to his knowledge, Fengcheng's warriors didn't possess the strength of the barbarians.
Yu Su gathered everyone in the council chamber and informed them about the arrival of Fengcheng's representatives.
"As expected, they have come," Jian Yunchuan's eyes became sharp. "How many people have come?"
"According to the information from Iron Village, they have brought nearly a thousand people," Yu Su replied.
"So many people? Can we overcome them?" The village head showed a worried expression.
Jian Yunchuan said, "With our warriors' current strength, as long as we don't encounter opponents as strong and capable of commanding tigers and leopards as the barbarians, a force of six hundred people is enough to deal with at least twice the number of enemies."
This wasn't a boast from Jian Yunchuan; it was because he understood the situation.
Lu Yan also said, "Among my Five Elements Warriors, there are ten people at or above the fifth level of Qi refining. These ten people can easily handle a thousand troops."
Recently, Lu Yan frequently led these ten people into the eastern mountains for training. Each person's strength had grown, and dealing with Fengcheng's force would be a breeze.
Hearing Jian Yunchuan and Lu Yan's confident words, the village head and the others finally relaxed.
[They still don't know that you are the ultimate weapon now. A cultivator in the Foundation Building stage,
among ordinary people, can easily turn the tide.]
The all-knowing spirit spoke in Yu Su's mind.
These people only knew that Yu Su could fly on a sword and manipulate plants, but they didn't know that with Yu Su's current strength, a single sword could level a mountain.
What were a few hundred ordinary people?
...
On the other side,
Salt Qi, leading the Fengcheng team, returned to the wilderness.
When he left the wilderness, he was full of hesitation, unsure if Fengcheng would lend a hand.
Now that he had returned with Fengcheng's assistance, he believed he could quickly eliminate Yu Village and regain the position of ruler in this wilderness!
Thinking of this, Salt Qi respectfully said to the Fengcheng envoy, "My lord, Salt Village is just ahead."
The Fengcheng envoy nodded, sitting high on the back of a barbarian elephant, disdainfully glancing at the gate of Salt Village.
"Is this Salt Village?"
"Yes, my lord. Our Salt Village is the most powerful village in this wilderness."
Salt Qi proudly introduced.
However, the Fengcheng envoy didn't mince words, "Such a poor and backward place."
Salt Qi's face looked slightly unsightly.
The Fengcheng envoy asked again, "Where is the Yu Village you mentioned? Hurry up and retrieve the wealth that rightfully belongs to the Shaman God. This lord needs to return to report to the Great Shaman as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Salt Qi immediately pushed aside the embarrassment from earlier and said, "Yu Village is to the south, about four or five days' journey."
"Need to walk for another four or five days?"
The Fengcheng envoy became somewhat impatient, "So far?"
Sensing the envoy's mood, Yan Qi cautiously suggested, "My Lord, why not have a good meal and rest in our village before heading to Yu Village?"
After a moment's hesitation, the Fengcheng envoy agreed and led the troops into Salt Village.
At the same time, the silhouette of a majestic eagle flew across the sky, overlooking the situation on the vast ground below.
...
Yu Village.
Through the eagle's eyes, Yu Su learned that the Fengcheng troops had settled in Salt Village.
"Fengcheng's troops have already settled in Salt Village, totaling over eight hundred people."
Yu Su shared this information with Jian Yunchuan and Lu Yan.
Jian Yunchuan: "I wonder who is leading them."
Thinking of Jian Yunchuan's background, Yu Su advised, "Father, in case they recognize you..."
Jian Yunchuan snorted, "If they recognize, they recognize. I and Fengcheng have long been at odds. If I ever return to Fengcheng one day, I will settle scores with those people."
A glint passed through Lu Yan's eyes; his mother's village was also destroyed by Fengcheng.
With Fengcheng sending people this time, they must make sure there's no way back for them.
Yu Su said, "I'll keep the eagle watching. As soon as they move, we'll know. But we should start preparing for what's to come."
Both Jian Yunchuan and Lu Yan nodded.
After discussing the battle plan, Jian Yunchuan and Lu Yan went to organize their respective warriors. The warriors of Yu Village, upon learning that a major battle was imminent, all showed fervent expressions.
After training their battle souls for so long, it was finally time to unleash their potential!
[Today's update ends here]