As the Heroes' Conference of Beiyuan opened, a whirlwind of activity swept through the land.
Grass Manor Heroes' Conference.
The only major tribe, the Dongfang family, held the greatest advantage, outshining all others and repeatedly maintaining dominance in the Grass Manor Heroes' Conference.
Dongfang Yuliang, the current patriarch of the Dongfang family, a five-turn intellectual path Gu master, was young and talented. With his expertise in intellectual path cultivation, he managed family affairs with great efficiency and an upward trajectory.
It was already decided that the Dongfang family would emerge as the champion of this Heroes' Conference. The key, however, was how long it would take Dongfang Yuliang to suppress the powerful Zhao family, a rival clan within the Dongfang tribe, and consolidate his strength.
The Heroes' Conference was merely the opening act for the battle for the throne. Winning wasn't about the number of battles fought but about how much power one could consolidate.
As expected, Dongfang Yuliang swiftly subdued the Zhao family and began absorbing the various clans of Grass Manor.
Mengqiu Heroes' Conference.
The major tribe [family name] dispatched a five-turn slave path Gu master Tu, who was extremely aggressive.
Slave path Gu masters played a crucial role in warfare. It wasn't just their control over beast armies, but the fact that many neutral tribes would choose to side with forces that had a master of slave path.
With large numbers of beast armies charging into battle, the loss of tribe members could be greatly reduced, which was highly favorable for many families.
The three most renowned slave path masters in Beiyuan—Ma Zun, Yang Poying, and Jiang Baoya—were key figures in this battle for the throne.
Though Tu was a half-way slave path practitioner, he commanded an unknown beast, the Leopard King, and had over 200,000 common leopards, with numbers still growing as [family] continued to capture wild leopards.
Such power made him a formidable contender against the three great slave path masters.
Under pressure from Tu's army, the Lu family began to falter, with many major tribes from Mengqiu moving to ally with him.
Dujiao Heroes' Conference.
The Yelü family had failed to claim the throne for the past eight consecutive terms. This time, their patriarch Yelü Lai secretly placed a仙蛊 (immortal Gu) on Yelü Sang.
With the help of the Flame Path仙蛊, Yelü Sang's personal combat prowess became overwhelming, forcing everyone to bow before him, leaving no one able to stand in his way.
Yutian Heroes' Conference.
Various tribes clamored for influence, causing confusion and disorder, but over time, through strategic alliances, two dominant forces emerged. One was Liu Wenwu from the Liu family, and the other was Heiloulan from the Hei family.
Liu Wenwu, the third son of the Liu family, was both cultured and martial, outstanding in talent, with lofty ambitions. Leading his retainers, he broke off from the Liu family to form his own faction, becoming a leading contender for the throne.
Hei Loulan, the son of Hei Cheng, the family's elder, had a notorious reputation in Beiyuan for his lecherous and cruel nature. However, his martial prowess, combined with his strong military forces, made him a powerful rival to Liu Wenwu.
Both were top-tier forces in Beiyuan, with deep roots and an equal balance of power, leading to a standoff.
Other large tribes like the Wang, Ye, and Fang families remained undecided, still observing the situation.
Tianchuan Heroes' Conference.
Without any top-tier tribes, the Ma, Fei, and Cheng families, with their deep heritage, emerged as the main players.
The Fei family controlled the Warm Marsh Valley, a place with strong power, but internal discord between Fei Chang and Fei Qing had been brewing for a long time.
Fei Qing, the son of the previous patriarch, rightfully took over the leadership, while his older cousin Fei Chang, though only the son of a family elder, had equal talent. Due to his age, he had greater prestige within the family.
Fei Chang orchestrated a long-planned coup and poisoned Fei Qing. Meanwhile, the Ma family took advantage of Fei Qing's expulsion from the family and made him their inside ally, using the moment of internal chaos to attack and absorb the Fei family.
After absorbing the Fei family, the Ma family's forces grew even stronger. With the Fei family destroyed, the biggest obstacle at the Heroes' Conference was eliminated. The Ma family's efforts to absorb other families became smoother.
...
In just a few days, countless families in Beiyuan formed alliances, consumed others, and merged into hundreds of armies. These armies varied in strength. Apart from a few large tribes, most were composed of large families.
Large tribes were generally powerful, but as long as a five-turn Gu master led them, they could compete.
Weak forces with shallow foundations and insufficient numbers were easy to handle. As long as victories were achieved, other families could be absorbed, and smaller tribes would eventually submit, forming large armies.
Those without five-turn Gu masters were even less of a concern.
Among these hundreds of armies, the ones most likely to take the throne were the Hei, Liu, Yelü, Dongfang, [family], and Ma families.
Beiyuan was like a vast chessboard, with the Gu Immortals as the players, and the hundreds of armies as the pieces.
As pieces, the various armies were unaware of the bigger picture, still harboring ambitions of ruling, even if only the slightest hope of entering the royal court remained.
After all, the level of Gu Immortals was beyond the understanding of ordinary people, and only the core members of major tribes could grasp bits and pieces of the truth.
---
After bidding farewell to Fang Yuan, Qi Tian concealed his figure and headed towards Tianchuan.
The Warm Marsh Valley in Tianchuan had already changed hands, now controlled by the Ma family.
The valley was easy to defend but difficult to attack, with vast stretches of warm mud. When the blizzards arrived in Beiyuan, it was a natural shelter. It became the foundation of the Ma family's survival.
The valley had a unique terrain, with expansive marshlands and steep rocky cliffs, and it was home to the terrifying clawed horses, creatures adapted to this environment.
These clawed horses had four massive claws instead of hooves. Their claws were connected by fleshy webbing, allowing them to climb and move freely through marshes.
There were over 200,000 of these clawed horses in the Warm Marsh Valley, and when the Fei family controlled the region, they often tamed some of them as primary mounts.
Now, under the Ma family's control, these clawed horses played a significant role.
The Ma family's renowned slave path master, Ma Zun, had brought these 200,000 clawed horses under his command, significantly expanding the Ma family's forces.
There was no Beast King among these clawed horses, which was why the Fei family had allowed them to live in the valley.
Had there been a Beast King, the Fei family would have tried to eliminate it, as a massive herd of horses could become a ticking time bomb.
Without a Beast King, Ma Zun faced less resistance in taming the herd. However, the task was still complicated—he would need to subdue a hundred Beast Kings, which, though not too difficult, was time-consuming and would put additional strain on his soul.
Fortunately, the Ma family had just absorbed the Fei family and needed time to consolidate their gains. Ma Zun had time to slowly tame the horses.
Taming a herd without a Beast King didn't require any guards' assistance, as Ma Zun was accompanied by a Horse Emperor, nine Beast Kings, and five otherworldly horses. He easily subdued the clawed horses.
"Once I have tamed these herds, our Ma family's strength will be unmatched. No one can stand in our way."
"Truly worthy of Ma Zun! The pillar of our family! It's an honor to be a guard for Ma Zun."
"And our young master is wise and skilled in horsemanship, inheriting Ma Zun's true teachings. He is the hope for our family's rise."
The guards whispered from a distance.
As a slave path Gu master, Ma Zun was always surrounded by guards. He was a solitary figure, obsessed with horses, spending most of his time with the herd. He disliked human interactions, and his guards only accompanied him in battle.
Now, with the Warm Marsh Valley firmly under Ma family control and the struggle for the throne still in its early stages, not many guards were left behind. Those that remained were stationed at a distance.
But then, an unexpected incident occurred.
As usual, Ma Zun took out a third-turn horse taming Gu and infused it with true essence.
In a moment, the horse taming Gu was activated.
The Gu transformed into a faint glow and flew towards the Beast King ahead.
With his Thousand Beast Soul, Ma Zun could easily suppress the Beast King, almost no risk of failure.
Moreover, this Beast King had already been subdued by his own Beast King, leaving it powerless to resist.
Yet, an unexpected event occurred!
Hisssss—-
Along with the horse's cry, Ma Zun's soul was suddenly jolted.
Taming beasts was a battle of souls.
However, in this battle, Ma Zun's usually invincible Thousand Beast Soul was defeated.
With a loud snap!
The glow vanished.
The third-turn horse taming Gu failed under the strain and died completely.
Had the failure of the third-turn Gu only been a minor setback, the soul backlash would have been slight, with only minor injuries.
However, at the same time, Ma Zun realized that he had been ambushed!
Though he didn't know why, he was certain this was no accident!
His first reaction was to summon the Horse Emperor, otherworldly horses, and Beast Kings to defend.
His second reaction was to issue a warning signal, alerting the Ma family.
But it was too late. Before Ma Zun could react, a yellow light surged at him.
There was no time to dodge!
The yellow light struck Ma Zun.
"Damn! A five-turn slave Gu!"
Ma Zun was shocked, but there was a trace of disdain in his eyes.
Though his soul had been shaken by the previous assault and he hadn't had time to resist, taming a five-turn Gu master wasn't an easy feat. It was a battle of souls.
Ma Zun quickly gathered his breath, focusing to resist.
"Too naive! For a slave path Gu master, the soul must be as deep as possible. Taming beasts is already hard enough, let alone controlling humans. Humans are the essence of all things; trying to control me is a fool's dream… Ah!"
Ma Zun prided himself on his soul, believing that no one could defeat his Thousand Beast Soul.
Few Gu masters in Beiyuan had achieved a Thousand Beast Soul, and to defeat it was nearly impossible!
But reality stunned Ma Zun. His Thousand Beast Soul was at a disadvantage and was rapidly losing ground. The yellow light gradually merged into his body.
Finally, the yellow light fully integrated, and Ma Zun, the famous slave path master of Beiyuan, became someone else's slave.
The entire process took only three breaths. Before the enemy even revealed themselves, it was already over.
Ma Zun returned to normal and quieted the restless horses.
The distant guards, though puzzled by the commotion caused by the horses, saw everything return to normal and paid it no mind.
Occasional horse restlessness was common, and this time the disturbance was larger than usual, but they didn't think much of it.
After taming a quarter of the herd, Ma Zun retreated into his hut to meditate.