Chapter 126: The Wild Boar Forest

Everyone was quite happy after successfully securing the territory, except for Zhang Tiandao, whose expression remained heavy. As a long-time companion, Xiong Dabiao naturally noticed that something was off with Zhang’s mood.

He stepped forward and asked, "Crazy Daoist, is there a problem?"

Zhang Tiandao thought for a moment and replied, "There is a slight issue. The prophetic vision I saw was rather chaotic—it contained wild boar-men, bandits, and a giant python. All three of these entities in the vision were Tier 7 beings."

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be dangerous for us to move there?" Xiong Dabiao asked, worried. "Can't we pick a different place?"

"No," Zhang Tiandao explained. "In the vision, a giant leg stepped down and crushed all three Tier 7 entities. Besides, we have nowhere else to go. It isn't simple to secure a piece of land in this region; even if you weren't here, other factions would just present us with similar challenges."

Xiong Dabiao was stunned, his gaze drifting involuntarily toward Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng looked confused. "Why are you looking at me? Do you think I'm that giant leg?"

Xiong Dabiao and Zhang Tiandao nodded silently.

Lu Sheng was speechless. "Tell me, did you decide to befriend me suddenly because you saw something in a vision?"

A thought suddenly occurred to Lu Sheng. Since Zhang Tiandao could see prophetic visions, was the whole scheme of Xiong Dabiao gifting him the White Cloud Horse something they had planned in advance?

Zhang Tiandao did not hide it. "That's right. Just as you thought, we only made that decision after seeing certain visions."

Lu Sheng understood. No wonder that day had been so strange, with them only asking him one question and requesting to travel together. In Lu Sheng’s view, Zhang Tiandao’s prophecy was not a problem. With his current strength, he could handle Tier 7 beings. Whether he could kill them was hard to say, as he had not tried it yet. The gap between Tier 6 and Tier 7 was not insurmountable; even without being a freak like Lu Sheng, a Tier 6 could still trade blows with a Tier 7.

"In that case, let's go," Lu Sheng said. He was still interested in that monster race. To increase his strength, he needed to collect resources, and killing monsters was unavoidable. Fortunately, with his clones, he could continue to play it safe. However, he needed to acquire more clones; otherwise, if a clone accidentally died, he would have to take action himself. As long as he hid in the sub-dimensional space, he was currently absolutely safe. Nothing could threaten him. Especially now, as he had advanced to Tier 6, his spatial anchoring allowed him to set three points. He himself counted as one point, and excluding the point on his Scarecrow clone, he could set one more. He had currently set this point at Tiantan Mountain. This altar was very useful to him, and he valued it highly.

The four of them mounted their White Cloud Horses and returned to the main group.

Inside the Sky Feather Sect, an armored man approached Wu Yongchang. "My lord, the Law Instance has already been snatched by others. According to descriptions from those who saw them, they appear to be outsiders."

"Oh?" Wu Yongchang already had a guess in mind. "Tell me the details."

Under his subordinate’s detailed description, Wu Yongchang confirmed it was indeed those people who had taken the Law Instance. "Ten Tier 6 monsters... It seems they aren't soft persimmons. That's fine, though; it would be best if they could help me block and resolve the trouble on the east side."

Wu Yongchang tapped his fingers on the desk, his gaze deep as he looked into the distance.

After lunch, Lu Sheng’s group led their force toward the location provided by Wu Yongchang. The site was guarded by Wu’s men; once they presented the warrant, the territory would naturally be theirs.

After advancing for about an hour, they reached the camp. It appeared the area had originally been a forest, but it had been completely cleared. Two kilometers away was another forest, which was presumably the living area of the monster race Wu Yongchang mentioned. Upon handing over the warrant, the guards withdrew promptly, evidently having received orders from Wu Yongchang long ago.

"Brother Lu, from now on, this is our territory," Xiong Zijie said with excitement. Being able to find a place to settle so quickly after migrating was worth celebrating.

"Mm, have people build houses; we'll likely be living in tents for a while," Lu Sheng said, focusing on the monster issue. "Bring me the documents they left behind."

"Right." Xiong Zijie nodded and brought out a pile of materials. The group began to study them. The monsters living in the opposite forest were the Wild Boar-man tribe—tall, sturdy, and capable of using weapons. Among them was a Tier 7 Wild Boar-man leader. Within that forest, the Boar-men’s strength was greatly amplified, which seemed to be related to the layout of their tribe. There were likely special artifacts enhancing their power. The Wild Boar-men had been relatively quiet lately, with no signs of causing trouble.

After carefully reviewing the files, Lu Sheng found only that information useful. As for the defensive and offensive data of the Boar-men, he skimmed it, but it wasn't too important to him. If he hit them, they would be finished.

Xiong Dabiao studied the data carefully and suddenly felt a toothache. In summary: thick skin, dense flesh, and immense strength. At the same Tier 6, human attacks might not even penetrate their defenses unless one possessed high-quality weapons—above Green quality, reaching Blue quality—and at least Tier 5. These were the bloody lessons left behind by the Sky Feather Sect. Furthermore, the Boar-men’s strength was top-tier among their peers; if you weren't strong yourself, it was best not to go head-to-head.

These were the gruesome examples left by the Sky Feather Sect. In particular, once the Boar-men entered that forest, their combat power doubled, and head-on clashes only resulted in losses for the humans. The Sky Feather Sect had previously entered the Boar Forest without knowing this, planning to slaughter them, but suffered a heavy defeat. Several Tier 6 fighters were beaten until they vomited blood and were bedridden for weeks. It was only because they retreated in time that they didn't lose more men.

According to the Sky Feather Sect's investigation, there were about 300 Tier 5 Boar-men, ten Tier 6s, and one Tier 7. This data was not entirely precise; it only represented the strength the Boar-men had displayed so far. No one knew if they had hidden forces.

Lu Sheng was actually quite excited by this data. How wonderful! More monsters meant more potential Law Stones. He had been worrying about how to get them, and here someone was delivering a gift. Regardless of whether Wu Yongchang had ill intentions, this was beneficial to Lu Sheng.

Xiong Dabiao was worried. "Having such a powerful neighbor is no good thing. Doesn't this mean we'll have to waste our strength guarding the front line?" In his view, the Boar-men were so strong that their power increased in the forest; they had no chance of winning if they attacked. But if they didn't attack, they would waste vast amounts of time guarding the area—it was like torture. Especially since a Tier 7 had to be stationed here; otherwise, if the Boar-man leader attacked, their 8,000 people would be in danger.

Lu Sheng said calmly, "What's there to panic about? Tomorrow, we'll go and wipe out the Boar-men."

Tomorrow, his Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes would mature. He would then upgrade all the monsters he had; if he could get them to Tier 7, great—if not, he would max them out at Tier 6. He still had plenty of Goblin cards; if necessary, he would evolve more Goblins, build a Tier 6 Goblin army, and sweep through the Boar Forest. So what if they had a Tier 7? A swarm of Tier 6s would hammer them to death all the same. As for taking action himself, that was fine too, but being steady and burying the enemy under a Goblin army worked just as well. He had thousands of Goblins, though they were only Tier 1; he just needed to upgrade them. The evolution conditions for Goblins were simple: a Tier 3 Green quality Spirit Fruit would suffice, and he wasn't short on those. He had a Tier 6 Water Spirit Fruit tree; if he had enough flesh and blood, he could cultivate hundreds of fruits in just two hours.

The only difficulty was building the army: the altar only produced one Blue-quality Goblin per hour. That was too slow. Even if he worked tirelessly until tomorrow noon, he could only produce 20, and that would sacrifice the time he spent cultivating other monsters. He had to choose between cultivating Goblins or other monsters. But he could just have the other monsters complete their evolution to Tier 6.

Lu Sheng had a flash of inspiration and realized he had been overthinking. The other monsters were all White quality when collected, so their evolution requirements weren't difficult to meet. It was simple for him now. Anything he lacked could be bought in Sky Feather City.

Once he figured it out, Lu Sheng stopped worrying and began checking the evolution requirements for the monsters he had already upgraded to Blue quality. These monsters were already at the Tier 5 peak; he only needed to fulfill the requirements to reach Tier 6. He needed to organize the materials before heading to the city.

Xiong Dabiao looked at Lu Sheng suspiciously. "Brother Lu, although I know you have ten Tier 6 monster subordinates and are strong yourself, you must know that the Boar-men are not to be underestimated. Their revealed strength alone is formidable, not to mention what they haven't shown. And I see your Tier 6 monster subordinates are only at the early stage; it might be difficult to wipe out the Boar-men, right?"

Facing Xiong Dabiao's skepticism, Lu Sheng smiled. "What, you don't trust me again?"

Xiong Dabiao’s mouth twitched, and his face felt a bit swollen just thinking about yesterday. Zhuo Lei, who had been silent on the side, couldn't help but snicker.

"I'll leave this place to you; I'm going to figure out how to deal with the Boar-men." Lu Sheng greeted them and left, truly intending to study the evolution requirements.

With Lu Sheng gone, Xiong Dabiao and the others had no objections. The powerhouse just needed to be strong. They began deploying the defense line and arranging for people to build houses. Housing 8,000 people meant more than just living quarters; they needed space for livestock, food for those animals, water sources, and more. Some were easy to solve, others were troublesome. They had enough food reserves for the short term, but long-term survival required more consideration. They also needed to build a defensive perimeter; they couldn't just have a circle of fences. These were things Xiong Dabiao had to handle.

Lu Sheng had returned to study the evolution needs. By now, he had successfully upgraded 30 monsters to Blue quality. He could fulfill the requirements for those needing Spirit Fruits right now. After careful study, he found he could fulfill the requirements for 20 of them immediately, and the other 10 were not difficult—a quick trip to Sky Feather City would suffice.

Not all 30 monsters were combat-capable; some beetle-types only had defensive capabilities. Lu Sheng quickly realized he could combine them—attack paired with defense. That way, monsters with only attack power wouldn't be too weak defensively. They wouldn't be easily lost, and he couldn't resurrect Blue-quality monsters yet. Beetle + Mantis, Beetle + Sword-Legged Spider, Beetle + Copper-Skinned Buffalo. Defense + Defense was useless, but adding it to a monster with attack power and decent defense made a difference.

After clarifying this, he upgraded all 20 monsters he could, bringing them all to Tier 6. Even among beetles and mantises, there were different breeds. For example, Purple-Winged Mantis, Scythe Mantis, Afterimage Mantis... these different breeds had different focuses and therefore different internal laws. The same went for beetles—Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Armored... If these monsters were matched well, one against three wouldn't be a problem.

After finishing this, Lu Sheng greeted Xiong Dabiao, mounted his White-Flame Blue-Scale Bird, and flew toward Sky Feather City. At the bird's speed, it would only take 20 minutes. The main force had taken an hour, but he didn't need that long.

He arrived at the city, wandered around, and bought everything he needed from a merchant association. It was easy to acquire, and he successfully upgraded the remaining ten monsters to Tier 6. However, he didn't rush to leave. Since he was making such a big move, just solving the enemy at his doorstep wasn't enough. He needed a map of monster distribution in District 13, preferably knowing where the most Tier 6 monsters were and where the most Law Stones were produced.

If he led his main force to sweep through, who could have more Tier 6 monsters than he did? If there were any, he would wait until he had assembled a hundred Tier 6 monsters—surely that would be enough to sweep them. If it weren't for the fact that killing his own monsters didn't drop items, he wouldn't care. He would just wait until he could resurrect Blue-quality monsters and kill them repeatedly. He would farm whatever he needed. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.

Lu Sheng went straight to the intelligence vendor. He had already located the place while looking for the merchant association. There were two grades of monster distribution maps. The first contained only well-known Tier 6 locations; the monsters there hadn't been killed yet, meaning they were either difficult to deal with or in dangerous areas. The second, in addition to the first, included Tier 6 monsters discovered by the intelligence agency, updated every three days. If one was killed, it wouldn't appear on the next map, and it included terrain introductions. The first cost 10 Tier 5 Source Orbs, the second cost one Tier 5 Spirit Fruit. The price difference was a hundredfold. To Lu Sheng, information was more valuable than a Spirit Fruit. He took out the Tier 5 Spirit Fruit Zhuo Lei had given him and used it to trade for the intelligence.

Lu Sheng successfully obtained a detailed map of District 13. Every Tier 6 monster location was marked, with danger levels indicated by Green, Yellow, and Red based on quantity and level. Green meant a single Tier 6 monster, relatively easy to hunt. Yellow meant dangerous, possibly multiple Tier 6s or a hazardous location. Red meant extremely dangerous—forbidden zones with Tier 7 monsters or places swarming with Tier 6s.

There were nearly 100 marked locations, with only five in the Red zone. The Boar Forest was honorably listed, and the description matched what he had been told earlier. This showed that the intelligence-gathering agency was quite capable or was funded by the Sky Feather Sect. Besides the Boar Forest, the other four areas were Grave Mountain, Steel Bear Forest, Frozen Pool, and Giant Python Forest. The Giant Python Forest was not far from the Boar Forest. Combined with Zhang Tiandao’s prophecy, Lu Sheng suddenly wondered if the giant python would team up with the Boar-men. If the prophecy was accurate enough, this might be true.

Thinking of this, Lu Sheng didn't delay. He planned to make one more round of purchases before returning. He wanted special function cards or monster cards that could help him. Most importantly, he wanted to see if he could get cloning cards. He never had enough of those.

He went to the largest marketplace in Sky Feather City and began browsing, scanning the stalls at high speed. He bought anything with special abilities immediately. He didn't need high-tier cards; he only needed low-tier ones. With enough Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes, it was more cost-effective to upgrade them himself. Unless the quality reached Blue, Lu Sheng wouldn't buy high-tier cards. Whether it was a function card or a weapon card, without Blue quality, he couldn't upgrade them to Tier 6. The quality had to be Blue.

Healing cards, terrain-altering cards—like flood, mudslide, ice-seal... He bought them if he saw them. It was better to be prepared; Tier 1 or 2 cards didn't cost much. After finishing his purchases, Lu Sheng headed back, mounting his White-Flame Blue-Scale Bird and flying toward their new settlement.