Chapter 191 - Bloody Totem Province
For now, Yaan wanted to focus on the Kingdom of Lunar Song. Whilst Ga Shu was not as familiar with this kingdom when compared to his birth kingdom, he still understood the fundamentals.
When Ga Shu came to the Kingdom of Lunar Song 300 years earlier, he had travelled through three provinces before reaching the Star Plain Province. At that time, he was badly injured and fleeing from his enemies, whilst the Star Plain Province was secluded enough that information rarely leaked outside. It was a good place to settle whilst he lay low and recuperated from his injuries.
There were no major tribes located in the outer reaches of the province, as this region was a dead land without fertility, not even grass could grow there. There was nothing of value in that region for cultivators, whilst mortal life would struggle to survive in such a barren environment.
Beyond the Star Plain Province, lay five bordering provinces. The end of the Star Plain Province was defined by the end of the night-time starry sky, which could not be seen anywhere else in the kingdom.
Dark Marsh Province, Blazing Forest Province, Golden Bull Province, Fallen Cloud Province, Earth Cry Province.
These were the five provinces bordering the Star Plain Province. The first two of these five had no clear rulers, and as such, both were named after the common environment found throughout the province. The other three were all ruled by their own respective tribes, and thus, the provinces were named after these tribes.
Typically, if a tribe gained dominance in their province, they would rename the province after their own tribe. It seemed this was a custom in the Kingdom of Lunar Song, and also in some other kingdoms, according to Ga Shu.
Yaan fell into contemplation at this point. Should he rename the Star Plain Province, Bloody Totem Province?
Seeming to understand his thoughts, Ga Shu commented on this matter.
“Lord Red, it would be very wise to rename the province after your tribe. When you begin to expand your conquest out into the other provinces in the kingdom, your reputation will quickly build up. If your province is not named after your tribe, others might think there are issues with your internal affairs, they will take this as a sign of weakness.”
Yaan nodded slowly.
“I see, then I will rename this province. From now on, this land will be known as the Bloody Totem Province. Ga Shu, I want you to have your tribe spread this news whilst making it clear that you support my tribe’s rule. After the other tribes fall into place, we will immediately begin to invade the next province.”
“Understood, Lord Red.” Ga Shu nodded seriously.
Yaan continued to ask Ga Shu for advise. Although Yaan was much stronger than the Aztec man, he felt no pride in this, nor did he feel any shame in asking for advise from someone weaker than himself.
Perhaps he had once felt a sort of pride, even if it was small and insignificant, but the current Yaan refused to be shackled by such useless emotions.
“Which province do you recommend that we invade? Bear in mind that the strength of the opponent is not important, I just wish to optimise this conquest to be as efficient as possible.”
Ga Shu was slightly startled when Yaan made such a bold claim.
‘He does not care about the strength of the opponent? Just how powerful is this person, I cannot see through him at all…’ Ga Shu thought with an internal sigh.
“Typically, most rulers will target those provinces without a clear ruling power, as their organisation is weak, they are disunited and they cannot put up much of a fight.” Ga Shu spoke with a contemplative expression. “But if you are confident in your own power, Lord Red, then it would be most efficient to directly target the ruling tribe of another province.”
Ga Shu became silent for a moment, before finishing his recommendation.
“I recommend starting with the Earth Cry Province. This province is the richest of the five, whilst its largest border is shared with our Bloody Totem Province.”
As Ga Shu took out a map from his spatial ring, Yaan moved his eyes towards the area that the Aztec man pointed to.
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“I see, the Earth Cry Province would be the easiest for us to attack, and also the easiest for us to defend after conquering it.” Yaan nodded. “If it is truly the richest, then this is indeed the best target.”
The Earth Cry Province was around the same size as the Bloody Totem Province, but the land in this province was renowned for its extremely rich fertility. There were many more tribes in this province compared to the Bloody Totem Province, which were all briefly described by Ga Shu.
Ga Shu’s information was outdated and by now, it might even be completely wrong, but it was better than working with nothing.
In the Earth Cry Province, there were ten Rank 5 tribes, a Rank 5 tribe being a tribe supported by at least one 5-Star warrior. As for Rank 4 tribes, there were approximately 120 of them, more than twice as many compared to the Bloody Totem Province!
But the number of these Rank 4 tribes was irrelevant to Yaan. No matter how many Rank 4 tribes a province controlled, they could never amount to anything against Yaan, who could conceal his presence from 4-Star warriors entirely.
Rank 3 tribes were even less relevant. In fact, Rank 3 tribes were almost non-existent, as they would always be swallowed up by a larger tribe as soon as they established themselves. At most, there would be some Rank 3 vassal tribes or Rank 3 outpost tribes, but these tribes were so weak that they were not even worth mentioning.
As for Rank 6 tribes…they did not exist.
Rank 6 meant nirvana, and Nirvana realm cultivators did not involve themselves in worldly matters. Rank 6 was the transitional stage between mortality and immortality, a being could linger at this stage for a few years at most, before either completing their ascension or dying.
Revealing yourself as a Nirvana realm cultivator was too big of a risk. Others knew that Nirvana realm cultivators needed to focus on their ascension, and that any interference from the outside world could potentially hinder this process.
On top of this, a Nirvana realm cultivator symbolised something greater, it symbolised a potential immortal!
If a 6-Star warrior revealed themselves to the world, bringing their tribe up to Rank 6, they might find themselves being targeted by anyone and everyone around them.
For this reason, Rank 5 was often considered the peak of the mortal world.
Even so, Yaan knew that eventually, he might end up running into a 6-Star warrior, a Nirvana realm powerhouse!
A warrior going through Nirvana would seclude themselves from the world, not caring even if multiple elders of their tribe were killed. But, could they continue to distance themselves from external affairs, if those external affairs knocked on their front door? If Yaan showed up at their tribe and began decimating their tribesmen, plundering their resources and stealing their lands, could they remain unmoved?
Of course not!
To these people, their tribes were their homes, they pursued strength in order to protect their home and elevate their status, they could not sit by idly and watch whilst all they cared for was being taken from them!
Ga Shu also understood this point. He was a man with over 500 years of life experience, even though 6-Star warriors were rarely seen, he had personally witnessed such a character’s might!
“Lord Red, you are extremely mighty, but you must not underestimate 6-Star warriors. I once witnessed a 6-Star warrior decimate multiple 5-Star warriors in a single blow…6-Star warriors are truly just one step away from the legendary realm of immortals.”
Yaan was immediately intrigued. He had met immortals before, and of course he had encountered and even battled against many Rank 5 cultivators…but he was yet to meet anyone at the Nirvana realm!
Yaan asked Ga Shu to describe his experience with that 6-Star warrior, so that he could develop a better understanding of the strength of Rank 6.
It was quite some time ago that Ga Shu encountered the 6-Star warrior. It was back when he was a young man, captured by an enemy Aztec Branch Tribe and made to become a slave.
Whilst different Aztec Branch Tribes might share the same Aztec bloodline, they were far from united. In the Berserker Kingdom, the various Aztec Branch Tribes regularly waged war against one another, capturing and killing their fellow Aztecs without a shred of mercy.
Ga Shu was captured by an enemy Aztec Branch Tribe and fell to the lowly state of a slave. After 12 years passed by, he was finally freed when his own tribe, the Wild Man Tribe, attacked that enemy branch tribe and toppled them within minutes.
They achieved this thanks to their recently ascended Nirvana realm ancestor!
Nirvana realm old monsters typically secluded themselves away, but sometimes, when they were in dire straights, a Peak Rank 5 cultivator would break through to Rank 6 in order to gain a massive boost in strength!
This was exactly what happened to the Wild Man Tribe Ancestor.
Their enemy, the Swallowed Blade Tribe, had been slowly capturing and killing off their people with each passing battle, and eventually, the situation became critical. The Wild Man Tribe Ancestor broke through to the 6-Star realm in order to save the situation.
The first stage of Nirvana was Nirvana Life. Regardless of the path of cultivation a person pursued, after the peak of Rank 5, they would step into Nirvana Life.
In fact, reaching the Nirvana Life realm was quite simple, there were no special requirements to do so other than comprehending the realm boundary. The realm boundary could be comprehended by most Peak Rank 5 cultivators within a few decades of secluded cultivation, at which point, they would be able to take that step whenever they wished to do so. Upon entering the Nirvana Life realm, the cultivator would experience ‘heavenly blessing’, wherein they were blessed by the heavens with an abundance of life essence!
This massive influx of life essence would grow their lifespan by thousands of years, it would amplify their strength and foundation by tens of times, it would allow them to undergo the first qualitative change, taking a step towards the realm of immortality!
But with blessing came calamity. The heavenly dao was balanced, following this extraordinary blessing, exactly three years later, came the heavenly calamity; Nirvana Death. This calamity had a terrifyingly slim survival rate, otherwise, nobody would hesitate to enter the Nirvana Life realm as soon as they were able to do so.
The 6-Star warrior that Ga Shu encountered back then was almost certainly a Nirvana Life realm body temperer. Not only was it extremely rare to survive the Nirvana Death calamity, but the cultivator would steadily lose life essence from the moment they experienced Nirvana Death, so they would not dare to waste time at this point. Whenever a Nirvana realm cultivator made a rare public appearance, they were almost always at the Nirvana Life realm.
According to Ga Shu, the Wild Man Tribe Ancestor was shrouded in a glowing white aura of endless vitality and strength, as if every fibre of his being was overflowing with a surplus of power. A 5-Star warrior simply could not contend against this power!
Yaan listened as Ga Shu explained the power displayed by this 6-Star Aztec ancestor. Of course, back then, Ga Shu was only a young man with limited power, he did not fully understand what he was seeing. Even so, Yaan was able to build a rough mental understanding of the strength of a 6-Star warrior from this recount.
Coming away from this conversation, Yaan looked up at the sky and murmured to himself.
“Nirvana realm…I wonder how I compare to those Nirvana realm beings…those half-way immortals!”
Yaan had the feeling that soon enough, he would be presented with the chance to test himself.