Behemoth Troop
Behemoth Troop
Using the light, Yi Yun could see that the troops were made up of huge beasts marching through the mountains. Atop the beasts were people holding torches.
"It's the Dragon Vanguard's beasts, it's the Dragon Vanguard army!"
With a glance, Yi Yun could see about eighty behemoths; one wouldn't need to go into detail about such a troop's battle prowess!
Among them, the behemoth leading the pack flew a flag banner on his back.
That flag was golden yellow in color, and on it was a beautiful dragon, the symbol of the Dragon Vanguard.
This was the flag of the Dragon Vanguard!
When he had parted with Lin Xintong and Old Man Su, Yi Yun had asked regarding the kingdom's selection. He also knew that the Dragon Vanguard had purposely created an extremely detailed map of the Cloud Wilderness.
Of course, Old Man Su did not tell Yi Yun anything about the two occurrences of the purple cloud phenomenon that happened in the past few months. If he did, Yi Yun's thoughts would run wild.
"They are finally here. For this troop to enter the Cloud Wilderness, it has to be for the kingdom's selection! I guess it's about time!"
The Cloud Wilderness was extremely broad, and the small tribes were numerous. To organize the kingdom's selection, they could not go to every tribe to hold the examination. Hence, they would gather all of the candidates in one of the large tribes, set a particular standard and collectively assess them.
The destination for the Dragon Vanguard was the Tao tribal clan. They had decided on the Tao tribal clan's land as the examination center for the kingdom's selection. The Tao tribal clan controlled an area that spanned several hundred kilometers in diameter. The biggest tribes had hundreds of thousands of households, which was equal to a million people.
In the Cloud Wilderness, the population census was based on the number of able-bodied men, as this number was most meaningful. Able-bodied men were the main labor force, and also the leading warriors in battle. To reflect a tribe's real strength, including the old and sick would make it meaningless.
An able-bodied man had a wife, parents and a few children. As for the families without able-bodied men, like Yi Yun and Jiang Xiaorou, they wouldn't even be considered a "household", so when a population census is made, Jiang Xiaorou will not be included in it.
For a large tribe, a "household" was about six to seven people, so with hundreds of thousands of households, it would be about a million people.
In the Cloud Wilderness, to have a tribe consisting of a million people was quite amazing.
…
Cloud Wilderness, Tao tribal clan—
The Tao tribal clan had survived in the Cloud Wilderness for more than a thousand years. As they had a long history, they were able to form a martial art heritage they could call their own.
As for a small tribe like the Lian tribal clan, they had no fences surrounding them, but for the Tao tribal clan, strong sturdy fences circled them.
These wooden fences were made of thick circular logs placed side by side. Each was over ten meters high. These logs were obtained from a particular tree in the vast wilderness. Its body was extremely dense and solid and it wouldn't rot even after a few hundred years of experiencing the elements.
For the Tao tribal clan to last all these years, the key reason was due to the tribe's wonderland—Tao mountain. Desolate beasts avoided wonderlands, and only lived in the 'Desolate Lands'; hence under the Tao mountain's protection, few desolate beasts appeared in the area controlled by the Tao tribal clan.
Also, the Tao tribal clan had no lack of Purple Blood warriors or warriors at the peak of the Purple Blood realm. Not only that, the Tao tribal clan had a precious ancestor weapon, even if a strong desolate beast mounted an attack, with the ancestor weapon as the core, the numerous Purple Blood warriors could create an array, giving them the power to battle.
Because of these reasons, the Tao tribal clan had lasted for many years and had grown in strength.
But a strong and large tribe would not be able to compare to the large entity like the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. The comparison would be equal to that of a pebble at the foot of a mountain, or a dust speck under the roots of a tree. It was not worth mentioning.
At that moment, the Tao tribal clan had received the news. At noon, the Dragon Vanguard would arrive. The Tao tribal clan's Patriarch and a large number of tribal elders were there to receive them.
At noon, the Dragon Vanguard arrived punctually as mentioned.
The leader of this convoy from Dragon Vanguard was a man in red armor. He was the Dragon Vanguard's Red-shirts leader, Zhang Tan.
"The Tao tribal clan is honored for life to have Thousand Households Zhang to grace his presence here!" Seeing Zhang Tan, the Tao tribal clan's Patriarch immediately came forward to receive him in an extremely deferential manner.
In the Dragon Vanguard, the Red-shirts leader commanded a thousand people, so they were commonly addressed as Thousand Households. Of course, the "Households" refer to able-bodied men.
In the armies of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, the Dragon Vanguard did not have any females. Women formed their own troops.
A typical Thousand Households was nothing, but a Thousand Households of the Dragon Vanguard was not the same. To the Tao tribal clan, this sort of person was not someone they could afford to offend.
"These are our tribe's new generation of aspirants. Come, greet the Thousand Households!" The Tao tribal clan's Patriarch said that as he waved his hand. Behind him were a hundred young warriors with ages ranging from thirteen to twenty years of age. They greeted Household Zhang in unison.
These people were all the next generation of elites from the Tao tribal clan, and they were participating in the kingdom's selection.
The Patriarch had hoped that by getting the young warriors to greet Zhang Tan, one or two of them would catch the eye of Zhang Tan, allowing them more chances of nurturing.
But it was a pity, Zhang Tan had absolutely no interest. In fact, the Dragon Vanguard's officers were extremely elitist. Having come from the Kingdom's capital, it was rare for them to appreciate a warrior from the Cloud Wilderness. It wasn't because they looked down on them, but because the warriors of the Cloud Wilderness were inadequate.
From Zhang Tan's point of view, the reason for the Dragon Vanguard to come to the Cloud Wilderness was to investigate the phenomenon that appeared in the Cloud Wilderness. As for the kingdom's selection, it was just a matter of convenience, and there were no expectations to discover any prodigies in the Cloud Wilderness.
Zhang Tan took a slight glance at the group of youths in front of him and said with a business-like attitude, "The reason for my trip is for official business, so there's no need for extravagance! Enter the city!"
Zhang Tan waved his hand, and the Dragon Vanguard directly moved in.
The young warriors of the Tao tribal clan were originally full of anticipation, and they had prepared for it meticulously; but having waited for the day to come for the Dragon Vanguard to arrive, they were ignored.
With this, the young warriors were depressed.
"This Thousand Households Zhang, he totally looked down on us!"
"That's too much. Our Tao tribal clan is the biggest tribe in the region. Although we are located in the wilderness and are poor in resources, we have grown up experiencing battles and seeing blood after growing up in the wilderness. How could those greenhouse flowers stand up to our real fighting experience?"
"Soon it will be the selection, we will make the Dragon Vanguard officers know that they were wrong. We may not do well, but our Tao tribal clan's first young master is about to complete a Tempered Body, and reach a state of 'Dragon Pulse'. In this warrior selection, he will definitely shine!" These young warriors discussed in private with a defiant tone.
The Tao tribal clan's first young master was named Hu Ya and he was well known throughout the tribe. This was because he was extremely close to reaching the state of Tempered Body. In the vast wilderness, it was extremely hard to reach a Tempered Body state.
Zhang Tan led the Dragon Vanguard straight to their encampment. After a short rest, he changed and left alone in the middle of the night, without any followers and without anyone noticing.