Chapter 137: The Great Army Returns! The Cat Clan Arrives!

To the southeast of the Lion Clan lay the territory of the Tiger Clan.

At this moment, not a single Tiger Clan member could be seen on their own land.

This time, the Tiger Clan sought to challenge the Lion Clan's imperial status, using the Lion Clan as a stepping stone to ascend—only to receive a merciless strike from the Lion Clan.

In this beast-people nation east of the Mist, the Lion Clan's strength was far too great.

Even after quietly developing for over twenty years, the Tiger Clan had grown strong enough to rival the Lion Clan—but when large-scale war erupted, they discovered they were still no match for the Lion Clan.

The Lion Clan's hidden strength was vastly superior.

But the Tiger Clan realized this too late.

This beast-people nation had enjoyed peace for many years; besides the Tiger Clan, one or two other clans had also secretly grown stronger, intending to replace the Lion Clan.

To prevent these clans from uniting, the Lion Clan struck with thunderous force, defeating the Tiger Clan at the fastest possible speed, uprooting them entirely—nearly exterminating the entire Tiger Clan.

Only a small number of Tiger Clan members fled into the endless desert to the east.

Yet the Lion Clan had not abandoned pursuit—they were still chasing.

In the endless desert, there was nothing but sand.

The sand held many scorpions, but these venomous scorpions posed little threat to the Lion Clan warriors.

In an abandoned temple in the desert, a Lion Clan force of over a hundred was resting.

In the wilderness, several Lion-men arrived from different directions.

"Report, Prince Aur, no traces of Tiger Clan activity within one hundred li to the east."

"Report, Prince Aur, none to the south either."

"Report..."

Several scouts reported their findings one by one.

At this moment, a white bird flew over.

A Lion Clan warrior caught the bird, unbound the letter tied to its leg, and delivered it to a towering Lion-man clad in a cloak, standing at the center of the abandoned temple.

This Lion-man wore thick black armor covered in mysterious symbols; he looked especially fierce, his aura astonishing.

After reading the letter, the Lion-man let out a soft hum, flicked his fingers lightly—and the entire paper turned to dust.

"Useless."

The Lion-man sneered.

"Prince Aur, what's wrong?"

A subordinate beside him asked.

Prince Aur said: "A horse-people force of barely a thousand has invaded our territory, killed seven thousand, and slain Bert."

"What? Prince Bert is dead! Prince Aur, your opportunity has come!"

The subordinate's face showed a hint of delight.

"What opportunity? Until every last son of that old man is dead, he won't pass the throne to me. My low-born mother was the greatest obstacle between me and the throne—even though she's long dead, her shadow still lingers!"

Prince Aur spoke coldly, then stood up and said:

"Let's return. That escaped she-tiger is about to Breakthrough to Sixth Rank. Let her live—when she does, she'll likely go mad and target my father's princes for revenge. Only then will my true opportunity arrive. Otherwise, do you think she'd keep escaping?"

"Prince Aur, your wisdom is unmatched!"

One day later, the Lion Clan's army hunting the Tiger Clan returned in waves.

This thousand-li pursuit shattered much of the remaining Tiger Clan strength; few survivors escaped.

Throughout the endless desert, Tiger Clan corpses lay everywhere.

On the day the Lion Clan army returned, the entire Lion Clan capital, Wang Cheng, was filled with cheering Lion-men.

These past few days, the horse-people warriors had ravaged Lion Clan lands, leaving these Lion-men seething with rage.

These Lion-men had been waiting for their army's return to wipe out the horse-people.

"Has Aurdington returned?"

In Wang Cheng, the Old Lion King's dozen or so princes all awaited Aurdington.

"Look, there he is! Come on, let's go!"

A group of princes rushed toward Aurdington.

These fellows hoped to ride the army's coattails for military merit and wanted to curry favor with Aurdington.

In their eyes, Aurdington—effectively the Old Lion King's bastard—posed no threat to the throne.

On the day the Lion Clan army returned, Meng Ying led a thousand horse-people warriors and caught up with the Cat Clan's main force.

At this moment, the leading portion of the Cat Clan's main force had reached the Sacred Wasteland and beheld the magnificent Sacred City.

"Whoa, this city is huge!"

"What an imposing city—I've never seen one like it."

"I've been to the Lion Clan's Wang Cheng, but it's not even as big as this one..."

Over a hundred thousand Cat-men were stunned by the Sacred City.

"Look, the roads here are amazing too!"

Some Cat-men noticed the cement roads beneath their feet.

The simple cement roads left each Cat-man utterly astonished.

Once they entered the Sacred City, their exclamations of awe never ceased.

They were even more overwhelmed than Princess Luo Di had been during her visit.

The fox-woman Sister Qing Ling received the Cat Clan's chieftain on the square before the temple.

The temple where Sister Qing Ling stood was the largest temple in the Sacred City.

The square before the temple was exceptionally wide—capable of holding tens of thousands.

The Cat Clan was settled in the western corner of the Miracle City.

Quite a few buildings had already been constructed there, enough to house them.

Large quantities of cooked potatoes were distributed to the Cat Clan, letting these clansfolk, who had gone hungry plenty along the way, each have a full meal.

After the Cat Clan joined, the population of Miracle City surpassed four hundred thousand.