Chapter 41: Dark Scale Tribe

Roar!

At the tall and wide wooden gate came the gurgling sound of wheels turning.

In the expectant gazes of the monster residents, who peered out curiously, two tamed oxen pulled a huge prison cart.

Inside the prison cart, a wounded one-horned black panther the size of a rhinoceros was locked up.

Thick lengths of tough ironvine clung to its body, as if fearing it might escape.

"This is a one-horned demon leopard?!"

The monsters recognized the origin of this demon beast and exclaimed in surprise.

The one-horned demon leopard is a formidable monster that can reach fourth rank upon adulthood, renowned for its extreme speed, agility, and vicious nature.

Di Wugesi stood guard by the cell holding the one-horned demon leopard, accompanied by a bear monster, a swamp snake couple, a mantis swordsman, the three troll brothers, and grey-scaled dragonfolk—over a dozen warriors exuding a sharp aura.

They were all third-rank warriors, and also among the elite fighters of the Dark Scale Tribe.

However, they bore many wounds at this time, and the second and third of the three troll brothers were each missing an arm.

Di Wugesi waved at the monster residents, then led the prison cart and the monster warriors toward the eastern part of the tribe.

Finally, they stopped beneath a wooden hall over ten meters tall.

"You've all worked hard; go rest now." Di Wugesi exhaled slowly, feeling somewhat fatigued.

But seeing the bound one-horned demon leopard in the prison cart, Di Wugesi felt this hunting expedition was worthwhile.

"Yes, Lord Di Wugesi."

Over a dozen third-rank monster warriors gradually departed, and the three troll brothers even shouted about who would eat the most meat this time.

For trolls, as long as they receive sufficient nutrition, a severed arm can regenerate.

In the rear courtyard of the tall wooden hall, only Di Wugesi and the one-horned demon leopard remained.

The two locked eyes; though the leopard was extremely weak, its gaze still held a hint of cruelty.

"Submit to me, and you won't have to suffer so much." Di Wugesi frowned and said.

"Roar!" The one-horned demon leopard let out a low growl, bared its teeth, and its eyes showed contempt.

As if mocking Di Wugesi.

Monsters are intelligent beings that innately grasp spell-like abilities from their bloodline and possess powerful physiques.

Mid-rank monsters, that is, those of fourth rank and above, possess intelligence not inferior to that of humans.

High-rank monsters, that is, those of seventh rank and above, can even speak human language.

Monsters possess intelligence and great strength, and thus warriors and spellcasters alike mostly desire to have a monster as a companion, which aids them greatly.

Unfortunately, most monsters are proud, and the smarter they are, the harder they are to subdue.

Di Wugesi also understood this, especially since he had still set an ambush and captured the one-horned demon leopard.

Otherwise, even if he himself had fourth-rank strength, he likely could not contend with this powerful leopard-type monster famed for speed and agility.

Yes, Di Wugesi had broken through to fourth rank, and had done so over a year ago.

A year and a half ago, Di Wugesi and his friend, the hyena-man Huo Ge, led over six hundred monster retainers onto the perilous road to Fish Spirit Marsh.

This journey took several months.

They set out with six hundred fifty-seven monsters, but upon arriving at Fish Spirit Marsh only four hundred thirty-one remained.

Casualties exceeded two hundred.

Some were slain by poison, others fell to their deaths in bottomless earth fissures.

Some were snatched away by monsters, others suffered casualties in clashes with wild monster tribes over resources.

The ways of death were myriad and strange.

Because the Dark Mire Forest is inherently extremely dangerous, even an adult dragon wandering through it could be devoured by unknown perils. In this high-pressure life-and-death environment, Di Wugesi broke through to fourth rank in the third month of departure.

Precisely because Di Wugesi had reached fourth rank, the threat posed by lone monsters and wild monster tribes along the way was greatly reduced; otherwise, they might have suffered another hundred or more casualties.

Upon reaching Fish Spirit Marsh, Huo Ge the hyena-man led his kin to scout the area, eventually discovering this hidden valley.

Afterwards, they cleared the valley of beasts and monsters, felled timber, built wooden halls, and erected walls; thus the Dark Scale Tribe, chiefly composed of grey-scaled dragonfolk and black-furred hyena-people, officially took root in Fish Spirit Marsh.

This continued until now, over a year later.

The Dark Scale Tribe's population grew from over four hundred at its founding to over seven hundred today—the increase of over three hundred monster residents, aside from a few dozen offspring of the original inhabitants, consisted mostly of over two hundred wild monsters absorbed from Fish Spirit Marsh.

Most of them are weak dog-headed people, with a few stronger monsters such as swamp trolls and swamp snake people.

The environment of Fish Spirit Marsh is most suited to water-attributed lifeforms; here, swamp trolls and swamp snake people, among other monsters, are quite numerous.

"The master still needs seven years before emerging from the academy," Di Wugesi mused, glanced at the one-horned demon leopard with its eyes closed and ignoring him, shook his head, and went inside the wooden hall.

Then let it be.

First starve you for a while, then see if you remain so proud and unwilling to submit.

If you still refuse to submit, then kill and eat you! But short of utter desperation and utter hopelessness, Di Wugesi does not want to resort to that.

After all, the one-horned demon leopard is a very formidable fourth-rank monster; even a sixth-rank monster might not be able to catch it in the jungle.

After great effort and cunning, we finally trapped this sly, formidable beast with a snare; to kill it would be heartbreaking.

"Moreover, with the aid of this one-horned demon leopard, I am confident I can defeat the fish-people tribe beside the valley," Di Wugesi thought to himself.

The master's sole command to it was to take root and develop in Fish Spirit Marsh.

As for how far to develop, the master also made no demand.

But although the master made no demand, Di Wugesi cannot hold himself to no standard, or else he would betray the master's trust.

"Before the master arrives, the Dark Scale Tribe's population must exceed ten thousand! And we must forge an elite monster army capable of waging war everywhere."

This is the goal Di Wugesi set for himself; he and his friend Huo Ge both strive toward it.

Black Dragon Fort.

Lai Ang's thoughts shifted back from that dragon kin Diwuges's body.

It swallowed the two Six Rank Giant Scale Water Demon magic cores into its abdominal storage stomach, to add some benefit to its own growth.

Then it properly stored the treasure chest containing the Magic Stones and that Steel Enchantment Alchemy Secret Technique, placing both in a hidden spot in its nest.

This alchemy secret technique is indeed very good.

However, producing magic steel requires an alchemist; after producing magic steel, it must still be forged by a blacksmith into equipment weapons.

Blacksmiths are easy to find, but alchemists are not.

"How about I study alchemy myself?" This idea suddenly popped into the Black Dragon's mind.

With the idle slot, as long as one learns the alchemy secret technique, no matter how difficult the technique is, given enough time, it can be raised to max level.

The so-called difficulty, before the idle slot, is merely a matter of how much or little experience points are needed for an upgrade.

But the Black Dragon quickly dismissed this idea.

Nothing else; for it now, increasing its strength is still the most important.

Although there are also alchemy secret techniques that can increase strength, the idle slot is ultimately only one, and battle qi, magic arts, dragon might, dragon breath, etc., are simply not enough.

"Let's talk about it later," the Black Dragon no longer thought further, closed its dragon eyes, head to tail, began in the mental world to contemplate itself using the Black Dragon Contemplation Method, and with the aid of the idle slot's nature, accelerated honing its mental power.

Moreover, within the idle slot, the rune of the already max-level Second Circle Spell 'Water Demon Cannon' from a few days ago had already been removed, and replaced with a Third Rank Level 1 Black Water Battle Qi.

First, raise the Black Water Battle Qi to Fourth Rank! Time passes. Thanks to Wen Xiao's reward of 100 points currency, and everyone's monthly votes~ please vote~ (End of chapter).