Chapter 238

The Jufeng Tribe, being the first to receive an olive branch from the Heishan Tribe, had already made their stance clear. Otherwise, they would not have brought their entire tribe to Heishan’s aid in its time of peril.

Therefore, before meeting with the three tribes from Beihuang today, Qi Bai first invited Wu Rao and Wei of the Jufeng Tribe.

If the three tribes refused to join Heiyao City, then there would be no point in introducing them to the Jufeng Tribe.

Unlike other tribes, after migrating north, all major and minor affairs of the Jufeng Tribe were decided by Wu Rao.

Though there was no official chief, Wei, who commanded the hunting warriors, clearly represented the tribe’s horned beastmen.

So, Wu Rao deliberately brought Wei along to this first inter-tribal meeting. As for his student Zhi, there would be many more opportunities in the future—there was no rush.

After helping Wu Rao to sit, Wei gave a slight nod of greeting to the others across the table.

In that short moment, the three elder priests—Xiong Zi, Lu Jian, and Yun Zhang—had already exchanged looks and shook their heads subtly.

Sitting opposite, Yang Luo quietly observed their expressions and understood.

The Jufeng Tribe had originally lived on the central grasslands. They had always kept a low profile—so much so that even other grassland tribes might not have heard of them, let alone the remote tribes of Beihuang.

Yang Luo raised his brows and said:
“The Jufeng are a northern tribe, blessed by the Beast God. Whether in human or beast form, they are born larger than ordinary beastmen. From now on, we are all citizens of Heiyao City, and you will soon come to know this for yourselves.”

Though the others had never seen such beastmen before, the Beast Continent had countless strange beast forms. They didn’t press the matter further.

The only regret was realizing that aside from the Heishan Tribe, Heiyao City already had another tribe within it. They gazed quietly at Wu Rao and Wei, feeling a twinge.

After all, in a sense, the Jufeng had joined earlier than they, and so the newer tribes would have to work harder to earn the approval of the City Lord and High Priest.

Thus, in one ordinary winter afternoon, in a modest council hall without grandeur, Heishan, Jufeng, Zhanxiong, Yungu, and Julu formed what history would call the legendary “Alliance of Five Tribes.”

At that time, none of them knew that the city they were about to found—Heiyao—would become the first mega-city of the Beast Continent to step into the realm of a true state, dividing eras in history.

Right now, they were only listening with awe as High Priest Bao Bai explained the city’s layout and divisions.

But the city was full of places they had never even imagined. They could only vaguely understand things like a granary, which they guessed was for storing food.

But as for things like workshop districts, school zones, commercial districts, residential areas, administrative quarters—those were beyond their comprehension.

Still, not understanding didn’t dampen their excitement.

Because just earlier, Qi Bai had led them to the inner side of the council hall, where stood a square table over three meters long.

The table itself wasn’t unusual—they had seen many before. What left everyone speechless with shock was what sat atop it.

“Beast God above…”

Wu Rao, who moments ago had been leaning on Wei’s arm, suddenly shook her off. He no longer needed his staff—he rushed forward in a single stride.

One hand braced against the table’s edge, the other trembling as he hovered it over the surface. His reaction was understandable—for never had he seen such exquisite, lifelike objects.

And indeed, no one else noticed Wu Rao’s loss of composure—for their faces mirrored his own.

The young warriors Xiong Han and Lu Yan, agile and quick, circled the table immediately. Sharp-eyed, they noticed the material.

“This… this is wood?” Lu Yan asked in disbelief.

“That’s right. Wood,” Qi Bai explained. “This is a wooden-carved sand table. It shows the full layout of Heiyao City.”

On the three-meter table rested a miniature city model carved entirely from wood.

It wasn’t as large or refined as the scale models of modern real estate Qi Bai once knew, but it had cost him over two months of overtime labor.

At first, no one could help him. But Qi Bai had wanted to break the beastmen’s limited imagination, ensuring the new city wouldn’t end up like Heishan Tribe where every house was the same.

So, when building the sand table, he included every kind of building he thought could be reproduced in the Beast Continent.

Don’t forget—Qi Bai had studied sculpture. Though illness had cut short his university years before he could learn wood carving formally, with his skills in clay and painting, plus two years of basket-weaving and carpentry, making the wooden sand table was like assembling artful building blocks.

On the sand table stood rows of two- and three-story shops for the commercial street, watchtowers on the walls, drum towers between districts, stone-paved roads of varying widths, winding rivers and ponds.

Qi Bai had even carved tiny wooden people and beast-forms, placing them around the city model.

Every detail exceeded their comprehension. Even Heishan’s tribesmen, who now lived in brick houses, could not have imagined such a city.

For half a month Qi Bai worked alone before finally enlisting help from deft-handed beastmen like Ci Yi and Shu Lin to refine the details.

Gulp.

Someone audibly swallowed. Soon, all their breaths grew heavy.

They would build this city with their own hands. This would be their home.

Chief Yun Tan, who had nearly withdrawn earlier, now sweated profusely. He had almost… almost missed this chance. From now on, Yungu was nothing—Heiyao was his root.

So it didn’t matter that they couldn’t understand Bao Bai’s explanations. They didn’t need to. All they needed was to follow his guidance.

Hot blood surged through every heart. They longed to start building at once.

But such a city couldn’t be built overnight. More importantly, their tribes were still shivering by the Xishui River. Their excitement here meant nothing until the others joined them.

Returning to their seats, exhausted as though after a battle, they exclaimed:
“We must bring our people from Xishui to Heishan immediately!”

Lang Ze asked: “Have Zhanxiong, Julu, and Yungu held their mating festivals yet?”

Lu Yan shook his head. “When slaves fled the trading day, we followed them north to find Heishan. Then we had to organize our tribe’s migration. The mating festival was delayed.”

Lang Ze nodded. “That’s just right. Heishan’s mating festival is about to begin. Jufeng will come too. Your three tribes should join as well.”

He turned to a guard: “Find Lang Ji, clear all the wagons, and use them to bring your people back.”

The chiefs brightened. They had only just joined Heiyao City and were already benefiting. With Heishan wagons, their travel time would be halved.

And surprises weren’t done yet.

“Though you’ve joined Heiyao City, salt remains Heishan’s resource,” Qi Bai said. “If you want salt, you must trade with Heishan.”

He handled population and economy, while Lang Ze oversaw military affairs.

The chiefs nodded at once. They had no objection.

After all, the City Lord and High Priest had promised they could keep all private property. All five tribes would hold equal status—they couldn’t take advantage of Heishan just because its leaders were Heishan-born.

Qi Bai continued: “But the old salt price is void. Diao Lan will notify you of the new price—it will be at least half of what it was.”

At that, Yun Tan, Xiong Han, and Lu Jian lit up, smiling at Yang Luo and Hou Yan: “Then we’ll gladly accept!”

Hou Yan laughed: “We are all citizens of Heiyao now—it’s only right.”

But beside him, Yang Luo couldn’t laugh.

Lang Ze’s words meant the mating festival would be postponed another week—meaning his punishment of halved rations would last longer.

No wonder Qi Bai had been giving him extra food these past two days when bringing meals to Lang Yao. That sly couple had plotted behind his back again.

Glancing at the untouched milk tea and pastries, Yang Luo took a sip and said:
“This is Heishan’s special milk tea and honey-baked goat’s milk. Yes, it’s made from wild beast milk and honey. I’m sure you don’t often have these. Try them.”

The six across the table froze. Beast milk?

Their tribes were fretting about how to find enough milk for newborns soon to come—and Heishan was lavishly turning it into delicacies?

Though the milky aroma was tempting, they hesitated.

Elder Lu Jian of Julu picked up a piece of honey-baked goat’s milk, her withered face blooming into a smile.

“Honey… it’s one of the sacred antidotal medicines. Guarded fiercely by venomous bees, nearly impossible to get. What a rare treasure.”

She sighed: “I thought I’d never taste it again before I died. To think I still had this blessing.”

The others, too, treasured it and tasted cautiously.

Only Wu Rao and Wei, long accustomed to Heishan’s delicacies, dug right in.

Mmm. Delicious.

Qi Bai smiled. “Honey isn’t rare here. I’ll send each of you a small jar later.”

The elders were astonished. Such a precious thing—yet the High Priest gave it away so casually!

But Qi Bai wasn’t exaggerating. Dangerous as it was to harvest, once you built proper hives and cared for bees, the honey came steadily.

He and Lang Ze had already collected two harvests this year—making them quietly the richest couple in the tribe.

Still, Yang Luo’s words weren’t just generosity.
“We don’t have much honey, but we do have plenty of butter and milk curds. We’ll sell them at the trade fair. In the future, when your tribes have newborns, you may trade here for goat’s milk.”

He thought darkly: You made me suffer longer punishment? Fine. I’ll just take all your resources in return.