Chapter 364

With a creak, Lang Ze casually dragged out the empty seat at the far right and placed it right beside the main seat.

Qi Bai pulled the throne-like main seat slightly to the side, making space for Lang Ze, then sat down as if he were at home, without any psychological burden.

“You!” An old white-bearded Shen Si (Divine Commander) trembled as he reached out, “That is the imperial seat of the Great Shen Si, how can you sit there?”

Qi Bai shrugged, “There are only these two empty seats here, aren’t they meant for us?”

Qi Bai firmly believed that as long as he himself wasn’t embarrassed, others would be. These little tricks simply didn’t work on him and Lang Ze.

The white-bearded old Shen Si, seeing Qi Bai’s attitude, angrily turned to look at his colleagues.

However, Hu Fu and Chai Chang, usually the most vocal, were all silenced. Bao Yong and the others hung their heads, as if they had seen nothing at all. The white-bearded Shen Si trembled with fury.

“Old Shen Si, calm down,” Qi Bai pointed at the table’s arrangement, “We’re not sitting in the middle, so we’re not really occupying the Great Shen Si’s seat. No need to make a big fuss.”

“Hmph!”

The white-bearded Shen Si snorted coldly and turned his face away, not sure whether to express dissatisfaction toward Qi Bai or the others present.

Qi Bai comfortably rested his arm on the armrest and smiled at everyone, “Since everyone is here, let’s get down to business.”

“The other Shen Si of the Hong Chai tribe are not here,” Qi Bai looked toward Chai Chang, “Shen Si Chang, you must represent them, represent the Hong Chai tribe, and hand over to us the spoils that Hei Yao deserves.”

Chai Chang’s eyes turned cold, “After the Battle of Yan’a, the Hong Chai tribe hasn’t even made you compensate, and yet you still dare speak nonsense.”

“No victorious tribe ever returns empty-handed,” Qi Bai said calmly, “The battle is settled. If Shen Si Chang doesn’t cooperate, we won’t hesitate to retrieve the spoils ourselves.”

Chai Chang’s voice squeezed out from his throat, “Hei Yao priests, this is the City of the Beast Gods, not a place for you to act recklessly.”

Qi Bai mentioned the Battle of Yan’a in front of so many Shen Si, and Chai Chang felt like his face had been slapped, burning with shame.

But now he could do nothing, and could only throw the trouble caused by Hei Yao onto the temple.

Although Hei Yao had some skills, even if they defeated Hong Chai, they could never defeat the entire City of the Beast Gods.

“Oh?” Qi Bai raised an eyebrow, scanning the table, “The war between orc tribes means the winning or losing tribe bears the consequences. Does the City of the Beast Gods have other rules?”

His expression wasn’t asking for their opinion, but more like asking who was tired of living and wanted to become the next Hong Chai.

Everyone’s eyes instinctively glanced at Hu Fu; after all, by right, some of the spoils should belong to the Chi Hu tribe.

Unfortunately, Hu Fu, sitting at the middle seat at the long table, was shrinking his neck and looking dazed, clearly not paying much attention to what everyone was saying.

However, the Luo Shen Si sitting beside Hu Fu had sparkling eyes and smiled, “I’ve never heard of that before.”

Chai Chang angrily said, “Hu Luo, the Hong Chai tribe and your Yu Hu tribe have no grudge. Why are you harming me?”

“What’s Shen Si Chang doing?” Luo Shen Si laughed, “I only spoke the truth. Why don’t we all talk it over?”

After this battle, the Hong Chai tribe was doomed. Instead of standing up for them, it’s better to take this opportunity to share a piece of the pie.

Luo Shen Si looked at the two seats belonging to the Hong Chai tribe, which should be given up to others now.

Qi Bai cheerfully took out a piece of beast skin scroll from his bosom: “This is my rough estimate of the spoils. We’re in a hurry. Hei Yao must receive all the supplies within ten days.”

The temple already had some simple symbols, but nothing close to the level of communication records. Moreover, Qi Bai’s beast skin scroll was written in Hei Yao script; even with all the Shen Si gathered, they probably recognized fewer characters than Luo Shu.

So the beast skin scroll was just for show; Qi Bai had to read out the list item by item.

The supplies he requested were all precious and easy to transport—only four types: bird bones, shark silk, premium beast skins, and the unique spirit fruits of the City of the Beast Gods.

But the quantities he read out made everyone inhale sharply, as Qi Bai demanded five hundred carts of bird bones.

Qi Bai’s unit of conversion was Hei Yao’s carts. The Hei Yao legion was now stationed at the foot of the Holy Mountain, and everyone clearly knew what those carts looked like.

Five hundred carts of bird bones were enough for everyone to weigh their own assets. Compared to this, the remaining five hundred carts of premium beast skins, four hundred meters of shark silk, and two hundred spirit fruits seemed insignificant.

Additionally, Hong Chai had to provide the Hei Yao warriors with rations for their return to the city.

All in all, it seemed like the Hong Chai tribe would be completely emptied out.

The white-bearded old Shen Si seemed about to say something, but a Shen Si beside him gently shook his arm and shook his head.

The Hong Chai tribe’s current fate was no one’s fault. If they hadn’t taken the initiative to attack the Northern Continent or ambush Hei Yao’s city lord and priests on the way, things wouldn’t have escalated like this.

The cost of a war was enormous. All tribes needed to obtain spoils from the defeated to compensate for losses—everyone understood this truth, and Hei Yao’s determination wouldn’t change.

In the Battle of Yan’a, the Hei Yao army fought as if blessed by gods, crushing the seventy thousand strong Hong Chai army—a fact already widely known within the City of the Beast Gods.

If not for so many warriors witnessing it with their own eyes, they would never believe those terrifying rumors. Hei Yao could kill a level-three warrior with a single strike, and it was even easier to fight other orcs.

In any case, this matter was no longer their concern, and it was better for them to stay out of it.

“You!” Chai Chang abruptly stood up, “What’s the difference between this and plundering?”

Qi Bai sneered silently: Who’s being polite with you? This is robbing you.

“These supplies can buy peace and save your tribespeople’s lives,” Lang Ze repeated coldly, “You only have ten days.”

Chai Chang looked at the indifferent crowd. He already knew today wouldn’t end well, but never expected that not a single Shen Si would step forward to speak for him.

He slammed his fist hard on the table, pushed back his seat, and walked out of the hall.

Mu Jia’s gaze shifted to the edge of the hall. Bao Xi, waiting outside, glanced at him and then followed after Chai Chang.

Leaving the seat was allowed, but no one could leave the City of the Beast Gods. If Chai Chang ran off, where would Hei Yao get the spoils?

Bao Yong caught the key point: “Ten days? You want to leave the City of the Beast Gods?”

Bao Yong’s mood was complicated. He always thought he was perceptive, but he had been repeatedly fooled by Qi Bai and Bao Xi.

But despite being fooled, Qi Bai was still a Ling Bao orc.

After this incident, the Hong Chai tribe would definitely be out. With him and Hu Fu backing Hei Yao, Hei Yao would surely enter the temple.

By then, their Ling Bao tribe would remain the strongest in the City of the Beast Gods.

Hu Fu was unaware of Bao Yong’s thoughts. If he knew, he would definitely shake his head madly.

Song Wu helped Hei Yao win the battle. Everyone thought he was on Hei Yao’s side, but Hu Fu’s bitterness was nowhere to be vented.

His Song Wu City had, in just a few years under his control, completely slipped from his grasp. If Hei Yao City entered the temple, Song Wu would likely be lost forever. Even if not lost, the one rising would surely be Hu Ji.

Although Hu Ji’s followers were all Chi Hu orcs, these two groups had long been separated. If the Shen Si position really went to Hu Ji, it would have nothing to do with Hu Fu.

“Hei Yao City is our city. No tribe of orcs would leave their territory without danger.”

Lang Ze’s voice was very cold, but at that moment, to others, it sounded like celestial music.

The tense atmosphere inside the hall suddenly relaxed.

Fu Shen Si’s eyes finally shone again, “Exactly, one should stay in their own territory.”

“But...”

As soon as Lang Ze spoke, Fu Shen Si’s expression immediately tightened, watching Lang Ze as if facing a great enemy.

Lang Ze said, “Before we return to the city, we need to confirm some things with the temple.”

“What... what things?” Fu Shen Si swallowed hard, feeling Hei Yao would settle accounts with Hong Chai, and then with them.

“It’s actually nothing major,” Qi Bai smiled, “We just want to confirm the boundaries of each other’s territory with the temple.”

This was a topic both extremely familiar yet strange to the Shen Si present.

Dividing territorial boundaries was nothing new to any tribe.

Every tribe living on the Orc Continent needed to mark out a territory exclusively theirs—a land they depended on for survival. Any orc who trespassed without permission might face death.

However, this issue had never appeared in the Twelve Shen Si meetings.

Because everyone believed that all lands on the Orc Continent belonged to the Beast God. Since it was the Beast God’s land, it naturally belonged to the temple.

On this continent, there was no territory not belonging to the temple—only lands the temple had yet to discover.

So, it was easy to imagine how shocking it was to these Shen Si when a city proposed dividing territory with the temple.

Just as everyone was at a loss, the silent Mu Jia suddenly asked, “How do you intend to divide it?”

“Very simple,” Qi Bai said, “Including Yidi, Bei Huang, grasslands, Dong Yi, and Peng Ye, all northern territories belong to Hei Yao.”

The hall immediately buzzed. People turned to their neighbors and started discussing.

Though the temple didn’t have a map of the Orc Continent, based on their knowledge, the territories Hei Yao was claiming were truly vast.

Most importantly, places like Yidi, Bei Huang, and Peng Ye, which had no cities, even the nearly abandoned Dong Yi, could be given up.

But the grasslands were fertile, beasts strong, and only four or five dozen days from the City of the Beast Gods—it couldn’t be given up lightly.

“Rest assured, all the territories I mentioned, except for the grasslands, have already submitted to Hei Yao,” Qi Bai said. Whether voluntarily or by force was a minor detail he deemed unnecessary to mention.

Fu Shen Si wiped cold sweat from his forehead.

Rest assured? What was there to be assured about? Now we’re even more worried!

“The only uncertain part is the grasslands,” Qi Bai continued, “Hei Yao is willing to open trade with the temple, but the grasslands must belong to Hei Yao.”

Fu Shen Si’s eye twitched. What did “willing to open trade” mean?

It was clearly something that benefited Hei Yao, yet Qi Bai said it like the temple was getting a huge favor.

But no one dared to contradict Qi Bai; all eyes involuntarily turned to Mu Jia standing at the front.

After an unknown amount of time, Mu Jia spoke, “If the temple divides boundaries with Hei Yao, Hei Yao will never start a war against the temple.”

Lang Ze said coldly, “As long as you don’t provoke us.”

“I will report this to the Great Shen Si.”