Chapter 650: Chapter 650. Tribe Mother

Xan Chi frowned. Aura wasn’t the only factor that decided a victor in a fight, but it was a good indicator. He had roamed the cultivation world for some time and had survived many death-and-life battles. This gave him the ability to read his opponents well. Now, what he read from Amon was unshakable confidence that if a fight broke out, his tribes would lose.

He didn’t want to believe this, but he couldn’t shake his instinct either. He decided not to test his luck. Looking at Fen Nu, he saw in her expression that she shared his thoughts.

“Very well, General Amon,” Xan Chi said. “Have it your way, we will listen to what you propose.”

Amon waved his arm. The battle puppets marched out of the camp but remained encircling it.

“How did you keep them invisible, by the way?” Fen Nu asked. “I know we can’t sense battle puppets, but I can’t figure out how you keep so many invisible.”

Amon smiled in response. He told them, “Let’s speak somewhere less open.”

“Very well, follow me,” Xan Chi said. He gestured at his people, who took Fu Kong’s wife and daughter away. The shock from Amon’s revealing his puppet army had also drained the tribesmen’s mood of continuing to play with Au Xan’s family. They were brought away as well.

Amon followed Xan Chi to the largest tent in the camp. The most eye-catching thing, however, was not the tent’s size. It was the spirit beast lying beside the tent. The beast was a giant elephant as large as a house. It had six trunks that were as long as its body.

While the trunks were disproportionately long, Amon knew those trunks could elongate further. He knew this spirit beast. It was an upper class among the lower mythical beast, like his Great Sun Hawk. This elephant beast was called Gajashura.

This spirit beast was known to be extremely violent to humans. For it to lie docilely in this camp meant only one thing. Amon turned to Xan Chi and asked, “You are also a beast tamer?”

Xan Chi chuckled. “Any decent cultivator in Kazhan is a beast tamer,” he answered.

The three entered the tent. Fen Nu left her silver-fanged wolf outside to guard the tent with the Gajashura.

“So, what do you want with our tribes?” Xan Chi asked as he sat in the largest chair inside. He didn’t offer Amon a seat.

Amon sat in an available chair without waiting for an invitation. He replied, “I need your tribes as a figurehead.”

“Figurehead…?” Xan Chi and Fen Nu asked.

“If my assumption is correct, and I think I am, based on the tale I’ve just heard, you want to take down the current royal court and restore the tribe conclave, am I right?”

“What about it?” Xan Chi asked.

“I can help you with that,” Amon said.

“Is that so?”

“Why do you want to do that?” Fen Nu asked.

“I want to stop Kazhan’s main force from disrupting Gyleth Marx’s advance on Oredolia. One way to do that is to cause a threat that forces them to pull back from the front line.”

“Why do you want to help Gyleth Marx?” Xan Chi asked.

“That’s right. Isn’t Echos an ally to Oredolia?” Fen Nu added. “Won’t this make it seem like Echos betray their ally? From what I heard, the new Echos King isn’t someone who stabs their allies in the back.”

“Echos King doesn’t order this,” Amon said.

It took the two a while before they understood Amon’s words. “Wait! Are you saying you are making a move without the sanction from your ruler?” Fen Nu asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Amon replied.

Xan Chi laughed in response. “Haha! What balls you have! I like you, General Amon! Probably, we can get along, after all! Hahaha!”

“Are you sure the king won’t declare you a renegade and pull your army away?” Fen Nu asked. “Your soldiers won’t dare to disobey the king’s order, will they?”

“They obey my order,” Amon replied. “Even if they don’t, you saw the number of battle puppets I have. They are enough to siege Bulo City and force Kazhan’s main army to retreat.”

“Okay, this brought me back to my previous question. Why do you want to help Gyleth Marx? Do you want to defect to that country?” Xan Chi asked.

“No,” Amon answered. “I will tell you my real reason after we are done defeating the royal court of Kazhan.”

“That’s a pretty confident thing for you to say,” Fen Nu said. “In case you don’t know, the king of Kazhan is an Intermediate Lord Stage. He is at the front line battling Gyleth Marx’s empress, who is also an Intermediate Lord Stage. If the king returns, even if we have occupied Bulo City, we will still be toasted.”

“Don’t worry. I will deal with him,” Amon stated.

“Haha. He will deal with him, he said,” Xan Chi uttered mockingly.

“Why do you need us anyway?” Fen Nu asked. “Since you have the army and the confidence to go up against our king, I don’t see why you require our aid.”

“I need you due to the warrior code of the Kazhan tribes,” Amon answered.

Xan Chi and Fen Nu looked at each other before Fen Nu said, “I’m surprised an outsider like you knows about our warrior code.”

“I make it my habit to learn about my target as much as possible before I take offensive measures,” Amon said. “Kazhan used to be a country filled with various tribes that fought each other for dominance. Under normal circumstances, such a situation will make Kazhan an easy target for other countries. All they have to do is pick your tribes one by one while you fight among yourselves. However, no outside force has ever conquered this country. This is due to your warrior code.

“The warrior code stipulates that in the event of an invasion, all tribes must stand down and band together. While most will think this is easier said than done, the Kazhan tribes have shown that they could employ this code on multiple occasions.

“Of course, this warrior code is considered part of your old tribal system. Now that Kazhan adopts feudalism, perhaps not many respect this warrior code anymore, but I’m not willing to take the chance. Even if the royal army is away, if the warrior code caused the tribes to band together to face me, I won’t reach the capital.”

“I think I see what you are getting at,” Fen Nu said. “The warrior code requires us to band together against an outsider. However, if it is our own that assault the capital, that’s another matter.”

“That’s right. As I said, I need you as my figurehead. I will march under your banner. You want to take over the capital and remove the feudal system. I will act as a mercenary to help you achieve that goal.”

Fen Nu turned to Xan Chi. Her face told him that this was not a bad deal.

Xan Chi said, “Well, since an opportunity has offered itself, who am I to turn it down. However, how can I be sure you won’t double-cross us and keep Kazhan’s throne for yourself?”

“If I do that, I’m pretty sure the thing I’m worried about will happen. The warrior code will drive every Kazhan tribe to oppose me. I won’t keep the throne for long. Still, it doesn’t mean I will help you get the throne for free.”

“Oh? Isn’t helping Gyleth Marx reward enough?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Amon said. “That is just a side effect of our action. When we are victorious, the main winner here is you. Since my army only acts as mercenaries, naturally, I demand payments.”

“Hm… I should have seen this coming. Your offer is too good to be true. Okay, out with it. What do you want in exchange for helping me claim Kazhan’s throne?”

“Tributes and levies. I demand payments every six months in the form of aer stones and cultivators to join my army.”

“Fuck you! Payment is one-time. Tributes are for vassals. I’m not going to be your fucking vassals!” Xan Chi exclaimed.

“Let’s call it an agreement, then. I think we both agree that a country is worth too much. Whatever wealth you gain when you ascend won’t be enough to pay for my service. I can agree to a payment limit of ten years. You will send me tributes and levies every six months as I ask. If everything goes smoothly for ten years, I will consider your debt squared.”

“Hm… What kind of tributes and levies are we talking about?” Xan Chi asked.

“Every six months, I will expect you to send me ten million aer stones, five thousand soldiers, and one thousand captured beasts for taming,” Amon answered. “To be specific, all the soldiers must be cultivators, with at least five hundred having the Mystic Stage cultivation and three hundred being expert-level beast tamers. As for the spirit beasts, at least three hundred must be higher superior beasts.”

“That’s a steep price for every half month,” Fen Nu remarked.

“Not if you have the whole country under your control,” Amon countered.

“We will need to discuss this among ourselves first.”

“No, you give me an answer now, or I’ll go find another tribe chief and give him the same offer. There are plenty of old Kazhan tribes that oppose the new system. I consider yours the most ideal, but if you don’t have the desire to be Kazhan’s ruler, I’ll find another candidate.”

“I’ll be damned…,” Xan Chi uttered.

“Yeah, that’s a bit too overbearing, don’t you think?” Fen Nu added.

“No, no. I’m not commenting on his forceful demand. I suddenly remembered something,” Xan Chi told Fen Nu. He then turned to Amon and said, “General Amon, it’s not that I don’t accept the offer. It’s that I can’t. Even if you offer this to another tribe chief, you will get the same answer.”

“Why is that?”

“Because every tribe that still honors the old way must seek the council of the tribe mother before making a decision that affects the future of Kazhan.”

“Tribe mother…?” Amon asked. This was the first time he heard of this individual.

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