However, since Chen Yun left, there has been no news.

For more than a hundred years, no one knew his whereabouts...

On the vast prairie, a convoy of more than thirty people is moving slowly and alone.

The team was not large, with only seven or eight carriages.

However, the young men who were gathered around were dressed in leather and riding horses.

But they were all in high spirits, and among them were some children who were not even twelve years old.

At the front of the convoy, an old man in gorgeous clothes and riding a yellow horse was leading the direction.

The old man wore a hat made of fiery red fox fur and his forehead was etched with deep wrinkles.

His face was slightly purple, but he wore a three-color brocade belt around his waist, symbolizing his noble status. This was a distinctive feature of the leader.

This is the southern area of ​​the Tianlan Grassland, and this is a group of Tuwu people who are about to pay tribute to the temple.

"Tianlan Grassland"

It is the nickname of the Mulan Grassland given by the Tuwu people because the Tuwu people have always believed in the legendary "Tianlan Beast".

They regard it as the patron saint of the nation and revere and worship it from generation to generation, hence the name.

Originally, the Tuwu people only occupied the southern half of the Tianlan grassland.

However, since successfully defeating their arch-enemy, the Mulan people, in a battle in the center of the grassland thirty years ago, they have occupied the entire grassland in one fell swoop.

As a result, the strength of the Tuwu tribe was greatly enhanced, and they no longer had any rivals in the entire grassland.

However, the huge size of the Tuwu tribe has led to numerous tribes within it, ranging from small tribes of hundreds of thousands of people to large tribes of over 100 million people, spread across the entire grassland.

Because many people performed well in the last holy war, many new independent tribes were born.

Some of these tribes are large, while others are much more insignificant, with populations numbering only tens of thousands.

The "Heron Tribe" led by the old man is such a micro tribe separated from a large tribe.

Although it is still nominally called a tribe, the actual population of the tribe is only 70,000 to 80,000 people.

The old man's name was Ying Lu, and he was famous for his bravery and fighting skills when he was young.

During the holy war, they successively defeated several small tribes of the Muran people and captured many nobles, thus establishing their current status.

However, time is merciless, coupled with years of hard work.

Although he is only in his fifties, his body already shows signs of aging.

It was noon, and the old man looked up at the scorching sun.

Then he turned around and glanced at the young faces at the back of the convoy, and couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.

According to convention, no matter the size of the tribe, it is required to worship a certain number of immortal masters.

Otherwise, once natural disasters, man-made disasters or attacks by monsters and beasts occur, ordinary people will find it difficult to resist.

However, for a small tribe like theirs that had just been born.

It is simply unable to attract any immortal master to come, and even the lowest-level immortal master is unwilling to be stationed in a tribe of this size.

After all, for the immortal masters, the larger and wealthier the tribe they choose to join, the better, so as to provide them with sufficient resources for cultivation.

Although some small tribes can hire some low-level immortal masters, these immortal masters often come from the tribe themselves.

Or they have poor talents and qualifications and fail to gain the favor of large tribes, so they are forced to stay in the local area.

The Cang Lu tribe led by the old man has not yet had the opportunity to train its own immortal master.

Therefore, over the years, whenever they encountered difficulties, they could only hire low-level immortal masters from neighboring tribes for help at high prices.

However, the prices charged by these immortal masters are also extremely high.

Just a few actions consumed about half a year's income of the entire tribe, making the already poor economic situation of the Heron Tribe even more difficult.

Fortunately, the opening day of the spirit ceremony that occurs every twenty years is approaching.

Fei Lu, who had already placed high hopes on this matter, would naturally not sit idly by and watch it happen.

He immediately led several young members of the tribe who had passed talent tests and were found to have spiritual roots, and headed towards the Tianlan Temple closest to their tribe.

The Tianlan Temple was originally built only for the purpose of worshipping the Tianlan sacred beast, but it has undergone changes over the long years.

Today, it has become a sacred place in the minds of the Tuwu people, and it is also an important place for cultivating low-level immortal masters of the Tuwu people.

Each temple is staffed with several high-level immortal masters who are responsible for teaching basic cultivation methods.

After achieving some success in their practice, those with less talent would return directly to their hometown tribe and enjoy the tribe's offerings.

Those tribesmen with potential for training will be accepted as disciples by high-level immortal cultivators and receive special training.

Senior immortal masters are prohibited from teaching immortal arts to ordinary people who have not undergone the spiritual opening ceremony.

There are not many of these temples, only about sixty or seventy.

But they are evenly distributed throughout the grassland, and each temple is almost the core of the area, surrounded by thousands of large and small tribes.

As the only temple in the area, the larger tribes are relatively close to the temple.

The Heron Tribe was assigned to a more remote location due to its smaller size.

It takes a full three months to reach the temple from the tribe.

In view of this situation, Yinglu led his team to leave the tribe four months ago.

Looking back at the last spiritual awakening day, he had successfully made the tribe independent.

But in the end, because they were unable to raise enough tribute, they had to miss this opportunity regrettably.

This time, Ying Lu was determined not to miss the opportunity again.

Even if it means that the tribe will have to tighten its belt and tighten its belt in the next few years, he wants his tribe to have its own immortal master.

However, carrying tribute across the vast grassland was undoubtedly full of risks for them.

After all, most of the tributes are of great use to the immortal masters, and are regarded as extremely rare and precious resources in the eyes of ordinary people.

Many people with bad intentions often take advantage of this opportunity to rob vulnerable groups, and even some immortal masters with evil intentions may act secretly.

This is exactly what happens during the annual opening ceremony.

In comparison, the tribes near the temple were relatively safe. After all, they feared the majesty of the temple and dared not provoke it easily.

However, for tribes like the Heron Tribe located in the remote suburbs, their living environment is extremely harsh.

It is reported that a regrettable incident occurred in this area last year: a moderate-sized

The tribe unexpectedly discovered that among the tribute they presented was a nearly thousand-year-old magical medicine, which led to the leak of the news.

The entire team mysteriously disappeared on the way to the temple, and not even a body was found.

As a result, various speculations circulated among the people. Some people believed that a high-level immortal master from a large tribe coveted this treasure and therefore killed someone to seize it.

When the temple learned about this, they were naturally furious. It is said that they even sent immortal masters in the temple to investigate, but in the end, nothing was done.

Therefore, although the tribute was fully prepared, it lacked the escort of the immortal master.

This caused the leader of the Heron Tribe to fall into deep worry from the moment he set out. During the opening day, the immortal masters of each tribe were also busy following the team to the temple.

Even if there were spirit stones, no one would be willing to be employed.

The few wandering immortal masters who appeared occasionally had already been hired by several larger tribes nearby for large sums of money.

As the weakest tribal leader, Ying Lu could only watch all this happen helplessly.

Thinking of this, the old man sighed and couldn't help but look back at the team behind him.

Among the seven or eight carriages at the rear of the team, four were fully loaded with tributes, and they were pulled by horses carefully selected by the tribe.

In order to avoid attracting attention, all vehicles are deliberately painted to look shabby and like abandoned exhibits.

Fortunately, however, it is precisely because of these rigorous precautions that our journey avoided more potential dangers.

This was proven during a recent encounter with a small wolf pack.

There was almost a casualty in the team.

In order to escape the siege of the wolves, the entire convoy had to reluctantly abandon two slower vehicles and finally arrived at the destination safely.

Although there were no valuables in the two vehicles, they were loaded with our main food rations for the next two months.

From this perspective, we may need to make some stops along the way in the next few days.

Remember that after two more days of traveling, we will encounter a canyon area nearby.

There are no people there, so there may be wild animals such as bison and wild sheep, which is perfect for hunting.

When thinking of these possibilities, the elderly man turned around and gently stroked the hardwood bow hanging on the saddle, his expression solemn.

"Oh! What is that?"

Suddenly, a clear and pleasant female voice came from beside the old man, full of surprise and curiosity.

The speaker was a young girl named Yingshan, about fifteen or sixteen years old, who was following closely behind the old man.

She is a descendant of Yinglu and one of the few people in the tribe who has been detected to have spiritual roots.

Therefore, Yinglu loved her very much.

Hearing this, the old man was shocked and immediately raised his head and looked forward.

Sure enough, not far ahead, in a dense bush, there were flashes of green light, as if some mysterious object was hidden.

But he clearly remembered that before he looked back, there was no such light in that direction.

The old man was shocked. As a tribal leader, he was not unfamiliar with the aura produced when the immortal master cast spells.

Is it true that there is an immortal master who wants to attack a poor team like ours?
Ying Lu's heart sank and he suddenly raised his hand, and the team behind him immediately stopped moving forward.

The other members also noticed the green light in the bushes ahead, and expressions of tension and vigilance appeared on their faces.

The old man tried to remain calm, pulled the reins of his horse, and stood still, but his mind was thinking quickly about how to protect himself and the team.

However, it wasn't long before the old man noticed something unusual.

Although the green light in the bushes kept flickering, no immortal master appeared or released any magic.

A glimmer of hope flashed in Yinglu's eyes, and she hurriedly looked closely at the bushes.

These bushes were densely covered with branches and leaves, taller than a person, and it was difficult to see clearly what was going on inside them.

"Tu Meng! Go over and check if there is really an immortal master there."

The old man's eyes flickered a few times, and then he suddenly opened his mouth to give orders.

"As you command, clan leader!"

A tall and dignified young man in the team heard this.

He was stunned for a moment, then responded quickly and then jumped off the horse.

They walked cautiously towards the bushes which were about twenty feet away from them.

When he was only five or six feet away from the location of the green light, the young man hesitated slightly and slowed down his pace.

"Excuse me, which immortal master is here? We are the people of the Heron Tribe, and we have come here specially to pay our respects to the immortal master."

This young man obviously held a certain status in the Heron Tribe. His tone was quite polite and his face had a respectful expression.

However, there was still only spiritual light flowing in the bushes, and no echo came out. Seeing this, the young man couldn't help but look back at the old man.

The old man thought for a moment, then nodded silently. The young man immediately gained some confidence and walked forward with light steps.

When he reached the bushes, the young man hesitated.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, reached out his hand and pushed aside the bushes in front of him.

"what!"

The moment the young man pushed the bushes away, he let out a horrified cry, took several steps back, and almost fell to the ground. Tu Meng's face was filled with fear.

The members of the Heron Tribe at the scene were extremely shocked, and some of the young and strong ones immediately drew their weapons in preparation for unknown situations.

Ying Lu remained calm and found that the young man was not injured, but was just frightened. So he asked, "Tu Meng, what happened?"

Before the young man could answer, the green light in the bushes flickered several times and then suddenly disappeared.

With a cold snort, a young man in a white robe walked out. The clan leader and everyone else looked at him intently.

This person's face was covered by a special green cloak, his waist was full of pockets, and he had a wooden box on his back.

He called himself Han Mou, and said that he had just started his apprenticeship and was not a worshipper of any tribe.

Upon seeing this, Ying Lu immediately dismounted, bowed and apologized.

The old man took the opportunity to ask about the tribe he belonged to and learned that he was a free man and was about to go to the temple.

The old man felt a little relieved, guessing that this might be his first time training.

Ying Lu took the opportunity to ask for his services, offering 20 spirit stones as a reward, and asked him to escort her to the temple. After hesitating for a moment, the man in white robes agreed to the proposal.

"Hire me?" The man in white robe was stunned, obviously quite surprised.

"That's right. Since Master Immortal is going to the temple, why don't you go with us?"

"The journey is dangerous. Without a high-level immortal master accompanying us, it may be difficult to arrive safely."

"My Cang Lu tribe is willing to pay twenty-five spirit stones for the Immortal Master to dispatch."

The old man asked sincerely.

"When traveling with mortals, the speed is inevitably limited, and only twenty spirit stones are provided."

Although the man in white robe did not directly refuse, he did not agree immediately either, and seemed quite conflicted.

"As long as the Immortal Master is willing to help us, I am willing to give you twenty-five spirit stones."

"Master Han, please rest assured. My Cang Lu tribe has limited financial resources. This amount is the maximum amount my tribe can afford."

The old man said with a wry smile. (End of this chapter)