Chapter 461: Chapter 311: Refusal (4K)

The Jackal Men’s tribal walls were semi-encircled, with mountains stretching out behind them.

At the edge of the tribe, away from the main residential area, were two veins of ore with sizable reserves buried deep.

Mu Yuan picked up a few chunks of raw ore that had rolled onto the ground, recognizing them after a brief examination.

“It’s Black Ironstone.”

The other vein was that of Red Copper Ore.

Both Black Ironstone and Red Copper Ore were very common entry-level materials. Especially the former, it was the most commonly used basic material, seen in equipment forging and the construction of Miracle Buildings.

These two materials had always been purchased from outside by the Tianyuan Territory.

Sometimes Sophia would buy them on Lanxing; other times, Daisy would buy some when she found them at good prices while trading in Shiling Town.

Before the integration with Lanxing, Mu Yuan had already stockpiled a certain amount of Black Ironstone and Red Copper Ore, but the inventory was still far from sufficient.

It couldn’t be sufficient.

Now with the considerable size of the Tianyuan Territory, various consumptions rose markedly.

Even though he hadn’t undertaken large-scale territorial infrastructure recently and hadn’t built a large quantity or high-tier Miracle Buildings, the consumption of Black Ironstone was still like water flowing away.

They needed to make arrows, repair damaged armor and weapons, produce various tools, manufacture new equipment, and so on, all of which greatly consumed basic materials.

Unless he didn’t wish to develop and build quickly, the resource consumption would always remain high.

“Now that I’ve received the gift from the Jackal Men’s tribe, it has eased the urgent need; otherwise, I would’ve had to purchase through the channels of the Elf’s Courtyard,” he mused.

However, the current situation was unstable, and the officials were also carrying out major constructions. It would be inconvenient and come with a considerable markup to have someone purchase on his behalf.

It was much more suitable to mine the resources himself.

Literally, having a mine in one’s own house now.

“Of course, my situation is also unstable at the moment, and it’s not suitable to claim and start mining just yet. I need to wait a little longer. I can establish a base here only when Duo Lai advances to become legendary. For now, I have to lay low. However, even just laying low, the Black Ironstone and Red Copper Ore we’ve scavenged from the Jackal Men’s tribe should last us a while,” Mu Yuan stated.

He immediately dispatched a few hundred elites to collect the ore.

Standing atop the ore deposit, he surveyed the surroundings.

The Jackal Men’s mining tools were varied and rough, with marks of energy cuts and heavy blows everywhere — a sign of violent mining. The entire vein of Black Ironstone was full of pits and ragged.

Due to the Jackal Men’s violent mining, both veins had suffered considerable damage, and the reserves had significantly decreased.

Such a waste!

“Let it be, let it be, after all, it came without cost; I can’t be too greedy.”

…

Beyond these ore deposits, the search team found some fields in a secluded area that were unlike ordinary farmlands.

These fields were an overall reddish color, and a strong smell of blood assaulted the senses as one approached.

In these bloody fields were planted strange limbs and heads that seemed to swell and grow slowly like crops.

This was a flesh field.

‘The Root of Corruption Flesh Field’

By planting just a small amount of flesh and corpses, there could be a continuous yield of ‘meat grains’ fit for consumption. These flesh fields were probably the true source of food for the Jackal Men’s tribe.

No need for maintenance, extremely high yield, filled with corruption.

But also laced with eeriness and bone-chilling coldness.

From afar, he could see chunks of conjoined flesh grains writhing about. Around them lay gnawed remains and scattered dry bones.

The mix of blood and stench was pungent and nauseating.

Even General Duo Lai said that the things here were nauseating.

“Burn it all,” Mu Yuan commanded.

“Make sure it’s thoroughly cleansed.”

Mu Yuan turned and walked away as blazing flames lit up inside the cave behind him.

…

By the time he finished his rounds and returned to the tribe, the place had already been largely dismantled by the group.

Everyone proficiently cleaned what needed to be cleaned and hauled what needed to be recycled into the recycling station — known as the Sacrificial Black Coffin.

Mu Yuan had also brought the Sacrificial Black Coffin with him.

It was quite reasonable for an army to carry coffins with them on a campaign.

There were also dragons (strike that) acting as firefighters, dousing areas that were aflame and smoldering.

In the blink of an eye, only a few eye-catching buildings remained within the Jackal Men’s tribe.

Blood Ponds!

There were three Blood Ponds in the tribe. These Blood Ponds were not very regular in shape, about twenty to thirty meters in diameter, resembling colossal cauldrons with boiling blood inside and chunks of crimson clumps floating and sinking. It was disgustingly sickening to see.

In front of the Blood Ponds stood statues of ten meters tall, sculpted in blood color, humanoid in form, gesturing with one hand pointing to the sky, though their features were blurred and indistinct.

These three Blood Ponds were very special — Dead Bone and others’ fights on all fronts, Duo Lai’s onsite nuclear explosion, nothing had damaged these Blood Ponds in the slightest.

Clearly, they belonged in the same category as structures like the Root of Corruption, Totem Pillar, and Bloody Altar.

As Mu Yuan walked up, the Lord’s Seal on the back of his hand grew hotter, and the prompt tone rang in his ears.

‘Ding!’

‘Alert: Smelting Blood Pool detected. Chosen Lords or Hero Units can destroy and purify it.’

‘Alert: Would you like to destroy it?’

Pure white light surged heavenward, dispelling the bone-deep inauspicious chill between heaven and earth. The wisps of red fog floating around also seemed to thin out slightly.

The purification lasted for dozens of seconds, and the entire Smelting Blood Pool collapsed, disintegrating into ashes in the pure white light.