Chapter 194

– Rong Mountain
The Rong Mountain was a series of mountain ranges that extended over a thousand miles. It was very rich in metal mineral resources, and was the main territory of the Rong Mountain Clan.
The air was filled with a strong scent of metal mining. Ji Hao and his teammates were sitting around a black fireplace in a dimly lit stone room while Iron Mountain, the leader of the Rong Mountain Clan, cut off an oily piece of meat that he handed over to Yu Mu.
Ji Hao sat near the fire with his leg crossed. He was holding a wooden mug, drinking the steaming hot tea contained in it, while looking smilingly at Yu Mu wolfing the piece of beast meat, and said delightfully,
Leader Iron Mountain, when should we be beginning?

Iron Mountain stuck a sharp dagger into the grilled beast meat, looked at Ji Hao from head to toe with a pair of shining eyes in his hollow eye sockets, then responded resonantly,
Tomorrow at sunrise we will leave. My honourable guests, who have come from the Magi Palace, we are hoping that this time when we leave our homes to explore a new territory, the number of injuries or fatalities among our clansmen will not rise above five thousand. If that can be done then your task could be counted as being completed.

Ji Hao gave Iron Mountain a serious bow and said,
You should trust us. Since we have already accepted the task, we will certainly try our best to complete it.

Iron Mountain nodded his head in satisfaction while brushing his yellow-white long beard with his fingers.
The Rong Mountain Clan was not a powerful large-scale clan. On the contrary, it was just a small clan that had split from a large-scale clan, five hundred years ago. They had been rehabilitating in their current territory for five hundred years. Their total population was only around two hundred thousand currently. They reason why they had decided to send thirty thousand people to explore a new territory, was the existence of the three tungsten steel mines, which were way to luring. Therefore, in a certain way, whether they would be able to successfully explore the new territory and build a new village, would depend on the work of Ji Hao and his teammates.
There wasn’t too much to talk about during this night. Except that Man Man had curiously walked into the foundry[1] of the Rong Mountain Clan, and had tried to learn some skills of blacksmithing but knocked a huge hole out of a founder workbench with her hammer, nearly ruining half of the foundry place; nothing else troublesome had happened.
Nevertheless, this huge hole left by Man Man had accidentally boosted the confidence of the elders and leaders of the Rong Mountain Clan. It made them believe that the exploration of the new territory would run successfully. After all, even the most powerful Senior Magus amongst their clansmen wouldn’t be able to destroy a foundry workbench with a hammer! This meant that Man Man was even more powerful than the most powerful Senior Magus of their clan!
After the sun had risen into the sky, Ji Hao and his teammates sat on the backs of Curly-Horned Cattle that had been prepared by the Rong Mountain Clan people. They were at the front of a large troop.
The elder Maguspriests of the Rong Mountain Clan waved their inherited bone canes and started a blessing dance, right in front of the clan’s entrance, while chanting a blessing spell. A group of warriors from the Rong Mountain Clan grabbed wild beasts that had been hunted and were struggling intensely. They pressed the beasts down and sliced their throats, one after the other, in front of the clan’s front gate. The fresh blood of the beasts dyed the soil red.
The Rong Mountain Clan clansmen, who were about to leave home towards a new territory, kneeled down on the ground, prostrated themselves in worship to the clan’s front gate and stuck their foreheads close to the ground. Along with the singing sound of those elderly Maguspriests, these clansmen began singing an old blessing song.
Some elderly clansmen in the troop couldn’t help but shed tears, sentimentally looking at other clansmen, who would stay in the clan, and in the houses they had lived in. This was their hometown, where they had been living since they were born. But now, for their clan, they were leaving their hometown with young clansmen, to explore new land and expand the clan’s territory.
Sitting on the back of the cattle, and hearing the long and resonant blessing spell, chanted by elderly Maguspriests, Ji Hao only felt that the fine hairs of his were standing up, one after another, and he abruptly got goosebumps. He thought about how countless years ago, similar to the Rong Mountain Clan, the ancestors of the humankind had built small clans in this fertile land. After that, every time when the small clan would grow bigger, a small group of their clansmen would leave their hometown and go explore new territories. New clans had been built continuously and pieces of primitive land had been transformed into paradises where people were able to live and work in peace and content. The bloodline of the humankind had been extending and spreading with the continued fusion of exploration and exploitation, just like how the Rong Mountain Clan was about to do now.
When the chanting sound of the elderly Maguspriests had gradually become quiet along with the wind, a few elderly clansmen with white hairs, who had been kneeling on the ground and seemed to be the eldest amongst the troops and couldn’t even walk conveniently, stood up while their bodies were slightly shaking and raises their magic canes high into the air.

Kids, let’s go!
shouted the strongest elderly man,
Remember, the Rong Mountain Clan is our hometown, forever! Now, let’s go!

Moo-moo, moo…
Tens of thousands of Curly-Horned Cattle, carrying large amounts of luggage, began moving. These cattle were a zhang long and especially powerful, yet incomparably naturalized. They walked orderly in a line, letting out long moo-moo sounds to contact each other.
Most of the thirty-thousand Rong Mountain Clan clansmen were riding on the backs of these cattle, but less than a thousand warriors of an elite army, were riding on Iron-Teeth Battle Cheetahs, continuously patrolling on each side of the troop to ensure that not a single Curly-Horned Cattle would be left behind.
Ji Hao patted hard on the huge head of the Curly-Horned Cattle he was riding on, shouted out loudly,
Whoo, big guy, let’s go!

This cattle was especially sturdy. It could reach the height of over two-zhang when it stood straight up from the ground. Along with Ji Hao’s voice, this cattle raised its head and let out a loud snort towards the sky. It stamped powerfully hard against the ground, then darted out.
Long and resounding horn sounds came from the Rong Mountain village, accompanied by deep drums. A few Maguspriests stood on the fence wall of the clan, raised their arms high, with white soul-calling banners held in their hands, waving slowly towards the troops.
In this era, any exploration of unexploited land was life-risking. Although they were being helped by Ji Hao and his teammates, the Rong Mountain Clan were already considering those who were leaving, to be dead. The fluttering soul-calling banners were telling those clansmen that were leaving, that even if they would die out there, they should return to the Rong Mountain Clan, through the guidance of the soul-calling banners, no matter how far they would be!
The cattle began running in small steps. These large creatures were tall and muscular, especially powerful and nearly inexhaustible. They could run over three-hundred miles within one hour. Even in mountain areas, they could trod over mountains and jungles as flat areas and run for over two-hundred miles within an hour.
The troop had began moving when the sun had just risen, and had already moved out of the Rong Mountain area and reached the plain at high noon. One of the Rong Mountain Clan elders, Iron Mountain, gave an order, after which the long troop, which extended over twenty miles, stopped beside a stream. The clansmen of the Rong Mountain Clan leaped down from the backs of their cattles, set up bonfires and began cooking lunch.
Ji Hao hopped on Mr.Crow’s back, rose into the air and observed the surrounding area, taking strict precautions against sudden wild animal attacks. Feng Xing stood on Mr.Crow’s back as well, held a rough made longbow in his hand and looked around and cooperated with Ji Hao.
After leaving the Rong Mountain area, the nerves of Ji Hao and his entire team had been tensed.
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[1] A foundry is a workshop or factory for casting metal.

Edited by SecondRate
Translated by XianXiaWorld