The Northern Plains did not forgive weakness, but it yielded to organization.
For the next three days, I disappeared into the frozen wilds. I didn't hunt for sport; I hunted for structure.
With the Clan Leader's treasury open to me for increase of my power and the status winnings from my duel with Ju Meng, I purchased 8 more Rank 2 Wolf Enslavement Gu. It was a massive investment, draining nearly all my liquid assets, but money sitting in a bag was dead weight. Money converted into claws and fangs was power.
My target: Expansion and Synergy.
My current pack was heavy on melee and defense. I needed range. I needed suppression.
I roamed the ridges until my Dog Shit Luck Gu buzzed, leading me to a canyon echoing with howls.
Wind Wolves.
They were sleek, gray-furred beasts capable of spitting Wind Blades. They were fragile in close combat but devastating at a distance.
I used my 30-man Soul and the Battle Disk Gu to subjugate them efficiently. I enslaved three Wind Wolf Hundred Beast Kings.
Next, I found a cave system inhabited by Night Wolves. These beasts blended into shadows and grew stronger under moonlight—a perfect synergy for Yue Yin's Moon Path methods. I enslaved two Night Wolf Hundred Beast Kings.
Now, my army stood at nearly 1,200 wolves commanded by 10 Beast Kings.
* Vanguard: Steel-Back Wolves (power attack).
* Main Force: Water Shell & Ordinary Wolves (defense and other needed places ).
* Range: Wind Wolves (The Archers).
* Flank: Lightning Frenzy Wolves (The Cavalry).
* Assassin: Poison Scorpion Wolf & Night Wolves (The Daggers ).
I stood on a high rock, the Battle Disk floating before my chest, projecting a spectral map of the valley i coulld see in my mind.
"Formation Drill: The Crane Wing," I commanded mentally.
The pack moved. The Steel-Backs formed a concave center. The Lightning and Wind wolves flared out to the sides. It wasn't the clumsy mob from the duel. It was a breathing, mechanical entity.
"Tactics from Earth," I muttered, watching the dots on the disk align. "The Pincer. The Oblique Order. The Feigned Retreat. In this world, they rely on individual strength. I will crush them with any means possible whether it be knowledge or power."
Yue Yin sat nearby, sharpening her daggers. "You treat them like soldiers, not beasts. It is... unsettlingly effective."
"Beasts fight with instinct," I replied. "Soldiers fight with doctrine.if they were to be left as beastly as they were before there would have been no enslavement path needed here we just needed to herd them to enemy camp with force or fear."
On the fourth day, we moved deeper toward the Hei Tribe border.
"Halt," Yue Yin signaled, dropping into a crouch. Her Rank 4 Breath Concealment made her disappear into the snowdrift.
"What is it?"
"A convoy. Not a patrol. They are moving off-road, through the blind spots of the terrain. No flags."
I adjusted the Battle Disk, zooming in on the sector she indicated.
A small, tightly knit group was moving through a ravine. Ten Hei Tribe Elites. They were guarding a single, reinforced black iron cart.
My Dog Shit Luck Gu buzzed violently.
Big Opportunity.
"They are hiding something," I whispered. "Setup the ambush. Formation Delta: The Hammer and Anvil."
I sent the Steel-Back Wolves to block the exit of the ravine. I positioned the Wind Wolves on the high ridges. I kept the Lightning and Poison units in reserve.
"Attack."
The battle began with a volley.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Hundreds of translucent wind blades rained down from the ridges. The Hei Elites were caught off guard.
"Ambush! Open your Shields!" the Hei Captain roared.
They activated defensive Gu, golden domes appearing over the cart.
"Steel-Backs, hold the line," I ordered.
My heavy infantry slammed into their front, pinning them in the kill zone. The Hei Elites were strong—Rank 2 Peak warriors—but they were surrounded.
"Break through!" A Hei Scout charged my line. He was fast. He targeted a Wind Wolf that had ventured too close to the edge.
Slash.
The Wind Wolf yelped as its throat was cut. It tumbled down the ravine, dead before it hit the ground.
"First casualty," I noted coldly az the dog shit luck gu buzzed momentarily.
The scout looked up, meeting my eyes across the battlefield. He raised a crossbow.
Twang.
A bolt flew at me. My Water Shell King intercepted it effortlessly, the bolt bouncing off its shell,as another night Wolf attacked and killed him
"First enemy aggression," I marked himas the dog sit luck gu buzzed again.
"Finish them," I commanded.
I unleashed the Lightning Frenzy Wolves. They crashed into the rear of the Hei formation. At the same time, the Poison Scorpion Wolf lunged from the shadows, stinging the Captain.
It was over in minutes. Surgical. Precise.
We looted the bodies. The cart contained crates of Rank 2 Essence Stones and rare refinement materials—supplies meant for Hei tribe.
"Burn the cart," I ordered. "Keep the stones. But I need three specific things."
I cleared a space on a flat rock. It was time for a different kind of synthesis.
I had the materials. I had the intuition brought by imense luck. I had the Human Path attainment to understand the underlying logic.
Recipe: Rank 1 Unlucky fellows gaze.
* Base: A Rank 1 Investigation Gu (Standard far-sight type till the eye sees)(luck amount inspector accordingto color quality rank one luck gren and below gray for those too unlucky ones even black).
* Material 1 (Self-Misfortune): The eyes of my Wind Wolf—the first of my pack to die today.
* Material 2 (Enemy-Misfortune): The eyes of the Hei Scout attacker—the first enemy to die.
* Material 3 (ruler of diffrentiation and anchor of stabilisation): A splinter strange blue and white of wood from the Hei Tribe Emblem inside the cart—specifically forming the eyes of the black horned bear (the hei tribe emblem).
"The eyes of the victim see the fall. The eyes of the aggressor see the ambition. The material on the emblem binds them to the target."
I placed the eyes and the wood into a stone bowl heated by my primeval essence.
I crushed them.
The mixture turned a murky, swirling grey. It smelled of ozone and bad luck.
"Refine."
I poured my Rank 2 initial stage Red Steel essence into the bowl. It hissed. The conflict between the wills of the dead wolf and the dead scout was violent.
My Dog Shit Luck Gu vibrated. It sensed the birth of a kin. It spat out a tiny, imperceptible mote of golden light—my own luck—to act as the stabilizer.
Condense.
The grey liquid bubbled, then shrank, crystallizing into a single, solid object.
It was a Gu worm shaped like an eye, made of smoky grey crystal. In the center, a faint red slit pulsed.
Rank 1 Unlucky fellows gaze Gu.
"Success," I exhaled.
I refined it instantly and placed it over my right eye. It dissolved, merging with my pupil.
"Activate."
The world shifted. The sharp details of the snow faded. Instead, I saw auras.
I looked at the wreckage of the Hei cart. A dissipating cloud of Black Gas (Disaster) hung over it.
I looked at Yue Yin. Nothing appearing meaning the gu is still too weak
I looked at the corpse of the Hei Captain, dissipatingblack.
"I can see it," I whispered, touching my eye. "I can see the color of immediate fortune. Grey is decay. Black is disaster. White is neutral and green means luck amounting rank one."
"What do you see on me?" Yue Yin asked, curious.
"You shuld be shining like the moon but i can't see it now as its too weak" I smiled. "But we have work to do."
We began the march back to the Ju Tribe. The sun was setting, casting long purple shadows across the plains.
I kept the Unlucky Eye Gu active, testing its limits. It drained essence quickly, but the information was intoxicating.
Suddenly, as we passed a nondescript frozen hill, my right eye twitched.
A beam of light pierced the ground.
To the naked eye, it was just ice. But through the Unlucky Eye, I saw a halo of red turning green slowly .
It was a Rank two treasure falling to ank one slowly
"Halt," I ordered the pack.
"Another ambush?" Yue Yin asked, her daggers already drawn.
"No," I dismounted. "A help from our investor."
I walked to the spot. "Dig here."
My Steel-Back Wolves used their claws to excavate the frozen earth. One meter. Two meters.
Clink.
They found something hard.
I brushed away the dirt. Buried next to the skeletal remains of a wild beast was a sealed stone box.
I cracked it open.
Inside lay a Gu worm made of heavy, crimson metal. It hummed with a deep, resonant thrum, like a heartbeat trapped in iron.
Rank 2 Red Steel Relic Gu.
Yue Yin's eyes widened. "A Rank 2 Relic? Out here?"
"The battlefield of the past is the treasure trove of the present," I said, picking it up. It was heavy, dense with cultivation essence.
My heart raced. I was currently Rank 2 initial Stage (thanks to the breakthrough copulation we had). If I used this now...
"I could reach middle Stage instantly," I murmured.
I weighed the Gu in my hand.
"No."
I tucked the Relic Gu into my aperture.
"Middle Stage is good, but peak Stage is the barrier. I will cultivate normally until I hit the absolute limit of Middle Stage. Then, I will use this to smash through to Rank 2 Upper Stage instantly, saving months of grinding. Or better yet... I will save it to bridge the gap to Peak Stage when the war is going to be at its most critical although it is weakening my father is the clan head i can exchange it without anyone finding out."
I looked at Yue Yin, my golden eyes gleaming with the thrill of the find.
"The Hei Tribe thinks they are fighting a Wolf Commander. They don't know they are fighting a man who can see the cheat codes of the world."
I mounted my Wolf King.
"Let's go home, Yue. We should get ready to operate."