Chapter 1257: Ten Kings Area

Based on the information Talia, the Serpent Queen, provided to Xu Yang, the entire Great North Wilderness region can be divided into eleven sections.

The core of this division is the Ten King Domains, demarcated by the territories of the ten most powerful barbarian races!

Naturally, where there are kings, there are emperors! The recognized strongest beast emperor lineage in the Great North – the Ancient Giant Elephant clan – resides deep within the Great North Wilderness, in a forbidden land separate from the Ten King Domains.

Each of these Ten Great King Domains is of considerable size. The Gobi region where the Serpentfolk currently reside falls under the dominion of the Tiger King lineage, one of the ten kings.

The Ten King Domains are independent territories, each led by one of the ten strongest races. While they engage in constant warfare, it is considerably difficult to easily wipe out any single faction.

Furthermore, within each domain, various barbarian beast races of different sizes contend with each other. The Serpentfolk and Scorpion clan within the Tiger King Domain are prime examples.

Additionally, Xu Yang learned from the currently available intelligence that there are eight beast races under the Tiger King Domain that possess their own exclusive territories and legacies. The Scorpion clan ranks among the top three in overall strength, while the Serpentfolk are likely at the bottom.

However, the Serpentfolk maintain cooperative relations with two of these other races, and their mastery of the Serpent Curse Seal legacy is quite formidable. Thanks to the power of this lineage, they have no problem protecting themselves.

However, the Serpentfolk uphold a matriarchal system, which inherently prevents them from competing in overall strength with patriarchal races. Their overall combat effectiveness is not particularly strong, making it nearly impossible for them to launch invasions.

Perhaps recognizing this fatal weakness, the Scorpion clan had long set their sights on the Serpentfolk, aiming to occupy their exclusive territory for the better development of their own people. For one, the Serpentfolk's territory offers excellent cultivation conditions, making it ideal for practicing poison-element cultivation techniques.

Furthermore, due to their bloodline, the Scorpion warriors possess strong desires and a vast reproductive scale. They constantly need to conquer and plunder female warriors to bolster their clan's strength, and the Serpentfolk's female warriors are undoubtedly the Scorpion clan's most valuable conquest targets.

As Queen Talia stated, this was also the most important reason she urgently wished to break through her bloodline's strength: to exact revenge on the Scorpion clan and avenge her people who had fallen at their hands!

Xu Yang hadn't expected Queen Talia to force him into partnership in such a way, but now that the deed was done, there was no way for him to back out. At the very least, eradicating the Scorpion clan was no longer negotiable.

"Alright, regardless, I now have the responsibility and obligation to help you eliminate the Scorpion clan. However, you should also be clear about my original intention: my sole purpose in coming here is to find the Heart of the Sacred Beast."

Queen Talia nodded with a light smile. Perhaps it was because they had shared intimacy, but their gazes, when they met, were filled with a special luster, no longer carrying the wary distance typical of strangers.

"Rest assured, I will not disappoint you with what I've promised. Once the Scorpion clan is destroyed, I will have a way to help you find the core clues to the Heart of the Sacred Beast."

Their agreement was officially concluded. When Queen Talia reappeared in the palace hall, accompanied by Xu Yang, the hall was already filled with female Serpentfolk warriors, and the veiled female envoy was prominently among them.

The female Serpentfolk allowed into the great hall were all leaders of various squads and represented the true backbone of their clan. Only when there was an earth-shattering grand plan within the Serpentfolk would all the leaders gather at once.

"My people!" Queen Talia's voice resonated. "With the help of Sir Xu Yang, I have successfully completed my bloodline evolution and now possess the strength to contend with the Scorpion King. As you all know, we have endured enough of the Scorpion clan's endless campaigns and invasions over the years. Too many of our people have fallen at the hands of those cursed scorpions! But from today forward, we will no longer tolerate this. Assemble the army, and let us strike!"

Queen Talia drew the gleaming Autumn Water Sword from her waist, her regal demeanor fully evident. However, most of the female clan members instinctively cast their gaze upon Xu Yang.

They were intensely curious about the man who could captivate Queen Talia, a woman who had guarded her purity for thousands of years. How exceptional must he be?

Feeling the surging fighting spirit within the Serpentfolk, Xu Yang was also greatly comforted. He felt that while they were a faction primarily composed of female warriors, making this their starting point for expanding his influence in the wilderness might not be an uninteresting decision. Perhaps these "women's army" members could truly bring him significant surprises at crucial moments.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Gobi, over three thousand miles from the Serpentfolk palace headquarters, at the outermost fortress battlefield of the Scorpion clan's five core territories, Xiao Hua, accompanied by the Three Divine Beast Envoys, had already engaged the Scorpion warriors.

The reason was rather embarrassing: the young White Tiger had stopped to relieve himself and was stung by a Scorpion scout hidden in the sand, suffering from scorpion venom in half his body. This completely enraged him. In his fury, drawing upon the primal power of his White Tiger Divine Beast, he single-handedly charged into the outer fortress, unleashing a devastating assault. By himself, he annihilated over a hundred Scorpion warriors, thus alarming Sha Tonggui, one of the Scorpion clan's Four Chief Generals!

The three-meter-tall giant before them, clad in black battle armor with a human body and scorpion tail, wielding a black axe, was Sha Tonggui.

At this moment, this formidable individual was clashing with the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise Envoys. The Black Tortoise, being a clone, did not possess great combat strength, and the Azure Dragon, still recovering from injuries sustained during his previous encounter with Xu Yang, was not at his peak. Therefore, the two had decided to join forces to contain Sha Tonggui.

Xiao Hua, meanwhile, was leisurely sweeping through the surrounding lesser Scorpion warriors with the young White Tiger, appearing completely at ease and feeling no pressure whatsoever in front of these fighters.

"Kids, are you reinforcements brought by the Serpentfolk?" Sha Tonggui demanded coldly of the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise clones, his black great axe still relentlessly chopping downwards.

"No, we have no relation to the Serpentfolk. We merely wish to meet your clan leader regarding a private matter."

Sha Tonggui laughed smugly. "Are you telling me I'm an idiot? You want to meet our commander, then ambush him when he's off guard? Dream on! Today, I'll chop you into pieces!"

Sha Tonggui was quite confident in his strength, and he was indeed powerful. However, all of this was predicated on Xiao Hua not personally intervening.

It is worth noting that while Xiao Hua was formidable, her resistance to the sand venom didn't seem particularly strong. In this battlefield, her immediate combat effectiveness was significantly reduced.

"This is bad!" the Azure Dragon Envoy exclaimed. "Regardless, this is a core Scorpion clan fortress. If we can't finish this quickly, their reinforcements will continue to arrive wave after wave. By then, we won't be the ones on the offensive anymore; we could very well find ourselves trapped and unable to escape!"