Chapter 795: Entering Golden Lion Valley

"Alright, you can all return to your respective places. Three days from now, I will personally send several of the Sacred Flame Sect's Heavenly Kings to your major prefectural cities to recruit new members for the various branches of the Sacred Flame Sect! Everyone, including those from the law enforcement halls in each prefectural city, who wishes to join the Sacred Flame Sect will be eligible to participate in the trials."

"Brilliant, Great General!" Upon hearing this, the various governors once again bowed deeply to Xu Yang. It was clear that their admiration and reverence for Xu Yang had long since permeated their very beings.

Thus, Xu Yang's second step of the plan was successfully completed. He successfully elevated Third Master Yun to the position of alliance leader, and also ensured that the martial arts brethren of the Sacred Flame Sect achieved a higher status.

However, due to the rapid development led by Xu Yang, the Sacred Flame Sect's strength had now grown dozens of times compared to its initial state. In just one month, the number of new disciples in the entire sect had reached over eighty thousand. Such a massive organization naturally required enormous amounts of equipment and expenditure.

Consequently, it wasn't long before Xu Yang was faced with an increasing number of practical problems.

"Hahaha, I never thought a day would come when I, A-Yang, would be worrying about such mundane things as daily necessities." Xu Yang looked at the report Elder Tan had handed him, shaking his head with a bitter smile. The economic deficit listed on it left him feeling somewhat helpless.

"Sect Master, our power is expanding very rapidly, but the immediate priority is to solve the issues of sustenance and equipment for our warriors within the sect. As for food, the combined reserves of the entire alliance are sufficient, but the warriors' rewards and combat equipment have not yet been fully provided."

"Previously, when we fiercely attacked Anping Prefecture, some stubborn individuals within the city, seeing that the tide had turned, set fire to vast amounts of gold, silver, and treasures. As a result, while we successfully seized the position of alliance leader, we didn't gain much substantial benefit. Therefore, I believe we should find an opportunity to test the might of the Sacred Flame Sect. We also need to give everyone enough missions to train themselves."

Xu Yang agreed with Elder Tan's suggestion and nodded.

"Do you have any good ideas? Everyone else should also contribute!" As Xu Yang spoke, he swept his gaze across the Five Heavenly Kings seated below.

"Sect Master, according to reports from the bandits of the Three Strongholds, there are indeed some highly resource-rich areas in the public zones outside our alliance, which are also primary resource zones that several major alliances in the vicinity have been contending for over the years. If we can select a few resource-abundant mountain ranges and forests to serve as our outer territories, I believe these problems can be easily resolved."

Xu Yang immediately became interested upon hearing Sword Maniac's words. "Well then, tell me, are there any potential target areas?"

Sword Maniac promptly replied: "About 180 li to the north, there's a place called Golden Lion Valley. It's said to have existed for thousands of years, and it contains all sorts of rare beasts and spiritual treasures. If we can conquer this place, I believe we'll have abundant resources at our disposal, and we won't have to worry about equipment issues anymore."

However, no sooner had Sword Maniac spoken than he was met with unanimous opposition from the other four Heavenly Kings.

"Sword Maniac, I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself. Have you forgotten that years ago, Golden Lion Valley swallowed up three entire alliances and tens of thousands of elite powerhouses? That place is a death trap that devours people whole. Although our current strength is formidable, and we have a world-shaking figure like the Sect Master as our leader, that doesn't mean we can contend with such a region."

Xu Yang paid no mind to their concerns. The more he heard their timid attitudes, the more excited Xu Yang became.

"Alright, alright, first tell me what exactly this place is about. I will make my own decision."

Elder Tan personally stepped forward to explain to Xu Yang.

Golden Lion Valley, as it was called, was rumored to contain thousands of the most terrifying bloodthirsty lions, as well as many high-ranking ancient exotic beasts. Furthermore, the environment there was extremely harsh, with poisonous miasma constantly rising from the deep valleys. Even for a top-tier alliance gathering tens of thousands of troops to enter such a place, retreating intact would be a major challenge, let alone conquering it completely.

"Hahaha, what's so scary about this? I'll personally lead you to such a place. Firstly, ordinary alliance forces wouldn't dare to easily meddle with it. Therefore, our main opponents would simply be the fierce beasts within Golden Lion Valley. While beast tribes are strong in combat, their intelligence is far inferior to that of humans. As long as we arrange our forces properly, I have my own methods to conquer this place. Furthermore, if we conquer Golden Lion Valley in one fell swoop, it will have a very clear effect on expanding our influence and deterring other neighboring alliances."

The Heavenly Kings of the Sacred Flame Sect all knew what kind of person Xu Yang was, but they truly hadn't expected him to be utterly fearless even of Golden Lion Valley, a notorious forbidden death zone.

"Alright, I understand your concerns. For this operation, we will only bring one thousand people into Golden Lion Valley. We won't rush to seize resources; first, we'll thoroughly clear the area. I want to see for myself just how formidable these bloodthirsty lions, rumored to be so terrifying, truly are."

Seeing that Xu Yang's mind was made up, the Five Heavenly Kings naturally couldn't voice any objections. On the other hand, they were also well aware of Xu Yang's unparalleled strength, and perhaps he truly could once again create a miracle that others could not achieve.

After some brief preparations, the next day, Xu Yang led the Five Heavenly Kings and a thousand elite warriors under his command, marching towards Golden Lion Valley.

The valley was not too far from the Sacred Flame Alliance. With the speed of top-tier experts like Xu Yang, it took them only half a day to successfully enter the inner region of Golden Lion Valley.

"Indeed, as you said, the poisonous miasma here is quite potent. Ordinary warriors wouldn't last three hours in this environment.” Xu Yang observed the surroundings. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance, ordering the creation of spirit medicines to ward off the poisonous miasma before their departure. This also granted the thousand relatively powerful Sacred Flame Sect warriors superior resistance.

More importantly, most of the Sacred Flame Sect confidants Xu Yang brought with him had already been granted the cultivation methods of the Supreme Clarity Profound Qi Dao. Thus, they inherently knew how to harness primal energy to resist toxins. As long as they didn't encounter high-intensity combat, simply staying within the Golden Lion Valley environment wasn't overly difficult for them.

"Roar!!" As the group walked on, they suddenly heard an incredibly powerful beast roar from deep within the jungle. Judging by the sound, it wasn't just one or two beasts. Clearly, the invasion of Xu Yang's large force had already attracted the attention of the ancient beasts within Golden Lion Valley.

Before long, ancient winged dragons with enormous, sky-obscuring wings suddenly appeared, and began to launch spatial attacks from various directions against Xu Yang's Sacred Flame team.