Chapter 49: The Barbaric Wilderness

  In the northeast of the Fia Empire, at the northernmost tip of the Divine Continent, there is a vast and desolate land. This place is rarely visited by humans, flowers and grass do not grow, and even magical beasts cannot survive. From afar, a thick haze hangs in the air, and ordinary people who enter this place almost certainly face death.

  Barbaric land, with knife-like cold winds blowing for years on end, and sandstone swamps all over the place. Although the barbaric land occupies a vast territory, some surrounding empires have no interest in this wasteland.

  However, over a hundred years ago, in an accidental situation, a strong man from the Fia Empire discovered that there were large amounts of titanium steel stones hidden deep beneath the surface of the wilderness.

  Titanium steel stone is a material most needed for refining precious artifacts. Its texture is exceptionally tough and can hold a large amount of battle energy.

  Treasures have transcended the category of weapons. Good treasures not only save combat energy output, but also have attribute addition capabilities. If a warrior has a top-level treasure that matches or complements their attributes, they can even hold their own against a battle master. After all, not everyone is as abnormal as Jiang Huan, who can withstand a battle master with just physical strength alone.

  In the past, although each empire had discovered titanium steel, the quantities were extremely small and the purity was very low, only enough to forge some of the lowest-grade treasures.

  The purity of titanium steel in the barbaric land is extremely high, enough to forge middle-grade or even high-grade artifacts. High-grade artifacts would make even a strong warrior general jealous.

  The sheer size of the mineral deposit shocked the imperial family of the Fia Empire, and even some old ancestors who were not worldly were surprised. After discussion, the Fia Empire sealed off the news in the first time, and then secretly dispatched a group of strong men to the barbaric land to confirm the amount of titanium steel ore.

  Months later, news came that in the depths of the wilderness, thousands of miles of mountains were hidden underground, and it was impossible to detect how much titanium ore there was. What drove the Feia royal family even crazier was that a large number of titanium crystals had been discovered in the central region of the wilderness.

  Titanium crystal is a top-grade mineral that only appears after the titanium ore has been extremely concentrated. It's said that casting spiritual artifacts requires a considerable amount of titanium crystals.

  The Fia Empire sealed off all news at all costs, while sending out a large number of strong men to the Barbaric Land, starting a frantic mining of titanium steel stones, and transporting them with spatial treasures at no cost.

  As the saying goes, paper can't wrap fire, and there's no wall that doesn't leak air in this world. Soon, several surrounding empires knew about this news and sent strong men to mine titanium ore.

  The result is naturally infuriating to the Empire of Fia, which directly dispatched troops to garrison the barbarous land. From then on, the previously uninhabited barbarous land became a battleground for the military, and several major empires clashed in a frenzy of fighting, with battles raging continuously.

  On the outskirts of a desolate land, on a natural Gobi, as far as the eye can see, there is an endless expanse of green military tents. On the tents, the totem of the Fia Empire is prominently printed - a red-crowned golden eagle.

  The inner enclosure of that military camp was a group of felt tents twice as large as ordinary military tents.

  In the largest felt tent in the center, a group of armor-clad military leaders sat upright, with a young man sitting at the top. The young man was not big, under twenty years old, but the striking scar on his face made people glance sideways. He had a slender figure and an aura that was hard to detect surrounded him as he sat and stood.

  The atmosphere in the military account was unusually depressing, apparently because several major empires joined forces to exert pressure, and the Fia Empire could not monopolize the titanium steel mine.

  "What strategy do you have this time, all of you being the capable generals of the Empire of Fia?" The leader's voice carried a hint of subtle intimidation, and as soon as he spoke, the various generals below him were silent like cicadas in winter.

  "Big brother, let me take a team of good men to go, what is the Hundred Wars Empire worth, and dare to hit our people." The next person in line had a face full of vicissitudes, and upon closer inspection, it was actually Jiang Hua's second brother, Jiang Lie.

  "Haha, Lie Di, don't worry, the Empire of a Hundred Battles dares to come, I didn't plan on letting them leave alive anyway. It's just a mere 50,000 troops." The one who could be called "Big Brother" by Jiang Lie was undoubtedly Jiang Tianwu.

  In the past hundred years, several empires near the barbaric land, including the Fia Empire, the Hundred Wars Empire, and the Blue Lion Empire, have fought over a hundred wars of varying sizes. Now they are in a stalemate, occasionally harassing each other only to spark small-scale battles.

  After more than a hundred years of mining, the total amount of titanium ore in that vast and barren land has not decreased much. After all, titanium ore is extremely hard and requires special methods to be mined.

  "General Jiang, this time although the Empire of Bai only brought more than 500,000 people, but according to the scouts' reports, Guang's army alone has several hundred people, and there are more than 10,000 soldiers of that level. It is obviously the elite troops of the Empire of Bai." The big man sitting on Jiang Tian's right side said in a deep voice.

  "Haha, Ling Qiong, we also have war masters and we are not short of warriors. If they want to devour us, I'm afraid they don't have such a big appetite."

  Jiang Tian waved his hand for the big man to sit down, then smiled and said, but in the depths of his eyes, a faint glint of cold light flashed by.

  "The general is right, our army isn't one to be trifled with. Take down Bai Zhan, take down Bai Zhan." The people below the seat all shouted in unison, their momentum was also quite impressive.

  Jiang Tian pressed his hands down, still with a calm face, and said: "Brothers, you are right. The dignity of the Empire of Feia cannot be violated. If we must fight, let's make it a beautiful one. Announce to the whole camp, there will be an extra meal tonight, and tomorrow, we'll go all out and have a decisive battle."

  "Promise!"

  Many generals responded in unison, and for a time, their morale surged.

  "Everyone go back and prepare first, Lie Di you stay for a moment!" Jiang Tian waved his hand and said.

  After all the generals had paid their respects and left the military tent, they each went down to pass on instructions for the next day's battle.

  "Big brother, the Hundred Wars Empire has actually deployed so many warriors, including hundreds of war masters. It seems that the Hundred Wars Empire can't hold on anymore." Jiang Lie turned around and said as he saw everyone leaving.

  Jiang Tian smiled slightly and nodded for Jiang Lie to sit down and talk.

  "Second brother, as long as the other side doesn't send out a strong general, there's no need to worry. Even if our army is strong, it may not be able to withstand the siege of dozens of enemy soldiers."

  "Big brother, I see that your battle aura is circulating on its own between inhalation and exhalation. It seems that you're not far from breaking through to the Martial General stage," said Jiang Lie.

  "Haha, Lie brother, foolish brother is not talented, has already barely broken through to the War General rank a few days ago." Jiang Tian smiled slightly, with a hint of pride on his face.

  "Ah, big brother has already broken through to the War General realm! Alas, it seems I won't be able to catch up with big brother's footsteps again." Jiang Lie heard this and first felt a thrill of excitement, but then shook his head in despair. Jiang Tian was only one year older than himself, yet his cultivation was second only to their father within the family.

  "Dear brother, no need to be like this. You and I are brothers, what's the difference between us? Moreover, your talent is not inferior to mine, it's just that you lack some insight!"

  "Think back to when we brothers just broke through the war division, Dad threw us into the military camp. It's been three years already!" Jiang Tian obviously didn't want to crush Jiang Lie's confidence, and quickly changed the subject.

  "Yes, these three years we've been through thick and thin, and are no longer the young whippersnappers we used to be. I don't even know how things are at home now." Jiang Lie's introverted nature couldn't conceal his deep longing!

  "Hehe, I wonder how Jiang Hao is doing now. I remember when we were young, he actually liked you, Second Brother, more." Jiang Tian brushed off his sleeves, a smile spreading across his face.

  "Haha, big brother, you haven't been easy on him, but I've helped him beat that Jiang Kui brat more than once. If Jiang Hua could cultivate, he'd probably be at least a six-star warrior by now." Jiang Lie couldn't help but laugh too, as if thinking of something extremely delightful.

  "No wonder Jiang Kui was so scared of you, it's like he saw a ghost! So you didn't spare him a beating, did you?"

  "Of course, this kid would often bully Jiang Hua, and I caught him several times. As a result, my old man also beat me up several times." Jiang Lie scratched his head, saying with embarrassment.

  "It's been a long time since we three brothers have gathered together. Once this war is over, let's take leave from Father and go back for a visit!" said Jiang Tian.

  "Alright, big brother, I'll go and cultivate now. Tomorrow, we'll have a decisive battle and I must annihilate the elite of the Hundred Wars Empire." With that, Jiang Lie bid farewell to Jiang Tian and returned to his own camp.

  In the distant mountains of Mowu, Jiang Huan was meditating in solitude, completely unaware that in the far north, there were still people who missed him.