"You'll continue to act as normal. Send your tributes on time and act normally. Within a month, we will move again, so be prepared."
With those words, Dyon left with his squadron of beasts, leaving six empty fortresses and a seventh filled to capacity.
'I should conquer this Region within 2 years. I can't waste anymore time here, or else Eli's life' Dyon's gaze sharpened. That unknown event Jade warned him about that would shake the Sprite Alliance was rapidly approaching. Dyon couldn't ignore it, especially if his future self speculated that it was related to the reason why he never found Eli.
But first, he had to strengthen his squad of beasts, or else laying claim to this Region would become too difficult.
Dyon had seemingly built six fortresses without reason. In truth, each one could easily sustain a population of ten thousand without issue. There was simply no need for them, especially since he housed the whole of his newfound population of warriors within the seventh.
However, Dyon was no fool, nor was he a masochist keen on wasting his own soul prowess.
When Dyon learned of the method the tribesmen used to keep beasts away, his mind lit up with an insane idea, one so insane that he'd probably be called a madman if it became public.
If there was a way to repel beasts, what if there was a way to attract them as well?
It was a maddening thought Dyon had only considered fleetingly before tossing away. For one, it was likely too dangerous. And secondly, even if he was willing to risk it, he had no idea what would attract the beasts to begin with.
But then he thought of something else. Those energy surges beasts were so afraid of, they left such large, gaping wounds in the ground But, what happened to the type stones that once filled those now empty spaces?
One had to remember that on the Ancient Battlefield, every inch of the ground was filled with these type stones. The unfortunate part was that digging into the ground was next to impossible. Though, Dyon had begun seeing some hope in that aspect after Queen awoke her qi manipulation abilities.
Of course, a first thought was that these type stones had all be destroyed in the blast. This was very much possible. Such a concentrated blast of energy would definitely be quite destructive.
A second thought was that maybe humans took them. Dyon had already learned from the various chiefs and the eleven elders that their lower ranked tribes were forced to pass their type stones onward to the Superior Upper Tribe who probably had to give a large portion to their ruling Clan. Maybe the rewards of the energy surges were passed onward like this as well.
However, there was a third, intriguing thought that caught Dyon attention. What if beasts avoided energy surges, but swarmed for their aftermath?
The first reason Dyon thought this might be viable was due to the placement of the beasts. This Region was packed with hundreds of energy surge simulating tribes, but the beasts never migrated away. In fact, they remained relatively close despite not daring to approach the villages.
The second reason were the massive mountain ranges. What reason did those mighty beasts have to stay up there? Was staying in those uncomfortable, cold, and rocky mountains really better than living on land? Even water was scarce up there, let alone other necessities.
After scanning through the mountains with his divine sense, Dyon not only found incredibly powerful creatures he didn't dare to face, he found sources of energy surges that beasts flocked around. In fact, bloody battles over these sources raged day in and day out.
The final nail that sealed Dyon's theory were his experiments with his very own beast squadron. Using his understanding of the energy signatures he sensed within the large, rocky mountain range, Dyon began to simulate them in a controlled environment, making certain that the qi did not leak outward.
His results? They were enough to put a grin on his face.
By now, Dyon's goal was obvious. Instead of hunting beasts one by one, he would strongarm them into coming to him. But, not just any beasts He would call down the beasts from the mountains!
Was it reckless? Absolutely. Insane? Without a doubt. Would his wives tear his head off if they ever found out he was doing this? Probably.
But, he would do so anyway.
To now, Dyon's capacity had crept forward to almost 300 000 000 jin, but it had all but come to a grinding halt. The 200 000 000 jin he needed to make use of Orcus' [False God Body] seemed several worlds away from him at this point.
Still, that wasn't the only reason he wanted to do this. He also needed to strength his beast army.
Dyon felt that he had absolute control over this experiment. Using his Presence infused divine sense, he could create barriers of qi, only allowing certain beasts to sense the energy fluctuations. This way, he would never have to step into those mountains to find his prey, causing his survivability to skyrocket.
One might wonder why Dyon built six fortresses then. Wouldn't the first one he created in Mellow Tribe territory, just 50 kilometers west of the mountain range, be enough for his goals?
The answer was simple. The mountain range was incredibly large, stretching from the east of the Mellow Tribe and wrapping down toward the south. Even with Dyon's divine sense, he couldn't cover the whole range. This wasn't because the mountain range spanned over 10 000 km, but rather because Dyon's divine sense was even more restricted under its atmosphere If it was already difficult to use his divine sense here, it was ten to even a hundred times more difficult within the mountain range.
If this was true, Dyon could only imagine how much more restricted his overall strength would be within the mountains. Therefore, he didn't dare to enter himself. He had to lure his targets here.