Testing Illusions
The Burning Lotus Tribe quickly came under the Bloody Totem Tribe's control. With Yaan having complete control over the Burning Lotus Formation, it was too easy to suppress the tribesmen within.
In fact, Yaan had greater ambitions with this tribe compared to the Rising Sun Tribe.
Back when they invaded the Rising Sun Tribe, they attempted to force the Aztecs to submit, but the Aztecs were adamant about dying 'honourably'.
This sort of sentiment was very common in the War Flower Empire, but the Aztecs were definitely better at following through with their resolve than almost anyone else.
As for the Burning Lotus Tribe, they had been subservient to the Grand Martial Tribe for too long now, so they were accustomed to lowering their heads in order to survive. They were not willing to fight a futile battle!
Hence, when Yaan appeared like a ghost amidst the frantic battlefield between the Bloody Totem Tribe Elders and the Burning Lotus Tribe Elders, then targeted those enemy elders and beat them down with his own abilities and the assistance of the formation, they quickly gave in.
In the end, the Burning Lotus Tribe was already a vassal tribe. What difference did it make to them, whom they lowered their heads to?
Be it serving the Grand Martial Tribe or the Bloody Totem Tribe, in the end, they were just a subordinate force. It was not worth giving up their lives just to prevent their master from changing from one tribe to another!
Like this, the Bloody Totem Tribe gained another vassal force, but this time, their vassal tribe retained 14 surviving 4-Star Realm warriors!
It was a bit regretful that half of the Burning Lotus Tribe's elders were killed before this point, but there was nothing else to be done. Yaan needed to kill those elders in order to make a big impact and to scare the others into submission, but he also needed to protect the Bloody Totem Tribe Elders who came along with him.
"Perhaps it would be better to invade a tribe on my own…" Yaan mused to himself as he sat within the Burning Lotus Tribe's central tribal temple.
He had two concerns about trying to conquer a tribe on his own.
Firstly, it would be extremely difficult to gain any sort of control over the tribe if he went there alone. Until the others arrived, he would only be suppressing them with pure might, they would not truly fall into line. It was a less predictable situation, and unless he was able to overwhelmingly dominate the opponent, it was a bad idea.
But Yaan did not doubt his own strength. His main concern was that if he attacked a tribe on his own, he might be considered a 'rogue individual' by the war flower law…
Could it be called a 'war' if an individual fought against an entire force? Even if he was an official elder of the Bloody Totem Tribe, this was a highly dubious practice. It was better not to take this risk, as he could potentially rouse the attention of an immortal.
In the first place, the war flower law was supposed to prevent things like this from happening. None of the permitted wars should be so overwhelming, it was just that Yaan possessed horrifying battle power for a Rank 4 cultivator, meaning that he could circumnavigate many of the restrictions imposed on tribes with Rank 5 cultivators.
That said, Yaan was aware that he might end up being investigated at some point. His sudden appearance in the Bloody Totem Tribe, followed by his complete domination over the other Rank 4 tribes, made him look extremely suspicious.
He wasn't too worried though, since he hadn't actually broken any clause in the war flower law. Any investigator would be satisfied after Yaan proved to them that his cultivation really was at Rank 4.
Yaan remained in the Burning Lotus Tribe. He wanted to continue studying the Burning Lotus Formation, which was made easier now that he had complete control over its operation. This was his first time controlling such a large scale formation, and he might not get this opportunity again for some time, so he wanted to analyse this formation until the Grand Martial Tribe made their move.
In the end, he didn't need to wait for long.
As soon as the Grand Martial Tribe received news of the Burning Lotus Tribe's defeat, they immediately acted, moving their war force towards the Burning Lotus Tribe.
After confirming that the Grand Martial Tribe would be attacking the Burning Lotus Tribe and not the Bloody Totem Tribe, Yaan remained put in the Burning Lotus Tribe.
The Bloody Totem Tribe Elders were relieved by the news of the Grand Martial Tribe's plan; it meant that their homeland would not be implicated in the coming battle. As for the surviving Burning Lotus Tribesmen, they felt even more depressed than before, but nobody cared about their feelings.
Before long, the Grand Martial Tribe army arrived.
The Burning Lotus Formation was not a detection formation, and it actually prevented those inside the tribe from seeing outside, but since Yaan was the master of the formation now, he could see past the visual barrier.
The Grand Martial Tribe had acted resolutely, bringing their strongest war force with them in order to liberate their vassal tribe and to crush their enemy.
They were led by a 5-Star Realm tribal warrior, a man with dreadlocked hair extending down to his waist, with tattoos covering his body from head to toe. Seeing this, Yaan raised an eyebrow…he actually possessed Rank 4 astral cultivation, he had several 4-Star Realm astral tattoos!
Astral cultivation was extremely difficult to progress with for those who did not possess powerful psyche cultivation like Yaan. Even though this person was a 5-Star Realm body temperer, seeing 4-Star Realm astral tattoos still surprised Yaan, it showed that this person was quite formidable.
No, perhaps he should not use the same standards for the people on the Blood Plane that he had applied to the body temperers in the 4th Trial Realm…
Yaan looked past the 5-Star Realm leader. He counted 50 4-Star Realm tribal warriors, and thousands of 3-Star Realm warriors down below. The reason that it had taken this group a few days to reach this place was because they actually brought so many 3-Star Realm warriors along with them!
Seeing this, Yaan raised an eyebrow. For a powerful force like the Grand Martial Tribe, they could just send their 5-Star Realm leader to defeat a weaker tribe…all of these other people were just unnecessary.
The only use of weaker warriors in a war like this, was to let them battle it out amongst themselves, allowing the stronger warriors to avoid the battle. This way, there would be less collateral damage as a result of the conflict, whilst the stronger warriors of the tribe didn't need to throw away their lives.
But if one side possessed an overwhelming advantage, what was the point of this?
The Grand Martial Tribe believed that their opponent lacked anyone capable of contending with their leader. Their reasoning for bringing these weaker cultivators could only be to stabilise the situation following the battle.
From this, it could be seen that the Grand Martial Tribe intended to crush the Bloody Totem Tribe immediately after liberating their vassal tribe. They saw this situation as an opportunity to gain another vassal tribe, further solidifying their status as the strongest force in the Star Plain Province.
It was a shame. If they had not encountered a monster like Yaan, they would have been able to achieve this goal.
Yaan appeared outside of the formation.
He moved without informing anyone of his plans, he moved without making any sound. He seemed to phase past the world, stepping past the formation without being hindered, and reappearing just a few dozen feet away from the Grand Martial Tribe Leader.
"Hmm?"
The tribe leader was startled, squinting his eyes, then suddenly showing a shocked expression and retreating hundreds of feet without hesitation. He immediately withdrew a giant sword from his spatial ring, gripping it between his two hands and facing Yaan with a severe expression.
Yaan sighed.
'It seems that I cannot yet completely hide myself from a 5-Star Realm cultivator…this is due to their Spirit Sense.'
Rank 5 beings possessed Spirit Sense, an ability of the soul which allowed them to investigate their surroundings in all directions. It was like a sixth sense, and it was the sense that cultivators relied on the most at this stage.
Yaan was yet to transform his soul; he still possessed a mortal soul. Because of this, he didn't understand the intricacies of Spirit Sense. He struggled to hide himself from this sense, despite his immortal stage illusion dao comprehension.
It was not that his illusion dao was inadequate, it was just that he didn't understand how to use it properly for this purpose.
It was already incredible that Yaan could hide himself from the enemy tribe leader's senses for a couple of seconds, but this was his limit. Once the 5-Star Realm opponent became aware of his existence, Yaan could no longer hide from his senses…though, he could distort his presence, making it difficult for his opponent to keep track of him.
Anyway, Yaan did not mind much that he couldn't hide from this person, he was only using this chance to test his capabilities.
As his understanding of his illusion dao grew deeper, Yaan had a thought.
'I should definitely integrate this illusion concealment into my general sword art, this method suits me well.'
As Yaan pondered the development of his future sword art, the Grand Martial Tribe Leader was drenched with cold sweat. His tribesmen looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he was looking so panicked, and why he had suddenly rushed backwards with such urgency.
Even now, not one of those 4-Star Realm warriors of the Grand Martial Tribe was able to sense Yaan's presence.
Yaan refocussed his gaze on the enemy tribe leader. He decided not to drag this out for longer than necessary. And, since nobody within the area was able to see him right now, he saw no reason to hide any of his abilities.
Agile Illusion Art, first stage!
Whoosh…
Yaan passed through the distance between himself and the enemy tribe leader like a phantom phasing through the world. His entire form blurred and the 5-Star Realm opponent completely lost track of him.
Chi!
By the time the enemy realised that Yaan was upon him, it was already too late. Yaan stabbed him through the neck, then gently pushed upwards with his sword, sending the remaining force of the attack up and into the 5-Star Realm warriors head.
Bang!
His head detonated, exploding into a messy mist of blood. The blood formed a wave which seemed chaotic, but mysteriously, not a single drop touched Yaan's robe.
Yaan quickly retracted the blade, then stabbed into the man's chest, then tore out his Vital Core before he could begin to regenerate. Body temperers were too resilient at a high level, the only way to ensure their demise was to either destroy or remove their Vital Core.
Slaughter Aura stormed into Yaan's body, then entered his Dantian and was refined into Vital Qi. The abyssal blood sword also killed the man's Primal Soul, which contained much more vitality compared to a Qi refiner's Origin Soul, resulting in a large amount of Slaughter Aura being refined by Yaan.
He easily suppressed this Slaughter Aura. At this point, it wasn't even worth mentioning.
Yaan put away the core into his spatial ring, then revealed himself to the world. He held up the bloody corpse in one hand, and the dismembered head in the other.
Before the horrified gazes of the Grand Martial Tribesmen, the corpse and head began to wither away.
Yaan looked out across the crowd with a cold, ruthless gaze.
"Your tribe leader is dead. Submit, or die."