Lowering Their Heads.

The sun cast its light over the desolate terrain, the scorching heat waves threatening to melt anyone who dared to endure it for too long. There was hardly any vegetation or notable landmarks in sight, it was all sand as far as the eye could see.

In the middle of this barren stretch of the world, a line of moving creatures was visible. Upon closer inspection, two human Gu Masters could be seen: one at the head of the line and the other at the tail.

The one at the tail stood tall, roughly two meters in height. His hair had a hint of purple, and its short, messy look gave him an air of carelessness. His tanned skin reflected the countless hours he spent in such harsh environments. His deep black eyes were the only visible part of his face, the rest hidden beneath a makeshift mask crafted from a scarf. His simple attire lacked any indication of rank or tribal affiliation, unlike what most Gu Masters in this world would wear.

The leader of the line was not as tall, yet his demeanor clearly indicated his superiority. His golden hair cascaded down to his shoulders and glistened under the scorching sun. His beautiful blue eyes shone brilliantly, though one was missing, leaving a deep scar running across the left side of his face.

Unlike the simpler clothing of the other Gu Master, he was clad in shiny gold armor. Its intricate patterns and carvings made it dazzling to the eyes, yet it bore no tribal name or rank.

The line stretched between them, neither too long nor too short. It consisted of rockmen, chained together, each looking worse than the other with grim faces and jagged features, conveying the brutality of the fight with these two Gu Masters.

Even though they were a considerable distance apart, the voice of the Gu Master at the back reached the one at the front clearly. "Elder Qi Jing, there is a message from Elder Jin Shun." he said, his voice stable yet tinged with hesitation.

"Hmm, that old man finally completed his mission? How long did he take for such a simple task? Tsk, our tribe is in such a mess." Qi Jing grumbled. After a moment, he added. "Anyway, what did he find out? Was there something wrong?"

"According to this, he didn't find any anomalies in the Illuminating Iron Cave, despite the Alliance's little rats poking around in it." he replied with a dissatisfied tone.

"What? Is there anything else?" Qi Jing asked.

"No, Elder, that's it." came the response. "But I feel the Alliance knows something. Elder Qi Jing, forgive me if I'm being disrespectful, but isn't it obvious? Out of nowhere, they started these missions, and then one coincidentally happened to be in the Illuminating Iron Cave of all places? If that doesn't give away that they know something, I don't know what will, i.." Qi Jing stopped him before he could continue.

"Qi Xue, how many times do I have to explain to you? Sigh, your talent is truly wasted." Qi Jing sighed. "Anyway, listen carefully because if I hear you mention this subject again, you will be punished." Qi Xue, despite being a rank three elder of the Jin tribe in the middle stage, had to lower his head before this man.

"The Alliance may know our end goal—in fact, it's highly likely they do. But still, it doesn't change anything. If they wanted to stop us, they would need to fight us collectively, and they clearly aren't confident they can do that. That's why they're 'preparing' their future and current generations by making them work together on 'missions.' It's no secret." Qi Jing continued.

"The tribe understands this, even if some elders pretend not to know what the Alliance is doing. But even with this knowledge, we can't, and shouldn't, do anything right now. If we act when their lower fighters won't be of much help, we'll lose—not the fight, but the benefits we want to gain from it. They won't allow us to take anything and will probably destroy all their resources while we're busy fighting their higher ranks."

"Then what do we do to crush our enemies and still walk away with their resources? Simple. They just have to think they have a chance against us. It would be even better if they were the ones to attack us, as they would most likely go all out and not leave anyone behind but mortals. Do you understand? The tribe leader didn't assign Jin Shun this mission because we're clueless, but because we have to appear somewhat clueless. If we ignore that location, the Alliance will feel more wary than they should. Hmph, I thought you were better than that, Qi Xue." He sighed, disappointed in his descendant.

"I'm ashamed, Elder. Please forgive me." Qi Xue said, looking embarrassed.

"It's fine. Just stay alert. I don't want us getting ambushed in the middle of this accursed place." Qi Jing instructed while thinking to himself.

'Thinking has never been Qi Xue's specialty, I know that. But I had hoped that such excellent talent would come with at least an acceptable mind. Alas, heaven is impartial.' he thought bitterly. But looking at the line of rockmen behind him, he felt refreshed again. 'This is a good batch. We'll probably have to come back two more times before we have enough, but that's not a problem. The Illuminating Iron still has plenty of time before it surfaces.'

The rockmen felt his gaze land on them, and despite their hatred and resentment, not a single one dared to meet his eyes. They all immediately lowered their heads to the ground, like subjects before an emperor, no one daring to defy him.

His aura suffocated them, extinguishing any will they had to resist or fight back. His golden hair glistened under the sun's rays and rustled in the wind. His rank-four aura was evident without even activating any Gu worms. These rockmen had already experienced his terrifying prowess, witnessing him destroy their city with almost no effort and kill their rank-three leader with a simple killer move, imprinting fear and terror in their hearts.

In the desolate desert, numerous rockmen tribes were scattered across different locations. Yet, not a single one could match the humans, who had far greater numbers of both Gu Masters and resources. The situation was exacerbated by the human tribes' collective agreement to work together to restrain any progress among the rockmen, keeping them divided, weak, and resource-poor.

The only reason the rockmen still existed was due to the humans' greed. They wanted to keep the rockmen in a separate environment, allowing them to multiply 'peacefully' so that the humans could harvest their rewards later. However, any rockmen tribe that dared to collaborate with others or come close to matching the power of a human tribe would be immediately annihilated, regardless of the resources lost. Humans did not dare give this species any opportunity to defy them or prosper and become a formidable enemy.

Despite being outmatched, the rockmen always fought back with all their strength, never succumbing willingly. Eventually, though, they would lose every strong fighter, and their descendants, unable to continue the fight, would be captured and enslaved.

Over thousands of generations, the rockmen began to change little by little, leading to the present situation. Where once fearless rockmen would fight the toughest opponents regardless of their strength, they now lowered their heads to human Gu Masters.