Time gradually moved past...

Every week or so, he would make a trip to the Mist Marshlands. Although, most of the time, Hong remained within the Southern Sun Tribe, practicing his sword techniques.

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In the blink of an eye, over six weeks had passed. Min Hong has now been training for a little over ten months.

He was currently seated on the eaves of his residence, holding a bamboo reed that was filled with fine wine. "Although, the Min Family Castle was very large, it isn't as peaceful as these little tribes." He muttered to himself. "Resting at dusk, heading out to train at dawn."

The Southern Sun Tribe was a cohesive tribe, they showed strong sense of kinship amongst themselves, they treated themselves as brothers and sisters.

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"Quick! Quick! Quick!"

"Everyone, return. Gather everything together!"

The peaceful tribe abruptly turned into a chaotic hub of different activities. This made Hong, who was currently basking in the formerly soothing atmosphere very confused. He suddenly vanished from the spot and abruptly appear in front of a scrambling youth.

The youth was instantly scared silly, before Hong grabbed him and shook him out of his fright. "Hey! What's going on?" he asked. "Why did the tribe suddenly turn chaotic?"

"Young master. The tax collectors from the Ironwood Tribe are coming!" The youth quickly spoke. "They have come to collect protection tax from us. We need to hide our beast cores and beast pelts, or else, if the Ironwood tribe sees them, they'll take them for themselves. That would be really tragic. Young master, I need to return immediately…"

"Go on." Hong nodded in understanding.

Min Su who was watching this happen from the entrance of the residence, spoke. "The Ironwood Tribe is an extremely large tribe with over ten thousand tribesmen. Each year, smaller tribes like the Southern Sun Tribe, would pay tribute to them."

"Hmph!" Hong frowned. "This land belongs to the Min Family! Only my Min Family has the right to levy taxes. If the Ironwood Tribe is forcing these smaller tribes to pay them tribute, isn't that the same as levying tax?"

"In theory, yes." Min Su answered. "But how can these smaller tribes refuse? If they were to refuse, the Ironwood Tribe is more than capable of completely wiping them off the map and selling off the captives as slaves."

"Right." Min Hong let out a long sigh. Because there were many tribes under the control of the Min Family, there was no way for them to manage all of the internecine squabbles between the tribes, so the Min Family had to govern their territory in a loose fashion.

If one's territory was too large, it would become difficult to govern and tribes such as the Ironwood Tribe would begin to rebel in order to gain independence. And sometimes when ambitious, they tend to go to war in a bid to take over the current lords of the territory.

"They are coming." Min Su said. "The Ironwood tribesmen are coming."

Hong also looked over and saw them from afar. A group of half-armoured, pelt-cladded men were currently waltzing around the area, checking every angle of the tribe like they owned the place.

The tribe leader, Uncle Chen and the others were beside them, not daring to look at them too long, lest they invite bigger problems for themselves.

The leader of this Ironwood Squad, Piper, was already looking at this little tribe with utter delight and satisfaction. "Hmph!" He glanced at the Southern Sun tribesmen nearby, and seeing the frightened looks on their faces, only made him more conceited.

Even within the Ironwood Tribe, he had a high status. Then, in a small tribelike this…he could do as he pleases. If he was angered, he can decide to finish off the entire tribe…he had absolute authority.

"Woah!" Piper suddenly saw a young man and a girl standing together and his eyes instantly lit up. The guards that came with him also skipped a breath when they saw what he was looking at.

"Stunning! What a stunning beauty!" Piper's heart was suddenly overpowered with potent desire and lust. He must definitely make this girl his personal maidservant, and would bestow her his affections on a daily basis.

Just the thought alone was enough to make Piper's blood boil. He changed his direction and started approaching the boy and the girl.

Min Hong frowned at the approaching figure, who was decorated with several exquisitely crafted ornaments.

The figure swept Hong and Min Su with a gaze, the kind a merchant gives when inspecting some goods. He didn't even bother to disguise the lecherous look in his eyes when staring at Min Su.

"Your fur clothes are cut and stitched so meticulously. Did you make it yourself, miss? Your artwork is quite exquisite. His fur clothes are also stitched nicely, is he your little brother?"

"Impudent!" Min Su yelled at Piper.

"Impudent?" Piper's brows shot up in surprise. "in this tiny little Southern Sun Tribe…I can do whatever I want. To tell you the truth, I've taken fancy to you, so you had better follow me obediently. For the sake of your little brother and tribesmen." He spoke in a tone that gave no room for reply.

"The last girl that acted stubborn by opting to commit suicide than follow me, had her family wiped out and her entire tribesmen sold into slavery by me." He added. Tribes-folk were naturally prideful, so it was common for beautiful girls to commit suicide rather than submit to others. Piper naturally didn't want this to happen which was why he used threat.

"Mighty Lord Piper." The tribe leader, Shi Hai, hurriedly intervened, "These three do not belong to my Southern Sun Tribe. They are from a very large tribe."

"A large tribe?" Piper's eyebrows twitched violently. "No wonder. I was just wondering how a place like this could produce such a graceful young lady. Miss, would you mind telling me which tribe you hail from?" He took two steps as he spoke, wanting to caress Min Su's face. But Min Su's responded a lightning-fast kick instead.

Bang!

This heavy kick was powered by the rage of a 2 Star Qi Sea stage expert, it landed squarely on Piper's chest. Not only did he shatter the ornaments leashed around his neck, it also sent him tumbling over.

"Preposterous!" the Ironwood guards instantly yelled in fury, while some of them even drew their blades.

Piper agile flipped up and wiped off the hint of blood at the corner of his mouth, and then waved the guards to stand down. All the guards who knew how bipolar and diabolical piper was, knew that Piper usually suppressed his anger anytime he was truly furious.

"it's over! This young miss is about to suffer an extremely miserable fate. He unusually turns calm every time he was completely livid, to think about how to vent his fury."

Piper's eyes were narrowed into slits, as he stared at the Min Hong trio like a venomous viper.

"That kick of yours was rather vicious. Can you tell me which tribe exactly the three of you come from?" His tone was now low and heavy as he slowly asked once again.

"Take a good look." Min Hao stepped up and with a flip of his hand, a token appeared with a single word etched on the surface; Min!

"Min!" Many of the faces of the surrounding guards changed. They all looked at their leader, Piper, whose face had turned really awful. He instantly bowed in terror, "I didn't expect to unknowingly offend you. Please forgive me."

Min Hao's eyes contained a faint trace of pity, because he knew how much his young master hated evildoers. Min Su also gazed fiercely at Piper.

Ever since he said he had wiped out a small tribe and enslaved its folks for the sake of seizing a girl, she had felt utter disgust towards him. This was because she herself was sold off into the Min Family after her tribe was wiped out.

Min Hong simply stared at Piper. Instantly deciding that he was going to put Piper to death as punishment for his actions. Piper had wiped out an entire tribe for no just cause. He kept wondering how tragic the fates of those folks were after being killed and enslaved.

Hong's blood was boiling with endless rage at this point. He knew this area contained many evildoers and might not be able to stop all of them, but anytime he encountered one, he was always unable to let them continue living.

"Haha haha…" Piper whose face was awful before suddenly burst out laughing. He laughed really hard for a while before he spoke, "It seems you three already sentenced me to death, right? I really don't know whether to call you arrogant or foolish!"

"So, what if you are from the Min Family? How many youths have left to go out adventuring because of the coming-of-age ceremony and how many returned! How can the Min Family possible uncover what caused the deaths of all its members, when there are beasts and other tribesmen roaming this area?"

"Even if you have a high status, in this place, you're nothing but three random people. Like the book says; 'the distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. No matter your status, no one can save you here." Piper sneered.

"I can still recall a Min Family female youth I once enjoyed, three years ago. Her skin was truly soft and smooth. After bestowing her upon my servants and they used her, we fed her to the beasts of our tribe which left nothing behind."

"Do you get it now?" Piper's eyes were blazing with frenzy. "In this place, status don't determine power. At the very least, whether you live or die would be decided by me!"

"Kill these two boys. Spare the girl! When I'm done with her, you all can take turns with her!" Piper ordered the Ironwood guards to attack with a wave of his hand.

"Woohoo!"

"Haha, let's do this!" Piper's guards all drew their blades as they charged aggressively towards Min Hong and Min Hao.

High calibre military leaders or squad leaders of large tribes usually have their personal trusted servants and slaves. Even Min Rou had Min Su who she entrusted the life of her sob to while Min Tian had Min Hao entrusted with the same mission.

These servants would obey them and carry out their orders without questions or second thoughts. These guards under Piper's command were another example. They were born into his servitude, and all dared to charge and try to kill Min Hong despite his background.

"How dare you!" a deep voice abruptly rang across the sky like a booming thunder. There, in the sky, was an enormous flying bird. Standing atop the bird was a man, he brandished his longsword and slashed downwards. Instantly, sword Qi crisscrossed the entire area.

One ray of sword Qi after the other rained down, and each of them hit their targets, easily chopping off the head of these Ironwood guards, causing fresh blood to spill everywhere.

"Aaaah!" "Nooo!" "Aaaaw!" all sorts of miserable cries were heard, before a deafening silence followed. The guards who were over a hundred strong, were now lying lifelessly on the ground.

Some were missing their heads, others had large gashes across their chest bleeding profusely. There were even some who had been split in half. Blood streamed across the area, dying everything red.

All of them had died tragic deaths! But not a single Southern Sun folk who were now sacred silly, got struck.

"D…Dan F…For…Formation…" Piper who had initially thought he had everything under his control, was now stammering in fright. He stood there, numbed by the sights of his dead servants and scared silly by the figure standing atop the giant bird in mid-air.