Thanks to the Abyssal Wood Demon King's demon core graciously given by Lord Leonhardt, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman had swift ascended to High-rank Battle King.
But even after stepping into the realm of Paragons, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman could not even begin to imagine the depths of Lord Leonhardt's strength.
Just by sensing Lord Leonhardt's authoritative aura, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman could tell Lord Leonhardt had grown extremely powerful since they last met.
"During the first week of our return, our tribes were constantly harassed by High-rank tribes from the Central Region," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman recounted.
"Some came on behalf of one of the four King-rank tribes while others came seeking to assimilate our tribe to compete with the King-rank tribes. At that time, the third young master of the Battle God Palace was still with us."
"Thanks to Young Master Zion's words, the Central Region's tribes stopped coming to bother us. However, that also made the various competing High-rank tribes more desperate. As a result, they became more aggressive and cruel in their approach with tribes from the three regions."
"Many lives were lost in battle. Around that time, Chief Skyhawk led his tribe away from the western region and merged with the Darkmoon Tribe and the Crimsonfog Tribe. Afterward, the High-rank tribe, Golden Suanni Tribe, united the Western Region's tribes and rose to prominence."
"They resisted the King-rank Tribe, Mighty Whitewolf Tribe's invasion, on multiple occasions and firmly stood their ground against the Central Region. Until now, no one knew the Golden Suanni Tribe could be so powerful."
"There are quite a few among us that thinks the Golden Suanni Tribe can stand toe-to-toe with any one of the King-rank tribes without borrowing their vassal tribes' strength. They have quite a high chance of winning the battle for hegemony if you don't include us in the equation."
"The Golden Suanni Tribe is more than qualified to be the fifth King-rank tribe in the Infertile Plains, huh?" Leon assumed, his eyes glinted with strong interest.
"Yes, my Lord," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman confirmed.
There are four King-rank tribes in the Central Region, but only one Golden Suanni Tribe in the Western Region.
The Golden Suanni Tribe has no competition after it swiftly united the Western Region. But, on the other hand, the four King-rank tribes in the Central Region are still competing with each other.
By the time any one of the four King-rank tribe become victorious in uniting the Central Region, they'll be too weak to compete with the Golden Suanni Tribe.
However, it wasn't just the Golden Suanni Tribe in the Western Region.
There are similar situations in the Infertile Plain's Northern and Eastern regions. Unfortunately, those two regions were too distant for the Seven Tribes Alliance to collect much intel.
Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully before asking, "How much do you know about the Golden Suanni Tribe? Do you know why they are so strong?"
"I heard from Chief Skyhawk that the Golden Suanni Tribe is located in the westernmost part of the Infertile Plain's Western Region. Further west of the Infertile Plains is a jungle. Supposedly, the Golden Suanni Tribe made a pact with a clan of Golden Suannis that lives in there."
"I believe the Golden Suanni Tribe's strength is mainly attributed to the Golden Suannis that assist them in battle," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman assumed.
"Oh?" Leon uttered, raising an eyebrow.
He was even more interested after hearing about the Golden Suannis.
Suppose the Golden Suanni Clan in the western jungle has any relation to the Golden Suanni God Beast. In that case, their blood essence could be just what he needed to advance his bone-forging phase.
However, Leon suddenly frowned at the end of the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's report.
"The situation in the Central Region is so fierce and chaotic. We are talking about warriors getting killed left and right here. Even if the Infertile Plains has a hegemon, it wouldn't have the strength to seize fertile land outside the Infertile Plains for long."
"The Battle God Palace has been watching this situation the entire time and not doing anything about it?" Leon questioned the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman with doubt.
"That's right, my Lord," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman nodded.
"I also find this strange. The Battle God Palace is being too indifferent in this matter. There's no doubt that the Battle God Palace is the unofficial ruling power in the Infertile Plains. The Battle God just has to give his words, and many tribes would rally under the Battle God's banner."
"However, there hasn't been a single word from the Battle God," Leon stated with a contemplating look.
"That's right, my Lord. We haven't heard a single piece of news from the Battle God in the past dozen years," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman stated.
Suddenly, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's eyes flickered with alarm before he asked, "Do you think something happened to the Battle God, my Lord?"
"Well, I wouldn't exclude it from the list of possibilities," Leon casually replied.
"Even if something happened to Battle God, the Battle God Palace still exists. Do the King-rank tribes think they can lord over all the tribes in the Battle God Palace's presence?" Aria raised a crucial point.
"As Senior One-Eye mentioned, the Battle God Palace is the unofficial ruling power in the Infertile Plains. So if the King-rank tribes are trying to become the new hegemon despite knowing that, isn't this still considered treason?"
"Treason or not is not little importance in the Infertile Plains," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman replied.
"Although we try to be strict with our principles, only strength truly matters here. Thus, it shouldn't be a surprise that even the High-rank tribes are testing their luck. Their courage can be explained if they are aware that something truly happened to the Battle God."
While they were discussing, Leon suddenly shifted his gaze to the north.
"What's the matter, my Lord? Is there something in the north?" the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman asked with surprise.
He glanced towards the north curiously, but they weren't by the plateau's northern edge. Thus, he couldn't tell what was in the north of the Darkmoon Tribe.
"We have visitors," Leon stated.
A short while later, they immediately spotted a messenger rushing up the plateau to report to Chief Valencia in the palace.