Chapter 220: The Martial God Shrine Steps In

"Everyone stop!!!"

A shout rang out like rolling thunder, completely drowning out the sounds of battle. That sound carried a massive coercive pressure, causing everyone to freeze.

From afar, a group of beastmen in white cloaks with gold trim riding magical beasts were galloping over. On their chests was the insignia of a crossed sword and scepter.

Leading the cavalry was a silver-haired beastman, his face majestic, his aura steady. He held high a token made of pure white magic stone, engraved with the image of a crossed sword and scepter, its gold trim sparkling under the sun.

"The Martial God Shrine is here, everyone stop at once!"

Relius’s expression changed. Eldric also retracted his fiery whip, taking a few steps back, his gaze full of vigilance looking at the approaching cavalry.

"Alaric..." Relius gritted his teeth, "Why is he here?"

The cavalry stopped right at the pass entrance. The silver-haired commander - Alaric - dismounted, slowly walking to the middle of the two sides. His gaze swept over the messy battlefield, from the burning carts, to the injured warriors groaning on the ground, then stopped at Relius.

"Relius of the Red Snake tribe." Alaric’s voice was deep and cold, carrying not a hint of emotion, "Explain."

Relius lifted his chin, "They dared to insult the honor of the Red Snake clan! At the Autumn market, that Crimson Priest used dirty tricks to humiliate me in front of everyone! Today I came here to demand justice!"

"Justice?" Alaric raised an eyebrow, "By ambushing a caravan with civilians?"

Relius choked on his words.

"The Martial God Shrine investigated the incident at the Autumn market." Alaric continued, his voice as even as if reading a report, "Conclusion: Crimson did not violate the martial arts combat rules. The match between Priest Kaelen and you was fair, witnessed by the entire market. Your loss was due to your own weakness."

"You..." Relius’s face turned red, he intended to charge forward but was held back by Eldric.

"Calm down." Eldric said softly, "Do not cause trouble with the Martial God Shrine."

Relius gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "But that flock of Rabbits..."

Eldric placed his index finger on his lips, stopping Relius from continuing. Relius tightly gripped the whip in his hand, his gaze looking at Alaric full of hatred.

Just a mere Martial Master, if he were not from the Martial God Shrine, today I would skin him to make a cloak!

Alaric ignored Relius and turned to look at the Rabbit clan group trembling under the carts. His gaze darkened slightly.

"Ambushing a caravan with civilians incapable of fighting is a violation of the Martial God Shrine’s rules. Article three, in the Eastern Continent Charter, clearly states: Attacking innocent civilians under any circumstances is forbidden."

He turned to Relius, his gaze as sharp as a knife, "Do you want me to read on?"

Relius gritted his teeth, but did not dare to say anything.

"This time, the Martial God Shrine will not pursue the matter. But if you re-offend, the entire Red Snake clan will be banned from participating in all activities organized by the Martial God Shrine for ten years. Including the Martial Master advancement examination. Do you understand?"

Relius’s face paled. The Martial Master advancement examination was the only path for Martial Artists to break through to a higher realm. If banned from participating, it was no different from declaring a death sentence for an entire generation of young warriors of the Red Snake clan.

"I... I understand." Relius lowered his head, his voice choking with resentment.

"Then retreat."

Relius gritted his teeth and turned to look at Kaelen with a hateful gaze, "This matter is not over yet."

Kaelen shrugged, "Hearing that sentence every time, do you not find it boring?"

Relius almost charged forward again, but Eldric managed to grab his collar and drag him away. The Red Snake warriors quickly gathered their weapons, carried the injured, and silently retreated from the pass.

In just a moment, the entire Red Snake group had disappeared behind the mountain outcrops, as if they had never appeared.

Alaric then turned to Sane and Kaelen. He clasped his hands before his chest and bowed his head slightly - a rare polite gesture from an Inspector Envoy of the Martial God Shrine.

"Chief Sane, Priest Kaelen. I am Alaric, an Inspector Envoy of the Martial God Shrine."

Sane retracted his sword, the lightning on the blade fading. He stepped down from the mountain slope, replying with a slight nod, "Thank you for stepping in."

"No need for thanks. This is the responsibility of the Martial God Shrine." Alaric said, then his gaze stopped at Kaelen, "Priest Kaelen, is it not?"

"I am."

Alaric nodded, "The Martial God Shrine has heard of you. About what you did at the Autumn market. And also about... the method to cure the madness for the Black Bear clan."

Kaelen narrowed his eyes, "The Martial God Shrine grasps information truly fast."

"That is our responsibility." Alaric replied, his voice calm, "Although the Eastern continent is vast, important matters cannot escape the eyes of the Martial God Shrine."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "The Martial God Shrine is very curious about you. About the different cultivation method, about the energy you call Divine Energy, and about how you can resolve the curse that has haunted the Black Bear clan for thousands of years."

"Is that so." Sane crossed his arms, "And?"

"And, we want to invite you to the Martial God Shrine’s headquarters." Alaric said straightforwardly, "To exchange further. Of course, this is an invitation, not an order."

He took out from inside his cloak a small token made of white magic stone, smaller than the previous one, engraved with the image of a crossed sword and scepter, but with a silver trim instead of gold. He handed it to Kaelen.

"This is the Guest Elder token of the Martial God Shrine. With this token, you can enter and exit any Martial God Shrine headquarters across the Eastern continent. Including the main headquarters in the center of the continent."

Kaelen received the token, admired it for a moment, then handed it to Sane. Sane picked it up to look over, then put it into his pocket.

"We will consider it." Sane said.

Alaric nodded, showing no sign of disappointment or dissatisfaction, "Then that is enough. Whenever you decide, just use that token. The Martial God Shrine will know."

He turned and walked towards his horse, but before mounting, he stopped for a moment.

"One more thing." Alaric said, his voice lowering slightly, "Recently, there is a mysterious faction secretly operating in the north. We suspect they are related to... the God of Decay."

Kaelen and Sane narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

"The Martial God Shrine is investigating. If you know anything about this matter, please share."

Saying that, Alaric mounted his horse and led the cavalry galloping away, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Kaelen watched the cavalry’s figures gradually disappearing behind the pass, his heart sinking. The God of Decay, was the one that evil Temple Master was trying to resurrect. Edward lost his physical body precisely because of these people, becoming a soul clinging to his younger brother’s body, only having two hours a day to appear.

"Sane, I regret it. If I were just like before, finding a place to eat my fill and wait for death, how good would it be..."

Sane stepped forward and opened his arms to hug his mate’s shoulders, "From the very beginning, when we met it was already a gamble of fate, regretting cannot change anything."

Kaelen nodded heavily, turned around to look at his three children. He pursed his lips:

"I only pity our children, just because they are our children they have to bear massive responsibilities from the moment they are born. Their age should be in the tribe playing happily with their friends, then slowly growing up, that would be right. Look, even the most naive one like Ryder has started to become too mature for his age..."

Sane did not know what to say, only able to sigh, "Therefore we need to be stronger even more, to make up for the children’s stolen childhood."

Kaelen nodded and turned to say, "You are injured, come here I will heal you."

The two returned to the caravan.

Under the horse cart, Draven retracted his mace into his spatial bag and shouted loudly at the Rabbit clan group:

"Are you guys still cowering down there acting like turtles?! Quickly go heal everyone!"

Then he clumsily crawled out, his hands tightly hugging his medicine chest, "Is it over? Did they leave? Whoever is injured come here!"

"If you still hid down there, I would be the first to injure you." Aaron said in a cold voice, but his gaze could not hide a look of relief.

Draven was embarrassed and rubbed his nose, "Sorry, I was just too scared."

Aaron rolled his eyes. This violent Rabbit, his mouth said he was scared, but just now his mace did not spare a single Red Snake coming near the Rabbit clan, those Rabbit clan people only lacked kneeling down and kowtowing to revere him as a God.

The Crimson group quickly checked the damages. Three horse carts were completely burnt and damaged, unable to be used anymore. The luggage packages on them were mostly burnt to ashes, only a few herbs and tools were saved. Seven warriors were injured, two of them were quite severely injured but not life-threatening.

Most importantly, no one died.

Although the Rabbit clan group was scared, they had also gradually stabilized. Victor and several other Sub-Beasts were busy bandaging wounds, distributing water and food to everyone. Several Rabbit clan beastmen helped the Crimson warriors extinguish the remaining fires and clean up the scattered debris.

After treating the wounds and settling the injured, the caravan continued rolling again.

The burnt carts were dismantled, and the horses were reassigned. The Rabbit clan group squeezed together on the remaining carts, but no one complained a single word. They were used to having to adapt, having to endure.

On the Demonic Tiger’s back, Siley gently wiped the dust clinging to Oliver’s eggshell. Finnick sat behind him, his hands hugging Ryder, his head nodding sleepily. Chloe had shrunk, lying curled up on the boy’s shoulder, her deep red tentacles drooping down like a small blanket.

When the sunset as red as an egg yolk shone on the figures walking silently, they had arrived at the main gate of the Black Bear tribe...