The war was chaotic. Mo Fan, Mu Bai, and Song Feiyao stood there and watched the two parties fighting each other. Both the humanoid golems and the Blood Beasts turned a blind eye to them.
âWhy did they kill each other? Was this purely another senseless battle between the demons?â they wondered.
The humanoid golems possessed elemental lives. They did not have to fight for any resources with the Blood Beasts. Meanwhile, the Blood Beasts were purely carnivorous. They could not possibly find the elemental lives to be useful to them.
âCould the humanoid golems be the reason why the Blood Beasts canât go over to Helan Mountain?â Mo Bai asked.
There was a large Blood Beast tribe in the north of Helan Mountain. They were rampant and large in number. They had to cross Helan Mountain to invade human territories.
However, the Elemental Soldiers inhabited Helan Mountain. They would awaken whenever they sensed a large number of Blood Beasts encroaching on Northern Xinjiang.
Baa! Baa!
The Combat Blue Sheep bleated. But they did not sound as if they were intimidated by the Blood Beasts.
Mo Fan turned and saw several men and women in local herdsmen attire behind them.They might have rushed over after such a large commotion, or they could have been waiting here because they knew the war would happen.
âGuys, come over here lest the Blood Beasts hurt you,â said one of the herdsmen with his tanned arms exposed.
The trio retreated to the top of the fault valley in confusion. It was just the right height to watch the war unfold.
âDid you find what you were looking for?â asked the Chief of the herdsmen with a round hat.
âDid you find the Combat Blue Sheep to be useful?â The man whom the trio had first met at the bottom of the mountain grinned and revealed his yellowish teeth.
Mo Fan glanced at the crowd. The number of the herdsmen was scarce. Each of them rode on horses and deer. It was clear that they were used to the brutal and horrific war before them.
âWhat exactly is going on?â Mu Bai could not stop himself from asking.
âEven though Helan Mountain is very near to the Beast Kingdom of Northern Xinjiang, thereâs not a single fortress and army to protect the mountain. Weâre the only ones who stand guard over here. Do you really think we possess some sort of supernatural powers, or that Helan Mountain is so lofty and dangerous that the Blood Beasts canât cross it?â said the man with the yellowish teeth.
The Chief with the round hat raised his hand, signaling the man to watch his words.
The Chief then stared at Mo Fan, looking like he knew something more.
However, he looked away and said nothing. He fixed his gaze on the leader of the humanoid golem, as if looking at an old friend.
The crowd turned quiet suddenly. The roar on top of the mountain intensified. Several Blood Beasts were ruthlessly thrown from the mountain. Their bodies smashed onto the fault valley below and ended up in a bloodless mess.
The leader of the humanoid golems and the Blood Beast covered in blood-red mane were in the middle of an intense fight. The mountain peak and rocks continued to collapse and fall into the deep valley. Countless rocks as huge as the houses crashed and fell down the mountain.
âAre they helping you to guard Helan Mountain?â Mo Fan asked.
âDo you know why weâre known as the herdsmen?â the Chief asked.
âBecause youâre the beast tamer. You tamed the horses, deer, and Combat Blue Sheep,â answered Mo Fan.
âNo! No! No! We donât tame animals. We tend the Elemental Spirit of Helan Mountain!â said the Chief of herdsmen.
Mo Fan, Mu Bai, and Song Feiyao were shocked. âDid the Elemental Soldiers listen to their orders?â
The Elemental Soldiers were powerful and large in number. They were more powerful than an army of elites!
âWhat spell do you use?â Mo Fan asked. âWhat kind of power summoned the Elemental Soldiers? Could it be the Psychic Element magical power?â
âWe donât summon the Elemental Soldiers. They live here in the Helan Mountain. They donât completely listen to my instructions. They will only awake when the Blood Beasts come and temporarily become our soldiers to fight the beasts. Otherwise, they are dormant in Helan Mountain most of the time,â said the Chief.
âSo, youâre using the Psychic element magical power, right?â Mo Fan asked again.
âYes and no. Let me tell you a story from a long time ago. If you stay here for a while longer, youâll learn that this is a story that has been passed down from ages ago.â A smile was finally seen on the Chiefâs face.
Mo Fan was all ears.
âWe used to be ordinary herdsmen. Weâre neither Combat Mages nor Patrolling Border Team. No matter how many livestock we tended, we always had trouble making ends meet because the Blood Beasts often crossed Helan Mountain and hunted for food.â
âThe Blood Beasts are powerful creatures, and weâre weak. Soon, our livestock were insufficient for them. The Blood Beasts then targeted the residents in the cities. One fine afternoon, the Blood Beasts covered Helan Mountain and swarmed us in groups.â
âWe thought we were going to die. Little did we know about a village in the depths of Helan Mountain. The villagers stood up and cast powerful magic to defeat the Blood Beasts. However, all of them ended up dead.â
âThey were hermits. Even though the Blood Beasts had not discovered their valley, they stood up for us. Only a few of them survived the battle. We invited them to stay with us. Unfortunately, they turned down our offer.â
âThereâs a person in the village skilled in Black Magic. He substituted the wine with spring water and sprinkled it across the entire valley to commemorate the deceased. Later, he branded their souls on the high rocks, mountain wall stones, and large valleys.â
âWe were puzzled and asked him the purpose of it. We wondered why he didnât allow the respectable souls to leave of their own free will.â
âHe told us that the deceased souls had to stand guard over something. Even though they had become ghosts and spirits, they had to continue guarding their ancestral inheritance.â
âTheir souls entered the mountain and gave lives to the rocks. The Elemental Soldiers originated from the villagersâ souls. They forgot about the thing they were supposed to protect, but they always fought for us against the Blood Beasts.â
When the Chief told the story, his gaze focused on Mo Fan. He emphasized his words and stared hard at Mo Fan.
âSubstituting wine with spring waterâŠâ
The spring the Chief had referred to was not the spring that spilled out of the rocks. He was referring to the Underground Holy Spring!
The Underground Holy Spring was the only thing granted those rocks with extraordinary power and life!