The eruption damaged the surroundings of the snow-fire mountain. The lava didn't just burn the forest at the base of the mountain to ashes. The rivers had dried up and turned into a river of lava, changing the terrain beyond recognition.

An Tribe's barbarians had arrived at the base of the mountain, but they couldn't proceed any further. The overflowing lava blocked all the paths to the top. Everyone was waiting for the lava to cool down and become walkable. But while they were waiting, they were surrounded by a large number of barbarians…

"Xiao, Gu, Sun and… even the Wu Tribe," An De grimaced. He had only brought fifty men. Fifty men against two hundred, the odds weren't in their favor.

They expected resistance from the Xiao Tribe and were prepared for it—but not at this scale. Even the Wu Tribe participated, which was completely unexpected.

Four Tribes joined hands to attack them. If the An Tribe had turned out in full strength, there was a chance to resist. But now? Even if the barbarians from An Tribe were stronger than barbarians from other tribes, it was impossible to win.

If it was any other time, An De would have withdrawn facing so many people. Barbarians from An Tribe were brave, but they weren't stupid. But they had to retrieve the scroll, An De could only try to persuade other tribes.

"I don't say much about the Gu and Sun Tribe, but you people from Wu Tribe," An De looked at the barbarian leading the Wu Tribe, and snorted. "Our relationship has been good. It's one thing if you don't help—but you backstab us? Did the Wu Tribe feed their pride and honor to the crows?"

"If you want to fight, fight. Since when did your An Tribe learn to battle with words instead of fists?" The one leading the Wu Tribe was Wu Tan. Unlike the typical barbarian, he was short and lacked the bulky muscles that were their characteristic. Placed among the barbarians, he almost looked like a normal person.

"Yeah, fight. Why don't you fight?" The barbarian leading the Xiao Tribe, Xiao Ge, mocked. "Isn't your An Tribe great at fighting? Why don't you make a move now?"

"I thought everyone from An Tribe was a brave soul and came to see," Gu Zhu sneered, "but it seems it was exaggerated. What a waste of time."

"I think even a chicken has more courage,"  Sun Wen taunted.

"This is the matter between our An and Xiao Tribe," An De said. His face turned green and purple hearing everyone's taunts, but he didn't rush out to fight. Under his command, none of the barbarians acted rashly. He looked at the leaders of the other three tribes. "Other tribes need not meddle."

"Hmph! Do you expect us to sit and watch while you destroy the Xiao Tribe?" Wu Tan sneered. "After Xiao Tribe, perhaps it will be the Gu Tribe's turn or Sun Tribe. Or maybe my Wu Tribe?"

As Wu Tan raised every tribe's name, their respective leaders glared at An De with deep wariness. Next to the three, Xiao Ge looked at An De with a face full of schadenfreude.

"Bullshit! My An Tribe doesn't have such ambitions," An De looked at the three and roared. He pointed at Xiao Ge, whose face was still full of glee, "Don't listen to his nonsense! He just wants to use your strength to get rid of us. The Xiao Tribe… do you know what the Xiao Tribe did? They colluded with outsiders! Outsiders!"

"Don't spout nonsense!" Xiao Ge said. "Xiao Tribe has always followed the agreement."

"Nonsense?" An De snorted. "We have captured two outsiders who colluded with the Xiao Tribe. They have already confessed."

Breaking the taboo was a serious offense. With such solid proof in hand, the Xiao Tribe couldn't come clean even if they jumped into lava. As per the agreement, the Xiao Tribe could even face complete dissolution.

An De looked at Wu Tan, Gu Zhu, and Sun Wen, expecting to see anger and revulsion.

But the truth disappointed him.

Wu Tan, Gu Zhu, and Sun Wen didn't even flinch. Xiao Ge even sneered, the mocking expression on his face becoming more pronounced.

A bad premonition welled up within An De's heart.

"Don't you get it?" Xiao Ge looked at An De with some pity. "They already know."

An De couldn't believe his ears. The other tribes not only knew about the Xiao Tribe colluding with outsiders, but they even acquiesced to their collusion.

"Everyone's here for the scroll," Xiao Ge said.

"What?" An De was shocked. "H-how did you know about the scroll?" The scroll was the biggest secret of the An Tribe. But not only did they know about its existence, they even knew where it was.

The scroll had never left the village before. Even if the other tribes knew about its existence, there was no reason for them to suspect it was here.

Wu Tan saw the question marks on An De's face and chuckled, "Your An Zhi really treats everyone like brothers."

The words struck An De like a hammer, shaking him wide awake.

Why did the three tribes support the Xiao Tribe despite the taboo? How did Wu Tan and others know about the scroll and its location?

The truth finally dawned on An De and he choked on his words. "F-from the beginning, y-you…"

This was a conspiracy, a conspiracy aimed at their An Tribe. What was truly lamentable was that even An Tribe's members were caught in it.

On average, the barbarians of An Tribe were stronger than barbarians from other tribes. So other tribes had always felt threatened by the An Tribe's existence. Especially with the appearance of An Zhi, they became paranoid about the imminent rise of An Tribe.

Although the other tribes were worried, they couldn't attack the An Tribe. Only the Xiao Tribe was close to the An Tribe, while the other three were separated by the mountain range. Moreover, the An Tribe had the mysterious devil's maze guarding their back.

Unless the Xiao Tribe opened their backyard to facilitate the attack, it would be impossible to unify their forces against the An Tribe. Of course, the Xiao Tribe wouldn't be stupid enough to do so.

Since destroying the An Tribe wasn't feasible, the other tribes began to look for other ways and found one.

If they could also practice internal qi, they wouldn't have to be so worried about the An Tribe, no? Unfortunately, it was impossible for the An Tribe to share their secret.

However, the four tribes were very persistent. After exhausting a lot of time and resources, they managed to turn a member of An Tribe into their spy. The spy revealed that the scroll was the key to practicing internal qi.

Now that the other tribes knew what they were looking for, they began to plot. Getting to the scroll was difficult—no one was allowed to take it out of the village. For a long time, the four tribes were at a loss… until An Zhi became the exception.

However, An Zhi was not an easy target either. He was strong and cautious, rarely alone—they also had to be sure he was carrying the scroll. This made it very difficult for them to find a good opportunity to strike.

That opportunity finally came.

When it was An Tribe's turn to use the fire cave, their spy reported that An Zhi always carried the scroll when he was practicing inside the fire cave.

So when Long Aotian arrived and began to sow discord between the Xiao and An Tribe at this time, the other tribes cooperated and fanned the flames from the side.

The Xiao Tribe attacked the An Tribe's barbarians and pretended to capture the fire spirit, drawing the ire of the An Tribe. To make sure no one suspected their true goal, the Xiao Tribe even sacrificed several of their barbarians.

Long Aotian believed his plan worked. Even An Zhi was fooled into thinking that everything was Long Aotian's doing, causing him to lose his guard.

Had everything gone well, An Zhi's death would have been pinned on Long Aotian, but the scroll itself would have fallen in their hands. The An Tribe wouldn't have a reason to suspect them. Although they would have been dissatisfied with the Xiao Tribe, under the mediation of the other three tribes, things wouldn't have gone too far.

Their plan was good, but how could they have known that Long Aotian would flip the board by using the mountain-shaking talisman?

The unexpected eruption disrupted their plans. The spies they had sent to monitor the situation were wiped out, leaving them blind to the situation.

The three tribes had no choice but to come forward. But when they came, the An Tribe also arrived…

"Surrender and you can live," Wu Tan said. At this stage, there was no need for the four tribes to hide their true intentions. "The Wu and An Tribe had good relations in the past, I can't bear to watch you die."

"Surrender?" An De snorted. He had already recovered his original bearing. "Do you think it will be so easy?" Even if they couldn't withdraw, they couldn't surrender.

"Brothers! Fight!" An De yelled. He and his men rushed forward with their weapons raised.

Wu Tan, Xiao Ge, Gu Zhu, and Sun Wen's expressions changed. There were a lot of outsiders present, so they were aiming for a peaceful surrender. But An De chose to fight hard. Although frustrated, the four gave instructions to their fellow barbarians and the two sides clashed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bodies pitted against each other, skulls smashed, cleavers flew. The An Tribe had the advantage in close combat. Within moments, the members of the An Tribe infiltrated the ranks of the barbarians from the four tribes. The archers around the periphery didn't dare to shoot easily.

While fighting, An De was looking for a way out.

"Outsiders, aren't you greedy for treasures?" An De roared as he chopped the head of a barbarian with his cleaver. His voice, augmented by internal qi, was audible even in the clamor of the battle. "Let me tell you, a great treasure awaits you on the top of the mountain. Do you know what it is?"

"It's a spirit born from fire!" An De roared.

A spirit? The cultivators who had been idly watching the battle, could no longer sit still.

The road to the top was blocked by lava, but this only applied to the barbarians. Before, the cultivators were hesitant to cross the mountain on flying swords. Flying on swords consumed a lot of spiritual qi, and they had to be wary of the barbarians. Once they knew about the fire spirit, they became more eager and willing to take risks.

Several cultivators took advantage of the skirmish, to fly past the barbarians' line of defense.

"No! Stop them!" Wu Tan screamed. The scroll was something they coveted, and so was the fire spirit. If they lost any one of the treasures, it would be a great loss. After all, there were four tribes, but only two treasures. How to share was already a problem.

With the cultivators distracting the barbarians from the four tribes, the pressure on An De and his team relaxed. The holy spirit was not as important to the An Tribe as the scroll. The holy spirit was shared by several tribes, but the scroll had always belonged to the An Tribe alone. For An De, the choice was clear.

The cultivators kept pouring in from all sides. They stopped a few, but even more escaped.

The leaders of Xiao, Wu, Gu, and Sun Tribe all panicked and became restless. Originally, they had a clear advantage. But with the interference of outsiders, the situation had become a mess.

"It would be troublesome if An Tribe's reinforcements arrive." Wu Tan's face had turned grim. "What about our reinforcements?"

The three turned to look at Xiao Ge. Only the Xiao tribe was close enough to provide immediate help.

"Our Xiao Tribe has paid enough already." Xiao Ge glared at the three of them. In the fire cave, they lost seventy men. Another fifty were already here. If he had to bring more, the Xiao Tribe would become an empty shell.

The other three knew they couldn't squeeze the Xiao Tribe anymore. Helpless, they observed the ongoing battle with the An Tribe.

The barbarians from An Tribe were really strong. Even when fighting three to one, the barbarians from An Tribe didn't lose badly. Every barbarian from An Tribe fought tooth and nail, and took out the enemy even at death's door. So far, the An Tribe had only lost a few barbarians, but the losses on their side had piled into double digits. If this continued, the losses wouldn't be small.

Moreover, the cultivators surrounding the mountain were using this opportunity to sneak to the top of the mountain.

"We can't risk the fire spirit or the scroll falling into outsiders' hands," Gu Zhu frowned, staring at another cultivator who slipped past their defense.

"We can no longer entangle with the An Tribe," Wu Tan said. Bodies were piling, if it continued even if they finished the barbarians of An Tribe, their strength would be severely damaged.

"But how do we get there?" Sun Wen said.

Wu Tan looked at the fallen barbarians and then the river of lava. "I might have a way," he said. "But I don't know if you guys are willing."

The other three looked at him with surprise. Since there was a way, why didn't Wu Tan say it earlier?

Gu Zhu was the first to catch on. He looked at Wu Tan, with a face full of horror and incredulity. "No, absolutely not!"

Xiao Ge and Sun Wen's reactions were a bit late but equally appalling.

"It's against traditions," Sun Wen roared.

"This is impossible," Xiao Ge said, with his face pale. "If we do this, we will be scorned by our ancestors."

"Then you can give up on the scroll and the holy spirit," Wu Tan snorted. Seeing that the three of them were still hesitating, he said, "Listen, we don't have the time to follow the traditions. Do you think that those outsiders will stop once they grab the treasures on the mountain? Haven't you read your ancestors' records?"

Gu Zhu, Sun Wen, and Xiao Ge's faces turned unsightly. When they were contacted by Long Aotian and his group, they thought only a few outsiders had entered their world. But the volcanic eruption attracted hundreds of them. Who knew if there were more? So many outsiders were enough to turn their world upside down.

"Our traditions won't mean anything if our tribes are destroyed," Wu Tan said in a heavy tone. "Right now, our priority is to get the scroll and the spirit. And if possible, we must eradicate this group of outsiders before more of them arrive… "

The other three were reluctant but were finally convinced.

"The number should be enough," Wu Tan said, looking at the battle. "Give the order to retreat."

"The An Tribe is lucky this time." Xiao Ge snorted and looked at An De and his group of barbarians who were fighting desperately. He was somewhat unwilling. This was a good opportunity to get rid of the An Tribe, but now they had to let it go.
 
The four of them gave orders to withdraw and the fight stopped. The battle lasted only a short time, but the casualties on both sides were numerous.

Seeing the other tribes retreating, An De heaved a sigh of relief. Although he won the gamble, there wasn't much joy on his face. Twenty lives had to be exchanged for this temporary truce.

An De's heart was heavy as stone. He glared at Wu Tan and others with hatred but there was little he could do, other than wait for reinforcements.