𝗈𝑣𝐞𝓵xt.𝒸𝑶𝓜
The walls of the cliff were robust, resembling rock. Even though the hills were created by the Mudropper using soil sourced from beyond the Sanrey Plains, the fact that they currently looked no different from an actual hill spoke volumes about the Mudropper’s power.
And this had all been achieved in a month.
Inala was honestly impressed by it as he approached the cliff wall and touched it, ‘This feels no different from lava solidifying into rock over time. It’s amazing!’
As he thought, an Empyrean Zinger Scout landed on his shoulder, allowing him to access its memories and witness the Mudropper in action.
Primary Nature—Sandy-Grey!
The Mudropper consumes soil, processes it in its body and spits it out in the form of sand typically. The grey sand has the property of assimilating anything and everything into it, matter or energy.
Just by using this one principle, it could control the degree of assimilation to bind various substances together into a form it desired.
This array of hills was straight up a result of that. It wasn’t limited to this alone as the Mudropper seemed to possess hundreds of Skills that could be used through its Primary Nature to unleash a variety of effects.
Wind blew through the gorges, strong enough to send someone flying. A constant whistling sound resounded throughout the region, and depending on the route taken by the wind flowing through the maze of hills, the tune of the sound varied.
But even though this sound should have originally creeped out the people, the Quip Tribesmen felt themselves naturally calming down, in peace, able to appreciate the sounds.
After all, this region mimicked the Dieng Canyon, home of the Zingers. The Quip Tribe was a Ravaged Tribe under the Zinger Race. Therefore, they were instinctively drawn towards the place.
Since none of them were at the Body Stage yet, they couldn’t scale up the steep, almost vertical walls on their own. Therefore, a rope ladder had been created for them to climb to the top. The material for it was carefully sourced from the roots of a massive tree.
Hence, the rope ladder wouldn’t snap halfway during a climb. But there was just one rope ladder. Inala didn’t want the Quip Tribe to grow comfortable.
Otherwise, with a set of stairs carved into the hill and bridges connecting the various hills, the Quip Tribe would begin comfortably living at the peak without having to worry about anything, taking advantage of the terrain’s defensive nature to stay safe.
They would be living no different to their lives in Ellora City if that were to happen. Rather, their lives would be even more comfortable, since they wouldn’t have to defend against the Slump Lizards.
Hence, he only created one rope ladder, whose only function was to allow them to climb up and down for three years, after which, it would naturally wilt. By then, those who had entered the Body Stage would be able to easily scale up the steep walls.
The peak of the hills looked safe at first glance, but resources there were sparse. Most of the trees there were Baobab Trees, similar to the ones found in the Dieng Canyon. But the ones here were a lot smaller, only storing a small quantity of water inside, taking forever to replenish their reserves. Moreover, their numbers were few and far between.
The quantity within was enough for drinking purposes, similar to what the Zingers did. But if the Quip Tribe wanted to farm, the water wouldn’t be enough. Therefore, their only choice would be to scale down the cliff walls using their claws and draw water from the canals flowing through the gorges.
The Mudropper created a few such canals, drawing them from the Angan River. The porous rock forming the hill absorbed this water too, which eventually made their way to the roots of the Baobab trees.
Moreover, if the Quip Tribesmen wanted to eat meat, they would have to hunt the Slump Lizards. Therefore, they would be forced to train and climb up and down the hill daily for resources.
This ensures extended usage of their abilities, which in turn would transform them into a functioning Ravaged Tribe with a dedicated purpose.
Inala wanted as many Tribesmen of the Quip Tribe to awaken their Secondary Nature. For that to be possible, pushing them to the extreme was a necessity. Hence, he asked the Mudropper to make the soil atop the hill peaks lack the nutrients necessary for large-scale farming activities.
“My work here is done,” Inala said abruptly and pointed at the top of a certain hill, “There’s a temple there that contains an information database. It includes information regarding architecture, agriculture, and a bunch of other useful stuff. I’ve also created many Skills that complement the Silver Immunity Art. All of them are present in the temple.”
“And in its underground is a Parute Tree farm. There are ninety Parute Trees there, which will serve as your foundation.” He waved his hand and ignored their voices requesting him to stay with them, flickering away from the location, “Develop well!”
Among the three hundred Parute Trees controlled by the Ganrimb Kingdom, the Mudropper took fifty of them for its exclusive use. This was its payment for using its powers to transport the Parute Trees to the territories of the five Tribes without damages.
The remaining two-hundred-fifty were divided between the five tribes. Among them, Inala claimed ninety Parute Trees, causing the other four Tribes to receive forty each. It was divided based on strength and contribution.
The Quip and Ropper Tribes got the advantage by getting ninety Parute Trees each. There were bound to be problems in the future because of this arrangement, but it couldn’t be helped, as currently, these two Tribes had the biggest populations.
The Quip Tribesmen were flustered by Inala’s sudden departure. The armoured individuals following him left with him, causing the Tribesmen to feel abandoned for some reason.
“We received too much.” One of them proclaimed, “It’s time we worked hard and grow stronger. Only then can we repay this favour.”
Thirty-two thousand was a lot of people to climb using one rope ladder. Thankfully, they were all cultivators, capable of assisting each other through their Spirit Weapons.
And since the rope ladder was strong enough to not snap under their weight, the Quip Tribesmen climbed like a file of ants, proceeding up at a decent pace.
Gappu reached the peak of the outermost hill and stared at the breathtaking view under the evening sun, observing a sea of hills spread before him. The gorges made it seem as if the earth had developed large cracks.
The breadth of the gorges varied from thirty metres to sometimes exceeding hundred metres. So, it wasn’t realistic to travel from one hill to another unless they obtained their Secondary Nature and were able to activate their Wing transformation.
After looking around for a few minutes, Gappu noticed a building far away, looking nail-sized in his vision, exclaiming in excitement, “There’s the temple!”