"Grehha from the 105th Settlement greets the Mammoth Clan Chief!" Grehha prostrated on the ground and announced aloud.
"Hmm," Raaha nodded casually and motioned for him to get up, "Take a seat."
"Yes, Chief," Grehha replied nervously and stared at the latter in silence.
"So," Raaha spoke after two minutes, breaking the silence that had turned Grehha into a nervous wreck by now, "How long would it take you before you're able to assist another Empyrean Tusk birth?"
"My Spirit Container is unstable as I have only consumed Elixirs to increase my Prana values and hadn't trained." Grehha said, "I wish to build my body a bit before I can…"
"How long, I asked," Raaha said, curt.
"Seven years!" Grehha said, "It should be possible after that."
"Alright, work hard." Saying so, Raaha threw a Two-Storey Storage Lantern towards him, "I'll be expecting a lot from you. You're relieved of all duties for the next two years. Following that, you'll be incubating and improving the Pranic Beast eggs gathered by the Clan."
"Yes, Chief!" Grehha bowed once again and left, becoming giddy once he checked the contents. The first floor of the Storage Lantern was filled with Parute Fruits, more than enough for his needs. The second floor was filled with tusk bone powder, enough for two to three decades worth of building his body.
He would comfortably reach the 2-Life Stage by the time he used up all the tusk bone powder in the Storage Lantern. 'Thankfully, I bought two years of time.'
The rewards he obtained were very good. He now had enough wealth to buy whatever he needed for cultivation. Moreover, the best reward was being exempt from all duties for two years. That meant he could spend all that time solely on cultivation in the best of cultivation chambers, protected from all harm.
That wasn't all. Even after two years, he would only be required to use his Tertiary Nature to help store all the Pranic Beast eggs gathered by the Mammoth Clan. Encasing an egg within an Empyrean Incubator would maintain it in the egg state for as long as necessary without causing it to hatch.
The condition of the Pranic Beast within the egg would even improve over time, leading to a small chance of mutation if he were to nurture it. As long as Prana was supplied to the Empyrean Incubators on time, they'll work without issues.
And best of all was the fact that as the Tertiary Nature's source implied, Empyrean Incubators were compatible with Empyrean Tusks. Therefore, an Empyrean Tusk can take care of the process of feeding Prana to the Empyrean Incubators naturally.
This one ability turned Grehha into a strategic asset. As long as the Mammoth Clan existed, his life wouldn't be under harm, as he would be protected by a team of elites all the time.
A comfortable, luxurious life awaited him once Gannala returned as the 105th Empyrean Tusk, 'If not for the Boar King's existence, my life here would have been akin to the best vacation getaway.'
But as long as the Boar King existed, there was always a possibility of the Mammoth Clan's annihilation. Hence, Grehha couldn't dilly-dally. 'I'll become stronger!'
The Empyrean Tusk herd continued to march through their new path, coming to a stop two days later once the Red-Draft River came in sight.
Upon Raaha's orders, all 104 Empyrean Tusks formed a large circle and set up a base of operations in the centre. Following that, masters and elites from all 106 Settlements gathered in the massive palace-sized tent set up at the centre, created using bone.
To do that, they hunted down all Pranic Beasts in the vicinity and refined their bones into the current structure. Their domineering action caused all traces of life to be wiped out in their general vicinity.
Gathered in the tent, numbering a few hundred thousand in strength was the fighting force of the Mammoth Clan, enough to easily wipe out a decent-sized Empire overnight.
Seated at the forefront were Settlement Leaders, possessing cultivation levels at least at the 7-Life Stage and above. Right behind them were Settlement Leaders like Bora Tusk and Yahard Tusk, originally at the 7-Life Stage. But after dying twice to the Boar King, they were currently at the 5-Life Stage.
But still, as they were Settlement Leaders, they were seated in the second row. Trailing behind them were masters in the decreasing order of their strength.
After a few dozen rows, the Body Stage Mammoth Clansmen were seated, not in any particular order. They were free to choose their seat.
Facing the seats was a tall dais, and standing atop it was Raaha, the Mammoth Clan Chief after the merger between the two Empyrean Tusk herds. Currently, the entirety of Sumatra Continent's Mammoth Clan was gathered here.
And in essence, he could truly be called the Sumatra Continent's Mammoth Clan Chief.
Staring at the people, Raaha said, "This is a perfect opportunity since our numbers have increased a lot after the merger. With this increase, our appetite for resources has also increased. And since the mating season of the Centingers concluded a few months ago, the timing is perfect for their egg-laying season."
The power of an artillery strike unleashed by a Centinger was the most effective against Mammoth Clansmen, as their power revolved around manipulating bones. Conversely, this ranged ability was perfect for them to stay atop the Empyrean Tusk and rain down on the enemies prowling the ground.
"Every master will lead a team of ten elites of your choice. There can be at maximum ten elites per team and the leader of the team will be the master leading them." Raaha said, "Your goal is to procure Centinger eggs."
With a snap of his finger, a large bone board appeared behind him, having enough space to accommodate the names of thousands of teams, "I'll be ranking each team based on the number of Centinger Eggs they bring. Of course, you can also bring the eggs of other Pranic Beasts, but unless they are from Silver Grade Pranic Beasts, you wouldn't get any points."
"I'll be rewarding based on your contribution from my personal stash," Raaha said, causing the crowd to become excited, since his personal stash contained treasures with value unlike any other, the only one of its kind in the entire Mammoth Clan.
"The Centinger eggs would hatch in a month. So, the competition will last until then." He then stared at the Settlement Leaders, "As for the Settlement Leaders, you can divide yourselves into teams of five."
Upon his words, the Settlement Leaders turned nervous, understanding what Raaha was getting at as they stared at the faces of each other, already planning to team up with the Settlement Leader they trusted the most.
Boar Tusk stared at Yahard Tusk as the duo let out knowing smirks. They stared at the Settlement Leaders of the previous 42nd, 41st, and 40th Settlements, deciding their team up immediately.
"You'll be hunting for Millinger eggs. Take care to not lead them to us." Raaha exuded some pressure as a show of warning, "I'll strike you down along with the Millinger if that happens."
He then let out a loud clap, announcing, "Make preparations now. The competition will start in an hour."
