Liu Xuanting's Gamble
The Viper Clan sustained an unprecedented and cataclysmic defeat in the Battle of Mingzhou. It was as if they had been swept away by a ferocious tempest, losing their former dominance and glory instantaneously.
After the Viper Clan's decline, various ethnic groups in the region took advantage of their enfeebled state and joined forces with the official army to attempt the clan's extermination. Even the Viper Clan's vassal ethnic groups were not spared. Eventually, the Viper Clan was compelled to retreat deep into the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness. The governor of Mingzhou, perceiving that the Viper Clan was on the verge of collapse, naturally did not want to miss this golden opportunity to eliminate them once and for all. He planned to penetrate deep into the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness to completely annihilate the Viper Clan. However, as soon as his plan was put forward, it encountered vehement opposition from various ethnic groups. These groups had their own misgivings. Although they harbored animosity towards the Viper Clan, they were even more apprehensive that the human race would use this opportunity to invade the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness. After all, this was the ancestral land of these ethnic groups, bearing their history and heritage, and they would never tolerate the intrusion of outsiders. Simultaneously, war suddenly erupted in the Protectorate under the jurisdiction of the Western Wilderness, further complicating the situation. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, the governor of Mingzhou and the governors of other states in the Southern Wilderness had no choice but to prioritize supporting the Western Wilderness, and the pursuit of the Viper Clan had to be temporarily postponed. In this way, the Viper Clan unexpectedly obtained a glimmer of hope, managed to preserve the remnants of their race deep in the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness, regarded this place as their new ancestral land, and embarked on a protracted period of dormancy.
The Black Fog Swamp is a locale nestled deep within the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness. During the day, the environment here is bright and congenial, but at night, turbid air ascends, and poisonous miasma pervades. Coupled with the prevalence of swamps, creatures that inadvertently enter this place generally never manage to escape. Although this is a perilous and near - hopeless domain, it is a haven for venomous insects and other noxious creatures. Many of the ancestral lands of the insect tribes are situated deep within the Black Fog Swamp, and the Viper Clan also migrated here.
After the crushing defeat in Mingzhou and the Battle of Landing on the Mianjiang River, the Viper Clan fled southward in disarray all the way to the dense forests of the Southern Wilderness on the outskirts of the region. The Supreme of the Viper Clan led the remnants of the Viper Clan into the Black Fog Swamp. After several intense battles with the indigenous inhabitants of the swamp, they finally established a firm foothold. At great cost, they seized a habitat to serve as the new ancestral land of the Viper Clan. After settling in the new ancestral land, the Supreme of the Viper Clan took stock of the clan members. The Viper Clan, which originally numbered hundreds of thousands, now had only eight thousand members remaining. There were fewer than five thousand members who had undergone the third transformation, and the rest were predominantly the elderly, the infirm, the sick, and the disabled. Since then, the Viper Clan sealed off their ancestral land, focused on recuperation, and refrained from meddling in external affairs.
The Viper Clan possesses an extraordinarily robust reproductive capacity. Their remarkable ability to replenish their population enabled the clan to gradually regain its strength. Two hundred years after the defeat in Mingzhou, the Viper Clan gradually reopened their ancestral land for communication with the outside world. After the old - generation Supreme of the Viper Clan, Liu Xie, stepped down, development strategies and guidelines were formulated. Under the leadership of the subsequent Supreme of the Viper Clan, Liu Jingran, the clan continued to progress. Liu Jingran introduced the concepts of alleviating the burden of corvée and taxes, allowing the people to rest and recuperate, and governing with a laissez - faire approach, which led to a significant upsurge in the clan's population. By the time Liu Jingran abdicated, the total population of the Viper Clan had reached 30% of its pre - war level.
Liu Zhida, the new Supreme succeeding Liu Jingran, put forward novel ideas while adhering to the path set by his predecessor: self - sufficiency, expanding sources of income and reducing expenditures. He led the clan members to engage in agricultural and sericultural activities as well as business enterprises. He opened up channels for external communication and actively sought cooperation with other tribes. Through Liu Zhida's unremitting efforts, the clan's reputation improved significantly, and the number of tribes forming amicable relations with them gradually increased. The Viper Clan reorganized their wartime army into a labor team. Leveraging their physical advantages, they assisted various ethnic groups in renovating regular buildings. They also frequently participated in the wars of other tribes as mercenaries. Liu Zhida harbored great ambitions. While forging alliances with other tribes, he established laws within the clan, emphasized agricultural production and weaving, and constructed and maintained defensive and offensive weaponry, laying a solid foundation for future generations. The Viper Clan thrived, and they remained entrenched in the Black Fog Swamp for nearly a thousand years.
After the defeat, Liu Xie took the lead and led the tribe in breaking through the encirclement, forcefully entered the Black Fog Swamp, and secured a habitat for the clan. Before his death, he issued a self - condemnatory letter and adjusted the clan's development strategy;
Liu Jingran followed the principles set by his predecessor, reduced central government expenditures, personally participated in production activities, and allowed the people to recuperate and build up strength;
Liu Zhida introduced new development concepts, fostered friendly relations with others, cultivated a positive image for the clan, trained mercenaries, and maintained the combat effectiveness of the troops;
The three generations of Supreme all harbored lofty ambitions, aspiring to dominate the world, encompass all under heaven, and annex all directions. They bided their time and patiently accumulated strength, intending to stage a comeback. They were acutely aware that aggression was ingrained in the nature of the Viper Clan. As the clan's strength grew steadily, they would inevitably become dissatisfied with the limited expanse of the Black Fog Swamp. The expansion strategy needed to be meticulously planned in advance and more comprehensively than ever before. If the current Supreme lacked the ability and determination, they would lie low and control the population until the emergence of a once - in - a - century hero within the Viper Clan.
The current Supreme of the Viper Clan, Liu Xuanting, is merely three hundred years old but has already undergone the fourth transformation. Even before ascending to the position of Supreme, he had already demonstrated his exceptional talent. Liu Zhida broke the clan's ancestral laws and groomed Liu Xuanting as the potential successor to the Supreme. Liu Xuanting held important positions in multiple fields of the Viper Clan, including agriculture and sericulture, education, poverty alleviation, commerce, and military and political affairs. Since his childhood, Liu Xuanting had looked up to Liu Xie as a role model and regarded him as a hero of the clan. Thus, he held Liu Xie's strategic policies in high esteem. At the same time, he was extremely astute.
Under the leadership of the current Supreme, Liu Xuanting, the Viper Clan rallied their former subordinates: more than a dozen tribes of varying sizes, such as the Blattodea Clan, the Black Pig Clan, and the Sand Mantis Clan; they established cordial relations with the Ferocious Clan and offered substantial incentives, leading to the formation of a fraternal alliance and the signing of a strategic pact; they formed marital alliances with the Ran Yi Clan and the Giant Wind Clan; and they proactively sought channels to pay tribute to the human race and declared themselves vassals. Meanwhile, they employed the strategy of befriending distant tribes while attacking nearby ones, sowed division among the alliances of other tribes, seized the fertile lands in the east and the strategic locations in the north, and eventually brought the entire Black Fog Swamp under their clan's control.
However, Liu Xuanting's ambition remained unquenched. After annexing the Black Fog Swamp, he turned his gaze northward. He was well - aware that for the Viper Clan to rise again, they had to break free from their current limitations and expand into broader territories. Therefore, he began to secretly formulate plans for a northward expansion. The Viper Clan was renowned for their exceptional running abilities, and Liu Xuanting capitalized on this talent by dispatching scouts numerous times to explore potential northward routes. However, they discovered that both traversing tunnels and circumnavigating mountains presented numerous challenges, entailing substantial costs and yielding suboptimal results. The only viable option seemed to be to abandon their ancestral land and relocate the entire clan to Fu Mountain. But this ancestral land was the culmination of the efforts of three generations of Supreme, embodying the hopes and dreams of the Viper Clan. How could it be relinquished so easily?
It is said that after the 32nd batch of scouts reported back, Liu Xuanting angrily shattered a purple - gold cup in his royal tent. The following day, he notified all the clan leaders operating outside to prepare for the upcoming Supreme's Assembly. The theme of the assembly was: the northward expansion. Following the assembly, the Viper Clan established a northward - expansion leadership collective with Liu Xuanting, the Supreme of the Viper Clan, at its core, and formed institutions such as the Northward - Expansion Group, the Wartime Committee, and the Privy Council. Twenty years ago, the Viper Clan had set their sights on Fenglingdu. The clan classified this plan as their highest - level secret, assigning it the code name "Fufeng". Externally, they claimed that it was a project for renovating the royal tents, with the stated goal of enhancing the living standards of the Viper Clan's senior members.
To realize the "Fufeng" plan, Liu Xuanting spared no effort. He devised a series of strategies for Fenglingdu, including ethnic intermarriage, tribal fragmentation, instigating corruption, inserting internal spies, mapping out fortifications, implementing a sacrificial - spy plan, and cultivating agents. Additionally, the Viper Clan secretly developed a lethal poisonous fog. This fog was colorless and odorless, yet it had the insidious ability to paralyze the enemy's nerves stealthily, significantly diminishing their combat capabilities. They also trained a group of elite assassins skilled in stealth and assassination. These assassins could move like phantoms in the darkness, silently eliminating key enemy figures.
Liu Xuanting, the Supreme of the Viper Clan, staked the future of the Viper Clan and the achievements of the three previous Supreme on a bold gamble. He mobilized the entire clan's resources to plan the "Fufeng" operation, relegating the production priorities of various internal projects. To maintain efficiency, some production projects were abruptly terminated, causing many initiatives to be abandoned halfway and resulting in substantial losses. This led to discontent among some clan members. Due to the lenient policies implemented by the previous three Supreme, the influence of the Supreme of the Viper Clan within the clan had waned. Liu Xuanting gradually implemented a high - pressure policy, suppressing internal dissent and ensuring that the clan's ideology aligned closely with his own. Since the plan was publicly presented as a welfare project for the people, the lower - level members and some senior officials within the clan each fulfilled their duties with great enthusiasm.
While the Viper Clan was making meticulous preparations for the "Fufeng" plan, the residents of Fenglingdu began to sense something amiss. Mysterious strangers started to appear frequently in the vicinity. They always wore black hoods, their movements were furtive, and their eyes betrayed an air of secrecy. In the taverns of Fenglingdu, rumors began to circulate. Some claimed to have seen strange symbols carved in hidden places, while others reported hearing eerie whispers in the dead of night. At the same time, subtle changes began to occur among the smaller forces in Fenglingdu. Previously harmonious relationships seemed to be strained due to some intangible factors. Beneath the surface of Fenglingdu, an undercurrent of tension was building, and a massive crisis loomed on the horizon.
In another mysterious corner of the Southern Wilderness, a mysterious organization closely monitored every move of the Viper Clan. The members of this organization were all highly skilled and operated in the shadows. Their true motives and identities remained veiled in mystery. Some speculated that they were there to thwart the Viper Clan's ambitions, while others suspected that they had intricate connections with the clan and might even be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Since then, the tragedy of Fenglingdu has been hurtling towards its inevitable countdown. The entire situation in the Southern Wilderness seems to be ensnared in an invisible web. A tempestuous storm is on the verge of breaking, and the Viper Clan finds itself at the epicenter of this maelstrom. Their destiny, as well as the future of Fenglingdu, remains veiled in uncertainty and suspense.