Fighting against the wind and sand, I journeyed eastward! Gradually, I noticed the trees around me becoming more numerous. Where there were once only one or two solitary growths, now they gathered in clusters of three or five, and ahead lay a small copse—a true little forest, with a sapling every few steps. Though the trunks were slender and the sparse foliage offered little density, in this vast wilderness, it was already a sight to bring joy.

To see swathes of green gave me, a soul battered by the scouring sands, the feeling of having passed from hell into heaven.

This truly was paradise; paradise within the desert.

Moving further, the ground began to sprout green grass, occasionally punctuated by clumps of shrubs that burst from the earth like quivers of arrows.

These shrubs were strangely shaped, each stiff stem topped with five or six leaves.

Through the center of the grassland ran a path worn down by footsteps. Though still composed of loess, the moisture trapped within made the soil appear rich, fertile, and well-hydrated.

The trees and grass formed a simple yet profoundly beautiful tableau.

Anyone first emerging from the desert into this place would be stunned by the view.

Yet, if not for the guidance of Chilong and the others, I doubt anyone would ever find this place! It was hard to imagine that the scattered remnants of the Blood Wolf Tribe, hunted by all races of the continent, were hiding within this desert oasis!

Round, pointed tents immediately appeared before my eyes!

From afar, I could hear cheers erupting! A large contingent of knights swiftly rode out to meet us! And every single one of them rode a massive Dire Wolf! Of course, "massive" was only relative to the common wolves I’d seen near Bichi. Compared to the sturdy Furnace Horses, the Dire Wolves were much shorter, estimated to stand only about two meters high and stretch five meters long! They strongly resembled the Crimson Moon Azure Wolves I had seen in the woods outside Yuncheng, the only difference being that their fur was entirely blood-red!

Sharp-toothed and fierce in appearance, even trotting at a slow pace, the light gait and constantly rippling musculature betrayed the Dire Wolves' terrifying explosive power.

Among all war beasts, save for the Mammoth Beast, the Dire Wolf was a carnivore. I couldn't fathom how the Blood Wolf Tribe managed to sustain such a large pack, the sheer volume of meat they must consume daily.

"Boss, you've returned." It was clear they had been worried about Chilong's safety! They quickly noticed my presence, too!

One by one, they instinctively looked toward me.

"I apologize for making you worry, brothers," Chilong said.

I remained unmoved by their curious gazes. Clad in my Black Iron Helmet, they could not see my face! I could sense their displeasure at my clearly unfriendly silence!

After their masters dismounted, the mounts stood quietly. However, all the Dire Wolves seemed to fix their stare upon me, as if sensing that I did not share the Blood Wolf Tribe’s lineage and sensing their masters’ hostility toward me.

I could even hear the sound of them drooling, swallowing, and the grating of their fangs! Yet, perhaps it was the killing aura emanating from my Heavenly Demon Battle Armor that mingled their bloodthirsty gazes with fear and unease!

When I shot a stern glance their way, several Dire Wolves subconsciously backed away!

What intrigued me, though, was that only able-bodied men were visible here; not a single old, weak, woman, or child was in sight!

I don't know what Chilong told them! As these men looked at me, their fear noticeably intensified! After giving me a respectful Knight’s salute, they led their mounts away!

"Your Highness, do you still harbor any doubts about my identity?" Chilong asked deferentially.

"I apologize for my prior rudeness." As I spoke, I removed my helmet. Only then did Chilong see my true face!

"Black hair! Black eyes!" The surrounding men gasped in unison: "It is indeed the Demon Dragon Crown Prince! Jiuyuan Shenzhen."

"Now, may we discuss matters properly?" Chilong looked visibly pleased; my current action clearly signaled my trust in them!

"Yes," I replied gravely.

Chilong rejoiced and led me into a relatively large tent! This was clearly their command tent!

"Your Highness, how do you plan to rescue your sister and brother?" As Chilong sat down, several nearby personal guards immediately brought tea and fruit.

"Rescue," I sighed wryly. "You know as well as I that it's impossible for me to accomplish alone!"

"Does Your Highness have no viable plan whatsoever?" Chilong was greatly alarmed.

"Yes. I came to the Demon Sealing Continent precisely to kill as many people as possible and turn the entire continent into chaos," I continued. "So, Chief Chilong, do you have a method to assist me?"

"Haha, in that case, our goals are quite similar," Chilong chuckled. "In fact, the Blood Wolf Tribe has been resisting the Demon Sealing Imperial Family in our own way. For a long time, our primary means of striking the Demon Sealing Empire has been to subject the southern cities to slaughter."

"You don't have Heavenly Demon Warriors; how can you fight them?" I was surprised. "The Imperial Family can wipe out your entire force by sending just a few Heavenly Demon Warriors."

"Your Highness speaks the truth," Chilong conceded. "It is precisely because the warriors of the Blood Wolf Tribe lack opponents capable of countering the Heavenly Demon Warriors that we have fallen into this state." Chilong’s face filled with sorrow and indignation as he spoke: "Fifty years ago, the Blood Wolf Tribe had three outstanding Heavenly Demon Warriors who rendered great service to the Demon Sealing Empire. But after the current Pope ascended the throne, they were all killed. How powerful the Blood Wolf Tribe once was; how could we be so destitute now."

I had heard a little about the Blood Wolf Tribe from Jinyao. The Popes of the Moluo Alliance were always chosen from one of the four great high priests: Lanling, Chiyan, Wupeng, and Baishuo of each generation.

Consequently, the struggle for the right to succeed the Pope among the four great priests was fierce, sparking a series of factional disputes!

The three Heavenly Demon Warriors of the Blood Wolf Tribe had simply backed the wrong faction. Upon the ascension of the current Pope, they were subjected to suspicion and retaliation and subsequently killed, dragging the clansmen of the Blood Wolf Tribe down with them.

Fifty years ago, the Demon Sealing Empire commanded not seven legions as it does now, but ten. Among these was the Blood Wolf Legion, composed of warriors riding Giant Wolves as their mounts!

When Xinhuang ascended, the three Heavenly Demon Warriors of the Blood Wolf Legion were slain, and the Legion was officially disbanded. However, many original Blood Wolf Knights managed to escape that great purge!

To cut the grass and remove the roots! The Church and the Imperial Family jointly annihilated the remaining remnants of the Blood Wolf Tribe, which provoked the Blood Wolf Tribe’s furious retaliation that continues to this day. Wolf nature remembers grudges; they will fight until death! Among all creatures, wolves are the most vengeful, and once an enemy is made, they will launch a frenzied counterattack even at the cost of their lives! As descendants of the Wolf God, the Blood Wolf Tribe clearly shares this primal instinct!

Thus, even knowing they were outmatched, they used every available method to resist the Demon Sealing Imperial Family and the Moluo Church, attempting to overthrow their rule—though they were forced into it!

On the Demon Sealing Continent, under the combined blockade of the Church and the Imperial Family, the Blood Wolf Tribe could barely survive. Furthermore, as a minority ethnic group on the continent, the Blood Wolf clansmen were not accepted by people from other lands. After all, the former Blood Wolf Legion was infamous across the continent for its cruelty and bloodshed; the number of people from the Holy Word Alliance they killed was countless. Anyone belonging to the Blood Wolf Tribe, no matter where they were on the continent, became a target for pursuit.

It could be said that the Blood Wolf Tribe had nowhere to hide in the Mafa World. What choice did they have but to fight to the death?

But their strength was far too meager! In every confrontation over the years, facing the powerful Heavenly Demon Warriors, the Blood Wolf Tribe suffered devastating losses. The once mighty tribe of two million people now stood on the brink of extinction.

Chilong gave a bitter smile filled with melancholy, but then his spirit lifted: "Since Your Highness’s goal is also to strike and disrupt the populace of the Demon Sealing Continent, this is manageable." Chilong continued, "If our Blood Wolf Knights can act alongside Your Highness, the effect will be vastly different." Chilong elaborated: "Although Your Highness is a Heavenly Demon Warrior, you are still only one person. How many people can you kill, how many cities can you destroy, how much wealth can you plunder?"

"That is true," I had to admit Chilong had a point. "But how exactly shall we cooperate?"

"Your Highness cooperating with us suits both our needs perfectly," Chilong proposed. "The regular troops can be handled by us. If we encounter stubborn strongholds and high walls, Your Highness can step in to help us breach the city. After that, we will take over. When it comes to burning, killing, and looting, we Blood Wolf Knights are the most skilled."

"........." Looking at Chilong's self-assured expression, I felt a flush of embarrassment for him: "To speak of such methods so righteously, I truly admire him."

"We were forced into it," sensing my thoughts, Chilong said painfully. "If we don't do this, the Blood Wolf Tribe simply cannot survive." As he spoke, Chilong glanced toward the Giant Wolves outside the tent: "The Giant Wolves subsist on meat. Once they run out of food and become maddened by hunger, they will even devour their own masters. In the past, when the Blood Wolf Legion was one of the ten great legions of the Empire, we were notorious across the continent for our bloody cruelty precisely to keep these Giant Wolves fed. Therefore, in every battle, our savage and ruthless fighting style struck terror into all opponents. The corpses of enemies, or even their mounts, were consumed by the Giant Wolves; they wouldn't even spare the bodies of their own kind. This is the nature of the wolf. Combat for them is not about victory, but about survival, about filling their stomachs. Back then, supported by Imperial supplies and the meat seized from enemies, we could maintain the size and fighting strength of the Blood Wolf Legion. But fifty years ago, when the Legion was disbanded, and the Blood Wolf Tribe was branded traitors to the Moluo Alliance and hunted by all races, the situation changed completely. Losing Imperial provisions caused many of the remaining Blood Wolf Knights to be torn to pieces by rabid wolves. And under the Empire's massive bounty, our tribe had nowhere to settle, forced to hide in deserts and dense forests. Attempting to feed such a large pack through hunting alone was a delusion." Chilong lamented: "Therefore, just to survive, we had to target the various towns on our own continent. Every time we broke a city, these Giant Wolves would savagely tear apart and devour the townspeople completely, which only made everyone hate the Blood Wolf Clan even more deeply."

I recalled reading in biology texts that wolves are strict carnivores with highly developed digestive systems, meaning they quickly become hungry again even shortly after a full meal. This is why the ancients had the saying: a wolf's belly is never full—let alone these enormous, vicious wolves.

"Have you never considered abandoning the Giant Wolves as mounts?" I couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"It's not that we don't want to," Chilong replied. "It's that without the Giant Wolves, we simply cannot live. The Ancient Wolf God bestowed upon us a bloodline that binds us to the Giant Wolves in life and death; our lives are sustained by the essence of wolf blood. Without the symbiotic wolf blood, we cannot survive."

"Wolf blood?" I was astonished. "What exactly is this?"

"It seems Your Highness is unaware," a trace of sorrow flashed in Chilong's eyes. "The Blood Wolf Tribe is born with the innate ability to communicate with Giant Wolves, but this ability comes at a cost!"

"What cost is that?"

"Every child in the tribe must find a newborn cub as a symbiotic partner at birth. Every time the Red Moon reaches its zenith, the wolf blood within us acts up," Chilong explained. "Under such circumstances, if they cannot drink the symbiotic wolf blood, their entire body will suffer a bloodline explosion and death. Each person can only have one symbiotic Giant Wolf in their lifetime; if the Giant Wolf dies unfortunately, that person's death is not far behind."

"............" How could this be? Chilong's words nearly stunned me into disbelief. If I hadn't personally experienced the terrifying effects of bloodlines, I would have dismissed Chilong’s tale as nonsense. But my own Demonic Devouring Body and the God-Bestowed Armor that granted me Frenzy made me truly aware that in the Mafa World, the influence of bloodlines on a person was absolutely irresistible.

"In truth, if the authorities across the continent weren't trying to eradicate the Blood Wolf Clan, allowing us to rest and recover in peace, even hunting alone could sustain the Giant Wolves." At this point, a mixture of sternness, indignation, and unwillingness flashed across Chilong's firm face. "But the Imperial Family and the Church are truly ruthless; they allow us absolutely no room to survive, driving us to a dead end. We had no choice but to fight back in kind."

"I understand." Such a bizarre race was far beyond my imagination. But with this realization, the last sliver of suspicion I held vanished. It was certain that the Blood Wolf Clan and the Demon Sealing Imperial Family and Moluo Church were absolute mortal enemies. This formed the very foundation for our cooperation.

It seemed my luck was good; shortly after arriving on the Demon Sealing Continent, I had found steadfast allies.