The Dongting Lake Tribe

The Dongting Lake plains lie within the middle and lower Yangtze River basin, situated in the northern reaches of Hunan Province.

Dongting Lake was no scenic wonder. This vast body of water — covering nearly forty thousand square kilometers — was what textbooks consistently listed as China's third most dangerous lake.

A lake of that magnitude harbored countless overlapping ecosystems, and the Demon-Beasts that made their home within it were beyond counting.

Among the most notorious were the Lizard-Skull Giant Demons — the creatures that had seized Jinlin City as their own lair, with Dongting Lake as their base of operations.

After flying into Kangning City, the closest city to Jinlin City, the seventeen students from Pearl Academy and Imperial Capital Magic Academy had no choice but to continue on foot. Along the way, Jingjing — whose near-perfect recall had earned her the reputation of an academic prodigy — began explaining the situation around Jinlin City and introduced the term "tribe."

Mo Fan had significant gaps in his knowledge of this world, and when Jingjing mentioned the word "tribe," he couldn't help but ask.

"Most Demon-Beasts are solitary creatures," Jingjing explained, with the air of someone who had memorized every textbook ever printed. "But there are many exceptions. In your southern regions, the most typical pack-dwelling Demon-Beasts are the Demon Wolf clan. The Black Church was ultimately responsible for the Bo City disaster — that much is true — but the Black Church used the Demon Wolf clan to carry out that atrocity. Those Demon Wolves came from the clan packs scattered throughout the Nanshan mountain ranges. Compared to the Lizard-Skull Giant Demon tribe of Dongting Lake, though, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf clan is small fry."

Beside her, Mu Nujiao had caught the mention of Bo City. She glanced at Mo Fan, then cut in before Jingjing could wander further off topic and explained it plainly: "We classify pack-dwelling Demon-Beasts by the scale of their groupings. A group of fifty or more adult Demon-Beasts of the same species is called a nest. When a species has more than fifty nests, it constitutes a clan. And when there are more than ten clans, together they form a Demon-Beast tribe."

"Wait, let me work this out." Mo Fan counted on his fingers. "Fifty per nest, fifty nests per clan — so a clan-level force is at least two thousand five hundred strong?"

"Correct. A clan numbers at least two thousand five hundred — not counting cubs, juveniles, and elderly Demon-Beasts that aren't combat-capable."

Mo Fan's mind drifted back to the Bo City disaster. Setting aside the Battle-Commander-class Three-Eyed Demon Wolves entirely, the One-Eyed Demon Wolves that had flooded into the city alone had numbered over two thousand five hundred — to say nothing of the vast army engaging the Military Mages beyond the Safe Zone.

*Ten thousand One-Eyed Demon Wolves, at minimum. That's a full clan right there.*

"A clan typically numbers anywhere from two thousand five hundred to ten thousand," Jingjing continued, "and among them there will always be one to three Commander-class creatures. The moment a clan-level Demon-Beast force invades a city, a Scarlet Alert is issued. Jinlin City had a Scarlet Alert declared back then — thankfully the city was evacuated in time, or it would have been another massive catastrophe."

"Heh, no need to spell it all out, Jingjing," Luo Song said with a laugh, amusement curling through his voice. "Our very own Mo Fan has lived through a Scarlet Alert — he understands better than anyone what a clan-level Demon-Beast army actually looks like. Isn't that right, Mo Fan?"

But before Mo Fan could fire back, another gaze — frigid enough to freeze a man into a living ice sculpture — locked onto Luo Song. He shuddered despite himself, and when he turned to find the source, he found Mu Ningxue, the ice goddess of Imperial Capital Magic Academy, watching him coldly.

"Don't joke about Bo City." Her voice carried a chill that matched her stare.

Mu Ningxue had already returned to school when the disaster struck and had not been there herself. But many members of the Mu Clan had died fighting, and the entire Mu Clan had been all but torn apart in that catastrophe.

Luo Song, naturally unaware that Mu Ningxue was also from Bo City, shrank his thick neck down between his shoulders and didn't dare utter another word.

Mo Fan wasn't the type to dwell — he could brush off most things without a second thought. But when he considered the sheer devastation a single clan could unleash, and then extrapolated that to an entire tribe...

*It takes ten forces like the one that hit Bo City to make a single tribe. So just how monstrous is the Lizard-Skull Giant Demon tribe nesting in the heart of Dongting Lake?*

*And Jinlin City — if they hadn't gotten everyone out in time, it would have been a catastrophe that made Bo City look tame.*

"Tribe-level Demon-Beasts are only a tenth of everything that's out there," Zhao Mingyue remarked. "If every solitary wandering Demon-Beast gathered together at once, humanity wouldn't last long."

"Alright, alright," Liao Mingxuan cut in, impatience sharpening his voice. "We came out here on a Field Expedition, not to sit through the same tired end-of-the-world lecture. How about we all focus on actually getting to the desolate ruins of Jinlin? We're getting farther from the Safe Zone with every step, and this trip is not guaranteed to go smoothly."

He wasn't wrong. They were already about fifty kilometers from the Safe Zone. Military Mages still patrolled this stretch of territory, and they hadn't crossed paths with any reckless Demon-Beasts yet — but once they pushed deeper into the mountain wilderness, all bets were off.

"We follow this abandoned railway," said Song Xia, map in hand, pointing at the moss-covered tracks beneath their feet.

The rails had rusted entirely through, blotched in deep brown, smothered under weeds and moss. They ran in a dead-straight line toward the lush green forest in the distance, and where they disappeared into the tree line, thorns and tall grass had swallowed them whole. Anyone passing by without looking closely would never have guessed this had once been a railway.

In the old days, the line had fallen within the Safe Zone. With Jinlin City's fall, the land it passed through had become Demon-Beast territory — it was no surprise the tracks had been left to rot.

Still, the rails made a natural, ready-made guide. Follow them long enough, and they would reach Jinlin City.

"Let's get one thing straight from the start," said Lu Zhenghe, not bothering with pleasantries, his status as the de facto leader plain for all to see. "I've always commanded in the field. Since the school wants us to complete this Field Expedition together, our group of seventeen needs structure. I'll lead. You're all welcome to voice your opinions, but the overall direction is mine — which routes we take, how we handle any Demon-Beast encounters, when we rest. All of that falls to me."

Xu Dalong, Liao Mingxuan, Zhao Mingyue, and the rest of the Imperial Capital Magic Academy contingent had no objections.

"Following your every call is out of the question," Zheng Bingxiao replied evenly. "Our side follows Song Xia's lead. I think the two of you should work out the specifics between yourselves."

"Works for me," said Lu Zhenghe. "We'll sort it out between us."

Their route was settled: follow the abandoned tracks. Every student here was the cream of the crop from two prestigious academies — their nerve and their strength were in a different league from some high school field exercise. Each kept their cards close to their chest, but their wilderness capabilities were undoubtedly formidable. The journey ahead should go smoothly.