The Peerless Emperor (TPE)

After hearing the man's words, Lin Qian remained silent, feeling as if a fire was burning in his chest.

Food supply?

He hadn't expected that within this small world, not only did other races exist, but there were also humans living there. What shocked him even more was that in this small world, humans were enslaved. Enslaved, and even worse—treated as food for the other two races during times of war.

In such a situation, how different were these humans from livestock?

Lin Qian continued to ask the three people in front of him more questions, gradually learning more about this small world. The man, who introduced himself as Shi Niu, came from the Stone Tribe. His son was named Shi Kang, and his daughter, Shi Mei—simple and humble names that reflected their way of life.

The Stone Tribe was considered a mid-sized tribe in this world, with a population of around 2,000 people. In this world, everyone born into the tribe took the surname Shi.

This small world wasn't entirely barren; there were still some areas with normal land, but those areas were scarce, and the crops grown were insufficient. As a result, the entire tribe often hovered on the edge of starvation.

The human tribes lived scattered across the southern part of this small world on what little arable land they could find. However, compared to the lands controlled by the Dwarf Demon Tribe and the Giant Demon Tribe in the north, the conditions in the south were pitiful.

"The Dwarf Demons and Giant Demons occupy the northern lands, where only a tenth of the area is barren, and the rest is fertile land. But for us in the south, only about one-tenth of the land is livable," Shi Niu said, clenching his fists in frustration. "We've tried to resist, but we're no match for them."

Lin Qian furrowed his brows and continued, "What happened earlier? Why were you being chased by the undead? Tell me everything you know about them."

He hadn't forgotten that his main goal in entering this small world was to stop the Blackblood Clan.

Upon hearing Lin Qian's question, Shi Niu quickly recounted everything he knew in detail.

After listening to Shi Niu's description, Lin Qian nodded thoughtfully.

In summary, this small world was in much worse condition compared to the ruined world within the ancient ruins. The situation here was far more complicated.

The world was perpetually dim, with no distinction between day and night, always shrouded in gloom. However, at certain times each day, the dead trees would release a white mist that disturbed people's minds.

Based on his experience in the ancient ruins, where the mist only appeared during the day and retracted at night, Lin Qian deduced that this small world was currently in its night phase.

Moreover, the number of undead in this world far exceeded those in the dead land of the ancient ruins. From the dense clusters of dead trees alone, it was clear that the undead population was overwhelming.

However, unlike the undead in the dead land, which would swarm out at night, the undead in this small world only emerged from the ground when living humans approached. As long as people avoided the dead trees, they wouldn't disturb the undead beneath the ground. For this reason, the roads connecting the human tribes in the south were sparsely populated with dead trees.

Shi Niu's group had left their tribe to seek help from another tribe, hoping to borrow some food or seeds because their harvest had failed. But the other tribe was in a similarly dire situation and couldn't help.

Shi Mei, who hadn't eaten properly for days, had wandered off the road in her daze, inadvertently attracting the attention of several undead. They emerged from the ground and began chasing them. In their panic, Shi Niu and his children fled into the dead forest, provoking more and more undead, until Lin Qian arrived to save them.

"Take me to your tribe. I'll help you solve your food problem," Lin Qian said, rising from his seat and looking at Shi Niu. "Don't worry. As fellow humans, I won't stand by and watch you starve."

"R-Really?!" Shi Niu's eyes welled up with tears. He knew that his tribe now had hope.

After leaving the courtyard, Lin Qian waved his hand, returning it to the Huaxia Empire. He then told Shi Niu to lead the way. "Lead us back to your tribe by the fastest route. Don't worry about the undead."

Shi Niu nodded and began running ahead, with Shi Kang and Shi Mei following closely behind.

To Lin Qian, who trailed behind them, the journey was effortless. He didn't even need to activate his soul power.

Shi Niu, whose cultivation was at the first stage of the Nirvana Realm, wielded a crude stone sword, carved from the ordinary stones in the dead land. The craftsmanship was rough, and during the earlier battle, Lin Qian had noticed that Shi Niu only used basic techniques, not even employing any soul skills.

"With such scarce food, no soul weapons, and weak combat abilities, it's no wonder that the northern lands are dominated by the other races," Lin Qian thought as he followed Shi Niu, easily avoiding the dead trees.

"Is your Stone Tribe in that direction?" Lin Qian asked, pointing in a particular direction when he noticed Shi Niu instinctively trying to avoid the dead trees.

Shi Niu nodded, "Yes, benefactor, it's in that direction."

Crackle!

Golden lightning surged across Lin Qian's body as he charged forward. As he approached the dead trees, his soul power flared, reducing the trees to splinters that scattered in all directions.

Shi Niu and his children stood in place, dumbfounded.

As a native of this world, Shi Niu was well aware of how tough the dead trees were. Even with his stone sword, he could barely leave a scratch on them. But the benefactor who had saved them had effortlessly shattered the tree with his bare hands!

"Why are you standing there? Hurry up and follow!" Lin Qian called out from ahead.

"Y-Yes, benefactor!" Shi Niu snapped back to reality, and he and his children quickly followed.

Lin Qian's path-clearing abilities left Shi Niu, Shi Kang, and Shi Mei in awe. Whether it was dead trees or undead, Lin Qian simply charged through, shattering the trees and obliterating the undead with a single strike from his thunder-infused sword.

An hour later, Lin Qian stood atop a hill, pointing down at a settlement below. "It looks like that's your Stone Tribe."

Behind Lin Qian, Shi Niu stared speechlessly at the familiar sight of his tribe. In the past, every return journey had been a perilous ordeal, with life and death hanging in the balance.

But this time, it felt like child's play. They had merely run for an hour and were already back at the tribe.

"Benefactor, who exactly are you?"