The "settlement" referred to the place where the four races—the humans, Redhorn Clan, Dwarves, and Centaurians—gathered to live. These settlements were home to those resisting the rule of the Blackhorn Clan.
According to Barrett, the current Blackhorn King had gone into seclusion, while his offspring were embroiled in violent conflicts, each vying for power and the right to inherit the throne.
This chaotic situation was something the Blackhorn King had deliberately orchestrated. He wanted his sons to use their own strength and methods to determine a victor. Only the most outstanding of them would be deemed worthy to inherit his position.
Hearing about this brutal method of having his sons fight each other for the throne, Lin Qian could only shake his head.
If the Blackhorn King treated his own children this way, one could only imagine the conditions under which the humans, Redhorn Clan, Dwarves, and Centaurians lived under his rule.
"We're simply biding our time during this chaos," Barrett explained as he stood beside Lin Qian, overlooking the settlement. "Once the Blackhorn King's offspring finish their struggle, the strength of the Blackhorn Kingdom will undoubtedly be weakened. Our goal now is to build up our strength so that, when the time comes, we'll be ready to challenge them."
"Doesn't the Blackhorn Clan know about your existence?" Lin Qian asked, intrigued.
Barrett nodded and continued, "They're aware of us, but only of the strength we allow them to see. They believe we're much weaker than we actually are."
"In truth, we have several elders who are currently in seclusion, working together to break through to the next level. Once they succeed, dealing with the Blackhorn King won't be an issue. To avoid drawing their attention, we've kept a low profile and have never considered founding a kingdom."
"All we want is enough strength to secure a piece of land where we can live peacefully," Barrett said, his eyes filled with hope.
Next to him, Liu Fang echoed Barrett's sentiments, saying, "We only wish for a life free from oppression and enslavement, where all races are treated equally."
"Humans have earned the respect and recognition of the other races through our hard work," Liu Fang added, as a Centaurian, the strongest of the group, patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
Lin Qian looked closely at the settlement and noticed that the humans indeed worked extremely hard.
Due to their overall lower combat effectiveness compared to their actual cultivation levels, humans had to put in much more effort in their training compared to the other three races.
With his keen eyesight, Lin Qian could clearly see many humans meditating on the rooftops of their small houses, their faces pale and lips dry from excessive training.
Practicing their cultivation techniques helped them regain energy, and could even substitute for sleep to some extent. However, overtraining, while beneficial for advancing their cultivation, greatly depleted their physical reserves.
Lin Qian saw that many humans had pushed themselves to their limits. When they finally stopped training, they ravenously devoured food infused with spiritual energy before collapsing into deep sleep on their rooftops.
On the training grounds, humans sparred with a ferocity that seemed almost desperate. Even though it was just practice, both participants were covered in blood.
Even when their soul power was exhausted and their bodies were weak, they continued grappling on the ground, refusing to let go until every last drop of their strength was spent.
Afterward, they would immediately sit in meditation to recover, careful not to overtrain. Once they had regained enough energy, they would drag their battered bodies back to their homes.
They couldn't afford to overtrain in such a state—it would be suicide.
Meanwhile, the ordinary human citizens worked tirelessly on tasks they could handle.
Now, Lin Qian fully understood why, despite being so weak, Barrett and the others were willing to protect Liu Fang and the other humans.
Though they spoke of humans being a burden, when they looked at the humans, their eyes were filled with admiration.
Every human in this world proved their worth through hard work, earning the respect of the other three races with their determination and unyielding spirit.
The other races had no reason to look down on such tenacious humans.
In this underground forest world, humans had developed a way of life defined by resilience, something that made Lin Qian feel a deep sense of pride.
This was his race.
"Let's go inside," Lin Qian said, looking toward the settlement and then turning to Barrett.
Barrett led Lin Qian down the cliff and into the settlement.
Around the settlement, a basic illusion formation had been set up, providing protection from the nearby soul beasts.
Naturally, it was the humans who had set up this formation.
While the Dwarves were born blacksmiths, their talent for forging left little room for other skills, and they knew nothing about formations. The Redhorn Clan excelled at refining their bodies but were also clueless about formations. As for the Centaurians, with their exceptional endurance and innate sense of direction, they too were incapable of mastering formations.
Thus, the few humans who could become formation masters held a very high status among the people in this underground forest world, and rightly so.
According to Liu Fang, to earn more respect for their race, human formation masters devoted every available moment to studying formations, aside from the necessary time spent on their cultivation.
Of course, the humans worked tirelessly, but the other three races were no slackers either. Each race pushed themselves to their limits, all for the future of their combined settlement.
Lin Qian suddenly had a thought: If this underground forest world could become part of the Hua Xia Empire, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
For the Hua Xia Empire to truly thrive in the future, it couldn't limit its population to only humans.
When the day came that the Hua Xia Empire encompassed many different races, all living in harmony and working together to make the empire even greater, that would be the day the Hua Xia Empire reached its true strength.
As this thought filled his mind, Lin Qian's heart swelled with anticipation. He believed that day would come soon.
Upon entering the settlement, Lin Qian was suddenly stunned by what he saw. At last, he understood why the humans of this underground forest world had such weak combat strength compared to their cultivation levels.