Sweeping the ancestral temple.
Cleaning the spirit tablets.
Stealing the ancestors' sacrificial beast blood to soak rice in.
The taste was a little poor, but the strength he could sense growing every day fascinated Shen Can.
Today, the rain was still falling.
Another batch of mushrooms had grown in the cave.
Ever since he had deduced the improved Plague Witchcraft Medicine Formula, Shen Can had focused his attention on cultivation.
His strength was increasing quickly. Myriad Transformations to One allowed him to convert every meal he ate into his own strength.
He now possessed the strength of five desolate beasts.
To advance to the Mountain Opening Realm, he reckoned he would need the strength of nine desolate beasts.
At the entrance to the ancestral temple.
"Brother Can, the next time there's beast blood, I'll become a Stone Splitter Realm martial artist."
A'Yu, whom he had not seen for many days, came to the ancestral temple and eagerly shared his joy. "Once I become a martial artist, I'll definitely hunt a Desolate Beast and offer it to our ancestors."
The beast blood extracted from the two First-Order Desolate Beasts that clan chief Huo Tang had brought back previously had produced five more Stone Splitter Realm martial artists in the clan.
Those tribesmen preparing to become martial artists had each practiced the Kui Ox Fist for at least eight or ten years.
Now that they were practicing the improved Kui Ox Fist, the results were astonishingly good.
According to the list in Huo Xian's hands, once there was Stone Splitter Realm beast blood again, it would be A'Yu's turn.
A'Yu was quite talented, surpassing many tribesmen in their thirties. He had risen later but surpassed those before him.
As for how he had surpassed them, naturally, by fighting.
The rain poured down in sheets, and no one could go out. They either wrestled in the caves or wrestled on their beds.
"Brother Can, this is for you."
After chatting for a while, A'Yu pulled out a bundle with a strange smell from his clothes and stuffed it into Shen Can's arms.
It was wrapped in beast hide. When Shen Can opened it, he found several pieces of dried Desolate Beast meat.
"I'm going to soak in beast blood, so I don't need to eat this."
Shen Can did not refuse. He wrapped it up again and tucked it beneath his arm.
"Brother Can, I'm heading back."
Shen Can entered the cave with the dried meat tucked under his arm. The ancestors were not even as motivated as his little brother—it seemed he needed to have a word with them.
On the one hundred and twenty-seventh day of the heavy rain.
Shen Can gained the strength of five desolate beasts.
Early that morning, while he was still sweeping the ancestral temple and clearing away mushrooms, sounds came from outside the cave.
"The rain has weakened!"
"The floodwaters are receding."
The commotion immediately rang through the entire tribe, inside and out.
The flood's edge at the foot of the mountain had receded two zhang from where it had originally stood.
Huo Xian rarely left the ancestral temple, but he came to the water's edge to observe. A wooden stake was erected at the original shoreline.
Three days later, the floodwaters had receded eleven zhang.
Five days later, the new shoreline stood thirty zhang away from the wooden stake.
Though a light drizzle still fell outside, Huo Xian went to discuss matters with Huo Tang as soon as he returned from observing the shore.
Before long, clusters of bonfires were lit in caves throughout the tribe.
Basket after basket of medicinal herbs was carried out from the storage cave and distributed among the tribesmen.
The tribesmen were told to stay beside the bonfires and slowly drive the dampness from the herbs.
From time to time, stalks of Aihuo Grass were tossed into the fires. Once burned, they released fragrant, miasmic smoke that filled every cave.
Huo Xian brought Shen Can along and began to busy themselves.
A large bronze cauldron was set over the bonfire. Shen Can poured the prepared herbs into it and boiled them, and the tribe's elderly, weak, women, and children began drinking the medicine.
The tribal women sat beside the bonfires, tending the herbs drying over the flames while grinding and kneading some of the medicinal ingredients into medicine pellets.
Starting with the children and women, then the tribal martial artists, every person received a medicine pellet to carry close to their body.
Shen Can was kneading pellets too. He ground the herbs into powder, added water and kneaded them, rolled them into balls with his hands, then lightly dried them before the bonfire.
Before long, the large and small caves where the tribe lived were filled with a strong medicinal scent.
The children were forbidden from leaving the caves. The younger babies were directly placed into rattan baskets that had held medicinal herbs.
Everyone acted as though a great enemy stood before them.
Two more days passed.
The sun came out.
It was the first time Shen Can had seen the sun since arriving in this world.
The rain had truly stopped.
Though the floodwaters had not fully receded, they diminished every day.
The exposed ground was covered in silt. Nearly all the places that had been flooded were bare, without grass or trees.
Inside the ancestral temple cave.
Shen Can's hands were black from kneading medicine pellets as he held a large pottery bowl and gulped down the medicinal soup.
This medicine was precisely the plague-curing formula he had improved.
From now on, everyone in the tribe, from top to bottom, had to drink a bowl every day.
The bonfires would no longer be extinguished, and medicine would be brewed continuously.
Originally, Shen Can had wanted to show off some of his suggestions, such as maintaining ventilation and cleanliness.
But after taking a look, he realized there was no need at all.
Once the sun appeared, the rock walls outside the caves were covered with beast hides hung out to dry.
Not only did they dry them in the sun, they also fumigated them with medicine.
Inside and outside the caves where the tribe lived, the tribesmen directly gave everything a thorough scorching. Even the mountain outside the cave entrances was included in the burning.
The dregs left over from brewing medicine every day were scattered throughout the caves as well.
As for where people relieved themselves, roaring fires were lit there too.
If it would not catch fire, no matter—the tribe had Beast Oil.
The able-bodied tribesmen, led by martial artists, also began searching everywhere for wood, piling it atop the hills surrounding the tribal mountain to dry.
If plague insects truly appeared, they would need to light enormous bonfires around the tribe to drive them away.
Huo Shan led the tribe's Mountain Opener realm martial artists toward the distant lands beyond the tribe.
Now that the floodwaters had receded, they first needed to inspect everything within a hundred li of the tribe.
If any powerful Desolate Beasts had been trapped nearby by the floods, then it was time to hunt them down.
They also needed to search for Desolate Beast carcasses buried beneath the silt and bury them properly, lest they become nourishment for plague insects.
The burial sites also had to be marked. Zhuosheng Grass, one of the main herbs used to prevent plague, often grew beside Desolate Beast bones.
Once it truly sprouted, the tribe would need to gather it and store it away.
Although the rain had only just stopped and plague insects had not yet arrived, preparations for the next outbreak still had to begin.
It could be said that the entire tribe had sprung into action.
Two days later.
Huo Shan returned quietly.
Then, after speaking to Huo Tang and Huo Xian, Huo Tang left.
Shen Can saw Huo Xian begin preparing the herbs used to neutralize beast blood, so he hurriedly took over the task.
Once again, under the cover of night, a Second-tier Desolate Beast fish covered in sword-like spikes was dragged into the ancestral temple.
Sacrificial Host plunders 230 years of lifespan from the Second-tier Sword-Pattern Fish.
This time, only two stone troughs of beast blood were collected. The beast blood was not left in the ancestral temple, but taken away directly by Huo Tang.
After dawn, Huo Tang returned dusty and travel-worn, dragging back a Mountain-Cleaving Kui. This Mountain-Cleaving Kui was in rather poor condition, and only one trough of beast blood was taken from it.
With a new sacrifice, the previous offering in the blood vessel had to be wiped clean as soon as possible according to custom.
Shen Can had originally wanted to steal some, but then he thought there was no reason for Huo Tang to hide the Second-tier strange fish. He must have been guarding against something.
Thus, he wiped away all the beast blood inside the blood vessel and filled it with the Mountain-Cleaving Kui's blood.
Huo Xian, who had been about to remind him of something, saw Shen Can use up the beast blood in the blood vessel and nodded. "Keep the matter of obtaining the Second-tier Desolate Beast secret. Don't tell the tribesmen."
Shen Can understood. With lifespan in hand, his thoughts turned to deducing a First-Order neutralizing witchcraft medicine formula.
A day later.
"Roar!"
A beast's roar rang out beyond the cave, instantly drawing out the tribesmen.
A six-zhang Mountain-Cleaving Kui stood there, radiating intense killing intent from its entire body.
Unlike its kin that had been starved until they were skin and bones during the flood, this Mountain-Cleaving Kui possessed a powerful aura, its scales and fur glossy with oil.
Thick chains were fastened around its neck and through its nose, and the end of the chain rested in the hand of a martial artist seated on its back.
The martial artist was tall and powerfully built, his nostrils pointing toward the sky. A thread of blood aura flickered faintly around his arm.
"Huo Tang, why aren't you receiving your guest?"
Before you continue