Rain Stops, Curing the Plague

Sweeping and tidying the Ancestral Temple.

Cleaning the divine seats.

Stealing ancestral offerings of beast blood to soak rice.

The taste was a bit lacking, but the daily increase in perceived strength fascinated Shen Can.

Today, the rain was still falling.

Another crop of mushrooms had grown in the cave.

Ever since deducing the improved Plague Witchcraft Medicine Formula, Shen Can's focus had been on cultivation.

His strength was increasing rapidly. Myriad Transformations to One allowed him to convert all the food he ate into his own strength.

He now possessed Four Desolates of Power.

To advance to the Mountain Opening Realm, he estimated he would need Nine Desolates of Power.

At the entrance to the Ancestral Temple cave.

"Brother A-Can, next time there's beast blood, I'll be able to become a Stone Splitter Realm martial artist."

A'Yu, whom he hadn't seen in many days, arrived at the Ancestral Temple, excitedly sharing his joy. "Once I become a martial artist, I'll definitely hunt a desolate beast to offer to the ancestors."

The two first-tier desolate beasts brought back by the tribe leader Huo Tang previously had their beast blood used to create five more Stone Splitter Realm martial artists in the tribe.

The tribesmen preparing to become martial artists had all cultivated the Kui Ox Fist for at least ten or eight years.

Now, after cultivating the improved Kui Ox Fist, the results were surprisingly good.

According to the list in Huo Xian's hand, A'Yu was next in line for beast blood from a Stone Splitter Realm creature.

A'Yu's talent was quite good, surpassing many tribesmen in their thirties, making him a late bloomer.

As for how he surpassed them, it was naturally through fighting.

With the heavy rain pouring down, everyone was stuck indoors, either wrestling in their caves or on their sleeping mats.

"Brother A-Can, this is for you."

After a brief chat, A'Yu took out a packet with a strange smell from his embrace and stuffed it into Shen Can's arms.

The item was wrapped in animal hide. Upon opening it, Shen Can found several pieces of dried desolate beast meat.

"I'm about to soak in beast blood, so I don't need this."

Shen Can didn't refuse and tucked it back under his arm.

"Brother A-Can, I'm heading back."

Shen Can walked into the cave, clutching the dried meat. His ancestors weren't as motivated as his little brother, it seemed he needed to lecture them.

On the 127th day of continuous rain.

Shen Can possessed Five Desolates of Power.

Early in the morning, as he was sweeping the Ancestral Temple and cleaning mushrooms, movement could be heard outside the cave.

"The rain has lessened!"

"The floodwaters have receded."

The commotion immediately echoed throughout the tribe.

The former floodwaters' edge at the foot of the mountain had receded by two zhang.

Huo Xian, for the first time in a while, emerged from the Ancestral Temple and went to observe the water's edge. A wooden stake had been placed at the original water line.

Three days later, the floodwaters had receded by eleven zhang.

Five days later, the new water's edge was thirty zhang away from the wooden stake.

Even though there was still sparse rain outside, Huo Xian, after observing from the water's edge, returned to discuss matters with Huo Tang.

Soon, bonfires were lit in various caves throughout the tribe.

Baskets of medicinal herbs were brought out from the storage mine and handed to the tribesmen.

The tribesmen were instructed to guard the bonfires, slowly driving out the moisture from the herbs.

Into the bonfires, stalks of Aihuo Grass were occasionally added. When burned, they emitted a fragrant smoky vapor that filled all the caves.

Huo Xian and Shen Can began to busy themselves.

Large copper pots were placed over the bonfires. Shen Can poured the prepared medicinal herbs into the pots to boil. The tribe's elderly, weak, women, and children began to drink the mixture.

The tribal women, leaning by the bonfires, watched over the herbs being roasted, while also grinding some of the herbs into a paste to form medicinal balls.

From the children and women to the tribal warriors, everyone received a medicinal ball to wear on their person.

Shen Can was also making the balls, grinding the herbs into powder, adding water to knead them, and rolling them into balls by hand before gently drying them by the bonfire.

Soon, the caves, large and small, where the tribe resided were filled with the strong scent of medicine.

The children were confined to the caves, and the even younger ones were placed directly into the woven baskets containing the medicinal herbs.

Everyone felt like they were facing a formidable enemy.

Two more days passed.

The sun came out.

This was the first time Shen Can had seen the sun since arriving in this world.

The rain had truly stopped.

Although the floodwaters hadn't completely receded, they decreased every day.

The areas where the water had receded were covered in mud. Almost everywhere that had been submerged was bare, devoid of any plants or trees.

The Ancestral Temple cave.

Shen Can, with his hands stained black from preparing the medicinal pills, was gulping down the medicinal soup from a large pottery bowl.

This medicinal soup was the plague-curing formula he had improved.

From now on, everyone in the tribe, from top to bottom, would drink a bowl daily.

The bonfire was no longer extinguished; they continuously boiled the medicine.

Initially, Shen Can had wanted to show off his suggestions, like maintaining ventilation and hygiene.

But upon seeing the situation, he realized it was unnecessary.

After the sun came out, the rock walls outside the cave were covered with animal hides being dried.

Not only were they dried, but they were also fumigated with medicine.

The tribe's cave dwellings, inside and out, were thoroughly scorched by the tribespeople. The mountains outside the cave entrances were also entirely within the range of the scorching.

The leftover medicinal dregs from each day's decoction were scattered throughout the caves.

As for the latrines, blazing fires had been lit there.

If they couldn't light a fire, it didn't matter; the tribe had animal oil.

Under the leadership of the martial artists, the strong adult tribespeople also began searching everywhere for wood, piling it on the mountains surrounding the tribe's mountain to dry.

Once plague insects appeared, they would need to light huge bonfires around the tribe to drive them away.

Huo Tang, along with the tribe's Mountain Opening Realm martial artists, began heading far away from the tribe.

Now that the floodwaters had receded, their first priority was to inspect a hundred-mile radius around the tribe.

If any powerful desolate beasts were trapped nearby by the flood, this was the time to hunt them.

Additionally, they needed to search for the bones of desolate beasts buried by the mud and then bury them to prevent them from becoming nourishment for plague insects.

The burial sites also needed to be marked, as Zhuosheng Grass, a primary ingredient for preventing plagues, often grew near the bones of desolate beasts.

When it truly grew, the tribe would need to come and harvest it for their reserves.

Although the heavy rain had just stopped and the plague insects hadn't arrived yet, preparations for the next plague were already underway.

It could be said that the entire tribe had mobilized.

Two days later.

Huo Tang returned quietly.

After that, Huo Xian said goodbye to Huo Tang and then went out.

Shen Can saw Huo Xian preparing the medicinal ingredients to neutralize the beast blood, and he busied himself taking over the task.

Under the cover of night, a second-tier strange fish, its body covered in sword-like spikes, was dragged into the Ancestral Temple.

[Sacrificial Host plundered 230 years of Lifespan from a second-tier Sword-Pattern Fish.]

This time, only two stone troughs of beast blood were collected. The beast blood was not placed in the Ancestral Temple but was directly taken away by Huo Tang.

When morning came, Huo Tang returned, dust-covered, carrying a Mountain-Cleaving Kui. This Mountain-Cleaving Kui was in poor condition, and only one trough of beast blood was extracted.

With a new sacrifice, the previous sacrifice in the blood goblet had to be wiped clean as soon as possible according to the rules.

Shen Can had thought about stealing some, but he felt there was no reason for Huo Tang to hide the second-tier strange fish; he must have been guarding against something.

Therefore, he wiped clean all the beast blood in the blood goblet and replaced it with the blood of the Mountain-Cleaving Kui.

Huo Xian, who was about to speak and give instructions, nodded when he saw Shen Can consume the beast blood in the blood goblet. "The matter of obtaining a second-tier desolate beast must be kept secret; do not tell the tribespeople."

Shen Can understood. With the acquired Lifespan, his focus shifted to deducing the first-tier neutralizing witchcraft formula.

A day later.

"Roar!"

A beast roar sounded outside the cave, immediately drawing out the tribespeople.

A six-zhang-sized Mountain-Cleaving Kui, exuding a strong aura of ferocity, appeared.

Unlike its kin who were emaciated from starvation during the flood, this Mountain-Cleaving Kui possessed a powerful aura, its scales and fur glossy.

Thick chains were fastened to its neck and nose, with the final chain held by a martial artist standing on its back.

This martial artist was tall and robust, with his nostrils flared upwards. A faint trace of blood energy could be seen flickering on his arm.

"Huo Tang, why aren't you welcoming our guest!"