"A-Can, what brought you here?"
Seeing Shen Can come to his door for the first time, Huo Tang was quite pleased.
Before, he had always needed to call for A-Can before he came, and even then, he seemed distant and detached.
"Chief, what's the situation outside?"
"Very bad."
"Huo Shan has sent back news from the Ji Stone Tribe. Their situation is much the same as Yan Mountain's."
"More distant tribes will need more time.
But aside from the Shanghuang Tribe, the strength of the surrounding tribes is more or less the same. The strong ones are not much stronger, and the weak ones are not much weaker.
Fu Shan, Ji Stone, and Yan Mountain could not hold on. The other tribes will likely be the same. Next, the Possessing Plague Worms will sweep across the area on a massive scale."
Huo Tang's expression was grave. The Blazing Flame Tribe might have withstood the plague worms.
But once the entire surrounding region became a plague zone, they would become like a bonfire in the night—far too conspicuous.
What Huo Tang was thinking was also what Shen Can had thought of. Otherwise, he would not have come looking for Huo Tang.
The Blazing Flame Tribe faced a tremendous crisis ahead.
If infected possessed humans besieged the Blazing Flame Tribe, even with shamanic talismans, safety would not be guaranteed.
"I have already sent Huo Kui near Yan Mountain. Once the Possessing Plague Worms leave, he will retrieve the Yan Mountain Tribe's resources."
"Chief, let's build a city."
"Carve mountains into towers, pile stone into walls."
"Dig trenches beyond the walls and turn them into rivers."
Outside Juyue Mountain, small peaks stood everywhere, like a hundred thousand mountains.
Building a city would be easy. With Tribal Land Mountain at its center, they could select four mountains around it as the corners, then dig trenches between the mountains to serve as moats.
The Blazing Flame Tribe and other tribes could carve out mountains and dig caves, quarry stone and build houses, so why had they never constructed walls around themselves?
One major reason was that city walls were of little use.
A single wild beast could smash a wall to pieces.
Months of roaring mountain floods could wash it straight down.
Mountains rising from the earth, on the other hand, grew deep into the ground, stable and solid.
When the Possessing Plague Worms attacked last time, the possessed people could fly, but Shen Can had seen clearly that aside from the plague birds, none of them flew higher than five zhang. It was more like leaping and diving.
As for whether city walls could stop wild beasts and martial artists, that was a matter for later.
Once the shamanic talismans he controlled became more comprehensive, he could simply inscribe them directly onto the walls.
Rice had to be eaten one bite at a time. They could take it slowly. At the very least, plague worms would not gnaw through walls, and walls would be enough to stop possessed humans.
"A-Can, how about you become chief?"
Shen Can, who had been waiting for Huo Tang's decision, had not expected Huo Tang to give him such a fright.
He backed away again and again in alarm.
Just as he had expected.
Chief? He would never do it.
Floods and plagues—two disasters had struck before even a year had passed. Who knew what other calamities lay ahead?
The position of chief was purely a drain on one's lifespan.
He could squander that of wild beasts, but his own was too precious.
"Well, Chief, I am the Ancestral Temple Keeper. In this life, all I want is to serve the ancestors well. I seek nothing else."
Seeing Shen Can wave his hands repeatedly, Huo Tang was somewhat disappointed.
"Also, take out all the tribe's stored meat, along with the meat brought back from Fu Shan and the other tribes, and use it all as cultivation resources."
"What if we eat it all? You have no idea how much the clansmen can eat."
Huo Tang thought of the tribe's big eaters. If not for their tradition of storing food—
Once the clansmen let themselves eat freely, no amount would be enough to fill them.
"Chief, now you're being too conservative."
Shen Can said, "I have never heard of a tribe in the Great Wilderness where martial artists still went hungry."
"Look at the Fu Shan Tribe. Their meat was not even finished, but their people were gone."
"First, we get through the plague. With martial artists, could we still go hungry?"
Huo Tang was not miserly. It was simply that habits formed over many years had not changed.
This included the clansmen. The notion most deeply etched into their hearts was to stockpile grain, meat, and medicine during good times, in preparation for natural and man-made disasters.
Yet in Shen Can's view, Huo Tang was ambitious as well.
Otherwise, he would not have sent Huo Shan out to spy on other tribes immediately after the floods.
Not to mention taking advantage of the other tribes huddling inside their settlements to avoid the plague worms, and hunting all the remaining wild beasts in their hunting grounds first.
Previously, Shen Can had wondered whether the Shanghuang Tribe would come knocking after discovering the matter of shamanic arts. But just moments ago, after his thoughts shifted, his attitude had changed as well.
Once the plague passed, even if the Shanghuang Tribe came looking for trouble, he might not fear them as he had before.
"Chief, after moving away all that beast blood, just how many clansmen advanced to Mountain Opening in secret?"
Although Shen Can had seen many clansmen reveal their strength during the battle against the Possessing Plague Worms, there was no obvious distinction between Mountain Opening and Stone Splitter. Without a careful examination, it was hard to tell.
"Eight people soaked in beast blood. Seven succeeded, and one failed."
Huo Tang did not hide it.
The tribe originally had thirteen Mountain Opener realm martial artists, four of whom were old.
Of those four elderly Mountain Openers, two were about the same age as Huo Xian. Their current duty was to look after children.
It could be said that they only retained the title of Mountain Opener.
Excluding those four elderly clansmen, there were currently sixteen Mountain Opener realm martial artists in their prime.
"The number of Stone Splitter Realm martial artists has increased to one hundred and eighty-nine."
"Thanks to the ancestors' protection, and the improved fist technique and medicinal formula, the tribe's number of martial artists was able to increase so greatly in such a short time."
As he spoke, Huo Tang looked toward Shen Can.
The ancestors had manifested, A-Can had become a shaman, and after living through decades of wind and frost, he had seen plenty.
All these changes had appeared after Shen Can entered the ancestral temple.
He could not help but think deeply about it.
But thoughts were just thoughts. Huo Tang had no intention of getting to the bottom of things.
Some matters could not be pursued. His years of experience as chief had taught him that one could not be a good chief without being deaf and mute at times.
Otherwise, even one small matter from each of more than two thousand clansmen would crush him.
"It is time to take out all the meat. The clansmen who could advance to Mountain Opening have mostly already done so.
The rest are still a little short in their vital force. Even if they soak in beast blood, their chances of succeeding will not be high."
The Blazing Flame Tribe's foundation had not yet reached the point where they could pull out anyone at random, have them soak in beast blood, and advance to Mountain Opening.
They had likely already exhausted the brief benefits brought by the improved Kui Ox Fist and medicinal formula.
Even with the improved opportunities before them, the remaining clansmen were still a little lacking in raw strength. They needed time to settle and accumulate.
Unfortunately, disasters came one after another. The Great Wilderness truly was a wonderful place.
They could only cultivate while working.
"Chief, the aunties in the tribe are not weak either. Now that they cannot go out gathering, and we have gathered the resources of Fu Shan and the other tribes, there is no rush for all that crafting and repairing.
Since the uncles are busy outside, the aunties can completely step in."
The women of the tribe were all exceptional, and Shen Can knew that deeply.
In the past, because meat was scarce, tribal martial cultivation had mostly favored men.
In Shen Can's view, if the aunties were not allowed to go out hunting, they could still assist in defending the tribe.
The root of it all was a lack of resources.
Now that the Yan Mountain Tribe's stores were nearly brought back, the combined reserves of the Blazing Flame, Fu Shan, and Yan Mountain Tribes were more than enough to let the Blazing Flame Tribe's clansmen eat their fill.
The beginning of martial cultivation came down to eating.
As for what they would do after eating it all?
I've damned well made the whole tribe practice martial arts. If I still can't eat my fill, then I'll be very unhappy.
That very day, after their discussion, Huo Tang made arrangements in the chief's name and set the tribe to work.
As chief, he even personally became a stone quarrying machine.
At the southwestern corner, five li in a straight line from the tribe's mountain, stood a small hill only a little over fifty zhang tall.
With one strike from Huo Tang, the little mountain rumbled. Cracks snaked outward, and shattered stones came tumbling down in a clatter.
For Great Wilderness martial artists, splitting mountains for stone was an easy matter. They were strong, and they simply charged through everything head-on.
This was also one reason everyone disdained building cities.
Unless it was ore, ordinary stone was simply too soft.
Still, it was enough to guard against the Possessing Plague Worms.
Once the rubble settled, Shen Can walked forward before he could even make a move.
"Ancestral Temple Keeper, you're frail. Let us do it."
A brawny auntie spoke. She stood two meters tall and hoisted up a massive boulder before walking away.
There were many women around with strong, healthy physiques, and they all began hauling stone.
"That's right, Ancestral Temple Keeper. You're so small. How can we let a shaman do this sort of work?"
The words "frail" and "small" kept pouring into his ears. Shen Can turned around and leaped onto A'Yu's back.
"A'Yu, let's go."
Inside the ancestral temple.
Shen Can threw punches like a kui ox, each one stirring gusts of wind.
With no plague worms to fend off, even while patrolling the tribe, he had not missed his three daily rounds of Kui Ox Fist.
A'Yu practiced fist techniques at the side as well.
Shen Can had already taught A'Yu the Superior Kui Ox Fist. His movements were somewhat clumsy, and he was still in the stage of comprehending it anew after learning it.
Naturally, Shen Can had taught him under the guise of giving pointers and had not told A'Yu the specifics.
From Shen Can's observations, the Superior Kui Ox Fist's effect on A'Yu was quite far behind its effect on him, but it was still a huge improvement over the mid-grade version.
This should be related to the divine ability Myriad Transformations to One.
A'Yu was only the beginning. Shen Can planned to pass down the Superior Kui Ox Fist without anyone noticing.
With the influence he currently held in the tribe, he no longer needed to make the ancestors crack open in order to do this.
The ancestors did not have it easy either.
Before you continue