A Third-tier Desolate Beast was not easy for a small tribe like Blazing Flame to acquire.
The tribal records stated that the third-tier beast blood Huo Tang had used to advance had been hunted by the previous chieftain, who had exhausted every last ounce of strength before his death.
Four Mountain Opener realm martial artists had died, more than a dozen Stone Splitter Martial Artists had died, and dozens more had been injured.
If they had not used witch medicine to numb the strange fish, they would have had to use the old method to drag it ashore.
Once the strange fish struggled, whether there were casualties would depend on the tribesmen's luck.
Though the strange fish was struggling now as well, the movements were clearly much smaller, keeping everyone within a safe range.
"A-Can, what do you think?"
Huo Tang came over to Shen Can.
Previously, he and Shen Can had discussed hunting a Second-tier Desolate Beast to offer to the ancestors, using it as the spark to drive the tribe's reforms.
Who would have thought their luck would be so good? They had actually discovered a third-tier strange fish.
A Second-tier Desolate Beast would at most excite everyone, but a Third-tier Desolate Beast would raise the morale of the entire tribe.
Huo Tang had planned to beat the strange fish until it was barely clinging to life, drain more of its blood, and weaken it until it had only one breath left. Then they could drag it back to the tribe.
But Shen Can felt that since they were going to use it, they should use every last part of the fish.
How could one barely alive compare to bringing it back alive? That would inspire the tribesmen even more.
They could bring it back and raise it, then drug it unconscious again on the day they offered sacrifices to the ancestors.
They had medicine, so what was there to fear?
Besides, only Uncle Huo Shan in the tribe had any hope of advancing to the Celestial Meridian Realm.
But that hope was merely Huo Tang's speculation. Shen Can did not know just how great the gap between Huo Shan and the Celestial Meridian Realm truly was.
Third-tier beast blood was hard to obtain. For example, they could put Huo Shan, Huo Kui, and several veteran Mountain Opening Realm martial artists through intensive training, spend a month raising their strength to the utmost, then have them soak in beast blood.
At the very least, that should raise the odds of success somewhat, right?
The tribesmen watched the two whisper to each other for quite a while, then saw Huo Tang seize two jars of Mafeisan and walk toward the strange fish.
After pouring another two jars of Mafeisan down the strange fish's throat, he gave an order. "A-Kui, go back at once and tell the tribe to dig a large pit for raising fish."
"Raise fish?"
Huo Kui's gaze fell on the strange fish, his eyes widening into round circles.
The other tribesmen who heard Huo Tang's words wore the same expressions.
Was the chieftain talking about this third-tier strange fish?
Though the tribe had tried raising Desolate Beasts over the years, they had never considered raising a third-tier Desolate Beast.
It was far too sudden.
This was a third-tier strange fish.
"Go, now."
"Oh, oh!" Coming back to his senses, Huo Kui quickly ran toward the tribe.
"Get the hell out of the way! Are you waiting for the strange fish to recover and bite you?"
Seeing the tribesmen still gathered nearby, Huo Tang shouted, "Those with nothing to do, go catch the fish fry."
Other than the fish fry flung out by the strange fish's tail, those remaining in the pool had all floated to the surface as well.
There were seventeen fish fry in total. After catching them, they did not bleed them, mainly because Shen Can felt that since they had been numbed with medicine, bleeding them now might leave medicinal potency in their blood, which would not benefit the tribesmen's training.
Of the ninety jars of witch medicine Mafeisan, thirty-seven remained.
To transport the strange fish back to the tribe, the tribesmen felled huge trees and fashioned an enormous wooden frame, binding the strange fish atop it.
The Mountain Opening Realm tribesmen carried the frame, while Huo Tang personally gripped an ironwood spear and stood at the fish's head, both hands constantly holding the spear against its skull.
If the strange fish showed the slightest abnormal movement, he would send it on its way ahead of schedule.
On the journey back to the tribe, they poured Mafeisan into its gills three times a day, three jars each time.
The people on the road traveled day and night without rest, keeping their heads down as they hurried back to the tribe.
Three days later, Blazing Flame Tribe.
Near dusk.
The bonfires had already been lit.
Shen Can had rushed back ahead of them and stood atop the city wall, gazing into the distance.
Tribesmen gathered around him, each one stirred with excitement as they craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to look afar.
A living third-tier strange fish!
When Huo Kui had returned ahead of time to deliver the news, the whole tribe had learned of it.
The ancestral temple had prepared new witch medicine and drugged a third-tier strange fish unconscious.
To a tribe without a Witchcraft Heritage, witches were incomparably mysterious in everyone's eyes.
First there had been witch talismans, and now even third-tier Desolate Beasts could be drugged unconscious. Shen Can became ever more mysterious and revered in their eyes.
"They're here!"
Someone on the city wall cried out.
In the distance, a group of people carried a wooden frame.
On the frame was a fish.
On the fish was Huo Tang.
Huo Tang had transformed into a fish-riding knight.
"Roar..."
Howls rose from the city wall as many tribesmen charged down it and rushed out of the city.
Fortunately, their minds were still working, and no one jumped straight off the wall.
A crowd poured out of the city. Before they could even approach the strange fish, intense Killing Intent surged toward them.
It pressed them back again and again, but the excitement on their faces could not be concealed. They wanted to crowd closer for another look.
For safety's sake, Huo Tang had no choice but to keep shouting at them.
Yet the tribesmen's eyes seemed nailed to the strange fish, utterly unable to move away.
Capturing a third-tier strange fish alive meant the tribe had found a way to capture third-tier Desolate Beasts.
More importantly, it meant there was a possibility of expanding the path of martial cultivation.
Everything was a sign that the tribe was growing stronger. Only when the tribe was strong could they live better.
Huo Shan and the other martial artists who had remained behind in the tribe rushed over, took hold of the carrying poles, and laughed as they headed into the tribe.
"Witch!"
"A-Can!"
Suddenly, a tribesman pointed at Shen Can on the city wall, and the crowd began shouting one after another.
"Tribal Witch!"
"Ancestral Temple!"
"Blazing Flame!"
All sorts of names burst forth at once. Some tribesmen rushed up the city wall, hoisted Shen Can onto their shoulders, and ran toward the tribe.
"Give him to me, let me carry him for a while."
Those who could not compete for the right to carry the strange fish began competing to carry Shen Can.
Those who could not get Shen Can carried the tribe's children instead.
Together, they surrounded the strange fish and entered the tribe, placing it into the deep pond they had dug out.
Even then, they were not done. Carrying Shen Can and the children, everyone circled the pond from afar.
"To have hunted this third-tier strange fish so easily, brought it back alive, and kept even a single tribesman from being injured, it was all because of our tribe's witch."
Seeing the strange fish enter the water, Huo Tang finally let out a breath.
Watching the tribesmen gather together in wild excitement, he said, "Tonight, eat and drink to your hearts' content! Celebrate our witch for capturing the tribe's first living third-tier Desolate Beast."
"Uh... put the witch down first. He's slight of build."
That night.
The bonfires of Blazing Flame Tribe blazed fiercely, bright as day.
Fish and beast meat sizzled on roasting racks, grease dripping into the flames with crackling bursts as rich aromas filled the air.
"Come on, let me pinch you once."
Beside the bonfires, the children's shrieks rang out as they ran about.
Shen Can was surrounded by people as well.
"Come quickly, let the ancestral temple touch your head."
"One at a time."
The tribe had alcohol, though it tasted somewhat bitter and was produced in small quantities.
Smiling, Shen Can had the children before him line up and patted their heads one by one.
Happy times were short. The women, full from food and drink, carried their children away, leaving behind a group of fellows howling like ghosts and wolves before the bonfires.
Others gathered by the fires to wrestle, drawing waves of cheers from the crowd.
"I'll set out tonight and carry back more witch medicine."
By the bonfire, Huo Tang came over to Shen Can and spoke.
To keep the third-tier strange fish obedient, they needed enough Mafeisan.
They had not brought much Mafeisan back this time. To ensure the strange fish remained docile until the ancestral sacrifice, Huo Tang planned to head out and scour some tribes for more.
Why was he going?
He was fast.
Huo Shan and the others needed to undergo intensive training with Shen Can.
In the blink of an eye.
More than a month passed.
Inside the ancestral temple.
Huo Shan, Huo Kui, and Huo Qi radiated powerful auras.
After receiving Shen Can's focused attention, both Huo Shan and Huo Kui could now draw the old bow Huo Tang had used before advancing to the Celestial Meridian Realm.
Huo Qi was still somewhat lacking.
"A-Can, when will we offer sacrifices to the ancestors and draw the blood?"
Huo Shan spoke first, his gaze eager.
"I've already discussed it with the chieftain. We'll offer sacrifices to the ancestors in three days."
"However, I hope Uncle Huo Shan will give up this chance to soak in beast blood."
Shen Can spoke.
Huo Tang's wooden bow from before he reached the Celestial Meridian Realm had long been drawable by Huo Shan before Huo Shan's intensive training began.
That was also why Huo Tang believed Huo Shan had hope of advancing to the Celestial Meridian Realm.
But after a month of consuming Second-tier Desolate Beasts without regard for cost, Uncle Huo Shan's inner strength had increased markedly once again.
Thus, Shen Can came to a speculation: there was actually a range between the Mountain Opening Realm and advancing to the Celestial Meridian Realm.
Huo Shan's previous strength was very likely the lower limit at which the body could generate vital blood.
The past chieftains of Blazing Flame had all broken through at that lower limit, only to make no further progress after reaching the Celestial Meridian Realm.
There had been no choice before, but Shen Can felt that now they could choose.
Three days later, early in the morning.
Huo Shan led people in throwing Mafeisan into the pond.
"It went over! It went over!"
The enormous fish body rolled sideways across the surface. Huo Shan laughed loudly and called for the tribesmen to bring up the ropes.
Whooo!
A horn sounded outside the ancestral temple, stirring everyone in the tribe.
It was Huo Xian.
No one knew where Huo Xian had found a cow-horn bugle, but he stood facing the rising sun and blew it.
Today, Shen Can wore a dark-blue hemp robe, with a string of beast fangs hanging around his neck. They clinked as he walked.
Chants rose from the foot of the mountain. Huo Shan had already lifted the strange fish onto its wooden frame.
Over the past month, broad stone steps had been carved into the mountainside between the tribal city below and the ancestral temple, along with a small stone platform plaza.
Huo Tang had also arrived on the stone platform.
Shen Can watched the third-tier strange fish being carried up from below. He was simply waiting for the strange fish's lifespan to go into the pot.
"Can you pierce its neck? Do you need help?"
"No need. As a witch, I don't just know how to administer medicine. I also know a little about fists, kicks, blades, and spears."
Huo Tang said nothing. He merely glanced sideways at Shen Can's slight frame, then at the third-tier strange fish.
"..."
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