Thoughts of Relocating the Tribe

"A-Can, you're saying this is a blade from the Ling Yu Tribe?"

Huo Tang was startled.

After a long while.

"It really is Ling Yu."

He thought of the giant wave-riding ships the remnants of Shi Fu had mentioned before, capturing people and hunting beasts.

The remnants of weapons on this water beast bore traces of the Ling Yu Tribe, showing that it had previously escaped the Ling Yu Tribe's encirclement by sheer luck.

It further confirmed that the Ling Yu Tribe had been hunting water beasts and capturing their fellow clansmen from other tribes.

"Heh... In the eyes of the Upper Tribe, we're probably all savages. What fellowship could there be between kin?"

Huo Tang suddenly mocked himself. The tales of the Ling Yu Upper Tribe passed down through the tribe for hundreds of years left an indescribable feeling in his heart.

Shen Can stroked the Broken Blade, carefully examining the altered shamanic script upon it.

As expected, learning by stealing was the fastest way.

So the shamanic script changed in ten thousand ways yet never strayed from its root. Though the characters seemed distorted, their meaning remained unchanged, only becoming better suited to the blade they were attached to.

Buzz!

Then, he lightly tapped the broken blade with his finger.

The black Broken Blade, speckled with golden points, suddenly lit with black radiance. Wisps of water vapor gathered outside the blade into a stream, then slashed fiercely outward.

Rumble!

The water blade tore through the air and blasted into the solid ceiling of the cave. With a rumble, shattered rocks came crashing down.

The two of them fled in all directions, clutching their heads like rats.

"What happened? What happened?!"

The commotion startled Huo Xian in the ear cave and Huo Yu guarding outside. One headed out while the other rushed in.

"An earthquake!"

Huo Yu shouted while clutching his head. "Brother Can, Clan Chief Uncle, Grandpa Huo Xian, run!"

Pfft, pfft!

Huo Tang wiped dust from his mouth, grabbed the shouting Huo Yu, and looked at Shen Can. "A-Can, was that shamanic sorcery?"

Fortunately, Shen Can had restrained himself the instant he sensed something amiss. Not many rocks had fallen, and the ancestral temple cave was unharmed.

Otherwise, if they buried their ancestors, would other tribes not laugh themselves to death over it in the future?

Shen Can emerged again inside the cave, a layer of watery light wrapped around him, not a speck of dust touching his body.

Rather than answer Huo Tang's question, he handed the blade over. "Clan Chief, try channeling blood energy into this blade."

Huo Tang accepted the Broken Blade. A thread of blood energy surged from his palm into the blade.

Buzz!

Driven by the blood energy, the shamanic script on the blade lit up as though entwined with a streak of bloody flowing light.

Seeing the strange sight upon the blade, Huo Tang's eyes went wide and straight. Only after the bloody glow faded did he come back to himself.

"We really are savages."

"Clan Chief Uncle, how are we savages?" Huo Yu's clear eyes displayed their utter innocence.

"This child." Huo Tang suddenly laughed.

He handed the Broken Blade back to Shen Can and said, "Was this a shamanic weapon forged by the Ling Yu Upper Tribe for Heaven Vein Warriors within their tribe?"

"Most likely."

Shen Can nodded, then said, "Even shamanic weapons forged by the Upper Tribe can break. That is rather hard to understand. It seems the Upper Tribe is not an all-powerful existence either."

"How many years has the Upper Tribe been passed down for? Generation after generation, we've listened to tales of them. It's not strange that they have shamanic weapons."

Huo Tang had also gathered his emotions. "In the future, we'll have shamanic weapons of our own too."

Once he came back to his senses, he shifted his thoughts to the use of this harvest.

"A-Can, with the beast blood we brought back this time, do you think Huo Shan and Huo Qi can advance into the Heaven Vein now?"

"Not for now. Since it is blood from an aberrant species, it should keep for longer. The vital force of Clan Uncles Huo Shan and Huo Qi at the Mountain Opening Realm has yet to increase to its limit."

"It's still increasing?"

Huo Tang was startled. Then he instinctively turned away, a trace of gloom appearing in his eyes.

Yet that gloom vanished in a flash.

"Good! Those two fellows have truly gotten lucky, catching a good time. And I still have to personally hunt beasts to support their cultivation."

"If they can still increase their strength, then keep increasing it. Once someone advances into the Heaven Vein like I did, that is all they'll ever be for the rest of their life."

Then Huo Tang changed the subject. "This time, when we hunted water beasts in the eastern marshes, the Mafeisan you prepared was of great use.

Some tribesmen said we might as well specialize in hunting aquatic desolate beasts. Some even suggested moving the tribe over there."

In the Great Desolation, no tribe clung to its homeland. If they could survive beneath natural disasters, migration was an extremely common thing.

"Clan Chief, how many jars of Mafeisan did we use this time?"

"All sixty jars we brought were used."

Shen Can nodded. He then asked Huo Tang about the process of hunting that water beast, becoming even more certain that the medicinal effect was still somewhat weak.

"There is no problem with moving to the Waterside Land. I'm only afraid another flood might break out." Huo Xian said this.

One flood had caused Da Ye Marsh to pour backward for two thousand li.

After hearing Huo Tang say that the Ling Yu Upper Tribe had come by ship to hunt, worry immediately rose in his heart.

"Old Clan Uncle, how could there be so many floods? Besides, the Ling Yu Tribe has already captured nearly all the nearby tribes.

First, the plague ravaged the land and the tribes withered away. For the scattered people left in a few tribes, sending a fleet across ten thousand li would not even recover the cost for the Ling Yu Tribe.

If the Upper Tribe scraped even the ground clean like this, would they not work themselves to death? It's like planting grain; they have to wait for a new harvest season. That would take at least several decades, perhaps a century."

Huo Tang explained, though he too leaned toward relocating the tribe.

"If it allows us to develop better, I agree to relocate the tribe's settlement."

Shen Can voiced his agreement. They had consecutively hunted two third-rank desolate beasts, and both had been aquatic desolate beasts.

Furthermore, the effect of Mafeisan had already become apparent. Though its potency was somewhat lacking, they could simply increase the dosage.

This was an advantage of the tribe. If they had an advantage and did not use it, would that not be foolish?

The Ling Yu Water Manipulation Manual he had comprehended gave him an even greater advantage where there was water.

Besides, according to Huo Tang's description, the Waterside Land was not entirely swamp. There were still mountains and forests to the north, where forest desolate beasts lived.

As for how to farm in the Waterside Land, they could search for aquatic wheat and millet, or even fill in the water to create farmland.

So long as it benefited the tribe's development, these were all small matters.

"I think we can thoroughly scout the areas around the Waterside Land and find a suitable foothold. Once everything is feasible, we can prepare to migrate."

"A-Can is right. There's no rush to migrate. I'll continue leading people to survey the shores of the eastern marshes. If there really are dangerous places, rashly moving there would put us in danger."

Just as Huo Tang was preparing to leave, Shen Can grabbed him.

"Clan Chief, you should eat the meat of third-rank desolate beasts. There is still flesh left from that strange fish last time. As a third-rank warrior, if you wish to go another step further, necessary outside supplementation is essential."

Before Huo Tang could refuse, Shen Can continued, "We'll have Martial Arts cultivation methods. Right now, there are only two Heaven Vein Warriors in the tribe—you and Clan Uncle Huo Kui. We can afford to support you.

Besides, with Mafeisan, once we finish eating it, we can just catch more."

Seeing that Shen Can still held onto his sleeve after finishing, Huo Tang said, "Fine, I'll eat it. Let go."

"Um, Clan Chief, I want you to fight Clan Uncle Huo Shan."

"Uh, how about we leave the tribe and fight in secret?"

"Call Clan Uncles Huo Kui and Huo Qi along too."

The next day.

Several figures sneaked out of the tribe and ran to a valley more than ten li away.

"Clan Chief, I won't hold back."

Huo Shan clenched his fists. A-Can had been suppressing his advancement into the Heaven Vein, and he had long understood the reason behind it.

If he wanted to become stronger as a Heaven Vein Warrior, then for now, he had to desperately increase his strength.

After cultivating for so long, Huo Shan felt that his current self could fight two of the selves he had been during the flood disaster.

Huo Qi had gained his own understanding as well. Before soaking in beast blood, he had felt that his vital force barely increased anymore.

Though soaking in beast blood had failed, over the following half year, he could once again feel his vital force growing.

"Get ready. If you win, you eat meat. If you lose, you roast meat."

Inside the valley, Shen Can sat cross-legged atop a massive rock.

A Beast Hide Scroll was spread across his legs, ready for him to record data, and there was also a small flag.

"Fight!"

Rumble!

Roars rang out through the valley—the sounds of fists colliding and bodies slamming against rock walls—continuing on and off for more than half an hour.

Shen Can was the first to walk out of the valley, a rolled Beast Hide Scroll tucked beneath his arm and a small flag in his hand.

Four bruised and swollen figures followed behind him.

Under cover of night, the four skirted the tribal city, crossed the mountain behind the tribal mountain, and returned to the tribe.

"Ow, Brother Huo Tang, we agreed not to hit faces." Huo Shan muttered, covering his left cheek.

"Who told you to shoot your mouth off? You even hit my eye."

Huo Tang had a black-red ring around one eye as he kneaded a medicinal pellet in his hand.

Inside the ear cave, Shen Can spread the data across the table and sorted through it.

"Huo Shan has roughly forty-nine units of Desolate Power. He fought Clan Uncle Huo Kui, who had just entered the Heaven Vein, to a draw, but he couldn't beat Huo Tang."

Under the night sky.

At the eastern marshes, outside the pond where the water beast had been hunted, water gurgled and rushed.

Among the shallow waters, aquatic grass grew lushly, and a shadow appeared amidst the weeds.

The figure moved through the shallows, slowly rising from the water until a pair of legs that walked upright emerged.

From beneath a faintly glowing fish head, two arms stretched out. It quickly stepped free of the water, revealing a middle-aged human face.

Its nostrils flared as it sniffed. It walked to the edge of the previously excavated pond, its two eyes examining the half-filled artificial channel.

As it muttered under its breath, the fine scales covering its body rapidly sank into its flesh, and it transformed back into human form.

A stream of water circled its body like a pouring pillar, surging and twisting.

"There's another tribe nearby."

Surprise appeared on Wu Zhiqi's face.

After circling the pond and sniffing around it, he stood in water up to his knees and began twisting his body. Fine scales grew across him one after another, and he bent over before diving into the water.