Liu Ting walked at the head of the group, pointing to the river in the distance. "That is the Ancient River, the source of life for this oasis. Its waters come from melted snow gathered from the snowy mountains deep within the Ancient Baleful Battlefield. Once purified by the barrier, the water can be drunk directly."
The others followed him upstream along the riverbank.
The scenery grew more beautiful as they ventured farther into the oasis. Lush grass covered the ground, dense woods rose around them, and occasionally, small beasts darted through the undergrowth, startling flocks of birds into flight.
After walking upstream along the Ancient River for roughly an hour, they began encountering members of the Ancient Clan.
This was Lin Qing's first time seeing these descendants of ancient tribes, and he could not help stopping to take a closer look.
The Ancient Clan members were exceptionally tall, generally standing over two meters. The men were as burly as mountains, while the women were also tall and powerfully built. Their bronze skin shone with a healthy luster.
Their features were rugged and resolute, with high cheekbones, straight noses, and deep-set eyes.
Most remarkable of all was the yellow marking on their foreheads. Like a slender bolt of lightning, it glowed faintly in the sunlight.
Liu Ting told him that these were the Ancient Clan's bloodline marks, symbols they were born with and the source of their strength.
At that, everyone turned to Li Jiuchong. He, too, had a yellow divine marking on his forehead.
"Don't look at me like that. My bloodline merely reverted to its ancestral form. Who among us isn't a descendant of the ancient human race?" Li Jiuchong said with a slight frown.
Only then did everyone look away.
Life among the Ancient Clan was far