The Strength Gu Tribe

Arrows fired at close range travel faster, carrying the force to pierce gold and shatter stone, and hurtle toward Lina's chest.

"Bite!"

Lina flicked her finger at the arrowhead, effortlessly deflecting the arrow.

She glanced back at her simple-minded little apprentice, as well as Xu Qi'an Nanzhi, her face flushed with embarrassment. She raised her eyebrows and angrily said:

"You're asking for it!"

With explosive power, his long legs sprang into the air, and a spinning kick sent the young archer flying.

Before the other square-faced man could draw his bone knife, she twisted her waist and swung her arm, sweeping out a half-circle with her right arm, slapping the square-faced man so hard he spun around twice on the spot, collapsing to the ground seeing stars.

The two young men from the Power Gu tribe, despite being beaten, were completely unharmed and quickly stood up. The young man who had shot the arrow stared at Lina suspiciously.

"It really is Lina! How come you've become as fair-skinned as a woman from the Central Plains?"

Once they exchange blows, it's immediately clear whether they're from the same race.

The speed of the kick and the precision of the slap were unmistakable.

The square-faced man added:

"And she's gained weight."

Southern Frontier has a hot climate and strong ultraviolet radiation, resulting in dark skin among the Southern Frontier people living there, with the women often having a wheat-colored complexion.

However, Lina had been recuperating at the Xu Residence for more than half a year, avoiding the damage from ultraviolet rays. In addition, she had secretly eaten her aunt's anti-aging pills, resulting in fair and delicate skin, which was quite different from the two young Gu clan members.

"Don't you recognize my face?" Lina asked, hands on her hips.

"Maybe it's a disguise!"

The archer retorted, then gave two smug "humphs":

"I was just testing your skills. The real Lina can definitely catch my arrow."

Lina choked for a moment, speechless, and turned to Xu Qi'an and the others, saying:

"It's alright, it's alright. The people of my Li Gu tribe are always cautious and intelligent. They were just testing me."

No, would people from the Central Plains even know their names? Besides, if it were really a disguise, who would disguise a person from the Southern Frontier as having fair skin and a beautiful appearance? Wouldn't that be blatant flaunting? Xu Qi'an was full of complaints.

Xu Lingyin let out a loud "Ah~", her face filled with lingering fear:

"Fortunately, Master, you are a true native of Southern Frontier."

Seeing the fear on the face of the girl from the Central Plains, the young archer revealed a smug expression and said:

"Lina, who are they?"

"She was my apprentice whom I took in during the Central Plains period. This is my apprentice's older brother. When I was in the capital, I was fortunate to receive their care."

Lina introduced Xu Qi'an and Xu Lingyin to the two clansmen, ignoring Mu Nanzhi because she wasn't familiar with her.

Through her introduction, Xu Qi'an also learned the names of the two young Gu clan members.

The young man shooting arrows was called Tu Long. He had long, slender arms and well-proportioned muscles, and was clearly a natural-born archer.

A young man with a square face is called "Wood" because his face was square-shaped when he was born, which is why his parents named him "Wood".

"My apprentice?"

Mu Tou was shocked. "You are the clan chief's daughter, how can you take on a disciple without permission, especially a person from the Central Plains? The elders will beat you."

Tu Long frowned deeply; although he didn't echo the sentiment, his extreme dissatisfaction was evident.

The Gu Clan's secret techniques are not passed on to outsiders. Even among the seven tribes, they cherish their knowledge and hold onto their own sectarian views.

Moreover, taking a girl from the Central Plains as an apprentice is clearly a violation of clan rules and a major taboo for the Gu clan.

"I'm not afraid of them at all. The elders are fourth-rank, and so am I. It's not certain who will win."

Lina snorted coldly, "Which old bastard dares to lay a hand on me? I'll kill them all with one punch each."

"The clan leader will be the first to hit you!"

Wood's tone was serious.

After a while, the two of them realized what was happening at the same time and exclaimed in surprise:

"You've been promoted to the fourth rank?"

Lina, before she could even feel smug, shouted:

"The disciple I've taken on is a genius, one in ten thousand, a genius rarely seen in a millennium, a genius unlike any ever recorded in history."

She tried her best to describe Xu Lingyin using her limited vocabulary.

Wood and Earth Dragon stopped, glanced at the adorable little bean, and asked:

"A genius? How many bowls of rice can he eat in one meal?"

Lina snorted:

"Lingyin can eat ten bowls in one meal, not counting the side dishes."

The wood and the earth dragon exchanged a glance, slightly moved:

He is indeed a rare genius.

"So what? Clan rules are clan rules. You may be a genius, but if you dare to privately pass on the Gu Clan's secret techniques, you'll still be punished."

Xu Qi'an frowned as he listened to them chattering in the language of Southern Frontier and asked:

What are you talking about?

Lina let out a breath and explained:

"They say I've taken people from the Central Plains as disciples without permission, and that the elders will severely punish me."

"I've heard that your Southern Frontier Gu Clan's Gu techniques are not passed on to outsiders, but what are the specific rules?"

After Xu Qi'an finished speaking, he looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"As for the specific rules," Lina recalled the clan rules, half-reciting and half-memorizing them:

"Those who pass on Gu techniques to slaves without permission shall be whipped 36,000 times. Hmm, the number of whips varies from tribe to tribe; our Li Gu tribe receives the most."

"To transmit the art of Gu poison to foreign tribes, especially those from the Central Plains, without permission is a capital offense! The master shall die, and the disciple shall die."

Xu Qi'an looked at her silently:

Why didn't you state this beforehand when you accepted Lingyin as your apprentice?

"Since you know the rules of your own tribe, why did you bring Lingyin to Southern Frontier?"

If Lina dares to say she "forgot", Xu Qi'an swears he'll beat the shit out of her.

Unexpectedly, Lina argued vehemently:

" In High Antiquity times, the power of the Gu God radiated beyond the Abyss. Our ancestors went through countless hardships to discover the Secret Method of utilizing the power of the Gu God, and from then on, there were seven major Gu tribes."

"Our Secret Method are the foundation of our Gu clan's existence."

The power of the Gu God radiates from the Abyss, turning the surrounding creatures into "Gu". Theoretically, anyone can utilize this power, as long as they learn the corresponding Secret Method.

Therefore, the Gu clan values secret techniques highly, and passing them on privately is a capital offense.

No wonder the Chai family ancestor was stuck at the Iron Corpse level; it seems he didn't learn the subsequent secret techniques. Xu Qi'an angrily retorted, "You remember this very clearly, but what you did was utterly inhuman!"

Lina remained calm and continued:

"The maturation of a natal Gu has nine stages, each stage corresponding to a grade."

"Whenever a natal Gu is about to advance to the next stage, it needs to be supplemented by the clan's Secret Method and the power of the Gu God in order to develop the natal Gu to its full potential."

"With only Secret Method and without the power of the Gu God, even if one forcibly advances, their foundation will be unstable, and their combat strength will be far inferior to experts of the same level from other systems. That's why I brought Lingyin to Southern Frontier."

Mu Nanzhi interjected, "Bring her here to eat whips?"

A euphemism for sending someone to their death.

Lina was a little unhappy. "Hey, let me finish. Why are you interrupting me when we're not even close?"

After retorting to Mu Nanzhi, she continued:

"Passing on secret techniques in secret is a capital offense, but as long as Lingyin gains the approval of the elders and my father and becomes my true disciple, then it will be fine."

"Our Gu clan's experts often go out to seek out geniuses, then bring them back to the clan to undergo trials. Passing these trials earns them recognition."

Xu Qi'an immediately understood Lina's plan. She wanted to take Lingyin back to her clan to undergo a test, so that she would become a true member of the Power Gu Clan, thus ensuring her future advancement.

"However," Lina changed the subject, saying:

"The Gu Clan has no precedent of accepting Central Plains people as disciples, though they have quite a few war slaves. But I think this is fine, because Lingyin is a genius not even recorded in history books. Father and the elders will definitely make an exception."

"I don't believe it at all. It sounds so unreliable," Xu Qi'an asked with a sneer when he heard Mu Nanzhi's reply.

"Does your Gu clan have historical records?"

"No," Lina replied.

"..." Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "I'm going to beat the shit out of her."

Led by two young men from the Ligu tribe, Mutou and Tulong, they climbed a high slope and arrived at Boshan, the ancestral home of the Ligu tribe.

Standing on the high slope and looking out, Mount Bo looks like a majestic city wall, stretching for hundreds of miles and blocking out the entire north.

The clouds and mist appear and disappear among the mountains, revealing a wild and primitive atmosphere.

At the foot of the mountain lies a vast plain, crisscrossed by rivers, with fields divided into small squares. Different crops display different colors, and the various colors combine to create a magnificent oil painting.

In the fields and plains, tiny figures, as small as ants, are busy at work, casting nets to catch fish or cultivating the land.

Scattered among the mountains and fields are rows of thatched huts and mud houses, forming architectural complexes of varying sizes.

The scenery is beautiful, like a vast village that lives in peace and tranquility.

The square-faced man coughed and said:

"We'll stop here; we still have to go back on patrol."

He spoke in broken Central Plains Mandarin.

Xu Qi'an had long heard that merchants from the south often traded with people from the Southern Frontier, engaging in the trade of contraband such as porcelain, tea, silk, and salt and iron.

It seems to be true. If the Gu tribe were to live a life of peace and tranquility, why would the people here speak the official language of the Central Plains?

The earth dragon with its bow sculpted Lina and offered her earnest advice:

"Go home and get some sun. Your skin is so white and smooth, it's unattractive. Otherwise, no one will want to marry you."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Mu Nanzhi.

"Why are you looking at me?" The princess's lips twitched; she felt she was being subtly mocked.

Although her appearance became ordinary, her skin remained delicate and smooth.

After bidding farewell to the earth dragon and the wood, the three people, along with the fox and the child, descended the slope and entered the plain.

Lina cheerfully greeted the Li Gu tribe members along the way:

"Auntie Asang, I'm back."

"Lina? How did she become so pale and ugly!"

"Uncle Blackie, I'm back."

"Lina is back? Is this the slave you snatched back from the Central Plains?"

"No, he's my friend."

"Silkworm Granny, I'm back."

"Is that Lina? Lina's back. Grandma's eyesight isn't good, come closer. Let me tell you, at the beginning of the year, Grandma wanted to ask the clan chief for a marriage proposal. My grandson isn't married yet, and you two grew up together. But, never mind, Grandma doesn't think you two are a good match."

Xu Qi'an silently observed the people of the Gu tribe. Some of them wore cloth clothes, while others wore clothes sewn from animal hides. They were taller and stronger than the people of the Central Plains. They did not use livestock to farm, but rather relied on human labor.

One person can drag hundreds of kilograms of fish, and one person can carry a small boat back and forth.

There seem to be too few people.

After observing, Xu Qi'an gave his evaluation.

"Everyone's gone hunting," Lina said sadly.

"Our Southern Frontier is barren, unlike your Central Plains where there's so much food. Our Ligu tribe members toil from dawn till dusk every day just to have a bite to eat, and we often still don't have enough to eat."

Isn't it because you all eat too much? Xu Qi'an didn't try to argue. As she crossed the plain, there were more and more houses, and the roads became wider and flatter.

They arrived at the largest building complex in Boshan, where the high-ranking members of the Ligu tribe lived.

Lina's house was located at the highest point of the complex; it was a large courtyard with two sections.

Beside this large courtyard, there were many thatched huts and earthen houses built there, which, according to Lina, were inhabited by her family's slaves.

"Father, I'm back."

Lina shouted loudly, acting like a completely unruly wild girl.

A few seconds later, heavy footsteps were heard, and the ground shook as a nine-foot-tall giant emerged from the inner courtyard.

This person was dressed in clothes and robes made of animal hides, wearing linen trousers, and was barefoot. He had a slightly square face, and his rugged features were far from delicate.

His eyes were azure blue, and his hair was so thin that it was impossible to tell if it was naturally curly, as it was only a light layer covering his scalp, like a monk who had just started growing hair after leaving the monastic life.

His physique was even more imposing than that of a Vajra in Buddhist School.

With each step he took, the ground would tremble slightly, as if it could not bear his weight.

Upon seeing his long-lost daughter, Long Tu paused for a moment, then nodded, his voice low and gratified:

"It seems you've experienced a lot in the Central Plains to have witnessed such a dramatic change."

After speaking, he glanced at Xu Qi'an and the others, paused on Xu Lingyin, and asked:

"Are these the slaves you captured?"

"Don't bring the little kids along. They can't do any work, and killing them wouldn't be right."

"They are not slaves, but friends I met in the Central Plains." Lina pressed one hand against the little boy's head:

"This is the disciple I took in."

Disciple Long Tu's eyes suddenly sharpened, and an aura like that of a prehistoric beast enveloped the courtyard.

P. S.: There's one more chapter; I'll update it first and then revise it.