I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 43 - 14: Thoughts on Relocating the Clan Land
"Acan, are you saying this is the Lingyu Tribe’s knife?"
Huo Chang was startled.
For a long time.
"It really is Lingyu."
He remembered the wave-treading giant ship mentioned by the remnant people of Shi Fu before, capturing people and beasts.
This water beast bears the traces of remnants from the Lingyu Tribe, indicating it had previously managed to escape the encirclement of the Lingyu Tribe.
Further evidence that the Lingyu Tribe is hunting water beasts and capturing similar tribesmen.
"Heh... In the eyes of the Upper Division, we’re likely seen as savages, where would there be any tribal kinship?"
Huo Chang suddenly mocked himself, the centuries-old legend passed down about the Upper Lingyu Division gave him an inexplicable feeling.
Shen Can rubbed the broken knife, carefully examining the mutated Witch Rune on it.
Indeed, stealing techniques is the fastest way. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
It turns out that the Witch Rune remains true to its essence, though the characters appear deformed, their meaning hasn’t changed, more fittingly adhering to the knife’s body.
"Buzz!"
Then, he lightly tapped the broken knife with his hand.
The black knife, dotted with gold, suddenly glowed with black light and streams of water vapor gathered outside the blade, cutting out sharply.
Rumble!
The water blade pierced the air, suddenly crashing into the solid cave top, rubble falling down with a rumble.
Prompting him and Huo Chang to hug their heads and scurry.
"What’s going on, what’s going on!"
The commotion shocked Huo Xian in the inner chamber, and Huo Yuu outside, one moved outward, the other dashed inward.
"Earthquake!"
Huo Yuu held his head and shouted, "Brother Acan, Clan Leader Uncle, Grandpa Huo Xian run quickly."
"Puff puff!"
Huo Chang wiped the dust off his lips, grabbed the shouting Huo Yuu, and looked at Shen Can, "Acan, is this witchcraft?"
Fortunately, Shen Can immediately restrained it when sensing the anomaly, not much rock fell, the Ancestral Temple Cave was unharmed.
Otherwise, burying the ancestors would surely be a laughingstock for other families in the future.
Shen Can, wrapped in a layer of water light, without any dust on him, reappeared in the cave.
Without answering Huo Chang’s question, he instead handed the knife to Huo Chang, "Clan Leader, try infusing it with blood energy."
Huo Chang took the broken knife, a thread of blood energy surged from his palm into the blade.
"Buzz!"
Driven by the blood energy, the Witch Rune on the blade lit up, seemingly wrapped in a thread of blood-colored flowing light.
Watching the anomaly on the blade, Huo Chang’s eyes widened, only regaining composure after the blood light dissipated.
"We really are savages."
"Clan Leader Uncle, where are we savage?" Huo Yuu’s eyes showed his clarity.
"This child." Huo Chang suddenly smiled.
He handed the broken knife back to Shen Can, saying, "Is this the Witch Weapon crafted by the Upper Lingyu Division for the clan’s Celestial Vein Martial Artists?"
"Most likely."
Shen Can nodded, then said, "Even the Witch Weapons crafted by the Upper Division can break, it’s somewhat puzzling, it seems the Upper Division isn’t an all-powerful existence."
"The Upper Division has been inherited for generations, our people have been hearing their legends for ages, having Witch Weapons is not surprising."
Huo Chang also calmed his emotions, "In the future, we will have our own Witch Weapons."
Regaining composure, he turned his attention to the benefits of this harvest.
"Acan, with the beast blood brought back this time, do you think Huo Shan and Huo Qii can advance to the Celestial Vein?"
"No need for now, since it’s exotic blood, it can presumably be preserved longer, Uncle Huo Shan and Uncle Huo Qii in the Mountain Opening Realm currently haven’t reached the limit in their Qi Strength."
"It’s still increasing?"
Huo Chang was startled, then instinctively turned around, a touch of gloom flashed in his eyes.
However, this gloom vanished quickly.
"Ah, what a bargain for these two guys, hitting a good time, requiring me personally to hunt beasts for their cultivation."
"If Qi Strength can still increase, let it continue to increase, like me advancing to the Celestial Vein, my life is just like this."
Then, Huo Chang changed the subject, saying, "During the hunt of water beasts in the eastern marshes this time, the Mafei Powder you prepared was very effective."
Some tribe members even said we should rather hunt wild beasts in the water, and some suggested moving the clan division there."
In the Great Wilderness, different tribes have no thoughts of leaving their homeland, under natural disasters if survival is possible, migration is common.
"Clan Leader, how many jars of Mafei Powder were used this time?"
"All sixty jars brought were used."
Shen Can nodded, he further asked about Huo Chang’s process of hunting the water beast, becoming more certain that the drug’s efficacy is still somewhat low.
"Migrating to waterside areas isn’t a problem, just afraid of flooding again." This was what Huo Xian said.
A flood caused the Great Wild Marsh to backfill two thousand miles.
He also heard Huo Chang mention the Lingyu Upper Division coming by ship to hunt, becoming instantly worried.
"Old Uncle of the Clan, how could there be so many floods, and besides, the Lingyu Tribe has already captured nearly all the nearby tribes.
Previously, with plagues rampant and tribes dwindling, the Lingyu Tribe can’t recoup the costs of sending out fleets to collect people from scattered tribes across ten thousand miles.
If the Upper Division were to scrape even the land bare, would they not exhaust themselves? Like farming, you have to wait for the new harvest period, which would take decades or even centuries."
Huo Chang explained, inwardly inclined towards relocating the tribe.
"If it can lead to better development, I agree with relocating the tribe land."
Shen Can expressed his agreement, having hunted Tier Three Wild Beasts twice in a row, both being aquatic wild beasts.
With the effect of the Mafei Powder becoming evident, although its efficacy is somewhat lacking, increasing the dosage is entirely feasible.
This is the tribe’s advantage; it would be foolish not to use such benefits.
His comprehension of the Lingyu Water Control Book suggested that water presence offered more advantages.
Moreover, according to Huo Chang’s description, the areas near water were not entirely marshland; to the north, there were still forests, the habitat of forest wild beasts.
As for how to farm in areas near water, one can search for aquatic wheat and millet, or even create fields by filling in water.
As long as it is beneficial for tribal development, these are trivial issues.
"I think we should thoroughly explore the surroundings of the water areas, find suitable land to settle, and once everything is viable, we can then prepare to relocate."
"Acan is right. There’s no rush in relocating. I’ll continue to lead people to explore the eastern marshlands; if there is indeed danger, relocating blindly would be risky."
Just as Huo Chang was about to leave, Shen Can stopped him.
"Clan Leader, you should consume the meat of the Tier Three Wild Beast. There’s still some fish meat from the last strange fish encounter. As a Tier Three Martial Artist, if you wish to progress further, necessary external supplements are essential."
Before Huo Chang could refuse, "We will have the Martial Arts Technique; currently, only you and Uncle Huo Kui have Celestial Veins in the clan, which we can afford to support.
Besides, once we finish the Mafei Powder, we can catch more."
Seeing Shen Can holding onto his sleeve after finishing speaking, Huo Chang said, "Alright, I’ll eat. Let go."
"Uh, Clan Leader, I want you to have a duel with Uncle Huo Shan."
"Err, how about we leave the tribe and duel in secret."
"Call Uncle Huo Kui and Uncle Huo Qii along."
The next day.
Several figures sneaked out of the tribe, running to a valley over ten miles away from the tribe.
"Clan Leader, I won’t hold back."
Huo Shan clenched his fists, having long understood the underlying reason why Acan was holding back his progression to the Celestial Vein.
To become stronger than a Celestial Vein Martial Artist right now requires a relentless increase in strength.
After having cultivated for so long, Huo Shan felt that he could now fight two of his past self from the flood disaster period.
Huo Qii had his realizations too. Before soaking in beast blood, he felt that his Qi Strength hardly increased.
Though the beast blood soak failed, in the subsequent half-year, he could feel an increase in Qi Strength again.
"Prepare, win the fight and eat meat, lose and roast meat."
In the valley, Shen Can sat cross-legged on a giant rock.
A Beast Hide Scroll was laid across his legs, preparing to record data, along with a small flag.
"Fight!"
"Rumble!"
The valley echoed with roaring noises, clashes ringing through, and occasional booming as collisions hit the rock walls, going on for over half an hour.
Shen Can was the first to walk out of the valley, a rolled-up Beast Hide Scroll tucked under his arm, holding the small flag in his hand.
Following behind him were four figures with bruised and swollen faces.
Under cover of night, the four bypassed the clan city, climbed over the clan mountain from behind to return to the tribe.
"Ouch, Brother Huo Chang, didn’t we agree not to hit the face?" Huo Shan grumbled, holding his left cheek.
"That’s what you get for being cheeky, and hitting me in the eye."
Huo Chang, with a black and red circle around his eye, rolled a Medicine Ball.
In the study room, Shen Can organized the data spread out on the desk.
"Huo Shan has around forty-nine Desolate Power, ended in a tie with Uncle Huo Kui who just advanced to Celestial Vein, but didn’t defeat Huo Chang."
...
Under the cloak of night.
Near the Eastern Marsh, outside a pond where Water Beasts were hunted, the water flowed with a rush.
In the shallow, the water plants were lush, and a shadow appeared among the water plants.
The figure swam gracefully in the shallow water, slowly rising out of the water, revealing a pair of upright legs.
A shimmering fish head with a pair of arms stretched out, quickly stepped out of the water, revealing a middle-aged human face.
Nostrils flaring, he walked to the edge of the previously dug pond, eyes scanning the half-filled artificial river.
Muttering under his breath, the dense scales on his body swiftly retracted, transforming back into human form.
A stream of water surged around him, swirling and bubbling.
"There are still tribes nearby."
Jifu’s face showed surprise.
After circling the pond once, he stood knee-deep in water, body twisting as fine scales grew, and submerged into the water.
