I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 58 - 29: The Unburnable ’Iron Wood

Huo Chang excitedly took the Beast Hide Scroll down from the altar.

The beast hide scroll was very old, the patterns on its surface were worn. As he slowly unfolded it, Huo Chang was dumbfounded.

Damn it, who the hell spread the rumor that Upper Huang has a Cultivation Technique reaching the Nine Celestial Veins.

The scroll depicted half of a bull-like Wild Beast, but it only had the bull head up to part of the bull’s body.

The entire beast hide scroll was cut in half, and the rear part of the bull’s body was missing.

The half bull on the scroll had red dots marked all over it. Even though countless years passed, they still looked extremely bright red.

These dots were connected by fine red lines, forming a network of veins.

Some of these veins intersected, having common junctions.

The diagram in hand had only three complete lines, the other six were incomplete because the rear part was missing.

Moreover, this bull was tilted, and the whole bull head was drawn, with a horizontal eye between the horns on its forehead.

In the blank space there were some blurred annotations, but unfortunately they were too indistinct to read.

No wonder Upper Huang Division had this thing but couldn’t produce stronger Celestial Veins. Without several generations of talented people deducing, it’s hard to achieve further transformation in Martial Dao.

But regardless, there is finally a Cultivation Technique.

Shen Can looked at the blurred annotations beside the Beast Hide Scroll and said, "Clan Leader, given enough time, I can try using witchcraft to restore these annotations."

The Upper Huang Ancestral Temple’s layout was similar to that of Blazing Flame. Shen Can glanced around and said, "Clan Leader, have people move these Sacrificial Artifacts back, I want to inspect them."

Not long after, they descended the stone steps deeper into the Ancestral Temple and saw the Ironwood Ship unearthed by Upper Huang Division.

It was this Ironwood Ship that brought disaster upon Upper Huang.

Because of the closed-off information, Blazing Flame Division was ignorant of Lingyu Tribe’s tradition of eastward hunting post-flood, but it was not a big secret at Copper Shell Ruins Market.

The Lingyu Tribe’s armor and Ironwood Ships were rare in this nearby region.

After the flood, Upper Huang sought to purchase Ironwood to repair the Ironwood Ship and brought armor with Lingyu patterns, which clearly indicated to everyone that they struck treasure.

Upper Huang Division only found half an Ironwood Ship, but for other tribes around Copper Shell Ruins Market, they could only speculate that Upper Huang might have acquired a greater fortune.

Even without that, the Lingyu Tribe armor and Ironwood Ship Upper Huang found were much-needed by them.

Thus, Upper Lake Division emerged.

Using Ironwood as bait to entrap Upper Huang.

Upper Huang Division wholeheartedly repaired the Ironwood Ship, venturing east to hunt and thrive in the Great Marsh, never expecting Upper Lake Division to team up with a Blood Witch, employing sinister curses.

Beside the Ironwood Ship, two dark black pieces of ’Ironwood’ lay silently.

Shen Can noticed that Ironwood inside the ship was crafted into a ’mortise-tenon’ structure, typically Upper Huang Division’s Ironwood too should be fashioned into fitting connections.

Yet now, the two ’Ironwood’ pieces lay there untouched.

Seeing the ’Ironwood,’ Huo Chang subconsciously held his breath, feeling the cave grow chilly.

Shen Can felt the same. Upon entering, he noticed Upper Huang clan members turned into dry corpses; where was their blood?

No blood formed any Blood River mark; it seemed as though it was drained away.

Suddenly, Shen Can shivered, and his brain jolted.

He felt the two ’Ironwood’ calling out to him.

"Get beast oil."

Crack! Crack!

Dozens of jars of beast oil splashed onto the ’Ironwood,’ and a torch was thrown down.

With a "boom," flames soared instantly, raging intensely.

"Clan Leader, what are you doing!"

Just then, Shen Can grabbed Huo Chang, seeing Huo Chang’s steps moving forward a bit.

"Ah!"

Huo Chang was startled, suddenly alarmed.

"I... I just wanted to extinguish the fire!"

"Wow!"

A child’s cry suddenly echoed, quickly morphing into a chorus of children’s cries.

The cries emanated from the burning ’Ironwood.’

"Go get the beast oil!"

The creepy children’s cries sent shivers through him; Shen Can quickly instructed clan members to fetch beast oil.

Jar after jar of beast oil smashed against the ’Ironwood,’ and the cries grew increasingly piercing while the flames fiercely licked towards the Ironwood Ship.

Huo Chang led people to the rear of the Ironwood Ship, forcefully dragging the Ironwood Ship towards another water edge.

...

Flames raged, burning heartily for fifteen minutes but the ’Ironwood’ did not catch fire. Instead, fresh blood flowed from its dark surface, evaporating away in the fire.

"Keep burning, go get firewood."

While speaking, Shen Can suddenly felt dizzy.

"Everyone, get out, don’t stay here."

After that, every so often Shen Can and Huo Chang worked together entering the cave, adding wood and beast oil to the ’Ironwood.’

It burned for a full day and night, while the ’Ironwood’ wept all day and night, besides bleeding profusely it remained the same.

"Acan, what shall we do?"

Huo Chang was at a loss, this thing was too eerie.

"Bury it somewhere."

"Let’s go bury it, have the remaining Upper Lake Clan people carry it and then silence them."

Deliberated, Shen Can thought this plan was suitable for now, while keeping the discovery to fewer people, lest in the future it was unearthed causing disaster.

Think about it, use it against those harboring ill intentions, secretly bury it within their ancestral grave or clan land.

"Fine."

Huo Chang nodded in agreement.

Interrogation revealed that the Upper Lake leftover Martial Artists confessed, they committed such destructive acts multiple times with these two pieces of wood, possibly news of ’Ironwood’ had already spread.

If it draws wicked people, it wouldn’t be good.

...

That day.

Above Upper Huang Race Territory, fires raged, and the entire Upper Huang Division was reduced to ashes.

In the end, only 1,930 survived Upper Huang Division.

Among these, genuinely old residents of Upper Huang were less than a hundred, the rest were new clan members gathered post these calamities.

Before everyone assumed Upper Huang hadn’t suffered from the plague, unaware they amassed a horde of women and youths post-plague totaling over 4,000.

Compared to Blazing Flame Division which recruited barely over a thousand, they collected vast numbers equal to a clan division.

Fire Chang initially guessed Upper Huang had six Celestial Veins, but actually only five.

All five perished under the ’Ironwood’ curse, the reason being only Tier Three Martial Artists can handle Ironwood.

While restoring the Ironwood Ship’s keel, it’s imagined the five Martial Artists were heavily involved with ’Ironwood.’

Coupled with the few remaining people, only a handful of elderly Upper Huang members were left, making Shen Can suspect ’Ironwood’s curse was linked to similar bloodlines.

Through the fierce flames, a serpentine procession marched towards the north.

Fire Chang glanced back at Upper Huang Race Territory, the blaze illuminated his entire body until he finally joined the procession.

’Ironwood’ was hidden well, only its location known to him and Shen Can. The remaining Upper Lake Martial Artists hauling wood were all eliminated.

...

A winding procession carrying Upper Huang Division’s centuries of accumulation, ventured north.

This battle with Upper Lake cost over twenty clan members their lives, with over sixty injured, mostly hit by arrows as the charge commenced.

Upon returning to Blazing Flame Tribe Division, these surviving Upper Huang refugees were not immediately integrated into the tribe but temporarily housed near the Clan City.

This was after Shen Can and Huo Chang’s deliberation; later, the tribe would amass refugees, then select some for integration into the clan division.

Previously, Upper Huang Division had a batch of miner slaves, but once chaos erupted within Upper Huang Tribe, the Mining Guard Team returned to clan land, the remaining miner slaves fled entirely.

...

Inside the Ancestral Temple.

Shen Can crafted divine tablets for war-fallen clan members.

Huo Chang came from outside.

"Acan, the remaining batch of original Upper Huang clan folk has been settled in the same valley, next they will be closely monitored."

Hearing Huo Chang’s words, Shen Can nodded.

He intended to verify his speculation that these remaining bloodline relatives of Upper Huang, possibly retained the curse within.

If ’Ironwood’ was truly related to bloodlines, then in the Great Wilderness, small tribes cursed by it inevitably faced destruction.