I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 75 - 46: Golden Tuo Dragon—The Ruins Market Needs a Share for Blazing Flame
Similarly hiding in the wetland, Shen Can quickly sensed the crocodile swimming past nearby.
Under the divine sense’s cover, he noticed that it was not a Wild Beast, but a Blood Witch.
The Upper Lake Division had mutated into a Black-haired Monster, and this Crocodile Man most likely became like this by worshipping the crocodile.
Previously, there were rumors spread that the Upper Lake and Blood Witch colluded, using Witch Artifacts to destroy the tribe.
Obviously, this Blood Witch was attracted here.
...
The Stern Poleman did not expect to witness such a scene just upon arriving at the Upper Lake.
"Hmm!"
Before long, hidden within the water plants, he jerked his head up and looked around, releasing his seven-zhang divine sense.
He felt someone was watching him.
But as the divine sense swept around, it found nothing.
Without hesitation, he plunged into the water, rushing toward the approaching Qu River.
His intuition was strong, allowing him to repeatedly evade crises.
Upon entering the Qu River, the Stern Poleman drifted downstream for more than ten miles without hesitation.
But as he swam, he felt the surrounding water current attacking him, and the lumps swelling on his body oozed ink that corroded the sweeping water’s edge.
Taking advantage of the situation, he scrambled towards the shore.
But as his body lifted, countless water arrows, water snakes, and droplets emerged from the water, as if four or five Water Element Wizards were besieging him.
Amidst the water’s glow, a black light flashed like lightning.
A Witch Nail pierced through the Stern Poleman’s body with a "puff" sound; he rolled onto the shore in agony, only to see a Square Seal descending from the sky, targeting his skull.
"Tuo Lord, help me!"
Muttering aloud, the Stern Poleman’s aura quickly depleted, and a blood pattern emerged on his skull, knocking the falling Forest Department Seal away.
But the Witch Nail took the opportunity to pierce into his tailbone.
"Ah!"
The Stern Poleman cried out miserably, shaking his body, unable to proceed further.
His divine sense swept the surroundings, still unable to locate the assailant.
"You are the Blood Witch colluding with the Upper Lake Division?"
Sensing a murderous intent, the Stern Poleman hurriedly shouted, "No, no, I am not. I just came upon hearing rumors, hoping to snag some benefits. I haven’t harmed my kin, I really haven’t."
"Spare me, I swear by my ancestors. I make a living as a boatman, ferrying at the Quyang Ruins Market, truly never harming anyone."
Shen Can wouldn’t believe this guy’s words.
Under divine sense perception, the Crocodile Man’s big mouth was moving up and down, silently chanting witchcraft.
Then, he raised his hand and smashed the Forest Department Seal toward the Crocodile Man’s mouth.
"Ah!"
"I am a servant of the Tuo Dragon, if you kill me, you will surely..."
"Crack!"
The Forest Department Seal fell, the crocodile’s skull shattered, splattering a large amount of blood and foulness.
The Blood Witch’s cumbersome body began to emit black smoke, and streams of foul blood flowed out, rapidly decomposing.
At the cracked head, a piece of crystalline, blood-colored object shimmered.
Shen Can manipulated the Witch Nail to flick this object into the water.
After being cleaned, it was carried back to him by the water current.
This was a Fish Stone, with blood-colored witch patterns etched into it, outlining a mystical crocodile image.
Yes, it could also be called a Tuo Dragon.
This was a Blood Witch with backing.
The Blood Witch worships Disaster Beasts and is also a slave to Disaster Beasts. They may gain powerful witchcraft but lose much more.
Looking at the Crocodile Man, who was now just a pool of rotten flesh, Shen Can couldn’t be bothered to dig a hole, opting to leave the corpse exposed to the wilderness instead.
...
South coast of the Great Marsh Wild northeast of Yongyi.
The water is as deep as an abyss.
The seabed rocks are like mountains.
A dark-golden Tuo Dragon awoke from the hollow of the rocks.
It had three Witch Nails embedded under its belly, and a segment of its tail was missing.
Its big mouth opened and closed, swallowing a wisp of blood-colored airflow.
A scale on its left forearm cracked open in response.
"Another one died."
Even upon a Witch Slave’s death, the last bit of blood power was sacrificed to it.
The golden Tuo Dragon glanced at the three marked scales left on its left forearm.
Each mark represented one of its Witch Slaves.
"Alright, alright, if it continues like this, there won’t be a Witch Slave left to deliver food."
"Damn Lingyu, I get chased and beaten in Yongyi, and even when I run to the Wilderness of Yongyi, Lingyu comes to beat me. I didn’t come here for nothing."
"All my recruited Witch Slaves are dying off in order. Do they think I’m just a pushover?"
...
Upper Lake Division.
The battle was nearing its end.
Some Upper Lake Clan members who transformed into beasts also appeared to rot after being killed.
The entire tribe was shrouded in a stench of decay.
The tribal people of the three divisions killed the mutated Shui Lan, the Upper Lake Ancestral Temple Keeper, outside the ruins of the ancestral temple.
Many martial artists stared at the spirit rice, as small as jujube grains, unable to resist snatching it.
Initially, they only plucked the spirit rice, but soon pulled it out by the roots, even colliding with each other.
The Blazing Flame Tribe had fewer people and were deliberately suppressed jointly by the martial artists from the Cyan Bird and Ape Mountain divisions, acquiring the least amount of spirit rice.
"Everyone, stop!"
After the clan leaders of the three divisions appeared, they reprimanded everyone.
Seeing the meager spirit rice obtained by the Blazing Flame Division, Cang Hex and Ape Peak were very satisfied.
"The root of this spirit rice stinks so badly!"
At this time, a tribesman spoke.
The seemingly crystal-clear root of the spirit rice plant emitted a rotten smell.
"Why is there a black line in the rice grains?"
A voice rang out again, and this time the three tribes that grabbed spirit rice hurriedly checked.
After a round of inspections, all the spirit rice plants were found to be rotten, with black lines penetrating inside the rice grains.
"How can this be, this is spirit rice!"
Someone, disbelieving, began digging into the soil of the paddy field, even going to other nearby paddy fields to pull out rice plants.
The result was the same.
The water field was unbearably foul-smelling, with roots of the rice plants decayed.
"Shui Lan, you are truly damned."
Ape Peak cursed angrily.
"Quickly, find the clan treasury!" Cang Hex reacted swiftly.
Soon, the clan treasury beneath the collapsed ancestral temple was found.
Though there were piles of rice and ordinary beast hides, the items they wanted were not there.
Bang!
Ape Peak kicked the piled rice.
"Only old rice, where is the spirit rice!"
"Besides these ordinary things, not even a single aged witch medicine can be found!"
"Shui Miao, you are damned, Shui Xing is damned, all are damned!"
A disbelieving Ape Peak ordered the clan to turn the treasury upside down, even revealing the lower vault, but only came up with some Tier Two beast hides and scattered minerals.
There were no Tier Three beast bones or hides.
No witch medicine.
Nothing here!
The paddy fields for planting spirit rice were polluted, rendered useless.
Despite mobilizing eight hundred martial artists for many days, all they gained was a pile of ordinary provisions.
Actually, from the collapsed ancestral temple, they found a cultivation technique.
All three families could copy a portion.
...
In front of the ruins of the ancestral temple.
Huo Chang looked at the two silent clan leaders.
"You two, with Upper Lake being controlled by alien races, did you truly have no idea?"
Cang Hex glanced up at Huo Chang.
"Each division is self-contained. With Upper Lake like this, it is unlikely anyone would know they were serving an alien race, right?"
"Believing in alien races harms oneself and others." Ape Peak pondered, gazing at the filthy Upper Lake, his previous anger somewhat dissipating.
"Such a good place for establishing a tribe is wasted for years to come."
Each division’s chosen tribal establishment site was meticulously selected, and even if a tribe were to be destroyed, later newcomers might arrive years later.
Yet now, the waterfields suitable for planting rice are completely ruined.
Originally, the two tribes were considering dividing the waterfields here and placing another division here, having field slaves plant rice.
Well, after working for so long, we only earned some grain.
"The ancestral foundation, passed down for a thousand years, can be destroyed in just a few days. This must be recorded in the tribal histories, warning tribesmen of the Blood Witch. Otherwise, dying by oneself is a minor offense, implicating the tribe division is a major crime."
Huo Chang asked again, "Clan leaders, are there many Blood Witches nearby?"
Compared to the two clan leaders in front of him, his knowledge was still lacking.
"Not too many."
Cang Hex replied, "We belong to the wilderness north of Yongyi, without any major tribe division, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to rule here for years."
Perhaps today’s scene was too tragic, making Cang Hex and Ape Peak feeling a bit desolate.
"We are in a remote corner of Yongyi; though other small tribes view us as upper-class tribes, in reality, we are far from qualified.
We have no sacrificial artifact, no witchcraft path, nor any prestige.
A self-proclaimed upper division within the lower divisions, yes, that’s the term.
The tribes in Yongyi couldn’t care less about us here, we’re purely entertaining ourselves."
The three clan leaders communicated for a long time in the ruins of Upper Lake.
"You two, with Upper Lake annihilated, the shares of the several Ruins Markets should now be taken over by my Blazing Flame!"
Hearing Huo Chang’s words.
Previously somewhat despondent, Cang Hex and Ape Mountain suddenly became energized.
"Clan Leader Huo, you really have a big appetite."
"The Blazing Flame Division has only developed for three hundred years, hasn’t it? In recent years, it was us who fed you, and you’re seriously disrespecting the elder tribe divisions."
