I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 87 - 53: The Young Master Departs, Bo Division Comes from the South (Part 2)

The Little Dragon Fish, having eaten the fruit, spat out a mouthful of saliva.

The little children, despite being soaked, did not cry or fuss, instead chasing after the Little Dragon Fish.

...

"Looks like we've captured it alive. I'll head back to the Ancestral Temple first."

Shen Can had just returned to the Ancestral Temple when Huo Shan led the tribesmen carrying a long, snake-like Water Beast, resembling a loach, into the temple.

A group of children followed behind.

Shen Can changed into a set of ornate robes.

The changes in clothing for this Ancestral Temple Keeper reflected the development of the Blazing Flame Tribe.

During the floods, just having clothes to wear was considered good.

Now, although it's still made of hemp cloth, it is embroidered with Witch Runes. Though the patterns may seem abstract, Shen Can was quite satisfied.

After all, it was a significant improvement for the aunts who could hammer the uncles' big hands and pick up needles to sew Witch Runes on his clothes.

"The sacrificial offerings are fat and plentiful, the sacrificial grain abundant."

As Shen Can pierced the Water Beast's neck with a knife, the beast's blood flowed out steadily.

Huo Yunn and Huo Ye, two disciples who had hurried from the Witch Hall, stood by, waiting to collect the beast's blood and take it to the Witch Hall to neutralize its malevolent energy.

A long time ago, these tasks of neutralizing beast blood were assigned to their Witch Hall.

Of course, it mainly fell upon them two.

The eldest brother Huo Chong was about to break through to become a Tier One Forging Wizard. These days, he had been forging iron, preparing to create a Tier One Witch Artifact as an offering to his master.

[The Sacrificial Master plundered the life span of 190 years from the Tier Two Wild Beast Dragon Pattern Loach.]

[Life Span: 1685]

Shen Can placed the divided sacrificial meat on the offering table, where seventeen bronze vessels were also being offered.

These bronze vessels were wiped clean daily.

Knowing that Shen Can intended to use these bronze vessels as Sacrificial Artifacts, Huo Xian often lingered in front of the inscriptions on them.

Though he had this idea, Shen Can was still unsure about how to guide Residual Spirits. He continued to peruse ancient texts, searching for any useful phrases in their corners.

"Come here, all of you."

Shen Can then called a group of children gathered outside the Ancestral Temple to follow Grandpa Huo Xian and wipe the bronze vessels.

Not knowing how to guide them, Shen Can thought perhaps he could start with the children.

The predecessors had grand ambitions, evident from how the Martial Dao was expanded to protect the Human Race.

Residual Spirits only have instincts, which happen to be the purest form of instincts.

Children are the key to the Human Race's legacy. Without delving into other matters, if a bunch of children called you to come home, would you return?

This was the cunning method he devised.

...

"Our tribe is sealed within the Gufu Forest, and we hold sacrifices year after year."

Shen Can held a bronze-cast book.

Gufu Forest seemed to be a place name, the tribal land of the Xiaoyang Division.

Near the afternoon, Shen Can sat in a wooden lounge chair outside the Ancestral Temple, enjoying the breeze while flipping through the classics from the Xiaoyang Witch Pouch.

This was the eleventh time he had come across this place name in the Xiaoyang texts, which matched what the Tuo Lord had said.

From the collection of stories from the slain Xiaoyang tribe, one could see that there were likely internal conflicts within the Xiaoyang Alien Race; otherwise, they wouldn't have fled to this remote area laden with these artifacts to hide.

"Gufu Forest."

He repeated the name several times.

"Ayu, go inform the Clan Leader, tell them that the tribesmen sent to the Ruins Market to gather intel should linger longer in the Quyang Ruins Market to see if they can make contact with the people of Yongyi."

"Also, use the signals I gave them, directly issue orders to quickly find someone from Yongyi."

The danger of guiding the Human Race Residual Spirits at the Xiaoyang Ruins was conceivable, so comprehensive preparations were necessary in advance.

The Tuo Lord, this crocodile, hid in the dark and wouldn't meet with the Blazing Flame Tribe people, but signals could be used to relay information.

...

Watching Shen Can leisurely lying outside the Ancestral Temple, Huo Chang, who had just inspected the collection of grain and rice, climbed the steps to the temple.

"The Clan Leader is here."

Shen Can didn't get up, nor did he intend to invite Huo Chang to sit down.

"I was just about to look for you."

"To guide the Residual Spirits, we'll need to head south. South of Qu River is a large swamp, where the Xiaoyang tribe exists. Shall we prepare a team to head south now?"

Huo Chang nodded.

"Let Ashan go, if there's danger, he can protect you."

Shen Can thought Huo Chang was going himself.

"What use would I be? My strength is insufficient; I'd just become a burden if I went."

"How many Witch Medicine Pills from the batch you had the Witch Hall prepare are left?"

"About twelve hundred pills."

Previously, that batch of witch medicine was uniformly processed into medicine balls with similar potency, producing a total of seventeen hundred pills.

Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artists consume one pill every five to ten days, while Celestial Vein Martial Artists can take one ball a day or one every two days.

These pills do not substitute the daily consumption of meat.

Currently, there's no way to provide them to the entire tribe.

"Even the weakest Celestial Vein is stronger than a Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artist, right?"

Huo Chang appeared contemplative, "I'll go select a few, and we'll do another training session. In a short time, use this batch of witch medicine to support a few Celestial Vein to head south with you."

"Starting tomorrow, have Ashan venture deep into the Great Marsh to see if he can hunt another Tier Three Water Beast."

Group martial training is akin to draining a pond to search for fish, not everyone is like Huo Shan; without consideration for costs, even if they advance, it won't be easy later on.

Not making progress in Martial Dao is a minor issue, but if brute advancement leaves internal injuries, it'll be troublesome in the future.

Not to mention, many in the Blazing Flame Tribe have already undergone one training session.

That's still manageable, considering the gap between Stone-Breaker and Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artists is relatively small, but now it's like accelerating the birth of Celestial Vein Martial Artists.

"Are there any promising candidates among the people?"

Shen Can inquired, as there were over thirty thousand people under his command, but only four Mountain-Opening Realm individuals and just four hundred Stone-Breaking Realm Martial Artists; the ratio was too low.