Half an hour later, Xiao Chen was walking in the tribe. He found it difficult to face the clansmen who had lost their children, husbands, and fathers. Their cries were so ear-piercing. This was the distance between life and death. Only those who had truly experienced it would know the pain.
As for the arrangement of the clansmen and the statistics of the spoils of war, they were all handled by the tribe's great elder. After returning to the stone tower, Xiao Chen pushed open the stone door, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
The current Xiao Chen, compared to the time when he had just arrived on this continent, was more steady and less confused. The cruel blood in the Wasteland had made him understand the true meaning of survival. This was something that couldn't be given to him in the previous era of science and technology.
This short period of one year wasn't long, but in Xiao Chen's heart, it was as if he had experienced an endless amount of time. It was as if the world he once lived in was just an illusion, a dream. He was afraid that one day he would forget himself.
This was the first time he killed someone on this continent, the first time he had the power to decide the life and death of tens of thousands of people. This brought him a heavy burden as heavy as Mount Tai.
After pondering for a few minutes, Xiao Chen sighed and sat cross-legged on the stone bed again. After all, the battlefield wasn't the place to heal. It was a last resort. Now that he had returned to the tribe, he needed to heal his injuries as soon as possible. If he didn't do it in time, it would damage his martial arts foundation and cause irreparable damage to his martial arts in the future.
In Xiao Chen's original plan, after defeating the allied forces of the Mysterious Snake and Kui Shui tribes, they would split into several groups and he would personally go to the Yuan stone mine to investigate. He didn't expect that the Kui Shui tribe would invite the great elder of the Treasure Elephant tribe. Moreover, in order to defeat the strong enemy and consolidate his victory, Xiao Chen didn't hesitate to fight with his life on the line. He was seriously injured and had no choice but to return to the tribe to heal his injuries before thinking about other things. This was fate!
Not long after, Xiao Chen closed his eyes and immersed himself in the surging Qi and blood. The hasty healing on the battlefield didn't completely refine the medicinal efficacy in his body. At this moment, there was still a large amount of medicinal efficacy in Xiao Chen's meridians and flesh that hadn't been refined.
As for the medicinal efficacy, Xiao Chen didn't intend to use it to break through the martial arts realm. After all, in just one year, he had broken through from the Bone Tempering Realm to the Middle Blood Refining Realm. He even broke through a realm. Such a terrifying speed could be counted with one hand, except for those monstrous geniuses.
Such rapid breakthroughs would only cause the martial arts foundation to be shallow. When he broke through to a higher realm in the future, the difficulty would increase several times. For a person who pursued a higher realm, how could he make such a mistake? For a person who pursued a higher realm in martial arts, how could he make such a mistake? He planned to refine the medicinal efficacy into his body and internal organs, making his body stronger and his internal organs more solid.
This time, Xiao Chen was willing to make such a risky move for the sake of gratitude. He ignored the injuries in his body and forcefully consumed healing medicine, allowing his body to maintain its peak state. If it were not for the fact that his physical body was not strong and his internal organs were weak, his body would have exploded long ago.
At this moment, Xiao Chen's body emitted a dark green radiance. Sparkling and translucent veined patterns floated under his skin, as if they were solid. It could be seen that he had consumed a lot of Medicinal Pills earlier and how strong the Medicinal Energy was. These veined patterns were like a layer of withered tree bark, rough and filled with the vicissitudes of life. The aura of time permeated the air.
Just as Xiao Chen was busy refining the medicinal efficacy in his body and treating his injuries, the Guyuan Tribe was in a state of mourning and desolation. The warriors of the tribe returned from the battle. Some clansmen hugged their surviving relatives and cried tears of joy, while others could only hug a large wooden jar and cry silently.
Under the arrangements of the First Elder and Third Elder Xiao Qin, these returning soldiers didn't return home to share the joy of surviving with their relatives. Not only them, but the clansmen who had lost their loved ones also gathered together.
More than one thousand and six hundred people had been ordered to go to the foreign tribes, but less than one thousand returned in the end. The ashes of these deceased warriors were held in the arms of their relatives as they slowly walked towards the mountain at the back of the tribe. They walked towards the low hills and were buried in the tombs of the Guyuan Tribe.
Several hours later, the dust settled. The five hundred and thirteen souls were buried in the tribe's land. This place was covered in evergreen pines and cypresses, and it was the place to bury the loyal souls.
As the tribe's elders, Tie Wen and Xiao Qin were extremely busy after Xiao Chen's return. The tribesmen needed to be comforted, the spoils of war needed to be sorted out, and the restlessness of the people in the tribe needed them to guide them.
"Qing 'er greets the two elders."
The two of them, who were busy arranging for their clansmen to clean up the spoils of war, heard Mu Qing's voice and raised their heads to look at her. Tie Wen and Tie Shi were very fond of this reasonable girl. They never thought that the little girl who played around with them when she was young would now be more powerful than two old bones like them. They couldn't help but sigh that time waited for no man.
"Qing 'er, you're here. Is the chief's injuries alright?" Tie Shi asked when he saw Mu Qing. Xiao Chen's injuries could be said to affect the hearts of thousands of clansmen.
"Brother Xiao's injuries aren't serious. Qing 'er has come because brother Xiao has something that needs Qing' er to tell the two elders!"
Tie Shi and Xiao Qin couldn't help but reveal a trace of doubt when they heard this.
"It's like this. Brother Xiao said that in today's battle, many warriors of our Gu Yuan Tribe fought bravely against the enemy and fought with their lives. Therefore, every clansman can keep thirty percent of the spoils of war for their own use and hand over seventy percent to the tribe. At the same time, the armor worn by the clansmen who died for the tribe will be returned to their families as a memento. At the same time, from the total spoils of war, thirty percent will be given to the families of the clansmen who died in battle to comfort the souls of the fallen warriors in heaven. At the same time, from today onwards, this will become the custom of our Gu Yuan Tribe!"
Mu Qing didn't say this to the two elders alone, nor did he hide it from the other clansmen who were sorting out the spoils of war. At this moment, everyone heard this decision and immediately cried out in surprise, kneeling towards the stone tower at the center of the tribe.
As a collective of the tribe, in the past, all the spoils of war would be handed over to the tribe after a hunt or battle and then distributed by the tribe. Now that Xiao Chen had changed this rule, it greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the people in the tribe.
Tie Shi and Xiao Qin did not raise any objections to Xiao Chen's arrangements. These two elders were people who wholeheartedly cared about the development of the tribe, and they would do their best to develop the tribe. How could they not see the measures that Xiao Chen had conveyed?
Not only would this appease the hearts of the clansmen who had died in battle, it also greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the rest of the clansmen in the tribe. Moreover, these spoils of war were originally used to develop the tribe, so now it was just a change in method of reward, so why not?