In the depths of the dense ancient forest, earth-shattering noises rang out incessantly, even mixed with endless wails. The entire forest ground shook and the mountains swayed. Large patches of towering ancient trees broke and fell to the ground, revealing half of their disjointed roots.
The peace of the ancient forest was completely broken. As long as Xiao Chen saw a fierce beast, he would kill it without mercy. Those that were edible were all put into the space of the Seal of Mountains and Rivers. As for the fierce beasts that were not suitable for human consumption, he would skin them, pull out their tendons, drain their blood, and break their bones to extract all the essence in their bodies.
Not far away, the grass and trees were all broken, gravel was everywhere, and a large area of open space was stained with blood. It was obvious that there had been a great battle. Xiao Chen put the last fierce beast into the space with a natural expression. This was a one-star upper rank fierce beast, Greenwood Wolf. Xiao Chen had originally wanted to subdue it, but it was a wolf with a tyrannical nature and refused to surrender. In the end, he had no choice but to kill it.
In just half a day's time, more than a few hundred vicious beasts had already lost their lives in Xiao Chen's hands. The vicious beasts in this mountain forest had suffered a devastating blow. Even if there were some that had escaped and were not killed by Xiao Chen, they had already fled in fear due to his ferocity.
After finding his mount, the unicorn king, Xiao Chen embarked on his return journey. It was not that he did not want to hunt more fierce beasts, but he was worried about the safety of the tribe. He could not guarantee that the Mysterious Snake and Kui Tribes would not suddenly attack the Gu Yuan Tribe for fear of harming the innocent. Therefore, he did not dare to delay his hunt for too long.
At sunset, Xiao Chen returned to the Gu Yuan Tribe. The sun was setting in the west. In the past, this was the time when the Gu Yuan Tribe's hunting team would return from a rewarding journey, and the women and children would cheer and jump in joy in front of the tribe's gate. However, the entire tribe's gate was now tightly shut, and the warriors on the city wall looked as if they were facing a great enemy. It was a desolate scene.
Seeing that their tribe leader had returned, more than ten strong men pulled the millstone-sized capstan. The hemp rope that was as thick as a baby's arm was tightened, and the huge stone gate that weighed tens of thousands of kilograms slowly rose. After Xiao Chen entered the tribe, it suddenly fell down.
Xiao Chen did not return to the original chief's residence. Instead, he went straight to the stone pagoda in the center of the tribe. Ever since he returned to the tribe, the first time Xiao Chen saw this stone pagoda that was a hundred and fifty feet tall, he was already captivated by it. Stepping on the peak of the mountain and looking down from above, he had a panoramic view of the entire tribe. He immediately made up his mind to use it as his office.
Fortunately, the stone tower was tall enough. The ground floor alone occupied two to three hundred feet, and it had a total of thirteen floors. At the top was the tribe's conference hall, and Xiao Chen used the eleventh and twelfth floors as his office. As for the bottom ten floors, they would be used as the tribe's secret storage room. Presumably, the tribe's resources would be stored there, and the tribe leader would personally guard them. There was probably no safer place than this.
The first floor of the stone tower was the foundation of the entire building, and it was built very thick and spacious. Arriving at the center of the space on the first floor, Xiao Chen dismissed his tribesmen. With a wave of his hand, the ferocious beasts that had been stored in the space of the Seal of Mountains and Rivers instantly occupied a third of the space on the first floor. There were layers upon layers of ferocious beast corpses, all kinds of fur and scales, and even all kinds of medicinal herbs and strange fruits. Light flowed, and a bloody and savage smell wafted over.
"Men, bring the two elders over." Xiao Chen did not move from his original position as he instructed the soldiers guarding outside.
In just a short fifteen minutes, First Elder Tie Wen and Internal Affairs Elder Xiao Qin rushed over and entered the stone tower. Both of them were shocked by the scene in front of them.
First Elder Tie Wen was still fine, but Elder Xiao Qin seemed to have been possessed. Ignoring the bloodstains on the ferocious beasts, he pounced in and looked around.
"This … this … this is a one star middle tier ferocious beast, Fire Devouring Bull. This is a one star middle tier ferocious beast, Blood Deer. This big one is an Iron Back Rhinoceros. Could it be that my eyes are failing me, and this is actually a one star upper tier ferocious beast, Greenwood Wolf …"
"This is simply a reckless waste of natural resources!"
Suddenly, Elder Xiao Qin, who was originally immersed in the sea of flesh, rushed out of the tower as if he had gone mad. As he ran, he shouted, "Men, quickly cut up these ferocious beasts and deal with them. Otherwise, if too much time passes, the blood will be wasted."
To the humans of the great wilderness, the entire body of a ferocious beast was a treasure. Its flesh and blood could be eaten, its bones could be made into weapons, its tendons could be made into bowstrings, and its hides could be made into leather armor. The most precious thing was still the blood of the ferocious beasts. Every ferocious beast would produce a drop of blood from its heart.
This drop of blood could be said to be the essence of the entire ferocious beast. It was not like other blood that was incomparably bloody and violent. Instead, it was fragrant and gentle. It was a precious medicine that was hard to come by for the children of the tribe when they reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
The stronger the strength of the ferocious beast, the better the effect. For ordinary one star lower tier ferocious beasts, or even wild beasts that did not make the grade, the effect of their blood was simply ordinary. At the same time, the quantity and quality of the blood a tribe obtained every year was also a symbol of the tribe's strength.
Elder Xiao Qin saw that these ferocious beasts had not been dealt with at all. They were just piled up here, letting their blood flow freely. It was a waste, so he felt that it was a great pity.
Not long after, a group of women, under Elder Xiao Qin's lead, carried basins, jars, knives, axes, and other tools into the stone tower and began to get busy. They removed the bones and tendons of these ferocious beasts, sorted them out, and dried the meat to make it easier to preserve. At the same time, they stored the blood that was separated out. They would only take it out when the children awakened after the annual sacrifice.
Just as the pagoda was bustling with activity, a cry came from outside the stone pagoda.
"What's the commotion!" Great Elder Tie Wen frowned and shouted towards the outside of the tower.
"Come, let's go take a look." Xiao Chen took the lead and walked out of the stone tower.
In the empty space outside the stone door, more than a hundred people were kneeling on the ground. In the middle of them were more than ten injured warriors. These warriors all had one thing in common, and that was that their bodies had long been crippled, as if they were crippled.
"Lord Chief, please have mercy. Please don't chase us away."
Seeing Xiao Chen appear, everyone knelt for a long time and did not get up. Traces of blood even appeared on the door, but it did not stop.
The cries of the women and children could not help but make people shed tears.
"Reporting to Chief, these people are the scattered tribes that have recently submitted to our Gu Yuan Tribe. Their husbands and fathers were either crippled or killed in the recent war with the Black Snake and Kui Tribes."
"Chief, on account of the fact that we have bathed in blood for the Gu Yuan Tribe and did not hesitate to be crippled or killed, please don't chase our wives and children away. We crippled people are willing to follow the ancient traditions of the Great Wilderness."
More than ten crippled warriors pushed away their wives and children and crawled to Xiao Chen's feet with great difficulty. They kept bumping their heads against the ground, allowing their wounds to burst open and blood to flow, but they did not care.
As for the tradition of the Great Wilderness that these warriors mentioned, Xiao Chen also knew that it was difficult for the Human Tribe to pass on their inheritance. In some weak tribes, many old people who were exhausted or crippled would quietly leave in the middle of the night to enter the vast Great Wilderness so that they would not be a burden to the tribe. This was also the way of survival for these weak tribes.
This was the naked reality. One could imagine the outcome of these people who left. They were originally going to die in exchange for a chance for their loved ones to survive.
Looking at the bleak faces of these unyielding men, Xiao Chen did not feel the slightest bit like them. He bent down and helped these crippled warriors up one by one. Then, he sank his energy into his Dantian and shouted, "Those who have submitted to my Gu Yuan Tribe will live and die as my Gu Yuan Tribe's ghost. Those who die in battle for the tribe and are injured for the tribe are the heroes of my Gu Yuan Tribe. I will not let my warriors bleed dry while my wives and children cry dry!"
His voice was like rolling thunder that instantly spread throughout the tribe and reached the ears of every Gu Yuan Tribe member.