Immortality Cultivation: I can use my clansmen’s energy and blood to add points.

This time, the gazes of the surrounding Canaanites became even more complex.

There was awe, there was worship, but there was also doubt and hostility.

A massive storm is quietly brewing within this isolated tribe.

Back in the stone house, the atmosphere was even more somber than before.

What just happened in the square left everyone feeling uneasy.

"That guy named Kyle is clearly going against us."

Lin Wan'er said angrily.

"I think he's just jealous! Jealous that Bailing'er can activate the power of the totem pole!"

"It's not just about jealousy."

Su Xiaowan analyzed calmly.

“He is highly respected in the tribe, especially among the young warriors. He represents a xenophobic and conservative force. Today’s incident was just a trigger that completely escalated the conflict between them and the elders.”

Luo Qingchen remained silent.

He knew Su Xiaowan was right.

They were like a pebble thrown into a seemingly calm lake, creating ripples all around.

They have now been drawn into the power struggle within the Canaanite tribes.

"Although the elder seems to be on our side, his words may not be able to completely suppress Kyle and his group."

Luo Qingchen rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"What should we do now? We can't just stay in this stone house forever, can we?"

Lin Wan'er was somewhat anxious.

Luo Qingchen looked out the window, and there were even more prying eyes than before.

He knew they were now in the eye of the storm, their every move being watched.

"Wait."

Luo Qingchen uttered a single word.

"wait?"

Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan were both puzzled.

"Yes, let's wait for an opportunity."

Luo Qingchen's eyes deepened.

"An opportunity for us to truly gain a foothold and shut them up."

"what chance?"

"An opportunity to make them understand that our presence is more beneficial than harmful to them."

Luo Qingchen didn't explain it too clearly.

But Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan both understood.

In this unfamiliar world, to gain respect and recognition, you ultimately have to rely on your abilities.

That evening, the Canaan elders came to their stone house in person.

He brought some better food, as well as some soft blankets sewn from animal hides.

I'm very sorry about what happened today.

The elder's voice carried a hint of weariness.

"Kyle and the others are just too worried about the safety of the tribe; they mean no harm."

Luo Qingchen sneered inwardly.

no offence?

Those eyes were practically murderous.

But he remained outwardly calm.

"Elder, you flatter us. We are outsiders, so it's understandable that they are wary of us."

"It's great that you understand."

Elder Canaan nodded with satisfaction.

He looked at Bai Ling'er sleeping on the stone bed, and his eyes once again revealed that complex emotion, a mixture of excitement and sorrow.

"Elder, what exactly is going on with the strange phenomenon of the totem pole today, and the 'divine messenger' you mentioned?"

Luo Qingchen finally asked the question that had been bothering her.

"And, Bai Ling'er, she..."

Elder Canaan remained silent for a long time, as if lost in distant memories.

“We, the Canaanite people, have protected this land for generations, and we have also protected an ancient prophecy.”

He spoke slowly, his voice aged and drawn-out.

"The prophecy says that when the erosion of the 'Shadow' reaches its peak, the world will be plunged into eternal darkness. At that time, a 'Child of the Star' with the blood of the 'True Dragon' will descend, awaken the sleeping guardian, and lead us to the legendary 'Ancient Star Ruins' to obtain the ultimate power to fight against the Shadow."

Luo Qingchen's heart skipped a beat.

True dragon bloodline! Child of the stars!

Isn't this referring to Bai Ling'er?

"You mean, Bai Ling'er is the person in the prophecy?"

"I do not know."

Elder Canaan shook his head.

"But today, the reaction of the sacred tree totem is unprecedented in thousands of years. It is welcoming a supreme being. I can't think of any other possibility but the prophesied Child of the Stars."

"And what is this 'shadow'?"

Luo Qingchen pressed for an answer.

He had heard this word twice already.

One time it was the Star Spirit, and the other time it was Elder Canaan.

"shadow……"

Upon hearing this word, a deep sense of fear and hatred flashed in Elder Canaan's eyes.

"Shadows are the embodiment of all negative energy. They are greed, destruction, and despair. They corrupt all living beings, turning them into monsters that only know how to kill. We call them 'Shadow Slaves'."

“We, the Canaanite race, have been fighting against the shadows since the day we were born. Our ancestors paid a heavy price to seal away a core source of shadows, in exchange for this temporary habitat for us.”

"But the power of the seal is weakening year by year. The erosion of the shadows is also becoming more and more serious. Perhaps it won't be long before this last pure land is also swallowed by darkness."

Luo Qingchen's heart sank.

He recalled the black-clad demonic cultivators he had encountered before.

The power they wielded, with its filthy and evil aura, was just like the "shadow" the elders spoke of.

Could they be the so-called "shadow slaves"?
This world is far more dangerous than he imagined.

"Where is that 'ancient star ruin'?"

This is what Luo Qingchen cares about most.

If we can find the ruins, perhaps we can find our way back.

"I do not know either."

The elder shook his head again, a bitter look on his face.

"The clues about the ruins are all recorded on a tattered astral map. But that map was lost in a great war a thousand years ago. All we know is that we need the 'guidance of the stars' to find it again."

"The guidance of the stars..."

Luo Qingchen subconsciously touched her chest.

There, on his bronze star map, lay.

Is there some connection between these two things?
"Elder, may I take a look at the books in your tribe's collection? Perhaps I can find some clues in them."

Luo Qingchen tried to make a request.

Elder Canaan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"Yes, but only in areas I permit you to enter. The tribe's sacred ground, the place where the source of the shadow is sealed, is off-limits to everyone."

"Thank you, elder."

Luo Qingchen was overjoyed.

Finally, we've taken the first step.

However, the opportunity he was waiting for came sooner than he had imagined.

It happened in the early hours of the next day.

A sudden, sharp blast of a horn shattered the tranquility of the settlement.

"Woo! Woo!"

That's an enemy attack alarm!
The entire Canaanite settlement was instantly awakened from its slumber.

Countless Canaanite warriors, armed with spears and bone bows, rushed out of the stone houses and quickly assembled in the square.

Kyle led the charge, clad in simple leather armor, wielding a spear that gleamed with blue light, his face filled with a chilling aura.

"Enemy attack! It's sand worms that burrow underground! There are many of them! They've already breached the outer perimeter!"

A sentry rushed in from the cave entrance, shouting in panic.

"Why panic!"

Kyle roared, stabilizing the morale of his troops.

"All soldiers, follow me! Defend our homeland!" "Yes, sir!"

Hundreds of Canaanite warriors roared in unison, their morale soaring, and followed Kyle as they charged toward the cave entrance.

Luo Qingchen and the other two were also awakened immediately.

"what happened?"

Lin Wan'er rushed to the door and looked outside.

"It seems that some star beasts are attacking the tribe."

Su Xiaowan said.

Luo Qingchen's eyes lit up instantly.

The opportunity is here!
"Let's go take a look too."

As he spoke, he picked up Bai Ling'er and led the way out of the stone house.

When they arrived at the huge opening at the tribe's entrance, the battle outside had already begun.

Dust billowed across the plain outside the cave entrance.

Countless sandworms, enormous like centipedes with rings of sharp teeth, are emerging from the ground and frantically attacking the Canaanite tribes' defenses.

Each of these burrowing sandworms is roughly equivalent in strength to a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Their shells are incredibly hard, and ordinary swords cannot break through them.

Moreover, they can spew out a highly corrosive acid, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

The Canaanite warriors, though brave, had relatively limited methods of attack.

They stabbed with spears and shot with arrows.

These attacks, landing on the sandworm's hard shell, could only produce a series of "clanging" sounds and leave a white mark, but could not cause fatal damage.

Occasionally, a warrior will seize the opportunity to thrust his spear into the sandworm's mouth or its weak abdominal spot.

But many more soldiers faced perilous situations while dodging the acid and the impact of sandworms.

The battle reached a stalemate for a time.

There was even a hint of something ominous about it.

Kyle led the charge, and with each swing of his spear, a sharp blue light flashed, piercing the head of a sandworm.

His strength is indeed very high, approaching the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

But he alone was simply no match for the entire battle.

"It's our turn."

Luo Qingchen spoke to Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan beside him.

The two nodded in understanding.

The next second, Luo Qingchen's figure vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already in the center of the battlefield.

He didn't use any fancy moves.

He simply threw a punch.

Gray, chaotic energy condensed on his fist.

It lacked any impressive grandeur or dazzling brilliance.

It was just a simple, unadorned punch.

boom!
The massive head of a sand worm, which was about to swallow a Canaanite warrior with its gaping maw, suddenly exploded.

Red and white splattered all over the ground.

The incredibly hard shell was as fragile as paper in the face of Luo Qingchen's chaotic power.

The surrounding Canaanite warriors were dumbfounded.

What power is this?
That's way too domineering!

Luo Qingchen did not stop.

His figure moved across the battlefield like a ghost.

With every punch and every kick, a sand worm burrowing underground would inevitably be smashed to pieces by him.

He was like a ruthless killing machine, efficient and deadly.

At the same time, Lin Wan'er also made her move.

She made hand seals and muttered incantations.

"All trees grow!"

Countless thick vines burst forth from the ground, like agile giant pythons, tightly binding the sandworms that burrow underground.

The sandworms struggled frantically, spewing acid.

But these vines are exceptionally resilient and possess an inexhaustible vitality.

The areas corroded by the acid will quickly regrow.

Su Xiaowan was not idle either.

She rapidly drew runes in the air with both hands.

"Activate the illusionary formation!"

"Gravity array, deploy!"

She could easily create small formations.

The sandworms trapped by the vines were instantly plunged into an illusion and began to frantically attack their companions.

Or, your body suddenly sinks, pressed down by an invisible gravity, rendering you unable to move.

The originally chaotic battlefield was instantly reversed after the three of them joined.

The pressure on the Canaanite warriors suddenly eased.

They only need to deal with the controlled or slow-moving sandworms.

Efficiency has been greatly improved.

Kyle was engaged in a fierce battle with an exceptionally large sandworm king when he noticed the changes happening around him.

He saw Luo Qingchen, like a war god, slaughtering his way through the swarm of insects.

He saw Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan using strange methods he had never seen before to manipulate the insect swarm.

His face was filled with shock and disbelief.

These outsiders...

How could their strength be so great?

Especially that man, what kind of monster is he?

That gray power, filled with an aura of destruction and devouring, sent a shiver down his spine.

The battle ended quickly.

Thanks to the efficient slaughter by Luo Qingchen and his two companions, hundreds of burrowing sand worms were wiped out in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The plains outside the cave entrance were littered with the remains of sandworms.

A pungent, bloody smell filled the air.

All the Canaanite warriors stopped what they were doing and looked at Luo Qingchen and his companions with eyes that seemed to regard them as monsters.

The previous rejection and hostility were no longer in those eyes.

Instead, there was a deep sense of awe, and a hint of... fear.

Luo Qingchen held Bai Ling'er in his arms, standing calmly amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his expression indifferent.

He turned his head and his gaze fell on Kyle, who was not far away.

Eyes facing each other.

Kyle's eyes were filled with an extremely complex expression.

There was shock, resentment, shame, and a trace of gratitude that even he himself was unwilling to admit...

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

He could only lower his proud head and avoid Luo Qingchen's gaze.

At this moment, Luo Qingchen knew.

They finally gained a foothold in this tribe.

Elder Canaan, leaning on his cane, came out of the cave.

He looked at the corpses of sandworms scattered on the ground, then at his unharmed clansmen, and finally, his gaze fell on Luo Qingchen.

His eyes were filled with approval and gratitude.

"Thank you, brave outsiders."

He spoke to Luo Qingchen using his divine soul.

"You have earned Canaan's respect through your strength."

That evening, the elder sought out Luo Qingchen again.

This time, he didn't hide anything.

He opened up all the tribal texts about the astral plane, history, and the "Shadow" to Luo Qingchen.

Furthermore, he told Luo Qingchen a secret that even Kyle didn't know.

"Actually, we still retain a small fragment of that lost astral map." (End of Chapter)