After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 17, Upper Section (Please continue reading)
"witchcraft."

Once the idea took hold, Shen Can became increasingly uncontrollable, wishing he could immediately go and dig out the fragments of the ironwood boat to take a look.

The ironwood boat is a third-tier vessel, presumably belonging to the Lingyu tribe.

If it truly comes from the Lingyu tribe, then there is a high probability that it is imbued with witchcraft.

Looking at it this way, it seems normal that the Upper Phosphorus Department came knocking.

Perhaps the Upper Yellow Division has already acquired more of the ironwood ship and has gained or seen great benefits from it.

That's why, even before the floodwaters had receded, they mobilized the clan's Heavenly Vein Realm warriors to search across the mountains and fields, resorting to both coercion and enticement.

Shen Can returned to the ancestral temple, thinking about how to sneak into a small hole behind the altar.

Back at the fire tower above the clan's territory, he also fell into deep thought.

The arrival of sulfur stones underscores the importance of the ironwood boat.

As for exchanging them, we've been neighbors for hundreds of years, everyone knows each other's character.

If Shanghuang were to offer something truly useful in exchange, that would be one thing, but he wouldn't give away a single thing that could enhance the clan's strength.

"I wonder how the volcano investigation is going."

He's been away from home for a month now, and there's been no news of him at all, which worries him quite a bit.

Although the intention was to take advantage of other tribes' misfortunes, the mountains and wilderness were fraught with danger and the risks were too great.

……

The arrival of the sulfur stone did not cause much of a stir, as the tribespeople's minds were now focused on the plague.

Shen Can continued to isolate his clansmen as usual.

The witchcraft remedies were effective, and since the tribe did not encounter a large-scale plague attack, the plague symptoms of the entire tribe were under his control from the very beginning.

That night, the busy work was finally over.

After glancing at the sleeping Huo Xian, Shen Can quietly approached the ancestral altar.

He took down the ceremonial sword used for ancestral worship and used it as a digging tool.

This wasn't his first day digging.

Although the pile of earth and rocks behind the altar looks similar to a collapse, there are actually differences between the inside and outside.

The collapsed appearance on the outside is for show; once you dig a certain distance inward, gaps will appear between the rocks.

Digging away the outer cover, a small hole that had been dug out beforehand appeared in front of Shen Can.

Shen Canzi slipped inside in a flash.

The cave is a natural karst cave inside the mountain, with no signs of excavation, and the airflow is a bit stuffy.

The small torches quickly located the ironwood ship fragments.

On the broken wood, the animal patterns that he hadn't looked at closely before were now examined up close, bit by bit.

The animal patterns on the surface of the broken wood are more like fish scale patterns.

Shen Can lit a torch and began to copy the image.

After finishing the drawing, I compared it again and found that the fish scale patterns, when connected, were actually a bit eerie, like some strange symbols.

After checking everything, Shen Can exited the hole and blocked the original path.

"Forgive me, ancestors."

He bowed to the altar, unilaterally forgiving himself, and then put the Luan Blade back in its original place.

We always take from our ancestors without ever thanking them. From now on, we should try our best to keep our ancestors intact.

He patted the animal hide in his arms and returned to his western cave, satisfied.

His ear holes now contain quite a few animal skin scrolls and witchcraft medicines, all of which he obtained from Master Huo Xian.

After changing into a robe, Shen Can spread out the animal patterns he had just copied on the stone table by the light of an oil lamp and examined them carefully.

The animal pattern on the ironwood fragment was incomplete, but it could be seen as a wild beast. As for whether it was a fish or a beast, Shen Can couldn't tell.

The winding patterns look somewhat like fish scales.

This doesn't prove anything. In the Great Wilderness, there is no obvious difference between birds and beasts, scaled creatures and insects. Beasts can grow fish scales, and fish can grow fur.

The entire fragment should be the outer hull of an ironwood boat.

Those submerged in the water have become somewhat dark and unclear due to prolonged immersion.

The upper part is slightly white, and the animal print is mottled and faded.

And so, Shen Can sat behind the stone table, staring at the animal pattern he had copied, trying to imprint the entire pattern into his mind.

……

You've invested ten years of your lifespan to comprehend the patterns of an unknown beast, but after ten years you've gained nothing.

On the stone bed, Shen Can opened his eyes, his eyes clear as if he were a college student in his previous life.

He lived ten years, but didn't hear a sound.

This time, the sacrificial vessel was not sarcastic.

"We've found the right approach."

His eyes darted around, and he immediately realized what was going on.

"Come again."

You've stared at the beast pattern for ten years, your eyes burning with desire, but you've still gained nothing.

You've stared at animal patterns for twenty years, repeatedly copying them, trying to see their mysteries, but always feeling something is just a vague idea. You begin to wonder if you're overthinking it, that you can deduce witchcraft from any random animal pattern.

In the twenty-second year, you began to doubt your own genius.

You simply start copying this animal pattern, once, twice... a hundred times, a hundred times...

The cave was piled high with animal hides used for copying, but still no inspiration struck. In the thirty-seventh year, you stopped copying, and the deduction ended.

"Continue to deduce."

[You stubborn fool, here you go again!]

……

[Stubborn brat, today marks the hundredth anniversary of your copying of animal patterns.]

A century of copying, a sudden flash of inspiration.

You try to grasp it, but you can never catch it.

You didn't lose heart and started copying animal patterns again, finally seizing that opportunity.

The animal pattern is covered with dense scale runes, which meander like a stream, sometimes turbulent, sometimes calm, sometimes splashing, all conveying the power of water.

You begin to use this as an opportunity to further comprehend more profound mysteries.

[You spent another ten years gradually coming to understand the essence of this winding pattern, which seemed to possess the profound mystery of riding and controlling water.]

……

[Another fifty years passed, and in the process of your copying, that profound and subtle meaning finally transformed into a crooked and twisted character in your hands.]

[At the same time, you also find that this character is too simple, so you choose to continue to comprehend it, but your brain is a bit tired, so the deduction ends.]

……

Inside the cave, Shen Can looked at the runes that had just been written on the animal hide, rubbing his dizzy head.

Witchcraft: Water Control (Completely incomplete, not even a beginner)
It wasn't easy, but we finally got it.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, but hopefully things will be easier once we have a start.

Shen Can erased the runes in front of him, and also destroyed the beast pattern he had copied earlier.

He wasn't wary of his own people, but rather of outsiders.

The people from Shanghuang are domineering; they act even more arrogantly in Zhiyan than they would in their own home. What if they barge in and ransack the place?

Although the probability is very small, we should still take precautions.

When I went out to sweep the ancestral temple, I ran into Huo Xian.

"Ah Can, seeing how tired you are, I'll go on the inspection today."

"Master, no need. I can handle this."

After the meal, Shen Can began his usual inspection of the tribe to check on the extent of the plague within the tribe.

Busy during the day, they continue to practice witchcraft at night.

……

Three thousand miles away.

Under the blazing sunlight, a layer of dazzling brilliance spread across the tall trees.

This is a huge mountain range that has been mostly cleared and leveled. One half is filled with caves, and the other half consists of undulating stone palaces and houses.

The entire tribe was situated on high ground, so even flash floods did not affect them.

In the middle of the stone hall and the cave is a huge cavern. Upon entering, the first thing you see is a fire pit, and the fragrance of burning artemisia fills the air.

The firelight flickered in the hearth, illuminating the surroundings, while large and small pieces of broken ironwood leaned against the wall.

All the fragments of ironwood were covered with animal patterns.

A thin old man's head was almost touching the animal pattern, his brows were furrowed and his nostrils were flaring.

"The upper part of the Lingyu is mysterious and vast, truly unfathomable."

"I can't see through it! I just can't see through it!"

Inside the cave, after piecing together many broken pieces of wood, a pattern of a strange fish-like creature with four limbs was roughly reconstructed.

At the head of the fish is a blurry human face.

The animal pattern alone is enough to confirm the origin of this broken piece of ironwood ship.

The upper part of Lingyu is a powerful tribe whose name is known but whose whereabouts are unknown to all other tribes in the nearby Giant Mountain Wasteland.

It is a large tribe with a Divine Treasury Realm under its jurisdiction.

Things that one cannot understand are probably quite common in the Lingyu tribe.

Huang Zhou withdrew his gaze from the animal patterns on the fragment and sat down near the fire pit to ponder.

It had been almost two months since he obtained the first fragment, and he had found more than a dozen more. He studied the animal patterns on the fragments every day but gained nothing.

As the tribal temple priest and shaman, he had all the young people in the tribe come and see for themselves, but none of them could see the mystery.

Come to think of it, he was the most authoritative shaman in the entire tribe. If he couldn't see it, it's normal that the tribesmen couldn't either.

As for the other tribes in the vicinity, they learned to carve the ironwood fragments into wooden spears.

Witchcraft? At most, they'll just make a pill.

　The protagonist will emerge from seclusion, but he's currently in the early stages of cultivating his internal energy, as he's only at the Stone-Splitting Realm and hasn't fully mastered witchcraft yet. The new storyline after the flood will unfold in these next few chapters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)