The Rise of the Witch

"...The clan was the dominant force. In the past, only groups with 'shamans' were worthy of being called clans... Later, the transmission of shamanism became increasingly difficult, leading to a decrease in their numbers. Most clans lost their shamans, but at least they still had shaman bloodline inheritors who longed to awaken their shamanic bodies someday..."

"Below the clans lies the human race, and above the clans is the emperor. The emperor governs the clans, and the clans govern the human race. This system has been passed down from ancient times to the present day..."

"In ancient times, Emperor Yu surveyed the land and divided it into nine provinces, with clans of all sizes leading the human race to settle in these nine provinces..."

Wa Xin led Xing Yang through the dense forest, casually giving him a brief overview of the area.

Xing Yang followed obediently behind him, listening carefully and organizing the information in his mind.

This world should be roughly related to the ancient myths of the previous life. The difference is that in the myths of the previous life, Emperor Yu, who was the great Yu who controlled the floods, established the Xia Dynasty and passed the throne to his son, thus forming the pattern of "the world is ruled by hereditary monarchy", which led to the five thousand years of historical inheritance.

But it's different here. The throne is not inherited by a family, but is chosen from among the clans. Whoever can gain the support of more clans can ascend to the throne.

It's hard to say whether it's good or bad, but this system has lasted for nearly ten thousand years, longer than the history of the previous life.

After explaining briefly, Wa Xin asked Xing Yang, "How is it? How is it different from your previous life?"

Xing Yang thought for a moment and said, "In my previous life, the Yellow Emperor joined forces with the Yan Emperor to defeat Chi You, unify the Central Plains, and establish the Yanhuang system. After that came the Shao Hao Emperor, the Zhuanxu Emperor, the Ku Emperor, the Yao Emperor, the Shun Emperor, and the Yu Emperor. After that, things changed. The Yu Emperor passed the throne to his son, and the throne was only passed down within the family afterward..."

Wa Xin was somewhat surprised and said, "Only passed down within the family? What if the witch bloodline is lost? If the imperial clan has no witches, how can they suppress other clans?"

Xing Yang paused for a moment, then said, "Without witches, everyone is just an ordinary person... Perhaps there are hidden ones, but the world is dominated by ordinary people!"

Wa Xin stopped in her tracks, turned to look at him, and asked, "Then how will the demon race deal with it? Without the protection of the witch, the human race will ultimately be nothing more than food for the demon race."

Xing Yang frowned: "There are no demons either."

Nuwa frowned: "No witches, no demons? How could this be..."

After a pause, Nuwa seemed to have thought of something and blurted out, "Could it be that Emperor Zhuanxu's attempt to sever the connection between heaven and earth succeeded in your previous life?"

Xing Yang exclaimed in surprise, "Is there really such a thing as severing the connection between heaven and earth? In the legends of my previous life, Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth, cutting off communication between humans and gods... Did it fail here?"

Wa Xin glanced at Xing Yang, turned around and continued walking, saying, "Because a certain stubborn Ancestral War Witch ran headfirst into Mount Buzhou."

"But in my past life, there was also a legend about the water god Gonggong angrily striking Mount Buzhou!"

"You think Mount Buzhou is just an ordinary pillar... Never mind, I can't explain it to you now, we're almost there!"

  

As they spoke, Xing Yang's eyes lit up. What came into view was no longer an endless forest of tree trunks, but a plain that stretched as far as the eye could see. At the edge of his vision was a strange patch of black, which seemed to be a city...

Looking back, the boundless forest was not behind us, but several miles away.

Xingyang people are all numb!

He clearly remembered that he had only taken one step and his vision had left the forest, but now, looking back, the forest was miles behind him.

Just how far did he go with this step?

Is this how you always move forward in the forest?

If you calculate the distance you've traveled based on this step... Xingyang looked down at his small frame...

So the child was carried into the forest by that tiger demon? Otherwise, how could a child have walked so far into the forest?

Also, this ability shouldn't be his, right?

He simply followed along the whole time, completely unaware of anything unusual.

Thinking of this, Xing Yang couldn't help but look at Wa Xin in front of him and swallow hard.

Wa Xin seemed to see through his thoughts, and simply chuckled, saying, "It's just a simple shrinking-the-earth-to-an-inch trick... Speaking of which, I still haven't decided how to deal with you. Why don't you bring it up yourself?"

Xing Yang grinned and said, "Are you just going to dump me here?"

Wa Xin added, "The premise is that you must not escape my surveillance. Otherwise, if you grow up and become a lone war shaman, given the war shaman's reckless nature, who knows what kind of trouble you will cause."

Xing Yang choked, then said helplessly, "I'm not crazy all the time. Besides, you always call me some kind of war witch, but apart from going crazy, I'm just a helpless child the rest of the time."

As he spoke, he deliberately puffed out his chest, revealing rows of ribs.

Nuwa pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "That's not called going mad; to a shaman, that's called revealing one's shamanic form!"

At this point, Nuwa sighed slightly, raised her hand, and soil automatically rose from the ground, condensed and solidified, and finally turned into a table and two stools.

After gesturing for Xing Yang to sit down opposite her, Wa Xin raised her finger and tapped the table.

A large bowl of steaming hot meat bones suddenly appeared on the table, its aroma filling the air. Just smelling it made Xing Yang feel refreshed, and the emptiness in his body seemed to be filled in some way...

Spatial transport? Or the kind of spatial storage where time stands still? Or is it just an illusion?

Xingyang glanced at Wa Xin, rubbed his hands together, and immediately picked up a piece without hesitation and started to gnaw on it.

Actually, he had been hungry for a long time. Not only hungry, but ever since he went mad... no, ever since he manifested the witch, he had felt a sense of emptiness inside his body, but he had been suppressing it all the way.

As soon as the meat entered my stomach, a warm current flowed through my body, eventually settling in a certain place, filling the emptiness within me once again...

This is amazing! Not only does it taste better than in my previous life, but it also seems to have received some kind of special nourishment.

Xing Yang became even more impolite!

……

Wa Xin sat opposite him, holding a cup of tea in her hand, slowly watching Xing Yang, taking sips every now and then.

When Xing Yang had eaten half of his food, she finally spoke up: "In this world, demons eat humans, and humans eat demons. In the end, it's strength that matters. The weak are the ones who get eaten."

Xing Yang paused for a moment, but didn't say anything. He continued eating, but his movements slowed down.

Wa Xin ignored him and continued, "Although the human race has always relied on the protection of the witch race, the witch race's succession is unstable, resulting in fewer and fewer witches. Therefore, in order to fight against the demon race, the human race also needs to arm itself. Over the years, some of them have also learned cultivation from the witches and created many simplified witchcraft techniques..."

After a pause, Wa Xin continued, "Humans don't call it witchcraft, they call it immortal arts, and they call it cultivating immortality... Of course, to learn witchcraft, one must have the bloodline of a witch. The purer the bloodline, the higher the aptitude for cultivating immortality. Therefore, the so-called cultivation of immortality is still a minority compared to the vast number of humans."

Xing Yang finally raised his head, meat still in his mouth, and looked at Wa Xin in surprise.

The word "cultivator" simply popped into his ears, only to turn out to be a lower-level existence of a witch?

Wa Xin ignored him and continued, "The vast majority of humans are still weak. They don't have sharp claws that can tear tree bark, nor do they have the speed to run faster than the wind. Even their most powerful teeth are no match for an ordinary wild beast."

In order to improve the overall strength of the human race, some people dug up the existence of war shamans from the archives of history, and based on the records about war shamans, created... well, martial arts!

Xing Yang nearly choked, swallowed hard, and then exhaled.

I never expected that besides cultivating immortality, there would also be martial arts... Witchcraft and martial arts, they sound related.

Wa Xin looked at Xing Yang and said, "There aren't many restrictions on the path of martial arts; everyone can learn it. It's just that some people learn it well, and some learn it poorly... Can you guess why?"

Xing Yang replied without hesitation, "There is no reference."

Wa Xin chuckled and said, "You're right. Because there are no War Witches, the specific way to cultivate martial arts can only be determined by trial and error. If you try it correctly, you can learn martial arts to a high level. If you try it incorrectly, you might learn it to a low level if you're lucky, or you might die if you're unlucky."

This is the reason for my hesitation. A battle shaman is a tremendous opportunity for the martial arts of humanity, but the battle shaman's personality... So I both hope you grow up and pave the way for the martial arts of humanity, and yet I don't want you to grow up, lest you bring even greater trouble!

Xing Yang finally put down the meat bone in his hand, let out a breath, and said seriously, "You always say that the War Witch's personality will cause great trouble, but you can't just use personality and possible future events to condemn me now."

Wa Xin smiled and said, "If you knew about the cultivation of witches, you wouldn't have said that."