I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 82 - 51: Sacrificial Artifact, Former Sage, Accept as a Lackey_3

Chapter 82: Chapter 51: Sacrificial Artifact, Former Sage, Accept as a Lackey_3

"Yes, once you worship me as the Sacrificial Master, even if you die, a portion of the witch power will be absorbed by me."

"This bead is something I got by chance. If you want it, I’ll gift it to you."

"Oh, no need for gifts. When you die, I’ll take it myself."

Shen Can didn’t care about the bead. He sensed a strong aura of filth and resentment from it, similar to the previous two pieces of ’Iron Wood.’

"Have you encountered any other Sacrificial Masters or Blood Witches in this mountainous wilderness?"

"Like Xiaoyang, for example."

"No, different Sacrificial Beasts and their Blood Witches under command typically won’t engage in conflicts unless competing for a fief.

In Yongyi, we have defined territories, and sometimes our Witch Slaves may encounter each other."

"I haven’t returned to Yongyi for a while. Tell me about Yongyi’s situation before you came."

Thud!

As he spoke, Shen Can stomped on the Tuo Lord again, dispersing its silently gathered blood aura with his own.

"If you don’t want to say, then don’t say."

"I’ll talk, I’ll talk!"

The Tuo Lord was terrified, "In the northern Ji Land of Yongyi, the reviving Xiaoyang Race has been pushing us back steadily, exterminating numerous tribes.

If I hadn’t been seriously injured, I might have taken advantage of the chaos to claim a part of it."

Through the Tuo Lord’s words, Shen Can began to understand his area.

To be precise, the vast region south of the Giant Mountain Range is all called Yongyi.

In the eyes of many tribes and the Human Race within Yongyi, the Blazing Flame area is called the ’Wild.’

Wilderness, the meaning of wild lands.

City, Guo, Pasture, and Wild, this is the broad regional division of Yongyi.

Any tribe can call their clan land a ’City,’ and use itself as the basis to divide these four regions.

City signifies the core, similar to a tribe’s clan land.

Guo refers to the nearby mountain forests and fertile lands of a tribe.

Pasture is where herding and hunting can occur.

The Wild is purely the outermost area, unvalued, inhabited by wild men, and alien races.

Eight thousand years ago, the area south of the Giant Mountain Range was the Xiaoyang Race’s domain, and it was the Yongshan Bo Division that led an alliance of marquises to break through the Xiaoyang Race.

But Xiaoyang wasn’t completely wiped out, and today, eight thousand years later, the once-escaped Xiaoyang descendants have proliferated and started to wage war against the Human Race.

But now, the Human Race no longer has the Yongshan Division.

And the area where Blazing Flame, Cyan Bird, and Ape Mountain divisions are located is just part of the northern border of Yongyi.

Even going all the way west, the Lingyu Bo Division actually also belongs to the land of Yongyi.

"During the wars between the tribes and Xiaoyang, were there any tribes that left behind Sacrificial Artifacts?"

Hearing this, the Tuo Lord was stunned for a moment and wanted to take a look at Shen Can.

Shen Can was constantly focused with his Divine Sense, noticing the changes of the crocodile underfoot, and immediately realized he had misspoken.

His foot shifted slightly on the crocodile.

"Tribe destroyed, Sacrificial Artifact shattered — never heard of a tribe losing one."

The Sacrificial Artifact is the last guardian of a tribe. Conversely, if the Sacrificial Artifact is broken, the tribe is not far from destruction.

When Desolate Beast Worship Masters select Witch Slaves, they avoid tribes with Sacrificial Artifacts.

At this moment, Shen Can understood why the Xiaoyang Witch Pouch he had destroyed contained no Sacrificial Artifacts.

Likewise, the Tuo Lord rapidly processed the information and felt something wrong.

It observed the Blazing Flame Tribe division in the distant wilderness corner, realizing that such opportunities might arise for a backward tribe.

"But back to the point."

The Tuo Lord immediately spoke, "I’m just a crocodile, fortunate to have a little Exotic Bloodline, my vision isn’t as vast as yours.

The world is vast, and tribes losing Sacrificial Artifacts should have happened, though rarely. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

In the northern part of Yongyi, Human Race tribes and Xiaoyang Race frequently clash, and nearly every ten or twenty years an upper-class tribe perishes, but new ones also emerge.

The newly established tribes often worship the Residual Spirits of the Human Race, welcome them back to the clan, performing sacrifices annually, transforming into the tribe’s guardians."

"I remember, before I came over, a tribe called Yin Mountain used a piece of wood to invite a Residual Spirit, thus making it a tribe’s Sacrificial Artifact."

...

The Tuo Lord’s return to his example successfully saved his life.

Not only providing an example but also sharing a part of the legend.

The material Shen Can had been thinking of finding to create a Sacrificial Artifact was not the key aspect.

High mountains, deep waters — the important part of a Sacrificial Artifact is not the ’material’ but the ’spirit.’

Using a Sacrificial Artifact to bear the ’souls’ of deceased clansmen, retaining their power in life, transforming into the tribe’s protector.

This presents a problem, similar to shallow-heritage tribes like the Blazing Flame Division, which don’t even fill half a beast hide with their tribal history, let alone having strong yet conveniently ’deceased’ tribesmen.

It’s not like they can just get rid of Huo Chang.

But Huo Chang’s strength is not sufficient either.

What to do in such a situation?

The wisdom of the Human Race’s sages comes into play.

Human Race’s sages created Martial Dao generations ago to protect their heritage, and even in death, they didn’t forget their mission, entering the tribe’s Sacrificial Artifact guarding the tribe.

Many Human Race Martial Artists have fallen over the years in the Great Wilderness, and the remnants not completely extinguished are what tribes need to summon.

It’s akin to ’old guiding new,’ using their last warmth to help a future successor.

This ’successor’ transcends narrow bloodline tribal definitions to encompass the broad concept of their progeny’s offspring.

These traces are evident, for example, the Blazing Flame Tribe’s Uninscribed Divine Tablet worships the sages who founded Martial Dao.

Not only does the Blazing Flame have such a tablet, all Human Race tribes do.

However, according to the Tuo Lord, the ancient Human Race Residual Spirits are almost non-existent anymore, with the spiritual capabilities of those summoned to protect tribes reduced to Tier Two and Three levels in Yongyi.

The sages are also declining.

On one hand, fewer successors inherit the sages’ will.

Not everyone retains their will after death.

After all, remaining Residual Spirits are merely energy bodies, with no main consciousness, only instincts remaining.

...

"Spare my life, I can become the Guardian Beast for the tribe; I am willing to turn a new leaf."

Seeing Shen Can lost in thought without speaking, the Tuo Lord endeavored to incline its head to show its pitiful condition.

As a Spirit-Connected Beast, fearing death is the most terrible mindset.

"Be the Clan Guardian Beast?"

Shen Can laughed, knowing that allowing this creature to be the Guardian Beast was like inviting a wolf into the fold; Shanghu wasn’t weak, and it was destroyed nonetheless.

"I’m offering you a chance: expose all the blood witches and your fellow kind north of Qujiang."

"I don’t need to elaborate on the rest, right?"

Feeling Shen Can’s murderous intent, the Tuo Lord trembled, a crocodile-shaped imprint emerging.

Seeing the crocodile imprint, Shen Can curiously sensed it deeper. Jifu mentioned that the method of taming Wild Beasts with high-tier spiritual wisdom was commonly through such imprints, albeit with limitations.

Enlisting the crocodile as a secret lackey was an idea that just came to him.

Developing southwards past Blazing Flame is a set goal; Cyan Bird and Ape Mountain divisions will also be dealt with eventually.

Tribes are fine as they’re overt, but the hidden blood witches and Desolate Beast Worship Masters are best countered by using them against each other.

"Come with me!"

After collecting the Tuo Lord’s Life Soul, Shen Can proceeded into the distance.

The Tuo Lord, enduring intense pain, crawled behind him.

They arrived at a collapsed cave a hundred miles east of the old site of the Upper Huang Division. Shen Can unveiled two blackened ’Iron Woods.’

"Since you’re from Yongyi, do you recognize these things?"

The Tuo Lord, following Shen Can, eyed the ’Iron Woods’ with its dark-gold pupils.

"These should be the Sacrificial Woods of the Xiaoyang Tribe!"

"How could these things be here!"