Chapter 426: Kewu, Belief

Looking closer, one could even see that person's body trembling slightly in the winter river water; it was just that he seemed to have suffered some injury and no longer had the strength to swim toward the shore, so he could only drift downstream along the Netheril River.

Sears and Boen looked at each other and said in unison, "Fish him out!"

Floating on this water were at least several dozen Gold Coins! How could they possibly let that go! Besides, this person didn't look like someone with any power or background at first glance; grab him first and worry about the rest later!

The ship's speed was not slow, so Sears and Boen hurriedly notified the captain to slow down, while simultaneously arranging for their subordinates to take ropes and go into the water to retrieve the person.

At the same time, inside the ship's cabin, in the center of a crowd sitting in a circle, was a decrepit old man wearing feathered ornaments, draped in beast robes, and holding a blood-colored Bone Staff; his already turbid eyes were visible through the two holes of a terrifying boar mask.

He was watching, watching his clansmen; he looked at the women and children sitting silently against the four walls of the cabin, and looked at the tribal warriors sitting in a circle around him, letting out a long sigh.

This was not the first time he had sighed on this journey; as the tribe's Shaman, his mission was to give his clansmen confidence and guide the tribe to survive, but now—

Having abandoned their ancestral land to head toward a completely unfamiliar region, where exactly did the future of the Kewu Tribe lie?

"Shaman, Yan Zhu—he's dying, please, save him!"

The Shaman remained silent, but still pressed his hand onto the forehead of a burly man who appeared strong on the outside but was already unconscious; Yan Zhu had been the tribe's most powerful Warrior, but during a hunt, he had accidentally been struck by a curse from the Shaman of a blood-feud tribe, and after barely managing to run back, he had ultimately fallen into a coma.

The loss of Yan Zhu cast another layer of frost over the already disadvantaged Kewu Tribe.

What was even more serious was that because of treating Yan Zhu, his own life, which was already not long, had become even closer to its end. Once he died, the Kewu Tribe without a Shaman would also eventually head toward extinction.

It was just that he could face his own death, but he could not face his clansmen being reduced to Slaves, or even sacrificial offerings; the final struggle was about to begin, but just at this moment, the Ancestral Spirit had brought him a group of Netherese.

According to these Netherese, their lord was in urgent need of a large number of subjects to develop new land; the Ancestral Spirit told him these Netherese were not lying, and the Kewu Shaman suddenly saw hope—who would be willing to die if they could live?

Both sides hit it off almost immediately, and then the migration began; the elders of the tribe voluntarily gave up the chance to leave, buying time for them.

As the days on the ship grew longer, even as a Shaman, he could not help but feel lost.

A moment later, the Kewu Shaman withdrew his palm and began to chant an ancient song unique to the Langasi; there were no lyrics, only roars filled with sorrow mixed with hope for the future.

The others seemed to understand something as well; a Warrior took off his own beast-hide garment to cover Yan Zhu, and simultaneously joined in the Shaman's chanting.

Where there was one, there was a second, but those who followed no longer covered Yan Zhu with beast-hide garments, but instead stepped forward to stroke Yan Zhu's exposed arm, as if wanting to leave their own aura on him.

Before long, the chanting inside the cabin merged into one, and the sound also drifted outside the cabin.

……

On the deck, the previous drifter had already been fished up; the experienced Sears was checking the drifter's identity—the dark, rough skin and calloused palms indicated that this person was definitely not a superior.

Relieved, Sears nodded at Boen, then ordered his subordinates to throw the "drifter" into the cabin; only if he survived was he worth Gold Coins, and if he died, well, he died.

Just then, a series of eerie roars came from inside the cabin; Sears frowned, but didn't say anything.

And Boen asked directly, "Sears, what are those savages howling about?"

"Seems like someone died. I'll go take a look; you go to the Xiu Xi Shi and wait for me, I'll be there shortly."

"Fine, hurry up!"

Saying this, Boen muttered a few words under his breath before walking toward the ship's Xiu Xi Shi.

……

Daxia Territory, Linshui Village.

December was already more than half over, but there was still no news of any Projection Plane from the Tower of Time; Xia Duo, who had been staying in his small tent studying "Deep Weave", was feeling somewhat restless at this moment.

Even if he had missed it, that would be fine; at least he would know the cycle for searching for a Projection Plane was about one to two months, which was better than having no news at all!

If it only came next month, then the cycle for a successful search would be one to three months; the further it went, the longer the cycle, which really deviated too far from Xia Duo's expectations.

The vexing matters during this period were not limited to these; another ship from Rodney Territory had arrived, which should have set out long ago, and looking at their posture, it seemed they didn't even want to let the winter go to waste.

However, while there were vexing matters, there were also things worth being happy about; one was that the subjects had fallen in love with the soft, slightly sweet new-style food called steamed buns.

Indeed, they were filling and delicious, who wouldn't like them!

And the rotation system for Canteen helpers had already been implemented for several rounds; many people, including those who hadn't gone to help in the Canteen, had already learned how to make dough and steam buns.

It was just that the current Daxia Territory was more like a large factory than a village; the high-efficiency "communal meal" of the Canteen could not be abandoned for the time being, so those who had learned to make buns only had the chance to practice it themselves when it was their turn to go to the Canteen.

As for the Slave Carpenter who created the Steamer, he was also credited with a Small Merit for this matter, and was one step closer to being freed from his Slave status.

Another thing worth being happy about had to do with Xia Duo himself.

Just yesterday, Xia Duo's Bloodline Power stirred, and at night he entered that magical dream again; he was still transforming into a great river, a storm, or even lightning, but it still stopped abruptly at the critical point.

After waking up in the morning, although he hadn't gained any increase in ability, the fact that his bloodline had a tendency to awaken again was certainly worth being happy about.

Regarding the triggers for bloodline awakening, having experienced so many awakenings, Xia Duo also had some guesses.

When the awakening first started, it might have been when Mu Yan performed the Ancestral Blessing on him; that had already passed, and there was no way to know for now.

The bloodline awakenings Xia Duo clearly knew about were each related to that magical dream of transforming into a great river.

The first time was during the Orc War, but no ability was awakened; it was just a simple dream.

The second time, on the night of the Award Ceremony, he entered the dream and obtained the simple 【Water Control】 ability;

The third time, some time after the Award Ceremony, he was able to touch the First Layer of the Weave with his Bloodline Power, and it was also because of this that Xia Duo directly became an Official Mage.

However, from this time on, Xia Duo's progress as a Mage had always been ahead of his bloodline awakening, which also made Xia Duo have much less expectation for awakening his bloodline.

The fourth time, after the Arcane Competition, 【Water Control】 deepened, and he learned Water Domain Spellcasting and Huashanshuiliu.

The fifth time, after his wedding with Niya, he obtained 【Wind Control】, and could similarly turn his body into gas and perform Air Domain Spellcasting.

The sixth time was just yesterday.

Xia Duo roughly guessed that every time he awakened, it was after receiving respect, awe, and envy from many people, and after being watched and cheered for by many; to describe it with a very popular term, that was—

He was very likely awakening his bloodline due to the power of belief placed in him by others.

Of course, the further it went, the more power of belief might be needed, and the awakening would become increasingly difficult.

However, with a Territory, and subjects coming in wave after wave, he would always be able to reach the limit; it was just that Xia Duo didn't know where his bloodline limit was.

But from the current perspective, harvesting belief didn't seem difficult.

Perhaps later on, his bloodline awakening progress might even surpass his Mage progress.