Chapter 112: Wu Jin's Struggle

Nüwa Valley.

Leaving the grand and imposing Nüwa Palace, I followed a passageway paved with five-colored stone blocks for dozens of li, used a secret technique to open a stone door hidden in the rock wall, and arrived at a huge cavern.

This cavern is even dozens of times larger than Nüwa Valley itself.

Thick stone pillars firmly support the ceiling; the ground is covered with fertile soil, lush with delicate, fertile luminous plants.

Seven-colored fluorescence illuminated the vast cavern, also illuminating the huge altar at its center.

Groups of tall women in long robes stood beneath the altar, each gazing fervently at the nine-story treasure pagoda erected on the altar.

This cavern is expansive, with fertile soil, and even two small rivers flow from the rock walls, winding through the entire cavern.

With just one False Sun… given Nüwa Palace's strength, they could easily obtain more False Suns.

With just one False Sun, this cavern could become a paradise that makes mouths water; its yield could at least sustain hundreds of thousands of sentient beings.

However, the owners of Nüwa Valley are a group of women.

Women are always willful.

They are happy to leave this cavern idle, happy to keep an altar and a nine-story treasure pagoda standing here.

They have deep connections and formidable strength; even the nearby realms' infamous Changsheng Sect, known for evil and secrecy, dare not provoke these women much.

Leaving a cavern idle—what is that to them?

Wasting resources and such… they have wasted plenty.

Below the altar, wearing heavy makeup and adorned with countless pearl-and-jade ornaments, the Nüwa Palace women, dressed resplendently, knelt down and bowed to the altar and to the nine-story treasure pagoda nearly a hundred meters high atop it.

They chanted in low voices the ancestral sacrifice sutra; after repeating it ninety-nine times, over a dozen girls with youthful faces stood up, took off their finely made long robes, revealing the beast-skin clothing they wore underneath.

Holding white bone staffs inlaid with feathers and beast teeth, they ascended the altar and began a dance brimming with savage wilderness spirit.

They emitted thunderous roars from their mouths; their movements imitated gales and towering waves, their motions filled with the silhouettes of flying beasts and running animals, and various lights flickered around them.

The surrounding air rolled and surged.

Streams of heaven-and-earth primordial energy surged toward these girls; accompanied by the chanting and prayers of the surrounding women, an invisible mysterious force transformed that primordial energy into powerful, pure mana, continually infusing it into the over a dozen girls' bodies.

The girls' aura rose steadily.

Without bottleneck or stagnation, progressing smoothly, their strength broke through from Foundation Establishment to Perceiving Mystery Realm like a bamboo shoot splitting.

Then, from Perceiving Mystery Realm, their aura surged violently once more.

Half-Step Chonglou Realm.

The girls' aura became erratic and fluctuating, like a building without a foundation about to collapse.

Several white-haired, ancient-aura old women, whose ruddy faces bore few wrinkles, rose from the crowd, took out medicine bottles carved from five-colored stone beads, and had the girls drink the potion inside that sparkled with five-colored radiance.

The girls' aura stabilized.

Their breathing became long and strong; with every gesture, they subtly drove the surrounding air's undulation.

They, together with the old women and those other women, again bowed to the altar and to the nine-story treasure pagoda.

They praised the ancestors' blessings, singing with the most splendid words of the ancestors' glory and greatness.

A large troop of sturdy, agile women in heavy armor surged forward, carrying various weapons, escorting head after head of plump livestock, as well as some carefully selected slaves, to the foot of the altar.

Nine bonfires rose; head after head of livestock emitted mournful cries, were beheaded by sharp blades, and shoved into the sacrificial pit.

Exactly one thousand carefully chosen rock dwarf youths, handsome-faced and utterly free of scars, illness, or hidden wounds, walked expressionlessly to the edge of the sacrificial pit.

At the command of an old woman, the thousand rock dwarf youths were slaughtered like livestock, their bodies mixed with blood and thrown into the sacrificial pit.

This was the third batch, and also the most abundant, of offerings sacrificed in today's ritual.

Even with Nüwa Palace's power, carrying out such a sacrifice is not easy.

Livestock are easy to speak of, but finding slaves with handsome faces, not a single scar or hidden injury, and no disease is hard. As for these rock dwarves, they have been prepared for several years, always carefully fed with good food and clean water.

A stern-faced old woman nodded in satisfaction, and she heavily planted her heavy scepter into the ground.

"Sacrifice, let the ancestors be happy…… let those lowly male servants come in."

At the end of the five-colored passageway, outside the stone door opened by secret arts, Wu Jin stood silently among a large group of elite warriors.

Compared to the last time he had just obtained the Soul-Nurturing Basin, Wu Jin's physique had changed considerably again.

His height was already nearly three meters, and his entire body's skin had turned bronze-gold.

He wore a beast-head heart mirror on his upper body, shoulder guards on his shoulders, a beast-head barbarian belt around his waist, thick metal arm guards on his forearms, a metal crotch guard at his waist, leg guards below his knees on his shins, and pointed metal war boots on his feet.

His vital spots were thoroughly protected, but the skin exposed on his body was covered with countless centipede-like twisted scars.

Layer upon layer of scars made his muscles and skin twist, making him look like a ragdoll hastily sewn by a child.

His muscles bulged all over, resembling a metal puppet cast in metal.

On Wu Jin's handsome face, likewise covered with seven or eight twisted scars, he stood motionless, and inexplicably a killing aura rose; within three steps of him, no warrior dared to approach.

At Wu Jin's chest, he hung that Soul-Nurturing Basin with a metal chain.

The Soul-Nurturing Basin was filled with specially prepared lamp oil; its three flames were much brighter than before, each as large as a thumb, burning steadily, and occasionally a human silhouette could be seen flickering within the flames.

"Jin! Jin!" came an urgent shout from outside the five-colored stone-paved road.

Like a stone statue, the silent Wu Jin flicked his eyelids, stiffly turned his body, and strode toward a tall, burly man nearly a zhang in height.

"Is your wound healed?" Wu Jin solemnly looked at the big man: "I thought you wouldn't come today."

"Thanks, you didn't kill me in the arena." The big man earnestly looked at Wu Jin and firmly nodded: "I'll repay this favor."

"Good! Help me find Wu Tie and Wu Taiping." Wu Jin took the large beast-skin pouch at his waist and slammed it with a 'thud' into the man's embrace: "Wu Tie, my brother, my youngest sibling… Mother said he's still alive, probably somewhere in the Cangyan Realm. Help me find him."

On his twisted, ferocious face appeared a terrifying grin; in Wu Jin's cold, sluggish, puppet-like eyes, a flicker of warmth flashed and vanished.

"I gave you his portrait… though it's not very accurate, but upon seeing him you should be able to recognize him."

"Find him and take him out of this realm." Wu Jin said lowly: "Mother said this realm will fall into chaos… Nüwa Valley might also be drawn into it."

"Dad, and we older brothers, hope he can live happily… that kid isn't material for a warrior."

"Take him away from here. I've heard that in the distance, in realms more prosperous, more wealthy, more civilized, some realms have even recovered a measure of ancient civilization."

Wu Jin, full of longing, turned his head and glanced toward an unknown distant place.

"Take that kid away……don't let him come to Wa Valley, don't let him come here……my mother's clan, you know……if that kid comes, who knows what he'll be bullied into." Wu Jin gave the big man a hard pat on the shoulder.

With a loud "Boom!", even though the big man was extremely strong and muscular, Wu Jin's seemingly light slap still made him grit his teeth, his body suddenly shrinking a bit.

"You……didn't see him?" the big man stared at Wu Jin in astonishment.

"I, having been chosen, go to explore the ancestral homeland." Wu Jin lightly touched the Soul-Nurturing Bowl hanging at his chest and said in a low voice, "Who knows if I'll be able to return?"

Smiling faintly, Wu Jin said coldly, "Even if I can't come back, I'll be with my father and my two brothers……so there's no need to tell Wu Tie that kid."

Wu Jin jabbed the big man's chest hard with his finger: "You and your brothers value righteousness. So, treat Wu Tie as your brother……take him far away, to the legendary place where there is no fighting, no bloodshed, where one can live in peace."

"Father, I hope he lives a peaceful life all his……" Wu Jin pointed to the large beast-skin bag in the big man's arms: "The gold coins inside—if they're not enough, you'll support him later. No problem?"

The big man looked at Wu Jin solemnly, then lightly patted his own chest: "Wu Tie is my own brother. No problem."

Wu Jin grinned.

From the sect opened by the secret art, Wa Xiu led out over a hundred heavily armored sturdy women.

Holding a long whip that coiled and jumped like a spirit snake beside her, Wa Xiu lashed out fiercely, striking the face of a strong warrior.

The warrior let out a muffled groan, and immediately a deep bloody welt reaching to the bone appeared on his face, blood splattering 'splash-splash' all over his face.

"You lowly male servants……follow me in."

"Remember, this is the Wa Clan's holy ground; if you dare to wander, look, or speak recklessly, each of you will be guilty of a capital crime."

"The rules you ought to remember, you've all learned them these past days."

"You despicable male servants have a chance to enter the Wa Clan's holy ground, and an even greater chance to explore the ancestral land left by the Wa Clan's ancestors……this is a tremendous blessing for you."

Wa Xiu gave a cold smile, pointed at Wu Jin and said in a low voice, "Wu Jin, you are an outsider related by marriage to the Wa Clan……if you, such an outsider male, can bring out a valuable treasure from the ancestral land, you'll enjoy the treatment afforded to the clan's direct-line females."

Wa Xiu sneered at Wu Jin mockingly: "Just turn a crow into a peacock with one move, and you can secretly rejoice."

Her gaze shifted, and Wa Xiu looked toward another, much larger group of warriors, whose equipment and attire appeared especially bulky and varied.

"And you, you stinking men who voluntarily signed up for the Wa Clan's ancestral land trial……I can see through your petty thoughts at a glance."

With a mysterious smile, Wa Xiu twisted her well-proportioned, strong waist and said lightly: "However, you also know the Wa Clan's rules. No matter what means you use, as long as you can bring out something from the ancestral land that satisfies us……"

"You all have a chance to be paired with the Wa Clan's women……and you all have a chance to live in Wa Valley for three years."

"In those three years, any daughters born will naturally be of the Wa Clan's direct line; any sons born, you will take them yourselves."

"After that……the rules afterward, you also understand."

Wa Xiu laughed especially brightly: "You know the benefits of being a Wa Clan direct-line female, right? Heh……come with me."

Wu Jin took a deep breath and firmly rubbed the Soul-Nurturing Bowl hanging at his chest.

He and a group of over nine hundred Wa Clan outsider males formed a line and walked into the stone gate.

The big man tightly gripped the beast-skin bag Wu Jin had thrown to him, looking at him with a worried expression.

Those warriors unrelated to Wa Valley, who had merely come from all directions to participate in the Wa Clan Ancestral Land Exploration Grand Ceremony, were calling out to friends and following behind Wu Jin's group.

Wa Valley is famous throughout this vast region, and its Ancestral Land Exploration Grand Ceremony is an even greater event for several surrounding great domains.

Warriors who had come from all directions upon hearing the news, plus the guards and attendants of warriors from great clans and great powers, brought the total number to suddenly exceed twenty thousand.

An endless stream of troops flowed along the five-color stone-paved passageway into the huge stone gate; inside Wa Valley, all the onlookers whispered and chatted excitedly.

From time to time, those who had merely come to watch the spectacle couldn't help but join the mighty throng.

After all, being able to marry a Wa Valley direct-line female is, for many, truly a leap to the heavens.

Inside the stone cavern.

Wu Jin and the others walked single-file up to the altar, circled the nine-story treasure pagoda three times, then proceeded in a steady stream to the door of the pagoda's first level.

Inside the door, a swirl of five-colored divine light flashed, and Wu Jin and the others vanished without a trace.

The Wa Clan's ancestral land is not here; this treasure pagoda is merely a gateway leading to the ancestral land.

And Wu Jin and his companions are not all of the Wa Clan participants in the ancestral land exploration.

There are many more similar nine-story treasure pagodas.

In the boundless vast domain, the Wa Clan also has many outposts similar to Wa Valley. The Wa Clan people in those outposts will likewise open the holy ground today, carry out large-scale sacrifices, and allow sufficient numbers of warriors to enter the ancestral land for exploration.

Where is the ancestral land?

This is something even the Wa Clan's highest-ranking, eldest Elders do not know.

In short, it is an extraordinarily miraculous place.

In short, it is an extraordinarily dangerous place.

Each time the ancestral land is explored, of the elite warriors who enter, only one in a thousand returns.

"Little Tie, you must stay alive." As Wu Jin entered the pagoda's great door, he muttered lowly: "Big brother is useless……can't protect you……big brother now must go find a way to bring Father and Ah Yin and Ah Tong back to life."

"Mother said……in the ancestral land, there is a way to bring them back to life."

"Even if it means risking everything……"