Chapter 109: A Not-So-Difficult Dilemma

As a tribe settled beside the Yanglu Gulin, the three Qi Refiners at the Foundation Establishment Realm knew full well the terrors of this mysterious ancient forest:

Every year, hundreds or thousands of Qi Refiners enter this ancient forest.

They do so either to seek opportunities for further advancement, or to cross the continent's barrier and head to the other side of Tianyuan.

But in the end, those who can walk out alive are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

For such existences, they not only possess extremely solid strength but also possess luck that can be called heaven-defying.

If there were such reinforcements, perhaps it would truly be possible to repel this massive Beast Tide...

Involuntarily, the three Foundation Establishment Qi Refiners thought this to themselves.

But Feng Zi did not give them this unrealistic fantasy at all, stating bluntly:

"The strength of the mastermind behind this Beast Tide is terrifying; that I was able to kill my way in was due to various reasons, which is why the other party tacitly allowed my actions."

Hearing Feng Zi's statement, the hope that had just ignited in the eyes of the three was extinguished once again:

Everyone had seen his strength with their own eyes; even those Demon creatures capable of wiping out a tribe could not last more than a few moves in his hands.

But if even a person like this said so, then there was truly no possibility of a proper ending.

And the suggestion Feng Zi made also verified the conjecture in the hearts of the three:

"I cannot save the entire tribe, but if it is the children and the young adults of your tribe, I can take them to escape alive.

"Of course, I will state the ugly truth first: the batch of people I take away can only be the few hundred most essential ones—

"After all, the reason the initiator of this Beast Tide is acting this way is to absorb Qi and Blood Power.

"If I take away too many people, I would instead be harming you all."

Feng Zi did not speak too bluntly, but all three understood that they could only preserve the seeds of the tribe.

As for the remaining people... to put it bluntly, they were just sacrifices left behind to die!

If this were in the later ages where Feng Zi was born, this might be a difficult dilemma.

But in this primitive and dangerous era, this choice was actually not that difficult.

In this barbaric era, everyone was prepared to face life and death at any moment, because this world was simply so unreasonable:

Perhaps a sudden natural disaster would completely turn a tribe into history;

Or perhaps the visions produced when some innate divine being was born, or the aftershocks of a single movement by some mythical creature, would be enough to completely destroy a region;

Even the aftershocks caused by the duels of the strong could very likely cause unprovoked disasters!

The Foundation Establishment Realm—this strength might still be considered powerful among the human race, but if placed in this Tianyuan Jie, it was still far from enough.

Therefore, the moment Feng Zi threw out this question, the old man's brain began to churn:

"This Excellency, that you could risk your life to help is already a tremendous favor; logically, our Mu He Tribe should not demand anything more.

"But for the continuation of the tribe, I implore you—look after those children for a period of time, and let them have enough time to grow up."

To tell the truth, this request was already somewhat excessive, because it required Feng Zi to waste at least several years of time for this.

But Feng Zi thought about it seriously, and in the end, he agreed to this request:

"Five years. I will teach them the skills to protect themselves, but I will only stay for five years."

His thinking was very simple; after all, having already accepted the great karma of "continuing the inheritance of a tribe," it was natural to help as much as he could.

Moreover, in just these short few months, his own strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he indeed needed to settle down for a period of time.

What's more, he had already comprehended the method of Incarnation, so he could naturally use an Incarnation to travel outside!

Seeing that Feng Zi not only agreed to his request but was also willing to teach them skills, the old man was overjoyed, and his mind was immediately made up:

"Good, let me think... since the mastermind of the Beast Tide is out to absorb Qi and Blood, only one of us three Foundation Establishment cultivators can leave—

"The higher the strength, the more Fullness of Qi and Blood in the body; we cannot let the young children face the risk!"

This decision was almost like telling the other two plainly that the chance of survival belonged only to one of them.

After all, the tribe leader was already old and did not have many years of Lifespan left, so he naturally would not fight for this opportunity.

And the moment they heard this decision, the other two made their decisions almost simultaneously.

The young man named "Xia" just wanted to speak, but his shoulder was pressed down by the priest leader beside him.

The other party was stunned for a moment, only to be preempted by the priest leader: "What is so hard to choose? The tribe leader and I will just stay behind."

That person said it very naturally, just as if they were discussing "what to eat tomorrow," and even Feng Zi could not help but raise his eyebrows slightly:

This was not being stubborn, nor was it mindless recklessness, but a kind of matter-of-factness that had seen through the ways of the world.

Seeing that the High Priest had spoken first, Xia shouted quite dissatisfiedly:

"Why should the one who survives be me? You are not old either, and you are well-versed in herbal knowledge and rituals; shouldn't you be the one to survive?"

The two were on the verge of arguing, and the goal was actually to let the other person survive; in Feng Zi's view, this was truly astonishing.

But the two did not let emotions dictate their thoughts; instead, they "argued" with reason and evidence why the other party should survive.

Finally, the High Priest waved his hand and ended the argument with an irrefutable piece of logic:

"You are younger than me, yet you are already the strongest in the tribe, which shows your talent is excellent.

"If you survive, you will go further, and perhaps even become a great power at the Golden Core realm, and our tribe will then have a stronger guarantee.

"As for the knowledge I possess? My useless disciples and children have all learned it; it is not that it must be me."

Having said that, without waiting for Xia to argue back again, the other party shook his head and turned to leave:

"Forget it, I don't have the patience to talk to a stubborn mule like you anymore. I'm going to call the children and young people of the tribe over; it's time to move!"

"You...! I...!" Watching the High Priest's retreating back, Xia was so angry he could not speak for a moment.

Finally, he looked helplessly at the old man, seemingly seeking help.

The tribe leader clearly also agreed with the High Priest's idea, only smiling and shaking his head: "Why look at me? Don't tell me you want me to take your place?"

They did not look like they were fighting over who should die, but rather like they were competing for some rare treasure.

Xia was clearly choked by these words and was speechless for a moment.

The old man seemed to be amused by his own words, laughing heartily as he patted the other person on the shoulder:

"I am an old thing; I cannot eat many pieces of meat, and I have long been unable to father children, so I certainly cannot take your place."

But Feng Zi only watched this scene silently from the side, with no expression on his face and making no movement:

This was an internal matter of the Mu He Tribe; although he was reinforcements, he was ultimately only a witness.

Yet in his heart, he felt great anticipation for the future of this tribe:

Regardless of strength, when facing a crisis, everyone could face death as if returning home; the future of such a tribe would certainly not be bad!