Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Silence. There was nothing but dead silence throughout the area.

Yan Chihuo’s last announcement was so shocking that it blew the minds of all one hundred thousand qi-trainers like a super crystal bomb.

The vast camp was absolutely quiet. It was not until three seconds later that hissing sounds soared to the sky.

That was because everyone had opened their mouth as wide as humanly possible and was gasping hard.

More than ten seconds later, shouts and curses occurred in the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe.

The qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe were more than angry. They called Yan Chihuo’s name and condemned that he was talking nonsense.

The hair all over Wu Mayan’s body was shivering. He crouched and could barely talk. ”Father Xiong. He—he—he—”

Li Yao was dumbfounded, too, but he also realized that it was probably true. The accusation was too appalling and unbelievable. Yan Chihuo wouldn’t have dared to say that if he did not have valid proof.

If that was the case, Yan Zhengdong’s uncanny words last night would make perfect sense.

As it turns out, you are the one with the real acting skills here, Chief Xiong!

Li Yao secretly commended him while he recalled everything he had experienced after he had come to the Furious Bears Tribe. Many problems that had been troubling him had answers now!

He had been curious why Xiong Wuji trusted a space resident so quickly and even fully opened the core secrets of the temple of techniques to him!

He had thought that it was because Iron Plateau natives were simple and straightforward. But the truth was…

He peeped at Xiong Wuji and found his face gloomy with pity and fury. The chief’s fists were clenched so hard that the air might be exploding at any moment. Yet, he didn’t give any refutation.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe took a long breath and said solemnly, ”Yan Chihuo, this is a very severe accusation. You must not attack other people blindly. What evidence do you have?

”If you do not have valid proof and simply speculate that the chief of another tribe is a space resident, the Giant Axe Tribe will not stand on the Burning Sun Tribe’s side!”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe shrieked, ”Nor will the Feathered Snakes Tribe! This is too shocking! What proof have you got?”

Yan Chihuo sniffed and laughed. Then suddenly, tears flowed out of his eyes. He took out a piece of creased paper from his pocked and said, ”This is proof!

”After my father and Xiong Wuji’s meeting failed, the more he thought of it, the less confident he became. Therefore, he released a stream of sharp spiritual gas and left shallow traces on the paper.

”The words were not readily recognizable. But as long as you mix the ash of the Candle Grass and the Purple Firefly Powder into water and soak the paper into the solution, the substances will have chemical reactions with the spiritual gas left on the paper, and you can see the tiny words appearing on the paper!

”The paper was folded and thrown into the dustbin.

”But when we were checking our father’s body, we found that his eyes were unclosed and focused on the dustbin. That’s how we retrieved the paper in the end!

”Leaving ’hidden script’ with spiritual gas was our father’s favorite game that he liked to play when my brother and I were young. I did not expect that he would be playing the game with us for the last time in such a way!”

Yan Chihuo was weeping again while he was talking.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe nodded. ”That explains a lot. What exactly was written on the paper? Don’t be hasty and take your time. If possible, don’t skip any words on it.”

Yan Chihuo sniffed. Biting his lips, he said, ”It was a story that happened beside the Black Tooth River more than forty years ago.”

The Black Tooth River was a big river to the south of the territories of the six tribes. The river was rapid, the spiritual energy was abundant, and there were many resources. Occasionally, many precious beasts would go by the place. It was a prime hunting spot for many qi-trainers in the six tribes.

”That year, my father went hunting with his companions in the tribe upstream of the Black Tooth River. They met a very cunning demon beast along the way, which escaped even though it had been shot.

”My father pursued the demon beast and got further and further away from his companion. Eventually, they lost in touch with each other, and my father did not know where he ended up.

”At that time, he encountered Xiong Dachuan, a qi-trainer from the Furious Bears Tribe!

”The two tribes were in better relationships than right now, and Xiong Dachuan was a well-known warrior among the six tribes. My father had always admired his valiancy. The two of them had a nice talk.

”As it turned out, Xiong Dachuan had an only son who was not one year old yet. His wife passed away because of dystocia during labor. The baby had congenital muscular dystrophy and suffered from various other diseases. There was no telling how much longer he could survive.

”According to the shaman in the tribe, only a ’Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom’, a rarely-seen fungus, could potentially restore his son’s health. He was looking for such mushrooms in the origin of the Black Tooth River.

”Then, the two of them went further to the upstream and hunted together. But later, my father discovered in a bush the remains of an escape capsule and some items for infants when they were apart.

”A while later, he heard Xiong Dachuan roaring. My father hurried to join him and check, only to find the bones of a baby that had been gnawed out of shape by demon beasts.

”It must’ve been an escape capsule of the space residents that malfunctioned during the forced landing to Iron Plateau. It happened to fall into the depths of the desert and became the victim of demon beasts.

”It was not unusual in Iron Plateau. Although the Burning Sun Tribe was never fond of the space residents, young infants were innocent after all. My father and Xiong Dachuan slayed two demon beasts that were planning to feast upon the bones and buried the poor baby. Then, they searched the escape capsule’s surroundings for a day and a night, only to find no other space residents.

”They must’ve been eaten by the demon beast if there were any survivors of the crash.

”My father did not think too much of the incident and dropped it when he returned to the Burning Sun Tribe. He and Xiong Dachuan became good friends and exchanged quite a few letters. My father had even asked somebody to bring a batch of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to aid in his son’s recovery.

”Later, it was said that Xiong Dachuan finally found the Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom, and his sick son gradually got better. My father was very happy for him!

”But what was odd was that, although my father valued his friendship with Xiong Dachuan and planned to visit him in the Furious Bears Tribe many times in the years to come, Xiong Dachuan always avoided meeting my father on purpose.

”My father did not overthink it. He thought that their friendship was affected by the relationship between the two tribes that was getting more and more intense. In the end, he dropped the idea once and for all.

”But fifteen years ago, Xiong Dachuan suddenly sent a letter to my father and insisted that my father come to meet him.

”My father was quite confused, but he went to Furious Bears City anyway. Then he learned that Xiong Dachuan was dying due to heavy wounds from a hunting trip.

”Xiong Dachuan was in a high fever for three days and three nights, and his head had become muddled. But my father’s arrival somehow refreshed him. He dismissed everyone else and talked to my father alone.

”Xiong Dachuan told my father that he did a silly thing more than twenty years ago which had been bothering him the whole time. He could not let go of it, nor did he know how to face my father!

”My father was greatly baffled and pursued further, but Xiong Dachuan went mad again and kept repeating ’Black Tooth River’ without offering any explanation.

”Three days after my father left, he heard news of Xiong Dachuan’s death.

”My father was puzzled by Xiong Dachuan’s riddle. More than twenty years ago. Black Tooth River. The clues suggested their first encounter. Then what was the silly thing that he referred to?

”It was not until the next battle of the apocalypse, in which Xiong Wuji, Xiong Dachuan’s only son, greatly distinguished himself and made unparalleled contributions to the elimination of the calamity-level beast, thereby becoming known as the best expert in the younger generation of the six tribes, that my father noticed him!

”However, after his observation, my father found that Xiong Wuji and Xiong Dachuan were not alike at all!

”Xiong Dachuan was a typical qi-trainer of the Furious Bears Tribe. He was more than 2.4 meters tall and extremely muscular, literally a moving iron tower. His face was long, and his jaw was very sharp!

”Xiong Wuji, on the other hand, was less than two meters tall, even shorter than the common qi-trainers of his tribe. His shoulders were not wide, and his face was square.

”My father thought that he took after his mother. But after investigation, my father found that his birth mother was also more than 2.2 meters tall. She had been a marvelous warrior herself!

”How come the son of two giants was so short? Was it because of his natural-born deficiencies? But how did a child with natural-born deficiencies grow into the best expert in the younger generation of the six tribes?

”Beside the Black Tooth River, more than twenty years ago…

”My father pondered for a long time and finally figured out a shocking theory. Was it possible that Xiong Dachuan’s only son had died more than twenty years ago, and the ’Xiong Wuji’ right now was a space resident that he had picked up beside the Black Tooth River?”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe couldn’t help but remark, ”But years ago, your father saw the bones of the baby and buried his body himself!”

”Indeed. It was the exact question that perplexed my father.”

Yan Chihuo nodded and continued. ”The question remained unanswered for several years, until he went to congratulate the wife of a qi-trainer who had given birth to twins.

”When he saw the twins, he was suddenly enlightened and thought—what if there had been more than one baby in the escape capsule?

”A pair of twins were placed in the escape capsule. One of them was killed by the demon beast, while the other one was lucky enough to survive the disaster and be discovered by Xiong Dachuan!

”New fathers are always tender to babies. Besides, Xiong Dachuan’s own son was dying. He must’ve hidden the surviving child with the complicated feelings!

”Later, his only son still died, and he simply replaced the deceased baby with the child from space that he’d picked up beside the Black Tooth River!

”There wouldn’t be much difference between one-year-olds. Besides, Xiong Dachuan’s son had been sick since he was born and remained in his home all the time. Few people had seen him in person. Even if somebody else noticed the anomaly of the baby, Xiong Dachuan could always give the credit to the Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom, which had turned his son plump and healthy again. That was perfectly convincing!

”If the aptitude of the baby had been insufficient and he ended up being an ordinary member of the Furious Bears Tribe, maybe Xiong Dachuan would have been less bothered.

”However, seeing the child from space reveal a natural talent in training and was almost certain to become an important figure of the tribe in the future, Xiong Dachuan naturally felt uneasy and therefore summoned my father to Furious Bears City.

”It was a shame that he had been grasped by madness before he was able to tell the story. When my father thought the whole thing through, it was already years later!

”At that time, Xiong Wuji had earned the title of ’best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau’ and was already nominated as the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe!”