Chapter 310: Wolf Totem
Carlo pulled the curtains shut, finding comfort only in the darkness.
“What happened to me? How can I be drunk from such a small amount of alcohol? My head hurts so much, and I can’t remember anything. How did I get home?”
Carlo sat on the floor, clutching his head. His shadow was elongated in the dim room by the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains. The shadow was somewhat incomplete; a raven shadow was perched on his shadow, gnawing at it, and smiling eerily in Carlo’s direction.
Carlo sat on the floor for quite a while before remembering he had to report to the Magic Department of the Administration Hall today. With the growing magical population, the Magic Department had become the largest department in the High Tower Territory. Only Intermediate Wizard Apprentices who graduated from the Elementary Magic School could get a formal position in the Magic Department.
As for the dropouts among Intermediate and Primary Apprentices, they could only work in various magical industries under the Magic Department.
Carlo felt a chill and burning sensation on his back. He washed his face and walked out of the room.
Under the sunlight, his somewhat incomplete shadow with the perched raven flashed for a moment before turning into a normal shadow. Carlo’s head also felt much clearer.
On the other side, in the West Tower of the Magic Castle, Ace was measuring the time flow ratio between the Pocket World and the Main Material Plane.
Under dense formulas, Ace finally reached a conclusion.
“The time flow ratio between the Pocket World and the Main Material Plane is not constant but fluctuates within a threshold. The specific fluctuation pattern has not been found yet, but through incomplete induction, it can be known that within this sample range, one year in the Pocket World is roughly equivalent to 1 to 1.5 hours in the Main Material Plane.
“According to current records, the Dream Clone has been in the Pocket World for thirteen years, which is fifteen hours in the Main Material Plane.”
Ace waved his hand, and the dense, fluorescent formulas in front of him dissipated. He walked into the secret chamber. The Magic Array had been fixed by Ace using Magic Stones, so even if Ace left, the Mana supply could be maintained.
Through the Magic Array, he read the results of his clone in the Pocket World and nodded with satisfaction.
“Although the clone in the Pocket World cannot appear for long due to Mana reasons and cannot effectively communicate with the lives of the Pocket World due to the huge gap in Life Level, just by guidance and the super-fast flow of time, Blood Qi cultivation has developed greatly in less than a day.
“The somewhat rough Blood Food Transport Method has developed into a Warrior Cultivation Method. Thirteen years have brought significant changes. The only problem is that this method of relying on one’s own vitality to produce vitality condensates, i.e., Blood Qi, seems to lack a path to break through to a level equivalent to an Advanced Apprentice.”
In the Pocket World, in the primitive hunting conservation area north of the Mundo Giant Beast Kingdom, a war surrounding Buri Lake was proceeding in a one-sided manner.
More than a thousand humans on horseback, equipped with primitive wooden saddles wrapped in animal skin, were organized in squads of fifty. They raised their bows, leveling arrows wrapped in lard-soaked linen. Riders holding torches ignited the arrowheads one by one.
“Our King-Chosen Tribal Alliance has fought the Buri Tribal Alliance for eleven years. The despicable Buri people built a so-called city with mud and lingered on in the city for six years. Today is the time for their demise!”
Duan, riding a horse and facing over a thousand mounted clansmen, used the unique Blood Qi amplification ability of a King-Chosen Warrior to roar loudly.
Eleven years had passed. The Luca Tribe of that time, frequently hunted and attacked by Mundo Giant Beasts, had migrated north, crossing Buri Lake to inhabit the great grasslands further north.
Even the strongest King-Chosen Warrior could not fight a Mundo Giant Beast alone. What was more terrifying was that Mundo Giant Beasts were not wild animals; their civilization level was much higher than that of primitive humans.
The migration took a year. The Luca Tribe was ambushed by the Buri Tribal Alliance led by the Kam Tribe. For the sake of the tribe’s migration, Deer led nine King-Chosen Warriors to block the enemy at Tuka Canyon.
In the end, Deer and the others all died in battle. Duan inherited Deer’s will, became the new chief of the Luca Tribe, and led the Luca people to the great grasslands.
Under the influence of the Invisible King’s whispers, Zi invented the saddle and reins. Duan inverted the two-wheeled handcart learned from the Kam Tribe to create the world’s first horse-drawn carriage (the giant beasts were far larger than most animals and did not use animal power).
Becoming the chief, the first problem Duan had to solve was housing for the tribe members. On the great grasslands, there were no caves for them to live in.
The grasslands were unsuitable for farming. Under Ace’s whispered hints, Duan creatively invented the “animal skin house,” called a tent!
Combined with raising livestock such as cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep, and domesticating prairie wolves into dogs with the help of whispers, a tribe on horseback was born.
They lived by chasing water and grass, herding livestock, becoming the nomadic ancestors in Ace’s words.
The reason Ace guided them to become a nomadic tribe was his own consideration. Nomadic tribes consumed a lot of meat. Practice had proven that the vitality power provided by plants seemed to have a great mismatch with the human body, making meat consumption optimal.
To complete his exploration of Blood Qi cultivation, under Ace’s subtle influence, the Luca Tribe became a nomadic tribe. Because they were far from the giant beasts’ hunting zone and could frequently raid south for population, the Luca Tribe developed rapidly.
Duan carried out a series of coercion, inducement, conciliation, and religious assimilation, finally establishing a nomadic tribal alliance—the King-Chosen Tribal Alliance, calling themselves the King-Chosen People.
As the highest military leader of the tribes, with Zi’s support, Duan became the leader of the tribal alliance in the name of the Invisible King. Many people witnessed the magnificent scene of that moment.
The noblest Lady Witch Zi sat high on a hill, lifted the tiger-skin eyepatch from her right eye, and opened it.
The ringed hexagram pattern flickered, constantly replicating and layering. Dazzling mysterious patterns emerged and expanded rapidly, seeming to connect with some mysterious rule of the world.
Ace, who had always resided in the Divine Dwelling, felt something different for the first time. Under the sacrifice of more than three thousand people of the King-Chosen Tribal Alliance, Ace felt a strong Mana reaction and a quasi-assimilation effect.
It seemed somewhat similar to the Wizards’ Collective Subconscious Sea, but the level was too low.
“The Subconscious Sea requires me to pay the price of a clone, but I can subdue this so-called Tribal Qi formed in the Pocket World merely by relying on the huge gap in Life Level.”
Zi looked up at the sky. Her right eye erupted with terrifying light. After the light passed, a massive pitch-black silhouette stood between heaven and earth.
The praying crowd looked at all this in disbelief. Bits of aura gathered from their bodies, gradually forming a wolf.
The newly formed wolf tentatively bared its teeth at the black shadow but was ruthlessly suppressed by the black shadow’s mountain-like palm, eventually rolling over to expose its tender white belly.
(End of this chapter)
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