After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 327 The Old Tree as Ancestor, the Medicine Man

As the tribespeople bowed in worship, the old tree in the center of the village swayed and shimmered with layers of blue light.

A gentle breeze blew, the old tree swayed, and scattered specks of blue light that fell upon the person lying prone.

This made the crawling figures even more excited.

After the worship ceremony, a portion of the tribe's able-bodied warriors were gathered, forming approximately two thousand-strong fighting teams.

Everyone in the team wore animal hide armor, most of them were bone soldiers, and a few had metal weapons.

Shortly afterward, the two thousand-man squads of tribal soldiers split into four groups and rushed out of the tribe to begin patrolling around the tribe.

The remaining tribe soldiers then began to strengthen the tribe's defenses.

The tribe is surrounded by lush jungles, teeming with poisonous insects and wild beasts; these areas were also their hunting grounds in the past.

Outside the tribe.

"Sacrificing to a tree means you're abandoning your ancestors?"

Several figures were hidden in the higher jungle, observing this small tribe living in the mountains.

From this vantage point, you can clearly see the entire village, especially the scene of a large group of people kneeling and worshipping the old tree.

Yan Song grabbed the person next to him and said, "Wait, don't go in!"

Judging by the size of the tribes in Yongyi, this tribe was considered a low-ranking tribe.

The clan has about 30,000 members, and although there are no fewer than five Heavenly Vein warriors, none of them have surpassed the fourth level of the Heavenly Vein realm.

Yan Song, accompanied by several inspectors, were all martial artists at the Divine Realm, and naturally did not take such a small tribe seriously.

"That old tree must be a spiritual plant, with its bright green light. But even if it is a spiritual plant, it shouldn't be worshipped like an ancestor."

Hearing the person next to him speak, Yan Song frowned slightly. He felt that the old tree in the tribe was very strange.

At first glance, it seemed full of life, but there was a chill in it that gave him a bad feeling.

Before leaving Yongyi, as the leader of this group, he investigated the little information the tribe had about the Mujiang tribe.

I learned that this race is compatible with the Wood element and is skilled at dealing with spiritual plants.

Currently, a spiritual plant has become a sacrificial spirit of the human tribe and is worshipped by the entire tribe.

You should know that the ancestral custom of humankind is to worship one's ancestors. To put it bluntly, wouldn't this tree become the ancestor of humankind?

Yan Song now wonders if he has already entered the territory of the Mu Jiang tribe.

"Amu, did you figure something out?"

Then, Yan Song looked at the only high priest in the group.

The others also looked at Yan Mu.

Of the remaining five people in the group, Yan Song, Yan Mu, and two others came from the Zhiyan Earl tribe, while the other two came from other earl tribes.

Along the way, everyone was extremely impressed by Yan Mu's extensive knowledge.

"I've come into contact with many spiritual plants within the clan, but this old tree feels very different to me. I sense a strange spirituality about it, so let's not get too close for now."

Yan Mu continued, "Look at the cyan light that's been scattered down; it's already been absorbed. It's no different from a spirit sacrifice."

This suggests that the old tree might indeed possess a spirit.

"Arrest a few people and question them," Yan Song continued. "Didn't their clan soldiers come out?"

Find an opportunity to arrest a few and gather some specific information.

Everyone nodded. If they had encountered such a small tribe before leaving Yongyi, they would not have taken it seriously at all.

However, they suffered too many losses along the way, including the deaths of three of their brothers. Many seemingly insignificant plants and rocks along the way could pose great dangers.

Why would an inconspicuous spiritual plant become a sacred offering for a tribe?
Humanity has been passing down its traditions for many years, and even the custom of ancestor worship has changed. What changes have occurred?
……

“I walked around the outskirts of the tribe and I really didn’t see the ancestral temple. They really don’t worship their ancestors; they use trees as offerings.”

The inspector, Jiao Zhou, circled the small tribe and returned to Yan Song, saying, "Not only is there no ancestral temple, but there isn't even a burial ground."

I've searched the area for miles around, and there's not a single trace of a grave. Could they have even offered their dead clansmen as sacrifices to the old tree?

At this moment, another inspector, Lin Guang, arrived quickly from a distance.

"Boss, come this way, a fight has broken out."

……

In the jungle a hundred miles away from the tribe, shadowy figures moved about, and swords clashed.

A group of soldiers from the Old Tree tribe, who were out on patrol, ran into a hunting party from another tribe.

The jungle roared as the Yue Shan tribe's patrol team, consisting of five hundred men, faced a hunting party of only three hundred men from the opposite Jiao Shan tribe.

The mountain tribe's hunting team must have been busy for a long time, bringing back a lot of game of all sizes.

"Despicable Yueshan, you launched a sneak attack."

The leader of the Horn Mountain tribe roared angrily, using his spear as a club to continuously deflect the incoming bone arrows.

The old trees in the jungle had intertwined roots, and the two sides used the vegetation and rocks as cover, resulting in a stalemate.

Behind an old tree, the Yueshan chieftain roared, "This is the hunting ground of my Yueshan tribe. These wild beasts are our prey, and the herbs are our herbs. You bastards from the Jiaoshan tribe are robbing our resources!"

"Hold them off, the rest of the tribe will be here soon."

"The spirits of the Ancestral Tree love fresh flesh and blood as offerings. Offering their flesh and blood to the Ancestral Tree will surely bring them a reward!"

Whenever the Jiaoshan tribe members retreated and inadvertently exposed themselves, they would be met with a rain of arrows from the Yueshan tribe.

In the forest, one can see the skeletons of seventy or eighty members of the Jiaoshan tribe lying haphazardly.

Looking at his tribesmen lying on the ground, the leader of the Horn Mountain tribesmen roared repeatedly, "You cowards who only dare to launch sneak attacks, get out here!"

They had almost finished hunting and were about to leave when the Yueshan tribe soldiers suddenly attacked, catching dozens of them off guard and killing them on the spot.

"If you dare to come to my Yueshan territory, you should be prepared to stay. My ancestral tree loves the flesh and blood of your Jiaoshan tribe the most."

As Yue Shan, the centurion, shouted, a whooshing sound echoed from the distant jungle, and he was overjoyed.

"Reinforcements from our tribe have arrived. Brothers, don't let any of those bastards from the Horn Mountain tribe get away. Take them all down and offer them to the Ancestral Tree."

Seeing a large number of people rushing towards them from the direction of Yueshan tribe, some members of the Jiaoshan tribe hunting team panicked and instinctively left the trees for cover and ran back.

As they ran, they exposed their backs, and then a barrage of arrows came, pinning many of them to the ground.

"Haha, kill, kill, kill!"

"You despicable Yue Shan, you've ambushed us!"

"Our clan will never let this go!"

Upon seeing this, the leader of the Jiaoshan hunting team roared, "Go! Split up and run!"

Soon, thousands of soldiers from the Yueshan tribe caught up with the fleeing Jiaoshan tribesmen in the jungle.

……

"Capture a few alive."

"Let's go and take a look at this Jiaoshan tribe."

Yan Song led his men to observe the chaotic battle and quickly assigned different tasks to the patrol envoys.

The battle in the jungle ended quickly; the thousands of Yueshan soldiers could only chase down a few hundred Jiaoshan tribesmen.

They not only seized all the prey from the Jiaoshan tribe, but also captured more than forty Jiaoshan tribesmen alive and collected more than two hundred Jiaoshan tribesmen corpses.

The group began to return to the tribe with their prey and captives.

The captured members of the Jiaoshan tribe, even while bound by thick vines, continued to struggle.

"Our Jiaoshan tribe will avenge us and offer you all to the Jiaoshan Ancestral Tree!"

Faced with the roar of the Jiaoshan tribesmen, the Yueshan tribesmen kicked them without hesitation, declaring, "Our Yueshan ancestral tree spirit is the most powerful spirit!"

"By absorbing your flesh and blood, our ancestral tree will become even stronger."

Soon, these captives from the Jiaoshan tribe were dragged into the Yueshan tribe.

When the Yueshan tribe members saw the prisoners being brought back, they excitedly crowded around them.

"Another damned Horn Mountain tribe has become a sacrifice to the ancestral tree!" The Yue Mountain priest, who had heard the commotion long ago, stood under the old tree spirit with his hands outstretched.

"The warriors of my Yueshan tribe have indeed not disappointed the great spirit. These damned Jiaoshan people will only find their final fate as sacrifices to the spirit!"

The tribe, though only numbering 30,000, began to gather from all directions toward the old tree where the spirit was worshipped.

Their eyes were filled with fanaticism as they roared that they wanted to offer the Jiaoshan tribesmen to the sacrificial spirit.

"You coward of the Horn Mountain tribe, I have come to offer your flesh and blood to the Tree Ancestor!"

Warriors from the Yueshan tribe jumped out, grabbed a surviving Jiaoshan tribe prisoner, lifted him up, and hung him on the branch of the old tree used for the spirit sacrifice.

Then, he pulled out his own bone dagger, cut open the neck, and let the blood splatter.

This scene drew cheers from the other tribesmen, who shouted that they would hang the remaining prisoners on the ancestral tree.

Some even swung their knives, severing heads with a swift stroke, then tied them to the ancestral tree with ropes tied to the hair.

The bones that were carried back were hung one by one on the ancestral tree.

Blood trickled down from the still-warm, fresh bones, dripping onto the ground, which was already black with blood, and then seeping into it.

The old tree, now a sacred object, began to emit a brilliant blue light and sway violently, making a rustling sound.

This made the Yueshan tribe members cheer even louder, and they began to dance around the old tree.

As the blue light flickered, the flesh and blood of the skeletons hanging on the old trees visibly shriveled up after the blood had dripped away.

Before long, only shriveled bones remained on the remains hanging in the tree.

Then, the old tree, adorned with a blue light like a celestial curtain, emitted several streams of blue light that entered the bodies of several young clansmen.

"The spirit of the Tree Ancestor has manifested!"

This scene drew cheers from the Yueshan people.

With a wave of his hand, the Yueshan priest took the withered skeleton hanging from the tree and threw it into the crowd.

The crowd quickly scrambled to step on the skeleton, and in no time the skeleton turned into fragments scattered on the ground.

This scene caused Yan Song, who was watching from outside, to frown deeply.

During the chaos, they seized the opportunity to capture several prisoners and figured out the relationship between the two departments.

The Jiaoshan and Yueshan clans have a history of over two thousand years. Countless members of each clan have died at the hands of the other, and over the generations, they have become sworn enemies.

Both sides worship tree ancestors.

It wasn't just Jiaoshan and Yueshan; in the memories of the few survivors they captured, the nearby tribes they knew all used trees as sacrificial offerings.

There was intense warfare between the various tribes, with each tribe capturing members of rival tribes as sacrifices to the ancestral tree.

After receiving offerings from the human race, the ancestral tree will manifest its divine power, bestowing blessings and helping the chosen race members to increase their strength.

Yan Song had already seen this. As the blue light descended, the three young members of the Yueshan tribe received their reward.

In addition, these tribes that use old trees as sacrificial spirits either sacrifice members of enemy tribes or capture other humans they encounter, and almost never use wild beasts as sacrifices.

"Let's go and take a look at the Jiaoshan tribe."

The Jiaoshan tribe is located 180 li southwest of the Yueshan tribe. On the way to the Jiaoshan tribe, Yan Song encountered Jiao Zhou, who was returning from Jiaoshan.

"Chief, just like Yueshan, the Jiaoshan tribe has no ancestral temple or ancestral burial grounds."

"They capture people from other tribes as sacrifices, and when people from their own tribe die, they bury them under old trees."

There's something wrong with this tree!

After arriving at Jiaoshan, Yan Song inspected the area and then left again.

They continued westward.

The prisoners they captured earlier were not very strong, and their knowledge was limited to the surrounding area. They had only heard about many things from others.

To find out more, we need to investigate ourselves.

Along the way, the group split up to observe the tribes they encountered. They traveled for thousands of miles, and every tribe they met used old trees as their sacred objects.

At the edge of the vast wilderness, there is an ancient forest stretching for thousands of miles. In the middle of the forest, there is a giant green tree that is as thick as dozens of people can hug, covering hundreds of miles like a canopy.

Within the ancient forest, houses could be built everywhere, with human figures busy inside, and hunting parties arriving from afar, dragging back enormous prey.

Among the prey, there were also some humans bound with animal skin ropes, being dragged back along with their prey.

In addition, some young women were tied up and stuffed onto the backs of various mounts.

The entire hunting party consisted of more than five thousand people, stretching for several miles. Upon entering the ancient forest, they were greeted by many people.

"What a great harvest!"

"So much prey, so many sacrifices, and so many women, haha, the young men of the tribe are in for a treat."

"Nonsense! What do you mean by being lucky to eat? Don't you know that the more people there are, the fewer people there will be!"

"Young people these days don't know how to reproduce for the tribe; they just use skills that we older folks don't understand."

……

Jiao Zhou gazed at the giant green tree from afar, and sighed, "Even the Bo tribe uses old trees as offerings to spirits. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."

This was the first human tribe they encountered. Apart from being stronger, it was no different from the small tribes they had met before, and its weapons were also very primitive.

"Let's find an opportunity to capture them alive. If this tribe isn't very strong, we'll investigate them more closely."

Yan Song quickly assigned the task.

He was now increasingly certain that the group had arrived at the territory of the Mujiang tribe.

Unfortunately, the small tribes along the way knew only a limited amount of information and had not yet obtained the most direct evidence.

Hopefully, we can find favorable evidence in this bogeyser.

……

Behind the ancestral tree of the Canglin Bo tribe, there is a valley where medicinal herbs grow in abundance and the source of energy is plentiful.

A dozen or so teenagers live here, each of them exuding a friendly, grassy aura. At first glance, their eyes are full of liveliness.

"time to eat!"

Someone called out from outside the valley, and a dozen teenagers quickly gathered at the valley entrance after hearing the commotion.

Soon, everyone was given a meal containing ginseng, polygonatum, and other witchcraft herbs.

The boys, used to it, began to eat heartily.

After watching the boys consume the witch potion, the old man who delivered the food nodded in satisfaction.

"Eat as much as you can. Only by purifying your physical body into a medicinal body can you possibly trigger the ancestral tree to manifest its power and have a chance to go to the holy land."

Upon hearing the old man's words, the young men present were all intrigued.

"Grandpa Elder, I want more to eat."

"Me too."

……

"Okay, okay, I have both."

The old man took out another portion of the witchcraft medicine and watched the boys eat it.

"After you've eaten your fill, go kneel and sit by the ancestral tree. The spirit will reward the most devout child."

Before long, a dozen or so teenagers knelt down beneath the massive ancestral tree, each one utterly devout.

From the moment they were born, they lived in the valley. Once they learned common sense, the first thing they did was kneel here.

The ancestral tree swayed gently, and dappled sunlight filtered through its canopy-like branches, falling upon the young people.

In the fragmented sunlight, specks of bluish light swept across the boys.

Inside the ancestral tree, a blurry figure flickered, and spiritual light emanated from the thick trunk and disappeared into the roots.

Beneath the earth lie countless withered bones, and tree roots, winding and twisting like ancient dragons, extend into the earth countless feet deep.

Beneath the deep earth, roots of all sizes spread across the vast land. Some of these roots broke through the surface and grew into different kinds of spirit trees, which stood in various human tribes.

(End of this chapter)