Deities: Rulers of Nature

Night fell quietly, but it was not dark in the Xishan tribe.

Along the streets of the tribe, there are stone pillars at intervals, each topped with a polished crystal that emits a soft white light.

After the stone pillars were carved at the Ji Nian Xuan Ci Fu altar, the snake people built these streetlights in imitation of them.

The light from the altar pillars never goes out, but these streetlights cannot; every so often, snake people come to rekindle their light.

Therefore, when Green and Crimson returned to the tribe with the giant toad's carcass, all the snake people noticed, and then there was a deafening cheer.

Perhaps because Qinglu and his group were in good condition and traveling light, after a brief exploration of the shallow waters of the South China Sea, they encountered the team that had returned to the tribe with their spoils in the upper reaches of the Long River.

With Qinglu and the others joining them, the team's marching speed increased considerably.

Crimson had already dealt with the corpses of the bronze-tier giant toads in a simple way, so there was no situation where venom was spilled along the way, and people died along the way.

Soon the cherry blossom spirits followed the snake people to the central square, where a huge bonfire had already been lit.

In the very center of the square, the altar for the worship of Ji Xuan was spotless.

Every day, snake people come to wipe it with a devout heart. Although it won't get dusty even if they don't do this, the snake people still insist on this action.

The snake people and cherry blossom spirits surrounded the altar, and although they were not of the same kind, they got along very harmoniously.

As Seido, dressed in a neat white robe, presided over the ritual, both the snake-man and the cherry blossom spirit became solemn and devout.

They prayed together with Seido, thanking Kigen for his protection...

[Information: Xishan tribe holds grand sacrificial ceremony, Faith value +46784]

Ji Xuan naturally sensed it, but he did not appear. Instead, he sent out a wisp of his divine sense to respond to the sacrifice.

As the Xishan tribe developed and the faith of its members gradually became more established, many of the usual priests, including Ji Xuan, no longer appeared to perform miracles.

But tonight is different. Qinglu and the others have completely opened up the long river to the South China Sea, which can be considered a milestone. Ji Xuan should reward them accordingly.

At the climax of the ritual, a dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, then dissipated, turning into specks of light that merged into the bodies of all the snake people and cherry blossom spirits.

This time, Ji Xuan's gift was not simple. A series of messages appeared in the minds of Qingdao, Qinglu and others, which were about the "ship".

This is another area that neither the snake people nor the cherry blossom spirit have ever been exposed to, but with previous experience as a foundation, it is believed that research results will be achieved soon.

Ji Xuan didn't bestow it before because he didn't need it, but the situation is different now.

However, Ji Xuan only provided the most basic information. He had never learned about advanced shipbuilding techniques before, and the situation was different. The techniques from before might not be as effective in the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm.

What kind of ships the Xishan tribe will be able to build in the future depends on how well they develop. Ji Xuan remains hopeful about this.

"Praise be to you, great God of Nature!"

As the sacrificial ceremony concluded, the atmosphere in the square changed from solemn to enthusiastic.

Several more bonfires were lit, and flames shot into the sky.

The snake people and cherry blossom spirits cheered around the campfire. Under the influence of the cherry blossom spirits, the snake people also learned some dances, and they began a new round of celebration.

Ji Xuan had already thoroughly cleaned those giant venomous toads, and the tribe's snake people had skillfully handled them.

The thick wooden stick pierced through the giant toad's body, and with the efforts of several snake-men, it was turned over. Gradually, the giant toad's flesh turned an enticing color under the heat of the flames. As several spices were sprinkled on, a rich aroma of meat filled the entire square.

Each snake-man and cherry blossom spirit received a share of giant toad meat. Although the Venomous Giant Toad looks unattractive and even somewhat repulsive, its meat tastes delicious.

The giant toad meat is roasted until crispy and fragrant on the outside, while the meat inside is delicate and juicy. It has no strange taste, but rather a unique sweetness.

Moreover, this meat comes from bronze and iron-tier wild beasts, and contains a considerable amount of energy.

Some of the mortal snake-people felt their blood surging and their bodies becoming hot after eating it. The cherry blossom spirits also turned red as they ate, continuing to eat while circling the campfire.

They ate large chunks of meat and drank heartily, their laughter and chatter mingling with the occasional high-pitched shouts.

Ji Xuan withdrew his divine sense, a smile playing on his lips.

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The next day, rays of sunlight pierced through the thin mist over Mirror Lake.

The hustle and bustle of last night's revelry had long since faded from the Xishan tribe's central square, which was now clean and tidy once again.

The snake people quickly got to their respective tasks. Qingdao summoned several golden-ringed snake people in the temple. They were the most skilled craftsmen in the tribe, and the work related to the boat would be assigned to them.

Instead of leading a team out or handling tribal affairs as usual, Crimson embarked on his pilgrimage alone early in the morning.

Previously, as Xishan rose higher, the pilgrimage route became longer, but Chihong still reached the summit before noon.

The scenery here is full of life. Natural oak trees tower into the clouds, and countless green specks of light fall from the canopy. Under the trees, a group of deer with red leaves on their antlers are leisurely grazing and drinking water. They are the budding deer.

The largest of the budding deer looked up at the crimson figure for a few moments, then lowered its head again to continue grazing.

They were used to the snake people and cherry blossom spirits who came along the pilgrimage route from time to time, so they were not alarmed.

Several fawns recognized Crimson, who often picked dew berries for them, and jumped around happily before approaching him, looking at him with their big, wet eyes.

Seeing that Crimson hadn't brought any food this time, several of the fawns returned to their mother, leaving only one fawn circling around Crimson.

Crimson felt a strange tranquility, like drinking a handful of ice water on a hot summer day, extinguishing all her complicated emotions.

This is precisely the purifying nature of the Budding Deer at work, and this is also the purpose of Crimson's arrival at the mountain peak.

Crimson planned to study the bone-corroding white poison of the Venomous Giant Toad. Of course, if that were all, there would be no need to go through all this trouble.

After thoroughly researching the Bone-Corroding White Poison, Crimson wanted to try fusing several of the venoms he could use.

Ever since Qinglu shared her experience of advancing to the Bronze rank with him, Chihong had also gone to challenge Bronze-rank wild beasts on his own. However, perhaps due to different fighting styles or attribute tendencies, Qinglu's method did not work for Chihong.

Crimson was indeed only one step away from Bronze, but he had no idea how to get to that point.

Until he saw the Bone-Corroding White Poison, a rather absurd idea was born in his mind: to use his mental power to fuse all the poisons into one, and in this way try to break through to the Bronze rank.

This attempt was too dangerous. If it failed in the tribe, the spreading venom could very likely harm the tribesmen. So he came to the summit of Xishan Mountain alone.

It is both a prayer for the protection of the god of nature and an attempt to cleanse the mind of distracting thoughts by helping the budding deer to purify itself.