Ancestral Shaman Opa stood before Logan, her left fist raised and her right fist lowered, holding them vertically in front of her chest as she bowed to the two of them.
“I just wanted to express my sincerity.”
The guards were both terrified and furious, their spear tips pointed directly at Ancestral Shaman Opa. It was only when they heard the unusual buzzing of the bee guards that they realized the old dwarf woman had emerged from the cage. But before they could shout a warning, Yuan Zhan had already noticed.
Yan Mo glanced at the cage hanging behind Ancestral Shaman Opa—intact but now empty. What kind of ability was this? Molecular teleportation? Or spatial tearing?
The bee guards flew over to him to report, recounting everything they had witnessed in full detail.
…So it was shrinking. That was indeed a useful skill for escaping and reconnaissance, but just how small could this little old woman shrink?
Raising an eyebrow, Yan Mo pushed aside Yuan Zhan’s arm, which was blocking his path, and walked up to the Ancestral Shaman Opa, asking, “Have you always been able to get out?”
“No, I’ve only just recovered a little. Even now, it’s a struggle, but I wanted to show you my sincerity,” the little old woman said slowly.
“What sincerity? You could have left, but you didn’t?” Yan Mo looked at the bee guards flitting around Ancestral Shaman Opa. It was as if something was blocking them from getting close to her. This ability reminded him of Dofie.
The first ability is shrinking, and the second is a protective barrier? Does this old woman possess two abilities? Or does her second ability rely on an external source?
Yan Mo scrutinized the old woman’s body, searching for a crystal similar to the one Dofie wore. Finally, his gaze settled on a flat, circular stone disc hanging around Ancestral Shaman Opa’s neck—about five centimeters in diameter and jet-black. He had previously assumed it was merely an ordinary decorative stone.
Ancestral Shaman Opa noticed what Yan Mo was looking at. She raised her hand and casually grasped the stone disc at her chest, flashing a regretful smile. “It’s a pity I can’t leave on my own, and I don’t believe I could slip away under the noses of the two of you.”
Yan Mo understood what Ancestral Shaman Opa was implying. She could find an opportunity to break out while the two of them were away. With only two guards and those man-eater bees, they wouldn’t be able to stop her—but it wouldn’t be easy to bring the other three along. She could defend herself against the bee guards’ attacks, but the others couldn’t.
“Can you make the man-eater bees leave? I won’t last much longer,” Ancestral Shaman Opa pleaded.
Yan Mo waved his hand, and the bee guards surrounding Ancestral Shaman Opa swarmed away in an instant.
Yuan Zhan also ordered the guards to stand down.
Because of Ancestral Shaman Opa, a glimmer of hope appeared in the eyes of the other three dwarves. However, Logan dared not make a sound now. After that unfortunate little test—which had nearly cost him his life—he understood all too well that while the young priest might be reasonable, the fierce-looking human chief had little mercy.
“You’ve awakened your bloodline ability. What level is it?” Yan Mo asked directly.
“Level two,” Ancestral Shaman Opa replied.
“Only level two so far? Are the lives of Ancestral Worshippers really that short?”
“No,” Ancestral Shaman Opa explained honestly. “The Divine Bloodline I inherited is very weak, and my abilities have grown slowly since awakening. I think you’ve noticed—I need to rely on my Ancestors’ Gift to achieve my goals.”
This answer surprised Yan Mo and gave him pause. So even if one could awaken bloodline abilities, there was still the matter of the strength of the bloodline, coupled with inherent limitations of natural talent. In other words, even if some people could awaken bloodline abilities, they might only reach a level of two or three at most in their entire lives.
Then, did Yuan Zhan, who was advancing so rapidly, possess a particularly strong bloodline and excellent natural talent?
And for those with a weak Divine Bloodline, was there any possibility of improvement through basic training methods?
Was the Divine Bloodline inherited by Wu Chen stronger than Meng’s? That explained why the boy’s bloodline abilities had been triggered after just a single blessing from his life force, while Meng had required a bit more effort on his part.
As for that stone disc known as the ‘Ancestors’ Gift,’ he was growing increasingly curious about its true purpose.
That little dwarf woman must have assumed he knew what the disc was for, which was why she didn’t hide it from him. So he couldn’t let her know that he actually knew next to nothing about the thing. Since he hadn’t gotten an answer from Dofie before, he wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by no matter what.
Yuan Zhan reached out his hand to Ancestral Shaman Opa without hesitation. “Hand it over!”
He didn’t understand the dwarves’ language, but he could guess their meaning from their expressions and gestures. Besides, a beast’s instinct always allowed him to grasp what was most important.
Ancestral Shaman Opa choked on her breath. She, too, understood his gesture. The situation left her no choice; she had to hand it over. Sighing, Ancestral Shaman Opa removed the ancestral gift from around her neck and carefully placed it in Yuan Zhan’s hand.
Yuan Zhan fiddled with it casually for a moment before passing the black stone to Yan Mo.
“A gift from the ancestors?” Yan Mo took it, smiled at him, then—as if it meant nothing to him—handed the object, which was so precious to the dwarves, back to Ancestral Shaman Opa.
Yuan Zhan saw this, snorted, but said nothing.
“I had already noticed its presence. I didn’t ask you to take it off then, and I don’t need it now.”
Ancestral Shaman Opa took the ancestral gift in disbelief, gave a bitter smile, and said, “You wanted to know what I was capable of.”
Yan Mo’s expression suggested he had indeed been thinking exactly that. “Yes, I’m very curious about your abilities as an Ancestral Shaman.”
Ancestral Shaman Opa’s face instantly darkened. She had been hoping to use her abilities to demonstrate her sincerity and have a proper discussion with these two about the possibility of reconciliation. Now she realized it wasn’t that they had been negligent; in fact, they might have been prepared all along, just waiting for her to escape. If she escaped only to be captured again…
Never mind Ancestral Shaman Opa and the other three dwarves—even Yuan Zhan, who prided himself on knowing his priest best, had been fooled by him. Yet, despite his arrogance, he thought to himself: What’s so special about the Ancestors’ Gift? My priest has the Blessing of the Ancestral God!
God only knows how badly Yan Mo wanted to turn around and rush into the lab the moment he took that stone disc, to thoroughly study that so-called Ancestors’ Gift from the inside out, from molecules to quarks.
“Cunning human!” Langlang muttered under his breath.
Kathi and Logan shared the same expression; they both thought the boy was far too cunning and devious. Now, the Ancestral Shaman Opa held no secrets from him!
Yuan Zhan raised an eyebrow. Even without understanding the words, he knew the other party was likely cursing them. Ancestral Shaman Opa immediately snapped, “Chief Langlang!”
Langlang’s expression changed. When he looked at Yuan Zhan again, he seemed somewhat scared. He had almost forgotten that they were no longer in the position of guests.
Yan Mo, however, smiled gently at that moment and said, “Ancestral Shaman Opa, regardless of anything else, you’ve shown me your sincerity. So let’s find a different place to talk.”
Ancestral Shaman Opa perked up at his words, and a glimmer of hope returned to the eyes of the other three dwarves. As long as this young priest was still willing to speak with them, they still had a chance to leave!
“You’re being far too kind to these little dwarves!” Yuan Zhan grumbled. In his view, there was absolutely no need to be so amiable toward them. He thought the matter would be settled if they simply beat them until they were terrified, slaughter them until they dared not resist, and then trade off the rest as slaves.
“The Ancestral God has mercy on everything that lives in this world,” Yan Mo said, patting him on the shoulder. After meeting the merfolk and discovering they could communicate, he had no intention of limiting Jiuyuan to humans alone. Especially since his son might be reincarnated as the Son of Life from the Fruit of Shamanic Fortune, he certainly didn’t want his son to be the only outsider in Jiuyuan.
Yuan Zhan didn’t want to oppose the priest’s opinion, but he was clearly unwilling to accept it. Before leaving, he circled the three cages and ran his hands over them. Everyone present then witnessed the three wicker cages—which had been reasonably sturdy—suddenly become incredibly thick and robust. Most terrifying of all, the wooden thorns on the vines, which had previously been barely noticeable, all became hard, long, and razor-sharp, yet the overall volume of the cages remained unchanged.
In other words, the living space for the dwarves inside the cages had shrunk, and they could no longer move freely, for even raising an arm might cause them to be pierced by the thorns on the vines.
Yuan Zhan took a couple of steps back to survey his handiwork, feeling quite satisfied. He casually touched the empty cage, causing it to open wide. He lifted Logan and shoved him inside, and the cage snapped shut.
“Chief Yuan Zhan, you—you can’t treat us like this. You might as well…” Kathi said painfully in the Jiuyuan language. The cage had already been making them extremely uncomfortable, but at least they could lean against it to sleep. Now that it had turned into this, they couldn’t even relax a little. Was this torture or what?
“Why not just kill you?” Yuan Zhan said expressionlessly. “I agree with you. Keeping you alive is a waste of food. So let’s just kill you.”
“No—!” Kathi screamed in terror.
Ancestral Shaman Opa also cried out pleadingly at the same time, “Lord Mo!”
Yan Mo grabbed Yuan Zhan. “Chief, spare them. I still have use for them.”
Yuan Zhan seemed reluctant as Yan Mo dragged him away; Ancestral Shaman Opa, surrounded by the bee guards, followed them out of the forest.
The three hadn’t gone far when they heard another exclamation from within the woods, “Isn’t that big fool only supposed to be able to control soil? Since when can he control plants too?!”
“That big fool?” Yan Mo chuckled. Even now, these dwarves still didn’t know to keep their heads down; they actually dared to call Yuan Zhan a “big fool” at a time like this. Did they think his heart was as vast as Qingyuan Lake?
Glancing up at the expression of a man who, to a certain extent, could definitely be described as narrow-minded, Yan Mo silently lit a candle for Langlang.
As for Langlang, who still hadn’t learned to watch his tongue even at this point, he never imagined that his catchphrase would bring so many twists and tribulations to the dwarves after they joined Jiuyuan. When he finally realized that the dwarves’ hardships stemmed from the three words “big fool” that were always on his lips, he regretted it so much he almost jumped into Qingyuan Lake to drown himself.
Yuan Zhan, of course, had heard Langlang’s exclamation. After asking Yan Mo what the other had said and just as he was about to turn back to teach that little dwarf a lesson, he accidentally spotted several clumps of thorn bushes at the edge of the forest—they didn’t look particularly lush, but they seemed familiar to him.
“Thunder’s mouth?!” Yuan Zhan’s face twitched as he looked at his priest.
Ancestral Shaman Opa followed their gaze to the thicket of thorns growing there. She recognized it immediately and couldn’t help but shudder. Anyone who had ever come into contact with this plant knew just how dangerous it was.
“Recognized it?” Yan Mo asked with a smirk.
How could he not recognize it! This thing had caused him a world of trouble!
“It’s such a shame to keep something this good confined to Jiufeng’s place. I transplanted some this spring, but most didn’t survive. A while back, I communicated with them and realized the soil and water here weren’t suitable. So I specially reformulated the soil and water for them. Look—in just over twenty days, they’ve grown this well. If you give them a little extra help, we can plant a whole ring of them along the outer moat.”
That’s a pretty nasty trick, but he likes it! Yuan Zhan decided to start training hard today to master the ability to force plants to grow. Oh, and he’d have to learn how to mix different types of soil, too.
“Thunder’s mouth is great, but it’s afraid of fire,” Yuan Zhan reminded the boy.
Yan Mo had already thought of that. “It’s fine. We’re planting them mainly as an early warning system. If anyone really sets them on fire, our men will definitely spot the enemies. As long as we catch them early, no enemy will be able to breach Jiuyuan so easily.”
Ancestral Shaman Opa listened from behind, growing increasingly terrified as she heard more. The fact that those two dared to say such things right in front of her meant they weren’t afraid of a dwarf attack at all.
Yan Mo suggested they change locations and led Ancestral Shaman Opa directly to the outskirts of the inner city. The three of them crossed the inner moat and walked to the open space between the Worwo and Luoluo tribes.
“Ancestral Shaman Opa!” A dwarf recognized her, and as he shouted, a large number of dwarves armed with weapons began to gather around the three of them.
All the Worwo tribe members turned to look at Elder Zarza. Elder Zarza looked anxiously toward the center of the clearing—there was only Ancestral Shaman Opa. Where were their Ancestral Shaman Kathi and chief?
“Let’s go take a look, but don’t get too close. ” Elder Zarza still remembered how he had been captured back then. That young priest could fire tiny wooden spikes as a ranged attack, and what was most terrifying was his ability to strike multiple targets simultaneously. At the time, many dwarves attempting to flee the inner city had been struck down by his flying spikes.
The ground beneath the three of them gradually rose, and Ancestral Shaman Opa’s sense of unease grew stronger and stronger.
Finally, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why have you brought me here? What do you want me to see?”
“Ancestral Shaman Opa, your age has endowed you with great wisdom,” Yan Mo praised her sincerely. “If Ancestral Shaman Kathi had even half your composure and wisdom, the Worwo tribe would still be friends with Jiuyuan— they might even have had the chance to become part of Jiuyuan.”
“Human priest, are you mocking me?” Ancestral Shaman Opa gave a bitter smile. “Back then, when Logan sought to seize Jiuyuan, I did not consent, but I did not stop him either.”
Yan Mo shook his head and looked at her. “I’ll give you one last chance. You may make a choice right here and now: will you choose to be friends with Jiuyuan, allowing your people to repay their past debts through labor, or will you choose to be enemies with Jiuyuan?”
Ancestral Shaman Opa wondered if this young priest wasn’t being a bit too arrogant. Although they were imprisoned, and although the chief of Jiuyuan and their priest were both formidable fighters, the Worwo and Luoluo tribes were by no means powerless. What she wanted was a more equal negotiation, not to be forced to make a choice right off the bat.
Seeing Ancestral Shaman Opa fall silent, Yan Mo gave Yuan Zhan a subtle nod.
Yuan Zhan immediately understood. He pointed at the swarming dwarves and sneered, “You may choose to oppose Jiuyuan, but do you think I can’t wipe them all out in a single day?”
Instantly, though no one knew what he had done, a deep, long fissure suddenly split open in the previously flat ground. A large number of unsuspecting dwarves, screaming, shrieking, and wailing in terror, fell into the fissure as they jostled and pushed one another.
“No—!” Ancestral Shaman Opa, who had never imagined Yuan Zhan would act so swiftly, screamed in horror, her eyes bulging with fury.
Silently, the fissure closed bit by bit in front of Ancestral Shaman Opa and all the dwarves.
“No, no, no! Chief! Lord Mo! Don’t do this!” Ancestral Shaman Opa was beside herself; in that single moment, at least two or three hundred members of the Luoluo tribe had been swallowed up.
Ancestral Shaman Opa knew that the chief of Jiuyuan was powerful and formidable; seeing the Level 5 Divine Blood Warrior mark on his face had further raised her estimation of him. Yet she never imagined that his control over the land could reach such a terrifying level!
If he so desired, he could simply submerge the entire land where the Luoluo tribe slept at night—and the Luoluo tribe would vanish from this land!
Elder Zarza roared, frantically shouting for the Worwo tribe to retreat further and further back, and ordering everyone to spread out as much as possible and avoid standing together.
But would that really stop Yuan Zhan?
Yuan Zhan turned to look at the Worwo tribe. Compared to the Luoluo tribe, whom he had had little contact with later on, the betrayal of the Worwo tribe—with whom he had fought side by side—filled him with even greater revulsion and disgust.
He gathered his power, preparing to unleash a massive attack.
