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

Chapter 62, Part Three: Purchasing Slaves (Please continue reading)
Early the next morning, Shen Can watched Huo Tang and the other person disappear into the mountains before returning to the ancestral temple.

The tribe had just migrated here and the people were still adapting, working to prepare the waterways and fields.

He walked toward the cave where the ironwood boat was located.

Now, the bow and stern of the ship no longer need to be made of ironwood.

The rear half of the ship was almost finished, and Huo Kui was busy making mortise and tenon joints at the broken keel at the bow.

Currently, the Blazing Flame Tribe can only assemble the ship so that it's usable.

Hunting isn't for water battles.

Shen Can also couldn't concoct a universal glue that could stick to everything.

The joints were temporarily connected with rivets. As for the gaps, they were easy to fill by sealing them with a type of tree sap from the mountains. He would then apply a talisman to them.

In addition to hunting and spiritual practice, the hunting team now also has the opportunity to learn to swim and dive.

After checking the progress of the ship repairs, Shen Can returned to the ancestral temple.

Inside the ancestral temple, Huo Zhong was sorting through the things he had pried out of Fu Fu's mouth.

This bastard has a lot of knowledge inside him; he spills a ton of stuff every time you ask him, but it's a jumbled mess of categories that needs to be sorted out.

Huo Chong is only making a preliminary sorting out of things. Only after the sorting is complete will Shen Can proceed with the deduction and verification of its correctness.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Can began his cultivation as usual.

After advancing to the Seventy-Two Desolate Powers, the effectiveness of meat consumption was halved once again, as if the flesh and blood in the body had become sluggish.

To increase the power of a single Desolate Realm, the power consumption is three to five times higher than that of each Desolate Realm between the thirty-sixth and seventy-second levels.

In this way, the consumption is more than ten times that of a normal wasteland from level one to level thirty-six.

The clan's third-tier beast meat was gone. Even though he possessed the Myriad Transformations to One Divine Power, which could maximize the use of low-tier resources to enhance his strength, it couldn't slow down his cultivation time.

After all, the difference in energy contained in cultivation resources between low-level and high-level cultivation is enormous.

It's already quite an achievement that he can extract oil from low-level resources, which requires a large amount of low-level meat. We haven't reached the point where we absolutely have to extract oil from low-level resources yet.

Shen Can felt that they should start with the third-tier wild beasts.

After cleaning the ancestral temple each day, he would wander around the waterside area outside the clan's territory, trying to see if he could catch a third-tier wild beast.

Returning home at night, I would practice witchcraft to enhance my spiritual perception.

He also tried eating twice as much fish, shrimp and crab he caught every day. After a few days of this, his mouth was full of fishy smell.

……

Copper Shell Market.

Inside a building next to the market slave market.

The tribal elder, Shui'an, was fast asleep on the large stone bed, presiding over the area.

A member of the Upper Lake tribe came in to report, waking Shui An, “Elder, the slave market is asking again when our batch of slaves will be delivered.”

"What's the rush? With so many slaves, do you think we'd be missing out?"

Upon waking, Shui An cursed, "I think they're just pretending to urge the slaves; what they really want is to know where the chieftain is."

Tongbei Market is one of the markets jointly established by the Shanghu, Cangniao, and Yuanshan tribes.

A few months ago, a tribe in the mountains went out to purchase resources, but was stopped by the people of the Upper Lake tribe.

These dozen or so people were all dressed in armor and carried bows; they couldn't help but stand out.

After he learned about it, he told his clan about it, and the clan reached a barter agreement with this mountain tribe.

What followed was the news that the tribal troops were marching north, which spread in the market. No one knows how the news got out, but it was probably related to the Cangniao and Yuanshan tribes.

The clan chief has not returned yet, and these two tribes may be guessing that he has obtained better resources in the mountains.

Even Shui An herself thought so.

With two Celestial Veins, three hundred clan soldiers, and a Blood Witch unknown to the outside world, they were virtually unmatched.

They probably didn't come back because they had something even greater to gain.

As for danger, it is only in a small part of the mountains.

"Oh, Elder An, why is your temper so explosive?"

At this moment, two figures walked into the stone house. One of them, an old man with white hair, spoke up, "Chief Shanghu mobilized the clan's troops to go north, and they haven't returned for so long. Could something have happened to them?"

"Old man, are you eating shit?"

……

On the other side, Huotang and Huoshan, who traverse mountains, forests and rivers, finally arrived at the market.

This time, the two brought ten first-tier animal hides, two second-tier animal hides, as well as some animal sinews, scales, fangs, and other items from the tribe.

Without the blessing of witchcraft and when metal weapons were not strong enough, tribes used the fangs, scales, and bones of second- and third-tier wild beasts as weapons.

Therefore, these are all important daily necessities, and they also function as currency in the market.

I brought these things here because I wanted to see if I could exchange them for the people or things I needed when I went back.

"Remember to speak less and don't shout."

Before entering the market, he gave the volcano another piece of advice.

"I understand."

After circling around twice, the two finally found a relatively spacious open area near the slave market.

The slave market was the center of the entire market, and there were a dozen or so houses nearby, which were the main buildings of the entire market.

He took out a tattered animal hide, spread it out, and placed some of the items on it.

When I came here with the Shanghuangbu last time, I saw that there were many people setting up stalls, so I also plan to use this method to find out information.

There's no other way; asking around rashly could easily lead to trouble.

Volcano crouched beside the fire pit, constantly turning his head to look back at the slave market.

Huotang sat cross-legged, quietly listening to the conversations of the people passing by.

The loud voices made it unnecessary for him to eavesdrop. "The price is much higher than before the plague. Before, five intact animal hides could be exchanged for a woman of childbearing age, but now they dare to ask for twenty ordinary animal hides."

"Don't you even look at how many people have died in the area after the natural disaster?"

“Even a little kid isn’t cheap. It used to cost one animal hide, but now they’re asking for three. If you buy one and can’t raise it, it’s a complete waste.”

……

As the sun began to set, Volcano took out some dried meat from his backpack and handed it to Huotang.

There's no such thing as closing up shop at night; you can just sleep right there at night.

For several days in a row, the two took turns watching the stall.

Sometimes I would wander around the market, remembering everything I saw and heard.

The market was filled with a variety of goods, mostly animal hides, bones, scales, and herbs.

Huotang also heard the news from the Upper Lake region.

The entire market was jointly established by the Shanghu, Cangniao, and Yuanshan tribes.

The three tribes are powerful, with many Heavenly Vein warriors in charge, including some at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Vein realm.

Upon hearing this news, he couldn't help but feel grateful that he had used the giant crossbow to kill the warrior from the Upper Lake tribe who wore a beast bone crown.

Not only did they find out the names of the various tribes, but the news of the Shanghu tribe's troops heading north was also circulating in the market. Everyone knew that the Shanghu tribe had gone north to the deep mountains to capture the remnants of their tribe.

The people in the market treated this as gossip, with some saying that the martial artists from the Upper Lake tribe hadn't returned because they got lost in the mountains.

Some say the plague came from the mountains, and that only a few people will survive, making all the efforts of the Upper Lake Department in vain.

Some even speculate that the Upper Lake people stayed in the mountains to hunt.

In short, there are many rumors circulating in the market.

Seven days later, Huotang felt he had gathered enough information, so he packed up and took Huoshan into the slave market.

Before returning, I'll see if I can buy a skilled slave.

Inside the slave market, the stench of decay permeated the air, and bloodstains were visible everywhere.

Stone railings and low houses stand side by side, but what stands out even more are the tall pillars, on which people are hanging.

Some pillars had several figures hanging on them; the bottom ones were already skeletons, while the top ones were still dripping blood.

No one paid any attention to them, and Huotang simply walked around the slave market.

The slaves looked lifeless and listless.

"Didn't find anyone you liked?"

Just as Huotang was about to leave, a greasy-faced figure quickly stepped forward and blocked Huotang's path.

"Should we wait two more days? A new batch of slaves is arriving soon, so we need to keep them in good spirits."

Is there a blacksmith?

"Have!"

Jia Gu agreed without hesitation.

"However, the price is high."

"Okay, then we'll wait two more days." Huo Tang thought for a moment and nodded, it was only a few days anyway.

Seeing Huotang leave the slave market, Jia Gu quickly walked deeper into the market.

As soon as Huotang and the other person entered, he saw the animal hide that Huoshan was carrying.

With years of accumulated experience, Jia Gu was certain that the quality of the animal hide should be good, and that it was from a large wild beast.

Animal hides are not scarce in the mountains and forests, but the further south you go, the flatter the terrain becomes, and large wild beasts become less common.

The quality and size of the hides of small prey animals cannot compare to those of wild beasts in the mountains, so as one of the essential items for making armor, their value is naturally higher.

The slaves available for sale have all been screened. There aren't enough skilled slaves in their own tribes, so how could they possibly be sold in the market?

"Ah Chen, the same old rule, choose someone with burn scars on their body and rough, calloused hands."

"By the way, don't let them all be poisoned and rendered mute like last time. If one person is mute, they can't all be mute at the same time!"

“Teach them more, tell them that leaving the slave farm is their only way to survive.”

"Don't give me another chance to die before even leaving the house."

“They traded genuine leather for him, so he should have lived for at least three to five days. He’ll die on the road.”

"You've been with me for so many years, and you haven't improved at all."

　In the pre-Qin era, territories were maintained by cities; whoever controlled a city could control a portion of the area surrounding it.

　　A nation is composed of individual cities and the surrounding territory.

　　The vast area was actually the territory of the savages at that time, just as the Yan state disappeared from records for hundreds of years.

　　King You of Zhou played a trick on the feudal lords by lighting beacon fires, deposed Queen Shen and installed the crown prince, and punished Queen Shen's father, Marquis Shen. Marquis Shen then allied with the Zeng state (present-day Zaoqing, Shandong) and the Quanrong (present-day Shaanxi and Gansu) and marched across present-day Shandong and Henan to attack Shaanxi.

　　It's true that it passed through other countries, but it's also true that it didn't, since it didn't attack any cities in other countries along the way.

　　In this book, most tribes also control their own territory.

　　But this is also fantasy, where martial artists cultivate, eat a lot, and consume a lot of energy. Ordinary martial artists can travel as fast as a thousand-mile horse.

　　Therefore, the area surrounding a large tribe had a vague concept of several thousand miles in radius.

　　Within this area spanning thousands of miles, there are also 'wild people' and 'small tribes'; it's not that there's no one there.

　　Furthermore, the large tribes are not adjacent to each other. Although Shanghu and Cangniao appear powerful, including the Zhiyan tribe, they are also buffer zones for other stronger tribes.

　　In addition, with low productivity, the tribe cannot control a large enough area, and there will be not enough meat for training.

　　Even in agrarian civilizations, when farmland yields are insufficient, they rely on expanding the planting area to sustain consumption.

　　When you read historical novels, you often see stories about land being allocated to men and women, with each man receiving fifty mu and each woman thirty mu. This is because of this reason.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)