Ch37 – Awakening
Zhou Ji didn’t believe in the Beast G.o.d, and after the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice this time, he was even less likely to believe in such a thing.
However, the tribespeople believed, as did Xiong Ye.
Xiong Ye believed in the Beast G.o.d and thought that the Beast G.o.d was real, yet he still said that he was willing to give up half of his life for him during the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice…
Zhou Ji looked at Xiong Ye and smiled.
When the apocalypse had just hit during his previous life, he had still been a university student. He was good at learning and had begun his education from a young age, so his heart had been full of all kinds of grand, brilliant ideas.
At the time, he had felt that everyone would unite and fight together against such natural disasters.
Then, reality had fiercely slapped him across his face.
His plant abilities had awakened very early on. At that time, the environmental pollution hadn’t been very serious, and all the plants that he had produced were edible. He had also tried his best and put all his efforts into producing plants for everyone to eat, exhausting his energy every day.
And then, not only was he caught and sold, he was also locked up and forced to grow plants every day.
The one who betrayed him was his fellow female cla.s.smate from elementary school who had ‘liked’ him together with his good friends.
In fact, there were many touching events that took place during the end of the world. There were many people who had given up their own lives in order to ensure that others could live on, but he hadn’t encountered any of that.
Nor did he have any such thoughts.
What he saw more of was humanity’s base nature at the critical moment between life and death.
After all, the apocalypse was the genuine end of the world, and human beings had almost gone extinct by the very end.
He had never thought back then that he would still have a chance to live leisurely and even get married until he transmigrated into this world.
During the first month and a half after he transmigrated, he hadn’t been the least bit interested in integrating into this tribe at all. Yet, on a certain day, Xiong Ye had suddenly given him a piece of Lesothosaurus meat, Shi Li suddenly broke off his engagement, and Xiong Ye’s original life trajectory turned a corner, causing his own life’s trajectory to also shift and change.
He liked this kind of unexpected occurrence.
Xiong Ye was still thanking the Beast G.o.d, and his words were extraordinarily simple, “Beast G.o.d, thank you! I’ll definitely find you the best offerings in the future!”
Zhou Ji: “……” The Beast G.o.d doesn’t even exist. If he was going to put in the work, Xiong Yemight as well find him something to eat instead…
Although Zhou Ji had those thoughts, he didn’t say them out loud. Instead, he prayed piously just like the people around them.
He previously had always felt that Xiong Ye had chosen him in order to make Shi Li angry. Now, it seemed that it hadn’t been like that. Since that was the case, he would treat Xiong Ye even better in the future.
He wouldn’t make the same mistakes as Shi Li.
Since there was someone who treated him with a sincere heart, he would never hurt the other party no matter what. He would only try his best to protect this heart and this person.
He wanted Xiong Ye to treat him like this for the rest of their lives.
The people of the tribe prayed for a long time, but eventually, everyone had trouble kneeling any longer. At this point, the priest, who was still dressed in a robe that was made up of pieces of dinosaur leather in various different colors, spoke up, “The Beast G.o.d Sacrifice is over. In the new year, the Beast G.o.d will bless our tribe and ensure that we will live better and better!”
“Better and better! Better and better!” The people in the tribe stood up and looked excited.
Everyone believed this. It was particularly true for the elderly in the tribe.
After all, the people of the Big Bear Tribe really hadn’t lived that well before.
It had been the previous priest who led them to worship the Beast G.o.d and taught them a lot of knowledge so that their lives could finally improve and become better. They now had four hundred people in their tribe!
It was four hundred right? When the priest had taught them to count back then, they hadn’t understood very well… Either way, they had a lot of people!
Not only did they have more people, there were now fewer accidental deaths. Although many people from the salt team had been killed not long ago, this number wasn’t as much compared to the past. Those members of the tribe had merely met with unexpected misfortune.
Life would definitely get better and better in the future.
The Beast G.o.d would bless them.
“After partic.i.p.ating in the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice, my wound has stopped hurting!”
“Me too!”
“My injured leg used to be very sore and uncomfortable, but it doesn’t feel too bad now.”
“I feel particularly energetic!”
……
Each and every person in the tribe felt happy.
In fact, they had also felt the same way in past years, but that had been mainly due to psychological effects. However, this year…
Zhou Ji knew that those energies were indeed good for them.
Therefore, their bodies feeling better was real, and wasn’t an imaginary feeling at all.
With that in mind, Zhou Ji looked at Xiong Ye, “Do you feel any different?”
Xiong Ye replied, “I’m hungry.” He hadn’t eaten anything ever since Zhou Ji had suddenly fallen ill. He was really hungry!
Zhou Ji: “……”
Zhou Ji reached out and touched Xiong Ye’s head. Xiong Ye had been right beside him earlier and should have received the greatest benefit, but if Xiong Ye hadn’t felt anything, that was fine too.
Xiong Ye felt his head being touched and frowned.
He didn’t like being touched on the head as though he was a child…
However… Seeing that Zhou Ji was looking at him with such a gentle gaze, Xiong Ye then felt that it wasn’t a big deal to be petted like this.
His mate had just been seriously ill. He should spoil him a little.
Xiong Ye was happy again when he thought of this, “Zhou Ji, there will be good food later. Let’s go eat!” The prey that they caught yesterday would be taken out and shared with everyone today. Everyone would be able to eat their fill!
“Alright.” Zhou Ji nodded. There was still a portion of energy within his body that he hadn’t finished absorbing, and he wasn’t hungry at all, but he wouldn’t mind watching Xiong Ye eat.
While the people in the tribe were happy, Shi Li was watching the entire scene with cold eyes.
The forest they lived in now was considered the wild forest. Many tribes in the wild forest didn’t even have priests.
Although their tribe had a priest, he had never trained at the Beast G.o.d Temple and obtained the recognition of the Beast G.o.d. Rather, he was a priest who had learned everything on his own haphazardly from the previous priest.
A stretch of forest like this wasn’t favored by the Beast G.o.d at all.
A tribe like this was even less likely to be present in the Beast G.o.d’s eyes.
Therefore, the tribe wouldn’t have a smooth road ahead in the upcoming year. Instead, they would encounter many crises.
Of course, it would be different for him. He was someone who was favored by the Beast G.o.d, and he couldn’t be considered the same as everyone else.
When Shi Li thought like this, he secretly had a feeling of standing high up above the ma.s.ses.
Just now, when he had partic.i.p.ated in the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice, the amount of energy he had in his body had grown by a lot. He had originally thought that he would have to cultivate for at least a year before he could become a low level Beast Warrior, but now it seemed that it wouldn’t take that long!
With that in mind, Shi Li looked at the people in the tribe with disdain once again.
The people of this tribe would simply never know how vast the world outside was.
Outside of this wild forest, each tribe had priests, and the people in those tribes knew how to grow plants and how to make exquisite utensils. They would also divide beastmen according to strength, or rather, they would divide them based on the color of the crystal core in their bodies.
Ordinary beastmen were those who had colorless crystal cores. Their strength was usually divided based on the shapes their animal forms took, and they were considered to be the lowest level.
There were other beastmen that lived for a long time, ate very well, or experienced a lot of battles; the crystal cores in their bodies would slowly turn yellow, and they would become low level Beast Warriors.
Within their tribe, Xiong He, Xiong Qi, and Xiong Ye were likely to become low level Beast Warriors. Perhaps Xiong He was already a low level Beast Warrior, but as for the others, they might also become low level Beast Warriors if they were lucky.
After becoming a low level Beast Warrior, their animal forms would naturally reach the peak state that their race could achieve. For example, the weight of Xiong Ye and Xiong He’s animal forms would slowly increase until they reached a ton or more.
In the outside world, some powerful people would carefully cultivate their children from a young age, hunting animals that grew beast beads similar to the crystal cores of the beastmen for their children to eat… Children who were raised that way were often already low level Beast Warriors by the time they awakened their animal forms at the age of ten.
It was very easy to become a low level Beast Warrior, but becoming a medium level Beast Warrior was more difficult. The sign of having advanced to becoming a medium level Beast Warrior was for the crystal core in their body to turn orange.
Generally speaking, in tribes in the outside world, the tribal chief would at least be a medium level Beast Warrior. Their animal forms would be at least twice as large as those of the low level Beast Warriors!
When a beastman’s crystal core turned red, they would become high level Beast Warriors! Such people were few and far between. Some people liked to challenge other powerful people and would always go out and search for big and powerful dinosaurs to fight against. Those who were able to stride out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood would also be able to become high level Beast Warriors. Others might be lucky and eat something that would allow them to become a senior level Beast Warrior.
Of course, high level Beast Warriors were nothing to him.
His goal was to become a Beast King.
More powerful than the high level Beast Warriors were the Beast Kings. When the crystal core in their bodies acc.u.mulated enough energy and turned purple, they would become a Beast King.
A Beast King’s animal form was ten times the size of an ordinary beastman’s, and their fighting power was also extremely high. Places where they resided were places where those powerful dinosaurs didn’t dare to step foot in at all. Because of this, the tribes outside would find a Beast King to rely on and give tribute to them in return for the Beast King’s protection.
And he had been a Beast King in his previous life.
Not only that, unlike other Beast Kings who had depended on luck or unique talent to become Beast Kings, he had a set of cultivation methods that would allow him to become a Beast King!
Shi Li felt that the cultivation method from that cave must have been left by the Beast G.o.d; it was the Beast G.o.d’s gift to him!
His talent couldn’t be considered bad, but it wasn’t enough at all when compared to the outside world. Even so, he would be able to become a low level Beast Warrior within another two or three months since he had that cultivation method!
Shi Li couldn’t see the crystal core in his own body, but he could judge his strength based on the size of his animal form. He knew that at the moment, the crystal core in his body should be colorless.
But it would slowly gain color.
Someday, he would become a Beast King once again and have a beautiful purple crystal core!
The more Shi Li thought about it, the more excited he became.
Zhou Ji followed Xiong Ye to the place where the meal was being held. While waiting to eat, Zhou Ji continued urging his purple crystal core to absorb the remaining energy left within his body.
The color of his crystal core was getting darker and darker, and he wasn’t sure if it would eventually turn black.
When that thought crossed his mind, Zhou Ji looked at Xiong Ye again.
What did he have to do in order to give Xiong Ye the energy in his body? He was already strong enough, and right now, he actually really wanted to make Xiong Ye a little stronger instead.
This way, Xiong Ye would be able to hunt tastier prey for him…
Fine, he actually had to make Xiong Ye a little stronger and then a little stronger again, so that Xiong Ye could be safe and stay with him forever.
After Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji sat down, many people from the tribe came over to talk to them.
“Xiong Ye your mating ceremony today was really fantastic!”
“Xiong Ye, congratulations.”
“Zhou Ji, congratulations!”
……
The people of the tribe all gave Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji their best wishes, but after their blessings, they couldn’t help but gossip in private, “Zhou Ji is so weak, how could Xiong Ye still chose him?”
“With a mate like that, Xiong Ye will have to work hard in the future!”
“Zhou Ji’s luck is really good.”
……
Zhou Ji, who had discovered that the people in the tribe had long envied him after releasing his spiritual powers, thought to himself: His luck was indeed really good.
With this in mind, Zhou Ji also found that his spiritual powers had been restored to the same level they had been before his death in his previous life. His spiritual powers could now cover an area of a thousand meters around him.
This spiritual power was quite useful; not only could it be used to scout and obtain information, it could also be used to control others. If faced with opponents who were weaker than he was, he could use it to pressure them and paralyze them with fear.
However, he wasn’t interested in using it.
He just wanted to spend the rest of his small days living comfortably.
While Zhou Ji was thinking about this, everyone else had already begun to eat meat. The most popular meat was a type of white meat, and everyone rushed up to get some. Xiong Ye managed to grab a large piece and brought it back, “Zhou Ji, this meat is particularly tasty, and it doesn’t have any strange flavors. Give it a try.”
“What kind of meat is this?” Zhou Ji asked.
Xiong Ye replied, “It’s not dinosaur meat.”
After hearing Xiong Ye say that it wasn’t dinosaur meat and not smelling any odd scents that he didn’t like, Zhou Ji was about to pick up the meat and taste it when he heard Xiong Ye add another sentence, “It’s “knotted!”
“Millipede?” Zhou Ji’s expression stiffened, and he was also a little puzzled–There were millipedes in the tribe, and although they were a little larger than the ones from his previous life, they were still only the size of a finger. How could there be such a large piece of meat?
Also… If it really was millipede meat, then he wasn’t interested. He wasn’t Hong Qigong
“That’s a knotted millipede!” Xiong Ye pointed to the knotted millipede sh.e.l.l that was hanging on a mountain face nearby and said, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen a knotted millipede, and also the first time I’ve eaten its meat!”
Zhou Ji followed Xiong Ye’s gaze and noticed that on a certain area of the mountain face that was used to hang dinosaur bones and other such ‘war trophies’, there was now an additional sh.e.l.l from the giant millipede he had encountered yesterday.
The millipede sh.e.l.l was placed neatly together with the shield from the Pentaceratops head that they had hunted a few days ago.
“It was taken down by the hunting team led by the chief. I didn’t encounter it… I wonder if I’ll be able to run into them again in the future. I also want to hunt one.” Xiong Ye’s face was full of yearning, “Zhou Ji, this knotted millipede sh.e.l.l can be traded for a lot of salt!”
Zhou Ji had already lost even the tiniest bit of interest in the chunk of white meat in front of him now. He had seen a lot of those things yesterday, and they had left a psychological shadow on him!
However, if Xiong Ye liked them… “You will certainly encounter them in the future.” He could bring Xiong Ye to the forest and let Xiong Ye catch them as he pleased.
As for him… He would just watch from a tree.
“I think so too.” Xiong Ye spoke as he handed Zhou Ji the meat, “Try it.”
“I still don’t feel that good and don’t want to eat meat. I’ll be fine with some fruit.” Zhou Ji said.
It was indeed bad for sick people to eat too much meat as their stomachs would feel bloated. Xiong Ye didn’t try to force Zhou Ji to eat the meat and started eating it on his own instead.
While he was eating, a dark skinned child of about ten years old came over, looking at Zhou Ji with eyes full of curiosity even as he ate.
Xiong Ye noticed him, then handed over a piece of his millipede meat to the child, “Were you unable to get some of this meat? Here, try some.”
The child happily accepted it, “Thank you, elder brother!”
“Don’t mention it. You should eat more and become stronger. That way, you might be able to hunt knotted millipedes for yourself in the future.” Xiong Ye lectured.
“I will. I want to be as strong as my elder brother!” That child replied.
Zhou Ji asked, “This is…?” There were many children in the tribe, and he knew that this child lived in the collective cave, but he didn’t know who he was. After all, he had never paid attention to these things before.
“This is my younger brother Mao. Doesn’t he look a lot like me?” Xiong Ye replied.
This was actually Xiong Ye’s little brother? Zhou Ji looked over him curiously but didn’t feel like this person resembled Xiong Ye.
However, he did notice that the energy in this child’s body was a little chaotic. It looked like… It was about to form into a crystal core.
Children in the tribe who hadn’t awakened didn’t have crystal cores in their bodies. They would only obtain them after they gained an animal form. Did that mean this child was about to awaken his animal form?