Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Qi Bai recounted his experiences from the day. Lang Ze said, "The power you described sounds somewhat like the power to communicate with the Beast God that the old priest spoke of."

The old priest Lang Ze mentioned was clearly not their current priest, Yang Luo, but rather the former priest of the Silver Moon Tribe.

Qi Bai frowned in thought. It was a bit of a stretch to call this a communicative power. Whether it was during the food distribution or today, he hadn't received any clear information.

If he had to describe it, Qi Bai felt as if he had touched a mysterious realm that instantly broadened his thoughts—more like a sudden enlightenment than communication.

Qi Bai asked, "What could the old priest hear when communicating with the Beast God?"

Lang Ze shook his head, recalling the tall, lean elder: "Aside from the blood sacrifice rituals during hunting season, all other ceremonies of the Silver Moon Tribe were held at the altar outside the tribe. Only a few were allowed to witness them."

As the child of the Silver Moon Tribe’s chief and one of the candidates for the next chief, Lang Ze had studied under the old priest since childhood. However, the old priest only taught the younglings arithmetic and medicine. Ritual arts were reserved solely for the old priest and his disciples.

Of course, in a powerful tribe like the Silver Moon Tribe, the chief undoubtedly knew many secrets. This was especially true given the unique shapeshifting abilities of the White Wolf tribe, which was itself the greatest secret.

Yet, despite Lang Ze being the most capable learner among the younglings, the undeniable fact was that when the Silver Moon Tribe fell, he was merely a ten-year-old child. There was much he had not yet had the chance to learn.

Qi Bai rubbed his left palm with the thumb and index finger of his right hand.

As an orphan with abnormal fur color, Mao Bai had been ostracized in his original tribe. This left many gaps in Mao Bai’s memories.

However, Qi Bai could confirm that there was no priest in that tribe. It wasn’t until everyone arrived at Black Mountain that Qi Bai encountered his first priest on the Beastmen Continent.

Even so, whether the tribe was powerful or weak, even the rarely exposed Shui Xi Tribe seemed to firmly believe in the existence of the Beast God.

The Beast God and the Beast God’s City were like legends passed down orally among every beastman tribe.

However, as a transmigrator, Qi Bai had preconceived notions and subconsciously believed that Yang Luo’s ritual arts were similar to the tricks of charlatans on Blue Star. And indeed, Yang Luo occasionally employed small tricks to make his rituals seem more convincing.

Qi Bai never exposed Yang Luo because, in the harsh environment of the Beastmen Continent, the existence of faith strengthened people’s will to survive.

It could be said that it was precisely the presence of a priest that allowed everyone to remain calm in desperate situations and live fearlessly.

But now, Qi Bai had to reconsider. Perhaps it wasn’t that ritual arts didn’t exist on the Beastmen Continent, but rather that Yang Luo had only learned half-heartedly before being forced to leave his original tribe. This was why his rituals were sometimes effective and sometimes not.

Qi Bai sniffled, his nose nearly frozen, and muttered in disbelief, "Could there really be a Beast God?"

Lang Ze turned to look at Qi Bai’s profile: "Is there no Beast God in your homeland?"

"No, we don’t believe in that." Qi Bai raised his hands and twirled them in front of Lang Ze, smiling. "We only believe in our own hands."

Thinking of these inexplicable events, Qi Bai suddenly recalled the strange beasts they had encountered in the Scarlet Mountains a few days earlier and asked, "By the way, no one else heard those beasts. How did you detect them?"

"It wasn’t detection," Lang Ze said without hiding anything from Qi Bai. He pondered for a moment before continuing, "It was a feeling. It was as if I could sense their gaze."

Lang Ze added, "It wasn’t greed or hunger—it was curiosity and attraction."

Qi Bai tilted his head: "Is that why you didn’t want to confront them directly?"

Lang Ze nodded: "I also didn’t want to harm them proactively."

As they spoke, they had already reached their doorstep. Qi Bai shook his head and said, "It seems we won’t find answers on our own. I’ll think of a reason to ask the priest later."

Lang Ze didn’t even glance at his own door, following closely behind Qi Bai without missing a step. He suggested, "You could learn ritual arts from him."

Qi Bai whispered, "Are the priest’s ritual arts really reliable?"

Lang Ze shook his head bluntly. Over the past year, not only Qi Bai but Lang Ze had also long since figured out Yang Luo’s level. However, this didn’t affect Lang Ze’s perspective: "Not just anyone can become a priest’s student. They are beastmen chosen by the Beast God."

To find such children, the old priest of the Silver Moon Tribe would select from among the younglings every year. Someone like Qi Bai, who could "communicate with the Beast God," would have been the ideal candidate to become a priest’s student in the Silver Moon Tribe.

Lang Ze said, "You might be able to perform the rituals that Priest Yang Luo cannot complete."

Qi Bai imagined replacing Yang Luo’s face during rituals with his own and suddenly found it amusing.

Qi Bai took down a basket of sweet potato chips from the bamboo shelf: "Let’s prepare tonight’s dinner first."

Early the next morning, Qi Bai and Lang Ze arrived at the furnace room to find many tribespeople gathered outside.

Xi Zhou, Hu Qiao, and Tun Quan, three of them with dark circles under their eyes, guarded the best viewing spot near the bellows.

The bellows, which had been pumping all night, finally stilled. The flames at the base of the furnace gradually dimmed. Qi Bai used two thick wooden sticks to search for the finished products at the bottom of the furnace.

Although there were no open flames, the temperature at the furnace base remained high. The tips of the wooden sticks in Qi Bai’s hands quickly turned black from the heat.

Niu Xi stared intently at the furnace and exclaimed, "It’s iron!"

Along with Niu Xi’s voice, a large, uneven black mass of iron appeared—much larger than any they had produced before.

The mass of iron rolled into the center of the furnace room. Niu Xi picked up a stone and gently tapped the surface of the iron block. A crisp sound rang out, making everyone’s eyes light up.

Most tribespeople were hearing such a sound for the first time. It closely resembled the sound of bird bones. So, this was the sound of iron.

While the tribespeople cheered excitedly around the iron block, Qi Bai and Lang Ze scooped out all the remaining ashes from the furnace base. Aside from the large mass of iron in the center, there were also several smaller iron pieces in the ashes.

Lu Guo looked at the large iron block with concern and asked, "How can we turn such a large piece of iron into tools?"

Qi Bai kept an eye on everyone to prevent anyone from curiously touching it directly and said with a smile, "The forging room next door is specifically for making tools."

The furnace built by Shu Lin and Xiong Feng was indeed more effective than the small stove Qi Bai and the others had used initially. However, they still couldn’t melt the iron directly into molten iron.

But the hardest step was already complete. Black Mountain Tribe now had iron. Turning it into tools would simply require a bit more effort.

More importantly, the iron produced by the furnace was still very rough. If they used molds to cast it directly, the durability would certainly not match that of tools forged through repeated hammering.