Three days later, at the Shugu Tribe’s grand ceremony.

Lugu became the new great chieftain of the Shugu Tribe.

Under the gaze of the multitude, Mohua stood on high, in his capacity as a “wuzhu,” adhering to the will of the Divine Master, and bearing the entrustment of the Shugu ancestors. He personally handed the bone scepter, symbolizing the power of the Shugu Tribe, to Lugu.

Powerful and burly, Lugu knelt before Mohua, reverently accepting the scepter.

From this point on, Lugu, a former great general of the main division, ascended to become the great chieftain of the entire third-grade great tribe, the Shugu Tribe, wielding supreme actual power.

Mohua, meanwhile, became the spiritual symbol of the Shugu Tribe.

Lugu held military power.

Mohua represented divine power.

Divine power, transcending all other powers.

It was a time of war and famine spreading outside, so the entire ceremony was not particularly grand. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Shugu tribesmen attended.

These Manxiu witnessed the change of power within the Shugu Tribe.

They witnessed the birth of the Shugu Tribe’s new great chieftain.

And they also witnessed the first emergence and proliferation of “divine power,” as represented by Mohua, on the land of the Great Wilderness.

For a moment, all bowed in worship, shouting:

“Long live the Shugu Tribe!”

“Long live the Great Chieftain!”

“Sage is Wuzhu Daren!”

“Immortal is the Divine Master Daren!”

Tens of thousands of voices converged, like streams flowing into an ocean, surging like a tsunami, shaking mountains and earth, echoing long in the heavens and earth.

Thus, Mohua, after a period of strategic planning, had initially achieved the unification of the first great tribe under divine power in the Great Wilderness.

After spending some more time consolidating the strength of the Shugu’s main division, the influence of Mohua’s divine power underwent further qualitative change.

The number of Manxiu under his command had rapidly increased to over eight hundred thousand.

Among them, there was only one late-stage Jindan cultivator: the former Shugu great general, now the Shugu great chieftain, Lugu.

There were three mid-stage Jindan cultivators, including Chifeng and two other Shugu elders.

Although Danzhu was only an early-stage Jindan cultivator, her strength, tempered by so much warfare, could rival that of an average mid-stage Jindan cultivator.

Beyond these, there were approximately seventy more early-stage Jindan cultivators.

The Yuangu Heavy Armored Soldiers numbered six hundred.

Elite Zhuji peak Manbing totaled seven thousand.

Ordinary Manbing numbered one hundred and fifty thousand.

The other six hundred thousand or so consisted of ordinary Manxiu engaged in production, the old, weak, sick, and disabled who could not fight, and Man-slaves, who constituted the vast majority.

At its peak, the Shugu Tribe had roughly two million people.

Now, facing famine, some had died; inter-tribal warfare had claimed more lives; and the decisive battle with the Wujiu Tribe had taken another toll.

Compounded by natural disasters and human calamities, and the turbulent times, many tribes had disintegrated and were displaced.

There were also great generals and Man-generals like Canggu, who, disloyal to Lugu, had fled and carved out their own territories.

Therefore, by the time Lugu became the great chieftain, the population had significantly shrunk.

However, this was a year of famine, and all tribes were losing people. Large and small tribes faced life-or-death crises, and the population of the entire Great Wilderness was dwindling.

In this depleted environment, the Shugu Tribe, with over eight hundred thousand people, could still be considered an extremely powerful third-grade great tribal force.

If their strategy was sound, it could play a significant role and, to some extent, reverse the current situation in the Great Wilderness.

Mohua also planned to find an opportune moment to use his “divine power” to command the Shugu Tribe to expand its territory and continuously grow stronger.

But before he could truly expand, another thorny problem lay before him:

Food shortage.

More people meant greater strength.

But more people also meant greater consumption.

For over eight hundred thousand people, just eating was a very serious problem.

Cultivators could go without food for a long time, but not indefinitely. If they continued to starve, their vitality would dwindle, potentially leading to unrest.

This problem could only be solved by Mohua himself.

People like Lugu might be excellent at fighting and killing, but asking them to solve the “food supply” problem was almost impossible.

Their way of thinking would likely only lead to killing and plundering.

In extreme cases, they might even resort to eating Man-slaves.

The food problem was the main issue now, and would remain so for a long time to come.

Mohua’s original intention was to find a place to settle down and figure out how to “farm.”

Although the idea of “farming” in the Great Wilderness was fraught with difficulties, it was almost the only way for more cultivators in the Great Wilderness to survive the famine formation of his Shibo.

If they couldn’t stimulate the vitality of the earth to enrich the soil and grow food in the Great Wilderness.

And at the same time, use farming to nurture the earth’s vitality to resist the spreading famine.

Then the Manxiu here in the Great Wilderness would eventually only die.

But this grand vision was by no means an overnight task, and it would inevitably involve a massive project; distant water could not quench immediate thirst.

The immediate priority was a supply of resources that could quickly solve the current problem.

Otherwise, let alone external conquests, the newly united Shugu Tribe would probably disintegrate before long.

After some thought, Mohua decided to inventory the Shugu Tribe’s storage to see if there were any resources that could be used for emergencies.

The main division of Shugu’s storage was extremely strictly guarded, controlled by a group of elders.

The power to open the storage belonged to the new great chieftain, Lugu.

Mohua asked Lugu for access, and Lugu agreed.

Mohua was now the “Wuzhu Daren” of the Shugu great tribe, symbolizing the Divine Master, representing the will of the ancestors, and carrying the renown of his elder brother, as well as his own ambition.

Lugu was obedient to Mohua’s every word.

Moreover, Lugu had only recently become great chieftain and had never seen the storage. So, he personally accompanied Mohua to the deepest hall of the main division.

Lugu, holding the bone scepter, verified his identity as the great chieftain and then personally led Mohua into the great storage of the Shugu’s main division.

However, upon entering the storage, Mohua frowned slightly.

Even Lugu’s expression was one of shock.

There were too few things in the storage. Many shelves were empty, and some inherited ancient scrolls had also been moved, making it look as if it had been “looted.”

Mohua couldn’t help but look at Lugu.

Lugu’s brows furrowed deeply. He called an elder and asked sternly, “Where’s the storage?”

The elder stammered, afraid to speak.

Lugu’s face grew colder, “If you don’t speak, I’ll chop off your head.”

Lugu was formidable and always true to his word.

Mohua’s gaze was also somewhat icy.

The elder immediately knelt on the ground and said, “Wuzhu Daren, please forgive me. Great Chieftain, please forgive me. These storages… these storages were emptied by the previous great chieftain.”

Lugu’s gaze was cold, “The tribe’s storage has ancestral rules. Even if he was the great chieftain, he had no right to empty the storage privately and claim it for himself…”

“It wasn’t claimed for himself…” The elder whispered, “It was… a transaction.”

“A transaction?” Lugu frowned.

Mohua’s expression shifted, and he asked, “What did your great chieftain trade?”

The storage elder said, “Some… elixirs.”

Mohua thought, “As expected,” and then instructed, “Where are the elixirs? Take me to see them.”

“Yes…”

The storage elder dared not conceal anything and personally led Mohua and Lugu through the storeroom, turning here and there, until they found a secret chamber.

Inside the secret chamber, numerous bottles were densely arranged.

Mohua walked forward, took out a bottle, examined it for a moment, and found that the bottle was blank, without any patterns or markings.

Mohua took out an elixir, sniffed it, and then tasted it himself.

The ingredients were poor quality, and it didn’t taste good.

Indeed, it was the same batch of Bigu Dan produced by the “Hua Family” that he had snatched earlier in the oasis.

Mohua’s eyes darkened slightly.

This indicated that the Shugu great chieftain had been “colluding” with the Hua Family a long time ago, and had even been secretly communicating and trading for a long time.

Lugu, on the other hand, was furious. He grabbed the storage elder by the neck and scolded, “So many storages and inheritances, exchanged for these rotten things?!”

The storage elder forced a smile, “This… I couldn’t help it. The previous great chieftain said that this famine would get worse and worse. Don’t look at these broken bottles; the elixirs inside are worth a thousand gold pieces each. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“These things can not only save lives but also bring wealth.”

“The great chieftain… he exchanged most of the storage for these… Bigu Dan.”

Lugu couldn’t help but curse hatefully, “That old fool, he’s truly muddled in his old age. He’s squandered all of our ancestors’ legacy.”

Mohua, however, felt a stir in his heart and looked thoughtful.

The transactions involved here were probably not that simple.

In this famine, Bigu Dan were indeed very important, but not to the extent of risking everything on them.

Moreover, what was being risked was the foundation of an entire tribe.

The deceased great chieftain was willing to risk everything to buy so many Bigu Dan from the Hua Family, so there must be more to the story.

Shigu’s death must be one part of it.

Besides that, there should be other hidden circumstances.

And the Hua Family’s “exploitation” of the Great Wilderness seemed to be more than just “making money.”

The foundation of an aristocratic family was bloodline, but the fundamental maintenance was self-interest.

If an aristocratic family wanted to develop and prosper, it needed more benefits.

Manipulating wars and secretly fanning the flames to acquire a large amount of spirit stones and resources was indeed one of the most lucrative methods.

But in this process, the Hua Family also seemed to be collecting inheritances from the Great Wilderness.

Skinning to the bone, sucking blood to the marrow. This in itself was not a problem.

Since they had already decided to profit from war, naturally, they would not let go of anything valuable and exploit everything they could.

The value of inheritance was unquestionable.

If it were him, he would certainly be very happy to buy inheritances with Bigu Dan.

But the problem was, Mohua was not entirely sure whether the Hua Family’s plundering of Great Wilderness inheritances was incidental, or… “intentional.”

“Could the Hua Family be… trying to cast a wide net in the Great Wilderness to find a specific Great Wilderness inheritance they want?”

Mohua vaguely felt that this was not impossible.

It was just that there were too few clues now, and he had no idea what the Hua Family was looking for.

Nor was he sure if his guess was accurate…

Mohua frowned.

The game in the Great Wilderness was too vast, with masters hidden behind the scenes, and the situation was complex and shrouded in fog, making it difficult to see clearly.

And Lugu’s face was still grim.

He had just taken office as great chieftain, only to find that the family’s assets were long gone. He immediately wanted to execute the storage elder as a warning and to vent his anger.

Fortunately, Mohua stopped him.

Many of the upper-level machinations and calculations were impossible for these ordinary Jindan elders to know, and there was no need to implicate the innocent.

“You may leave,” Mohua said.

The storage elder hurriedly said, “Thank you, Wuzhu Daren, thank you, Great Chieftain, for sparing my life.”

Seeing that Mohua had spoken, Lugu said nothing more.

Afterward, Mohua had someone check the storage to see how much was left.

Most importantly, Mohua also had the number of Bigu Dan counted. The final tally was close to a million bottles.

This number was quite considerable.

But Mohua was still not entirely satisfied.

A million bottles of Bigu Dan, for the deceased great chieftain, were actually more than enough to sustain his entire tribe for a long time.

But for Mohua, it was far from enough.

Because in the eyes of the former Shugu great chieftain, Man-slaves were not people.

He only needed to use Bigu Dan to feed the Manbing.

Whether the Man-slaves lived or died, he wouldn’t care.

If he truly couldn’t feed them, he would let the Man-slaves fend for themselves, or start a war, let these Man-slaves be cannon fodder, naturally consuming a wave.

This way, it would both kill enemies and save food, killing two birds with one stone.

Mohua, however, could not do this.

These Man-slaves were also people, and he needed to give them food to help them survive the famine year.

And among the tribes, Man-slaves were the most numerous.

Therefore, these Bigu Dan, in Mohua’s hands, would be consumed at a multiplied rate.

These million bottles of Bigu Dan could only slightly alleviate the food shortage problem.

They couldn’t even alleviate it for too long.

With a large family and large problems, Mohua still needed to make longer-term plans.

But where would more food come from?

Mohua, holding a blank bottle containing Bigu Dan, looked thoughtful.

“Hua Family…”

After leaving the storage, Mohua returned to his room. After pondering for a moment, he summoned Elder Bachuan and asked:

“Jin Wutu… is he still imprisoned?”

Elder Bachuan nodded, “He is still locked in the dungeon.”

“Is he strictly guarded?” Mohua asked.

Elder Bachuan replied, “As you previously instructed, he is not strictly guarded.”

Mohua nodded and said, “Loosen up the guard even more in the coming days. And by the way…”

Mohua thought for a moment and said, “By the way, go tell the people below that Lord Lugu, the new great chieftain of Shugu, has decided to grant a great amnesty to the tribe. As long as they haven’t committed a capital crime, they can be given lighter sentences.”

“Then, in front of Jin Wutu, release a few criminals from prison.”

“Remove a few more guards from the prison…”

Elder Bachuan did not know Mohua’s intentions, but he knew that any order from Wuzhu Daren only needed to be obeyed.

“Yes…”

Elder Bachuan accepted the order and left.

Mohua’s gaze deepened slightly.

Seven days later, in a prison in the Shugu Tribe, a shadowy figure stealthily slipped out.

He was dressed in prison garb, covered in scars, and his skin was a ghastly white, as if it had peeled off and grown back anew.

This person was Jin Wutu.

He was once Shigu’s subordinate, but later colluded with the Bifang Tribe, betrayed Shigu, and fled to the oasis to enjoy himself.

Mohua was the one who captured him.

After Jin Wutu was captured, he was brutally tortured by Lugu, suffering greatly, but his flesh and blood were extremely tough, and he stubbornly refused to die.

Mohua had temporarily ordered him to be held, but later became busy with warfare and hadn’t inquired about him for a long time.

At this time, Jin Wutu, by some unknown means, left the prison. Then, from somewhere, he pulled out a set of crude Man-slave clothes, changed into them, and then blended into the crowd, disappearing amidst the clamor.

An hour later, in another corner, a completely different person appeared.

He was wearing the clothes of a Manbing, mingling with the mountain patrol team, and openly walked out of the tribal area.

Later, amidst the chaos of the patrol shift change, his figure disappeared again.

When he reappeared, he was already in a desolate mountain, in a secluded small valley.

He took off the Manbing clothes, casually tossing them aside, turned his head, looked at the Shugu Tribe in the distance, and a sneer appeared on his unfamiliar face as he cursed in a low voice:

“A bunch of fools, trying to imprison me?”

“Sooner or later, I’ll kill all of you…”

After cursing, he no longer hesitated, turned around alone, and swaggered into the valley…

The valley was desolate and silent.

There was no sound around.

But in a place no one noticed, a pair of deep, eerie eyes were watching everything.

(End of this chapter)