Chapter 7261 An Ancestor's Corpse

The Earth Barbarians brought Long Chen to their dwellings, or at least what remained of them after Long Chen’s surprise landing. They worshiped nature, so these buildings were all made of stone and wood in a somewhat primitive manner.

All the buildings they lived in were the same, ordinary houses that seemed to have grown out of the ground. The only larger one was a stone hall at the center of their village. This was their meeting place.

Long Chen walked into the stone room and the first thing he saw was a large corpse. He was taken aback, not by the presence of the body itself but by the fact that, even though it was dead, it still exuded the terrifying pressure of the Grand Dao. It was not a skeleton or a mummy, but a muscular man with white hair who was, for some reason, bound in chains.

“A Heavenly Sovereign...”

A’Fu respectfully introduced the corpse. “This is our ancestor. He left behind this body to give his descendants a chance at survival. When our race is in danger of extermination, the race leader can offer up their soul to make this corpse fight once more.”

“What about these runic chains?”

“They are to protect the ancestor’s energy against the passage of time. In addition, they are a reminder that the Earth Barbarian race’s debt must be repaid, or these chains will never be undone,” explained A’Fu.

Earth Barbarians truly were stubborn. After realizing that they were tricked, they did not go with the flow like all the others, but instead stubbornly chose to make a stand, resulting in them being turned into public enemies of the entire world. This was something that required more than simply bravery...

Long Chen suddenly noticed the corpse holding something. “What’s that?”

“That is also something the ancestor left behind. But our ancestral teachings forbid us from touching it. We have never dared to disobey and see what it is,” said A’Fu.

“Take it out!” ordered Long Chen.

A’Fu did not hesitate. He bowed to the corpse and slowly pried open its fingers, then pulled out the small item it had been clutching. It was a roll of something that looked like a cross between leather and silk. Even after so many years, it showed no signs of decay.

A’Fu rolled it open and revealed rows of strange characters written on it. This was the script of the Earth Barbarian race, so naturally, Long Chen could not read it.

“Read it.”

A’Fu read, “I can feel the earth crying. We have killed her children. Our power comes from the earth, and we’ve used her power to kill her own kin. She does not hate us for it, but we are still sinners. May those vile deceivers be tortured in hell for eternity...”

Towards the end, the writing became a bit messy, and it ended abruptly. Clearly, this ancestor had written this as he was dying, and he hadn’t even managed to finish writing everything he wanted before passing away, his heart filled with hatred and regret.

The Earth Barbarians gathered here all clenched their fists. This deception had almost completely destroyed their race!

Earth Barbarians lived off of the earth, and they were so deeply connected to it that even in the nine heavens, the earth welcomed them. But what had they done? They used the power of the earth to slay the lifeforms of the nine heavens! Even though they had stopped upon realizing the truth, it was still a major sin!

Besides the fact that they’d been on the run all along, the main reason for the Earth Barbarian race’s continual decline over the years was the guilt of this sin. They no longer felt like they could absorb the power of the earth to cultivate. For countless years, generation after generation, they suffered under the weight of this shame. It was a kind of pain others couldn’t imagine. Long Chen did not find it weird at all that they preferred to die fighting. They were willing to use their lives to pay the blood debt owed by their ancestors.

“What happened back then? How were you tricked?” asked Long Chen.

A’Fu shook his head and sighed. “Our ancestors viewed what happened as taboo, and refused to tell their descendants. Our guess is that the karmic implications were too great. If they told us, our race might have been crushed before paying back its debt.”

Long Chen stared at the corpse. He slowly reached out a hand. A’Fu and the others didn’t move. Even if Long Chen took away their ancestor’s corpse, they wouldn’t stop him.

Seeing that, Long Chen was truly moved. Even when he had ordered A’Fu to open the corpse’s hand, the elder hadn’t hesitated at all. Now, he was basically touching upon every taboo of their race, yet they were not even attempting to say anything. It was clear to him that they had put all their faith in him, and they were willing to give up everything they had for him.

How could he not feel pity for them? Evil people don’t feel any kind of psychological burden, no matter how much suffering they cause; for good people, however, a sin will turn into guilt that might never be relieved even after a lifetime.

Golden flames wrapped around the corpse as Long Chen solemnly said, “I will look after your kin, so you can finally rest in peace and let go of your regrets. Your descendants will atone for the things you did, and they will also lay vengeance upon those who have wronged you!”

Once Long Chen was done speaking, the corpse instantly lost the power that was sustaining it and turned to dust. What remained of it was a fist-sized sphere of blood floating in the air, enveloped by golden flames. This was the Earth Barbarian ancestor’s Heavenly Sovereign essence blood. Even after countless years, it still emitted a terrifying aura.

Long Chen carefully put it away. Everyone, including A’Fu, immediately got on their knees.

“Thank you for relieving our ancestor of his burden!”

They actually didn’t hold the slightest grudge even after he burned their ancestor’s corpse and seized his essence blood! They were actually grateful, causing Long Chen to feel a bit ashamed. Just now, he had still been suspicious, and he had been eyeing them for a reaction. But everything showed that the Earth Barbarian race was worthy of his trust.

Long Chen had no choice in the matter. Accepting the Earth Barbarian race as his subordinates was a major risk. Although Long Chen wasn’t afraid of taking risks when needed, he first had to know if the Earth Barbarians were really worth going to such lengths. Now, he was sure that they fully deserved his help, and he was also happy to gain such loyal allies.

Although that essence blood was powerful, much of its power had faded over the passage of the years. He would need to replenish its energy with medicinal plants, and after that, he could refine it into pills. But those pills would probably be so strong that the Earth Barbarian experts wouldn’t be capable of absorbing them. What he needed to do right now was boost their overall power.

Long Chen ordered them to pack up. They were going to move their entire community. They were quite efficient, as expected from people with such a minimalistic lifestyle; in just six hours, the town was completely emptied out.

They stared at the land that had hosted them for untold years with a hint of reluctance, but the thought of being able to wash away the humiliation of their ancestors ignited a new flame in their hearts, one that burned like nothing had ever burned inside them.

Just as they were about to leave, the distant space rumbled. Violent auras crashed down on them.

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