Chapter 142: The Whole Story

“These… these are all Ice Shell Gold Pearls?”

Seeing the golden light shimmering inside the tent, with Ice Shell Gold Pearls piled over a foot thick, Bai Naizhao was momentarily stunned, his eyes dazzled by the radiant glow.

“Yes! Aren’t these all Ice Shell Gold Pearls?” a female tribal warrior nodded in confirmation.

“Are all of these pearls conjured by Brother Feng’s magic?”

“Exactly! Senior Brother Bai, there’s no need to be so astonished. Young Master Chu’s skills are truly extraordinary, possessing abilities that transcend heaven and earth—beyond what ordinary people can imagine!” another female warrior explained.

Bai Naizhao smiled bitterly and nodded. The excitement he felt earlier from having hunted down four Ice Abyss Mother Shells in succession had completely vanished. As for the roughly six hundred Ice Shell Gold Pearls he had gathered, they were insignificant compared to this massive pile conjured by Chu Feng.

Compared to the pearls created by Chu Feng, those mere six hundred Ice Shell Gold Pearls were like a few drops of saliva against an entire pond.

“Brother Feng, your magical ability to conjure these Ice Shell Gold Pearls is truly… defying the heavens! Fortunately, I didn’t boast about these few hundred pearls in front of you; otherwise, my face would be utterly lost right now!”

Though Bai Naizhao smiled bitterly, it was out of humility. He admired Chu Feng’s talents deeply, with utmost respect.

“Heh, we’re brothers; there’s no need to feel embarrassed. Whether gathering or conjuring, we share the same goal—to ensure that the women of our tribe have more Ice Shell Gold Pearls!” Chu Feng said loudly.

“Brother Feng is right!”

Bai Naizhao nodded, thinking to himself that these words not only saved his face but also delighted the tribe’s women—something he could never have expressed so eloquently.

Chu Feng smiled softly.

Seeing Yuzui organizing the women to collect the Ice Shell Gold Pearls, Chu Feng approached again and said, “Sisters, there are still many fine Ice Shell Gold Pearls in Dong Zhuo’s storage bag. Take those as well!”

With a clatter, Chu Feng emptied the watermelon-sized Ice Shell Gold Pearls from Dong Zhuo’s bag, along with some from the three stewards’ storage bags.

These pearls were noticeably larger than those conjured by Chu Feng, but in terms of quantity, they could not compare to the massive number he had produced.

“Another large batch of Ice Shell Gold Pearls…” Yuzui was surprised, her gentle gaze resting on Chu Feng. “Brother Chu Feng, you truly are the savior and benefactor of our tribe!”

“Heh, you flatter me too much! I wonder why Dong Zhuo carries so many Ice Shell Gold Pearls with him?” Chu Feng asked. “Does he use them to reward those around him at any time?”

“Brother Chu Feng, you’re so smart! Exactly!”

Yuzui nodded, “Ice Shell Gold Pearls are extremely rare and precious to us women of the tribe. But for the men, they aren’t as scarce. People like Dong Zhuo, who have status, always carry some fine Ice Shell Gold Pearls to reward those around them.”

“Oh. I wonder why the male and female tribes of the Wu Han Xue Tribe are so hostile toward each other?”

Chu Feng was curious about this question. After all, they were all members of the same tribe. What deep-seated hatred could have caused the men and women to split into two tribes, even becoming bitter enemies?

“That’s a long story,” Yuzui said with a hint of melancholy. “In brief, the Wu Han Xue Tribe used to have both a male and female division. The men were responsible for collecting Ice Shell Gold Pearls in the Eastern Sea region, while the women raised wild beasts and cultivated plants in the Western Sea region. Each tribe was led by their respective male and female leaders.”

“The division of labor was clear. Every so often, the leaders would meet to exchange goods. The women traded various pills, fruits, vegetables that helped warriors refine their bodies, and different wild beasts for Ice Shell Gold Pearls held by the men. These equal exchanges kept the two tribes in harmony.”

“But then, over a hundred years ago, a great tsunami struck the Ice Abyss Sea, drastically reducing the number of Ice Abyss Mother Shells. The Eastern Sea region fared somewhat better, but the Western Sea lost more than eighty percent of its population. In short, capturing these shells became much harder.”

“At that time, the male tribe leader demanded a renegotiation of the exchange ratio, wanting to trade the same number of Ice Shell Gold Pearls for more goods from the women. The female leader refused, and the exchanges stopped.”

“Thus, the two tribes reached an impasse, each protecting their own interests and refusing to yield. Over the next decade or so, a new generation of male and female leaders took office, but instead of resolving the conflict, the division only deepened.”

Yuzui shook her head with a sigh, deeply saddened by the tribe’s internal strife.

“Why?” Chu Feng asked.

“The new male leader was a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Yuzui replied. “He pretended to court the female leader, even seeking to marry her, but his true aim was to seize both wealth and power to control all the tribe’s resources. Once the female leader saw through him, the conflict intensified.”

“Since then, the two tribes lived separately, no longer exchanging goods. The women struggled to hunt Ice Abyss Mother Shells and painstakingly accumulated some Ice Shell Gold Pearls themselves. Meanwhile, the men’s situation was also dire. Although they had many pearls, their martial prowess declined over time instead of improving.”

Hearing this, Chu Feng’s mind filled with questions.

“Why must the Wu Han Xue Tribe be split into male and female tribes?” he asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to unite under one leader?”

“Brother Chu Feng, that’s a great question!” Yuzui nodded. “This is one of the lingering effects of the bloodline curse! Long ago, our ancestors were cursed by a mysterious force, causing future generations to split into male and female tribes. The men can cultivate the Blazing Sun Technique, making it easier to kill Ice Abyss Mother Shells. The women, unable to cultivate this technique, live in the colder Western Sea, where they raise beasts and grow plants—tasks the men cannot perform.”

“So even if the two tribes united, the men wouldn’t be able to help with the women’s work, nor the women with the men’s. It would be like living separately. Besides, the male tribe would never allow a female leader to govern them, nor could the female leader control male affairs.”

“I see now,” Chu Feng nodded in understanding.

“By the way, after the tribes stopped trading, if the women can’t get Ice Shell Gold Pearls, life becomes difficult. And the men’s martial strength declines over time. Why is that?”

“That’s another consequence of the bloodline curse,” Yuzui said. “Male warriors can cultivate the Blazing Sun Technique to enhance their ability to hunt the Ice Abyss Mother Shells. But after training in it, they must consume Cold Moon Grass from the female tribe’s Western Sea territory. Without it, their strength actually decreases instead of increasing.”

“How severe is this decline?” Chu Feng asked.

“It varies by individual’s power and resources. Take Dong Zhuo, for example—he’s at the seventh level of the Body Refinement stage and enjoys many special martial resources unavailable to most. His decline is slower, and if he stops training the Blazing Sun Technique, he might even halt the decline.”

“But ordinary male warriors, especially those who train the Blazing Sun Technique to hunt Ice Abyss Mother Shells, see their power diminish daily. A warrior at the sixth level of Body Refinement can fall to the fifth level within half a year. The decline accelerates over time, and in three to five years, they might regress to the first or second level.”

Yuzui shook her head helplessly at this point.

Chu Feng finally understood.

“So after the tribes ceased internal trade, the women faced hardship due to lack of Ice Shell Gold Pearls, while their martial cultivation suffered. The men, although possessing many pearls, lacked Cold Moon Grass, rendering the pearls useless. But if trade resumed—exchanging Cold Moon Grass for Ice Shell Gold Pearls—both sides would benefit and be pleased, right?” Chu Feng asked.

“Yes, Brother Chu Feng, you’re absolutely right!” Yuzui nodded. “Currently, the male tribe is led by two strongmen, Dong Zhe and Yun Fei, and the female tribe by four powerful women—you’ve heard about them, haven’t you? Yun Fei once proposed that the tribes negotiate to resume trade, but… it now seems impossible.”

Chu Feng, a perceptive man, immediately said, “Is it because I killed Dong Zhe’s brother Dong Zhuo? Has Dong Zhe taken out his anger on your tribe, causing Yun Fei’s proposal to fall through?”

Though Chu Feng said this aloud, he had other thoughts in his heart and felt compelled to object.

“Yes, Yun Fei’s proposal is undoubtedly dead in the water now. But if you say Dong Zhuo’s death caused it, that’s only the surface reason,” Yuzui explained. “Yun Fei is a good man, well-loved by the male warriors, and willing to negotiate with the women to restore trade. But Dong Zhe is ambitious; without conditions that satisfy him absolutely, he’d rather drag out the conflict than agree to resume trade.”

“Exactly, Sister. Brother Chu Feng must also rebut this—if Dong Zhe truly wanted to restore trade between the tribes, why would he send his brother Dong Zhuo’s men to ambush me in the Great Snow Mountain?”

Chu Feng shook his head. “Dong Zhe’s thinking is this: once I, Chu Feng, arrive and conjure a massive number of Ice Shell Gold Pearls for your tribe, the female tribe would have greater bargaining power in negotiations. The male tribe would lose its advantage. So my presence threatens his interests and plans, and naturally, he wanted me dead halfway here.”

“Brother Chu Feng, you’re not only highly skilled but also cunning and meticulous,” Yuzui said with admiration, nodding toward him, her eyes full of reverence.

“Yo, yo, yo! Calling him Brother Chu Feng so often sounds awfully affectionate!”

Suddenly, a young girl’s voice rang out from the icy surface a distance away, accompanied by the crisp, pleasant sound of tinkling bells.

Chu Feng looked over and was taken aback.

He saw a girl dressed in scant clothing, riding a snow-white piglet, charging toward them like an arrow.