Chapter 26: Ancient Tribe

Not to mention, she still had a large cache of firearms and ammunition stored within her earring, which were quite useful for dealing with common wild beasts or even low-level spirit beasts.

During her time drifting through the space-time turbulence, she had long since organized the items kept in her earring, bracelets, and rings. She had plenty of clothing, daily necessities, medicine, firearms, weapons, and seasonings; the only things in short supply were food and water.

Previously, most of her food was kept in her storage space. As for water, possessing a five-element spiritual root meant she never needed to store any. Thus, once her storage space and cultivation were sealed, those two essentials were gone.

The biscuits and beverages she had found were things she had previously looked down upon, choosing not to put them in her main storage space but leaving them in her earring instead. She never expected that in her moment of crisis, these items she had once dismissed would be the ones to save her.

"Xiaoqiang, do you know where this is?" Mu Tong released Xiaoqiang. Fortunately, she had kept it in her bracelet, and it had not been discovered. If Fat Aunt had found Xiaoqiang, Mu Tong wasn't sure if it would have been confiscated.

Xiaoqiang hailed from a level-seven technological civilization and had accompanied its previous owner to many places; perhaps it would know where they were.

"Data scanning... Report: No inventory data found. Have not visited this location. Unable to provide details." After a brief flicker of light, Xiaoqiang indicated it was helpless.

Mu Tong gave a bitter smile. If even the well-traveled Xiaoqiang had never been here, she certainly had no idea where she was. Forget it, she should focus on how to survive the immediate hardship. Thinking of her dwindling food and water, Mu Tong decided to search for sustenance in the forest.

Dizzy, she stared at the surrounding plants. She had been walking for so long and hadn't recognized a single one. Actually, that wasn't entirely true; earlier, she had spotted a tree that looked like an apple tree, covered in red fruit. Excited, she had plucked one and was just about to bite into it when Xiaoqiang advised her to analyze it first.

Dazed by the sight of fresh fruit, Mu Tong still accepted the suggestion—who knew what kind of parasites might be on it? It was better to be safe.

As a super-intelligent computer, Xiaoqiang had the capability to identify whether plants and animals were toxic or edible. The result of the analysis shocked Mu Tong: the seemingly delicious "apple" was actually a highly poisonous fruit.

Mu Tong felt extremely fortunate that Xiaoqiang had insisted on coming along when she traveled to Hidden Immortal Town. Otherwise, she would have been poisoned to death by that fruit. Although she had detoxifying pills in her storage ring, who knew if her body—currently lacking the spiritual energy to support it—could survive long enough to consume the antidote?

From that point on, whenever Mu Tong found something that looked edible, she would have Xiaoqiang analyze it first. However, after searching for so long, she hadn't found a single thing she could eat.

Huh? Was that a pomegranate tree?

Looking at the tree laden with large, pomegranate-like fruits, Mu Tong couldn't resist climbing up to pluck one for Xiaoqiang to analyze.

"Beep. Analysis complete: Non-toxic and edible." Xiaoqiang’s confirmation made Mu Tong very happy. Finally, something she could eat! Even if pomegranates couldn't fill her stomach, the juicy arils would at least quench her thirst.

Impatient, Mu Tong used a small knife to slice the fruit, pried it open, and was stunned: Was this a pomegranate? It was clearly rice! And it was purple, glutinous rice!

Good grief, she was going to faint. Instead of pomegranate seeds, the inside was filled with crystal-clear purple rice?

The rice was indeed edible, but without a way to cook it, was she supposed to eat it raw? What she lacked most right now, besides food, was water. Without water, how was she supposed to cook?

Frustrated, Mu Tong sat in a daze for a while before pulling herself together and harvesting all the mature pomegranates on the tree. The rice had to be saved; she didn't have much water, but she had enough to cook a few meals.

Taking a sip of orange juice, Mu Tong continued her search. She refused to believe that in such a vast forest, there was nothing to eat.

With Xiaoqiang's help, and her own habit of picking anything she saw for analysis, she finally found a few food sources: a fruit hidden inside a spiky shell that, when peeled, revealed flesh similar to a lychee—she named it the "Otherworldly Lychee."

She also found a vegetable similar to Swiss chard, and a plant that could yield edible oil, which looked like a walnut but had a soft shell.

Mu Tong brought out her puppets to help collect a large quantity of these three edible plants, storing them in her ring. She was in dire need of food, and whenever she saw something edible, she had to gather as much as possible. Who knew what kind of hellhole this was or how long she would be stuck here? Without her cultivation to sustain her, she couldn't practice *bigu* (fasting), and her fasting pills were gone, so she had to stockpile food.

Exhausted, Mu Tong found an open space and took a set of formation flags from her ring. After placing them according to the cardinal directions and setting a low-level spirit stone at the center, a defensive concealment array materialized.

Sighing, Mu Tong felt lucky that Fat Aunt had only taken the food from her ring. If she had taken these magical tools as well, her chances of survival in this strange, primeval forest would have been much slimmer.

The magical tools in her ring, besides the array flags, included four other sets of arrays and discs, a tent with defensive and concealment enchantments, several puppets, various talismans, pills, a few low-level magical blades and swords, Fat Aunt's spiritual dagger, and a small amount of spirit stones and magic crystals.

With these, she could at least ensure her safety while resting. Of course, this was under the assumption that there were no beasts or creatures in the forest stronger than the Foundation Establishment stage.

Protected by the array, Mu Tong brought out her cooking equipment and began to prepare a meal.

She had many types of stoves, and this time she used a portable gas canister. Using a small portion of her limited water, she cooked a pot of purple rice, stir-fried some fish-flavored Swiss chard, and added a ham sausage, eating until she was full.

Having not eaten such a proper meal in so long, Mu Tong let out a satisfied burp. She packed away the leftovers, washed the pots and dishes, and then laid out an inflatable mattress, bedding, and a quilt before curling up for a nap. With the protection of the array, safety shouldn't be an issue. She had been walking for a long time and hadn't encountered any spirit beasts. As for the fierce wild animals she had seen in the forest, they would never discover her inside the array.

Twilight Forest, Red Water Tribe.

The hunting party's warriors had set out at dawn. Only the women, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled remained in the tribe, along with the chieftain, the shaman, and a few young men who had stayed behind.

At the edge of the village, on a high altar, stood four thick totem poles. This altar was the most important place for the tribe's annual sacrificial ceremonies to the gods, and sometimes, after a successful hunt, the warriors would offer sacrifices here as well. Ordinarily, no one was allowed to step onto this sacred ground.

The altar, which had remained silent through years of rituals, suddenly erupted with seven-colored light from the four totem poles, startling everyone in the tribe.

The shaman and the chieftain, who had been discussing the tribe's development inside a hut, were drawn out by the shouting. Seeing the brilliant light emanating from the altar, they were stunned. Was this a miracle?