Chapter 147: The Three-Year Term Has Arrived, Seventy Thousand Cavemen on the Mountain Summit
Myriads of rosy clouds billowed forth, rivaling the splendor of colorful mists, while thousands of auspicious rays descended to crown this very mountain.
The mountain was not particularly tall, barely a hundred zhang in height, yet from its base all the way to its waist, dwellings of cyan and red tiles stood in neat, overlapping rows, completely carpeting the slopes. It looked as though this humble peak had truly donned a suit of azure and crimson scales.
The boundless rosy light splashed across the mountain landscape, infusing it with countless shimmering, wondrous hues. The inhabitants living in the dwellings along the slopes emerged one by one, gazing in astonishment at this magnificent yet peculiar celestial phenomenon.
"The three-year period has arrived."
"The patriarch has returned."
"The patriarch has emerged from seclusion!"
The crowd was filled with boundless excitement, their gazes turning in unison toward a profound cave opening situated beneath the platform at the summit.
Because the patriarch had always resided within, everyone regarded this place as the sacred sanctuary of the tribe. Out of reverence, no dwelling was ever built higher than this mountain peak; all were kept shorter by seven or eight zhang. Thus, the mountain dwelling elevated atop this peak stood as a unique marvel of the tribe.
The auspicious light gradually receded, the floating clouds grew faint and clear, and the supernatural phenomenon dissipated.
At last, the crowd gathered collectively toward the cave at the summit.
Presently, the population of Luoxiang had reached seven thousand. With so many people converging together like a surging tide, a massive wave of humanity rushed straight from the foot of the mountain toward the peak.
To be precise, the "Cave Dweller" tribe now boasted a population of seventy thousand, governing nine subordinate villages under Luoxiang.
Among them, Luoxiang had a population of seven thousand; Tiger Head Village, eight thousand nine hundred; Salt Spring Village, six thousand one hundred; Iron Mountain Village, twelve thousand; Lesser Su Mountain Village, seven thousand five hundred; East Mountain Village, four thousand eight hundred; Wild Boar Village, nine thousand one hundred; Carp Village, seven thousand two hundred; Yang Village, three thousand six hundred; and Ox Pen Ridge, five thousand four hundred.
The grand total exceeded seventy-one thousand people.
More than a decade had passed. Under Luoxiang's leadership, the human race enjoyed a stable and peaceful environment. Coupled with the inherent reproductive drive deep within the bones of humanity, the tribal population had ballooned rapidly over the past decade like an inflating balloon. Previously, Luoxiang had found it necessary to plan a new village almost every year to alleviate the population pressure on existing ones.
Each village managed its own internal affairs, led by its own village chief who held administrative jurisdiction.
Due to the population growth and the autonomy of the subordinate villages—each essentially functioning as a small tribe—Luoxiang designed a currency: the Spirit Coin.
A massive batch of crystals was artificially manufactured using the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, which could be directly borrowed for cultivation purposes.
Because these Spirit Coins were bound to the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, they naturally served as hard currency, becoming universally linked to all kinds of commodities.
However, because the Spirit Coins were exquisitely crafted and tribesmen frequently hoarded them for cultivation, the various villages still clung to the habit of barter...
Regarding this, Luoxiang felt helpless. He had wanted to issue a direct decree forbidding everyone from hoarding Spirit Coins, but he feared disrupting the existing market—though, honestly, what kind of market economy could a primitive society possibly have?
Consequently, he directly declared that Spirit Coins could only be used for commodity transactions and were strictly prohibited from being used for cultivation.
However, this policy lasted only three months before Luoxiang ultimately rescinded it.
The people had this genuine demand; if he suppressed it too harshly, it would only yield counterproductive results.
Thus, he had no choice but to seek wisdom from the Wu clan and draw inspiration from the Pot-In-A-World.
Regrettably, their societal structures differed, making it impossible to provide a flawless solution.
In the end, Luoxiang pooled everyone's experiences together and deployed the computing power of a spiritual-qi-based brain to run simulations.
He ultimately decided to phase out Spirit Coins, replacing them with a type of immortal-metal iron coin pegged to the value of the former. With this anchor changed, and supplemented by Luoxiang's personal credit, these immortal-metal iron coins became the newest currency.
This monetary system should be able to function for a few decades; once it collapsed, Luoxiang would simply research a new one.
Enough about that (Note 1).
Let us return to the current situation of the "Cave Dweller" tribe.
The patriarch remained Luoxiang. Tie Toutou and Huo Wa managed the tribe's two pillar industries and had been appointed by Luoxiang as acting patriarchs, gathering many tribesmen closely around them.
Naturally, they harbored no disloyal intentions; none of the tribesmen held any chaotic or ulterior motives.
Although power was an intoxicating thing, Luoxiang had maintained his supreme authority for many years, leaving no room for anyone to entertain such thoughts.
Moreover, Luoxiang did not care deeply about such matters. The development of the human race required talent and heroes; if someone could truly lead humanity to its peak, he was more than willing to step aside.
He was hardly someone obsessed with power and status.
His greater concerns lay in the development of the human race and his own personal cultivation.
With the population now exceeding seventy thousand, talents emerged endlessly within the human race—or rather, everyone was a talent.
After all, the tribe had only propagated to the sixth generation of humans, and the blessing of Goddess Nüwa had not yet dissipated.
Consequently, every adult in the tribe had now embarked on the path of cultivation. Those who had reached the stage of refining essence into qi numbered thirty-six thousand eight hundred and ninety-one; those refining qi into spirit numbered eight hundred and forty-six; those refining spirit to return to the void numbered seventy-one; and there was even one who had achieved the state of refining the void and merging with the Dao.
However, this individual who refined the void and merged with the Dao was neither Tie Toutou nor Huo Wa, but rather Huo Wa's son, Lu.
Born fifty years ago, he was merely two years younger than Luoxiang. His natural endowment was exceptional, possessing two innate divine abilities: a mastery of spiritual fire and a mastery of nether water. Water and qi complemented one another, bringing forth their own profound fortune.
He had been blessed with good fortune since birth. By the time he reached adulthood, Luoxiang had already initiated the rise of the tribe, allowing Lu to cultivate various resources created by Luoxiang alongside the grand momentum of the era.
Although he experienced his share of ups and downs and frequent setbacks in cultivation along the way, once Luoxiang formally established the cultivation realms, Lu began to exert his potential in the later stages.
A year ago, he successfully forged his primordial spirit, entering the realm of refining spirit to return to the void even earlier than the older generation, thus becoming the second person in the "Cave Dweller" tribe to reach this height.
Yet he remained modest, and to this day, only the upper echelons of the tribe knew of his breakthrough.
Although the young man was clever and humble, Luoxiang had no intention of taking him as a disciple.
His own cultivation was still in the exploratory phase, and possessing the Pot-In-A-World, he had no need for a disciple to validate his own path.
Besides, every single "Cave Dweller" could be considered his disciple; he had never concealed his cultivation methods, keeping them accessible and practicable for everyone.
The successive iterations of various cultivation techniques were all documented and archived in the cave's library, open for everyone to peruse and examine on ordinary days.
In this way, everyone could understand the process of creating techniques, drawing inspiration that would guide them to pioneer their own methods of cultivation.
Aside from Lu, the remaining practitioners of refining spirit to return to the void were also showing signs of merging with the Dao, especially Tie Toutou and Huo Wa, who had entered this realm the earliest.
Luoxiang had previously held high hopes for them, but he had not expected a member of the fourth generation of humans to leap ahead and seize the achievement.
As it happened, there was actually one other person who had also achieved the state of refining the void and merging with the Dao.
That was Tang, who resided far away in the Hot Wu tribe.
Her talent was remarkable, her comprehension formidable, and her wisdom profound; otherwise, she could never have become the leader of the vassalized human faction within the Hot Wu tribe.
Furthermore, she had unlocked the wondrous profoundness of her innate divine ability—Lawfully Exerting Heaven and Earth!
Her research into natural laws had reached a higher level, meaning she would likely attain immortality even sooner than Lu.
At this, Luoxiang felt deeply gratified.
Seeing the human race grow strong brought joy to his heart.
Seeing the human race flourish filled him with boundless delight.
He hoped only that every human would become like a dragon, rising to become the protagonists of the Primordial World.
As for the Wu and demon clans, your human grandfathers have arrived.
Note 1: The author is not an economics major. If there are any errors in the statements, please bear with me; it's just fictional world-building, haha!