Volcanic Age

The search party's destination was set, and it was the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. They had yet to leave for their destination, but they were already facing difficulties.

The cursed land known as the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was already problematic, but getting there was troublesome as well. After all, it was surrounded by the territories of the major tribes.

Thus, the search party had no choice but to face the major tribes head-on if they wanted to enter the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.

"Our destinations are the same, so how about we work together temporarily?" Ye Li asked cautiously, observing the situation.

It was unbecoming of a leader to be so passive, but Ye Li was only courteous and meek toward his benefactors. However, that fact was unknown to the search party, so they were surprised to see him show his confidence and authority in public.

"I can't make that decision on my own. I have to discuss it with the others."

"Of course."

Zhou Xuchuan called the others together to talk about it.

What they want is obvious," Tang Lian remarked, revealing his displeasure.

"He says that he wants to work together with us, but it seems more like he's trying to use our power for the power struggle in the Southern Jungles," Duan Hecheng said frankly.

The Qinghua local militia profited the most from the cannibalistic tribe incident.

Without them in the future, the forces against the major tribes were finally making a move. The Qinghua local militia wanted to transform the search party—the top contributor to the unrest—into their public ally and promote that fact throughout the forest.

"Yes, but it's the same for us."

It left a bitter taste in their mouths, but they knew that they needed the power of the Qinghua local militia.

They wanted to resolve things by themselves, but it was simply impossible. They could try to sneak their way in, but the major tribes were too strong that they'd easily be discovered.

In other words, a direct confrontation would be impossible.

Saving the Divine Physician was impossible without external help.

"We'll accept your offer."

"That's incredible news."

Ye Li and Yuan Cai's faces brightened at the news.

The Qinghua local militia could no longer be compared to a local militia. Its power had grown, and it had transformed into an allied force with an incredible three thousand people at its disposal.

A group with three thousand people was a tiny force in the Central Plains, especially for a war that was about to change the order of power on a national scale, but it was by no means a small number for the Southern Jungles. ɌÄƝȮᛒËs̈

For reference, only two thousand people joined the allied forces upon hearing that the cannibalistic tribe had been annihilated and the search party that had destroyed them was joining the allied forces as well.

Despite the modest number, this was the first time they gathered like this since the fall of the previous dynasty and the disappearance of the army, which transformed the Southern Jungles into a lawless region.

"Of course, but please note that we're only going to keep working until we've rescued the Divine Physician."

They had no intention of getting deeply involved in the civil war. This was the Southern Jungles, not the Central Plains, after all.

"Of course," Yuan Cai replied, smiling with satisfaction. They were worried that the forces that they barely managed to convince to join their cause would leave immediately if the search party from the Central Plains were to leave upon achieving its goals.

Fortunately, these forces wouldn't dare to withdraw their troops in the middle of the war unless they were thoroughly defeated. In other words, the departure of the search party at the time would not be an issue at all.

"You better not be lying when you said that the Divine Physician was spotted in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Otherwise…" Zhou Xuchuan trailed off and glared coldly at the people before him.

Gulp.

The leaders of the Qinghua Allied Forces gulped, overwhelmed by the tiny aura that Zhou Xuchuan had released. It wasn't even his killing intent; it was just his aura, but they were already feeling overwhelmed.

"O-of course. It's verified intelligence, so don't worry."

"If that's the case, then that's great," Zhou Xuchuan said, smiling slightly. He then recovered the aura that he had just released.

While it was uncouth to intimidate a leader of a force like this in front of their subordinates, they were in the Southern Jungles, not the Central Plains. Zhou Xuchuan knew that he had to establish a strong facade.

A little warning was necessary, as it'd be a big deal if the information were wrong or if the Allied Forces were to do something stupid.

"Why don't we hold a strategy meeting, then?"

Clap, clap, clap.

Yuan Cai clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"First, I'll begin with an introduction about the enemy, the major tribes. The martial artists of the Central Plains are here with us, so I'll have to ask you for your understanding, Allied Leaders."

The Southern Jungles originally had four major tribes. The sparsely populated Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was under their influence before they were defeated in the war with the Central Plains.

Later on, the Central Plains gave up on the region, and it became a lawless expanse, allowing the major tribes to rule the Southern Jungles through force.

"First of all, the Beast Tribe."

"The Beast Tribe?"

It was a familiar name to the martial artists of the Central Plains. They had a similar name to one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao that had participated in the Evil Valley Rebellion a while ago.

Of course, that Gate had been completely silenced by the Evil Valley Master.

"Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that there was an Evil Faction Sect with a similar name in the Central Plains' murim…

"I'm not sure about their relationship, but the major tribes never really interact with the Central Plains, much less with sects from the mainland, so there probably isn't any connection between the two."

The only organizations from the Central Plains that had any interaction with the Southern Jungles were Yunnan and the imperial government. Beyond that, there was practically no interaction at all.

The imperial government had dispatched officials to take control of the region, but those officials were too busy satisfying their own selfish desires to care about the region.

"The Beast Tribe is capable of taming the ferocious beasts of the Great Forest, and they also have a mysterious power that allows them to use the power of animals.

"For example, they can use the strength of a bear or the agility of a wolf. They are also the most numerous, numbering around a thousand."

"It has always been on my mind, but the Southern—ahem, the sorcery of the Great Forest is quite mysterious and impressive."

Tang Lian was about to say "the Southern Jungles" with regard to where they were, but he managed to correct himself in time.

The words "Southern Jungles" were used casually in the Central Plains, but he'd get mocked if he were to use those words here.

The words "Southern Jungles" were a term that those of the Central Plains used to belittle what they deemed the uncivilized barbarians of the South. It wouldn't matter in front of their enemies, but he still had to keep up pretenses in front of those who were now their allies and comrades.[1]

"Next is the Poison Insect Tribe. Among those in the Great Forest, they were the first ones to enter the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons and establish a base."

"A base in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons?" Tang Hui asked, looking surprised.

The Diancang Sect had a relatively close relationship with the people of the Southern Jungles, but the Tang Family knew more than them. After all, the Tang Family were masters of poison, so they were familiar with the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.

In other words, the Tang Family was quite knowledgeable regarding the sacred land, so they respected the sacred land's prowess as warriors trained in poison arts.

"They're a tribe that is skilled enough to become known as masters of poison even within the Great Forest. Of course, that doesn't mean they have the ability to roam the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons as if it were their home.

"Their territory is near the entrance."

"That's still amazing."

Compared to those from the Central Plains, the people of the Southern Jungles had a basic resistance to poisons. Even the ordinary people among them had some form of resistance to poisons.

The fact that these people were still reluctant to approach the sacred land despite their resistance meant that the Poison Insect Tribe's feat of living within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was pretty significant.

"Based on their name, they are capable of manipulating the poisonous insects within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons as if they were their own limbs. Some say that their bodies are actually made of poisonous insects, but I'm not sure about that.

"Anyway, there should be around seven hundred of them."

"Ugh… seven hundred…"

A groan came out from the search party.

They had never expected that so many people would be living in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Moreover, they had no idea about the exact strength of the Poison Insect Tribe.

"And then, there's the Au Co Tribe."

"The Au Co Tribe?"

Unlike the aforementioned two tribes, the origin of this tribe was impossible to guess based on its name alone. However, the atmosphere changed the moment that the words "Au Co Tribe" were uttered.

Judging by the heavy expressions on each and every member of the Qinghua Allied Forces, the Au Co Tribe had to be an extraordinary tribe.

"The Au Co Tribe is the oldest of the major tribes; they are mysterious, fearsome, and strong. While they number only about three hundred, pound for pound, each of them is a hundred times stronger than those of the other tribes."

"What kind of tribe are they? If it's the Beautiful Mother Tribe… are they like those of the North Sea and mainly composed of women?"[2]

"No, that's not it. This might take a while to explain. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

"The historical records state that before the Great Yu and the Great Viet came to be, there was the first state called the Kingdom of Van Lang.

"The Founder of that state was Hung Vuong, and according to their oral tradition, his parents were Lac Long Quan, the fifth-generation descendant of Shennong, and Au Co, the daughter of Emperor Ly."[3]

"Shennong? Are you referring to Emperor Yan?"

Shennong was the ruler of the First Dynasty of the Central Plains; it was the name of the legendary monarch of the Three Sovereigns, who existed before the Xia Dynasty.

He was the Monarch of the Central Plains; he had achieved godhood and had introduced farming to his people without prejudice. He had become one of the legends in stories.

"Yes."

The third-generation descendant of Shennong, Emperor Ming, had two sons born from different wombs—Emperor Ly—the King of the North, and Kinh Duong Vuong Loc Tuc—the King of the South.

Emperor Ly had a son named Emperor Ai, and he was called the incarnation of fire. He was also the father of the immortal fairy Au Co.

Loc Tuc married the daughter of the Dragon King and had a son, Sung Lam, who would later be called the Dragon King of Lac—Lac Long Quan.

"Au Co briefly met Lac Long Quan, who lived in the Dragon Palace. The two fell in love and had a hundred eggs."

A hundred sons were born from the hundred eggs.

However, more than fifty of them later left with Lac Long Quan, who had to return to the Dragon Palace due to some unavoidable circumstances.

The remaining fifty or so followed their mother, Au Co, to the mountains, where they'd later become the first dynasty of the Southern Jungles.

"The kingdom of Van Lang was destroyed long ago, and there haven't been any traces of it so far"

"Are they claiming to be their descendants?"

"Yes, but their power is real. There are only three hundred of them, and their connection to Au Co is questionable, but they have the special ability to control fire.

"Their regenerative ability is also strong enough that they are practically immortal, so we must be careful."

"Hmm. Is that really true?" Tang Lian asked, stroking his beard with an expression of disbelief.

The fact that ancient myths had come up in this meeting was already bizarre, but to think that those supposed descendants were actually capable of manipulating fire and with nigh immortal regenerative abilities.

Since ancient times, the sorcery of the Southern Jungles had always been amazing, but Tang Lian still found it absurd that such powers actually existed.

"I heard that the martial artists of the Central Plains can break rocks with a single blow and walk on water.

"It is even said that you can disappear, leaving nothing but a shadow in front of one's eyes. Apparently, you can also hold your breath for half a day. There are even stories about how you can survive with a pulse of only ten beats a day…

"We've been questioning that as well, just as you've been questioning us," Yuan Cai said.

Tang Lian smiled bitterly at that. The abilities that Yuan Cai had mentioned were rare among the martial artists of the Central Plains, but they existed.

There were martial artists capable of such feats, but those feats had to sound like a ridiculous fairy tale in the ears of the people from the Southern Jungles, where martial arts were exceedingly rare.

"You said that there are four major tribes. What's the last one?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Yuan Cai.

"There used to be four, but now there are only three. The last one is the Cannibal Tribe. They're skilled at moving through the jungle like ghosts, and they've joined hands with the Poison Insect Tribe to craft poison needles that allow them to take away one's consciousness without a sound.

"The most frightening part of the tribe was their High Priest. It really is a relief that we don't have to worry about his sorcery anymore."

Yuan Cai, Ye Li, and the Qinghua Allied Forces shook their heads with disgusted faces.

Their reactions told Zhou Xuchuan that the Cannibal Tribe was a bigger deal than he initially thought.

"By the way, that demonic Cannibal Tribe had fewer people than I expected."

"The Cannibal Tribe has a large population, but it's variable. Not too long ago, they had around four hundred or five hundred people."

"What do you mean? They only had two hundred people at most, though," Tang Hui asked, tilting her head and looking confused.

"The remaining three hundred or so were either old or had weak constitutions."

"Wait, are you saying that…" Tang Hui trailed off.

"They were all eaten," Ye Li answered in Yuan Cai's stead.

Tang Hui looked a bit shocked by the reply.

1. Just like the previous TL/N: context said, this really is a racially charged term. ☜

2. See TL/N, this is a long one. ☜

3. Technically, Kinh Duong Vuong, the Third-Generation descendant of Shennong, was the first Hung Vuong and the Founder of Van Lang. To clarify, he founded the Hong Bang Dynasty and ruled the Xich Quy Kingdom (which is why he's sometimes known as the Red Demon King), which was renamed Van Lang in the third generation by his grandson, Hung Quoc Vuong Lan Lang. ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

We're starting to get into the Sino-Vietnamese influence now!

How exciting.

Preface, I am not an expert in Vietnamese mythos, and there is a very large chance that what I say is wrong/skewed because I only know of it from the Daoist Sino-Korean context. Take this with a grain of salt!

Okay, in Vietnamese mythology, Au Co is their mother goddess.

Au Co is technically (at least from a Chinese mythological perspective) a Daoist Fairy, a celestial immortal that descended from the mountains. What's written up above is almost exactly how the mythos of Au Co is taught from the Korean perspective. However, I've taken the liberty to make a few changes to be more accurate.

Namely, I changed/added the names from their Sino-Korean spellings to their Vietnamese spellings (or at least as close as I could get considering we can't use accented symbols).

Now, to why this matters to the chapter.

Her name translates to many things, symbolizing her great identity as the Mother Goddess of Vietnam.

Au (Yu in Chinese and Gu in Korean, 嫗) can mean both Woman/Lady and to incubate an egg/to raise or nurture. This coincides with her identity as both the Mother of the Nation and also the incubator of the Hundred Sons.

Co (Ji in Chinese and Hui in Korean, 姬) can mean the term of address Lady, the word Beauty, or 'of the river.' This coincides with her identity as the Queen Goddess/Mother Goddess and also her identity as the Beauty of the River, which is another name for a Daoist Immortal Fairy (She's technically from the mountains, but the modifier is about being a Tian/Tien.)

That's why they call her Beautiful Mother. As martial artists of the Central Plains, they wouldn't actually know who Au Co is and would be literally translating her name.

P.S. - There are a lot of names being thrown around here.

Things to remember, Shennong is one of the Three Sovereigns. Can be argued as one of if not THE most important Chinese Monarchs and is often used as a Daoist figure. He's very prevalent on the Chinese side. Off the top of my head, he's a major figure in Desolate Era and is sprinkled in a lot of other books on Wuxiaworld.

As for Emperor Yan, there are multiple Emperor Yan, technically everyone from Shennong's direct lineage is listed as an Emperor Yan, making Emperor Ly one of the Emperor Yans.

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