Chapter 3 – Old Rivals (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

Since this area was the main source of stone for the tribe, surely there would be plenty of fine stones which could be easily made into tools. Naturally, totemic warriors were privileged with the first choice of stones to be gathered, since it was their training ground. Afterward, the weaker people, including Shao Xuan, would have a chance to “pick up the leftovers”.

The phrase sounded quite demeaning, though it described the situation perfectly.

Normally, others in the tribe would “pick up the leftovers” upon the hours of dinner, when it was almost sunset. This was because only at that time would the majority of the warriors stop training and rest. However, in other times of a day, the training ground would become a rather dangerous place for those who had not awakened their totemic power. The stray stones scattered by the smashing of the totemic warriors’ fists against rocks were basically bullets for the vulnerable. Thankfully with Mai’s earlier instructions, it would be much easier and safer for Shao Xuan to reach the destination.

A fine stone could trade for a lot and Shao Xuan certainly did not intend to let the opportunity slip away.

Together with Caesar, Shao Xuan traveled the road which Mai pointed out earlier. While doing so, rumbling sounds came from the training hills, stones being shattered somewhere. From above, in the direction of alternate paths, much larger stones were rolling down the side of the mountain. It would be very risky if Shao Xuan were to have walked there in the instance that Mai had not informed him of the safe route.

Shao Xuan continued walking as he casually fixed his messy hair and shook off the stone chips caught onto his clothes.

The place Mai trained himself was close to the top of the hill. Since this was the totemic warriors’ training ground, no gentle path had been excavated and it proved to be difficult to traverse. Shao Xuan’s arms, hands, and feet were bleeding when he finally reached the correct area.

The wounds did not concern Shao Xuan, for they would heal after a few days’ rest. It would all be worth it if he managed to find some fine stones.

It took a lot of strength to reach this place and Shao Xuan definitely would not have been able to climb the mountain if he hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning.

Aside from the holes, there were fist and foot marks on the cliff. This was where Mai trained himself.

Totemic warriors developed particularly hard fists. Shao Xuan would break his fist if he struck even the most vulnerable part of the cliff, while the stone would remain intact.

The hardest stones with suitable shape were already picked out by Mai. Mai aimed for those which consisted of advanced materials, but there were still some stones of an average quality left which Shao Xuan could use.

Without a second thought, Shao Xuan made Caesar responsible for surveillance, while he took his time to find stones which could be traded for food. He had to hurry before someone else arrived to rob him of his findings.

Shao Xuan picked up a long shard of stone. It was half a foot in length with an irregular shape and not particularly large or heavy. Shao Xuan knew that the quality of a stone did not depend on its weight. There were many types of stone present here that Shao Xuan hadn’t seen in his former life. Even employing common sense from his past life would prove to be useless in this world. All the knowledge Shao Xuan mastered was still new to him, he accumulated this from his experiences over the past six months. Unlike the experienced warriors, who could evaluate and grade a stone by its texture and appearance, Shao Xuan knew nothing of how to identify a stone’s quality for he had no rich experience in this field. So he utilized a primitive method in which he would find a stone of suitable shape to work on and use his stone knife to hack at it to see if it would leave a mark on the stone. Normally, the shallower the engraving, the better the quality of the stone.