Chapter 270 - 264: Elder Liu

Chapter 270: Chapter 264: Elder Liu

Jiang Xu soon found a relatively secluded path.

Rather than making for the busier districts, he now wanted to find a more secluded spot.

Remoteness meant concealment.

Jiang Xu was new to Greed Wolf Island, so his priority was caution. He would wait until he had a better understanding of the island before making any moves.

...

As the sun dipped toward the horizon, its golden rays gently caressed Elder Liu’s weathered face. He sat on a fishing boat about five or six meters long, looking over his haul from the past few days with deep satisfaction.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze traveling over the tranquil sea to the Greedy Wolf Star, which shone brilliantly in the twilight.

Starlight showered down, illuminating the reverence and piety in his eyes. He silently recited a prayer of thanks, deeply grateful for the protection and blessings of the Greedy Wolf Star God.

For days now, whenever the last wisp of sunset vanished and the stars began to blanket the night sky, he would face the heavens. He would offer his respects to the noble Star God, praying for continued clear weather.

The dozen or so members of the Fishing Team beside him were also lost in the joy of a bountiful harvest. They sat in a circle, busy sorting their catch and the spoils of their hunt, their faces beaming with simple, honest smiles.

Elder Liu felt truly blessed by the Greedy Wolf Star God.

During a rare spell of clear, calm weather that had lasted for days, the Fishing Team he led had brought in a sizable haul for five consecutive days.

He and the dozen other able-bodied men on the boat were all born and raised in Liu Family Village.

The village itself was beholden to the nearby and formidable Sun’s Cultivation Family.

The Sun Family controlled this region, and they demanded that Liu Family Village contribute precious Spiritual Materials worth sixty Spirit Stones every three months.

The village’s only Spirit Fields, which contained a faint amount of Spiritual Qi, should have been the key to their prosperity. In reality, however, this land had to be used entirely for planting the extremely delicate and difficult-to-cultivate Spirit Rice.

But Spirit Rice was difficult to tend to. It took an immense amount of sweat and labor to produce a single grain of Spirit Rice.

They toiled day and night—plowing, watering, and nurturing the plants. Even so, the yield from the Spirit Rice alone was not enough to meet the Sun Family’s exorbitant tax demands.

If the villagers dared to default on their taxes, or if the amount of Spirit Stones they handed over fell short, the consequences would be terrifying.

After all, Liu Family Village was located very close to the coast.

Many of the Demon Beasts in the sea could temporarily leave the water and wreak havoc ashore.

Sea turtles, for instance, or crabs.

The massacres committed by just these two types of Demon Beasts when they came ashore had wiped out countless villages.

Under the protection of the Immortal Family, these Demon Beasts couldn’t get near the village.

Without the Immortal Family, Liu Family Village would have been destroyed countless times over.

Besides... Elder Liu had a faint suspicion.

’There were many villages that dared to resist and refused to pay their Spirit Stone tribute. They actually had ways of dealing with common Demon Beasts. Logically, they should have been able to survive just fine, even without the Immortal Family’s protection.’

’Yet, not long after these villages rebelled—ten days or half a month at most—word would spread that they had been annihilated by a Demon Beast invasion.’

The thought sent a chill down Elder Liu’s spine.

’He had a suspicion buried deep in his heart—perhaps the true culprits behind the villages’ destruction weren’t Demon Beasts at all?’

And so, facing the immense pressure of needing to hand over Spirit Stones just to survive, Liu Family Village had no choice but to find another way. In addition to growing Spirit Rice, they formed a special Fishing Team.

This team shouldered a twofold mission.

First, they had to venture deep into the ocean to search for Spiritual Materials like underwater Spirit Grass, ores, and Spirit Pearls.

Second, when they couldn’t find any other Spiritual Materials and the deadline to pay the Spirit Stone tribute was approaching, they had to risk their lives. They would hunt Demon Beasts that possessed Spiritual Power and turn over the materials harvested from their bodies.

It might sound contradictory to fear Demon Beast attacks on the village while actively hunting them, but there was no real conflict.

Their fear of attacks was for the village itself, which was full of the old, weak, and sick. If a Demon Beast were to attack, the able-bodied men might be able to escape, but the others would be in grave danger.

The Hunting Team, on the other hand, was composed entirely of strong young men. To better ensure the mortals would risk their lives for them, the Cultivation Family had provided excellent Martial Arts Secret Manuals. In a place like Greed Wolf Island, which was rich with Spirit Veins, even casual practice could make a man as strong as an ox.

Demon Beasts were tyrannical, but like any creature, they were bound by the laws of nature. Once aquatic Demon Beasts—such as fish, octopuses, or squid—left the water they depended on, their combat strength would be drastically reduced, leaving them relatively vulnerable.

This meant that even ordinary mortals had a chance to fight and win, as long as they could keep the beasts on land and prevent their return to the sea.

The deadline for Liu Family Village to pay its tribute of Spiritual Materials to the Sun Family was fast approaching. However, for the past three months, they had been in an unprecedented bind, unable to find enough precious Spiritual Materials in the vast ocean.

As both the chief of Liu Family Village and the captain of the Fishing Team, Elder Liu felt he had no other choice. He made the difficult decision to lead the Fishing Team to start hunting Demon Beasts, hoping to make up the shortfall in Spiritual Materials.

Hunting Demon Beasts was not something to be done recklessly. It required meticulous planning and sound tactics.

Elder Liu knew that the foremost principle was to effectively trap a Demon Beast while ensuring their own safety. Under no circumstances could they let it escape back into the ocean.