Chapter 267: Teach a Person to Fish
Chapter 267: Teach a Person to Fish
I returned!
Standing atop the head of the Giant Rhinoceros Beast, gazing at the distant Shan Yue Village beyond, Gao Jing felt like he was returning to his homeland.
He wasn’t sure exactly when it started, but he had begun thinking of this mountain village as his home within the Great World.
Although Qinghe City and Blackwater City were far more bustling and lively than Shan Yue Village, for Gao Jing, the latter held a significance that nowhere else could match.
Wuuu~
The long blare of horns echoed through the valley; it was the Shan Yue Giants welcoming the arrival of guests from afar.
Gao Jing had not returned alone.
After completing his training in the Great Swamp, he first went back to Qinghe City. He stayed there for three more days before joining a merchant caravan led by Zhiqi and traveling to Shan Yue Village.
Boom! Pow!
A firework exploded in the sky.
This was Gao Jing’s signal to the village fortress, a promise he had made to a certain little girl.
“Gao Jing!”
As the long caravan neared the village gate, Shan Guoer charged out, leading a whole gang of naughty kid friends. Her little legs pumped hard, carrying her swiftly, her round face beaming with joy at their reunion!
“Shan Guoer.”
Gao Jing leapt high from the back of the Pack Beast, unfurling his Phantom Wings to glide smoothly towards the little girl.
When the distance between them closed to about ten meters, Shan Guoer stopped, raising her arms high and cupping her hands.
Gao Jing adjusted his wings and landed precisely on her palms.
“Gao Jing.”
Shan Guoer’s eyes sparkled, happiness tinged with a hint of grievance. “I missed you so much!”
Gao Jing smiled. “I missed you too.”
This time, his absence from Shan Yue Village, spent between Blackwater Underground City and the Great Swamp, had lasted over three months combined.
Shan Guoer had grown a little taller.
Even more obvious was Ah Huang, trotting behind her; now a big dog!
Looking at her familiar face, the feeling in Gao Jing’s heart was hard to put into words—a mix of melancholy and guilt.
As his strength and cultivation advanced, the time he would spend in Shan Yue Village would likely only grow shorter.
He also didn’t plan to stay here forever.
The Great World was so vast, filled with countless secrets and marvels waiting for him to discover.
Perhaps one day, Gao Jing would achieve all his dreams.
Maybe he would return to Shan Yue Village, living a peaceful, leisurely life in seclusion.
But by then, this little girl before him would surely be grown up, with her own dreams and pursuits!
Gao Jing didn’t want to dwell on future sadness; making the most of the present and treasuring their time together was what mattered most.
“I brought you lots of gifts!”
During his few days back in Qinghe City, Gao Jing had managed a big shopping trip through Zhiqi.
He brought many fun and tasty items for the little girl and the kids in the village fortress. There were specialty snacks and delicacies from Qinghe City, clothes suited for their age, and even weapons and gear.
Great Wilderness Giants began martial training young; it was common for children only a few years old to own daggers, scimitars, or shortbows. However, the former Shan Yue Tribe couldn’t afford the “children’s” weapons produced by the workshops of Qinghe City.
Shan Guoer received both an exquisitely crafted Blackiron dagger inlaid with a Seven-Colored Stone and a beast-bone shortbow.
She jumped for joy, proudly showing them off to her little friends.
Naturally, Gao Jing also gave similar gifts to the other children. Laughter and cheers filled the area in front of the village gate for some time.
The Giants of the Shan Yue Tribe were equally overjoyed.
Because Gao Jing brought the village fortress five newly adult Giant Rhinoceros Beasts. Each one pulled a wagon piled high with chestnut rice, enough to meet the tribe’s food needs for a long period.
But Gao Jing brought more than that for the Shan Yue Tribe.
Ten sacks of chestnut rice seeds and three Giant farmers—those were his gifts to Old Shaman Shan Yan.
Over two years ago, after the Shan Yue Tribe migrated from thousands of miles away to settle here, the tribe members had survived by hunting and gathering, making their food sources unstable.
After absorbing the Muteng Tribe, the village fortress’s population surged, making the food shortage even worse.
While Gao Jing could bring large amounts of grain over from the Primary World, that wasn’t a long-term solution.
Because he couldn’t always be in the village fortress.
As the saying goes, giving people fish is not as good as teaching them to fish. Gao Jing, through Zhiqi, paid a significant price to obtain the rice seeds and hired three experienced veteran farmers, all to help the Shan Yue Tribe clear farmland and plant chestnut rice.
There were vast tracts of unused land near Shan Yue Village the tribe could cultivate. The women and elders of the tribe could easily become the main labor force for farming, especially with the five Pack Beasts Gao Jing had brought.
Guided by these farmers, Gao Jing believed that by next year, the tribe’s greatest problem would be solved!
“You’ve worked hard.”
Old Shaman Shan Yan didn’t offer thanks, because Gao Jing was already a member of the Shan Yue Tribe.
His heartfelt gratitude for Gao Jing was beyond words.
Last year, when Shan Hu and the other hunters first picked Gao Jing up from the Wilderness, no one could have imagined this small Abyssal Descendant would bring such immense help to the Shan Yue Tribe.
Shan Yan found it hard to imagine what the Shan Yue Tribe would be like today without Gao Jing!
Undoubtedly, their situation would have been much worse.
“It’s my duty.”
Gao Jing grinned. “Shaman Chief, I have another matter needing to trouble you.”
“I know.”
The Elder Shaman nodded. “Tomorrow, I will prepare the Beast Spirit Fusion ritual for you!”
“What?”
Shan Tai, standing nearby, widened his eyes in disbelief. “Gao Jing, you reached Great Warrior?”
Although Shan Tai was already a Great Totem Warrior, his ability to sense aura and power paled compared to Shan Yan’s.
Thus, Shan Yan could discern Gao Jing’s cultivation realm at a glance, while Shan Tai couldn’t.
Shan Tai found it utterly unbelievable.
After all, there was only one tier between a High-Rank Totem Warrior and an initial Rank Totem Great Warrior.
But that tier represented a major level, a significant breakthrough realm—extremely difficult to cross.
Not just in Shan Yue Village, but even among the three great tribes of Qinghe City, there were few Great Totem Warriors.
Precisely because Great Totem Warriors were so rare and valuable, Qing Lan’s family had demanded such a high bridal price.
Qing Lan had real hopes of breaking into the Great Warrior realm.
But that only meant it was highly probable, not a guarantee of success.
It still depended on her own future efforts… and her luck!
But Gao Jing? He broke through cultivation levels almost as easily as eating a meal or drinking water. If he were a Giant instead of an Abyssal Descendant, such potential would earn him a place to cultivate deeply within the Martial Hall temples.
“Yes.”
Gao Jing retrieved a long scroll of animal skin from his Storage Space and handed it to Shan Tai. “Elder Brother Shan Tai, this is for you.”
“What is it?”
Shan Tai, curious, took the scroll.
He unfurled it for a look… and froze!