Chapter 8: The Ancestral Guest (Part 2)

The handsome old man said, “There’s no need to look for it deliberately. It’s all about luck—if you encounter it, great; if not, it doesn’t matter. You’re still young and have plenty of time to try.”
Guo Shier asked, “What other materials are there?”
The handsome old man smiled and said, “You don’t need to worry about the rest. Most of them are things you don’t even know about, hehe.”
Guo Shier exclaimed, “Hey, handsome old man! Don’t be so discouraging!”
The handsome old man replied, “Alright, I’ve already done most of the work for you. You just need to enjoy it. I’m going back now. Do whatever you need to do. Don’t bother me if there’s nothing to do. I still need to refine the Moon Blade for you. Ugh, those Xing symbols—I have to copy them before I can use them on the Moon Blade. Such a hassle.”
Guo Shier was speechless. Though this guy liked to mock and insult others, he was extremely diligent. Not only did he maintain the altar well, but he also helped refine the sacrificial treasures. Sometimes Guo Shier thought that without the handsome old man, he would never have reached this point—never have gained enough strength to fight against experts at the fourth-tier altar.
…
The conflict between the Gunan Family and the Gujin Family grew increasingly intense, gradually spreading to other ancient families. There were many such ancient families here, with frequent fights and disputes. Fortunately, Daqian Fort remained relatively peaceful, with strict rules prohibiting fighting. If warriors using altars started fighting, it could easily destroy an entire Daqian Fort—a situation no family could tolerate.
Guo Shier and his group stayed in Daqian Fort for several months. During that time, they explored several places and collected some materials, spending most of their time in Daqian Fort.
Thanks to his status as an ancestral guest, Guo Shier also got to know many high-ranking members of the Gunan Family.
During this period, with Guo Shier’s help, Eagle Demon successfully refined his own life sacrificial treasure, greatly boosting his strength.
Nanyou was usually not here due to family matters. One day, he came to see Guo Shier and said, “Ancestral guest.” He was already very familiar with Guo Shier and the others, so he handled all communication tasks.
Guo Shier asked, “Nanyou, where have you been lately? I haven’t seen you at all.”
Nanyou smiled bitterly and said, “I’m extremely busy, Ancestral guest. You seem too idle.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Nanyou, are you about to reach the next level?”
Nanyou sighed, “It’s not that easy. I’m still short of something. I’ve gathered all the materials, but I don’t have time. Our family has suffered countless losses recently… Ugh, I can’t afford to retreat for cultivation at a time like this.”

Guo Shier shook his head. Fights between clans were the most frustrating—as a clan disciple, there was no reason not to participate. Unlike guest members who could choose not to fight, clan disciples were obligated to do so. So Nan You was helpless; even though he was close to advancing, he had no time for cultivation.

Nan You said, “Some time ago, one of our clans’ continents was conquered, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. As revenge, our clan sent experts to attack an important continent of the Gujin Clan. The battles have been fierce lately, and now our clan is sending more troops to reinforce them…”

Guo Shier immediately understood. He said, “So you’ve come this time to…”

Nan You smiled bitterly. “Yes, to ask the Ancestor if he’s willing to let me join.”

Guo Shier hesitated. He didn’t want to kill those lower-ranked disciples, nor those who owed him nothing, but he couldn’t refuse outright. He asked, “What’s the mission?”

Nan You replied, “Ancestor Nan Qiang knows you need natural runes. He said that as long as you join, he’ll give you two.”

Before Guo Shier could respond, the old man shouted, “Join! Join! You can improve your combat skills and get natural runes—don’t refuse! Agree quickly, hurry up!”

Guo Shier’s spirit trembled. “Old man, you know my strength isn’t very high. Unless you promise to protect me if I encounter stronger altar experts, I can’t do this.” He turned to Nan You and said, “What’s my mission? Let me make it clear—I won’t kill lower-ranked disciples. I can’t commit such atrocities.”

The old man said, “Don’t worry, kid. Would I just watch you get killed? Join us. If we meet strong experts, I’ll handle them!”

Guo Shier nodded slightly but hadn’t given a definite answer yet.

Nan You breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had been afraid Guo Shier would refuse. He said, “Ancestor, you don’t need to deal with the lower-ranked disciples directly. As long as you join and hold off their Ancestor-level experts, that’s enough.”

Eagle Demon was eager. “Shier, join us! I haven’t fought in ages—I’m itching to fight.” He used to be a battle fanatic too, but since following Guo Shier, he’d had fewer opportunities to fight.

Luo Zhan, on the other hand, didn’t care. Unlike Eagle Demon, for him, fighting or not was unimportant as long as he stayed with Guo Shier.

Guo Shier nodded. “Alright, I’ll join. Where is it this time?”

Nan You replied, “It’s the Chijin Continent of the Gujin Clan.”

The Red Gold Continent is a very important continent for the Ancient Gold Family, producing materials for several rare spellcraft professions. The most crucial among these is a Red Gold ore vein that contains a small amount of multicolored gold. There are also other ore veins, such as the Spirit-Sealing Jade ore vein and the Tai Hao Pure Gold ore vein, etc.

Guo Shier still didn’t realize the importance of the Red Gold Continent to the Ancient Gold Family. He said, “Alright, when do we set off?”

Nan You replied, “If possible, let’s go now. Ancestor Nan Qiang will also come.” He briefly explained the mission.

Only then did Guo Shier learn that the two branch families led by Ancestor Nan Qiang and Ancestor Nan Qin were participating in one of the attack routes, which was why they needed to mobilize all available experts. Their task was to capture the Red Gold ore vein area, a daunting task since this vein was a key defensive zone for the Ancient Gold Family.

Eagle Demon joked, “This is a tough nut to crack.”

Nan You explained, “We’re only attacking from one direction. There are three attack routes in total—we’re not acting alone. Ancestor’s two factions will send around a hundred thousand professionals to attack the Red Gold ore vein… In total, there will be over four hundred thousand professionals.”

Guo Shier was stunned. Seriously? He knew what over four hundred thousand meant. Tens of thousands were already an overwhelming number, let alone over four hundred thousand—that was an army, and all of them professionals. The scale was astonishing.

Nan You said, “The main issue is the teleportation gates. It’s not possible to mobilize too many people at once. There are also over eight million professionals as reserves…”

Guo Shier was completely speechless. That added up to twelve million people. He couldn’t comprehend it because he didn’t realize that even twelve million was only a tiny fraction of the professionals for the Ancient Nan Family. The Ancient Family was enormous—a family with tens of thousands of years of heritage must have hundreds of millions of professionals, not to mention the ordinary people, whose numbers were incalculable.

In fact, Guo Shier still didn’t realize just how terrifying his status as an ancestor was. In such an ancient family, an ancestor could decide the fate of thousands of people and mobilize countless resources, even if he was just a guest ancestor.

Nan You continued, “In total, there are over six million family disciples participating in this attack on the Red Gold Continent.”

Guo Shier couldn’t believe it. “Huh? Over six million? Didn’t you say twelve million?”

Nan You replied, “Oh, that’s only the professionals attacking the Red Gold ore vein. It doesn’t include people from other families.”

Guo Shier hit his forehead. He finally understood just how vast an ancient clan could be, with endless human resources that far exceeded his imagination. He thought to himself, “A clan? This isn’t some damn clan at all—it’s bigger than a country. Sigh, this is completely different from the concept of a clan in my past life.”

Guo Shier asked, “Is my task just to hold off their experts, with nothing else?”

Nan You smiled and said, “Of course not. If you want to take on other tasks, the clan will definitely welcome it.”

Guo Shier waved his hand. “Never mind. I’m too lazy… Has Ancestor Nan Qiang already left?”

Nan You nodded. “Yes, they set off first. I’ll accompany you there. It won’t take long… Daqian Fort has large teleportation arrays that can take us straight to the Gunan Clan. From there, we can use our clan’s teleportation arrays to enter the Chijin Continent.”

Guo Shier asked curiously, “How do you arrange supplies? With so many people… how do you keep them fed?”

Nan You replied, “It’s not difficult. Every professional has a storage pouch, and they prepare supplies for several months before setting off. Once those run out, they go to the clan’s supply points.” He didn’t understand why Guo Shier would ask such a question.

Guo Shier also realized that this place was different from his past life—large amounts of supplies could be carried with them. He smiled awkwardly and said, “Heh, I was just curious. I’ve never seen wars between ancient clans, so I don’t know much about these things.” He had embarrassed himself, but Guo Shier didn’t care. The ancestors had their own presence; even if someone was embarrassed, no one would dare laugh at them.

After packing up their things, Guo Shier and the others left Daqian Fort with Nan You.

…

A few days later, they set foot on the Chijin Continent.

Guo Shier fell in love with this continent at first sight. It resembled Jiangnan from his past life—shrouded in mist and rain, with green mountains and clear waters. Unfortunately, many professionals had arrived, so the area was crowded with people. There were also countless flying cars and speeders zipping across the sky, with groups of professionals flying together, creating a lively and noisy scene.

Ying Mo glanced around and asked, “Are their costumes regulated? Is the difference in the armor on the upper body?”

Nan You replied, “Yes. Masters wear light green armor,crazy masters masters wear dark green armor, saints wear green armor, great saints wear dark green armor. Those below the master rank wear brown armor. Commanders wear red or purplish-red armor. There are specific command ranks for the clan, while those above the Virtual Form Altar can wear whatever they want.”

Guo Shier pondered and said, “Is this to facilitate command and distinguish identities?”

Nan You nodded and said, “Hmm, with so many people, this is the only way to distinguish them, and it also makes command easier.”
The Gu family had survived for so long and experienced countless wars among its clans, giving them far more combat experience than Gu Shier, who had served in the army in his past life. A professional warrior alone already has astonishing combat strength, and when they form an army, their combat power becomes even more formidable.
“Nan You!”
Someone walked over.