18: Chapter 18 Ancestral Spirit Altar

Early in the morning, when Wang Sheng woke up in the Chiefs Tent, Shen Xun'er was no longer by his side.

The scent of her fragrance still lingered on the animal-skin mattress, and a few strands of her raven-black hair lay quietly on the pillow like black silk threads.

The warm glow of the spirit stone had extinguished, and the morning light filtering through the skylight dyed the interior of the tent a pale grayish-blue, while the sound of the Lingxi River drifted in through the tent curtain, clear and calm.

Wang Sheng reached out and touched the mattress beside him, which still held her lingering warmth, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Four years of unrequited love; overnight, everything had changed.

He rose and walked out of the Chiefs Tent; the morning mist still lingered over the surface of the Lingxi River like a white gauze curtain.

The camp had already begun the busy routine of a new day; Xiao Yuqing was leading the combat team in morning training at the valley entrance, the sounds of clashing silver armor and the twanging of bowstrings echoing through the valley;

Pei Yanzhi sat before her loom, her fingers flying as she wove, the spiritual silk darting between her fingers like butterflies dancing among flowers;

Su Mengyao stood by the spirit field, her emerald-green hair fluttering gently in the morning breeze, as emerald light poured from her palms into the soil, coaxing the third batch of spirit potato sprouts to grow.

Everything was the same as yesterday, but Wang Sheng knew that today would be different.

Because today, the Ancestral Spirit Altar was to be built.

Shen Xun'er was measuring the dimensions in the open space in the center of the camp.

She had changed into a new long dress of spirit cloth, moon-white in color, which Pei Yanzhi had rushed to make last night, with a silver-gray spirit silk sash tied around her waist, outlining her slender figure even more clearly.

Her raven-black hair was tied high, revealing her long, fair neck, with a few stray strands falling by her ears, setting off her peach-blossom-like face and making her look even more radiant.

She held the design blueprint drawn by Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan, her almond-shaped eyes intently examining every inch of the open space.

Upon waking this morning, the Moonlight Priestess had immediately reviewed the system blueprints for the Ancestral Spirit Altar, marking the construction location, material requirements, spirit array layout, and priestess positioning clearly.

"Chieftain." Shi Gen trotted over,

"We have screened the materials for the altar base; there is a type of Spirit Rune Stone in the upper reaches of the Lingxi River that is three times harder than ordinary granite and has excellent spiritual power conductivity.

Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan says that if we use it for the base, the spiritual power efficiency of the altar can be increased by twenty percent."

"Is there enough?"

"I will take people to mine it; one day is enough."

Wang Sheng nodded: "Go ahead, safety first."

Shen Xun'er walked over, her steps a little lighter than usual.

Her almond-shaped eyes curved unconsciously when she looked at Wang Sheng, and she quickly lowered her gaze, her earlobes turning slightly red;

the tenderness of last night was still engraved in her bones, and their eye contact in the morning light made her face feel even hotter than it had under the moonlight.

"The altar base requires thirty-six Spirit Rune Stones, arranged in a hexagram."

Her voice was crisp and efficient, recovering the sharpness of a class monitor, but Wang Sheng noticed that when she said "hexagram," her fingertips unconsciously traced a line on the spirit silk sash around her waist;

that was her little habit when she was nervous; she had done the same thing when she confessed last night.

"The main altar in the center requires a single piece of Spirit Rune Stone at least half a person's height to serve as the spiritual power core."

Shen Xun'er continued, her almond-shaped eyes focused on the design blueprint, "Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan will carve Spirit Gathering Runes onto the base, and I will activate the altar with my Moonlight Priestess power;

if everything goes smoothly, it can be built by sunset today."

Wang Sheng looked at her profile as she planned earnestly; the morning light reflected on her skin, which was as smooth as congealed fat, as if it were plated with warm gold,

her neck, exposed after tying up her raven-black hair, was long and fair like a swan's, and the long spirit cloth dress clung to her slender yet curvaceous figure,

her waist, beneath the spirit silk sash, was so slender it could be encircled by a single hand, and below that were her long legs that the hem of her skirt could not conceal;

when she bent down to check the ground markings, the long skirt outlined the soft curve between her waist and hips, and her long, fair calves gleamed with a lustrous sheen in the morning light.

"What are you looking at?" Shen Xun'er straightened up, met his gaze, her cheeks turning slightly red, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear,

"Restrain your eyes... the High Priestess is talking about work."

Wang Sheng coughed lightly and said solemnly: "I'm going to check on the Spirit Rune Stone mining."

Shen Xun'er pursed her lips and smiled, watching his retreating figure, her almond-shaped eyes filled with unconcealable sweetness and a hint of triumph;

just last night she was a girl who had been harboring a crush for four years, and today she was already the wife of the Bright Tribe Chieftain.

This change in identity made a flower bloom in the softest part of her heart, and she could even hear the sound of the flower blooming.

The mining of the Spirit Rune Stones went more smoothly than expected.

About a mile upstream of the Lingxi River, the exposed rock walls on both sides of the riverbank were embedded with grayish-blue Spirit Rune Stones,

the stone surfaces naturally grew silver patterns like water ripples, cool to the touch, with spiritual power flowing slowly through the patterns like an underground river.

Shi Gen led the men to chisel with spirit iron picks forged by Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan; with every strike, silver light splashed, the Spirit Rune Stone cracked in response, and the cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.

Wang Sheng personally carried the largest piece, a raw Spirit Rune Stone half a person's height and as wide as two people could embrace, weighing over a thousand catties.

His Rank 2 Barbarian Warrior physique allowed him to lift it with ease; the Power of Holy Light poured into his arms, golden light flowing over his muscles, and he carried the giant stone steadily on his shoulders, his steps as firm as a mountain.

When the news reached the camp, the girls' reactions varied.

Murong Xue slapped her thigh and laughed: "Chieftain's stamina, he truly lives up to his SSS-rank."

Zhao Linger bit her bamboo flute and muttered: "Even carrying a rock, he's so handsome... it's not fair."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun walked by expressionlessly, her ice-blue pupils following Wang Sheng's figure as he carried the stone; she paused for half a second, then turned and walked away.

Her silver-white hair fluttered behind her like snow, and her slender figure under her mage robes was as straight as a pine, though her pace was just a little faster than usual.

In the afternoon, the base was laid.

Thirty-six Spirit Rune Stones were arranged in a perfect hexagram array in the open space in the center of the camp,

the silver Spirit Runes on every stone were precisely aligned, forming a spiritual power circuit that ran through the entire array.

Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan crouched by the base, checking the rune carvings one by one, her gaze behind her lenses as focused as a scalpel;

the depth, angle, and spacing of every carving had to be exact, otherwise the efficiency of the spiritual power circuit would be greatly reduced.

"Chieftain, the runes have all been verified, and the margin of error is within the allowable range." Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan pushed up her glasses and stood up, "The main altar can be placed now."

Wang Sheng and Shi Gen steadily embedded the raw Spirit Rune Stone, which was half a person's height, into the center of the hexagram array.

The moment the giant stone was set in place, the silver Spirit Runes on all thirty-six base stones lit up simultaneously, the spiritual power circuit connected,

and silver-blue light circulated through the array like flowing water, converging toward the main altar in the center.

The spiritual energy concentration of the entire camp suddenly increased at this moment.

Su Mengyao stood by the spirit field, her emerald-green eyes widening slightly; she could clearly feel that with the center of the camp as the origin, the density of natural spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred paces had increased by nearly thirty percent.

The spirit potato sprouts in the spirit field seemed to sense this fluctuation of spiritual energy as well, their leaves stretching slightly as if taking a deep breath.

"So strong..." she whispered, her emerald-green hair gently blown by the spiritual energy fluctuation.

Next was the most critical step in the entire construction process: activating the altar by the Moonlight Priestess.

Shen Xun'er stood before the main altar, her raven-black hair already let down from its tie, cascading to her waist like a waterfall.

She had removed the outer layer of her spirit cloth dress, wearing only her moon-white form-fitting ceremonial robes—a garment as thin as a cicada's wing, woven from spirit silk by Pei Yanzhi;

it shimmered with a faint silver light in the afternoon sun, clinging to her slender and voluptuous figure, almost like a second layer of skin.

Her slender waist, full breasts, and long, straight legs—the Moonlight Priestess's ceremonial robes outlined every curve of hers in minute detail,

not an intentional exposure, but a perfect unification of solemnity and beauty, like a statue of a goddess in the Moon Temple coming to life.

All the girls in the camp gathered on the periphery of the hexagram array, watching Shen Xun'er walk slowly toward the main altar.

Zhao Linger hugged her bamboo flute, her baby face full of amazement: "Sister Xuner is so beautiful..."

Su Mengyao nodded slightly, her emerald-green eyes reflecting Shen Xun'er's figure, which resembled a fairy under the moon, and said softly:

"The Moonlight Priestess's ceremonial robes are woven from spirit silk according to the spiritual frequency of moonlight. Wearing them makes one the spokesperson of the Moon Goddess."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun stood in the back row of the crowd, her ice-blue pupils fixed on Shen Xun'er's back, her silver-white hair fluttering gently in the afternoon breeze.

Her expression remained indifferent, but her fingers gripping her staff tightened slightly; it was a complex emotion that was hard to describe, not jealousy, but something deeper.