Chapter 104: Lich Currency, Ancestral Witch Express (Second Chapter of Yesterday)

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He left. But Tang did not follow him back. She stayed behind, wanting to observe the situation in Luo Township and, more importantly, to connect more with her kin whom she had never met before.

“Do all members of the Witch Clan look different?” Luo Zu strolled through the tribe with Tang, chatting as they went.

Tang still drew attention just as she had the last time they met. Men and women, young and old, despite their heavy labor, all stole glances at her.

She had grown accustomed to it.

Luo Zu was spiritually strong and indifferent to others’ whispers.

“They do look different, just as demons vary too,” Tang argued.

The reasoning made sense, yet her impression was that the Witch Clan was a singular race, whereas demons comprised various beast tribes grouped together.

So how do the Witch Clan members, who look so different, feel a sense of identity? It comes from being descendants of the great god Pangu.

The Witch Clan’s heritage is engraved in their bloodline, which naturally becomes their shared identity.

Therefore, no matter their appearance, as long as the bloodline remains, they are Witch Clan.

“Humans look alike,” Luo Zu added.

Tang rubbed her chin, thinking for a moment. “That’s true.”

Seeing her like this, Luo Zu let the matter drop.

However, despite Tang’s long stay in the Hot Witch Tribe, she had not been accepted by them. She wasn’t sure if the tribe was xenophobic or simply did not regard them as part of the Witch Clan.

“How is your cultivation progressing now?” Luo Zu stopped by a large stone on a hillside.

Tang followed suit. “You’ve refined your essence into qi, right?”

Luo Zu immediately discerned her current realm from this.

His question was a casual one.

“Yes, you’ve been quite diligent lately,” Luo Zu continued.

Tang recounted her experiences since parting with Luo Zu. She led the remaining thirty or so members westward, seeking the Moon Witch Tribe.

Along the way, they were pursued by demons. After a desperate struggle for survival, they found the Moon Witch Tribe a year ago.

After that, they followed the Moon Witch Tribe in a counterattack.

They fought the Chou Zhi Tribe for quite some time.

“It turns out the Chou Zhi Tribe had more than one celestial demon; they hid two more, intending to ambush and kill more witches,” Tang revealed.

Luo was greatly surprised.

The Chou Zhi Tribe was so treacherous, laying ambushes with many experts.

But those two celestial demons were invited from another large demon tribe, not bred by the Chou Zhi Tribe itself.

Yet they didn’t expect the Moon Witch Tribe to mobilize their entire army and strike directly into the Chou Zhi demon tribe, killing the Chou Zhi demons by surprise.

In the end, the Chou Zhi demon was slain in the Purple Huan Mountain Range; the other two demons fled in different directions.

The Chou Zhi demon tribe was scattered, forced to hide and flee.

Tang also took part in the campaign to reclaim the Hot Witch Tribe, but she was just a foot soldier, not allowed to charge the front lines, only able to serve in logistics—a common role for humans in the Hot Witch Tribe.

Though she possessed divine powers, her physique could not match the witches, nor could she practice their cultivation methods.

And demon cultivation methods were also unsuitable for her. Otherwise, she would become a demon.

Thus, humans could only support the witches’ older and weaker members as logistics.

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For example, carrying herbs that replenish magical power.

The Hot Witch Tribe had returned to their homeland, and Tang was delighted, continuously telling Luo Zu about the tribe’s virtues and the prosperity of the Moon Witch Tribe.

After cultivating the land for so many years, how could the Witch and Demon clans not have developed their own civilization?

Though often at war, which skewed much development toward warfare, periods of peace did bring entertainment.

For example, witches enjoyed ancestor worship with wine, singing, wrestling, and mountain climbing to reach the moon.

Moon climbing was an ancient and grand event, usually held only by great witch tribes.

After all, the Moon was the reserved domain of the Demon Heavenly Court, ruled by the Demon Heavenly Emperor’s wife.

Witches climbing the moon was tantamount to slapping the Demon Heavenly Court’s face—not something ordinary witches could undertake, only the great witches could dare.

Even great witches might fail—the Heavenly Emperor was no pushover, nor were the demon gods.

The Mistress of the Moon was said to possess divine powers like the Heavenly Emperor, so only the Primordial Witch could ascend the moon.

However, the Primordial Witch’s moon ascent would be a declaration of all-out war against demons.

A great Witch-Demon war would erupt, shaking heaven and earth, leaving few Primordial Witches alive.

Therefore, the moon ascent remained an entertainment event; no one actually went.

Tang also saw a fairly mature market of trade and barter in the Moon Witch Tribe, though she had difficulty participating.

The witches had already achieved “virtualization” of currency.

There were two types of witch currency: one was “magic currency,” imprinted with various witch incantations and infused with the spirit energy of heaven and earth, crystallized into physical form.

Tang took one out for Luo Zu.

“I didn’t bring any magic currency last time, in a hurry,” she said.

Luo Zu examined it: a yellow, hook-shaped crystal, resembling a pig or snake, about the size of a palm.

“It’s worth one unit, enough to buy a piece of dried chicken-snake in the Moon Witch Tribe.”

Tang then pulled out from her storage a dried snake-like creature about ten meters long and as thick as a water jar—presumably the dried chicken-snake.

Its purchasing power was quite good.

“Is there a ten-unit or hundred-unit magic currency?” Luo Zu asked.

Tang nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes.”

She then took out a blue crystal the size of a human head and one as tall as a person.

“But these aren’t very convenient; most witches don’t like to use them anymore. They began phasing out magic currency fifty million years ago,” Tang explained.

“Emperor Jiang, the Primordial Witch, first proposed it, tested it in his domain, and gradually promoted it. But it’s not fully banned yet; some old witches still prefer magic currency, and some witch subjects can only use it.”

Indeed, the vastness of the ancient world and the Witch Clan’s large territory made full policy enforcement difficult.

Moreover, the Witch Clan had twelve Primordial Witches, not a single heavenly emperor, and some powerful witches were immortal.

They would resist new things, even if introduced by a Primordial Witch.

Furthermore, the Witch Clan had many vassals, like humans, who could not use the new witch currency.

So what did the new witch currency look like?

It was a “virtual currency,” stored within each witch’s bloodline, portable, and jointly forged by the twelve Primordial Witches in their bloodlines, preventing counterfeits.

This currency was called Witch Coins.

Correspondingly, the demons had their currency called Heavenly Coins, stored in the Heavenly Court, accessible anytime by demons, and even non-demons could use it...

Tang was angry when mentioning this: “There was a rumor recently that Emperor Jiang copied the demons’ Heavenly Coins to create Witch Coins. That’s definitely a demon spy’s lie.”

“We actually created Witch Coins earlier,” she said indignantly.

Luo Zu refrained from commenting, having never used either currency.

Humans still relied on barter, unable to compete at the higher levels of witch and demon society.

So he neither judged nor dared to, lest he offend Emperor Jiang, who might be watching from millions of light-years away.

“Hot Witch Tribe is planning to switch to Witch Coins soon, so magic currency might become obsolete. Luo, you should keep this,” Tang said shyly after venting.

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“Why are you blushing?” Luo Zu glanced at her, sensing something was amiss.

“Isn’t Witch Coin only usable by those with witch blood? Did the Primordial Witches find a solution?” Luo Zu, bold-faced, took the largest hundred-unit magic currency.

Tang nodded. “Yes, Emperor Jiang used his unparalleled wisdom to find a solution.”

She stopped there, while Luo Zu waited expectantly.

“What solution?” Luo Zu pressed.

Tang replied, “It hasn’t been announced yet.”

Well, Luo Zu’s hopes were dashed.

Legend held that Emperor Jiang was the primordial witch of space.

Since he developed virtual currency, shouldn’t he also invent spatial “express delivery,” transporting goods across great distances and between Primordial Witch domains?

A Primordial Witch courier service—whoever uses it would endorse it!

Luo Zu had already thought up the advertising slogan.

With so many magical arts and powers, wouldn’t it be better to apply them to daily life than to endless fighting over territory?

If everyone prospered peacefully, leading witches and demons out of the ancient world to the heavens beyond, establishing a grand chaotic corporation, instead of acting like gangs…

Of course, Luo Zu’s idea was just a joke.

The witches and demons had been at war for hundreds of millions of years; both immortal, remembering exactly when a certain demon killed a certain witch and vice versa.

The enmity was as deep as the sea and impossible to unravel.

Even if Hongjun came to mediate and offered wine to the leaders, they wouldn’t agree.

And even if the leaders agreed, what about their underlings?

What is a blood feud? When family and friends die at the enemy’s hands, reconciliation is impossible.

Moreover, the conflict was not only about blood feuds but about the rightful dominance of the ancient world and the distribution of its resources.

Though vast, the ancient world was seen as fully within the sight of these great beings, and the resources they needed were limited.

Thus, these mighty figures first engaged in fierce battles to seize resources.

However, despite their battles, the real losers were the small folk.

Heaven and earth collapsing, apocalyptic disasters.

Luo Zu was startled awake by his own imagination.

“Tang, will you lead your people to join the Hot Witch Tribe?” he asked.

“That depends on my people,” Luo Zu evaded.

He needed more time.

Independence was crucial; joining either side was a last resort.

“Alright,” Tang showed no disappointment.

“Sometimes, I don’t even know how to… live.”

“Because I’m human but live among witches. Though I was born into this, we are still humans, not witches.”

She showed a trace of confusion.

Today, I will write two more chapters.