"How could a Wandering Beast be waiting in ambush here! Manla, were you trying to get us killed on purpose!"
"What does that have to do with me? I didn't know! You're the ones who insisted on coming along! If you have to blame someone, blame your own bad luck. Why are you pinning everything on me just because something went wrong? Don't you dare slander me!"
"Stop making excuses! I know it was you, you bitch! You've always had it out for Luoluo! You must have been looking for a chance to kill us! You're the one who pushed us just now! Don't think I didn't see it!"
As soon as the trouble started, they began blaming each other. Furious, Li Man strode forward and slapped Manla across the face, instantly turning one side of it red.
"You! You bitch! You dare hit me?"
"You're the one I'm hitting!"
"Keep talking nonsense and see if I don't slap that mouth of yours raw!" Manla retorted, swinging a slap of her own.
The little mute was unable to get a word in to defend herself. Li Man, however, was notoriously difficult in the tribe. Anyone unlucky enough to cross her was in for major trouble.
Of course, Li Man wasn't sticking up for Sang Luo out of the goodness of her heart. Manla had once stolen a Male Beast she'd had her eye on, and she'd been holding a grudge ever since. This was just the perfect opportunity to let off some steam.
Beastmen were irritable and belligerent by nature. The females weren't as physically strong, but their scuffle quickly drew blood.
The Male Beasts on both sides failed to break up the fight. Seeing their mates get hurt, they flew into a rage and joined the brawl, a chaotic mix of beastmen fighting each other.
"Stop! What do you think you're doing?! If you have a grievance, take it to the Clan Leader! The tribe will see that justice is done!"
Someone had called for Third Elder Amu, who sternly put a stop to it.
Both sides ceased their hostilities and headed for home. The captured Wandering Snake Beast was knocked unconscious and taken back to the Kordo Tribe for interrogation.
The Third Elder and Sang Luo fell to the back of the group.
"You must be the little female from the Lan Cang Family. You're quite a beauty. No wonder those young Male Beasts in the tribe are so infatuated with you."
The Third Elder suddenly struck up a conversation with her, her assessing gaze surprisingly kind. "But you do look a bit frail. When you have time, you should go to the Female Stone to test your Fertility. And find a few more Male Beasts, mate often. Otherwise, I'm afraid you really won't be able to bear cubs in the future."
Sang Luo silently stared at the sky, noncommittal. 'Unlike the Beastmen, I don't have some deep-rooted instinct to reproduce, making mating and bearing cubs my top priority... But wait, mating with more Male Beasts can make you stronger?'
"Most of us females are physically weak, so it's difficult for us to awaken a superpower. Even if we do, it's usually negligible and hard to cultivate. But by mating with more Male Beasts, we can receive their power to nourish our bodies."
"Some powerful Male Beasts have mastered a Talent Power. If you can obtain the Primordial Yang they release during their first mating, you can gain a portion of their power. If you conceive an heir who has a Talent Power, the mother's body can also copy the talent of the child in her womb, making it her own." Seeing her dazed and confused expression, the Third Elder thought, 'This little female must have really damaged her brain in that fall if she doesn't even know this,' and decided to explain a bit more.
Sang Luo was stunned for several seconds. 'Damn, so it's really a form of dual cultivation.'
Her gaze involuntarily shifted to Li Man in the distance, who was nestled in the arms of her Mermaid mate, still complaining. 'And I just remembered,' Sang Luo thought, 'she's a Land Beast, but she can breathe underwater...'
'So that's why the females are so eager to find powerful Male Beasts! It's not that they're just consumed by lust—they're legitimately performing dual cultivation!'
Having met an exceptional Male Beast in her youth, Ayia had never been interested in the other beastmen of the tribe. Now, she only had Kemu by her side. He had just reached Fourth Rank, so his strength was quite good. The two had yet to have cubs, and his daily hunting was just enough to support their family.
Duoji also had relatively few mates—only three. But her standards were about quality, not quantity. As the sole female of her family, it was her responsibility to ensure the family line continued, produce offspring with stronger talents, and strengthen the family's power. Thus, she was extremely cautious in choosing her mates. The three she had were all powerhouses among the Kordo Tribe's younger generation: two were Fourth Rank Beastmen, and the third had reached Third Rank Peak right after coming of age. It was only a matter of time before he broke through to Fourth Rank.
Li Man, on the other hand, took mates as she pleased. She was mainly concerned with their looks and whether they could satisfy her in *that* department. Though she had only come of age a few years ago, she already had over a dozen Male Beasts. However, their strength was generally low, concentrated around the Second and Third Ranks. As a result, despite the large number of mates she had, she didn't look as strong or vibrant as Duoji.
The prouder, more powerful Male Beasts in the tribe tended to dislike fickle and promiscuous females like Li Man. Such arrangements often led to conflict within the family, and they were more likely to be abandoned once the female grew tired of them.
Unlike the females, who generally tended to be fickle and "collect" mates, a Male Beast would rarely seek a second mate after his first one died.
For one thing, females were scarce, so they were lucky to find even one. For another, their Primordial Yang was gone, meaning they could no longer provide a female with a Talent Power and would be looked down upon and rejected.
Sang Luo thought back to her first time mating with that man of unknown origins. She hadn't gained anything from it. 'So, does that mean I slept with a taken man?'
"Lan Cang is indeed very strong, but you can't be devoted to him alone. There are many other young, talented beastmen in the tribe. You should look around, be a little picky!"
The Third Elder seemed as if she'd been asked to do this beforehand. Her earlier authority was gone, replaced by the air of a matchmaker trying to arrange a union.
"There's a handsome young beastman in our Kordo Tribe who went out to train for a while. He had a fortuitous encounter, and his Cultivation shot up directly from Third Rank to Fifth Rank. His talent is nearly on par with Lan Cang's and Tu Zhu's."
"He came to see me a couple of days ago, said he's interested in you. He said he'll have no one but you."
"A high-quality Male Beast like that is a rare catch. Don't let him wait for nothing. Find a chance to form a bond with him soon."
Huh?
What the heck?
The more Sang Luo listened, the more confused she got. 'Since when do I have a secret admirer?'
[...What's his name?]
"Booker." The Third Elder was surprised by her blank expression. "You don't know him?"
Sang Luo shook her head. She didn't.
'Other than interacting with Li Man and a few other females, I rarely make an effort to get to know anyone else in the tribe, especially not Male Beasts. After all, I'm destined to leave this place eventually, and I don't want to get tangled up in any romantic drama.'
Sang Luo quickly wracked her brain but couldn't recall any beastman named Booker.
"Haha, he fell for you at first sight! It seems it's a case of unrequited love."
Seeing that she wasn't interested, the Third Elder didn't press the issue and changed the subject. "You and Lan Cang are mates, aren't you?"
She nodded.
"That boy is the most talented beastman I've ever seen. He must have awakened his Talent Power long ago. Did you receive his talent?"
Sang Luo hesitated before shaking her head. Other than her body feeling better, it seemed she hadn't received Lan Cang's Talent Power. 'But Lan Cang doesn't seem like the type to have been with other females,' she thought. 'This is very strange.'
'As for that mysterious green energy inside my body, it didn't come from anyone else. It feels more like my own power, something that began to sprout right after I transmigrated here. It just got stronger after mating with a Male Beast, to the point where it can even condense and take physical form.'
'It's rare for females to awaken a Talent Power, but not completely unheard of. Maybe... this is my very own Talent Power?'
'Humans are a type of animal, after all.'
'It wouldn't be too much for me to awaken a Talent Power, would it?!'