I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Bull Head Man Language

The Ritual Ceremony is the most sacred ceremony of the Blackhoof Tribe, and only invited guests can participate. Anna can only stay in her room until the ceremony is over.

As they walked, Kane explained some matters of attention to Song Jian;

Finally, after a moment of hesitation, Kane said to Song Jian, “During the Ritual Ceremony, you may be challenged by warriors from the tribe during the ancestor’s protection segment. You need to be prepared!”

The Ritual Ceremony consists of many steps and rituals that elicit the talent skills of each young Tauren warrior, particularly in the final ancestor’s protection segment.

In the past, being invited to participate in the Ritual Ceremony of the Blackhoof Tribe was considered the highest honor among other races. Moreover, each participating non-tribal person was also an elite member of their respective race. Facing the challenge of the young Blackhoof Tribe warrior in the ancestor’s protection segment was an essential part of the ceremony.

If you could successfully defeat the challenger, you would naturally continue to participate in the ancestor’s protection ritual, and you might even gain a valuable talent skill. However, if you failed, it would mean that you were not the best, and naturally, you would not be able to continue with the ancestor’s protection segment.

Song Jian’s heart sank, but he soon realized that this must be a test, just like defeating a boss in a game. In order to obtain good equipment dropped by the boss, you must first kill the boss. There must be a proportional relationship between the harvest and the difficulty, otherwise, the game would not allow Song Jian to gain an opportunity to increase his talent skills easily.

This was a talent skill, after all, something that each person would only acquire when entering the game. Some players didn’t even have a talent skill after birth, and only obtained one after reaching level 10 and gaining a profession.

Therefore, talent skills were much more valuable than other ordinary skills;

“No problem, Kane. I am willing to accept anyone’s challenge!” Song Jian laughed.

Kane nodded. He was well aware of Song Jian’s strength. Anyone who could fight the Shadow Giant Dragon for a few minutes, not to mention the young Tauren warriors of the Blackhoof Tribe, even an empowered Kane himself would not be confident that he could definitely defeat Song Jian.

…

Thunder Beast Mountain, the Blackhoof Tribe;

Atop Mount Dagogya

All the important figures of the Blackhoof Tribe were gathered here. Standing in front of the crowd was the tall figure of Kane, the chieftain of the Blackhoof Tribe and now the strongest in the tribe. Even the Blackhoof Tribe’s sacred relic – the Bloodthirsty Totem Pillar – had already recognized him as its master.

He looked around and nodded, announcing, “It seems that everyone has arrived. So, I hereby declare the Blackhoof Ritual Ceremony to begin now!”

Boom, boom, boom~

War drums were struck. At first, only one person was drumming vigorously. Soon, another person joined, and two war drums were struck simultaneously. Before long, there were three, four, ten, and finally, a total of thirteen war drums were struck at the same time. Xerxes, who was standing amidst the crowd, stared at the drummers and sighed in his heart;

The tribal chronicles once recorded that at the height of the Blackhoof Tribe’s power, during the Ritual Ceremony, more than a thousand war drums were struck simultaneously.

“Someday, under my leadership, the Blackhoof Tribe will definitely return to the glory of our past!” Xerxes clenched his fists and swore in his heart.

A bleak song echoed on Mount Dagogya, resonating across the mountain. The song was mournful and sad, like a mother’s lament, making every member of the Blackhoof Tribe feel a pang in their heart.

The song was initiated by a few elders of the tribe. Soon afterward, Kane loosened his throat and joined in. In no time, all the members of the Blackhoof Tribe who were standing on Mount Dagogya began to sing together;

Song Jian felt a bit embarrassed as everyone else around him was singing, and he was the only one who hadn’t opened his mouth.

However, the melody and lyrics of the song were quite simple, and it kept looping as it was sung. Song Jian listened to it two or three times and had already memorized it. When the song came around for the fourth time, he joined in quietly.

At first, Song Jian was merely imitating. As time went by, however, his voice grew louder. As it blended with the surrounding sounds, he became immersed in a mysterious state.

Although he initially didn’t know the meaning of the lyrics, somehow, after a while, the meaning of the entire song manifested itself in Song Jian’s mind.

“Humility, bravery, honor!”

“Mother Earth watches over you!”

“Our tribe has faced numerous disasters,”

“Struggling at the edge of death and destruction.”

“The cries of children, the sighs of the elderly, tears in the eyes of our sisters all fill me with shame!”

“The roar of beasts, the laughter of enemies, and the corpses of our companions lie before my eyes!”

“Warriors of the Blackhoof Tribe, remember every night of the battle to eliminate our race!”

“Do not forget the shame of our ancestors, do not let that night descend upon us again!”

“Mother Earth watches over us!”

…

Song Jian sang this ancient song over and over again, not even knowing when the lyrics had become deeply engraved in his mind.

By the time the drums stopped, Song Jian suddenly realized that, like the other Tauren, he was already in tears.

System: You have learned Tauren language!

A simple prompt appeared in the system bar, but it brought Song Jian an exhilarating feeling.

It should be noted that in the game, all races communicate with players using a universal language. However, each race actually has its own unique language. If you don’t understand the language of a race, many things you may obtain cannot be used, including but not limited to various racial skills, racial recipes, and racial blueprints.

One can say that from now on, the Tauren race would have no secrets left for Song Jian.

Song Jian didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but after the song had ended, the eyes of the Tauren around him seemed to have softened quite a bit, even Kane was showing him a gratified smile.

Each phase of the Ritual Ceremony unfolded, paying tribute to the ancestors and the tribe members who had died in wars. This continued for a long time, until late at night, when the full moon rose above them. Finally, the last part of the ceremony arrived – the Ancestor’s Blessing, for unlocking talent skills.

At this moment, all the young Tauren under the age of thirty stood up excitedly.

A dozen arm-thick stone pillars slowly rose atop Mount Dagogya. Some pillars had stone-carved Tauren statues displayed on them, while others were bare, displaying nothing.

Song Jian glanced and saw that the empty pillars and those with stone statues were about half-and-half. The stolen statue he had retrieved from the thief earlier was placed on one of the pillars.

“Choose the ancestor you worship and pray to them devoutly. If the ancestor acknowledges you, you can unlock your talent skill under their blessing!” Kane shouted at the young Tauren.

The young Tauren began to walk towards the pillars with statues, gathering around them.

Kane motioned for Song Jian to follow. As he was about to step forward, a voice suddenly called out.

“Wait, chieftain! According to the customs of our tribe, I want to challenge this human participating in the Ritual Ceremony!”

Xerxes stepped out from the crowd, his eyes firm as he looked at Song Jian standing beside Kane.

…