Harris was the first to wake up. A phantom totem spirit manifested on his chest, stirring the spiritual energy drifting between heaven and earth. He ran toward the cave entrance, let out a loud roar, and smashed his fist against the rocky wall.

　　Boom!

　　The mountain shook, rocks flying everywhere.

　　Smack!

　　But in the next instant, he felt his head buzzing—a palm landed on the back of his head. Instantly, Harris was furious. Who dared to hit him, a totem warrior?

　　Burning with anger, he turned his head and saw Ethan Brooks rubbing his own palm, and immediately wilted.

　　“Hehe, chief.”

　　Rubbing the back of his own head with his big hand, Harris grinned foolishly.

　　Seeing Harris’s silly smile, Ethan Brooks kicked him again in annoyance and said harshly, “Your head hit my hand.”

Chapter 12: The Xia Tribe

　　Even after taking a kick from Ethan Brooks, Harris wasn’t upset. Go ahead and hit me, I’m a totem warrior now anyway, hehe.

　　“You… I…”

　　Rubbing his own palm, Ethan Brooks turned and walked back into the cave, ignoring this guy.

　　Awooo.

　　At that moment, another roar came from inside the cave. Grant, just like Harris before, ran out of the cave shouting, venting the power within his body.

　　For a totem warrior at the Stone-Splitting Realm, drawing external spiritual energy into the body for the first time, it was naturally hard to restrain the wild aura surging from within. Such behavior was not surprising.

　　Smack.

　　This time, Harris, who had just been slapped himself, imitated what he’d learned and slapped the back of Grant’s head.

　　What else could I do? I don’t dare hit the chief, so if I don’t hit you, who do I hit?

　　Hehe.

　　After entering the cave, Ethan Brooks staggered, as if he had exhausted all his energy, nearly collapsing to the ground.

　　“Chief.”

　　At once, Reed rushed over and helped him sit down.

　　At this moment, the divine light on the totem pillar gradually faded, like the dying embers after a brilliant firework display.

　　Ethan Brooks knew what was happening. The power of the Fang-Armored Beast he had absorbed earlier was depleted after helping Harris and the others visualize the totem. The newly nourished totem pillar had once again entered a withering state.

　　This was a decision he made after thinking all night. With just over a hundred people in the tribe and a dozen stone weapons, a large enough pack of wild beasts could wipe them out, let alone nourish the totem. So, desperate times called for desperate measures—a do-or-die gamble.

　　This time, a dozen Fang Beasts were unlucky, but next time they wouldn’t be so fortunate. They would have to hunt deeper in the mountains, and hunting required totem warriors to kill high-grade prey for totem sacrifices.

　　Anyway, things had come to this point—what was there left to fear?

　　Outside the cave, the tribespeople were in a frenzy over the new totem warriors, howling non-stop. Ethan Brooks stopped Reed from intervening, shaking his head.

　　The tribe had been suppressed for too long.

　　Soon, Bruce and Dale also ran out of the cave. Without exception, each got slapped on the back of the head during their frenzy.

　　Four totem warriors!

　　All the tribespeople surrounded the four, eyes filled with excitement. This was the biggest event since they had fled to this valley.

　　By contrast, as the tribe leader, Ethan Brooks shrank back into the cave, quietly licking his wounds, his eyes taking on a motherly look as he gazed at the people outside.

　　Soon, Ethan Brooks walked out of the cave again. His appearance instantly silenced the cheering crowd—over a hundred pairs of eyes stared at him in unison.

　　Chief.

　　This moment of silence was even more stirring than the previous cheers.

　　He turned his head and saw Grant standing behind him, eyes burning as they looked at him.

　　After a brief silence, Ethan Brooks steeled himself and made a decision. Everything he’d done these days was to take control of the tribe. Now that the meat was at his lips, how could he not eat it?

　　“The great totem told me that our tribe is too scattered. We need a name, so that we have faith and something to rely on in our hearts.”

　　The totem was the perfect excuse—if anyone had an opinion, just ask the totem.

　　“The totem gave me guidance. From today on, our tribe will be called ‘Xia’.”

　　“Xia.”

　　For a moment, a gleam flashed in Grant’s cloudy eyes.

　　Bishop, Reed, and the other totem warriors also fell into deep thought.

　　Everyone in the tribe was a survivor who had barely escaped the last beast tide and gathered here, struggling to survive in this valley, without even a name.

　　Now, the chief said their tribe had a name—Xia.

　　The Xia Tribe.

　　Most of the tribespeople fell into contemplation. This was something they had never thought about before, and a strange emotion spread among them.

　　No one objected, not even Grant.

　　The tribe had a name now. How wonderful.

　　In the future, when they met people from other tribes, they could say, “We are from the Xia Tribe, the Xia Tribe of the Eternal Mountains.”

　　“From today on, we are the Xia Tribe.”

　　“Xia Tribe! Xia Tribe! Xia Tribe!”

　　“Chief!”

　　“Xia Tribe!”

　　……

　　As expected, the howls once again drowned out Ethan Brooks’s ears. There was nothing to be done—primitive people were just this wild. It seemed only this way could they express their excitement.