Chapter 49 - 47 Sol’s Story_2
And yet, the Gaoju Family succeeded!
The Gaoju Family’s chief lost an arm and half a dozen elites, but he managed to secure the Tree Spirit’s Ear in the Dark Night Forest.
When the Tree Spirit’s Ear was handed to Queen Wensi, it signaled a triumph. The Gaoju Family’s Dual Fish emblem blazed brilliantly in the Hunter’s Hall, far outshining the Deer Horn of my Sol Family.
This was the disgrace of the Sol Family! It was also the most significant sign of our descent from our pedestal and into mediocrity.
The Sol Family later summarized the reasons for our fall from grace: a stubborn adherence to old ways, a refusal to embrace new things, and an inextricable, crippling obsession with bloodline heritage.
Afterward, the Hunter families fractured; the Sol and Gaoju Families became rivals. Later, the Gaoju Family transformed into upstart Hunters, and the ancient Hunter traditions vanished from them completely. My grandfather led our family in constant competition against the Gaoju Family, but his efforts were largely in vain. Under the Wensi Empire’s patronage, the Gaoju Family grew stronger, and as upstart Hunters, they attracted more followers than ever before.
After this period of painful lessons and reflection, the Sol Family welcomed its fifty-seventh chieftain: my father.
My father endured humiliation and carried heavy burdens. During our family’s most difficult period, he chose to retreat, no longer directly confronting the Gaoju Family. Instead, he withdrew into our family’s unique mountain forests to slowly consolidate our strength.
Of course, the once-scorned Secret Sensing Skills were re-evaluated. My father was no once-in-a-century genius; his method was to meticulously dissect the Scholars’ writings, observing and re-observing, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the essence from the dregs.
At that time, my eldest brother Tobin was ten years old, and I was just a month old.
My brother, a rare genius with Hunter’s blood coursing through his veins, captured a giant python in the mountains when he was eleven. He made a lantern from the python’s eyes and a Binding Beast Rope from its muscles and bones. The rope holding you captive now is my brother’s Binding Beast Rope.
At the same time, my brother also started to learn the Secret Sensing Skills, admired by the upstart Hunters. During the learning process, Tobin suddenly came to an even deeper understanding.