The two of them had been chatting while walking, so they still hadn't reached the tribe yet.
Thus, Mu Yang asked about the [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame].
If this was an event important enough to draw people from other nations to travel thousands of miles just to watch, then it was most likely something that would appear in the main storyline.
Mu Yang felt he needed to understand it in advance.
Speaking of this, Kachina immediately became excited.
The [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame] was a competitive tournament held regularly in Natlan.
Natlan people competed against each other in the matches, vying for rankings.
The event received high attention, and those who ranked at the top would not only become famous overnight, but would also qualify to participate in the [Night Warden War].
"To put it simply, if you win, you become a hero. Here, everyone wants to become a hero."
Kachina seemed to hold a strong yearning for heroes.
Mu Yang, however, fell into deep thought.
Was it still restricted by the 12+ game content?
How did it end up turning into a "World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament"?
The difference between war and sparring was still quite large.
However, the later "Night Warden War" at least had a name that sounded somewhat related.
Mu Yang continued listening as Kachina explained.
After listening, he finally understood Natlan's situation, the purpose of the tournament, and what kind of war this "war" actually referred to.
The [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame] could not really be called a regular competitive tournament.
It would be more accurate to say it was a ritual used by Natlan to select the strongest warriors.
The competition was divided into team battles and individual battles.
Team battles involved teams with unfixed numbers of members fighting together.
They were usually led by [Ancient Name] holders.
The rules were simple: it was a battle royale — essentially battle royale (chicken dinner) mode.
Each team would first ride hot air balloons and land randomly at different locations.
Participants needed to search for Holy Flame Altars within the competition area.
Near the Holy Flame Altars, they would gather the Flames of Contention through combat.
Finally, they had to bring a sufficient amount of flames back to the arena.
The team that won the team battle could advance to the next round's individual battles.
The individual battles were purely a test of personal strength.
They used a points system based on the number of victories.
The few Ancient Name inheritors with the highest final points could then participate in the next round of the Night Warden War.
No matter what, the [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame] could only be considered a martial arts competition or sparring.
The Night Warden War, however, was true war — a confrontation against the Abyss.
The battlefield was located in the Nation of the Night God.
There, participants could fight without restraint.
Because their opponents were the Abyss.
And the guarantee for the warriors' brave advance was the [Resurrection Poem].
As long as the Ancient Name inheritors achieved victory in the war, even if only one person survived, the [Resurrection Poem] could revive the dead.
Of course, if they failed, it naturally meant total annihilation...
Mu Yang recalled the lines from Footprints:
"The losers become ashes of the war flames, while the victors rekindle them."
It was that cruel.
However, there was no other way.
According to Kachina, war would definitely involve danger.
But in order to fight against the Abyss and to collect the Flames of Contention to replenish the Sacred Flame, they had no choice but to do this.
Mu Yang sorted through Natlan's situation and roughly understood why its people did not often venture outside.
They really had no time.
Moreover, compared to traveling to other nations, the people of this country preferred to shine brightly in the [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame] and obtain glory.
As for those [Ancient Name] inheritors, there was even less need to mention them.
The responsibility they carried was far greater than that of ordinary people.
On the Abyss battlefield, they truly faced the possibility of perishing.
Therefore, honing their skills was far more important than traveling the world.
Speaking of Ancient Names, it seemed Kachina was also an inheritor?
At such a young age, she could not be underestimated.
However, Kachina's strength seemed somewhat lacking.
With Mu Yang's cheat-like level, Kachina naturally could not hide her strength in front of him.
That meant the selection of [Ancient Name] inheritors was not necessarily based on power.
"Earlier, Kachina said that [Ancient Name] inheritors have to lead teams. You should be quite busy these few days, right?"
Mu Yang asked.
Kachina's strength might not be sufficient, but relying on weapons and other assistance, leading a team shouldn't be a problem, right?
She was the first Natlan person he had met, and at this moment Mu Yang still did not know Natlan's average level.
Kachina was stunned.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Mu Yang instantly sensed something was wrong.
He thought to himself, "Oh no, I didn't expect the first person I met to have the protagonist template!"
Generally speaking, this kind of thing would definitely exist.
It was like the protagonist in a hot-blooded manga — clearly having mediocre strength, yet chosen by the village's cheat. Then despised by everyone, only to achieve nirvana on the battlefield through bonds like "friendship"...
It seemed Mu Yang had guessed the situation correctly.
Ayu jumped to Kachina's side to comfort her.
Kachina stroked Ayu's head and forced out a slight smile.
"Ancient Name inheritors must participate. This is the responsibility of people like us. Although I haven't found any teammates, I can go alone."
"At most I'll just take some hard hits. I'll recover after resting for a week or two."
With that, she raised her small arm. "Although I'm not very good at fighting, I recover very quickly."
Now it was Mu Yang's turn to fall silent.
In this situation, the only solution was to join a team.
Mu Yang's strength was definitely sufficient, but he was not a Natlan person.
Even if non-Natlan people participated, they would not generate [Flames of Contention].
Therefore, there had never been any precedent of outsiders signing up.
Because it would be working for free, and there was also the possibility of injuring Natlan people.
It would affect others' collection of the Sacred Flame...
Mu Yang was troubled.
On the contrary, the small Kachina broke the atmosphere.
She had long grown accustomed to it.
Although everyone usually had good relationships, during these few days of registration, everyone would intentionally or unintentionally avoid her.
They avoided making eye contact with her.
Conversations would always skirt around the topic of the [The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame], afraid that Kachina would invite them to form a team...
As for the reason, Kachina knew it very well —
She was too weak.
Teaming up with her meant they fundamentally could not advance to the individual battles.
"Mr. Mu Yang's strength is very powerful, right?" Kachina said. "Being able to travel alone in the desert and calmly handle sudden situations (referring to Ayu)."
"Powerful yet easy-going… that's the kind of person I admire the most..."
In fact, by this point, Mu Yang already understood why Kachina had been chosen by the [Ancient Name].
Moreover, he guessed that Kachina's Ancient Name was probably related to qualities like "responsibility," "resilience," and "unyielding spirit."
Knowing she was weak, yet choosing not to escape.
Even if she had to fight alone, she would shoulder the responsibility of the [Ancient Name]. In that alone, she was already stronger than many people.
After all, according to Kachina's introduction, the [Ancient Name] was essentially only a responsibility, without any power enhancement.
That piece of obsidian provided no help in battle.
It only recorded the achievements and memories of past holders, nothing more.
Furthermore, to obtain those memories, one still needed to understand the Wayob's expectations for the inheritor.
Otherwise, it was really just a stone with a name written on it.
"There's no need to belittle yourself, Kachina. I believe your Wayob would not have made a mistake in its judgment."
"Eh?!"