Chapter 300 - 278: The Heroic Woman Tribe Part II

Chapter 300: Chapter 278: The Heroic Woman Tribe Part II

Without looking back, he continued marching toward Jusenkyo.

The scattered villages they passed along the way didn’t seem particularly unusual. However, just as they were following the road toward the next settlement, a man who looked like a local village official stepped out to block their path.

"Are you two traveling for leisure?" the official asked with a friendly smile. "If so, you need to be careful up ahead. The area right in front of you is home to the Jie-Zhu (Heroic Woman Tribe). If anyone approaches this young lady and says, ’I’m not impressed by your man, let’s have a duel,’ please make sure to state clearly that you are just tourists and not from around here. Otherwise, your male companion might get snatched away."

As the official explained further, he gained a general understanding of the group.

The Jie-Zhu were a matriarchal clan living in the Qinghai region. Their ancestors had fled to this remote area to escape ancient wars, and due to various historical hardships, they had completely lost faith in men. Consequently, they dedicated themselves to martial arts while pushing the men out of their daily lives. Men still existed within the clan, but due to their unique traditions, the genders lived separately. Married couples generally avoided living in the sectors dominated by the young women.

Yet, a society still needed to reproduce, so their method for choosing a partner was incredibly straightforward.

They fought.

If a man could defeat a girl from the tribe, he could take her as his wife, and she would become completely devoted and obedient to him.

On the flip side, if a man lost to a woman who happened to like him, she would drag him back to her home by force, intentionally letting him win in private whenever it mattered. But if she didn’t like him, he would never have a chance with her for the rest of his life.

In short, the entire culture revolved around a single rule: you had to be a skilled fighter to win the heart of a wife you desired.

Because of this lifestyle, the members of the tribe were...

Extremely capable fighters.

After bidding farewell to the village official, Misato couldn’t help but complain again.

"This world is honestly more chaotic than my own."

She was genuinely starting to worry whether she could even complete her mission here.

"Every world has its differences," he replied, patting her shoulder. "That’s why I told you from the start that you might not be cut out to fight alongside me. You’re competent, but you’re still fundamentally human. Getting mixed up in these kinds of superhuman conflicts is highly unwise."

Looking at Misato Katsuragi, whose legs were already trembling from all the walking, Li Ke let out a helpless sigh. He swung his backpack around to his front and squatted down right in front of her.

"Come on, get on. The road ahead is still long, and we have a lot of ground to cover."

He didn’t have any improper thoughts about her right now. After walking for a whole day, the scent of sweat on her body was quite noticeable. His only goal was to reach Jusenkyo as quickly as possible.

After all, Jusenkyo was a place he absolutely had to visit.

If she hadn’t insisted on tagging along, he probably would have completed a round trip by now.

"Tch... how frustrating."

Glancing at him, who hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat, she sighed. She didn’t possess a valid driver’s license in this world, meaning she had no way to drive. If she could just get behind the wheel, she would absolutely never throw in the towel until the gasoline ran completely dry!

Seeing his serious expression, she decided to stop forcing herself to endure. Moving behind him, she leaned forward and draped herself over his back.

However, the moment she settled onto his shoulders, she couldn’t resist throwing in a warning.

"Don’t you dare take advantage of me!"

"Yes, yes, Lady Misato."

He sighed, gripping her legs with both hands as he lifted the curvaceous older woman onto his back.

The instant she pressed against his body, he felt the heavy pressure of two massive, soft mounds squishing flat against his spine. Not only that, but as her hands gripped his shoulders, he could distinctly sense a faint trace of nervousness fluttering within her.

She seemed completely oblivious to her own minor anxiety. Stroking his shoulders, she couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.

"Wow, what incredible muscles! A guy like you must be an absolute expert at tricking girls!"

She felt her assessment was entirely spot on. With a physique like his, all he had to do was walk into a bar, rip his shirt off, and step onto the dance floor. Countless women would immediately swarm to press their hands all over him—and honestly, it might not even just be women’s hands!

"Yeah, plenty of them, so make sure you don’t fall for me. Anyway, hold on tight. I’m picking up the pace."

He leaned forward slightly, allowing her to fit snugly against his frame. The full bosom of the mature woman pressed flush against him once more, and her distinct feminine fragrance drifted straight into his nose.

It had to be said, she smelled quite nice, and...

This woman was actually getting turned on!

With his hands supporting her smooth thighs, he could clearly feel her mature muscles tightening. Having exposed herself to his powerful frame and intense masculine aura, her mature body was already starting to react instinctively!

Particularly because she had never even considered facing him in actual combat, her subconscious had already cataloged him as the dominant force. Because of that...

"Mgh..."

The moment he took off into a sprint, her arms instinctively wrapped tightly around his chest, pressing herself firmly against his pectoral muscles. She lifted her head, initially intending to complain, only to realize that their travel speed had become incredibly fast. Even while carrying her weight, they were moving barely any slower than a speeding car!

"So fast! You’re amazing!"

She couldn’t hold back her praise. While she already knew he possessed immense speed and strength, experiencing him carrying her like a human vehicle firsthand brought a profound sense of awe.

If it weren’t for the heavy backpack on her own spine forcing her to stay glued to him, she really would have loved to just relax and enjoy the scenery from his back!

However, as the wind whipped past and her body continuously rubbed against his, she finally noticed something amiss within herself.

Setting aside the fact that her heart was pounding erratically, a warm, tingling sensation had begun pooling in her lower abdomen. The feeling continuously stirred her inner thoughts, igniting a sudden, strange restlessness.

"Ugh... dammit..."

She tightened her grip on his body, her fingers subconsciously digging in with extra force.

She knew perfectly well that the sudden shifts in her body were entirely due to him. His overpowering aura and raw strength were making it incredibly difficult for her to maintain her composure.

Furthermore, she genuinely liked his easygoing personality. Spending time with him didn’t make her feel any suffocating distance. Even though he acted completely annoyed by her presence on the surface, he had still brought her along. And the only reason he had been frustrated with her in the first place was simply because she couldn’t participate in their tier of combat, meaning she might get hurt.

This guy...

Resting her head against his shoulder, she felt an incredibly complex web of emotions swirling inside.

"You really are a magnet for women, aren’t you?"

"Ha..."

Li Ke remained silent. What older women like Misato Katsuragi harbored in their hearts was something only they themselves could fully comprehend. For him, his singular focus was simply reaching Jusenkyo as fast as possible to check if Ranma was currently there. If Ranma was around, he would naturally disrupt his plotline; if not...

He would simply harvest some water from the Cursed Springs!

The story of Ranma was incredibly straightforward. While traveling and training in China, Ranma Saotome had, due to various mishaps, fallen into the Spring of Drowned Girl. From that moment on, his body possessed a unique constitution: splash him with cold water and he turned into a girl; splash him with hot water and he returned to normal!

Meanwhile, his father had plunged into the Spring of Drowned Panda. Even though it was a complete mystery how a panda had managed to drown out here in Qinghai, there was no denying that these magical waters were the key to easily resolving Ranma’s plot.

The core conflict of Ranma’s narrative was simple, and the reason he constantly got stuck in his female form was painfully mundane.

They simply lacked the money to travel back to Jusenkyo to soak in the Spring of Drowned Man!

It was literally that simple!

Even though these self-proclaimed martial artists possessed incredible individual power, their raw combat capabilities couldn’t openly square off against a modern army. Coupled with the fact that neither Ranma nor his father held down a proper job, saving up enough funds for a return trip to Jusenkyo was an utter impossibility.

Furthermore, the reason they hadn’t immediately jumped into the Spring of Drowned Man right after turning into women was equally tragic. At that exact time...

The Spring of Drowned Man had completely run dry.

Yes, reality was truly that cruel.

As a result, Ranma was forced to live his life trapped in this half-man, half-woman state, several times coming dangerously close to losing the ability to turn back into a man permanently!

On one hand, various magical treasures existed that could prevent hot water from reversing the transformation. On the other hand, a far more terrifying rule loomed...

If he ever became pregnant while in his female form, he would never be able to turn back into a man.

Ranma had suffered a fair share of close calls. Although his virtue had always remained miraculously pure and untouched, there were multiple instances where he was mere seconds away from being taken advantage of.

The entire premise of Ranma ? spun entirely out of this curse.

Because of his unstable body, Ranma couldn’t properly marry Akane Tendo—the fiancée his father had casually arranged for him. He had to slowly build a relationship with her while simultaneously turning all of Akane’s suitors into suitors for his female persona, Ranko.

After all, Ranma’s female form was not only vastly more beautiful than Akane, but as a hardcore straight guy, Ranma had absolutely zero qualms about using seduction and honey traps to manipulate other men whenever he was a woman...

As the saying goes, no one understands a man better than another man. Consequently, the girl Ranma transformed into was far more alluring and captivating than any actual woman!

Or more accurately, he knew exactly how to tease.

Countless men with hearts of stone, completely ignorant of his true identity, had been teased so mercilessly by his female form that their minds went entirely blank, exposing countless fatal weaknesses!

Yes, Ranma was precisely that shameless!

In fact, even his family’s signature martial arts techniques radiated the absolute essence of underhanded shamelessness.

Thus, he planned to see what the current situation was. If Ranma had already arrived, he would bide his time and use the Spring of Drowned Man to solve Ranma’s predicament. If Ranma hadn’t reached this place yet, he could collect some of the spring water ahead of time and present the Spring of Drowned Man to him right after the fateful transformation occurred.

Moreover, Jusenkyo possessed far more than just standard curses. Aside from the male, female, and panda springs, there were all sorts of bizarre pools. For instance, if a man riding a bull while holding a snake and a goose all managed to drown together in a single spring, anyone who fell into it would transform into a terrifying, flying minotaur-like monster!

Indeed, no matter what kind of creature drowned inside, it would manifest as a magical "Spring of Drowned X," even fusing together whatever items fell into it simultaneously!

It could easily be considered one of the most broken Cheat Codes in existence!

Meaning if he truly desired, he could potentially engineer a Spring of Drowned Phoenix or a Spring of Drowned Dragon.

However, he felt there was absolutely no need for that.

While these springs allowed for powerful transformations, the weakness to hot and cold water was far too blatant. Even though countermeasures existed, he was far too lazy to deal with the hassle.

Whether it was acclimating to a dragon’s biology or training an entirely new body for combat, it would demand an immense amount of practice and time.

As for using something like the Spring of Drowned Girl on himself, that was an absolute joke. He would gladly harvest it to play pranks on people or entities he found obnoxious, but he would absolutely never use it on his own flesh!

He, Li Ke, would never resort to such bizarre, heterodox methods!

As he sprinted forward, using his Observation Haki to scout the path ahead, his senses suddenly picked up two incredibly weak presences, alongside a village up ahead currently hosting a massive festival. He paused mid-stride. The moment he crested the mountain ridge, his eyes locked onto a girl sporting a single braided pigtail running alongside a massive panda.

"...What a coincidence."

In a place like this, the appearance of a pigtail-braided girl running next to a giant panda could only mean one thing. Without a doubt, it was Ranma and his father, Genma Saotome!

The exact instant this thought crossed Li Ke’s mind, he saw a savage gleam flare up in both of their eyes the moment they locked onto the travel packs.

"Opening!"

The red-haired girl with the pigtail was dressed in a classic Japanese martial arts uniform. With a fierce roar, she lunged directly at him without a shred of hesitation. Right behind her, the giant panda abruptly hoisted a wooden sign, upon which characters were frantically scribbled in messy ink: ’ROBBERY!’

"Huh?!"

Misato Katsuragi let out a sharp cry of alarm. She had absolutely never expected anyone to ambush them out in a remote wilderness like this. He didn’t waste a single heartbeat either; tracing a fluid arc with his arm, he unleashed a Mana Burst of flame to forcefully pivot his momentum before driving a reverse kick straight toward the two rushing figures.

Protagonists or not, the father-and-son duo of Ranma Saotome and Genma Saotome were certainly not the types to let personal pride or face get in the way of survival. When these two were starving, they wouldn’t think twice about stealing food straight from a child’s mouth!

He certainly didn’t mind sharing a bit of his rations, but there was a massive difference between offering charity and being mugged.

Besides, he was highly curious to test the actual baseline of the martial artists native to this world!

However, the result left him rather disappointed.

Neither Ranma nor Genma managed to dodge or even react to the counter-strike he had thrown together in a flash. His lone kick sent both of them flying backward through the air, crashing brutally into the rocky mountainside.

He utilized the momentum to slide to a halt. As he gently lowered Misato back to her feet, he didn’t forget to keep his guard raised.

Yet, as the billowing dust slowly cleared, he realized the caution was entirely unnecessary. Ranma and his father completely lacked any remaining capacity to resist. Both of them had already passed out cold inside the heap of shattered boulders!

"Tch... so weak?"

He was somewhat speechless. His eyes drifted over to analyze the completely shredded fabric of Ranma’s top.

He was well aware that Ranma’s overall combat efficiency plummeted whenever he transformed into a woman. Both his physical stature and raw strength took a massive hit, and an empty stomach would naturally sap his stamina even further. Still, he hadn’t expected the output to be this pathetic.

Misato quickly stepped forward, using her own face and torso to block his line of sight toward the unconscious girl.

"Hey! It’s pitiful enough that you kicked a poor girl unconscious, but you tore her clothes to shreds and now you’re just staring at her bare skin? Don’t you think that’s a bit too much?"

She stared at him, completely exasperated. She truly couldn’t fathom how he could look upon a girl’s body with such utter shameless confidence!

Only then did he snap out of his tactical analysis. The physique of the female Ranma was undeniably exceptional. Purely in terms of bodily proportions, even Misato didn’t possess a silhouette quite as striking. And as for the face...

Misato fell a bit short compared to the female Ranma as well.

It couldn’t be helped; after all, Misato was fundamentally an older woman!

"That’s no ordinary girl. That’s a grown man who fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl," he explained calmly. "We’ve already arrived at Jusenkyo, haven’t you put the pieces together yet? Besides, they were the ones who ambushed us first."

Even so, looking down at the sprawled figure, he couldn’t help but knit his brows in confusion.

Even if they had been caught completely off guard and instantly taken down by a single casual counter of his, the raw baseline strength of Ranma and Genma shouldn’t have degraded to such a low point. Catching a few wild rabbits or wrestling a boar should have been an effortless task for them out here.

Furthermore, since they knew perfectly well they would turn into women, why didn’t they carry a basic iron pot to boil water on the road?

They had literally just passed a freshwater river a moment ago. Scoop up some water, build a quick campfire to boil it, and turn back into a man. Wouldn’t that make things infinitely easier?

Unable to contain his confusion, he muttered aloud, "It’s truly bizarre. A female body is inherently so much weaker, so why on earth would they..."

Before the final syllable could leave his lips, a sudden, violent rushing of wind pierced the air behind him. Pivoting on his heel with casual grace, he easily slipped past a massive iron hammer swinging through the space he had occupied a fraction of a second prior.

He had dodged the hammer with ease—but Ranma did not. Ranma, who had just been on the verge of regaining consciousness, had her head driven straight into the solid mountain rock by the sheer force of the incoming bludgeon.

The sight left him completely stunned.

Because... ℯ𝕝.

Because she hadn’t died! In fact, her life signature hadn’t even flickered or weakened in the slightest!

"How the hell is that even biologically possible?" he blurted out.

But the new assailant merely spat back in an angry glare.

"What do you mean impossible?! And more importantly—did you just say women are weak?!"