After a short pause, Ah Hua coldly added with a frosty expression, “If you can’t prove your worth, then jump off this wall yourself!”
The moment the words left her mouth, she shot out another arrow. The huge force blasted the giant beast that was leaping towards them to death in mid-air. Moreover, her cold and disgusted gaze was fixed on Yang Kai’s face from the start until the end; she didn’t even shift her gaze away from him at all.
“A good-for-nothing?” Yang Kai murmured, lowering his head and examining his body before he glanced around at the bodies of the other villagers… [En, in this era, this body is truly that of a waste.]
Rather, the fact that the old man with a stooped figure was the Village Chief of this village surprised Yang Kai.
Although he didn’t know what Shamanic Spell the Village Chief had used to make the giant beasts turn a blind eye to him, it was definitely not due to a stroke of luck. [A Shaman Apprentice… Going by the name, it should be the lowest realm, right? It would seem that the number of Shamans in this ancient era is extremely scarce.]
Yang Kai and Ah Hua stood on the fence and worked closely together. After experiencing that initial sense of discomfort, he calmed down and no longer felt disoriented. In any case, he had to overcome this obstacle for now as it might be a test given by this Sealed World.
As he handed arrow after arrow to her, the pile of arrows at his feet dwindled at an incredibly fast pace; however, a young boy of the Barbarian Race soon brought over more arrows to replenish their stock.
The young boy looked to be around thirteen years old and was clearly a minor. Thus, he could only help out with some logistical work. However, even this thirteen-year-old boy had a stockier and sturdier frame than most of the people Yang Kai had seen in his life. Those firm muscles that he built up were simply not something a person his age should have.
Many other underage children of the Ancient Barbarian Race like this young boy were helping out in the village, and as time passed, the Beast Tide’s attacks were suppressed greatly under the influence of the Bloodlust Spell that the Village Chief applied. The villagers managed to turn the tides on those giant beasts while paying a very small price, causing countless casualties among the invading enemy.
All the villagers seemed jubilant. Meanwhile, Ah Hua shot out arrow after arrow as if she finally saw a ray of hope in winning this battle. In contrast, Yang Kai furrowed his brow deeply. Unlike the optimism of these ignorant villagers, he felt that the situation was very unfavourable for the village. Although the giant beasts were suppressed on the surface and suffered many casualties, the truth was that the villagers had consumed too much strength to achieve this. The long and high-intensity battle made it difficult for the villagers to continue fighting.
It was obvious just by looking at Ah Hua. In the beginning, she shot arrow after arrow as swiftly as the wind, almost without stopping, each one taking down a giant beast. However, she couldn’t even draw the bow to its fullest anymore. Her hands that were holding the bow trembled and not only did she now require two arrows to kill a single giant beast, the interval between each arrow was also getting longer. If this was the case with Ah Hua, then the other archers must be facing the same issue.
Besides, the condition of the rest of the villagers outside the village was even more worrying. After being blessed with the Bloodlust Spell by the Village Chief, they had overdrawn their Blood Essence. Hence, once the Bloodlust Spell lost effect and the backlash of the technique kicked in, the hundreds of villagers fighting outside would instantly become prey to the giant beasts, not having the strength to fight back at all.
On the other hand, Yang Kai could clearly sense that the Beast Tide was biding its time even though it kept up its aggressive offence. It seemed as though there was an intelligent existence among these beasts, commanding them from behind. This leader was quietly biding its time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to win this battle in one fell swoop.
[I guess I need to take action!]
Yang Kai had not behaved rashly or taken any overt action prior to this because he had been clueless about the situation he was in. He did not know what kind of changes would occur if he were to carelessly make a move; however, as time passed, he couldn’t help being affected by the hot-blooded spirit of the Ancient Barbarian Race villagers after observing them for so long. The identity he received as ‘Ah Niu’ for some mystifying reason, seemed to have grown on him, and he started having a faint sense of belonging to this strange village.
The Ancient Barbarian Race was admirable. Their tenacious will to survive in this primitive time, fighting against all manner of disasters, was what allowed the Human race to multiply until they became the dominant race in the world today. Their strength had been passed down through the generations, allowing the Human race to flourish in this world.
[I will protect this land! I will protect this village as Ah Niu!] The blood in Yang Kai’s body boiled all of a sudden. Bending down, he picked up a huge bow lying next to him. This huge bow originally belonged to another villager, but he had lost his head to a giant leopard that came rushing at him.
Yang Kai reached out and pulled on the bowstring, letting out a loud strumming sound. It felt as if a war drum was pounding in his heart, filling him with the urge to charge forward into battle.
“Arrow!” Ah Hua stretched out her hand, staring straight ahead with scarlet eyes that gleamed with hatred. To her surprise though, she did not receive any response. Turning her head abruptly, she was about to swear at Yang Kai when her words caught in her throat. Staring at him holding the huge bow in amazement, she exclaimed, “What are you doing?!”
Yang Kai simply grinned back at her, revealing a row of pearly white teeth as he commented, “You should rest. You’re exhausted.”
The hand Ah Hua stretched out to him was trembling, and her fingers were covered in bloody cuts. When their gazes met though, Ah Hua burst out angrily, “Rest?! Where will I find the time to rest?! Don’t you know what will happen to our comrades below without the support of we archers?!”
“I know!” Yang Kai continued to smile, reaching out to pick up an arrow and nocking it onto the bow. Tilting his head, he looked at her and said, “Just leave it to me.”
“You…” She was about to say something when her eyes suddenly bulged, extreme shock covering her face. [What!? What am I seeing? Ah Niu, who is known as a good-for-nothing in the village, is drawing a bow? What’s more… he drew it fully! Where did he get such strength with those twig-like arms and legs of his?!]
Ah Hua instinctively felt as if she had seen wrongly; after all, she clearly recalled that it had been very difficult for Ah Niu to even pick up a bow and arrow during their last training session, let alone draw the bow fully. What was happening in front of her completely overturned her perception of him.
The Ah Niu in front of Ah Hua didn’t even seem to be using much strength and she couldn’t feel any explosive power coming from his muscles. Rather, it felt as if he was drawing the bow back casually. Nevertheless, he drew it to its maximum.
Drawing the bow to its fullest, Yang Kai’s expression turned solemn as he loosened the arrow.
Ah Hua couldn’t help following the trajectory of this flying arrow with her eyes.
The explosive airflow coming from the arrow was distinctly identifiable and it was clear that his arrow contained a tremendous amount of power. It was no less powerful than an arrow she shot. More importantly, this blow was powerful enough to penetrate the bodies of the giant beasts.
For some reason, Ah Hua suddenly felt a sense of confidence in the good-for-nothing standing in front of her. She believed that this arrow of his would definitely kill one of the giant beasts.
*Sou…*
The arrow flew past the body of a giant beast and disappeared in the blink of an eye while the villager who was fighting hard with that giant beast had been startled. The arrow would have killed him in that instant if it went just the slightest bit off course.
Ah Hu turned his head, glared at the people standing on top of the fence, and roared, “Ah Hua, watch where you aim!”
“I…” Ah Hua opened her mouth to speak with a grievous look on her face. [How could I have shot such a lousy arrow? I wouldn’t make such a mistake even if I shot with my eyes closed! It’s obvious that Ah Niu was the one who did it, you know?!]
Her feelings of being wronged turned to rage as she turned back and glared at Yang Kai, unable to believe she felt the least bit confident in this good-for-nothing. She really must have been blind!
“En, I’ve gotten the hang of it now.” While Yang Kai was speaking, he picked up another arrow and nocked it.
“This isn’t the place for you to fool around! If you don’t want to help me, then just go away!” She shouted furiously. [Even if this good-for-nothing surprised me by fully drawing the bow, what’s the point if he can’t shoot accurately? He might as well go down and fight those giant beasts head-on. Who knows? He might prove to be more useful there. All excellent archers need to go through rigorous training and countless life-or-death battles to accumulate experience, but Ah Niu has never had such experiences before.]
“Just trust me!” Yang Kai said to Ah Hua earnestly as he drew the bow swiftly and steadily.
The raging expression on Ah Hua’s froze for a moment before she sighed and said, “Shoot in a direction without people!”
Compared to this good-for-nothing’s previous performances, the fact that he could pick up a bow and arrow to help share some of the village’s burdens was rather praiseworthy.
He smiled, “That won’t happen again.”
His target was still the giant beast that Ah Hu was fighting, and when the arrow left the bow, Ah Hua barely dared to look at the outcome, for fear of seeing him accidentally hurt Ah Hu. In reality, the giant beast so happened to jump up into the air with a roar the moment the arrow left the bow. The 3-meter-long arrow penetrated the giant beast’s mouth and shot out the back of its body, the horrifying power behind the shot smashing the giant beast’s viscera and organs. The giant beast collapsed to the ground with a whimper, blood flowing from it like a fountain.
“He really did it!” Ah Hua froze in shock once more, feeling completely dumbfounded. If she recalled correctly, Ah Niu couldn’t even draw a bow before, let alone shoot an arrow. In other words, this is his first time using a bow. Although the first arrow deviated from its course slightly and frightened Ah Hu, the second arrow was scarily accurate. Just what on earth happened to this good-for-nothing?!
While Ah Hua was lost in her own thoughts, Yang Kai had already picked up another arrow. He barely paused in his actions as he drew the bow and loosed the arrow. A moment later, in the distance, a giant beast fell dead.
Although Yang Kai couldn’t sense a single drop of his Emperor Qi in this Sealed World, it seemed as though his foundation as an Emperor Realm Master was still there. The huge bow and arrows would be incredibly difficult to control for an average person, but it was nothing to an Emperor Realm Master. The first arrow had simply been an experiment by Yang Kai to accustom himself to the equipment. What came after that was simple; none of his arrows missed their marks.
Yang Kai finished a bundle of ten arrows in just a few breaths, and aside from his first arrow that failed to hit its target, the following nine each killed their targets in a single hit.
“Brother Ah Niu, how are you so amazing?” The young boy that was in charge of logistics came over with several bundles of arrows and happened to witness Yang Kai’s martial prowess, immediately admiring him greatly.
The adults in the village were always spurning Brother Ah Niu, claiming that he was a good-for-nothing in this village that not only failed to contribute anything, but even wasted their food. Most of the adults had advocated for Ah Niu to be exiled from the village and left to fend for himself. If not for the Village Chief’s kindness and Ah Hu constantly sharing his food with Ah Niu, Ah Niu would have starved to death a long time ago. However, that supposedly worthless Ah Niu actually turned out to be so amazing! He was on par with Ah Hua, the best archer in the village. Thus, the young boy felt rather confused.
Heavy snow had begun to fall in this ancient and primitive world at some point, dyeing everyone’s vision with white. It also made the shockingly red blood stand out even more against the ground. Despite the freezing conditions, the villagers seemed oblivious to the cold, leaving their skin exposed to the elements as it gave off steaming heat.
Outside the village, hundreds of villagers were armed with primitive weapons such as stone axes and stone spears as they fought in a bloody battle against the giant beasts. More than a dozen archers stood atop the wall and provided strong support to the fighters with their superb skills. Meanwhile, the stooped figure of the Village Chief continued to run about the battlefield. His pitch-black cane occasionally flashed with weak bursts of light as he used his meagre Shamanic Spells to resist the invasion of the Beast Tide.
The bloody glow surrounding the bodies of the villagers that were subjected to the Bloodlust Spell was growing dimmer. Needless to say, it was a sign that the effects of the Bloodlust Spell were beginning to fade. These villagers would fall into a period of prolonged weakness and lose their ability to fight once the Bloodlust Spell lost its effectiveness, so if they failed to repel the Beast Tide before that happened, only one end was waiting for the entire village: Utter destruction.
Hundreds of the strongest warriors would become food for the giant beasts throughout winter. Similarly, the old, the weak, the women, and the children would suffer the same fate. At that time, all the lands touched by the cruel oppression of the giant beasts would suffer endlessly.
For that reason, the villagers continued to fight to their last breaths so long as the Beast Tide was not repelled. Their homes were behind them, so nobody could retreat.
*Sou sou sou…*
Yang Kai released three arrows, and three giant beasts fell dead instantly. These impressive techniques left Ah Hua feeling dazzled. If she had been stunned by him drawing a bow and shooting with such great accuracy earlier, she was now completely unable to process what she saw in front of her, her mind going blank from the shock.
[I didn’t know that the bow could be used like that.] She had her pride as the best Spirit Archer in the village. Nobody else in the village could beat her when it came to archery; however, she had never heard of, nor seen archery like what Ah Niu was performing, shooting arrows at the same time.
[We can win this! We will definitely win this!]
Ah Niu’s sudden transformation gave her a shining ray of hope for victory. As long as he maintained his current pace, something as trivial as the Beast Tide would be nothing to worry about!
“Sister Hua, Brother Ah Niu, this is bad! We don’t have many arrows left! These are the last five bundles! Aunt Li told me to let you know to use them sparingly,” the young man in charge of logistics shouted, running up to them with a few bundles of arrows in his arms.
His words felt like a basin of ice-cold water pouring down on Ah Hua. One bundle of arrows contained ten, so five bundles meant fifty arrows. At best, they could only kill another fifty giant beasts. But, the Beast Tide won’t end with just fifty more deaths!
Ah Hua’s complexion paled suddenly. If there was no support from the archers, Ah Hu and the rest fighting desperately below would undoubtedly die. Thus, she turned around, glared at the young boy, and roared, “How can there be so few left?! What about the arrows in the warehouse?! Didn’t you take them out?!”
The young boy looked mournful, “We took them all out, but you are consuming the arrows too quickly! Even though Aunt Li and the others are doing their best to craft more, they can’t keep up with the demand.”
[Consuming the arrows too quickly? It’s not that we are using them too quickly, it’s that too much time has passed! There has never been a Beast Tide that lasted for this long before. The giant beasts are not retreating even though they are paying such a heavy price in this battle. This is different from all the other Beast Tides we encountered before in the past!]
Ah Hua looked up at the sky, where large snowflakes were falling heavily while the whistling of the bitterly cold winds echoed throughout the forests. It was winter, and the beasts were hoarding rations for the coming freeze, lest they starve to death in their caves when the weather turns frigid.
[What do we do? What do we do?!] The shock of this depressing news made Ah Hua falter. She bit her pale lips hard, practically drawing blood, yet not realizing it. She turned her head to look outside the village where the sight of those villagers leaving their backs to the archers without any worries pained her heart.
“I’m leaving this place to you!”
Ah Hua was stunned by those words and turned to look at Ah Niu, asking almost subconsciously, “What?”
Yang Kai took a deep breath and put down the huge bow in his hand before cracking his neck and smiling at her, “I’ll be right back!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he jumped off the wall and rushed towards the bloody battlefield. Ah Hua’s eyes bulged suddenly and she opened her mouth to shout at him, but her words were blown away by the howling of the cold wind. She did not even know whether he heard her or not.
He was simply courting death! His performance might have been pretty good when it came to drawing a bow and killing giant beasts from afar; however, long-range shooting and close combat were two different matters altogether! Fighting with the giant beasts, which were often ten metres long, required extraordinary physical fitness and the courage to face death. Regardless of his courage, Ah Niu’s physical strength was apparent. His body was smaller than that of the underaged children in the village, so what could he do even if he entered the battlefield? Those giant beasts would definitely make a quick snack of him!
After jumping off the wall, Yang Kai casually picked up a stone axe he found lying on the ground. He braved the harsh cold winds and walked through the mud mixed with the flesh and blood of those strange monsters, racing into the herd of beasts in the blink of an eye. From afar, it looked like a newly born lamb rushing headfirst into a pack of tigers and his body was buried under them in an instant.
Ah Hua couldn’t bear watching anymore, reaching out to pick up a bow as she secretly decided to avenge him.
“Sister Hua, look!” The young logistics boy had not left, however, and suddenly lifted his hand and pointed while exclaiming in excitement.
Glancing in the direction he was pointing, Ah Hua saw the giant beasts in that direction being blasted into the air for some unfathomable reason. They flailed helplessly mid-air before crashing to the ground, bleeding profusely, and dying instantly. Some of these beasts fell dead, while others with their huge bodies actually exploded mid-air. Some were even split cleanly in two.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of giant beasts that had gathered in that spot were killed, and at that moment, a not-so-burly figure stood there, tall and strong like a spear. The stone axe in his hands was covered in blood and bits of flesh.
“How?” Ah Hua was dumbfounded.
Similarly, the dozen or so Spirit Archers standing on the wall were equally dumbfounded by the sight, so much so that they forgot to continue providing support with their bows. All of them were staring blankly at the weak-looking figure standing there. The person they used to ridicule and spurn to the point of wanting to exile him from the village had turned out to be as powerful and mighty as an Ancient God on the battlefield that was covered in blood and flesh.
Standing there, that person gave off the feeling that he could take on anything that came his way, giving the villagers an unprecedented sense of calm. Moreover, there seemed to be loud laughter coming from that direction, though the wind was too strong for them to hear clearly. However, those with sharp eyes could clearly make out the excited and jubilant smile on this small figure’s face.
The commotion soon alarmed the other giant beasts and numerous pairs of scarlet eyes turned toward that direction while a low roar rang out indistinctly. Immediately following that, a portion of the giant beasts besieging the villagers split off from the group and surrounded Yang Kai.
Yang Kai held the stone axe in his hand as his aura rose steadily. When his sharp gaze swept over the giant beasts, it made them all pause for a moment. The wild beasts instinctively felt that the person in front of them… was not one to be trifled with.
The indistinct howl hidden in the freezing wind sounded again, and only then did the giant beasts move forward once more.
The mutilated corpse of a villager was lying beside Yang Kai, but even in death, this villager continued to grip his stone spear tightly, stabbing into the soft belly of a giant beast. He had taken the giant beast down with him, but had half his head bitten off as a price. This happened so long ago though that the blood had already coagulated.
Reaching out, Yang Kai picked up the stone spear. Holding an axe in one hand and a spear in the other, spinning them lightly to accustom himself to their weight and balance, Yang Kai inhaled a deep breath and stomped his feet on the ground to charge into the herd of beasts like a flash of lightning.
Like an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before, all of Yang Kai’s movements were simple and brutal chops, slashes, and stabs. Moreover, the weapons he used were the simplest and most primitive of weapons, a stone spear and a stone axe. Even so, these two simplistic weapons were given mysterious and miraculous effects in the hands of an Emperor Realm Master, even if his powers had been suppressed.
Yang Kai moved freely through the battlefield, defeating beasts as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. None of the giant beasts could stand against him, and one after another, they were thrown out or cut down. Every giant beast Yang Kai came across was left with shockingly large wounds. More importantly, all these wounds were fatal!
Whimpering continuously, the giant beasts retreated steadily. Consequently, the encirclement formed by hundreds of giant beasts was broken by Yang Kai. By the time he charged out of the encirclement, more than a third of his attackers lay dead on the ground.
At the forefront of the battle, a stoop-figured old man using spells to conceal his aura and his presence revealed a shocked expression. He stared at Yang Kai with murky eyes, as if recognizing him for the first time. Unfortunately, his great astonishment disturbed his mind and caused his Shamanic Spell to fail. As a result, his presence was revealed, and a giant beast nearby immediately lunged at him. The old man would have lost his life if nothing unexpected happened.
*Sou…*
A sharp arrow sliced through the air and shot through that giant beast’s head at that moment. The old man turned and glanced in the direction the arrow had come from only to see Ah Hua nodding at him lightly from the top of the wall.
“Village Chief, support me!” Yang Kai was covered in blood, and the internal organs of those giant beasts were splattered all over his body. Brimming with murderous intent, he grinned widely at the old man.
The old man shuddered in fear for some unknown reason upon seeing this sight, but even so, he raised his cane per Yang Kai’s request and a convoluted sound came from his lips. With a wave of his cane, a ray of light shot towards Yang Kai’s body.
In the next moment, Yang Kai felt the blood in his body boiling and raging like a wildfire. A dense layer of golden light appeared around his body next, making him look extremely majestic!
The old man felt even more shocked than before as turbulent waves in his heart were set off, his murky eyes immediately glowing brightly in response.
“So, this is the Bloodlust Spell!” Yang Kai breathed in lightly, distinctly feeling his strength increasing. Unfortunately, the Bloodlust Spell seemed to have several drawbacks. While it greatly increased one’s strength, it simultaneously weakened one’s five senses. However, Yang Kai, who had a cultivation at the Emperor Realm could ignore this level of dulling. Ordinary people like Ah Hu would have no way of compensating.
No wonder these villagers fought without fear of death when subjected to the Bloodlust Spell, it turned out it played a significant role in boosting their primal instincts such as courage. Deprived of their five senses, they no longer felt a strong sense of pain or fear. Hence, it was only natural that they were capable of fighting more bravely and recklessly than normal.
In any case, the golden light wrapping around Yang Kai’s body made him stand out from everyone else. While the others were giving off red light after being subjected to the Bloodlust Spell, only Yang Kai glowed with a golden light. That couldn’t be helped though, since the Bloodlust Spell stimulated one’s Blood Essence, and Yang Kai’s blood was golden.
“Take care of yourself, Village Chief! Don’t run around so much when you’re so old! Why don’t you go back and rest?” Yang Kai grinned at the old man. Then, he turned around and rushed into the herd of beasts again.
The old man’s mouth twitched in response. Despite the shock he felt, he did not forget to apply another concealment technique to himself. He was the Village Chief, as well as a respected Shaman. Hence, everybody in the village was very respectful toward him. In the past, Ah Niu didn’t even have the courage to look him in the eyes, so when did he find the courage to speak so brazenly to him?
Ah Niu had never made any contribution to the village before and instead had just used up food and shelter. Therefore, the old man once considered exiling Ah Niu from the village according to the villagers’ wishes, leaving him to fend for himself.
However, a life was at stake, and Ah Niu was still one of his villagers. Besides, the Village Chief strongly believed that Ah Niu would grow up one day and play his part as one of the villagers. In reality, Ah Niu’s performance over the years had been extremely disappointing. That was up until today, when he suddenly blazed with a blinding brilliance!
“We have been blessed by the Barbarian Gods!” The Village Chief parted his lips and muttered to himself as he watched Yang Kai rush back into the herd of beasts and begin a one-sided slaughter. Yang Kai was like a sharp sword of the Barbarian Gods, an unstoppable force emerging victorious on the battlefield.
The golden light wrapped around Yang Kai was so dazzling that it could not be concealed by the thickly falling snow. It sped across the battlefield and soon ploughed through the enemy ranks, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in its wake.
The giant beasts howled in panic as they slowly retreated from the battlefield. Conversely, the villagers became emboldened. Forming a human wall with their shields and bodies, they used the simplest group tactics to fearlessly drive the wild beasts out of their home.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai swapped out his broken stone axe and stone spear for new ones multiple times until the Beast Tide finally retreated. Now, the only sound was whipping winds and falling snowflakes as corpses and blood were scattered across the ground.
The villagers chased after the beasts for several dozen kilometres before finally stopping and letting out a thunderous roar in unison. That roar sounded like the roar of a great ancient beast, making the fleeing giant beasts flee in an even greater panic.
“We won! We won!”
The villagers cheered jubilantly. They were elated to have survived another Beast Tide; thus, their expressions were filled with joy as they danced and shouted.
“Ah Niu, is that really you!?” Ah Hu appeared out of nowhere, covered in blood but not severely injured, only suffering a bite wound on his abdomen. Widening his eyes, Ah Hu stared at Yang Kai for a while before patting him heavily on the shoulder and shouting, “I thought I saw wrongly!”
But how could he have been mistaken? The only one with this body shape in the village was Ah Niu. However, Ah Hu couldn’t believe his eyes even though he had noticed Yang Kai’s existence on the battlefield. It wasn’t until he saw Yang Kai for himself that he confirmed his suspicions.
The rest of the surviving villagers were also watching Yang Kai curiously. Their eyes were filled with gratitude and admiration. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai rushing into the herd of beasts at the last moment and turning the tide of the war, the fate of the village would have been disastrous. The Ancient Barbarian Race had simple rules and values, the first and foremost of which was that the strong ruled! In truth, this rule has continued to the present day even though the Ancient Barbarian Race had faded into history.
“This is a gift from the Barbarian Gods!” The old Village Chief walked up to Yang Kai shakily with his pitch-black cane in his hands.
In response, Yang Kai thought to himself. [I did all of this on my own! It has nothing to do with these so-called Barbarian Gods!] Unfortunately, these words could never be said out loud as they would make him the enemy of the entire Ancient Barbarian Race regardless of his contributions to the village. After all, blasphemy against the Barbarian Gods was the biggest taboo among the Ancient Barbarian Race.
“Village Chief, we killed so many beasts during this attack. Why don’t we hold a celebration?” Ah Hu looked at the Village Chief enthusiastically. Similarly, the rest of the villagers had looks of expectation in their eyes too.
Food was scarce in the village; however, hundreds of beasts had been killed during the Beast Tide this time. It was enough to feed the village for quite some time. The Village Chief had been worrying about their food supply for the winter just recently. Every year, many villagers would starve to death during winter; and this year was no exception. He had not expected such fortune to fall into his lap so suddenly. With the corpses of these beasts, there was no need to worry about food again this winter.
The Village Chief smiled and was just about to speak when Yang Kai stepped forward and said, “Village Chief, don’t you think that something is strange about the Beast Tide this time around?”
The Village Chief frowned and glanced at Yang Kai, “You noticed it too.”
Yang Kai was surprised, “Village Chief, what do you know?”
The Village Chief fell silent for a moment before answering, “It’s a Barbarian Beast. Only a Barbarian Beast can command a Beast Tide.”
Upon hearing those words, many villagers’ expressions changed drastically. That was because a Barbarian Beast was a very powerful existence, one only Shamans could deal with as raw physical strength was nothing in front of a Barbarian Beast.
“I see. So, it’s called a Barbarian Beast!” Yang Kai nodded. To him, it was just a weak beast that had gained some sentience and the ability to command others to form a Beast Tide. As a result, it caused the Beast Tide this time around to be so difficult to handle.
“Winter is here, so those beasts must be looking for rations as well. We might have repelled them this time, but they will definitely make a comeback if we don’t pull them out by the roots.”
The villagers’ expressions changed again as they knew that what Yang Kai said was right. Those wild beasts were nothing without that Barbarian Beast; however, things were different with a Barbarian Beast commanding them.
If the Beast Tide attacked again one day, it would surely be a disaster for the entire village. They had lost many warriors today; hence, they might not be able to cope with the next Beast Tide.
“Village Chief, why don’t we ask the clan for help?” Ah Hu suggested.
The Village Chief shook his head in response, “If we ask for help, most of the spoils we received today have to be dedicated to the clan. Are you willing to do that?”
When the villagers heard that, they shook their heads vigorously. So many of them had died in exchange for these trophies, so nobody would agree to give them away for nothing. Food was the foundation of survival in this land!
“What do we do then?” Ah Hu furrowed his brow.
Yang Kai piped up, “I’ll go kill it!”
After saying that, he turned around and headed in the direction the Beast Tide had retreated.
Ah Hu was shocked and hurriedly grabbed Yang Kai by the hand, urgently trying to convince him, “Ah Niu, don’t be rash! The Barbarian Beast is not something you can deal with.”
Yang Kai gently removed Ah Hu’s hand with a smile and replied, “It’s nothing but a Barbarian Beast. Just wait here for the good news.”
On the other hand, Ah Hu was stunned. When Yang Kai removed his hand, he felt a strength that shocked him greatly. [Is this really the Ah Niu that I know?]
“I’ll go with you!” He moved to chase after Yang Kai; however, he was hit by a wave of dizziness and staggered after taking several steps. The backlash from the Bloodlust Spell had set in. At this point, he wouldn’t be of much help even if he accompanied Yang Kai. Rather, he would become a burden. Thus, he could only watch as Yang Kai disappeared into the swirling snow. Turning his head, he asked, “Village Chief, what happened to Ah Niu?”
The villagers were curious too. The Ah Niu they saw today was like a completely different person compared to the Ah Niu they used to know.
The Village Chief remained silent for a long while before he replied, “The Barbarian Gods have given him strength. Ah Niu has shed his former self and has been reborn.”
The villagers reacted as if they received a sudden revelation; none of them seemed to doubt the explanation nor look even the slightest bit jealous.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai walked alone with a stone axe in his hand. This was an experience unlike any he had before. He was a living, breathing person, and the battle he just fought was undoubtedly real. It was almost as if he had broken the constraints of time and gone back to the ancient era. He had become a member of the Ancient Barbarian Race and was now witnessing this way of life firsthand.
He did not know what he would gain from this experience, but he knew that his sudden appearance in this village was the key. Obtaining the villagers’ goodwill might lead to unexpected gains; hence he was travelling alone to hunt down the cunning and hateful Barbarian Beast.
The Beast Tide had left behind many traces during their retreat and the snow-covered ground was full of their footprints. Although the snow was falling heavily, it was not enough to bury these traces in such a short time. Chasing after them, Yang Kai eventually caught up to the pack without expending much effort. However, the beasts were extremely swift-footed, so he couldn’t catch up to them quickly.
It wasn’t until evening that day that Yang Kai tracked the beasts to a certain canyon. The heavy snow had stopped by then, and countless footprints were left behind in the snowy ground of the canyon, along with many bloodstains.
From the outside, the canyon looked like a bottle gourd, a small entrance with a larger region further in. Furthermore, it was surrounded by cliffs and was brightly lit despite the time. Even at night, Yang Kai’s vision extended several thousand meters. More importantly, he could see the end of the canyon; it was a dead end.
[This will be simple!] Yang Kai grinned. He had no plans to complicate matters as he was only after a mere Monster Beast with some slight sentience after all. His body was still glowing with golden light from the Bloodlust Spell, so standing at the entrance of the canyon, he stuffed the stone axe into his belt, brought up his fists, and punched the cliffs.
*Hong hong hong…*
Loud noises reverberated throughout this bottle-gourd-shaped canyon, instantly alarming the herd of beasts that had just returned to this place not long ago. Numerous roars rang out as they rushed out of their hiding places.
When they emerged from their nests, the beasts were greeted by a dazzling golden light in the distance which made them stop in their tracks and stare in horror at the only exit of the canyon that was blocked by fallen rocks. During the day, their companions had suffered countless deaths and injuries at the hands of this person that exuded golden light; as such, they couldn’t help feeling afraid and hesitant to step forward when they saw the familiar and deadly golden light at this moment.
If they could have escaped, they would have fled as far away as they could in an instant. They never wanted to face this golden man again. Unfortunately, the only exit of the canyon had been sealed; leaving them no way out.
All this while, they had been the ones to attack the village of the Ancient Barbarian Race. They never expected the Ancient Barbarian Race to come to them one day. For that reason, the beasts lacked the knowledge and experiences to respond right away and were at a loss for what to do for a while.
At that critical moment, a low growl came from the depths of the canyon and the beasts reluctantly stepped forward as if complying with an order and surrounded Yang Kai. In response, Yang Kai grinned from ear to ear, revealing a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. Taking out the stone axe he had stuck in his belt, he approached the beasts slowly.
The killing spree started again in the next moment. Everywhere the golden light touched, the herd of beasts were defeated and scattered. One by one, the giant beasts collapsed in pools of their own blood.
Yang Kai’s pace was fast and steady, killing his way into the depths of the canyon. The roars and the howls of the beasts blended into one another, and the canyon was quickly filled with a strong stench of blood, which was extremely pungent.
Meanwhile, the stone axe in Yang Kai’s hand had long been smashed to pieces. Thus, he gave up on his weapon and clenched his fists instead, every punch he threw breaking the bones of the giant beasts.
At dawn, Ah Hu appeared outside the village with a pale face. He had yet to recover from the bloody battle yesterday, especially the effects of the Bloodlust Spell’s backlash. Even if he was one of the best warriors in the village, he would be weakened for several days at least; therefore, he couldn’t fight again within the next few days.
Still, he held his head high as he glanced at the large tree at the entrance of the village, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
A head popped out from among the foliage of the large tree. It was the young boy who was in charge of logistics on top of the wall from before. He replied, “I don’t see anything, Brother Ah Hu.”
Ah Hu frowned at those words with an anxious expression on his face. Ah Niu had gone after the Barbarian Beast yesterday and failed to return last night. Hence, the villagers were very worried about him. The young boy had hidden in the canopy of that tree for two reasons. One reason was that he was keeping watch; the other reason was that he wanted to look out for signs of Ah Niu’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the young boy’s reply disappointed Ah Hu greatly.
“Didn’t the Village Chief mention that Ah Niu has been blessed by the Barbarian Gods? Why are you still so worried about him?” Ah Hua appeared behind Ah Hu with a longbow on her back.
“Ah Niu received the blessing of the Bloodlust Spell, but now that one night has passed, the effects must have faded, and you know what consequences that will bring.”
Even if Ah Niu had been blessed by the Barbarian Gods, allowing him to shed his former self and be reborn, the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell could not be ignored by any of the Ancient Barbarians. If they were surrounded by the herd of beasts in that weakened state, they would undoubtedly end up as food.
“There’s no point worrying about him anyway. Just believe in the Barbarian Gods and in Ah Niu.” Ah Hua patted Ah Hu on the shoulder and turned to return to the village. Although the battle yesterday had not damaged the village, there were still many things to take care of.
“Brother Ah Hu… I see someone…” The young boy suddenly shouted at that moment.
“Who is it?!” Ah Hu raised his head and asked anxiously.
“I can’t see clearly!” The young boy replied.
“Then open your eyes wider!” Ah Hu roared.
The young boy felt speechless and thought to himself. [It’s not like opening my eyes wider will make me see things clearer!] However, he soon called out in alarm, “It’s a Barbarian Beast!”
He clearly saw the body of a Barbarian Beast approaching this direction at an extremely fast speed.
“What?!” Ah Hu and Ah Hua paled in shock and horror. Looking at each other, a terrifying thought involuntarily emerged in their minds. [The village is done for!]
The Barbarian Beast had returned to attack again. Thus, it was obvious what kind of fate had befallen Ah Niu, who left in pursuit of it. Besides, yesterday’s bloody battle had caused most of the warriors in the village to lose a lot of their fighting power. Who could stand up to the Barbarian Beast now that it was attacking at this time?
“No… wait…” The young boy corrected himself, his voice trembling in delight, “It’s Brother Ah Niu! It’s Brother Ah Niu!”
At this point, Ah Hu was about to lose his mind in frustration as he roared, “Why don’t you look carefully!? Is it Ah Niu or the Barbarian Beast?”
One was a person while the other was a beast, they couldn’t look more different! How poor was this boy’s eyesight to confuse the two of them?! Without saying anything, Ah Hua immediately rushed forward and quickly scaled the tree. Standing atop the canopy, she peered into the distance. As a Spirit Archer, her eyesight was incredibly sharp. Just because the young boy couldn’t see clearly did not mean that she couldn’t.
On the other hand, Ah Hu anxiously stood in place and waited while looking up at them. A moment later, Ah Hua lowered her head and smilingly announced, “It’s Ah Niu! Ah Niu brought the Barbarian Beast back with him!”
Ah Hu was stunned. He asked incredulously, “Ah Niu… killed the Barbarian Beast?”
Ah Hua climbed down from the tree, tossed her long braid behind her back, and nodded in affirmation, “That’s right! Ah Niu killed the Barbarian Beast!”
Ah Hu let out a long sigh of relief before immediately laughing wildly. Turning around, he yelled in the direction of the village, “Everyone! Come out! Ah Niu is returning after killing the Barbarian Beast! He killed the Barbarian Beast!”
All the villagers that were busy working were taken aback by this shout and could barely believe what they heard. Even so, they quickly put down their work and gathered at the entrance of the village, murmuring questioningly among themselves
“Did Ah Niu really kill the Barbarian Beast?”
“Who witnessed it?”
“Ah Hu, are you lying to us?”
“Is that good-for-nothing, Ah Niu, really that capable?”
“He is no longer a good-for-nothing now. It’s all thanks to him that we managed to repel the Beast Tide yesterday!”
“Wasn’t he too weak to even draw a bow before? How did he change so suddenly? It’s like he is a completely different person!”
“The Village Chief said that Ah Niu was blessed by the Barbarian Gods.”
…..
Yang Kai carried the dead Monster Beast over his shoulder, and before he arrived at the village’s entrance, he saw from afar that a large group of people had gathered there. Moreover, they were pointing in his direction.
Standing at the forefront of the group, Ah Hu beckoned and shouted at Yang Kai with a huge smile on his pale face.
[According to Ah Hua, Ah Hu used to share his food with me in the past. That’s the only reason I didn’t starve to death.] Yang Kai might not have personally experienced that, but this body belonging to this era had been graced by Ah Hu’s kindness. Therefore, he was aware of the concern that this young man of the Ancient Barbarian Race had shown him.
He responded to Ah Hu by lifting the Barbarian Beast from his shoulders, holding it up high in the air, and displaying it to the villagers from a distance. Immediately following that, the villagers shouted and cheered, rushing over to welcome the hero’s return.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by hundreds of villagers, each of them patting him on the shoulder cordially and enthusiastically with looks of admiration and gratitude. Then, they cleared the way and let him continue forward. Even though he did not understand what kind of custom this was, Yang Kai could feel their respect with every pat on the shoulder that he received.
The old Village Chief appeared leisurely at the entrance of the village with a cane in his hand. His entire stooped figure was trembling as if he was about to drop dead.
Yang Kai was followed by countless villagers as he walked over to the Village Chief and placed the Monster Beast on the ground, grinning as he said, “Village Chief, I killed the Barbarian Beast.”
The Village Chief studied the Barbarian Beast seriously and nodded, “Good!”
He didn’t give many praises, but it sounded even more honest and kind as a result. Thus, Yang Kai continued smiling in response.
By now, many young boys and young girls of the Ancient Barbarian Race had gathered around. They were staring at the Barbarian Beast on the ground as if it was their first time seeing something so ferocious. Their eyes were brimming with curiosity while some of the more daring ones even reached out their hands to touch it, but they retracted their hands upon receiving death glares from their parents.
At that moment, a young girl walked over from the back of the crowd while carrying a bowl filled with an opaque liquid in her hands. The faint fragrance of wine filled the air. The young girl walked over to Yang Kai and stared at him shyly. Even though she was blushing furiously, she did not shift her gaze away, her fiery gaze making him slightly uncomfortable and at a loss for what to do.
Strictly speaking, the women of the Ancient Barbarian Race did not fit Yang Kai’s sense of aesthetics; however, this young girl was a little different from the rest of the women here. Even though she was still very tall, she was quite a stunning beauty in his eyes.
Tilting his head, he looked at the Village Chief curiously.
In response, the Village Chief explained, “Only the best warriors in the village are eligible to drink this bowl of Sacred Wine. Go ahead and drink it.”
[It really is wine…] Despite smelling the fragrance of wine, Yang Kai couldn’t be sure that that bowl of opaque unknown liquid was really wine before the Village Chief explained.
Accepting the stone bowl from the young girl, Yang Kai downed the contents in one go. The burning sensation in his throat flowed all the way down to his abdomen and a strange power spread out from his stomach, causing his meridians to tremble slightly. He lifted an eyebrow in response. Before he had the time to observe the feeling carefully, the villagers around him picked him up and lifted him into the air. The villagers chanted the name ‘Ah Niu’, throwing him up and catching him before throwing him again…
Yang Kai lost count of how many young girls took advantage of the situation and unscrupulously molest his body with their hands, stroking his bare muscles and private parts. The women of the Ancient Barbarian Race were so unrestrained and straightforward that it made him furiously blush. It was bad enough that the young and immature girls were taking advantage of him, but why are there some elderly women joining them too!?
The whole village was filled with joy, making it as lively as the new year celebration. A long while later, the villagers finally put the dizzy Yang Kai down.
Yang Kai staggered slightly as he was struck by a feeling that was even stronger than the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell.
The Village Chief smiled and stretched out his hand to the side. The young boy, who had been keeping watch on the tree before, immediately took off the stone dagger around his waist and handed it to the Village Chief. Then, the Village Chief bent over and cut into the Barbarian Beast. It could be seen that he was very knowledgeable and skillful in this aspect and it did not take long for him to take out a round, fingernail-sized object from the body of the Barbarian Beast and hand it to Yang Kai, “Dissolve this with wine and drink it. You will become stronger after!”
Many of the villagers looked envious as their gazes were fixed on the round ball stained red with blood.
[Isn’t this a Monster Core? Moreover, it’s an extremely low-grade Monster Core.] Yang Kai accepted it as he realized the Ancient Barbarian Race consumed Monster Cores directly. This was reasonable as the Martial Dao wasn’t very well developed at this point in time, while Alchemy was essentially unheard of. How could they possibly refine pills or elixirs in such a state?
Although consuming Monster Cores directly could increase one’s strength, there were hidden dangers to doing so; after all, Monster Cores were the essence of Monster Beasts. Not only did it contain the Monster Beasts’ strength, but also their residual natures. Therefore, there was a high chance a person would have their mentality distorted by the wild nature of Monster Beasts if they consumed cores directly.
“This Barbarian Beast is your war trophy. Take it back with you. Eating its meat for a long time will also make you stronger,” the Village Chief said, pointing to the Barbarian Beast brought back by Yang Kai.
“En!” Yang Kai did not decline the offer. He had only been here for a day, so there was no time for him to get a better understanding of the ancient culture; but even so, he could tell from the straightforward attitudes of these villagers that they were all very sincere and simple people.
Yang Kai then paused for a moment before saying, “By the way, Village Chief, there are more than three hundred dead beasts in the valley where I killed this Barbarian Beast. Do you want to bring them back? If so, I can lead the way.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, many villagers looked overjoyed. The Village Chief replied, “Naturally, we cannot let any precious food source go to waste. Still, let’s wait for a few days so that everybody can get some rest. Everyone is still too tired.”
Ah Hu smiled and said, “Village Chief, Ah Niu is back now, and we also have enough food for the winter. Shouldn’t we celebrate today?”
His saliva nearly flowed out of his mouth as he spoke. Likewise, the other villagers stared at the Village Chief with eyes full of expectations even though none of them said anything.
“Do you only think about eating!?” The Village Chief raised his cane and smacked Ah Hu’s head lightly. Ah Hu didn’t evade and received the blow before rubbing his head with an embarrassed chuckle. He had a brazen expression on his face.
Seeing the looks on everyone’s faces, the Village Chief eventually relented, “Fine then. We shall feast today!”
All the villagers suddenly cheered aloud.
As the saying went ‘food was the most important thing in life’, that was an unchanging principle. During the ancient times, being able to eat until they burst was definitely the most luxurious enjoyment one could have.
The Ancient Barbarian Race’s cooking methods were extremely simple, meat was roasted. They skewered large chunks of the beasts’ meat on wooden poles, set up bonfires everywhere in the village, and grilled the meat over the fire. The golden colour and the crackling grease of the meat whet one’s appetite greatly.
Even though they had obtained the meat yesterday, the entire village, including the Village Chief, had not taken a single bite out of it. That was because they had been waiting for the hero to return! Now that Ah Niu had returned, it was naturally time to celebrate.
The smell of barbeque soon drifted across the entire village. They did not use any complicated condiments and simply grabbed the meat with their bare hands, tore into it with large bites, and swallowed it. Some of the meat was still bloody and slightly undercooked, but even so, the villagers couldn’t care less as they ate the meat with gusto.
Meanwhile, the fattiest cut of the meat from the beasts was placed in front of Yang Kai. This treatment was not even enjoyed by the most respected Village Chief. This was because Yang Kai was the one that contributed the most to repelling the Beast Tide and slaying the Barbarian Beast, so it was only natural for him to receive the best treatment.
Yang Kai originally planned to casually respond to their treatment; after all, it didn’t matter even if he didn’t eat anything with his current cultivation. However, a gurgling sound came from his stomach when the smell of the barbecue entered his nose, stunning him greatly.
[I actually… feel hungry?! How is that possible? I’m an Emperor Realm Master!] Yang Kai no longer needed to eat anything, and under normal circumstances, it would be enough for him to simply absorb ambient World Energy to replenish his body’s needs. Yet, he actually felt hungry in this strange place! On top of that, he was even feeling fatigued.
[How is this world so realistic?!] He couldn’t ponder over it deeply. Affected by the villagers, he reached out to grab the cooked meat and wolfed it down.
The village women took out preserved dried vegetables, and the Village Chief also ordered for the sealed fruit wine to be fetched. The whole village was filled with an extremely lively and festive atmosphere. Even so, they did not neglect their defences and remained vigilant of their surroundings outside the village just in case the smell of barbeque attracted wild beasts to them.
The celebration lasted a whole day.
Yang Kai didn’t know how much he ate or how much fruit wine he drank, but in the end, he became faintly drunk. Staggering back to the log house where he lived, he immediately fell onto his bed.
At that moment, he noticed somebody entering his log house in his dazed state.
Despite being weary and drunk, he was still an Emperor Realm Master, so he opened his eyes immediately and shouted, “Who?!”
Just as the words left his mouth, he felt a scalding hot body slipping under his blanket made of animal skins. Subsequently, an arm reached out to hug his waist and a head buried itself in his chest. Furthermore, a delicate fragrance entered his nose while strands of messy long hair tickled his face. There was no hostility, but the person lying in his arms seemed to be breathing rather heavily and trembling slightly.
Yang Kai snapped awake instantly and tilted his head back. With the help of the dim moonlight coming in from outside his window, he finally saw the appearance of the person lying in his arms.
“Why are you here?!” Yang Kai stared at the young girl in astonishment. It was the tall girl who had served him the bowl of Sacred Wine when he returned yesterday. Her soft and warm body in his arms made him become more and more aware of an amazing elasticity pressing up against him.
“Brother Ah Niu…” the young girl murmured. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. Despite her shyness, she made a bold gesture and pouted her red lips, making her look extremely seductive.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling dazed and subconsciously asked, “What are you doing here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had asked a stupid question. This girl had already given such obvious signals, so what else could she be trying to do? Sure enough, the young girl whispered, “Brother Ah Niu, Ah Ni turns fifteen years old today…”
She did not provide a thorough explanation, but even so, Yang Kai could vaguely guess what it meant for a girl from the Ancient Barbarian Race to turn fifteen years old. It probably meant that she was now an adult and a full-fledged woman! One should be given an amazing birthday gift on their fifteenth birthday. Moreover, it was her decision to dedicate herself to the best warrior in the village.
Upon realizing this, Yang Kai immediately felt awkward. If this had been the real world, it would have still been acceptable. The Ancient Barbarian Race was known to be very open to these kinds of things and they were not as rigid and conservative as ordinary present-day women. This would be considered nothing more than a love affair, and nobody lost anything from it.
Unfortunately, this place was a Sealed World! Even now, Yang Kai couldn’t figure out whether this place was real or just an elaborate illusion. If it was the latter, then what was the point of doing this? If he were to do such a thing with an illusion, what difference would that be from pleasuring himself?!
Just as he was mulling over this, the young girl arched back slightly and pressed her fiery body against his skin, as if trying to melt him with her heat. Lifting her head slightly, she whispered into his ear, “Brother Ah Niu, do you like Ah Ni?”
Deciding to bite the bullet, Yang Kai replied, “Of course I do!”
The desire for beauties was universal, to say nothing of such a pure and beautiful ancient-styled young girl. Ah Ni smiled brightly and, flipping up, she sat on his body, lifted her hands, and pulled at something. The simple animal skin top that she was wearing instantly came off, and under the pale moonlight, her perfect curves were clearly displayed before him.
Yang Kai suddenly felt as if he was about to suffer from a nosebleed.
How many years had it been… How many years was it since he last felt a woman’s skin? Yang Kai had remained abstinent ever since he left Heng Luo Star Field, so faced with such a stimulating scene, he felt incredibly overwhelmed even though his mental discipline was incredibly strong.
“Wait! Wait…” He hastily spoke up.
“What is it?” She glanced at him curiously.
Thinking on his feet, Yang Kai swallowed and said, “I’m injured! I’ve been severely injured!”
She covered her mouth with her hands, seemingly surprised by his words. She worriedly asked, “Is it serious?”
Yang Kai awkwardly replied as he glanced away, “It’s not that serious…”
“Then, it’s fine,” Upon hearing those words, she reached out to take off his clothes; however, Yang Kai gripped his clothes tightly, feeling extremely conflicted inside as he said, “Ah Ni, please don’t be rash!”
Pausing in her actions, she looked at him a little incredulously, “Brother Ah Niu, do you hate me?”
“Of course not!” He hurriedly denied.
“Then, why…” She pursed her lips lightly, feeling as if she had received a direct blow from a giant beast and suffered great damage as a result.
“I just feel that we should be more cautious about these kinds of things!” He replied solemnly.
Ah Ni looked at Yang Kai earnestly. After a long while, she turned around and grabbed her clothes that had been thrown aside. Flipping her body, she got up from his body and ran out the door with tears in her eyes.
“Ah Ni…” Yang Kai shouted after her. Even so, how could he possibly receive a response from her? All of a sudden, he felt lost as if he had a huge and empty void in his chest.
He had completely sobered up after Ah Ni pulled this little stunt on him. Thus, he decided to get up and sit cross-legged on the bed. His thoughts were a mess, and it took quite a while for him to calm down and consider how he should proceed in this Sealed World.
This strange place completely suppressed and sealed his Emperor Qi as soon as he had entered. All he could rely on here was the power of his body. When hunting down the Barbarian Beast from before, Yang Kai had tried to mobilize his Spiritual Energy, but he quickly discovered that both his Spiritual Energy and Emperor Qi had been sealed. He could not sense even the slightest trace of them.
[There were only five days before the one-month period ended when I entered the fifth layer, and I’ve been in this village for two days, so I only have three more days before I have to leave the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. What can I get from this Sealed World within three days? No matter how I look at it, what can this dilapidated old village give me? At my peak I could wipe out several of these villages with a sneeze!]
Subconsciously Yang Kai circulated his Secret Art and was immediately stunned by what he discovered. He could feel a trace of power circulating in his meridians! Although it was very weak, so weak that it was practically non-existent, it was definitely Emperor Qi.
[Why did my Emperor Qi suddenly reappear?] Yang Kai frowned. Then, he suddenly remembered that when he had just returned from slaying the Monster Beast today, he drank a bowl of Sacred Wine. After that, he vaguely felt an abnormality in his meridians. Yang Kai was just about to check on the abnormality, but unfortunately, the villagers’ enthusiasm had interrupted him.
[Is it because of that bowl of wine?] Yang Kai also drank some alcohol during the celebration banquet today, but it did not have the same effects as the bowl of wine Ah Ni had served to him before. [That bowl of wine Ah Ni served to me must have been specially handed to her by the Village Chief.]
This discovery made Yang Kai a little overjoyed. [That bowl of murky wine made my meridians produce some Emperor Qi, so what if I get more of it? Is it possible for me to restore some of my strength? Maybe even restore my power to its peak?]
Yang Kai couldn’t wait to go to the Village Chief and ask for more of that wine to confirm his suspicions. Even though he had yet to meet with any danger since entering this Sealed World, he couldn’t help wanting to take precautions; after all, Shamans existed in this ancient era, and a powerful Shaman was nothing like the old Village Chief; they were masters not inferior to the present-day cultivators.
Turning his head to look out the window, Yang Kai saw the moonlight shining brightly outside and sighed. [Everything can only wait until tomorrow. I wonder when I’ll fall back asleep again.]
At dawn the next day, Yang Kai woke up at first light and walked out of his log house. Many villagers were already up and working, but when they saw him, they looked respectful and nodded at him lightly. However, the moment they turned around, they also chuckled softly. Some of them even gathered together and pointed in his direction. If it had been only one or two, it would not have mattered. Unfortunately, all the villagers he met reacted the same way, making it difficult for Yang Kai to even ask them where the Village Chief’s house was.
[What’s going on?] He was utterly bewildered.
“I heard that Ah Ni went to your house last night and came out very quickly.” Ah Hu asked with a sly smile, appearing out of nowhere and wrapping his arm around his shoulders.
Yang Kai was shocked and asked, “How did you know?”
Ah Hu chuckled non-stop and pointed with his hand, “Everybody knows.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt exasperated. No wonder the villagers were acting so strange. It turned out it was because of this…
“How did everybody find out?” Yang Kai looked embarrassed. Although he was not too bothered, he did not know whether it would compromise Ah Ni’s reputation; after all, the village was not that big. If news about this got out, it would surely become public knowledge.
Ah Hu explained, “The night watch saw.” Then, he immediately leaned over and acted as if he was trying to be mysterious. He asked in a whisper, “Are you… incapable of doing it?”
“You’re the incapable one!” Yang Kai became livid. In response, Ah Hu burst into laughter.
“Village Chief! How are you doing?” Inside a dilapidated log house, Yang Kai met with the only Shaman in the village. The Village Chief woke up rather early even though he was getting on in his years and at this moment, he was holding a bowl containing a sticky porridge and eating it with relish.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s voice, he glanced over, but only put down his bowl when he finished eating and said, “Oh, it’s Ah Niu. What’s the matter?”
“I wanted to ask you for some Barbarian Sacred Wine!” Yang Kai got straight to the point.
“The Barbarian Sacred Wine…” The Village Chief was stunned for a moment before he got up with the help of his cane and asked, “Why do you want the Barbarian Sacred Wine?”
“It was tasty, so I wanted to drink it again!” Yang Kai replied.
The corners of the Village Chief’s mouth twitched; however, he soon seemed to notice something and carefully looked Yang Kai up and down. An astonished light shone from his turbid eyes as he asked in a shaky voice, “Did you… Did you unlock the Shaman Strength?”
“What?” Yang Kai was taken aback. The Village Chief had changed the topic so quickly that he couldn’t keep up with what he was thinking.
“Give me your hand!” The Village Chief excitedly stretched out his hand and grabbed Yang Kai’s.
Despite being dubious about it, Yang Kai did not refuse, allowing the large and aged hand to grab his wrist. In the next moment, he felt a weak force invading his meridians and continuing upward along his wrist.
Following that, the Village Chief began trembling even more strongly. His aged face turned red as if he had gotten several decades younger in an instant and he exclaimed with pleasant surprise, “It’s really the Shaman Strength! The Blue South Village will finally have a successor!”
“Are you talking about this?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he activated the meagre amount of Emperor Qi in his body and produced a small burst of light at the tips of his fingers.
The Village Chief stared at Yang Kai fiercely and nodded repeatedly, “This is the Shaman Strength!” While speaking, he walked out of the log house and fell to his knees. He had a pious look on his face as he clasped his hands together in prayer, “Thank you for your gift, O’ Barbarian Gods! Thank you for your protection!”
Yang Kai frowned slightly. He stepped forward and helped the Village Chief up, lest the Village Chief keel over suddenly because he was overly excited. Subsequently, the Village Chief took a deep breath and patted Yang Kai on the shoulder, “Ah Niu, from now on, you are a Shaman too! I’m very happy!”
Yang Kai said, “Yeah… But, I am very confused!”
The Village Chief chuckled, “Don’t be confused. The Barbarian Gods will guide you in the right direction. You came looking for me because you felt this power, right? That’s why you wanted more Barbarian Sacred Wine.
“En!” Yang Kai nodded. He stuck his head into the house and looked around. Despite being the Village Chief, this log house barely had anything in it. Everything inside was clear at a glance, so Yang Kai couldn’t find any traces of the Barbarian Sacred Wine anywhere.
“I don’t have any more of the Barbarian Sacred Wine. That bowl yesterday was all that remained in this village.” The old Village Chief seemed to have seen through Yang Kai’s intentions and explained, “The Barbarian Sacred Wine was originally brewed to unlock Shaman Strength in our Ancient Barbarian Race. It requires many ingredients and the brewing method is extremely complicated. That bowl was all that remained after the ceremony two years ago.”
“Ceremony?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
The Village Chief continued, “Did you forget? Two years ago, you, Ah Hu, and all the other young people in the village participated in the ceremony. It was a ceremony to check if any of you had the aptitude to become a Shaman! It’s a pity none of you passed at the time.”
Yang Kai had a vague understanding of what the Village Chief was talking about.
“I can’t believe you suddenly acquired the Shaman Strength though!” The Village Chief was so relieved that he looked like he wouldn’t have any regrets even if he died at this moment.
“Is there really no more Barbarian Sacred Wine?” Yang Kai asked again, refusing to give up. He wanted to verify if he could use the Barbarian Sacred Wine to restore part of his strength, but it seemed he was faltering at this first step.
Yang Kai had experimented a little before this, and using his Secret Art here did not increase his power in any way. It seemed as though the World Energy in this era was vastly different from the World Energy in the era he came from, making it incompatible with the arts he had learned.
The Village Chief shook his head in response, “No, there’s no more. Besides, the Barbarian Sacred Wine will have no more effect on you since you have already unlocked your Shaman Strength.”
[I will only know if it has any effect on me once I try it out!] Yang Kai retorted in his heart.
All of a sudden, the Village Chief smiled brightly and looked at Yang Kai before asking in a bewitching tone, “Ah Niu, do you want to obtain greater power? Do you want to become a stronger Shaman?”
Yang Kai immediately nodded his head so vigorously that he looked like a chicken pecking greedily at rice.
The Village Chief chuckled at the sight. [This young man is promising; he is worth teaching.] Waving Yang Kai inside, he said, “Come in!”
The two of them then entered the house, one after the other, and immediately following that, the Village Chief scoured through his cabinets and dug out something that looked like a tortoiseshell from some random corner of the room. He handed the shell to Yang Kai and said, “Follow the teachings written on it to cultivate. In time, you will become a Shaman Warrior, a Shaman Master, and even a Shaman Grandmaster! I’m getting old, but you’re still young! I will leave the village to you in the future!”
Yang Kai took the tortoiseshell from the Village Chief with a solemn expression. It felt like he was being entrusted with a mission at a critical and difficult moment where the fate of the entire world rested on his shoulders. Moreover, his stature abruptly became much greater than before.
Then, Yang Kai scratched his head and asked, “Village Chief, what is this?”
The Village Chief looked at him in bewilderment and explained, “This is a Shaman’s cultivation method.”
“What?!” Yang Kai was shocked. He looked at the Tortoise Shell in his hand and exclaimed in surprise, “This is the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method?!”
“What are you going on about being Ancient or whatnot?” The Village Chief shook his head, “As long as you cultivate according to the teachings written on that, you will soon become much stronger.”
“But… I can’t read this…” Yang Kai glanced at the Village Chief helplessly.
Small, dense words were scrawled across the Tortoise Shell. Unfortunately, the characters written on it were completely different from the characters that Yang Kai was familiar with, so he could not read a single word.
The Village Chief’s mouth fell open in surprise. A long while later, he sighed and said, “It looks like we should start by teaching you how to read.”
Yang Kai stayed in the Village Chief’s house for the entire day. It wasn’t until evening rolled around that he stepped out of the house.
The Village Chief taught Yang Kai about the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation methods recorded on the Tortoise Shell in one day. Then, he taught Yang Kai many ancient characters. Initially, Yang Kai had not been willing to learn how to read as it was enough as long as the Village Chief explained the Secret Art recorded on the Tortoise Shell to him.
However, one sentence from the Village Chief was enough to change his mind, “When you become stronger one day, you will have more choices to make when it comes to cultivation methods. How are you going to cultivate those methods if you can’t read?”
Yang Kai felt that those words were reasonable, and in any case, there was no loss to learning something extra. Thus, he calmed down and focused on studying.
Yang Kai’s comprehension ability was so high that the Village Chief was practically beside himself, beaming with joy. The Village Chief himself had taken three years to completely understand the cultivation methods recorded on the tortoiseshell while Yang Kai had already gotten a rudimentary understanding of it in just a single day. Although it was partly thanks to the chief’s guidance, there was no doubt that this child named Ah Niu had an unprecedented ability to comprehend the teachings.
That was only to be expected though as Yang Kai was an Emperor Realm Master. He had been exposed to various Secret Arts and Secret Techniques throughout his life, so he could almost understand everything about this technique after reading it just once. Besides, the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation methods were not that advanced or difficult. Yang Kai easily learned everything and in fact, he would not have needed the Village Chief’s guidance if not for the fact that he couldn’t read the ancient characters.
Yang Kai’s stomach rumbled the moment he returned to his log house. He was utterly famished. This feeling of hunger was very nostalgic and he had no choice but to cut some beast meat, boil it in a pot, and wolf it down.
After filling his stomach, he began to cultivate using the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method and was overjoyed when the Secret Arts began to activate. World Energy that he couldn’t absorb no matter how hard he tried last night now began to flood into his body. With the help of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method, he turned this World Energy into his own power, bit by bit.
At the same time, he clearly felt an energy source forming in his abdomen. Inexplicable energy gradually spread out from his lower belly and began filling his meridians. This energy source was formed from something he was not used to as it seemed all energy became the same under the transformation of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method.
[It’s the essence of the Monster Beast’s flesh and blood!] Yang Kai instantly understood the truth of the matter. What he had eaten before was the flesh of a Monster Beast, and at this moment, the essence from that Monster Beast’s flesh was being turned into his own power under the guidance of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method.
This way of refining a Monster Beast’s flesh and blood was much more convenient and rapid than slowly cultivating with ambient World Energy. In just a quarter of an hour, a gurgling sound came from his abdomen again as he completely digested the meat.
[I can’t believe I’m hungry again.] Yang Kai frowned. The sudden drop in the cultivation efficiency made him quite unhappy. Thus, he quickly got up and cooked another pot of beast meat, swiftly filled his belly, and continued cultivating.
…….
At midnight, Yang Kai finished off an entire Monster Beast, leaving only the skeleton behind. It was such a terrifying way of eating that if the rest of the villagers learned about it, they would surely be shocked. The meat of a Monster Beast was not something that could be consumed so easily as one’s mind would surely be affected by the hidden Monster Qi without a strong force suppressing it. Fortunately, Yang Kai now had the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method so forget about a trivial and weak Monster Beast, Yang Kai would have no trouble consuming a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast.
After cultivating for some time, he deeply experienced the simplicity and crudeness of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method. It was just like a Monster Beast’s method. Monster Beasts had no Secret Arts as there was a far easier way to become stronger, eating. They ate to become stronger, thus the more they ate, the stronger they became.
To some extent, the Ancient Barbarian Shaman cultivation methods harmonized with the way of survival of the Monster Beasts. It later underwent countless generations of improvement and evolution to create modern Secret Arts.
Having finished eating the meat of the Monster Beast, Yang Kai had another flash of inspiration. He took out a round Monster Core from the head of his bed. [If the flesh and blood of the Monster Beast can be eaten, then the Monster Core should be okay too, right?]
His current body was enough to safely digest a trivial and weak Monster Beast Core; however, anybody else would have had to weigh their options carefully if they were to do the same thing. Otherwise, the Village Chief wouldn’t have told him to consume the Monster Core by soaking it in wine. Even so, Yang Kai simply opened his mouth and swallowed the Monster Core directly.
As his Secret Arts began to activate, Yang Kai soon felt a burst of energy in his lower abdomen. It was a hundred times fiercer than before as the Monster Core of a Monster Beast was the very essence of its strength. It was the most valuable part of a Monster Beast’s body, and even a Shaman Apprentice like the Village Chief would most likely explode and die if he were to consume it directly.
As for Yang Kai, all he felt was a little heat coming from his abdomen at most. Then… there was nothing else after that.
“Y-You…” In front of the dilapidated log house, the Village Chief looked at Yang Kai dumbfounded. His mouth was agape, and his murky eyes were filled with shock. He could barely speak a coherent sentence as a result.
Only one night had passed, but he discovered that Ah Niu had become a Shaman Apprentice!
[A Shaman Apprentice! I worked so hard throughout my entire life, and yet I am still just a Shaman Apprentice. I can’t believe Ah Niu achieved that in just one night! Compared to him, I have lived my entire life for nothing…]
He could sense that the vitality in Yang Kai’s body was extremely strong and the Shaman Strength lingering on the surface of Yang Kai’s body seemed to be several times more powerful than his, even though he was also a Shaman Apprentice.
“Village Chief, time is pressing, so let’s not waste it on nonsense. Please teach me all the spells you know as soon as possible.” Yang Kai went straight into the Village Chief’s log house. He had been in this village for three days now, so he only had two more days left. Naturally, he needed to hurry up.
Taken aback, the Village Chief followed Yang Kai inside obediently.
The two of them spent the whole morning studying. In addition to the few Shamanic Spells that the Village Chief taught to Yang Kai, the Village Chief also explained the divisions of the Shaman Strength.
Just yesterday, Yang Kai unlocked his Shaman Strength and was recognized by the ‘Barbarian Gods’. Strictly speaking, he could not be considered a true Shaman Apprentice at the time; however, he had become a true Shaman Apprentice today, which was the actual starting realm for Shamans.
Standing above the Shaman Apprentice was the Shaman Warrior, followed by the Shaman Master, Shaman Grandmaster, Shaman King, Shaman Saint, and the Shaman God which stood at the highest realm! Moreover, each realm was divided into three ranks: Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, and High-Rank.
For example, the Village Chief was a Mid-Rank Shaman Apprentice! Meanwhile, Yang Kai was now a genuine High-Rank Shaman Apprentice, one realm higher than the Village Chief and one step away from becoming a Shaman Warrior. Yang Kai could learn more powerful Shamanic Spells after becoming a Shaman Warrior, but it was a pity that the Village Chief did not know any such Shamanic Spells and could not teach them to him.
According to the Village Chief, the most powerful of them all, the Shaman Gods, were just legends among the many realms. No Shaman God had ever appeared. Although there were several Shaman Saints, they only belonged to the more powerful clans.
On the other hand, the Blue South Village belonged to the South Barbarian Clan. The strongest Shaman in the clan was only a Shaman King, a Great Realm lower than a Shaman Saint.
During the study session in the morning, Yang Kai not only learned how to read many ancient characters, but he also gained a deeper understanding of this ancient world. The second most important thing was that he learned the Bloodlust Spell!
That could be considered as the first harvest he gained in this Sealed World. The Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method he learned yesterday was of no value as it only allowed him to cultivate in this world. That cultivation method would become useless once he left this Sealed World, but the Bloodlust Spell could occasionally be used.
However, the Village Chief had mentioned that the Bloodlust Spell he mastered was only the lowest level of the technique. Not only was the duration of the technique extremely short, but the backlash was also very severe. The Bloodlust Spell mastered by the Shaman Grandmasters of large clans was far better than the one the Village Chief knew. Even though there were still drawbacks to such spells, they did not cause the people to be weakened for several days as a consequence. It was just that one needed an equally strong ability to support the casting of such a powerful Bloodlust Spell.
At noon, Yang Kai walked out of the Village Chief’s house. It wasn’t that he did not seek to make more progress, but rather that the Village Chief had nothing else to teach him at the moment. Besides the ancient characters, the Village Chief had already taught Yang Kai everything he learned in his life. Meanwhile, Yang Kai learned and understood everything at once. His brilliance utterly shocked the Village Chief.
“From now on, come here every day to learn how to read for an hour. You can only rely on your own efforts to further your cultivation. I have nothing else to teach you.” When the Village Chief saw Yang Kai off, his tone was a little lonely and a little relieved.
Regardless of the era, the next generation would eventually overtake the previous. Even so, Yang Kai’s outstanding performance had made the Village Chief aware of his own incompetence and powerlessness.
All of a sudden, bursts of pained shouts and screams entered Yang Kai’s ears. He paled in shock, thinking that the village was under attack again, but upon lifting his head to look, he realized that he had been overthinking things. He saw that the villagers were gathered in a spacious place within the village and posing in extremely weird postures that could even redefine the limits of human shame, regardless of gender.
Their muscles trembled uncontrollably as large drops of sweat rolled off their skin and dripped onto the ground. Among all the various postures, the villagers seemed to insist on doing the most difficult ones. Occasionally, they even let out a scream or two but all insisted on continuing.
Yang Kai had sharp vision and vast experience, so he immediately realized that this was a kind of Body Tempering Art. Feeling surprised, he walked over to observe. He did not know what kind of effect this method of Body Tempering would bring, but he could tell just by looking at the physiques of the villagers in this Ancient Barbarian Race village that their Body Tempering Art was pretty impressive.
“Ah Niu!” Ah Hu had his head down with his hands propped against the ground and his body arched into the shape of a bow. When he saw Yang Kai walking over, he called out suddenly. Unfortunately, his expression changed drastically the moment he spoke. As if being struck by a heavy blow, his arched body suddenly bounced back and he flew out several tens of meters away before slamming into a tree and spitting out blood.
Yang Kai was shocked and hurriedly rushed over to help Ah Hu up, asking, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Ah Hu grinned from ear to ear. Reaching up, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as if he was accustomed to it, “Congratulations! I heard from the Village Chief that you unlocked your Shaman Strength!”
“It was a fluke!” Yang Kai smilingly replied.
Ah Hu shook his head in response, “That’s not a fluke; it’s a gift from the Barbarian Gods!” He patted Yang Kai on the shoulder heavily and earnestly said, “Ah Niu, you are a Shaman now, which means you will be the next Village Chief. You better cultivate well; the future of the village depends on you!”
Yang Kai responded with a wry smile. He would be leaving in two days, so what future could there be? However, he didn’t say much to these people that might be characters in an illusion. He simply changed the topic and said, “You seem to be in the middle of cultivating…”
Ah Hu said, “That’s right! Do you want to join us?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Sure! But, I don’t know how to do it.”
“Come! Come! I’ll teach you!” Ah Hu was extremely enthusiastic as he dragged Yang Kai into the training session, smiling very cheerfully as he did.
[Ah Niu is really different now. He has turned into a completely different person ever since he received the Barbarian Gods’ blessing. He used to refuse whenever I tried to drag him along to cultivate together, preferring to stay in his house rather than interact with the villagers. However, that very same Ah Niu now took the initiative to cultivate!] Naturally, Ah Hu was overjoyed beyond words.
Even if Ah Niu was now a Shaman, a strong body was still fundamental. Thus, Ah Hu immediately began to teach Yang Kai. These Ancient Barbarians were not Shamans and could not use Shaman Strength. Therefore, their cultivation was directed toward their bodies. In other words, it was Body Tempering!
In contrast to the rest of the villagers assuming different poses, Ah Hu explained the various movements of Body Tempering to Yang Kai, which he promptly memorized.
The body was not just crucial to the Ancient Barbarian Race, it could not be ignored in the present day either. Unfortunately, most present-day cultivators only focused on the improvement of their cultivation and neglected the tempering of their bodies. They were ignorant that the body was the carrier of all their power, and only with a mighty physical body could they exert their full strength. Yang Kai himself was a beneficiary of a powerful physical body, thus, he understood this concept very well.
The whole set of the Barbarian Body Tempering Arts took Yang Kai only an hour to master, but he was secretly surprised when he did. Although he had not personally cultivated nor verified the results yet, this Body Tempering Art was undoubtedly very sophisticated. [So, the Ancient Barbarian Race uses this Body Tempering Art… No wonder all of them are as strong as Dragons and Tigers!]
Regardless of whether this place was an illusion or whether the people and the things that he was in contact with were illusions, this set of Barbarian Body Tempering Arts alone was enough to make this trip worthwhile.
Since his physical body was incredibly strong, this Body Tempering Art could not bring about much improvement to him personally; however, that was not the case for the disciples of High Heaven Palace nor his friends and relatives back in Heng Luo Star Field. If they cultivated this Barbarian Body Tempering Art, their physiques would certainly improve several times over. It would also make it easier for them to progress with their cultivation.
After experimenting in person, Yang Kai became certain of his conjecture. This Barbarian Body Tempering Art was very impressive. Cultivating it in his current body was a little strenuous even for him. Moreover, his muscles seemed to have become denser while his entire body was sore.
The whole afternoon was spent cultivating, and when night fell, many of the villagers finally returned home, exhausted. Meanwhile, Ah Hu warmly welcomed Yang Kai over to his house.
Thinking about the lack of food back home, Yang Kai decided that he might as well grab a free meal at Ah Hu’s place and nodded in agreement.
This lifestyle repeated for the next two days. Yang Kai spent an hour in the mornings to learn ancient characters at the Village Chief’s house, then he joined Ah Hu and the rest in their Body Tempering training. When night fell, he would return to his log house, sit down cross-legged, and cultivate in meditation.
Without the supplement of Monster Beast meat and Monster Cores though, Yang Kai’s cultivation speed slowed greatly. He had not been able to break through to the Shaman Warrior Realm even though two days had passed.
Still, it didn’t matter anymore. It was already the fifth day and the one-month deadline was almost here. It was time for Yang Kai to say goodbye to this world, so sitting in his log house, he no longer looked for anybody and waited to be kicked out of this Sealed World.
…
Three days later, Ah Hu knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened and Yang Kai looked out with bloodshot eyes.
“Ah Niu, why didn’t you show up over the past few days? The Village Chief told me to check up on you! Everybody is very worried about you!”
Hundreds of villagers stood uniformly behind Ah Hu. Even Ah Ni, who was brought to tears because of Yang Kai the other night, stood among the crowd, her beautiful eyes filled with concern.
“Did something happen?” Ah Hu asked nervously.
“It’s nothing. I was just cultivating the Shamanic Spell the Village Chief taught me and lost track of time. I’m sorry for worrying you all,” Yang Kai forced a smile.
Upon hearing those words, Ah Hu breathed out in relief, “That’s great. We thought… Oh, right! The Village Chief mentioned that he wants to bring back the dead beasts from the canyon you mentioned, so we need you to lead the way. It’s going to start snowing again, so we won’t be able to leave the village anymore if we don’t go soon.”
“Alright. You get organized and I’ll come find you in a bit!” Yang Kai replied before closing the door again, all the while roaring in his heart, [What the hell is going on?!]
The one month period was up, yet Yang Kai was still stuck here.
[This is impossible! Lan Xun mentioned that the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda can only remain open for one month, and the entrance will close after that… At that time, the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda will produce an irresistible force to expel all the cultivators inside it…]
In other words, Yang Kai and the others would be returned to Star Soul Palace regardless of where they were once the time was up. Nevertheless, Yang Kai had not felt the rejection of this world at all, even though three days had passed since the deadline.
For the past three days, he had tried various methods inside the house but couldn’t find a way to leave this place. After thinking about it, he believed that either there was a problem with the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda or his departure had been intercepted by this Sealed World.
The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was a pivotal part of Star Soul Palace’s foundation, a legacy item passed down for tens of thousands of years, so if something were to go wrong, it would have gone wrong a long time ago. It was practically impossible for Yang Kai to encounter such a problem by chance. Therefore, the possibility of the latter hypothesis was high.
[Is there something special about this Sealed World? Why did it forcefully keep me here?] Fortunately, he gradually calmed down after ruminating over the problem for three days. [The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is the treasure of Star Soul Palace, so now that I am trapped inside it, Star Soul Palace will surely make some effort to get me out. If the Elders are powerless, then the Great Emperor will have to take action himself. In any case, worrying about my situation is meaningless, so I might as well search for my own way out while waiting for help to come from the outside world.]
Yang Kai cleaned up slightly before moving to meet Ah Hu and the others, after which they left the village. The canyon was located tens of kilometres away from the village. Previously, it took Yang Kai a full day of pursuit to arrive, but although he was in no rush this time, he couldn’t afford to delay either. After all, the Ancient Barbarian Race would have trouble walking once the snowstorm covered the mountains.
Under his leadership, the group consisting of a hundred villagers finally arrived in front of the canyon before evening rolled around. All of a sudden, though, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks and raised his hand up high. The hundred villagers following behind him stopped in unison, like a well-trained army, and instantly fell silent. Unfortunately, they were out of breath after spending such a long time on the road.
Ah Hu came over and asked quietly, “What’s the matter?”
“Someone’s here!” Yang Kai replied.
Ah Hu’s expression changed, “Are you sure?”
Every one of the Ancient Barbarian Race villagers here was an expert in surviving in the forest, so they had sharp instincts and a natural aptitude for tracking and stealth. These instincts were so finely honed that they were almost on par with those of wild beasts. Despite Ah Hu not sensing anything out of the ordinary in this place, since Yang Kai had spoken with such confidence, he didn’t dare to take those words lightly. There were no footprints left in the snow, but they might have been covered by the light snowfall today.
Yang Kai tilted his head to the side, signalling to a woman in the crowd. Ah Hua immediately equipped her bow and arrows from her back, swiftly moved towards the walls of the canyon, and soon disappeared.
The group stood in place for some time before Ah Hua returned, walking against the bitterly cold wind with a solemn expression, “It’s true; there are people inside. I saw bonfires inside the canyon; however, it’s too dark for me to tell how many people are there.”
Ah Hu angrily said, “Somebody from another tribe must have discovered the dead beasts here! Ahh! If only we arrived a few days earlier!”
The members of the Ancient Barbarian Race did not coexist peacefully with other tribes and clans. Rather, there were often skirmishes between them, especially when it came to food. The more than three hundred beasts Yang Kai killed were inside the canyon, which constituted a large amount of rations; enough to feed an entire village throughout winter.
“I hope they are from the South Barbarian Clan. Then, we can at least negotiate with them. Wait here; I’ll check out the situation.” Ah Hu said, preparing to walk into the canyon.
The Blue South Village belonged to the South Barbarian Clan, so if they were all part of the South Barbarian Clan, then they might be able to talk things out. In the worst case, they just had to share half of the food with the other party.
“Wait!” Yang Kai stopped Ah Hu, “You don’t need to trouble yourself with that.”
In response, Ah Hu glanced at him curiously.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai took a breath and lifted his hand slightly. An ancient and somewhat grating tone came from his mouth, and the meagre strength in his body began to fluctuate. In the next moment, the air in front of him rippled suddenly, looking like ripples formed when a stone fell into a calm lake. As the ripples spread, a translucent image appeared in front of everyone. From the looks of it, the image was a direct mirror opposite of the entrance to the canyon. Under Yang Kai’s control, the image continued to move inward.
“It’s the Eagle Eye Spell!” Ah Hu’s eyes lit up. [This is the Village Chief’s Eagle Eye Spell!] This unusual Shamanic Spell allowed the caster to obtain an eagle-like vision and was great for scouting. [Didn’t Ah Niu just become a Shaman several days ago? I can’t believe he managed to learn such a sophisticated Shamanic Spell in such a short time. No wonder the Village Chief named Ah Niu as his successor and claimed that the future of the village will depend on him.]
Similarly, every one of the villagers standing behind Yang Kai was emotional for some reason, and their eyes were filled with admiration.
In the meantime, the Eagle Eye Spell continued to advance into the canyon silently.
Everywhere it went and everything it passed were clearly shown in the image. It wasn’t until Yang Kai directed the Eagle Eye Spell into the canyon that the lights from dozens of bonfires were transmitted to them. Seven or eight strong Ancient Barbarian men gathered around each bonfire while slabs of golden-brown beast meat were being roasted atop the bonfires and plenty of laughter and cheers could be heard.
Ah Hu and the rest of the villagers saw this and immediately became red-eyed at that sight. All that beast meat belonged to their Blue South Village! How dare this group of people come out of nowhere and claim it for their own?! The crime of stealing our food is absolutely irreconcilable!
Then, Ah Hua’s expression changed slightly as she whispered, “They are from the Raging Flame Clan!”
She had noticed the patterns tattooed on the faces of those Ancient Barbarian Race men.
“I can’t believe it’s the Raging Flame Clan!” Ah Hu’s expression became a little ugly too, “Why are those savages here?”
Yang Kai shot a look at Ah Hu while thinking, [In my eyes, you are no different from them. Don’t you feel ashamed to claim that they are savages?]
At that moment, a burly figure stood up suddenly from where he sat next to a bonfire. His sharp pair of eyes danced like flames as he looked directly at the Eagle Eye Spell and into the eyes of everyone in the Blue South Village. It felt as though this man was staring right at them, and it made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Hmph!” The burly man suddenly snorted coldly as he lifted the cane-like object in his hands and pointed at the air in front of him. In the next moment, the Eagle Eye Spell broke and the air in front of Yang Kai burst into flames.
“Huh… I was discovered…” Yang Kai frowned.
“That must have been their Shaman!” Ah Hu looked pale.
It was bad enough to meet the Raging Flame Clan in the wilderness, but to think that a powerful Shaman would be travelling together with them! This was incredibly bad news for the villagers. The Raging Flame Clan’s brutality and combativeness ranked among the top three among all the Ancient Barbarian Clans. They were second only to the Bone Devouring Clan and the Flowing Blood Clan.
“Let’s withdraw quickly, Ah Niu,” Ah Hu hurriedly said.
Although the villagers of the Blue South Village had excellent fighting power, Ah Hu and others did not have much confidence in fighting the people of the Raging Flame Clan. Moreover, they had been on the road for an entire day while the people of the Raging Flame Clan had been resting leisurely. There was a great difference between their current physical conditions.
Most importantly, Ah Niu was travelling with their group at the moment. As the hope of the village, nothing was allowed to happen to him; they could not tolerate any mistakes. Therefore, the smartest thing to do right now was to retreat. What did it matter if they had to give up some food so long as they could protect Ah Niu?
“It’s too late.” Yang Kai shrugged, lifting his eyes to look in the direction of the canyon. The group of villagers followed his gaze, and their hearts sank instantly.
More than a dozen figures holding bows in their hands had appeared on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon. Furthermore, their arrows were nocked and aimed at Yang Kai and the others.
Fortunately, the other party did not shoot immediately, seemingly wanting the villagers of the Blue South Village to retreat in the face of difficulty. Although the Raging Flame Clan had a love for battle, they were not as brutal and cruel as the Bone Devouring Clan.
If Yang Kai and the others had encountered the Bone Devouring Clan instead, those arrows would have rained down on them by now; after all, that clan even considered other Ancient Barbarian Clans as food! It was an outlier among the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race, and if not for the powerful Shaman Saint protecting it, the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race would have worked together to eliminate them by now.
Ah Hua and the other archers reacted very quickly. Noticing that they were being targeted from a distance, they immediately dispersed and readied their bows to counterattack at any time. Unfortunately, there was a huge gap between the number of people and their position. If a fight really broke out, Blue South Village would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties.
“The other party is so… welcoming. En, let’s go and meet them!” Yang Kai grinned, suddenly lifting a finger and condensing a white light at his fingertips.
“It’s a Shaman!” Somebody exclaimed in surprise from the cliffs on the sides of the canyon.
In ancient times, the number of Shamans was very low, so any Shaman was a valuable asset to the Ancient Barbarian Race as a whole. Hence, the Spirit Archers of the Raging Flame Clan frowned when they saw Yang Kai displaying his Shaman powers. It was no big deal if several ordinary villagers were killed in a dispute, as countless clansmen died due to internal fighting among the Ancient Barbarian Race every year. However, the situation was different if a Shaman were to die at their hands. Such an act might enrage the Shaman Kings and Shaman Saints! Only a Shaman could kill another Shaman.
“I want to meet your leader!” Yang Kai shouted loudly, his voice echoing around the entrance of the canyon.
The people of the Raging Flame Clan did not dare to ignore a direct request from a Shaman. Thus, someone immediately rushed down the cliff and entered the canyon, seemingly to ask for instructions.
The archers on both sides of the cliff soon withdrew, one after another. Then, a tall figure walked out from the entrance of the canyon. Although he came out alone, he fearlessly approached Yang Kai and the others directly. At the same time, a sharp aura washed over them.
Ah Hu snorted coldly and stood beside Yang Kai, glaring fiercely at the Raging Flame Warrior. It felt as if two kings were present, and neither of them were willing to back down.
In response, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and patted Ah Hu on the shoulder, motioning for Ah Hu to stay calm. Then, he smiled at the other Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior and spoke, “Nice to meet you, friend from the Raging Flame Clan. I would like to meet your leader.”
Only then did the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior shift his gaze away from Ah Hu. He lowered his head and glanced at Yang Kai, who was standing in front of him, a moment later exclaiming in surprise, “Are you their Shaman?”
“Yes!”
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior frowned, “Why are you so weak…”
Even a Shaman shouldn’t be this weak. The young man in front of him looked like an underage child, his arms and legs thin and frail, a truly ugly appearance. He seemed so weak the Raging Flame Barbarian was worried a single flick of his finger would kill him.
“Ah Niu’s strength is not something you have the honour of knowing!” Ah Hu sneered. Similarly, many of the villagers looked at the Raging Flame Warrior mockingly.
In the past, they, too, had believed that Ah Niu was so weak that he was no better than a ten-year-old child; however, the Beast Tide a few days ago changed their perspectives greatly. The terrifying power and invincible bravery Ah Niu displayed back then was hardly something they had expected. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, it would have been difficult for them to imagine how much power could be hidden in such a thin body.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior from the Raging Flame Clan sneered mockingly and said nothing in reply; it was obvious that he did not find Ah Hu’s words to be a threat. He simply turned around and said, “Shaman Ya is waiting for you inside. Please, come with me.”
While speaking, he walked ahead and led the way.
Yang Kai stepped forward and followed. Similarly, the rest of the villagers followed along.
Upon entering the canyon, Ah Hu and the others looked around and saw that the archers of the Raging Flame Clan remained on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon like shadows. Their bows and arrows never left their hands, an obvious warning that any rash actions would lead to terrible consequences.
Not long after that, that group walked into the deepest part of the canyon where hundreds of Raging Flame Clansmen looked savage and terrifying in the firelight.
The Raging Flame Warrior leading the way came to one of the bonfires and whispered to a burly man sitting on the ground. That man raised his eyes slightly and looked at Yang Kai, as well as the villagers behind him.
[So, this is their Shaman!] Yang Kai had seen him once in the Eagle Eye Spell and immediately recognized him.
Ya studied Yang Kai quietly, an expression of surprise flitting across his eyes. It was clear that he, just like the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior from before, felt that Yang Kai looked too weak even though Shamans generally did not focus on cultivating their physical strength. Most Shamans spent their time in meditation, so it was a given that their physical toughness would be much lower than their fellow clansmen. Even so, Yang Kai’s tender body was still a first for Ya.
“How should I address you?” Ya asked after observing Yang Kai seriously.
“Ah Niu!” Yang Kai smiled slightly. His expression was neither humble nor overbearing.
“Well then, Shaman Niu… What is your purpose for coming to this place?”
He replied, “We came to bring back my war trophies!”
Ya frowned in response, “Your war trophies?”
Yang Kai gestured around with his hand, “The ones you are roasting above your bonfires, as well as the ones placed over there… All of these are my war trophies!”
Many of the Raging Flame Clansmen, who had been looking at Yang Kai mockingly, immediately became livid upon hearing those words. They stood up and glared at Yang Kai, burning with the intent to beat him up.
Ya frowned for a moment before bursting into laughter, “You claim that these dead beasts are your spoils of war? Do you have proof?”
Yang Kai shrugged, “I don’t have any special evidence!” Pausing for a moment, he continued, “It’s just that our village suffered from a Beast Tide a few days ago. It was difficult, but we finally managed to repel the Beast Tide. After that, I pursued them to this mountain valley and slaughtered all of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring all these supplies back with me since I was all alone. I had no choice but to return and ask for help. I did not expect you to arrive earlier than us.”
Ya’s expression became rather fascinating all of a sudden. He glanced at Yang Kai in astonishment and said, “Did you say… that you chased the giant beasts all the way here and slaughtered every single one of them after that?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai nodded before adding, “Oh, there was also a Barbarian Beast at the time.”
“There was also a Barbarian Beast?” Ya’s expression became even more fascinating.
“Hahahaha!” The Raging Flame Clansmen in the surrounding area burst out laughing, acting as if they heard the best joke in the world. Similarly, Ya couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head repeatedly.
If Yang Kai had claimed that he had worked with the rest of his village to defeat all the beasts in the canyon, then, the story would have been believable. However, he claimed that he alone had killed more than three hundred wild beasts and a Barbarian Beast on top of that! No sane person would ever believe such words.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior that had led the way previously suddenly glanced at Ah Hu disdainfully and said, “Is your Shaman an idiot?”
“What did you say?! I dare you to say that again!” Ah Hu exploded with rage.
Shamans were the leaders of their villages; therefore, a Shaman was the supreme symbol of that village. Insulting a Shaman was akin to insulting the village the Shaman lived in, as well as the entire clan itself! How could Ah Hu and the others possibly accept such a thing?!
“Ah Hu!” Yang Kai shouted and shook his head at Ah Hu.
Only then did Ah Hu grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
“Alright, I have grasped the general idea regarding your purpose in coming here,” Ya smiled slightly, appearing calm and unruffled. He had met many other insolent youngsters like Yang Kai, who were overconfident in their abilities, “Let’s see… Seeing as we are both from the same race and you travelled a long way to get here, I will not make things difficult for you…” Turning to the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior of the Raging Flame Clan, he commanded, “Give them ten of the beasts and let them leave peacefully!”
When the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior heard those words, he looked very reluctant. Even so, he had no right to refuse since the Shaman had already said so. Thus, he could only obey.
“Ten… Shaman Ya, you certainly are generous,” Yang Kai smiled mockingly, clearly not appreciating Ya’s kindness.
“Young man, don’t test my patience.” Ya’s expression suddenly became solemn, “I’m sure you are not unfamiliar with my Raging Flame Clan. If it were in my younger days, you would have been lying on the ground by now. So, don’t push your luck!”
Yang Kai nodded, “Ah Niu will take your teachings to heart, Shaman Ya. However… I insist that you return all my war trophies to me. These things do not belong to you!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, he glared at Ya with a burning gaze.
Ya stood up in response, his tall and broad figure casting a shadow over Yang Kai. Looking down at him, he sneered, “You’re asking for trouble!”
The two Shamans were suddenly staring daggers at each other. Subsequently, the villagers responded in kind.
The sound of weapons being drawn rang out. Archers on both sides drew their bows and aimed their arrows at the other party’s strongest warriors while at the same time, Ah Hu and the rest took out their stone axes and stone spears. They were raring for a fight, and their fighting spirit was unbelievably high.
A huge battle was about to break out.
“You will die!” Ya warned.
“You won’t fare any better,” Yang Kai smirked as though he didn’t care who would live and who would die in this battle.
“Are you determined to go to war?”
“I told you that these are my war trophies. You refuse to believe me and are only willing to give me ten of these beasts. However, you know the truth. The wild beasts had been dead for several days by the time you arrived here. Hence, they don’t belong to you either!”
Ya raged, “These are ownerless goods! It’s finders’ keepers!”
“But, the owner has now come back!”
“Give me evidence!”
Yang Kai replied, “I don’t have any! There’s no way to prove my claims!”
Ya laughed mockingly, but before he could reply, Yang Kai continued, “Then, there is only one solution before us. With the Barbarian Gods as our witnesses, let us resolve this dispute the Shaman’s way.”
Ya’s pupils contracted abruptly, staring at Yang Kai in disbelief, “Are you challenging me?”
Yang Kai smilingly replied, “It’s the only solution, unless you want to see our clansmen on both sides suffering heavy losses? Winter is fast approaching. If they were injured here, they will have a hard time surviving this winter.”
Ya considered it for a moment and nodded, “That’s true. But…” He broke out into a savage grin, “Do you think you have a chance of winning?”
“Who knows? We haven’t fought yet, have we?” Yang Kai chuckled
“Good. Since you insist on doing this, then I, Shaman Ya, will accept your challenge in the name of the Barbarian Gods!” After saying that, Ya commanded his men, “Stand down!”
All of the Raging Flame Clansmen put away their weapons and fell back upon receiving his command.
Then, Yang Kai turned back and shouted, “All of you will stand down too!”
Ah Hu and the others looked at Yang Kai worriedly. Despite confronting the other party just now, they had heard Yang Kai’s words clearly. They might not have seen a Shaman’s battle before, but they were not unfamiliar with the concept. In a Sacred Battle witnessed by the Barbarian Gods, one fought with their life and reputation on the line. The victor would take all the spoils while the defeated party generally received a miserable fate.
“Ah Niu…” Ah Hu opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to persuade Yang Kai otherwise, but he knew that it was too late. Shaman Ya had already accepted the challenge; this battle could not be avoided anymore. Backing out of the challenge at this point was an act of blasphemy against the Barbarian Gods. Nobody could tolerate an act like that. In the end, all the words he wanted to say became one simple sentence, “Be careful!”
In response, Yang Kai nodded and gave him a look that seemed to say, ‘Don’t worry’.
Even so, Ah Hu and the others looked troubled. How could they not worry? Just a few days ago, Ah Niu was still a good-for-nothing, and although his performance during the Beast Tide had been extraordinary and he later became a highly-respected Shaman, it had not been long since that happened. On the other hand, the other party’s Shaman was in his prime. He might not be as old and experienced as their Village Chief, but his aura was many times stronger than the Village Chief. Did Ah Niu have any chance of winning?
Contrary to the worried expressions of the Blue South Village’s villagers, the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan looked relaxed, as if just waiting for the good show to begin. Gathering in small groups, they pointed at Yang Kai and ridiculed him with mocking smiles as if laughing at his overconfidence.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Shaman Niu was not Shaman Ya’s opponent. He would surely suffer a miserable defeat.
Soon, the place was cleared out, and only Yang Kai stood facing Ya in the depths of the huge canyon. They stood approximately thirty meters apart, a commonly used distance in Shaman battles.
The bitterly cold winds were blocked by both sides of the canyon, but they made a whistling sound similar to that of war-horns. Random bursts of crackling sounds also came from the surrounding bonfires.
Ya smiled and asked, “Shaman Niu, I am a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior, while the aura around you is not very dense. You should be a Shaman Apprentice, right?”
Yang Kai replied, “You have a good eye, Shaman Ya. The Village Chief told me that I am a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice at the moment!”
Ya nodded at those words, “Your courage is commendable. Moreover, you are still very young. If you worked hard, you might have had a better future ahead of you. It’s a pity that you are too arrogant for your own good!”
Yang Kai said, “Shaman Ya, you will have a lot of time to preach later. I’m going to make the first move if you don’t attack!”
Ya sneered. Apparently, he was unwilling to bully the weak, so he simply beckoned for Yang Kai to make the first move. Seeing this, Yang Kai did not hesitate, stomping his feet as he rushed towards Ya like a whirlwind. In response, Ya’s mocking expression froze on his face. [What the hell?! Why is he suddenly charging me?]
The battles between the Ancient Barbarian Races had always been simple and crude. It was their instinct to rush forward courageously, but that was only limited to ordinary warriors. The battles between Shamans were not martial battles, but rather competitions between their cultivations and Shamanic Spells.
For that reason, Ya had already conceived several plans to defeat Ah Niu in an instant the moment he agreed to the challenge; after all, there was no way a mere High-Rank Shaman Apprentice like Ah Niu could create any trouble for him. More importantly, he undoubtedly held the upper hand in all aspects, be it cultivation realm or combat experience.
Therefore, he couldn’t help blanking out in confusion when he saw Yang Kai rushing toward him in a straight line. [Isn’t he a Shaman? Why isn’t he using any Shamanic Spell? Why is he attacking like an ordinary warrior?]
Although the unexpected shock made Ya hesitate for a moment, he was ultimately an experienced Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior and quickly recovered, beginning his chanting in that ancient and jerky language. Waving the wooden staff in front of him lightly, the air rippled suddenly and transformed into a strong, transparent shield. Then, he continued without stopping and pointed his staff forward, sending out a ball of fire the size of a washbasin towards Yang Kai.
[I win!] These were two of the most basic Shamanic Spells, one for defence and one for offence. Even so, it perfectly reflected Ya’s talent as a Shaman. Even a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior would not be able to defend against this fireball. [This High-Rank Shaman Apprentice can only hate himself for being so weak!]
Ya calmly stood in place, unmoving, his eyes filled with a playful look as he quietly admired the scene where he had defeated Ah Niu.
When the fireball appeared, the villagers of the Blue South Village screamed in shock, their faces filled with worry and fear. Ah Hu opened his mouth to shout out a warning, but Yang Kai turned a deaf ear and ran straight towards it.
*Hong…*
The light from the explosion lit up the entire canyon so brightly that nobody could open their eyes. Simultaneously, the hearts of the hundred Blue South Village’s villagers sank to the bottom of the sea.
[It’s over… It’s over. Ah Niu is done for… How can he survive after taking such a large fireball head-on? I can’t believe we lost the Blue South Village’s ray of hope just like that!] Ah Hu clenched his fists tightly. He was filled with self-blame. He should have stopped Ah Niu from battling against Shaman Ya, even if it risked blaspheming the Barbarian Gods. That would still have been better than him losing his life.
Ah Hu and the rest regained their vision a moment later and glared in Ya’s direction. Then, they suddenly widened their eyes in surprise as if they had seen a ghost. Some villagers even rubbed their eyes vigorously before checking again.
On the other hand, the expressions of the Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen, who were originally taking pleasure in Yang Kai’s misfortune, changed abruptly. They were shocked and frozen by the sight in front of them.
Ya was standing stiffly in place while Ah Niu, who should have been defeated by the huge fireball, had appeared in front of Ya at some point. Ah Niu was staring at Ya with a smile, seemingly uninjured, with only his hair slightly burnt.
“Shaman Ya, I think I won this battle. What do you think?” He smilingly lifted his head to look at Ya.
Ya’s expression twitched slightly. He couldn’t understand how the situation ended up like this no matter how hard he thought about it. His fireball should have been a direct hit, so how did this scrawny boy avoid it? [No, I can’t just lose like this…]
“The battle has just started!” Ya roared as the ancient language sounded from his mouth again. Lifting his staff, he pointed it at Yang Kai; however, he didn’t get a chance to release his Shamanic Spell again as just as he lifted his staff, Yang Kai threw an uppercut at him.
The Shamanic Spell Shield standing in front of Ya was warped by the force, like a flying banner being hit with a rock. The force of the blow soon exceeded the limit of the Shamanic Spell Shield, and it shattered into pieces.
Ya widened his eyes to the size of saucers and a chill simultaneously ran down his back. The reason he had not dodged aside when Yang Kai closed the distance between them and stubbornly tried to release a Shamanic Spell instead was that he had absolute confidence in his Shield. He believed that Ah Niu was incapable of breaking his defensive Shamanic Spell, which is why he had calmly remained in place. Who could have known that the Shamanic Spell Shield he was so proud of couldn’t even withstand a single punch from the opponent?
[I didn’t make any mistakes with the Shamanic Spell just now, right? How is it so fragile?]
*Hong…*
A fist landed on Ya’s face, causing it to warp from the force of the blow, sending several teeth flying. Following that, a body nearly twice Yang Kai’s size flew high like a paper kite and landed heavily on the ground with a thud.
Before Ya could climb to his feet, Yang Kai lunged at him like a cheetah, grabbing him by the neck with one hand and raising the other in a clenched fist.
Grinning, he said, “Shaman Ya, will you admit defeat? Or, do I have to hit you until you admit defeat?”
That body that should have been weak suddenly became as majestic as a towering mountain in Ya’s field of vision.
“S-S-Such shamelessness!” Ya yelled furiously, his eyes filled with great reluctance to admit defeat. [If not for Shaman Niu’s strange and tricky tactics, which caught me by surprise, I would not have lost this battle! I am a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior! He is nothing more than a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice! There’s almost a Great Realm of difference between us!]
Yang Kai sneered, “When you encounter a Barbarian Beast someday, will you also expect the Barbarian Beast to compete with you using Shamanic Spells? Will it keep its distance from you and give you time to chant and prepare yourself?”
Ya was dumbfounded, rendered speechless by those words.
“Let go of Shaman Ya!”
“Hurry up and release him!”
The Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen hurriedly gathered around and soon surrounded Yang Kai on all sides. They glared at him furiously and exuded hostility. Although hurting a respected Shaman was a huge crime for any member of the Ancient Barbarian Race, the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan couldn’t remain indifferent upon seeing their Shaman being restrained on the ground.
Yang Kai turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen coldly before his mouth curled into a disdainful smile.
“Stand back!” Ya shouted, gesturing for them to stand down.
The clansmen from the Raging Flame Clan reluctantly retreated when they heard what Ya said. Even so, they did not let down their guard against Yang Kai. If Yang Kai were to murder Ya, it would surely provoke a mad thirst for revenge in them.
On the other hand, Ya was much calmer after experiencing the reluctance of admitting defeat and the humiliation of being defeated by the weak, sighing as he admitted, “You’re right. I was careless!”
He refused to admit that his strength was inferior to Yang Kai’s, simply feeling he had been far too careless. That was the reason why he failed miserably in such an easy task.
Yang Kai understood Ya’s feelings, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue about it. Thus, he tilted his head to the side and asked, “So, this battle…”
Ya sighed, “You won. All the war trophies are yours.”
There was no need to continue struggling. Furthermore, he was too ashamed to continue struggling after being pinned to the ground.
“You have my respect!” Yang Kai grinned and loosened his hold on Ya’s neck. After getting up, he helped Ya up too.
Ya turned away and spat out a mouthful of blood, still feeling a burning pain in his cheek. Moreover, two of his teeth had been knocked out by Yang Kai’s punch just now. His face had gone numb previously, but now that the numbness was fading, he could feel pain set in.
He didn’t say much, though, as the loser had no qualifications to make demands. He simply glanced at Yang Kai with a complicated look before waving his hand at his men, “Let’s go!”
The clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan fell in line behind their Shaman without a word, preparing to rush back to their village during the night.
“Shaman Ya, wait a moment!” Yang Kai called out.
“What is it?” Ya turned his head and looked at Yang Kai, puzzled.
“Shaman Ya, don’t you want these beasts?” Yang Kai asked, pointing to the frozen dead beasts piled up like a mountain.
Ya’s expression warped when he heard those words as he snapped angrily, “Shaman Niu, are you trying to humiliate me?”
He had lost the duel and was no longer qualified to receive a share of these beasts anymore. Thus, the question Yang Kai directed at him at this moment seemed to him like a deliberate provocation aimed at him.
Yang Kai shook his head lightly, “That was not my intention. It’s just that you mobilized so many of your clansmen and travelled so far… You must have been searching for food for the winter, right, Shaman Ya?”
Ya took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, “Isn’t that the same for you?”
Yang Kai smiled, “In that case, I am willing to share some with you, Shaman Ya!”
“What?!” Ya was stunned while even the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan were extremely surprised, all of them staring at Yang Kai in astonishment.
“I didn’t count the numbers in detail the last time I came here; however, there should be around three or four hundred dead beasts in this mountain valley. But you see, Shaman Ya… Only about a hundred villagers from my village could accompany me this time. Even if each of us drags two beasts back with us, a large portion of them will remain here, and a heavy snowstorm is approaching, so we won’t be able to come here again once we return to the village. In other words, the remaining beasts will be left frozen here. If you’d like, Shaman Ya, you can bring the remaining beasts back to your village. Although there are not as many in number, it should be enough for the winter if you ration your supplies carefully.”
“A-A-are you really willing to do that?” Ya could barely believe what he was hearing. Was this Shaman Niu willing to share some of his spoils with them? What Yang Kai just said was basically correct. There were somewhere between three and four hundred dead beasts in this mountain valley. Moreover, they did not have enough manpower to bring back all the beasts to the village.
[Even if we only take the remaining beasts, there will be at least a hundred of them! These wild beasts are incredibly large, so each one will be enough for one person to fill their belly for an entire month! If we ration our supplies carefully, we can definitely survive the winter with this amount! But, how could this be possible? I can’t believe there are people willing to give away what food supplies they have!] Shaman Ya thought to himself.
In these ancient times, doing this was equivalent to lending out one’s wife to become somebody else’s plaything in the present day. Therefore, Ya could not wrap his head around the notion; it simply did not make sense. Whatever the case; if this Shaman Niu was being sincere, he would have earned Shaman Ya’s entire village’s gratitude.
“Of course! In the name of the Barbarian Gods, I, Shaman Niu, will give you the remaining beasts!” Yang Kai looked solemn.
With these words, Ya no longer felt doubtful. When a Shaman invoked the name of the Barbarian Gods, there would be no falsities in their words. Ya looked at Yang Kai quietly for some time before he suddenly bowed with his hand on his chest and quickly said, “Shaman Niu, please forgive me for being rude and arrogant before. Thank you for your magnanimity and generosity. The Flame Sickle Village of the Raging Flame Clan will remember your kindness forever. You will be our eternal friend!”
Similarly, the other villagers of the Flame Sickle Village of the Raging Flame Clan bowed with their hands on their chests. That was the highest courtesy the Ancient Barbarian Race could give to another.
Meanwhile, Ah Hu and the others stood behind Yang Kai with looks of pride on their faces!