[Why only him? We are all Shaman Grandmasters here, so why did they only give Shaman Niu weapons but not us? We are not any weaker than Shaman Niu!] Many of the Shaman Grandmasters grew agitated at the thought.
“Hey, what’s the meaning of this? Why did you send everything only to him? Why not this Shaman too?” A Shaman Grandmaster shouted from mid-air.
“Yes, war is near. These things should be divided equally. He can’t just get everything alone.” Someone immediately agreed.
Many Shamans agreed with the statement and for a moment, everyone clamoured endlessly and the scene turned chaotic.
“What’s all this noise for?” The Barbarian Warrior who led the way rebuked angrily, not giving these Shamans Grandmasters any face. He looked up and snorted coldly, “Who told you that we gave these weapons to Sir Shaman Niu? He bartered his belongings for all of these.”
“Ba… bartered?”
“Impossible!”
“What did he use to exchange for so many weapons?”
No one could possibly have such huge financial resources to exchange for at least a thousand weapons that had been piled up at the scene, and more weapons had yet to come. Even a Shaman King couldn’t have this much wealth to purchase so many weapons.
The Barbarian leader shook his head and answered, “I don’t know what Sir Shaman Niu exchanged with the others, but he gave me this.”
While speaking, he took out a round object. Many Barbarian Warriors had no idea what it was, but the faces of those Shaman Grandmasters changed drastically when they saw it and shouted, “A Monster Core!”
Moreover, it was a notably high-quality Monster Core. Such a Monster Core could even be beneficial to the cultivation of a Shaman King, let alone Shaman Grandmasters. Such a Monster Core was indeed worth a lot of weapons.
But no Shaman Grandmaster would be willing to trade this treasure for weapons that were not useful to himself. In order to get so many weapons, how many Barbarian Beast Cores had Shaman Niu spent?
It was scary just thinking about it.
“Sir Shaman Niu also exchanged this with me.” Another shop owner followed up, taking out a similar Monster Core and waving it in front of the audience, blinding the eyes of the Shaman Grandmasters.
If these various kinds of weapons had great attraction to the ordinary Barbarian Warriors, these Monster Cores had just the same effect on the Shaman Grandmasters.
The look they gave Yang Kai changed instantly, as only one question filled their minds, how did he get so many Monster Cores?
A Shaman Grandmaster was not capable of killing so many powerful Barbarian Beasts, not even a Shaman King could. Likewise, where were there so many Barbarian Beasts to kill?
Time passed slowly, and after learning the truth of this trade, the clamorous Shaman Grandmasters were too embarrassed to shout anymore. They could only stare at the weapons placed in front of them with envious looks. Some people were even silently plotting whether they should start building a good relationship with Shaman Niu. Not to mention others, just by getting Barbarian Beast Monster Cores from him would be enough to infinitely benefit them.
It took until after the sun had set fully for the final Barbarian shop owner to bring the last weapons to complete Yang Kai’s transaction. There were now thousands of weapons in total piled up on the ground!
Bursts of rapid breathing exposed the restless hearts of many surrounding Ancient Barbarians.
The villagers from Blue South Village were even more exhilarated, all of them gulping their own saliva in excitement; after all, they had already guessed what these weapons were going to be used for.
They were not fools. On this day, when the invasion of the Demon Race was announced, the reason why Yang Kai suddenly bought so many weapons was obviously to prepare them for the upcoming war. Nevertheless, Yang Kai’s incredible method was still too shocking for them to accept.
Ah Hu came up to Yang Kai, quietly pulled him aside, and whispered, “Ah Niu, are these things… for us?”
Yang Kai smiled, and patted him on the shoulder, “Of course, they’re for all of you.” Then, he waved his hand and invited them, “Choose one for yourself.”
The faces of the thousand of people turned solemn at his words.
The Shaman Apprentices who had secretly complained about Yang Kai’s inaction earlier had nothing to say at this moment, only respect and awe remained on their faces.
There were a hundred Shaman Grandmasters gathered outside King City, but who had the capability to collect so many weapons at once? Who could pull off what Shaman Niu did?
One must first sharpen their tools before doing good work. With so many sharp weapons, even if there were only a thousand people in their group, the advantage that they would have was by no means something a mere collection of two or three thousand more warriors could compare with. Furthermore, the number of weapons that were stacked up here was definitely more than a thousand pieces.
The several Shaman Apprentices seemed to be able to foresee what would happen next and their complaints and dissatisfaction towards Yang Kai completely vanished. Despite Shaman Niu’s youthful appearance, it seemed he was completely capable of handling this situation. He seemed to be doing nothing just now, but once he made his move, it delivered a killing blow so devastating that everyone could not help but admire his wit and courage.
The several Shaman Apprentices from different villages smiled as they glanced at each other.
The sound of gulping came up one after another. The thousand people under Yang Kai’s lead gathered around the mountain of weapons, but no one was eager to scramble for them. Everyone stared at the stacked weapons with giddy faces, their eyes glowing as if they were not looking at cold weapons, but at naked beauties.
“You guys go first!” Ah Hu suddenly turned around and looked at the villagers of the other villages. As a warrior who came from the same village as Yang Kai, Ah Hu felt that it was time to win some glory and establish prestige for Ah Niu. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to grab his weapon, but gave priority to the villagers of the other villages instead.
The leaders of those villages exchanged looks at his words, and one of them smiled and shook his head as he replied, “These are the weapons brought by Sir Shaman Niu. Blue South Village should go first. Please.”
“That’s right, Ah Hu. You pick first!”
“Yes, Ah Hu. Don’t refuse us!”
But Ah Hu shook his head, “It is precisely because Ah Niu obtained these things that I want you to pick first. These things are not just brought for Blue South Village, but for everyone.”
The leaders of the several villages burst into a quarrel with each other, because they did not give in to each other and were unwilling to pick first. At the same time, the surrounding Ancient Barbarians who were watching them secretly cursed in their hearts, feeling envious and helpless.
All of a sudden, the oldest Shaman Apprentice remarked with a smile, “Let’s not quarrel. Now that we are gathered together, there is no difference between this village and that village anymore. We are one now and are all under Shaman Niu’s command. It could be said we are now in the Shaman Niu Clan. It doesn’t matter who comes first or who comes later. Moreover, there are so many weapons here, so there will still be a lot left even if each of you takes one. So, there’s no need to be shy.”
“The Shaman Niu Clan…” Everyone’s eyes lit up listening to his words, and started to ponder about it.
The old Shaman Apprentice was right. Now that they had all gathered together, there was really no point to distinguish everyone by their original village. Only by truly combining into one whole could they unite in the upcoming war with a common will as strong as a fortress. If they deliberately distinguish themselves by their original villages, it would only allow selfishness to grow between them, and any disunity may result in death in the coming war.
After a moment of pondering, Ah Hu nodded, “I agree with what Elder has said. In that case, let’s pick together.”
The rest naturally had no objection and immediately rushed up to begin dividing up those weapons. When they found the weapon that was most suited for themselves, they took it out and moved back to allow others to choose their weapons.
For a moment, the whole place was filled with the noise of a celebratory crowd; laughter of contentment could be heard everywhere. The situation was lively yet not chaotic, as everyone moved in an orderly manner.
The other Shaman Grandmasters took in the scene before their eyes, their expressions complex.
Needless to say, envy and admiration were what they felt. Shaman Niu easily united a thousand people together with a simple giveaway of weapons, which was a method that was worth being commended upon. They took a look at the Barbarian Warriors in their groups, letting out a sigh, seeing that many were now gazing at these people in jealousy.
It could not be helped though, as although such a method seemed to be simple, they had no way to mimic it because they did not have the financial resources that Shaman Niu apparently did.
On top of admiration, they felt a sense of crisis.
The order of the Shaman King made it very clear that every Shaman Grandmaster had to win over two to three thousand clansmen. Quite a number of people had completed the task after half a day, but there were still a few of them working hard towards it.
There were also more scattered warriors and wandering heroes still waiting to decide who to follow. Originally, everyone used their own means in recruiting under fair competition, but now, with what Shaman Niu had done, he instantly gained the absolute upper hand over the other Shaman Grandmasters, throwing them far behind him.
Perhaps, more clansmen would be willing to join them after the thousand people finished getting their share of weapons. What would they do if those powerful warriors were all drawn away by Shaman Niu by then?
Thinking of this, a few Shaman Grandmasters who were on good terms with each other gathered together and began to discuss countermeasures.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the thousand Barbarian Warriors under Yang Kai had chosen their own weapons. Looking proud and majestic, they held up high the axes, swords, and spears that were forged from refined metal. On the other hand, the archers also replaced their old weapons with new, powerful bows and arrows.
The mountain of weapons that piled up in the place had only shrunk by a third of its original size, and there were still many more weapons waiting for their masters to choose them.
Groups of Barbarian Warriors started to approach the mountain and stare at the weapons with covetous looks, all of them shooting glances towards Yang Kai with desire-filled eyes.
Yang Kai smiled, snapped his fingers and announced, “The Shaman Niu Clan… is recruiting!”
“Sir Shaman Niu, I am willing to join!”
“I will join, of course I will join!”
“I also want to join! Sir Shaman Niu, please accept me. I’m the most powerful warrior in our village!”
As soon as Yang Kai’s voice fell, the voices of countless people immediately overwhelmed the area. The situation was almost out of control. Fortunately, Ah Hu and the others drew out their new weapons in time and stopped the other Ancient Barbarians from flooding the place.
Yang Kai raised his hand and assured, “Don’t rush and don’t push. Sir Shaman King ordered us to gather up to three thousand clansmen, and this Shaman Niu’s goal is precisely three thousand people. Therefore, many still have a chance. If anyone is interested in joining the Shaman Niu Clan, please line up here and come forward to get your weapon. Once you have your weapon, you will be a clansman of my Shaman Niu Clan.”
As soon as the words came out, everyone immediately quieted down and the Ancient Barbarians quickly formed a queue like a long, snaking Dragon.
“Three thousand people? Shaman Niu, as a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, how can you manage so many people? Your stomach might explode because of your big appetite.”
At the same time, a burly figure fell from the sky and landed beside the mountain of weapons with a bang. The huge impact caused the ground to tremble, sending dust flying, and the whole mountain of weapons clunked noisily.
Yang Kai glanced at the bundle of black hair on the man’s chest, and responded with his brow raised, “Shaman Tu? What can I do for you?”
Shaman Tu laughed, “I’m just worried for you because you’re young and weak.”
“Many thanks for your concern, but you don’t need to worry for me.”
Shaman Tu shook his head, “How can you say that? We are all Shaman Grandmasters of the South Barbarian Clan and we should all help each other. Well, how about this? This Shaman is a little stronger than you, so I should take up more responsibility. You can recruit another thousand people, and I will take care of the remaining thousand for you. In exchange for this Shaman’s kindness… Just give this Shaman the extra weapons.”
After saying so, without giving Yang Kai a chance to respond, he reached out his hand directly towards the mountain of weapons.
“Stop!” Ah Hu was furious. These weapons were purchased at a huge price by Ah Niu. Although he had no clue how Ah Niu obtained so many Monster Cores that could be used for trading, he could not stand idly by and watch someone steal Ah Niu’s property.
[What a rotten Shaman Grandmaster. Whoever dares to rob our belongings is our enemy!]
While shouting angrily, Ah Hu swung his axe at Shaman Tu.
“Scram!” Shaman Tu roared without even turning his head around, immediately creating a visible wave made of compressed air around him. This wind wave obviously contained a massive amount of power because Ah Hu was sent flying into the sky like a paper kite as soon as he collided with it, crashing to the ground a moment later.
At the same time, Shaman Tu grabbed a fine steel spear with his hand. With a slight grasping force, the whole mountain of weapons trembled, and almost half of the weapons flew in the air. It was obvious that he was taking the weapons back to his Barbarian Warriors.
Seeing this, everyone in Shaman Tu’s group was overjoyed and anticipated the arrival of these weapons.
But just then, a figure suddenly appeared on top of the mountain of weapons out of thin air. It was not clear what he did, but the thousands of flying weapons dropped back onto the ground, as if pressed down by a mountain, and collided with each other in a loud clunk.
Mid-air, Yang Kai looked down at Shaman Tu with a teasing face, “Are you trying to rob me?”
Shaman Tu’s face turned red, “How is this robbing? Didn’t you hear me clearly? I already said that everyone here is from the South Barbarian Clan. This Shaman just wants to share your burdens. This Shaman is fine with your lack of gratitude, but Shaman Niu, how dare you spoil this Shaman’s reputation instead?” He justified himself.
Yang Kai sneered, “I didn’t allow you to share my burden.”
Shaman Tu shook his head, “It doesn’t matter whether you allow it or not. This Shaman is always happy to help others, so move away now. Don’t be someone who doesn’t know how to appreciate kindness!”
Yang Kai was amazed, “Shaman Tu, have you no shame? How can you tell such obvious lies with your eyes wide open? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
Sure enough, Shaman Tu blushed in shame, but he continued to stand firm, “Good, good, good, you’re an arrogant little thing, aren’t you. As a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, I have the responsibility and obligation to teach you to recognize reality!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and moved his lips in an incantation, and his Shaman Strength fluctuated. Two visible chains of Shaman Strength wrapped themselves around Yang Kai, binding him tightly, seemingly catching him off guard.
Shaman Tu could not help laughing and lectured, “Remember, if you recognize reality now, you will only be a bit embarrassed, but if you can’t see reality on the battlefield, you will lose your life. You don’t need to thank me for this lesson, it is this Shaman’s responsibility to educate his Juniors.” When he spoke, he tightened his grip on his hand in an attempt to drag Yang Kai down from the air.
But his face changed in the next moment as, despite his action, Yang Kai remained hovering over the mountain of weapons motionlessly, as if he was nailed there by some invisible force. Instead, Yang Kai just looked back at him with a grin.
Shaman Tu felt a slight palpitation in his heart and instinctively thought [Impossible!] His opponent was just Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, who was two Minor Realms lower than him. Furthermore, Yang Kai was already bound by his spell, so how could his power be resisted?
Shaman Tu could not believe it and immediately tried again, but to his utter shock, he found that it was still ineffective.
It did not seem like he bound a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, but a true mountain instead. His efforts were fruitless, and his face flushed in fury.
Many onlookers were dazed too. They did not understand what happened to Shaman Tu, while some Shaman Grandmasters kept sending him eye signals to end this farce quickly.
Previously, they were those Shaman Grandmasters who gathered to discuss possible countermeasures and they thought that the best way was to create a situation to humiliate Shaman Niu. It was true Shaman Niu brought thousands of weapons here, which attracted the attention of many powerful Barbarian Warriors, arousing their interest in taking refuge with him.
But this interest was only based on these weapons. The clansmen would probably change their mind about joining Shaman Niu if they witnessed his vulnerability through humiliation.
Weapons were indeed tempting, but a weak Shaman Grandmaster was not worthy to be depended on since that would be risking their lives.
Everyone knew the Barbarian Race was about to face a bloody life and death war, so having a powerful Shaman Grandmaster as a leader gave them more security than possessing those weapons.
That was why Shaman Tu jumped out to cause trouble and deliberately fought against Yang Kai. According to their previous plan, as long as they could crush Shaman Niu and humiliate him in front of everyone, he would lose his advantage.
However, the situation now was somewhat different from what they discussed before.
[Shaman Niu has already been successfully entrapped by you, Shaman Tu. So, what are you still waiting for?]
Instantaneously, another High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster flew down and also raised his hand to throw a chain-like Shamanic Spell to bind Yang Kai, shouting harshly, “Shaman Niu, Shaman Tu was too kind-hearted to simply let you bow out in front of everyone, but this Shaman is not as kind as him. Get down now!”
His hand tightened, but instead of Yang Kai, his body faltered and he almost fell to the ground.
The High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as, at this moment, he realized that it was not Shaman Tu’s intention to be merciful, but that he was really powerless to do anything.
[What happened?]
He looked up bewilderedly and saw that Yang Kai was grabbing their Shamanic Spell Chains with his hands, grinning as he spoke, “The scenery is splendorous up here. This Shaman doesn’t feel like getting down now. How about you come up instead!?”
He abruptly yanked on the chains in his hands and following two pitiful shouts, countless pairs of stunned eyes watched as Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster were lifted off the ground and pulled towards Yang Kai involuntarily.
Their limbs flailed helplessly mid-air, and they only managed to stabilize themselves after some effort.
But soon, their hearts sank again.
Because they saw that Shaman Niu looked at them with a sinister smile, palming his fists with clear ill-intention.
Both of them forcibly took a breath and pushed their Shaman Strength together to condense Shield Spells before their bodies.
Just as the radiance of their Shield Spells lit up though, Yang Kai swung his fists at them.
The two punches flew at them like the wind.
*Kacha…*
Following a crisp sound, the Shield Spells protecting the two High-Rank Shaman Grandmasters shattered, unable to resist Yang Kai’s seemingly effortless punches for even a moment.
The two Shaman Grandmasters grunted and flew out like rag sacks, plummeting to the ground heavily with their faces stained with blood.
The whole world fell silent at that moment as everyone looked at Yang Kai in shock like they had encountered a ghost, especially the other Shaman Grandmasters. The corners of their mouths twitched, and their faces spasmed. They could not believe what they had just seen.
It was natural for the Barbarian Warriors to be puzzled because they had not cultivated Shaman Strength before and had no clue about the huge gap between a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster and a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster. Nevertheless, the Shaman Grandmasters present definitely knew about it.
Under normal circumstances, a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster could crush a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster easily as the gap of two Minor Realms was not there for nothing.
But the scene that happened in front of them was so surreal that they could not find a suitable reason to explain it.
The Shield Spells cast by the two Shaman Grandmasters were effortlessly broken by Shaman Niu. If the Shield Spell they used was this weak, why would they work so hard to cultivate it?
The fact was that the Shield Spells weren’t weak, but Shaman Niu was just too terrifyingly strong.
Goosebumps raised all over the Shaman Grandmasters. Previously, they felt a little bitter about him gaining the upper hand in attracting people by bringing in thousands of weapons. Furthermore, some of them were even ready to find trouble with him just like Shaman Tu did, and were waiting for an opportunity to snatch some weapons from him. But now, who would dare to have such thoughts?
If the two High-Rank Shaman Grandmasters were no match for him even when they joined hands, who else could be his opponent?
On the other side, the two Shaman Grandmasters who got beaten up were also lost in confusion.
Shaman Tu took a huge effort to get himself up from the ground, shaking his head to try to clear it. He looked blankly at the eyes of the clansmen around him, and his face changed from pale to red. He immediately became infuriated out of shame and reprimanded, “How dare you launch a sneak attack against me!”
He did not want to admit that he was no match for Yang Kai and felt that the defeat just now was due to a moment of neglect because he did not expect Yang Kai to really attack him. He believed that he would not be embarrassed in front of everyone if he was prepared.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The reason he stepped out to teach Yang Kai a lesson was to take the opportunity to suppress him and raise his own prestige. But he did not expect to go for wool and come home shorn. Not only did his scheme not go as he planned, it completely backfired and he made a fool of himself instead. There was no way for him to give up in this situation because, if he retreated like this, his prestige would plunge and he wouldn’t be able to recruit any more people.
“Surround him for me!” Shaman Tu roared.
When the words fell, nearly two thousand Barbarians rushed out and scattered around, surrounding Yang Kai and the thousand under his lead.
Seeing this, the other Shaman Grandmaster waved his hand silently, and his thousand and a half men also gathered.
For a moment, roughly four thousand people moved at Shaman Tu’s command. Ah Hu and the others tensed up their muscles and held their weapons closely in their hands one after another.
Other uninvolved Barbarians saw this and immediately understood that the issue would not be solved easily this time, quickly stepping aside to make room for the two opposing sides.
“You want to fight?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows and grinned wildly, “Good!”
When those words fell, he quickly chanted an incantation and waved his hands, causing a halo to immediately spread out, covering the thousand warriors on his side.
These thousand Ancient Barbarians were suddenly coated in a red light, as if they were wrapped by a layer of blood red fog. Moreover, crackling noises broke out from the bodies of Ah Hu and the others, their already tall frames rapidly enlarging while the animal skin clothes tightened on their bodies. Every pair of eyes turned scarlet, and each of them took on a fearless aura, one that said they would not hesitate to swing their weapons even if it was a Shaman Saint standing in front of them.
The malevolent auras of the thousand Barbarians could almost break through the clouds.
Endless power poured out of their bodies as they clung to the weapons in their hands as if they had gained a new life. Everyone looked excited and widened their eyes in surprise, because it was unbelievable that they could possess such overwhelming power.
Bloodlust Spell!
And it was a High-Grade Bloodlust Spell! Although the eyes of these thousand Barbarians were as red as blood and they appeared to be fearless and ferocious, they had not lost their minds. Such an effect was only possible with the highest quality Bloodlust Spell. Although general Bloodlust Spells could make a Barbarian Warrior stronger and dull their five basic senses to make them immune to pain and fatigue, it would also affect their minds to a certain extent. In severe cases, it might turn them crazy and damage their Souls, leaving crippling side-effects even after the Bloodlust Spell wore off.
But the Bloodlust Spell cast by Shaman Niu was different. It should only be something a Shaman King could achieve.
Many Shaman Grandmasters were shocked by this scene. Such a Bloodlust Spell alone was enough to make them change their opinions of Shaman Niu, because this was an ability beyond their capability to perform.
Especially when he cast his Bloodlust Spell on all one thousand Barbarians so calmly and casually, not leaving anyone out. How much control and power did he need to achieve this? Moreover, this seemed far from his limit.
Was a fight really going to occur?
It seemed the arrow was already released from the bow when the Bloodlust Spell was chanted.
Nevertheless, things had not ended yet.
After the Bloodlust Spell, Yang Kai continued chanting, weaving his hands in a complex pattern. Following his actions, lights of different colours burst out one after another and wrapped around his men.
Light Body Spell, Stone Armour Spell, Great Strength Spell…
Layer after layer of light shrouded every warrior under Yang Kai as an earthy yellow light, like a heavy layer of armour, was added onto the scarlet glow on the surface of their bodies. Other than that, a light breeze wrapped around their legs, increasing their swiftness and manoeuvrability, while the golden rays of light which symbolized the Great Strength Spell enhanced their strength by a further thirty percent.
The breath of these Barbarian Warriors grew heavier as their fighting spirits were fully unleashed.
The roughly four thousand who gathered around them were so frightened by their power that they could not help taking a few steps back, their faces filled with dread.
There was no need to even fight as everyone understood just by observing that each of these people in the Shaman Niu Clan had the ability to fight against two people alone.
The faces of Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster turned dreadfully ugly. They thought that they could bring out their men to deter Shaman Niu, making him panic, but who knew that this guy would be so undaunted? Not only was he not intimidated, but immediately blessed his clansmen with a lot of auxiliary Shamanic Spells instead.
At the moment, like the rest of the Shaman Grandmasters, the two Shaman Grandmasters facing off against Yang Kai were immersed in deep shock.
Even a Shaman King could not afford to sprinkle so many large-scale Shamanic Spells one after another with solely his own strength on so many people. Shaman Niu was just a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, so how did he have so much Shaman Strength in his body to spare?
By now, all of them realized that they had greatly underestimated Shaman Niu. Just the storage of the Shaman Strength in his body was already far beyond that of an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster. What’s more, he was just a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster now, so what would he be like if he were to break through to become a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster?
Just when the two Grandmasters were staring dumbstruck, Yang Kai chanted an incantation again, and another light descended.
As the light fell, the Barbarians on Yang Kai’s side were stunned all of a sudden as the red light permeating from their bodies merged together.
In the blink of an eye, the one thousand troops seemed to have converged, no longer distinguished from each other. The overwhelming aura merged together and caused the ground to shake.
“Life Chains!” Shaman Tu’s face changed drastically. He could not help gulping nervously as he stared at Yang Kai as if he was looking at a monster.
Life Chains was a truly profound Shamanic Spell that only Shaman Grandmasters and above were qualified to cultivate. This Shamanic Spell could connect the vitality of the Barbarian Warriors together. Under the effect of Life Chains, the damage suffered by any individual would be spread out evenly to all those connected to them, so that the Barbarian Warriors could withstand far more damage than ordinarily.
The entire Ancient Barbarian Race relied mainly on this kind of Shamanic Spell in large-scale wars.
However, although Shaman Grandmasters could learn and cultivate Life Chains, they often needed the assistance of other Shamans to perform this Shamanic Spell.
It would be fine if it was a small number of people as the Life Chains cast by an ordinary High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster could connect the vitality of two hundred or so without trouble, but if the Grandmaster had the assistance of several Shaman Masters, Shaman Warriors, and Shaman Apprentices, that coverage could expand several times or even more than ten times over. The more assisting Shamans, the better the effect.
However, when Shaman Niu cast Life Chains just now, he had no assistance from anyone.
Still, the light of his Shamanic Spell instantly shrouded all one thousand Barbarian Warriors on his side, connecting their vitality and integrating their scattered lives into one.
If those Shaman Grandmasters did not witness it with their own eyes, they would not believe that such a thing was possible.
Only the Life Chains of a High-Rank Shaman King could link a thousand lives together at once.
The advantage of having several times the number of people vanished in an instant facing this terrifying group.
Although Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster could also cast Life Chains to connect the vitality of their warriors, it naturally required some preparation time; after all, they needed to coordinate and cooperate with all the Shamans under their command to do this. How could they easily cast a Life Chains Spell like Yang Kai just did?
In other words, if they were really going to fight, the thousand warriors under Yang Kai’s command would certainly be enough to crush ten thousand scattered Barbarian Warriors without taking any serious damage.
“This Shaman is ready. When are we going to start the battle?” Yang Kai looked down at Shaman Tu from above and asked nonchalantly, his indifferent appearance causing the other Shaman Grandmasters’ brows to twitch.
He did not look exhausted at all after casting so many large-scale Shamanic Spells. Was he a monster?
Under normal circumstances, casting two or three of these large-scale Shamanic Spells would be enough to wear down the Shaman Strength of any Shaman Grandmaster.
Was there still a point of fighting against such an enemy?
On the other hand, was it even worth fighting now? The other Shamanic Spells still made sense, because they did not have much backlash on the warriors, but the Bloodlust Spell was different. Once it was used, it would consume the Blood Qi of the Barbarian Warriors and they would grow weak for several days after the effects wore off.
It was insane that Shaman Niu applied the Bloodlust Spell to his warriors without any hesitation. Did he not know the consequences this would bring?
In front of Yang Kai’s overbearing manner, Shaman Tu’s face turned red and he could not say a single word.
Could he really start a battle now?
He did not intend to really start a war with Yang Kai in the first place as his goal was to intimidate him by calling out his clansmen. However, he did not expect that this scrawny Shaman would be so wild and short-tempered.
Shaman Tu deeply regretted putting himself in this situation that was difficult for him to back down from now.
“Oh?” Yang Kai sneered at Shaman Tu, “By the look of Sir Shaman Tu’s face, it seems that he is not ready yet. Do you want me to give you a few days to prepare?”
Shaman Tu’s face flushed as he straightened his neck and shouted, “Shaman Niu, don’t be too arrogant! This is King City, and this Shaman does not wish to disturb Sir Shaman King with a trivial squabble now. If we provoke Sir Shaman King, no one will have a good end. It’s not that I’m afraid of you!”
As soon as these words reached the crowd’s ears, various looks etched on many Shaman Grandmasters’ faces. Everyone understood the situation; Shaman Tu knew that he had no chance of winning, so he could only use his tongue to save his pride.
However, Shaman Tu had probably lost all his dignity after such a fuss and it was meaningless for him to say more. It would also be impossible for him to recruit any more clansmen.
On the contrary, Shaman Niu, who had the record of sending two Shaman Grandmasters flying on his own as well as the ability to cast so many powerful Shamanic Spells by himself certainly attracted the interest of those scattered warriors.
Fortunately, the order of Sir Shaman King was that every Shaman Grandmaster should recruit two to three thousand people. Otherwise, if he was allowed to take advantage of the situation, this Shaman Niu would definitely attempt to recruit tens of thousands of people. Once that happened, many Shaman Grandmasters would be unable to complete this task.
“So what Sir Shaman Tu wants to say is now is not the time to fight?” Yang Kai smiled lightly, and replied with a disappointed look, “What a waste of my long preparations.”
Shaman Tu snorted coldly, “We are all from the Southern Barbarian Clan. What’s the point of fighting amongst ourselves? If you want to fight, go fight with the Demon Race to see who can kill more Demons by then!”
Yang Kai touched his chin and nodded, “What Sir Shaman Tu said makes sense too.”
Shaman Tu’s expression relaxed, “You think so too?”
Yang Kai smiled faintly, “In that case, let’s compete on the battlefield.”
“Good! It’s a deal! This Shaman will not lose to you!” Shaman Tu waved his hand and accepted the challenge. At the same time, his two thousand men let out a sigh of relief and dispersed.
Shaman Tu turned around and a breeze swept past him. Only then did he realize that his back was drenched in cold sweat. He could not help shivering and secretly scolded himself for being so stupid and putting himself in such an embarrassing position.
On the other side, Yang Kai performed various hand seals and dispersed the Life Chains and Bloodlust Spell.
To the surprise of Ah Hu and the others, they did not feel dizzy like normal when the Bloodlust Spell was removed. Although they were more or less tired, it was still within an acceptable limit. Moreover, such a small drawback was nothing to the strong Barbarian Warriors who could easily recover after a good meal.
Not only did Shaman Tu’s provocation fail to achieve the desired effect, it even helped Yang Kai build his own prestige.
Now, everyone knew that although this Shaman Grandmaster named Niu looked thin and weak, his strength was unfathomable. If anyone could follow such a Shaman Grandmaster, their future would be safer and more promising than the others.
Furthermore, anyone who joined him could obtain a fine weapon too.
Who would not be moved under such conditions?
Therefore, after Shaman Tu left, Yang Kai’s recruitment progressed extremely well.
Within one stick of incense, another two thousand people had joined his ranks and had weapons divided amongst them.
Yang Kai did not just accept any newcomers though. He mainly took in whole villages, with the village being between two to three hundred people. Two thousand people wound up being equivalent to eight or nine villages.
Ninety-nine percent of these people were Barbarian Warriors and Spirit Archers, with the rest being Shamans of varying strength.
Tiea recorded the statistics for the two thousand new recruits and then reported to Yang Kai. In addition to the Shamans who had followed Yang Kai to King City before, he now had thirteen Shamans under his command, among which were four Shaman Warriors and nine Shaman Apprentices.
There were no Shaman Masters, but Yang Kai could not do anything about it. Shamans were rare in the first place, and it was even more difficult for places like villages to raise a Shaman Master. Only some small Clans and major cities with thousands of people would have Shaman Masters.
But this was not a big problem for Yang Kai, because he still had Tiea with him.
Other Shaman Grandmasters had Shaman Masters under them, but Yang Kai had a Shaman Grandmaster. Furthermore, Tiea was no ordinary Shaman Grandmaster. She had been taught by Senior Qing for many years and had mastered a lot more Shamanic Spells compared to ordinary Shaman Grandmasters. Once the war began, the two of them could work together and would be enough to cover the three thousand people with their Shamanic Spells.
Next, Yang Kai personally divided the three thousand people into ten small groups, ranging from two hundred fifty to three hundred people in each group. Then, he assigned the most powerful warriors and archers as the Captain and Vice-Captain of each group.
He also picked a hundred elites out of the three thousand people to serve as an Elite Guards.
It did not mean that Yang Kai needed Elite Guards as, with his current strength, why would he need others to protect him? Instead, the task of these Elite Guards was to protect the thirteen Shamans other than him and Tiea.
These Shamans were just Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices, and it was true that they could not play a huge role when fighting alone. However, when it came to small and medium-scale battles, they would become the core of the ten groups. Any death among them would definitely be a huge loss.
Therefore, Yang Kai had to make plans for their safety.
The three thousand people were made aware of the group allocations swiftly and each group was managed by its own Captain and Vice-Captain, with these Captains and Vice-Captains answering directly to Yang Kai. With this method, it was much more efficient than him giving orders to the three thousand people himself.
The Shaman Grandmasters observed Yang Kai’s way of handling things and quickly realized the benefits of this kind of subdivision. As such, they also followed Yang Kai’s example in managing their groups, and soon, they became organized too.
After Yang Kai demonstrated his abilities in front of the crowd, these three thousand warriors were completely obedient to Yang Kai as they believed that they truly followed the right person this time and might have gained the upper hand over other clansmen in the upcoming war.
After passing down the order to the three thousand people to train in getting familiar with the cooperation and formation of their groups, Yang Kai and Tiea quietly left King City.
……
“Where are we going now?” Tiea questioned curiously, wondering why Yang Kai was dragging her with him.
Yang Kai led the way without turning his head back and answered, “When I was in King City, I saw some tamed Barbarian Beasts. Let’s catch some too.”
“Do you want to tame beasts?” Tiea looked at him in surprise.
“Senior Qing taught you the Beast Taming Spell, right?” Yang Kai looked back at her.
Tiea nodded gently, “Yes, he did, but I haven’t used it before, so I don’t know if it has any effect.”
“It’s fine as long as you’ve learnt it. As for the effect, we’ll know when we try later; after all, I haven’t used it either.” Yang Kai grinned.
“But… Do you know where to find Barbarian Beasts?”
“Just follow me. Those Beasts in King City didn’t just appear out of thin air. Since they can catch them, then we can do it too.”
Yang Kai flew forward as he spoke.
He had inquired about a certain place before. There was a mountain range about half a day away from King City, where Yang Kai’s targets for this trip lived.
They set out at night, and by dawn, a mountain range appeared in front of the pair, like a giant Dragon lying on the Earth. After entering the mountains, they continued ahead without stopping.
Half a day later, a fierce screech came from above.
Yang Kai stopped, looked up through the scattered leaves, and saw a huge eagle-like Barbarian Beast swooping down from above into a mountain pass. When the Barbarian Beast flew up to the sky again, a Giant Python had been caught in its sharp claws. The Giant Python struggled wildly and coiled its body around the Giant Eagle’s claws.
The Giant Eagle lowered its head and pecked at the Giant Python’s body, causing blood to rain down from the sky. The Giant Python struggled even more, causing the Giant Eagle to lose some of its steadiness, as if it would fall from the sky at any time.
But soon, the Giant Eagle opened its beak, and a wind blade-like attack suddenly shot out from its mouth, cutting the Giant Python’s body directly into several sections. Its internal organs turned into pulp, and its struggling body gradually stopped moving.
The Giant Eagle let out a fierce screech again, turned around in mid-air, then flew towards a certain direction with its prey in its claws.
“Do you want to tame this kind of Barbarian Beast?” Tiea noticed Yang Kai’s interested and motivated look, and immediately understood his intention.
“Of course we should tame Barbarian Beasts like this!” Yang Kai chased after the Giant Eagle as he answered.
Tiea was speechless. She knew that Yang Kai was coming to catch Barbarian Beasts, but she did not expect that he was looking for Flying Barbarian Beasts. This type of creature was much harder to catch than the ordinary Barbarian Beasts, and it seemed that the cultivation of the Giant Eagle was not low given its size and aura. She was afraid that her Beast Taming Spell might not work on it.
Despite the uneasy feeling, Tiea did not say much but followed Yang Kai obediently.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the pair came to a certain mountain valley which was surrounded by high cliffs, precipices, and jagged rocks. On the cliff were countless giant nests nestled between the rocks, each with a Giant Eagle standing proudly above it, like kings overlooking their territory.
More Giant Eagles soared through the air, with some leaving to look for food, while some were returning from their hunt.
“So many!” Tiea was amazed by the scene.
“It’s good to have more.” Yang Kai grinned. To him, it was better to have more of them, but it only depended on whether the Beast Taming Spell was useful or not. If it was useless, everything was just empty talk.
“Wait here, I’ll give it a try.” Yang Kai said before disappearing from his original place with a flicker.
Tiea looked around with wide eyes, but she could not find any trace of Yang Kai, causing a look of shock to fill her pretty face. This was definitely not the effect of any Shamanic Spell that she knew.
The more she stayed with Shaman Niu, the more Tiea discovered how mysterious he was.
When she was looking around for Yang Kai, she suddenly sensed some abnormal movement on the opposite cliff, and sure enough, she found Yang Kai when she looked over.
She had no idea when he got there, but at that moment, he had caught a Giant Eagle by its neck and was pressing it down into the nest while lying down on its belly to avoid being noticed by the other Giant Eagles.
A faint light flashed and disappeared into the Giant Eagle’s body.
Tiea clearly saw that the Giant Eagle suddenly stopped struggling and a short moment later, it stood up again, spread its wings, and resumed its former aloof appearance, as if nothing had happened.
[He succeeded!]
Tiea’s eyes lit up. The Beast Taming Spell was an extremely oppressive Shamanic Spell, but not only did it consume a lot of Shaman Strength, it was also a Shamanic Spell like Life Chains that could only be mastered by those at the Shaman Grandmaster Realm and above. The conditions to cast it were also extremely harsh.
If one succeeded, he would leave a Brand in the Barbarian Beast’s body and be able to control its life. But if one failed, not only would the Shaman Grandmaster who performed the Beast Taming Spell suffer from a harsh backlash, but the Beast would also die instantly.
Therefore, in general, if one wanted to cast the Beast Taming Spell on a Barbarian Beast, it was better to capture it first and spend some time building a relationship with it to decrease its resistance to its new owner. This was the only way one could have some hope of success.
Basically, taking such a forceful action like what Yang Kai had done would almost always end in failure.
But, contrary to the norm, he actually succeeded.
Even after witnessing tremendous miracles that seemed to occur constantly around this Shaman Niu, Tiea was still dumbstruck.
[Was it just luck?] She wondered.
The next moment, the Giant Eagle subdued by Yang Kai suddenly spread its wings and flew directly towards her side.
After a while, when the Giant Eagle landed in front of her, Yang Kai, who was hiding in its feathers, popped his head out and remarked, “I have a good idea and I need you to cooperate!”
Tiea asked in a daze, “What idea?”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed, “I want to catch the Eagle King!”
Tiea’s whole face twitched.
But after Yang Kai explained his plan, she changed her mind and thought that it was indeed a good idea too.
After forcibly subduing a Giant Eagle with the Beast Taming Spell, Yang Kai was vaguely aware of the thoughts of this Giant Eagle. From it, Yang Kai learnt that there was an Eagle King in this place. The Eagle King was stronger than all the other Giant Eagles, and they had to submit to it.
If they could dive straight into the enemy’s lair and subdue the Eagle King, they could take away the numerous Giant Eagles here at their convenience.
It was a drastic measure to deal with the situation, but much more efficient than Yang Kai’s previous plan to ambush and subdue Giant Eagles one by one.
The two discussed for a moment and soon finalized their plan.
Then, the Giant Eagle flew up again, with Yang Kai and Tiea hiding on its back. The back of this Barbarian Beast was spacious enough for them to sit side by side easily without falling, and under the cover of its long feathers, Yang Kai and Tiea became all but invisible.
In a gigantic eagle’s nest, the Eagle King was locked in place by Yang Kai’s Shamanic Spell. Yang Kai directed gleaming Beast Taming Spells from his hand to envelop the Eagle King again and again, but to no avail. The Eagle King screeched endlessly with its scarlet eyes filled with unyielding spirit.
Around the eagle’s nest, up to a hundred Giant Eagles constantly rushed towards them fearlessly in order to rescue their King.
Tiea was hovering mid-air as she pushed her Shaman Strength, wrapping the whole eagle nest in a Shield Spell, cutting off all the incoming Giant Eagles and rendering their wind blades useless.
Yang Kai and Tiea had gone straight into the Eagle King’s nest where Yang Kai bound the Eagle King before attempting to cast the Beast Taming Spell on it, but before he could even make a first try, it had already let out a fierce screech, which had alarmed the surrounding Giant Eagles, all of which rushed here together.
If not for Tiea’s timely defense, Yang Kai would not have had time to deal with the Eagle King.
The Realms of these Giant Eagles weren’t low, but they weren’t high either. If Tiea wanted to be cruel, she could slaughter all of them all in an instant; however, the purpose of Yang Kai coming here this time was not for a massacre, but to subdue these Barbarian Beasts. Therefore, Tiea could only block the Giant Eagles from interfering and dared not hurt them. Because of this, she could not truly unleash her full power as a Shaman Grandmaster and could only remain passive in the situation.
“Ah Niu, hurry up! I can’t hold on for too long!” Sweat beaded on Tiea’s forehead, as defending against the tremendous Giant Eagles’ charge attacks and wind blades for such a long time was exhausting her.
“I’m trying!” Yang Kai responded as he sent another gleaming Beast Taming Spell into the Eagle King’s body, only for it to fail again.
Still, he had caused great damage to the Eagle King after his continuous attempts as the Beast Taming Spell was an extremely oppressive Shamanic Spell. Although the Shamanic Spell failed to achieve its effect due to the unyielding spirit of the Eagle King, blood was leaking from all its orifices as a result of the backlash.
Fortunately, the Eagle King was much stronger than the other Giant Eagles. Otherwise, it would already be dead.
However, by the looks of it, it would not be able to hold on much longer.
Eagles were the proud beasts that ruled the sky and who would suffer no restraint to their freedom.
Staring coldly at the Eagle King’s red eyes, Yang Kai warned, “You should be able to understand what I’m saying, but even if you can’t, you should know what I mean. You have only two choices. Surrender… or die! I don’t have much time to play with you, and you don’t have many chances left. Decide wisely.”
When the words fell, another Beast Taming Spell was released. But this time, the light of Beast Taming Spell failed to even enter the Eagle King’s body and was directly rebounded by its will.
Yang Kai cursed with a ferocious look on his face when suddenly, a realization dawned on him. With a lift of his hand, a Moon Blade materialized and struck one of the Giant Eagles outside the shield, accurately cutting its body in half.
With its shrill screeching suddenly ceasing, the blood and viscera of that Giant Eagle rained down from the air as its two halves fell into the deep mountain stream.
Tiea turned around and glanced at Yang Kai in shock, having no idea why he had acted so crazily.
Yang Kai stared at the Eagle King and threatened it with a grin, “Every time you reject me, I’ll kill one of your companions. Let’s see how many times you dare refuse!”
While speaking, he performed the Beast Taming Spell again.
This time, the light of the Beast Taming Spell did not rebound, but it was obvious that the Eagle King was still resisting and unwilling to cooperate with him.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai raised his hand again, and another Giant Eagle was cut in half and fell from the air.
*Liii!*
The Eagle King cried, infuriated. If it was not bound by Yang Kai’s Shamanic Spell, it probably would have charged at him right now and fought him to the death.
Instead of being offended though, Yang Kai was delighted, nodding his head as he declared, “Excellent! I’m glad that you’re angry! If you don’t want them to die, submit to me!”
Beast Taming methods could be traced back to Ancient Times and continued to be passed down even in modern times. In the Star Boundary there was even the renowned Beast Taming Sect. This Sect was famous for controlling Monster Beasts, and each of its disciples commanded several War Beasts, allowing them to fight multiple opponents of the same realm all on their own.
However, the method of Beast Taming used by that Sect was extremely gentle, but was also very complex and time-consuming.
Yang Kai did not know the secret methods of the Beast Taming Sect, but he believed that it was actually a derivative of the Beast Taming Spell from Ancient Times. No matter how despicable and insidious the method was, it only served one purpose, which was to subdue the Monster for their own use.
Using such means was the only way to achieve this goal.
With Yang Kai’s current strength, it would not be difficult for him to tame an Eagle King if he was given enough time, but the problem was that he did not have much time to waste. He had to hurry back to King City as soon as possible just in case there was a sudden outbreak of war.
The Eagle King was too rebellious though, so he had no choice but to use some extreme measure.
The Eagle King may not care about its own life as it would rather die than submit; however, as the ruler of its family, the inability to protect them was an even greater disgrace, one that was intolerable to any proud beast.
Every time a Giant Eagle was killed by Yang Kai, the Eagle King became more and more irritable, and the Shamanic Spell Chains that bound it even deformed from its unceasing struggles.
Yang Kai remained emotionless after killing off ten Giant Eagles in succession. Only then did the Eagle King abruptly stop its mad struggle and display a pleading look.
It probably noticed that if it did not give in, Yang Kai would kill its entire family.
Yang Kai observed its expression and understood that it was time to cast the Beast Taming Spell again. This time, the light of Beast Taming Spell neither rebounded nor was resisted, but instead easily broke through the Eagle King’s defences and directly branded itself into its body.
Yang Kai’s body shook as he suddenly felt a connection established between himself and the Eagle King, one that allowed him to control its life or death at any time.
The Eagle King, who had displayed unwavering arrogance, quickly became docile and lowered its noble head.
“It’s done!” Yang Kai grinned, patted the Eagle King’s head, took out several healing Spirit Pills, and offered them to it.
The Eagle King looked at these pills with almost human-like curiosity and after hesitating for a moment, swallowed them in one gulp. When the pills entered its stomach, the Eagle King immediately felt invigorated, all the lethargy caused by Yang Kai’s torture being removed.
Yang Kai tried to communicate with it.
And the Eagle King immediately responded.
The fearless Giant Eagles, that had been gathering around all the time without retreating despite Yang Kai’s killings, suddenly stopped attacking and just flapped their wings into the sky.
Seeing this, Tiea could not help letting out a sigh of relief as she looked back and asked, “Did you succeed?”
Yang Kai nodded.
Only then did Tiea remove her Shield Spell, looking a little pale.
“Take a rest. I’ll deal with things from here,” Yang Kai instructed her before he communicated with the Eagle King again for a while.
Although the Eagle King’s cultivation was not high enough for it to be able to assume human form, it already had a certain degree of sentience. Therefore, Yang Kai did not need to spend too much effort in communicating with it and requested it to order all the Giant Eagles to return to their nests. A moment later, all the Giant Eagles circling in the air returned to their nests.
Then, Yang Kai led the Eagle King to visit the Giant Eagles one by one.
If Yang Kai visited them alone, these Giant Eagles would certainly regard him as an enemy and launch an attack without any hesitation, but it would be different when he was accompanied by the Eagle King.
Under the suppression of the Eagle King, none of the Giant Eagles dared to resist. They stood quietly in their own eagle nests as Yang Kai implanted the gleaming Beast Taming Spell. The process went exceedingly smooth, and the procedure did not fail even once.
After working for an hour, Yang Kai had finally subdued all the Giant Eagles present. Counting them carefully, he found that there were seventy-six of them in total, including the Eagle King.
Yang Kai was overjoyed with the result.
With this many Giant Eagles, he could carry out the vague plan he formed earlier.
Tiea had also fully recovered after an hour of meditation. The pair immediately rode the Eagle King and returned along the way which they came.
Behind the Eagle King, seventy-five Giant Eagles flew in close formation, forming a huge shadow that shaded the entire vast land.
The flying speed of the Giant Eagles was quite fast, not slower than the maximum speed of a Shaman Grandmaster while still remaining extremely stable in flight. Not the slightest airflow interference was experienced by Yang Kai who was riding on the Eagle King’s back.
It took less than half a day for them to reach King City.
From a distance, an uproar was heard from below, and some people exclaimed, “The Barbarian Beasts are attacking!”
Many of the Ancient Barbarians, who had gathered from outlying villages, immediately responded. Spirit Archers drew their bows one after another, aiming at the Eagle King who led the way, while some Shaman Grandmasters chanting incantations, flew up in the air with the light of the Shield Spells covering their bodies as they moved towards the Eagle King.
The distance between the two sides rapidly narrowed and both overt and covert Shaman Strength fluctuations appeared from all directions one after another.
Seeing an attack was about to occur, Yang Kai quickly stood up from the Eagle King’s back and shouted, “Relax, relax!”
Many of the Ancient Barbarians were astonished to see a man on the eagle’s back.
And the Shaman Grandmasters who came to meet them were even more flabbergasted.
One of them wiped his eyes vigorously and questioned in shock, “Shaman Niu?”
The battle between Yang Kai and Shaman Tu yesterday was quite unforgettable. Many Shaman Grandmasters had witnessed the whole process, and they were deeply impressed by this thin and weak looking Shaman Niu, so they readily recognized him.
Among the crowd, Shaman Tu stepped out and asked in a daze, “Shaman Niu, where did you get so many Barbarian Beasts?”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “I caught them.”
“Ca-Caught…” Their brows twitched at his reply. They would not be so astounded if these Flying Barbarian Beasts were easy to catch.
It was still understandable if Yang Kai was lucky to catch one Giant Eagle, but the number of these Giant Eagles was obviously one of an entire family.
[How did he manage to catch so many Giant Eagles in one go?]
Yang Kai stood on the eagle’s back and asked in a booming voice, “This is this Shaman’s Aerial Cavalry. What do you think?”
“Aerial Cavalry…” The Shaman Grandmasters were not idiots, so although this was the first time they heard about the term Aerial Calvary, they instantly understood Yang Kai’s plan. The next moment, many people’s eyes turned red in excitement as they gawked at those Giant Eagles with desire-filled eyes.
A great war was coming, and if anyone could have such an Aerial Cavalry, they would definitely have the upper hand in gathering information of the enemy, not to mention other advantages.
Above King City, the seventy-five Giant Eagles and the Eagle King were soaring high in the sky, their wings spread wide. On the back of each Giant Eagle sat an archer, who clung onto the feathers on the eagle’s back with a pale face. Some even vomited up in the air, but they held on and did not give up.
They were not Shamans, and they had never experienced the thrill of being up so high, so they were not used to riding Giant Eagles in the sky.
However, the Ancient Barbarian Race was tough and had strong adaptability, so as long as they were given a few more days, they should be able to get used to this.
This was Yang Kai’s Aerial Cavalry, while Ah Hua, who was born in Blue South Village, was the Aerial Cavalry Captain.
Yang Kai did not appoint Ah Hua as the Aerial Cavalry Captain out of bias. It was through the competition between the archers. All the archers of the Barbarian Race were Spirit Archers with excellent eyesight, able to hit a mosquito’s wing from a kilometre away. Naturally, no one with such good abilities would want to live under others.
When the Aerial Cavalry was established, every Archer coveted the position of Captain. Yang Kai did not say much and just let them compete in archery. Whoever was the best would be the Aerial Cavalry Captain.
The archers Yang Kai carefully selected went out for a competition, and when they returned, Ah Hua came back with a proud look on her face, while everyone else looked obedient.
But at this moment, even Ah Hua, who was the Aerial Cavalry Captain, also could not withstand such flight training. Every time she came down from the sky, she would be paralyzed on the ground for a long time before she regained her composure.
Inside Yang Kai’s camp was a newly built wooden house. It was exceptionally rudimentary but was still sufficient to shelter them from the wind and rain.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Tiea were cultivating inside.
After slowly withdrawing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai lifted his head and commented, “Ah Hua and the others are improving really fast. They should be able to fight in two days.”
Tiea opened her eyes and glanced at him, “I don’t know what the Demon Race are like, but although the Aerial Cavalry can move fast, they are easy to spot. If the Demon Race has any long-range forces, I’m afraid this Aerial Cavalry won’t be of any use.”
Yang Kai gave a small smile, “Being able to investigate the enemy is their best use!”
At this time, the old Shaman Apprentice’s voice suddenly came from outside the house, “Sir Shaman Niu…”
Before he could finish, Yang Kai shouted with his face darkened, “Ask them to go away. I won’t see any of them!”
Since Yang Kai brought back seventy-five Giant Eagles and his Eagle King two days ago, the other Shaman Grandmasters had come to visit him one after another with enthusiasm, as if they had been good friends with Yang Kai for many years. They even prepared some small gifts for Yang Kai as a courtesy when they came.
Under normal circumstances, the gifts from a Shaman Grandmaster would not be common things. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was already immensely wealthy, so he had no interest in the gifts from these bumpkins.
After all the fuss, these Shaman Grandmasters slowly revealed their purpose.
They hoped that Yang Kai could share some Giant Eagles with them.
Everyone could see that these Giant Eagles were useful in investigating the enemy, so everyone wished to obtain some from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai naturally refused without showing the slightest politeness to their rude, shameless, and unreasonable demands.
Yang Kai had subdued the seventy-five Giant Eagles one by one and formed a small-scale Aerial Cavalry, which was just sufficient for his own army. It was not like he had any extra to spare, so why should he share with them after working so hard to catch them?
Despite being rejected, those Shaman Grandmasters did not give up easily. Some tried to reason with him, some tried to move him with sentiment, and some even tried to threaten him with force…
Without exception, all of them were thrown out of the wooden house by Yang Kai while those Shaman Grandmasters who intended to fight him had their faces bashed in.
This resulted in Yang Kai’s reputation turning extremely bad in the entire South Barbarian Clan. All the Shaman Grandmasters knew that this guy was selfish, had a bad temper, and refused to listen to others.
Even so, there were still many Shaman Grandmasters who visited him brazenly, hoping that Yang Kai would miraculously change his mind.
So, as soon as he heard the call from the old Shaman Apprentice outside, Yang Kai thought that it was another fool who wanted him to give up a few Giant Eagles, and he was instantly annoyed.
Instead of chit-chatting with them, it was better to spend time cultivating.
Suddenly, another familiar voice came from outside the door, “Sir Shaman Niu, it is Sir Shaman King who summons you!”
“Hmm?” Yang Kai was surprised and immediately got up to open the door. After seeing a familiar face, he could not help grinning, “It’s you!”
This guy was the Shaman Master messenger he met in Blue South Village before. Yang Kai did not know his name, but he remembered his honest face.
The Shaman Master replied with a smile, “Yeah, it is this subordinate.”
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn, “Sir Shaman King summoned me?”
The messenger nodded, “Yes!”
Yang Kai answered, “Let’s go then.”
On the way, Yang Kai asked the Shaman King messenger for the reason for his summon, but the messenger did not give him a clear answer. It was unknown whether he was hiding information or he really did not know anything about it. However, Yang Kai did not want to embarrass him, so he just chatted with him all the way, which flattered the messenger.
In recent days, Shaman Niu’s name had spread all over King City and everyone knew that this thin and weak looking Shaman Grandmaster was not someone to be trifled with. Within just a few days of coming to King City, this Shaman Niu had beaten two Shaman Grandmasters who were two Minor Realms stronger than him and had formed an Aerial Cavalry with the Giant Eagles as mounts. The seventy-five Giant Eagles hovered over King City from time to time, and lumps of their droppings would occasionally drop on the top of the people’s heads, which attracted much hatred from the residents of King City towards Shaman Niu. They wished that they could just find him and punch him until not even his mother could recognize him anymore.
The messenger was also a little nervous when he came, but after he met Yang Kai, he found that this guy was not as malicious as the rumours claimed him to be. Instead, he was quite amiable, which made him feel that the rumours were all wrong.
They walked and talked all the way, and soon entered King City where they met with Sixth Shaman King Dang in the palace!
“Greetings, Sir!” Yang Kai saluted with his hand on his chest, “May I know why Sir summoned me? Is there anything urgent?”
The Guard Captain who was standing nearby Shaman Dang eyed Yang Kai with a sharp glare, making Yang Kai feel like two blades were going to pierce into his mind and spy on the secrets he hid there.
Yang Kai frowned and glanced back at him, thinking that this guy was a bit messed up in the head. This warrior would stare at him like this every time he came, as if Yang Kai would harm Shaman Dang at any time.
Shaman Dang turned around and grinned, “Sit down and talk!”
“Many thanks, Sir!” Yang Kai retracted his gaze and accepted the invitation.
After that, he took a seat.
Shaman Dang continued kindly, “Actually, there’s nothing urgent, but I’ve heard some interesting stories recently.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai looked at him in surprise.
Shaman Dang returned a smile. He thought that Yang Kai would have asked what interesting stories he had heard, but unexpectedly, he did not say much other than an ‘oh’. Shaman Dang was left hanging, slightly embarrassed, so he could only cough lightly and press on, “I heard that you spent a lot to buy many weapons from the city to equip your soldiers?”
Yang Kai immediately put on a painful expression, “Sir Shaman King, this subordinate has spent all his wealth selflessly for this war. The wealth that this subordinate has accumulated his whole life has been drained. This subordinate is loyal to our Barbarian Race, and the Sun and the Moon as well as Heaven and Earth can bear witness to my pure intentions. It’s really hateful that those unscrupulous merchants are still charging me such a high price at this time, even twenty to thirty percent higher than usual! They are really the cancer of our Barbarian Race. Shame on them!”
He was so agitated that he spat his saliva everywhere as he spoke, revealing a look of grievance as if those shop owners were his enemies.
The corner of Shaman Dang’s mouth twitched slightly and he could not help sweeping his eyes over Yang Kai for a while, not knowing how to carry on the conversation now.
As a Shaman King, he had seen a lot, but it was his first time seeing such a reaction.
He had only said a single sentence but the other party already responded with many complaints. It was new for him to see Yang Kai being so talkative, which was… interesting.
Yang Kai suddenly turned solemn and whispered, “Did Sir Shaman King summon me to come here to punish those unscrupulous merchants? The Barbarian Race is in great danger now, but these profiteers not only didn’t try to help, but instead raised their prices on us. They have to be punished severely. If Sir Shaman King gives the order, this subordinate is willing to testify against them and ensure that none of them can escape. We must punish all of them to put a stop to all the malpractices in the businesses of our South Barbarian Clan.”
At this point, even the Guard Captain who had been standing there quietly could not stop his face from twitching slightly.
The Shaman King Dang had no choice but to wave his hand, “This King does not intend to do that. A deal is a deal. Moreover, you could have just rejected any unreasonable offers, so there’s nothing wrong with those businessmen.”
“Oh…” Yang Kai showed his disappointment, but soon his eyes lit up and continued, “Is Sir going to reimburse this subordinate for his expenses?”
“What?” Shaman Dang was stunned.
“Reimbursement!” Yang Kai looked at him seriously, “This subordinate has spent all his wealth and is penniless now. This subordinate cannot buy anything anymore even if it is needed. King City is rich, so is it possible…”
“Impudence!” The Guard Captain finally lost his temper and reprimanded angrily, “How dare you talk nonsense in front of a Shaman King!?”
Yang returned a glance at him, then rolled his eyes, which truly boiled the Guard Captain’s blood.
Shaman Dang smiled helplessly. He realized that it was unrealistic to have small talk with Shaman Niu to bring them closer. Therefore, he could only go straight to the point, “Shaman Niu, actually, I have something to tell you.”
Yang Kai sat up properly, “You can say anything as long as it’s not about things in the sky!”
Shaman Dang replied, “It’s exactly about things in the sky.”
Yang Kai immediately looked aggrieved, “What? Even King City is aiming for my Aerial Cavalry? Sir Shaman King, what’s wrong with all of you?”
He already felt suspicious before arriving here; after all, he just met Shaman Dang a few days ago. If there was going to be an immediate outbreak of war, he would not just summon Yang Kai alone. Therefore, the only thing that could attract a Shaman King’s attention would be those Giant Eagles.
Perhaps, this trip would be more of a disaster than a blessing.
As he thought, Shaman Dang summoned him because of the Giant Eagles; it was obvious that King City wanted to take a share from him too.
Yang Kai and the other Shaman Grandmasters who wanted some Giant Eagles from him shared equal status; therefore, Yang Kai could refuse them without hesitation, and even dared to beat them up if they persisted. But if King City requested them, Yang Kai would be stuck as he could not disobey his superior.
[That is too shameless!]
“Sir, a few days ago, I noticed the presence of the Aerial Cavalry in King City. My Giant Eagles are Barbarian Beasts from the mountains that are not subject to domestication. I’m afraid that they can’t be of any use.”
Shaman Dang smiled, “There is indeed some Aerial Cavalry in King City, but not many of them. It is difficult to tame Flying Barbarian Beasts, so this King was also quite surprised you were able to tame so many of them at once.”
Yang Kai immediately responded, “I put in a lot of effort and spewed several litres of blood for it. I almost died there.”
Shaman Dang pressed on, “That’s why King City won’t take your Giant Eagles for nothing!”
Yang Kai suddenly became interested, his eyes lighting up as he questioned, “Then may this subordinate know how many Giant Eagles King City wants, and what price you are willing to pay for them?”
Since he could not reject King City, he could only try to minimize the loss. If King City wanted a few Giant Eagles, they had to show their sincerity; after all, Yang Kai’s Giant Eagles did not just appear out of thin air.
Shaman Dang answered with a solemn face, “I wish for half. You may name your price!”
As soon as he made this remark Yang Kai jumped up from his chair like a cat with its tail trampled on and furiously shouted, “Half!? Sir, why don’t you just rob me? I might as well give you all the Giant Eagles!”
His sudden movement startled the Guard Captain who immediately pulled out his weapon and stared at Yang Kai vigilantly.
Shaman Dang reached out his hand and patted Yang Kay on the shoulder with a smile, “Since you are so kind, then this King will accept it with much appreciation.”
Yang Kai looked at him dumbfounded, his face twitching, “Sir, I have a question.”
“Ask!” Shaman Dang raised his eyebrows.
“Do you not have shame?”
Shaman Dang beamed, “That’s why this King asked you to name your price!”
Yang Kai was truly surprised that Shaman Dang did not care about his rudeness and immediately felt that this Shaman King was an incredible character.
Yang Kai fell silent for a while before continuing, “Twenty-five for you, while I keep fifty for myself. Fifty should be still enough to change the tide in small-scale fights, so I can’t have less than that. On the other hand, King City probably wants Giant Eagles for scouting and investigation rather than combat, am I right?”
Without denying, Shaman Dang nodded, “Indeed!”
“Then, that’s fine. twenty-five Giant Eagles on top of the Aerial Cavalry owned by the King City are enough for such purposes.”
Shaman Dang wanted to negotiate, but Yang Kai stopped him, “Twenty-five. This is my limit.”
“Fine! Twenty-five then. This King won’t force you.” Shaman Dang nodded readily, obviously having prepared himself from the start. He then looked up and asked, “So, what is your price?”
Yang Kai immediately responded, “Equip each of my subordinates with a set of Battle Armour!”
Shaman Dang only looked at him with a strange expression.
Yang Kai scratched his face and continued, “Fine fine, a thousand sets of Battle Armours shouldn’t be too much, I assume?”
Shaman Dang shook his head, “King City can’t even take out a hundred sets now, let alone a thousand sets.”
“Why is King City so poor?” Yang Kai was taken aback.
“King City is not poor,” Shaman Dang smiled helplessly, “But the materials in the city have almost all been bought out by those Shaman Grandmasters. If you want to know why, you are the one who started it. You equipped three thousand people with weapons all at once, so how could the other Grandmasters not show some sincerity? Although they don’t have huge financial resources like you, how many things are there in the city for them to grab even if each of them just purchased a little?”
“Sounds reasonable,” Yang nodded and believed that Shaman Dang was not deceiving him. It was true that many Ancient Barbarians had appeared with new weapons and Battle Armours outside the city during these few days. Obviously, they were bought by the Shaman Grandmasters themselves.
But they could not fully equip all their clansmen, so they could only give priority to a small number of elites.
“Don’t mention any more about materials. I don’t have them to help you.”
Yang Kai thought for a moment and continued, “If materials are out of the question, give me more manpower then.”
Shaman Dang narrowed his eyes, “What kind of manpower do you want?”
Yang Kai grinned, “My group lacks Shaman Masters. Could Sir appoint some Shaman Masters under me!?”
“How many?”
“Five!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “Five Giant Eagles for each Shaman Master. It’s a good deal, Sir!”
“Five are too many. I can only give you one Shaman Master!”
“What kind of Shaman Master is so valuable?” Yang Kai was amazed, “Sir, can you show some sincerity?”
Shaman Dang snorted coldly, “Then do you think you’re being sincere by asking for five Shaman Masters?”
Yang Kai replied frankly, “Everyone wants to gain the most in every deal. Business is just like this…”
“Two at most. That is this King’s limit. If you don’t accept, forget about it and leave.”
“How can I not accept?” Yang Kai hurriedly continued, “Two then. How can I reject Sir Shaman King?”
Shaman Dang pointed his finger at Yang Kai, wanting to rebuke him, but did not know how to start. After letting out a sigh, he turned to the Guard Captain and ordered, “Bring in Yue and Lu.”
The Guard Captain obviously was surprised by the order, but accepted it and went out without saying a word.
After waiting for a while in the main hall, footsteps drew nearer to the door.
Not long after, the Guard Captain led two young girls in. Yang Kai looked up, and his eyes lit up at the sight.
Although he vaguely guessed that Yue and Lu were girls, he did not expect that these two would be so gorgeous. Compared with other Ancient Barbarians, they were exceptionally beautiful with tall and ideal feminine figures.
The most important thing was the two girls looked exactly the same. They were clearly twins.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
The number of Shamans in the Ancient Barbarian Race had always been scarce, because only those who have been favoured by the Barbarian Gods were able to cultivate Shaman Strength. It was already impressive to have one Shaman Apprentice in a small village; however, it was even rarer for twins to both be Shamans. Moreover, they were Shaman Masters.
By the look of their young appearances, they did not seem to be older than Tiea by a lot, so they definitely had bright futures.
Being stared at by Yang Kai, both of them revealed a cold look and did not bother to glance back at him, simply stepping forward and greeting in unison, “Sir, did you summon us?”
Their voices sounded almost the same, and there were no differences in their intonation. If an uninformed person heard their voices, he would think they were from the same person.
“Heart Resonance?” Yang raised his brow and looked at them with his eyes blazing.
Although twins could connect with each other relatively easily, Heart Resonance was a whole different matter. By reaching this state, the twins would double their efficiency in anything they did, and if they worked together to cast Shamanic Spells, the power they could display would far exceed their current Realm.
In other words, although Yue and Lu were just Shaman Masters, once they joined hands, an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster may not be able to contend with them.
[What a steal!] Yang Kai was overjoyed to have picked up such a treasure. Initially, he just wanted two Shaman Masters to fill the gaps in his forces, but he did not expect that Shaman Dang would send such a pair of Shaman Masters to him.
Shaman Dang nodded and looked at Yue and Lu with some tenderness and love flashing across his eyes.
Yang Kai secretly felt that something was wrong, wondering if these two girls belonged to Shaman Dang. If so, he was worried that they would purposely give him trouble in the future after he took them under his wings.
Just when he was worried though, Shaman Dang announced, “From now on, you two will follow Shaman Niu. Listen to his orders, and don’t disobey him!”
When Yue and Lu heard this, they turned their heads and glanced at Yang Kai, then saluted with their hands on the chest in unison, “Greetings, Shaman Niu!”
Their tone was flat, and it did not seem like these two Shaman Masters were showing much respect towards a Shaman Grandmaster.
Yang Kai still posed like a Senior expert though and nodded, “You don’t need to be so polite.”
Shaman Dang smiled lightly, “Yue and Lu have been living and cultivating in the Shaman Divine Temple since they were young and only just returned to King City a few days ago, so they have not had much experience in the outside world yet. Since they follow you now, you can discipline them as you like. If they don’t listen to your orders, you can punish them at will.”
“The Shaman Divine Temple…” Yang Kai’s face turned solemn.
The Shaman Divine Temple was a symbol of the entire Ancient Barbarian Race. Inside, there was the statue of the Shaman God, and only the most outstanding Shamans of various Clans were qualified to enter its doors to cultivate and serve the deities.
In general, the Shamans who came from the Shaman Divine Temple acquired exquisite Shamanic Spells and possessed superior strength. They were basically invincible in their own Realm.
Yang Kai inherited Senior Qing’s knowledge, so he also knew how important the Shaman Divine Temple was to the Ancient Barbarian Race.
He used to think that if he had a chance, he would visit the Shaman Divine Temple to see whether he could learn something.
Nevertheless, he had abandoned such thoughts because of the invasion of the Demon Race.
But he did not expect that two Shaman Masters from the Shaman Divine Temple would be standing in front of him now.
No wonder Yue and Lu had reached this Realm of cultivation at such a young age. Since they could enter the Shaman Divine Temple, there was no doubt that Yue and Lu were Shamans who had the highest aptitude in the whole South Barbarian Clan.
Shaman Dang continued with a smile, “With your aptitude, you can enter the Shaman Divine Temple too without any trouble. So… Stay alive, Shaman Niu. The truly powerful Shamanic Spells can only be learnt in the Shaman Divine Temple. If you want to enjoy its greatness, you have to grow stronger and survive through the war!”
Yang Kai responded solemnly, “Yes, this subordinate will follow Sir’s instructions!”
“En, dismissed.” Shaman Dang waved his hand and spoke no more.
Yang Kai held his fist to his chest before withdrawing.
Before Yue and Lu left, they looked at Shaman Dang longingly and said in unison, “Take care, Sir!”
Shaman Dang nodded gently. Then, Yue and Lu turned around and walked out of the hall.
Leaving only Shaman Dang and the Guard Captain in the hall.
“Sir, he’s just a Shaman Grandmaster. Why did you give Yue and Lu to him?” The Guard Captain looked at Shaman Dang in bewilderment. He was obviously troubled by Shaman Dang’s decision. Yang Kai only wanted two Shaman Masters, and although there were not many Shaman Masters in King City, there were still some left. Shaman Dang could have simply chosen two at random, but he actually gave Yue and Lu to Yang Kai instead.
Shaman Niu had no idea about the relationship between Yue, Lu, and Sir Shaman King, but the Guard Captain knew of it.
War was coming, how was it safer to entrust Yue and Lu to a Shaman Grandmaster than keeping them beside a Shaman King?
Shaman Dang replied indifferently, “They only have hope to live by following him.”
The Guard Captain frowned slightly and obviously did not agree with him, but he did not dare to express it in front of the Shaman King, so he decided to be silent.
Outside King City, Yang Kai was leading the twins to his camp when he turned back and asked, “Which one of you is Yue? And which one is Lu?”
The two girls stopped, and the one on the left answered, “I’m Yue.”
The one on the right continued, “I’m Lu.”
Yang Kai grinned and nodded, “Noted. Good, Sir Shaman King mentioned that both of you have cultivated in the Shaman Divine Temple since young. Is it fun over there?”
The twins frowned, and Yue replied in a deep voice, “The Shaman Divine Temple is the most important place for all Barbarian Clans. Only the most outstanding Shamans are qualified to enter it and serve the Shaman God. It’s not a place for fun.”
Lu pressed on, “Mind your words, Sir.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders and roughly learnt the characters of these two young Shaman Masters. As such, he stopped talking and continued to lead the way.
A short time later, the trio returned to Yang Kai’s camp, where a group of Barbarian Warriors and Shamans who were training were surprised to see him bringing back a pair of beautiful twins after his trip.
Yang Kai clapped his hands to attract everyone’s attention, then announced loudly, “These two Shaman Masters are Yue and Lu. They were specially sent to our Shaman Niu Clan by Sir Shaman King. Now that you all know them, I hope that you all can live with each other peacefully and work together to resist the Demon Race in the future!”
Everyone accepted in unison while a group of wilder men looked at the twins with intoxicated eyes. If it were not for the noble status of Yue and Lu, some would even be tempted to flirt with them.
The Shaman Apprentices and Shaman Warriors came forward and greeted the two Shaman Masters with respect.
Yue and Lu just nodded lightly as they swept their eyes across the people of the Shaman Niu Clan to examine them.
“Continue your training.” Yang Kai waved his hand to the crowd, then spoke to the twins, “You two, join them. The Shaman Divine Temple only taught you to cultivate Shamanic Spells, but I think they never taught you how to unleash your potential in battle, right? Get familiar with it in these few days, so that you won’t panic when the fighting begins.”
The twins nodded.
After that, Yang Kai whistled loudly and in the next moment, the Eagle King that was on the ground received his order and raised its head to let out a screech.
The Giant Eagles of the Aerial Cavalry that were soaring in the sky responded one after another, and soon carried many archers back and landed on the ground.
Many faces of the archers looked pale and as they rolled down from the Giant Eagles’ backs, some ran to the side to vomit. Some of them even lost their balance and fell flat on their butts.
“Sir, what can I do for you?” Ah Hua came over bravely with a longbow hung over her back. Although her face was slightly pale, she was obviously much better than the others. At least, her footsteps were more stable than everyone else.
Yang Kai announced in a deep voice, “I just received an order from Sir Shaman King that I am to turn over twenty-five Giant Eagles to King City.”
Ah Hua was taken aback when she heard it, “Twenty-five Giant Eagles? Doesn’t that mean…”
Originally, each of the seventy-five Giant Eagles was assigned an archer, so if twenty-five Giant Eagles had to be given away, that meant twenty-five archers would be removed from the Aerial Cavalry, which was unbearable for any archer.
These archers were the elites of the Shaman Niu Clan. They were the elite who were selected through various trials and were all almost equally proficient in their craft.
“Which is why I will give you a day. After a day, the twenty-five archers who have the worst performance will have to return to the ground force, understand?”
Ah Hua pondered for a while, then nodded, “Understood.”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “Go, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes!” Ah Hua turned around in a complicated mood. As soon as she looked up, seventy-five pairs of eyes, full of fighting spirit, looked at her. Needless to say, everyone had clearly heard Yang Kai’s announcement, so if they wanted to keep their Giant Eagle, they had to perform better than the others today.
Not long after, the seventy-five Giant Eagles took to the sky again, creating a spectacular scene.
Yang Kai returned to his wooden house, swallowed a Monster Beast Core, and started to cultivate.
A day later, Ah Hua came to report the situation of the Aerial Cavalry. After Yang Kai’s approval, she demoted twenty-five of the weaker archers and sent the spare Giant Eagles to King City.
The following days were uneventful. The twelve units of Shaman Niu Clan trained in an orderly manner, and over time, they had gotten more and more used to working with each other.
With the addition of Yue and Lu, the Shamanic Spells that were cast by the Shamans of Shaman Niu Clan were enough to cover all three thousand people, which had not been done before.
Previously, they needed the help of Yang Kai or Tiea to achieve this feat, but with Yue and Lu, Yang Kai and Tiea did not need to intervene at all.
The Shamans discovered the strength of the twins, Yue and Lu, as they interacted with them more, and all of them were impressed by these two Shaman Masters who came from the Shaman Divine Temple. The Shamanic Spells the twins had mastered, their understanding of Shamanic Spells, and the speed with which they executed their spells were all incomparable to ordinary Shamans.
Under their guidance, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices made rapid progress.
Although the twins had indifferent personalities, they were not cold. In fact, if the Shamans took the initiative to approach them, the twins were quite easy to interact with. Therefore, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices had become familiar with them after a few days. They would approach them if they had any questions to ask, and the twins would teach them in detail without reservations.
A few days later, the two Shaman Masters gained great prestige in the Shaman Niu Clan.
Yang Kai was so free that he just hid in the wooden house all day and cultivated.
The benefits that a Ninth-Order Monster Core could bring him were not substantial anymore. Therefore, Yang Kai began to consume Tenth-Order Monster Cores.
In just three days, he had broken through a Minor Realm from Low-Rank to Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster Realm.
On this day, the peace was finally broken.
When the dull horn sounded in King City, all the busy Barbarians quieted down. Hundreds of thousands of eyes focused on King City, and everyone could sense a storm was approaching.
Many rose to the sky and rushed to King City one after another.
Soon, the Shaman Grandmasters arrived at the palace where they gathered previously.
The number of Shaman Grandmasters this time was fifty percent higher than last; after all, many of them had been on the road to King City previously. But now, all the Shaman Grandmasters in the whole South Barbarian Clan had gathered here.
Basically, all the elites of every village were present now.
When they arrived, they did not see Shaman Dang in the main hall, and naturally whispered in groups to discuss the development of the war. However, everyone was busy training their subordinates outside the King City recently, so no one had any relevant news and they had no idea what was happening outside. Therefore, their discussion was in vain too, and they could only wait for Shaman Dang to explain.
A moment later, Shaman Dang came out with a grim face.
The buzzing of the crowd ceased at once, and all eyes fixed on Shaman Dang. Seeing the Shaman King’s expression, many immediately had an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, Shaman Dang announced shocking news, “The Shaman Saints ventured deep into the territory occupied by the Demon Race a few days ago and fought a battle with their leaders. All of them managed to return after that battle, but three of the Sirs were seriously injured and have fallen into a deep slumber. Only Sir Xiong remains awake, but he won’t be able to fight again anytime soon.”
After listening to the news, everyone was petrified with their jaws dropped, as if their mouths had been stuffed with an invisible fist and could not close, shocked beyond words.
It was reasonable for them to react like this though as in an era without a Shaman God, Shaman Saints were the strongest Masters.
There were only four Shaman Saints in the entire Ancient Barbarian Race. A few days ago, when Shaman Dang revealed that all four Shaman Saints had made a move, many still had a glimmer of hope that these four Masters could drive out the Demon Race.
But after hearing the shocking news today, everyone understood that the Demon Race… Was strong.
Despite the combined force of four Shaman Saints, three of them were seriously injured and fell into an unconscious state to recover, while only one remained awake but was also powerless to fight. Given the outcome of the four Shaman Saints, it was obvious that the Demon Race did not lack existences on par with Shaman Saints.
If even the Shaman Saints were no match for them, what could they do even if they had greater numbers? In that instant, the colour was drained from their faces.
Shaman Dang looked around and continued in a loud voice, “But the efforts of the Shaman Saints were not in vain. According to the information provided by Sir Xiong, the strongest Masters of the Demon Race are also either dead or seriously injured. So, we were not the only ones who suffered this time.”
Hearing what he said, everyone immediately let out a sigh of relief. This was the result that they were looking forward to given that the four Shaman Saints had already taken action personally.
“The Shaman Saints need to rest and recuperate while the same is true of the Masters of the Demon Race. At this critical moment, the final outcome of the war will be decided by our hands. If we can take this opportunity to kill all the other Demons, we can protect our Barbarian Race! But if we fail, the world will sink into the abyss. Therefore, we have only one choice – to fight to the death!”
“Fight to the death!”
“Fight to the death!”
In the hall, the Shaman Grandmasters shouted together, their blood boiling in excitement.
Shaman Dang was satisfied with their reaction and pressed his hand down to calm them, “The efforts of the Shaman Saints have slowed the invasion of the Demon Race. Now, they seem to be building a defence line based on the four territories that they had conquered. Our task is to retake these four territories while eliminating all their footholds.”
“Sir, what exactly is our plan?” Someone asked.
Shaman Dang answered, “Take a look at this.”
While speaking, he waved his large hand and as his Shaman Strength fluctuated, a huge map was condensed above the hall. On the map, there was a large blood shaded area, which everyone frowned at.
This area was clearly the four territories that were occupied by the Demons.
Outside King City, horns blasted again and again as one group after another moved step by step, heading north, towards the warfront.
There were three thousand people in the Shaman Niu Clan formed into ten regular units, an Aerial Cavalry, and an Elite Guard, but not one person was making any extraneous noise.
At the front of the team, the two Shaman Masters from the Shaman Divine Temple, four Shaman Warriors and nine Shaman Apprentices looked up.
Yang Kai sat on his Eagle King’s back like a true commander, and swept his sharp eyes across the formation. Every clansman held their chest up and showed their bravest side.
Without much to say, Yang Kai simply waved his hand and ordered, “Depart!”
Following the screeches of the Giant Eagles, the Aerial Cavalry took the lead and soared into the sky.
Led by Yue and Lu, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices joined hands to perform a large-scale Light Body Spell. As the light descended, they blessed the group of three thousand people, making their bodies feel lighter.
The Shaman Niu Clan rumbled off from King City at a great speed, and although there were a large number of them, they maintained a disciplined formation.
In the sky, sitting on the Eagle King’s back, Yang Kai was meditating and cultivating, not wasting any time.
The order given by Shaman Dang earlier in King City was very simple. Right now, the Demon Race was strengthening their fortifications and establishing a defence perimetre. It seemed that they wanted to delay for time so that the Masters on their side could have enough time to recover.
The Barbarian Race definitely would not sit idly by and watch though; therefore, all the major Clans had set out at this moment during the recovery time of the Demon Masters to retake the four occupied territories.
On the side of the South Barbarian Clan, about one hundred and fifty groups each led by a Shaman Grandmaster would attack the Demon Race from the South, destroy their encampments, and force them to retreat. Then, the Shaman Kings of the major Clans would lead the people to kill as many of the Demon Race as possible.
This strategy for the early stages of the war were made to be very flexible. There was no special task for the groups under the Shaman Grandmasters. As long as they encounter the Demon Race, they could just act freely and kill all the Demons.
Yang Kai was satisfied with this strategy as his strength was still in urgent need of improvement. If he had been given a special assignment, he would definitely be far more occupied. As such, this situation was the best for him.
If he could improve his strength to a certain extent before the climax of the war, he would certainly be able to shine brightly on this grand stage.
After living in this Ancient World for such a long time, Yang Kai had unconsciously put himself in the position of a real Ancient Barbarian, and he could no longer simply remain idle as a bystander after being involved in this war.
The roughly one hundred and fifty groups led by the Shaman Grandmasters departed from King City together, but over time, the groups dispersed to different destinations.
At first, there were still some friendly troops that could be seen around the Shaman Niu Clan, but after ten days, not a single friendly troop was detected within the investigation range of the Aerial Cavalry.
More than a hundred thousand people had been completely scattered on this vast land, and many Ancient Barbarians were rushing into the cruel war that would decide their life or death.
Ten days later, Yang Kai, who was cultivating on the Eagle King’s back, suddenly opened his eyes. Ah Hua flew over on the back of her Giant Eagle and when she approached, she stopped, skillfully stabilizing her body, and informed with a calm face, “Sir, there is a village up ahead.”
“What did you find?” Yang Kai questioned.
Ah Hua shook her head, “Nothing.”
Yang Kai nodded and instructed, “We’ll stop there to rest. I’m afraid it won’t be this peaceful for long. Replenish yourselves and prepare for the coming battle.”
“Yes!” Ah Hua received the order and the group continued to move.
Sure enough, they arrived at a small village about an hour later. The scale of this village was larger than that of Blue South Village, but not by much, while most of the houses were built of wood and stone with a low wall protecting its perimeter.
Immediately after entering the village, the Ancient Barbarians were delegated into different posts. Some were responsible for the security of the village, while others began to start fires to cook. Everything proceeded orderly.
Although such a group had just been established not long ago, it already had the makings of a well-trained army.
Yang Kai initially wanted to find a place to have a good rest, but he instantly felt uneasy when he entered the village. It felt like a pair of invisible eyes was staring at him.
This feeling startled him and he quietly released his Divine Sense to carefully investigate the situation of the village.
To his surprise though, he did not notice any abnormalities, and the feeling of being watched quickly disappeared. He shook his head and asked Tiea, “Ask everyone to be careful. Something might happen.”
Tiea looked at him in shock, “What did you find?”
Yang Kai replied faintly, “It won’t do any harm to be careful. This is already not a peaceful area.”
Tiea nodded, “Understood.”
After Tiea passed down the order, the clansmen all became more vigilant.
Not long after, the smell of cooked meat began to permeate the air. During the ten days of marching, they basically only had one meal each day and some of the Barbarians could not bear it any longer. Therefore, at this moment, their stomachs could not help growling when they smelled the fragrant meat.
Without waiting for the meat to be fully cooked, the clansmen began to split it and feast with satisfied looks on their faces.
At this time, Yang Kai suddenly felt a heart palpitation, and under the perception of his Divine Sense, several dozen strange and concealed auras emerged in the village out of thin air.
It was too late for him to investigate clearly what was going on so he simply roared, “Enemy attack!”
The people who were enjoying the meal were stunned at the call, but quickly reacted. They hurriedly put aside their food and took out their weapons forming a defence perimeter. A dozen Shamans also hurriedly pushed their Shaman Strength to get ready to attack at any time.
In the next moment, accompanied by a weird hissing sound, strands of dark aura surfaced from underground, and the whole village was shrouded by it in the blink of an eye.
The clansmen were surprised. No one knew what this was, but they instinctively readied themselves.
“Demon Qi!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes in shock.
This was actually Demon Qi! Furthermore, it was a very pure Ancient Demon Qi!
Although he kept hearing about the invasion of the Demon Race before, Yang Kai also wondered whether the Demon Race in the Ancient World was the same Demon Race that he knew of. However, he could not judge at all because he had not gotten in contact with them personally and did not receive much information about them yet.
Only now, seeing the dark auras with his own eyes, did Yang Kai immediately understand that the so-called Demon Race was the same Ancient Demon Race that he knew of.
Back then, outside Maplewood City, when the Ancient Great Demon revived and besieged the city with its Ancient Demon Qi, many people were demonised by it and transformed into Demons themselves. Even Yang Kai himself was contaminated. Fortunately, he was able to seal the Ancient Demon Qi within his dantian thanks to the Firmament Tree, otherwise, he would have lost his mind to its corruption.
This Ancient Demon Qi had the ability to invade the body, and anyone contaminated with it was at risk of transforming into a half-Human half-Demon that could be enslaved by the Demon Race.
Given that such a deserted village could hide so much of this Demon Qi, it was obviously a trap!
Moreover, what surprised Yang Kai even more was that the Ancient Demon Qi was hidden so deeply that he could not detect it even with his Divine Sense.
It definitely did not appear out of thin air, and even if it was hidden underground, someone must have activated it. As such, Yang Kai was very concerned about the several dozen strange auras that he felt just now.
As soon as Yang Kai investigated with his Divine Sense, he immediately found a clue.
There were many bulges on the ground concealed by the Ancient Demon Qi, and those strange auras were being released from these bulges. These bulges emerged abruptly and silently. After swelling to a certain extent, they turned into figures made out of sand, with complete facial features, but the skin was dry like soil. An indescribable Ancient Demon Qi was exuding from all over their bodies.
These were real Demons!
The sudden change made the group of three thousand people panic.
No one had ever experienced such a thing before, where they could not see their own hands in the black shroud, and there seemed to be some other things hidden in the darkness as well that could evoke wicked thoughts in their minds and urge them to take action to kill everything in front of them.
Shamanic Spells lit up one after another in the dark, like beacons that were guiding the three thousand people to the light.
The light on Yang Kai’s body was particularly dazzling and directly spread out over a five kilometres radius, preventing the invasion of the Demon Qi.
“Solidify! Purify!” Yang Kai shouted and took the lead in waving his hands, shrouding the surroundings with circles of milky white light.
The dozen Shamans, whose brains had gone black after being caught up in this sudden incident, immediately came back to their senses and followed Yang Kai’s lead to perform the two Shamanic Spells.
Under this situation, the standard of every Shaman could be seen clearly.
The light of the Shamanic Spell cast by Yang Kai covered the entire village and even some of the surroundings while the light cast by Tiea could only cover half of the village. Yue and Lu were almost the same as Tiea with their combined force while the remaining dozen Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices appeared deficient in comparison. The weakest Shaman could only light an area of several tens of metres around himself.
Hissing sounds rang out.
With the blooming light of Shamanic Spells, the darkness that shrouded the world seemed to have encountered its nemesis. Many large areas of the darkness dissipated into nothingness as the rich darkness receded at a visible speed.
The invading Ancient Demon Qi immediately tried to swim away in an attempt to escape like a living creature, but it was still unable to escape from the light of the Shamanic Spells.
The situation had turned favourable, but Yang Kai was still feeling chills.
The Ancient Barbarian Race did not know much about Demon Qi, but Yang Kai had experienced it once in person. He knew the terror and strength of this Demon Qi. Except for the dozen Shamans who timely pushed their Shamanic Spells, the rest of his three thousand subordinates were basically contaminated by the Demon Qi just now.
Once contaminated by Demon Qi, it would be inevitable for them to turn into Demons. At that time, they would not be able to recognize anybody, becoming blood-thirsty and ferocious.
Just as he thought about this, a shrill scream filled the air, and as Yang Kai followed the sound to perceive the situation, his heart sank.
Somewhere not far away, a clansman was already demonified. He slashed the weapon in his hand fiercely at another clansman, who was a close brother in the past, chopping off his head mercilessly.
Those who saw this wondered in worry. [How can this be… We have just set out, and we are already about to get wiped out?]
Screams reverberated, terrifying all the Ancient Barbarians. No one had a clue of the surrounding situation, and could only huddle back-to-back in groups while also remaining wary of one another.
The demonified clansman did not stop after murdering his companion and once again raised his sharp weapon in his hand to slash at a new target.
Yang Kai lifted his hand and a Chain Spell shot towards the clansman, binding him tightly.
More screams rang out as others encountered attacks from their once trusted companions.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense enveloped the entire village while he sent out one Chain Spell after another to constrain the demonified clansmen.
After a short delay, Yang Kai suddenly found that the situation was much better than he expected.
The three thousand warriors of the Shaman Niu Clan were not annihilated. After a rough count, only about a hundred people had been demonised, while the remaining warriors did not seem to have been affected, still maintaining their consciousness.
However, the omnipresent Ancient Demon Qi surrounding them was still constantly trying to invade their bodies, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army would be annihilated if the situation wasn’t reversed.
At this point, Yang Kai did not dare to delay anymore and cast a large-scale Purification Spell repeatedly. After each spell cast, the surrounding Ancient Demon Qi would become less dense.
The rest of the Shamans were recklessly spending their Shaman Strength as well to cast their own Shamanic Spells.
The Shamanic Spells displayed by these Shamans seemed to be the nemesis of the Ancient Demon Qi, and after only ten breaths of time, the darkness that enveloped the world had disappeared, replaced by warm sunlight again.
Many clansmen were only able to have a clear view of the situation around them at this moment.
Several dozens of their companions had perished on the spot, their blood still flowing down in streams, while many others who were bound by the Chain Spells struggled incessantly with inky black. Their tireless horrifying growls made them seem like they had lost their sanity.
The scene shocked everyone.
While on the other side, the several dozen strange existences that emerged from the ground had finally taken shape into Sand Demons.
Each of these Sand Demons prepared themselves, and monstrous Demon Qi swept out of their bodies, whizzing into the wind. All of them started to advance swiftly towards the surrounding Barbarians.
Although they had no idea what those Sand Demons were, since they had initiated an attack, they were enemies.
The Barbarian Warriors roared, raised their weapons high, and launched into a brave charge.
With a loud screech, the Aerial Cavalry lifted off and soared over the village, shooting sharp and precise arrows one after another. On the other side, led by Yue and Lu, more than a dozen Shamans chanted incantations continuously while Shamanic Spells were launched in brilliant and colourful light.
The battle started suddenly and ended just as quickly.
The several dozen Sand Demons successfully launched a wave of sneak attacks with the help of the shroud of Ancient Demon Qi, but apart from causing some disruption in the Shaman Niu Clan and killing some people at the beginning, the following fight was a complete crushing defeat for them.
Not a single clansman died; only a dozen people were slightly injured, while the several dozen Sand Demons were all killed.
The fierce battle ended, but at the sight of the tragic deaths and demonised companions around them, the Barbarian Warriors looked gloomy without the slightest sense of victory.
This was the first battle the Shaman Niu Clan had since the day they set off from King City, and the opponents were only a few dozen Sand Demons, but even so, they had suffered unacceptable casualties.
The Ancient Barbarians were all ashamed of the outcome.
“Ah Hu, come here!” Yang Kai beckoned with a solemn expression.
Ah Hu responded, and came to Yang Kai in a few steps, quickly asking, “What are Sir’s orders?”
Although the two of them came from the same village and they were friends even before partners in arms, Yang Kai was now the commander of their army, and Ah Hu could not address him casually in front of others. The commander needed to have the majesty of a commander.
“How do you feel?” Yang Kai asked as he reached out for Ah Hu’s wrist and pushed his Shaman Strength to examine his body carefully.
Ah Hu fell silent for a moment but soon confessed, “I don’t feel well…”
Yang Kai was shocked, “Where do you feel unwell?”
Ah Hu turned his head aside, and lamented, “If I had been more careful just now, we could have lost fewer people.”
Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and patted him on the shoulder in comfort, “You don’t have to blame yourself for this matter. Everyone is responsible for what happened.”
Yang Kai dismissed Ah Hu but remained a little dazed. He realized, after examination, there was not the slightest abnormality in Ah Hu, and there was no trace of demonization in him at all.
The Demon Qi had blanketed the entire village, and it would be reasonable if all three thousand people were contaminated.
In disbelief, he summoned a few other clansmen and examined them, only to find that they were all in good condition, just like Ah Hu, which confused Yang Kai.
It was a good thing that the clansmen were not demonised by the Demon Qi, but Yang Kai could not understand why.
If all the clansmen were the same, it would still make some sense, but there were about a hundred of them who had been demonised.
As he was pondering, Yang Kai came to a subdued demonised clansman. The clansman seemed to have lost his mind at the moment and roared tirelessly with his inky black eyes. Yue was standing beside him, constantly casting Purification Spells, though it did not seem to have much effect.
The other dozen Shamans were also busy casting various Shamanic Spells on the other demonised clansmen, but nothing happened.
“Sir, they can’t be saved,” Lu walked towards him from a short distance away, with a trace of grief in her eyes.
Yang Kai did not answer, but scanned every demonised clansman with his Divine Sense before quickly discovering that each of them had something in common.
These clansmen were somewhat weak compared to the other clansmen.
Although Ancient Barbarians were all physically strong, there were naturally individual differences, and these demonised clansmen were basically those who had lower vitality compared to the rest. Obviously, their demonization was related to their own strength.
Barbarian Warriors did not cultivate Shaman Strength, only Body Tempering. The stronger their physique, the stronger their Blood Qi, while on the contrary, the weaker their physique, the weaker their Blood Qi.
“Blood Qi… Blood Essence…” Yang Kai muttered to himself before his eyes lit up at an idea.
Walking straight to a demonised clansman, Yang Kai reached out his hand to tap on the clansman’s forehead.
Everyone was watching nervously, not knowing what Yang Kai was going to do.
A moment later, the demonised clansman was covered in a red aura after which their strength suddenly shot up and they became noticeably stronger.
[Bloodlust Spell!]
Yue’s and Lu’s eyelids jumped, they looked at each other in shock.
They did not even hear Yang Kai chanting to cast the Bloodlust Spell. In other words, this Shaman Niu had reached a point where he could cast the Bloodlust Spell without an incantation.
This was not something that just anyone could achieve; only a few people who had deep and profound comprehension of certain Shamanic Spells could do this.
This was something that even Yue and Lu, who were raised in the Shaman Divine Temple, could not do.
Despite being shocked, they were also confused as to why Yang Kai had used the Bloodlust Spell now of all times. It was already difficult enough to keep the demonised clansman under control, so the addition of the Bloodlust Spell was only going to turn the situation…
Before they could finish their thoughts, the sisters, Yue and Lu, gaped at the clansman who had been subjected to Bloodlust Spell in amazement.
As soon as the effects of the Bloodlust Spell were activated, a tinge of red appeared in the inky black eyes of the clansman. Although it was not very eye-catching, it was particularly obvious against the black background.
The clansman who had been struggling and roaring constantly seemed to have been thrown into a daze for a moment and stopped resisting.
Immediately afterwards, a painful groan tore from his throat, and a trace of consciousness reappeared in his eyes.
He rolled his eyes to look around before finally locking onto Yang Kai, immediately shouting with much suffering, “Sir… Shaman… Niu…”
Yang Kai quickly motivated him solemnly, “You are a child of the Barbarian Gods, you are a warrior of the Barbarian Race, with strong physique and perseverance. I believe you can overcome the evil in your heart and regain yourself. Your Brothers are waiting for you.”
The surrounding eyes fell on him.
As if encouraged, the demonised clansmen let out a low roar and the red light on his body grew more radiant. The crimson in his eyes burned like flames, and even the blackness in his eyes seemed to be melting quickly under the scorching flames.
The next moment, a dark light suddenly gushed out from all the orifices of the clansman’s head. This was obviously the Ancient Demon Qi that had invaded his body that was now being forced out.
Yang Kai swiftly raised his hand to cast a Purification Spell, cleansing the Ancient Demon Qi.
After the Ancient Demon Qi left his body, the clansman squeezed out a smile and immediately collapsed onto the ground.
Several clansmen who were familiar with him quickly went up to examine him and quickly turned around to assure Yang Kai, “He’s not dead. He just fainted.”
Yang Kai nodded, “He will be fine once he wakes up.”
He investigated the clansman’s body with his Divine Sense and confirmed that the Ancient Demon Qi inside had been completely eliminated. In other words, the hidden danger had been eliminated.
“Sir, is the Bloodlust Spell able to counter the Demon Qi?” Yue looked at Yang Kai curiously, with an insatiable desire for knowledge written all over her face.
Yang Kai instructed the clansmen to bring over the other demonised companions while explaining calmly, “I don’t know the specific situation myself, but I don’t think it’s the Bloodlust Spell that removed the Demon Qi. Instead, it’s the stimulation of Blood Qi of our warriors. Our Blood Qi has the effect of resisting Demon Qi, and the stronger one’s Blood Qi, the easier it is for us to resist the effects of the Demon Qi.”