After a short pause, Ah Hua coldly added with a frosty expression, “If you can’t prove your worth, then jump off this wall yourself!”
The moment the words left her mouth, she shot out another arrow. The huge force blasted the giant beast that was leaping towards them to death in mid-air. Moreover, her cold and disgusted gaze was fixed on Yang Kai’s face from the start until the end; she didn’t even shift her gaze away from him at all.
“A good-for-nothing?” Yang Kai murmured, lowering his head and examining his body before he glanced around at the bodies of the other villagers… [En, in this era, this body is truly that of a waste.]
Rather, the fact that the old man with a stooped figure was the Village Chief of this village surprised Yang Kai.
Although he didn’t know what Shamanic Spell the Village Chief had used to make the giant beasts turn a blind eye to him, it was definitely not due to a stroke of luck. [A Shaman Apprentice… Going by the name, it should be the lowest realm, right? It would seem that the number of Shamans in this ancient era is extremely scarce.]
Yang Kai and Ah Hua stood on the fence and worked closely together. After experiencing that initial sense of discomfort, he calmed down and no longer felt disoriented. In any case, he had to overcome this obstacle for now as it might be a test given by this Sealed World.
As he handed arrow after arrow to her, the pile of arrows at his feet dwindled at an incredibly fast pace; however, a young boy of the Barbarian Race soon brought over more arrows to replenish their stock.
The young boy looked to be around thirteen years old and was clearly a minor. Thus, he could only help out with some logistical work. However, even this thirteen-year-old boy had a stockier and sturdier frame than most of the people Yang Kai had seen in his life. Those firm muscles that he built up were simply not something a person his age should have.
Many other underage children of the Ancient Barbarian Race like this young boy were helping out in the village, and as time passed, the Beast Tide’s attacks were suppressed greatly under the influence of the Bloodlust Spell that the Village Chief applied. The villagers managed to turn the tides on those giant beasts while paying a very small price, causing countless casualties among the invading enemy.
All the villagers seemed jubilant. Meanwhile, Ah Hua shot out arrow after arrow as if she finally saw a ray of hope in winning this battle. In contrast, Yang Kai furrowed his brow deeply. Unlike the optimism of these ignorant villagers, he felt that the situation was very unfavourable for the village. Although the giant beasts were suppressed on the surface and suffered many casualties, the truth was that the villagers had consumed too much strength to achieve this. The long and high-intensity battle made it difficult for the villagers to continue fighting.
It was obvious just by looking at Ah Hua. In the beginning, she shot arrow after arrow as swiftly as the wind, almost without stopping, each one taking down a giant beast. However, she couldn’t even draw the bow to its fullest anymore. Her hands that were holding the bow trembled and not only did she now require two arrows to kill a single giant beast, the interval between each arrow was also getting longer. If this was the case with Ah Hua, then the other archers must be facing the same issue.
Besides, the condition of the rest of the villagers outside the village was even more worrying. After being blessed with the Bloodlust Spell by the Village Chief, they had overdrawn their Blood Essence. Hence, once the Bloodlust Spell lost effect and the backlash of the technique kicked in, the hundreds of villagers fighting outside would instantly become prey to the giant beasts, not having the strength to fight back at all.
On the other hand, Yang Kai could clearly sense that the Beast Tide was biding its time even though it kept up its aggressive offence. It seemed as though there was an intelligent existence among these beasts, commanding them from behind. This leader was quietly biding its time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to win this battle in one fell swoop.
[I guess I need to take action!]
Yang Kai had not behaved rashly or taken any overt action prior to this because he had been clueless about the situation he was in. He did not know what kind of changes would occur if he were to carelessly make a move; however, as time passed, he couldn’t help being affected by the hot-blooded spirit of the Ancient Barbarian Race villagers after observing them for so long. The identity he received as ‘Ah Niu’ for some mystifying reason, seemed to have grown on him, and he started having a faint sense of belonging to this strange village.
The Ancient Barbarian Race was admirable. Their tenacious will to survive in this primitive time, fighting against all manner of disasters, was what allowed the Human race to multiply until they became the dominant race in the world today. Their strength had been passed down through the generations, allowing the Human race to flourish in this world.
[I will protect this land! I will protect this village as Ah Niu!] The blood in Yang Kai’s body boiled all of a sudden. Bending down, he picked up a huge bow lying next to him. This huge bow originally belonged to another villager, but he had lost his head to a giant leopard that came rushing at him.
Yang Kai reached out and pulled on the bowstring, letting out a loud strumming sound. It felt as if a war drum was pounding in his heart, filling him with the urge to charge forward into battle.
“Arrow!” Ah Hua stretched out her hand, staring straight ahead with scarlet eyes that gleamed with hatred. To her surprise though, she did not receive any response. Turning her head abruptly, she was about to swear at Yang Kai when her words caught in her throat. Staring at him holding the huge bow in amazement, she exclaimed, “What are you doing?!”
Yang Kai simply grinned back at her, revealing a row of pearly white teeth as he commented, “You should rest. You’re exhausted.”
The hand Ah Hua stretched out to him was trembling, and her fingers were covered in bloody cuts. When their gazes met though, Ah Hua burst out angrily, “Rest?! Where will I find the time to rest?! Don’t you know what will happen to our comrades below without the support of we archers?!”
“I know!” Yang Kai continued to smile, reaching out to pick up an arrow and nocking it onto the bow. Tilting his head, he looked at her and said, “Just leave it to me.”
“You…” She was about to say something when her eyes suddenly bulged, extreme shock covering her face. [What!? What am I seeing? Ah Niu, who is known as a good-for-nothing in the village, is drawing a bow? What’s more… he drew it fully! Where did he get such strength with those twig-like arms and legs of his?!]
Ah Hua instinctively felt as if she had seen wrongly; after all, she clearly recalled that it had been very difficult for Ah Niu to even pick up a bow and arrow during their last training session, let alone draw the bow fully. What was happening in front of her completely overturned her perception of him.
The Ah Niu in front of Ah Hua didn’t even seem to be using much strength and she couldn’t feel any explosive power coming from his muscles. Rather, it felt as if he was drawing the bow back casually. Nevertheless, he drew it to its maximum.
Drawing the bow to its fullest, Yang Kai’s expression turned solemn as he loosened the arrow.
Ah Hua couldn’t help following the trajectory of this flying arrow with her eyes.
The explosive airflow coming from the arrow was distinctly identifiable and it was clear that his arrow contained a tremendous amount of power. It was no less powerful than an arrow she shot. More importantly, this blow was powerful enough to penetrate the bodies of the giant beasts.
For some reason, Ah Hua suddenly felt a sense of confidence in the good-for-nothing standing in front of her. She believed that this arrow of his would definitely kill one of the giant beasts.
*Sou…*
The arrow flew past the body of a giant beast and disappeared in the blink of an eye while the villager who was fighting hard with that giant beast had been startled. The arrow would have killed him in that instant if it went just the slightest bit off course.
Ah Hu turned his head, glared at the people standing on top of the fence, and roared, “Ah Hua, watch where you aim!”
“I…” Ah Hua opened her mouth to speak with a grievous look on her face. [How could I have shot such a lousy arrow? I wouldn’t make such a mistake even if I shot with my eyes closed! It’s obvious that Ah Niu was the one who did it, you know?!]
Her feelings of being wronged turned to rage as she turned back and glared at Yang Kai, unable to believe she felt the least bit confident in this good-for-nothing. She really must have been blind!
“En, I’ve gotten the hang of it now.” While Yang Kai was speaking, he picked up another arrow and nocked it.
“This isn’t the place for you to fool around! If you don’t want to help me, then just go away!” She shouted furiously. [Even if this good-for-nothing surprised me by fully drawing the bow, what’s the point if he can’t shoot accurately? He might as well go down and fight those giant beasts head-on. Who knows? He might prove to be more useful there. All excellent archers need to go through rigorous training and countless life-or-death battles to accumulate experience, but Ah Niu has never had such experiences before.]
“Just trust me!” Yang Kai said to Ah Hua earnestly as he drew the bow swiftly and steadily.
The raging expression on Ah Hua’s froze for a moment before she sighed and said, “Shoot in a direction without people!”
Compared to this good-for-nothing’s previous performances, the fact that he could pick up a bow and arrow to help share some of the village’s burdens was rather praiseworthy.
He smiled, “That won’t happen again.”
His target was still the giant beast that Ah Hu was fighting, and when the arrow left the bow, Ah Hua barely dared to look at the outcome, for fear of seeing him accidentally hurt Ah Hu. In reality, the giant beast so happened to jump up into the air with a roar the moment the arrow left the bow. The 3-meter-long arrow penetrated the giant beast’s mouth and shot out the back of its body, the horrifying power behind the shot smashing the giant beast’s viscera and organs. The giant beast collapsed to the ground with a whimper, blood flowing from it like a fountain.
“He really did it!” Ah Hua froze in shock once more, feeling completely dumbfounded. If she recalled correctly, Ah Niu couldn’t even draw a bow before, let alone shoot an arrow. In other words, this is his first time using a bow. Although the first arrow deviated from its course slightly and frightened Ah Hu, the second arrow was scarily accurate. Just what on earth happened to this good-for-nothing?!
While Ah Hua was lost in her own thoughts, Yang Kai had already picked up another arrow. He barely paused in his actions as he drew the bow and loosed the arrow. A moment later, in the distance, a giant beast fell dead.
Although Yang Kai couldn’t sense a single drop of his Emperor Qi in this Sealed World, it seemed as though his foundation as an Emperor Realm Master was still there. The huge bow and arrows would be incredibly difficult to control for an average person, but it was nothing to an Emperor Realm Master. The first arrow had simply been an experiment by Yang Kai to accustom himself to the equipment. What came after that was simple; none of his arrows missed their marks.
Yang Kai finished a bundle of ten arrows in just a few breaths, and aside from his first arrow that failed to hit its target, the following nine each killed their targets in a single hit.
“Brother Ah Niu, how are you so amazing?” The young boy that was in charge of logistics came over with several bundles of arrows and happened to witness Yang Kai’s martial prowess, immediately admiring him greatly.
The adults in the village were always spurning Brother Ah Niu, claiming that he was a good-for-nothing in this village that not only failed to contribute anything, but even wasted their food. Most of the adults had advocated for Ah Niu to be exiled from the village and left to fend for himself. If not for the Village Chief’s kindness and Ah Hu constantly sharing his food with Ah Niu, Ah Niu would have starved to death a long time ago. However, that supposedly worthless Ah Niu actually turned out to be so amazing! He was on par with Ah Hua, the best archer in the village. Thus, the young boy felt rather confused.
Heavy snow had begun to fall in this ancient and primitive world at some point, dyeing everyone’s vision with white. It also made the shockingly red blood stand out even more against the ground. Despite the freezing conditions, the villagers seemed oblivious to the cold, leaving their skin exposed to the elements as it gave off steaming heat.
Outside the village, hundreds of villagers were armed with primitive weapons such as stone axes and stone spears as they fought in a bloody battle against the giant beasts. More than a dozen archers stood atop the wall and provided strong support to the fighters with their superb skills. Meanwhile, the stooped figure of the Village Chief continued to run about the battlefield. His pitch-black cane occasionally flashed with weak bursts of light as he used his meagre Shamanic Spells to resist the invasion of the Beast Tide.
The bloody glow surrounding the bodies of the villagers that were subjected to the Bloodlust Spell was growing dimmer. Needless to say, it was a sign that the effects of the Bloodlust Spell were beginning to fade. These villagers would fall into a period of prolonged weakness and lose their ability to fight once the Bloodlust Spell lost its effectiveness, so if they failed to repel the Beast Tide before that happened, only one end was waiting for the entire village: Utter destruction.
Hundreds of the strongest warriors would become food for the giant beasts throughout winter. Similarly, the old, the weak, the women, and the children would suffer the same fate. At that time, all the lands touched by the cruel oppression of the giant beasts would suffer endlessly.
For that reason, the villagers continued to fight to their last breaths so long as the Beast Tide was not repelled. Their homes were behind them, so nobody could retreat.
*Sou sou sou…*
Yang Kai released three arrows, and three giant beasts fell dead instantly. These impressive techniques left Ah Hua feeling dazzled. If she had been stunned by him drawing a bow and shooting with such great accuracy earlier, she was now completely unable to process what she saw in front of her, her mind going blank from the shock.
[I didn’t know that the bow could be used like that.] She had her pride as the best Spirit Archer in the village. Nobody else in the village could beat her when it came to archery; however, she had never heard of, nor seen archery like what Ah Niu was performing, shooting arrows at the same time.
[We can win this! We will definitely win this!]
Ah Niu’s sudden transformation gave her a shining ray of hope for victory. As long as he maintained his current pace, something as trivial as the Beast Tide would be nothing to worry about!
“Sister Hua, Brother Ah Niu, this is bad! We don’t have many arrows left! These are the last five bundles! Aunt Li told me to let you know to use them sparingly,” the young man in charge of logistics shouted, running up to them with a few bundles of arrows in his arms.
His words felt like a basin of ice-cold water pouring down on Ah Hua. One bundle of arrows contained ten, so five bundles meant fifty arrows. At best, they could only kill another fifty giant beasts. But, the Beast Tide won’t end with just fifty more deaths!
Ah Hua’s complexion paled suddenly. If there was no support from the archers, Ah Hu and the rest fighting desperately below would undoubtedly die. Thus, she turned around, glared at the young boy, and roared, “How can there be so few left?! What about the arrows in the warehouse?! Didn’t you take them out?!”
The young boy looked mournful, “We took them all out, but you are consuming the arrows too quickly! Even though Aunt Li and the others are doing their best to craft more, they can’t keep up with the demand.”
[Consuming the arrows too quickly? It’s not that we are using them too quickly, it’s that too much time has passed! There has never been a Beast Tide that lasted for this long before. The giant beasts are not retreating even though they are paying such a heavy price in this battle. This is different from all the other Beast Tides we encountered before in the past!]
Ah Hua looked up at the sky, where large snowflakes were falling heavily while the whistling of the bitterly cold winds echoed throughout the forests. It was winter, and the beasts were hoarding rations for the coming freeze, lest they starve to death in their caves when the weather turns frigid.
[What do we do? What do we do?!] The shock of this depressing news made Ah Hua falter. She bit her pale lips hard, practically drawing blood, yet not realizing it. She turned her head to look outside the village where the sight of those villagers leaving their backs to the archers without any worries pained her heart.
“I’m leaving this place to you!”
Ah Hua was stunned by those words and turned to look at Ah Niu, asking almost subconsciously, “What?”
Yang Kai took a deep breath and put down the huge bow in his hand before cracking his neck and smiling at her, “I’ll be right back!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he jumped off the wall and rushed towards the bloody battlefield. Ah Hua’s eyes bulged suddenly and she opened her mouth to shout at him, but her words were blown away by the howling of the cold wind. She did not even know whether he heard her or not.
He was simply courting death! His performance might have been pretty good when it came to drawing a bow and killing giant beasts from afar; however, long-range shooting and close combat were two different matters altogether! Fighting with the giant beasts, which were often ten metres long, required extraordinary physical fitness and the courage to face death. Regardless of his courage, Ah Niu’s physical strength was apparent. His body was smaller than that of the underaged children in the village, so what could he do even if he entered the battlefield? Those giant beasts would definitely make a quick snack of him!
After jumping off the wall, Yang Kai casually picked up a stone axe he found lying on the ground. He braved the harsh cold winds and walked through the mud mixed with the flesh and blood of those strange monsters, racing into the herd of beasts in the blink of an eye. From afar, it looked like a newly born lamb rushing headfirst into a pack of tigers and his body was buried under them in an instant.
Ah Hua couldn’t bear watching anymore, reaching out to pick up a bow as she secretly decided to avenge him.
“Sister Hua, look!” The young logistics boy had not left, however, and suddenly lifted his hand and pointed while exclaiming in excitement.
Glancing in the direction he was pointing, Ah Hua saw the giant beasts in that direction being blasted into the air for some unfathomable reason. They flailed helplessly mid-air before crashing to the ground, bleeding profusely, and dying instantly. Some of these beasts fell dead, while others with their huge bodies actually exploded mid-air. Some were even split cleanly in two.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of giant beasts that had gathered in that spot were killed, and at that moment, a not-so-burly figure stood there, tall and strong like a spear. The stone axe in his hands was covered in blood and bits of flesh.
“How?” Ah Hua was dumbfounded.
Similarly, the dozen or so Spirit Archers standing on the wall were equally dumbfounded by the sight, so much so that they forgot to continue providing support with their bows. All of them were staring blankly at the weak-looking figure standing there. The person they used to ridicule and spurn to the point of wanting to exile him from the village had turned out to be as powerful and mighty as an Ancient God on the battlefield that was covered in blood and flesh.
Standing there, that person gave off the feeling that he could take on anything that came his way, giving the villagers an unprecedented sense of calm. Moreover, there seemed to be loud laughter coming from that direction, though the wind was too strong for them to hear clearly. However, those with sharp eyes could clearly make out the excited and jubilant smile on this small figure’s face.
The commotion soon alarmed the other giant beasts and numerous pairs of scarlet eyes turned toward that direction while a low roar rang out indistinctly. Immediately following that, a portion of the giant beasts besieging the villagers split off from the group and surrounded Yang Kai.
Yang Kai held the stone axe in his hand as his aura rose steadily. When his sharp gaze swept over the giant beasts, it made them all pause for a moment. The wild beasts instinctively felt that the person in front of them… was not one to be trifled with.
The indistinct howl hidden in the freezing wind sounded again, and only then did the giant beasts move forward once more.
The mutilated corpse of a villager was lying beside Yang Kai, but even in death, this villager continued to grip his stone spear tightly, stabbing into the soft belly of a giant beast. He had taken the giant beast down with him, but had half his head bitten off as a price. This happened so long ago though that the blood had already coagulated.
Reaching out, Yang Kai picked up the stone spear. Holding an axe in one hand and a spear in the other, spinning them lightly to accustom himself to their weight and balance, Yang Kai inhaled a deep breath and stomped his feet on the ground to charge into the herd of beasts like a flash of lightning.
Like an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before, all of Yang Kai’s movements were simple and brutal chops, slashes, and stabs. Moreover, the weapons he used were the simplest and most primitive of weapons, a stone spear and a stone axe. Even so, these two simplistic weapons were given mysterious and miraculous effects in the hands of an Emperor Realm Master, even if his powers had been suppressed.
Yang Kai moved freely through the battlefield, defeating beasts as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. None of the giant beasts could stand against him, and one after another, they were thrown out or cut down. Every giant beast Yang Kai came across was left with shockingly large wounds. More importantly, all these wounds were fatal!
Whimpering continuously, the giant beasts retreated steadily. Consequently, the encirclement formed by hundreds of giant beasts was broken by Yang Kai. By the time he charged out of the encirclement, more than a third of his attackers lay dead on the ground.
At the forefront of the battle, a stoop-figured old man using spells to conceal his aura and his presence revealed a shocked expression. He stared at Yang Kai with murky eyes, as if recognizing him for the first time. Unfortunately, his great astonishment disturbed his mind and caused his Shamanic Spell to fail. As a result, his presence was revealed, and a giant beast nearby immediately lunged at him. The old man would have lost his life if nothing unexpected happened.
*Sou…*
A sharp arrow sliced through the air and shot through that giant beast’s head at that moment. The old man turned and glanced in the direction the arrow had come from only to see Ah Hua nodding at him lightly from the top of the wall.
“Village Chief, support me!” Yang Kai was covered in blood, and the internal organs of those giant beasts were splattered all over his body. Brimming with murderous intent, he grinned widely at the old man.
The old man shuddered in fear for some unknown reason upon seeing this sight, but even so, he raised his cane per Yang Kai’s request and a convoluted sound came from his lips. With a wave of his cane, a ray of light shot towards Yang Kai’s body.
In the next moment, Yang Kai felt the blood in his body boiling and raging like a wildfire. A dense layer of golden light appeared around his body next, making him look extremely majestic!
The old man felt even more shocked than before as turbulent waves in his heart were set off, his murky eyes immediately glowing brightly in response.
“So, this is the Bloodlust Spell!” Yang Kai breathed in lightly, distinctly feeling his strength increasing. Unfortunately, the Bloodlust Spell seemed to have several drawbacks. While it greatly increased one’s strength, it simultaneously weakened one’s five senses. However, Yang Kai, who had a cultivation at the Emperor Realm could ignore this level of dulling. Ordinary people like Ah Hu would have no way of compensating.
No wonder these villagers fought without fear of death when subjected to the Bloodlust Spell, it turned out it played a significant role in boosting their primal instincts such as courage. Deprived of their five senses, they no longer felt a strong sense of pain or fear. Hence, it was only natural that they were capable of fighting more bravely and recklessly than normal.
In any case, the golden light wrapping around Yang Kai’s body made him stand out from everyone else. While the others were giving off red light after being subjected to the Bloodlust Spell, only Yang Kai glowed with a golden light. That couldn’t be helped though, since the Bloodlust Spell stimulated one’s Blood Essence, and Yang Kai’s blood was golden.
“Take care of yourself, Village Chief! Don’t run around so much when you’re so old! Why don’t you go back and rest?” Yang Kai grinned at the old man. Then, he turned around and rushed into the herd of beasts again.
The old man’s mouth twitched in response. Despite the shock he felt, he did not forget to apply another concealment technique to himself. He was the Village Chief, as well as a respected Shaman. Hence, everybody in the village was very respectful toward him. In the past, Ah Niu didn’t even have the courage to look him in the eyes, so when did he find the courage to speak so brazenly to him?
Ah Niu had never made any contribution to the village before and instead had just used up food and shelter. Therefore, the old man once considered exiling Ah Niu from the village according to the villagers’ wishes, leaving him to fend for himself.
However, a life was at stake, and Ah Niu was still one of his villagers. Besides, the Village Chief strongly believed that Ah Niu would grow up one day and play his part as one of the villagers. In reality, Ah Niu’s performance over the years had been extremely disappointing. That was up until today, when he suddenly blazed with a blinding brilliance!
“We have been blessed by the Barbarian Gods!” The Village Chief parted his lips and muttered to himself as he watched Yang Kai rush back into the herd of beasts and begin a one-sided slaughter. Yang Kai was like a sharp sword of the Barbarian Gods, an unstoppable force emerging victorious on the battlefield.
The golden light wrapped around Yang Kai was so dazzling that it could not be concealed by the thickly falling snow. It sped across the battlefield and soon ploughed through the enemy ranks, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in its wake.
The giant beasts howled in panic as they slowly retreated from the battlefield. Conversely, the villagers became emboldened. Forming a human wall with their shields and bodies, they used the simplest group tactics to fearlessly drive the wild beasts out of their home.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai swapped out his broken stone axe and stone spear for new ones multiple times until the Beast Tide finally retreated. Now, the only sound was whipping winds and falling snowflakes as corpses and blood were scattered across the ground.
The villagers chased after the beasts for several dozen kilometres before finally stopping and letting out a thunderous roar in unison. That roar sounded like the roar of a great ancient beast, making the fleeing giant beasts flee in an even greater panic.
“We won! We won!”
The villagers cheered jubilantly. They were elated to have survived another Beast Tide; thus, their expressions were filled with joy as they danced and shouted.
“Ah Niu, is that really you!?” Ah Hu appeared out of nowhere, covered in blood but not severely injured, only suffering a bite wound on his abdomen. Widening his eyes, Ah Hu stared at Yang Kai for a while before patting him heavily on the shoulder and shouting, “I thought I saw wrongly!”
But how could he have been mistaken? The only one with this body shape in the village was Ah Niu. However, Ah Hu couldn’t believe his eyes even though he had noticed Yang Kai’s existence on the battlefield. It wasn’t until he saw Yang Kai for himself that he confirmed his suspicions.
The rest of the surviving villagers were also watching Yang Kai curiously. Their eyes were filled with gratitude and admiration. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai rushing into the herd of beasts at the last moment and turning the tide of the war, the fate of the village would have been disastrous. The Ancient Barbarian Race had simple rules and values, the first and foremost of which was that the strong ruled! In truth, this rule has continued to the present day even though the Ancient Barbarian Race had faded into history.
“This is a gift from the Barbarian Gods!” The old Village Chief walked up to Yang Kai shakily with his pitch-black cane in his hands.
In response, Yang Kai thought to himself. [I did all of this on my own! It has nothing to do with these so-called Barbarian Gods!] Unfortunately, these words could never be said out loud as they would make him the enemy of the entire Ancient Barbarian Race regardless of his contributions to the village. After all, blasphemy against the Barbarian Gods was the biggest taboo among the Ancient Barbarian Race.
“Village Chief, we killed so many beasts during this attack. Why don’t we hold a celebration?” Ah Hu looked at the Village Chief enthusiastically. Similarly, the rest of the villagers had looks of expectation in their eyes too.
Food was scarce in the village; however, hundreds of beasts had been killed during the Beast Tide this time. It was enough to feed the village for quite some time. The Village Chief had been worrying about their food supply for the winter just recently. Every year, many villagers would starve to death during winter; and this year was no exception. He had not expected such fortune to fall into his lap so suddenly. With the corpses of these beasts, there was no need to worry about food again this winter.
The Village Chief smiled and was just about to speak when Yang Kai stepped forward and said, “Village Chief, don’t you think that something is strange about the Beast Tide this time around?”
The Village Chief frowned and glanced at Yang Kai, “You noticed it too.”
Yang Kai was surprised, “Village Chief, what do you know?”
The Village Chief fell silent for a moment before answering, “It’s a Barbarian Beast. Only a Barbarian Beast can command a Beast Tide.”
Upon hearing those words, many villagers’ expressions changed drastically. That was because a Barbarian Beast was a very powerful existence, one only Shamans could deal with as raw physical strength was nothing in front of a Barbarian Beast.
“I see. So, it’s called a Barbarian Beast!” Yang Kai nodded. To him, it was just a weak beast that had gained some sentience and the ability to command others to form a Beast Tide. As a result, it caused the Beast Tide this time around to be so difficult to handle.
“Winter is here, so those beasts must be looking for rations as well. We might have repelled them this time, but they will definitely make a comeback if we don’t pull them out by the roots.”
The villagers’ expressions changed again as they knew that what Yang Kai said was right. Those wild beasts were nothing without that Barbarian Beast; however, things were different with a Barbarian Beast commanding them.
If the Beast Tide attacked again one day, it would surely be a disaster for the entire village. They had lost many warriors today; hence, they might not be able to cope with the next Beast Tide.
“Village Chief, why don’t we ask the clan for help?” Ah Hu suggested.
The Village Chief shook his head in response, “If we ask for help, most of the spoils we received today have to be dedicated to the clan. Are you willing to do that?”
When the villagers heard that, they shook their heads vigorously. So many of them had died in exchange for these trophies, so nobody would agree to give them away for nothing. Food was the foundation of survival in this land!
“What do we do then?” Ah Hu furrowed his brow.
Yang Kai piped up, “I’ll go kill it!”
After saying that, he turned around and headed in the direction the Beast Tide had retreated.
Ah Hu was shocked and hurriedly grabbed Yang Kai by the hand, urgently trying to convince him, “Ah Niu, don’t be rash! The Barbarian Beast is not something you can deal with.”
Yang Kai gently removed Ah Hu’s hand with a smile and replied, “It’s nothing but a Barbarian Beast. Just wait here for the good news.”
On the other hand, Ah Hu was stunned. When Yang Kai removed his hand, he felt a strength that shocked him greatly. [Is this really the Ah Niu that I know?]
“I’ll go with you!” He moved to chase after Yang Kai; however, he was hit by a wave of dizziness and staggered after taking several steps. The backlash from the Bloodlust Spell had set in. At this point, he wouldn’t be of much help even if he accompanied Yang Kai. Rather, he would become a burden. Thus, he could only watch as Yang Kai disappeared into the swirling snow. Turning his head, he asked, “Village Chief, what happened to Ah Niu?”
The villagers were curious too. The Ah Niu they saw today was like a completely different person compared to the Ah Niu they used to know.
The Village Chief remained silent for a long while before he replied, “The Barbarian Gods have given him strength. Ah Niu has shed his former self and has been reborn.”
The villagers reacted as if they received a sudden revelation; none of them seemed to doubt the explanation nor look even the slightest bit jealous.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai walked alone with a stone axe in his hand. This was an experience unlike any he had before. He was a living, breathing person, and the battle he just fought was undoubtedly real. It was almost as if he had broken the constraints of time and gone back to the ancient era. He had become a member of the Ancient Barbarian Race and was now witnessing this way of life firsthand.
He did not know what he would gain from this experience, but he knew that his sudden appearance in this village was the key. Obtaining the villagers’ goodwill might lead to unexpected gains; hence he was travelling alone to hunt down the cunning and hateful Barbarian Beast.
The Beast Tide had left behind many traces during their retreat and the snow-covered ground was full of their footprints. Although the snow was falling heavily, it was not enough to bury these traces in such a short time. Chasing after them, Yang Kai eventually caught up to the pack without expending much effort. However, the beasts were extremely swift-footed, so he couldn’t catch up to them quickly.
It wasn’t until evening that day that Yang Kai tracked the beasts to a certain canyon. The heavy snow had stopped by then, and countless footprints were left behind in the snowy ground of the canyon, along with many bloodstains.
From the outside, the canyon looked like a bottle gourd, a small entrance with a larger region further in. Furthermore, it was surrounded by cliffs and was brightly lit despite the time. Even at night, Yang Kai’s vision extended several thousand meters. More importantly, he could see the end of the canyon; it was a dead end.
[This will be simple!] Yang Kai grinned. He had no plans to complicate matters as he was only after a mere Monster Beast with some slight sentience after all. His body was still glowing with golden light from the Bloodlust Spell, so standing at the entrance of the canyon, he stuffed the stone axe into his belt, brought up his fists, and punched the cliffs.
*Hong hong hong…*
Loud noises reverberated throughout this bottle-gourd-shaped canyon, instantly alarming the herd of beasts that had just returned to this place not long ago. Numerous roars rang out as they rushed out of their hiding places.
When they emerged from their nests, the beasts were greeted by a dazzling golden light in the distance which made them stop in their tracks and stare in horror at the only exit of the canyon that was blocked by fallen rocks. During the day, their companions had suffered countless deaths and injuries at the hands of this person that exuded golden light; as such, they couldn’t help feeling afraid and hesitant to step forward when they saw the familiar and deadly golden light at this moment.
If they could have escaped, they would have fled as far away as they could in an instant. They never wanted to face this golden man again. Unfortunately, the only exit of the canyon had been sealed; leaving them no way out.
All this while, they had been the ones to attack the village of the Ancient Barbarian Race. They never expected the Ancient Barbarian Race to come to them one day. For that reason, the beasts lacked the knowledge and experiences to respond right away and were at a loss for what to do for a while.
At that critical moment, a low growl came from the depths of the canyon and the beasts reluctantly stepped forward as if complying with an order and surrounded Yang Kai. In response, Yang Kai grinned from ear to ear, revealing a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. Taking out the stone axe he had stuck in his belt, he approached the beasts slowly.
The killing spree started again in the next moment. Everywhere the golden light touched, the herd of beasts were defeated and scattered. One by one, the giant beasts collapsed in pools of their own blood.
Yang Kai’s pace was fast and steady, killing his way into the depths of the canyon. The roars and the howls of the beasts blended into one another, and the canyon was quickly filled with a strong stench of blood, which was extremely pungent.
Meanwhile, the stone axe in Yang Kai’s hand had long been smashed to pieces. Thus, he gave up on his weapon and clenched his fists instead, every punch he threw breaking the bones of the giant beasts.
At dawn, Ah Hu appeared outside the village with a pale face. He had yet to recover from the bloody battle yesterday, especially the effects of the Bloodlust Spell’s backlash. Even if he was one of the best warriors in the village, he would be weakened for several days at least; therefore, he couldn’t fight again within the next few days.
Still, he held his head high as he glanced at the large tree at the entrance of the village, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
A head popped out from among the foliage of the large tree. It was the young boy who was in charge of logistics on top of the wall from before. He replied, “I don’t see anything, Brother Ah Hu.”
Ah Hu frowned at those words with an anxious expression on his face. Ah Niu had gone after the Barbarian Beast yesterday and failed to return last night. Hence, the villagers were very worried about him. The young boy had hidden in the canopy of that tree for two reasons. One reason was that he was keeping watch; the other reason was that he wanted to look out for signs of Ah Niu’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the young boy’s reply disappointed Ah Hu greatly.
“Didn’t the Village Chief mention that Ah Niu has been blessed by the Barbarian Gods? Why are you still so worried about him?” Ah Hua appeared behind Ah Hu with a longbow on her back.
“Ah Niu received the blessing of the Bloodlust Spell, but now that one night has passed, the effects must have faded, and you know what consequences that will bring.”
Even if Ah Niu had been blessed by the Barbarian Gods, allowing him to shed his former self and be reborn, the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell could not be ignored by any of the Ancient Barbarians. If they were surrounded by the herd of beasts in that weakened state, they would undoubtedly end up as food.
“There’s no point worrying about him anyway. Just believe in the Barbarian Gods and in Ah Niu.” Ah Hua patted Ah Hu on the shoulder and turned to return to the village. Although the battle yesterday had not damaged the village, there were still many things to take care of.
“Brother Ah Hu… I see someone…” The young boy suddenly shouted at that moment.
“Who is it?!” Ah Hu raised his head and asked anxiously.
“I can’t see clearly!” The young boy replied.
“Then open your eyes wider!” Ah Hu roared.
The young boy felt speechless and thought to himself. [It’s not like opening my eyes wider will make me see things clearer!] However, he soon called out in alarm, “It’s a Barbarian Beast!”
He clearly saw the body of a Barbarian Beast approaching this direction at an extremely fast speed.
“What?!” Ah Hu and Ah Hua paled in shock and horror. Looking at each other, a terrifying thought involuntarily emerged in their minds. [The village is done for!]
The Barbarian Beast had returned to attack again. Thus, it was obvious what kind of fate had befallen Ah Niu, who left in pursuit of it. Besides, yesterday’s bloody battle had caused most of the warriors in the village to lose a lot of their fighting power. Who could stand up to the Barbarian Beast now that it was attacking at this time?
“No… wait…” The young boy corrected himself, his voice trembling in delight, “It’s Brother Ah Niu! It’s Brother Ah Niu!”
At this point, Ah Hu was about to lose his mind in frustration as he roared, “Why don’t you look carefully!? Is it Ah Niu or the Barbarian Beast?”
One was a person while the other was a beast, they couldn’t look more different! How poor was this boy’s eyesight to confuse the two of them?! Without saying anything, Ah Hua immediately rushed forward and quickly scaled the tree. Standing atop the canopy, she peered into the distance. As a Spirit Archer, her eyesight was incredibly sharp. Just because the young boy couldn’t see clearly did not mean that she couldn’t.
On the other hand, Ah Hu anxiously stood in place and waited while looking up at them. A moment later, Ah Hua lowered her head and smilingly announced, “It’s Ah Niu! Ah Niu brought the Barbarian Beast back with him!”
Ah Hu was stunned. He asked incredulously, “Ah Niu… killed the Barbarian Beast?”
Ah Hua climbed down from the tree, tossed her long braid behind her back, and nodded in affirmation, “That’s right! Ah Niu killed the Barbarian Beast!”
Ah Hu let out a long sigh of relief before immediately laughing wildly. Turning around, he yelled in the direction of the village, “Everyone! Come out! Ah Niu is returning after killing the Barbarian Beast! He killed the Barbarian Beast!”
All the villagers that were busy working were taken aback by this shout and could barely believe what they heard. Even so, they quickly put down their work and gathered at the entrance of the village, murmuring questioningly among themselves
“Did Ah Niu really kill the Barbarian Beast?”
“Who witnessed it?”
“Ah Hu, are you lying to us?”
“Is that good-for-nothing, Ah Niu, really that capable?”
“He is no longer a good-for-nothing now. It’s all thanks to him that we managed to repel the Beast Tide yesterday!”
“Wasn’t he too weak to even draw a bow before? How did he change so suddenly? It’s like he is a completely different person!”
“The Village Chief said that Ah Niu was blessed by the Barbarian Gods.”
…..
Yang Kai carried the dead Monster Beast over his shoulder, and before he arrived at the village’s entrance, he saw from afar that a large group of people had gathered there. Moreover, they were pointing in his direction.
Standing at the forefront of the group, Ah Hu beckoned and shouted at Yang Kai with a huge smile on his pale face.
[According to Ah Hua, Ah Hu used to share his food with me in the past. That’s the only reason I didn’t starve to death.] Yang Kai might not have personally experienced that, but this body belonging to this era had been graced by Ah Hu’s kindness. Therefore, he was aware of the concern that this young man of the Ancient Barbarian Race had shown him.
He responded to Ah Hu by lifting the Barbarian Beast from his shoulders, holding it up high in the air, and displaying it to the villagers from a distance. Immediately following that, the villagers shouted and cheered, rushing over to welcome the hero’s return.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by hundreds of villagers, each of them patting him on the shoulder cordially and enthusiastically with looks of admiration and gratitude. Then, they cleared the way and let him continue forward. Even though he did not understand what kind of custom this was, Yang Kai could feel their respect with every pat on the shoulder that he received.
The old Village Chief appeared leisurely at the entrance of the village with a cane in his hand. His entire stooped figure was trembling as if he was about to drop dead.
Yang Kai was followed by countless villagers as he walked over to the Village Chief and placed the Monster Beast on the ground, grinning as he said, “Village Chief, I killed the Barbarian Beast.”
The Village Chief studied the Barbarian Beast seriously and nodded, “Good!”
He didn’t give many praises, but it sounded even more honest and kind as a result. Thus, Yang Kai continued smiling in response.
By now, many young boys and young girls of the Ancient Barbarian Race had gathered around. They were staring at the Barbarian Beast on the ground as if it was their first time seeing something so ferocious. Their eyes were brimming with curiosity while some of the more daring ones even reached out their hands to touch it, but they retracted their hands upon receiving death glares from their parents.
At that moment, a young girl walked over from the back of the crowd while carrying a bowl filled with an opaque liquid in her hands. The faint fragrance of wine filled the air. The young girl walked over to Yang Kai and stared at him shyly. Even though she was blushing furiously, she did not shift her gaze away, her fiery gaze making him slightly uncomfortable and at a loss for what to do.
Strictly speaking, the women of the Ancient Barbarian Race did not fit Yang Kai’s sense of aesthetics; however, this young girl was a little different from the rest of the women here. Even though she was still very tall, she was quite a stunning beauty in his eyes.
Tilting his head, he looked at the Village Chief curiously.
In response, the Village Chief explained, “Only the best warriors in the village are eligible to drink this bowl of Sacred Wine. Go ahead and drink it.”
[It really is wine…] Despite smelling the fragrance of wine, Yang Kai couldn’t be sure that that bowl of opaque unknown liquid was really wine before the Village Chief explained.
Accepting the stone bowl from the young girl, Yang Kai downed the contents in one go. The burning sensation in his throat flowed all the way down to his abdomen and a strange power spread out from his stomach, causing his meridians to tremble slightly. He lifted an eyebrow in response. Before he had the time to observe the feeling carefully, the villagers around him picked him up and lifted him into the air. The villagers chanted the name ‘Ah Niu’, throwing him up and catching him before throwing him again…
Yang Kai lost count of how many young girls took advantage of the situation and unscrupulously molest his body with their hands, stroking his bare muscles and private parts. The women of the Ancient Barbarian Race were so unrestrained and straightforward that it made him furiously blush. It was bad enough that the young and immature girls were taking advantage of him, but why are there some elderly women joining them too!?
The whole village was filled with joy, making it as lively as the new year celebration. A long while later, the villagers finally put the dizzy Yang Kai down.
Yang Kai staggered slightly as he was struck by a feeling that was even stronger than the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell.
The Village Chief smiled and stretched out his hand to the side. The young boy, who had been keeping watch on the tree before, immediately took off the stone dagger around his waist and handed it to the Village Chief. Then, the Village Chief bent over and cut into the Barbarian Beast. It could be seen that he was very knowledgeable and skillful in this aspect and it did not take long for him to take out a round, fingernail-sized object from the body of the Barbarian Beast and hand it to Yang Kai, “Dissolve this with wine and drink it. You will become stronger after!”
Many of the villagers looked envious as their gazes were fixed on the round ball stained red with blood.
[Isn’t this a Monster Core? Moreover, it’s an extremely low-grade Monster Core.] Yang Kai accepted it as he realized the Ancient Barbarian Race consumed Monster Cores directly. This was reasonable as the Martial Dao wasn’t very well developed at this point in time, while Alchemy was essentially unheard of. How could they possibly refine pills or elixirs in such a state?
Although consuming Monster Cores directly could increase one’s strength, there were hidden dangers to doing so; after all, Monster Cores were the essence of Monster Beasts. Not only did it contain the Monster Beasts’ strength, but also their residual natures. Therefore, there was a high chance a person would have their mentality distorted by the wild nature of Monster Beasts if they consumed cores directly.
“This Barbarian Beast is your war trophy. Take it back with you. Eating its meat for a long time will also make you stronger,” the Village Chief said, pointing to the Barbarian Beast brought back by Yang Kai.
“En!” Yang Kai did not decline the offer. He had only been here for a day, so there was no time for him to get a better understanding of the ancient culture; but even so, he could tell from the straightforward attitudes of these villagers that they were all very sincere and simple people.
Yang Kai then paused for a moment before saying, “By the way, Village Chief, there are more than three hundred dead beasts in the valley where I killed this Barbarian Beast. Do you want to bring them back? If so, I can lead the way.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, many villagers looked overjoyed. The Village Chief replied, “Naturally, we cannot let any precious food source go to waste. Still, let’s wait for a few days so that everybody can get some rest. Everyone is still too tired.”
Ah Hu smiled and said, “Village Chief, Ah Niu is back now, and we also have enough food for the winter. Shouldn’t we celebrate today?”
His saliva nearly flowed out of his mouth as he spoke. Likewise, the other villagers stared at the Village Chief with eyes full of expectations even though none of them said anything.
“Do you only think about eating!?” The Village Chief raised his cane and smacked Ah Hu’s head lightly. Ah Hu didn’t evade and received the blow before rubbing his head with an embarrassed chuckle. He had a brazen expression on his face.
Seeing the looks on everyone’s faces, the Village Chief eventually relented, “Fine then. We shall feast today!”
All the villagers suddenly cheered aloud.
As the saying went ‘food was the most important thing in life’, that was an unchanging principle. During the ancient times, being able to eat until they burst was definitely the most luxurious enjoyment one could have.
The Ancient Barbarian Race’s cooking methods were extremely simple, meat was roasted. They skewered large chunks of the beasts’ meat on wooden poles, set up bonfires everywhere in the village, and grilled the meat over the fire. The golden colour and the crackling grease of the meat whet one’s appetite greatly.
Even though they had obtained the meat yesterday, the entire village, including the Village Chief, had not taken a single bite out of it. That was because they had been waiting for the hero to return! Now that Ah Niu had returned, it was naturally time to celebrate.
The smell of barbeque soon drifted across the entire village. They did not use any complicated condiments and simply grabbed the meat with their bare hands, tore into it with large bites, and swallowed it. Some of the meat was still bloody and slightly undercooked, but even so, the villagers couldn’t care less as they ate the meat with gusto.
Meanwhile, the fattiest cut of the meat from the beasts was placed in front of Yang Kai. This treatment was not even enjoyed by the most respected Village Chief. This was because Yang Kai was the one that contributed the most to repelling the Beast Tide and slaying the Barbarian Beast, so it was only natural for him to receive the best treatment.
Yang Kai originally planned to casually respond to their treatment; after all, it didn’t matter even if he didn’t eat anything with his current cultivation. However, a gurgling sound came from his stomach when the smell of the barbecue entered his nose, stunning him greatly.
[I actually… feel hungry?! How is that possible? I’m an Emperor Realm Master!] Yang Kai no longer needed to eat anything, and under normal circumstances, it would be enough for him to simply absorb ambient World Energy to replenish his body’s needs. Yet, he actually felt hungry in this strange place! On top of that, he was even feeling fatigued.
[How is this world so realistic?!] He couldn’t ponder over it deeply. Affected by the villagers, he reached out to grab the cooked meat and wolfed it down.
The village women took out preserved dried vegetables, and the Village Chief also ordered for the sealed fruit wine to be fetched. The whole village was filled with an extremely lively and festive atmosphere. Even so, they did not neglect their defences and remained vigilant of their surroundings outside the village just in case the smell of barbeque attracted wild beasts to them.
The celebration lasted a whole day.
Yang Kai didn’t know how much he ate or how much fruit wine he drank, but in the end, he became faintly drunk. Staggering back to the log house where he lived, he immediately fell onto his bed.
At that moment, he noticed somebody entering his log house in his dazed state.
Despite being weary and drunk, he was still an Emperor Realm Master, so he opened his eyes immediately and shouted, “Who?!”
Just as the words left his mouth, he felt a scalding hot body slipping under his blanket made of animal skins. Subsequently, an arm reached out to hug his waist and a head buried itself in his chest. Furthermore, a delicate fragrance entered his nose while strands of messy long hair tickled his face. There was no hostility, but the person lying in his arms seemed to be breathing rather heavily and trembling slightly.
Yang Kai snapped awake instantly and tilted his head back. With the help of the dim moonlight coming in from outside his window, he finally saw the appearance of the person lying in his arms.
“Why are you here?!” Yang Kai stared at the young girl in astonishment. It was the tall girl who had served him the bowl of Sacred Wine when he returned yesterday. Her soft and warm body in his arms made him become more and more aware of an amazing elasticity pressing up against him.
“Brother Ah Niu…” the young girl murmured. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. Despite her shyness, she made a bold gesture and pouted her red lips, making her look extremely seductive.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling dazed and subconsciously asked, “What are you doing here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had asked a stupid question. This girl had already given such obvious signals, so what else could she be trying to do? Sure enough, the young girl whispered, “Brother Ah Niu, Ah Ni turns fifteen years old today…”
She did not provide a thorough explanation, but even so, Yang Kai could vaguely guess what it meant for a girl from the Ancient Barbarian Race to turn fifteen years old. It probably meant that she was now an adult and a full-fledged woman! One should be given an amazing birthday gift on their fifteenth birthday. Moreover, it was her decision to dedicate herself to the best warrior in the village.
Upon realizing this, Yang Kai immediately felt awkward. If this had been the real world, it would have still been acceptable. The Ancient Barbarian Race was known to be very open to these kinds of things and they were not as rigid and conservative as ordinary present-day women. This would be considered nothing more than a love affair, and nobody lost anything from it.
Unfortunately, this place was a Sealed World! Even now, Yang Kai couldn’t figure out whether this place was real or just an elaborate illusion. If it was the latter, then what was the point of doing this? If he were to do such a thing with an illusion, what difference would that be from pleasuring himself?!
Just as he was mulling over this, the young girl arched back slightly and pressed her fiery body against his skin, as if trying to melt him with her heat. Lifting her head slightly, she whispered into his ear, “Brother Ah Niu, do you like Ah Ni?”
Deciding to bite the bullet, Yang Kai replied, “Of course I do!”
The desire for beauties was universal, to say nothing of such a pure and beautiful ancient-styled young girl. Ah Ni smiled brightly and, flipping up, she sat on his body, lifted her hands, and pulled at something. The simple animal skin top that she was wearing instantly came off, and under the pale moonlight, her perfect curves were clearly displayed before him.
Yang Kai suddenly felt as if he was about to suffer from a nosebleed.
How many years had it been… How many years was it since he last felt a woman’s skin? Yang Kai had remained abstinent ever since he left Heng Luo Star Field, so faced with such a stimulating scene, he felt incredibly overwhelmed even though his mental discipline was incredibly strong.
“Wait! Wait…” He hastily spoke up.
“What is it?” She glanced at him curiously.
Thinking on his feet, Yang Kai swallowed and said, “I’m injured! I’ve been severely injured!”
She covered her mouth with her hands, seemingly surprised by his words. She worriedly asked, “Is it serious?”
Yang Kai awkwardly replied as he glanced away, “It’s not that serious…”
“Then, it’s fine,” Upon hearing those words, she reached out to take off his clothes; however, Yang Kai gripped his clothes tightly, feeling extremely conflicted inside as he said, “Ah Ni, please don’t be rash!”
Pausing in her actions, she looked at him a little incredulously, “Brother Ah Niu, do you hate me?”
“Of course not!” He hurriedly denied.
“Then, why…” She pursed her lips lightly, feeling as if she had received a direct blow from a giant beast and suffered great damage as a result.
“I just feel that we should be more cautious about these kinds of things!” He replied solemnly.
Ah Ni looked at Yang Kai earnestly. After a long while, she turned around and grabbed her clothes that had been thrown aside. Flipping her body, she got up from his body and ran out the door with tears in her eyes.
“Ah Ni…” Yang Kai shouted after her. Even so, how could he possibly receive a response from her? All of a sudden, he felt lost as if he had a huge and empty void in his chest.
He had completely sobered up after Ah Ni pulled this little stunt on him. Thus, he decided to get up and sit cross-legged on the bed. His thoughts were a mess, and it took quite a while for him to calm down and consider how he should proceed in this Sealed World.
This strange place completely suppressed and sealed his Emperor Qi as soon as he had entered. All he could rely on here was the power of his body. When hunting down the Barbarian Beast from before, Yang Kai had tried to mobilize his Spiritual Energy, but he quickly discovered that both his Spiritual Energy and Emperor Qi had been sealed. He could not sense even the slightest trace of them.
[There were only five days before the one-month period ended when I entered the fifth layer, and I’ve been in this village for two days, so I only have three more days before I have to leave the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. What can I get from this Sealed World within three days? No matter how I look at it, what can this dilapidated old village give me? At my peak I could wipe out several of these villages with a sneeze!]
Subconsciously Yang Kai circulated his Secret Art and was immediately stunned by what he discovered. He could feel a trace of power circulating in his meridians! Although it was very weak, so weak that it was practically non-existent, it was definitely Emperor Qi.
[Why did my Emperor Qi suddenly reappear?] Yang Kai frowned. Then, he suddenly remembered that when he had just returned from slaying the Monster Beast today, he drank a bowl of Sacred Wine. After that, he vaguely felt an abnormality in his meridians. Yang Kai was just about to check on the abnormality, but unfortunately, the villagers’ enthusiasm had interrupted him.
[Is it because of that bowl of wine?] Yang Kai also drank some alcohol during the celebration banquet today, but it did not have the same effects as the bowl of wine Ah Ni had served to him before. [That bowl of wine Ah Ni served to me must have been specially handed to her by the Village Chief.]
This discovery made Yang Kai a little overjoyed. [That bowl of murky wine made my meridians produce some Emperor Qi, so what if I get more of it? Is it possible for me to restore some of my strength? Maybe even restore my power to its peak?]
Yang Kai couldn’t wait to go to the Village Chief and ask for more of that wine to confirm his suspicions. Even though he had yet to meet with any danger since entering this Sealed World, he couldn’t help wanting to take precautions; after all, Shamans existed in this ancient era, and a powerful Shaman was nothing like the old Village Chief; they were masters not inferior to the present-day cultivators.
Turning his head to look out the window, Yang Kai saw the moonlight shining brightly outside and sighed. [Everything can only wait until tomorrow. I wonder when I’ll fall back asleep again.]
At dawn the next day, Yang Kai woke up at first light and walked out of his log house. Many villagers were already up and working, but when they saw him, they looked respectful and nodded at him lightly. However, the moment they turned around, they also chuckled softly. Some of them even gathered together and pointed in his direction. If it had been only one or two, it would not have mattered. Unfortunately, all the villagers he met reacted the same way, making it difficult for Yang Kai to even ask them where the Village Chief’s house was.
[What’s going on?] He was utterly bewildered.
“I heard that Ah Ni went to your house last night and came out very quickly.” Ah Hu asked with a sly smile, appearing out of nowhere and wrapping his arm around his shoulders.
Yang Kai was shocked and asked, “How did you know?”
Ah Hu chuckled non-stop and pointed with his hand, “Everybody knows.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt exasperated. No wonder the villagers were acting so strange. It turned out it was because of this…
“How did everybody find out?” Yang Kai looked embarrassed. Although he was not too bothered, he did not know whether it would compromise Ah Ni’s reputation; after all, the village was not that big. If news about this got out, it would surely become public knowledge.
Ah Hu explained, “The night watch saw.” Then, he immediately leaned over and acted as if he was trying to be mysterious. He asked in a whisper, “Are you… incapable of doing it?”
“You’re the incapable one!” Yang Kai became livid. In response, Ah Hu burst into laughter.
“Village Chief! How are you doing?” Inside a dilapidated log house, Yang Kai met with the only Shaman in the village. The Village Chief woke up rather early even though he was getting on in his years and at this moment, he was holding a bowl containing a sticky porridge and eating it with relish.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s voice, he glanced over, but only put down his bowl when he finished eating and said, “Oh, it’s Ah Niu. What’s the matter?”
“I wanted to ask you for some Barbarian Sacred Wine!” Yang Kai got straight to the point.
“The Barbarian Sacred Wine…” The Village Chief was stunned for a moment before he got up with the help of his cane and asked, “Why do you want the Barbarian Sacred Wine?”
“It was tasty, so I wanted to drink it again!” Yang Kai replied.
The corners of the Village Chief’s mouth twitched; however, he soon seemed to notice something and carefully looked Yang Kai up and down. An astonished light shone from his turbid eyes as he asked in a shaky voice, “Did you… Did you unlock the Shaman Strength?”
“What?” Yang Kai was taken aback. The Village Chief had changed the topic so quickly that he couldn’t keep up with what he was thinking.
“Give me your hand!” The Village Chief excitedly stretched out his hand and grabbed Yang Kai’s.
Despite being dubious about it, Yang Kai did not refuse, allowing the large and aged hand to grab his wrist. In the next moment, he felt a weak force invading his meridians and continuing upward along his wrist.
Following that, the Village Chief began trembling even more strongly. His aged face turned red as if he had gotten several decades younger in an instant and he exclaimed with pleasant surprise, “It’s really the Shaman Strength! The Blue South Village will finally have a successor!”
“Are you talking about this?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he activated the meagre amount of Emperor Qi in his body and produced a small burst of light at the tips of his fingers.
The Village Chief stared at Yang Kai fiercely and nodded repeatedly, “This is the Shaman Strength!” While speaking, he walked out of the log house and fell to his knees. He had a pious look on his face as he clasped his hands together in prayer, “Thank you for your gift, O’ Barbarian Gods! Thank you for your protection!”
Yang Kai frowned slightly. He stepped forward and helped the Village Chief up, lest the Village Chief keel over suddenly because he was overly excited. Subsequently, the Village Chief took a deep breath and patted Yang Kai on the shoulder, “Ah Niu, from now on, you are a Shaman too! I’m very happy!”
Yang Kai said, “Yeah… But, I am very confused!”
The Village Chief chuckled, “Don’t be confused. The Barbarian Gods will guide you in the right direction. You came looking for me because you felt this power, right? That’s why you wanted more Barbarian Sacred Wine.
“En!” Yang Kai nodded. He stuck his head into the house and looked around. Despite being the Village Chief, this log house barely had anything in it. Everything inside was clear at a glance, so Yang Kai couldn’t find any traces of the Barbarian Sacred Wine anywhere.
“I don’t have any more of the Barbarian Sacred Wine. That bowl yesterday was all that remained in this village.” The old Village Chief seemed to have seen through Yang Kai’s intentions and explained, “The Barbarian Sacred Wine was originally brewed to unlock Shaman Strength in our Ancient Barbarian Race. It requires many ingredients and the brewing method is extremely complicated. That bowl was all that remained after the ceremony two years ago.”
“Ceremony?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
The Village Chief continued, “Did you forget? Two years ago, you, Ah Hu, and all the other young people in the village participated in the ceremony. It was a ceremony to check if any of you had the aptitude to become a Shaman! It’s a pity none of you passed at the time.”
Yang Kai had a vague understanding of what the Village Chief was talking about.
“I can’t believe you suddenly acquired the Shaman Strength though!” The Village Chief was so relieved that he looked like he wouldn’t have any regrets even if he died at this moment.
“Is there really no more Barbarian Sacred Wine?” Yang Kai asked again, refusing to give up. He wanted to verify if he could use the Barbarian Sacred Wine to restore part of his strength, but it seemed he was faltering at this first step.
Yang Kai had experimented a little before this, and using his Secret Art here did not increase his power in any way. It seemed as though the World Energy in this era was vastly different from the World Energy in the era he came from, making it incompatible with the arts he had learned.
The Village Chief shook his head in response, “No, there’s no more. Besides, the Barbarian Sacred Wine will have no more effect on you since you have already unlocked your Shaman Strength.”
[I will only know if it has any effect on me once I try it out!] Yang Kai retorted in his heart.
All of a sudden, the Village Chief smiled brightly and looked at Yang Kai before asking in a bewitching tone, “Ah Niu, do you want to obtain greater power? Do you want to become a stronger Shaman?”
Yang Kai immediately nodded his head so vigorously that he looked like a chicken pecking greedily at rice.
The Village Chief chuckled at the sight. [This young man is promising; he is worth teaching.] Waving Yang Kai inside, he said, “Come in!”
The two of them then entered the house, one after the other, and immediately following that, the Village Chief scoured through his cabinets and dug out something that looked like a tortoiseshell from some random corner of the room. He handed the shell to Yang Kai and said, “Follow the teachings written on it to cultivate. In time, you will become a Shaman Warrior, a Shaman Master, and even a Shaman Grandmaster! I’m getting old, but you’re still young! I will leave the village to you in the future!”
Yang Kai took the tortoiseshell from the Village Chief with a solemn expression. It felt like he was being entrusted with a mission at a critical and difficult moment where the fate of the entire world rested on his shoulders. Moreover, his stature abruptly became much greater than before.
Then, Yang Kai scratched his head and asked, “Village Chief, what is this?”
The Village Chief looked at him in bewilderment and explained, “This is a Shaman’s cultivation method.”
“What?!” Yang Kai was shocked. He looked at the Tortoise Shell in his hand and exclaimed in surprise, “This is the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method?!”
“What are you going on about being Ancient or whatnot?” The Village Chief shook his head, “As long as you cultivate according to the teachings written on that, you will soon become much stronger.”
“But… I can’t read this…” Yang Kai glanced at the Village Chief helplessly.
Small, dense words were scrawled across the Tortoise Shell. Unfortunately, the characters written on it were completely different from the characters that Yang Kai was familiar with, so he could not read a single word.
The Village Chief’s mouth fell open in surprise. A long while later, he sighed and said, “It looks like we should start by teaching you how to read.”
Yang Kai stayed in the Village Chief’s house for the entire day. It wasn’t until evening rolled around that he stepped out of the house.
The Village Chief taught Yang Kai about the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation methods recorded on the Tortoise Shell in one day. Then, he taught Yang Kai many ancient characters. Initially, Yang Kai had not been willing to learn how to read as it was enough as long as the Village Chief explained the Secret Art recorded on the Tortoise Shell to him.
However, one sentence from the Village Chief was enough to change his mind, “When you become stronger one day, you will have more choices to make when it comes to cultivation methods. How are you going to cultivate those methods if you can’t read?”
Yang Kai felt that those words were reasonable, and in any case, there was no loss to learning something extra. Thus, he calmed down and focused on studying.
Yang Kai’s comprehension ability was so high that the Village Chief was practically beside himself, beaming with joy. The Village Chief himself had taken three years to completely understand the cultivation methods recorded on the tortoiseshell while Yang Kai had already gotten a rudimentary understanding of it in just a single day. Although it was partly thanks to the chief’s guidance, there was no doubt that this child named Ah Niu had an unprecedented ability to comprehend the teachings.
That was only to be expected though as Yang Kai was an Emperor Realm Master. He had been exposed to various Secret Arts and Secret Techniques throughout his life, so he could almost understand everything about this technique after reading it just once. Besides, the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation methods were not that advanced or difficult. Yang Kai easily learned everything and in fact, he would not have needed the Village Chief’s guidance if not for the fact that he couldn’t read the ancient characters.
Yang Kai’s stomach rumbled the moment he returned to his log house. He was utterly famished. This feeling of hunger was very nostalgic and he had no choice but to cut some beast meat, boil it in a pot, and wolf it down.
After filling his stomach, he began to cultivate using the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method and was overjoyed when the Secret Arts began to activate. World Energy that he couldn’t absorb no matter how hard he tried last night now began to flood into his body. With the help of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method, he turned this World Energy into his own power, bit by bit.
At the same time, he clearly felt an energy source forming in his abdomen. Inexplicable energy gradually spread out from his lower belly and began filling his meridians. This energy source was formed from something he was not used to as it seemed all energy became the same under the transformation of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method.
[It’s the essence of the Monster Beast’s flesh and blood!] Yang Kai instantly understood the truth of the matter. What he had eaten before was the flesh of a Monster Beast, and at this moment, the essence from that Monster Beast’s flesh was being turned into his own power under the guidance of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method.
This way of refining a Monster Beast’s flesh and blood was much more convenient and rapid than slowly cultivating with ambient World Energy. In just a quarter of an hour, a gurgling sound came from his abdomen again as he completely digested the meat.
[I can’t believe I’m hungry again.] Yang Kai frowned. The sudden drop in the cultivation efficiency made him quite unhappy. Thus, he quickly got up and cooked another pot of beast meat, swiftly filled his belly, and continued cultivating.
…….
At midnight, Yang Kai finished off an entire Monster Beast, leaving only the skeleton behind. It was such a terrifying way of eating that if the rest of the villagers learned about it, they would surely be shocked. The meat of a Monster Beast was not something that could be consumed so easily as one’s mind would surely be affected by the hidden Monster Qi without a strong force suppressing it. Fortunately, Yang Kai now had the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method so forget about a trivial and weak Monster Beast, Yang Kai would have no trouble consuming a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast.
After cultivating for some time, he deeply experienced the simplicity and crudeness of the Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method. It was just like a Monster Beast’s method. Monster Beasts had no Secret Arts as there was a far easier way to become stronger, eating. They ate to become stronger, thus the more they ate, the stronger they became.
To some extent, the Ancient Barbarian Shaman cultivation methods harmonized with the way of survival of the Monster Beasts. It later underwent countless generations of improvement and evolution to create modern Secret Arts.
Having finished eating the meat of the Monster Beast, Yang Kai had another flash of inspiration. He took out a round Monster Core from the head of his bed. [If the flesh and blood of the Monster Beast can be eaten, then the Monster Core should be okay too, right?]
His current body was enough to safely digest a trivial and weak Monster Beast Core; however, anybody else would have had to weigh their options carefully if they were to do the same thing. Otherwise, the Village Chief wouldn’t have told him to consume the Monster Core by soaking it in wine. Even so, Yang Kai simply opened his mouth and swallowed the Monster Core directly.
As his Secret Arts began to activate, Yang Kai soon felt a burst of energy in his lower abdomen. It was a hundred times fiercer than before as the Monster Core of a Monster Beast was the very essence of its strength. It was the most valuable part of a Monster Beast’s body, and even a Shaman Apprentice like the Village Chief would most likely explode and die if he were to consume it directly.
As for Yang Kai, all he felt was a little heat coming from his abdomen at most. Then… there was nothing else after that.
“Y-You…” In front of the dilapidated log house, the Village Chief looked at Yang Kai dumbfounded. His mouth was agape, and his murky eyes were filled with shock. He could barely speak a coherent sentence as a result.
Only one night had passed, but he discovered that Ah Niu had become a Shaman Apprentice!
[A Shaman Apprentice! I worked so hard throughout my entire life, and yet I am still just a Shaman Apprentice. I can’t believe Ah Niu achieved that in just one night! Compared to him, I have lived my entire life for nothing…]
He could sense that the vitality in Yang Kai’s body was extremely strong and the Shaman Strength lingering on the surface of Yang Kai’s body seemed to be several times more powerful than his, even though he was also a Shaman Apprentice.
“Village Chief, time is pressing, so let’s not waste it on nonsense. Please teach me all the spells you know as soon as possible.” Yang Kai went straight into the Village Chief’s log house. He had been in this village for three days now, so he only had two more days left. Naturally, he needed to hurry up.
Taken aback, the Village Chief followed Yang Kai inside obediently.
The two of them spent the whole morning studying. In addition to the few Shamanic Spells that the Village Chief taught to Yang Kai, the Village Chief also explained the divisions of the Shaman Strength.
Just yesterday, Yang Kai unlocked his Shaman Strength and was recognized by the ‘Barbarian Gods’. Strictly speaking, he could not be considered a true Shaman Apprentice at the time; however, he had become a true Shaman Apprentice today, which was the actual starting realm for Shamans.
Standing above the Shaman Apprentice was the Shaman Warrior, followed by the Shaman Master, Shaman Grandmaster, Shaman King, Shaman Saint, and the Shaman God which stood at the highest realm! Moreover, each realm was divided into three ranks: Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, and High-Rank.
For example, the Village Chief was a Mid-Rank Shaman Apprentice! Meanwhile, Yang Kai was now a genuine High-Rank Shaman Apprentice, one realm higher than the Village Chief and one step away from becoming a Shaman Warrior. Yang Kai could learn more powerful Shamanic Spells after becoming a Shaman Warrior, but it was a pity that the Village Chief did not know any such Shamanic Spells and could not teach them to him.
According to the Village Chief, the most powerful of them all, the Shaman Gods, were just legends among the many realms. No Shaman God had ever appeared. Although there were several Shaman Saints, they only belonged to the more powerful clans.
On the other hand, the Blue South Village belonged to the South Barbarian Clan. The strongest Shaman in the clan was only a Shaman King, a Great Realm lower than a Shaman Saint.
During the study session in the morning, Yang Kai not only learned how to read many ancient characters, but he also gained a deeper understanding of this ancient world. The second most important thing was that he learned the Bloodlust Spell!
That could be considered as the first harvest he gained in this Sealed World. The Ancient Barbarian Shaman’s cultivation method he learned yesterday was of no value as it only allowed him to cultivate in this world. That cultivation method would become useless once he left this Sealed World, but the Bloodlust Spell could occasionally be used.
However, the Village Chief had mentioned that the Bloodlust Spell he mastered was only the lowest level of the technique. Not only was the duration of the technique extremely short, but the backlash was also very severe. The Bloodlust Spell mastered by the Shaman Grandmasters of large clans was far better than the one the Village Chief knew. Even though there were still drawbacks to such spells, they did not cause the people to be weakened for several days as a consequence. It was just that one needed an equally strong ability to support the casting of such a powerful Bloodlust Spell.
At noon, Yang Kai walked out of the Village Chief’s house. It wasn’t that he did not seek to make more progress, but rather that the Village Chief had nothing else to teach him at the moment. Besides the ancient characters, the Village Chief had already taught Yang Kai everything he learned in his life. Meanwhile, Yang Kai learned and understood everything at once. His brilliance utterly shocked the Village Chief.
“From now on, come here every day to learn how to read for an hour. You can only rely on your own efforts to further your cultivation. I have nothing else to teach you.” When the Village Chief saw Yang Kai off, his tone was a little lonely and a little relieved.
Regardless of the era, the next generation would eventually overtake the previous. Even so, Yang Kai’s outstanding performance had made the Village Chief aware of his own incompetence and powerlessness.
All of a sudden, bursts of pained shouts and screams entered Yang Kai’s ears. He paled in shock, thinking that the village was under attack again, but upon lifting his head to look, he realized that he had been overthinking things. He saw that the villagers were gathered in a spacious place within the village and posing in extremely weird postures that could even redefine the limits of human shame, regardless of gender.
Their muscles trembled uncontrollably as large drops of sweat rolled off their skin and dripped onto the ground. Among all the various postures, the villagers seemed to insist on doing the most difficult ones. Occasionally, they even let out a scream or two but all insisted on continuing.
Yang Kai had sharp vision and vast experience, so he immediately realized that this was a kind of Body Tempering Art. Feeling surprised, he walked over to observe. He did not know what kind of effect this method of Body Tempering would bring, but he could tell just by looking at the physiques of the villagers in this Ancient Barbarian Race village that their Body Tempering Art was pretty impressive.
“Ah Niu!” Ah Hu had his head down with his hands propped against the ground and his body arched into the shape of a bow. When he saw Yang Kai walking over, he called out suddenly. Unfortunately, his expression changed drastically the moment he spoke. As if being struck by a heavy blow, his arched body suddenly bounced back and he flew out several tens of meters away before slamming into a tree and spitting out blood.
Yang Kai was shocked and hurriedly rushed over to help Ah Hu up, asking, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Ah Hu grinned from ear to ear. Reaching up, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as if he was accustomed to it, “Congratulations! I heard from the Village Chief that you unlocked your Shaman Strength!”
“It was a fluke!” Yang Kai smilingly replied.
Ah Hu shook his head in response, “That’s not a fluke; it’s a gift from the Barbarian Gods!” He patted Yang Kai on the shoulder heavily and earnestly said, “Ah Niu, you are a Shaman now, which means you will be the next Village Chief. You better cultivate well; the future of the village depends on you!”
Yang Kai responded with a wry smile. He would be leaving in two days, so what future could there be? However, he didn’t say much to these people that might be characters in an illusion. He simply changed the topic and said, “You seem to be in the middle of cultivating…”
Ah Hu said, “That’s right! Do you want to join us?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Sure! But, I don’t know how to do it.”
“Come! Come! I’ll teach you!” Ah Hu was extremely enthusiastic as he dragged Yang Kai into the training session, smiling very cheerfully as he did.
[Ah Niu is really different now. He has turned into a completely different person ever since he received the Barbarian Gods’ blessing. He used to refuse whenever I tried to drag him along to cultivate together, preferring to stay in his house rather than interact with the villagers. However, that very same Ah Niu now took the initiative to cultivate!] Naturally, Ah Hu was overjoyed beyond words.
Even if Ah Niu was now a Shaman, a strong body was still fundamental. Thus, Ah Hu immediately began to teach Yang Kai. These Ancient Barbarians were not Shamans and could not use Shaman Strength. Therefore, their cultivation was directed toward their bodies. In other words, it was Body Tempering!
In contrast to the rest of the villagers assuming different poses, Ah Hu explained the various movements of Body Tempering to Yang Kai, which he promptly memorized.
The body was not just crucial to the Ancient Barbarian Race, it could not be ignored in the present day either. Unfortunately, most present-day cultivators only focused on the improvement of their cultivation and neglected the tempering of their bodies. They were ignorant that the body was the carrier of all their power, and only with a mighty physical body could they exert their full strength. Yang Kai himself was a beneficiary of a powerful physical body, thus, he understood this concept very well.
The whole set of the Barbarian Body Tempering Arts took Yang Kai only an hour to master, but he was secretly surprised when he did. Although he had not personally cultivated nor verified the results yet, this Body Tempering Art was undoubtedly very sophisticated. [So, the Ancient Barbarian Race uses this Body Tempering Art… No wonder all of them are as strong as Dragons and Tigers!]
Regardless of whether this place was an illusion or whether the people and the things that he was in contact with were illusions, this set of Barbarian Body Tempering Arts alone was enough to make this trip worthwhile.
Since his physical body was incredibly strong, this Body Tempering Art could not bring about much improvement to him personally; however, that was not the case for the disciples of High Heaven Palace nor his friends and relatives back in Heng Luo Star Field. If they cultivated this Barbarian Body Tempering Art, their physiques would certainly improve several times over. It would also make it easier for them to progress with their cultivation.
After experimenting in person, Yang Kai became certain of his conjecture. This Barbarian Body Tempering Art was very impressive. Cultivating it in his current body was a little strenuous even for him. Moreover, his muscles seemed to have become denser while his entire body was sore.
The whole afternoon was spent cultivating, and when night fell, many of the villagers finally returned home, exhausted. Meanwhile, Ah Hu warmly welcomed Yang Kai over to his house.
Thinking about the lack of food back home, Yang Kai decided that he might as well grab a free meal at Ah Hu’s place and nodded in agreement.
This lifestyle repeated for the next two days. Yang Kai spent an hour in the mornings to learn ancient characters at the Village Chief’s house, then he joined Ah Hu and the rest in their Body Tempering training. When night fell, he would return to his log house, sit down cross-legged, and cultivate in meditation.
Without the supplement of Monster Beast meat and Monster Cores though, Yang Kai’s cultivation speed slowed greatly. He had not been able to break through to the Shaman Warrior Realm even though two days had passed.
Still, it didn’t matter anymore. It was already the fifth day and the one-month deadline was almost here. It was time for Yang Kai to say goodbye to this world, so sitting in his log house, he no longer looked for anybody and waited to be kicked out of this Sealed World.
…
Three days later, Ah Hu knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened and Yang Kai looked out with bloodshot eyes.
“Ah Niu, why didn’t you show up over the past few days? The Village Chief told me to check up on you! Everybody is very worried about you!”
Hundreds of villagers stood uniformly behind Ah Hu. Even Ah Ni, who was brought to tears because of Yang Kai the other night, stood among the crowd, her beautiful eyes filled with concern.
“Did something happen?” Ah Hu asked nervously.
“It’s nothing. I was just cultivating the Shamanic Spell the Village Chief taught me and lost track of time. I’m sorry for worrying you all,” Yang Kai forced a smile.
Upon hearing those words, Ah Hu breathed out in relief, “That’s great. We thought… Oh, right! The Village Chief mentioned that he wants to bring back the dead beasts from the canyon you mentioned, so we need you to lead the way. It’s going to start snowing again, so we won’t be able to leave the village anymore if we don’t go soon.”
“Alright. You get organized and I’ll come find you in a bit!” Yang Kai replied before closing the door again, all the while roaring in his heart, [What the hell is going on?!]
The one month period was up, yet Yang Kai was still stuck here.
[This is impossible! Lan Xun mentioned that the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda can only remain open for one month, and the entrance will close after that… At that time, the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda will produce an irresistible force to expel all the cultivators inside it…]
In other words, Yang Kai and the others would be returned to Star Soul Palace regardless of where they were once the time was up. Nevertheless, Yang Kai had not felt the rejection of this world at all, even though three days had passed since the deadline.
For the past three days, he had tried various methods inside the house but couldn’t find a way to leave this place. After thinking about it, he believed that either there was a problem with the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda or his departure had been intercepted by this Sealed World.
The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was a pivotal part of Star Soul Palace’s foundation, a legacy item passed down for tens of thousands of years, so if something were to go wrong, it would have gone wrong a long time ago. It was practically impossible for Yang Kai to encounter such a problem by chance. Therefore, the possibility of the latter hypothesis was high.
[Is there something special about this Sealed World? Why did it forcefully keep me here?] Fortunately, he gradually calmed down after ruminating over the problem for three days. [The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is the treasure of Star Soul Palace, so now that I am trapped inside it, Star Soul Palace will surely make some effort to get me out. If the Elders are powerless, then the Great Emperor will have to take action himself. In any case, worrying about my situation is meaningless, so I might as well search for my own way out while waiting for help to come from the outside world.]
Yang Kai cleaned up slightly before moving to meet Ah Hu and the others, after which they left the village. The canyon was located tens of kilometres away from the village. Previously, it took Yang Kai a full day of pursuit to arrive, but although he was in no rush this time, he couldn’t afford to delay either. After all, the Ancient Barbarian Race would have trouble walking once the snowstorm covered the mountains.
Under his leadership, the group consisting of a hundred villagers finally arrived in front of the canyon before evening rolled around. All of a sudden, though, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks and raised his hand up high. The hundred villagers following behind him stopped in unison, like a well-trained army, and instantly fell silent. Unfortunately, they were out of breath after spending such a long time on the road.
Ah Hu came over and asked quietly, “What’s the matter?”
“Someone’s here!” Yang Kai replied.
Ah Hu’s expression changed, “Are you sure?”
Every one of the Ancient Barbarian Race villagers here was an expert in surviving in the forest, so they had sharp instincts and a natural aptitude for tracking and stealth. These instincts were so finely honed that they were almost on par with those of wild beasts. Despite Ah Hu not sensing anything out of the ordinary in this place, since Yang Kai had spoken with such confidence, he didn’t dare to take those words lightly. There were no footprints left in the snow, but they might have been covered by the light snowfall today.
Yang Kai tilted his head to the side, signalling to a woman in the crowd. Ah Hua immediately equipped her bow and arrows from her back, swiftly moved towards the walls of the canyon, and soon disappeared.
The group stood in place for some time before Ah Hua returned, walking against the bitterly cold wind with a solemn expression, “It’s true; there are people inside. I saw bonfires inside the canyon; however, it’s too dark for me to tell how many people are there.”
Ah Hu angrily said, “Somebody from another tribe must have discovered the dead beasts here! Ahh! If only we arrived a few days earlier!”
The members of the Ancient Barbarian Race did not coexist peacefully with other tribes and clans. Rather, there were often skirmishes between them, especially when it came to food. The more than three hundred beasts Yang Kai killed were inside the canyon, which constituted a large amount of rations; enough to feed an entire village throughout winter.
“I hope they are from the South Barbarian Clan. Then, we can at least negotiate with them. Wait here; I’ll check out the situation.” Ah Hu said, preparing to walk into the canyon.
The Blue South Village belonged to the South Barbarian Clan, so if they were all part of the South Barbarian Clan, then they might be able to talk things out. In the worst case, they just had to share half of the food with the other party.
“Wait!” Yang Kai stopped Ah Hu, “You don’t need to trouble yourself with that.”
In response, Ah Hu glanced at him curiously.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai took a breath and lifted his hand slightly. An ancient and somewhat grating tone came from his mouth, and the meagre strength in his body began to fluctuate. In the next moment, the air in front of him rippled suddenly, looking like ripples formed when a stone fell into a calm lake. As the ripples spread, a translucent image appeared in front of everyone. From the looks of it, the image was a direct mirror opposite of the entrance to the canyon. Under Yang Kai’s control, the image continued to move inward.
“It’s the Eagle Eye Spell!” Ah Hu’s eyes lit up. [This is the Village Chief’s Eagle Eye Spell!] This unusual Shamanic Spell allowed the caster to obtain an eagle-like vision and was great for scouting. [Didn’t Ah Niu just become a Shaman several days ago? I can’t believe he managed to learn such a sophisticated Shamanic Spell in such a short time. No wonder the Village Chief named Ah Niu as his successor and claimed that the future of the village will depend on him.]
Similarly, every one of the villagers standing behind Yang Kai was emotional for some reason, and their eyes were filled with admiration.
In the meantime, the Eagle Eye Spell continued to advance into the canyon silently.
Everywhere it went and everything it passed were clearly shown in the image. It wasn’t until Yang Kai directed the Eagle Eye Spell into the canyon that the lights from dozens of bonfires were transmitted to them. Seven or eight strong Ancient Barbarian men gathered around each bonfire while slabs of golden-brown beast meat were being roasted atop the bonfires and plenty of laughter and cheers could be heard.
Ah Hu and the rest of the villagers saw this and immediately became red-eyed at that sight. All that beast meat belonged to their Blue South Village! How dare this group of people come out of nowhere and claim it for their own?! The crime of stealing our food is absolutely irreconcilable!
Then, Ah Hua’s expression changed slightly as she whispered, “They are from the Raging Flame Clan!”
She had noticed the patterns tattooed on the faces of those Ancient Barbarian Race men.
“I can’t believe it’s the Raging Flame Clan!” Ah Hu’s expression became a little ugly too, “Why are those savages here?”
Yang Kai shot a look at Ah Hu while thinking, [In my eyes, you are no different from them. Don’t you feel ashamed to claim that they are savages?]
At that moment, a burly figure stood up suddenly from where he sat next to a bonfire. His sharp pair of eyes danced like flames as he looked directly at the Eagle Eye Spell and into the eyes of everyone in the Blue South Village. It felt as though this man was staring right at them, and it made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Hmph!” The burly man suddenly snorted coldly as he lifted the cane-like object in his hands and pointed at the air in front of him. In the next moment, the Eagle Eye Spell broke and the air in front of Yang Kai burst into flames.
“Huh… I was discovered…” Yang Kai frowned.
“That must have been their Shaman!” Ah Hu looked pale.
It was bad enough to meet the Raging Flame Clan in the wilderness, but to think that a powerful Shaman would be travelling together with them! This was incredibly bad news for the villagers. The Raging Flame Clan’s brutality and combativeness ranked among the top three among all the Ancient Barbarian Clans. They were second only to the Bone Devouring Clan and the Flowing Blood Clan.
“Let’s withdraw quickly, Ah Niu,” Ah Hu hurriedly said.
Although the villagers of the Blue South Village had excellent fighting power, Ah Hu and others did not have much confidence in fighting the people of the Raging Flame Clan. Moreover, they had been on the road for an entire day while the people of the Raging Flame Clan had been resting leisurely. There was a great difference between their current physical conditions.
Most importantly, Ah Niu was travelling with their group at the moment. As the hope of the village, nothing was allowed to happen to him; they could not tolerate any mistakes. Therefore, the smartest thing to do right now was to retreat. What did it matter if they had to give up some food so long as they could protect Ah Niu?
“It’s too late.” Yang Kai shrugged, lifting his eyes to look in the direction of the canyon. The group of villagers followed his gaze, and their hearts sank instantly.
More than a dozen figures holding bows in their hands had appeared on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon. Furthermore, their arrows were nocked and aimed at Yang Kai and the others.
Fortunately, the other party did not shoot immediately, seemingly wanting the villagers of the Blue South Village to retreat in the face of difficulty. Although the Raging Flame Clan had a love for battle, they were not as brutal and cruel as the Bone Devouring Clan.
If Yang Kai and the others had encountered the Bone Devouring Clan instead, those arrows would have rained down on them by now; after all, that clan even considered other Ancient Barbarian Clans as food! It was an outlier among the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race, and if not for the powerful Shaman Saint protecting it, the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race would have worked together to eliminate them by now.
Ah Hua and the other archers reacted very quickly. Noticing that they were being targeted from a distance, they immediately dispersed and readied their bows to counterattack at any time. Unfortunately, there was a huge gap between the number of people and their position. If a fight really broke out, Blue South Village would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties.
“The other party is so… welcoming. En, let’s go and meet them!” Yang Kai grinned, suddenly lifting a finger and condensing a white light at his fingertips.
“It’s a Shaman!” Somebody exclaimed in surprise from the cliffs on the sides of the canyon.
In ancient times, the number of Shamans was very low, so any Shaman was a valuable asset to the Ancient Barbarian Race as a whole. Hence, the Spirit Archers of the Raging Flame Clan frowned when they saw Yang Kai displaying his Shaman powers. It was no big deal if several ordinary villagers were killed in a dispute, as countless clansmen died due to internal fighting among the Ancient Barbarian Race every year. However, the situation was different if a Shaman were to die at their hands. Such an act might enrage the Shaman Kings and Shaman Saints! Only a Shaman could kill another Shaman.
“I want to meet your leader!” Yang Kai shouted loudly, his voice echoing around the entrance of the canyon.
The people of the Raging Flame Clan did not dare to ignore a direct request from a Shaman. Thus, someone immediately rushed down the cliff and entered the canyon, seemingly to ask for instructions.
The archers on both sides of the cliff soon withdrew, one after another. Then, a tall figure walked out from the entrance of the canyon. Although he came out alone, he fearlessly approached Yang Kai and the others directly. At the same time, a sharp aura washed over them.
Ah Hu snorted coldly and stood beside Yang Kai, glaring fiercely at the Raging Flame Warrior. It felt as if two kings were present, and neither of them were willing to back down.
In response, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and patted Ah Hu on the shoulder, motioning for Ah Hu to stay calm. Then, he smiled at the other Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior and spoke, “Nice to meet you, friend from the Raging Flame Clan. I would like to meet your leader.”
Only then did the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior shift his gaze away from Ah Hu. He lowered his head and glanced at Yang Kai, who was standing in front of him, a moment later exclaiming in surprise, “Are you their Shaman?”
“Yes!”
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior frowned, “Why are you so weak…”
Even a Shaman shouldn’t be this weak. The young man in front of him looked like an underage child, his arms and legs thin and frail, a truly ugly appearance. He seemed so weak the Raging Flame Barbarian was worried a single flick of his finger would kill him.
“Ah Niu’s strength is not something you have the honour of knowing!” Ah Hu sneered. Similarly, many of the villagers looked at the Raging Flame Warrior mockingly.
In the past, they, too, had believed that Ah Niu was so weak that he was no better than a ten-year-old child; however, the Beast Tide a few days ago changed their perspectives greatly. The terrifying power and invincible bravery Ah Niu displayed back then was hardly something they had expected. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, it would have been difficult for them to imagine how much power could be hidden in such a thin body.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior from the Raging Flame Clan sneered mockingly and said nothing in reply; it was obvious that he did not find Ah Hu’s words to be a threat. He simply turned around and said, “Shaman Ya is waiting for you inside. Please, come with me.”
While speaking, he walked ahead and led the way.
Yang Kai stepped forward and followed. Similarly, the rest of the villagers followed along.
Upon entering the canyon, Ah Hu and the others looked around and saw that the archers of the Raging Flame Clan remained on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon like shadows. Their bows and arrows never left their hands, an obvious warning that any rash actions would lead to terrible consequences.
Not long after that, that group walked into the deepest part of the canyon where hundreds of Raging Flame Clansmen looked savage and terrifying in the firelight.
The Raging Flame Warrior leading the way came to one of the bonfires and whispered to a burly man sitting on the ground. That man raised his eyes slightly and looked at Yang Kai, as well as the villagers behind him.
[So, this is their Shaman!] Yang Kai had seen him once in the Eagle Eye Spell and immediately recognized him.
Ya studied Yang Kai quietly, an expression of surprise flitting across his eyes. It was clear that he, just like the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior from before, felt that Yang Kai looked too weak even though Shamans generally did not focus on cultivating their physical strength. Most Shamans spent their time in meditation, so it was a given that their physical toughness would be much lower than their fellow clansmen. Even so, Yang Kai’s tender body was still a first for Ya.
“How should I address you?” Ya asked after observing Yang Kai seriously.
“Ah Niu!” Yang Kai smiled slightly. His expression was neither humble nor overbearing.
“Well then, Shaman Niu… What is your purpose for coming to this place?”
He replied, “We came to bring back my war trophies!”
Ya frowned in response, “Your war trophies?”
Yang Kai gestured around with his hand, “The ones you are roasting above your bonfires, as well as the ones placed over there… All of these are my war trophies!”
Many of the Raging Flame Clansmen, who had been looking at Yang Kai mockingly, immediately became livid upon hearing those words. They stood up and glared at Yang Kai, burning with the intent to beat him up.
Ya frowned for a moment before bursting into laughter, “You claim that these dead beasts are your spoils of war? Do you have proof?”
Yang Kai shrugged, “I don’t have any special evidence!” Pausing for a moment, he continued, “It’s just that our village suffered from a Beast Tide a few days ago. It was difficult, but we finally managed to repel the Beast Tide. After that, I pursued them to this mountain valley and slaughtered all of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring all these supplies back with me since I was all alone. I had no choice but to return and ask for help. I did not expect you to arrive earlier than us.”
Ya’s expression became rather fascinating all of a sudden. He glanced at Yang Kai in astonishment and said, “Did you say… that you chased the giant beasts all the way here and slaughtered every single one of them after that?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai nodded before adding, “Oh, there was also a Barbarian Beast at the time.”
“There was also a Barbarian Beast?” Ya’s expression became even more fascinating.
“Hahahaha!” The Raging Flame Clansmen in the surrounding area burst out laughing, acting as if they heard the best joke in the world. Similarly, Ya couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head repeatedly.
If Yang Kai had claimed that he had worked with the rest of his village to defeat all the beasts in the canyon, then, the story would have been believable. However, he claimed that he alone had killed more than three hundred wild beasts and a Barbarian Beast on top of that! No sane person would ever believe such words.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior that had led the way previously suddenly glanced at Ah Hu disdainfully and said, “Is your Shaman an idiot?”
“What did you say?! I dare you to say that again!” Ah Hu exploded with rage.
Shamans were the leaders of their villages; therefore, a Shaman was the supreme symbol of that village. Insulting a Shaman was akin to insulting the village the Shaman lived in, as well as the entire clan itself! How could Ah Hu and the others possibly accept such a thing?!
“Ah Hu!” Yang Kai shouted and shook his head at Ah Hu.
Only then did Ah Hu grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
“Alright, I have grasped the general idea regarding your purpose in coming here,” Ya smiled slightly, appearing calm and unruffled. He had met many other insolent youngsters like Yang Kai, who were overconfident in their abilities, “Let’s see… Seeing as we are both from the same race and you travelled a long way to get here, I will not make things difficult for you…” Turning to the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior of the Raging Flame Clan, he commanded, “Give them ten of the beasts and let them leave peacefully!”
When the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior heard those words, he looked very reluctant. Even so, he had no right to refuse since the Shaman had already said so. Thus, he could only obey.
“Ten… Shaman Ya, you certainly are generous,” Yang Kai smiled mockingly, clearly not appreciating Ya’s kindness.
“Young man, don’t test my patience.” Ya’s expression suddenly became solemn, “I’m sure you are not unfamiliar with my Raging Flame Clan. If it were in my younger days, you would have been lying on the ground by now. So, don’t push your luck!”
Yang Kai nodded, “Ah Niu will take your teachings to heart, Shaman Ya. However… I insist that you return all my war trophies to me. These things do not belong to you!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, he glared at Ya with a burning gaze.
Ya stood up in response, his tall and broad figure casting a shadow over Yang Kai. Looking down at him, he sneered, “You’re asking for trouble!”
The two Shamans were suddenly staring daggers at each other. Subsequently, the villagers responded in kind.
The sound of weapons being drawn rang out. Archers on both sides drew their bows and aimed their arrows at the other party’s strongest warriors while at the same time, Ah Hu and the rest took out their stone axes and stone spears. They were raring for a fight, and their fighting spirit was unbelievably high.
A huge battle was about to break out.
“You will die!” Ya warned.
“You won’t fare any better,” Yang Kai smirked as though he didn’t care who would live and who would die in this battle.
“Are you determined to go to war?”
“I told you that these are my war trophies. You refuse to believe me and are only willing to give me ten of these beasts. However, you know the truth. The wild beasts had been dead for several days by the time you arrived here. Hence, they don’t belong to you either!”
Ya raged, “These are ownerless goods! It’s finders’ keepers!”
“But, the owner has now come back!”
“Give me evidence!”
Yang Kai replied, “I don’t have any! There’s no way to prove my claims!”
Ya laughed mockingly, but before he could reply, Yang Kai continued, “Then, there is only one solution before us. With the Barbarian Gods as our witnesses, let us resolve this dispute the Shaman’s way.”
Ya’s pupils contracted abruptly, staring at Yang Kai in disbelief, “Are you challenging me?”
Yang Kai smilingly replied, “It’s the only solution, unless you want to see our clansmen on both sides suffering heavy losses? Winter is fast approaching. If they were injured here, they will have a hard time surviving this winter.”
Ya considered it for a moment and nodded, “That’s true. But…” He broke out into a savage grin, “Do you think you have a chance of winning?”
“Who knows? We haven’t fought yet, have we?” Yang Kai chuckled
“Good. Since you insist on doing this, then I, Shaman Ya, will accept your challenge in the name of the Barbarian Gods!” After saying that, Ya commanded his men, “Stand down!”
All of the Raging Flame Clansmen put away their weapons and fell back upon receiving his command.
Then, Yang Kai turned back and shouted, “All of you will stand down too!”
Ah Hu and the others looked at Yang Kai worriedly. Despite confronting the other party just now, they had heard Yang Kai’s words clearly. They might not have seen a Shaman’s battle before, but they were not unfamiliar with the concept. In a Sacred Battle witnessed by the Barbarian Gods, one fought with their life and reputation on the line. The victor would take all the spoils while the defeated party generally received a miserable fate.
“Ah Niu…” Ah Hu opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to persuade Yang Kai otherwise, but he knew that it was too late. Shaman Ya had already accepted the challenge; this battle could not be avoided anymore. Backing out of the challenge at this point was an act of blasphemy against the Barbarian Gods. Nobody could tolerate an act like that. In the end, all the words he wanted to say became one simple sentence, “Be careful!”
In response, Yang Kai nodded and gave him a look that seemed to say, ‘Don’t worry’.
Even so, Ah Hu and the others looked troubled. How could they not worry? Just a few days ago, Ah Niu was still a good-for-nothing, and although his performance during the Beast Tide had been extraordinary and he later became a highly-respected Shaman, it had not been long since that happened. On the other hand, the other party’s Shaman was in his prime. He might not be as old and experienced as their Village Chief, but his aura was many times stronger than the Village Chief. Did Ah Niu have any chance of winning?
Contrary to the worried expressions of the Blue South Village’s villagers, the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan looked relaxed, as if just waiting for the good show to begin. Gathering in small groups, they pointed at Yang Kai and ridiculed him with mocking smiles as if laughing at his overconfidence.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Shaman Niu was not Shaman Ya’s opponent. He would surely suffer a miserable defeat.
Soon, the place was cleared out, and only Yang Kai stood facing Ya in the depths of the huge canyon. They stood approximately thirty meters apart, a commonly used distance in Shaman battles.
The bitterly cold winds were blocked by both sides of the canyon, but they made a whistling sound similar to that of war-horns. Random bursts of crackling sounds also came from the surrounding bonfires.
Ya smiled and asked, “Shaman Niu, I am a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior, while the aura around you is not very dense. You should be a Shaman Apprentice, right?”
Yang Kai replied, “You have a good eye, Shaman Ya. The Village Chief told me that I am a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice at the moment!”
Ya nodded at those words, “Your courage is commendable. Moreover, you are still very young. If you worked hard, you might have had a better future ahead of you. It’s a pity that you are too arrogant for your own good!”
Yang Kai said, “Shaman Ya, you will have a lot of time to preach later. I’m going to make the first move if you don’t attack!”
Ya sneered. Apparently, he was unwilling to bully the weak, so he simply beckoned for Yang Kai to make the first move. Seeing this, Yang Kai did not hesitate, stomping his feet as he rushed towards Ya like a whirlwind. In response, Ya’s mocking expression froze on his face. [What the hell?! Why is he suddenly charging me?]
The battles between the Ancient Barbarian Races had always been simple and crude. It was their instinct to rush forward courageously, but that was only limited to ordinary warriors. The battles between Shamans were not martial battles, but rather competitions between their cultivations and Shamanic Spells.
For that reason, Ya had already conceived several plans to defeat Ah Niu in an instant the moment he agreed to the challenge; after all, there was no way a mere High-Rank Shaman Apprentice like Ah Niu could create any trouble for him. More importantly, he undoubtedly held the upper hand in all aspects, be it cultivation realm or combat experience.
Therefore, he couldn’t help blanking out in confusion when he saw Yang Kai rushing toward him in a straight line. [Isn’t he a Shaman? Why isn’t he using any Shamanic Spell? Why is he attacking like an ordinary warrior?]
Although the unexpected shock made Ya hesitate for a moment, he was ultimately an experienced Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior and quickly recovered, beginning his chanting in that ancient and jerky language. Waving the wooden staff in front of him lightly, the air rippled suddenly and transformed into a strong, transparent shield. Then, he continued without stopping and pointed his staff forward, sending out a ball of fire the size of a washbasin towards Yang Kai.
[I win!] These were two of the most basic Shamanic Spells, one for defence and one for offence. Even so, it perfectly reflected Ya’s talent as a Shaman. Even a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior would not be able to defend against this fireball. [This High-Rank Shaman Apprentice can only hate himself for being so weak!]
Ya calmly stood in place, unmoving, his eyes filled with a playful look as he quietly admired the scene where he had defeated Ah Niu.
When the fireball appeared, the villagers of the Blue South Village screamed in shock, their faces filled with worry and fear. Ah Hu opened his mouth to shout out a warning, but Yang Kai turned a deaf ear and ran straight towards it.
*Hong…*
The light from the explosion lit up the entire canyon so brightly that nobody could open their eyes. Simultaneously, the hearts of the hundred Blue South Village’s villagers sank to the bottom of the sea.
[It’s over… It’s over. Ah Niu is done for… How can he survive after taking such a large fireball head-on? I can’t believe we lost the Blue South Village’s ray of hope just like that!] Ah Hu clenched his fists tightly. He was filled with self-blame. He should have stopped Ah Niu from battling against Shaman Ya, even if it risked blaspheming the Barbarian Gods. That would still have been better than him losing his life.
Ah Hu and the rest regained their vision a moment later and glared in Ya’s direction. Then, they suddenly widened their eyes in surprise as if they had seen a ghost. Some villagers even rubbed their eyes vigorously before checking again.
On the other hand, the expressions of the Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen, who were originally taking pleasure in Yang Kai’s misfortune, changed abruptly. They were shocked and frozen by the sight in front of them.
Ya was standing stiffly in place while Ah Niu, who should have been defeated by the huge fireball, had appeared in front of Ya at some point. Ah Niu was staring at Ya with a smile, seemingly uninjured, with only his hair slightly burnt.
“Shaman Ya, I think I won this battle. What do you think?” He smilingly lifted his head to look at Ya.
Ya’s expression twitched slightly. He couldn’t understand how the situation ended up like this no matter how hard he thought about it. His fireball should have been a direct hit, so how did this scrawny boy avoid it? [No, I can’t just lose like this…]
“The battle has just started!” Ya roared as the ancient language sounded from his mouth again. Lifting his staff, he pointed it at Yang Kai; however, he didn’t get a chance to release his Shamanic Spell again as just as he lifted his staff, Yang Kai threw an uppercut at him.
The Shamanic Spell Shield standing in front of Ya was warped by the force, like a flying banner being hit with a rock. The force of the blow soon exceeded the limit of the Shamanic Spell Shield, and it shattered into pieces.
Ya widened his eyes to the size of saucers and a chill simultaneously ran down his back. The reason he had not dodged aside when Yang Kai closed the distance between them and stubbornly tried to release a Shamanic Spell instead was that he had absolute confidence in his Shield. He believed that Ah Niu was incapable of breaking his defensive Shamanic Spell, which is why he had calmly remained in place. Who could have known that the Shamanic Spell Shield he was so proud of couldn’t even withstand a single punch from the opponent?
[I didn’t make any mistakes with the Shamanic Spell just now, right? How is it so fragile?]
*Hong…*
A fist landed on Ya’s face, causing it to warp from the force of the blow, sending several teeth flying. Following that, a body nearly twice Yang Kai’s size flew high like a paper kite and landed heavily on the ground with a thud.
Before Ya could climb to his feet, Yang Kai lunged at him like a cheetah, grabbing him by the neck with one hand and raising the other in a clenched fist.
Grinning, he said, “Shaman Ya, will you admit defeat? Or, do I have to hit you until you admit defeat?”
That body that should have been weak suddenly became as majestic as a towering mountain in Ya’s field of vision.
“S-S-Such shamelessness!” Ya yelled furiously, his eyes filled with great reluctance to admit defeat. [If not for Shaman Niu’s strange and tricky tactics, which caught me by surprise, I would not have lost this battle! I am a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior! He is nothing more than a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice! There’s almost a Great Realm of difference between us!]
Yang Kai sneered, “When you encounter a Barbarian Beast someday, will you also expect the Barbarian Beast to compete with you using Shamanic Spells? Will it keep its distance from you and give you time to chant and prepare yourself?”
Ya was dumbfounded, rendered speechless by those words.
“Let go of Shaman Ya!”
“Hurry up and release him!”
The Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen hurriedly gathered around and soon surrounded Yang Kai on all sides. They glared at him furiously and exuded hostility. Although hurting a respected Shaman was a huge crime for any member of the Ancient Barbarian Race, the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan couldn’t remain indifferent upon seeing their Shaman being restrained on the ground.
Yang Kai turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the Raging Flame Clan’s clansmen coldly before his mouth curled into a disdainful smile.
“Stand back!” Ya shouted, gesturing for them to stand down.
The clansmen from the Raging Flame Clan reluctantly retreated when they heard what Ya said. Even so, they did not let down their guard against Yang Kai. If Yang Kai were to murder Ya, it would surely provoke a mad thirst for revenge in them.
On the other hand, Ya was much calmer after experiencing the reluctance of admitting defeat and the humiliation of being defeated by the weak, sighing as he admitted, “You’re right. I was careless!”
He refused to admit that his strength was inferior to Yang Kai’s, simply feeling he had been far too careless. That was the reason why he failed miserably in such an easy task.
Yang Kai understood Ya’s feelings, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue about it. Thus, he tilted his head to the side and asked, “So, this battle…”
Ya sighed, “You won. All the war trophies are yours.”
There was no need to continue struggling. Furthermore, he was too ashamed to continue struggling after being pinned to the ground.
“You have my respect!” Yang Kai grinned and loosened his hold on Ya’s neck. After getting up, he helped Ya up too.
Ya turned away and spat out a mouthful of blood, still feeling a burning pain in his cheek. Moreover, two of his teeth had been knocked out by Yang Kai’s punch just now. His face had gone numb previously, but now that the numbness was fading, he could feel pain set in.
He didn’t say much, though, as the loser had no qualifications to make demands. He simply glanced at Yang Kai with a complicated look before waving his hand at his men, “Let’s go!”
The clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan fell in line behind their Shaman without a word, preparing to rush back to their village during the night.
“Shaman Ya, wait a moment!” Yang Kai called out.
“What is it?” Ya turned his head and looked at Yang Kai, puzzled.
“Shaman Ya, don’t you want these beasts?” Yang Kai asked, pointing to the frozen dead beasts piled up like a mountain.
Ya’s expression warped when he heard those words as he snapped angrily, “Shaman Niu, are you trying to humiliate me?”
He had lost the duel and was no longer qualified to receive a share of these beasts anymore. Thus, the question Yang Kai directed at him at this moment seemed to him like a deliberate provocation aimed at him.
Yang Kai shook his head lightly, “That was not my intention. It’s just that you mobilized so many of your clansmen and travelled so far… You must have been searching for food for the winter, right, Shaman Ya?”
Ya took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, “Isn’t that the same for you?”
Yang Kai smiled, “In that case, I am willing to share some with you, Shaman Ya!”
“What?!” Ya was stunned while even the clansmen of the Raging Flame Clan were extremely surprised, all of them staring at Yang Kai in astonishment.
“I didn’t count the numbers in detail the last time I came here; however, there should be around three or four hundred dead beasts in this mountain valley. But you see, Shaman Ya… Only about a hundred villagers from my village could accompany me this time. Even if each of us drags two beasts back with us, a large portion of them will remain here, and a heavy snowstorm is approaching, so we won’t be able to come here again once we return to the village. In other words, the remaining beasts will be left frozen here. If you’d like, Shaman Ya, you can bring the remaining beasts back to your village. Although there are not as many in number, it should be enough for the winter if you ration your supplies carefully.”
“A-A-are you really willing to do that?” Ya could barely believe what he was hearing. Was this Shaman Niu willing to share some of his spoils with them? What Yang Kai just said was basically correct. There were somewhere between three and four hundred dead beasts in this mountain valley. Moreover, they did not have enough manpower to bring back all the beasts to the village.
[Even if we only take the remaining beasts, there will be at least a hundred of them! These wild beasts are incredibly large, so each one will be enough for one person to fill their belly for an entire month! If we ration our supplies carefully, we can definitely survive the winter with this amount! But, how could this be possible? I can’t believe there are people willing to give away what food supplies they have!] Shaman Ya thought to himself.
In these ancient times, doing this was equivalent to lending out one’s wife to become somebody else’s plaything in the present day. Therefore, Ya could not wrap his head around the notion; it simply did not make sense. Whatever the case; if this Shaman Niu was being sincere, he would have earned Shaman Ya’s entire village’s gratitude.
“Of course! In the name of the Barbarian Gods, I, Shaman Niu, will give you the remaining beasts!” Yang Kai looked solemn.
With these words, Ya no longer felt doubtful. When a Shaman invoked the name of the Barbarian Gods, there would be no falsities in their words. Ya looked at Yang Kai quietly for some time before he suddenly bowed with his hand on his chest and quickly said, “Shaman Niu, please forgive me for being rude and arrogant before. Thank you for your magnanimity and generosity. The Flame Sickle Village of the Raging Flame Clan will remember your kindness forever. You will be our eternal friend!”
Similarly, the other villagers of the Flame Sickle Village of the Raging Flame Clan bowed with their hands on their chests. That was the highest courtesy the Ancient Barbarian Race could give to another.
Meanwhile, Ah Hu and the others stood behind Yang Kai with looks of pride on their faces!
Bonfires danced merrily as the smell of barbeque filled the entire canyon. The villagers of the Flame Sickle Village and the villagers of the Blue South Village were chatting and laughing harmoniously. The two Shamans, who acted as their leaders, had set aside their differences and made peace with each other; thus, the villagers under them had put aside their vigilance and grudges to coexist peacefully.
The villagers of the Flame Sickle Village contributed the fruit wine they brought with them, allowing the villagers from both villages to eat and drink heartily. They were getting along so well that they were like one large family. Many men had even begun gathering around the beautiful women from the other village and were in the midst of courting them in hopes of leaving a beautiful memory behind in this valley.
On the other hand, Ah Hu and another villager from the Flame Sickle Village were competing in an impromptu arena.
There were few forms of entertainment in the daily lives of the Ancient Barbarian Race, with the most common form of entertainment being hand-to-hand combat. Besides, friendships among the Ancient Barbarian Race were formed from exchanging blows with each other. The villager from the Flame Sickle Village wrestling with Ah Hu was stronger, but Ah Hu was younger and had greater stamina. For a while, the fight between them was extremely close, and they could not distinguish who was better among them. It made the other clansmen that were watching nearby applaud and cheer.
Yang Kai cast his gaze at the battlefield and saw Ah Hu taking the opponent’s punch and bending over like a shrimp. However, Ah Hu took advantage of the moment the opponent carelessly rushed forward to end the battle to counterattack. He kicked the opponent’s knees, and in response, the Flame Sickle Village villager was caught off guard and knelt to the ground.
Then, Yang Kai turned back and asked, “Shaman Ya, is this the Shamanic Spell Shield you mentioned before?”
While speaking, he stretched his hand forward slightly and his Emperor Qi spread out. The air before him rippled slightly and turned into a transparent shield blocking in front of him.
Ya was so shocked that his jaw fell open. Only a long while later did he finally nod, “En. That’s it!”
“So, that’s how you do it!” Yang Kai nodded and continued, “But, this Shamanic Spell Shield can only defend against a Shamanic Spell one realm lower than your own cultivation. If a Shaman in the same realm casts a Shamanic Spell at you, this Shamanic Spell Shield won’t be able to withstand the attack.”
Ya replied, “At the very least, it will give me some time to dodge to the side. During critical moments, this spell can save one’s life!”
Yang Kai said, “That makes sense. However, don’t you think it’s better if we cast the Shamanic Spell Shield in this manner instead?”
As he spoke, he demonstrated what he meant…
Meanwhile, Ya felt like he was going to go crazy! After talking to Ah Niu, he found that the other party’s understanding of Shaman Spells and Shaman Strength was extremely shallow. Moreover, Yang Kai could not cast many of the commonly used Shamanic Spells. It was as if he had only become a Shaman recently and was still ignorant of his own abilities. However, this boy’s comprehension and creativity were beyond shocking.
Ya had explained and demonstrated several commonly used Shamanic Spells for him, and in turn, the other party absorbed the knowledge instantly and duplicated the Shamanic Spells all but perfectly on the first try. If not for Yang Kai’s sincere expression and lack of malicious intent, Ya might have suspected that Yang Kai was just pretending to be dumb.
Furthermore, not only was Yang Kai capable of quickly learning and improving these kinds of commonly used Shamanic Spells, his casting speed and the power of the spells he modified elevated them to a whole new level! How was he just a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice? Only Shaman Grandmasters could achieve such feats, right?
As a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior, Ya had only been able to imitate what he learned and follow in the footsteps of his predecessors. He had no ability to improve the Shamanic Spells he learned. Even so, he witnessed various miracles, one after another, coming from this Shaman known as ‘Shaman Niu’.
Throughout the night, the two Shamans sat together and exchanged knowledge continuously with both sides gaining much. Yang Kai learned several simple and practical Shamanic Spells, while on the other hand, Ya gained a deeper understanding of those Shamanic Spells through Yang Kai’s inspiration and demonstration. Although his realm had not advanced, Ya’s strength had risen sharply. As long as he was given some time to absorb what he learned today, Ya would be able to fight back slightly even if he encountered a High-Rank Shaman Warrior in the future.
At dawn, the people from both villages prepared to set out, parting ways at the entrance of the canyon.
Ya looked at Yang Kai with some reluctance to part and said, “Shaman Niu, please be sure to visit the Flame Sickle Village one day. We will definitely entertain you and your clansmen with the best food we have!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Sure. You should also visit the Blue South Village, Shaman Ya.”
Ya’s eyes lit up at those words, “Good! I’ll definitely visit you when the snow melts and spring comes!”
“Until we meet again!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
Ya looked startled. Although he didn’t know what etiquette this was, he clumsily imitated the gesture.
After that, Yang Kai turned around, grabbed the hind legs of two wild beasts, and dragged them along the snow-covered ground, leading a hundred villagers behind him and gradually disappearing into the distance.
Ya watched Yang Kai’s departure and murmured, “I seem to be witnessing the birth of a new star!”
“What?” A clansman next to him asked.
“It’s nothing! Let’s go home!” Ya waved his hand. Following that, the villagers of the Flame Sickle Village each dragged a beast and returned home with a good haul.
…..
It was not easy for a person to drag two beasts behind them while running in the snow. Therefore, the group from Blue South Village only managed to return from the canyon to the village two days later. The hundred villagers were warmly welcomed back as heroes before everyone began processing the beasts for storage.
During that time, the Village Chief walked over on shaky legs and asked if anything happened during this trip, to which Ah Hu told the Village Chief about their encounter with the people from Flame Sickle Village.
When the Village Chief heard the whole story, he nodded at Yang Kai and said, “You did a good job, Ah Niu. Although we come from different clans, we are all from the same race. We shouldn’t be stingy when others are in need and we are able to help.”
“I think so too,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Good. You must be tired. Why don’t you go back and take a rest? I will speak with you again tomorrow.”
The next day, Yang Kai went to meet the Village Chief early in the morning.
“Ah Niu, I want you to be the Village Chief of Blue South Village. What do you think?” The Village Chief cut to the chase as soon as they met.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, but quickly refused the suggestion, “That won’t work…”
“Don’t be in such a hurry to reject!” The Village Chief smiled slightly as if he had expected this reaction, sighing as he said, “Let me finish first.”
Yang Kai nodded.
Only then did the Village Chief continue, “I am old and won’t live for much longer, so you can formally take over as the Village Chief after I die. Originally, I was worried that this village would have to be taken in by other villages since it lacked a Shaman’s protection. You know as well as I do what kind of life awaits a village that is taken in by others. Fortunately, you were blessed by the Barbarian Gods and unlocked your Shaman Strength. Moreover, you are now a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice, which is one minor realm higher than me. You are fully capable of taking over as the Village Chief. I admit that you are still young and I was initially worried about leaving the position of Village Chief to you, but after seeing how you dealt with the Flame Sickle Village, I know that you will not disappoint me or the villagers in the future. You are kind, honest, and intelligent. I’m sorry I never noticed that before. That’s why I believe you will be a better Village Chief than I ever was. More importantly, the villagers already trust you and will follow you.”
After experiencing the invasion of the Beast Tide and the confrontation with Shaman Ya, the clansmen in the village had grown to respect Yang Kai greatly. Therefore, no one would say anything if he took over as the Village Chief.
Yang Kai shook his head in response, “Village Chief, I can’t agree to this matter.”
“Why?” The Village Chief showed a disappointed expression, not having expected Yang Kai to refuse after everything he said.
Yang Kai sighed. [I can’t just say I came to this Sealed World to cultivate… I don’t even know whether the Village Chief or these villagers are real or just elaborate illusions… In any case, I will have to leave this place one day.]
“I want to go out and see the world while I am still young. I probably won’t stay in the village for much longer.” Yang Kai quickly came up with a plausible excuse.
“You… Want to leave the village?” The Village Chief looked at Yang Kai in surprise; however, he quickly seemed to understand, “That’s true. Your aptitude is extraordinary, so being stuck in this village won’t benefit you much. You should go out and see the world, that would be what is best for your growth.”
“I’m sorry, Village Chief.”
The Village Chief smiled lightly, “Don’t be sorry. Your home will always be a part of Blue South Village, no matter where you go. Good, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s study.”
After that, the Village Chief taught Yang Kai to recognize those strange-looking ancient characters as always, as if nothing had happened just now.
Snow started falling two days after Yang Kai led the villagers back to the village from the canyon, and the whole world turned into a frozen land. Under such circumstances, even the beasts were reluctant to leave their caves without good reason, let alone people. All the villagers holed up inside their houses and rarely came out.
During this time, Yang Kai’s daily life went by with a fixed routine. He learned the ancient characters from the Village Chief for an hour in the morning, then he returned to his log house to cultivate his body. Later, he would accumulate his Shaman Strength.
Ten days later, he felt himself breaking through a barrier in his body. Power surged through his meridians, and his strength seemed to soar. He had just become a Shaman Warrior!
When he awoke his Shaman Strength, it only took Yang Kai one night to become a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice; however, he now took half a month to go from a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice to Low-Rank Shaman Warrior.
Over the past ten days, Yang Kai had been waiting for this Sealed World to kick him out, but for some reason, it had yet to do so. It had reached a point where he was beginning to doubt if he had really fallen into the Sealed World or was unable to break out of this Sealed World. Regardless of what it was, he had to make plans for the long term.
[This world is very strange and is suppressing my Emperor Qi. I can’t even release my Divine Sense or access my Space Ring either.]
According to the Village Chief, he would only gain something like a Divine Sense when he raised his power to the realm of a Shaman Master. Therefore, Yang Kai’s current goal was to quickly cultivate until he became a Shaman Master. Then, he could access his Space Ring and retrieve the millions of Monster Cores stored inside it. As long as he had those Monster Cores, he would be able to exponentially increase his cultivation speed. At that time, becoming a Shaman King or even a Shaman Saint would be a simple matter. Perhaps, he might even find a way to escape this world once his Shaman Strength reached a certain level.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai would need to rise an entire Great Realm to reach the Shaman Master realm. At his current cultivation speed, he estimated that it would take him another year to do so, and he simply couldn’t afford to wait that long!
Stuck inside this inexplicable Sealed World, Yang Kai felt strongly that his own strength was the foundation of his survival. Thus, he couldn’t wait to become stronger.
The best way to improve his strength would be to find Monster Beasts, obtain their flesh and blood, and retrieve their Monster Cores. The Monster Core was the most important part. Yang Kai could now consume them directly to increase his strength quickly, so as long as he had enough Monster Cores, breaking through to become a Shaman Master would be as easy as snapping his fingers.
“No! That won’t work! That absolutely won’t work!” Inside the log house, the Village Chief seemed to be stimulated by something. He shook his head vigorously and looked at Yang Kai with a devastated look, “Ah Niu, do you know what you are talking about?”
Yang Kai sighed, “I just want to go out and train for a bit. I’ll be back by spring.”
The Village Chief said, “Winter is at its worst and the snow has buried the mountain roads. Even if you are a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice… Huh? W-W-W-When did you become a Shaman Warrior?!”
When Yang Kai first came over, the Village Chief had not observed Yang Kai carefully; thus, he was shocked by what he saw at this moment. [Ah Nui has already become a Shaman Warrior!]
The Village Chief was not entirely capable of recognizing a Shaman Warrior when he saw one, but he took notice of the aura around Yang Kai as being something a Shaman Apprentice could not have. [How is that possible?! Ah Niu only received the favour of the Barbarian Gods and awoke his Shaman Strength half a month ago! It was shocking enough that he broke through to become a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice overnight! I can’t believe he has already become a Shaman Warrior! That’s the realm I had hoped to reach for my entire life but failed to!]
Yang Kai smiled slightly, “Village Chief, don’t you think that I, as a Shaman Warrior, have the power to protect myself outside?”
The Village Chief said, “Even if you are already a Shaman Warrior, how many Shamanic Spells do you know? I taught you all the Shamanic Spells that you know…”
Before he could finish speaking, his mouth fell open in shock as he stared blankly at the Shamanic Spell Shield that emerged in front of Yang Kai and the Fireball Spell in Yang Kai’s palm. He parted his lips to speak only to realize that he could not find a reason to stop Ah Niu from going adventuring.
Yang Kai said, “Village Chief, I only came here to let you know about my plans. Even if you disagree, I will still find a chance to slip away.”
The Village Chief sighed heavily. After a long while, he finally spoke again, “Three days. Give me three days. I will teach you a few things you’ll need to know.”
“Good!”
For the next three days, Yang Kai stayed in the Village Chief’s house and lived there with him.
During those three days, the Village Chief did not teach Yang Kai any particularly powerful Shamanic Spell nor did he teach Yang Kai anything about cultivation. There was nothing else he could help Yang Kai with regards to this; however, he was aware that Ah Niu used to isolate himself and rarely interacted with the other villagers in the village, let alone having an understanding of the world outside.
Just strength wasn’t enough for Ah Niu to protect himself on this trip; therefore, what the Village Chief taught Yang Kai was the knowledge of the world, various local customs and practices, as well as ways to respond when encountering dangers. After all, he had also wandered the world when he was younger…
Three days later, the Village Chief had nothing left to teach Yang Kai and had even finished teaching Yang Kai how to read the ancient characters.
“I will tell the villagers that you are cultivating in retreat and ask them not to disturb you. You should secretly leave tomorrow before dawn arrives. Don’t forget to come home soon!” Like a parent instructing a child who was about to travel abroad, the Village Chief looked extremely worried and anxious.
“I know.”
“Go and rest. From tomorrow onward, you will be facing a new journey!”
…..
Before the sun came out the next day, Yang Kai set off on his journey. Most of the villagers were still asleep at this time; however, a sudden feeling made him look back when he left the gates. He saw Ah Hua standing on the wall quietly. She was in charge of the night watch and their gazes met, so they nodded at each other lightly. Everything that needed to be said was conveyed with that simple gesture so Yang Kai strode forward and soon vanished from her line of sight.
Five days later, Yang Kai stood at the foot of a mountain that was thousands of kilometres away from the Blue South Village and took out a yellowed animal skin. Checking his position against the map, Yang Kai looked at the mountains in front of him and said, “This should be the place.”
White Net Mountain! This was Yang Kai’s goal for this trip.
The Village Chief had not gone too far during his travels outside the village, but White Net Mountain had been one of the spots he visited during his journey. The yellowed map in Yang Kai’s hands was also something the Village Chief had given to him before he left.
According to the Village Chief, there were many Barbarian Beasts in White Net Mountain, some powerful enough to rival Shaman Grandmasters in strength. The Village Chief had repeatedly warned Yang Kai to only do what he could, but Yang Kai ignored those warnings. The main purpose of his trip was to look for these Barbarian Beasts after all.
A short while later, Yang Kai stepped into White Net Mountain. Another half-day later, he stood inside a cave and sighed. Stepping over the corpse of a Monster Beast under his feet, he murmured in dissatisfaction, “How weak.”
In his opinion, this Monster Beast was roughly equivalent to a Third-Order or Fourth-Order Monster Beast. At his current level, he could kill it with his physical strength alone without even using his Shaman Strength. Still, gains were gains.
Retrieving the Monster Core, Yang Kai cleaned it slightly before popping it into his mouth and swallowing it. Then, he sat down cross-legged and circulated his Secret Art to refine the Monster Core.
A strange yet thunderous gurgling sound came from his abdomen. The entire process took him less than a quarter of an hour to finish. Yang Kai then silently checked out his progress and frowned at the results.
[The results are very unsatisfactory. Even though I refined a Monster Beast Core, the increase in my power is not very obvious.] This Monster Beast seemed to be weaker than the one he killed in the canyon previously; therefore, it was only natural that the energy stored in its Monster Core was not that great.
[At this speed, I might not become a Shaman Master even if I refine a thousand Monster Cores!] Yang Kai’s goal was not that ambitious, he simply wanted to become a Shaman Master so he could finally use his Divine Sense. It was a pity but he had no better options at the moment even though he was dissatisfied with his progress. Hence, he could only persevere in his efforts and steadily accumulate his strength through numbers while searching for powerful Monster Beasts.
In the following days, Yang Kai wandered around White Net Mountain, going deeper and deeper inside to look for Monster Beasts to kill.
Time flew by, and a month passed just like that. During that period, Yang Kai killed many Monster Beasts and obtained many Monster Beast Cores. Unfortunately, his cultivation only increased slightly, without any further breakthroughs despite consuming so many Monster Beast Cores. In other words, he was still a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior.
[Weak. Too weak! The Monster Beasts in White Net Mountain are too weak to satisfy my needs!] He had planned to advance to become a Shaman Master within a month and subsequently access his Space Ring. Then, he wanted to focus on cultivating in retreat for two months before finally returning to the village as a Shaman King or even a Shaman Saint. From the looks of things though, he had been too optimistic about his goals. Even so, he could only go deeper and deeper into the mountain while trying to temper his expectations with reality.
One day, while Yang Kai was refining a Monster Core that he had just obtained, his ears twitched. Frowning slightly, Yang Kai listened carefully and picked up the sound of footsteps approaching the cave he was hiding in. Moreover, the footsteps sounded like they belonged to more than one person.
[Why are there people in this damned place? It’s the middle of winter right now, so who else would be willing to wander around outside, aside from me? Aren’t they worried about freezing to death or starving to death?] While Yang Kai was musing over his questions, those people reached the cave and one of them immediately called out, “Careful! I smell blood!”
The footsteps quietened down and they silenced even their breathing. Still, Yang Kai could sense that they were slowly but surely approaching him and sure enough, a member of the Ancient Barbarian Race appeared approximately fifteen meters away from Yang Kai a few moments later. When that man noticed Yang Kai, he was visibly surprised; shock covering his face. He obviously did not expect to encounter another member of their race here.
Several others appeared closely behind that man, one after another. All of them were badly beaten up, looking as if they had experienced a huge battle recently. The worst one among them had lost an arm and blood was still flowing freely from his wound. The injured person was pale-faced with pain and Yang Kai could tell at a glance that his arm had been bitten off by a beast. The Ancient Barbarian Race was truly amazing when it came down to it. Despite suffering such a grievous wound, this man didn’t make a single sound in complaint and even held a cracked stone spear in the other hand.
“Who are you?” The leader of those people took one look at Yang Kai and asked loudly while thinking, [This boy looks small and weak. He doesn’t look like one of us. Just where did he pop out from?]
Yang Kai shifted his eyes and glanced at that man, but seemed intent on ignoring them.
That rash and arrogant attitude instantly annoyed the other party, but just as he was about to explode in anger, a tall woman appeared from behind him without warning. She had a cold expression on her face as she said, “Don’t disturb him! He is in the middle of cultivating!”
The woman seemed to hold a rather high status in this group so after she spoke up, the man, who had spoken before, did not say anything else even though his anger was still simmering inside. Instead, he studied Yang Kai suspiciously with a frown and whispered, “Cultivating? Could he be a Shaman?”
The woman was also looking at Yang Kai in astonishment and nodded, “Yes, he is indeed a Shaman. Moreover, he is a Shaman Warrior!”
“A Shaman Warrior?!” The rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors jumped in shock. They could barely believe their ears; however, those words came out of their Shaman’s mouth, so they had no choice but to believe her. But could someone who looked so weak really be a Shaman?
Stepping forward, the woman looked at Yang Kai and said, “My companion was injured in the battle just now. We need a place for him to recuperate quietly and there are no other suitable locations nearby, so we could only choose to come here. Please, don’t worry; we will not disturb you.”
Yang Kai nodded gently and secretly found it rather funny. [They probably think that I am at a critical point in my cultivation and cannot afford to distract myself by talking to them. What they don’t know is that I am just too lazy to bother with them. I simply want to quickly refine the Monster Core I just ate.]
“Many thanks!” The woman thanked him then led the rest of her party a distance away, arranged for the injured clansman to sit down, and began to treat his wounds.
A distinct power fluctuation washed over him soon after, and although Yang Kai did not know what that woman was capable of, he had sensed that she was a Shaman Warrior too. Moreover, she was most likely a High-Rank Shaman Warrior! In other words, her cultivation was higher than his.
Still, she seemed to be a good person. She had not been hostile towards him. After all, as far as she knew, he was currently in a state of cultivation that could not be interrupted. If she were really malicious, this would have been a great opportunity to attack him.
A few members of the Ancient Barbarian Race had gathered near the outer half of the cave and watched as their Shaman treated the injuries of their companion. The Shamanic Spell that woman was using produced an extreme cold, seemingly having a special characteristic of freezing everything. She quickly froze the wound and then took out some herbs from an animal skin bag she carried on her for the injured person to eat.
Soon, that injured person looked much better. He was probably in less pain than before and in response, the woman breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind them, “He is poisoned. He won’t live for long if you don’t help detoxify the poison.”
As soon as the words left Yang Kai’s mouth, several Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors immediately turned around with their stone spears and stone axes at the ready, watching him warily as a chill ran down their spines.
Although they had been concerned about the safety of their companion just now, they had remained alert of their surroundings. Even so, none of them had noticed anybody approaching them from behind. This was simply inconceivable. If this young man had malicious intentions, they would have all died by now; after all, this person was a Shaman Warrior!
The woman who seemed to be a Shaman shuddered slightly, but her reaction was not as intense as the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors. She turned around and gestured with her hands to signal her companions not to be so nervous. Following that, she said, “I know he is poisoned. I’ve also been using the Detoxification Spell.”
“It’s not working,” Yang Kai tilted his head and looked at her. Pondering for a moment before asking, “Do you want me to help?”
“You?” She frowned with a look of distrust in her eyes. The Shaman Warrior in front of her was a stranger after all, who knows whether he was a good person or not? It was normal for disputes to occur between Shamans of different clans; even different villages. Besides, this boy seemed to only be a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior, so if even she, a High-Rank Shaman Warrior, was helpless, what abilities could he have to solve this issue?
Yang Kai simply shrugged and said, “I was just asking.”
“Which clan are you from?” The woman asked.
To which Yang Kai replied, “The South Barbarian Clan!” Pausing for a moment, he added, “You are from the Frost and Snow Clan, right?”
It was all thanks to the Village Chief cramming knowledge into his head before he left that Yang Kai could recognize the origins of these people. In this ancient world, some of the Ancient Barbarian Clans had distinct characteristics to tell them apart. For example, the people of the Raging Flame Clan had a tattoo of a burning flower drawn across their faces. That was the Green Lotus Sacred Flame, the emblem of the Raging Flame Clan.
Although the Frost and Snow Clan did not have any tattoos on their faces, the attribute shown when the woman cast her Shamanic Spell just now gave Yang Kai a clue. Not every Ancient Barbarian Clan had such distinct characteristics. For example, the South Barbarian Clan to which the Blue South Village belonged to, did not have such characteristics. That was why the woman failed to recognize his origins.
Having no intention of concealing her origins now that Yang Kai had seen through her, she nodded, “That’s right. We are from the Frost and Snow Clan. Can you detoxify him?”
“I can try.”
She furrowed her eyebrows in response. Although she did not believe this boy had the ability to do so, it couldn’t hurt to try everything at their disposal. She had used her Shamanic Spell to suppress her poisoned clansman’s wounds and cast a Detoxification Spell to remove the poison in his body; unfortunately, she could not remove the poison completely. The Bone Melting Poison of the Bone Melting Wolf was so strong that any remnant of the poison was enough to turn the strongest Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior into a puddle in time. If it was left alone, her clansman would die within three days, at the most! However, three days was not enough time for them to return to their clan.
“Please try!” She stepped aside.
Yang Kai stepped forward, only to be stopped by a warrior from the Frost and Snow Clan, “Madame…”
The woman raised her hand and stopped that man from continuing his sentence. Even so, the looks in the eyes of those Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors as they stared at Yang Kai were filled with obvious distrust.
Fortunately, Yang Kai was not bothered by their stares and walked straight to the injured Frost and Snow Clan clansman and crouched down. Studying the wounds carefully, he was secretly impressed. The injured man was only able to remain alert and silent despite losing an arm and being affected by a strong poison by virtue of his strong body and robust vitality. Otherwise, his wounds would have killed him ten times over by now. At the moment, his face was pale and slightly distorted because of the pain.
Yang Kai examined the injured man for a while, then he suddenly raised his hand and abruptly hit the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior’s body several times. The strength of his hits was neither heavy nor light as his Qi surged into the warrior’s body. After several strikes, the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior’s pale complexion flushed all of a sudden and he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Yang Kai had been prepared, so he shifted out of the way. After that, he broke the ice that was sealing the wounds on that man’s broken arm without hesitation. Using both hands to grab that man by the shoulders, he pushed his Qi into the man’s body.
Under the watchful gazes of the Frost and Snow Clan clansmen, the body of that injured man suddenly shuddered violently. Following that, a roar rang out, one that sounded like the roar of an injured beast, guttural and terrifying. In the next moment, a large amount of blood spurted out of the broken arm. When the blood hit the ground, it melted several holes into the rock with hissing noises, illustrating just how powerful the poison was.
Blood spurted out without stopping for approximately three breaths. During this process, the rest of the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior from the Frost and Snow Clan would have rushed forward to stop Yang Kai if not for the female Shaman Warrior holding them back.
Three breaths later, Yang Kai stopped, turned to the woman, and said, “Seal his wounds.”
When the woman heard those words, she raised her hand and a rush of icy air flowed towards the arm’s stump, freezing the wound in the blink of an eye.
The injured Ancient Barbarian Warrior was as pale as a sheet due to extensive blood loss, and the aura coming from his body was so weak that it could barely be detected; almost as if he was dead.
Once this was finished, Yang Kai stood up and took several steps back. The other Frost and Snow Warriors immediately rushed forward to check on the condition of their injured clansman. A moment later, one of the clansmen lifted his head and said, “He seems to be much better. It’s just that he lost too much blood.” Glancing at Yang Kai, his gaze became a little conflicted.
Only then did the female Shaman Warrior nod and turn to Yang Kai, “My name is Yu. What is your name?”
“Ah Niu!” Yang Kai replied with a smile.
“So, you are called Shaman Niu. I thank the Barbarian Gods for letting us meet here!” Yu, who had been cold all this while, finally revealed a smile.
Yang Kai simply waved his hand and said, “The poison has been removed from your companion, but it will still be bad if you just leave him alone. It’s best if you bring him back to your settlement for further treatment.”
“I understand. Please wait for a moment, Shaman Niu,” While Yu was speaking, she walked over to the other Warriors and issued some instructions to them in a low voice. After that, one of them picked up their injured companion and carried him out of the cave. From the looks of it, they seem to be bringing him back to their village for treatment.
Turning around again, Yu asked another one of the Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors to bring out some dried meat and water. Then, she personally handed them to Yang Kai, “This is as thanks for saving my clansman.”
“The Ancient Barbarian Race is all one family. You don’t need to be so polite, Shaman Yu,” Yang Kai grinned. Even so, he did not refuse her offer, accepting the dried meat and water from her before he began to eat heartily without any hesitation.
His bold and unrestrained attitude gave Yu a favourable impression of him and the initial repulsion and disdain she had from seeing his scrawny frame completely disappeared.
[The Ancient Barbarian Race is all one family! That’s an interesting statement!]
“I also used a Detoxification Spell, but why were the effects so much worse than yours?” Yu humbly asked. Before coming to this cave, she had given emergency treatment to her clansman, but that had not been enough to remove the poison in his body. Hence, she could only freeze the wound and ask him to eat some herbs in hopes that the medicinal efficacies could help detoxify the poison in him. Even so, she had been aware that there was little hope of success.
“Do you mean to ask why the effect of your Detoxification Spell is not as good as mine even though your realm is higher than mine?” Yang Kai naturally knew what she meant. Thus, he smilingly replied, “Sometimes, control is more important than power.”
Yu fell into deep thought for a long time upon hearing those words before she finally nodded, “Many thanks!”
Yang Kai finished eating the dried meat in his hands and drank some water before asking, “What are you doing outside in this freezing weather?”
Although the people of the Frost and Snow Clan were generally not afraid of the severe cold, they still did not go out without reason under normal circumstances. This was especially true during winter where wild beasts and Barbarian Beasts were unusually active because they were searching for food. The risk of venturing outside was far greater than normal during this season.
“What about you, Shaman Niu?” Yu did not answer his question and instead countered with her own.
“I came out to train!” He smiled widely.
Yu seemed taken aback by his words for a moment before a look of admiration appeared on her face and she explained, “We are here to collect herbs to use in the Sacrificial Offering held in the spring.
“Sacrificial Offering…” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows at those words. The Blue South Village was such a small community that he didn’t even know if they held any Sacrificial Offerings. However, Yang Kai was aware that Sacrificial Offerings were commonplace in ancient times. Even the great Shamans who were successful in their cultivation would often offer up Sacrificial Offerings. The objects of their Sacrificial Offerings were usually to the Heavens or to Totems of their clans, but it was mostly the latter.
Smiling slightly, Yang Kai commented, “From the looks of it, your progress has not been going smoothly.”
Yu nodded sadly, “The herbs we need are being guarded by several Bone Melting Wolves. We were ambushed by them.”
“Several?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, showing great interest in this topic, “How many were there?”
“Six. If it wasn’t for their numbers, with my strength, I would not have allowed them to hurt my clansmen.”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed suddenly and after a moment, he sat down in a formal position and asked in a low voice, “Shaman Yu, would you like a powerful helper when you go and collect those herbs again?”
Gazing at him in astonishment, Yu’s eyes soon brightened in response. She had been thinking about asking if he would lend them a hand. Unfortunately, they were neither familiar with each other nor clansmen of the same clan. Moreover, there were no benefits she could offer him. Thus, it had been difficult for her to bring it up, much less expect him to offer to help on his own.
Although the words of this self-proclaimed ‘powerful helper’ left her feeling slightly speechless, she couldn’t care less about such trivial details as the presence of two Shamans was enough to ensure the safety of her clansmen.
“Shaman Niu, what are your conditions?” As delighted by his offer as Yu was, she did not lose her reasoning. A Shaman Warrior of the South Barbarian Clan that they had met by chance was offering his aid, so he definitely had something he wanted from them.
“Give me those Barbarian Beasts,” he smilingly replied.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for her to agree to this condition. Those herbs might be precious, but the Barbarian Beasts were of great value too. Moreover, they had several people with them, as well as a High-Rank Shaman Warrior while he was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior in comparison. Sharing two of the Barbarian Beasts with him would be a reasonable condition; however, he had rescued one of their clansmen just now, so she simply groaned and readily agreed, “Good. The Barbarian Beasts are yours, but the herbs belong to us!”
Since she had made her decision, the rest of the clansmen had no objections.
Standing up, Yang Kai said, “Since it’s an urgent matter, we should set off now.”
Yu frowned in response, “My clansmen have just gone through a battle today and need to rest for a day…”
An Ancient Barbarian’s body might be extremely strong, but she had blessed them with the Bloodlust Spell during their previous battle. Even if it had only lasted for a very short period, the Blood Essence they lost would still make them weaker. They were no longer at the peak of their abilities.
“There’s no need for that. You only need to come with me.” After saying that, Yang Kai took the lead and walked out of the cave while beckoning to Yu and the others.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors looked at their leader hesitatingly, while Yu was also feeling very troubled and thought to herself. [Why is this Shaman Niu behaving so impulsively? How can he act so rashly on mere hearsay?]
Unfortunately, there was nothing else she could do at this point, so she could only lead her men and follow after Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, Yu, and the others quietly lay in ambush in a mountain col.
Yu pointed to the front and said, “The Snow Flower we need is just ahead, and so are those Bone Melting Wolves.”
Yang Kai glanced up and saw that there were indeed traces of fighting nearby; bloodstains on the ground and messy footprints staining the white snow.
“Shaman Niu, we will work together to bless my clansmen with Shamanic Spells. You will be in charge of the left flank, and I will be in charge of the right flank. Although there are six Bone Melting Wolves, they are not that hard to deal with. Just be careful not to get bitten. Previously, we…” Yu was staring ahead while discussing the battle plan with Yang Kai with a serious expression, but halfway through her explanation, she suddenly realized something was wrong and turned her head back. Only then did she realize that he had disappeared from her side at some point in time.
“Where did he go?!” She was shocked, directing her question to the rest of her clansmen. However, it seemed that even they had just noticed Yang Kai’s absence. As they were looking around in confusion, one of the Ancient Barbarian Warriors widened his eyes in shock and pointed to the front, “H-H-He…”
Looking in the direction that man was pointing, Yu’s expression changed drastically as she snarled, “That fool!”
[I can’t believe Shaman Niu boldly waltzed out there without any preparations! If he alerts those Bone Melting Wolves to his presence, he will be forced into a difficult situation!] She had originally intended to cooperate with Yang Kai to kill off two of those beasts in a sneak attack first before the real struggle began; however, it seemed like her plans were no longer viable.
Just as she was about to call him back, she saw him stopping in the middle of the mountain col and spreading his arms wide open as if to embrace the world. Then, he took a deep breath and enthusiastically shouted, “Friends, I’m here!”
*Here… ere… re…*
The echo of Yang Kai’s voice reverberated in the mountain col so loudly that even the snow gathered on the trees fell from the vibrations.
Several Bone Melting Wolves walked out of their hiding places with energetic and lively steps upon smelling the scent of food. Baring their fangs at Yang Kai, saliva dripped out of the corners of their mouth, their eyes gleamed with a savage light.
Yu had always been a calm and composed person; however, she couldn’t stop her face from cramping at this sight.
“Lady Yu, what do we do now?” One of the clansmen asked.
“Retreat!” She made a decisive decision on the spot.
[Shaman Niu is insane! Why didn’t I notice that before?! If I had noticed that earlier, I would not have accompanied him here no matter what. This is terrible! I can’t believe he provoked those six Bone Melting Wolves without any preparations whatsoever! Even a Shaman Warrior like him will undoubtedly end up dead!] Even though she was grateful to him for saving one of her clansmen, she, as the leader of her group, could not accompany him on his crazy whims. They had to retreat for now. As for the gratitude they owed him for saving one of them… They could only recover their strength before returning to avenge him as a means of repayment.
Yu’s group moved swiftly as soon as she gave the order to fall back, preparing themselves for battle as they began to withdraw from this place. Yu shot a glance back to look at the situation, pitying Yang Kai.
Those Bone Melting Wolves did not hesitate after coming out of their hiding spots and immediately lunged towards Yang Kai like a whirlwind. Their bloody mouths opened so wide that they could devour a lamb whole.
Then, Yu saw an extremely shocking scene. Shaman Niu, who was clearly insane, let out a peal of riotous laughter before punching left and right repeatedly… Blood splattered like blooming flowers in mid-air, accompanied by the sound of bones breaking. Immediately after, short but rapid whimpers of the Bone Melting Wolves rang out. In the blink of an eye, four Bone Melting Wolves were sent flying, their heads bursting open before their bodies even hit the ground.
Stunned, Yu stood frozen on the spot. It was as if a Binding Spell had been cast on her by an invisible Shaman King. Her small mouth was slightly agape, and her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
“Lady Yu!” The Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors who had been retreating swiftly abruptly noticed that their Shaman had not kept up with them. Thus, they hurriedly turned back, but in the next moment, they were similarly frozen in place with shock. [What just happened?! Why are there four Bone Melting Wolf corpses lying on the ground? Moreover, where are their heads? Just what happened in the brief moment we turned away?!]
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the deaths of their four companions did not make the rest of the Bone Melting Wolves retreat. Instead, it aroused their ferocious nature. The remaining two rushed forward quickly, leaping high and lunging towards Yang Kai from both sides while snapping their teeth.
Yang Kai countered with a backhanded blow, cracking the skull of the Bone Melting Wolf on the left, causing its head to explode, killing it instantly. However, his right arm was bitten by the other Bone Melting Wolf.
*Kacha!*
Before Yang Kai could do anything though, something akin to an ice blade flew over swiftly and struck the last remaining Bone Melting Wolf in the eye and buried itself deep into its skull.
Yu had finally returned to her senses and supported his fight with her Ice Blade Spell from afar. It was a simple attack, but also a precise and powerful one that showed her rich combat experience as a High-Rank Shaman Warrior.
The Bone Melting Wolf whimpered and released Yang Kai’s arm, allowing him to step forward with a clenched fist and punch it twice to kill it.
Breathing lightly, Yang Kai revealed a disdainful expression on his face.
“You were bitten! Hurry up and expel the poison!” Yu rushed forward anxiously and warned him. She didn’t even think to ask him how he created such a miracle; however, she blanked out again as soon as the words left her mouth, because his right arm that had been bitten was completely unscathed!
[How is that possible?! I clearly saw him being bitten by the Bone Melting Wolf! With the Bone Melting Wolf’s horrifying strength, he can’t defend against it with just his body!]
Thinking about it carefully though, she realized that the cracking sound from before didn’t sound like bones breaking, but rather like a Shield Spell shattering from the force of the bite.
[So that’s it! He must have cast a Shield Spell at the same moment he was bitten! What incredible reaction and casting speed!]
“Don’t come over!” Yang Kai shouted suddenly, his eyes flashing with excitement as he stared into the depths of the mountain col. Licking his lips, he said, “There’s one more big guy over there.”
“What?” Yu did not understand what he was saying, but glancing in the direction of his gaze, she suddenly felt a chill running down her back as her limbs went numb with fear, “A Bone Melting Wolf King!”
In the clearing up ahead, a Bone Melting Wolf several times larger than the previous Bone Melting Wolves was approaching them. Moreover, the powerful aura it exuded pressed down on Yu so strongly that she found it hard to breathe.
[What is a Bone Melting Wolf King doing here?!] Wolves were pack animals, and regardless of whether they were wild beasts or Barbarians Beasts, their nature remained the same. However, even with six Bone Melting Wolves gathered in this place, the scale of this pack should not be enough to give rise to a Wolf King!
Yu quickly understood the situation though, because this Bone Melting Wolf King seemed to be heavily injured. His body was covered in wounds, large and small, and from the looks of it, these injuries were no more than a month old.
This Wolf King had been defeated in a battle between wolf packs and was exiled to this place as a result. A defeated Wolf King could no longer be the king of a pack and would be replaced by a younger and stronger Wolf King.
Even so, it was not an existence that a Shaman Warrior could fight against. A Bone Melting Wolf King was a powerful Barbarian Beast that could rival a Shaman Master in strength! Even if it was not fully healed from its wounds, it was still an opponent they could not face.
“Run!” Yu yelled at Yang Kai, deeply regretting not retreating immediately just now. She initially planned to flee, but after turning around and seeing such a miracle happening in front of her, she couldn’t resist coming back again. Who could have known that she would instead throw herself into such a crisis?
[This is bad. Every one of us will die here…] She couldn’t blame Yang Kai for rushing headlong into danger anymore, only herself for failing to investigate the situation clearly when they first arrived here. [I can’t believe we failed to notice the presence of a Bone Melting Wolf King hiding here!]
The Bone Melting Wolf King exuded a heavy pressure that was dense and terrifying. Yu could feel her entire body trembling under its influence. Meanwhile, Yang Kai only had an expression of scorn and contempt on his face despite facing such a terrifying existence, stretching his arms and legs, making little cracking sounds. It was a scene that left one unsure whether to laugh or cry. His carefree actions clearly enraged the Bone Melting Wolf King though and it widened its mouth as it shot out a green ball of liquid towards him like an arrow.
In response, Yang Kai raised his hand, and the temperature in the air rose abruptly as a fireball as large as a washbasin flew out.
With a loud crashing sound, the fireball and green poison ball collided mid-air. A loud explosion sounded, followed immediately by a mix of sparks and poison flying in all directions. Wherever they landed on the ground, the snow-covered ground melted away with loud hissing sounds, leaving large and small pits everywhere.
While Yu and the others were still in a daze, Yang Kai took advantage of the Wolf King’s unpreparedness to attack, leaping forward and engaging in a fierce melee with this new opponent.
On the other hand, the group from the Frost and Snow Clan were completely dumbfounded by the sight.
[Is he really a Shaman? Is this something a Shaman can do? How can he rush forward bravely and fearlessly regardless of the opponent he faces?!] That was the case when he was facing those six Bone Melting Wolves just now, and the same held true in his fight against the Bone Melting Wolf King right now!
[How is it possible for a Shaman like him to exist?!] Yu felt as if everything she knew was being turned upside down. Several dozen years of cultivation and long-held beliefs had collapsed in an instant as she had never imagined that a Shaman’s method of fighting could be so barbarous and brutal. It was even more barbarous and brutal than the fights of the strongest warriors in their clan.
It could be seen that Shaman Niu was extremely skilled and experienced in hand-to-hand combat. Not only did he possess the courage and diligence of the most powerful warriors, but he also possessed a Shaman’s ability. While engaging in close-quarter combat, he would cast various simple and practical Shamanic Spells freely. However, those Shamanic Spells played an unimaginable role at critical moments. For some time, he fought on par with the Wolf King, which could rival a Shaman Master in terms of strength, and nobody could determine who had the upper hand in this fight.
“Lady Yu… W-What should we do now?” This was not the first time the Frost and Snow Clan’s clansmen had asked Yu this question. It was just that the scene unfolding before their eyes were beyond their understanding, which caused them to lose their ability to think clearly.
Yu hesitated for only a moment before she decisively ordered, “We help him!”
As soon as those words were spoken, she began chanting in the ancient language. She cast several Shamanic Spells, including the Bloodlust Spell, the Light Body Spell, and the Bone Armor Spell on the warriors from her clan in quick succession. The auras of those warriors immediately expanded explosively and their eyes turned scarlet. A calmness hid in the depths of their madness though, and after glancing at each other, they approached the battlefield carefully.
Meanwhile, Yu took a small breath and raised her hand, condensing a huge ice blade in front of her. In this severely cold environment, the Ice Attribute Shamanic Spell she cultivated received the blessings from the surrounding World, becoming far more powerful than usual.
*Xiu…*
The huge ice blade trembled slightly before disappearing like a flash of light. By the time it reappeared again, it had already buried itself deep into the flesh of the Bone Melting Wolf King that was fighting against Yang Kai.
The Wolf King roared in pain and shook its body, shattering the ice blade into pieces.
The next moment, several Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors flanked the Wolf King from both sides, brandishing their weapons as they hacked and slashed at its exposed sides.
Half a day later, the dust finally settled.
Yu panted heavily, her face deathly pale as she stared at the corpse of Bone Melting Wolf King lying on the ground in disbelief.
There were no casualties in this battle on her side. Moreover, only a few of her clansmen had suffered light injuries! And, the biggest contributing factor to this miraculous occurrence was the weak looking, scrawny Shaman Niu!
He had kept the Bone Melting Wolf King’s attention on him the whole time, not giving it any time to bother about anything else. For that reason, the clansmen she led had been able to continuously inflict injuries on the enemy. The killing blow was landed only after a fierce battle lasting half a day. Rather than a decisive kill, it was more like they had gradually worn the Wolf King down to its death.
Looking at Shaman Niu, who was groping around inside the Wolf King’s corpse, Yu couldn’t help feeling mixed and conflicted feelings about it. Even now, she could barely believe what had just happened. The idea of victory itself was inconceivable; after all, that was a Wolf King that rivaled a Shaman Master in strength! Even if it was severely injured, it wasn’t something they could take down with such a small group of people. However, the Wolf King had been powerless against them due to Shaman Niu’s seemingly endless stream of tactics and tricks, turning what seemed like ordinary skills into something miraculous.
[How did he do it?] From the start until the end, this Shaman Niu had not cast any Shamanic Spell that was particularly powerful. All the Shamanic Spells he used were something she could use too. Even so, her Shamanic Spells would not have been anywhere near as effective in comparison.
“Yes! I found it!” Yang Kai laughed happily as he dug out a bloodied Monster Core from the Wolf King’s corpse. Then, he wiped it carefully against the snow before storing it away like a treasure. After that, he walked over to the other six dead Bone Melting Wolves without pause and took out the six Monster Cores from their corpses in the same way.
Yu composed herself somehow and shot a glance at her clansmen. One of them immediately went to pick the Snow Flowers they had originally come for while she walked over to Yang Kai and asked, “Shaman Niu, are you in need of Monster Cores?”
Yang Kai played with his bulging cloth bag and replied without looking up, “Yes!”
Yang Kai wanted to accumulate strength quickly, and in order to do so, he needed many Monster Cores.
Yu continued, “Although I don’t know why you need so many Monster Cores, there’s a place that might be of interest to you.”
“Where is that?” He looked up at her.
“Frost and Snow City!”
Yang Kai frowned at those words for a moment before asking, “The central city of the Frost and Snow Clan?”
“That’s right.”
“Will there be many Monster Cores there?”
Yu smiled in response, “Frost and Snow City is the only city belonging to the Frost and Snow Clan. More than eighty percent of the Frost and Snow Clan’s Shamans gather there. Even Shamans from other clans often frequent Frost and Snow City, especially during winter. Frost and Snow City is the only place that is not affected by the winter snows and remains open all year round. Furthermore, a large number of transactions are carried out in the city every day and Monster Cores of Barbarian Beasts are not uncommon there. You might even find Monster Cores of a higher grade than that of the Bone Melting Wolf King over there. As long as you can bring out goods of equal value, I believe other Shamans will be willing to trade with you.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai rubbed his chin thoughtfully, seeming to be swayed by the idea. If Frost and Snow City was as good as Yu said it was, then he should definitely go and take a look. At the very least, it would be faster obtaining Monster Cores there than simply searching for and killing Barbarian Beasts in White Net Mountain. Of course, Yang Kai had the slight problem of not having anything of value to trade with.
“What do you think? Do you want to check it out?” Yu struck while the iron was hot as she could tell at a glance that he was interested in the idea.
“It would be impolite of me to refuse your kindness, Shaman Yu,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.
Yu nodded happily in response, “Then, let’s set off together later.”
At this time, the Ancient Barbarian Warrior that went to collect the Snow Flowers returned and whispered something to her. In turn, she looked up at Yang Kai and said, “Shaman Niu, about the corpses of these Barbarian Beasts…”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Thank you very much!” Yu thanked him. Subsequently, she turned around and instructed her clansmen to process the corpses of the Bone Melting Wolves.
If a Shaman consumed the flesh of Barbarian Beasts over a long period of time, it would help them improve their strength. Thus, she couldn’t bear to let so many Barbarian Beast corpses go to waste in this place even if she was a High-Rank Shaman Warrior. Especially so when it came to the corpse of Bone Melting Wolf King. That was a powerful supplement even for a Shaman Grandmaster.
In contrast, Shaman Niu only wanted the Monster Cores and not the meat. Yu did not know what he was trying to do, as even though a Monster Core was highly valued, the most common method of consuming it was to soak it in wine. Some Herbalists could also use the Monster Cores of Barbarian Beasts to make potions, but this boy didn’t look like a Herbalist.
Needless to say, it was not the first time for these Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors to deal with the corpses of Monster Beasts. On the contrary, they were extremely skilled and, in less than a quarter of an hour, they finished processing the six Bone Melting Wolf carcasses and the Wolf King carcass.
One way or another, everybody carried the seven wolf pelts, plus the most delicious and tender parts of the Barbarian Beasts. Once all the preparations were completed, they set off.
Frost and Snow City was quite far from White Net Mountain, so even if they ran at full speed throughout the entire journey, it would still take them at least three days to arrive. That was based on the premise that Shaman Yu blessed them with the Spirit Walk Spell. Without the Spirit Walk Spell, their speed would be much slower.
Halfway through the journey, Yang Kai asked Yu to teach him the Spirit Walk Spell, and unsurprisingly, he immediately grasped it, shocking her with his incredible comprehension ability.
Three days later, a large shadow loomed before their eyes. The Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors and even Yu couldn’t help breaking out into a heartfelt smile at the sight.
“Shaman Niu, that’s Frost and Snow City!” Yu pointed in front.
Yang Kai could not help feeling astonished at the sight before him. It was his first time coming to an Ancient Barbarian city; however, the sight that greeted his eyes was completely different from what he had imagined.
He thought that since it was a city, it should at least look like a city. However, this place had zero resemblance to a city whatsoever. Rather, there was a single towering tree standing on the horizon. Despite the distance, Yang Kai could feel the rich and majestic aura coming from this tree that seemed to reach up to the Heavens and cover the sky in its canopy. It was hard to imagine just how tall it was as it seemed to continue up forever.
Under the sky-like canopy of the huge tree, buildings were built across the ground in a disorderly manner. It was like a cluttered chessboard that had been overturned in which Yang Kai could vaguely see many people actively living their daily lives.
“This is Frost and Snow City?” Yang Kai turned to look at Yu.
Yu smiled, “Yes, this is Frost and Snow City! It is also the root of the Frost and Snow Clan. Do you see that Evergreen Divine Tree? That is Senior Qing; he is the guardian who protects the Frost and Snow Clan.”
“Senior Qing…” Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, “Are you saying that… That tree is alive?” [If it is alive… Won’t that make it a Monster Tree? Still, such a large Monster Tree is a rare sight to see.]
Yu’s expression became solemn as she said earnestly, “Senior Qing has lived for thousands of years and is immortal and indestructible. Shaman Niu, remember to never desecrate Senior Qing if you ever enter Frost and Snow City!”
[Immortal and indestructible? Doesn’t that really make it a Monster Tree? But, comparing my Immortal Tree and this Evergreen Divine Tree is like comparing an old man and a baby…]
As Yu was being very serious, so Yang Kai could tell that the Evergreen Divine Tree held an extremely high status in the hearts of the Frost and Snow Clan; thus, he nodded and said, “I understand.”
Yu smiled again and continued, “You don’t have to worry so much, Shaman Niu. Senior Qing is very tolerant, so as long as you don’t deliberately desecrate him, my clansmen will not cause you any trouble.”
They gradually approached Frost and Snow City while they were speaking. Upon a closer look, the shock and awe of seeing the Evergreen Divine Tree became more and more intense. The entire Frost and Snow City was not guarded by city walls or Spirit Arrays like in the later generations, but the huge canopy created a secure enclosure surrounding several hundred kilometres. The clansmen of the Frost and Snow Clan had survived for generations under the protection of this canopy.
Even though it was in the middle of winter, there was no snow in Frost and Snow City; instead, it looked like it was the middle of spring.
An hour later, Yang Kai followed Yu across the boundary of Frost and Snow City when he abruptly felt a powerful Divine Sense sweep over him. This powerful probe instantly made all the hairs on his body stand in vigilance as he scanned his surroundings warily, only to find nothing.
Yu did not miss his change in demeanour and explained, “You don’t need to be so nervous, Shaman Niu. Anyone who enters Frost and Snow City will be inspected by Senior Qing. Only if they are hostile towards the Frost and Snow Clan will they be expelled.”
Yang Kai sighed in amazement, “Senior Qing is amazing.”
This was not flattery, but his true feelings, as that Divine Sense just now was measurably stronger than his Divine Sense at his peak. This Monster Tree was an incredible Master!
Yu smiled in agreement, “Of course! Senior Qing is the guardian of Frost and Snow Clan, who has been protecting us for thousands of years. But, it’s a pity…”
“What’s a pity?”
She said sadly, “I heard that Senior Qing fell asleep thousands of years ago; and now nobody can wake him up.”
“Then…” Yang Kai was puzzled. If Senior Qing was asleep, what was that Divine Sense just now?
Yu seemed to understand what he was thinking and smiled, “Even in his sleep, Senior Qing can still distinguish between friend and foe.”
[Isn’t that plain nonsense… If I were cultivating in retreat, I wouldn’t be able to feel anything unless it was a sense of crisis involving matters of life and death. No matter how great this Evergreen Divine Tree is, it’s still impossible to achieve such a degree of unconscious skill.] Still, Yang Kai made no objections to that statement since this seemed to be a strong belief among the Frost and Snow Clan.
While they were conversing with each other, they entered Frost and Snow City. The Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors were exhausted after such a long journey so they seemed a little excited now that they finally returned safely. They even had a faintly proud expression on their faces.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai unexpectedly felt extremely nostalgic when he stood inside Frost and Snow City. The sounds of yelling and bargaining ringing in his ears gave him the illusion that he had returned to Star Boundary for a moment.
“Shaman Niu, thank you for your help in White Net Mountain. We have to part ways here as I need to meet with a Shaman Master here and hand in the Snow Flowers,” Yu said, turning to Yang Kai.
“Go ahead. You don’t need to worry about me.” He nodded.
She then stretched out her hand to one of the Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors standing next to her. That warrior instantly took out a water skin-like thing and handed it to her. Yu took it and handed it to Yang Kai, “Take this to water the roots of Senior Qing, then you can find a place to live.”
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly as he recognized this water skin. When they were at White Net Mountain, the Frost and Snow Warriors had processed the Monster Beast corpses and used this water skin to collect Monster Beast blood. At that time, Yang Kai had not known what Yu and the others planned to do with this blood; however, now, it seemed as though it had some kind of special use here.
Yu led the rest of the Frost and Snow Clan’s Warriors towards a tall building. Meanwhile, Yang Kai stood in the middle of Frost and Snow City and pondered quietly for a while. He was in no hurry to follow Yu’s instructions to find a place to live and instead wandered around the bustling city to explore.
The reason why he agreed to come to Frost and Snow City was none other than to obtain some Monster Cores as soon as possible to continue cultivating. However, he had nothing on him aside from the seven Monster Cores of the Bone Melting Wolves and a bag of wolf blood. Unfortunately, he needed all of these items; therefore, he had to check out the market situation for now before he could figure out his next plan. Yang Kai believed that with his abilities, even if his starting point was very low, he would quickly be able to start accumulating what he needed.
Looking around as he walked, Yang Kai stood out like a sore thumb in a city filled with the Ancient Barbarian Race. It couldn’t be helped though as his figure was just too weak looking, lacking the aesthetics of the Ancient Barbarian Race. Hence, he attracted strange and contemptuous glances wherever he went. Fortunately, he had long since grown accustomed to this, as it seemed every member of the Ancient Barbarian Race that met him for the first time would eye him with such intent.
Frost and Snow City was extremely prosperous, not inferior even when compared to the large cities of the modern era. Among the chaotic mess of countless buildings, stalls, goods, and Shamans from different clans gathered in this place, a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior like Yang Kai did not stand out at all.
Using the knowledge the Village Chief had taught him before he left the village, Yang Kai identified the origins of those Shamans, one by one. People of every city and every clan were gathered here, a grand sight that was very rare indeed. It was a scene that could only be seen in Frost and Snow City during winter because, unlike Frost and Snow City, such unique conditions did not exist elsewhere. This place was protected by the Evergreen Divine Tree, so even in the middle of winter, it remained in a state of spring.
The cities of the other clans did not have such good conditions; hence, it naturally attracted many Shamans here to exchange information and goods. Once winter passed, most of these Shamans that came from afar would return to their respective clans and cities. For that reason, Frost and Snow City became the most prosperous city every winter.
Yang Kai browsed through all the stalls, inspecting their wares and bargaining with the stall owners. He thought that trading would be carried out through bartering in this ancient era, but to his surprise, he found out that he was greatly mistaken. Frost and Snow City had its own currency, something similar to green leaves, which were known as Green Coins.
Since the Village Chief had not taught him about the Green Coin, Yang Kai concluded that it was a feature unique to Frost and Snow City. Green Coins weren’t used for cultivation and were rumoured to be the fallen leaves of the Evergreen Divine Tree that never decayed. It could only be used for transaction purposes and was only limited to transactions in Frost and Snow City. Even so, that was enough as the mere existence of a standard currency would have a great impact on the circulation of materials.
Business in Frost and Snow City was carried out all day long, so Yang Kai spent three consecutive days browsing without stopping for a single moment, forming a vague plan during this time.
After three days, he slowly walked to the bottom of the Evergreen Divine Tree, took out the water skin Yu had given to him previously, and poured it onto the roots of the Evergreen Divine Tree.
As the red blood landed on the ground, it was quickly absorbed and disappeared until not even a drop was left. In the next moment, a green light radiated from the canopy and shone down on Yang Kai. At the same time, an inexplicable force guided him and he slowly moved upward as if an invisible hand was lifting him up.
After soaring upward a few dozen metres, the lifting force stabilized and a clean and comfortable Tree Cave that was neither large nor small appeared before him. This would be his residence for the next thirty days.
There were two ways for outsiders to find a place to stay in Frost and Snow City. One was to live in places similar to inns, but those places required Green Coins. The other was like what Yang Kai just did. By watering the roots of the Evergreen Divine Tree with Monster Beast blood, the Evergreen Divine Tree would lend a Tree Cave to the waterer.
There were numerous Tree Caves like these located all over the towering Evergreen Divine Tree, and every Tree Cave was a natural residence. Upon receiving the protection of the Evergreen Divine Tree, one would not be disturbed by others no matter what they did inside the Tree Cave.
The Tree Cave was not that large, barely able to accommodate three people inside it, but it was enough for Yang Kai. Besides, the environment inside was extremely comfortable, so he sat down cross-legged to cultivate while working out the details of his plans in his head.
The next day, Yang Kai walked out of the Tree Cave and slowly dropped to the ground under the guidance of the Evergreen Divine Tree. Then, he went straight in one direction. Soon, he arrived outside a store that specialized in the acquisition of Monster Cores. Taking out the seven Monster Cores in his possession, he sold them all. A moment later, he left the shop with a bag of Green Coins in hand, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd.
A quarter of an hour and a difficult haggling session later, Yang Kai reached an agreement with an unfamiliar stall owner. He bought all the herbs sold at the store for the price of fifty Green Coins. Hence, the stall owner couldn’t help but be overjoyed as he knew he had met a big customer and enthusiastically wrapped up the purchase for Yang Kai.
A short while later, a similar scene occurred at another stall. It didn’t take long before Yang Kai spent all the Green Coins in his possession. In exchange, he obtained a relatively large amount of common, low-value herbs. After that, he returned to the Tree Cave and took out all the herbs.
There was no need to investigate them carefully as he simply took out a few random herbs by hand. Then, a bright and warm flame bloomed in his hand. Casually tossing the herbs into the flame, Yang Kai concentrated on refining them. Just like how Alchemists were very rare and sought after in the present, the status and number of Herbalists in the ancient era were no different.
A Herbalist was a rare talent in any clan. Moreover, the Herbalists of each clan would only create potions for their own clansmen. In this era where the Martial Dao was not popular and Alchemy was even less known than that, the process a Herbalist used to create potions was simple and crude. They would simply mix in a variety of herbs and blend them all together, which of course could not bring out the full effects of those herbs.
Yang Kai was an Emperor Alchemist, so even though his cultivation was sealed and his Divine Sense could not be used, the items he could refine with his current methods would still be superior to what an ordinary Herbalist from a large clan could produce. The medicines he refined would then become his way of making money and the starting point for creating a snowball effect.
Since the eras were different, Yang Kai did not dare to create anything that was too shocking. Besides, his strength was greatly suppressed at the moment so he couldn’t be perfect in his refining process. Even so, the items he refined and arranged were the embodiment of tens of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, fundamentally incomparable to the crude potions produced by the current Herbalists.
Half a day later, all the herbs were consumed, and Yang Kai had a pile of bottles and jars in front of him. In this era, jade bottles to store pills were practically non-existent. However, Yang Kai was not very fastidious about the containers; after all, what he refined this time was not a pill. Rather, it was a large batch of paste, so it didn’t matter even if he stored them in those stone and wood containers.
After cleaning himself up briefly, Yang Kai left his Tree Cave once again.
Arriving at the most prosperous area in Frost and Snow City, where traffic flowed continuously, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged in a corner and placed what he had refined in front of him before taking out a piece of wood and using his finger like a sword to drew a single flamboyant word on the plank. He then placed the wood plank next to him, sat in an upright position, closed his eyes, and began meditating.
The Ancient Barbarian Race stall owner next to him glanced at him and the wooden sign with the large ‘medicine’ character written on it before snorting in disdain. [That black, sticky paste that resembles rotten mud is supposed to be medicine? Does this brat really think he is a Herbalist?] Herbalists were generally very well respected, so how could one possibly fall so low as to open up a stall by the roadside? If not for the Shaman aura coming from Yang Kai’s body, this stall owner might even suspect that he wasn’t part of the Ancient Barbarian Race. [Unless a miracle occurs, he won’t ever sell anything.]
And just as he expected, Yang Kai’s stall was completely ignored for the next two days. Even though this was a busy area with people passing by non-stop, all the Ancient Barbarians passing by Yang Kai’s store took one glance at the gooey paste he was selling and walked away.
Even so, Yang Kai remained as calm as an unmoving mountain. He simply sat there cross-legged without any worries. He was so immovable that even his neighbour began to admire him for his tenacity.
Two days later, that next-door stall owner had practically sold out his goods and was about to close his shop. Perhaps it was out of sympathy, but he couldn’t help saying, “You won’t be able to sell anything like this.”
Yang Kai opened his eyes to look at the stall owner and grinned in response, “In your opinion, how should I sell my medicine?”
The stall owner replied, “You should at least call out your wares once in a while. Although these medicines don’t look like much, somebody will eventually come and take a look at them if you advertise enough.”
“Quality goods need no advertising. My medicines are excellent, so people will come to buy them even without me advertising them.”
The stall owner spat disdainfully when he heard those words, clearly disagreeing with that statement even though it sounded rather reasonable. Shaking his head, he said, “You will never sell any of your wares unless a miracle occurs.”
Yang Kai smiled, “I don’t need a miracle. I only need an opportunity… And here comes an opportunity!” While speaking, his eyes suddenly sparkled.
The neighbouring stall owner was surprised by this sudden change and glanced in the direction Yang Kai was looking in only to see several Ancient Barbarian Race Warriors from the Frost and Snow Clan supporting each other and walking in this direction. They were covered in blood and fresh wounds, as if they had just come back from a huge battle. Moreover, one of them even had a large slash in his abdomen. It was an extremely deep injury that looked absolutely terrifying.
[How is this an opportunity?] The stall owner was a little puzzled, but just as he was wondering, those Ancient Barbarian Warriors walked by the front of the stalls.
At that moment, Yang Kai, the medicine seller, smilingly spoke up, “Please wait, strong warriors! The Heavens must be smiling down on us for us to have such a fateful meeting! As a Shaman, I feel a strong connection of destiny with you, so I would like to give you a small gift. I hope you will accept it!”
Creating medicines with Alchemy was Yang Kai’s forte. For that reason, Alchemy was the best choice for him if he wanted to earn enough for his use in an unfamiliar environment with limited financial resources.
Inside Frost and Snow City, those wounded Ancient Barbarian Warriors stopped suddenly. Their leader turned his head to look around him before looking down at Yang Kai with a malevolent aura, “Were you… speaking to us?”
Yang Kai smiled warmly to indicate that he was harmless, “That’s right!”
That Ancient Barbarian Warrior frowned. Even though he barely understood what Yang Kai had said just now, he understood the last sentence easily enough. [This guy has something to give me!]
There was no reason to turn down something that was given freely. Even so, he couldn’t help feeling distrustful upon seeing this scrawny person’s attitude; thus, he shook his head and turned to leave.
Yang Kai hurriedly said, “Wait, strong warrior!”
“What do you want?” The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior was starting to get impatient.
Yang Kai continued, “Your injuries are rather severe, and it just so happens that I have some healing medicine and would like to give some to you. Please use it to treat your wounds!” While speaking, he pointed with his finger.
The Ancient Barbarian Warrior widened his eyes and glanced over at the stone pots in front of him before he scowled and asked, “You call this… Medicine?”
“Indeed!”
The Ancient Barbarian Warrior sneered with a look of disdain on his face. Meanwhile, the neighbouring stall owner couldn’t bear watching any longer. He packed up his stuff and prepared to leave this place, lest he hurt his eyes watching this farce.
“Just give it a try; you won’t lose anything from it. It’s not like you’re paying for it anyway. Won’t it be great if it works? If it doesn’t work… You can always come and destroy my stall,” Yang Kai said with a smile.
“Is this really a medicine?” The Ancient Barbarian Warrior could tell that Yang Kai was being serious and not simply talking nonsense. Thus, he couldn’t help becoming a little curious.
“It’s high-quality medicine!”
“If it doesn’t work, I will really destroy your stall!” Even though the other party appeared to be a Shaman, he did not take those words to heart. This was Frost and Snow City; moreover, they were clansmen of the Frost and Snow Clan, so if a Shaman from the outside were to break the rules and provoke them, they would not go easy on that person.
“What are you still hesitating for? Hurry up and give it a try!” Yang Kai urged energetically.
The Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior nodded. Crouching down in front of Yang Kai’s stall, he involuntarily frowned at the foul smell that assaulted his nose and he couldn’t help but hesitate, wondering if he should really try something so suspicious.
Yang Kai earnestly explained as if he was teaching a young student, “Good medicine tastes bad. My medicine might smell a little, but the effects are indisputable.”
“I hope it’s as you said.” The Ancient Barbarian Warrior revealed a determined expression while saying that, looking as if he had made a huge decision about something. Reaching out his hand, he scooped some of the paste out of one of the stone pots. Then, he carefully and evenly applied the paste to the wound on his abdomen under Yang Kai’s instructions.
That wound was an arm’s length long and cut very deep into the flesh. An injury like that was not considered life-threatening to an Ancient Barbarian, but it would still be bad if it were left untreated.
When that stinky paste was applied to his body, the warrior raised his brow abruptly. Simultaneously, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. Throughout it all, his companions stared at him curiously, wondering if the medicine was effective.
A cooling sensation spread out from the Ancient Barbarian Warrior’s abdomen, alleviating the pain, and in the next moment, he let out an exclamation of surprise and hurriedly lowered his head to look, as if he felt something changing. Then, his eyes widened in shock.
The flesh around the wound on his abdomen was slightly squirming. Following those wriggling movements, new flesh began to grow in his wound. That deep injury was healing at a speed visible to the naked eyes and forming a scar…
It was apparent that the rest of his companions had noticed the change going on too as they made exclamations of shock as they watched the changes happening to the wound in disbelief.
The neighbouring stall owner that had been preparing to leave was also staring stupidly with eyes as large as saucers. He looked like he wanted to dig out his eyes and stick them to the other party’s abdomen just to see the changes more closely. This strange behaviour attracted many others who were passing by, and when these people learned what was going on, they all stopped to spectate the changes in the wound out of curiosity.
An hour later, the Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior that had tried the medicine touched his abdomen dumbly. The remains of the medicine and remnants of dried blood fell off cleanly, revealing a scar about an arm’s length to the crowd. Although it was not completely healed, the miraculous effect was enough to make everybody gasp in amazement; after all, the wound had been a bloody mess just an hour ago.
“It really worked!” When that Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior that had tried the medicine looked up again, he gazed at Yang Kai with blazing eyes, his expression filled with both gratitude and admiration.
Yang Kai simply smiled without saying anything. [Of course the medicine I created works.]
Unfortunately, this medicine’s effects were limited to the Ancient Barbarian Race that had robust vitality and high amounts of Blood Qi. If it were applied to cultivators in the present day, it would not have been as effective. That was because a large part of the medicine’s efficacy came from stimulating the Blood Qi around the wound and speeding up the process of self-regeneration. Therefore, only the Ancient Barbarian Race could bring about such immediate effects after applying the medicine.
“Are you a Herbalist?” That Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior asked.
“I guess so.”
When the onlookers heard those words, they suddenly put away the contemptuous expressions on their faces. No matter how weak Yang Kai might look, a Herbalist was an existence worthy of respect.
Then, Yang Kai raised his head and looked at the people crowding around them. He smiled and said, “Warriors often face fierce battles, and if you receive an injury while in the wilderness, it will surely affect your fighting abilities. However, if you carry this medicine on you, you don’t need to worry about that anymore! As long as my medicine is applied to your wounds, it can make you as fit as a tiger again in an instant. This is my first time coming to Frost and Snow City, so I’m selling it cheaply as a sign of goodwill.”
Before that Ancient Barbarian Race Warrior tried the medicine, nobody would have bothered to listen to what Yang Kai said; however, nobody doubted the effectiveness of the medicine anymore after witnessing the miraculous scene with their own eyes.
Besides, what this Herbalist said was right; it was very troubling when Warriors from the Ancient Barbarian Race were injured in battle in the wilderness. Even though everybody knew how to provide first aid to a certain extent, how could it compare to this healing medicine? If they could carry some of this paste on them, they could treat their wounds at any time. Moreover, the healing effect was shockingly fast and complete.
“How much are you selling it for?!” Someone asked immediately.
“Ten Green Coins for one pot!” Yang Kai had prepared for this a long time ago and immediately named his price.
Ten Green Coins was neither high nor low, so any adult Ancient Barbarian Warrior could afford it. This would allow Yang Kai to maximize his gains.
Sure enough, countless people immediately yelled ‘I’ll take one!’ upon hearing those words.
Looking at the people in front of him, Yang Kai grinned widely, staring out at all his new money sources!
The few pots of medicine were cleanly sold out within a quarter of an hour. Those that managed to buy some were overjoyed while those that failed to buy some were highly depressed and remorseful.
Yang Kai packed up his stuff and smilingly announced, “The medicine is sold out for today! If there are any who wish to buy some of this medicine, please come by early tomorrow!”
As he turned to leave, the neighbouring stall owner glanced at his back enviously. For some reason, his back suddenly seemed so tall and imposing…
Selling the medicine once was enough to increase Yang Kai’s assets by more than tenfold.
Yang Kai proceeded to spend all his Green Coins to buy out all the herbs at several stalls in Frost and Snow City before returning to his Tree Cave to refine medicine again.
When he came to set up his stall the next day, he saw many customers had already gathered. Some were those that failed to obtain the medicine yesterday while some came after listening to the rumours.
A strange Herbalist had appeared in Frost and Snow City. Moreover, the medicine he made could make external wounds heal quickly. Word of this had spread across the entire city overnight. Furthermore, it received the approval of many Ancient Barbarian Warriors from the Frost and Snow Clan.
The people of this era were relatively simple and hardly engaged in schemes and plots. Therefore, no one believed this news to be fake. For that reason, even though Yang Kai brought more than ten times the amount of medicine compared to yesterday, it took less than half a day for him to finish selling it all. Incidentally, his financial assets began snowballing just as he had expected.
That was the case for five consecutive days. The momentum behind that mad rush to purchase his medicine showed no signs of stopping and the situation made Yang Kai very happy.
Yang Kai silently calculated the money he had in his hands and estimated that he could stop doing this in another half a month’s time. By then, he would have enough Green Coins to buy all the Monster Cores he wanted. As long as he could raise his realm from a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior to Shaman Master, he would be set for life. His cultivation would smoothly rise with all the resources he had accumulated.
On that day, Yang Kai finished selling his medicine and prepared to wander the streets of Frost and Snow City to procure more raw materials when, all of a sudden, he frowned as he instinctively felt that something was wrong. Reaching out his hand to check his waist, his expression immediately darkened as the animal skin bag he used to hold his Green Coins was gone.
That animal skin bag contained thousands of Green Coins he gained from selling his medicine today. Fortunately, he had stored most of his wealth in his Tree Cave, so security was not an issue and he hadn’t lost everything, but this was still a frustrating event for Yang Kai.
[A thief?! There are thieves in this era?!] If not for the empty feeling in his hands telling him that it was not an illusion, Yang Kai would not have believed his own judgment. Ever since he entered this Sealed World, all the Ancient Barbarians he met, whether they were friendly or unfriendly, had been simple-minded and straightforward. Hence, he never expected to meet a thief in this place.
In a moment’s carelessness, Yang Kai had failed miserably at something he should never have failed at. [What a great disgrace! An Emperor Realm Master like me, actually allowed somebody to swipe my money from me without me noticing! This shame is so deep that I will never live it down for the rest of my life!]
His expression turned solemn, and his gaze rove across the crowd. He quickly locked on to a beefy Ancient Barbarian who was weaving between the crowds. That person was dressed in a tightly wrapped robe that covered up their features to the point where it was impossible to tell whether they were even male or female, making them incredibly conspicuous.
With a snort, Yang Kai quietly followed behind that person, having no intention of alerting the people around him. That person was rather careful, zigzagging through the crowds. Only after circling about for an hour did this individual finally slip into a remote area off the bustling streets.
That tall and beefy Ancient Barbarian hid in an inconspicuous spot and took out an animal skin bag from underneath his clothes. Opening the bag and looking inside, he suddenly chuckled. There were thousands of Green Coins inside! Enough for an entire year’s worth of living expenses!
“Not a bad harvest, right?” All of a sudden, a voice sounded from behind and he jumped in fright, hurriedly turning around to stare at the speaker vigilantly. Immediately, he felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he met eyes with this newcomer. This was only natural since he recognized the speaker as the owner of that bag.
An Ancient Barbarian as weak and slender as Yang Kai was very rare in Frost and Snow City, so rare that Yang Kai could even be considered unique in this place.
Despite recognizing Yang Kai, that beefy Ancient Barbarian refused to admit anything, instead putting on a vicious expression as he snapped, “What do you want?”
Yang Kai instantly found this scene amusing as he commented, “You stole from me yet can still pretend to be so nonchalant about it. I have to say, your existence has overturned my perception of the entire Ancient Barbarian Race.”
“What do you mean by stole?!”
“I’m talking about that bag you’re stuffing into your clothes.” Yang Kai watched the other party’s movements coldly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The beefy Ancient Barbarian casually put the skin bag away and impatiently said, “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving. Stop following me.”
Yang Kai was shocked and burst out furiously, “You shameless thief! How dare you act so arrogantly?! Will you believe me if I say I will call the Frost and Snow Clan’s guards to deal with you?!”
That beefy Ancient Barbarian Race looked at Yang Kai disdainfully and sneered, “Go ahead and do it!”
That person’s confidence left Yang Kai dumbfounded, but calling the Frost and Snow Clan’s guards was clearly impossible.
Though Yang Kai had identified the thief in this incident, he had no evidence that this person had stolen his money. Hence, bringing the guards was a waste of time. Besides, Yang Kai didn’t want to drag other people into this either. Clicking his tongue, he said, “You provoked somebody you should never have offended.”
That beefy Ancient Barbarian Race smiled coldly, “Stop talking nonsense. If you keep wasting my time, I’ll beat you up!” While speaking, he raised a large fist at Yang Kai with a threatening look.
As soon as the words left his mouth, his expression changed drastically as he saw Yang Kai rushing towards him. At the same time, a clenched fist appeared in front of his face.
“You court death!” The beefy Ancient Barbarian Race roared as he had not expected such a weak-looking man to attack. Even so, he swiftly threw out a punch of his own, despite his shock and anger.
Yang Kai let out a soft sound of surprise the moment their fists connected as contrary to his expectations, he discovered that no violent force was behind this punch. Rather, the other party’s imposing body and threatening fist seemed to be made of air.
A look of consternation and fear flashed across that beefy Ancient Barbarian Race’s face as his huge body flew backwards. All of a sudden, that large, sturdy body distorted and transformed into a petite and slender figure.
*Pa…*
A small figure crashed into the ground like a dead fish, landing with a loud thud. At the same time, a green leaf fluttered down from the sky.
Yang Kai’s eyes nearly popped out in shock as he stood blankly in place for a long time before finally recovering. This couldn’t be helped though as his punch turned the burly man into a young girl! How was that possible? It definitely wasn’t anything he did!
In the time Yang Kai was staring dumbfounded, the girl that had landed on the ground got up with some difficulty, the expression on her face as she stared at him full of fear.
Looking at the girl again, Yang Kai realized that she was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Moreover, she had a Shaman’s aura enveloping her body. As for what realm she was in, Yang Kai couldn’t tell. The time he spent in this world was very short. Furthermore, he had barely met any Shamans and did not have a clear understanding of the distinction between Shaman Strength and their realms.
After the huge change in the girl’s body, her clothes also became looser as a result. Still, that was not enough to conceal her voluptuous curves which went to show just how shapely her body was.
Meanwhile, the girl looked extremely flustered now that her real appearance had been revealed without warning. Glancing about in a panic, she hurriedly rushed forward to pick up the green leaf that had fluttered to the ground previously and pressed it to her head. Subsequently, her petite body distorted and transformed back to the burly appearance from before.
“You’re part of the Nomad Clan!” Yang Kai had a sudden realization and blurted out her origins.
“W-What nonsense are you saying?!” The beefy man, who was the disguise of that girl, retorted stubbornly and looked about shiftily.
“Is that so?” Yang Kai smilingly looked at the other party, as if he had already won, “Am I speaking nonsense?”
“What do you mean by the Nomad Clan?! I’m from the Flowing Clouds Clan.”
“Heh heh…” Yang Kai chuckled softly. All of a sudden, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Hey, everyone! There’s a thief from the Nomad Clan here! Hey…”
“Shut up!!” The girl’s expression changed drastically as she reached into her clothes, took out the skin bag, and tossed it to him, “I’ll return it to you. So, stop shouting!”
Yang Kai playfully tossed the bag in his hands and glanced at her teasingly, “Why are you so nervous if you’re not part of the Nomad Clan?”
She stubbornly insisted, “I’m not nervous.”
Among the knowledge the Village Chief had taught to Yang Kai was that basically all of the Ancient Barbarian Race clans considered a strong and robust body to be beautiful. However, one clan differed from the rest, the Nomad Clan! People of this clan drifted about with no fixed homes; moreover, there were very few in this clan. As such, it was very rare for ordinary people to meet them. Since the Nomad Clan did not focus on cultivating their bodies, their physiques were drastically different from that of the other clans. If that were all, it would be nothing worth mentioning. The key point was that the clansmen of the Noman Clan were not honest people. Every one of them seemed to be involved in nefarious trades. Hence, their reputation was very bad among the Ancient Barbarian Race.
There were two reasons why Yang Kai constantly received hateful looks wherever he went. The first reason was that his body looked too weak, meaning he wasn’t worthy of respect. The second reason was that some people mistakenly assumed that he was from the Nomad Clan. What Yang Kai experienced was the epitome of what a Nomad Clansman experienced outside their clan.
Yang Kai clicked his tongue and circled the girl several times, commenting with great interest, “I’ve heard of how special the Nomad Clan is, but this is the first time I’m meeting one. How interesting… Hey, let me see your real appearance again.”
This wanton examination of his made the girl’s skin crawl and she asked in a shaky voice, “What do you want?”
Yang Kai shrugged, “I just want to have a look. I’m not going to do anything.”
“In your dreams!”
Yang Kai cupped his hands around his mouth again and just as he took a deep breath to shout, the girl snapped, “That’s enough!”
She glared at him fiercely, but he simply looked back at her with a smile. In the end, she surrendered in defeat. Reaching out her hand, she plucked the green leaf from her head. At the same time, the beefy body immediately shrank in size and returned to the appearance of a young girl.
“You will regret this!” She spat as she bit her red lips, her eyes burning with resentment and fury, like there was an irreconcilable grudge between them.
“En, this is much better. You should just act like a girl. Why bother disguising yourself as a man?” He laughed softly.
Having seen so many wild beauties among the Ancient Barbarian Race, the appearance of a more normal girl suddenly gave off such a kind and comfortable vibe.
“Have you seen your fill?!” The girl snapped impatiently, placing the green leaf back on her head and turning back into the beefy man’s appearance in an instant.
Yang Kai shook his head and sighed, feeling dissatisfied. Even so, he asked curiously, “Is that an illusion spell? Why didn’t I feel any power fluctuations when you cast your Shamanic Spells?”
That strange green leaf seemed to hold an incredible effect. The girl’s appearance changed drastically with the green leaf on her body, but her real appearance was instantly revealed once she took it off. At first, Yang Kai thought that the green leaf was some kind of medium she used to perform her illusions; however, he felt something was amiss after considering it carefully.
From the looks of it, that green leaf was similar to a Green Coin. It was clearly a leaf of the Evergreen Divine Tree; still, Yang Kai had not heard of any Shamanic Spells that required a medium like this to cast.
“Why do you care? I’ve returned your money back to you, what else do you want?” She was extremely annoyed. Letting him see her true appearance was her biggest mistake so far as it could be said that he was holding her weakness in his hands. She would be at his mercy from now on.
Fortunately, Yang Kai was not as despicable as she imagined and after pondering for a moment, he simply asked, “What is your name?”
The girl fell silent for a moment. Then, she replied, “It’s Tiea!”
“My name is Ah Niu!” Yang Kai responded with a smile.
“Shaman Niu… I’ll remember you. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving!” Tiea said, and seeing that he had no objections, she turned and left.
Yang Kai watched as her back disappeared out of sight, laughing softly to himself before going off to purchase the herbs he needed.
The next day, Yang Kai finished refining enough healing medicine and walked out of the Tree Cave; however, he did not go down immediately. He controlled the direction and floated over to another Tree Cave not far away before reaching out and knocking on the trunk.
Soon, a head popped out from within the Tree Cave. That person stared at him in surprise and stuttered, “H-H-How did you know that I live here?!”
This neighbour of his was none other than Tiea, the girl he met yesterday.
Tiea’s eyes were full of panic upon meeting Yang Kai again, not to mention that it was at her doorstep.
“I saw you come back here by chance yesterday.”
“What do you want?!” Tiea wished she were dead. She was fearless even when she had been caught red-handed stealing his money at the time; however, the fact that he knew her identity as part of the Nomad Clan left her at a loss for what to do. It was the first time somebody had seen through her disguise after she began living here more than ten years ago.
“Don’t be so nervous.” Yang Kai smiled slightly, “I just have a favour to ask of you.”
“What is it?” She furrowed her brow.
“You should know that I’ve been selling medicine for the past few days, right? It’s because you know that you decided to rob me, right?”
She frowned in response to his words and replied to his questions with silence.
“In that case, this will be easy.” While speaking, he handed her the stone pots in his hand.
Of course, she did not take the pot and instead stared at him suspiciously before asking, “What do you want?”
“Help me sell my medicine. You should know the price. I’ll give you ten percent of the profits.”
Upon hearing those words, Tiea’s eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “Really?!”
“I’ve already handed my goods to you. What do you mean by ‘really’?”
Following that, she hurriedly took the stone pots from him, feeling over the moon. After all, the man in front of her could earn thousands of Green Coins a day just by selling this healing medicine. Ten percent of the profits would be a few hundred Green Coins a day. Although it wasn’t that much, it was still far better than stealing from others.
“Why?” Tiea couldn’t understand. Logically speaking, it was good enough if he generously did not cause trouble with her or expose her identity after she stole from him yesterday, so why was he now sharing such huge benefits with her?
“No one would refuse such a great opportunity, so why ask me?”
“Because I don’t know anybody else here,” Yang Kai shrugged nonchalantly as he continued with a smile, “Besides, I know your weakness, so I’m not worried that you will try to run off with my money.”
The corners of Tiea’s mouth twitched.
What he was saying is true. As long as he held onto her weakness, she couldn’t do anything against him… However, all that was irrelevant in the face of that ten percent!
After seeing Tiea on her way, Yang Kai immediately went to the middle of Frost and Snow City and searched for the store he had scouted out previously. Spending a large number of Green Coins, he purchased many Monster Cores.
The money he had accumulated during this period had given him enough financial resources to buy Monster Cores to supplement his cultivation. Therefore, he needed somebody else to sell his medicine on his behalf; after all, running a stall was quite time-consuming.
Upon returning to the Tree Cave, Yang Kai held a longan sized Monster Core between his fingers and took a small breath.
The early stages of the snowballing effect had been completed, so from now on, he only needed to buy some Monster Cores every day and refine them. Once winter was over, he would surely be able to break through to become a Shaman Master.
Yang Kai swallowed the Monster Core and circulated his Secret Arts. A thunderous sound soon came from his abdomen while at the same time, his aura swelled at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.
In the afternoon, Tiea returned from selling the medicine, obediently handing over ninety percent of the profits and receiving more medicine from Yang Kai to be sold the next day. It had only been half a day since they last met, but she was shocked to discover that he had become a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior!
[He was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior when I last saw him this morning, so how did he become a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior in just half a day?!] Despite the countless questions in her heart, Tiea did not inquire into the matter. Everyone had their own secrets and it was not wise to ask too many questions, especially since her secret was still in Yang Kai’s hands.
Thus, the two worked together perfectly.
Yang Kai would take some time every day to refine the medicine before going out to purchase Monster Cores. Meanwhile, Tiea was in charge of selling the medicine and buying raw materials along the way.
Time flew by, and soon one month passed.
During that month, Yang Kai achieved another breakthrough in his cultivation. He refined approximately ten Monster Cores a day, which made his strength grow rapidly. For that reason, he was now a High-Rank Shaman Warrior! He was on the fast track to becoming a Shaman Master as long as he had a sufficient supply of Monster Cores. Then, he would regain his ability to use his Divine Sense. At that time, he could finally escape from his current predicament.
Unfortunately, good times were always followed by challenges. On that day, Tiea did not return from selling the medicines until evening, and when she entered Yang Kai’s Tree Cave, she placed a number of stone pots down in front of him.
Yang Kai was surprised and asked, “Why didn’t you finish selling them?”
In the past, the medicine he refined would sell out without any trouble each day. This was the first time there were surpluses.
Tiea weakly replied, “The ones that want to buy the medicine have probably bought enough. Didn’t you notice that I’ve been returning later and later recently?”
Yang Kai was taken aback by her words, but thinking back on it carefully, he realized that that was indeed the case. He had spent his time cultivating during this period, focusing solely on trying to raise his cultivation. Thus, he had not paid much attention to her situation. Now that she mentioned it, he realized that what she said was true. In the beginning, she only needed half a day to sell all the medicines he refined; however, as time passed, it took her longer and longer to finish selling them. And today, she did not return until late in the evening. Moreover, she did not manage to finish selling the medicine.
“So the market has saturated…” Yang Kai rubbed his chin and muttered under his breath.
Although Frost and Snow City was not small, and the number of Ancient Barbarian Warriors was quite large, more than a month of sales had caused the market to start shrinking. After all, it was not easy for Ancient Barbarian Warriors to earn Green Coins here, so while the healing medicine was priced at a relatively inexpensive ten Green Coins, they would not purchase it without reservations either.
Under normal circumstances, they would keep one portion on them to use during emergencies and only buy a new one as a replacement once they finished using that. Therefore, the more time that passed, the lower the purchasing power of Frost and Snow City.
Mulling over this, Yang Kai nodded and said, “You should take a break and continue selling the medicine tomorrow.”
Tiea naturally had no objections to his suggestion. After spending more than a month working together, she had slowly gotten closer to him and no longer held any wariness or fear for him. Thus, she just turned around and left.
Inside the Tree Cave, Yang Kai frowned. Now that the market had been saturated, it would get harder and harder to sell the healing medicine he refined. If he couldn’t sell his medicine, he wouldn’t have enough Green Coins to purchase Monster Cores and his cultivation plan would be severely delayed.
Even so, Yang Kai had no way to break the current stalemate unless he moved to a different city that was similar to Frost and Snow City to display his skills. But where was he going to find another Frost and Snow City among all the Ancient Barbarian Race clans in the middle of the winter?
The situation progressed just as Yang Kai had expected; the healing medicine became harder and harder to sell as time passed. Some days they didn’t even sell a third of the amount he refined every day despite Tiea’s best efforts.
Consequently, the number of Monster Cores Yang Kai could purchase became less and less each day. Although becoming a Shaman Master was right at his fingertips, he could only sigh in frustration without a sufficient supply of Monster Cores.
In this situation, Yang Kai could only take things one step at a time. He could only finish consuming all the Monster Cores he still had on hand, then decide what to do later.
One day, Yang Kai was in the middle of cultivating when he suddenly felt a pair of eyes watching him. This made him extremely uncomfortable, but unfortunately, his cultivation was at a critical juncture and he did not want to take his focus away from it. He initially thought that the feeling was just a figment of his imagination; however, the feeling of being watched only became more and more acute as time passed.
Opening his eyes abruptly, Yang Kai’s pupils instantly shrank as he stared at a figure standing not too far away from him. This person was an old man that did not have the burly body common among the Ancient Barbarian Race. He was so old that he looked like he could drop dead at any moment, his hair and beard were all white. This old man simply stood there quietly with a smile, watching Yang Ka with great interest.
Yang Kai might have looked calm on the surface, but great storms were raging inside his heart. [How is this possible?! I’m staying inside the Tree Cave of the Evergreen Divine Tree! Under the protection of the Evergreen Divine Tree, even a Shaman King or Shaman Saint would not be able to enter this place without my permission! So, how did this old man appear before me without a sound?! How is this possible?!]
Fortunately, the other party did not seem to hold any malicious intentions; thus, Yang Kai did not make a fuss and simply studied the old man quietly.
Their eyes met inside the Tree Cave; however, the old man was in no rush to say anything, seemingly just scrutinizing Yang Kai while nodding to himself once in a while.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was feeling extremely uncomfortable under the old man’s watch. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Old Man, why did you trespass into my private residence?”
“Trespass into your private residence?” Upon hearing those words, the old man raised his eyebrows, “That’s an interesting way of putting it. However, my presence here does not count as trespassing into a private residence!”
Yang Kai smiled coldly, “This Tree Cave is where I live, so you entered my residence without my permission. That’s trespassing into a private residence. Old Man, you seem to be getting senile. I’m afraid you’re not quite lucid. You should leave while I am still being nice. You can’t claim that I am not being respectful to the elderly if I lose my temper.”
The old man smiled, “What’s wrong? Are you going to hit me?”
Yang Kai answered matter-of-factly, “Sometimes, the use of force is necessary. It is also one way to solve problems.”
The old man fell silent for a moment before nodding in agreement and commenting, “What you say makes sense. I couldn’t tell before, but despite your young age, you seem to have some worldly knowledge.”
“Stop being so long-winded,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively. “Please don’t blame me for getting rough if you refuse to leave.”
The old man hurriedly tried to calm Yang Kai down, “Now now, don’t get so agitated, it’s just that I woke up suddenly when I felt a familiar aura, so I came to investigate. I don’t have any malicious intentions.”
Yang Kai spat out disdainfully, “Even jackals are kind to poultry.”
The old man smiled wryly and did not know how to refute those words.
At that moment, a knock came from outside the Tree Cave. Yang Kai turned to look and saw Tiea standing outside. Feeling glad, he quickly invited her inside. Although he had never really fought against her before, their time together recently had taught him that she was a powerful Shaman, at least several realms higher than him in terms of cultivation. The last time he managed to knock her down with a punch was simply because she had underestimated him. If she had cast a Shamanic Spell, he might not be her opponent even at his current realm.
[I wonder how she managed to cultivate to such a realm at such a young age.]
Regardless of the old man’s origin, he had appeared in Yang Kai’s Tree Cave for an unfathomable reason. Therefore, Yang Kai treated the old man as an enemy. He had been worried that he might not be a match for the old man alone, but with Tiea here, things would become much easier. In a two against one, they could at least put up a fight even if they were no match for the old man. At the very least, they could alert the people of the Frost and Snow Clan about their predicament.
Unfortunately, Tiea was clueless about the situation and, sticking her head into the Tree Cave, she sorrowfully said, “I didn’t manage to sell anything today…”
While speaking, she placed down the stone pots in her hand before in the next moment, she widened her eyes in shock and stared at the white-haired old man inside the Tree Cave in astonishment.
Yang Kai shot a glance at her, but contrary to his expectations, she ignored him and stared at the person in front of her blankly. Then, an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on her face as she asked happily, “Grandpa Qing, why are you here? Are you here to look for me?”
As she spoke, she ran over and affectionately hugged the old man’s arm with a sweet smile.
Yang Kai was instantly stupefied by what had just happened. Following that, he shuddered abruptly and felt goosebumps appearing on his skin…
If she had uttered those affectionate lines in her normal appearance, it would have been nothing to be surprised about. A beautiful woman acting coquettish was always a pleasant sight to see. Unfortunately, she was currently a burly and beefy man. Thus, her sudden actions nearly made Yang Kai want to poke his eyes out. He felt as if he had been hit by a traumatic blow more powerful than the full-powered attack of a Shaman Saint…
On the other hand, the old man just smiled and asked, “Why are you here? Do you know each other?”
An unnatural look surfaced on Tiea’s face, making it apparent that she was recalling her first encounter with Yang Kai, but even so, she nodded and honestly replied, “En, we know each other. We have been working together to sell medicine recently. It has earned us quite a lot of Green Coins.”
“Selling medicine?” Upon hearing those words, the old man swept his gaze over the stone pots before immediately looking interested. Stretching out his hand, one of the stone pots flew into his hands even though no energy fluctuation could be felt in particular. Then, he carefully took a closer look at the contents of the stone pot.
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn at this sight, because despite the simple move the old man made, it revealed perfect control over his power.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that by joining hands with Tiea they would at least give the old man some trouble even if they could not win against him, but now that he saw this old man’s capabilities, Yang Kai realized he had been naïve.
This old man… Was unimaginably strong.
If the old man really wanted to harm him, Yang Kai knew that he would not be able to withstand a single blow from him, even if he joined hands with Tiea.
However, the old man was obviously only interested in the medicine refined by Yang Kai. First, the old man took a sniff, but he was not satisfied with just that and proceeded to scrape some of it onto his finger and taste it. Immediately, the old man raised his brow and turned to Yang Kai, “Did you make this medicine?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes!”
“What an outstanding healing medicine.” The old man praised, “But it can’t be used frequently. Otherwise, it will cause some damage to one’s foundation.”
He spotted the disadvantages of the healing medicine at a glance, but that wasn’t surprising since Yang Kai’s medicine was only made from ordinary herbs. It did not theoretically have too potent of a healing effect, but it could stimulate the Blood Qi of an Ancient Barbarian, thus hastening their self-healing speed. This was similar to the Bloodlust Spell. It was fine to be used once or twice, but if it was used too frequently, it would damage one’s foundation and sap one’s vitality.
However, this wasn’t too big of a drawback as it was just an emergency medicine, not something one would use frequently.
“I can’t believe Herbalists nowadays are so powerful.” The old man was truly interested in the healing medicine, and began to identify the ingredients used in it.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Kai pulled Tiea aside, and whispered, “Who the hell is this old man?”
Tiea asked with a smile on her face, “Didn’t Grandpa Qing tell you?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Tiea continued, “Since Grandpa Qing didn’t explain, then I can’t say much either.”
Yang Kai stretched out his hand, “Give me back all the Green Coins you earned.”
Tiea was appalled and quickly jumped back in vigilance.
“No way. They’re mine,” She stared at him as she replied.
Yang Kai grinned, “Looks like you want people to know about your little secret.”
Tiea could not help gritting her teeth at his blackmail, and eyed Yang Kai contemptuously, “Shameless! Despicable! …Shameless!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Can’t you be more creative?”
“Young man, why do you tease little Tiea when you already have a guess in your heart?” The old man put down the stone jar at the moment, and turned to him with a smile.
Yang Kai frowned slightly before he took a deep breath, still unable to hide the shock in his eyes as he slowly replied, “Although I have a guess, I’m still not certain.”
The old man smiled, “The truth is what your heart believes it is.”
Yang Kai was taken aback, stared at the old man in awe, and questioned in a deep voice, “Are you really… The Evergreen Divine Tree?”
With the evidence that the old man could appear mysteriously in his Tree Cave and that Tiea calling him ‘Grandpa Qing’, it would be strange if Yang Kai could not think of anything given his meticulous thinking. However, it was still hard for him to believe it.
The old man waved his hand, “Divine Tree was just an exaggerated title the Frost and Snow Clan gave to me. Many years ago, I was just an ordinary Evergreen Tree.”
[This ‘many years’ probably meant tens of thousands of years ago…]
Yang Kai was relieved by his admittance, but on second thought, it was reasonable because it was rumoured that not even a Shaman King or Shaman Saint could intrude into the Tree Caves of the Evergreen Divine Tree. Now that this old man suddenly appeared in his Tree Cave, who could he be other than the Evergreen Divine Tree?
Because of this, Yang Kai had nothing to worry about. Although he did not communicate much with people despite staying in the Frost and Snow Clan for a long time, he had heard a lot of legends about the Evergreen Divine Tree. It was a guardian of peace and blessing; therefore, it would hold no malice towards him.
“Senior Qing, please forgive this Junior for speaking recklessly. If I have offended Senior Qing, please be generous and forgive me,” Yang Kai cupped his fists solemnly.
Qing laughed, “Don’t worry. You have been taking care of little Tiea, how can I blame you?”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Senior and Tiea are…”
One of them was the Evergreen Divine Tree, while the other one was an Ancient Barbarian from the Nomad Clan. The two were supposed to have nothing to do with each other, but in fact, Tiea seemed to be very close with Senior Qing, and even called him Grandpa.
“Someone abandoned a baby girl at my roots sixteen years ago!” Senior Qing explained briefly as he patted Tiea on the head.
Tiea did not seem to mind and she just smiled happily, enjoying the rare doting.
A realization then dawned on Yang Kai. It seemed that Tiea was raised by Senior Qing, so it made sense that she addressed him intimately. Perhaps, the Illusion Art Tiea used was a blessing granted by Senior Qing.
Previously, Yang Kai was curious about what kind of Shamanic Spell Tiea had used to change her petite figure into a burly body; after all, she simply placed a single green leaf on her forehead to perform this transformation. Now, it seemed that it was not a Shamanic Spell cast by Tiea but something Senior Qing did.
Below the canopy of the Evergreen Divine Tree, Senior Qing was in complete control, so by giving Tie a green leaf with mysterious powers, it was easy for him to conceal her appearance.
“Grandpa Qing, didn’t you wake up just last year? Why did you wake up again so soon?” Tiea asked curiously.
Hearing this, Senior Qing darted his eyes at Yang Kai, and revealed, “I sensed a familiar aura…”
Yang Kai did not believe him when he mentioned it before, but when he emphasized it for the second time, Yang Kai naturally did not doubt it anymore.
“A familiar aura?” Tiea turned to Yang Kai curiously.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he thought to himself, [Does he mean the aura of the Immortal Tree?]
If there was an aura that could be familiar to Senior Qing, it was undoubtedly the Immortal Tree. The Immortal Tree was a Supreme Treasure that although different from the Evergreen Divine Tree, was still ultimately a tree.
But what did not make sense was that the Immortal Tree was still in Sealed World Bead, and its aura should not have been exposed.
Although there was some doubt in his heart, Yang Kai did not try to explain much, because it was better not to reveal the secret of the Immortal Tree to too many people.
Senior Qing looked at Yang Kai intently for a moment before shaking his head, “It’s strange. This aura seems to be homologous with me, but it is notably different.” While speaking, he immersed himself in deep thought, as if he was pondering about something, his expression shifting constantly.
Yang Kai and Tiea exchanged looks, but dared not to disturb the old man, just waiting for him silently.
Half a day later, Senior Qing suddenly regained his senses and laughed again, “It seems I’m getting too old and almost fell asleep again.” Although he was an ancient and powerful being, Senior Qing actually spent most of his life sleeping, and the awakening this time was just a coincidence.
Tiea peeped coquettishly, “Grandpa Qing is not old.”
Senior Qing smiled lightly and continued, “Since I’m awake, little Tiea, help grandpa to scratch his body. I don’t feel so good again.”
“Good, good,” Tiea’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if she found coins on the ground, and turned to Yang Kai. “Shaman Niu, do you want to help too?”
Yang Kai was puzzled, wondering why someone would need help in scratching their body? But seeing that Senior Qing was a great elder, he did not feel right to refuse him and decided to follow the tradition of respecting the old. Walking forward, Yang Kai stood behind Senior Qing, reached out his hand, and started scratching his back.
Tiea was stunned for a while, but soon burst into laughter.
Even Senior Qing had a hard time holding his laughter.
“What are you laughing at?” Yang Kai glared at Tiea angrily. He was willing to help them without complaining, but he was being laughed at in return. Furthermore, Tiea’s mocking face was looking truly irritating to him.
Tiea doubled over laughing even harder at his comment before taking some time to explain, “This is not the way to scratch Grandpa Qing’s body. Not like this…”
“Then, teach me!” Yang Kai took a step backwards and gestured to Tiea.
Tiea stopped laughing, but the wide smile was still etched on her face. She then looked at Senior Qing and said, “Let’s begin.”
Senior Qing nodded, stretched out his hand, and pointed forward. The narrow Tree Cave suddenly split, revealing a channel that led into a seemingly bottomless darkness.
Tiea beckoned Yang Kai, “Follow me!”
While speaking, she walked into the channel and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai did not doubt her, so he simply kept up.
The moment Yang Kai entered the channel, he began slipping downwards, as if a slide was paved beneath him, leading him to some unknown depths.
A moment later, when Yang Kai landed on the ground, Tiea who arrived earlier performed an Illumination Spell to cast away the darkness of the surrounding space, then pointed around, “The reason Grandpa Qing feels itchy is because of them. Our task is to clean them up!”
When those words fell, numerous pairs of red eyes suddenly lit up in the surroundings.
Yang Kai looked up and was taken aback at the scene, “So many Monster Beasts!”
Tiea replied, “They are the parasites in Grandpa Qing’s body, and they reproduce super fast. I clean them up about once a year. Now that you are here to help, just consider it a favour from me.”
Yang Kai was puzzled, “Since you said I’m here to help, how is it a favour from you?”
Tiea pursed her lips as she smiled, “I saw you buying a lot of Barbarian Beast Cores, which seem to be used for cultivation. There are so many Barbarian Beasts here, don’t you have any thoughts?”
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened at her words. Apparently, it was true that a window opens when a door closes. He was worried about how to earn more Green Coins to purchase Monster Cores as no one was buying his healing medicines anymore, but he did not expect that an opportunity would simply appear before him.
The inside of Senior Qing’s body was just like a Sealed World. Inside this world, countless parasitic Monster Insects were surviving by absorbing Senior Qing’s power, and they grew extremely fast. It could almost be said that these Monster Insects with different sizes and appearances were all Monster Cores.
While the two were still chatting, the surrounding Monster Insects could not hold themselves back anymore. They swarmed out of their hiding place one after another, buzzing with a faint noise in an attempt to surround the invaders.
For a moment, Yang Kai and Tiea seemed to fall into the world of Monster Insects, surrounded by a huge crowd of them.
“I’ll make it clear now. Whoever kills it, gets it. Don’t rob mine later!” Tiea warned Yang Kai warily. When she raised her hand, three bursts of Qi were already propelled forward.
When she made this move, Yang Kai sensed a vigorous wave of power.
[So, she is a Shaman Grandmaster!] Yang Kai raised his brow. He never thought that Tiea, who was driven by him to sell medicines without complaint, was actually a Shaman Grandmaster. Although he could not identify her specific grade, her power was definitely beyond the ability of a Shaman Master.
Tiea revealed her outstanding cultivation and power as soon as she unleashed the three bursts of Qi. Following three soft noises, three fat insect Monster Beasts were immediately split into two. Pale yellow juices spurted out, and a disgusting smell permeated the air instantly.
More Monster Insects pounced on them, spitting out highly corrosive venom. Tiea moved skillfully to dodge and found an opening to cast her powerful Shamanic Spells, resulting in countless injuries and deaths among the enemy.
On the other hand, Yang Kai dived straight into the swarm of Monster Insects with his fists clenched, like a brave warrior of the Barbarian Race. His fighting style was totally opposite to Tiea’s elegance, but his speed in killing insects was no slower than hers. With his Shamanic Spells shielding his body, Yang Kai had no need to fear their venom or juices.
Within half an hour, the nest of Monster Insects was cleaned up.
Without saying a word, they began to look for Monster Cores among the dead bodies.
However, when Yang Kai got the Monster Cores, he realized that they were incredibly small, not at all comparable to the Monster Cores of the Monster Beasts outside. All of them were ugly, and other than their small size, the energy contained inside was dreadfully poor too.
This was probably due to the environment here.
These Monster Insects lived by leeching the energy inside the Evergreen Divine Tree, so although they grew faster, they were certainly not as sturdy as the Monster Beasts outside, and even their Monster Cores were not as impressive.
Though, it did not really matter. Despite their poor quality, this could be compensated for with the tremendous number of these Monster Insects. Ever since Yang Kai came to the Ancient World, his appetite had been insatiable. He definitely had devoured at least eight hundred to a thousand Monster Beast Cores and would not let any Monster Core escape as long as he could use it to quickly break through to the Shaman Master Realm.
After collecting all the Monster Cores, Tiea looked up and shouted, “Grandpa Qing, next.”
When the words fell, a hole split nearby that would lead to the next Monster Insect nest.
The pair went to several places continuously slaughtering all the Monster Insects they found. Suddenly, a question floated into Yang Kai’s mind, “Since Senior Qing can feel the existence of these Monster Insects. Why doesn’t he drive them away by himself and instead rely on others?”
Although Yang Kai did not know much about Senior Qing’s strength, he still could make a slight guess about it. The Monster Insects in his body were just a small problem to such a powerful Master, so if Senior Qing really wanted to, he undoubtedly could get rid of them by himself, but he seemed to always ask Tiea to help him with this instead.
Tiea’s answer was simple, “Grandpa Qing never kills.”
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he was utterly speechless.
Although he could not totally agree with Senior Qing’s philosophy, considering that he was a tree of protection and blessing, Yang Kai could more or less understand why he had such apprehensions.
Over the next three days, Yang Kai and Tiea had cleaned numerous Monster Insect nests, and although the quality of the Monster Cores was still poor, there was a countless number of them.
After three days of continuous battle, Tiea started panting lightly, but Yang Kai was still as mighty as a dragon, which truly amazed Tiea.
“That’s good enough for now, you two little ones may come back.” Senior Qing’s voice suddenly reached their ears.
At the same time, a passage immediately appeared in front of them with a faint light at the end of the darkness.
Yang Kai and Tiea exchanged a glance then walked towards the passage.
Not long after, they returned to Yang Kai’s Tree Cave.
Senior Qing was still standing there, and he smiled at Yang Kai, “Many thanks, young man.”
“It’s a pleasure to help others. Don’t mention it, Senior.” Yang Kai grinned, holding a bag of Monster Cores with him happily.
It would certainly not be a problem for him to become a Shaman Master with these Monster Cores.
On the other hand, Tiea apologized, “Grandpa Qing, when I am stronger, I will help you to get rid of the Insect Queen!”
Yang Kai was stunned momentarily before turning and asking, “There is an Insect Queen?”
Tiea replied, “If not, why do you think those insects could not be killed once and for all? Every time Grandpa Qing wakes up, I have to clean them up, but there will still be more insects the next time I go in again.”
“Senior, you should have said so sooner,” Yang Kai immediately put down his bag, and remarked excitedly, “Open the passage, I will go and meet the Insect Queen!”
Tiea looked at him like he was insane.
Senior Qing smiled lightly and shook his head, “Your strength is not sufficient, so you are not its opponent at the moment.”
Tie added, “It was an existence comparable to a Shaman King. Be careful or it will swallow you.”
Yang Kai had never fought against a Shaman King before, so he naturally had no idea how strong it was. The hierarchical division of power of this world was very different from that in later generations. In this Ancient World, Shaman Kings were already great heroes with overwhelming power. Given that, in the present day, they would probably be equivalent to an Emperor Realm Master!
People like Tiea were probably equal to Dao Source Realm cultivators.
When Yang Kai was about to retort after being mocked by Tiea, Senior Qing suddenly informed, “You have a guest here, and she has been waiting for you for two days. You’d better meet her first.”
Yang Kai frowned and peeped out of the cave suspiciously. When he looked down, he saw a familiar figure pacing back and forth anxiously.
[Yu!]
Yang Kai did not expect that the guest who Senior Qing mentioned would actually be her. Although he and Yu had fought side by side, they were not close after all. After bringing Yang Kai to Frost and Snow City, Yu stopped contacting him, so why was she looking for him this time?
Senior Qing continued, “Young man, you have helped me scratch myself, so take this green leaf as a gift.”
While speaking, Senior Qing stretched out his hand and with a twirl of his wrist, a green leaf immediately appeared between his fingers. He flicked it gently, and the green leaf floated towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai caught the green leaf, but he did not feel the fluctuation of power from it, so he asked curiously, “Senior, may I ask what the use of this green leaf is?”
Senior Qing smiled lightly, “It’s just a little something that will allow you to return to your residence with a single thought as long as you are within the scope of my shelter.”
“I see!” Yang Kai raised his brow and carefully stored the green leaf. Although this green leaf could only return him to his Tree Cave and it seemed to be of no great use, since it was given by Senior Qing, he could only accept it.
Without another word, Senior Qing disappeared with a flicker.
After three days of fighting, Tiea looked a little exhausted, so after saying goodbye, she returned to her own Tree Cave to rest.
After the other two left, Yang Kai peeped out of the cave, looked downwards, and called out, “Are you looking for me?”
Yu looked up when she heard this voice and revealed a pleasantly surprised smile. She then mumbled an incantation and a green light shrouded her, allowing her to float up gradually and soon enter Yang Kai’s Tree Cave.
“What is it?” Yang Kai looked at her as he asked.
When Yu was about to disclose her intentions, she suddenly swept her eyes up and down at Yang Kai as if she realized something shocking, “Are you already a High-Rank Shaman Warrior?”
[How long has it been? Wasn’t it just a month ago?]
When she brought him back from White Net Mountain, Yang Kai was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior, so how could he break through to the High-Rank Shaman Warrior Realm in such a short time? Yu would not have believed that someone in this world could be promoted two Minor Realms in such quick succession if she had not witnessed this with her own eyes.
For comparison, her cultivation had not changed one bit this past month.
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders and did not explain.
With the foundation of an Emperor Realm Master, he had no bottlenecks in his cultivation of the Ancient Shaman Arts. He only needed to accumulate enough power then he could naturally make a breakthrough.
This was even taking into account the overly poor quality of his Secret Art; the Secret Art that he cultivated was taught to him by the Village Chief. How could a Secret Art from a tiny place like Blue South Village be any good? If Yang Kai could obtain the Secret Art used by a Shaman Saint, his rate of cultivation would surely be much faster.
Yu returned to her senses after a while of shock but still looked like she just suffered a heavy impact, remarking lightly, “Shaman Niu, Shaman Che wants to see you!”
“Shaman Che? Who is he?” Yang Kai frowned.
A respectful expression appeared on Yu’s face as she answered, “Shaman Che is one of the Shaman Grandmasters in our Frost and Snow Clan.”
“Why does a Shaman Grandmaster from your Frost and Snow Clan want to see me?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
It was not like he had never seen a Shaman Grandmaster before as Tiea was a Shaman Grandmaster herself; however, due to her sensitive origins, she dared not to expose her identity. If not for her Nomad Clan background, she could easily become a leader who stood above ten thousand people. Therefore, Yang Kai did not feel nervous at all even when Yu informed him about this solemnly.
After a short hesitation, Yu continued, “Are you… really the one who made that healing medicine?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai nodded as he admitted.
Yu was awed, “I didn’t expect you to be a Herbalist. En, many of our clansmen bought the healing medicine from you during this time, and its effects have been excellent. As such, our Frost and Snow Clan would like you to make a stock of it for us. Of course, we will prepare all the materials for you, you just need to refine it.”
“I see!” Yang Kai nodded after listening to her. He would be delighted if he heard about this three days ago, because that was the time when his healing medicine could not be sold and he was worried about how to earn Monster Cores. If Frost and Snow Clan had this intention, he would not have to worry about not having sufficient Green Coins to buy resources.
However, he just got a plentiful harvest from helping Senior Qing and was thinking of refining the Monster Cores of the Monster Insects now in order to break through to the Shaman Master Realm.
Therefore, he felt a little helpless when the Frost and Snow Clan suddenly approached him now.
After pondering for a while though, Yang Kai responded, “Alright, lead the way.”
In any case, it would not take him too much effort to refine some healing medicines, so it should be fine for him to cultivate while he did so.
When Yang Kai agreed, Yu was immediately elated and nodded, “Many thanks.”
“The Barbarian Race is all one family,” Yang Kai laughed.
Led by Yu, Yang Kai went out of the Tree Cave and walked all the way to the most magnificent palace in the city. Such a palace was rare in the Ancient World as the homes where Ancient Barbarians lived were generally simple. Only those with extremely high status would live in palaces like this.
The palace complex of Frost and Snow City was essentially the royal palace of Frost and Snow Clan, one where the Shaman Kings of the Frost and Snow Clan lived.
The Shaman Grandmaster named Che also resided in this palace.
With Yang Kai’s current status, it was already a great honor to meet a Shaman Grandmaster; therefore, it was impossible for him to see a Frost and Snow Clan Shaman King.
Yang Kai followed Yu all the way into the palace and waited for about an hour before he met with a Shaman Grandmaster with a tall stature and a thick aura. It was unknown what Shaman Art this man cultivated, but he had an aura that looked like lightning and he had sharp, penetrating eyes that made Yang Kai feel a bit on edge.
“Shaman Che, this is Shaman Niu!” Yu gave a respectful bow, not daring to lift her face while introducing Yang Kai to Che.
Yang Kai also followed the appropriate customs and laid his hand on his chest, bowed, and spoke, “Greetings Shaman Che!”
Che nodded lightly and opened his mouth to speak, his voice echoing like muffled, rolling thunder, “Are you the Shaman who made that healing medicine?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai raised his eyes to meet Che’s.
Che questioned with interest, “It’s rare to see one like you. Are you from the Nomad Clan?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I am from the South Barbarian Clan, I was simply born somewhat small and weak.”
No Shaman or Ancient Barbarian would deny their origins as that would be equivalent to an act of self-contempt. So even though Yang Kai looked weak and resembled a Nomad Clan, Che did not doubt his words.
The corners of Che’s mouth curled into a forced smile as he spoke, “Herbalists do not need to be too strong. The healing medicine you refined is sought after by my clansmen, so there is no need to belittle yourself.”
“Many thanks for Shaman Che’s words!”
Yang Kai’s attitude was neither humble nor overbearing, which made Che look at him a little differently. It was rare to see a High-Rank Shaman Warrior who could face him so freely and easily.
[Wait… Didn’t Yu say that he was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior? Why is he now a High-Rank Shaman Warrior?]
This was a difference of two Minor Realms, and Shaman Che believed that Yu would not be mistaken in her report.
Although suspicious in his heart, Che did not ask much and just continued, “I believe Shaman Yu has already told you why we summoned you.”
Yang Kai replied, “She has, and I, Shaman Niu, am also willing to contribute to the Frost and Snow Clan.”
A light flashed across Che’s eyes as he smiled, “Very well, if that’s the case… Yu, Bring Shaman Niu in and report any herbs that are needed.”
“Yes!” Yu responded and took the lead to guide Yang Kai into the palace.
After a while, the two of them entered a certain room. Out of Yang Kai’s expectation, there were already two people waiting here, both of them very old. Their auras were much stronger than his, so it was obvious they were Shaman Masters.
One of them had a head of completely white hair, while the other had somewhat colourful hair. Both of them shot Yu with inquisitive gazes.
Yu nodded lightly, and the two old men stepped forward and chanted in unison, “Greetings, Shaman Niu!”
Yang Kai uttered in amazement, “These two are…”
Yu’s expression was a little uneasy when she explained, “They’re helpers Shaman Che arranged for you. If you need any assistance, just ask them.”
“Is that so…?” Yang Kai smiled lightly. He had some guesses about this situation, but he did not speak up; after all, this was not a big deal to him. Seeing Yang Kai’s smile meaningfully, Yu’s expression became even more uneasy while a trace of guilt flashed across her eyes.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not question further and instead just got to work, “I need some herbs. Could you help me gather them?”
“Ah, en, what do you need?” Yu asked quickly.
Yang Kai immediately reported the names of the herbs and Yu noted each of them by memory. The two old men also perked up their ears at this moment and listened attentively, not willing to miss a single word.
After a while, when Yang Kai finished reporting the names of various herbs and the required quantities, Yu immediately turned around and went out to prepare them.
Yang Kai then turned to the two old men remaining in the room and asked politely, “How should I address the two Seniors?”
The two exchanged a glance before they shook their heads and waved their hands in embarrassment, apparently unwilling to reveal their names.
Yang Kai wanted to laugh, thinking, [The Ancient Barbarian Race is the Ancient Barbarian Race after all; they’re indeed simple-minded. Although it is obvious enough that they want to steal my knowledge and skills, they so obviously feel guilty about it. I guess that’s why they do not want to reveal their names.]
Yang Kai did not insist and instead found a place for himself, took out a handful of Monster Cores from the bag he carried with him, then stuffed them directly into his mouth, swallowing them in one gulp.
The size of these Monster Cores was just like rice grains, and not only were they small, they also had low concentrations of energy, so Yang Kai could ingest several dozen of them in a handful. His guts groaned strangely, and the two knowledge-stealing old men watched in awe. The two had no idea what Yang Kai had eaten and guessed that he should be cultivating, so even though they were surprised, they remained silent.
But within a stick of incense’s worth of time, Yang Kai had already finished refining the Monster Core he swallowed, and the intensity of his aura suddenly increased.
When he repeated the process again, only then did the two old men see exactly what he was eating.
The white-haired old man was shocked and quickly stopped him, “Shaman Niu, are those Barbarian Beast Cores? How can you swallow them directly?”
The colourful-haired old man hurriedly tried to stop Yang Kai, “You can’t eat them! You can’t eat them like that!”
They had never met someone who dared to swallow Barbarian Beast Cores like this. Was he not afraid of exploding?
“I have always eaten them like this though,” Yang Kai threw more Monster Cores into his mouth as he spoke, making a crunching noise that terrified the old men who were now staring at him as if he was a monster.
“Do you want some? They’re Monster Insects flavour and they’re quite crunchy!” Yang Kai smiled and opened his palm to offer them.
The two old men shook their heads like pellet drums, completely horrified.
Fortunately, at this time, a large number of Frost and Snow Clansmen flooded into the room, each of them carrying a large number of herbs. Yu, who was the leader, instructed the clansmen to put the herbs aside in different categories.
After all the herbs were placed, Yu reported, “Shaman Niu, all the things you requested are here, I’ll remain outside so just call me if you need anything else.”
“Thanks!” Yang Kai gently nodded at her.
Yu then turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Yang Kai closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing while he finished refining the Monster Cores he ingested. Then, he opened his eyes and said to the two old men, “Then let’s start.”
The two old men looked at each other and got up together.
“Two Rain Flower Branches, one Earth Fruit, three Sour Citrus Grass…” Yang Kai chanted the names and weights of various herbs continuously, and the two old men immediately began working after a short moment of astonishment. They gathered exactly what Yang Kai needed among the piles of herbs, not making the slightest mistake in the details.
Not long after, a pile of herbs piled up in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai smiled, “Watch carefully now…”
Saying so, he pinched a few herbs in one hand, and a ball of fire suddenly lit up in the other palm, its temperature fluctuating.
The two old men were stunned again and, ignoring any shame and guilt they felt, they fixed their eyes on Yang Kai’s hands, their gazes unmoving.
They were Frost and Snow Clan’s most outstanding Herbalists, and they were highly respected characters in their own right. It was truly shameful that they were tasked by Shaman Che to steal knowledge from Yang Kai, but they also knew that they were not capable of making that magical healing medicine on their own. Even though they knew the ingredients, they lacked the appropriate knowledge, leaving them strong in will but weak in strength.
Unfortunately, the knowledge of a Herbalist was often the secret of a Clan and would not be leaked easily, so if they wanted to know the refining method of this healing medicine, they could only obey Shaman Che and try to quietly steal the methods in the name of assisting Shaman Niu.
How could they have anticipated that Yang Kai had already seen through their intentions but did not even try to conceal anything from them? Not only was he generously refining medicines for their clan, he even deliberately taught them his knowledge.
Compared to their despicable actions, his generosity and kindness were a far cry, making the two highly respected Herbalists feel evermore condemned by their conscience.
Despite their guilt, the two Herbalists were still extremely focused and persistent in studying the refinement of the medicine. They held their breath as they observed, and planned to thank and apologize to this Shaman Niu when the time came.
The secret of refining the healing medicine was quickly understood by the two old men under the personal demonstration and teaching by an Emperor Alchemist like Yang Kai.
They were excellent Herbalists and Yang Kai’s healing medicine was not difficult to make; only the refining techniques were a little strange. The two old men only needed to figure out this methodology to comprehend the entire refinement process. After all, they too, would gain a new comprehension in this field of study.
Therefore, in less than a day, the two Herbalists had basically mastered the refining method of the healing medicine, and with the encouragement of Yang Kai, they experimented by themselves.
Yang Kai left them alone and refined his Monster Cores to improve his cultivation, only checking on the two old men after they finished each refinement, putting forward his own opinions and pointing out the mistakes they made during their refinement.
The quality of the healing medicine produced by the two Herbalists moved closer to perfection day by day.
The days passed by quietly and the men, two old and one young, all forgot the passage of time.
Despite the age of the two Herbalists of the Frost and Snow Clan, they were very energetic. The more contact they had with this Shaman Niu, the more they discovered how horrifyingly deep his knowledge of medicine was. Even a casual comment from him could lead them to an epiphany that would benefit them immensely.
The healing medicine made by these two was now no different from the one made by Yang Kai himself. In other words, this healing medicine would become a common medicine for the Frost and Snow Clan in the future, meaning they had no need to worry about any future serious injuries.
This was a great event that benefited the entire Clan, and the two old men were incredibly grateful to Yang Kai.
Ten days later, the huge number of herbs delivered by Yu were all refined into healing medicine by the two old men. With such a large amount of healing medicine, the Clan would not need to worry about any serious injuries for at least the next twenty years, and they could even sell some to other tribes in exchange for other precious resources.
While the two old men concentrated on refining medicine, they did not notice that the aura on Yang Kai’s body had suddenly escalated, and at the same time, the Monster Cores he had harvested were completely exhausted.
Examining his own condition in joy, Yang Kai opened his eyes slightly, and his eyes flashed in a terrifying light.
The ups and downs of the early stage have passed. From now on, his cultivation path would be smooth and rapid!
Inside the palace, Shaman Che was holding a small pot of sticky healing medicine, and looked up after a long silence, “Did you refine these?”
In front of him, the two old men exchanged looks, then the colourful-haired old man answered, “Strictly speaking, we refined them under the guidance of Shaman Niu.”
Shaman Che continued, “So, have you learned how to refine more?”
The two old men nodded, with the white-haired old man saying with obvious shame, “He… didn’t hide anything. He willingly taught us to make these healing medicines, so we learned very quickly.”
“Excellent!” Shaman Che revealed a faint smile, “What do you think about Shaman Niu?”
The old man with colourful hair replied, “Broad-minded!”
“Open-minded!” The white-haired old man added.
Che replied, “I was asking about his ability.”
The two old men pondered for a while, and responded in unison, “Unparalleled.”
Che’s eyes beamed, as if he were a hungry beast that had finally found its prey, and remarked faintly, “It’s a pity that the South Barbarian Clan doesn’t make good use of such an excellent Herbalist.” After a pause, he ordered someone standing by his side, “Yu, treat him well and try to meet any of his requirements, but… don’t let him leave the royal palace.”
Yu’s heart jumped, and she understood Che’s intention.
“Yes!” She replied with a complicated face.
The two old men looked at each other and sighed lightly. They wanted to say something more, but when they looked up, Che had already disappeared.
On the other side of the royal palace, Yang Kai sat cross-legged in a room that was considered luxurious by ancient standards. As he released his Divine Sense, feeling his recovered power, his heart filled with joy.
Sure enough, as the Village Chief mentioned, he regained use of his Divine Sense after he became a Shaman Master, and once he cleared this hurdle, the restrictions that hindered Yang Kai’s progress were all shattered.
His Space Ring could be opened again, and his various artifacts could be summoned too. For a moment, Yang Kai felt like he could break into anywhere in this vast world.
The first thing he did was check the Sealed World Bead.
The Sealed World Bead had devoured tremendous amounts of shattered Principles in the fourth layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, after which Yang Kai deliberately collected a massive amount of Five Elements Principles. According to his speculations, when the Five Elements joined together, they would give birth to a new world. However, he never got the chance to check the changes of the Sealed World Bead until now.
As his Soul Avatar entered the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai immediately noticed that this place was notably different from before. Although there was no obvious change on the surface, the Sealed World Bead had been with him for many years, so any slight changes would not escape his eyes.
If the Sealed World Bead had been an incomplete world before, it was now complete!
Yang Kai could clearly feel that the world was filled with all kinds of Principles. Using the Five Elements Principles as a foundation, they mutually reinforced and counterbalanced each other. They derived all things together by evolving each other, and gathered the three thousand Grand Daos of the Heavens and Earth.
This was a true world, a world without any flaws!
In the past, the Sealed World Bead had incomplete Principles, so one could not make a breakthrough to a new Great Realm even if their strength was sufficient, because it was impossible to resonate with the incomplete World Principles and gather World Energy to initiate a baptism.
Now though, the situation had changed.
There would be no obstacle even if someone was to break through to the Emperor Realm here now.
Yang Kai was overjoyed and carefully examined the Sealed World Bead, rejoicing many times. The improvement of the Sealed World Bead had a positive effect on his medicine garden as well, causing the various flowers and plants that were planted there to sway happily in the wind. With the Immortal Tree at the centre, the amazing vitality brought by it made countless herbs flourish.
What pleased Yang Kai most was that he now felt a hazy will in the Sealed World Bead.
It was the Will of the World, but like a newly born baby, it was clueless and not fully sentient. But Yang Kai knew that as long as it was given some time, it would definitely mature.
By that time, he could use it to comprehend World Force and allow him to break through the shackles of the Great Emperor Realm.
This was also why Yang Kai desperately wanted to repair and improve the Sealed World Bead in the first place. Now, it seemed that he had made the right decision.
Instead of hurriedly leaving the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai immersed himself into it by assuming an ethereal form, spreading out his consciousness and communicating with the newborn Will of the Sealed World Bead, like a parent tending to his child.
Despite the repeated failures and rejections, Yang Kai did not give up.
After an unknown amount of attempts, Yang Kai started to sense that the rejection of the World’s Will was slightly weakened, and seemed to have the sign of gradually accepting him. Just as Yang Kai was about to establish contact with one last effort, his vision was suddenly blacked out and his Soul Avatar collapsed while he returned to his true body instantly.
When he opened his eyes again, a sense of dizziness struck him. Yang Kai, who sat cross-legged on the bed, fell to the ground resulting in a loud bang.
Yang Kai was currently experiencing a splitting headache and his face was gaunt. He knew that this was due to excessive consumption of his Spiritual Energy.
Although he was now a Shaman Master, and could mobilize his Divine Sense, his strength was still far from his peak. He could not project his Soul out of his body without limit, as it caused a great load on himself.
If he was at his peak, this would not be a problem at all; however, it was a big problem now.
The sound of someone or something falling to the ground startled the guards outside the room, and Yu was the first one to rush inside. At first glance, she saw that Yang Kai’s face was pale and blood was oozing from all his seven orifices, so she hurriedly went forward to help him up, and asked worriedly, “Shaman Niu… What happened to you?”
Yang Kai opened his eyes sluggishly, and after identifying the person in front of him, he waved his hand to signal that he was fine. With a flip of his wrist, he took out some Spirit Pills that could supplement Spiritual Energy and swallowed them down without hesitation before sitting cross-legged on his bed.
Although Yu was worried, she also calmed down after seeing that Yang Kai was not in a panic, and looked after him closely on the side.
To her great shock, after a while, Yang Kai was in high spirits again, which astonished her to a degree that her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Yu could see more or less what happened just now. It was obvious that something went wrong while Shaman Niu was cultivating. It was a matter that could lead him to death, so how could he have recovered in such a short time?
When she was still lost in thought, Yang Kai asked, “How long has it been?”
Yu was stunned, but she still answered, “Five days.”
It had been five days since Yang Kai entered the room. Yu came to check on him once before, but seeing that Yang Kai was cultivating, she did not want to disturb him and just kept guarding outside the door instead.
“It’s been that long…” Yang Kai jumped up while speaking. A series of crackles could be heard as he straightened himself up, then he stretched his waist and informed, “Since my job here is done. I should go back now.”
Yu was taken aback, before she immediately stopped him, “You can’t go yet.”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai looked at her with his head tilted.
Yu racked her brain, and finally came up with a good excuse, “Shaman Che still wants to see you.”
Yang Kai frowned, even though he felt things becoming a little troublesome, he tried his best to be patient and nodded, “Then take me to Shaman Che now.”
Yu replied with a stiff expression, “Shaman Che went out and hasn’t returned yet… And, I don’t know when he will come back.”
Yang Kai looked at her and noticed that Yu kept dodging eye contact with him, and dared not meet his gaze, so he could not help laughing to himself, “Lying has really never been a strong suit of the Barbarian Race.”
A certain thief’s face suddenly surfaced in his mind before he continued, “Most of them at least. Does Shaman Che want to keep me in the Frost and Snow Clan?”
Being exposed by Yang Kai, Yu immediately looked frightened and did not know how to explain.
Yang Kai reached out and patted her on the shoulder, “I have taught the method of making the healing medicine to your Herbalists, so please go back and tell Shaman Che that I don’t appreciate his intentions. Although I don’t mean to be an enemy of the Frost and Snow Clan, if he wants to restrict my freedom, I’m afraid that the Frost and Snow Clan will have to pay a heavy price for it.”
His tone was soft, but it still sent chills down Yu’s spine. At that moment, she felt that she was not facing a High-Rank Shaman Warrior, but a Shaman King or Shaman Saint…
Yang Kai walked straight past her, but Yu stood petrified on the same spot, unable to even turn around. She shockingly found that she could not freely control her body.
[What kind of Shamanic Spell did he use!? How could there be such a mystifying effect?]
Following a muffled grunt, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground came from outside the door. The warrior who was standing guard outside had undoubtedly been put down too.
Yu sighed lightly. Although she felt a little sorry about it, she was also relieved at the same time.
Shaman Che intended to keep Shaman Niu in the Frost and Snow Clan, which was understandable. A Herbalist who could make such healing medicine was a huge source of wealth. If he could stay and serve the Frost and Snow Clan, it would be greatly beneficial to the Clan.
Unfortunately, before Shaman Che had time to explain it to him, Shaman Niu had already forced his way out. At this point, Yu had no idea how to handle the situation.
In any case, there was no way for her to intervene in this matter anymore. From the start, she owed Shaman Niu a favour for the incident in the White Net Mountain, so she was unwilling to deceive him. Therefore, she actually felt relieved now.
The Barbarian Warriors in the royal palace dropped silently one after another as Yang Kai passed by them.
When he was about to walk out of the royal palace, a tall Shaman Grandmaster suddenly appeared in front of him with a lightning sharp aura.
Who else could it be other than Che?
As a Shaman Grandmaster of the Frost and Snow Clan, one of the commanders of the palace, it would be a serious dereliction of duty if he had not noticed Yang Kai incapacitate so many guards along the way.
Che could not hide his admiration and surprise at the sight of the clansmen in front of him who stood no chance against Yang Kai.
It was already extremely rare to find a Herbalist with such outstanding skills, but Che had not expected this Shaman Niu’s strength to also be so exaggerated. No wonder he dared to wander through White Net Mountain alone in the cold winter and snow. According to Yu’s report, he killed six Bone Melting Wolves and one Wolf King almost completely alone with just pure physical strength and simple spells. Che could not completely believe it back then, but now it seemed that what Yu had reported was true.
[Why was such a genius not born in my Frost and Snow Clan?] Shaman Che pined.
But now was not the time to grumble about such things. It would be fine as long as he could persuade Yang Kai to join the Frost and Snow Clan; after all, it was not uncommon for a powerful Shaman to join a different clan in this world.
And the best way to win over a person was naturally to meet his wants and needs.
They had only just met though, so Che had no idea what Shaman Niu wanted. He had been collecting information about Yang Kai for the past few days, but he still could not find anything useful. He only knew that he followed Yu into Frost and Snow City one month ago, then stayed in a Tree Cave of the Divine Tree. If he did not come out to sell the healing medicine that he made, perhaps no one would have known he even existed.
Such a person should not be unknown. He should remain in the Frost and Snow Clan and make astonishing achievements.
“Shaman Che…” Across from him, Yang Kai grinned mockingly, “Is this the hospitality of your Frost and Snow Clan?”
Che’s expression remained unchanged, “Since you are already here, you seem to know my plan. This Shaman sincerely invites you to join our Frost and Snow Clan. What do you think about it?”
Yang Kai replied, “Many thanks for your sincerity. If there is nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
Che frowned, and was obviously unhappy with Yang Kai’s arrogance and impudence. Although they were not from the same Clan, lower-ranking Shaman should show some respect to their superiors, but Che did not feel even the slightest respect from Shaman Niu.
However, this was his fault to begin with, so Che did not feel right criticizing him. It was already unbecoming for Che to arrange for his people to learn from him to steal his skills, but Yang Kai still generously taught them. Everyone in the Frost and Snow Clan was notably grateful for this, so Che would only seem insatiable trying to keep Yang Kai with them now.
“If you have any conditions, just state them. I can agree to any request my Frost and Snow Clan can grant!” Shaman Che was unwilling to give up.
“No price is worth my freedom!” Yang Kai shook his head lightly, and continued in a deep voice, “So far, I have no opinion about your Frost and Snow Clan, but if Shaman Che continues to speak nonsense, my view about the Frost and Snow Clan will change.”
Che sighed heavily and raised his hand lightly, “Shaman Niu, this Shaman did not wish for things to escalate to this point, but since we can’t bargain, then this Shaman will have to detain you here for now. I believe you will change your mind about our Clan if you stay in the palace for a little longer. Just like what you said to Yu, ‘the Barbarian Race is one family’. Isn’t it the same wherever you serve?”
After he spoke, he suddenly shot a flash of lightning out of his palm towards Yang Kai. The lightning shot through the air and abruptly spread into a net, trapping Yang Kai tightly, catching him off guard.
The lightning wrapped around Yang Kai and tied him up like a rice dumpling, causing his hair to all stand on end.
“En?” Che, however, furrowed his brow. Although he did not use his full strength, only focusing on suppressing Yang Kai without hurting him, he was still shocked to see this young Shaman’s face remained unchanged after taking a blow of his Shamanic Spell.
Yang Kai was just a High-Rank Shaman Warrior, and he should have passed out directly after taking this attack. However, Yang Kai’s eyes still looked crystal clear, not showing the slightest signs of fainting.
“Shaman Che…” Just then, Yang Kai voiced out leisurely, “Not that I underestimate you, but If I want to leave… I’m afraid that you can’t stop me!”
As soon as Yang Kai spoke those words, the lightning net shrouding him was suddenly shattered by a surging force.
Che was taken aback and his face changed as he called out in surprise, “Shaman Master!”
He was finally able to sense Yang Kai’s realm after the latter made a move. But, how did this boy become a Shaman Master?
When he saw Yang Kai a few days ago, it was clear that he was just a High-Rank Shaman Warrior, but he actually only spent a few days breaking through the shackles of a Great Realm. Although there was no significant difference for Shaman Che between a newly promoted Shaman Master and a High-Rank Shaman Warrior, it was still a watershed point which countless Shamans became stuck at, past which they were unable to advance for the rest of their life. Connecting the information reported by Yu before, Che’s eyes instantly lit up.
[I truly found a treasure!]
This was not a simple Shaman who happened to be a Herbalist. The strength of this Shaman Niu had been improving terrifyingly fast. He was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior one month ago, then he reached the High-Rank Shaman Warrior just a few days ago; but now after meeting again, he was already a Shaman Master.
Such rapid promotion obviously showed that this Shaman Niu received the favour and blessings of the Barbarian Gods. If he was given a little more time, achieving the rank of Shaman Grandmaster, Shaman King, or even Shaman Saint would not be a problem to him.
The Frost and Snow Clan lacked the leadership and protection of a Shaman Saint, and only had a few Shaman Kings. Therefore, there was still a gap between them and the top Clans; however, if there was a Shaman Saint born in the Frost and Snow Clan, the status of the whole Clan would be greatly improved.
No matter what, Che could not let Shaman Niu leave today and had to keep him here. Even if he would be despised or hated later, he still had to make Shaman Niu a member of the Frost and Snow Clan no matter the cost. When Shaman Niu reached the Shaman Saint realm, the Frost and Snow Clan would shake the world.
After a few quick thoughts, Che made up his mind. His aura surged as lightning arcs flashed across his skin, “Shaman Niu, this Shaman likes you more and more. Stay and become a member of our Frost and Snow Clan.” He smiled lightly.
Yang Kai snorted coldly, “I was born in the South Barbarian Clan, and I will die in the South Barbarian Clan. Whether I stay or go depends on if you have the ability to make me stay.”
Che wanted to say something more, but his face suddenly changed as he raised his hand to cast a shield in front of him. As a Shaman Grandmaster, he had mastered the use of this simple Shamanic Spell after years of practice. The power that he unleashed with the wave of his hand was just right, no more and no less, without the slightest excess or waste.
Furthermore, such Shield Spell was not one that a newly promoted Shaman Master could break through.
Che was full of confidence, but in the next moment, his face changed abruptly.
Because a clear cracking sound reached his ears, and the Shield Spell that he had just formed was suddenly shattered. Following that, a rather modest-looking fist rapidly enlarged in front of his vision.
His Shield Spell was broken!
It was hard for Che to imagine what kind of violent power could be contained in that small, weak body that gave it the kind of brutal force not inferior to the most powerful Warriors blessed with the Bloodlust Spell in the Clan.
*Hong… *
Yang Kai punched Che in the face, and instantly flattened his nose. Blood spurted everywhere, while Che was rebounded by the impact after a bang.
However, Yang Kai did not have the slightest joy of success. Instead, he raised his brow and showed a surprised look.
He saw that the Che, who was sent out flying, burst apart as he landed on the ground, Spiritual Energy pouring out as he transformed into a mist.
At the same time, a roar of thunder came from behind, as if a powerful force was advancing towards him, attempting to engulf him.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and found that Che had somehow reappeared behind his back. He was floating in the air with an object that resembled an animal bone in his hand. It was unknown what kind of beast the animal bone belonged to, but it shone with purple radiance as lightning flickered about it.
Che lifted the animal bone and slammed it towards Yang Kai, bringing down a flash of lightning bolts as he struck, making for an awe-inspiring sight.
Kicking the ground, Yang Kai immediately flickered away from his original position right before the lightning bolts struck on the ground and opened a number of huge pits.
Che raised his brow as he was secretly amazed by Yang Kai’s reaction speed. Although they had just begun the fight, he could see that this Shaman Niu was not to be taken lightly. It had not been long since he broke through to the Shaman Master Realm and so far he had mainly relied on the robust explosive power of his physique, but such power was still incomparable to the strength of a typical Shaman Master.
Unfortunately, Che was a Shaman Grandmaster! He was a Great Realm higher than Yang Kai.
As Che raised his hand, a lightning python flew out from his animal bone club, swaying its head and tail. The python snapped its jaws seemingly in the middle of nowhere just when Yang Kai’s figure suddenly appeared there.
Che seemed to have the ability to foresee the future, and predicted Yang Kai’s landing position, succeeding in catching him off guard.
“Just give up. You can’t compete with me with your ability. The Frost and Snow Clan is looking forward to your addition!” Che, who stood high above, remarked sincerely.
Yang Kai chuckled and stretched out his hand, summoning the Myriads Sword out of thin air. He lifted the sword up and swung it wildly, sending out a long sword light flying obliquely.
The extraordinarily sharp sword light cut through the body of the lightning python, splitting it into two before it flew past Shaman Che and smashed into pieces on a palace far away.
The corner of Che’s mouth constricted slightly as he stared fixedly at the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand.
Blue South Village was located in a remote place and there were no Masters in it, so there were no decent weapons there and the villagers just battled with stone spears and stone axes. However, the Frost and Snow Clan was different. All the powerful Warriors in the Clan had their own weapons, all of which were made of refined metal. Some powerful Warriors even wielded Shaman Artifacts that were granted to them by Shaman Grandmasters.
The animal bone in Che’s hand was also a Shaman Artifact.
He was not a man without vision and experience, but he was still greatly stimulated when he saw the Myriads Sword.
The sword was not just a Shaman Artifact, but was also a very High Grade Shaman Artifact. Che had only seen such a High-Grade Shaman Artifact once, in the hands of a Shaman King of the Frost and Snow Clan.
How could a Shaman Master possess such a powerful Shaman Artifact? Moreover, he could wield it at will with his meagre strength. Even he, a Shaman Grandmaster, would not be able to control such a Shaman Artifact so freely.
What Che saw in front of him was beyond his capability to fathom, much less understand.
Yang Kai pointed his sword at Shaman Che, and he smiled with his black hair flying in the wind, “Shaman Che, I’ll say it again. If I want to leave, you can’t stop me. If you continue to block my path, I won’t hold back anymore.”
Che could not help feeling intimidated by his assertive tone, but he clenched his teeth and replied in a deep voice, “The Frost and Snow Clan needs you, please stay!”
He stomped his foot, and a Thunder Domain spread wildly, revolving around him, covering an area of a thousand meters in an instant. Dense bolts of lightning filled this region, as if the apocalypse had come.
“A Domain!” Yang Kai grinned.
This Thunder Domain was somewhat similar to the Domain mastered by Origin Kings, but it was still notably different. The course of tens of thousands of years had resulted in many changes in the Martial Dao.
Che’s Thunder Domain was stronger than any Domain of an Origin King that Yang Kai had ever seen. Perhaps, even an ordinary Dao Source Realm cultivator would be troubled if they were trapped inside of this lightning sea.
Che was obviously going all out now, and with his hairs and beard billowing crazily, he bellowed, “All within my Thunder Prison fall under my command! Shaman Niu, surrender yourself. You know that I don’t want to hurt you.”
Yang Kai just snickered disdainfully, however, and replied once more, “That depends on if you have the ability.”
Che sighed and shook his head, “Looks like you must experience the power of this Shaman in order to change your view of my Frost and Snow Clan.”
Raising his hand, he shouted, “Bind!”
When Shaman Che chanted, pressure built up in the surrounding Thunder Domain and pressed towards Yang Kai, suppressing him directly on the spot.
Che lifted his head and asked proudly, “How about now? Do you feel like considering my offer?”
Inside the Thunder Domain, he was in control of everything, and even this Shaman Niu in front of him would not be able to play any tricks.
Yang Kai struggled a few times, but his body was firmly locked and could not move an inch, so he couldn’t help praising, “Not bad!”
Che frowned slightly, revealing a strange look. The faint praise of Shaman Niu in front of him gave him a strange feeling. It felt as if he was not facing a newly promoted Shaman Master, but a Shaman King or a Shaman Saint, who was standing in an aloof position and commenting on his proud skill.
[Why do I have such a strange feeling? Isn’t he just a Shaman Master?]
However, the next moment, Yang Kai took a deep breath, puffed up his chest, and gently flicked the Myriads Sword in his hand. An astonishing vibration occurred at the sword tip next, resulting in circles of small but visible ripples.
Wherever the ripples passed, the Thunder Domain rapidly loosened, showing signs of collapsing.
Che was appalled, and he dared not to hold back his ability anymore. With a shake of his body, he enhanced his control on the Thunder Domain.
Che had not previously exerted his full strength while unleashing his Thunder Domain. After all, the opponent’s cultivation was a Great Realm lower than his, so how could he have expected that this Shaman Niu would have the ability to directly nullify his Domain?
However, it was still futile. The ripples from the strange Shaman Artifact Sword seemed to have unstoppable power, and no matter how much Che strengthened his control, he still could not stop his Domain from collapsing.
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Che’s forehead as he stared at Yang Kai with horror-filled eyes, as if he was looking at a ghost.
With the Myriad Sword quivering gently and Space Principles pulsing out from its blade, the Thunder Domain quickly broke and Yang Kai lightly stepped towards Che.
In the modern world, an Origin Returning Realm cultivator needed to master Shi, while Origin Kings mastered Domain. When one arrived at the Dao Source Realm, they would be able to sense and inspire the surrounding World Principles. As for the Emperor Realm Masters, they would be able to directly use Principle Strength.
To be strict, Che’s Thunder Domain was slightly better than a Domain of an Origin King, and it could even slightly inspire local World Principles.
Nevertheless, the power that was mastered by Yang Kai was even greater than his.
If Che did not try to show off meagre skills before an expert but had instead forced on a direct close combat battle with Yang Kai, perhaps the latter would need to put up more effort in countering him. This was mainly because Yang Kai’s cultivation was restricted at the moment and the power he could use was limited. However, Che had no idea about Yang Kai’s situation and attempted to suppress Yang Kai by taking advantage of the difference in realm between them, which gave Yang Kai a chance to turn the tide.
Space Principles were extremely esoteric in the first place, so when they were introduced into the Thunder Domain, they caused it to destabilize and quickly collapse. Wherever Yang Kai passed, the sky full of lightning turned blank, and the Domain was completely wiped away.
The gap between their level of skill was clear at a glance.
Following the footsteps of his opponent, Che could even hear the collapsing noise of his own Domain.
The distance between the two was rapidly getting close.
Yang Kai’s face was full of mockery, while Che was no longer as calm and proud as before.
When Yang Kai’s foot made the last step, it felt as though he was not stepping on the ground, but on Che’s heart.
Che, who was a powerful Shaman Grandmaster, and one of the few Commanders of the Frost and Snow Clan, trembled and spewed a mist of blood. His Thunder Domain collapsed instantly, and he retreated in a stagger, with a hand over his chest as his initially bright eyes became much dimmer.
When his Domain was broken, it was equivalent to his foundation being damaged, a severe injury. He thought that Shaman Niu talked big and was lying about it being impossible to stop him, but now it seemed that… He was speaking the truth.
But how was it possible for such a Shaman Master to exist in this world?
Yang Kai did not feel elated from overcoming the situation however and instead just swept his eyes around and muttered in annoyance, “Tsk, so troublesome.”
After speaking, he took out a green leaf and communicated with it in his mind. Then, in a flash of green light, his figure disappeared into thin air.
In the depths of the palace, a horrifying aura was aroused like a sleeping dragon being awoken. The appearance of this aura seemed to cause a terrible chain reaction and soon, more incredible auras surged from every corner of the royal palace.
It was the several Shaman Kings who were alarmed.
The colour of the Frost and Snow Clansmen in the entire royal palace drained from their faces as they stood with their heads down, their bodies shaking.
A few powerful Divine Senses scanned across the palace while Che, enduring the pain he was in, placed his hand on his chest, bent his waist towards the void, and spoke, “Greetings, Sirs.”
“What happened?” The aura that appeared first suddenly asked in an erratic voice that echoed from all directions.
Che pondered for a moment before briefly explaining the previous incident, focusing on Yang Kai’s various abilities and his skill in making medicine.
The several Shaman Kings were silent for a moment, likely communicating amongst themselves. Eventually, the Shaman King who spoke earlier declared, “Since he is useful for the Clan, go and invite him again. However, Senior Qing seems to favour him, so don’t be rude.”
“Senior Qing…” Che’s face changed hearing this.
There was only one person in the entire Ancient Barbarian Race who could be called ‘Senior Qing’ by the Shaman Kings, the one who protected the Frost and Snow City, the Evergreen Divine Tree!
[He actually obtained the blessing of Senior Qing?]
After some hesitation, Che showed a look of enlightenment. No wonder Shaman Niu suddenly disappeared. Before, he was still thinking about what was going on just now, but it turned out to be an ability of Senior Qing.
Now that he thought about it, Shaman Niu seemed to have taken out a green leaf just before disappearing.
The auras of the several Shaman Kings arrived rapidly, but also disappeared quickly. In the blink of an eye, they retreated like a tide, leaving Che alone with a frown on his dark face.
The Shaman Kings ordered him to invite Shaman Niu back again, but Shaman Niu was sheltered by Senior Qing. If he was unwilling to, what could Che do to be able to invite him over? If it was before what happened earlier, he still had the confidence to subdue him directly with force; however, after the fight with Shaman Niu, Che felt that he did not have such skill.
That Shaman Niu could not be regarded as an ordinary Shaman Master at all; his strength was at least at the level of a Shaman Grandmaster, or even a peak Shaman Grandmaster.
..…
On the other side, Yang Kai arrived back in his Tree Cave after communicating with the Evergreen Divine Tree through the green leaf he obtained. He then knocked on the trunk and called out loudly, “Senior Qing!”
A figure flashed in the Tree Cave, and the old man appeared leisurely, looking at him with a smile.
Yang Kai spared no time on nonsense, and blurted, “Many thanks, Senior, for your care for all these days. Just as the mountains are always lush and the rivers forever flow, we are bound to meet again someday in the future.”
The Frost and Snow Clan wanted him, not for his life, but for his abilities; however, Yang Kai did not want to lose his freedom, so he decided to quickly leave.
With his current strength, he could easily defeat a Shaman Grandmaster like Che, but if he had to fight against the entire Frost and Snow Clan, he would stand no chance. Now that he had alarmed the Shaman Kings, he had to quickly leave before it was too late.
Moreover, his purpose of coming to Frost and Snow City has been achieved. Now that he broke through to the Shaman Master Realm, it was better for him to go back to a remote place like Blue South Village. With the supplement of the million Monster Cores in his Space Ring, as long as he was given some time, he could be promoted rapidly. Then, when he was strong enough, the Frost and Snow Clan would not be able to keep him even if they wanted to.
While speaking, Yang Kai looked out of the Tree Cave. It was calm and peaceful outside, with people coming and going freely, completely unaware of what just happened in the palace.
But on second thought, it actually made sense. Yang Kai had used the green leaf to teleport here, so no matter how fast the Frost and Snow Clan reacted, they still needed some buffer time.
This buffer time was enough for Yang Kai to leave the territory of the Frost and Snow Clan and run as far as he could. Once he left their territory, the Frost and Snow Clan could do nothing about him.
“Don’t be in such a hurry!” Senior Qing raised his hand.
“What instructions does Senior have?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
Senior Qing touched his beard and smiled, “I saw the Secret Art that you used for cultivation for the past few days and found it to be extremely bad. Do you want to change to a better set?”
Yang Kai was stunned, and replied joyously, “I want, of course I want!”
Previously, he also considered changing to a better Secret Art; after all, the Secret Art he had was taught to him by the Village Chief, so how good could it be? But when Yang Kai thought about it carefully, most of the Secret Arts of the Frost and Snow Clan focused on Ice Attributes, which was not necessarily suitable for him. Furthermore, he did not want to be too involved with the Frost and Snow Clan, so he did not ask them for anything. In any case, the way he cultivated was different from others so he just dealt with it even if his Secret Art was bad, believing he would find an opportunity to change it in the future.
Therefore, he was overjoyed when he heard Senior Qing’s offer. He did not expect such a helping hand would be extended at this moment.
After a pause though, Yang Kai asked seriously, “Senior, what can I do for you?”
Although he didn’t have much contact with Senior Qing, Yang Kai could see that the Elder in front of him was not someone who simply liked to give benefits to others for no reason. He was incredibly even-handed with his actions. If one wanted to live in a Tree Cave, they had to offer Monster Beast blood first, and after Yang Kai helped ‘scratch’ him, Senior Qing rewarded him with a green leaf. Perhaps this had something to do with Senior Qing being a blessing tree.
He was looking after the entire Frost and Snow Clan, and if he just granted everything that people wished for, his vitality and strength would have been extinguished long ago.
Therefore, even though Yang Kai was elated, he still asked in caution.
Senior Qing smiled faintly, “I do need a small favour from you.”
“Please name it!” Yang Kai waited respectfully.
Qing disclosed, “If I tell you that my predestined time is approaching, what would you think?”
Yang Kai was taken aback and secretly thought that the change in topic was a bit unexpected, and for a moment he had trouble keeping up with Senior Qing’s thoughts. However, after sweeping his eyes over Senior Qing, the corner of his mouth twitched and he replied, “Senior, don’t joke with me!”
Senior Qing laughed out loud, and did not continue on the topic. Instead, he remarked, “You’re a very strange person, a unique individual I have only seen once in my whole life, so I want to entrust you with something.”
“What is it?”
Senior Qing did not speak anymore and instead reached out his finger to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was surprised, but he knew that Senior Qing did not mean to do any harm to him, so he did not try to defend himself. When Senior Qing’s finger tapped on his forehead, Yang Kai felt like he had been hit by a huge mountain and for a moment, he was dazed as some exceptionally mysterious words appeared in his mind.
However, he could not see clearly what those words were given his current state. Everything within his sight turned black, and he fainted directly on the spot.
In the moment before he passed out though, Yang Kai felt he heard Senior Qing speaking.