When Yang Kai woke up, he was no longer in the Tree Cave, but in the wilderness.
Pain lingered in his head and when Yang Kai recalled what happened earlier, he felt his heart palpitate.
Although he just became a Shaman Master and could finally use his Divine Sense, his strength was far beyond that of a Shaman Master. Given that Senior Qing could cause him to faint with just a tap of a finger by sending something to his Soul, it must have been a truly massive amount of information that was beyond his ability to currently bear.
There was no time for Yang Kai to examine carefully what information Senior Qing had passed though as, when he looked around, he was met with a pair of clear, bright eyes.
After being stunned for a short while, only then did Yang Kai question, “Why are you here?”
The petite young girl shrugged her shoulders, and replied, “Grandpa Qing asked me to explore the outside world with you. He said I’ve always lived in Frost and Snow City, and I was too unfamiliar with the outside world.”
“Is this the ‘favor’ he wanted to ‘entrust’ to me…?” Yang Kai touched his chin as he mumbled to himself.
Previously, Senior Qing remarked that he needed a small favor from him, and also mentioned that he wanted to entrust something to him. Looking at the current situation, it seemed that Senior Qing wanted to entrust Tiea to him. Sixteen years ago, Tiea was abandoned beneath the Evergreen Divine Tree, and Senior Qing was the one who raised her. However, Tiea and Senior Qing were different in the end. Tiea could not just stay in the Frost and Snow City forever, but her identity was too sensitive, so she would be an easy target if she were to travel alone.
Nevertheless, it would be different if Yang Kai took care of her.
Before he passed out, he seemed to recall Senior Qing mentioning Tiea…
After clearing his thoughts, Yang Kai also felt relieved.
Tiea was a Shaman Grandmaster, and she should be no worse than himself in terms of strength and ability so he did not need to really take care of her. The reason Senior Qing wanted her to travel with him was probably just to let her gain some experience.
“Where are we?” Yang Kai got up and looked around with a puzzled face.
Tiea answered, “Grandpa sent us out using his Soul Clone. We are now five hundred kilometres east of Frost and Snow City.” While speaking, Tiea also pointed to the side.
Yang Kai turned to look and saw an Evergreen Tree as tall as a man standing on the roadside, exuding an aura the same source as Qing’s.
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows and examined the Evergreen Tree with interest.
Tiea continued, “You don’t have to worry. The people in Frost and Snow Clan have no idea that you’ve left. They most likely still think that you are in your Tree Cave.”
“Senior Qing is impressive.” Yang Kai praised.
Tiea smiled lightly, “It’s Grandpa Qing after all!”
Her admiration towards Senior Qing was obvious from her words. Turning to Yang Kai, she asked, “Where do we go now?”
“Let me see…” While speaking, Yang Kai took out the map that was given to him by the Village Chief, and after searching for a while, he found his current location and gained his bearings.
When he left the village in the winter, he promised the Village Chief that he would return when spring came.
Now that spring was near, and his goal of travelling for cultivation had been achieved, it was time to head back. Blue South Village was a remote and untraversed place, which was a great location to cultivate in retreat. It would not be too late to explore the world when he regained his peak strength one day.
“Can you fly?” Yang Kai put away the map and glanced at Tiea.
Tiea chuckled before she chanted a spell and a pair of vibrant wings sprouted from her back. It was as though she had transformed into a beautiful butterfly, dancing and fluttering around gracefully.
Yang Kai retracted the amazement in his eyes before leading the way with a flicker.
This was Tiea’s first time leaving Frost and Snow City and she had always been very curious about the outside world, so her beautiful eyes constantly darted from left to right while a jubilant look filled her face, as if everything in the world piqued her interest.
However, she did not disturb Yang Kai and instead just enjoyed the scenery along the way on her own, exclaiming in amazement from time to time.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was digesting the information given to him by Senior Qing while travelling.
Initially, he thought that it would only be a profound Secret Art, but the more he read it, the more shocked he became because the information was not as simple as just a single Secret Art, but rather a tremendous amount of information that seemed to include the essence of Senior Qing’s entire life.
Although Senior Qing was a Monster Tree and had been guarding Frost and Snow City all year round, never leaving his current home, his life span was thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years, so during the passage of that much time, even the seas had shifted and the mountains had transformed, but Senior Qing remained unchanged.
He had seen all kinds of people, experienced the changing of eras, and watched the development of whole epochs from beginning to end.
His knowledge was wide and profound, essentially the epitome of the whole Ancient Time.
The information that he infused into Yang Kai was all his knowledge and experience. The most important message was not Secret Arts and Shamanic Spells, but the essence that he achieved from his endless life.
But… why?
Yang Kai was not convinced that he deserved such a precious gift from Senior Qing for just doing him a small favour.
Even a Great Emperor would be moved to receive such a gift, because it was greatly beneficial to one’s future cultivation. As long as this knowledge could be fully absorbed by him, Yang Kai’s future cultivation path would be smooth.
Yang Kai was sure that this must be the greatest benefit he received from this trip into this Sealed World. There was nothing else that could compare to it.
Thanks to the Village Chief’s efforts to teach him, Yang Kai was familiar with these Ancient Characters. Otherwise, he may not be able to absorb this knowledge at all. He silently rejoiced in his luck. It was indeed true that having an old man in the family was as good as having a treasure. If the Village Chief had not insisted before, perhaps Yang Kai would not have studied the Ancient Characters.
Yang Kai was so immersed in comprehending the knowledge along his journey that he did not even notice the passage of time. He just wanted to quickly find a place to completely absorb the knowledge given by Senior Qing in retreat.
However, no matter how long a journey was, there would always be an end. Furthermore, he was only returning to Blue South Village. Back then, it took him a longer time to travel because he was not strong enough to fly. Nevertheless, now that he could fly all the way back, he almost reached his destination in five days.
Yang Kai returned to his senses and he could not help feeling some joy in returning to his hometown, which he secretly found funny too.
On the other hand, Tiea seemed to be a little nervous, “Will the people in your village hate me and chase me away? Should I disguise myself?”
Since they were so far away from the Evergreen Divine Tree, they could not make use of Senior Qing’s blessings. Thus, Tiea could not always appear as a burly man; however, as a Shaman Grandmaster, it was not difficult to master a disguise technique. With her cultivation, once the Shamanic Spell was applied, no one in the village would notice anything off about her.
She chattered endlessly, like an ugly daughter-in-law who was about to see her father and mother-in-law, causing Yang Kai to laugh lightly, but just as he was about to answer, he suddenly frowned and looked forward.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s face changed and he accelerated rapidly, leaving Tiea behind.
“Hey…” Tiea shouted in annoyance as she had no idea what was going on, but she soon realized that something was wrong, because there was smoke rising everywhere from a village not far ahead.
How could there be so much smoke when it was not the time to make a fire to cook?
Frowning, Tiea felt an ominous premonition in her heart and sped forward to catch up without another word.
Soon, Yang Kai and Tiea landed in the village. Tiea looked around, and sighed.
The village had clearly been attacked. There were ruins everywhere and the ground was painted a dark red colour. Given the state of the dried blood, the incident should have happened a few days ago.
Such weak villagers were easy targets. Many villages were destroyed like this every year among the whole Barbarian Race.
Tiea sighed, “This wasn’t done by wild animals, this is done by people.”
Although she did not investigate thoroughly, it was obvious as there were no footprints of beasts on the ground and no signs of half-eaten corpses. Therefore, this couldn’t have been done by wild animals.
“And the battle ended pretty fast. Either there was a large number of attackers, or the attackers were extremely powerful… It’s more likely to be the latter.”
Even though Tiea had scant life experience, as a member of a Nomad Clan in the Ancient Barbarian Race, tracking and evasion were her instinctive abilities. As such, she could see a lot of information from what remained in the village.
“Does your village have any enemies?” Tiea asked.
Yang Kai shook his head and spread his Divine Sense wildly around like a tide.
Tiea’s eyes were filled with shock when she sensed the power of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense.
His Divine Sense actually seemed to be much stronger than hers.
Shortly, the light in Yang Kai’s eyes turned solemn as he darted towards a certain direction.
Tiea did not know what he was going to do, but she still kept up with him.
Not long after, they came to a stack of firewood. Yang Kai stretched out his hand to remove the firewood one by one and found a hole covered by a wooden board. After removing the wooden board, several frightened and pale faces were exposed underneath.
They were all children, about seven to eight of them, the eldest only ten years old while the youngest was no more than four or five.
After seeing Yang Kai’s face, the eldest Barbarian kid revealed a pleasantly surprised look and cried out, “Brother Ah Niu!”
“Come out first!” Yang Kai reached out his hand to him and the eldest child nodded before lifting the others out one by one towards Yang Kai.
It did not take long to rescue all of the kids out of the hole, but because they were frightened and had not been eaten for a long time, they all looked quite unwell.
“What happened? Who attacked the village?” Yang Kai asked while looking at the eldest child.
“The Village Chief said that they are from the Bone Devouring Clan.” The Barbarian kid bit his lips, shaking uncontrollably as he recalled the scene a few days ago.
“What!? The Bone Devouring Clan?” Yang Kai’s face changed drastically.
Tiea’s expression turned solemn in an instant too.
Each Clan of the Barbarian Race had different characteristics because of their different living environments and Secret Arts. For example, the clansmen from the Raging Flame Clan were aggressive in fights, while the clansmen from Wood Spirit Clan preferred flexible methods.
As for the Bone Devouring Clan, they were well recognized as the bloodiest and most ferocious clansmen.
No other Clan could compete with them for this title, because their clansmen would even butcher members of the Ancient Barbarian Race as food to fill their stomachs.
In other words, they were a cannibal Clan! When they lacked food, they would even kill each other to feed their own clansmen, so nothing needed to be said about how they treated outsiders.
The terrifying and brutal clan had made all the major Ancient Barbarian Race clans isolate them. Some even felt that the Bone Devouring Clan was not a Barbarian Clan at all, but rather a group of uncivilized scourges, one that was best eliminated.
Unfortunately, there was a powerful Shaman Saint residing in the Bone Devouring Clan, so unless the entire Barbarian Race joined forces, no one would be willing to start a war with them. The Bone Devouring Clan was also known for seeking revenge for the slightest grievance, so it was best not to provoke them.
The consequences were unimaginable for the Blue South Village to be attacked by such an enemy.
“Many have died, Brother Ah Niu. save the Village Chief and the rest quickly!” The eldest boy cried and looked at Yang Kai expectantly as if he was an omnipotent being.
“When did they attack?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice.
“Three days ago.”
It had already been three days, so Yang Kai couldn’t help worrying if it was already too late. He turned to Tiea and instructed her, “Take care of them.”
Tiea grabbed his arm and whispered, “What are you doing? Don’t go courting death!”
Yang Kai grinned, “We don’t know who’s going to die yet.”
Tiea shook her head, “It’s been three days since the incident. You may not be able to catch up to them now. The fate of anyone captured by the Bone Devouring Clan will be ending up as food. Maybe the people in your village are already…”
“Then, they will have to pay the price for that,” Yang Kai flung her hand away and flew into the air.
Tiea stared at his back and sighed, shaking her head slowly.
Jaws dropped, as the few barbarian boys gaped at the sky in amazement. The eldest gawking in admiration as he dumbly shouted, “Ah! Brother Ah Niu can fly…”
…
There were nearly three hundred villagers in the Blue South Village and every man, woman, young, and old, were warriors. In order to capture such a huge number, the Bone Devouring Clan would need to send out a lot of people and would leave obvious traces in their retreat.
As such, it was not difficult for Yang Kai to trace and follow the trail.
The snow was melting, and all beings were beginning to stir from the cold. Perhaps the Bone Devouring Clan’s winter food storage had been running low, which drove them to scavenge for food. They must have accidentally discovered the remote Blue South Village and taken advantage of them.
As far as Yang Kai knew, although the people of the Bone Devouring Clan had no taboos and were willing to eat their own clansmen, they were still human in the end. They would prefer to eat fresh food. In other words, they would not kill all the prisoners at once, but would only kill their ‘livestock’ when necessary.
This gave Yang Kai some time to save his people.
As long as they were stopped or Yang Kai was able to find their lair before the situation became irreversible, he was confident he could rescue them.
Yang Kai arrived outside a stone fortress just as night fell.
The stone fortress was built on a mountain, on the side of a cliff, bordered by precipitous rocks as smooth as a mirror that covered a wide area. Inside the stone fortress were burly, hideous Ancient Barbarians walking back and forth, shouldering varieties of weapons, each of them flashing long fangs and menacing faces.
There seemed to be objects hanging on the stone walls, and as Yang Kai squinted at them with all his might, he was stunned by what he found.
The hanging objects were actually corpses, and based on his rough count, there were at least a hundred of them. There were only three hundred people in the entire Blue South Village, but a hundred corpses were already hanging here. Yang Kai’s heart turned cold, and a chill radiated from his body that could freeze the air.
He was still a step too late!
Taking a deep breath to calm his anger, Yang Kai stood up from his hiding place, preparing to take advantage of the darkness to infiltrate into the stone fortress. He was now a Shaman Master, and an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster would not be his opponent. It was highly unlikely that there was a Shaman King in charge of this stone fortress, but it was always better to be careful.
At that moment, Yang Kai suddenly crouched down again and concealed his aura as he noticed something as he looked in another direction.
There was a rustle of movement over there, and even though it was faint, Yang Kai heard it clearly.
He quietly swept his Divine Sense over that area, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai snuck over to that spot and reached out his hand.
Right after, a voice exclaimed in the dark, “Who!?”
Yang Kai immediately covered that person’s mouth with his hand and shushed, and comforted the Barbarian Warrior who was subdued by him, “Don’t be nervous, I’m not an enemy!”
The Barbarian Warrior was horrified as although the opponent had only used one hand, no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape from Yang Kai’s restraint. After several struggles, this warrior felt chills running all over his body and despair shrouded him.
The moonlight shone on them, and the Barbarian Warrior suddenly fell silent, staring at Yang Kai with astonished wide eyes, his voice muffled against Yang Kai’s hand, “Shaman Niu?”
“En?” Yang Kai was startled, “Do you know me?”
As he spoke, he let go of his hand, and after seeing the tattoo on the Barbarian Warrior face, Yang Kai suddenly blurted, “You’re from the Raging Flame Clan?”
The Barbarian Warrior was pleasantly surprised and nodded, “Yes, Shaman Niu, we met in the canyon previously.”
Yang Kai immediately understood at the mention of the canyon and his eyes lit up, “Is Ya here?”
“Shaman Ya is nearby, I’ll take you to him.”
“Good,” Yang Kai nodded.
He had noticed the presence of quite a few others here just now and knew that they were not enemies, but he did not expect an old acquaintance to be among them. Fortunately, the Raging Flame Clan Barbarian recognized him, otherwise, it would be troublesome to explain.
Yang Kai moved silently as he followed the Barbarian Warrior from the Raging Flame Clan, attracting suspicious glances along the way, all of them unable to fathom as to why another person had suddenly appeared here.
After a short while, the Barbarian Warrior came to the forefront and whispered, “Shaman Ya, Shaman Niu is here.”
A voice came from the front, “Shaman Niu? Which Shaman Niu?”
A familiar face appeared in front of him, and Yang Kai squeezed out a smile, “Shaman Ya, we meet again.”
Ya was shocked and gaped at him, “Shaman Niu, why are you here?”
This man called Ah Niu, gave Ya a very strong impression after the challenge in the canyon. Only one winter had passed after they met, so it was natural that he did not forget him.
Yang Kai quickly replied, “The reason should be the same as yours for being here!”
Ya froze, and he was dazed for a moment before nodding, “It looks like your village has also been attacked.”
“Why was yours attacked?”
Ya explained with a grim face, “I took some clansmen with me to gather food, and when we came back, the villagers were all taken away. We came here after following the trail.”
“Then, our goals are the same!” Yang Kai grinned, exposing a mouthful of pearly white teeth that ghastly gleamed under the shadow of the moonlight. Ya’s heart jumped in fright seeing this vicious look and quickly continued, “Are you alone?”
“I am the only one left in the village who can fight.”
Ya showed an expression of admiration. If he was in the same situation, and he was the only survivor of his village, Ya was not certain he would have the courage to even track the enemy to their base. The opponent was none other than the brutal and bloody Bone Devouring Clan, so returning alive from such an endeavour was questionable at best.
“Come with me to meet a few of our Seniors!” Ya beckoned to Yang Kai and then led the way.
Yang Kai followed with suspicion, wondering who he was going to meet.
After a short while, a low voice suddenly came from the front, “Ya, what are you doing here?”
Ya replied respectfully, “Shaman Chi, a friend from the South Barbarian Clan has come. It seems his fellow villagers have also been taken captive by them.”
“Oh?” The person called Chi responded in surprise, “Come here.”
Ya signalled to Yang Kai to come forward.
In the dense grass, a man and a woman sat cross-legged, their aura vigorous but well-controlled, blending seamlessly with the surrounding nature.
They were two Shaman Grandmasters! Yang Kai raised his eyebrows in astonishment.
That man should be Chi; he had a tattoo of the Raging Flame Clan on his face, and his aura appeared to be a little hot. He obviously cultivated Shaman Arts and Shamanic Spells related to the Fire Attribute. As for the woman, although she had a big waist and a burly body, she had a sense of elegance and flexibility, which was extremely contradictory to her appearance.
When Yang Kai approached, these two cast sharp gazes immediately at him, watching him with an uncomfortable, scrutinizing gaze.
“Shaman Niu from the Blue South Village, greets two Seniors!” Yang Kai stretched out his hand over his chest.
Chi nodded lightly, and complemented Yang Kai, “A Shaman Master, not bad at all.”
“What? Shaman Master?” Ya was flabbergasted, “Wasn’t Shaman Niu just a Low-Rank Shaman Apprentice? Shaman Chi, are you mistaken?”
Little did he know that at the end of winter, this Shaman Niu had already become a Shaman Master. If only he had known, Ya would probably have complained that the Barbarian God was being unfair.
“How could there be such a skinny clansman? Do you belong to the Nomad Clan?” The woman frowned and did not bother concealing her disgust for Yang Kai.
Before Yang Kai could open his mouth to reply, Ya spoke up, “Shaman Niu is not from the Nomad Clan. He is from the South Barbarian Clan. He is also a generous and righteous man, how could the Nomad Clan be compared to him?”
He recalled the one hundred wild beasts Yang Kai had given him last time as an act of kindness.
“That would be best!” The woman nodded lightly, seemingly having complete trust in Ya’s statement.
“How should I address this Lady?” Yang Kai asked, looking at the woman.
Chi answered, “She is Shaman Zhu of the Fierce Wind Clan.”
Ya spoke in a low voice, “The Bone Devouring Clan raided a total of three villages this time. One of them is your village, another is mine, and the other is of the Fierce Wind Clan. I approached Shaman Chi, and just ran into Shaman Zhu, so everyone is gathered here.”
“There is strength in numbers,” Yang Kai nodded, and said, “If I may ask, what is the plan for the next action?”
Chi simply replied, “We will wait for dawn.”
Yang Kai contemplated and nodded, “Dawn is the time when people are the most relaxed. It is indeed the best time to act, but both of you are Shaman Grandmasters. Are you not confident to take that stone fortress head-on?”
Zhu glanced at him and asked, “How much do you know about this stone fortress?”
Yang Kai answered honestly, “I don’t know anything about it.”
Before this, he was not even aware of the existence of a Bone Devouring Clan fortress here.
Zhu explained, “This stone fortress is only a small sub-clan of the Bone Devouring Clan. There are about seven hundred to eight hundred warriors inside, with more than twenty Shamans. The strongest one is called Yeow, and he’s a Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster.”
Yang Kai noticed a trace of fear appeared on Chi’s face when Zhu mentioned Yeow, obviously conscious that he was not strong enough to fight against this Bone Devouring Clan’s Shaman Grandmaster.
“Based on Yeow’s strength, we might not necessarily be able to take him down even if Chi and I joined hands.” Zhu explained calmly. She was not ashamed of being inferior to others, “Fortunately, our main purpose is to rescue our people. As long as Chi and I can keep him busy, the rest of you can save the others, so there’s no need to fight with him to death.”
After a pause, Zhu continued, “You’re a Shaman Master and can help a lot in battle. Since your people have also been kidnapped, let’s join forces.”
Ya looked shocked, and gaped at Yang Kai in terror as if he could hardly believe his ears. Was he really a Shaman Master? Previously, he thought Shaman Chi was mistaken, but now that Shaman Zhu had also said so, there was only one possibility; Shaman Niu was really a Shaman Master!
Yang Kai nodded, and asked, “Are the two planning to attack at dawn?”
“Yes.”
“If so, I might be able to help more than that.” Yang Kai’s eyes flickered.
Chi raised his eyebrows, “Let’s hear it!”
After a while, Ya and Yang Kai were dismissed.
Ya seemed to be a little dispirited from suffering a great impact, and only regained his senses after a long while, “Shaman Niu, be careful.”
Yang Kai smiled as he patted him on the shoulder, “You too!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Kai took action. Pushing his Shaman Strength, he began absorbing the essence of moonlight pouring down from the sky. Ya, stood flabbergasted in front of him, watching Yang Kai’s figure gradually become transparent with the influx of moonlight, then completely disappear.
A rustle of footsteps travelled farther and farther away from him, and Ya knew that Shaman Niu had left. Seeing him performing such a mysterious Shamanic Spell, Ya was truly astonished.
That should be the legendary Moon Concealment Spell of the Moonlight Clan. However, the Moonlight Clan was exterminated a few thousand years ago, and the Moon Concealment Spell should have been lost. Where did Shaman Niu learn it from? It was impossible for such a small place like Blue South Village to teach him such a profound Shamanic Spell.
Of course, Yang Kai did not learn the Moon Concealment Spell from the Village Chief, but from Senior Qing.
Yang Kai had been assimilating Senior Qing’s knowledge all the way back to Blue South Village. As such, he learned a lot of Shamanic Spells, and the long-lost Moon Concealment Spell just happened to be useful at this moment.
Under the moonlight, Yang Kai was almost invisible. Only Divine Sense, or someone in very close proximity with extremely sharp senses would be able to detect him.
He walked all the way to the stone fortress, climbed over the stone wall quietly, and infiltrated it without anyone noticing.
Numerous Bone Devouring Clan archers were patrolling back and forth vigilantly on the stone walls. Obviously, they were also aware that they may be attacked after raiding three villages. Despite the absence of Divine Sense, these archers had notably sharp senses and were naturally vigilant against danger.
An archer almost sensed Yang Kai’s presence when he climbed over the stone wall, their eyes darting towards the spot where Yang Kai was, but fortunately, upon seeing nothing there, he did not examine further, otherwise, Yang Kai would have been found.
Upon entering the stone fortress, the sickly stench of blood immediately reached Yang Kai’s nose.
The approximately one hundred corpses Yang Kai had seen earlier were composed of the villagers from all three clans, and the sound of blood trickling and dripping onto the ground was simply horrifying.
At that moment in the stone fortress, the Bone Devouring Clansmen were eating merrily, and the smell of meat permeated the air. Yang Kai quickly identified the meat the Barbarians of the Bone Devouring Clan were chewing were Human body parts. Ordinary people would lose their appetite just by looking at it, but the Bone Devouring Clan were truly delighting in it. It was no different for the children in the clan, who fought with each other over a bone with extra meat on it, refusing to give it away to the others, all while the adults watched from the side and laughed at them.
Yang Kai had long heard that the Barbarians of the Bone Devouring Clan were different from others, a group of uncivilized savages, and after seeing it with his own eyes, he could only admit that the rumours weren’t unfounded.
Taking a deep breath to quietly suppress his anger, Yang Kai started to investigate the inner structure of the stone fortress.
According to his agreement with Chi and Zhu, his mission was to find out where the captives of the three villages were being detained, then he would find a way to open the main gates of the stone fortress from the inside and create a distraction. Then, the people of Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan would meet up with him from the outside.
By then, in addition to the release of the warriors of the three clans, they would definitely catch the Bone Devouring Clan by surprise.
Yang Kai could not be too reckless as there was a Shaman Grandmaster and a few Shaman Masters in the stone fortress, so he dared not to use his Divine Sense lest he alarm the enemies. As such, he could only slowly search the place to find out the location of the captives.
After midnight, Yang Kai had almost searched the entire stone fortress, but he still did not find the place where the prisoners were being held.
There should be at least seven to eight hundred prisoners from the three Clans and villages, and such a large number of people could not be held in a small place, yet Yang Kai was still unable to find them after much looking around.
In the end, he cast his eyes at the most central position of the stone fortress, where a strong and ferocious aura was being emitted. Obviously, this was where Shaman Yeow lived.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai pushed his Divine Sense and penetrated it into the ground.
Immediately after, he withdrew it.
Sure enough, there was a cave beneath the stone fortress inside which Yang Kai sensed many auras, but he did not examine thoroughly to avoid being noticed by Shaman Yeow.
However, once he determined the location of prisoners, the rest was easy.
Holding his breath and remaining still for a moment to make sure that his spying did not alarm Shaman Yeow, Yang Kai then took cover in a hidden place, waiting for the right time to move.
The stone fortress was merry and lively now, with the Bone Devouring Clansmen who had a rough winter finally having a good harvest, one that allowed them to celebrate. On the other hand, the clansmen of both Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan were hiding quietly outside the stone fortress like two venomous snakes, waiting for the opportunity to reveal their fangs.
As time passed, the noises in the stone fortress gradually subsided, and snores resembling muffled thunder came up one after another, even the archers who were guarding on the stone wall began to yawn.
Before dawn, when the world was at its darkest moment, a figure appeared and rushed to the stone fortress gate like a gust of wind. Following a few dull thuds, the heads of the several Bone Devouring Clan Warriors who were guarding the gate split open, their brains and blood spurting everywhere. All of them died instantly in their sleep.
Above the stone wall, several archers who heard the noise were startled and turned to look down at the same time.
What they saw was a strange figure standing below them on the ground, and before they could react, he threw a punch at the gate.
The stone gate was broken with a loud bang and pieces of it were thrown out in all directions. The earth trembled, as if ten thousand horses were galloping towards them in scattered and rapid hoof steps.
The archers turned their heads in horror, and saw that under the cover of the darkness, numerous pairs of dreadful red eyes bewitched with the Bloodlust Spell emerged, wrapped in an aura of death, advancing on them like a flood of beasts.
“Enemy attack!”
Someone exclaimed.
The shriek was like an alarm bell that woke up the sleeping Bone Devouring Clansmen. At the same time, the archers on the stone wall pulled their bowstrings and began shooting arrows.
Ancient Barbarian Race archers were all Spirit Archers, so the archers in the Bone Devouring Clan were as well. A dozen invaders succumbed with just a single volley of arrows.
Two figures quickly flew out from behind the flood of people, one of them with his hands set ablaze. As he waved his hands, two Fire Dragons plummeted from the sky with swaying heads and tails, scorching a group of Bone Devouring Clan archers to death.
The other person chanted a spell, and a horrifying tornado composed of sharp blades of wind immediately blew over the stone wall. All the Bone Devouring Clansmen who were caught in the tornado were sliced and chopped into pieces. Their flesh was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving only their terrifying, white skeletons.
Chi and Zhu instantly cleaned up the threat of the archers.
Following behind the two Shaman Grandmasters were the Shaman Masters and Shaman Warriors of the two Clans. They were not great in number, only seven people in total. However, all of them chanted incantations incessantly and blessed the warriors of both Clans with various Shamanic Spells, making them faster, stronger, and more vicious.
Yang Kai turned around, hovered in the air, and looked coldly at the alarmed Bone Devouring Clansmen, watching them running out from all directions.
The Shaman of Bone Devouring Clan shouted at his people from inside the crowd, seemingly instructing them to attack Yang Kai.
Actually, they did not need to be instructed because Yang Kai, who was standing still, was an obvious target. Bone Devouring Clan Warriors saw him clearly, and before they even got near, numerous arrows already reached him.
But the powerful arrows were completely useless against the light of Yang Kai’s Shield Spell.
The Shield Spell remained intact after this barrage despite the ripples on its surface from blocking the wave of attacks.
The Shaman in the crowd was stunned, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
A dozen brave and ferocious Bone Devouring Clan Warriors rushed towards Yang Kai and leapt up high before swinging their weapons down at him.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and summoned the Myriads Sword. With a swing of his arm, a sword light tens of metres in length appeared out of thin air, one so powerful it cut through space.
*Huala…*
The dozen Bone Devouring Clan Warriors who jumped up high had their bodies severed from their waists, and they fell one after another with a grunt. Their internal organs spilled out of their bodies, while their blood gushed out like a fountain.
The rest of the Bone Devouring Clansmen who were charging towards Yang Kai stopped in their tracks, staring at Yang Kai in horror, as if they were looking at the cruellest devil. Fear grew within the fearless Bone Devouring Clan under Yang Kai’s domineering sword.
“How dare you be impudent in this Shaman’s place!? You court death!”
A roar came out from the inside of the stone fortress, and then a half-naked, vicious-looking burly man flew out like thunder, sending a punch flying towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and turned his Myriads Sword horizontally to block his side.
Without waiting for Yang Kai to fight back, two figures suddenly appeared by his sides.
It was Chi and Zhu. The two Shaman Grandmasters who belonged to two different Clans had arrived, and without another word, they immediately threw all the Shamanic Spells that they refined for years at the powerful Shaman Yeow, causing a burst of brilliant flashes of lights.
In an instant, the three Great Shamans were locked in battle, their fight rapidly ascending and disappearing above the clouds.
*Honglonglong…*
The three hundred people of the Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan arrived, and the defence of the stone fortress was stomped by their unstoppable momentum. The dexterous Spirit Archers climbed on the stone wall one after another, releasing arrow after arrow that flew at lightning speed, whipping through the air and shooting down one Bone Devouring Clan Warrior after another.
Under the surprise attack from both the inside and the outside, the Bone Devouring Clan was totally caught off guard. Being awakened abruptly from satiety and sleep, these Bone Devouring Clansmen were not able to perform effectively in combat, and dozens of them were injured and killed in an instant.
But after a brief period of consternation, the bloodthirsty and ferocious Bone Devouring Clan finally regained their senses. Nearly twenty Shamans scattered in the chaos began chanting incantations one after another to support their clansmen with all kinds of Shamanic Spells.
Two hordes of hundreds of Ancient Barbarians rushed against each other. One side was fearless to die under the cover of their own archers, while the other side was driven by the smell of blood. Both sides crashed into each other with roars and screams.
Even the earth wailed under this intense battle.
The battlefield was like a huge melee, with blood spurting, flesh separated, and Barbarians of both sides collapsed again and again.
Yang Kai drew his attention away from the clouds and looked at the chaotic and barbaric battle ahead. Frowning slightly, with a flicker, he instantly appeared on top of the Bone Devouring Clansmen.
With a buzz, a sword light came out from the tip of the Myriads Sword, speeding towards the enemies below.
There was no sound and movement, only the flash of the sword light, and a long empty strip of land instantly appeared at the centre of the Bone Devouring Clansmen. All who once stood in that space had vanished into dust.
Everyone looked up as the chaotic battlefield abruptly fell silent for a moment.
Fear filled the eyes of the Bone Devouring Clansmen, while those of the Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan were pleasantly surprised. No one expected that this weak-looking young man possessed such great power.
*Xiu…*
A blood light came up from below, transforming into a blood snake that opened its jaws and snapped at Yang Kai.
This was the Shamanic Spell of the Bone Devouring Clan, and it was difficult to guard against. The snake opened its mouth, releasing its revolting breath which was obviously highly toxic. One would not end well if bitten by this snake.
However, Yang Kai did not even look at it, and under the frightened eyes of the Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan, he simply lifted his hand, grabbed towards the void, and caught the Blood Snake in his hand. With a clench of his fist, the Blood Snake turned into a pool of thick blood and poured down from the air.
At the same time, a Shaman Master among the Bone Devouring Clan grunted as blood flowed out his seven orifices.
The Blood Snake was his ultimate spell, one that he cultivated with his own Blood Essence, so he suffered a huge backlash when Yang Kai destroyed it.
This Shaman Master had combat fighting experience, so upon seeing his Blood Snake easily countered by Yang Kai, he knew that he was by no means Yang Kai’s opponent and attempted to hide in the crowd.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai simply tossed the Myriads Sword like a spear, transforming it into a stream of light that shot through the crowd and pierced straight through the chest of the Bone Devouring Clan Shaman Master before it flew out his back and returned to Yang Kai’s hand.
A dozen Bone Devouring Clansmen who were unlucky enough to be in the way also collapsed.
The targeted Shaman Master could not escape death, as even his Shield Spell was like thin paper in front of the Myriads Sword, standing no chance to defend against Yang Kai’s attack at all.
The Bone Devouring Clansmen were truly appalled and their eyes filled with horror as many of them involuntarily retreated a few steps.
Who could stop this man now that even one of their Shaman Masters was instantly killed by him? Only Shaman Yeow could possibly match him, but Shaman Yeow was being kept busy by the enemies atop of the clouds, and could not be in two places at once.
“Hou!”
The Raging Flame Warriors roared wildly and bravely charged at the Bone Devouring Clansmen, who were retreating timidly. When the two groups collided, despite their superior numbers, the Bone Devouring Clan was the one who was routed.
Yang Kai nodded at Ya who was in the crowd before immediately moving to leave the battlefield.
Although he had created a great advantage for the Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan with his two attacks, demoralizing the Bone Devouring Clan, the enemy still held a two to one advantage in numbers, so Yang Kai wasn’t confident his side’s momentum could be maintained in a prolonged battle.
He now had a more important task.
Soon, Yang Kai slipped inside the area of the stone fortress where he had investigated before. The battle had drawn the attention of the Bone Devouring Clan, so no one was guarding this place, not that it would have mattered anyway.
After scanning around with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai quickly found an entrance to the underground at a certain location of the stone fortress. He smashed his way through the gates and quickly descended the steps.
A pungent smell reached the tip of his nose, and a faint light of fire came from deep underground.
Soon, Yang Kai entered a place similar to a dungeon, his footsteps startling the Bone Devouring Clansmen who were guarding the prison.
“What’s going on up there?” One of them asked in a muffled voice.
Yang Kai did not answer as he continued forward.
“I’m asking you what’s going on up there!?” The guard seemed to have a bad temper and yelled impatiently.
The answer that he received was a chilling light in the dark.
Yang Kai walked past him, and his head flew. His burly body shook a few times before falling down on his back, covering the ground with scarlet blood spurting from his neck.
The sudden event shocked the other Bone Devouring Clansmen who were guarding the dungeon. Unfortunately, before they could react, the Myriads Sword was sent flying like a sickle, reaping their lives like wheat.
After retrieving the Myriads Sword, Yang Kai swept his eyes around and saw that this underground prison was split into a dozen cells. Each cell was full, and many pairs of eyes looked at Yang Kai in amazement and anticipation.
A familiar voice suddenly called out, “Ah Niu?”
Yang Kai turned in the direction of the source and saw Ah Hu’s face.
“Brother Ah Niu?”
“Brother Ah Niu is here!”
“Ah Niu came to save us!”
The other villagers of Blue South Village shouted with excitement and joy one after another in the prison cells.
Yang Kai went forward and put his hand on the prison gate, pushing his Shaman Strength slightly to collapse the bars.
The villagers of Blue South Village swarmed out of the cells and without a word spread out to save the other prisoners in the other cells.
Yang Kai looked at them and found that they had no other problems except for being a little weak, but soon, he frowned and asked, “Where’s the Village Chief?”
He did not see that kind old man here.
As soon as he asked this question, the faces of villagers of Blue South Village gathered around Yang Kai darkened.
Yang Kai darted his eyes at Ah Hu, his gaze was as sharp as a knife.
Ah Hu replied with his head down, “Village Chief could not bear the torture when those bastards brought us here… He died on the way.”
Yang Kai said nothing, but his aura was spine-chilling.
Ah Hu looked up with his red eyes, and declared, “Ah Niu, I want revenge!”
“Please avenge the Village Chief!”
The villagers of Blue South Village clenched their teeth as they bellowed.
Yang Kai lifted his head and nodded as he saw the rage burning in their eyes.
At this time, the prisoners in the other cells were also rescued and two people stepped forward, seemingly the leaders of the Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan villages. Before they could speak though, Yang Kai turned to them and remarked, “Shaman Chi and Shaman Zhu have brought people here. The clansmen of your two Clans are fighting above with the Bone Devouring Clan now. They need your strength.”
“Shaman Chi is here?”
“Shaman Zhu is here too?”
The clansmen of the two Clans were overjoyed when they received the news. With the presence of two Shaman Grandmasters, the clansmen of both Clans gained great confidence.
“Ah Hu, take everyone to fight with them. We shall not spare the Bone Devouring Clan!”
“Good! Today, we shall not spare the Bone Devouring Clan!”
“No hesitation! No mercy!” Everyone shouted. The hundreds of people seemed to be united through their mutual hatred, and their morale soared up to the sky.
Yang Kai chanted an incantation, and various exquisite Shamanic Spells gathered in his hands, turning into mysterious power that bolstered the strength of the clansmen of all three Clans.
The hundreds of people were shocked.
Especially Ah Hu and the others as all of them felt astonished. Although they knew Ah Niu was a Shaman, none of them had seen someone have the strength to bless hundreds of people with a variety of Shamanic Spells all at once. What’s more, they felt that the Shamanic Spells that Ah Niu casted were much more effective than those cast by the Village Chief.
To say the least, the Bloodlust Spell gave them a very different feeling. At the moment, their originally weak bodies were surging with endless power. If there were a tiger or leopard in front of them, perhaps they could just tear it apart with their bare hands.
All of them wondered just how strong Ah Niu was now.
However, the battle was raging already, so there was no time for questions. Yang Kai simply waved his hand and ordered, “Go! All of you!”
Ah Hu nodded at Yang Kai and led the hundreds of clansmen together with the other two leaders out of the dungeon.
Yang Kai stood still and gently closed his eyes. His Divine Sense spread out like a tide and instantly locked on Shaman Yeow’s location, who was fighting against two people above the clouds.
The next moment, he raised his sword and pointed it to the sky. With a flicker, he turned into a spinning top, and wherever the tip of the sword touched, the earth above him collapsed, gouging out a deep tunnel.
Following a crash, Yang Kai broke through the ground, wrapped himself in the sword light and soared to the sky.
At the same time, Shaman Yeow, who had the upper hand despite fighting two on one, was suddenly alerted as he felt himself become shrouded with the aura of death, causing a chill to shoot up his spine.
Seeing that he was distracted, Chi, who was suppressed earlier, hurriedly jumped away and cast a multi-layered Shield Spell on himself. Cold sweat was trickling down from him like droplets of rain.
It was a dangerous moment just now. He initially thought that with him and Zhu working together, they could at least hold Shaman Yeow back even if they could not kill him. As long as Shaman Niu freed their clansmen who were captured, they would be able to overcome the disparity in numbers on the battlefield then retreat safely.
The main purpose of this battle was to save people, so it was unnecessary to fight the Bone Devouring Clan to the death.
But after they started to fight, only then did Chi find that his judgement was wrong.
Although Yeow was indeed a Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster and only a Minor Realm higher than himself and Zhu, the former’s strength was much greater than what Chi had expected. He and Zhu had joined hands, yet still could not get the upper hand against Yeow.
Yeow’s Shaman Artifact was a bottle gourd that was capable of releasing a Blood Sea, one that was highly corrosive, and because Chi and Zhu fell into the Blood Sea, they could only unleash eighty percent of their strength.
Otherwise, things would not have become so difficult.
It was obvious that Yeow was planning to take them out separately. He bound Zhu with the power of Blood Sea, then focused on attacking Chi. It was just a while since the battle started, but Chi had already been forced into a perilous situation. If Yeow had not stepped back just now, Chi would have been seriously injured, if not dead.
[Why did he retreat?] Chi did not understand why, and was not sure if it was one of Yeow’s tactics, so he immediately retreated to Zhu and watched carefully.
But soon, he understood the reason why Yeow retreated.
Because a sensational and exceedingly sharp aura suddenly pierced all of them from the bottom of the Blood Sea. Although the aura was not targeting him, Chi’s Soul was still shaken.
Perhaps, Yeow would not feel any better facing this aura.
Indeed, he was right. Yeow, who had been acting at ease all this while, suddenly seemed to have encountered his natural enemy. He looked notably nervous, and his mouth moved unceasingly to chant more incantations. The Blood Sea rolled up as waves converged at one point then transformed into a whirlpool. A terrifying power that could collapse mountains and split the sea was transmitted from the bloody whirlpool.
Chi drew a chilled breath, his eyes full of terror.
It was not because of Yeow’s great strength; after all, he was just a Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster who was a Minor Realm higher than him, so how strong could he be? However, Yeow’s true advantage lay in his Shaman Artifact, the Blood Bottle Gourd.
It was definitely not a Shaman Artifact that a Shaman Grandmaster could easily obtain!
It should be a Shaman Artifact granted by a Shaman King or Shaman Saint. Chi’s heart sank as he thought of this possibility.
Before he could think of anything else, the sharp aura had collided with the Blood Sea, the impact creating a violent rumble. Numerous Sword Qi blades emerged out of thin air and swam within the Blood Sea, shredding a large portion of it into mist.
Chi’s eyes brightened as even though he had no idea where the strong aid came from and was flabbergasted by its power, he knew that it was the best timing for him to fight back. He exchanged a glance with Zhu, communicating with her silently.
The pair immediately began chanting their incantations, the Shaman Artifacts in their hands shining brightly as they charged forward to attack Yeow head-on.
The Blood Sea shook and formed a wall with its waves, guarding Yeow’s front, neutralizing the attacks of the two Shaman Grandmasters. Not only that, but their Shaman Artifacts were also damaged by the Blood Sea and lost a lot of their spirituality, which devastated the pair.
However, their actions more or less restrained Yeow, resulting in him being less able to resist the power of the sword aura.
The bloody whirlpool abruptly became disordered and scattered and a sword light surfaced out from the whirlpool together with its wielder who immediately slashed towards Yeow.
“Hou!” Yeow was not surprised by this development and lifted his hand as he bellowed, condensing arrows of blood that he sent flying towards the approaching sword.
*Chi chi chi chi… *
The arrow rain hindered the progression of the sword light, and gradually dimmed it as it was contaminated by the putrid blood light, revealing a person behind it.
Following a cold snort, Yang Kai landed on the Blood Sea and looked at his surrounding environment in surprise.
“It’s you!” Chi looked at Yang Kai in shock. He could not believe that the sudden strong aid was actually the Shaman Master of the South Barbarian Clan.
But was he really a Shaman Master? How could he be so strong?
Even Zhu’s eyes bulged as she obviously could not believe what she was seeing.
“A Shaman Master?” Yeow frowned. He thought that the intruder should be at least a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster; however, when he examined Yang Kai clearly, he found that his opponent was still just a Shaman Master. But soon, Yeow showed an enlightened face and stopped his eyes at the Myriads Sword.
He noticed that the main reason why this Shaman Master could unleash far more power than he should be able to was because of this sword, which was definitely a Shaman Artifact that could not be ignored by even a Shaman King or Shaman Saint.
After realizing it, Yeow could not help cackling. The most powerful use of his Blood Sea was to corrode Shaman Artifacts, so no matter how powerful the Shaman Artifact was, it would lose a great deal of its spirituality if it was even stained with a little blood.
It was unwise to rely on the power of a Shaman Artifact to fight him.
As long as he could corrode the spirituality of this sword, he could do whatever he wanted in the Blood Sea, and it did not matter if there were two or three enemies to him.
But in the next moment, Yeow trembled and looked in front of him in horror.
Because Yang Kai just waved the Myriad Sword slightly and the blood on it vanished. The bright sword reappeared, and there was not the slightest corrosion that could be noticed.
[How is this possible!?]
Just when he was stunned, Yang Kai turned into a streak of light and charged at Yeow again.
“Be careful!” Chi was appalled. Although he was astonished by Yang Kai’s previous amazing move, he was still just a Shaman Master. How could he end well if he rushed towards the enemy so rashly?
Yeow burst into laughter as he stared at Yang Kai as if he were a dead man. As soon as he raised his hand, the Blood Sea separated and covered Yang Kai like a tsunami, causing the latter to vanish instantly under its crimson waves.
Jaw dropped, Chi revealed a furious expression, secretly cursing this South Barbarian Clan Shaman Master for not being able to achieve anything. Yeow’s Blood Sea was hard enough to deal with in the first place, but now that Yeow had melted down this Shaman Master to supplement his own strength, perhaps he would become even more powerful. If that happened, Chi and Zhu had no chance of winning.
[Retreat now!] Such thoughts came to his mind as there was still a possibility that they could survive if they escaped; otherwise, if Yeow managed to change his focus back to them, he and Zhu would not be able to leave even if they wanted to. As for his people, he could not care much about them now and just hoped that as many of them could escape as possible.
Although he considered it, Chi did not make a move because he saw something wrong with Yeow’s expression.
Logically, Yeow should be delighted to get rid of a strong enemy; however, he did not look happy at all. Instead, he looked a little shocked.
[Is there something wrong?]
Before he could finish his thought, a figure broke out from the Blood Sea. His animal skin clothes were entirely corroded, revealing a comparably small and weak Barbarian physique. Nevertheless, his seemingly small and weak body was unscathed and he swiftly arrived in front of Yeow like a gust of wind, lifted the huge sword high, and slashed down furiously.
Yeow was terrified of the sword as, although he was aware that it was only a simple slash, he could not dodge it no matter how much he tried, as if he had been locked in the spot.
He spewed out his Blood Essence in a hurry, and forcibly tried to retreat.
*Chi…*
Following a light slicing sound, Yeow’s left arm was severed and fell into the Blood Sea, turning into pus in the blink of an eye, agitating the Blood Sea to tremble more and more violently.
“You…” Dumbstruck, Yeow took a few steps back and looked at Yang Kai in horror as he covered the wound of his severed arm.
He had no idea how his opponent survived being engulfed by his Blood Sea, even emerging shortly after being drowned in the corrosive red liquid to cut off his arm.
Just as Yeow spoke, a cold face suddenly appeared in front of him, so close that they nearly bumped into each other.
Yeow was frightened out of his wits and hurriedly retreated, forming a bloody whirlpool beneath his feet with a single thought that he fell directly into, trying to hide himself.
At that moment though, his opponent’s right eye suddenly turned into a golden light, and a single majestic, heart palpitating, vertical pupil abruptly appeared. There was a mystical power in this pupil, which seemed to be tugging at his very Soul, making Yeow feel extremely uneasy.
That moment of distraction delayed Yeow’s escape.
Yang Kai slashed up with his Myriads Sword, and Yeow’s right arm flew off.
Yeow let out a scream as the severe pain shocked him back to his senses. He dared not hesitate anymore and quickly vanished into the Blood Sea.
Yang Kai shook his head and looked exasperated.
He could not unleash his full strength here due to the different World Principles of this ancient era and the suppression of this Sealed World. He already felt exhausted using his Demon Eye of Annihilation only once. However, since Yeow suffered serious injuries, with both arms being severed, he probably dared not to show up in front of Yang Kai again.
The vast Blood Sea trembled as a dumbfounded Chi and Zhu stood in place and gawked at Yang Kai.
[Was what I saw just now… real?] Both of them suspected something was wrong with their eyes.
A Shaman Master swung his sword twice and actually successfully cut off both of Yeow’s arms? On the other hand, Yeow did not seem to have the intention to dodge at all and took the slashes like a fool.
The two did not understand what happened in the battle even though they were Shaman Grandmasters.
However, it was still too early to celebrate their victory. Although Yeow was severely injured, he managed to hide inside the Blood Sea, and he could move freely inside of it. No one knew when he would ambush them.
Just as these thoughts fleeted through their minds, Yang Kai suddenly turned to both of them, and his cold eyes made Chi and Zhu’s hearts clench.
The next moment, a shocking scene was revealed in front of their eyes. Shaman Niu raised his hand and a pitch-black, blade-like attack strangely appeared, slashing towards them with a dreadful, deadly aura.
The pair had no doubt that they would die immediately if they took such a blow directly.
“What are you doing?” Zhu shouted furiously. At that moment, she thought that this Shaman Niu attacked his own side because his consciousness was polluted by the Blood Sea.
While speaking, she and Chi cast a Shield Spell together in front of themselves.
But the dark blade sliced through their Shield Spell without even slowing and struck towards their heads.
A chill was sent down the spines of the two Shaman Grandmasters as the aura of death surrounded them and actually made their minds go blank.
The next moment, a terrible scream came up from behind them.
It was Yeow’s voice!
Chi and Zhu were appalled. They did not have time to think about why they were still alive and intact as they hurriedly turned around and saw Yeow, who was filled with resentment and panic. His right leg was cut off for some reason as he quickly hid back into the Blood Sea, disappearing again.
“He was targeting you,” Yang Kai shouted, “Be careful!”
Chi and Zhu were ashamed when they heard this rebuke.
They had no clue when Yeow emerged behind them, and if Yang Kai had not initiated a pre-emptive strike, perhaps one of them would have died just now.
The three stood still in the Blood Sea.
Yang Kai spread his Divine Sense to his surroundings while his lightning sharp eyes darted around in search of Yeow. Chi and Zhu dared not to let down their guard either as they stood back-to-back to protect themselves from another ambush.
The Blood Sea was no longer trembling, but had calmed down into a tranquil state.
However, everyone knew that Yeow had not escaped and was still there.
It was not that he did not want to escape, but rather that he couldn’t. Once he emerged from the Blood Sea, the peculiar and powerful Shaman Niu would not let him go. After witnessing Shaman Niu’s skills, Chi and Zhu no longer treated him as a mere Shaman Master; after all, he was the person who could cut off Yeow’s limbs and force him into a completely passive position with just a few moves.
“Do you think I won’t be able to do anything to you if you keep hiding?” Yang Kai suddenly voiced out with ridicule and disdain, “Today, this Shaman will make you pay with your life!”
When those words fell, Yang Kai suddenly reached out and summoned a longan sized bead.
The bead looked ordinary, but when it was activated by Yang Kai, a black vortex with an irresistible suction force suddenly formed from it.
The Blood Sea that filled the whole sky rushed into the vortex.
Chi and Zhu’s eyes lit up, silently thrilled.
Given the situation now, Yeow dared not to reveal himself and was counting on his Blood Sea to hide. The two of them had no effective way to catch him, so they were afraid that they would let Yeow get away if the situation persisted.
After all, they could not stay in this Blood Sea for the rest of their lives.
But now, when they saw the power of Shaman Niu’s Shaman Artifact, it seemed that things had once again turned in their favour.
As long as the Blood Sea was completely removed, there would be no place for Yeow to hide. The only question now was whether the unremarkable-looking bead could absorb such a vast Blood Sea.
Of course, the answer was yes!
The Sealed World Bead was a whole world of its own, so although Yeow’s Blood Sea was not small, it was nothing compared to the Sealed World Bead. It would be completely devoured sooner or later.
As Chi and Zhu watched nervously, the Blood Sea that shrouded the whole sky visibly decreased and shrunk while the suction power bead did not weaken at all, the huge vortex continually drawing in the Blood Sea.
Within a stick of incense worth of time, the Blood Sea had shrunk to half its original size.
At this time, Yeow, who was hiding in the Blood Sea to heal his wounds, could no longer sit back and do nothing. Eighty percent of his strength was based on this Blood Sea, and without it, he definitely would not be able to fight back.
The calm Blood Sea suddenly trembled again and under a vicious roiling, a figure swam towards Chi and Zhu, moving so silently and secretly that even the vigilant Chi and Zhu did not notice him.
Following a sound of a crash, Yeow abruptly appeared in front of Zhu like a bolt of lightning falling from the Heavens, a ferocious grin on his face. His arms and leg that were previously cut off by Yang Kai were somehow recovered with notably fair and tender newborn skin, though they were not as muscular as before.
In fright, Zhu quickly performed a hand seal and a Shield Spell lit up immediately.
At the same time, a wind blade slashed towards Yeow in an attempt to force him to retreat.
The Blood Sea surged, and a wall of blood formed in front of Yeow, serving as a blockade against the wind blade. The blood wall collapsed, but Yeow was not there anymore.
Zhu noticed that her Shamanic Spell Shield was broken and was scared out of her wits, feeling chills all over her body.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, and although it was not tall and in fact, seemed quite scrawny and weak, it gave her an illusion of formidability.
[Shaman Niu!]
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and grabbed something. It seemed that he had caught something in the sky covering blood fog, and after a grunt, Yeow’s figure reappeared. However, his neck was now grasped by Yang Kai, like a helpless chicken.
Zhu gasped for breath as lingering fear could be seen on her face.
Everything happened so fast that she could not react at all. If this Shaman Niu had not come out at the critical moment and accurately caught Yeow, who was hidden in the blood fog, perhaps she would have been killed.
[How did he do that?] Zhu’s mind was blank, but she also wondered if this was the right time to think about such a thing. Now that Yeow was captured, given all the skills and strength that this Shaman Niu had displayed previously, Yeow would not be able to do anything, and it could be said that they had already won the battle.
Just when she began to feel relieved, she suddenly saw Yeow revealing a weird grin and asking in an aloof manner, “Do you think you’ve caught me?”
Zhu was confused, and she instinctively felt something was wrong, but she was unsure what it was.
“Do you think you’ve succeeded?” Yang Kai sneered as he asked back.
Yeow who had a victorious grin on his face suddenly showed a look of shock, and before he could say anything, Yang Kai tightened his grip, and snapped his neck.
*Hualala… *
Yeow’s broken body abruptly dissolved into blood, and returned to the Blood Sea.
“A Blood Soul Clone!” Chi and Zhu were appalled.
[If what Shaman Niu caught was Yeow’s Blood Soul Clone, where is the real Yeow now?] A realization dawned on both of them, and they turned around simultaneously. They saw that above the Blood Sea, Yeow had already reappeared in front of the bead that was continuing to draw in the crimson liquid. He reached out to grab the bead, obviously trying to snatch this Shaman Artifact.
This was undoubtedly a wise move.
Yeow’s strength was established on the foundation of the Blood Sea, so now that Shaman Niu had a Shaman Artifact that could counter his Blood Sea, and given that Shaman Niu was already unreasonably strong, Chi and Zhu would do the same if they were Yeow, which was to find a way to snatch away the Shaman Artifact first.
Without the Shaman Artifact that could counter his Blood Sea, Yeow would be invincible.
Previously, the Blood Soul Clone that he used to ambush Zhu was just a distraction to lure Shaman Niu away from the Shaman Artifact.
The facts proved that Yeow’s tactic was quite effective as Shaman Niu’s attention on the Shaman Artifact was indeed redirected, and the unguarded Shaman Artifact was now grabbed by Yeow.
At this moment, Yeow should have been ecstatic, but… He instead showed a deep fear on his face.
His hand that was holding the Shaman Artifact shook violently, as if it was struck by lightning.
“Fool!” Yang Kai sneered as he casually walked over towards Yeow on top of the Blood Sea.
Yeow was panic stricken seeing Yang Kai approach and madly surged the Shaman Strength of his whole body, but he still could not free himself from the suction of the Sealed World Bead.
He thought that everything would be fine after snatching the Sealed World Bead, but he had no clue that Yang Kai’s very Soul was connected to it, allowing him to control the Sealed World Bead with just a single thought.
Shaman Artifacts were very different from modern artifacts. If the Sealed World Bead was really a Shaman Artifact, Yeow would have succeeded in snatching it; however, the Sealed World Bead was a world unto itself, so how could Yeow seize an entire world with his measly strength without first refining it?
Even if it was a Shaman King or a Shaman Saint, they would not be able to pick it up either.
Instead, he was locked in place by the suction force from the Sealed World Bead.
Seeing that Yang Kai was approaching closer and closer, Yeow started to look flustered. Previously, there were not many changes with his expression even when his two arms and leg were cut off. But right now, he felt true despair.
Not begging for mercy or showing any sign of cowardice, Yeow looked at Yang Kai coldly and grinned, “The Bone Devouring Clan will not let you go!”
When the words fell, he put on a resolute face and the Shaman Strength of his whole body began rampaging.
Yang Kai frowned, and stopped his movement.
The next moment, Yeow’s body exploded with a loud bang, spraying blood all over the sky which then rained down on the ground, dying it red.
Yeow chose to self-destruct in his desperate situation, which demonstrated his strength of will.
However, most Ancient Barbarians were like him. It was very rare for them to choose to die a lingering death under the situation of certain death.
The Blood Sea disappeared, and the sky became clear again. At that moment, the sun had risen and dawn had come to the world, though a chill still permeated the air.
The battle below was continuing. There were seven to eight hundred people from the stone fortress of the Bone Devouring Clan, while even though only three hundred people of Raging Flame Clan and Fierce Wind Clan came here, they had some advantage in numbers after the addition of the prisoners Yang Kai freed earlier.
The only downside was that they had fewer Shamans than their opponents. There were only seven to eight Shamans from the three Clans, but the Bone Devouring Clan had twenty of them.
Therefore, the war remained an earth-shaking contest. Both sides were almost equal in strength, and more and more Barbarians were killed on the battlefield.
However, the balanced situation tilted the moment Yeow died.
When the Blood Sea that covered the whole sky vanished, everyone looked up to check the result of that fight. In a sense, the results of that battle were basically the final outcome for their current skirmish.
Seeing three figures standing up in the sky, the Clansmen of three Clans cheered wildly, while the faces of the Bone Devouring Clansmen went ashen.
“Kill!” Following a roar, the three Barbarian Clans launched a final assault. The Bone Devouring Clan that lost Yeow was no longer qualified to compete with the three Clans, and due to their loss of morale, the balance was broken in an instant.
Without saying a word, Zhu and Chi flew down and crashed through the battlefield with their powerful Shamanic Spells. Whenever they raised and waved their hands, enemies would die. The twenty or so Shamans of Bone Devouring Clan were all killed after less than ten breaths of time.
Without the support of their own Shamans, the combat power of the Bone Devouring Clan warriors was greatly reduced, and they were soon slaughtered.
It was a one-sided massacre in the later stage of the fight. Nevertheless, no one showed mercy, because the enemies in front of them were the Bone Devouring Clan! They were the scourge of the Barbarian Race, a Clan that should have been eliminated long ago.
The battle lasted for half a day, and when everything was over, the stone fortress was filled with blood and corpses while every last Bone Devouring Clansman was killed.
The clansmen of three Clans began to inspect the battlefield once the dust settled and gave the Bone Devouring Clansmen, whether dead or alive, a final strike to ensure their death.
Then, they began to gather the bodies of their clansmen.
As night fell, a simple ceremony was held outside the stone fortress where the dead from all three Clans were stacked together and cremated by Chi.
The Ancient Barbarian Race believed that after the death of a clansman, the hot flames could return them to the embrace of the Barbarian Gods.
After taking a whole night to clean out the stone fortress, the three Clans were ready to leave. Although almost everyone was injured and some even needed to be carried due to the loss of their limbs, everyone was delighted.
It was a great achievement to save their people from the hands of the Bone Devouring Clan.
Not far away, Chi, Zhu, and Yang Kai were whispering while taking a walk.
“Shaman Niu, you have to be careful of the Bone Devouring Clan trying to take revenge!” Zhu reminded solemnly, “The Bone Devouring Clan seeks vengeance for even the slightest grievance, so they definitely won’t sit back and do nothing after we wiped out one of their subordinate clans.”
Chi nodded, “You should find time to meet the Shaman Kings of your Clan. It would be better for them to handle this situation; after all, it was the Bone Devouring Clan who started this. With the intervention of a Shaman King, perhaps this matter can be settled.”
“It’s not going to be so easy,” Yang Kai shook his head. “Didn’t you notice that Yeow’s Shaman Artifact was not something that a Shaman Grandmaster could easily possess?”
Zhu and Chi’s face changed slightly at his words as they had obviously also realized this.
Yang Kai continued, “To have such a Shaman Artifact means Yeow’s background is not simple. He’s either the descendant of a Shaman King or the Shaman Saint of the Bone Devouring Clan. Either that, or he is highly valued by those Shaman Kings and Shaman Saint. We have caused great trouble by killing him, and it may not be resolved easily by the intervention of a Shaman King.”
Zhu replied, “But no matter what, we will stand a better chance with the intervention of the Shaman Kings. We can’t fight an enemy Shaman King alone with our current strength.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly and said nothing.
He was a Shaman Master now, and it was true that he might be no match for a Shaman King; however, with access to his Divine Sense, he could actually use Space Principles, so he was not afraid of facing a Shaman King.
Furthermore, as long as he was given enough time, his strength would definitely soar.
On the other hand, Zhu and Chi had no power to fight back if they were confronted by a Shaman King from the Bone Devouring Clan, so it was reasonable that they wanted to seek the protection of the Shaman Kings of their own Clans.
The three walked and talked all the way, and although Chi and Zhu’s cultivation was much higher than Yang Kai’s, they dared not underestimate him anymore after the bloody battle yesterday.
They were not capable of forcing a Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster to self-destruct.
As such, they took the initiative to lower their status and had an equal exchange with Yang Kai.
Half a day later, the three Clans parted ways, and Yang Kai led the two hundred surviving villagers back to Blue South Village.
Blue South Village originally had three hundred villagers, but after this incident, a third of their people had been lost, and as the only Shaman left in the village, Yang Kai naturally became its new Chief.
Three days later, Yang Kai and the two hundred people arrived at Blue South Village. Seeing the village full of ruins, many villagers were somewhat dejected.
At the entrance of the village, Tiea suddenly appeared, looked at Yang Kai, and nodded at him.
Eight children came out from behind Tiea and ran to their parents respectively, hugging them as both sides cried loudly.
The villagers were surprised to see Tiea, a stranger here, but fortunately, the villagers had little contact with the outside world and were unfamiliar with the Nomad Clan, so they were just a little curious about her. Tiea’s physique was somewhat similar to that of Ah Niu’s, which was not as burly as that of ordinary Ancient Barbarians, so that actually made the villagers have a friendly impression of her.
Yang Kai briefly introduced Tiea, stating that she was his friend, to the villagers. Immediately, she was warmly welcomed by the clansmen.
Since the village was destroyed, it naturally needed to be rebuilt. Fortunately, the villagers were all tall and sturdy, so the task was simple.
The reconstruction took less than five days, and the dilapidated village returned to its former appearance.
Once restoration work was completed, Yang Kai sat cross-legged in a wooden house and checked the contents of his Space Ring for a while, eventually taking out a Ninth-Order Monster Core.
If it was before, Yang Kai would not have paid any attention to the Monster Core of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. Back then, Yang Kai only picked up Ninth-Order and above Monster Cores while collecting them in the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb of the Ancient Wild Lands. He did not keep any Monster Cores that were lower than Ninth Order, otherwise, he would have several million of them rather than just one million.
Nevertheless, this Ninth-Order Monster Core might still be too potent for him now.
The Monster Beast Cores that Yang Kai used for cultivating before were nothing special, the highest grade one only being equivalent to that of a Sixth-Order Monster Beast’s Core. At the moment, this Ninth-Order Monster Core was just like a table of delicacies compared to the cabbage soup which Yang Kai used to eat, but he wondered if he could stomach it.
However, at this point, Yang Kai could not afford to hesitate. His physique was currently in good condition, so even if the energy of the Ninth-Order Monster Core would burden him, it shouldn’t hurt too much.
Yang Kai opened his mouth and swallowed the Monster Core, then immediately circulated his Shaman Art.
This Shaman Art was not the one taught by the Village Chief, but the one received from Senior Qing’s knowledge. It was a brilliant Shaman Art that was completely incomparable with the one taught by the Village Chief.
As the Shaman Art circulated, Yang Kai immediately felt a difference.
After all, he was an Emperor Realm Master and was naturally able to figure out the quality of a Secret Art with just a try. This Shaman Art was indeed amazing, boosting Yang Kai’s rate of cultivation more than ten times compared to before.
The most important thing was that he had ingested a Ninth-Order Monster Core.
A burning sensation filled his stomach, like a burning flame. When the surging energy shrunk and expanded again, Yang Kai’s belly inflated into a round swell in an instant. If his physique had not been strong enough, these changes alone would be enough to make him explode and die.
His face turned red, and veins surfaced on his forehead. Blood flowed out of Yang Kai’s nostrils from the overwhelming energy, but he remained as motionless as a mountain, focusing his mind on refining this wild energy with his Shaman Art.
His breathing was like the waves in the sea, the wooden house shook, and the surrounding World Energy trembled, frightening the villagers, who were utterly clueless about what was happening.
On the other hand, Tiea, who was teaching the children about the cultivating methods nearby, noticed some clues and stopped Ah Hu and the others from rushing into the wooden house.
Tiea had integrated into the village very quickly and helped a lot in the five-day reconstruction. For the villagers of Blue South Village, she was already a member of the village, and everyone knew that she was a powerful Shaman like Ah Niu.
Naturally, everyone listened to her.
This bizarre phenomenon persisted for a whole day before the activity in Yang Kai’s wooden house gradually subsided.
Inside the wooden house, Yang Kai’s round belly became flat again. The Ninth-Order Monster Core was refined by his Shaman Art, fused into his physique, and turned into his own powerful capital.
His cultivation was greatly improved all at once.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai took out another Ninth-Order Monster Core and swallowed it.
Once again, the torrent of wind and energy fluctuations that shocked the villagers repeated in the shaking wooden house.
…..
A month passed, and over that time, almost all the villagers in Blue South Village had gotten used to all kinds of abnormal activities in Ah Niu’s wooden house. They had changed from the initial curiosity to the present calm because they had experienced this abnormality countless times.
In the beginning, this kind of activity only happened once a day before gradually subsiding. However, this strange phenomenon became more and more frequent as time passed, and it subsided more and more quickly.
Tiea explained that Ah Niu was cultivating.
The villagers knew nothing about Shaman Arts and Shamanic Spells, but they felt that this cultivation was different from that of their previous Village Chief. The Village Chief had cultivated before, but there was never such an alarming display. However, they just listened to Tiea since she said so.
Ah Niu didn’t show himself this entire month. The villagers worried that he would starve to death in his house, but Tiea had stopped Ah Ni and the others from delivering food several times, causing Ah Ni to gain a little grudge against her.
However, if one wanted to point fingers, it was Ah Niu who was irresponsible for acting like this. Back then, when the Village Chief led everyone, he would guide everyone in every detail. Nevertheless, when Ah Niu became the new leader of the village, other than helping them in the five-day reconstruction, he just disappeared for the rest of the time.
Ah Hu and the others could only act according to the circumstances. If they faced some obstacles, they would approach Tiea, and although she did not have much experience, she could still manage the affairs of the village pretty well, which helped the villagers a lot.
For now, even though Tiea’s prestige was not as high as Yang Kai’s in the village, it was only slightly inferior.
On this day, the peaceful village was suddenly alarmed by a sharp whistle.
The villagers rushed out of their wooden houses one after another. Ah Hu and the other youngsters looked solemn, ready to fight at any time because the whistle coming from the wall was a warning alarm.
This noise represented that an outsider had come to the village.
“What’s the matter!?” Ah Hu ran up to the wall, and looked at the archer that was on guard duty.
“A Shaman Grandmaster has come!” The archer pointed forward, and Ah Hu looked in that direction. Sure enough, he saw a man flying their way from the sky.
A Shaman Grandmaster! A notably powerful Shaman Grandmaster!
Only Shaman Masters and those that were stronger could fly freely through the sky like birds.
Ah Hu’s face suddenly darkened.
“He’s injured!” Tiea’s voice suddenly came from the side. Ah Hu had no idea when she arrived, but after knowing her for a month, Ah Hu and the others understood that Tiea was also an outstanding Shaman Grandmaster.
Since she said it, it must be so.
“Injured?” Ah Hu frowned. When he looked again, he indeed realized it too. The Shaman Grandmaster who was flying over was unsteady and trembling. As he was approaching, Ah Hu could vaguely see traces of blood on him.
The Shaman Grandmaster really was injured.
“It’s the person from the Raging Flame Clan.” Tiea remarked.
“Shaman Chi!” Ah Hu finally saw his face, and could not help exclaiming.
It was none other than Shaman Chi of the Raging Flame Clan. They met in the stone fortress of the Bone Devouring Clan a month ago. As far as Ah Hu knew, Shaman Chi was a Shaman Grandmaster, so who could possibly injure him? Looking at his appearance at the moment, it was obvious that he was in a bad condition. He had lost his right arm, and blood was spurting from the wound, staining half of his body red.
From the wound, it seemed that it was not caused by a sharp weapon, but was… torn off by brute force.
Thinking of this, Ah Hu felt a chill down his spine.
Who could face an enemy capable of tearing off the arms of a Shaman Grandmaster?
In an instant, Ah Hu made the only decision he could, “Get Ah Niu here!”
He froze as soon as he spoke though, because he discovered that Ah Niu had already appeared behind him, floating mid-air, looking ahead coldly.
Chi, who sped over from the distance, also detected Yang Kai’s presence, and while there was a touch of pleasant surprise on his face, he suddenly came to a halt. His eyes widened, and his face was filled with horror as he trembled violently, unable to move at all, as if he was squeezed tightly by a huge invisible hand.
His face turned blue then purple as he grit his teeth and roared, “Quick… Run!”
As soon as those words left his lips, his body suddenly expanded and the crude animal skin clothes on his body were torn apart, exposing the skin underneath that had become transparent, revealing the blood vessels inside.
*Chiii… *
His skin reached its limits soon and Chi’s whole body erupted into a cloud of blood, without any remaining flesh and bones!
“Ah!”
Many villagers in Blue South Village were taken aback, unable to understand what was going on, all of them taking a few steps back in shock over Chi’s miserable fate.
When they looked over at the location of the tragic incident again, a burly figure appeared. This man was clad in a heroic attire, and on his waist hung a few uneven-sized skulls, each of them exuding a chilling aura that enveloped the entire Blue South Village.
The strange man was holding something in his hand, all the while looking at Yang Kai with a grin while he gnawed at the food in his other hand.
“The Bone Devouring Clan!” Ah Hu muttered as he identified the man from the unique patterns on his face.
It was well known that the Bone Devouring Clan would seek revenge for the slightest grievance, so when Ah Niu and the other two clans cleared out a small fortress of the Bone Devouring Clan, Ah Hu was already a little worried that the Bone Devouring Clan would retaliate. He was planning to suggest to Ah Niu about migrating the clan, but he could not because Ah Niu had closed himself inside his house.
It seemed that his predictions were right; the Bone Devouring Clan had really come to retaliate.
And the strength of this person was absolutely terrifying. After all, even the Shaman Grandmaster Chi was killed by him. Would Ah Niu stand a chance against such a foe?
The villagers nearby who heard Ah Hu were shocked. They had a deep experience of the horror of the Bone Devouring Clan and as they took a clear look of the object the Bone Devouring Clan Shaman was holding, the blood drained from their faces.
It was a calf belonging to a child definitely not more than five years old, its skin soft and tender. Tearing off a large piece of flesh with each bite, the Bone Devouring Clan’s Shaman chewed on the meat with relish, his appearance turning more and more ferocious.
The villagers felt extremely revolted, fighting hard to resist the urge to vomit.
Yang Kai’s eyes darkened slightly as he glanced at the blood-drenched ground resulting from Chi’s death and sighed.
Although he did not know what happened to Chi, he had a vague idea.
The Shaman of the Bone Devouring Clan did not kill Chi immediately, but rather deliberately pursued him torturously to locate Blue South Village. During this torturous period, he may have used many methods to prevent Chi from going to the main Clan of the Raging Flame Clan, forcing him to have no choice but to seek out other reliable allies.
But in any case, there was only one explanation as to how a Shaman like him was to be able to manipulate a Shaman Grandmaster like Chi. He was a Shaman King!
“I recognize the smell of your aura.”
The Shaman of the Bone Devouring Clan suddenly spoke, eyeing Yang Kai with scorching eyes, “You were in the stone fortress.”
Yang Kai sneered, “Yeah. I killed Yeow.”
The Shaman scoffed, “You?”
He obviously did not think Yang Kai had the ability to kill Yeow. After what happened in the stone fortress, he used many ways and methods to reproduce the battle that day and even though the traces were vague, it was enough for him to track down the murderer.
He visited the Fierce Wind Clan and the Raging Flame Clan, destroying two small villages and killing everyone who had been in the stone fortress that day. However, his last target was difficult to locate, as if something was blinding his senses. In the end, he could only use Chi to lead him to the last culprit of that day.
The plan was very successful as the desperate Chi had led him to this backwater place.
When he smelled Yang Kai’s aura, the Shaman decisively finished off Chi.
Now all he needed to do was destroy this small village. The majesty of the Bone Devouring Clan was inviolable, and any enemy who dared spill their blood would surely receive vengeance a thousand times over.
“You think I’m not capable?” Yang Kai asked with a smirk, and at the same time quietly transmitted a message to Tiea, instructing her to take the villagers into hiding. Although Yang Kai’s strength soared during this month-long retreat, he was facing a Shaman King, so he wouldn’t underestimate his opponent and could not afford to be distracted by the Blue South Village. If the villagers did not withdraw, the power of the upcoming battle would be sufficient to extinguish their Souls.
The Shaman snorted coldly, refusing to reply.
“Yeow felt the same way before he died!” Yang Kai snickered deeply.
The Shaman King asked condescendingly, “Are you trying to say that I, Shaman Chei, will end in the same way?”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, but that gesture was undoubtedly a tacit approval.
Shaman Chei looked at Yang Kai for a moment before he began cackling loudly. The laughter was thunderous, and it actually had a mysterious effect. The villagers who were quietly evacuating were caught off guard by it and began oozing blood from their mouths and noses.
Except for Yang Kai, who was right in front of him and remained unmoved.
As soon as the laughter stopped, Shaman Chei studied Yang Kai, and found that he was not pretending to be calm, but was indeed completely unscathed. Now, he found that this was a bit strange, “Hmm… it seems that this trivial Shaman Grandmaster does have… some skill…”
He was still a Shaman King, despite being a Low-Rank one, so how could his voice infused with his power be resisted by a mere Shaman Grandmaster? Nevertheless, Yang Kai stood there like an unchanging mountain, completely unaffected by his trick.
While muttering to himself, Shaman Chei dropped the calf in his hand and patted his stomach. Shaman Strength surged out as he belted out a howl and the skulls hanging around his waist emitted a freezing cold aura; their hollow eyes flashing with a green glow as they flew out together.
“How dare you to kill my Bone Devouring Clansmen; today, this Shaman will turn you all into food!”
As Shaman Chei roared, the flying skulls expanded in the air into the size of houses. They scattered and fenced the village, spitting an eerie and cold aura from their mouths, freezing the earth and log houses wherever it touched, extinguishing all signs of life.
In the blink of an eye, the village turned into a burial ground flooded with Death Qi.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had secretly made arrangements with Tiea and at this moment, the villagers had all gathered in the middle of the village and were about to retreat into the underground escape tunnel, so there were no casualties.
This tunnel was excavated under Tiea’s lead. After the last experience with the Bone Devouring Clan, the existence of this tunnel was to ensure the villagers’ safety if a similar situation occurred again.
When Tiea made this suggestion, Ah Hu and the others naturally cooperated wholeheartedly.
In a month, this tunnel was covertly dug out to a hidden place thirty kilometres away, enough to put a safe distance away from any disasters in the village.
However, the Death Qi was spreading extremely fast, and it took time for more than two hundred villagers to retreat. If nothing was done to prevent the Death Qi’s expansion, they would certainly not be able to evacuate safely.
Fortunately, when the skulls began operating, Yang Kai also made his move.
With a flicker, he instantly appeared in front of a huge skull.
Seeing this situation, Shaman Chei could not help but raise his brows and snicker with disdain, “You court death!”
These skulls were Shaman Artifacts that he had been refining for years, and they were more difficult to handle directly than even he was. If Yang Kai had chosen to attack his body, Chei may have to make an effort to repel him, but this boy actually decided to target his Shaman Artifacts instead.
Shaman Chei communicated with the skull and the green glimmer in its eyes flashed wildly, spewing a massive amount of cold aura from its mouth to completely envelope Yang Kai.
This frigid Death Qi was made by collecting the grievances of all those who were killed and consumed by Chei. It was mysterious and powerful; not to mention Yang Kai who was just a Shaman Grandmaster, even if a Shaman King was enveloped by this Death Qi, they would be haunted by evil spirits and have their mind thrown into chaos. By that time, they would become easy to manipulate and kill.
Shaman Chei could almost foresee Yang Kai’s end; he would be frozen on the spot by the chilling Death Qi, and then consumed by the skull.
All of a sudden, a five-coloured light ray burst out of the dense, cold Death Qi. The power of the Five Elements in the ray of light mutually reinforced and counterbalanced each other endlessly. It was like a pillar standing firm amidst the monstrous flood of Death Qi, and even seemed to be expanding slowly.
Shaman Chei frowned, instinctively doubting the situation.
His opponent was indeed just a Shaman Grandmaster, and in fact, he should be a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster. It was completely unreasonable for Yang Kai to be able to resist the power of his Shaman Artifact, but the scene before Chei was beyond his understanding.
The Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi pulsed rapidly and the formidable Death Qi that could subdue a Shaman King was thwarted.
Yang Kai lifted his sword high, surging power from his entire body, and a beam of light suddenly materialized and soared into the sky with a force that could pierce a hole in the clouds.
In the next moment, with a slash, a sword light that could divide rivers and the seas fell, splitting the icy Death Qi into two clear halves before continuing on to the giant skull.
A sharp howl echoed, and the green ghostly fire in the skull’s eye sockets flickered violently while under the sharp impact force of the sword light, the skull was sent flying so fast it looked like it would be thrown out of the world itself.
Shaman Chei was shocked. He never expected that a mere Shaman Grandmaster could exert such strength and hurriedly stretched out his hand to summon back his skull, which shrunk and returned to his hand.
Shaman Chei looked down at the skull and immediately became infuriated, his face twisting in rage.
There was actually a crack on his Shaman Artifact!
This was a Shaman Artifact of a Shaman King, so under normal circumstances, it would not take any damage no matter how much another attacked it, let alone a crack. However, the small crack on the Shaman Artifact now seemed to be mocking him for his ignorance with a big, wide smile.
While he was still examining the skull, he sensed a sudden movement and when he looked up, he roared, “Enough!”
The Shaman Grandmaster with a rather scrawny appearance was flying towards another skull and preparing to swing his sword at it. After suffering such a big loss previously, Shaman Chei learnt of his opponent’s ability, and hurriedly summoned back all his Shaman Artifacts that were releasing the chilling Death Qi that was turning the village below into a dead zone.
The six skulls flew back together, shrunk back to their original size, and surrounded him like small moons.
Without the skulls, the Death Qi that shrouded the village soon dissipated like snowflakes under the scorching sun.
Yang Kai rested the Myriads Sword on his shoulder and looked at Shaman Chi unconcerned, even laughing, “Not to boast, but you should really give this your all if you want to survive.”
Shaman Chei’s eyelids twitched. He would not even pay it any mind if another Shaman Grandmaster spoke to him like this; however, this Shaman Grandmaster in front of him… was a little different.
“Did you really kill Yeow?” Shaman Chei questioned coldly.
“Yes and no. He self-destructed in the end!”
“Then, it really is you!” Shaman Chei was maddened. He had some doubts before, because given Yeow’s capabilities, how could he have been killed so easily? Chi and Zhu were not capable of killing Yeow, so Shaman Chei believed that a Shaman King from either the Fierce Wind Clan or Raging Flame Clan had taken part in the previous battle, but now that he witnessed Yang Kai’s skills, Chei believed what he said was true.
Yeow had indeed died at this scrawny Shaman’s hands. Otherwise, how could he know the details so clearly?
Yeow’s strength was mostly dependent on his Blood Sea ability, which was linked to his Blood Bottle Gourd Shaman Artifact, but now it seemed that this Shaman Grandmaster who killed Yeow also possessed a powerful Shaman Artifact.
If it was only an ordinary Shaman Artifact, how could it manage to harm his skull?
However… He was still just a Shaman Grandmaster, so even if he had some skill, Shaman Chei was confident that he couldn’t escape death.
“You will pay for your insolence!” Shaman Chi bellowed and abruptly raised his hands, causing the six skulls to tremble before shooting towards Yang Kai. The skulls did not enlarge this time, and even though they were not as intimidating as before, they were undoubtedly more flexible and unpredictable.
In an instant, the six skulls surrounded Yang Kai from all directions, opened their mouths, and breathed out a freezing cold aura.
It seemed that this cold aura could freeze all things, and not even a Shaman King could escape from it. Yang Kai tightened his grip on his sword and released a tremendous sword radiance to defend himself.
After a moment of scraping noise, none of the six skulls’ attacks seemed effective. They were all blocked by Yang Kai’s Sword Qi, and the skulls wobbled unsteadily instead.
Shaman Chei did not panic though, because he had expected this to happen. The corners of his mouth curved into a scornful smile as he moved his lips quietly, whispering an incantation before flicking his fingers. A powerful Shamanic Spell was launched silently towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, who was facing him from the side, seemed unprepared for it, and Shaman Chei sneered in his heart, anticipating Yang Kai’s inevitable death.
A transparent Shield Spell strangely appeared at that moment, and at the same time, a semi-transparent evil spirit appeared and collided with it, letting out a miserable howl.
Yang Kai did not even look at it and simply grinned. While fighting against the six skulls with the sword in his right hand, he cast a fireball as big as a washbasin with his left at the evil spirit.
A despairing scream sounded as the shadowless and formless evil spirit was vaporized.
Jaw dropped, Shaman Chei looked at the scene in disbelief. How did this brat have the spare attention and strength to deal with his sneak attack? How could his Divine Sense be strong enough to notice and guard against his sneak attacks during this high-intensity battle?
Shaman Chei’s face darkened as a sense of humiliation dawned on him.
He was a Shaman King, yet a Shaman Grandmaster actually managed to counter his spells?
Enraged by shame, Shaman Chei controlled the six skulls to keep exerting pressure on Yang Kai while waving his hands consistently to unleash one Shamanic Spell after another at Yang Kai.
Just because this little brat could resist him once, did not mean that he could resist every time. As long as he continued to distract himself, his Shaman Artifacts would eventually find a chance to kill this boy in one strike.
However, Shaman Chei was dumbstruck by the following scene.
Under the continuous attacks of Shaman Chei’s Shamanic Spells, Yang Kai handled the situation without panicking. His left hand kept releasing Shamanic Spells of his own to respond to Shaman Chei’s attacks in an orderly fashion.
For a moment, the two Shamans engaged in a competition of Shamanic Spells mid-air.
Although there was a Great Realm of difference between them, the Shamanic Spells that were released by the two enemies appeared equal in strength whether it was in terms of casting speed or killing ability. Their Shamanic Spells constantly collided and cancelled each other out, causing numerous dazzling explosions across the sky.
Perhaps at the beginning, Shaman Chei could still feel that he had an upper hand, and his opponent would be flustered occasionally; However, as time passed, his opponent was getting more efficient in casting his Shamanic Spells and the adjustment of his power also grew more and more refined.
[Damn it!]
This was just a small village that could not even be considered a sub-clan. Shaman Chei had purged at least eighty such villages in his life and knew that it was already fortunate enough to have a Shaman Apprentice overseeing such a tiny place, but this village was actually guarded by a Shaman Grandmaster.
What struck him more was that this Shaman Grandmaster could actually match with him in a duel of Shamanic Spells.
How could he have mastered so many spells though? Shamanic Spells of any clan could not be easily acquired and learnt. Every Shaman basically could only learn the Shamanic Spells from their own Clan that were passed on from generation to generation.
As far as he knew, the Shamanic Spells of the South Barbarian Clan were mediocre at best. It was already impressive for a Shaman Grandmaster to master ten to twenty Shamanic Spells, and even if there were more Shamanic Spells, one would have no energy left to master them. Moreover, among these ten to twenty Shamanic Spells, only a small handful could be used offensively, while the others were defence or auxiliary.
As a Low-Rank Shaman King himself, Chei had only mastered about fifty kinds of Shamanic Spells! And there were only twenty-seven of his Shamanic Spell that could be used for offence, all of which he was truly proficient in. Some Mid-Rank Shaman Kings did not even have such an achievement.
However, this appeared insignificant when compared to this strange opponent.
Within this short one-hour duel, Shaman Chei saw Yang Kai cast at least a hundred different Shamanic Spells effortlessly, each without repetition as if he had practised them many times before.
Many Shamanic Spells aroused his jealousy, because those Shamanic Spells were the unshared secrets of many other Clans that only their Shaman Grandmasters could learn.
[Is this guy really a Shaman Grandmaster? From his appearance, he is definitely quite young, so where and when did he learn so many Shamanic Spells? How did he have time to master all of these to such a degree?]
Shaman Chei would not have been so surprised if his opponent was an old man as the Elders were always capable of amazing and unexpected things, but his opponent actually looked no more than twenty to thirty years old.
Shaman Chei became more and more frightened as he fought as he had the illusion that his opponent was the Shaman King, while he was just a Shaman Grandmaster himself, because the performance of this Shaman Grandmaster truly astonished him. He could not wait to catch him now and bite off his flesh while he was still alive to savour the wonderful taste.
*Hong…*
During another exchange, two Shamanic Spells collided with each other, but they did not dispel each other like ordinary. On the contrary, Chei’s opponent’s lightning strike charged at him unabated after breaking through his Soul Collecting Technique. The dancing lightning was like a venomous snake, opening its mouth and showing off its fangs.
Shaman Chei was appalled as his Shamanic Spell was actually broken through. In a hurry, he could only form a Shield Spell in front of him.
After successfully stopping the lightning strike, Shaman Chei’s expression changed from fury to fear as he asked, “Are you… using this Shaman to train?”
Recalling the previous scenes, Shaman Chi suddenly had a bad feeling. If his guess was right, he would be in deep trouble.
Yang Kai burst into laughter and pushed back the six skulls around him with the sword as he remarked, “Many thanks for Sir Shaman King’s help!”
Yang Kai had not had time to fully absorb the massive amount of knowledge he inherited from Senior Qing, but during this month’s retreat, he had made some progress digesting this inheritance while cultivating.
Nevertheless, closed-door cultivation was never a substitute for practical experience. Now that a Shaman King had come to him, Yang Kai definitely wanted to seize this opportunity to test the results of his cultivation during this one month.
He was truly satisfied with the results. All kinds of ideas and thoughts he had during his retreat were verified today, and although there were some deviations from his expectations, that did not hurt him overall.
After receiving verification from Yang Kai, Shaman Chei’s face turned even uglier. Being overwhelmed by a great sense of shame, he shouted, trembling in fury, “You court death!”
It was definitely a wrong decision to have a Shamanic Spell duel with this boy as he had actually been taken advantage of by the other party. The result of this was that the Shamanic Spells this scrawny Shaman Grandmaster used had grown significantly more powerful, leading to Chei actually falling into a disadvantage.
This Shaman Grandmaster was truly horrifying. He could actually grow rapidly in battle, and this speed of growth made Shaman Chei uneasy.
As such, he decided to stop playing around and instead end this quickly.
As he bellowed, the six skulls that were lingering around Yang Kai suddenly flew back and returned to Shaman Chei in the blink of an eye.
With concentration, Shaman Chei chanted an incantation and the six skulls revolved around him faster and faster, gradually turning into a green light.
When the light dissipated, Shaman Chei and the six skulls disappeared at the same time. Instead, the spot where they were was replaced by a monster. The ferocious-looking monster was about five metres tall and had a green face, scary fangs and dishevelled hair that at first glance, looked like a Soul-reaping evil spirit.
On the body of the evil spirit were many semi-translucent faces, struggling and wriggling, revealing all kinds of tragic expressions and making all kinds of shuddering wails and howls.
Yang Kai stood with his sword, and remarked with a cold face, “You really should go to hell.”
The faces that were struggling to surface on the evil spirit were clearly real Souls! So, where did the Souls come from? Obviously, those were the Souls of people who were killed and gnawed on by Shaman Chei. They must have suffered great terror and torture before they died. Their flesh was consumed, and even their Souls failed to escape, being devoured and refined by Chei before being trapped in his body. They could not be reincarnated and fell into an endless purgatory.
Such a Shaman King would be known as an evil cultivator in the present day and would be an existence that was hated and chased down by all.
But in this era, he could just do whatever he wanted with the protection of the Shaman Saint of the Bone Devouring Clan.
After Shaman Chei turned into an evil spirit, his initially powerful aura rose to a new level, on par with a High-Rank Shaman King.
Grinning, the breath he exhaled seemed to radiate pure Death Qi, resulting in the surrounding trees and grass withering rapidly. Chei stretched his big hand widely, which turned into a light curtain that covered the whole sky, and grabbed towards Yang Kai.
The surrounding space became sealed, and when Yang Kai tried to teleport away, he failed to move. Instead of retreating then, Yang Kai chose to advance with a fierce look on his face. A circle of light rippled out of the Myriads Sword in his hand, wrapping around himself as he pounced at the big hand madly surging his Shaman Strength.
The big hand closed around him, and Yang Kai grunted softly, but the next moment, a hole appeared on the back of the hand and Yang Kai flew right out of it, covered in blood. He then swooped fearlessly down on Shaman Chei and slashed his sword vigorously.
Shaman Chei was not shocked or flustered, simply sending out a slap with his other hand, as if he was swatting a fly.
The slap sent Yang Kai reeling before he could land his attack, the protective Shield Spell he cast failing to even dampen this blow.
*Honglonglong… *
Yang Kai volleyed in the air and crashed into a hill before he could stabilize his stance. When he stood up again, he already looked like a mess, his nose and mouth were covered in blood.
“You’re finished!” Shaman Chei’s cold voice reached Yang Kai’s ear, and he emerged in front of Yang Kai to grab at him again.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting your tongue cut off by the wind while wagging it out of your mouth!?” Yang Kai sneered and immediately performed a hand seal with both hands, causing a mysterious power to pulse from him.
Shaman Chei was stunned as he inexplicably felt as if time was slowing down around him. At the same time, a massive sense of panic and crisis struck his heart. He had transformed himself into an evil spirit, his most powerful spell, one he could use to compete with High-Rank Shaman Kings for a time. But right now, he was dealing with a mere Shaman Grandmaster. Even if this Shaman Grandmaster were to struggle before death, what trouble could he bring?
But the sense of panic and crisis was so real that Chei could not ignore it.
With a single thought, he quickly withdrew eighty percent of his strength to protect himself, assuming a defensive stance.
In the next moment, the paused time seemed to flow again. The Shaman Grandmaster standing opposite of him leisurely pushed his palms forward in a seemingly powerless motion, but one that actually gave off a destructive aura that condemned all living things to death.
“Time Flies!”
Shaman Chei’s pupils contracted abruptly. Although he could not see what kind of mystery was hidden in this palm strike, his instincts told him that he must not be hit as he would at least lose a layer of his skin if he were.
Opening his mouth wide, he released a vicious roar.
In an instant, countless feral ghosts flew out of Chei’s mouth and rushed towards the palm print.
*Hong hong hong… *
The fierce and surging power exploded while Shaman Chei took this opportunity to retreat more than a thousand metres. As he expected, the spirits that were struck by the palm print were all extinguished.
Before they dissipated, these ghosts did not show any excruciating look and instead all looked calm and peaceful, as if they were relieved. Some of them even turned to Yang Kai with a look of gratitude before vanishing.
[What kind of Shamanic Spell was that? It was so formidable!] Shaman Chei looked flabbergasted as the spell cast by the Shaman Grandmaster standing across from him was beyond his cognition.
After the palm strike, Yang Kai was left panting. He felt like his strength had been completely drained, and secretly cursed in his heart.
Time Flies Seal was a Divine Ability of a Great Emperor, and although Yang Kai had cultivated it and comprehended it, it was not something that he could perform at will in his current state. It was still too forceful for him to use such a powerful Divine Ability as a mere Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster.
Therefore, Yang Kai immediately felt feeble after releasing this palm strike…
But Shaman Chei had already shown his trump card, so if Yang Kai did not give his all, he would not stand a chance to compete with him.
Without exposing his current weakness, as Yang Kai wiped the blood from his nose and mouth with his hand, he stuffed a handful of Emperor Grade Spirit Pills into his mouth and swallowed them into his stomach before taunting, “Are you scared now!?”
Shaman Chei snorted coldly, “Your tricks are truly unusual, but… It’s far from being enough!”
When his words fell, he grabbed at the void and a pitch-black scythe suddenly appeared in his hands before he swung it towards Yang Kai’s location.
Yang Kai’s face changed drastically as he suddenly felt his Soul shiver uncontrollably, like it was trying to fly out of his body. He immediately understood that this scythe was not a Shaman Artifact, but rather a strange Shamanic Spell that had the effect of reaping Souls. Fortunately, the strength of his Soul was not what an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster should have, otherwise he would be in great trouble.
Yang Kai grunted and guarded his mind by locking his Knowledge Sea in place all while resisting the powerful force of attraction that was attempting to extract his Soul.
It seemed that there was an invisible connection between his Soul and the pitch-black scythe and the suction force grew stronger the more the scythe was swung, which made Yang Kai not dare to make any rash moves.
“It’s terrible, right? If you feel miserable, just don’t resist, and put yourself into the arms of this Shaman. This Shaman will make you enjoy the remainder of your life,” Shaman Chei taunted with a ghastly voice, releasing a strong bewitching intent in order to distract Yang Kai’s mind.
“You want my Soul?” Yang Kai bellowed as he gritted his teeth.
“You can’t resist, so why continue your futile efforts?” Shaman Chei sneered.
“Fine then!” Yang Kai shouted, “If you want it, I’ll give it to you!”
Shaman Chei was stunned as he thought that Yang Kai was spouting nonsense. A man would be as good as dead when he lost his Soul, so who would be willing to give it up?
But soon, Shaman Chei was dumbstruck.
Because his opponent was not kidding at all. Yang Kai really released all his Knowledge Sea defences and allowed Shaman Chei’s Shamanic Spell to exert its full effect, dragging his Soul out of him.
“This taste…” Shaman Chei was amazed and immediately rejoiced, “Wonderful, how wonderful! This Shaman can’t wait to taste it!”
He never thought that the Soul of this Shaman Grandmaster could be so vigorous and pure. Logically, such a Soul should never appear on a Shaman Grandmaster, only possible on a High-Rank Shaman King.
[No, no, no. I have killed a High-Rank Shaman King before, but the Soul of that High-Rank Shaman King was still not as marvellous as this!]
Like a cat eyeing its favourite fish, Shaman Chei ogled with unblinking eyes and could not even help licking his lips.
“Then this Shaman will accept it! Don’t worry, since you are so cooperative, this Shaman won’t make you suffer long!” Shaman Chei laughed out loud. As he swung the black scythe once more, pulling a dazzling light out of Yang Kai’s forehead.
It could be vaguely seen that the light was pure and bright without any impurities. Not only was the purity unimaginable, but it was also exceedingly vigorous too.
Shaman Chei’s eyes lit up. Before, he could only smell the aura of Yang Kai’s Soul, but when he saw it with his own eyes now, he immediately knew that his judgement was right. It was truly an irresistible, delicious meal.
Yang Kai, whose Soul was dragged out of his body, fell from the air like a wooden stake.
One could no longer control his own body without his Soul.
On the other side, the Soul that was dragged out rapidly approached Shaman Chei, but at the last moment, his face changed dramatically, all the joy and expectation giving way to overwhelming anger as he roared, “How dare you lie to me!?”
Yang Kai cackled, “Fool, since when did this Young Master lie to you? Didn’t I offer myself to you? But… whether you have the ability to consume me or not is not my problem!”
When the words fell, light burst from Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar and he transformed into the form of a glowing sabre that shot towards Shaman Chei.
Shaman Chei abruptly retreated. Although he had no idea what his opponent was trying to achieve by willingly exposing his own Soul, this Shaman Grandmaster had performed incredible tricks before, so caution was warranted.
The pitch-black scythe in Chei’s hand turned into a pure Soul attack and slashed forward.
The next moment, Shaman Chei’s face changed once more because his Shamanic Spell had no effect at all. His opponent’s Soul in the form of a sabre cut through everything in its path like a hot knife through butter and in the blink of an eye, it reached in front of Shaman Chei.
Blood drained from Shaman Chei’s face as he pushed his Divine Sense furiously, strictly protecting himself as he dared not to let his opponent approach another step.
Nevertheless, he was stupefied by the result.
His Shaman King Divine Sense failed to stop his opponent’s sabre, which easily penetrated his defences. In the next instant, Chei felt a sharp pain in his mind as the Soul Avatar broke into his Knowledge Sea together with the sabre made of light.
Shaman Chei grunted. Although he suffered a lot, he did not seem to be panicking and rapidly landed on the ground and closed his eyes, quickly controlling his own Soul Avatar in his Knowledge Sea to go into hiding.
Chei’s Knowledge Sea was like a purgatory, with evil spirits and ghosts everywhere, their cries and howls echoing across the sky. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Yang Kai would not believe that someone in this world could have such a horrifying Knowledge Sea.
[How is this a Knowledge Sea? It’s clearly Hell.]
A group of foolish small ghosts sensed the presence of a strange aura and together, pounced at Yang Kai; however, he destroyed all of them with a swing of his sabre before they could get close to him. Shaman Chei, who was snooping secretly, was appalled and eyed the long sabre with a complicated gaze, instinctively afraid of it.
[What is this Shaman Artifact? Why is it so strong?]
On top of that, Yang Kai even brought it into his own Knowledge Sea. How was that possible? There should not be such a majestic Shaman Artifact in this world!
Although the ghosts in his Knowledge Sea were also born out of living beings, they were nourished and refined by Chei himself, and ordinary ghosts were incomparable to them at all. They were capable of tearing up and consuming the Soul Avatar of even a Shaman King.
However, under the light swing of this sabre, Shaman Chei could clearly feel the fear the ghosts in his Knowledge Sea had, as if they were mice meeting a cat, not daring to get close to Yang Kai.
Holding the sabre in one hand, Yang Kai looked around and sneered, “Playing hide and seek? Shaman Chei, Shaman Chei, you are a Shaman King, aren’t you? Don’t be such a disappointment.”
Shaman Chei ignored him as no fool was capable of becoming a Shaman King. He would not dare to reveal himself before he understood what the long sabre Shaman Artifact was.
As if he could see through Shaman Chei’s inner fears, Yang Kai raised the sabre, flicked his wrist and declared, “This is the Soul Splitting sabre. It doesn’t harm the physique, but is instead designed to wound the Soul. Allowing this Young Master to enter your Knowledge Sea was your biggest mistake. So, now that you understand, Shaman Chei, come out and accept your death. This Young Master will show you mercy and make it quick for you.”
[Doesn’t harm the physique, but instead damages the Soul?] Shaman Chei did not want to believe such nonsense, but after what he witnessed, he had to admit that his opponent was right. This was definitely the most wicked Shaman Artifact he had ever seen.
“Good, good, good, you’re not showing yourself, right? Then just continue hiding!” Yang Kai sneered, holding up the Soul Splitting sabre as he poured Spiritual Energy into it before slashing downwards.
A massive sabre made of light that could tear apart this Knowledge Sea emerged. The sabre of light swung forward and the countless ghosts that tried to block it were all killed on the spot. Even Shaman Chei, who was hiding in the dark, felt excruciating pain, like his head was being torn apart.
This was his Knowledge Sea, so even the smallest damage Yang Kai caused here would affect him. Although this level of injury was not too big a deal, it would not be fine if this continued on.
Shaman Chei’s face turned deadly pale when Yang Kai slashed the Soul Splitting sabre everywhere like a madman, cackling wildly, “Do you like this? How about this? What about this!?”
Of course, there was no way Shaman Chei would ‘like’ anything Yang Kai did.
Shaman Chei could feel great pain with every slash of the sabre, which made his Soul Avatar shudder.
He knew that it was pointless to hide anymore, because it would be a disaster to allow this madman to continue destroying his Knowledge Sea, so Shaman Chei finally could not help but shout, “Enough!”
When his words fell, he appeared in front of Yang Kai and slightly raised his hand to block Yang Kai’s attack.
Although the Soul Splitting sabre was extremely strange and possessed the ability to tear apart his Knowledge Sea, this was his world where he dominated everything. If they really had to start a fight here, they most probably would end up causing destruction to both sides.
He was not powerless to strike back.
“Don’t you like to hide? Just carry on hiding then!” Yang Kai pointed the sabre at Shaman Chi mockingly.
“Scram!” Shaman Chei ordered him to leave with a cold face. It was not a good thing for his Knowledge Sea to be invaded by an outsider as it was not only the home of his Soul, but also the hiding place of all his secrets. No one would want their Knowledge Sea to be spied on.
“Beg. You can try to beg me to see if I am willing to leave,” Yang Kai grinned. His smug face triggered Shaman Chei, causing his anger to boil up like a volcano that was going to erupt.
“Get out!” Shaman Chei glared at Yang Kai coldly.
Yang Kai curled his lip, “You’re the one who wanted to collect my Soul, but now you want me to leave? You should really make up your mind!”
Shaman Chei slightly narrowed his eyes, and announced lightly, “It seems that you want this Shaman to kick you out. I hope that you can handle this Shaman’s wrath!”
In this short conversation, he realized that if he wanted to drive out this Shaman Grandmaster, he had to do it himself. After all, it was not easy for Yang Kai to gain an upper hand, so how could he let go of this opportunity? Shaman Chei spared no more effort trying to talk with him and decided to expel him even if he would hurt himself in the process. Yang Kai’s presence here was a threat to Shaman Chei’s life, so some sacrifices were acceptable.
After speaking, Shaman Chei collapsed and integrated into the Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn as he understood that Shaman Chei was planning to fight him to the death.
For a split second, the space solidified, and a huge repulsive force came crashing towards Yang Kai. It reflected Shaman Chei’s power as the master of this Knowledge Sea.
If one was capable of invading the Knowledge Sea of another, they could cause great damage to the opponent; however, entering another person’s Knowledge Sea would mean fighting against an opponent who controlled the whole battlefield. Therefore, it was not common for this kind of thing to happen. Only someone with an overwhelming advantage in strength would dare invade the Knowledge Sea of another.
But then again, if there was such a huge gap in strength, there would naturally be no need to use this method to kill the enemy.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai sensed the pressure around him increase, and felt that he was going to be squeezed out of the world.
He forced himself to stand firm, but was barely holding on despite his best efforts.
Seeing that he was about to be expelled by Shaman Chei, Yang Kai suddenly took action. With a flash in his eyes, the Soul Splitting Sabre buzzed and burst into a beam of light, “I will deliver you a gift. I hope that you will like it!” He shouted as he slashed down.
“How is this possible!?” Shaman Chei’s voice was mixed with both surprise and anger as the power of this slash was almost double of what he had experienced before.
Being caught off guard, Shaman Chei failed to protect himself against it and his defences were instantly torn apart. His Soul was slashed, and he felt unbearable pain from the attack.
Yang Kai saw the whole world shake as he was expelled out of Shaman Chi’s Knowledge Sea. The next moment, a pitch-black light shrouded him, and when he managed to dispel the cloud of darkness, there was not a trace of Shaman Chei.
He had escaped.
“Smart move!” Yang Kai snorted coldly and did not chase after him recklessly. Thanks to his Soul Technique, Heaven Severing Slash, he was finally able to repel Shaman Chei.
Shaman Chei obviously noticed the situation was growing dire so he used a distraction and took the opportunity to escape.
If he stayed, it would definitely not end well for him.
Yang Kai sighed, located his body, and immediately returned to it, not daring to leave his Soul Avatar exposed.
When he opened his physical eyes and looked up, he saw that he was being held in Tiea’s arms. It seemed that Tiea had noticed that his Soul had left his body, and had come to guard him.
“How are you?” Tiea asked with concern.
Yang Kai shook his head and tried to stand up; however, he felt dizzy and fell back into her arms. Wryly smiling, he muttered, “I’m not dead yet.”
Tiea looked at Yang Kai with a look of strange disbelief. It was a miracle for a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster to badly wound a Shaman King, and although he also paid a price for it, the consequences were obviously not too serious.
After not seeing him for one month, he had become a Shaman Grandmaster.
[Just how does he cultivate?]
Tiea’s heart was full of questions.
“Where are the villagers?” Yang Kai laid down and asked after recovering some strength.
“They’re safe,” Tiea replied. She had taken the villagers out of the Blue South Village through the underground tunnel earlier, and after everything was settled, she came back to check on Yang Kai’s situation, just so happening to witness Yang Kai’s Soul leaving his body and immediately moving to protect his body.
“Call them back. It should be fine now.” Yang Kai let out a breath.
A Shaman King of the Bone Devouring Clan came, but was forced to retreat in the end. The Bone Devouring Clan would certainly not make any moves for a time now unless a more powerful Shaman King or the Shaman Saint was willing to take action.
However, a Shaman Saint would not even care about such trivial things and it would not really help much if other Shaman Kings of the Bone Devouring Clan came. After using his trump card, Shaman Chei, whose strength was comparable to a High-Rank Shaman King, was incapable of taking down Yang Kai, so what could other Shaman Kings do when they came?
Moreover, as long as Yang Kai was given time, he would grow stronger. If he met those Shaman Kings next time, he would definitely be able to handle them more easily than before.
While speaking to Tiea, Yang Kai suddenly frowned and looked in a certain direction.
Tiea obviously noticed something too and also looked towards the direction Yang Kai was staring, immediately remarking with a wary face, “Someone else is approaching!”
Yang Kai’s face darkened and secretly kept a sharp lookout.
Blue South Village was just a small village, so on most days, it was basically isolated from the world with few outsiders visiting. The only reason Shaman Chei could even find this place was because of Shaman Chi.
A man soon appeared after Yang Kai drove Shaman Chei away, so it was hard to guarantee that this newcomer wasn’t an ally of the latter. If he was a Shaman King too, they would be in deep trouble.
Tiea certainly thought of this too and her pretty face turned slightly pale.
But soon, she heard a sigh of relief from Yang Kai.
“What’s wrong?” Tiea turned to him.
“It’s just a Shaman Master. Don’t worry, maybe he is just passing by.”
After listening to Yang Kai, Tiea could not help breathing out a sigh of relief.
The Shaman Master was obviously not just passing by, however, because after a short time, he flew straight towards Yang Kai and Tiea.
A moment later, an honest-looking Ancient Barbarian appeared in front of Yang Kai, hovering in mid-air.
“Was someone fighting here just now?” The Shaman Master looked around and asked from above.
The traces of the previous battle were still there, and although he could not judge how strong the people in the previous battle were, he felt a little shocked by the residual fluctuations here.
It was clearly a high-level battle, which was not something he could involve himself in. Perhaps just the fallout from such a conflict would be enough to extinguish his Soul.
When he thought about it, he hurriedly turned to Yang Kai and Tiea.
Yang Kai revealed a weak expression on his face, the Shaman Strength from his body pulsing slightly which allowed this Ancient Barbarian to see his cultivation clearly.
“A Shaman Grandmaster?” The man was taken aback and immediately flew down from the sky.
Before this, this man had thought that there would be no Masters in this remote place. Therefore, he did not really care about showing a haughty attitude. After realizing that Yang Kai was a Shaman Grandmaster, however, he dared not act impudently.
“Greetings to Sir and Madame!”
Tiea supported Yang Kai to stand up and looked at this newcomer with a frown, only nodding after a short pause, “You don’t need to be so polite.”
After hearing this, the Shaman Master straightened up and asked curiously, “May I know… which village Sir and Madame are from?”
He did not know who Yang Kai and Tiea were, but since they were Shaman Grandmasters, they must be people of great status. This was especially important to him, who was sent as a messenger of his Clan to connect with their other smaller villages. He might not be familiar with all the Masters of the surrounding Clans, but he should at least know of them.
“Blue South Village!” Yang Kai answered.
“Huh?” The Shaman Master was stunned, staring at Yang Kai doubtfully, as if he could not believe his words, “Blue… Blue South Village?”
Since when did Blue South Village have two Shaman Grandmasters? From what he remembered, the Village Chief of Blue South Village was just a trivial Low-Rank Shaman Apprentice. Therefore, Yang Kai’s words were a little unbelievable to him, but there was also no reason for a Shaman Grandmaster to lie.
He then asked in a daze, “Is Sir from Blue South Village?”
“That’s right.” Yang Kai looked at him, “What’s the matter?”
“Then where is Shaman Li?”
Shaman Li was the name of the Village Chief, so when he asked, Yang Kai immediately understood that this man knew the Village Chief and he probably was here for the Village Chief too.
Yang Kai’s face slightly darkened as he replied, “The Village Chief is not here anymore. From now on, this Shaman is the Village Chief!”
“Shaman Li…” The man was slightly stunned, but he did not dwell too much on it. After all, Shaman Li was already old, and his cultivation was not high, so he was not destined to live long anyway. Perhaps his time had arrived and he had returned to the arms of the Barbarian Gods. Thinking so, the man changed the topic swiftly, “How may I address Sir?”
“Shaman Niu!”
The man nodded, and declared loudly with a solemn face, “Shaman Niu, I was ordered by Sir Shaman King to inform you to order all the villagers of Blue South Village to gather in King City within five days!”
“An order from the Shaman King?” Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
Although the South Barbarian Clan was a powerful force amongst the Ancient Barbarian Race, it still had a Shaman King presiding over it. As far as Yang Kai knew, this Shaman King was a High-Rank Shaman King, and with his protection, King City held the same position as the Frost and Snow City of Frost and Snow Clan. All the small villages and Village Chiefs of the South Barbarian Clan lived under the jurisdiction of King City, with the Shaman King having absolute authority over these small villages.
Yang Kai sensed something unusual about this sudden order and vaguely felt that big things were about to happen.
“Yes, it is a direct order from Sir Shaman King.” The man replied solemnly, “At first, I came here to inform Shaman Li, but since you are the Village Chief of Blue South Village now, telling you would be the same.”
Yang Kai slightly narrowed his eyes as he asked, “Is there a Clan at war with us?”
During the ancient times, it was common for the Ancient Barbarian Race to fight amongst themselves in order to compete for the land and for their own Clan’s interests.
Moreover, once this happened, all personnel and troops would be included, no one could avoid this draft.
So, as soon as he heard this order, Yang Kai subconsciously felt that some Clan wanted to wage war against the South Barbarian Clan, and the first Clan that came to his mind was the cruel and inhuman Bone Devouring Clan. In that case, Yang Kai did not mind getting involved.
Yang Kai regretted that he could not kill Shaman Chei today after all.
The messenger smiled wryly, then shook his head slowly as he responded in a low voice, “It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it’s only a Clan War.”
Yang Kai was stunned, “What could be more serious?”
After a moment of hesitation, the messenger answered, “This matter is supposed to be confidential and should not be leaked; however, since both Sir and Madame are Shaman Grandmasters and would definitely be summoned by Sir Shaman King when you reach King City, it will do no harm to inform you in advance.”
After saying so, he suddenly lowered his voice and declared solemnly, “The Demon Race has invaded!”
“Wha—what? Can you say that again?” Yang Kai thought he had heard wrongly.
“The Demon Race has launched an invasion!” The messenger repeated with an extremely solemn expression.
Yang Kai was stupefied for a long while, and only after a long silence did he ask with shock still visible on his face, “Seriously?”
The messenger replied, “Yes. Three major Clans have already been destroyed.”
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn in an instant. Although the Ancient Barbarian Race was sparsely populated, there should still be at least a few hundred thousand members of a major Clans. Three Clans being destroyed meant that a million people might have already died. This was truly Earth-shaking news.
The invasion of the Demon Race.
This sentence was not strange to Yang Kai, yet it was not familiar either. He learnt from the knowledge inherited by Senior Qing that this land had been invaded by the Demon Race more than once. The most recent incident was thirty thousand years ago. At that time, Senior Qing was just an Evergreen Tree that had gained consciousness and was working hard to absorb nutrients from the Earth to cultivate.
He witnessed the world-changing transformation of the land after the invasion of the Demon Race, where countless people died before his eyes. He also saw that many mighty people of this land sacrificed their lives to stop the progression of the invasion of the Demon Race, and countless later generations took up the positions of the fallen. They continued to fight with their precious lives for nearly a hundred years before eventually triumphing over the Demon Race.
Wails and cries filled the land during that hundred-year war, and it took another a thousand years after it ended for the vast mountains and rivers to gradually restore their vitality.
But now, the scene of thirty thousand years ago was happening again, and no one knew what was going to happen this time.
The Demon Race was just a general term and Yang Kai did not know what they looked like, only that they had a different form from humans or barbarians and were dreadfully violent. In comparison, the Bone Devouring Clan were like gentle lambs.
However, it was rumoured that the reason why the Bone Devouring Clan was different among the Barbarian Race was that they were descended from Demons. During the war thirty thousand years ago, some Demons defiled women, who gave birth to offspring. These were the ancestors of the Bone Devouring Clan.
Rumours were just rumours, however, so no one knew whether they were true or not. Especially in this era, when such rumours had all but been lost to the long annals of history. The truth remained unknown to even the descendants themselves, with only one, Monster Tree Senior Qing, who had stood for tens of thousands of years, knowing the truth.
Nevertheless, the rumor did not start from nothing. Perhaps, countless Ancient Barbarians had proposed to exterminate the Bone Devouring Clan because of this. It was just that until now, the descendants had no idea why they had to destroy the Bone Devouring Clan and simply thought it was because they were vicious cannibals.
The invasion of the Demon Race was definitely a catastrophe for the world!
No one knew where the Demon Race came from. Even Senior Qing, who was the most knowledgeable, had no clue about this. Thirty thousand years ago, the Demon Race seemed to just appear overnight. They were fearless and unscrupulous, doing whatever they pleased and killing as if it was their sole purpose in life.
The arduous war that lasted for a hundred years had severely damaged the foundation of this beautiful world, and nearly wiped out all sentient life.
And now, thirty thousand years later, another Demon Race invasion was happening. Yang Kai could foresee the incoming catastrophe, where bodies would pile up like mountains and rivers of blood would flow.
The grudges between him and Bone Devouring Clan were nothing compared to this.
“Sir…Sir…?” Seeing that Yang Kai was lost in thought, the messenger called him several times while smiling helplessly.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and replied, “Within five days, I will take the villagers of Blue South Village to King City!”
The messenger was overjoyed and saluted with a fist over his chest, “Many thanks, Sir. I have to inform the other surrounding villages, so I will leave first.”
Yang Kai nodded and did not try to keep him. After seeing him off, he turned to Tiea and asked, “How much do you know about the Demon Race?”
Tiea replied, “I don’t know anything, what do you know?”
Thinking about it, she was only a teenager, so even if she was raised by Senior Qing, she couldn’t know too much; after all, why would Senior Qing tell her about the Demon Race when it was basically irrelevant history?
“Rest in the village for today. Tomorrow you will be returning to Senior Qing,” after delivering this order, Yang Kai turned around and walked towards the village.
The Demon Race invasion would cause a huge wave that consumed the entire world. If there was still a peaceful land in the world, it would be the Frost and Snow City that was guarded by Senior Qing. It was perhaps the last safe haven.
“Are you trying to drive me away?” Tiea retorted with an angry stare, “Are you really driving me away?”
“Think what you like!” Yang Kai did not bother to pay attention to her, “By the way, gather Ah Hu and the others here. I have something to say to them.”
Tiea stomped her feet angrily and left with her teeth clenched.
After a while, the villagers returned to the village and were delighted to see that Ah Niu was safe, though his face was pale.
But not long after they were relieved, Yang Kai announced solemnly, “Everyone, listen. A messenger from King City has just informed me that the Demon Race has begun an invasion. Three Clans of our Barbarian Race have been destroyed already and Sir Shaman King has ordered all the villagers of our Blue South Village to gather in King City within five days to wait for orders.”
As soon as he made the announcement, the two hundred villagers fell silent.
“What is the Demon Race?” Ah Hu questioned.
Everyone wanted to know too, because they had never heard this term before.
Yang Kai answered, “I don’t really know much about the Demon Race. I only know that they are an enemy that are a hundred, or even a thousand times more violent than the Bone Devouring Clan. They are a living disaster, and the greatest enemy of our Barbarian Race, one that we cannot coexist with beneath the same sky!”
[A thousand times more violent than the Bone Devouring Clan?]
The villagers’ faces changed at his words. They knew how ferocious the Bone Devouring Clan was because they were caught by them before, so was it not crazy that someone was even a thousand times more violent than them?
“Although it was the order from King City, I won’t insist that you come! I will be departing for King City tomorrow, so whoever wants to join me, I will bring you with me tomorrow. For those who don’t, just stay in the village.” Yang Kai’s voice was not loud, but it resounded strongly in everyone’s ears, “I will not lie to you. This will be very dangerous, and chances are those who come will not come back! Think carefully before you decide.”
After his speech, Yang Kai didn’t wait for the villagers to respond before going straight to his house and stuffing a handful of healing pills into his mouth.
Although the battle with Shaman Chei was dangerous, his injuries weren’t too severe. It should not be a problem after recuperating overnight. Moreover, he benefited a lot from this high-intensity battle. If this kind of battle was repeated several times, it would be much more effective than him cultivating in retreat.
He readily accepted the order of King City because he intended to meet the so-called Demon Race in battle to enhance his own growth.
The next day, when Yang Kai walked out of his wooden house, two hundred pairs of eyes fixed on him simultaneously. All the men, women, young and old villagers were gathered here. Although there was a large number of people, they were all silent and unified.
The petite girl, Tiea, was standing at the head of the crowd, looking particularly eye-catching.
Yang Kai swept his eyes across the crowd, and every villager who met his eyes showed a simple and honest smile.
They probably did not know what the Demon Race was, and had no idea what the invasion of the Demon Race meant, but they all knew that once they left this village, they might die in a foreign land and never return.
Ah Niu had already made this clear yesterday.
But no one chose to remain. The Ancient Barbarian Race was destined to move forward bravely and never glance back in regret.
There was sadness in Yang Kai’s eyes, but he did not say much and instead just waved his hand, “Let’s go!”
He led the two hundred villagers to King City like a well-trained army.
With the strength of the Barbarians’ legs, they would take at least three days to reach King City. If it was an ordinary Shaman who led these two hundred people, they would probably have to travel at full speed in order to reach their destination within the specified time.
But Yang Kai was a Shaman Grandmaster now and was also proficient in various Shamanic Spells. With the application of the Light Body Spell, the movement speed of the villagers immediately increased by about thirty percent.
Although they were fast, everyone was calm and moved in an orderly fashion.
After two days, Yang Kai had led the villagers to King City, and his group of two hundred people had expanded to a thousand people!
It was because they met several groups from other villages along the journey. There were Shamans in those villages too, but they were incomparable to a Shaman Grandmaster like Yang Kai. Among them, the strongest one was just a High-Rank Shaman Apprentice, while the rest were just Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Shaman Apprentices.
The strength of these villages was almost the same as that of Blue South Village when the old Village Chief Shaman Li was still alive.
The Barbarian Race had a custom of revering strength, and since all of them were South Barbarian Clansmen, and Yang Kai was a Shaman Grandmaster, these villages naturally accepted him as their leader.
After witnessing Yang Kai’s Shamanic Spells that could completely bless an army of a thousand people, the Shaman Apprentices respected him even more. These villages had some contact with each other, so they were quite familiar with each other, and after gathering together, they soon became one unified group.
After this war, if these thousand people were not killed, Yang Kai could even establish a small independent Clan with his strength and prestige.
A thousand troops stood in front of King City. Looking from a distance, the structure of King City was no worse than that of Frost and Snow City, the only difference being that Frost and Snow City had the Evergreen Divine Tree guarding it, while the South Barbarian Clan had no such guardian deity.
Many Ancient Barbarians gathered in an open area outside King City in groups of hundreds to thousands. Each group had a Shaman in it, and their strengths varied greatly. Obviously, they all came after receiving orders from King City. It was impossible for all of them to enter King City itself though, as there were too many of them arriving at once. King City did not have enough space to house them.
Therefore, everyone could only wait outside, sleeping and eating in the open area, but such a lifestyle was nothing to the Ancient Barbarian Race.
Yang Kai and his people arrived neither too late nor too early. The places near King City had been occupied by other villages, so Yang Kai scanned over the region with his Divine Sense and then led his group to an average-sized space that he found.
Upon arriving at this place, without any further instructions, the team of a thousand people got to work. Some took out their rations, and some started fires while preparing to cook. Everyone was working efficiently.
Just then, a Shaman Master flew out of King City, and shouted while flying through the sky, “Sir Shaman King has ordered all Shaman Grandmasters to gather inside King City.”
He shouted several times, attracting everyone’s attention.
Immediately, a Shaman Grandmaster flew out of the crowd and straight into King City. As if a chain reaction was triggered after someone took the initiative, Shaman Grandmasters flew out from the crowd one after another, like swallows flying into the arms of King City.
Yang Kai glanced at them, then looked back and instructed, “I’ll go over. You should stand watch over here.”
Tiea nodded lightly.
Although she was also a Shaman Grandmaster, she belonged to the Nomad Clan, so it was inconvenient for her to appear on this kind of occasion.
King City was huge, but although Yang Kai had set out later, he still arrived earlier than most. Like the other Shaman Grandmasters, he landed in front of a palace of King City and waited quietly.
Many had gathered here as, due to the invasion of the Demon Race, the entire South Barbarian Clan had been assembled by the order of the Shaman King. As such, Shaman Grandmasters who were rarely seen were now like cabbages and radish in this square.
Yang Kai investigated with his Divine Sense and found that there were at least a hundred Shaman Grandmasters assembled here, and this was definitely not all of them as there should be more still on the way here, having failed to reach King City in time.
The Shaman Grandmasters dared not to intrude into the Shaman King’s palace rashly after being summoned and could only wait outside. Those Shaman Grandmasters who knew each other gathered together in groups to discuss the situation of the invasion of the Demon Race in hushed whispers.
They had obviously gotten some information from the messenger too, but no one knew what the Demon Race was. Therefore, the more they discussed, the more confused they got. Nevertheless, such a grand summons from King City had made everyone feel a little uneasy.
Everyone knew that the battle this time around was probably going to be unprecedented.
Just when Yang Kai was feeling bored, a dark burly shadow suddenly appeared and shaded him like a mountain.
Yang Kai turned around and saw a wide and strong chest covered in black hair.
“Are you also from our South Barbarian Clan?” The master of the dark shadow looked down at Yang Kai and asked in a rumbling voice.
The sound of discussion around them abruptly softened a lot as many Shaman Grandmasters turned their eyes to them, watching with great interest.
Previously, when everyone gathered here, many had looked at Yang Kai curiously; after all, his body shape seemed a little different from theirs and was quite out of place, like a goat appearing among a group of tigers.
It was hard for such a weird person to not attract attention. There were very few clansmen with this kind of body in the Ancient Barbarian Race. Even Shaman Li, the former Village Chief of Blue South Village, who was quite old, still had a burly physique similar to the one he possessed in his younger years.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai did exude an aura of a Shaman Grandmaster, so even if the others were curious, they did not care too much until someone questioned Yang Kai face to face.
Ever since he came to this ancient world, it had become a habit for Yang Kai to look up while talking to people, as if everyone wanted him to look up to them, which made him feel quite uncomfortable.
This time, however, he simply stared at the man’s black hairy chest and nodded, “En.”
“Ha!” The man laughed, “Little brat, I’m talking to you, look up at me.”
“My neck is sore, how about you squat down and talk to me?” Yang Kai shook his head and replied casually.
The burly Shaman Grandmaster’s aura abruptly became cold as someone nearby laughed at him, “Shaman Tu, this guy is underestimating you! Teach him an unforgettable lesson quickly!”
The Ancient Barbarian Race were basically all hot-tempered, so it was natural for fights to break out. Everyone felt bored standing here doing nothing anyways, so they were looking forward to some excitement to kill some time.
All of a sudden, everyone’s attention focused on them, anticipating a good show.
“I don’t need you to tell me!” Shaman Tu turned to bellow at the person who spoke to him, then turned back to Yang Kai and snorted coldly, “What? Are you afraid of looking at me?
Yang Kai continued to stare at the bundle of black hair on this man’s chest and remarked, “I prefer others to talk to me with their heads down.”
Shaman Tu was stunned, but soon he understood what Yang Kai meant, and retorted angrily, “Little brat, are you looking for a fight!?”
Just when he finished the sentence, he threw his plate-sized fist at Yang Kai.
Instead of being shocked, the onlookers were all overjoyed. Some of them even whistled, looking extremely excited. The Ancient Barbarian Race was known for its combative nature, and moreover, everyone here was a Shaman Grandmaster, so this punch would not be lethal. At most, this scrawny man would bleed a bit, and seeing blood in a fight had always been the Barbarians’ favourite pass-time.
Yang Kai remained unmoved, however, as if he did not realize his opponent was attacking him, the wind of the punch whistling as it approached him, sending his hair flying.
At the last moment, the palace doors that had been closed the whole time suddenly opened and a Barbarian Warrior with a steel blade hanging on his waist came out from inside and bellowed, “Sir Shaman King asks all of you to enter.”
The huge fist stopped abruptly less than a finger’s width from Yang Kai’s head. Shaman Tu’s face contorted with anger, and it took great effort to suppress his wish to push his fist forward.
“You got lucky. If you dare to do this again next time, it won’t be just a simple lesson,” he remarked as he withdrew his hand.
After that, he turned around and left.
He dared not ignore the Shaman King’s order. Although he could have let his punch continue, his loss would outweigh his gain if his action offended the Shaman King. Even though the Ancient Barbarian Race was simple-minded, they weren’t stupid. They clearly knew how to weigh profits and losses.
The group of more than one hundred Shaman Grandmasters walked towards the hall orderly and quietly, the whispering and discussion from before ceasing entirely.
Yang Kai was the last in line, and he intentionally shot a glance at the Barbarian Warrior as he walked by.
He could feel the insanely vigorous vitality coming from this Barbarian Warrior’s body; Ah Hu and the others were nothing compared to him. Yang Kai vaguely felt that this Barbarian Warrior was someone that he should not mess with.
Even an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster may not have a good end even after opposing such a man.
But Yang Kai did not notice any fluctuation of Shaman Strength from this warrior, which meant that he was purely a Body Cultivator.
Sure enough, the three thousand Grand Daos all led to the Heavens. It was rumoured that someone was able to achieve Sainthood through Body Tempering in ancient times. Yang Kai did not care much about this before, but after he saw this Barbarian Warrior, he believed that achieving Sainthood through Body Tempering was not just a rumor.
It was said that one of the four Great Shaman Saints achieved Sainthood through Body Tempering.
The Barbarian Warrior naturally sensed Yang Kai’s unbridled gaze and widened his eyes as he stared straight back at Yang Kai with a pair of eyes as sharp as two blades, actually causing the latter’s eyes to sting slightly.
Yang Kai smiled lightly and nodded as he passed by.
The Barbarian Warrior stared at his back for a long time before retracting his gaze and laughing softly, “Interesting!”
Although he was not a Shaman, he had tempered his body to an extreme degree, and as the Guard Captain of King City, his strength was not weaker than that of a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster. Compared to a Shaman Grandmaster, what he lacked was just Shamanic Spells that were used to bless his clansmen. If they had to fight, none of the Shaman Grandmasters here could be his opponent. However, this extremely scrawny Shaman Grandmaster actually sparked his fighting spirit.
Those who could ignite a desire to fight were powerful opponents who could not be one-sidedly crushed!
This was evident when Yang Kai actually looked into his eyes calmly. Although there was no blessing of a Shamanic Spell in his stare, it was the same moment when his fighting spirit burst forth. It was impossible for any Shaman Grandmaster to withstand this kind of pressure, but Yang Kai did it without any difficulty.
[What an interesting Shaman Grandmaster. His physique looks weak and small, but there is unimaginable power hidden inside of it. That Shaman Tu should thank me, if not for my timely appearance, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid a great public humiliation…]
…..
Inside the main hall, a man whose aura was as deep as the sea stood there quietly, hands behind his back, waiting silently for everyone’s arrival.
Even after the hundred Shamans entered the hall, it was some time before this man turned around, his brow furrowed, seemingly worried about something.
He lifted his head to look at the crowd, and introduced himself loudly, “This King is Shaman Dang, the sixth Shaman King of the South Barbarian Clan. Some of you may know me already, some may have only heard of me, while others have no idea who I am, but it doesn’t matter, because starting today, we will often need to meet each other.”
“Greetings, Sir Shaman King!” Everyone placed a fist over their chest and bowed in salute.
Yang Kai was there too, his eyes flickering slightly. The sixth Shaman King, in other words, among the Shaman Kings of the South Barbarian Clan, this man was ranked sixth in terms of strength. Furthermore, it was unknown how many Shaman Kings were under him.
Yang Kai only knew that the South Barbarian Clan lacked a Shaman Saint. There were only four Shaman Saints in the entire Ancient Barbarian Race, who each commanded the four largest Clans respectively. Among the South Barbarian Clan, the most powerful Shaman King was a High-Rank Shaman King, but Yang Kai did not know his name.
Most of his knowledge of the South Barbarian Clan was taught by the Village Chief, and as a Low-Rank Shaman Apprentice, the information that the Village Chief had was obviously limited.
“I believe everyone knows the reason for my summons. It’s because of the invasion of the Demon Race, which has already exterminated three clans!” Shaman Dang’s voice was deep and low, but it clearly reached everyone’s ears.
When he stated that the three Clans had been exterminated, the faces of the hundred Shaman Grandmasters turned solemn.
Each of these three Clans was not weaker than the South Barbarian Clan and were overseen by at least one High-Rank Shaman King and up to two hundred Shaman Grandmasters, with thousands to tens of thousand other Shamans, but they were still exterminated. In other words, if the South Barbarian Clan encountered this kind of enemy, their ending would be the same.
This matter was not only about the three destroyed Clans, but about the whole Ancient Barbarian Race.
“However, that news is already outdated!” Shaman Dang’s words seemed to raise thousands of ripples, and when the people looked at him bewildered, he continued, “During the few days that we took to gather, the Billowing Clan was also exterminated!”
“What?”
“Really?”
“Even the Billowing Clan was destroyed.”
“It is said that the First Shaman King of Billowing Clan was the most likely to break through to become the fifth Shaman Saint within a hundred years. What happened to him?”
All the Shaman Grandmasters exclaimed one after another, and their faces turned ugly; however, they could not be blamed, because the overall strength of the Billowing Clan was stronger than most of the Clans of the Ancient Barbarian Race, only inferior to the four top Clans.
The news of the extermination of the Billowing Clan came too suddenly, and it was natural for them to be appalled.
Shaman Dang continued in a deep voice, “The Billowing Clan had no survivors. Not a single one!”
The hall was so silent that even a needle could be heard if it fell to the ground. No survivors, which meant everyone died, including the powerful Shaman King who was the most likely to become a Shaman Saint.
War was near, and everyone’s confidence was shaken when they heard this news. Given that the Demon Race had destroyed the Billowing Clan, how horrifying could they be? Who could resist them?
Shaman Dang seemed to see through their thoughts, and pressed on, “The four Shaman Saints have started moving, and I believe their strength will be enough to cause significant damage to the Demon Race, but this war involves our entire Barbarian Race. Although the Shaman Saints are strong, we cannot place all the burden on them. All Barbarians must do their part, which is why King City urgently summoned all clansmen here.”
Everyone was relieved at the news that the Four Great Shaman Saints were taking action. Shaman Saints were the strongest existences in this world, and with their help, the invasion of the Demon Race could be restrained. However, Shaman Dang was right, this was a war involving the whole Barbarian Race. No one could avoid their responsibility. Although the Shaman Saints were powerful, in the end, there were only four of them.
“I believe that you might want to ask me what the Demon Race is, where they come from, and why they want to destroy our Barbarian Clans,” Shaman Dang swept his eyes across the audience, and continued in a deep voice, “This King wishes to tell you too, but he doesn’t know much about these things. Nevertheless, just remember that the Demon Race is the sworn enemy of our Barbarian Race, and there is no way for us to live under the same sky. As long as there is a single Barbarian still standing and drawing breath, the Demon Race will not be allowed to contaminate this land!”
The morale of the Shaman Grandmasters was greatly inspired by his words. They looked excited and were ready to fight to the death, as if they could not wait to fly to the battlefield, stain the blue sky bloody red, and use their lives to push back the invasion of the Demon Race.
Yang Kai observed them indifferently, thinking that the Ancient Barbarian Race was indeed simple-minded. There was not the slightest bewitchment in Shaman Dang’s words; they were just a simple declaration, but that was enough to resonate with these Shaman Grandmasters. If Shaman Dang had added some bewitchment to his words, perhaps it would have been even more effective.
“Sir, what do we do now?”
“Yes Sir, are we going to the battlefield now?”
“I can’t wait to see the power of the Demon Race.”
“Hahahaha, I hope the Demon Race won’t wet their pants when they see this Shaman!”
The group of Shaman Grandmasters started shouting and did not put the Demon Race that already destroyed four Clans in their eyes. Seeing this, Shaman Dang smiled lightly, “All of you will have the opportunity, and I hope you will remember what you said here today. However…” he suddenly turned solemn as he pressed on, “It is not the time yet. We have to wait for news from the Shaman Saints. Moreover, our South Barbarian Clan has not fully assembled yet. There are still many clansmen on their way here. If we are given more time, our South Barbarian Clan will definitely fare better; however, time does not wait for us. Your job now is simple. Help me organize the clansmen of the South Barbarian Clan. Each of you will recruit two to three thousand clansmen. Train them, and make them listen to your orders.”
There were hundreds of thousands of clansmen in the whole South Barbarian Clan.
Each Shaman Grandmaster had to recruit two to three thousand clansmen, which was just enough to use up all the people of the Clan; however, these clansmen were all from different villages, so trying to put them all together would inevitably lead to all kinds of conflicts. It would certainly take some time to adjust to each other, and this kind of matter had to be handled by a leader, which was the Shaman Grandmaster.
Yang Kai nodded lightly in agreement. It was not good for an organization to be a snake without a head. Two to three thousand people as a unit seemed to be an appropriate number, as it was neither too small nor too big, almost the limit that a Shaman Grandmaster could control.
There were about a thousand people under his lead now, so according to Shaman Dang, he would still have to recruit at least another thousand people. However, that was a simple task. All the clansmen would cooperate under the order of the Shaman King, and villagers without a powerful Shaman leader would definitely need to join a strong force. But this matter needed consensus from both sides. There were many Shaman Grandmasters gathered in King City now, so if he wanted to attract those scattered warriors to join him, he would need to show his capability first.
No one would want to follow an incapable Shaman Grandmaster.
Considering all this, Yang Kai swiftly came up with a plan.
Shaman Dang did not say much more as the main purpose of this meeting was to inform everyone of this task. Therefore, after announcing it, he gave a few words of advice before dismissing them.
All of a sudden, the hundred Shaman Grandmasters elbowed their way through and pushed themselves out of the hall. They obviously could not wait to recruit people under them as, once the war began, it would be safer to have more subordinates, so at this critical moment, no one was willing to lag behind others and wanted to use their own means to keep the rest here, so that they could pick the most powerful warriors for themselves first.
Only after everyone else left did Yang Kai walk steadily towards the exit.
“What’s your name?” Shaman Dang’s voice came from behind.
Yang Kai turned around, “Shaman Niu!” he answered, “I was born like this, but I am really from the South Barbarian Clan’s Blue South Village!”
Shaman Dang nodded, “It doesn’t matter if your body is small or big. You’re a Shaman Grandmaster nonetheless. If anyone doubts you next time, just tell them my name.”
Yang Kai was stunned, clueless as to why Shaman Dang concerned himself with this trivial matter, but he still replied with a nod, “Many thanks, Sir.”
“Go!” Shaman Dang waved his hand.
Then, Yang Kai walked out of the hall.
A moment later, the Guard Captain who stared at Yang Kai before came in and looked at Shaman Dang curiously.
Shaman Dang questioned, “What do you want to ask?”
The Guard Captain asked, “Sir, is there anything special about that man?”
He had obviously heard the conversation just now, so he did not understand why Sir Shaman King stopped Yang Kai intentionally to talk to him.
Shaman Dang pondered for a moment before replying, “Special! Of course he is very special! That’s a Shaman Grandmaster who is favoured by the Barbarian God.”
The Guard Captain frowned, “Isn’t anyone who can become a Shaman is favoured by the Barbarian God?”
Shaman Dang smiled lightly, “He is different. Before the winter last year, he was just an ordinary person, or even worse than an ordinary person.”
“What?” The Guard Captain was dumbfounded, “Sir, are you sure?”
A man, who was still an ordinary person last winter, managed to become a Shaman Grandmaster? How was that possible?
Shaman Dang replied, “When I was still a Shaman Grandmaster, I once guided a young man named Shaman Li in cultivation for a while, and that Shaman Li… was the previous Village Chief of Blue South Village.”
Shaman Li, the old Village Chief, had taken good care of Yang Kai and witnessed his astonishing rise, so he knew that a small place like Blue South Village could not provide a nurturing environment for the latter, a Shaman who had a promising future.
Therefore, he wrote a letter last winter and delivered it to King City by eagle, asking King City for permission to allow Yang Kai to continue his cultivation there.
At that time, the letter was written to Shaman Dang; after all, the two had a Master-Disciple relationship. Although they had not been in touch for a long time, the old Village Chief believed that Shaman Dang would not refuse, given the aptitude and talent of Ah Niu.
If the Bone Devouring Clan did not invade their village, Yang Kai would have gone to King City after winter under the arrangement of the Village Chief. Unfortunately, the Village Chief died due to the Bone Devouring Clan’s attack, and he did not even have the time to pass down his last will.
In fact, Shaman Dang was also very interested in the man mentioned in the letter by Village Chief Li, but the invasion of the Demon Race had caused him a lot of worries and he had no time to deal with this matter until he saw Yang Kai in the hall. He vaguely felt that he was somewhat similar to the man described by Shaman Li in the letter, which prompted him to ask about Yang Kai purposely. Without any surprise, the weak looking Shaman was indeed Shaman Niu from Blue South Village.
What’s more, he was already a Shaman Grandmaster!
Shaman Li mentioned in the letter that Shaman Niu was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior before winter; however, the latter actually managed to become a Shaman Grandmaster after one season.
Was this a miracle from the Barbarian Gods? At this crucial moment, with the invasion of the Demon Race, did the Barbarian Gods deem to grant their blessings to the Barbarian Race in this way?
Suddenly, Wu Dang recalled a saying he had once heard before.
[With the fall of every catastrophe, a saviour will rise.]
…..
King City was packed with people, everyone jostling each other in the crowd. It was no worse than any modern city Yang Kai had been to before.
He did not rush back to gather his people like the other Shaman Grandmasters though and instead wandered around King City alone.
Not long after, he went directly into a shop and negotiated something with the shop owner. After a long time, he walked out proudly, followed by the shop owner behind him with a gleeful smile on his face, addressing Yang Kai with a notably polite attitude, as if he had gained some great benefits.
Without stopping, Yang Kai went into another store, and a while later, the owner of that store also sent Yang Kai off respectfully with the same attitude.
After repeating the process for almost half a day, Yang Kai had gone in and out of dozens of shops, repeating this every time.
It was not until half a day later that Yang Kai did some calculations in his mind, and after nodding lightly, flew out of the city.
After a while, he flew back to the place where he had originally been stationed where he found Tiea standing there silently. When she noticed him coming, she just looked up and nodded gently.
Several Shaman Apprentices who were under him greeted him and looked anxiously at Yang Kai.
One of the older Shaman Apprentices asked, “Sir, where have you been? Why have you only now returned?”
“I went to take care of something, why? What’s the matter?”
The old Shaman Apprentice answered, “It seems that other Sirs are recruiting people. I heard that Sir Shaman King gave all Shaman Grandmasters an order to gather two to three thousand subordinates. Sir, you are back late and most of those strong warriors have already been recruited by others.”
“En, Sir Shaman King did pass down such an order,” Yang nodded.
The several Shaman Apprentices immediately became anxious when they heard this, with the old Shaman Apprentice continuing, “Then what are you waiting for, Sir? Since you’re back now, you should quickly start recruiting. I think there are still some strong warriors left in other villages who seem to be having a dilemma over which Shaman Grandmaster to join. Sir, you might as well invite them too. We may stand a chance to persuade them to join us.”
“Yes, Sir, it should be done as soon as possible. If we continue to delay, only the weak warriors will be left.”
The other Shaman Apprentices began to persuade Yang Kai one after another.
They merged with Blue South Village that was led by Yang Kai while making their way here and did not intend to take refuge under the other Shaman Grandmasters now, but they were still worried that their leader was too calm and did not seem to be doing anything.
Everyone understood the current situation. Only with more strong warriors could they gain certain advantages in the future war. In the past half a day, the hundred Shaman Grandmasters had been wandering around, constantly drawing the Barbarian Warriors from various villages to their sides, but nothing was done on their own side, which was very strange.
They could not help feeling that they have fallen into a crisis under this tense atmosphere.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry!” Yang Kai waved his hand with a steady face, which really made the several Shaman Apprentices speechless as their blood boiled for a moment.
Then, they turned around and looked at the other groups. Those Shaman Grandmasters spared no effort in showing off their capabilities to win others over. Some of them even directly performed their powerful Shamanic Spells to attract people’s attention. Seeing the strong warriors approaching those Shaman Grandmasters one by one, they felt like their vitality was slipping away from their fingers.
However, since Yang Kai, who was their Shaman Grandmaster leader, was in no hurry, then it was useless for them to be anxious; after all, they were just a few Shaman Apprentices who could not play an important role in such an occasion, especially when they were not familiar with Yang Kai.
[It is indeed true that young men are unreliable.] The several older Shaman Apprentices exchanged looks with the same thought.
Time passed slowly in suffering. The scattered Barbarian Warriors gathered around King City were gradually recruited by the teams led by the Shaman Grandmasters one after another and the news of the invasion of the Demon Race gradually spread among the crowd. All the Ancient Barbarians began to unite as one, and some took the initiative to take refuge under those powerful Shaman Grandmasters without even having to be drawn in.
No one was interested in Yang Kai though, who looked so young and weak, while Yang Kai himself did not seem to have any intention to win over anyone either. After returning from King City, he just sat cross-legged side by side with Tiea and cultivated, as if all the bustle around him had nothing to do with him.
This made the several Shaman Apprentices under him feel more and more helpless.
When evening fell, however, a voice as striking as thunder suddenly boomed, “Where is Sir Shaman Niu of Blue South Village?”
With just a sentence, the noisy open field suddenly quieted down, and everyone darted their eyes over to him. They wondered who was the one looking for Shaman Niu of Blue South Village. Everyone had by now heard about Blue South Village, as it was just a tiny village, so how powerful would a Shaman be when he was born and raised in such a place?
How dare a Shaman from a small village be titled as Sir in this place where so many Shaman Grandmasters were assembled?
However, when the people saw the things carried by the owner of that voice, their eyes lit up and their breathing became rapid.
The man was carrying a lot of Shaman Artifacts made of refined steel, which shimmered in dazzling light in the afterglow of the sunset.
Those were the real weapons! By the looks of the sharp blades and heavy hilts of these weapons, if one was hit by them, he would be split in half easily. Countless Barbarian Warriors instantly felt shameful looking down at their own stone spears and axes.
Among the Barbarian Race, only the truly powerful warriors were qualified to wield such weapons, because these weapons were not widely available to ordinary people. They must exchange something of considerable value for these weapons, but what valuable things could the Barbarian Warriors from small outlying villages have?
In the whole Southern Barbarian Clan, only in King City could such weapons be crafted, no other village had such ability.
Therefore, they just looked like a group of country bumpkins with their stone spears and axes when this man carrying so many metal weapons walked in on them.
It was not over yet though as behind this man were a group of fully armed men, each of them carrying weapons on their backs and in their arms, shaking the ground with each step they took.
“I’m here!” Yang Kai flew into the air and waved to the side, “Over here!”
The Barbarian leader looked up and grinned when he saw Yang Kai, showing a mouthful of snow-white teeth. Then, he hurried the people behind him to speed up to Yang Kai.
“Eh… What’s happening with this guy!?” Not far away, a Shaman Grandmaster whose body was as strong as a steel tower, darted his eyes at Yang Kai, flabbergasted.
[He is Shaman Niu!?]
The abnormal situation here certainly attracted the attention of many people, and even many of the Shaman Grandmasters flew into the air and looked down to see what was going on with Blue South Village.
“Sir Shaman Niu, all the things you ordered are here. Please check them.” The Barbarian leader unloaded all the weapons on his back and threw them on the ground while speaking.
The weapons all had different shapes, but each one was solid and heavy, none of them weighing less than a hundred kilogram. This man actually walked like the wind despite carrying more than a dozen such weapons, and a cloud of dust was kicked up when he threw the weapons on the ground as he let out a groan.
“En. Just leave them here. Many thanks for your effort, everyone.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
*Hong hong hong…*
One load of weapons after another was dropped while the Barbarian Warriors passed by one by one. Soon, a mountain of weapons was piled up in this place.
Jaws dropped as Ah Hu and the others stared dumbstruck at this sight.
Those Shaman Grandmasters who were watching were also dumbstruck.
The surrounding Barbarians gulped loudly as everyone’s eyes fixed on the mountain of weapons with overwhelming shock and desire. Weapons that were exceptionally valuable and could not be obtained by ordinary Barbarian Warriors in the past were all piled up in front of them now.
It was like a dream!
Even those Shaman Grandmasters present had never seen so many weapons gathered in one place. Any of the weapons here was a precious treasure, but things were far from over as more and more people continued coming to drop off more weapons.
[Why? Why did the shop owners in King City take weapons and bring them here? What is their relationship with Shaman Niu?]
[Why are so many gathered here?]
[Did they gift these weapons to Shaman Niu? Impossible, but what else can explain this scene?] Many of the Shaman Grandmasters knew these shop owners, and some had even dealt with them before. Therefore, they knew of their personalities.
[Why only him? We are all Shaman Grandmasters here, so why did they only give Shaman Niu weapons but not us? We are not any weaker than Shaman Niu!] Many of the Shaman Grandmasters grew agitated at the thought.
“Hey, what’s the meaning of this? Why did you send everything only to him? Why not this Shaman too?” A Shaman Grandmaster shouted from mid-air.
“Yes, war is near. These things should be divided equally. He can’t just get everything alone.” Someone immediately agreed.
Many Shamans agreed with the statement and for a moment, everyone clamoured endlessly and the scene turned chaotic.
“What’s all this noise for?” The Barbarian Warrior who led the way rebuked angrily, not giving these Shamans Grandmasters any face. He looked up and snorted coldly, “Who told you that we gave these weapons to Sir Shaman Niu? He bartered his belongings for all of these.”
“Ba… bartered?”
“Impossible!”
“What did he use to exchange for so many weapons?”
No one could possibly have such huge financial resources to exchange for at least a thousand weapons that had been piled up at the scene, and more weapons had yet to come. Even a Shaman King couldn’t have this much wealth to purchase so many weapons.
The Barbarian leader shook his head and answered, “I don’t know what Sir Shaman Niu exchanged with the others, but he gave me this.”
While speaking, he took out a round object. Many Barbarian Warriors had no idea what it was, but the faces of those Shaman Grandmasters changed drastically when they saw it and shouted, “A Monster Core!”
Moreover, it was a notably high-quality Monster Core. Such a Monster Core could even be beneficial to the cultivation of a Shaman King, let alone Shaman Grandmasters. Such a Monster Core was indeed worth a lot of weapons.
But no Shaman Grandmaster would be willing to trade this treasure for weapons that were not useful to himself. In order to get so many weapons, how many Barbarian Beast Cores had Shaman Niu spent?
It was scary just thinking about it.
“Sir Shaman Niu also exchanged this with me.” Another shop owner followed up, taking out a similar Monster Core and waving it in front of the audience, blinding the eyes of the Shaman Grandmasters.
If these various kinds of weapons had great attraction to the ordinary Barbarian Warriors, these Monster Cores had just the same effect on the Shaman Grandmasters.
The look they gave Yang Kai changed instantly, as only one question filled their minds, how did he get so many Monster Cores?
A Shaman Grandmaster was not capable of killing so many powerful Barbarian Beasts, not even a Shaman King could. Likewise, where were there so many Barbarian Beasts to kill?
Time passed slowly, and after learning the truth of this trade, the clamorous Shaman Grandmasters were too embarrassed to shout anymore. They could only stare at the weapons placed in front of them with envious looks. Some people were even silently plotting whether they should start building a good relationship with Shaman Niu. Not to mention others, just by getting Barbarian Beast Monster Cores from him would be enough to infinitely benefit them.
It took until after the sun had set fully for the final Barbarian shop owner to bring the last weapons to complete Yang Kai’s transaction. There were now thousands of weapons in total piled up on the ground!
Bursts of rapid breathing exposed the restless hearts of many surrounding Ancient Barbarians.
The villagers from Blue South Village were even more exhilarated, all of them gulping their own saliva in excitement; after all, they had already guessed what these weapons were going to be used for.
They were not fools. On this day, when the invasion of the Demon Race was announced, the reason why Yang Kai suddenly bought so many weapons was obviously to prepare them for the upcoming war. Nevertheless, Yang Kai’s incredible method was still too shocking for them to accept.
Ah Hu came up to Yang Kai, quietly pulled him aside, and whispered, “Ah Niu, are these things… for us?”
Yang Kai smiled, and patted him on the shoulder, “Of course, they’re for all of you.” Then, he waved his hand and invited them, “Choose one for yourself.”
The faces of the thousand of people turned solemn at his words.
The Shaman Apprentices who had secretly complained about Yang Kai’s inaction earlier had nothing to say at this moment, only respect and awe remained on their faces.
There were a hundred Shaman Grandmasters gathered outside King City, but who had the capability to collect so many weapons at once? Who could pull off what Shaman Niu did?
One must first sharpen their tools before doing good work. With so many sharp weapons, even if there were only a thousand people in their group, the advantage that they would have was by no means something a mere collection of two or three thousand more warriors could compare with. Furthermore, the number of weapons that were stacked up here was definitely more than a thousand pieces.
The several Shaman Apprentices seemed to be able to foresee what would happen next and their complaints and dissatisfaction towards Yang Kai completely vanished. Despite Shaman Niu’s youthful appearance, it seemed he was completely capable of handling this situation. He seemed to be doing nothing just now, but once he made his move, it delivered a killing blow so devastating that everyone could not help but admire his wit and courage.
The several Shaman Apprentices from different villages smiled as they glanced at each other.
The sound of gulping came up one after another. The thousand people under Yang Kai’s lead gathered around the mountain of weapons, but no one was eager to scramble for them. Everyone stared at the stacked weapons with giddy faces, their eyes glowing as if they were not looking at cold weapons, but at naked beauties.
“You guys go first!” Ah Hu suddenly turned around and looked at the villagers of the other villages. As a warrior who came from the same village as Yang Kai, Ah Hu felt that it was time to win some glory and establish prestige for Ah Niu. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to grab his weapon, but gave priority to the villagers of the other villages instead.
The leaders of those villages exchanged looks at his words, and one of them smiled and shook his head as he replied, “These are the weapons brought by Sir Shaman Niu. Blue South Village should go first. Please.”
“That’s right, Ah Hu. You pick first!”
“Yes, Ah Hu. Don’t refuse us!”
But Ah Hu shook his head, “It is precisely because Ah Niu obtained these things that I want you to pick first. These things are not just brought for Blue South Village, but for everyone.”
The leaders of the several villages burst into a quarrel with each other, because they did not give in to each other and were unwilling to pick first. At the same time, the surrounding Ancient Barbarians who were watching them secretly cursed in their hearts, feeling envious and helpless.
All of a sudden, the oldest Shaman Apprentice remarked with a smile, “Let’s not quarrel. Now that we are gathered together, there is no difference between this village and that village anymore. We are one now and are all under Shaman Niu’s command. It could be said we are now in the Shaman Niu Clan. It doesn’t matter who comes first or who comes later. Moreover, there are so many weapons here, so there will still be a lot left even if each of you takes one. So, there’s no need to be shy.”
“The Shaman Niu Clan…” Everyone’s eyes lit up listening to his words, and started to ponder about it.
The old Shaman Apprentice was right. Now that they had all gathered together, there was really no point to distinguish everyone by their original village. Only by truly combining into one whole could they unite in the upcoming war with a common will as strong as a fortress. If they deliberately distinguish themselves by their original villages, it would only allow selfishness to grow between them, and any disunity may result in death in the coming war.
After a moment of pondering, Ah Hu nodded, “I agree with what Elder has said. In that case, let’s pick together.”
The rest naturally had no objection and immediately rushed up to begin dividing up those weapons. When they found the weapon that was most suited for themselves, they took it out and moved back to allow others to choose their weapons.
For a moment, the whole place was filled with the noise of a celebratory crowd; laughter of contentment could be heard everywhere. The situation was lively yet not chaotic, as everyone moved in an orderly manner.
The other Shaman Grandmasters took in the scene before their eyes, their expressions complex.
Needless to say, envy and admiration were what they felt. Shaman Niu easily united a thousand people together with a simple giveaway of weapons, which was a method that was worth being commended upon. They took a look at the Barbarian Warriors in their groups, letting out a sigh, seeing that many were now gazing at these people in jealousy.
It could not be helped though, as although such a method seemed to be simple, they had no way to mimic it because they did not have the financial resources that Shaman Niu apparently did.
On top of admiration, they felt a sense of crisis.
The order of the Shaman King made it very clear that every Shaman Grandmaster had to win over two to three thousand clansmen. Quite a number of people had completed the task after half a day, but there were still a few of them working hard towards it.
There were also more scattered warriors and wandering heroes still waiting to decide who to follow. Originally, everyone used their own means in recruiting under fair competition, but now, with what Shaman Niu had done, he instantly gained the absolute upper hand over the other Shaman Grandmasters, throwing them far behind him.
Perhaps, more clansmen would be willing to join them after the thousand people finished getting their share of weapons. What would they do if those powerful warriors were all drawn away by Shaman Niu by then?
Thinking of this, a few Shaman Grandmasters who were on good terms with each other gathered together and began to discuss countermeasures.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the thousand Barbarian Warriors under Yang Kai had chosen their own weapons. Looking proud and majestic, they held up high the axes, swords, and spears that were forged from refined metal. On the other hand, the archers also replaced their old weapons with new, powerful bows and arrows.
The mountain of weapons that piled up in the place had only shrunk by a third of its original size, and there were still many more weapons waiting for their masters to choose them.
Groups of Barbarian Warriors started to approach the mountain and stare at the weapons with covetous looks, all of them shooting glances towards Yang Kai with desire-filled eyes.
Yang Kai smiled, snapped his fingers and announced, “The Shaman Niu Clan… is recruiting!”
“Sir Shaman Niu, I am willing to join!”
“I will join, of course I will join!”
“I also want to join! Sir Shaman Niu, please accept me. I’m the most powerful warrior in our village!”
As soon as Yang Kai’s voice fell, the voices of countless people immediately overwhelmed the area. The situation was almost out of control. Fortunately, Ah Hu and the others drew out their new weapons in time and stopped the other Ancient Barbarians from flooding the place.
Yang Kai raised his hand and assured, “Don’t rush and don’t push. Sir Shaman King ordered us to gather up to three thousand clansmen, and this Shaman Niu’s goal is precisely three thousand people. Therefore, many still have a chance. If anyone is interested in joining the Shaman Niu Clan, please line up here and come forward to get your weapon. Once you have your weapon, you will be a clansman of my Shaman Niu Clan.”
As soon as the words came out, everyone immediately quieted down and the Ancient Barbarians quickly formed a queue like a long, snaking Dragon.
“Three thousand people? Shaman Niu, as a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, how can you manage so many people? Your stomach might explode because of your big appetite.”
At the same time, a burly figure fell from the sky and landed beside the mountain of weapons with a bang. The huge impact caused the ground to tremble, sending dust flying, and the whole mountain of weapons clunked noisily.
Yang Kai glanced at the bundle of black hair on the man’s chest, and responded with his brow raised, “Shaman Tu? What can I do for you?”
Shaman Tu laughed, “I’m just worried for you because you’re young and weak.”
“Many thanks for your concern, but you don’t need to worry for me.”
Shaman Tu shook his head, “How can you say that? We are all Shaman Grandmasters of the South Barbarian Clan and we should all help each other. Well, how about this? This Shaman is a little stronger than you, so I should take up more responsibility. You can recruit another thousand people, and I will take care of the remaining thousand for you. In exchange for this Shaman’s kindness… Just give this Shaman the extra weapons.”
After saying so, without giving Yang Kai a chance to respond, he reached out his hand directly towards the mountain of weapons.
“Stop!” Ah Hu was furious. These weapons were purchased at a huge price by Ah Niu. Although he had no clue how Ah Niu obtained so many Monster Cores that could be used for trading, he could not stand idly by and watch someone steal Ah Niu’s property.
[What a rotten Shaman Grandmaster. Whoever dares to rob our belongings is our enemy!]
While shouting angrily, Ah Hu swung his axe at Shaman Tu.
“Scram!” Shaman Tu roared without even turning his head around, immediately creating a visible wave made of compressed air around him. This wind wave obviously contained a massive amount of power because Ah Hu was sent flying into the sky like a paper kite as soon as he collided with it, crashing to the ground a moment later.
At the same time, Shaman Tu grabbed a fine steel spear with his hand. With a slight grasping force, the whole mountain of weapons trembled, and almost half of the weapons flew in the air. It was obvious that he was taking the weapons back to his Barbarian Warriors.
Seeing this, everyone in Shaman Tu’s group was overjoyed and anticipated the arrival of these weapons.
But just then, a figure suddenly appeared on top of the mountain of weapons out of thin air. It was not clear what he did, but the thousands of flying weapons dropped back onto the ground, as if pressed down by a mountain, and collided with each other in a loud clunk.
Mid-air, Yang Kai looked down at Shaman Tu with a teasing face, “Are you trying to rob me?”
Shaman Tu’s face turned red, “How is this robbing? Didn’t you hear me clearly? I already said that everyone here is from the South Barbarian Clan. This Shaman just wants to share your burdens. This Shaman is fine with your lack of gratitude, but Shaman Niu, how dare you spoil this Shaman’s reputation instead?” He justified himself.
Yang Kai sneered, “I didn’t allow you to share my burden.”
Shaman Tu shook his head, “It doesn’t matter whether you allow it or not. This Shaman is always happy to help others, so move away now. Don’t be someone who doesn’t know how to appreciate kindness!”
Yang Kai was amazed, “Shaman Tu, have you no shame? How can you tell such obvious lies with your eyes wide open? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
Sure enough, Shaman Tu blushed in shame, but he continued to stand firm, “Good, good, good, you’re an arrogant little thing, aren’t you. As a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, I have the responsibility and obligation to teach you to recognize reality!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and moved his lips in an incantation, and his Shaman Strength fluctuated. Two visible chains of Shaman Strength wrapped themselves around Yang Kai, binding him tightly, seemingly catching him off guard.
Shaman Tu could not help laughing and lectured, “Remember, if you recognize reality now, you will only be a bit embarrassed, but if you can’t see reality on the battlefield, you will lose your life. You don’t need to thank me for this lesson, it is this Shaman’s responsibility to educate his Juniors.” When he spoke, he tightened his grip on his hand in an attempt to drag Yang Kai down from the air.
But his face changed in the next moment as, despite his action, Yang Kai remained hovering over the mountain of weapons motionlessly, as if he was nailed there by some invisible force. Instead, Yang Kai just looked back at him with a grin.
Shaman Tu felt a slight palpitation in his heart and instinctively thought [Impossible!] His opponent was just Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, who was two Minor Realms lower than him. Furthermore, Yang Kai was already bound by his spell, so how could his power be resisted?
Shaman Tu could not believe it and immediately tried again, but to his utter shock, he found that it was still ineffective.
It did not seem like he bound a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, but a true mountain instead. His efforts were fruitless, and his face flushed in fury.
Many onlookers were dazed too. They did not understand what happened to Shaman Tu, while some Shaman Grandmasters kept sending him eye signals to end this farce quickly.
Previously, they were those Shaman Grandmasters who gathered to discuss possible countermeasures and they thought that the best way was to create a situation to humiliate Shaman Niu. It was true Shaman Niu brought thousands of weapons here, which attracted the attention of many powerful Barbarian Warriors, arousing their interest in taking refuge with him.
But this interest was only based on these weapons. The clansmen would probably change their mind about joining Shaman Niu if they witnessed his vulnerability through humiliation.
Weapons were indeed tempting, but a weak Shaman Grandmaster was not worthy to be depended on since that would be risking their lives.
Everyone knew the Barbarian Race was about to face a bloody life and death war, so having a powerful Shaman Grandmaster as a leader gave them more security than possessing those weapons.
That was why Shaman Tu jumped out to cause trouble and deliberately fought against Yang Kai. According to their previous plan, as long as they could crush Shaman Niu and humiliate him in front of everyone, he would lose his advantage.
However, the situation now was somewhat different from what they discussed before.
[Shaman Niu has already been successfully entrapped by you, Shaman Tu. So, what are you still waiting for?]
Instantaneously, another High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster flew down and also raised his hand to throw a chain-like Shamanic Spell to bind Yang Kai, shouting harshly, “Shaman Niu, Shaman Tu was too kind-hearted to simply let you bow out in front of everyone, but this Shaman is not as kind as him. Get down now!”
His hand tightened, but instead of Yang Kai, his body faltered and he almost fell to the ground.
The High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as, at this moment, he realized that it was not Shaman Tu’s intention to be merciful, but that he was really powerless to do anything.
[What happened?]
He looked up bewilderedly and saw that Yang Kai was grabbing their Shamanic Spell Chains with his hands, grinning as he spoke, “The scenery is splendorous up here. This Shaman doesn’t feel like getting down now. How about you come up instead!?”
He abruptly yanked on the chains in his hands and following two pitiful shouts, countless pairs of stunned eyes watched as Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster were lifted off the ground and pulled towards Yang Kai involuntarily.
Their limbs flailed helplessly mid-air, and they only managed to stabilize themselves after some effort.
But soon, their hearts sank again.
Because they saw that Shaman Niu looked at them with a sinister smile, palming his fists with clear ill-intention.
Both of them forcibly took a breath and pushed their Shaman Strength together to condense Shield Spells before their bodies.
Just as the radiance of their Shield Spells lit up though, Yang Kai swung his fists at them.
The two punches flew at them like the wind.
*Kacha…*
Following a crisp sound, the Shield Spells protecting the two High-Rank Shaman Grandmasters shattered, unable to resist Yang Kai’s seemingly effortless punches for even a moment.
The two Shaman Grandmasters grunted and flew out like rag sacks, plummeting to the ground heavily with their faces stained with blood.
The whole world fell silent at that moment as everyone looked at Yang Kai in shock like they had encountered a ghost, especially the other Shaman Grandmasters. The corners of their mouths twitched, and their faces spasmed. They could not believe what they had just seen.
It was natural for the Barbarian Warriors to be puzzled because they had not cultivated Shaman Strength before and had no clue about the huge gap between a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster and a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster. Nevertheless, the Shaman Grandmasters present definitely knew about it.
Under normal circumstances, a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster could crush a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster easily as the gap of two Minor Realms was not there for nothing.
But the scene that happened in front of them was so surreal that they could not find a suitable reason to explain it.
The Shield Spells cast by the two Shaman Grandmasters were effortlessly broken by Shaman Niu. If the Shield Spell they used was this weak, why would they work so hard to cultivate it?
The fact was that the Shield Spells weren’t weak, but Shaman Niu was just too terrifyingly strong.
Goosebumps raised all over the Shaman Grandmasters. Previously, they felt a little bitter about him gaining the upper hand in attracting people by bringing in thousands of weapons. Furthermore, some of them were even ready to find trouble with him just like Shaman Tu did, and were waiting for an opportunity to snatch some weapons from him. But now, who would dare to have such thoughts?
If the two High-Rank Shaman Grandmasters were no match for him even when they joined hands, who else could be his opponent?
On the other side, the two Shaman Grandmasters who got beaten up were also lost in confusion.
Shaman Tu took a huge effort to get himself up from the ground, shaking his head to try to clear it. He looked blankly at the eyes of the clansmen around him, and his face changed from pale to red. He immediately became infuriated out of shame and reprimanded, “How dare you launch a sneak attack against me!”
He did not want to admit that he was no match for Yang Kai and felt that the defeat just now was due to a moment of neglect because he did not expect Yang Kai to really attack him. He believed that he would not be embarrassed in front of everyone if he was prepared.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The reason he stepped out to teach Yang Kai a lesson was to take the opportunity to suppress him and raise his own prestige. But he did not expect to go for wool and come home shorn. Not only did his scheme not go as he planned, it completely backfired and he made a fool of himself instead. There was no way for him to give up in this situation because, if he retreated like this, his prestige would plunge and he wouldn’t be able to recruit any more people.
“Surround him for me!” Shaman Tu roared.
When the words fell, nearly two thousand Barbarians rushed out and scattered around, surrounding Yang Kai and the thousand under his lead.
Seeing this, the other Shaman Grandmaster waved his hand silently, and his thousand and a half men also gathered.
For a moment, roughly four thousand people moved at Shaman Tu’s command. Ah Hu and the others tensed up their muscles and held their weapons closely in their hands one after another.
Other uninvolved Barbarians saw this and immediately understood that the issue would not be solved easily this time, quickly stepping aside to make room for the two opposing sides.
“You want to fight?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows and grinned wildly, “Good!”
When those words fell, he quickly chanted an incantation and waved his hands, causing a halo to immediately spread out, covering the thousand warriors on his side.
These thousand Ancient Barbarians were suddenly coated in a red light, as if they were wrapped by a layer of blood red fog. Moreover, crackling noises broke out from the bodies of Ah Hu and the others, their already tall frames rapidly enlarging while the animal skin clothes tightened on their bodies. Every pair of eyes turned scarlet, and each of them took on a fearless aura, one that said they would not hesitate to swing their weapons even if it was a Shaman Saint standing in front of them.
The malevolent auras of the thousand Barbarians could almost break through the clouds.
Endless power poured out of their bodies as they clung to the weapons in their hands as if they had gained a new life. Everyone looked excited and widened their eyes in surprise, because it was unbelievable that they could possess such overwhelming power.
Bloodlust Spell!
And it was a High-Grade Bloodlust Spell! Although the eyes of these thousand Barbarians were as red as blood and they appeared to be fearless and ferocious, they had not lost their minds. Such an effect was only possible with the highest quality Bloodlust Spell. Although general Bloodlust Spells could make a Barbarian Warrior stronger and dull their five basic senses to make them immune to pain and fatigue, it would also affect their minds to a certain extent. In severe cases, it might turn them crazy and damage their Souls, leaving crippling side-effects even after the Bloodlust Spell wore off.
But the Bloodlust Spell cast by Shaman Niu was different. It should only be something a Shaman King could achieve.
Many Shaman Grandmasters were shocked by this scene. Such a Bloodlust Spell alone was enough to make them change their opinions of Shaman Niu, because this was an ability beyond their capability to perform.
Especially when he cast his Bloodlust Spell on all one thousand Barbarians so calmly and casually, not leaving anyone out. How much control and power did he need to achieve this? Moreover, this seemed far from his limit.
Was a fight really going to occur?
It seemed the arrow was already released from the bow when the Bloodlust Spell was chanted.
Nevertheless, things had not ended yet.
After the Bloodlust Spell, Yang Kai continued chanting, weaving his hands in a complex pattern. Following his actions, lights of different colours burst out one after another and wrapped around his men.
Light Body Spell, Stone Armour Spell, Great Strength Spell…
Layer after layer of light shrouded every warrior under Yang Kai as an earthy yellow light, like a heavy layer of armour, was added onto the scarlet glow on the surface of their bodies. Other than that, a light breeze wrapped around their legs, increasing their swiftness and manoeuvrability, while the golden rays of light which symbolized the Great Strength Spell enhanced their strength by a further thirty percent.
The breath of these Barbarian Warriors grew heavier as their fighting spirits were fully unleashed.
The roughly four thousand who gathered around them were so frightened by their power that they could not help taking a few steps back, their faces filled with dread.
There was no need to even fight as everyone understood just by observing that each of these people in the Shaman Niu Clan had the ability to fight against two people alone.
The faces of Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster turned dreadfully ugly. They thought that they could bring out their men to deter Shaman Niu, making him panic, but who knew that this guy would be so undaunted? Not only was he not intimidated, but immediately blessed his clansmen with a lot of auxiliary Shamanic Spells instead.
At the moment, like the rest of the Shaman Grandmasters, the two Shaman Grandmasters facing off against Yang Kai were immersed in deep shock.
Even a Shaman King could not afford to sprinkle so many large-scale Shamanic Spells one after another with solely his own strength on so many people. Shaman Niu was just a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster, so how did he have so much Shaman Strength in his body to spare?
By now, all of them realized that they had greatly underestimated Shaman Niu. Just the storage of the Shaman Strength in his body was already far beyond that of an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster. What’s more, he was just a Low-Rank Shaman Grandmaster now, so what would he be like if he were to break through to become a High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster?
Just when the two Grandmasters were staring dumbstruck, Yang Kai chanted an incantation again, and another light descended.
As the light fell, the Barbarians on Yang Kai’s side were stunned all of a sudden as the red light permeating from their bodies merged together.
In the blink of an eye, the one thousand troops seemed to have converged, no longer distinguished from each other. The overwhelming aura merged together and caused the ground to shake.
“Life Chains!” Shaman Tu’s face changed drastically. He could not help gulping nervously as he stared at Yang Kai as if he was looking at a monster.
Life Chains was a truly profound Shamanic Spell that only Shaman Grandmasters and above were qualified to cultivate. This Shamanic Spell could connect the vitality of the Barbarian Warriors together. Under the effect of Life Chains, the damage suffered by any individual would be spread out evenly to all those connected to them, so that the Barbarian Warriors could withstand far more damage than ordinarily.
The entire Ancient Barbarian Race relied mainly on this kind of Shamanic Spell in large-scale wars.
However, although Shaman Grandmasters could learn and cultivate Life Chains, they often needed the assistance of other Shamans to perform this Shamanic Spell.
It would be fine if it was a small number of people as the Life Chains cast by an ordinary High-Rank Shaman Grandmaster could connect the vitality of two hundred or so without trouble, but if the Grandmaster had the assistance of several Shaman Masters, Shaman Warriors, and Shaman Apprentices, that coverage could expand several times or even more than ten times over. The more assisting Shamans, the better the effect.
However, when Shaman Niu cast Life Chains just now, he had no assistance from anyone.
Still, the light of his Shamanic Spell instantly shrouded all one thousand Barbarian Warriors on his side, connecting their vitality and integrating their scattered lives into one.
If those Shaman Grandmasters did not witness it with their own eyes, they would not believe that such a thing was possible.
Only the Life Chains of a High-Rank Shaman King could link a thousand lives together at once.
The advantage of having several times the number of people vanished in an instant facing this terrifying group.
Although Shaman Tu and the other Shaman Grandmaster could also cast Life Chains to connect the vitality of their warriors, it naturally required some preparation time; after all, they needed to coordinate and cooperate with all the Shamans under their command to do this. How could they easily cast a Life Chains Spell like Yang Kai just did?
In other words, if they were really going to fight, the thousand warriors under Yang Kai’s command would certainly be enough to crush ten thousand scattered Barbarian Warriors without taking any serious damage.
“This Shaman is ready. When are we going to start the battle?” Yang Kai looked down at Shaman Tu from above and asked nonchalantly, his indifferent appearance causing the other Shaman Grandmasters’ brows to twitch.
He did not look exhausted at all after casting so many large-scale Shamanic Spells. Was he a monster?
Under normal circumstances, casting two or three of these large-scale Shamanic Spells would be enough to wear down the Shaman Strength of any Shaman Grandmaster.
Was there still a point of fighting against such an enemy?
On the other hand, was it even worth fighting now? The other Shamanic Spells still made sense, because they did not have much backlash on the warriors, but the Bloodlust Spell was different. Once it was used, it would consume the Blood Qi of the Barbarian Warriors and they would grow weak for several days after the effects wore off.
It was insane that Shaman Niu applied the Bloodlust Spell to his warriors without any hesitation. Did he not know the consequences this would bring?
In front of Yang Kai’s overbearing manner, Shaman Tu’s face turned red and he could not say a single word.
Could he really start a battle now?
He did not intend to really start a war with Yang Kai in the first place as his goal was to intimidate him by calling out his clansmen. However, he did not expect that this scrawny Shaman would be so wild and short-tempered.
Shaman Tu deeply regretted putting himself in this situation that was difficult for him to back down from now.
“Oh?” Yang Kai sneered at Shaman Tu, “By the look of Sir Shaman Tu’s face, it seems that he is not ready yet. Do you want me to give you a few days to prepare?”
Shaman Tu’s face flushed as he straightened his neck and shouted, “Shaman Niu, don’t be too arrogant! This is King City, and this Shaman does not wish to disturb Sir Shaman King with a trivial squabble now. If we provoke Sir Shaman King, no one will have a good end. It’s not that I’m afraid of you!”
As soon as these words reached the crowd’s ears, various looks etched on many Shaman Grandmasters’ faces. Everyone understood the situation; Shaman Tu knew that he had no chance of winning, so he could only use his tongue to save his pride.
However, Shaman Tu had probably lost all his dignity after such a fuss and it was meaningless for him to say more. It would also be impossible for him to recruit any more clansmen.
On the contrary, Shaman Niu, who had the record of sending two Shaman Grandmasters flying on his own as well as the ability to cast so many powerful Shamanic Spells by himself certainly attracted the interest of those scattered warriors.
Fortunately, the order of Sir Shaman King was that every Shaman Grandmaster should recruit two to three thousand people. Otherwise, if he was allowed to take advantage of the situation, this Shaman Niu would definitely attempt to recruit tens of thousands of people. Once that happened, many Shaman Grandmasters would be unable to complete this task.
“So what Sir Shaman Tu wants to say is now is not the time to fight?” Yang Kai smiled lightly, and replied with a disappointed look, “What a waste of my long preparations.”
Shaman Tu snorted coldly, “We are all from the Southern Barbarian Clan. What’s the point of fighting amongst ourselves? If you want to fight, go fight with the Demon Race to see who can kill more Demons by then!”
Yang Kai touched his chin and nodded, “What Sir Shaman Tu said makes sense too.”
Shaman Tu’s expression relaxed, “You think so too?”
Yang Kai smiled faintly, “In that case, let’s compete on the battlefield.”
“Good! It’s a deal! This Shaman will not lose to you!” Shaman Tu waved his hand and accepted the challenge. At the same time, his two thousand men let out a sigh of relief and dispersed.
Shaman Tu turned around and a breeze swept past him. Only then did he realize that his back was drenched in cold sweat. He could not help shivering and secretly scolded himself for being so stupid and putting himself in such an embarrassing position.
On the other side, Yang Kai performed various hand seals and dispersed the Life Chains and Bloodlust Spell.
To the surprise of Ah Hu and the others, they did not feel dizzy like normal when the Bloodlust Spell was removed. Although they were more or less tired, it was still within an acceptable limit. Moreover, such a small drawback was nothing to the strong Barbarian Warriors who could easily recover after a good meal.
Not only did Shaman Tu’s provocation fail to achieve the desired effect, it even helped Yang Kai build his own prestige.
Now, everyone knew that although this Shaman Grandmaster named Niu looked thin and weak, his strength was unfathomable. If anyone could follow such a Shaman Grandmaster, their future would be safer and more promising than the others.
Furthermore, anyone who joined him could obtain a fine weapon too.
Who would not be moved under such conditions?
Therefore, after Shaman Tu left, Yang Kai’s recruitment progressed extremely well.
Within one stick of incense, another two thousand people had joined his ranks and had weapons divided amongst them.
Yang Kai did not just accept any newcomers though. He mainly took in whole villages, with the village being between two to three hundred people. Two thousand people wound up being equivalent to eight or nine villages.
Ninety-nine percent of these people were Barbarian Warriors and Spirit Archers, with the rest being Shamans of varying strength.
Tiea recorded the statistics for the two thousand new recruits and then reported to Yang Kai. In addition to the Shamans who had followed Yang Kai to King City before, he now had thirteen Shamans under his command, among which were four Shaman Warriors and nine Shaman Apprentices.
There were no Shaman Masters, but Yang Kai could not do anything about it. Shamans were rare in the first place, and it was even more difficult for places like villages to raise a Shaman Master. Only some small Clans and major cities with thousands of people would have Shaman Masters.
But this was not a big problem for Yang Kai, because he still had Tiea with him.
Other Shaman Grandmasters had Shaman Masters under them, but Yang Kai had a Shaman Grandmaster. Furthermore, Tiea was no ordinary Shaman Grandmaster. She had been taught by Senior Qing for many years and had mastered a lot more Shamanic Spells compared to ordinary Shaman Grandmasters. Once the war began, the two of them could work together and would be enough to cover the three thousand people with their Shamanic Spells.
Next, Yang Kai personally divided the three thousand people into ten small groups, ranging from two hundred fifty to three hundred people in each group. Then, he assigned the most powerful warriors and archers as the Captain and Vice-Captain of each group.
He also picked a hundred elites out of the three thousand people to serve as an Elite Guards.
It did not mean that Yang Kai needed Elite Guards as, with his current strength, why would he need others to protect him? Instead, the task of these Elite Guards was to protect the thirteen Shamans other than him and Tiea.
These Shamans were just Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices, and it was true that they could not play a huge role when fighting alone. However, when it came to small and medium-scale battles, they would become the core of the ten groups. Any death among them would definitely be a huge loss.
Therefore, Yang Kai had to make plans for their safety.
The three thousand people were made aware of the group allocations swiftly and each group was managed by its own Captain and Vice-Captain, with these Captains and Vice-Captains answering directly to Yang Kai. With this method, it was much more efficient than him giving orders to the three thousand people himself.
The Shaman Grandmasters observed Yang Kai’s way of handling things and quickly realized the benefits of this kind of subdivision. As such, they also followed Yang Kai’s example in managing their groups, and soon, they became organized too.
After Yang Kai demonstrated his abilities in front of the crowd, these three thousand warriors were completely obedient to Yang Kai as they believed that they truly followed the right person this time and might have gained the upper hand over other clansmen in the upcoming war.
After passing down the order to the three thousand people to train in getting familiar with the cooperation and formation of their groups, Yang Kai and Tiea quietly left King City.
……
“Where are we going now?” Tiea questioned curiously, wondering why Yang Kai was dragging her with him.
Yang Kai led the way without turning his head back and answered, “When I was in King City, I saw some tamed Barbarian Beasts. Let’s catch some too.”
“Do you want to tame beasts?” Tiea looked at him in surprise.
“Senior Qing taught you the Beast Taming Spell, right?” Yang Kai looked back at her.
Tiea nodded gently, “Yes, he did, but I haven’t used it before, so I don’t know if it has any effect.”
“It’s fine as long as you’ve learnt it. As for the effect, we’ll know when we try later; after all, I haven’t used it either.” Yang Kai grinned.
“But… Do you know where to find Barbarian Beasts?”
“Just follow me. Those Beasts in King City didn’t just appear out of thin air. Since they can catch them, then we can do it too.”
Yang Kai flew forward as he spoke.
He had inquired about a certain place before. There was a mountain range about half a day away from King City, where Yang Kai’s targets for this trip lived.
They set out at night, and by dawn, a mountain range appeared in front of the pair, like a giant Dragon lying on the Earth. After entering the mountains, they continued ahead without stopping.
Half a day later, a fierce screech came from above.
Yang Kai stopped, looked up through the scattered leaves, and saw a huge eagle-like Barbarian Beast swooping down from above into a mountain pass. When the Barbarian Beast flew up to the sky again, a Giant Python had been caught in its sharp claws. The Giant Python struggled wildly and coiled its body around the Giant Eagle’s claws.
The Giant Eagle lowered its head and pecked at the Giant Python’s body, causing blood to rain down from the sky. The Giant Python struggled even more, causing the Giant Eagle to lose some of its steadiness, as if it would fall from the sky at any time.
But soon, the Giant Eagle opened its beak, and a wind blade-like attack suddenly shot out from its mouth, cutting the Giant Python’s body directly into several sections. Its internal organs turned into pulp, and its struggling body gradually stopped moving.
The Giant Eagle let out a fierce screech again, turned around in mid-air, then flew towards a certain direction with its prey in its claws.
“Do you want to tame this kind of Barbarian Beast?” Tiea noticed Yang Kai’s interested and motivated look, and immediately understood his intention.
“Of course we should tame Barbarian Beasts like this!” Yang Kai chased after the Giant Eagle as he answered.
Tiea was speechless. She knew that Yang Kai was coming to catch Barbarian Beasts, but she did not expect that he was looking for Flying Barbarian Beasts. This type of creature was much harder to catch than the ordinary Barbarian Beasts, and it seemed that the cultivation of the Giant Eagle was not low given its size and aura. She was afraid that her Beast Taming Spell might not work on it.
Despite the uneasy feeling, Tiea did not say much but followed Yang Kai obediently.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the pair came to a certain mountain valley which was surrounded by high cliffs, precipices, and jagged rocks. On the cliff were countless giant nests nestled between the rocks, each with a Giant Eagle standing proudly above it, like kings overlooking their territory.
More Giant Eagles soared through the air, with some leaving to look for food, while some were returning from their hunt.
“So many!” Tiea was amazed by the scene.
“It’s good to have more.” Yang Kai grinned. To him, it was better to have more of them, but it only depended on whether the Beast Taming Spell was useful or not. If it was useless, everything was just empty talk.
“Wait here, I’ll give it a try.” Yang Kai said before disappearing from his original place with a flicker.
Tiea looked around with wide eyes, but she could not find any trace of Yang Kai, causing a look of shock to fill her pretty face. This was definitely not the effect of any Shamanic Spell that she knew.
The more she stayed with Shaman Niu, the more Tiea discovered how mysterious he was.
When she was looking around for Yang Kai, she suddenly sensed some abnormal movement on the opposite cliff, and sure enough, she found Yang Kai when she looked over.
She had no idea when he got there, but at that moment, he had caught a Giant Eagle by its neck and was pressing it down into the nest while lying down on its belly to avoid being noticed by the other Giant Eagles.
A faint light flashed and disappeared into the Giant Eagle’s body.
Tiea clearly saw that the Giant Eagle suddenly stopped struggling and a short moment later, it stood up again, spread its wings, and resumed its former aloof appearance, as if nothing had happened.
[He succeeded!]
Tiea’s eyes lit up. The Beast Taming Spell was an extremely oppressive Shamanic Spell, but not only did it consume a lot of Shaman Strength, it was also a Shamanic Spell like Life Chains that could only be mastered by those at the Shaman Grandmaster Realm and above. The conditions to cast it were also extremely harsh.
If one succeeded, he would leave a Brand in the Barbarian Beast’s body and be able to control its life. But if one failed, not only would the Shaman Grandmaster who performed the Beast Taming Spell suffer from a harsh backlash, but the Beast would also die instantly.
Therefore, in general, if one wanted to cast the Beast Taming Spell on a Barbarian Beast, it was better to capture it first and spend some time building a relationship with it to decrease its resistance to its new owner. This was the only way one could have some hope of success.
Basically, taking such a forceful action like what Yang Kai had done would almost always end in failure.
But, contrary to the norm, he actually succeeded.
Even after witnessing tremendous miracles that seemed to occur constantly around this Shaman Niu, Tiea was still dumbstruck.
[Was it just luck?] She wondered.
The next moment, the Giant Eagle subdued by Yang Kai suddenly spread its wings and flew directly towards her side.
After a while, when the Giant Eagle landed in front of her, Yang Kai, who was hiding in its feathers, popped his head out and remarked, “I have a good idea and I need you to cooperate!”
Tiea asked in a daze, “What idea?”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed, “I want to catch the Eagle King!”
Tiea’s whole face twitched.
But after Yang Kai explained his plan, she changed her mind and thought that it was indeed a good idea too.
After forcibly subduing a Giant Eagle with the Beast Taming Spell, Yang Kai was vaguely aware of the thoughts of this Giant Eagle. From it, Yang Kai learnt that there was an Eagle King in this place. The Eagle King was stronger than all the other Giant Eagles, and they had to submit to it.
If they could dive straight into the enemy’s lair and subdue the Eagle King, they could take away the numerous Giant Eagles here at their convenience.
It was a drastic measure to deal with the situation, but much more efficient than Yang Kai’s previous plan to ambush and subdue Giant Eagles one by one.
The two discussed for a moment and soon finalized their plan.
Then, the Giant Eagle flew up again, with Yang Kai and Tiea hiding on its back. The back of this Barbarian Beast was spacious enough for them to sit side by side easily without falling, and under the cover of its long feathers, Yang Kai and Tiea became all but invisible.
In a gigantic eagle’s nest, the Eagle King was locked in place by Yang Kai’s Shamanic Spell. Yang Kai directed gleaming Beast Taming Spells from his hand to envelop the Eagle King again and again, but to no avail. The Eagle King screeched endlessly with its scarlet eyes filled with unyielding spirit.
Around the eagle’s nest, up to a hundred Giant Eagles constantly rushed towards them fearlessly in order to rescue their King.
Tiea was hovering mid-air as she pushed her Shaman Strength, wrapping the whole eagle nest in a Shield Spell, cutting off all the incoming Giant Eagles and rendering their wind blades useless.
Yang Kai and Tiea had gone straight into the Eagle King’s nest where Yang Kai bound the Eagle King before attempting to cast the Beast Taming Spell on it, but before he could even make a first try, it had already let out a fierce screech, which had alarmed the surrounding Giant Eagles, all of which rushed here together.
If not for Tiea’s timely defense, Yang Kai would not have had time to deal with the Eagle King.
The Realms of these Giant Eagles weren’t low, but they weren’t high either. If Tiea wanted to be cruel, she could slaughter all of them all in an instant; however, the purpose of Yang Kai coming here this time was not for a massacre, but to subdue these Barbarian Beasts. Therefore, Tiea could only block the Giant Eagles from interfering and dared not hurt them. Because of this, she could not truly unleash her full power as a Shaman Grandmaster and could only remain passive in the situation.
“Ah Niu, hurry up! I can’t hold on for too long!” Sweat beaded on Tiea’s forehead, as defending against the tremendous Giant Eagles’ charge attacks and wind blades for such a long time was exhausting her.
“I’m trying!” Yang Kai responded as he sent another gleaming Beast Taming Spell into the Eagle King’s body, only for it to fail again.
Still, he had caused great damage to the Eagle King after his continuous attempts as the Beast Taming Spell was an extremely oppressive Shamanic Spell. Although the Shamanic Spell failed to achieve its effect due to the unyielding spirit of the Eagle King, blood was leaking from all its orifices as a result of the backlash.
Fortunately, the Eagle King was much stronger than the other Giant Eagles. Otherwise, it would already be dead.
However, by the looks of it, it would not be able to hold on much longer.
Eagles were the proud beasts that ruled the sky and who would suffer no restraint to their freedom.
Staring coldly at the Eagle King’s red eyes, Yang Kai warned, “You should be able to understand what I’m saying, but even if you can’t, you should know what I mean. You have only two choices. Surrender… or die! I don’t have much time to play with you, and you don’t have many chances left. Decide wisely.”
When the words fell, another Beast Taming Spell was released. But this time, the light of Beast Taming Spell failed to even enter the Eagle King’s body and was directly rebounded by its will.
Yang Kai cursed with a ferocious look on his face when suddenly, a realization dawned on him. With a lift of his hand, a Moon Blade materialized and struck one of the Giant Eagles outside the shield, accurately cutting its body in half.
With its shrill screeching suddenly ceasing, the blood and viscera of that Giant Eagle rained down from the air as its two halves fell into the deep mountain stream.
Tiea turned around and glanced at Yang Kai in shock, having no idea why he had acted so crazily.
Yang Kai stared at the Eagle King and threatened it with a grin, “Every time you reject me, I’ll kill one of your companions. Let’s see how many times you dare refuse!”
While speaking, he performed the Beast Taming Spell again.
This time, the light of the Beast Taming Spell did not rebound, but it was obvious that the Eagle King was still resisting and unwilling to cooperate with him.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai raised his hand again, and another Giant Eagle was cut in half and fell from the air.
*Liii!*
The Eagle King cried, infuriated. If it was not bound by Yang Kai’s Shamanic Spell, it probably would have charged at him right now and fought him to the death.
Instead of being offended though, Yang Kai was delighted, nodding his head as he declared, “Excellent! I’m glad that you’re angry! If you don’t want them to die, submit to me!”
Beast Taming methods could be traced back to Ancient Times and continued to be passed down even in modern times. In the Star Boundary there was even the renowned Beast Taming Sect. This Sect was famous for controlling Monster Beasts, and each of its disciples commanded several War Beasts, allowing them to fight multiple opponents of the same realm all on their own.
However, the method of Beast Taming used by that Sect was extremely gentle, but was also very complex and time-consuming.
Yang Kai did not know the secret methods of the Beast Taming Sect, but he believed that it was actually a derivative of the Beast Taming Spell from Ancient Times. No matter how despicable and insidious the method was, it only served one purpose, which was to subdue the Monster for their own use.
Using such means was the only way to achieve this goal.
With Yang Kai’s current strength, it would not be difficult for him to tame an Eagle King if he was given enough time, but the problem was that he did not have much time to waste. He had to hurry back to King City as soon as possible just in case there was a sudden outbreak of war.
The Eagle King was too rebellious though, so he had no choice but to use some extreme measure.
The Eagle King may not care about its own life as it would rather die than submit; however, as the ruler of its family, the inability to protect them was an even greater disgrace, one that was intolerable to any proud beast.
Every time a Giant Eagle was killed by Yang Kai, the Eagle King became more and more irritable, and the Shamanic Spell Chains that bound it even deformed from its unceasing struggles.
Yang Kai remained emotionless after killing off ten Giant Eagles in succession. Only then did the Eagle King abruptly stop its mad struggle and display a pleading look.
It probably noticed that if it did not give in, Yang Kai would kill its entire family.
Yang Kai observed its expression and understood that it was time to cast the Beast Taming Spell again. This time, the light of Beast Taming Spell neither rebounded nor was resisted, but instead easily broke through the Eagle King’s defences and directly branded itself into its body.
Yang Kai’s body shook as he suddenly felt a connection established between himself and the Eagle King, one that allowed him to control its life or death at any time.
The Eagle King, who had displayed unwavering arrogance, quickly became docile and lowered its noble head.
“It’s done!” Yang Kai grinned, patted the Eagle King’s head, took out several healing Spirit Pills, and offered them to it.
The Eagle King looked at these pills with almost human-like curiosity and after hesitating for a moment, swallowed them in one gulp. When the pills entered its stomach, the Eagle King immediately felt invigorated, all the lethargy caused by Yang Kai’s torture being removed.
Yang Kai tried to communicate with it.
And the Eagle King immediately responded.
The fearless Giant Eagles, that had been gathering around all the time without retreating despite Yang Kai’s killings, suddenly stopped attacking and just flapped their wings into the sky.
Seeing this, Tiea could not help letting out a sigh of relief as she looked back and asked, “Did you succeed?”
Yang Kai nodded.
Only then did Tiea remove her Shield Spell, looking a little pale.
“Take a rest. I’ll deal with things from here,” Yang Kai instructed her before he communicated with the Eagle King again for a while.
Although the Eagle King’s cultivation was not high enough for it to be able to assume human form, it already had a certain degree of sentience. Therefore, Yang Kai did not need to spend too much effort in communicating with it and requested it to order all the Giant Eagles to return to their nests. A moment later, all the Giant Eagles circling in the air returned to their nests.
Then, Yang Kai led the Eagle King to visit the Giant Eagles one by one.
If Yang Kai visited them alone, these Giant Eagles would certainly regard him as an enemy and launch an attack without any hesitation, but it would be different when he was accompanied by the Eagle King.
Under the suppression of the Eagle King, none of the Giant Eagles dared to resist. They stood quietly in their own eagle nests as Yang Kai implanted the gleaming Beast Taming Spell. The process went exceedingly smooth, and the procedure did not fail even once.
After working for an hour, Yang Kai had finally subdued all the Giant Eagles present. Counting them carefully, he found that there were seventy-six of them in total, including the Eagle King.
Yang Kai was overjoyed with the result.
With this many Giant Eagles, he could carry out the vague plan he formed earlier.
Tiea had also fully recovered after an hour of meditation. The pair immediately rode the Eagle King and returned along the way which they came.
Behind the Eagle King, seventy-five Giant Eagles flew in close formation, forming a huge shadow that shaded the entire vast land.
The flying speed of the Giant Eagles was quite fast, not slower than the maximum speed of a Shaman Grandmaster while still remaining extremely stable in flight. Not the slightest airflow interference was experienced by Yang Kai who was riding on the Eagle King’s back.
It took less than half a day for them to reach King City.
From a distance, an uproar was heard from below, and some people exclaimed, “The Barbarian Beasts are attacking!”
Many of the Ancient Barbarians, who had gathered from outlying villages, immediately responded. Spirit Archers drew their bows one after another, aiming at the Eagle King who led the way, while some Shaman Grandmasters chanting incantations, flew up in the air with the light of the Shield Spells covering their bodies as they moved towards the Eagle King.
The distance between the two sides rapidly narrowed and both overt and covert Shaman Strength fluctuations appeared from all directions one after another.
Seeing an attack was about to occur, Yang Kai quickly stood up from the Eagle King’s back and shouted, “Relax, relax!”
Many of the Ancient Barbarians were astonished to see a man on the eagle’s back.
And the Shaman Grandmasters who came to meet them were even more flabbergasted.
One of them wiped his eyes vigorously and questioned in shock, “Shaman Niu?”
The battle between Yang Kai and Shaman Tu yesterday was quite unforgettable. Many Shaman Grandmasters had witnessed the whole process, and they were deeply impressed by this thin and weak looking Shaman Niu, so they readily recognized him.
Among the crowd, Shaman Tu stepped out and asked in a daze, “Shaman Niu, where did you get so many Barbarian Beasts?”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “I caught them.”
“Ca-Caught…” Their brows twitched at his reply. They would not be so astounded if these Flying Barbarian Beasts were easy to catch.
It was still understandable if Yang Kai was lucky to catch one Giant Eagle, but the number of these Giant Eagles was obviously one of an entire family.
[How did he manage to catch so many Giant Eagles in one go?]
Yang Kai stood on the eagle’s back and asked in a booming voice, “This is this Shaman’s Aerial Cavalry. What do you think?”
“Aerial Cavalry…” The Shaman Grandmasters were not idiots, so although this was the first time they heard about the term Aerial Calvary, they instantly understood Yang Kai’s plan. The next moment, many people’s eyes turned red in excitement as they gawked at those Giant Eagles with desire-filled eyes.
A great war was coming, and if anyone could have such an Aerial Cavalry, they would definitely have the upper hand in gathering information of the enemy, not to mention other advantages.
Above King City, the seventy-five Giant Eagles and the Eagle King were soaring high in the sky, their wings spread wide. On the back of each Giant Eagle sat an archer, who clung onto the feathers on the eagle’s back with a pale face. Some even vomited up in the air, but they held on and did not give up.
They were not Shamans, and they had never experienced the thrill of being up so high, so they were not used to riding Giant Eagles in the sky.
However, the Ancient Barbarian Race was tough and had strong adaptability, so as long as they were given a few more days, they should be able to get used to this.
This was Yang Kai’s Aerial Cavalry, while Ah Hua, who was born in Blue South Village, was the Aerial Cavalry Captain.
Yang Kai did not appoint Ah Hua as the Aerial Cavalry Captain out of bias. It was through the competition between the archers. All the archers of the Barbarian Race were Spirit Archers with excellent eyesight, able to hit a mosquito’s wing from a kilometre away. Naturally, no one with such good abilities would want to live under others.
When the Aerial Cavalry was established, every Archer coveted the position of Captain. Yang Kai did not say much and just let them compete in archery. Whoever was the best would be the Aerial Cavalry Captain.
The archers Yang Kai carefully selected went out for a competition, and when they returned, Ah Hua came back with a proud look on her face, while everyone else looked obedient.
But at this moment, even Ah Hua, who was the Aerial Cavalry Captain, also could not withstand such flight training. Every time she came down from the sky, she would be paralyzed on the ground for a long time before she regained her composure.
Inside Yang Kai’s camp was a newly built wooden house. It was exceptionally rudimentary but was still sufficient to shelter them from the wind and rain.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Tiea were cultivating inside.
After slowly withdrawing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai lifted his head and commented, “Ah Hua and the others are improving really fast. They should be able to fight in two days.”
Tiea opened her eyes and glanced at him, “I don’t know what the Demon Race are like, but although the Aerial Cavalry can move fast, they are easy to spot. If the Demon Race has any long-range forces, I’m afraid this Aerial Cavalry won’t be of any use.”
Yang Kai gave a small smile, “Being able to investigate the enemy is their best use!”
At this time, the old Shaman Apprentice’s voice suddenly came from outside the house, “Sir Shaman Niu…”
Before he could finish, Yang Kai shouted with his face darkened, “Ask them to go away. I won’t see any of them!”
Since Yang Kai brought back seventy-five Giant Eagles and his Eagle King two days ago, the other Shaman Grandmasters had come to visit him one after another with enthusiasm, as if they had been good friends with Yang Kai for many years. They even prepared some small gifts for Yang Kai as a courtesy when they came.
Under normal circumstances, the gifts from a Shaman Grandmaster would not be common things. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was already immensely wealthy, so he had no interest in the gifts from these bumpkins.
After all the fuss, these Shaman Grandmasters slowly revealed their purpose.
They hoped that Yang Kai could share some Giant Eagles with them.
Everyone could see that these Giant Eagles were useful in investigating the enemy, so everyone wished to obtain some from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai naturally refused without showing the slightest politeness to their rude, shameless, and unreasonable demands.
Yang Kai had subdued the seventy-five Giant Eagles one by one and formed a small-scale Aerial Cavalry, which was just sufficient for his own army. It was not like he had any extra to spare, so why should he share with them after working so hard to catch them?
Despite being rejected, those Shaman Grandmasters did not give up easily. Some tried to reason with him, some tried to move him with sentiment, and some even tried to threaten him with force…
Without exception, all of them were thrown out of the wooden house by Yang Kai while those Shaman Grandmasters who intended to fight him had their faces bashed in.
This resulted in Yang Kai’s reputation turning extremely bad in the entire South Barbarian Clan. All the Shaman Grandmasters knew that this guy was selfish, had a bad temper, and refused to listen to others.
Even so, there were still many Shaman Grandmasters who visited him brazenly, hoping that Yang Kai would miraculously change his mind.
So, as soon as he heard the call from the old Shaman Apprentice outside, Yang Kai thought that it was another fool who wanted him to give up a few Giant Eagles, and he was instantly annoyed.
Instead of chit-chatting with them, it was better to spend time cultivating.
Suddenly, another familiar voice came from outside the door, “Sir Shaman Niu, it is Sir Shaman King who summons you!”
“Hmm?” Yang Kai was surprised and immediately got up to open the door. After seeing a familiar face, he could not help grinning, “It’s you!”
This guy was the Shaman Master messenger he met in Blue South Village before. Yang Kai did not know his name, but he remembered his honest face.
The Shaman Master replied with a smile, “Yeah, it is this subordinate.”
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn, “Sir Shaman King summoned me?”
The messenger nodded, “Yes!”
Yang Kai answered, “Let’s go then.”
On the way, Yang Kai asked the Shaman King messenger for the reason for his summon, but the messenger did not give him a clear answer. It was unknown whether he was hiding information or he really did not know anything about it. However, Yang Kai did not want to embarrass him, so he just chatted with him all the way, which flattered the messenger.
In recent days, Shaman Niu’s name had spread all over King City and everyone knew that this thin and weak looking Shaman Grandmaster was not someone to be trifled with. Within just a few days of coming to King City, this Shaman Niu had beaten two Shaman Grandmasters who were two Minor Realms stronger than him and had formed an Aerial Cavalry with the Giant Eagles as mounts. The seventy-five Giant Eagles hovered over King City from time to time, and lumps of their droppings would occasionally drop on the top of the people’s heads, which attracted much hatred from the residents of King City towards Shaman Niu. They wished that they could just find him and punch him until not even his mother could recognize him anymore.
The messenger was also a little nervous when he came, but after he met Yang Kai, he found that this guy was not as malicious as the rumours claimed him to be. Instead, he was quite amiable, which made him feel that the rumours were all wrong.
They walked and talked all the way, and soon entered King City where they met with Sixth Shaman King Dang in the palace!
“Greetings, Sir!” Yang Kai saluted with his hand on his chest, “May I know why Sir summoned me? Is there anything urgent?”
The Guard Captain who was standing nearby Shaman Dang eyed Yang Kai with a sharp glare, making Yang Kai feel like two blades were going to pierce into his mind and spy on the secrets he hid there.
Yang Kai frowned and glanced back at him, thinking that this guy was a bit messed up in the head. This warrior would stare at him like this every time he came, as if Yang Kai would harm Shaman Dang at any time.
Shaman Dang turned around and grinned, “Sit down and talk!”
“Many thanks, Sir!” Yang Kai retracted his gaze and accepted the invitation.
After that, he took a seat.
Shaman Dang continued kindly, “Actually, there’s nothing urgent, but I’ve heard some interesting stories recently.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai looked at him in surprise.
Shaman Dang returned a smile. He thought that Yang Kai would have asked what interesting stories he had heard, but unexpectedly, he did not say much other than an ‘oh’. Shaman Dang was left hanging, slightly embarrassed, so he could only cough lightly and press on, “I heard that you spent a lot to buy many weapons from the city to equip your soldiers?”
Yang Kai immediately put on a painful expression, “Sir Shaman King, this subordinate has spent all his wealth selflessly for this war. The wealth that this subordinate has accumulated his whole life has been drained. This subordinate is loyal to our Barbarian Race, and the Sun and the Moon as well as Heaven and Earth can bear witness to my pure intentions. It’s really hateful that those unscrupulous merchants are still charging me such a high price at this time, even twenty to thirty percent higher than usual! They are really the cancer of our Barbarian Race. Shame on them!”
He was so agitated that he spat his saliva everywhere as he spoke, revealing a look of grievance as if those shop owners were his enemies.
The corner of Shaman Dang’s mouth twitched slightly and he could not help sweeping his eyes over Yang Kai for a while, not knowing how to carry on the conversation now.
As a Shaman King, he had seen a lot, but it was his first time seeing such a reaction.
He had only said a single sentence but the other party already responded with many complaints. It was new for him to see Yang Kai being so talkative, which was… interesting.
Yang Kai suddenly turned solemn and whispered, “Did Sir Shaman King summon me to come here to punish those unscrupulous merchants? The Barbarian Race is in great danger now, but these profiteers not only didn’t try to help, but instead raised their prices on us. They have to be punished severely. If Sir Shaman King gives the order, this subordinate is willing to testify against them and ensure that none of them can escape. We must punish all of them to put a stop to all the malpractices in the businesses of our South Barbarian Clan.”
At this point, even the Guard Captain who had been standing there quietly could not stop his face from twitching slightly.
The Shaman King Dang had no choice but to wave his hand, “This King does not intend to do that. A deal is a deal. Moreover, you could have just rejected any unreasonable offers, so there’s nothing wrong with those businessmen.”
“Oh…” Yang Kai showed his disappointment, but soon his eyes lit up and continued, “Is Sir going to reimburse this subordinate for his expenses?”
“What?” Shaman Dang was stunned.
“Reimbursement!” Yang Kai looked at him seriously, “This subordinate has spent all his wealth and is penniless now. This subordinate cannot buy anything anymore even if it is needed. King City is rich, so is it possible…”
“Impudence!” The Guard Captain finally lost his temper and reprimanded angrily, “How dare you talk nonsense in front of a Shaman King!?”
Yang returned a glance at him, then rolled his eyes, which truly boiled the Guard Captain’s blood.
Shaman Dang smiled helplessly. He realized that it was unrealistic to have small talk with Shaman Niu to bring them closer. Therefore, he could only go straight to the point, “Shaman Niu, actually, I have something to tell you.”
Yang Kai sat up properly, “You can say anything as long as it’s not about things in the sky!”
Shaman Dang replied, “It’s exactly about things in the sky.”
Yang Kai immediately looked aggrieved, “What? Even King City is aiming for my Aerial Cavalry? Sir Shaman King, what’s wrong with all of you?”
He already felt suspicious before arriving here; after all, he just met Shaman Dang a few days ago. If there was going to be an immediate outbreak of war, he would not just summon Yang Kai alone. Therefore, the only thing that could attract a Shaman King’s attention would be those Giant Eagles.
Perhaps, this trip would be more of a disaster than a blessing.
As he thought, Shaman Dang summoned him because of the Giant Eagles; it was obvious that King City wanted to take a share from him too.
Yang Kai and the other Shaman Grandmasters who wanted some Giant Eagles from him shared equal status; therefore, Yang Kai could refuse them without hesitation, and even dared to beat them up if they persisted. But if King City requested them, Yang Kai would be stuck as he could not disobey his superior.
[That is too shameless!]
“Sir, a few days ago, I noticed the presence of the Aerial Cavalry in King City. My Giant Eagles are Barbarian Beasts from the mountains that are not subject to domestication. I’m afraid that they can’t be of any use.”
Shaman Dang smiled, “There is indeed some Aerial Cavalry in King City, but not many of them. It is difficult to tame Flying Barbarian Beasts, so this King was also quite surprised you were able to tame so many of them at once.”
Yang Kai immediately responded, “I put in a lot of effort and spewed several litres of blood for it. I almost died there.”
Shaman Dang pressed on, “That’s why King City won’t take your Giant Eagles for nothing!”
Yang Kai suddenly became interested, his eyes lighting up as he questioned, “Then may this subordinate know how many Giant Eagles King City wants, and what price you are willing to pay for them?”
Since he could not reject King City, he could only try to minimize the loss. If King City wanted a few Giant Eagles, they had to show their sincerity; after all, Yang Kai’s Giant Eagles did not just appear out of thin air.
Shaman Dang answered with a solemn face, “I wish for half. You may name your price!”
As soon as he made this remark Yang Kai jumped up from his chair like a cat with its tail trampled on and furiously shouted, “Half!? Sir, why don’t you just rob me? I might as well give you all the Giant Eagles!”
His sudden movement startled the Guard Captain who immediately pulled out his weapon and stared at Yang Kai vigilantly.
Shaman Dang reached out his hand and patted Yang Kay on the shoulder with a smile, “Since you are so kind, then this King will accept it with much appreciation.”
Yang Kai looked at him dumbfounded, his face twitching, “Sir, I have a question.”
“Ask!” Shaman Dang raised his eyebrows.
“Do you not have shame?”
Shaman Dang beamed, “That’s why this King asked you to name your price!”
Yang Kai was truly surprised that Shaman Dang did not care about his rudeness and immediately felt that this Shaman King was an incredible character.
Yang Kai fell silent for a while before continuing, “Twenty-five for you, while I keep fifty for myself. Fifty should be still enough to change the tide in small-scale fights, so I can’t have less than that. On the other hand, King City probably wants Giant Eagles for scouting and investigation rather than combat, am I right?”
Without denying, Shaman Dang nodded, “Indeed!”
“Then, that’s fine. twenty-five Giant Eagles on top of the Aerial Cavalry owned by the King City are enough for such purposes.”
Shaman Dang wanted to negotiate, but Yang Kai stopped him, “Twenty-five. This is my limit.”
“Fine! Twenty-five then. This King won’t force you.” Shaman Dang nodded readily, obviously having prepared himself from the start. He then looked up and asked, “So, what is your price?”
Yang Kai immediately responded, “Equip each of my subordinates with a set of Battle Armour!”
Shaman Dang only looked at him with a strange expression.
Yang Kai scratched his face and continued, “Fine fine, a thousand sets of Battle Armours shouldn’t be too much, I assume?”
Shaman Dang shook his head, “King City can’t even take out a hundred sets now, let alone a thousand sets.”
“Why is King City so poor?” Yang Kai was taken aback.
“King City is not poor,” Shaman Dang smiled helplessly, “But the materials in the city have almost all been bought out by those Shaman Grandmasters. If you want to know why, you are the one who started it. You equipped three thousand people with weapons all at once, so how could the other Grandmasters not show some sincerity? Although they don’t have huge financial resources like you, how many things are there in the city for them to grab even if each of them just purchased a little?”
“Sounds reasonable,” Yang nodded and believed that Shaman Dang was not deceiving him. It was true that many Ancient Barbarians had appeared with new weapons and Battle Armours outside the city during these few days. Obviously, they were bought by the Shaman Grandmasters themselves.
But they could not fully equip all their clansmen, so they could only give priority to a small number of elites.
“Don’t mention any more about materials. I don’t have them to help you.”
Yang Kai thought for a moment and continued, “If materials are out of the question, give me more manpower then.”
Shaman Dang narrowed his eyes, “What kind of manpower do you want?”
Yang Kai grinned, “My group lacks Shaman Masters. Could Sir appoint some Shaman Masters under me!?”
“How many?”
“Five!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “Five Giant Eagles for each Shaman Master. It’s a good deal, Sir!”
“Five are too many. I can only give you one Shaman Master!”
“What kind of Shaman Master is so valuable?” Yang Kai was amazed, “Sir, can you show some sincerity?”
Shaman Dang snorted coldly, “Then do you think you’re being sincere by asking for five Shaman Masters?”
Yang Kai replied frankly, “Everyone wants to gain the most in every deal. Business is just like this…”
“Two at most. That is this King’s limit. If you don’t accept, forget about it and leave.”
“How can I not accept?” Yang Kai hurriedly continued, “Two then. How can I reject Sir Shaman King?”
Shaman Dang pointed his finger at Yang Kai, wanting to rebuke him, but did not know how to start. After letting out a sigh, he turned to the Guard Captain and ordered, “Bring in Yue and Lu.”
The Guard Captain obviously was surprised by the order, but accepted it and went out without saying a word.
After waiting for a while in the main hall, footsteps drew nearer to the door.
Not long after, the Guard Captain led two young girls in. Yang Kai looked up, and his eyes lit up at the sight.
Although he vaguely guessed that Yue and Lu were girls, he did not expect that these two would be so gorgeous. Compared with other Ancient Barbarians, they were exceptionally beautiful with tall and ideal feminine figures.
The most important thing was the two girls looked exactly the same. They were clearly twins.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
The number of Shamans in the Ancient Barbarian Race had always been scarce, because only those who have been favoured by the Barbarian Gods were able to cultivate Shaman Strength. It was already impressive to have one Shaman Apprentice in a small village; however, it was even rarer for twins to both be Shamans. Moreover, they were Shaman Masters.
By the look of their young appearances, they did not seem to be older than Tiea by a lot, so they definitely had bright futures.
Being stared at by Yang Kai, both of them revealed a cold look and did not bother to glance back at him, simply stepping forward and greeting in unison, “Sir, did you summon us?”
Their voices sounded almost the same, and there were no differences in their intonation. If an uninformed person heard their voices, he would think they were from the same person.
“Heart Resonance?” Yang raised his brow and looked at them with his eyes blazing.
Although twins could connect with each other relatively easily, Heart Resonance was a whole different matter. By reaching this state, the twins would double their efficiency in anything they did, and if they worked together to cast Shamanic Spells, the power they could display would far exceed their current Realm.
In other words, although Yue and Lu were just Shaman Masters, once they joined hands, an ordinary Shaman Grandmaster may not be able to contend with them.
[What a steal!] Yang Kai was overjoyed to have picked up such a treasure. Initially, he just wanted two Shaman Masters to fill the gaps in his forces, but he did not expect that Shaman Dang would send such a pair of Shaman Masters to him.
Shaman Dang nodded and looked at Yue and Lu with some tenderness and love flashing across his eyes.
Yang Kai secretly felt that something was wrong, wondering if these two girls belonged to Shaman Dang. If so, he was worried that they would purposely give him trouble in the future after he took them under his wings.
Just when he was worried though, Shaman Dang announced, “From now on, you two will follow Shaman Niu. Listen to his orders, and don’t disobey him!”
When Yue and Lu heard this, they turned their heads and glanced at Yang Kai, then saluted with their hands on the chest in unison, “Greetings, Shaman Niu!”
Their tone was flat, and it did not seem like these two Shaman Masters were showing much respect towards a Shaman Grandmaster.
Yang Kai still posed like a Senior expert though and nodded, “You don’t need to be so polite.”
Shaman Dang smiled lightly, “Yue and Lu have been living and cultivating in the Shaman Divine Temple since they were young and only just returned to King City a few days ago, so they have not had much experience in the outside world yet. Since they follow you now, you can discipline them as you like. If they don’t listen to your orders, you can punish them at will.”
“The Shaman Divine Temple…” Yang Kai’s face turned solemn.
The Shaman Divine Temple was a symbol of the entire Ancient Barbarian Race. Inside, there was the statue of the Shaman God, and only the most outstanding Shamans of various Clans were qualified to enter its doors to cultivate and serve the deities.
In general, the Shamans who came from the Shaman Divine Temple acquired exquisite Shamanic Spells and possessed superior strength. They were basically invincible in their own Realm.
Yang Kai inherited Senior Qing’s knowledge, so he also knew how important the Shaman Divine Temple was to the Ancient Barbarian Race.
He used to think that if he had a chance, he would visit the Shaman Divine Temple to see whether he could learn something.
Nevertheless, he had abandoned such thoughts because of the invasion of the Demon Race.
But he did not expect that two Shaman Masters from the Shaman Divine Temple would be standing in front of him now.
No wonder Yue and Lu had reached this Realm of cultivation at such a young age. Since they could enter the Shaman Divine Temple, there was no doubt that Yue and Lu were Shamans who had the highest aptitude in the whole South Barbarian Clan.
Shaman Dang continued with a smile, “With your aptitude, you can enter the Shaman Divine Temple too without any trouble. So… Stay alive, Shaman Niu. The truly powerful Shamanic Spells can only be learnt in the Shaman Divine Temple. If you want to enjoy its greatness, you have to grow stronger and survive through the war!”
Yang Kai responded solemnly, “Yes, this subordinate will follow Sir’s instructions!”
“En, dismissed.” Shaman Dang waved his hand and spoke no more.
Yang Kai held his fist to his chest before withdrawing.
Before Yue and Lu left, they looked at Shaman Dang longingly and said in unison, “Take care, Sir!”
Shaman Dang nodded gently. Then, Yue and Lu turned around and walked out of the hall.
Leaving only Shaman Dang and the Guard Captain in the hall.
“Sir, he’s just a Shaman Grandmaster. Why did you give Yue and Lu to him?” The Guard Captain looked at Shaman Dang in bewilderment. He was obviously troubled by Shaman Dang’s decision. Yang Kai only wanted two Shaman Masters, and although there were not many Shaman Masters in King City, there were still some left. Shaman Dang could have simply chosen two at random, but he actually gave Yue and Lu to Yang Kai instead.
Shaman Niu had no idea about the relationship between Yue, Lu, and Sir Shaman King, but the Guard Captain knew of it.
War was coming, how was it safer to entrust Yue and Lu to a Shaman Grandmaster than keeping them beside a Shaman King?
Shaman Dang replied indifferently, “They only have hope to live by following him.”
The Guard Captain frowned slightly and obviously did not agree with him, but he did not dare to express it in front of the Shaman King, so he decided to be silent.
Outside King City, Yang Kai was leading the twins to his camp when he turned back and asked, “Which one of you is Yue? And which one is Lu?”
The two girls stopped, and the one on the left answered, “I’m Yue.”
The one on the right continued, “I’m Lu.”
Yang Kai grinned and nodded, “Noted. Good, Sir Shaman King mentioned that both of you have cultivated in the Shaman Divine Temple since young. Is it fun over there?”
The twins frowned, and Yue replied in a deep voice, “The Shaman Divine Temple is the most important place for all Barbarian Clans. Only the most outstanding Shamans are qualified to enter it and serve the Shaman God. It’s not a place for fun.”
Lu pressed on, “Mind your words, Sir.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders and roughly learnt the characters of these two young Shaman Masters. As such, he stopped talking and continued to lead the way.
A short time later, the trio returned to Yang Kai’s camp, where a group of Barbarian Warriors and Shamans who were training were surprised to see him bringing back a pair of beautiful twins after his trip.
Yang Kai clapped his hands to attract everyone’s attention, then announced loudly, “These two Shaman Masters are Yue and Lu. They were specially sent to our Shaman Niu Clan by Sir Shaman King. Now that you all know them, I hope that you all can live with each other peacefully and work together to resist the Demon Race in the future!”
Everyone accepted in unison while a group of wilder men looked at the twins with intoxicated eyes. If it were not for the noble status of Yue and Lu, some would even be tempted to flirt with them.
The Shaman Apprentices and Shaman Warriors came forward and greeted the two Shaman Masters with respect.
Yue and Lu just nodded lightly as they swept their eyes across the people of the Shaman Niu Clan to examine them.
“Continue your training.” Yang Kai waved his hand to the crowd, then spoke to the twins, “You two, join them. The Shaman Divine Temple only taught you to cultivate Shamanic Spells, but I think they never taught you how to unleash your potential in battle, right? Get familiar with it in these few days, so that you won’t panic when the fighting begins.”
The twins nodded.
After that, Yang Kai whistled loudly and in the next moment, the Eagle King that was on the ground received his order and raised its head to let out a screech.
The Giant Eagles of the Aerial Cavalry that were soaring in the sky responded one after another, and soon carried many archers back and landed on the ground.
Many faces of the archers looked pale and as they rolled down from the Giant Eagles’ backs, some ran to the side to vomit. Some of them even lost their balance and fell flat on their butts.
“Sir, what can I do for you?” Ah Hua came over bravely with a longbow hung over her back. Although her face was slightly pale, she was obviously much better than the others. At least, her footsteps were more stable than everyone else.
Yang Kai announced in a deep voice, “I just received an order from Sir Shaman King that I am to turn over twenty-five Giant Eagles to King City.”
Ah Hua was taken aback when she heard it, “Twenty-five Giant Eagles? Doesn’t that mean…”
Originally, each of the seventy-five Giant Eagles was assigned an archer, so if twenty-five Giant Eagles had to be given away, that meant twenty-five archers would be removed from the Aerial Cavalry, which was unbearable for any archer.
These archers were the elites of the Shaman Niu Clan. They were the elite who were selected through various trials and were all almost equally proficient in their craft.
“Which is why I will give you a day. After a day, the twenty-five archers who have the worst performance will have to return to the ground force, understand?”
Ah Hua pondered for a while, then nodded, “Understood.”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “Go, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes!” Ah Hua turned around in a complicated mood. As soon as she looked up, seventy-five pairs of eyes, full of fighting spirit, looked at her. Needless to say, everyone had clearly heard Yang Kai’s announcement, so if they wanted to keep their Giant Eagle, they had to perform better than the others today.
Not long after, the seventy-five Giant Eagles took to the sky again, creating a spectacular scene.
Yang Kai returned to his wooden house, swallowed a Monster Beast Core, and started to cultivate.
A day later, Ah Hua came to report the situation of the Aerial Cavalry. After Yang Kai’s approval, she demoted twenty-five of the weaker archers and sent the spare Giant Eagles to King City.
The following days were uneventful. The twelve units of Shaman Niu Clan trained in an orderly manner, and over time, they had gotten more and more used to working with each other.
With the addition of Yue and Lu, the Shamanic Spells that were cast by the Shamans of Shaman Niu Clan were enough to cover all three thousand people, which had not been done before.
Previously, they needed the help of Yang Kai or Tiea to achieve this feat, but with Yue and Lu, Yang Kai and Tiea did not need to intervene at all.
The Shamans discovered the strength of the twins, Yue and Lu, as they interacted with them more, and all of them were impressed by these two Shaman Masters who came from the Shaman Divine Temple. The Shamanic Spells the twins had mastered, their understanding of Shamanic Spells, and the speed with which they executed their spells were all incomparable to ordinary Shamans.
Under their guidance, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices made rapid progress.
Although the twins had indifferent personalities, they were not cold. In fact, if the Shamans took the initiative to approach them, the twins were quite easy to interact with. Therefore, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices had become familiar with them after a few days. They would approach them if they had any questions to ask, and the twins would teach them in detail without reservations.
A few days later, the two Shaman Masters gained great prestige in the Shaman Niu Clan.
Yang Kai was so free that he just hid in the wooden house all day and cultivated.
The benefits that a Ninth-Order Monster Core could bring him were not substantial anymore. Therefore, Yang Kai began to consume Tenth-Order Monster Cores.
In just three days, he had broken through a Minor Realm from Low-Rank to Mid-Rank Shaman Grandmaster Realm.
On this day, the peace was finally broken.
When the dull horn sounded in King City, all the busy Barbarians quieted down. Hundreds of thousands of eyes focused on King City, and everyone could sense a storm was approaching.
Many rose to the sky and rushed to King City one after another.
Soon, the Shaman Grandmasters arrived at the palace where they gathered previously.
The number of Shaman Grandmasters this time was fifty percent higher than last; after all, many of them had been on the road to King City previously. But now, all the Shaman Grandmasters in the whole South Barbarian Clan had gathered here.
Basically, all the elites of every village were present now.
When they arrived, they did not see Shaman Dang in the main hall, and naturally whispered in groups to discuss the development of the war. However, everyone was busy training their subordinates outside the King City recently, so no one had any relevant news and they had no idea what was happening outside. Therefore, their discussion was in vain too, and they could only wait for Shaman Dang to explain.
A moment later, Shaman Dang came out with a grim face.
The buzzing of the crowd ceased at once, and all eyes fixed on Shaman Dang. Seeing the Shaman King’s expression, many immediately had an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, Shaman Dang announced shocking news, “The Shaman Saints ventured deep into the territory occupied by the Demon Race a few days ago and fought a battle with their leaders. All of them managed to return after that battle, but three of the Sirs were seriously injured and have fallen into a deep slumber. Only Sir Xiong remains awake, but he won’t be able to fight again anytime soon.”
After listening to the news, everyone was petrified with their jaws dropped, as if their mouths had been stuffed with an invisible fist and could not close, shocked beyond words.
It was reasonable for them to react like this though as in an era without a Shaman God, Shaman Saints were the strongest Masters.
There were only four Shaman Saints in the entire Ancient Barbarian Race. A few days ago, when Shaman Dang revealed that all four Shaman Saints had made a move, many still had a glimmer of hope that these four Masters could drive out the Demon Race.
But after hearing the shocking news today, everyone understood that the Demon Race… Was strong.
Despite the combined force of four Shaman Saints, three of them were seriously injured and fell into an unconscious state to recover, while only one remained awake but was also powerless to fight. Given the outcome of the four Shaman Saints, it was obvious that the Demon Race did not lack existences on par with Shaman Saints.
If even the Shaman Saints were no match for them, what could they do even if they had greater numbers? In that instant, the colour was drained from their faces.
Shaman Dang looked around and continued in a loud voice, “But the efforts of the Shaman Saints were not in vain. According to the information provided by Sir Xiong, the strongest Masters of the Demon Race are also either dead or seriously injured. So, we were not the only ones who suffered this time.”
Hearing what he said, everyone immediately let out a sigh of relief. This was the result that they were looking forward to given that the four Shaman Saints had already taken action personally.
“The Shaman Saints need to rest and recuperate while the same is true of the Masters of the Demon Race. At this critical moment, the final outcome of the war will be decided by our hands. If we can take this opportunity to kill all the other Demons, we can protect our Barbarian Race! But if we fail, the world will sink into the abyss. Therefore, we have only one choice – to fight to the death!”
“Fight to the death!”
“Fight to the death!”
In the hall, the Shaman Grandmasters shouted together, their blood boiling in excitement.
Shaman Dang was satisfied with their reaction and pressed his hand down to calm them, “The efforts of the Shaman Saints have slowed the invasion of the Demon Race. Now, they seem to be building a defence line based on the four territories that they had conquered. Our task is to retake these four territories while eliminating all their footholds.”
“Sir, what exactly is our plan?” Someone asked.
Shaman Dang answered, “Take a look at this.”
While speaking, he waved his large hand and as his Shaman Strength fluctuated, a huge map was condensed above the hall. On the map, there was a large blood shaded area, which everyone frowned at.
This area was clearly the four territories that were occupied by the Demons.
Outside King City, horns blasted again and again as one group after another moved step by step, heading north, towards the warfront.
There were three thousand people in the Shaman Niu Clan formed into ten regular units, an Aerial Cavalry, and an Elite Guard, but not one person was making any extraneous noise.
At the front of the team, the two Shaman Masters from the Shaman Divine Temple, four Shaman Warriors and nine Shaman Apprentices looked up.
Yang Kai sat on his Eagle King’s back like a true commander, and swept his sharp eyes across the formation. Every clansman held their chest up and showed their bravest side.
Without much to say, Yang Kai simply waved his hand and ordered, “Depart!”
Following the screeches of the Giant Eagles, the Aerial Cavalry took the lead and soared into the sky.
Led by Yue and Lu, the Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices joined hands to perform a large-scale Light Body Spell. As the light descended, they blessed the group of three thousand people, making their bodies feel lighter.
The Shaman Niu Clan rumbled off from King City at a great speed, and although there were a large number of them, they maintained a disciplined formation.
In the sky, sitting on the Eagle King’s back, Yang Kai was meditating and cultivating, not wasting any time.
The order given by Shaman Dang earlier in King City was very simple. Right now, the Demon Race was strengthening their fortifications and establishing a defence perimetre. It seemed that they wanted to delay for time so that the Masters on their side could have enough time to recover.
The Barbarian Race definitely would not sit idly by and watch though; therefore, all the major Clans had set out at this moment during the recovery time of the Demon Masters to retake the four occupied territories.
On the side of the South Barbarian Clan, about one hundred and fifty groups each led by a Shaman Grandmaster would attack the Demon Race from the South, destroy their encampments, and force them to retreat. Then, the Shaman Kings of the major Clans would lead the people to kill as many of the Demon Race as possible.
This strategy for the early stages of the war were made to be very flexible. There was no special task for the groups under the Shaman Grandmasters. As long as they encounter the Demon Race, they could just act freely and kill all the Demons.
Yang Kai was satisfied with this strategy as his strength was still in urgent need of improvement. If he had been given a special assignment, he would definitely be far more occupied. As such, this situation was the best for him.
If he could improve his strength to a certain extent before the climax of the war, he would certainly be able to shine brightly on this grand stage.
After living in this Ancient World for such a long time, Yang Kai had unconsciously put himself in the position of a real Ancient Barbarian, and he could no longer simply remain idle as a bystander after being involved in this war.
The roughly one hundred and fifty groups led by the Shaman Grandmasters departed from King City together, but over time, the groups dispersed to different destinations.
At first, there were still some friendly troops that could be seen around the Shaman Niu Clan, but after ten days, not a single friendly troop was detected within the investigation range of the Aerial Cavalry.
More than a hundred thousand people had been completely scattered on this vast land, and many Ancient Barbarians were rushing into the cruel war that would decide their life or death.
Ten days later, Yang Kai, who was cultivating on the Eagle King’s back, suddenly opened his eyes. Ah Hua flew over on the back of her Giant Eagle and when she approached, she stopped, skillfully stabilizing her body, and informed with a calm face, “Sir, there is a village up ahead.”
“What did you find?” Yang Kai questioned.
Ah Hua shook her head, “Nothing.”
Yang Kai nodded and instructed, “We’ll stop there to rest. I’m afraid it won’t be this peaceful for long. Replenish yourselves and prepare for the coming battle.”
“Yes!” Ah Hua received the order and the group continued to move.
Sure enough, they arrived at a small village about an hour later. The scale of this village was larger than that of Blue South Village, but not by much, while most of the houses were built of wood and stone with a low wall protecting its perimeter.
Immediately after entering the village, the Ancient Barbarians were delegated into different posts. Some were responsible for the security of the village, while others began to start fires to cook. Everything proceeded orderly.
Although such a group had just been established not long ago, it already had the makings of a well-trained army.
Yang Kai initially wanted to find a place to have a good rest, but he instantly felt uneasy when he entered the village. It felt like a pair of invisible eyes was staring at him.
This feeling startled him and he quietly released his Divine Sense to carefully investigate the situation of the village.
To his surprise though, he did not notice any abnormalities, and the feeling of being watched quickly disappeared. He shook his head and asked Tiea, “Ask everyone to be careful. Something might happen.”
Tiea looked at him in shock, “What did you find?”
Yang Kai replied faintly, “It won’t do any harm to be careful. This is already not a peaceful area.”
Tiea nodded, “Understood.”
After Tiea passed down the order, the clansmen all became more vigilant.
Not long after, the smell of cooked meat began to permeate the air. During the ten days of marching, they basically only had one meal each day and some of the Barbarians could not bear it any longer. Therefore, at this moment, their stomachs could not help growling when they smelled the fragrant meat.
Without waiting for the meat to be fully cooked, the clansmen began to split it and feast with satisfied looks on their faces.
At this time, Yang Kai suddenly felt a heart palpitation, and under the perception of his Divine Sense, several dozen strange and concealed auras emerged in the village out of thin air.
It was too late for him to investigate clearly what was going on so he simply roared, “Enemy attack!”
The people who were enjoying the meal were stunned at the call, but quickly reacted. They hurriedly put aside their food and took out their weapons forming a defence perimeter. A dozen Shamans also hurriedly pushed their Shaman Strength to get ready to attack at any time.
In the next moment, accompanied by a weird hissing sound, strands of dark aura surfaced from underground, and the whole village was shrouded by it in the blink of an eye.
The clansmen were surprised. No one knew what this was, but they instinctively readied themselves.
“Demon Qi!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes in shock.
This was actually Demon Qi! Furthermore, it was a very pure Ancient Demon Qi!
Although he kept hearing about the invasion of the Demon Race before, Yang Kai also wondered whether the Demon Race in the Ancient World was the same Demon Race that he knew of. However, he could not judge at all because he had not gotten in contact with them personally and did not receive much information about them yet.
Only now, seeing the dark auras with his own eyes, did Yang Kai immediately understand that the so-called Demon Race was the same Ancient Demon Race that he knew of.
Back then, outside Maplewood City, when the Ancient Great Demon revived and besieged the city with its Ancient Demon Qi, many people were demonised by it and transformed into Demons themselves. Even Yang Kai himself was contaminated. Fortunately, he was able to seal the Ancient Demon Qi within his dantian thanks to the Firmament Tree, otherwise, he would have lost his mind to its corruption.
This Ancient Demon Qi had the ability to invade the body, and anyone contaminated with it was at risk of transforming into a half-Human half-Demon that could be enslaved by the Demon Race.
Given that such a deserted village could hide so much of this Demon Qi, it was obviously a trap!
Moreover, what surprised Yang Kai even more was that the Ancient Demon Qi was hidden so deeply that he could not detect it even with his Divine Sense.
It definitely did not appear out of thin air, and even if it was hidden underground, someone must have activated it. As such, Yang Kai was very concerned about the several dozen strange auras that he felt just now.
As soon as Yang Kai investigated with his Divine Sense, he immediately found a clue.
There were many bulges on the ground concealed by the Ancient Demon Qi, and those strange auras were being released from these bulges. These bulges emerged abruptly and silently. After swelling to a certain extent, they turned into figures made out of sand, with complete facial features, but the skin was dry like soil. An indescribable Ancient Demon Qi was exuding from all over their bodies.
These were real Demons!
The sudden change made the group of three thousand people panic.
No one had ever experienced such a thing before, where they could not see their own hands in the black shroud, and there seemed to be some other things hidden in the darkness as well that could evoke wicked thoughts in their minds and urge them to take action to kill everything in front of them.
Shamanic Spells lit up one after another in the dark, like beacons that were guiding the three thousand people to the light.
The light on Yang Kai’s body was particularly dazzling and directly spread out over a five kilometres radius, preventing the invasion of the Demon Qi.
“Solidify! Purify!” Yang Kai shouted and took the lead in waving his hands, shrouding the surroundings with circles of milky white light.
The dozen Shamans, whose brains had gone black after being caught up in this sudden incident, immediately came back to their senses and followed Yang Kai’s lead to perform the two Shamanic Spells.
Under this situation, the standard of every Shaman could be seen clearly.
The light of the Shamanic Spell cast by Yang Kai covered the entire village and even some of the surroundings while the light cast by Tiea could only cover half of the village. Yue and Lu were almost the same as Tiea with their combined force while the remaining dozen Shaman Warriors and Shaman Apprentices appeared deficient in comparison. The weakest Shaman could only light an area of several tens of metres around himself.
Hissing sounds rang out.
With the blooming light of Shamanic Spells, the darkness that shrouded the world seemed to have encountered its nemesis. Many large areas of the darkness dissipated into nothingness as the rich darkness receded at a visible speed.
The invading Ancient Demon Qi immediately tried to swim away in an attempt to escape like a living creature, but it was still unable to escape from the light of the Shamanic Spells.
The situation had turned favourable, but Yang Kai was still feeling chills.
The Ancient Barbarian Race did not know much about Demon Qi, but Yang Kai had experienced it once in person. He knew the terror and strength of this Demon Qi. Except for the dozen Shamans who timely pushed their Shamanic Spells, the rest of his three thousand subordinates were basically contaminated by the Demon Qi just now.
Once contaminated by Demon Qi, it would be inevitable for them to turn into Demons. At that time, they would not be able to recognize anybody, becoming blood-thirsty and ferocious.
Just as he thought about this, a shrill scream filled the air, and as Yang Kai followed the sound to perceive the situation, his heart sank.
Somewhere not far away, a clansman was already demonified. He slashed the weapon in his hand fiercely at another clansman, who was a close brother in the past, chopping off his head mercilessly.
Those who saw this wondered in worry. [How can this be… We have just set out, and we are already about to get wiped out?]
Screams reverberated, terrifying all the Ancient Barbarians. No one had a clue of the surrounding situation, and could only huddle back-to-back in groups while also remaining wary of one another.
The demonified clansman did not stop after murdering his companion and once again raised his sharp weapon in his hand to slash at a new target.
Yang Kai lifted his hand and a Chain Spell shot towards the clansman, binding him tightly.
More screams rang out as others encountered attacks from their once trusted companions.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense enveloped the entire village while he sent out one Chain Spell after another to constrain the demonified clansmen.
After a short delay, Yang Kai suddenly found that the situation was much better than he expected.
The three thousand warriors of the Shaman Niu Clan were not annihilated. After a rough count, only about a hundred people had been demonised, while the remaining warriors did not seem to have been affected, still maintaining their consciousness.
However, the omnipresent Ancient Demon Qi surrounding them was still constantly trying to invade their bodies, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army would be annihilated if the situation wasn’t reversed.
At this point, Yang Kai did not dare to delay anymore and cast a large-scale Purification Spell repeatedly. After each spell cast, the surrounding Ancient Demon Qi would become less dense.
The rest of the Shamans were recklessly spending their Shaman Strength as well to cast their own Shamanic Spells.
The Shamanic Spells displayed by these Shamans seemed to be the nemesis of the Ancient Demon Qi, and after only ten breaths of time, the darkness that enveloped the world had disappeared, replaced by warm sunlight again.
Many clansmen were only able to have a clear view of the situation around them at this moment.
Several dozens of their companions had perished on the spot, their blood still flowing down in streams, while many others who were bound by the Chain Spells struggled incessantly with inky black. Their tireless horrifying growls made them seem like they had lost their sanity.
The scene shocked everyone.
While on the other side, the several dozen strange existences that emerged from the ground had finally taken shape into Sand Demons.
Each of these Sand Demons prepared themselves, and monstrous Demon Qi swept out of their bodies, whizzing into the wind. All of them started to advance swiftly towards the surrounding Barbarians.
Although they had no idea what those Sand Demons were, since they had initiated an attack, they were enemies.
The Barbarian Warriors roared, raised their weapons high, and launched into a brave charge.
With a loud screech, the Aerial Cavalry lifted off and soared over the village, shooting sharp and precise arrows one after another. On the other side, led by Yue and Lu, more than a dozen Shamans chanted incantations continuously while Shamanic Spells were launched in brilliant and colourful light.
The battle started suddenly and ended just as quickly.
The several dozen Sand Demons successfully launched a wave of sneak attacks with the help of the shroud of Ancient Demon Qi, but apart from causing some disruption in the Shaman Niu Clan and killing some people at the beginning, the following fight was a complete crushing defeat for them.
Not a single clansman died; only a dozen people were slightly injured, while the several dozen Sand Demons were all killed.
The fierce battle ended, but at the sight of the tragic deaths and demonised companions around them, the Barbarian Warriors looked gloomy without the slightest sense of victory.
This was the first battle the Shaman Niu Clan had since the day they set off from King City, and the opponents were only a few dozen Sand Demons, but even so, they had suffered unacceptable casualties.
The Ancient Barbarians were all ashamed of the outcome.
“Ah Hu, come here!” Yang Kai beckoned with a solemn expression.
Ah Hu responded, and came to Yang Kai in a few steps, quickly asking, “What are Sir’s orders?”
Although the two of them came from the same village and they were friends even before partners in arms, Yang Kai was now the commander of their army, and Ah Hu could not address him casually in front of others. The commander needed to have the majesty of a commander.
“How do you feel?” Yang Kai asked as he reached out for Ah Hu’s wrist and pushed his Shaman Strength to examine his body carefully.
Ah Hu fell silent for a moment but soon confessed, “I don’t feel well…”
Yang Kai was shocked, “Where do you feel unwell?”
Ah Hu turned his head aside, and lamented, “If I had been more careful just now, we could have lost fewer people.”
Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and patted him on the shoulder in comfort, “You don’t have to blame yourself for this matter. Everyone is responsible for what happened.”
Yang Kai dismissed Ah Hu but remained a little dazed. He realized, after examination, there was not the slightest abnormality in Ah Hu, and there was no trace of demonization in him at all.
The Demon Qi had blanketed the entire village, and it would be reasonable if all three thousand people were contaminated.
In disbelief, he summoned a few other clansmen and examined them, only to find that they were all in good condition, just like Ah Hu, which confused Yang Kai.
It was a good thing that the clansmen were not demonised by the Demon Qi, but Yang Kai could not understand why.
If all the clansmen were the same, it would still make some sense, but there were about a hundred of them who had been demonised.
As he was pondering, Yang Kai came to a subdued demonised clansman. The clansman seemed to have lost his mind at the moment and roared tirelessly with his inky black eyes. Yue was standing beside him, constantly casting Purification Spells, though it did not seem to have much effect.
The other dozen Shamans were also busy casting various Shamanic Spells on the other demonised clansmen, but nothing happened.
“Sir, they can’t be saved,” Lu walked towards him from a short distance away, with a trace of grief in her eyes.
Yang Kai did not answer, but scanned every demonised clansman with his Divine Sense before quickly discovering that each of them had something in common.
These clansmen were somewhat weak compared to the other clansmen.
Although Ancient Barbarians were all physically strong, there were naturally individual differences, and these demonised clansmen were basically those who had lower vitality compared to the rest. Obviously, their demonization was related to their own strength.
Barbarian Warriors did not cultivate Shaman Strength, only Body Tempering. The stronger their physique, the stronger their Blood Qi, while on the contrary, the weaker their physique, the weaker their Blood Qi.
“Blood Qi… Blood Essence…” Yang Kai muttered to himself before his eyes lit up at an idea.
Walking straight to a demonised clansman, Yang Kai reached out his hand to tap on the clansman’s forehead.
Everyone was watching nervously, not knowing what Yang Kai was going to do.
A moment later, the demonised clansman was covered in a red aura after which their strength suddenly shot up and they became noticeably stronger.
[Bloodlust Spell!]
Yue’s and Lu’s eyelids jumped, they looked at each other in shock.
They did not even hear Yang Kai chanting to cast the Bloodlust Spell. In other words, this Shaman Niu had reached a point where he could cast the Bloodlust Spell without an incantation.
This was not something that just anyone could achieve; only a few people who had deep and profound comprehension of certain Shamanic Spells could do this.
This was something that even Yue and Lu, who were raised in the Shaman Divine Temple, could not do.
Despite being shocked, they were also confused as to why Yang Kai had used the Bloodlust Spell now of all times. It was already difficult enough to keep the demonised clansman under control, so the addition of the Bloodlust Spell was only going to turn the situation…
Before they could finish their thoughts, the sisters, Yue and Lu, gaped at the clansman who had been subjected to Bloodlust Spell in amazement.
As soon as the effects of the Bloodlust Spell were activated, a tinge of red appeared in the inky black eyes of the clansman. Although it was not very eye-catching, it was particularly obvious against the black background.
The clansman who had been struggling and roaring constantly seemed to have been thrown into a daze for a moment and stopped resisting.
Immediately afterwards, a painful groan tore from his throat, and a trace of consciousness reappeared in his eyes.
He rolled his eyes to look around before finally locking onto Yang Kai, immediately shouting with much suffering, “Sir… Shaman… Niu…”
Yang Kai quickly motivated him solemnly, “You are a child of the Barbarian Gods, you are a warrior of the Barbarian Race, with strong physique and perseverance. I believe you can overcome the evil in your heart and regain yourself. Your Brothers are waiting for you.”
The surrounding eyes fell on him.
As if encouraged, the demonised clansmen let out a low roar and the red light on his body grew more radiant. The crimson in his eyes burned like flames, and even the blackness in his eyes seemed to be melting quickly under the scorching flames.
The next moment, a dark light suddenly gushed out from all the orifices of the clansman’s head. This was obviously the Ancient Demon Qi that had invaded his body that was now being forced out.
Yang Kai swiftly raised his hand to cast a Purification Spell, cleansing the Ancient Demon Qi.
After the Ancient Demon Qi left his body, the clansman squeezed out a smile and immediately collapsed onto the ground.
Several clansmen who were familiar with him quickly went up to examine him and quickly turned around to assure Yang Kai, “He’s not dead. He just fainted.”
Yang Kai nodded, “He will be fine once he wakes up.”
He investigated the clansman’s body with his Divine Sense and confirmed that the Ancient Demon Qi inside had been completely eliminated. In other words, the hidden danger had been eliminated.
“Sir, is the Bloodlust Spell able to counter the Demon Qi?” Yue looked at Yang Kai curiously, with an insatiable desire for knowledge written all over her face.
Yang Kai instructed the clansmen to bring over the other demonised companions while explaining calmly, “I don’t know the specific situation myself, but I don’t think it’s the Bloodlust Spell that removed the Demon Qi. Instead, it’s the stimulation of Blood Qi of our warriors. Our Blood Qi has the effect of resisting Demon Qi, and the stronger one’s Blood Qi, the easier it is for us to resist the effects of the Demon Qi.”