“Although the Hundred Thousand Mountain is dangerous, it still connects to the outside world at the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, Golden River, and Death Plains…
“These three borders are all very dangerous, but there exist merchants who are willing to risk their lives to traverse them in order to earn ten times more or even a hundred times more profit!
“At the same time, some outside sects want to infiltrate the Hundred Thousand Mountains! Traces of cultivators were found near the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, and I need to go there to investigate!”
Riding a four-winged griffin, Fang Yuan opened the mission scroll and immediately knew more about the outside world.
In fact, most of the missions on the Holy Mountain were tailored for the Primordial Core realm disciples.
At their cultivation level, they were strong enough to obtain this high-level information.
“Outside cultivators? I want to see what this is about!”
…
The Eagle tribe was a small tribe near the Agonizing Eagle Gorge. Although the living conditions were harsh, ‘merchants’ came here occasionally. They would trade materials such as beast skins, ores, herbs, and so on for steel weapons, white salt, and beautiful fabric and continue to survive.
Therefore, this small tribe endured the living conditions through gritted teeth and did not choose to migrate.
In a small woods nearby, two groups of youngsters were confronting each other.
Although one group was few in number, they appeared triumphant. On the other hand, the larger group looked like they were merely putting on a fierce front but were actually weak.
“Hei Tu, you’ve gone too far. Lan Yue is my woman!”
A youth with large hands and feet and carrying a hunting bow on his back walked forward red-faced.
“Hmph. We are bloodline warriors and should eat the most succulent meat, drink the finest wine, and sleep the most beautiful women!”
A few youngsters showed their totem and were insufferably arrogantly. Their leader even curled his finger tauntingly. “Or… you can challenge me. If you win, I will return Lan Yue to you!”
“Argh!!” The young hunter yelled toward the sky, on the verge of tears.
The barbarians had a tradition of robbing others’ brides. He and Lan Yue both loved each other, but who would have thought that Lan Yue would be snatched by the leader of these young totem warriors, Hei Tu, on their wedding day!
Indeed, the only way to take Lan Yue back was to defeat Hei Tu.
The young hunter finally shouted, “I-I challenge you!”
“Good. You’re courting your own death!” Hei Tu was delighted. “You all heard it. He’s the one who issued the warrior challenge to me, so he can’t blame me if he dies!”
Roar Roar!
Behind him, a black tiger totem emerged and pounced.
Although the young hunter tried hard to swing his knife, the tiger managed to swipe his arm, causing blood to gush out.
Even without being at the Materialization realm, a totem’s physical enhancement made fighting ordinary people a piece of cake.
“Die!” Hei Tu kicked the young man over with one foot and stepped on his face with the other.
“Stop!” The shout came with a pebble cutting through the air.
“Hmm?” Hei Tu used his hand to block the pebble, and his entire body felt like a heavy hammer had hit him. He took a few steps back. “It’s you… Hei Jue?”
“Big Bro Hei Jue, you’re finally here!”
The other youngsters quickly made way for him. Hei Jue was clearly highly regarded among them.
“Hei Tu, don’t take things too far!”
Hei Jue was a thin, black young man with ordinary looks, and he was frowning.
“Everything I’ve done is in accordance with the tribe’s rules!” Hei Tu said proudly. “We are bloodline warriors, and you’re just mortals! Good things should belong to us!”
Only one in ten thousand could awaken totems. Moreover, they could master all kinds of amazing magical powers later on.
Compared to them, ordinary barbarians were indeed mere mortals.
“Really? Then I’ll show you the strength of mortals today!”
Hei Jue raised his iron sword with a solemn expression.
“Sword? Fancy but useless stuff from the outside world!”
Hei Tu obviously did not dare to be careless against Hei Jue and drew his saber. “Kill!”
He pounced forward fiercely and slashed with his saber.
Ding!
The clear sound of metal clashing rang out. The iron sword narrowly pierced Hei Tu’s arm, making him drop the saber and bleed.
“What? How could I lose to someone without a totem?” Hei Tu’s eyes were wide, his face full of disbelief.
“Get lost!” Hei Jue’s expression was cold while thinking to himself, According to Master’s instructions, I am just an ordinary person in the eyes of the barbarian higher-ups. Defeating totem warriors using combat skills alone is still within reason, but I would have to admit defeat immediately if I run into Materialization realm experts. Otherwise, I’d be in big trouble!
“Hei Jue, you just wait!” Hei Tu cursed angrily before turning to leave. After I advance to the Materialization realm, I will kill him!
Materialization cultivators were almost the strongest within small tribes, comparable to Brutal Thunder of the Flybarb tribe.
No one would dare question him casually killing someone ordinary if he had this status.
“Thank you, Big Bro Hei Jue!” The youngster wearing animal skin said sincerely, “My life is yours from now on!”
“We’re brothers. No need to be polite!” Hei Jue patted his chest and put on a righteous front. “Let’s go have some wine and meat!”
By nighttime, a figure sneaked out of the tribe and into the woods.
“Greetings, Master!”
The figure was none other than Hei Jue. He entered a cave and saw a middle-aged man wearing robes in front of him. He kowtowed. “Today, I…”
“Hmm, according to what you said, using martial arts to defeat a Predatory realm warrior is no big deal…” The middle-aged man nodded slowly after listening. “However… although I told you to gather men and raise your reputation, you must take care not to reveal too much of your martial power. Understood?”
“Understood!” Hei Jue nodded solemnly. “The totem warriors are above us. We mortals must accumulate enough strength to topple them completely before taking action!”
“It’s good that you understand this. How’s your progress with the ‘Three Sun Diagram’ that I passed to you?
“Master, I have some questions…” Hei Jue was pleased to hear the question.
What his master taught him was an extremely ingenious cultivation technique that even ordinary people without totems could cultivate.
This was the hope of becoming strong!
“All right… what I’ve taught you today is enough to last until mid Foundation Establishment. Find me again after you break through!”
The middle-aged man nodded and sent Hei Jue away. “Unexpectedly, this barbarian has decent comprehension regarding cultivation. It’s a pity his talent isn’t top tier!”
The outside world had an entirely different cultivation system compared to totems.
As a result, even ordinary barbarians could produce extremely talented geniuses!
Moreover, even if the comprehension of barbarians was mostly mediocre, exceptions happened occasionally.
Once discovered, the sect that the middle-aged cultivator belonged to would abduct them and turn them into direct disciples.
These recruiters, including the middle-aged man himself, were actually just cannon fodder!
“It can’t be helped. The Hundred Thousand Mountains is just too attractive. Mutated beasts, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and precious ores are all very important for cultivation… In addition, with these many barbarians, it’s possible that someone with peerless cultivation talent will emerge!”
The middle-aged man sighed. “It’s infuriating that the Barbarian Ancestral Court is too barbaric and foolish and won’t allow the cultivation forces to infiltrate. If it weren’t for those few Immortal Patriarchs, we would have leveled the barbarian mountains long ago.”
“Level the barbarian mountains, that’s impressive!” A youth in beast skin appeared with a smile on his face. “I wonder which sect you’re from?”
“Hmm? Barbarian Materialization cultivator?” The middle-aged cultivator paused for a second and then thought to himself resentfully, He must have followed Hei Jue here. What a fool, being careless and ruining my plan!
“My dao name is Venerable Illusion Realm. You are…” Fang Yuan casually made up a name.
“Venerable? You’re merely a Materialization cultivator, equivalent to our Foundation Establishment stage and below Golden Core, but you have the face to call yourself a venerable?” The middle-aged man sneered. “My name is Liu He, and my dao name is Venerable Willow!”
His eyes darted around. I wonder if this Venerable Illusion Realm followed Hei Jue here alone, or did he already report to the powerful barbarians?
If it was the first case, he could kill Fang Yuan and continue hiding.
If it was the second case, he would have to completely abandon this place.
“Rest assured. I just happened to meet that youth in the Eagle tribe and followed him here out of curiosity… You haven’t answered my question, sir,” said Fang Yuan with a smile, seeming as though he could read Liu He’s thoughts.
“Haha… people like me are already doomed the moment we’re sent out from the sect. Why would I tell others my sect’s name?” Liu He said calmly.
His spiritual will was expanding rapidly. This Venerable Illusion Realm dared to come here despite being at the Materialization realm. He must have backup!
“Go ahead. I haven’t met any Golden Core cultivators from the outside world. I hope you don’t… disappoint!”
Fang Yuan drew his Nine Profound Spirit Saber and swung casually.
Zap!
External Saber Qi that was a few meters long appeared and crashed toward Liu He like a furious dragon.
“Phantom Shield!”
In front of Liu He, a small black shield appeared to block the Saber Qi. It produced a loud noise that shook the cave, and rocks started raining down.
“Go!”
The two powerful men exchanged glances, and both flew out of the cave as rays of light.
“You actually have a spirit artifact!” Looking at the saber in Fang Yuan’s hands and the shallow mark on the Phantom Shield, a pained expression appeared on Venerable Liu He’s face.
“There’s actually no ambush?” His expression turned joyful, and a small sword that was just a foot long flew out from his body. The sword enlarged in an instant, and then he stood on it.
Flying on a sword!
This was a specialty of outside cultivators. On the other hand, barbarians were unable to fly using their bodies before the Apotheosis realm unless they used a flying magical power.
“Another one who wants to take the positional advantage!”
Fang Yuan shook his head, and a cloud of mist appeared below his feet, carrying him into the air.
“Ride on Clouds Magical Power!”
Venerable Liu He nodded. “Your talent can be considered excellent. Unfortunately, you are going to die today!”
