Drumbeat That Set the Heart Racing

Lu Chen soon arrived at the edge of the totem's boundary.

He glanced at the two nervous barbarians behind him, and his expression grew even more resolute.

"I absolutely refuse to die in despair like an ordinary barbarian."

"Evil spirits, I'm here. Come on, let's see who hunts whom today!"

With that thought in mind, Lu Chen reached the boundary marked by the Totem Pillar.

However, he had no intention of stepping out immediately. He observed from within the totem's range for a long while. Only after he spotted a Human Head Fireball hopping nearby without daring to advance did he emerge once more.

"There's only a Human Head Fireball within sight, and it merely dares to linger nearby without entering the totem's protection. That means it's about as strong as the last one—well within my ability to handle."

Planning before acting was what set Lu Chen apart from ordinary barbarians. As an outstanding young man from the twenty-first century, even if he was reckless, he would gather intelligence and reason things through first.

And the facts proved that Lu Chen's approach was correct.

Pfft!

With the sharp whistle of an iron sword piercing the air, the massive Human Head Fireball was directly scattered by Lu Chen's blade. The qualitative change in the blood qi clinging to the sword also vaporized a great deal of the flames.

But in the next moment, that large amount of blood qi gathered around Lu Chen as if fledgling swallows returning to their nest.

The Human Head Fireball wanted to enter Lu Chen's body, revive within him, and feed on the essence of his flesh and blood to grow.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen, who possessed the Barbarian King Bloodline, was strongest not in strength, nor in the agility at which a Swordsman excelled. His greatest attribute was Constitution, with a bonus of as much as 44 points.

His powerful Constitution gave Lu Chen vigorous blood qi. Before those crimson flames could burrow into his skin, they were completely evaporated by his abundant blood qi.

System Notification: The host has eliminated a remnant soul and gained 75 Experience Points.

Experience Points: 187

Having easily destroyed the remnant soul and heard the system notification, Lu Chen smiled.

"That's the third one. My Experience Points are almost at two hundred now. Good. Two hundred Experience Points can raise my Swordsman level by one. Sure enough, I have the qualities of a Child of Slaughter as well."

A Child of Slaughter was someone in Western mythology who possessed the divine nature of slaughter. Humans with such divinity could grow stronger through killing.

Although Lu Chen obtained Experience Points after killing instead, that could still be considered a variant of the Child of Slaughter.

The fact that Lu Chen could let his thoughts wander at this moment showed that he was in a good mood, and that was indeed the case.

It wasn't scary when barbarians acted like hooligans; it was scary when barbarians had brains.

Lu Chen possessed a barbarian's robust physique as well as the rational soul of a twenty-first-century man. All of this made him observe for a long time beforehand and confirm that there were no problems before beginning the hunt.

And that caution had allowed Lu Chen to hunt three remnant souls in succession without suffering the slightest injury.

Thinking that hunting just one more Human Head Fireball would raise his level, Lu Chen was indeed in an excellent mood.

"Still, even though hunting one more will raise my Swordsman level, I need to rest for a while. The continuous hunts have left my body feeling a little weak."

Yes, Lu Chen, whose physical attribute bonus was as high as 44 points, was actually feeling weak. That was the terror of evil spirits.

Even if they were merely remnant souls—evil spirits that could be seen—destroying them still consumed a great deal of Lu Chen's blood qi each time.

"Sigh, outside the totem's range, I have to shatter them three or four times every time I kill one. If I were inside the totem's range, my consumption would probably be several times lower!"

After thinking it over, Lu Chen headed back into the totem's range. Meanwhile, the two barbarians approached him with faces full of admiration.

At a time when everyone else only dared to defend within the totem's range, Lu Chen, who took the initiative to venture out, seemed exceptionally brave.

However, while Lu Chen was very careful, one could not walk by the river forever without getting one's shoes wet. Besides, although he was cautious, the only evil spirits he could see were Human Head Fireballs.

If all the evil spirits in the world were like Human Head Fireballs, they would have gone extinct long ago.

After all, whether among the humans of the Central Plains or in the barbaric wilderness, there were powerful people. Yet humanity, despite having so many experts, could only defend and found it difficult to take the initiative. How could evil spirits capable of forcing them into such a position all be as weak as Human Head Fireballs?

Lu Chen was hurrying back into the totem's range while the other two barbarians were coming to meet him. Just as all three reached the boundary—

Suddenly, in the silent night, the sound of drums rang out.

The drumbeat was not loud, like the rattle of a child's pellet drum, yet it continued without end.

The sudden sound made Lu Chen wary. He immediately looked around, trying to spot something.

But after a long while, there was nothing at all. Only the drumbeat continued to echo through the night.

At the same time, the drumbeat did not cause hallucinations or any chilling sensation.

Yet even though nothing seemed wrong, Lu Chen quickly headed into the Totem Pillar's protective range. But after taking two steps, he discovered that his heartbeat had quickened.

This immediately made Lu Chen stop and try to control his body.

But what made Lu Chen's expression turn ugly was that he could no longer control his heartbeat.

As the drumbeat sounded beside his ears, his heart gradually began to follow its rhythm.

The drumbeat went from slow to fast, growing increasingly rapid and urgent. Lu Chen's heart likewise beat faster and faster, more and more frantically.

That violent pounding made the blood throughout Lu Chen's body boil. At the same time, the rapid circulation of so much blood filled Lu Chen, a Barbarian Blood Warrior, with strength.

Yet that sensation of power filling his body brought not the slightest joy to Lu Chen's face. His expression held only coldness.

"Damn it, I let my guard down. I did observe carefully just now, but without any special detection skill, I could only rely on my eyes. But evil spirits are called strange because most of the time, they're utterly bizarre!"

Lu Chen finally understood. The evil spirits visible to the naked eye were all weak. Most evil spirits and dangers lurked beneath the silent night, and the darkness of the wilderness concealed far too many perils.

Lu Chen felt somewhat upset at his own carelessness, but this was not the time to dwell on it.

While doing everything he could to slow his blood flow and keep his heart from exploding from beating too violently, Lu Chen ran swiftly toward the totem, hoping to return to safety. However, as he ran, the sound of his heartbeat surged in intensity again, making Lu Chen truly feel death closing in.

Daring not to delay, Lu Chen immediately stopped and prepared to walk slowly.

While Lu Chen was in distress, the two barbarians on the other side anxiously tried to run over.

Seeing the state they were in, Lu Chen was startled.

"You're fine? Your hearts aren't beating along with the drum sound? How did you do that?"

Looking at the two barbarians, who seemed perfectly normal, Lu Chen was genuinely astonished.

He had not expected himself to be affected while the two barbarians were completely fine.

"Could it be the totem's suppression? But that's not right. I'm within the totem's range right now, yet the drum sound hasn't weakened much."

The two barbarians were even more baffled by Lu Chen's question.

"What heartbeat? You mean that irritating drum sound?"

"Leave quickly! That drum sound is definitely dangerous."

Fine, these two were just simple-minded fools. They had not noticed anything unusual just now and merely felt that the drum sound was dangerous.

And considering that they were barbarians, expecting them to be overly clever was rather unrealistic.

Fortunately, unlike the other barbarians, Lu Chen was quite intelligent. He also possessed some modern knowledge, and before long, he thought of something.