Duel Before the Gods

Looking at what was in the pot and feeling his body's instinctive craving, Lu Chen had no mind to greet those peers. He merely stared at the huge pot, wondering what was inside.

The youths only glanced at Lu Chen before ignoring him.

"Though we're all young men, those few are the village's geniuses. The old me could never have mixed with them."

As he thought this, Lu Chen noticed that those youths, too, wore looks of longing as they watched the contents boiling in the huge pot.

As everyone stared on, time slowly passed. Half an hour later, the Witch Doctor Master finally stopped adding ingredients and ceased his bizarre dance. By then, the huge pot had become a pot of steaming soup.

Seeing the hot soup and smelling its scent, Lu Chen's eyes narrowed sharply.

"This is... the Medicinal Soup that saved my life last night."

While Lu Chen was still surprised, the Witch Doctor Master had already picked up a large ceramic bowl and ladled out a heaping bowl of Medicinal Soup.

As he watched the bowl fill to the brim, the youth named Xiao Shi revealed a delighted expression, while Arrow's face darkened somewhat.

"Great! This is half again as much as usual. Has the Witch Doctor Master acknowledged my strength?"

The Barbarian Tribe had few rules, but it believed in the creed that strength ruled all.

Other than the mysterious witches, anyone who wanted to become Clan Chief or obtain more prey needed sufficient strength.

At the same time, the powerful held the right to choose first.

The distribution of Medicinal Soup before them followed this rule as well.

Xiao Shi was always the first to drink. Aside from his father being the Clan Chief, the more important reason was that Xiao Shi himself was the strongest among the young men.

However, the other youths who came into the room were also talented and capable. Thus, although Xiao Shi had always drunk first in the past, his share had not exceeded the others' by much. But now, Xiao Shi felt that things had changed.

What delighted Xiao Shi even more was that distributing Medicinal Soup was not merely a matter of status—it concerned something even more fundamental: the growth of strength.

The Barbarians were not highly educated. Aside from the strange witches, their methods were simple and straightforward. They had no dazzling tricks or elaborate flourishes; they relied on powerful bodies and vigorous Blood Qi to face every danger nature threw at them.

But Blood Qi did not arise from nothing. Whether practicing martial skills or tempering the body, one needed to replenish a great deal of nourishment.

Among such foods, tree bark and wild vegetables replenished the least Blood Qi. Eating only those made it difficult even to keep one's body healthy, let alone train.

Next came meat. It replenished the body well, but it was difficult to digest.

There was only so much meat a person could digest in a day.

For this reason, some had created martial skills that strengthened the stomach's digestive ability. Yet such skills were simply not something an ordinary Barbarian Tribe could possess.

Besides martial skills that accelerated digestion, there were also people in this world who possessed peculiar abilities, allowing them to extract the essence of food.

Witches among them could mix herbs, poisons, and the flesh and blood of certain Barbarian Beasts together, stimulating their power and turning a pot of soup into something brimming with nourishment.

Beyond its nutritional value, the hot soup made by witches was also extremely easy for the human body to absorb, solving the problem of meat being hard to digest.

Training while absorbing such Medicinal Soup was worth two or three days of what others could achieve in one. Over time, it would create an enormous gap between oneself and everyone else.

As Xiao Shi stared at the Medicinal Soup bowl, half again as large as usual, he could already see himself leaving everyone else far behind.

Arrow and the others, meanwhile, looked rather miserable at the sight of that large bowl of hot soup.

Of course, beyond envying Xiao Shi, they were even more worried that their own shares would be reduced.

The hot soup was certainly good, but after searching through the Barbarian youth's memories, Lu Chen found that aside from the bowl he had been given after being possessed by a vicious ghost, he had never heard of such a thing at any other time.

The reason was naturally that, while hot soup was excellent, the ingredients needed to make it were difficult to find.

Not only could only a small amount be found each time, but many ingredients came from dangerous Barbarian Beasts or were foods beloved by them. To make hot soup, they had to hunt Barbarian Beasts every time. It was far from easy.

Thus, the hot soup was rationed. If some received more, those remaining naturally received less.

At that moment, Xiao Shi was delighted at the sight of the large bowl of hot soup, while everyone else wore unsightly expressions.

But in the next instant, something happened that startled them all.

Holding that bowl of hot soup, the witch did not hand it to Xiao Shi. Instead, he gave it to Lu Chen.

The other youths were somewhat astonished by this sight, but they soon came to understand.

"A'Chen got tossed around badly by that evil thing. He nearly lost his life, so he really does need to nourish himself properly."

"Luckily, Xiao Shi's share hasn't increased. A'Chen can only stay here for three days at most. Once those three days pass, our original portions will return."

The other Barbarian youths all looked pained when Lu Chen received such a large bowl of hot soup, grieving for the reduction their own shares would suffer.

Yet when these Barbarian youths saw Lu Chen's weak, deathly pale face, none of them said anything.

It could only be said that while the hot soup was important, the still-simple Barbarians would not equate it with a companion's life.

"Endure it. Three days will pass quickly."

Comforting themselves with those words, the youths waited for the Witch Doctor Master to distribute the rest.

But what the Witch Doctor Master said next made the others unable to endure any longer.

"Xiao Xia, remember this. When distributing the soup in the future, A'Chen's portion will be the same as Xiao Shi's and Arrow's."

"Ah... yes, I understand."

Xiao Xia was the timid little girl who addressed the Witch Doctor Master as her teacher.

She was greatly surprised by the Witch Doctor Master's instruction. From his words, it seemed Lu Chen had not been brought here merely because he was injured. His future treatment appeared as though it would be equal to Xiao Shi's and Arrow's.

If Xiao Xia was merely surprised, then the other youths truly found it unbearable.

They could tolerate Lu Chen coming here for treatment over a short period. After all, they could not simply stand by and watch someone from the same village and tribe die.

But they could not tolerate Lu Chen staying here indefinitely. That harmed their interests—interests tied to the very foundation of their strength.

"Witch Doctor Master, only those with sufficient strength can protect the village. We cannot waste resources on ordinary people."

"That's right. The ingredients and herbs here were all won by our fathers with their lives."

"Master..."

These people thought that the Witch Doctor Master had brought Lu Chen here only out of pity.

At this, a smile appeared on the Witch Doctor Master's aged face.

"I understand everything you've said. The village truly needs to concentrate its resources on raising the strong. Only the strong can protect the village and help it obtain more food. I have not grown muddleheaded."

The Witch Doctor Master's words left the other youths afraid to speak further.

Then, the witch looked at Lu Chen and spoke directly. "I naturally have my reasons for allowing A'Chen to join. A'Chen was indeed injured in this attack by an Evil Soul, but misfortune may bring fortune. Everything will depend on what happens three days from now."

"Let A'Chen recover for these three days. After three days, those who are unconvinced may act according to the tribe's rules. I will not stop you."

"Mm. Other than A'Chen, the rest of you may also follow the rules. This time, consider it a small test."

After speaking to the other youths, the Witch Doctor Master looked at Lu Chen. "You may recuperate here for three days. After three days, those little ones will likely follow the tribe's rules. When that time comes, whether you are a dragon or a worm will depend on you alone."

"I understand, Witch Doctor Master."

With that, Lu Chen directly drank the hot soup in his hands.

As the hot soup entered his stomach, a warm current rose from his abdomen and spread toward his limbs and bones.

Nurtured by that warm current, Lu Chen's shriveled body, which had resulted from fusing with a Gold-grade skill, gradually regained vitality.

As his body slowly grew more active, a powerful sense of strength also filled Lu Chen's body and mind.

It was a feeling more than ten times stronger than before. The power of the Gold-grade skill had begun to reveal itself.

At the same time, the mighty strength within his body set Lu Chen's heart ablaze.

After receiving the Witch Doctor Master's answer, the other youths in the room also looked eager to try. Their eyes, fixed on Lu Chen and the others, brimmed with fighting spirit.

The Barbarian Wastes had few rules. The most important one was that the strong ruled.

In the Barbarian Wastes, most of the time, whoever was strong was right.

Of course, though the Barbarians were simple, conflicts and disputes were by no means rare. Yet not every conflict could end in death or injury. If that were truly the case, the Barbarians would have long since killed themselves off through infighting.

The strong ruled, and disputes existed, but one could not lightly take the life of a fellow tribesman.

All this gave rise to a special custom among the Barbarians.

Duel Before the Gods, also known as a Totem Duel.

Whenever a dispute arose between Barbarians, the two sides would duel before the totem—where the souls of their ancestors dwelled. The victor was the one in the right.