Totem God Pillar

"Spirit pills and potent medicines? For a poor family disciple like me, just being able to eat my fill is good enough. How could I possibly afford to only consume spirit pills and potent medicines?"

Zhong Yue shook his head, picked up the bronze lamp, and prepared to return to Sword Gate. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back. The Kindling Child watched him curiously. Zhong Yue took a medicine hoe from the medicine basket, dug a pit, bowed to the skeletal remains, placed them in the pit, filled it with soil, bowed again, and only then stood up and left with the lamp.

The child inside the lamp's gaze flickered, showing approval. He quietly waited for Zhong Yue to finish. Seeing Zhong Yue hang the lamp on his chest and climb the stone wall, he couldn't help but say, "A dignified member of the Divine race, and you can't even fly? You have to rely on your two legs to walk. You're truly a disgrace to the Divine race! Pure-blooded Divine race members are born divine, and a flick of their tail allows them to control energy and fly."

Zhong Yue climbed the cliff and laughed, "I don't have a tail, nor am I of the Divine race, so naturally, I can't fly."

The Kindling Child jumped out of the lamp and walked on his clothes. He touched Zhong Yue's tailbone and shook his head, "You do have a tail, it just hasn't grown out. The Fuxi Divine Clan members I met before all had snake tails. Why hasn't yours grown out? You don't believe me? Then touch your backside and see if there's any trace of a tailbone."

Zhong Yue reached behind him and indeed felt his tailbone. His heart trembled slightly.

Could it be that our Human race is truly descended from the Fuxi Divine Clan? Impossible. Our Human race is weak, arguably the most lowly race among all the myriad races. How could we be descendants of the most noble royal clan among the Divine race?

He steadied himself and climbed the cliff with all his might. With Xin Huo and this bronze lamp, the black miasma couldn't penetrate. Soon, Zhong Yue reached the cliff top and looked around. The sky and earth were shrouded in black miasma.

"Xin Huo, can you see what's inside this black fog?"

"A dignified member of the Divine race, and you can't use your own Divine Eye to see... That's right, your Divine Eye has also degenerated. Touch your brow. Is it slightly sunken? That's where the Fuxi Divine Clan's third eye, the Divine Eye, is located!"

Zhong Yue touched his brow and indeed felt a sunken spot. His suspicion deepened. He thought to himself, The Suihuang in the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization also had a third eye. Could it be that our Human race also has a third eye?

The light from the tattered bronze lamp gradually brightened, illuminating further and further. The black miasma was incredibly dense, yet this light seemed capable of piercing through all the gloom.

Zhong Yue looked around along the path of the light, his heart filled with horror.

A colossal foot descended from the sky, stepping into the deep valley. This foot had no flesh or blood, only bone, stark white and about half an acre in size!

He looked up and saw a white-boned giant standing in the black miasma before him. It was clad in tattered armor, covered in bronze and iron rust, mottled and worn, as if eroded by thousands of years of ancient time.

The white-boned giant's bones were covered in various magnificent patterns, with totem-like designs spread across all its bones. It strode forward on its two legs, dragging a long white-boned tail that swayed back and forth. What race was it?

Suddenly, a tattered banner silently slid past Zhong Yue, fluttering in the air. Then, enormous white-boned feet descended from the sky, moving silently in the black miasma. Each foot alone was much taller than Zhong Yue!

Many white-boned giants also floated up from the ground, joining this white-boned army, yet the ground remained undisturbed.

These white-boned giants' bones were covered in totem patterns that had not faded over the long years. They seemed to have no true form; they passed through mountains and walked on water. They followed the banner in the air, only absorbing the flesh and blood of living beings they encountered!

More giant beasts appeared, their bodies covered in decaying flesh, with ghostly fires flickering in their skulls. White-boned giants rode these beasts, and some white-boned giants even had the flesh of various birds and beasts attached to them, the flesh writhing strangely.

Further in the distance, tattered banners fluttered in the air. More giants and beasts appeared, but they were too far away for Zhong Yue's eyesight to discern clearly. He could only see flickering ghostly fires, the eyes of the white-boned giants and beasts!

The area around Sword Gate Mountain, which was originally lush and verdant, now seemed to have transformed into a demonic realm overrun by specters!

"These are Demonic Souls! They are formed from the lingering resentment of gods and demons after death!"

From within the lamp, the Kindling Child whispered, "The resentment is so strong. Something earth-shattering must have happened here to cause such lingering resentment. And what are these Demonic Souls of dead gods and demons searching for? They must be looking for some incredible treasure!"

Zhong Yue asked in surprise, "Are they of the Divine race?"

"There are Divine race members and Demonic race members, but mostly lower-tier Divine race members. Only the nine great clans like Fuxi, Nuwa, Huaxu, and Yanzi are true Divine Emperor clans with the most noble bloodlines. You have the bloodline of the Fuxi Divine Clan within you, but it's too diluted. Even these dead gods and demons are far superior to you. You are not suitable to inherit Xin Huo, otherwise, you would be the Kindling inheritor of this generation."

Zhong Yue identified his direction and walked towards Sword Gate Mountain.

By the time he left Gathering Cloud Mountain, the Demonic Souls in the miasma had dispersed. Half a day later, the miasma also vanished.

With the Demonic Souls and miasma gone, the Kindling Child in the lamp also fell silent. For the past few days, having this strange little creature for company, Zhong Yue hadn't felt lonely. The sudden silence from the Kindling Child made him feel a bit unaccustomed.

He lifted the lamp cover and saw that the Kindling Child on the wick had disappeared, leaving only a finger-sized flame.

"Xin Huo, are you still there?" Zhong Yue asked, shaking the strange lamp.

"Don't bother me."

The flame flickered, vaguely revealing the Kindling Child's finger-sized head as he yawned. "I've expended too much energy lighting the lamp to resist the black miasma these past few days. I need to rest. I must find the Kindling inheritor as soon as possible and reside in their soul, otherwise, I won't last more than a few years before extinguishing. I've slept for too long, and I'm not as strong as I used to be..."

He fell into a deep sleep again. Zhong Yue thought for a moment, placed the lamp in his medicine basket, covered it with medicinal herbs, and walked into Sword Gate Mountain.

"Outer Disciples who have mastered Soul Egress and those who haven't are treated completely differently. Those who have mastered Soul Egress live in the Upper Court, receive ten Feather Spirit Pills each month, and are taught more profound cultivation techniques! I must first go to the Azure Sky Hall in the Outer Sect and pass the assessment to improve my treatment!"

Zhong Yue headed straight for the Azure Sky Hall. The assessment for Soul Egress was held only once a month, and today was the day of the assessment. If he missed it, he would have to wait until next month.

There were many Outer Disciples, over fifty thousand in total. Zhong Yue had been gone for three days without Sword Gate noticing. Someone like him, from a small tribe like the Zhongshan Tribe, probably wouldn't be missed even if he died outside.

For Soul Egress, I cannot use the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization taught by Xin Huo. I can only use the Sword Gate Soul Egress Visualization. I wonder if I can achieve Soul Egress using this method?

Zhong Yue was somewhat worried. Sword Gate placed great importance on its inheritances. If they discovered he wasn't cultivating Sword Gate's techniques, being expelled from Sword Gate would be a minor issue, but losing his life over it would be a huge loss.

Upon arriving at the Azure Sky Hall, he saw over a hundred Outer Disciples gathered there, also waiting for the assessment. A few Outer Disciples held Totem God Pillars, inscribed with strange patterns drawn with the blood of exotic beasts.

Totem Pillars were divine pillars used by the Human race tribes in the Great Wilderness for sacrifices. They had miraculous effects and were excellent for nourishing the soul, making cultivation and visualization twice as effective.

Those qualified to hold Totem Pillars were all from the upper-class families within the tribes.

Such Totem Pillars could only be refined by Qi Refiners, so only tribes with Qi Refiners possessed them. The spirits refined by Qi Refiners were also a type of totem, called Totem Spirits, meaning spirits of the totem.

Spirits and totems were closely related. One tribe, whose Qi Refiner's Totem Spirit was a Black Tortoise, adopted the Black Tortoise as its totem. The tribe's worship of the Black Tortoise totem also, to some extent, enhanced the cultivation of that Qi Refiner.

Tribes without Qi Refiners naturally did not have Totem God Pillars. Zhong Yue's Zhongshan Tribe was the smallest tribe, so it naturally did not possess treasures like Totem God Pillars.

As Zhong Yue just reached the Azure Sky Hall, he suddenly heard an uproar. The crowd surged. "Someone's dead!"

"Someone was killed during the assessment, their soul scattered!"

Zhong Yue's heart stirred. He saw two men in white carrying the corpse of a youth out of the Azure Sky Hall. It was an Outer Disciple who had died during the assessment.

This scene made many Outer Disciples' hearts tighten. The assessment for Soul Egress was extremely demanding. Simply achieving Soul Egress was not enough to pass the assessment; one also needed to demonstrate soul strength and combat awareness. There were many dangerous aspects, and a slight mistake could lead to injury!

Even causing death was a common occurrence!

Outside the Azure Sky Hall, the Outer Disciples who had come for the assessment were filled with unease. They had all heard about the Azure Sky Hall's assessments resulting in death, but hearing about it was different from witnessing it firsthand. The impact on their hearts was stronger, causing many to falter and consider backing out.

Zhong Yue strode forward, thinking, The path of cultivation lies in brave advancement. If the heart fails, everything fails. What's the point of cultivation then?

In front of the Azure Sky Hall, the elder in white robes who presided over the hall, with eyes observing his nose and his nose observing his heart, seemed not to notice Zhong Yue's arrival. He said calmly, "Which clan are you from?"

"Zhongshan Tribe, Zhongshan Clan, Zhong Yue!"

The elder in white robes looked up and sized Zhong Yue up. "Go in. Next! Which clan are you from?"

"Weishui Tribe, Shuitu Clan, Shui Qingyan."

As Zhong Yue walked into the Azure Sky Hall, he suddenly heard a pleasant and melodious voice from behind him, "Zhong Yue? Brother Yue from the Zhongshan Clan? Is it really you? It's only been a few days, why have you become so thin?"

Zhong Yue turned to look and saw a young girl following closely behind him into the Azure Sky Hall. The girl was also about thirteen or fourteen years old, fair-skinned and beautiful, wearing a white fur hat. Her eyes were as clear as pure water, and she carried a faint, elegant fragrance. She carried a small Totem God Pillar on her back and quickly walked over to his side, exclaiming joyfully, "It really is you! A few days ago, I came to find you but you weren't there. I thought something had happened to you, I was so scared! Why have you become so thin? I almost didn't recognize you just now..."