The Dream

"Brother..."

"Brother..."

A frail voice, carrying a peculiar emotion, echoed through Su Ming's dream.

"Brother... can you hear me... Brother..."

"Brother... I'm waiting for you..." The voice was weary, as though it had been calling to itself there for eternity. It grew weaker and weaker, slowly fading into silence amid murmurs.

As the voice weakened, Su Ming felt a piercing pain in his dream, as though something most important was drifting away with that voice. The feeling jolted him awake.

Su Ming's entire body was icy cold, soaked through with sweat. His face was pale. As he panted, he looked around, and the familiar sight before him gradually calmed his heart.

It was already late at night outside. The distant roars of birds and beasts could faintly be heard. Other than that, all was silent. Su Ming sat wordlessly on his wooden bed, staring at the fragment in his hand, hesitation slowly appearing on his face.

"That dream just now was very strange... And I clearly wasn't sleepy before, yet while examining this fragment, I somehow fell asleep... That dream... that voice..." Confusion appeared on Su Ming's face. He rarely dreamed, and he had never experienced a dream like that before. Especially that woman's voice—it somehow seemed very familiar to him.

"Everything must be connected to this thing!" Su Ming lowered his head and carefully examined the fragment in his hand beneath the moonlight, frowning.

"What exactly is this..." After hesitating for a moment, he simply bit open his fingertip. According to the beastskin scroll, most treasures between heaven and earth needed to be opened with one's own blood.

From birth until now, Su Ming had never seen any treasures. This fragment was the only one. He squeezed blood from his fingertip and let it drip onto the fragment, then watched it without blinking in anticipation.

But after a long while, the fragment still showed no change. There was no sign that it had absorbed the blood upon it.

Su Ming scratched his head, a stubborn streak rising within him. He stood and tried all kinds of methods—biting it with his teeth, forcefully trying to break it apart, even soaking it in water—but in the end, the fragment remained unchanged, without the slightest difference.

As the sky gradually brightened, Su Ming held the fragment and stared blankly at it. Time passed. When the distant horizon became fully bright and the rising sun leaped into the sky, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Su Ming's mind.

"When I first wore this thing, it gave off warmth. Perhaps... that is its purpose!" Without hesitation, Su Ming immediately threaded the fragment back onto its pendant and put it around his neck, letting it press tightly against his chest.

Waves of warmth spread out and seeped into Su Ming's body, seeming to circulate through his entire body and filling him with comfort. Taking a deep breath, Su Ming recalled the method of Barbarian Cultivation he had obtained from the Barbarian Statue.

Barbarian was the foundation of the world. What Su Ming had obtained this time was the cultivation method for the first realm of Barbarian Cultivation: the Blood Condensation Realm.

Su Ming had learned from the beastskin scroll that in ancient times, the Barbarian Ancestor had split open heaven and created mankind. At that time, everyone had been a god. Yet after the passage of countless years, the Barbarian Tribe, heirs to that myth, had gradually ceased to be legendary and had instead fallen into the ordinary.

As for the cultivation art of Barbarian Cultivation, it too had been passed down from that era. It had merely been altered to better suit the present-day Barbarian Tribe. Its first realm, the Blood Condensation Realm, was divided into eleven layers. Its purpose was to awaken the exceedingly faint blood of the Barbarian Ancestor's inheritance within a cultivator's veins and condense it.

The so-called Barbarian Body was actually a means of using the power of the Barbarian Statue to find those tribesmen with more of the Barbarian Ancestor's inherited blood in their bodies. Only they could walk farther along the path of Barbarian Cultivation.

Ordinary tribesmen possessed far too little of the Barbarian Ancestor's inherited blood, so they were not acknowledged. They had no qualification to become Barbarian Cultivators, and when they worshipped the Barbarian Statue, they would not receive cultivation methods from that unseen existence.

But Su Ming was extraordinarily special. In truth, he still did not possess a Barbarian Body, yet because of that strange fragment, he had obtained a cultivation method that was difficult to pass down by word of mouth and that, in the vast majority of small and medium-sized tribes, could only be obtained through the inheritance of the Barbarian Statue.

"Condense the Barbarian Blood within the body, awaken it, then finally draw one's own Barbarian Mark and step into the Dust Opening Realm!" Su Ming murmured, a bright gleam appearing in his eyes.

He sat cross-legged there. After taking a deep breath, he slowly closed his eyes and gradually immersed himself in the indescribable cultivation method within his mind.

Time trickled by. Before long, the rising sun at the horizon had climbed high into the sky. Smoke from cooking fires rose and dispersed throughout the tribe, bringing liveliness with it. Under the leadership of several captains, the tribesmen of the hunting party finished preparing and left the tribe beneath the watchful eyes of their families. They were going to hunt enough food.

Some Lasu, only four or five years old, ran naked through the tribe, playing with great joy. Their bursts of childish laughter made the tribesmen who heard them smile.

Meanwhile, Grandpa was explaining some experience in Barbarian Cultivation to the two tribesmen who had successfully acquired Barbarian Bodies. Barbarian Warriors were the most important strength of a tribe.

In the Wu Mountain Tribe today, with the older generation gradually passing away one after another, there were only twenty-two Barbarian Warriors in total.

No one noticed that on this morning, the door to Su Ming's house was tightly shut. Inside, as he sat cross-legged, a faint bloody glow emerged from his body. Looking closely, one could vaguely see that it came from a blood line beneath his skin. That blood line slowly flickered with red light, exuding an eerie aura.

At present, only one blood line had appeared on Su Ming's body, and even that flickered in and out of sight, never fully revealing itself.

After a long time, Su Ming opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"In the Blood Condensation Realm, the more blood lines that appear, the greater the chance of reaching Dust Opening. But the Dust Opening Realm is truly too difficult. According to the beastskin scroll, only upon reaching Dust Opening can one barely be called a Barbarian Cultivator. Yet a Dust Opening Realm cultivator is a powerful expert capable of giving a small tribe the qualifications to become a medium-sized tribe!

Grandpa has already condensed more than half of his Barbarian Blood, yet he still has no hope of Dust Opening. Among all the surrounding tribes, I have never heard of anyone reaching the Dust Opening Realm."

Su Ming murmured. The Dust Opening Realm was far too distant for him. What he cared about most now was whether he could successfully cultivate the first layer of the Blood Condensation Realm.

The first layer of the Blood Condensation Realm required three blood lines to appear.

If one possessed a Barbarian Body, then upon beginning cultivation, they could quickly condense more than three blood lines and directly pass through the first layer of the Blood Condensation Realm. They would not be like Su Ming, unable to even fully reveal a single blood line.

Although the beginning had not gone smoothly, Su Ming was not discouraged. To him, as long as he could cultivate, there was hope.

Moreover, while condensing the bloodline within his body, he could clearly feel the fragment on his chest emitting even more warmth. This greatly lifted Su Ming's spirits. He vaguely felt that he had grasped the key to this treasure.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed. During those seven days, Su Ming barely stepped outside. Even when hungry, he did not need to eat much. This puzzled him for quite a while. After all, the beastskin scroll had said that Barbarian Cultivators, especially those in the Blood Condensation Realm, would have greatly increased appetites due to circulating the blood in their bodies. This allowed their bodies to grow rapidly while forging more fresh blood for cultivation.

Yet this was not the case for Su Ming. After thinking it over, he attributed it to the strange effects of the fragment's warm current.

During those seven days, Lei Chen came once. He brought Su Ming Sable Deer blood and took away some Black Dragon Saliva in passing. Lei Chen had possessed a Barbarian Body when he worshipped the Barbarian Statue at the age of seven. Now, he had reached the fourth layer of the Blood Condensation Realm and condensed twenty-three blood lines within his body. Even in the hunting party, he was considered one of its pillars.

Before leaving, he hesitated. He wanted to comfort Su Ming with a few words, but in the end, he merely looked at him and said in a dull, honest voice, "Su Ming, we grew up together. From now on, I'll protect you. Whoever dares provoke you will be picking a fight with me, Lei Chen!" After saying that, he forcefully swung an arm, grinned foolishly, and walked out.

Su Ming watched Lei Chen leave, warmth filling his heart.

Although life in the tribe was simple, it was not dull. Nearly every tribesman had their own duties and needed to contribute their strength to the tribe's survival.

Half a month after Barbarian Awakening ended, Su Ming once again slung a woven basket over his back. After greeting the tribesmen, he left the tribe alone and headed toward the distant forest.

The moment Su Ming entered the forest, it was as though he had become a different person, filled with nimble vitality. With a flash, he shot forward like a sharp arrow. In a few agile leaps, he climbed a large tree and sat on a branch, a smile appearing on his face as though he were very satisfied with his speed.

"Though I haven't fully cultivated the first layer of Blood Condensation, my body is at least several times more agile than before."

Su Ming placed two fingers of his right hand to his mouth and let out a whistle. The sound spread far into the distance, stirring wave after wave of echoes. Before long, a red streak came shooting over from afar. It was incredibly fast, closing in within moments as it charged straight at Su Ming.

Su Ming grinned. The instant the red streak arrived, he leaped forward. Squeaks came from within the red streak as it relentlessly pursued him.

"Xiao Hong, let's compete again today and see who reaches the mountain first!" Su Ming's voice was cheerful as he swiftly leaped and ran forward. The red streak behind him was that little red monkey. Contempt showed on its face as it gnawed on a fruit pit in its hand, seemingly disdaining to compete seriously with Su Ming. It scratched its face and lazily gave chase.

But as it chased him, the little monkey's eyes turned red. Its squeaks grew shrill, and astonishment appeared on its face. In a fit of fury, it threw away the fruit pit in its hand and gave chase at full speed.

During the new book period, rules prevented me from posting too much every day. And honestly, Er Gen had far too much fun during the New Year... to the point that there was almost no draft stock left... I know some fellow Daoists won't believe it, but it's true...

I began to struggle and even considered taking another month off. But then I realized I had already set the date for my release...

After wrestling with it, I finally put those thoughts away and began burying my head in writing. Right now, I only have a few chapters saved... Please let me keep them in reserve for those times when I feel like going out and having fun again...

Lastly, I still have to ask for some touching~~~ Everyone understands... Don't always touch yourselves; go touch others more... Have you touched anyone today?