Red Mud

The five peaks of Wulong Mountain were each different. Of them, the peak that produced Black Dragon Saliva was closest to the Wu Mountain Tribe. Going deeper in made it easier to encounter people from other tribes.

Thus, Su Ming usually stayed here. Only when he needed to gather rarer herbs would he cautiously venture farther in, remaining vigilant at all times.

What Su Ming saw now was the mountain peak that occasionally belched out billowing black smoke. Its name was Black Flame Peak.

It was said that the mountain held great quantities of earthfire within it and had once been the heart of the land of the Fire Barbarian. Though countless years had passed, anyone approaching it could still feel waves of heat rushing at their face.

Su Ming was no stranger to Black Flame Peak. He had entered it many times and had even encountered people from the Black Mountain Tribe there. Had his body not been nimble enough to escape beforehand, he would likely have long since become a pile of bones.

It was very close to the Black Mountain Tribe, and the Black Mountain Tribe had harbored generation after generation of grudges against the Wu Mountain Tribe. The two tribes were roughly equal in size. Though no major war had broken out, the small clashes between their hunting parties remained bloody and cruel.

After hesitating for a moment, a sharp gleam appeared in Su Ming's eyes. After a long while, he withdrew his gaze from Black Flame Peak and took several quick steps deeper into the platform where he stood. Several large rocks lay over a sunken spot there. When Su Ming moved them aside, something was revealed beneath them.

It was a crude bow!

Though crude, its tendon string, as thick as a finger, had been pulled taut. One could vaguely sense the explosive power contained within it.

In the Wu Mountain Tribe, only members of the hunting party could own bows. It was difficult for other tribesmen to obtain one. Su Ming had exchanged herbs for some materials and made this bow himself. He normally did not bring it back to the tribe, instead leaving it here. Lei Chen was the only one who knew this secret.

Holding the bow, Su Ming's eyes flashed. He then felt beneath the large rocks and pulled out five arrows. Their arrowheads had been ground from stone. Su Ming would usually sharpen their tips here, and they were extremely keen.

He placed the five arrows into the woven basket on his back, took up the bow, and whistled at Little Monkey before pointing at the herbs he had drawn on the ground.

Little Monkey understood. It bared its teeth and turned into a streak of red as it raced forward.

Su Ming looked cautious as he swiftly followed behind. In several flashes, man and monkey vanished from where they stood.

When it came to familiarity with Wulong Mountain, even Su Ming could not compare with Xiao Hong. Under Xiao Hong's guidance, by the time the setting sun had turned crimson, Su Ming's woven basket was already filled with herbs.

There were seven or eight kinds of herbs, with quite a few of each. All resembled the plants in the illustrations Su Ming had seen. He could not distinguish them clearly himself, so he simply took everything that looked similar.

"You're saying there's another similar herb here?" The sun was about to set. Su Ming and Xiao Hong were in a forest near Black Flame Peak. He pointed at a patch of pitch-black mud ahead and looked at Xiao Hong.

Xiao Hong nodded repeatedly. After gesturing at Su Ming for a long time, it pointed again at the setting sun in the sky.

Su Ming's eyes flashed. He crouched down and fixed his gaze on the swamp, calming his breath and focusing his mind as he waited for the sun to set. Time slowly passed. After a while, the forest had grown more than half-dark, and beyond thirty meters, the darkness seemed to swallow everything from sight.

At the instant the place fell completely dark, a great number of bubbles suddenly rose from the mud. A red glow flickered faintly within it, as if racing swiftly through the mire. This strange sight made every hair on Su Ming's body stand on end, yet he did not move.

Without blinking, he watched the red glow continue to move through the mud before slowly emerging from it. They were crimson flower buds. Their roots were hidden in the mud, and the wandering red glow from before was clearly their roots and stems moving.

As he watched those flower buds emerge from the mud, Su Ming saw them bloom with his own eyes. An indescribable fragrance spread out. After taking just one breath of it, he immediately had the illusion that his blood was boiling, as though flames coiled around his entire body and fiery poison was about to burst from him.

At that moment, Xiao Hong let out a tense shriek. Su Ming did not hesitate in the slightest. His body flickered as he stepped forward, lunging for the nearest red flower. He held a sharp stone Medicine Blade in his hand. His movements were extremely practiced; in nearly an instant, he severed the flower from its roots and stuffed it into the woven basket on his back.

Having done all this as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water, Su Ming immediately used his nimble body to retreat at high speed. Together with Xiao Hong, he fled with all their strength.

After Su Ming left, a beast's roar came from within the mud. All the red flowers immediately shrank back into buds and sank into the mud in an instant, disappearing without a trace. Soon afterward, however, scarlet blood seeped out from the mud, filling the surroundings with the stench of blood.

Su Ming and Xiao Hong fled in haste until the sky had turned completely dark. Perched in a large tree, they examined that day's harvest beneath the moonlight.

The woven basket held many herbs, and Su Ming was quite excited. Scenes of Powder Refining kept surfacing in his mind, along with growing anticipation.

"It's a pity I don't know the exact effects of Dust-Clearing Powder... but it shouldn't be bad!" Su Ming licked his lips, his gaze falling upon two herbs in the basket.

These were two herbs with almost no difference in color. At first glance, they looked nearly identical. Both were red, and the only difference was that one had six petals while the other had five.

Su Ming did not recognize either of these herbs. They were completely unfamiliar to him and were the only ingredients for refining Dust-Clearing Powder that he had never seen before. Fortunately, Xiao Hong vaguely remembered these two herbs and had led Su Ming to find them.

"Which one is the ingredient needed to refine the Medicine Stone..." Su Ming frowned as his gaze swept over the two herbs. The one with six petals was the one he had obtained from the mud. Thinking of the strange way it had bloomed, Su Ming vaguely felt that if he swallowed it, he would likely die on the spot.

After putting the herbs back into the woven basket, Su Ming lay on a tree branch and bit into a wild fruit. He gazed at the stars overhead and breathed in the forest's scent. Bird and beast cries occasionally drifted to his ears. It was as if he had become one with the forest, and the feeling made him very comfortable.

Xiao Hong sat nearby, grooming its fur and occasionally glancing warily around.

Thus, man and monkey spent the night atop a tree branch in the forest.

The next morning, the rising sun had only just appeared. The forest remained half-shrouded in darkness, with hazy mist faintly visible. Su Ming and Xiao Hong left the tree branch and headed toward distant Black Flame Peak.

Su Ming held his bow along the way, remaining extremely alert. Xiao Hong seemed to have caught his caution and became equally wary. When the sun had fully risen and the forest mist scattered like snow, a towering mountain appeared ahead of Su Ming. The entire mountain was brown, and a wave of heat rushed toward him.

At the mountain's summit, a plume of black smoke rose into the sky. From afar, it was quite a magnificent sight.

"Black Flame Peak..." Su Ming muttered. After cautiously surveying the surroundings, he charged up the mountain without hesitation. He had prepared long before coming here, placing many heat-repelling herbs beneath his feet. Without slowing in the slightest, he climbed straight toward the summit.

Though he climbed quickly, Su Ming's caution did not diminish. Instead, it only grew stronger. After an unknown amount of time, when he had reached the middle of the mountain and was about to continue upward, Xiao Hong behind him suddenly gave a soft cry.

At that cry, Su Ming did not pause to think. His body swayed to the side, and he pressed himself against the cliff, hiding in a crack in the rock. His feet gripped the mountain wall. With his right hand, he drew the bow; with his left, he swiftly took out an arrow. Everything was completed in an instant. Xiao Hong had arrived even earlier and pressed itself against Su Ming.

Su Ming breathed slowly, cold light gleaming in his eyes. At this location, if he encountered people from the Black Mountain Tribe and they discovered one another, it would inevitably become a fight to the death.

Before long, faint voices drifted over, mixed with the sounds of stones falling.

"Early in the morning, and they send us to dig up these lousy rocks. Who knows what they're even for?"

"You've been grumbling all the way here. Since it's the Chieftain's order, we have to finish it. By the way, did you hear? Grandpa seems to have made a breakthrough..."

"I heard people in the tribe saying the same thing yesterday. Grandpa does seem different from before. Looking at him now is a little frightening."

"Do you think the Chieftain sent us to dig these stones because of Grandpa?"

After the two men's voices gradually became clearer, they slowly faded into the distance. Su Ming remained motionless in the crack until he sensed that the two had gone far away. Only then did he let out a breath.

"The Black Mountain Tribe's Barbarian Duke has made a breakthrough... I remember Grandpa saying that the Black Mountain Tribe's Barbarian Duke was at the eighth level of Blood Condensation, but he had mastered an Evil Barbarian technique and could therefore barely contend with Grandpa." Su Ming's eyes flashed. Once he returned, he would report this to Grandpa.

After waiting a little longer and confirming that the two men had gone far away, Su Ming was about to continue climbing upward when Little Monkey beside him tugged at his clothes.

Su Ming immediately turned his head. Little Monkey's face was filled with excitement as it pointed deeper into the crack where they stood. There was a small natural cave there, with heat faintly seeping from within.

Su Ming's gaze sharpened. He immediately gave up on continuing his climb and approached the small cave. After carefully examining it, he took off the woven basket on his back and crawled inside with it. Xiao Hong followed him in.

The cave was not large. If Su Ming had not been so thin, an ordinary member of the Barbarian Tribe would never have been able to pass through.