Grandpa

The second update is here. The recommendations aren't quite strong enough, fellow Daoists. This is the first small burst for Seeking Demon; please give Er Gen the motivation to keep bursting! Everything is difficult at the start, and for the beginning of this burst, fellow Daoists, please give Er Gen your recommendation votes!!!

"Brother..."

"Brother... can you hear me..." In his dream, that familiar, low, and delicate voice echoed once again in Su Ming's mind, lingering for a long time. His unconscious body trembled slightly, as if struggling against something.

"Brother, I am waiting for you..."

When this calling reached its peak, Su Ming jolted awake. His eyes were vacant, staring at the wall in front of him for a long while before he was interrupted by bursts of excited chirping. He turned his head and saw Xiao Hong pouncing toward him in surprise and excitement, clawing at him.

Xiao Hong had woken up long ago; it had only been unconscious and hadn't suffered any substantial harm. After waking, it had been very worried about Su Ming, waiting anxiously by his side.

Now, seeing Su Ming awake, it was quite excited.

Su Ming looked at the little monkey and smiled, though hidden within that smile was a sense of bewilderment. That dream had appeared for the second time...

Exhaling deeply, Su Ming shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about that strange dream, and instead looked down at the seemingly ordinary black fragment hanging around his neck.

Touching the fragment, Su Ming's eyes gradually brightened.

He had personally experienced the changes this black fragment brought him. The refinement of the Dust-Clearing Powder had immediately increased his cultivation speed, and it was precisely because of the red Medicine Stone he had accidentally refined that Su Ming had gained the upper hand in the previous life-and-death battle.

"I must continue refining the Medicine Stone... In that strange place, I only saw one door, but there were fifteen small holes on it. I had hesitated before because I lacked the materials, but now I am very curious to know what changes will occur to that door once I offer up fifteen portions of Dust-Clearing Powder..." Su Ming muttered to himself.

"And I must refine more Blood Powder. This powder... is my trump card!!"

"Furthermore, I need to return to the tribe... I haven't been back in a long time. Grandpa doesn't seem to have made much progress in his cultivation over the years; perhaps the Dust-Clearing Powder will be of help to him." Pondering this, Su Ming stood up. After stretching, the fatigue throughout his body dissipated quite a bit.

He pulled himself together and immersed himself in refining powder once more, while constantly maintaining the cultivation of the bloodline within his body. However, there were some places in his body that felt somewhat stiff when his blood circulated, not as smooth as before. Su Ming guessed this was due to the hidden injuries sustained when breaking through the first layer of the Blood Condensation Realm, which likely wouldn't heal easily in a short time.

A month passed in a flash. During this time, Su Ming went out several times and even had the little monkey help him gather herbs.

In particular, Su Ming went to collect two stalks of the red herb used to refine the Blood Powder. He had wanted to collect more, but he felt a vague sense of danger there, and after hesitating, he did not get greedy.

Using these large quantities of herbs, Su Ming spent the month tirelessly condensing his blood and qi, and refining the Medicine Stone. The muffled sounds often echoed within the cave.

On a morning a month later, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Su Ming gave the little monkey a few instructions, headed down the mountain alone, and disappeared into the jungle.

In the jungle, Su Ming, who had reached the second layer of the Blood Condensation Realm, moved with extreme speed, flashing across the snowy ground. Before noon, he had already crossed the mountain forest and appeared outside the Wu Mountain Tribe. Looking at the tribe in the distance, a smile appeared on Su Ming's face.

"It's been a while since I've been back..." Su Ming strode toward the tribe. The tribe was as usual; many children were playing, and some tribesmen were sparring with one another.

Su Ming's return drew the attention of some tribesmen. After all, he had been gone for a long time, and they greeted each other with smiles.

"Su Ming! You're finally back! Where have you been for so long?" Su Ming patted a child's hair and was just about to head toward Grandpa's place when a hearty voice came from behind him.

Turning around, he saw that the speaker was a very sturdy man, though his slightly youthful face revealed that he was not very old. It was Lei Chen.

"Eh!" Su Ming glanced at Lei Chen and clearly felt that the blood and qi within Lei Chen were extremely vast, seemingly even more powerful than the Black Mountain Tribe Barbarian Warrior he had killed with his Blood Powder previously.

"Are you about to break through to the fourth layer of the Blood Condensation Realm?" Su Ming asked in surprise.

Lei Chen grinned, walked to Su Ming's side, and spoke in a low voice.

"I've felt like I'm about to break through recently. Haha, Grandpa says the Barbarian Blood in my body is very pure, and if I have enough time, I might even reach the same realm as Grandpa." As Lei Chen spoke, his eyes filled with excitement, but he suddenly froze. He looked at Su Ming carefully for a few moments, then suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief, about to speak.

"Come to my place tonight, we'll talk then. I'm going to see Grandpa first." Su Ming knew what Lei Chen wanted to say, so he smiled slightly and turned to walk toward the dwelling where Grandpa lived.

Watching Su Ming's back, Lei Chen stood stunned for a long while, scratched his head, and muttered a few words. He still couldn't figure it out, but he remembered the plan to go to Su Ming's place that night.

As he neared Grandpa's place, Su Ming's footsteps slowed. His expression was slightly uneasy. He respected Grandpa, who had raised him since he was a child and constantly taught him how to be a man, very much. To him, Grandpa was like a grandfather, and that kind of emotion could not be expressed in words.

He did not want to deceive Grandpa, but there were some things he could not fully explain, such as the fragment around his neck... Su Ming was no longer a child; he could judge that if this object were known to others, it might not just be a disaster for him, but for the entire tribe.

He could not say.

Taking a deep breath, Su Ming stood outside Grandpa's dwelling. He did not go in immediately; he could vaguely hear voices inside, as if several people were discussing something.

After waiting patiently for a moment, the door to Grandpa's dwelling opened. Three men walked out. These three men were extremely burly, like small mountains, and their appearance caused Su Ming to clearly feel a powerful pressure. The presence of these three even stirred Su Ming's blood and qi, giving him the illusion that he was about to be swept away in a storm.

Su Ming gasped and instinctively took a few steps back. The leader of the three men was none other than the Chief of their Wu Mountain Tribe. In the past, when Su Ming saw him, he didn't have much of a reaction, only vaguely knowing that he was the strongest person in the tribe besides Grandpa.

But now, possessing the cultivation of the second layer of the Blood Condensation Realm, his feelings were far more intense than before when he saw the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief again.

In his eyes, the blood and qi within the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief seemed capable of shaking the heavens and the earth, especially when combined with the faint, flickering markings on his face, which gave people a terrifying feeling.

Su Ming also recognized the two people beside the Chief. The man on the left was also around forty, with a faint, scorpion-shaped marking flickering on his face. The blood and qi within his body were vast, second only to the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief.

Furthermore, this man had very long arms and carried a large bow on his back. For some reason, when Su Ming saw that bow, he felt as if he heard countless wails in his ears, causing him to feel a sense of dread.

This man was the Scout Leader of the Wu Mountain Tribe!

"Scout Leader" was not a name, but a hereditary title. There could only be one Scout Leader in each tribe; it was an honorary title that could only be possessed by the person strongest in archery in the entire tribe.

The last person, to the right of the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief, was a man in his thirties. This man had a dull expression, was not one for idle talk, and his eyes were often narrowed, revealing only a flash of sharp light through the slits, making it difficult to see his full pupils.

He was the leader of the Wu Mountain Tribe's hunting team, responsible for everything regarding hunting on the outskirts of the Wu Mountain Tribe, and his name was Shan Hen!

These three could be said to be the strongest in the entire tribe, besides Grandpa!

Su Ming took a deep breath and quickly bowed, standing to the side.

The Wu Mountain Tribe Chief was frowning at the moment; clearly, the conversation he had just had with Grandpa had not been pleasant. After walking out of the hut, he did not look at Su Ming, but walked past him.

The Scout Leader carrying the bow beside him, however, smiled when he saw Su Ming, nodded, and followed the Chief away.

As for Shan Hen, the leader of the hunting team, Su Ming seemed not to exist in his eyes; he walked right past without even a glance.

It was not until the three of them had gone far away that a flicker of doubt appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He was puzzled as to why, if even Lei Chen could sense the power of his blood and qi, these three experts from the tribe had not discovered it in the slightest.

"It was I who helped you conceal your blood and qi. Well? Are you not coming in? What are you standing outside for!" Just as Su Ming was lost in thought, Grandpa's stern voice drifted from the hut.

Su Ming lowered his head and walked into the hut.

"So, you finally know how to come back." Grandpa was dressed in linen robes, his hair still braided into numerous small plaits. His face revealed the weariness of age, yet his eyes were exceptionally bright. Although his words were stern, the joy in his gaze could not be concealed.

Su Ming mumbled a few words, keeping his head down, not daring to say much.

"You've got some ability now, haven't you? You can stay away for months without coming home, probably forgetting all about this old man, hmph. Raise your head and come here so I can take a look at you." Grandpa's voice was laced with dissatisfaction.

Su Ming made a wry face and looked up at Grandpa.

"Grandpa..."

Before he could finish, he saw Grandpa, who was sitting cross-legged opposite him, suddenly narrow his eyes. Grandpa raised his right hand and reached toward Su Ming; Su Ming's body involuntarily lurched forward a few steps, and Grandpa's hand pressed directly against his chest.

A gentle force merged into Su Ming's entire body, circulating as it fused with his blood. In an instant, it healed several hidden injuries within Su Ming that he hadn't even noticed himself, and it further mended the underlying damage caused by his reckless attempt to break through to the second level of the realm and his subsequent venture out to kill before he had stabilized his cultivation.

When Grandpa withdrew his right hand from Su Ming's chest, Su Ming's entire body shuddered. Without a second thought, he immediately took out his Medicine Blade and sliced a wound into his arm. Dark, black blood immediately began to seep from the wound, carrying a faint, foul stench.

"You haven't even stabilized your cultivation, yet you go off to fight others. You really have grown quite capable." Grandpa watched Su Ming's actions, the admiration in his eyes deepening, though his tone remained unsoftened. He reached out and took a small, dark green bottle, handing it to Su Ming.

As all the black blood drained from the wound, Su Ming immediately felt his spirit lift. He took the small bottle, opened it, dipped a finger in, and applied it to the wound.