Barbarian Marks (Third Update)

The third update is done. Seeking Demon's first burst of updates! Please recommend it!!!! Give me the motivation for a second burst!!!!

"Grandpa, it's not that I wanted things to turn out this way. They went too far and stole Xiao Hong. "

Su Ming muttered.

"They?" Grandpa was taken aback.

"One was at the second layer of Blood Condensation, and the other at the third." Su Ming capped the little bottle and set it on the table beside him.

"Black Mountain Tribe? How did you get away?" A cold glint flickered in Grandpa's eyes.

"I didn't run. They're dead." Su Ming raised his head and looked at Grandpa.

Grandpa froze, then his expression shifted. After a moment's thought, he didn't ask for the details. To him, Su Ming was like one of his own children. He had watched him grow up and knew his character.

"You ran into them at Black Flame Peak, didn't you? The message you sent back last time was a great help to the tribe. You should have been rewarded, but you hid the fact that you'd become a Barbarian Warrior, so the reward was canceled. Since you've become a Barbarian Warrior now, stay here. I'll tell you about my experience with Barbarian Cultivation, and Grandpa will help you set the blood in your body in order."

Grandpa glanced at Su Ming, a smile spreading across his face.

"Grandpa..." Su Ming scratched his head. After hesitating, he spoke softly. "I was wrong. Aren't you going to ask how I became a Barbarian Warrior?"

"What's the point of asking so much? Everyone has their own secrets. Grandpa only needs to know that my Su Ming has finally become a Barbarian Warrior. That's enough!" Grandpa replied with a hearty laugh.

Su Ming's eyes grew moist. He looked at Grandpa and silently nodded. He would never forget Grandpa's kindness, nor the steady stream of Black Dragon Saliva that had flowed through his body, nor any of the countless things Grandpa had done. They were all branded into his mind and soul.

"Grandpa, I have some... Medicine Stones here..." Su Ming said softly, looking at him.

"Medicine Stones?" Grandpa was taken aback, then shook his head with a smile.

"You mean herbs, don't you? Grandpa knows you must have some unusual herbs, but as the Barbarian Duke of the Wu Mountain Tribe, what kind of herb haven't I seen, except for a few that are extremely rare... Hmm?!"

Before Grandpa could finish, Su Ming had already taken out two little bottles and set them in front of him after opening them.

The two bottles each contained blue-green Medicine Stones, more than a dozen in all, with a medicinal fragrance curling around them.

Grandpa's eyes gleamed. His expression turned grave as he picked up a bottle of Medicine Stones and examined these things, so unlike anything he knew. Then he took a sniff, and his expression changed at once.

"What peculiar medicinal properties. Just one sniff makes it feel as though the blood in my body is flowing faster!"

Grandpa murmured as he scrutinized them. After a long while, he closed his eyes and sank into thought. When he finally opened them again, he looked at Su Ming.

"These are called Medicine Stones?"

Su Ming nodded and pointed to the bottle, explaining how to use the Medicine Stones and what they did. Grandpa drew in a sharp breath. Halfway through Su Ming's explanation, his expression changed dramatically.

Without the slightest hesitation, Grandpa abruptly raised his right hand and swept it forward. A faint Barbarian Statue appeared before Su Ming. It was the image of the Wu Mountain Tribe, half man and half beast!

As soon as the Barbarian Statue appeared, a gentle force spread in every direction, filling the entire room.

"Keep going."

Seeing Grandpa's grave expression, Su Ming's heart pounded. He slowly described all of the Dust-Clearing Powder's effects.

Grandpa rose from his cross-legged seat. After hearing Su Ming out, he poured out one pellet of Dust-Clearing Powder, examined it intently for a moment, then suddenly swallowed it. He trusted Su Ming and didn't hesitate for long. He then took out a little purple bottle and drank, in one gulp, the few remaining drops of medicinal liquid inside.

Then he sat cross-legged again. Before long, a great many streaks of red light shone from his body, their dazzling glow filling the entire room. Su Ming took a few steps back, his face filled with reverence.

Bloodlines covered Grandpa's body, so densely that it was impossible to tell how many there were. A sense of vitality, more powerful than that of the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief, filled the entire room.

Su Ming drew in a sharp breath. He looked at the glowing Barbarian Statue suspended in the air and vaguely realized that, without its shadow, the light from Grandpa's cultivation would have spread throughout the entire tribe. It would have been visible even from far away.

The light came quickly and faded just as fast. A moment later, when Grandpa opened his eyes, the red glow vanished from his body. A trace of excitement shone in his eyes as he looked at the Dust-Clearing Powder and took a deep breath.

"Su Ming, remember one thing!" Grandpa raised his head and looked at him.

Su Ming's expression grew solemn as he listened respectfully.

"Starting today, you must not tell anyone about these Medicine Stones. Even if I ask you again, you must never tell me! From now on, I won't ask you anything about this again!

"Keep this in mind even within the tribe. You can't tell anyone! Not even Lei Chen!" Grandpa looked at Su Ming with deep meaning in his eyes and spoke gravely.

Su Ming hesitated.

Grandpa sighed. He knew Su Ming well and understood the simple honesty in his nature, so he spoke again, sternly.

"Su Ming, listen to Grandpa. Don't tell anyone!"

Su Ming silently nodded, determination in his eyes.

"The tribe... isn't safe..." Grandpa murmured, and his words left Su Ming stunned. He especially remembered how Grandpa had concealed his blood vitality in front of the three tribe leaders earlier.

"There's a traitor in our tribe! Right now, only you, the tribe chief, and I know about this. There isn't a fourth person. The traitor has hidden too deeply; we don't know who it is...

"On top of that, the news you brought back suggests that my old rival in the Black Mountain Tribe may truly have made a breakthrough... I keep feeling that something is wrong with the atmosphere all around us these past few days... As if a great calamity is about to descend.

"Su Ming, your Medicine Stones are excellent. Grandpa will keep these; you don't need to give me any more. If I can truly make a breakthrough, this will be enough. If I can't, then no amount will help...

"Grandpa has no shortage of herbs. I've simply reached a bottleneck and need a stroke of fortune..." Grandpa sighed. He spoke with Su Ming a little longer, then poured out all the knowledge of Barbarian Cultivation he had gained over the course of his life. After that, he took out a strange object made of several pieces of wood joined together. As he looked at it, a look of remembrance crossed his face.

After a long while, he handed the object to Su Ming with great care.

"Grandpa got this when he traveled outside in his youth. It's called a Wooden Slip. You can only find these in large tribes. It records the habits and appearances of many herbs. Take it."

Su Ming accepted it and gave it a curious look. He tucked it into his clothes and was about to say goodbye to Grandpa and return to his own dwelling.

Just then, Grandpa looked at Su Ming, a bright gleam in his eyes and a trace of solemnity on his face.

"Su Ming, Grandpa is very happy that you became a Barbarian Warrior, but you must understand that once you enter the realm of a Barbarian Warrior, you'll be very different from ordinary tribespeople. The road of Barbarian Cultivation is steep and rugged; one wrong step can mean life or death. You should have felt that at Black Flame Peak.

"But how could we of the Barbarian Tribe give up because we fear death, or because the road ahead is hard to travel?

"Grandpa knows your dream. You want to leave this place and see the world beyond. Grandpa supports you!"

Su Ming listened in silence and nodded.

"You're a filial child. Grandpa has watched you all these years and understands that. It's just that Grandpa's cultivation is limited, and there's not much I can do for you... But if my Su Ming doesn't become a Barbarian Warrior, then so be it. Once you set foot on the path of Barbarian Cultivation, Grandpa will do everything in his power to make your road a little smoother..." The stern look on Grandpa's face gradually softened into a smile. He beckoned Su Ming over.

"Come, sit cross-legged in front of Grandpa and circulate your bloodline power as you do when you cultivate."

Su Ming looked at Grandpa, whose hair had turned gray and whose face was lined with wrinkles. Grandpa watched him with a kind expression. Though Su Ming knew they weren't related by blood, the bond between them surpassed everything.

"Grandpa..." Su Ming murmured.

"Come over already," Grandpa laughed.

Su Ming obediently went to Grandpa and sat cross-legged. He took a deep breath and slowly circulated the blood in his body. Gradually, six bloodlines appeared across his body. As the six bloodlines gave off a red glow, the faint shadow of a seventh bloodline could be seen, slowly taking shape.

For the past month, Su Ming had been unable to form this seventh bloodline. He hadn't even been able to make its shadow appear. This was closely related to the hidden injuries in his body. But now that Grandpa had healed those injuries, the seventh bloodline emerged naturally as he circulated his blood.

"You've already received the Barbarian Statue's inheritance, so you know that for someone of our Barbarian Tribe to reach the third layer of Blood Condensation, they need eleven bloodlines. To reach the fourth layer, they need twenty-five.

"The fifth layer requires fifty-three bloodlines, and after that, even more... Until the eleventh layer of Blood Condensation, when the number of bloodlines should be seven hundred and eighty-one.

"But what you don't know is that the number of bloodlines isn't fixed for everyone. Most Barbarian Warriors are like that, but there are some who can raise their number of bloodlines even further. The more bloodlines they have, the greater their chance of reaching Dust Opening!

"Since ancient times, as far as Grandpa knows, nearly every Barbarian Warrior who reached Dust Opening had no fewer than nine hundred bloodlines at the Blood Condensation Realm! Take the Barbarian Duke of the Fengzhen Tribe, for example. I've known him for many years, and I know he had as many as nine hundred and seventeen bloodlines back then!

"Grandpa has heard that in some of the larger medium-sized tribes, and in some great tribes, there are people who had more than nine hundred and thirty bloodlines while still in the Blood Condensation Realm.

"This is the Blood Condensation Realm of our Barbarian Tribe... Throughout our history, there have been people who developed nine hundred and ninety-nine bloodlines in the Blood Condensation Realm. Most became renowned figures.

"There are even legends that reaching one thousand means the Blood Condensation Realm is completely perfected. But such perfection is exceedingly rare in this day and age; it existed only in the Ancient Barbarian Era countless ages ago. Or perhaps it no longer exists at all. Grandpa is ignorant and has little idea what the truth is." Grandpa's voice seemed to hold a strange power as it echoed in Su Ming's mind while he circulated the blood in his body.

"After Blood Condensation comes Dust Opening. Dust Opening means gathering all your bloodlines and turning them into pure Barbarian Blood, then personally drawing on your body a solidified Barbarian Mark of your own... That Barbarian Mark is shaped by what you think and what you wish for... Grandpa is eager and curious to know what pattern you'll draw if you truly reach Dust Opening one day..."