Barbarian Mark

The third update is finished. This is the first burst for Seeking Demon, please give me your recommendations!!!! I need the motivation for a second burst!!!

"Grandpa, it's not that I wanted it to be this way, but they pushed me too far. They snatched Xiao Hong away." Su Ming muttered.

"They?" Grandpa was taken aback.

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

"The Black Mountain Tribe? How did you escape?" Grandpa's eyes flashed, a cold glint hidden within his pupils.

"I didn't escape. They are dead." Su Ming looked up at Grandpa.

Grandpa was stunned, then moved. After pondering for a moment, he didn't ask for the detailed process. To him, Su Ming was like his own child; he had watched him grow up and knew his character well.

"You must have met them at Black Flame Peak. The information you sent back last time was of great use to the tribe. This matter warranted a reward, but since you concealed the fact that you had become a Barbarian Warrior, that reward is now canceled. Since you have become a Barbarian Warrior, stay here. I will share my experience in Barbarian Cultivation with you, and I also need to help you refine the bloodline within your body." Grandpa looked at Su Ming, a smile appearing on his face.

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

"Why ask so much? Everyone has their own secrets. It is enough for Grandpa to know that my Su Ming has finally become a Barbarian Warrior!" Grandpa laughed, looking quite delighted.

Su Ming's eyes grew moist. He looked at Grandpa and nodded silently. He would never forget the kindness Grandpa had shown him, nor the trickle of Black Dragon Saliva within his body, nor all those other things. These were branded into his mind and soul.

"Grandpa, I have some... Medicine Stones here..." Su Ming looked at Grandpa and spoke softly.

"Medicine Stones?" Grandpa was startled, then shook his head and laughed.

"You mean medicinal herbs? Grandpa knows you must have some unusual herbs, but as the Barbarian Duke of the Wu Mountain Tribe, apart from a few extremely rare ones, what herb have I not—eh!!"

Before Grandpa could finish, Su Ming had already taken out two small bottles, opened them, and placed them in front of him.

Both small bottles were made of green Medicine Stone, and they were wreathed in a faint medicinal fragrance, each containing over a dozen pills.

Grandpa's eyes shone with a sharp light. His expression instantly turned solemn. He picked up the bottle containing the Medicine Stones, carefully examined these objects that were clearly different from anything he knew, and then took a sniff. His expression changed immediately.

"What peculiar medicinal properties. Just one whiff, and it makes the blood in one's body feel as if it is accelerating!"

Grandpa muttered, staring intently. After a long while, he closed his eyes to contemplate. When he finally opened them again, he looked at Su Ming.

"These are called Medicine Stones?"

Su Ming nodded and pointed to the bottle, beginning to explain their usage and effects. Grandpa clearly gasped; halfway through, his entire expression shifted drastically.

Without a moment's hesitation, Grandpa suddenly raised his right hand and swept it forward. Immediately, a phantom Barbarian Statue manifested in front of Su Ming—the very image of the half-man, half-beast statue of the Wu Mountain Tribe!

Once this statue appeared, a gentle force radiated outward, enveloping the entire room.

"Continue." Seeing Grandpa's grave expression, Su Ming's heart hammered against his ribs as he slowly finished explaining the effects of the Dust-Clearing Powder.

Grandpa had already risen from his cross-legged position. After hearing Su Ming out, he poured out a single Dust-Clearing Powder, stared at it intently for a long time, and then suddenly swallowed it. He trusted Su Ming and felt no need for hesitation. He then took out a small purple bottle and drank the few remaining drops of medicinal liquid inside.

He sat cross-legged once more, and soon, a massive amount of blood-colored light erupted from his body. The light was so blinding it filled the entire room. Su Ming stepped back a few paces, his expression filled with reverence.

On Grandpa's body, dense, intricate blood-lines appeared—so many they were impossible to count. A sense of vitality and blood-energy, even more powerful than that of the Wu Mountain Tribe Chief, flooded the room.

Su Ming gasped. Looking at the glowing Barbarian Statue hovering in the middle of the room, he vaguely guessed that if not for this phantom, the light emitted by Grandpa's cultivation would have spread throughout the entire tribe, visible even from a great distance.

The light came quickly and dissipated just as fast. A moment later, as Grandpa opened his eyes, the red glow vanished without a trace. His eyes held a hint of excitement as he looked at the Dust-Clearing Powder and took a deep breath.

"Su Ming, you must remember one thing!" Grandpa looked up at Su Ming.

Su Ming's expression turned solemn, listening respectfully.

"Regarding these Medicine Stones, from this day forward, you must not tell anyone—not even if I ask you again, you must never say a word! From now on, I will never ask you any questions about this matter again!

Even within the tribe, remember this well: you cannot tell anyone! Not even Lei Chen!" Grandpa looked at Su Ming with deep meaning, speaking with gravity.

Su Ming hesitated for a moment.

Grandpa sighed. He understood Su Ming and knew his character was inherently simple and honest, so he spoke again, sternly.

"Su Ming, listen to Grandpa: do not tell anyone!"

Su Ming nodded silently, his eyes filled with resolve.

"The tribe... is not safe..." Grandpa muttered. His words left Su Ming stunned, especially as he recalled the scene earlier where Grandpa had masked his blood-energy in front of the Chief and the others.

"There is a traitor in our tribe! As of now, only you, me, and the Chief know of this; there is no third person. This traitor is hidden too deeply, and we do not know who it is...

Coupled with the news you brought back, my old rival in the Black Mountain Tribe may have truly made a breakthrough... I have always felt that the atmosphere of the world around us has been wrong these past few days... I have a faint feeling that a great disaster is coming.

Su Ming, these Medicine Stones of yours are excellent. Grandpa will keep them; you don't need to give me any more. If I can truly make a breakthrough, these will be enough. If I cannot, having more will be of no use...

Grandpa is not lacking in herbs, but I have reached a bottleneck and require an opportunity..." Grandpa sighed. After speaking with Su Ming for a while longer and pouring out all his life's experience in Barbarian Cultivation, he took out a strange object made of connected wooden strips. Looking at it, his expression turned nostalgic.

After a long time, he handed it to Su Ming with great care.

"This is something I obtained when I was young, while traveling abroad. This object is called a Wooden Slip. You only see them in large tribes. It records the habits and appearances of many medicinal herbs. Take it."

Su Ming took the object, looked at it with curiosity, and tucked it into his robes. He was about to bid Grandpa farewell and return to his own dwelling.

Just then, he saw Grandpa looking at him, his eyes shining with a sharp light, his expression slightly stern.

"Su Ming, Grandpa is happy that you could become a Barbarian Warrior, but you must know that after stepping into the realm of a Barbarian Warrior, you will be vastly different from the ordinary tribesmen. The path of Barbarian Cultivation is rugged and treacherous; life and death hang in the balance at every turn. You should have felt this yourself at Black Flame Peak.

But how can we, the people of the Barbarian Tribe, give up simply because we fear death or because the road ahead is difficult?"

"Grandpa knows your dream. You want to walk out of this place and see the world beyond. On this point, Grandpa supports you!"

Su Ming listened in silence and nodded.

"You are a filial child. Grandpa has watched you for so many years and understands your heart. It is just that Grandpa's cultivation is limited, and there is not much I can do to help you... But for our Su Ming, if you do not become a Barbarian Warrior, so be it. But once you step onto the path of Barbarian Cultivation, Grandpa will exhaust everything to ensure your road is a little smoother..." The stern look on Grandpa's face gradually gave way to a smile as he beckoned to Su Ming.

"Come, sit cross-legged before Grandpa and circulate your bloodline power just as you do during your usual training."

Su Ming looked at Grandpa, whose hair was streaked with gray and whose face was etched with wrinkles, gazing at him with such kindness. Even though he knew he shared no blood relation with Grandpa, that bond of affection transcended everything.

"Grandpa..." Su Ming murmured.

"Hurry up and come over." Grandpa laughed heartily.

Su Ming obediently came before Grandpa. After sitting cross-legged, he took a deep breath and slowly circulated the blood and energy within his body. Gradually, six blood lines appeared upon his frame. As those six lines emitted a red glow, one could faintly see the phantom of a seventh blood line beginning to coalesce.

For the past month, Su Ming had been unable to manifest this seventh blood line; he could not even produce its phantom. This was largely due to the hidden injuries within his body, but now that Grandpa had healed them, this seventh line appeared naturally as he circulated his blood and energy.

"You have already received the inheritance of the Barbarian Statue and know that for a warrior of our Barbarian Tribe to reach the third level of the Blood Condensation Realm, one must attain eleven blood lines. As for the fourth level, it requires twenty-five blood lines.

The fifth level requires fifty-three blood lines, and so on... until the eleventh level of the Blood Condensation Realm, where the number of blood lines should be seven hundred and eighty-one.

But what you do not know is that this number of blood lines is not fixed for everyone. While the vast majority of Barbarian Warriors follow this path, there are still some who can increase the number of their blood lines further. The more blood lines one possesses, the greater the chance of eventually reaching the Dust Opening Realm!

Throughout history, as far as Grandpa knows, almost no Barbarian Warrior who successfully reached the Dust Opening Realm had fewer than nine hundred blood lines during their time in the Blood Condensation Realm! Take the Barbarian Duke of the Fengzhen Tribe, for example. I have known him for many years and know that back in his day, he possessed as many as nine hundred and seventeen blood lines!

Grandpa has heard that in some larger medium-sized tribes, or perhaps in some great tribes, there are those who exceeded nine hundred and thirty blood lines while in the Blood Condensation Realm.

This is the Blood Condensation Realm of our Barbarian Tribe... In the history of our people, there have been those who expanded their blood lines to nine hundred and ninety-nine during the Blood Condensation Realm. Most of these individuals became figures of great renown.

There is even a legend that if one can reach one thousand, it signifies that the Blood Condensation Realm has reached absolute perfection. However, such perfection, aside from the Ancient Barbarian Era of eons past, is extremely rare today, or perhaps it no longer exists at all. As for the specifics, Grandpa is ill-informed and not entirely clear." Grandpa's voice seemed to carry a strange power, echoing in Su Ming's mind as he circulated the blood and energy within him.

"After Blood Condensation comes Dust Opening. The so-called Dust Opening is to gather all of one's blood lines, refine them into pure Barbarian Blood, and with one's own hands, draw a permanent Barbarian Mark upon one's body... This Barbarian Mark is born from what you think and what you yearn for... Grandpa is very expectant and curious: if one day you truly reach the Dust Opening Realm, what pattern will you draw for your own Barbarian Mark..."