Tribes of Antiquity

Inside the lava cave, Su Ming moved forward with caution, slowly making his way into the depths. He remained highly vigilant throughout, only moving his body once he had clearly surveyed the path ahead. As he walked, he gripped the bone horn, his eyes gleaming, while he circulated the power of his blood and qi, keeping himself at a level where he could unleash the strength of his eleven blood lines at any moment.

Whenever he covered a certain distance, Su Ming would subconsciously search for nearby spots to conceal his body, so that he could hide if danger arose, or find a place to evade the Moon Wings should they suddenly return.

Although Su Ming felt curiosity toward the unknown, his caution suppressed much of that curiosity, especially given the presence of danger here, which only made Su Ming all the more careful.

As he continued to press forward, the icy chill within the lava cave became increasingly distinct. Furthermore, as there were few diverging paths, Su Ming's speed gradually began to increase.

The surroundings were pitch-black, and the walls were riddled with cracks of varying sizes. Judging by their appearance, they seemed to have split due to years of baking, yet Su Ming also discovered some cracks that were clearly fresh, as the color of the walls within them was slightly different.

"Strange, these cracks must have just appeared... what kind of power could cause the walls to burst with new fissures?" Su Ming's eyes flashed, a guess forming vaguely in his mind.

"Could it be that a sudden cooling after extreme heat releases an unimaginable force?" Su Ming scratched his head, deciding not to dwell on it further, but instead keeping this phenomenon in mind.

He did not know how far he had walked, and the passage of time felt incredibly long. Suddenly, Su Ming, who was moving forward, paused. The lava cave ahead of him had widened significantly, and the deeper he went, the broader it became.

"Could I have reached the depths?" Su Ming carefully examined his surroundings and walked forward slowly. Before long, the cave grew larger and larger before him. Finally, Su Ming took a deep breath, stared at everything before him, and fell into deep thought.

In front of him lay a lava cave as large as his own tribe, with numerous small tunnels dotting the surroundings. They were dense and numerous, with dozens visible at a single glance; the small tunnel he had just emerged from was merely one of them.

While deep in thought, Su Ming stepped forward, his eyes gleaming as he scrutinized each small tunnel. Finally, his gaze sharpened; he leaped up and paused slightly outside each of the tunnels to sniff the air.

After checking all the tunnels, Su Ming stared at one of them and, without hesitation, flashed inside. Of all these tunnels, this was the only one where he could smell that faint scent of blood.

Clearly, this was the tunnel from which the Moon Wings had flown out.

Speeding along the way, Su Ming would occasionally stop, his eyes filled with contemplation as he used the bone horn to carve a large stone from the surrounding wall. This stone was similar in size to the passage.

Although carving it out was quite troublesome, Su Ming remained persistent, and as he moved forward, he carved out several such large stones.

Each time he finished carving one, he would place it to the side at a specific angle.

Gradually, while maintaining his caution, Su Ming's speed grew faster and faster. He could feel that the direction he was traveling was leading toward the base of the mountain, which explained why the space was becoming increasingly vast. Su Ming continued to run deep along the small tunnel until he felt he had traveled a great distance. Gradually, he saw a glimmer of red light ahead.

That red glow was like fire; at first glance, it was almost impossible to distinguish clearly.

The moment he saw that fiery red light, Su Ming slowed his pace. His heart hammered against his chest. He vaguely felt that this must be the end. Yet, as he drew closer, he slowly developed the illusion that the blood in his body was about to burn. This feeling was not unfamiliar to him...

The surrounding walls, made of hard stone, were covered in countless scratches, and there were even marks that looked like teeth had bitten into them, exuding a bizarre atmosphere that made Su Ming quite nervous. However, his footsteps did not falter; instead, he gradually walked to the place where the fiery red light originated.

This was indeed the end of the passage. There was no path forward, only a much larger lava cave. Su Ming looked downward with a wary expression.

At this sight, he was struck as if by lightning, standing frozen in place. He subconsciously retreated a few steps, gasping for air.

It was a massive basin, and within it, countless mountain-like spikes protruded like sharp thorns. Those mountain-shaped spikes were entirely gray, yet they constantly emitted a cold aura that shrouded the surroundings, making the lava cave extremely frigid.

If that were all, it would not have shocked Su Ming so deeply. Beyond the vast number of icy, sharp thorns, there was something else in the basin!

It was a tribe!!!

There were numerous stone houses, fences, and watchtowers piled up from rocks. In many parts of the tribe, Su Ming even saw pots made of stone used for cooking.

Outside every house stood a totem, and that totem looked like a ball of raging, burning fire!

Those stone houses were each quite large and built with great precision; at first glance, they even appeared more luxurious than the Wu Mountain Tribe where Su Ming lived.

Furthermore, within the tribe, Su Ming saw roads paved with stones. There were many protruding pebbles on the small paths, and Su Ming stared at them for a long time, unable to discern what these paths were used for.

This was not an ordinary tribe, nor was it a complete one!

Su Ming's gaze fell upon a few houses at the edge of the tribe. Those houses looked as if they had been split directly into two parts by some strange power; only half remained in this basin.

The other half was nowhere to be found...

In particular, the ground where the tribe stood, aside from the paths paved with pebbles, looked like soil, which was clearly distinct from the mountain rock here!

Su Ming's breathing grew rapid. As he looked at all of this, the legends of the Fire Barbarian he had heard from Grandpa echoed in his mind... Gradually, an image emerged in his thoughts: a massive, incredibly vast tribe existing on the earth, occupying a territory so wide it seemed to have no end.

All the houses in that tribe were made of stone, and all bore that fire totem—a totem that represented the name of this tribe!

But one day, a cataclysm befell this tribe. It was split into multiple parts by some unknown force, scattering as if it had collapsed. Moreover, some strange power seemed to have displaced the shattered tribe and its people, along with the very land they stood upon, causing them to vanish.

A small portion of that tribe and land had been shifted into this Wu Mountain...

"That was no legend..." Su Ming murmured, looking at this mind-boggling, unbelievable sight before him.

His gaze swept across the tribe and finally landed on its center, his pupils constricting.

There, something even more bizarre existed!

It was a great tree! Or rather, it looked like a great tree! It was entirely crimson, emitting a light like fire. The red glow Su Ming had seen earlier in the passage was exactly what this tree was radiating.

The tree was as thick as ten men could embrace, its roots piercing through the earth and seemingly through the Black Flame Peak itself, delving deep into the ground for an unknown distance.

The tree consisted only of a trunk; at its top, it pierced through the rock of the lava cave, as if what was exposed here was merely a portion of its trunk.

"A tree growing inside the Black Flame Peak..." Su Ming's eyes were locked firmly onto the trunk. There, he saw some small red flowers he recognized, blooming with an eerie beauty.

Looking at those small red flowers, Su Ming thought of the strange, muddy swamp in the jungle...

In silence, Su Ming withdrew his gaze. Looking at this tribal ruin buried by the passage of time, a sudden sorrow welled up in his heart. With a light sigh, Su Ming leaped down and stood within the tribe, standing in what was, eons ago, one of the eight great Barbarian tribes—the Fire Barbarian tribe that dared to do battle with the Barbarian God.

"So, those Moon Wings must be as the legends say—transformed from the Fire Barbarian tribesmen who did not perish under the Barbarian Arts of the Fire Barbarian Lord... But... this is too hard to believe. To think such a Barbarian Art exists... what level of cultivation did the Fire Barbarian Lord of this tribe reach? The beast-skin scroll once said that after Blood Condensation comes Dust Opening, and after Dust Opening comes Bone Sacrificing. As for the realm after Bone Sacrificing, it was not described, only referred to by the title of Barbarian Master." Su Ming looked at the ancient tribe before him, walking through it in silence.

The tribe was completely empty. Aside from the houses and some miscellaneous items, Su Ming could not see any corpses. The surrounding silence filled the place with a suffocating atmosphere.

Just as he was deep in thought, he stepped onto the small path covered in protruding stones. Feeling them prick his feet, Su Ming looked down, unable to figure out their purpose. He slowly walked forward, but as he moved, his footsteps suddenly halted. His peripheral vision seemed to catch something, and he jerked his head up to look not far away. There, at the edge of the split tribe, leaning against the rock wall, lay a skeleton!!

The skeleton had been obscured by some huts, preventing Su Ming from seeing it earlier, but from his current position, he witnessed it clearly.

The moment he saw the skeleton, Su Ming's pupils constricted sharply. It was the only skeleton he had seen in this place. He took a few quick steps to reach its side, and after examining it closely, his body gave a violent shudder.

This skeleton was incredibly bizarre. Its upper body resembled a human's but was shriveled and withered, while the bones of its lower body were even more peculiar, as if they had melted and degenerated, differing greatly from an ordinary person. Furthermore, two bone wings seemed to be on the verge of manifesting from its back; judging by the shape of the bones, they bore a striking resemblance to those of a Moon Wing!

It was as if this person had been undergoing a skeletal mutation before death, enduring the agony of transforming from a human into a Moon Wing. Yet, the expression on the skeleton's face showed not a trace of pain; instead, it seemed to carry a hint of mockery and arrogance!

One could only wonder who that mockery was directed toward...

Its right index finger was pressed against the adjacent rock wall, deeply embedded into the stone. Su Ming followed the direction of the finger and looked up, spotting a clear line of text inscribed on the wall!

It was written in the script of the Barbarian Tribe!

The instant Su Ming's gaze fell upon the writing on the wall, a sound of flapping wings suddenly echoed from the entrance passage. Mixed within it were startling roars and, faintly, the sounds of desperate weeping!

The Moon Wings had returned!!

Su Ming's expression changed instantly!