Hostility!

Time passed day by day as Su Ming refined powders and cultivated. Several days later, while Su Ming was meditating, Little Red returned to the cave with a look of utter exhaustion. Even its fur had lost its luster.

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Though exhausted, it wore a pleased, lingering expression. It kept sniffing its right paw, baring its teeth in a foolish grin.

When Little Red returned, Su Ming slightly opened his eyes and glanced at it. He couldn't help recalling what he had seen a few days ago, and his expression turned awkward.

Little Red noticed Su Ming's gaze and turned to look at him. It immediately ran over and held out its right paw, looking smug and seeming to want Su Ming to smell it. It apparently thought that good things should be shared with everyone.

Su Ming could only laugh helplessly. He ignored Little Red and sank back into cultivation.

Including the days that had already passed, a month soon went by. The date Grandpa had agreed with him to travel to the Fengzhen Tribe was drawing near.

During this time, Su Ming had used up all the Luoyun Leaves, yet had managed to refine only one batch of Mountain Spirit Powder. Its high failure rate had become a source of considerable frustration for him.

Fortunately, apart from the Mountain Spirit Powder, his cultivation had gone smoothly. Through his efforts, he had completely stabilized the fourth layer of the Blood Condensation Realm and gained two more blood lines, bringing his total to forty-nine. Little by little, he had also come to accept the strangeness of this Fire Barbarian technique.

But the farther he progressed, the harder it became to condense blood lines. For the past few days, no matter how he cultivated, he had been unable to form even one more. He understood that this was because he had yet to complete the third Blood Fire Stacking.

Besides that, whenever the bright moon appeared at night, Su Ming followed the feeling in his heart and tried repeatedly to control its light. The results were unremarkable. He seemed able to control only a wisp of it, and no more.

Yet even that wisp of moonlight was unbelievably sharp in Su Ming's hands, more formidable even than the Bone Horn. More importantly, Little Red couldn't see it. From this, Su Ming could tentatively conclude that no one but him could perceive it.

One morning, Su Ming rose from his cross-legged position and looked around the cave. After a moment's thought, he moved the Wild Cauldron aside. He didn't know how long his trip to the Fengzhen Tribe would take, so he needed to make some preparations.

The cave walls were covered in countless tiny, densely packed grooves. They had been made by Su Ming as he controlled that wisp of moonlight over the past days.

After tidying up, Su Ming left the cave. Little Red had already woken up. Seeing him leave, it hurried after him, then simply climbed onto his shoulder as they exited the cave, too lazy to walk down the mountain itself.

"Too bad Mountain Spirit Powder is so difficult to refine... There are eight small holes beneath the Mountain Spirit Powder design on that second door. Obviously, I need to offer eight of them... I wonder how long it'll take before I can accumulate eight Mountain Spirit Powder medicines while still keeping up with my cultivation...

"Besides, opening that second door also requires a medicine called Nanli... I've never seen any of the herbs needed for it. Fortunately, Grandpa gave me an illustrated guide, and it has some information." Standing outside the cave, Su Ming looked at the rising sun in the distance and breathed in the crisp, chilly air as he muttered to himself.

"Only with enough of both kinds of medicine can I open that second door... But fortunately, the last medicine, called Spirit-Absorbing Powder, doesn't seem to require refining. Still, that only shows how precious Spirit-Absorbing Powder must be!" As Su Ming pondered, Little Red on his shoulder grew impatient. It tugged at his hair and shrieked repeatedly.

Su Ming reached up and tapped the little monkey on the head. Then he leaped down the mountain. The cold wind howled, whipping his clothes and hair, while Little Red clung tightly to his hair and shrieked without stopping.

Su Ming's laughter echoed as he plummeted. He grabbed a nearby rock with his right hand to steady himself, then continued downward. With his current cultivation, it wasn't long before he raced down Black Flame Peak.

Snow still blanketed the forest, soft beneath his feet. Su Ming darted forward, heading for the distant tribe. He had planned to return at once, but at a fork in the path, he stopped and hesitated.

Little Red remained on Su Ming's shoulder, apparently finding the perch comfortable. It kept sniffing its right paw, lost in bliss. Now that Su Ming had stopped, it looked a little puzzled.

The road to the right led back to the tribe. The one to the left... Su Ming gazed that way. That road led to the Black Dragon Tribe.

"It wouldn't hurt to take a look... Little Red, have you ever seen Bai Ling? Oh, right, you haven't. How about I take you to see her?" Su Ming muttered.

Little Red widened its eyes and scratched the fur on its face without making a sound.

"All right. Since you want to see her, I'll take you to have a look from far away." Su Ming seemed to have found an excuse to keep going. He smiled and patted Little Red's head again. As Little Red looked displeased, he raced off along the path to the left.

At dusk, the distant sun glowed almost red as it sank toward the horizon. Su Ming reached the place where he had said goodbye to Bai Ling. Crouching there, he could see the outline of the Black Dragon Tribe and its people moving about, but he couldn't see her white figure.

After a long while, Su Ming fell silent. He didn't know what he was thinking. He only felt that Bai Ling was beautiful—the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, from childhood to now. He wanted to look at her a little longer.

He hesitated, then sat quietly where he was, making no rash move. He watched the sky. When the sunset had faded and darkness was nearly upon them, his eyes flashed. He rose and took a few steps forward, then hurried on, staying alert as he slowly approached the Black Dragon Tribe. He couldn't get too close, though. This wasn't the Wu Mountain Tribe, and if he was spotted, he would be in danger.

Though the Wu Mountain Tribe and the Black Dragon Tribe didn't bear a generations-old grudge like the Black Mountain Tribe did, they were hardly at peace. If they met in the wilderness, they were often hostile—much less someone like Su Ming lingering outside the Black Dragon Tribe.

"Ah, I shouldn't be doing this." Su Ming muttered as he crept forward. When he was within a thousand zhang of the Black Dragon Tribe, he stopped. Su Ming had grown up in the tribe, and as a boy had gone alone to gather herbs on Wu Mountain. He had even encountered people from the Black Mountain Tribe a few times. Caution and alertness had accompanied his growth until they became second nature.

He had seen far too much bloodshed. Most of it had been beasts brought back by the tribe's hunting parties, but even as a child, he had been steeped in it throughout his growing years. What was more, he had killed a person!

Even Lei Chen had never experienced that.

So even though some strange impulse now urged him to catch a glimpse of Bai Ling, his instincts still made him choose to wait until nightfall—and to stop a thousand zhang away, staying on guard.

Crouching there, he gazed at the Black Dragon Tribe from afar. A look of resolve came into his eyes. Without another moment's hesitation, he suddenly turned and hurried away from the tribe.

But just as he had run a few steps, Su Ming's hair stood on end. A sense of danger, even stronger than when he had encountered those two Barbarian Warriors from the Black Mountain Tribe, surged over him.

As he leaped, he twisted sharply without thinking and wrapped both arms around his head. Curling into a ball, he pulled Little Red into his arms, and his whole body seemed to pause in midair.

At that very instant, a piercing whistle tore through the sky. A gigantic spear, fully three zhang long, suddenly shot over the Black Dragon Tribe's wooden palisade like lightning. It rushed past Su Ming and slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom, shaking the earth and scattering the snow in an explosive burst.

A wave of air surged outward in all directions. Fortunately, Su Ming's instincts had let him dodge in time. As the gust swept over him, he swayed, landed, and raced forward at full speed.

"Think you can leave?" A cold snort came from afar. A young man in coarse hemp clothes, his long hair hanging loose and his eyes sharp, strode after him.

As Su Ming ran, he glanced back. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.