Sikong

The young man looked to be about twenty years old, his body exceptionally sturdy, enough to rival Lei Chen. He held a long spear in his hand; though only half a zhang in length, it was pitch black, exuding a faint, chilling aura, with a glint of golden light at its tip.

Most importantly, this spear was not made of stone, but of a material Su Ming had seemingly never seen before. That one glance from afar, the moment it landed on the spear, had sent a jolt of terror through his heart.

Familiar. A very familiar feeling.

Yet he did not know where this familiarity came from. But the sense of crisis hidden within that familiarity caused Su Ming to instantly cast aside all other thoughts, leaving only his instinctive calmness in his mind.

"This person is not wearing animal skin, but coarse linen clothing. Such attire... this person's status within the Black Dragon Tribe is not low!"

"I do not regret approaching this Black Dragon Tribe!" Su Ming's eyes flashed, and he gave himself an answer in his heart.

"I have not come within a thousand zhang. According to the tribe's common regulations, for fewer than three people, being outside a thousand zhang does not count as hostility! I have no malice; I simply have a friend who is a member of your Black Dragon Tribe, and I wished to come here to see her." Su Ming sped forward. With his speed at the fourth level of the Blood Condensation Realm, he moved as if skimming over the snow, leaving not a single trace behind, his words echoing as he suddenly departed.

"Oh? If that is the case, then it truly does not count as being an enemy. Do not run anymore; stop and follow me back to the tribe. Once we clarify the truth, we shall let the Barbarian Duke decide." A cold glint flashed in the young man's eyes as he spoke leisurely, but his speed did not slow in the slightest. Instead, he accelerated, keeping his gaze fixed on the figure ahead, as if waiting for Su Ming to show hesitation.

"As an outsider, how could I casually step into your Black Dragon Tribe?" Su Ming did not pause at all, speaking with a smile.

"That also makes sense. Then, what is the name of the person you know?" The young man's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes narrowed as he spoke slowly while in pursuit.

"I do not know her name, only that she wears white, and is very beautiful." The moment Su Ming said these words while speeding along, he suddenly turned his head to look back.

He saw the fleeting murderous intent in the young man's eyes upon hearing this, and an immediate realization dawned on him. He had been wondering before: with his own cultivation level, he hadn't approached within a thousand zhang, so even if he had drawn the attention of the Black Dragon Tribe, they shouldn't have immediately fired that terrifying spear.

There had to be a reason for all of this. Coupled with the fact that this clearly high-status young man had pursued him alone, a guess formed in Su Ming's heart.

"It really is him!" The young man responded to Su Ming with a cold snort. He took long strides, and while in hot pursuit, he raised his right hand. Immediately, a large amount of black mist swirled and dispersed. As the black mist spread, it actually coiled around the long spear on the young man's back. After circling a few times, a sharp, piercing sound echoed, and the spear was suddenly drawn by the black mist, floating above the young man's head.

Su Ming's pupils constricted. This was a Barbarian Art!

Furthermore, the sense of blood energy radiating from the young man's body clearly revealed the strength of his cultivation—slightly higher than Su Ming's, appearing to be at the fifth level of the Blood Condensation Realm. It was clear, however, that he had only recently stepped into it, having only a few blood lines. But the fact that the opponent possessed a Barbarian Artifact made the situation different.

"See you after you die." There was a distance of over seven hundred zhang between the young man and Su Ming. As both continued to speed along, they had already moved far away from the Black Dragon Tribe, and the only person pursuing him was this young man.

But as the spear floated, wreathed in black mist, the feeling of crisis emerged even more intensely within Su Ming's body. As the young man spoke, his eyes filled with murderous intent, and he pointed his right hand sharply at Su Ming. Immediately, the black-mist-shrouded spear let out a shrill whistle and shot straight toward Su Ming.

As it traveled, the golden light at the tip of the spear flashed violently, as if tearing through the void. It arrived with unimaginable speed, instantly closing to within three hundred zhang of Su Ming.

"A Barbarian Artifact!!" Su Ming's pupils contracted; he recognized this object! The forty-nine blood lines within his body surfaced simultaneously, and as they surged rapidly, the blood energy in Su Ming's body erupted. This pushed his speed and agility to their peak. Almost at the very instant the spear arrived, Su Ming suddenly crouched down. A gale whistled, and the spear rushed past, seven inches above his head, before slamming into the ground with a thunderous boom.

In terms of power, this strike was on par with the spear that had been fired from the Black Dragon Tribe earlier.

Had it been an ordinary Barbarian Warrior at the fourth level of the Blood Condensation Realm, it would have been very difficult to dodge. But what Su Ming excelled at was precisely speed and agility. After dodging, he didn't even glance at the spear embedded in the ground; instead, a chill appeared in his eyes as he sped away into the distance.

Su Ming did not need to think too much about whether to retrieve the spear on the spot. Although the Beast Skin Book had stated that a Barbarian Artifact could only be claimed by someone in the Dust Opening Realm, and those below could not do so, the fact that the opponent had thrown it so easily, as if it could be picked up by anyone, felt strange. There had to be something odd about it!

The sky was not far from nightfall...

Soon, the young man reached the spot where his spear had struck at full speed. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he snorted, though his brows furrowed slightly.

As the son of the Black Dragon Tribe's chieftain, he, Sikong, was not the strongest among the younger generation, but he was still extraordinary. He possessed the cultivation of the fifth level of the Blood Condensation Realm and even owned a Barbarian Artifact; killing someone at the fourth level of the Blood Condensation Realm should have been quite easy.

Yet, having been dodged by the opponent, he felt a sense of vigilance while also realizing the opponent's caution.

"A pity. If he had truly harbored the thought of picking up my Barbarian Artifact, he would have died on the spot." Sikong hesitated for a moment, but remembering something, he carefully grabbed the spear and gave chase once more.

In the mountain forest, Su Ming ran like the wind, his speed increasing with every flicker. But the Sikong behind him kept up relentlessly. The spear that would occasionally whistle toward him made it seem as if Su Ming could not widen the gap, keeping a distance of several hundred zhang as they headed deeper into the forest.

In reality, if Su Ming truly wanted to escape, it would not have been difficult given his speed and knowledge of the forest. However, he had no intention of widening the distance. This was the second time he had seen a Barbarian Artifact, and experiencing it firsthand had ignited a strong impulse in him—he wanted to obtain this item!

As he sped along, he kept an eye on the sky. When he saw the sky gradually darkening and the moon faintly appearing, a flicker of light appeared in Su Ming's eyes.

"Barbarian Artifacts are all extraordinary items. What he used before was very simple; he must have a trump card. Since he hasn't caught up after such a long chase, if I were him, I would consider increasing the power of the Barbarian Artifact... But looking at how cautious he has been the whole way, it is clear that unleashing this trump card will come at a cost. I just don't know what the true power of this Barbarian Artifact looks like." Su Ming reached a conclusion in his heart.

Sikong, in his pursuit, was indeed becoming increasingly irritable. He had not expected the opponent to be so agile. Seeing that it was getting late and they had traveled too far from the tribe—and knowing that he had left on a secret mission without wanting too many people to know—he knew that if he returned late, it would be difficult to explain. He gritted his teeth, reached out with his right hand into the void, and as black mist swirled, he gripped the spear firmly for the first time.

Just then, Su Ming, who was several hundred zhang ahead, suddenly spoke while running.

"You pursue me so relentlessly—do you truly intend to kill me? There is no enmity between us. Even if you want to kill me, you must give me a reason!"

"So much nonsense! You trespassed into my Black Dragon Tribe; any member of my tribe may kill you! If I kill you, even if your Wu Mountain Tribe pursues the matter, it will be your own fault!" Sikong sneered. While in pursuit, he gripped the spear tightly, and waves of icy coldness surged from the spear into his arm.

Sikong's expression was grim. With a cold snort, he raised the black spear in his right hand. Suddenly, the surrounding mountain forest seemed to fill with countless roaring sounds. A massive amount of black mist erupted from the spear, and as it swirled around the weapon, it made the spear look like a black dragon!

The dragon had countless claws and swaying whiskers, looking incredibly ferocious!

"No matter who you are, today, you will surely die!" Sikong grinned hideously, his face slightly pale; it was clear that unleashing the power of the spear in this way was a significant burden on him. Just as he was about to throw the spear at Su Ming, Su Ming suddenly spoke.

"Is it because I saved Bai Ling!" Su Ming suddenly called out.

Upon hearing this name, Sikong paused for a moment. But in that very instant of hesitation, he saw the figure fleeing ahead suddenly stop. Su Ming turned to face him, raised his own right hand, and swung it sharply toward him.

A sense of crisis like never before erupted in Sikong's heart. His pupils constricted, his face changed instantly, and just as he was about to throw the spear in his hand, his body was struck by a sudden shock. It felt as if a wind had hit his face, or as if a light had blinded him. He looked into the pupils of the Su Ming standing there and saw the shadow of a blood moon.

This shadow of the blood moon became everything in his vision. He felt a sudden, excruciating pain throughout his body and spat out a mouthful of blood. With a look of confusion, disbelief, and bewilderment, his body trembled, and he collapsed headlong onto the snow.

As he fell, the spear in his hand—which had not yet been thrown and had transformed into a black dragon—gradually dissipated all its black mist, reverting to an ordinary object and falling to the side.

Blood seeped from his entire body, soaking into the snow. Faintly, one could see a silver thread wrapped around his body, buried deep into his flesh, as if one more pull would tear his entire body to pieces.

He was not dead; he was still breathing, merely unconscious from the sudden, intense pain.

Su Ming's heart pounded. He looked at the spear with lingering fear; the scene of the opponent unleashing its power earlier had made him feel the brush of death.

"When fighting others, one must not be distracted, and one must not hesitate. If you can kill with a single strike at the fastest speed, you must never hesitate or save your strength for the end." Su Ming muttered, engraving this lesson into his mind.

"He possesses a Barbarian Artifact; my victory in this battle was merely a stroke of luck!" Su Ming crouched down and looked at the unconscious Sikong. After a moment of hesitation, he bandaged the man's wounds. He did not want his opponent to die, nor did he wish to bring trouble upon his tribe. Based on his judgment, the man would wake up soon.

His gaze then turned fervent as he looked at the black spear nearby. After studying it carefully for a few moments, he gradually began to notice some clues: in many places on the spear, there were tiny, fine barbs that would be difficult to see unless one stared with intense focus!

Su Ming watched for a long while before carefully gripping the only small, barb-free section of the spear and leaving quickly.