Six Thousand Jin of Strength! Return to the Tribe!

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Thud!

Although his shoulder injuries kept him from unleashing five thousand jin of strength, the Wood Race warrior was only in the Body Casting Realm, and his sinews were not bronze nor his bones iron. Qingyang Huan's sudden punch caved in his chest.

To make the Wood Race warrior lower his guard, he had even abandoned his stone spear. How could he hold anything back when he had staked his life on this one opening?

"Aah..."

The heavy blow naturally made the Wood Race warrior release him, but Qingyang Huan howled as he lunged at him, both fists raining down and pounding the warrior into the swamp.

He even threw himself onto the warrior at that moment, his fists hammering down madly. He smashed the warrior's chest into pulp, yet still did not stop!

Huff! Huff! Huff!

He collapsed onto the Wood Race corpse, gasping for breath as waves of stabbing pain came from both shoulders.

This was his first fight to the death with someone of another race!

That breath of death terrified him!

How frightening. Death had been so close to him; he had never imagined it.

The Wood Race corpse had been beaten into the swamp, and rot and blood had splashed all over him. Yet at that moment, he did not want to move a muscle!

Just then, the stone spear flew to his side, shimmering with faint purple light. Qingyang Huan could not help rolling his eyes. The stone spear had absolutely done it on purpose.

"True descendants of the ancient clans could wrestle some pureblood mutant cubs at your age, yet you struggled this much just to kill one Wood Race warrior!"

But Qingyang Huan paid no attention to the stone spear. Ever since it had awakened, he had not heard a single kind word from it.

"Leave this place quickly. There are more Wood Race warriors in this swamp, and some interesting things as well!"

The next moment, Qingyang Huan grabbed the Wood Race corpse and sprinted away. It was true that those of other races deserved death, but he was not foolish enough to deliver himself to their door and let them refine him!

Only after running more than ten li, smashing a cave into an ancient mountain, and sealing it tightly did he breathe a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that the purple sable from earlier seemed to have vanished.

But he had no time to worry about the purple sable. What mattered most was the Wood Race corpse before him. This was the first member of another race he had hunted down!

Moreover, the stone spear had said earlier that the Wood Race was a race born when ancient trees, spiritual essences of heaven and earth, gained sentience. Although they had developed flesh and blood, that wood-aspected blood Qi still existed within them.

After regulating his breathing for a while, Qingyang Huan took a deep breath and began circulating the True Condensation Art. It was as though a black hole had appeared on his body, beginning to devour the blood and bone essence contained in the Wood Race corpse.

Wisps of bright red blood Qi drifted from the Wood Race warrior and sank into his body. The True Essence Condensation Method was precisely an art for tempering flesh and blood. After the stone spear's modifications, it had become even more wondrous and profound. Surging blood Qi was drawn straight out of the Wood Race corpse and poured into his body!

Just as the stone spear had said, the Wood Race warrior's blood Qi was extremely pure and gentler than that of fierce beasts. Even with his frenzied absorption, it caused little disturbance within his body.

Not only that, as the blood Qi nourished his entire body, his shoulders, which the Wood Race warrior had pierced, had already begun to heal. He could not help marveling at the grandeur of heaven and earth: all living beings born beneath them possessed their own unique gifts of creation.

He felt strength continually arising within him, soon reaching six thousand jin. After attaining skin wrinkling, he had also gained some understanding of the Body Casting Extreme Realm.

Compared with ordinary warriors tempering their bodies, every step he took would require several times, even ten times, as much blood and bone essence. Yet one step of his equaled three steps of someone else's body casting.

Tempering flesh and blood meant continually absorbing blood Qi essence to refine oneself. Naturally, the more blood Qi accumulated within the body, the greater one's strength. In truth, he owed much to the Slaughter Bone Rune within him, for it stimulated his flesh and blood at every moment, allowing him to absorb more blood Qi essence.

Body casting naturally had its limits. To absorb more blood Qi and increase his strength, he would naturally need to temper himself until he reached the utmost limit.

His body took on folds like wrinkled tree bark, shimmering with a faint luster. In truth, had he not reached skin wrinkling, the Wood Race warrior's earlier piercing of his flesh and bones would have left far more than small wounds.

Soon, the blood and bone essence of the Wood Race corpse had been drained dry. The blood-colored light floating over Qingyang Huan's body subsided, and even a trace of bloody light flashed through his eyes before vanishing.

He clenched his fists, feeling that his strength had grown to a tremendous six thousand jin. Unfortunately, there was only one Wood Race corpse. With more Wood Race corpses, his strength could grow further.

At that moment, Qingyang Huan did not move. Instead, he recalled how, while he had been howling and repeatedly hammering the Wood Race warrior, something seemed to have been influencing him, drawing him into a blood-colored daze.

"That was the effect of the Slaughter Bone Rune merging with your body. Slaughter must be sublimated through mortal combat and transformed between life and death!"

Hearing this, Qingyang Huan extended one hand. His palm hummed, and the hazy outline of a crescent moon surfaced, bringing him a sense of killing intent. The bone rune, now fully merged with his body, no longer bore the phantom of the Qiongqi. In its place was a pattern of primal slaughter.

He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he felt that the crescent moon floating above his palm was a little clearer than before.

After a long while, he suddenly remembered something.

"Senior Stone Spear, you said there were more Wood Race warriors in that swamp. How many?"

His eyes shone. Thinking of the Wood Race warrior he had killed earlier, he found himself savoring that gentle blood Qi essence. Besides, here in the lands of Qingyang, if he could absorb more Wood Race blood Qi, perhaps he could even attain the second step of body casting, radiance born of flesh and blood.

Besides, those of other races should all be slaughtered. To him, this was only natural. In his memories, it seemed to have been this way ever since he could remember!

Of course, he would not head straight back into the swamp. A single Wood Race warrior on its outskirts had nearly killed him. Since they dared to stir up trouble near the Qingyang Clan, they could leave their lives behind!

Without lingering further, he rushed toward the edge of the ancient forest, naturally intending to return to the tribe. He could already imagine how worried his mother would be over his sneaking out of the tribe this time, and how furious his eldest brother would be.

But thinking of his gains, perhaps he would escape a beating this time!

Without the slightest delay, he rushed toward the edge of the ancient forest. A group of Wood Race warriors was actually hiding a few hundred li from the Qingyang Clan, and they had evaded the Qingyang Guard's searches. Clearly, they had not come as guests.

After sprinting for half a day, he had covered over a hundred li. Along the way, he casually hunted down a red-eyed green wolf he encountered and directly absorbed its blood Qi.

The vast land was primeval wilderness to begin with. Even after he rushed out of the ancient forest, he was actually still among trees; they were merely somewhat sparser.

As he ran, he suddenly spotted a shadow flash through the ancient woods ahead. Without the slightest hesitation, he hurled the stone spear in his hand, sending it piercing toward where the shadow had appeared.

Not only that, he lunged forward himself, faint blood-colored light floating beneath his beast-hide robe.

"Young master, your subordinate is from the Qingyang Guard's third hundred-man unit!"

The figure in the woods dodged aside and hurriedly called out. He also pulled a bronze token from his robes, engraved with the cloud-script characters for Qingyang.

Seeing the token, Qingyang Huan stopped. He had not expected to encounter the Qingyang Guard. Its commander, along with more than half its hundred-man captains and squad leaders, belonged to the Qingyang Clan, while the rest consisted of Divine Treasure Realm warriors selected from the various tribes within ten thousand li.

But the Qingyang Guard numbered only a thousand men in total, yet had to patrol an area ten thousand li around. This was also why Qingyang Huan had not been particularly surprised by the appearance of the Wood Race. The land was vast, but there were too few warriors.

"It is wonderful to see you safe and sound, young master. Please return to the tribe with me!"

Seeing the man opposite him bow in greeting, Qingyang Huan suddenly realized he had been mistaken. He might well suffer another beating this time. Previously, it had only been the tribe's soldiers, but his running off this time had actually alerted the Qingyang Guard.

His father was the only person in the entire Qingyang Clan who could mobilize the Qingyang Guard. Even his eldest brother could not command them. It seemed his father had come out of seclusion!

"Let's go. Back to the tribe!"

But thinking of the hidden Wood Race warriors and the mutant purple sable that had disappeared, Qingyang Huan called out. Escorted by a Divine Treasure Realm expert, he traveled considerably faster than he could alone, returning to the Qingyang Mountain Range just as night was about to fall!

After entering the Qingyang Mountain Range, however, Qingyang Huan's steps involuntarily slowed, and he even became somewhat timid and hesitant. Although his eldest brother always shouted about smacking him, he had never actually done so. His father, however, did more than merely shout.

He really hit him!

Tiptoeing into the central valley deep within the mountain range, Qingyang Huan planned to see his mother first. With his mother there, he would not get beaten!

"You still dare come back!"

But an enormous shadow enveloped him, and his body immediately made to run on reflex!

"Stop!"

Qingyang Huan, who had only just taken a step, froze where he stood. With some trepidation, he looked toward the figure behind him.

"Rich blood Qi, blood all over you, and the courage to enter the ancient forest alone. Good! You are a son of our Qingyang Clan, a child of mine, Qingyang Jue!"

"Huh?" For a moment, Qingyang Huan could not quite react. Something was wrong. His father was not angry.

"Huan'er has grown up. Yes, your father can no longer call you a little child."

The next moment, the towering man grabbed Qingyang Huan, lifted him, and flung him into the valley.

"Get back there, wash that bloody Qi off yourself, and go see your mother. She has been very worried about you these past few days!"