Chapter 166: Chapter 165: Luminous Blood
After setting foot in this Great Secret Realm, Jiang Qiu had been living as an infant. The brawny man who had taken him in was named Xiong, a Warrior from the North Snow Tribe in the Wilderness Snowfield.
Just like a baby truly born into the tribe, Jiang Qiu was brought into the North Snow Tribe by Xiong and was even able to drink the milk of Snow Deer.
In the North Snow Tribe, Jiang Qiu grew up alongside the many other children of the tribe. The Witch Priest in charge of imparting knowledge and faith treated him equally with the others, and even showed him particular favor.
A year passed before he knew it, and Jiang Qiu gradually let down his guard.
He wore a fur coat stitched from bearskin, sitting among the tribe’s children. He looked up at the Elder Witch Priest pacing before a large stone slate, his eyes shining brightly.
"You are all the future of our North Snow Tribe. In this desolate land ravaged by Demon Beasts, survival is only possible through martial strength. Our bloodline originates from the Yan and Huang Ancestors, and what you must do is awaken your own bloodline power..."
The Elder Witch Priest was draped in a black robe. Though the garment looked thin, he seemed unaffected by the cold. He spoke in a slow, measured tone. His old, wrinkled face featured deep-set eyes, and his cloudy gaze held a profound, ancient charm.
He was one of the tribe’s core figures and possessed the ability to perform bloodline rituals, which could help the children awaken the Bloodline Talents of their Ancestors.
Although he shouldered the heavy responsibilities of a Witch Priest, he was not a rigid or stern person. On the contrary, having been in charge of raising the children for many years, he was very kind.
Every day, he lectured on the dangers of the snowfields, spoke eloquently about the tribe’s origins, and would occasionally recount legends from tens of thousands of years ago.
Just like today, he was about to speak of the origin of the Chosen Ones.
"Children, most of you are of our tribe’s direct bloodline, but some are Chosen Ones, born between heaven and earth and possessing talent that transcends the ordinary." The Elder Witch Priest paused, his gentle gaze turning to the attentive Jiang Qiu with a faint smile. "According to the laws passed down through the generations, people are born of a mother and father."
"However, there are also some who can come into being without flesh and blood. Those are the so-called Chosen Ones. They are favored by heaven and earth, their cultivation speed is extraordinary, and they can often defeat the tribe’s strong Warriors in a very short time."
"But they do not appear out of thin air. It is because of a great cataclysm that this Northern Boundary became a wasteland of snow, devoid of Spirit Charm. Someone is needed to break the seal..."
At this point, a little boy with chubby cheeks suddenly raised his fist. "Elder Witch Priest, what’s Spirit Charm again?"
"Hehe, Spirit Charm is Spirit Charm. It can connect to the Great Daos and rules that govern the world. It can allow people to fly without growing wings, allow a tribe’s Warrior to shatter mountains and rivers with a single punch, and allow Flames to grow in water."
The Elder Witch Priest was not angered by the interruption. He pointed a withered finger at the five or six-meter-tall stone slate beside him. Carved upon it were the figures of the Ten Thousand Races vying for supremacy, with countless clans surging toward a great mountain range in the center.
Great birds soared with outstretched wings in the sky. Huge fish leaped from the water’s depths into the air. An Ice Armor Bear roared, and a North Snow Wolf standing atop a hill howled at the heavens.
The relatively tiny Human Race was squeezed in the middle, their gazes fixed on the mountain’s peak. Carved there was a large, strangely colored tree...
"This tree on the Northern Boundary Peak is called the Enlightenment Fruit Tree. It bears fruit once every one hundred thousand years. Every twenty years, the ice fog dissipates, and a great path opens to the peak. It is said that anyone who plucks an Enlightenment Fruit will obtain Spirit Charm and also break the seal on the entire North Mountain Realm. The Spirit Charm that was lost tens of thousands of years ago will sweep back in like a tsunami..."
The tribe’s kids listened with wide, shining eyes, as if the Elder Witch Priest’s words held some kind of magic.
After all, they had all grown up listening to the Elder Witch Priest’s teachings. They knew full well that the one thing the Northern Boundary lacked most was power. Every day, they saw Warriors from the tribe return injured, and every month, they saw their older brothers and sisters, just a few years their senior, wielding spears.
White snow covered the North Snow Tribe of fifty to sixty thousand people, but the tribe itself was built upon crimson blood.
From birth, everyone knew: kill Demon Beasts and eat Demon Beasts to survive. The weak would be eaten by Demon Beasts.
In this life, there were only three things that mattered: food and warmth, power, and procreation.
Without realizing it, Jiang Qiu was also swept up in this feeling. Whenever he heard the Elder Witch Priest speak of these matters, his blood would surge.
Every day in the North Snow Tribe was a day of learning. At one month old, he could crawl and walk. At three months, he could speak. By six months, he was holding a Wooden Spear.
He did his best to keep up with the rhythm of the North Snow Tribe, training hard every day and observing the tribe’s Warriors to learn their techniques for killing Demon Beasts.
As a Chosen One, he had only one destiny: when the ice fog on Northern Boundary Mountain dispersed, he had to contend for the path with the other Chosen Ones!
Obtaining the Enlightenment Fruit was no easy task. The North Snow Tribe had a history and legacy spanning tens of thousands of years. The Demon and Human Races of the entire Northern Boundary had vied for it for just as long, yet not a single person or demon had ever returned from the Northern Boundary Peak.
They merely clung to the legend of ascending Northern Boundary Mountain to retrieve the Enlightenment Fruit. Every twenty years, they would cultivate their most exceptional experts, striving to win a chance at a great revival for their people.
The Northern Boundary was simply too harsh. The land was frozen solid, without a single day of spring. The Ten Thousand Races ran rampant, and battles raged year after year, month after month.
"Alright, that’s enough for today. You may all go back now. In a few days, it will be the first bloodline test of your lives. Drink some extra deer milk these next couple of days. Who knows, maybe you’ll awaken some incredible talent?"
The Elder Witch Priest made a casual joke and waved his hand, dismissing them.
Jiang Qiu stood up, nodded respectfully to the priest along with the others, and walked out of the wooden hut amidst the clamor of cheerful laughter.
WHOOSH—
The cold wind cut like a knife through the gaps in their fur coats, seeming to want to push even deeper. It frightened the group of kids, none of whom even reached an adult Warrior’s knees, so much that their teeth chattered.
Jiang Qiu pulled up his fluffy collar and strode toward his dwelling, his small face spotlessly clean.
’This world has no Spirit Charm, so the Human Race in the tribe and those of the Demon Race all fight by relying on strong physical bodies and sharp weapons.’
’It’s similar to the paths I’ve seen before: the four layers of the Physical Body Realm are Copper Skin, Iron Flesh, Steel Bone, and Jade Sinews. The difference is that the Physical Body Realm here is likely of a much higher quality than what I’ve encountered previously.’
’I once saw an adult Warrior get his left arm bitten off during a hunt, only for it to grow back a few days later. And he was only in the Iron Flesh Realm.’
’Furthermore, there was also Demon Beast prey at the Iron Flesh Realm whose head had been severed, yet it was only playing dead and nearly injured the tribe’s elderly, weak, women, and children.’
’Beyond that, the biggest difference in the Northern Boundary is the appearance of an additional realm called Luminous Blood. Or rather, Luminous Blood is the most direct reflection of Bloodline Awakening.’
’High-intensity training and life-or-death situations can lead to the purification of Luminous Blood for those with exceptional "Talent." All living beings rely on the circulation of Luminous Blood to resist the bitter cold.’
’Luminous Blood is like high-purity Qi Blood, capable of generating unending heat while also holding the secrets to the body’s evolution...’
