Chapter 1

In the wilderness, whether one possesses the bloodline of a battle soul almost determines their future cultivation achievements. However, how many people in the vast wilderness can successfully summon a battle soul?

...

At the foot of the towering holy mountain of the Heavenly Demon Tribe, the ancient and weathered sacrificial tower resembled a hundred-meter-tall, decrepit giant, slowly emitting demonic aura under the moonlight.

At the "giant’s" feet, a sea of people gathered, with dozens of circles of people surrounding each bonfire. Countless men and women, dressed in colorful animal skins and wearing cold, sinister demonic beast bone necklaces, danced and sang enthusiastically around the sacrificial tower.

Amidst the "hehe" shouts, the annual Heavenly Demon Festival was about to enter its most crucial battle soul summoning ceremony...

Zhou Lu stood in the thirty-third barbarian statue cave of the sacrificial tower, looking down at the countless boiling tribespeople below. For the first time in his life, he felt an indescribable nervous excitement, and the weak true qi in his body, which was hard to talk about, rapidly rose in excitement.

...

Every year, the Heavenly Demon Tribe, under the strict review of the elders in the Elder Hall, selects thirty-six elite youths with excellent talent, strength, character, and ability to enter the sacrificial tower. They use beast blood for sacrifice, summoning the wandering demonic beast souls in the world to enter the bodies of the sacrificers, fusing with their bloodlines, known as integrating battle souls.

Once the fusion is successful, the sacrificer can possess the combat talents and cultivation bloodline of the battle soul, thus growing and cultivating faster.

Zhou Lu is the grandson of the leader of the Thirty-Seventh Hunting Ground, Huerle.

The Heavenly Demon Tribe has a total of forty-five hunting grounds, each managing thousands of people. A hunting ground is almost the size of a small tribe in the wilderness, and Huerle, the leader, is comparable to the chief of a small tribe.

Zhou Lu has decent talent and strength, but he is by no means outstanding. However, Huerle, the leader, was eager for his grandson to succeed. Before this year’s Heavenly Demon Festival, Huerle used his position and influence, spent most of his wealth, and went through countless connections and channels, finally securing a precious sacrificial spot for Zhou Lu.

Zhou Lu knew how hard it was to get this sacrificial opportunity. Standing in the sacrificial cave, he took a deep breath to calm his nervousness. Zhou Lu knew that even with a sacrificial spot, whether he could summon a battle soul was still uncertain. He still remembered that at last year’s sacrificial ceremony, less than half of the thirty-odd youths managed to summon a battle soul.

"Can I summon a battle soul today?"

Zhou Lu was very anxious, with countless distracting thoughts making his heart race.

Below the sacrificial tower, the curvaceous and sexy beauties danced joyfully, their long skirts swirling around the bonfires, exuding a passionate and unrestrained atmosphere. Before long, Zhou Lu’s eyes involuntarily wandered, focusing on the undulating waves on the chests of the beauties.

Looking at the clusters of trembling flesh through their clothes, Zhou Lu swallowed hard, feeling hotter and hotter, and the low-key yet splendid fine scale armor that tightly bound his plump body seemed to be squeezing him even tighter.

Zhou Lu struggled like a wrapped dumpling, but to no avail. He then simply loosened the iron buckle around his belly, feeling much more relaxed. A cold breeze blew, and he shivered.

"Huh? Was I distracted just now?"

Zhou Lu suddenly became alert, his face changing. He dared not look anymore, and his gaze "shyly" shifted to the distance. In the open area far away, squad after squad of iron cavalry wielded bone spears, fiercely colliding and fighting. Even in training, they fought as if their lives were on the line, with dust rising into the sky and the surrounding tribespeople cheering enthusiastically.

This was a mandatory performance at the annual Heavenly Demon Festival. To demonstrate the spirit of bravery, every hunter on horseback fought with all their might, and the cheers of the surrounding tribespeople made them even more excited.

With a "bang," a hunter was knocked off his galloping horse by someone else’s bone spear, his nose and mouth bleeding. However, the hunter was not discouraged. With a fierce expression, he ran, grabbed an empty horse, and leaped back into the fray.

The cheers of the tribespeople grew even louder.

Zhou Lu almost laughed, looking at those "brave warriors." A sudden feeling of absurdity welled up in his heart.

Zhou Lu did not like fighting with people stronger than himself.

Zhou Lu was not lacking in the courage to become a brave warrior. He just believed that, without any benefits, being beaten to a bloody pulp and getting back up to fight again was not a brave warrior who still had honor in defeat; it was someone seeking punishment, a fool. He preferred to fight with people weaker than himself, enjoying the simple pleasure of trampling them.

However, his preference was clearly despised by most "brave warriors."

Zhou Lu did not care what others thought. He would do what was beneficial to him and avoid what was not.

This time, the sacrificial ceremony not only offered the chance to summon a battle soul, but if successful, it would also make one a "seed hunter" of the tribe, with the opportunity to be trained in the Heavenly Demon Elite Hall for three years.

This time, Zhou Lu surprisingly did not need his grandfather to urge him with a whip. He cooperated extremely well, binding himself layer by layer with the fine scale armor, enduring the pain of squeezing his fatty flesh together, and happily following the hunting ground team to the holy mountain, throwing himself into the barbarian statue cave of the sacrificial tower.

Spending a while in the cave meant having many more opponents to trample. Such a good thing, Zhou Lu would never refuse!

However, will I be able to summon a battle soul? What kind of battle soul will I summon? Will it be a powerful and dominant one...

Zhou Lu stood devoutly in the cave, tightly gripping the Blood Luo crystal, his heart racing.

...

A long, melodious bull horn sounded, signaling the end of the grand Heavenly Demon Festival celebration. The much-anticipated battle soul summoning ceremony was about to begin.

The dances around the bonfires gradually stopped, and the fighting in the distant training grounds ceased. The tribespeople below the sacrificial tower turned and eagerly gathered around the star platform.

The most crucial ceremony was about to take place. Whether they could successfully summon a battle soul depended on their performance in a moment. Inside the sacrificial tower, the thirty-six youths, including Zhou Lu, all stood respectfully, their hands on the stone walls of the cave, their eyes devoutly fixed on the star platform below.

Dozens of elite hunters, armed with powerful bows and cold, sinister long knives, quickly ran to the star platform, surrounding it. Their eyes were cold, preventing the enthusiastic tribespeople from surging towards the platform. On the platform, a tall and imposing figure slowly walked out.

It was the great elder of the tribe, Ouye Tujiji, who was presiding over the sacrificial ceremony.

The great elder had a solemn face, with three wind feather plumes in his hair, holding a black bone staff. A faint light appeared behind him, and with each step, the light grew stronger. A beam of light flickered, and the silhouette of a large, snow-white wolf materialized.

The wolf’s soft paws made no sound as they touched the ground. It suddenly turned its head, scanning the crowd below, its fierce blood-red eyes emitting a chilling aura.

"Heaven! It’s a Snow Wolf battle soul."

Below the star platform, the tribespeople were in a state of excitement and reverence, looking up at the great elder.

The Snow Wolf is a nearly sentient demonic beast. If classified by human cultivation levels, the Snow Wolf has the strength of the tenth level of the Tu Man Heart Sutra. Such a demonic beast could easily wipe out a small tribe with considerable strength. The great elder, with the power of the Snow Wolf battle soul, held great prestige in the vast Heavenly Demon Tribe.

Ouye Tujiji stopped in front of the crowd, his gaze sternly looking down at the platform, then subtly raised his head, seeing the hopeful eyes of the youths in the stone caves of the sacrificial tower. Ouye Tujiji nodded inwardly, knowing the time had come.

The great elder slowly raised his hands, his clear voice echoing through the night sky:

"Great energy opens, chaos changes, in the age of great contention, the demonic star appears.

Heavenly Demon Festival, let us offer our beast blood, summon the battle soul..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a whooshing sound was heard, and hundreds of wolf oil torches lit up simultaneously, illuminating the star platform below the sacrificial tower as bright as daylight. The Blood Luo array at the base of the sacrificial tower slowly started, with rings of blood-colored light rapidly spreading from the base to the top.

The power to summon the battle soul had been activated. The next step was for the youths in the stone caves to offer their beast blood. Through the rotation of the Blood Luo array, the beast blood would be offered to the void as a sacrifice, increasing the chances of summoning a demonic beast soul.

Whether they could successfully summon a battle soul depended on this moment.

Inside the sacrificial tower, the thirty-six youths did not dare to delay. They all roared in unison, drawing their sharp knives from their waists and rushing towards the standing demonic beast pillars in the caves.

There, their sacrificial demonic beasts were prepared.

To show their sincerity, these demonic beasts were all hunted by the youths themselves.

In the thirty-third stone cave, a fox-like demonic beast was firmly tied to the standing pillar, struggling wildly and emitting a piercing cry. The desperate cries seemed to have a soul-penetrating power, making people shiver involuntarily.

Zhou Lu licked his lips with enthusiasm, drawing a sharp ox bone knife from his leg. In one swift move, he stabbed the knife into the demonic beast’s throat. As he pulled the knife out, blood spurted from the beast’s neck, splashing onto the Blood Luo crystal on Zhou Lu’s chest, as well as his face and body.

The hot blood made Zhou Lu feel as if his body was about to burn.

The Blood Luo crystal, now stained with the demonic beast’s blood, had the ability to communicate with the demonic beast souls in the void.

Ignoring the weakening demonic beast, Zhou Lu carefully inserted the Blood Luo crystal into the slot below the barbarian statue, then sat cross-legged, tightly holding the hot crystal.

On the star platform, the great elder raised his hands, clenched his fists, and then suddenly released them. A powerful aura suddenly emanated from his body, forming a strong wind that enveloped the sacrificial tower.

The snow wolf simultaneously howled to the sky.

Inside the sacrificial tower, the Blood Luo crystals in the thirty-six caves simultaneously burst with blood light, which merged into the barbarian statues and then shot straight up into the sky.

Thirty-six blood dots converged at the top of the sacrificial tower, becoming brighter and forming a huge spatial vortex. The vortex emitted a rumbling sound like thunder, with countless arcs of lightning crackling.

Below the star platform, the tribespeople were silent, their eyes wide with awe and excitement. Some even knelt, devoutly worshiping the sacrificial tower.

Zhou Lu’s face was pale, his body trembling with fat. He felt a powerful suction from the Blood Luo crystal, as if it was trying to pull his life force out.

Zhou Lu knew that this was to use the sacrificer’s life force to attract the battle soul from the void. The thought of fusing with a battle soul made his heart race with excitement. Looking up at the cave ceiling, his eyes were filled with boundless hope and longing.

"What kind of battle soul will I fuse with?"

No one knew that the night before, Zhou Lu had a premonition in his dream. He even "saw" the battle soul he summoned.

It was a powerful and fierce demonic beast, its silhouette appearing behind Zhou Lu, as large as a small mountain, exuding overwhelming killing intent. With such a demonic beast battle soul, Zhou Lu would grow into a powerful warrior of the wilderness.

At the time, Zhou Lu was extremely excited.

If he told his grandfather about this, his grandfather would be overjoyed, considering it a good omen and a rare opportunity. However, during breakfast, Zhou Lu hesitated for a long time and ultimately did not have the courage to tell his dream, because in the dream, he also saw himself lighting a fire and roasting the demonic beast into a delicious meal...

If he told this dream, he would probably not get praise but a severe beating.

The blood light from the Blood Luo crystals enveloped the thirty-six youths, circulating endlessly within their bodies.

The youths in the caves all had twitching faces, as if enduring great pain. Zhou Lu felt as if his bones were about to break, his body spasming with pain as if in a vacuum.

"Damn, this is so uncomfortable, how much longer..."

Zhou Lu’s heart cried out in distress.

As the blood light washed over them, the pain endured, time slowly passed. Below the star platform, the tribespeople were tense and silent, no one daring to speak. The great elder on the platform also had beads of sweat on his forehead, his raised bone staff feeling increasingly heavy.

Using brute force to activate the massive Blood Luo array and forcibly summoning a soul was extremely exhausting, even for the great elder.

At this moment, a bright light suddenly burst from one of the caves.

Someone below the star platform exclaimed in surprise:

"Look, a battle soul has descended."

In the thirteenth cave, a tall, muscular youth with a black leather armor and a diagonal scar on his face, withdrew his hands from the heart-sealing seal, his eyes gleaming with fierce light. He leaped out of the cave, landing steadily on the star platform.

The youth raised his hands, his aura surging, and the shadow of an Iron Spine Black Bear appeared behind him, exuding a menacing aura.

The Iron Spine Black Bear was over two meters tall, its broad paws containing the power to sweep everything away, its red eyes filled with ferocity, roaring to the sky.

The snow wolf beside the great elder also howled.

The bear and the wolf roared with the momentum of a thousand troops.

"It’s an Iron Spine Black Bear battle soul."

"What a powerful battle soul."

"Another warrior is born!"

Below the star platform, there was a commotion, with many people cheering and applauding.

The Iron Spine Black Bear is known for its dominant brute force among demonic beasts. A hunter with the bloodline of an Iron Spine Black Bear can not only cultivate as quickly as a demonic beast but also gradually strengthen their physical body, possessing the brute force of a bear.

Someone shouted excitedly, and the mounted hunters rode their horses, galloping around the bonfires, while hundreds of men and women danced and sang again.

Below the star platform, a group of charming young girls, dressed in bright festival clothes, clenched their fists, their faces filled with excitement and joy.

They had run over from the bonfire dance to cheer for the future strong warriors of the wilderness.

The wilderness worships strength, worships fearless blood, and worships the brave who dare to use their strength to defeat all the powerful for honor.

The youth who obtained such a powerful battle soul can be expected to grow into a true hero in the near future.

A short, fat hunter leader below the star platform jumped up in excitement, rushing towards the platform.

"Ha ha, it’s my son, Ulasu, it’s my son, Ulasu."

The short, fat hunter leader laughed, holding his belly. On the viewing platform behind him, the people from other tribes who came to observe had looks of envy and resentment.

The Iron Spine Black Bear battle soul is quite rare, a mid-to-high-level battle soul. A tribal leader from another tribe muttered under his breath: Damn, what kind of luck did the Heavenly Demon Tribe have to get such a strong battle soul.