Chapter 13

Qian Ji ran away, the sound of hooves gradually fading into the distance from the entrance of the valley.

At this moment, the fierce Eagle Wing hunters standing behind them rushed over with a roar, surrounding Zhou Lu and expressing their excitement and agitation with punches and kicks.

On the wilderness, such "intimate" actions only occurred between the closest of friends. Zhou Lu instantly enjoyed over a hundred enthusiastic "friendships." The strength of those men was so great that Zhou Lu winced in pain.

Lei Meng was overjoyed, repeating only, "Well done, well done!"

To be able to humiliate Hu Biao with an arrow, now the Fox Hunters would have no face to provoke them. In the future, when the two teams of cavalry met again, Lei Meng could proudly scold the other side as grandsons. Thinking of this, Lei Meng couldn't help but laugh heartily, completely disregarding his dignity as a centurion.

"These brats!"

In the distance, at the central camp, Meng Yan, the Hunter Leader, watched all this and then walked into the tent with his hands behind his back, a smile on his face.

Originally, he thought the fat man was a useless waste, but who would have thought that the fat man would suddenly turn into a brave and skilled hunter. It was like finding a treasure unexpectedly, and Meng Yan was secretly delighted.

"Great Elder, you miscalculated."

Meng Yan decided not to tell anyone about this, just to keep the joy to himself.

"Mount up, let's go."

After laughing and joking for a long time, Centurion Lei Meng finally remembered the main task. He shouted loudly from his horse, and over a hundred people stopped their noise and quickly jumped onto their horses. The sound of hooves filled the valley as the Eagle Wing Sixth Team rode through the valley toward the West Mountain Mines.

On the road, Zhou Lu was surrounded by these men, and his playful spirit returned. He started boasting and making fun of the old hunters he disliked. Whenever he said something funny, the crowd would burst into laughter.

After defeating Qian Ji, Zhou Lu's identity as a brave and skilled hunter was confirmed without a doubt. His prestige in the team had risen to an extremely high level. The hunters respected and liked this fat man who was full of mischief but had a simple and honest appearance.

Centurion Lei Meng also didn't stop the team from joking and sometimes even joined in, patting Zhou Lu on the shoulder.

Zhou Lu felt that such days were extremely pleasant. Having so many people around him listening to his boasting greatly satisfied his vanity.

However, Zhou Lu knew that all this was based on his victory over Hu Biao and Qian Ji, and on the fact that he had cultivated a barbaric energy vortex in his dantian, completely transforming his strength.

"Being awesome feels so damn good."

Zhou Lu was extremely pleased among these hunters.

...

The cavalry rode through the dense wilderness and then through the deep forest. One day, they were on a rugged and winding mountain road. The mountains were steep and the road was dangerous, and the hooves occasionally kicked up pebbles, which rolled down the mountain path into the ravine.

The fatigue from days of travel made everyone stop talking, carefully controlling their horses, and cautiously climbing higher along the winding mountain road.

After crossing this mountain, they would have to travel another hundred miles to reach the West Mountain Mines and the Tian Shi Mine Cave camp.

After a few days of marching, the novelty of the military life gradually faded, and Zhou Lu found that the laughter and jokes weren't as meaningful. A worry he couldn't suppress surged in his heart, gradually filling him with anxiety and concern.

The flame in his dantian, which he had summoned during the Tian Yao Festival sacrifice, he always called it the demon fire.

Since that night when the demon fire burned and refined his power, it had been listless, the flame flickering weakly, as if it might go out at any moment.

Clearly, burning and refining power consumed the demon fire's own energy, and Zhou Lu had no idea how to replenish the fire's energy.

All his current vanity came from that demon fire. If anything happened to the demon fire...

Thinking of this, Zhou Lu's whole body trembled involuntarily.

"Little Demon, Little Demon, wake up. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?"

...

After calling out many times without a response, Zhou Lu had no choice but to experiment himself. He first tried to absorb the barbaric energy from the universe through the barbaric energy vortex to refine his cultivation. With the barbaric energy vortex, Zhou Lu's cultivation speed was clearly much faster than before.

However, as his power increased, the demon fire showed no improvement. Clearly, the demon fire's energy couldn't be replenished by his increased power.

Zhou Lu then thought that in daily life, fire needs to burn wood to stay lit. Perhaps his "Little Demon" was also lacking wood.

Zhou Lu, determined, even secretly pulled a few blades of grass and peeled a few pieces of bark, mixing them into his military rations and swallowing them with difficulty.

Aren't those "wood"?

However, the flame clearly didn't appreciate this. The "supplements" didn't even reach his dantian; they just passed through his intestines.

...

In the end, Zhou Lu was at a loss, riding his horse with a worried and self-reproachful heart. He deeply regretted that on the night he first obtained the demon fire, he had been too excited in his experiments, severely damaging his "Little Demon."

In the midst of painful self-reproach, after days of marching, the West Mountain Mines finally came into view.

It was a towering barren mountain, with rough, dark brown rocks exposed. The mountain was extremely steep and dangerous, making it look intimidating. The setting sun's afterglow slanted from the other side of the mountain, casting a grand and majestic glow over it.

A wide mountain road stretched downward.

On the winding mountain road, a few ox carts slowly approached, each loaded with crushed ore, the wheels creaking on the rocky path.

On the front of the leading ox cart, an elderly tribesman with a dark, weathered face sat. Seeing the imposing Eagle Wing detachment approaching, the old man's face lit up with a warm smile. He placed one hand on his chest and raised the other high, shouting loudly:

"Zhalantu!"

Zhalantu means "blessing" in the local language. Centurion Lei Meng, riding his horse, also smiled, placing one hand on his chest and raising the other high, shouting back to the old man, "Zhalantu."

Amidst the creaking of the wheels, the ox cart convoy and the Eagle Wing detachment passed each other.

The West Mountain Mines were located at the border of the Tian Yao tribe. Beyond, the wilderness was filled with countless bandits and a tribe of uncivilized Blood Barbarians.

In the West Mountain Mines, known for its abundant black gold, if it weren't for the Eagle Wing army's years of bloody battles, there would be no such peaceful scene.

Riding his horse, Zhou Lu watched the ox cart convoy disappear into the distance, a strange emotion surging in his heart.

Zhou Lu's personality was naturally at odds with the rigid, old-fashioned, and rule-bound ways. He severely despised the irrational warrior spirit in the tribe, but he was also easily moved by certain emotions.

Beside him, those carefree men laughed and joked freely, unrestrained. They weren't thinking about becoming famous warriors on the wilderness. They were heading to the most dangerous border of the tribe, ready to defend the tribal people with their blood and even their lives.

From the old man's warm greeting on the ox cart, Zhou Lu could see how close and intimate the relationship was between the Eagle Wing army and the people here, as if they were seeing an old father in the same hunting ground...

Zhou Lu suddenly felt a sense of responsibility quietly settling on his shoulders.