Chapter 6 of 100

Chapter 6

16 min read3,917 words

From a distance, one could see a sea of tents. Zhou Lu looked around, and his felt tent was in one corner. Everyone had gone to the square to participate in the grand ceremony, so there was no one nearby.

Zhou Lu quickened his steps and slipped to the front of his tent. He lifted the curtain and entered, sitting on the animal skin on the ground with a sigh of relief, panting heavily. His mind slowly returned to the moment of the sacrifice.

He still couldn't figure out what the war soul he summoned was. Thinking about how that small thing had made him lose face in front of countless beautiful women on the star platform, Zhou Lu felt a surge of anger.

Zhou Lu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind inward. Gradually, he saw a bright light inside his body. He slowly explored downward, eventually reaching the dantian, the core of his qi sea. Suddenly, he felt a warm sensation.

In his mind, everything became bright. A fist-sized, pale purple flame was lazily burning in his dantian, flickering and changing, casting a faint purple glow over half of the dantian.

This was the thing he had summoned today.

Zhou Lu's mind circled around the flame, but he couldn't discern anything special. It didn't burn any wood, yet the flame remained unextinguished. Zhou Lu marveled at this and cautiously approached the flame, gently poking it. In his mind, he only felt warmth, no burning sensation. The flame flickered angrily, as if unwilling to be touched.

"Huh? That's interesting."

Zhou Lu was intrigued by the flame's emotional reaction and became more excited. He poked the flame again with his mind, saying, "Don't act so cowardly, let's get to work."

He pushed the flame with his will, guiding it along the meridians, bit by bit, toward the outside of his body.

The flame seemed extremely reluctant, dodging and resisting, but it was ultimately under Zhou Lu's control and was forced to move forward.

Zhou Lu felt a warm sensation in the meridians the flame passed through, a comforting warmth.

With a hiss, the pale purple flame emerged from the tip of Zhou Lu's index finger, burning quietly with a purple glow illuminating his face.

Zhou Lu's eyes were filled with curiosity. He had heard of some unique war souls before, but could a flame be used as a war soul?

He thought for a moment, then lifted a corner of the animal skin he was sitting on and brought it close to the flame. The soft animal fur was clearly visible in the flame's light. As the fur approached, the flame recoiled, like a girl pinching her nose to avoid a foul smell, clearly disliking the fur.

Zhou Lu pushed his index finger into the fur, and the flame retreated to his wrist. The flame's tongue flickered, but the fur didn't even char.

"Damn!"

Zhou Lu stood up, furious: "You're a flame, right? Do you have any sense of being a flame? You couldn't even burn the curtain on the star platform, and now you can't even burn fur. What good are you?"

Zhou Lu was enraged. If this continued, the flame would be utterly useless, not even good for roasting food.

With a grim face, Zhou Lu looked around and saw a fireplace in the corner with some leftover wood. He quickly walked over, extended his finger, and brought the pale purple flame close to the wood.

Isn't it natural for a flame to burn wood?

The flame, however, recoiled as if it had a phobia, struggling to retreat back into Zhou Lu's body. The wood remained untouched.

Zhou Lu was shocked by the flame's uselessness. It wouldn't burn anything. Was he just supposed to keep it as a pet?

Zhou Lu's face was grim. He walked around the tent, testing everything he could see, but nothing burned. Eventually, he collapsed onto the animal skin, exhausted.

"What the hell kind of flame is this? It doesn't even burn?"

Zhou Lu was furious. He knew the tribe's ridicule was justified. He had been given a great opportunity, but he had missed it.

This flame war soul was probably completely useless in battle.

If it can't even burn fur, what good is it? To scare people in battle?

The flame, sensing Zhou Lu's lack of control, quickly retreated into his finger, then rapidly moved back into his meridians, returning to the dantian to hide and catch its breath.

Zhou Lu sat there, feeling utterly defeated.

Actually, Zhou Lu had never taken his grandfather's constant nagging about becoming strong and brave to heart. He had no desire to become a fierce warrior. He just wanted to be strong enough to beat up Tuke Hammer, who always looked down on him in the hunting grounds, and to enjoy the fiery gazes of the beautiful women there.

But now...

If he saw Tuke Hammer again, he would probably have to smile and act submissive, let alone the tribal competition in six months.

The Tian Yao List was the primary method for selecting middle, upper, and even top-level leaders in the Tian Yao tribe. It was held annually, selecting the top thirty, top ten, and top three warriors among those under twenty years old through a series of duels. To become a future commander, a hunter, or to enter the Elder Council, one had to have a record on the Tian Yao List.

But without a more powerful war soul, making it onto the Tian Yao List would be extremely difficult.

"Montian is destined to make the list this year. Me? Am I really destined to never have any connection with her?"

Thinking of this, Zhou Lu's heart ached again. He suddenly noticed the flame had quietly returned to his dantian. A surge of anger rose in him, and he sat cross-legged, cursing:

"You made me lose face, I'll extinguish you. Hmph, watch me."

Zhou Lu focused his mind, gathering all his primal energy from the four primal veins, directing it toward the dantian. The primal energy surged like a tidal wave, rushing toward the flame.

"Useless thing, I'll extinguish you!"

Zhou Lu was determined. A wave of energy in his dantian pressed down on the flame, intending to extinguish it.

But at that moment, Zhou Lu's eyes twitched. He noticed the flame suddenly became extremely excited, its light growing brighter as it greedily approached the surging primal energy.

The flame seemed to burn into the primal energy, which instantly began to boil like water. Zhou Lu's dantian was in turmoil, bubbling and hissing. The burned primal energy flowed smoothly to one side, while more primal energy rushed in from the other side...

Zhou Lu was stunned, staring at the scene in his dantian, speechless.

This... this...

Faced with the dense primal energy, the flame instantly burst into intense heat, rapidly refining the energy like melting ice and snow.

The flame no longer seemed listless.

Zhou Lu was amazed by the flame's fierce burning. He began to realize that perhaps the flame wasn't incapable of burning; it just chose what to burn based on its mood. If it wasn't interested, it wouldn't burn, but if it was...

If it was interested?

Wait, no, his power? Oh no, my power...

After a moment of confusion, Zhou Lu suddenly realized the flame was burning his power, the result of years of hard cultivation. He was terrified that it might burn it all away.

Zhou Lu was frightened. His mind quickly entered his dantian, trying to move the primal energy away from the flame. But at that moment, his eyes twitched again, and he was stunned by what he saw.

The primal energy, heated by the flame, flowed smoothly away, while more primal energy rushed in from the other side. This process accelerated, and in Zhou Lu's dantian, a small vortex gradually formed, growing stronger and more intense, like a small whirlwind, causing all his power to rotate.

A vortex?

A primal vortex? Is it really a primal vortex?

Zhou Lu swallowed hard, a chill running down his spine, his scalp tingling. He couldn't move the primal energy away from the flame, focusing his mind on the transformation of his power.

The four hundred units of power, driven by the primal vortex, drilled into the fifth primal vein with incredible force, breaking through the blockage and clearing the vein.

The fifth primal vein, like a clogged pipe, was easily penetrated by the sharp vortex, which shook and dispersed the blocked energy, clearing the vein.

Zhou Lu felt a light tremor in his head as the fifth primal vein was completely cleared. The power flowed through all five veins, making him feel as if he were floating.

Zhou Lu instantly felt a sense of clarity and freshness.

"Opening the fifth primal vein is so amazing. My power circulation speed has increased by at least thirty percent. The four hundred units of power haven't changed, but the force I can unleash seems much greater."

Zhou Lu was ecstatic, feeling the changes in his body, his mind still reeling from the shock.

In front of him, the changes in his body were far from over. The primal vortex spun the four hundred units of power even more intensely, and with a light tremor, the sixth primal vein was also completely cleared.

Zhou Lu sat there, his mind blank, staring in disbelief at the incredible changes. Before the primal vortex appeared, he would never have believed that four hundred units of power could open six primal veins.

But it didn't stop there.

The sharp, intense vortex drilled into the seventh primal vein, followed by the eighth, ninth, and tenth...

Each time, his body felt a surge of clarity, and new power circulation routes were opened. When the vortex finally reached its limit and could no longer drill, Zhou Lu had opened all ten primal veins.

Zhou Lu sat there, dazed, his mind struggling to process the changes in his body.

After a while, Zhou Lu suddenly came to his senses. With a slight thought, power surged from all ten veins. In that moment, Zhou Lu felt a sense of perfect control, as if he could fly. Through the ten veins, he could control every movement with precision.

"Is this the peak of a hunter's realm?"

The flame burned happily in the center of his dantian. Driven by the flame, the vortex in Zhou Lu's dantian continued to spin, eventually becoming an instinct. Zhou Lu, with such low power, had actually cultivated the power form of a Dao Primal Realm expert.

This incredible power form allowed him to open all ten primal veins with just four hundred units of power.

What did this mean?

"Ha ha..."

Zhou Lu couldn't contain his excitement. He suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up from the ground, and punched with the full force of the vortex. The punch produced a sharp whistle, and the stone pillow on the ground shattered into pieces.

With four levels of power, the punch, due to the vortex, had the force of six hundred units.

Zhou Lu danced with joy, barefoot, and ran to the corner of the tent. He drew a sword, spun it in a fluid motion, and the tent was filled with the flash of the blade and a chilling aura. Zhou Lu performed the Shadow Seven Sword Technique with perfect fluidity.

This technique was only learnable by high-level hunters with six levels of power. Zhou Lu had only memorized the form before, without understanding its essence.

But today, with the control of ten primal veins, the technique was like ten horses pulling a small cart, moving smoothly and gracefully. Many subtle aspects of the technique and power control were now clear to him, effortlessly integrated into the blade's light. The true power of the Shadow Seven Sword Technique was unleashed to its fullest extent.

The final move, "Solitary Crane Crossing the River," sliced horizontally like a meteor. The tent seemed to shudder, and the blade stopped just an inch from the felt. The move was swift and powerful, yet the tent remained still, showing Zhou Lu's mastery of the technique.

Zhou Lu closed his eyes, quietly savoring the sense of control brought by the primal vortex in his dantian.

His power hadn't increased, but the change in its circulation form, due to the vortex and ten veins, gave him a sense of transformation.

"Is this the control of the Dao Primal Realm?"

Zhou Lu patted his belly, smiling broadly: "Who says my war soul is useless? Pah, you're the useless one, and your whole family is useless!"

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