Chapter 9

"Brother……"

"Brother……"

A soft, tender voice, filled with a special emotion, echoed in Su Ming's dream.

"Brother…… Can you hear me…… Brother……"

"Brother…… I'm waiting for you……" The voice, weary, seemed to be calling out to itself, growing weaker and weaker until it slowly faded away.

As the voice weakened, Su Ming felt a piercing pain in his heart, as if something very important was leaving with the voice. This feeling made him suddenly wake up.

Su Ming's body was icy cold, drenched in sweat, his face pale. He took rapid breaths and looked around. The familiar surroundings gradually calmed his mind.

It was already deep into the night outside. In the distance, the faint roars of some birds and beasts could be heard. Apart from that, everything was silent. Su Ming sat silently on the wooden bed, staring at the fragment in his hand, his expression becoming increasingly hesitant.

"The dream just now was very strange…… I wasn't even sleepy, but I fell asleep while observing this fragment…… That dream…… That voice……" Su Ming's face showed confusion. He rarely had dreams, and a dream like that had never happened before, especially the woman's voice, which seemed strangely familiar to him.

"Everything must be related to this thing!" Su Ming lowered his head and, under the moonlight, carefully examined the fragment in his hand, frowning.

"What is this thing……" After hesitating for a moment, he bit his fingertip and, following the description on the animal skin scroll, dripped his blood onto the fragment. According to the scroll, most treasures in the world required a drop of one's own blood to activate them.

Su Ming, who had never seen any treasures from birth, had this fragment as the only one. After squeezing out a drop of blood from his fingertip and dripping it onto the fragment, he eagerly watched.

However, after a long time, the fragment showed no change, and the blood did not seem to be absorbed.

Su Ming scratched his head, a stubbornness rising within him. He got up and tried various methods, such as biting it with his teeth, trying to break it with force, and even soaking it in water, but in the end, the fragment remained unchanged.

As the sky gradually brightened, Su Ming, holding the fragment, fell into a daze. Time passed, and when the sky in the distance was completely bright and the first sun rose, a flash of inspiration struck Su Ming.

"This thing initially gave off warmth when placed on my body. Perhaps…… this is its function!" Without hesitation, Su Ming immediately put the fragment back on the pendant, hanging it around his neck so that it pressed tightly against his chest.

A warm sensation spread through Su Ming's body, merging with him and making him feel comfortable. He took a deep breath, and the cultivation method he had obtained from the primitive image flashed through his mind.

The primitive image, the essence of the world, had given Su Ming the cultivation method for the first realm of the primitive path, the Blood Condensation Realm.

From the animal skin scroll, Su Ming learned that in ancient times, the primitive ancestors created the world and humanity. At that time, everyone was a deity. However, over countless years, the primitive tribes, as the inheritors of the myth, gradually faded from legend and became ordinary.

The cultivation techniques for the primitive path were also passed down from that time, but they were modified to be more suitable for the current primitive tribes. The first realm, the Blood Condensation Realm, was divided into eleven levels. Its purpose was to stimulate the tiny amount of primitive blood within the practitioner's veins and make it coalesce.

The so-called primitive body was actually a way to identify those with a higher amount of primitive blood in their bodies, allowing them to progress further on the primitive path.

Ordinary tribespeople, with very little primitive blood in their bodies, were not recognized and thus did not have the qualifications to become primitives. They would not receive the cultivation method from the primitive image during worship.

However, Su Ming was very special. Although he did not have a primitive body, he obtained the cultivation method, which was difficult to pass down orally and could only be inherited from the primitive image in most small and medium-sized tribes, thanks to the strange fragment.

"Condensing the primitive blood within the body to awaken it, and ultimately drawing one's own primitive pattern, to enter the Dust Opening Realm!" Su Ming murmured, his eyes shining brightly.

He sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes, immersing himself in the cultivation method that could not be described in words.

Time passed, and soon the first sun had risen high in the sky. The smoke from the tribal cooking fires gradually rose and dissipated, and the tribe became lively. The hunting teams, led by several leaders, set out with the blessings of their families to hunt for enough food.

Some young children, only four or five years old, ran around the tribe naked, playing happily. Their cheerful laughter brought smiles to the faces of the tribespeople who heard it.

In addition, at Grandpa's place, he was discussing some cultivation experiences with the two tribespeople who had successfully obtained primitive bodies. For a tribe, primitive warriors were the most important force.

The Wu Mountain Tribe, with the passing of the older generation, now had only twenty-two primitive warriors in total.

No one noticed that on this morning, Su Ming's house had its door tightly closed. Inside, Su Ming, sitting cross-legged, had a faint blood glow emanating from his body. The blood glow, upon closer inspection, revealed a faint blood line under his skin, which was slowly glowing red, giving off an eerie sensation.

Currently, only one blood line was visible on Su Ming's body, and it was still faint, unable to fully manifest.

After a long time, Su Ming opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

"In the Blood Condensation Realm, the more blood lines that appear, the greater the chance of reaching the Dust Opening Realm. However, the Dust Opening Realm is extremely difficult. According to the animal skin scroll, only those who reach the Dust Opening Realm can勉强 be called primitives. But the Dust Opening Realm is a realm that can grant a small tribe the qualifications to become a medium-sized tribe!"

"Grandpa has already condensed most of the primitive blood in his body, but he still has no hope of reaching the Dust Opening Realm. In the surrounding tribes, no one has ever been heard to have reached the Dust Opening Realm."

Su Ming murmured. The Dust Opening Realm was too distant for him. What he was most concerned about now was whether he could successfully cultivate the first level of the Blood Condensation Realm.

The first level of the Blood Condensation Realm required the appearance of three blood lines.

If one had a primitive body, they could quickly condense more than three blood lines at the beginning of cultivation, directly surpassing the first level of the Blood Condensation Realm, unlike Su Ming, who could barely make one blood line faintly appear.

Although the initial process was not smooth, Su Ming did not feel discouraged. For him, being able to cultivate meant there was hope.

Moreover, when he condensed the blood in his body, he clearly felt that the warmth from the fragment on his chest increased. This made Su Ming more spirited, and he vaguely felt that he had grasped the key to this treasure.

Time passed quickly, and it was already seven days. During these seven days, Su Ming hardly left his house, and he was not even very hungry, which puzzled him for a while. After all, the animal skin scroll had mentioned that cultivators, especially those in the Blood Condensation Realm, would have a greatly increased appetite due to the circulation of blood in their bodies, allowing their bodies to grow rapidly and produce more blood for cultivation.

However, this did not happen to Su Ming. After some thought, he attributed it to the strange effect of the warm current from the fragment.

During these seven days, Lei Chen visited once, bringing Su Ming some marten deer blood and taking some black dragon saliva. Lei Chen had obtained a primitive body at the age of seven during the worship of the primitive image and had now reached the fourth level of the Blood Condensation Realm, with twenty-three blood lines condensed in his body. He was a key member of the hunting team.

Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment, wanting to comfort Su Ming, but in the end, he looked at Su Ming and said in a dull, honest voice:

"Su Ming, we grew up together. In the future, I will protect you. Whoever dares to provoke you will be going against me, Lei Chen!" He waved his arm forcefully, grinned, and left.

Su Ming watched Lei Chen leave, feeling very warm inside.

Although tribal life was simple, it was not dull. Almost every tribesperson had their own responsibilities, contributing to the tribe's existence.

Half a month after the primitive initiation ended, Su Ming, carrying a woven basket, said goodbye to the tribespeople and left the tribe alone, heading towards the distant forest.

Upon entering the forest, Su Ming seemed to transform, filled with agility. His body moved like an arrow, leaping nimbly and climbing a large tree with ease. Sitting on a branch, he smiled, satisfied with his speed.

"Although I haven't fully cultivated the first level of the Blood Condensation Realm, my body is at least several times more agile than before."

Su Ming placed two fingers of his right hand to his mouth and whistled. The whistle echoed far and wide, stirring up waves of reverberation. Soon, a red line appeared in the distance, moving swiftly towards Su Ming.

Su Ming grinned and, as the red line approached, leaped forward. The red line emitted squeaks, chasing after him.

"Little Red, let's have a race today to see who can reach the mountain first!" Su Ming's voice was cheerful as he quickly leaped forward. The red line, which was actually a small red monkey, showed a look of disdain, still munching on a fruit. It seemed to not take Su Ming seriously, scratching its face and lazily chasing after him.

However, as the chase continued, the monkey's eyes turned red, and its squeaks became sharp. Its expression showed surprise and anger as it threw away the fruit and chased with all its might.

During the new book period, due to the rules, I can't release too much content daily. To be honest, during the New Year, I had too much fun, and almost all my drafts are gone. I know some readers might not believe it, but it's true.

I struggled and even considered taking another month off, but I had already set the date for the 20th.

After much deliberation, I decided to focus on writing. Currently, I only have a few chapters in reserve. Please allow me to keep some for when I want to go out and have fun.

Finally, I still need to ask for support. You all know what I mean... Don't always stroke yourself; go out and stroke others. Have you stroked anyone today?