Chapter 42

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Chen Xun was also caught off guard by the massive ice blocks, using his iron bow to shatter one of them and barely managing to jump onto the riverbank. Turning around, he saw that among the dozens of barbarians, almost none had managed to jump ashore in time, and they all fell into the icy water.

Some were struck by the huge ice blocks mid-air, their flesh and blood turning into a mess, their blood instantly dyeing the snow and river red; more people struggled in the icy water.

In an instant, the flying ice blocks rained down from the sky, and the barbarians in the water could not avoid them, screaming in agony.

Chen Xun could only hold his giant bow and shatter the nearby ice blocks, helping people ashore.

The young barbarian reacted swiftly, using his heavy spear to shatter a falling ice block, finding a gap, and climbing onto a floating piece of ice to save the fallen tribesmen.

At this moment, a black-backed giant fish leaped violently from the riverbed, then plunged back into the water, creating a huge wave that knocked the struggling barbarians back into the water.

As the giant fish landed in the water, Chen Xun watched helplessly as a fallen barbarian was bitten in half at the waist by the fish, half his body swallowed into the fish's belly.

The giant fish's head, about four to five meters wide, revealed sharp, snow-white teeth, each one like a sharp blade...

The young barbarian knew that if they couldn't drive the strange fish away, almost none of the fallen tribesmen would survive. He stepped on the floating ice, raised his heavy spear, and leaped high, aiming to strike the fish's head.

Although the young barbarian was two meters tall, he was tiny compared to the giant fish. Relying on his agility, he struck the fish's forehead between its eyes with his heavy spear.

The fish's forehead was incredibly hard, and its skin was tough beyond imagination. The sharp edges of the heavy spear could not penetrate the thick skin between the fish's eyes.

The young barbarian's attack was ineffective, and the heavy spear was immediately repelled by the massive force, sending him flying high into the air.

The strange fish, sensing the young barbarian's slight threat, immediately opened its mouth wide, tightened its body, and leaped high out of the water, ready to swallow the young barbarian in one bite...

Seeing the black back of the fish arching and storing immense power, the light seemed to distort at that moment.

Chen Xun thought that if the strange fish successfully leaped out of the water, the young barbarian, unable to change his position in mid-air, would be doomed. He immediately stopped trying to save the other fallen people, locked onto the fish's eyes with his spiritual sense, and drew an arrow to shoot.

The strange fish's spiritual sense was also astonishing. As the iron arrow approached its eyes, it narrowly avoided the soft vital points.

Chen Xun, now an upper-stage barbarian warrior, had a spiritual sense with profound and mysterious power. The iron arrow he shot had immense force, capable of piercing through several meters of solid rock, but the fish's bones were far harder than usual. The arrowhead penetrated the fish's head by four inches but could not go any further.

This strange fish had dominated the waters for years, and no one or beast had ever injured it. Now, with an iron arrow penetrating its skull by half an inch, it was shocked, pained, and enraged. It immediately lashed its tail at the young barbarian, who was changing direction in mid-air, and charged toward Chen Xun, breaking through the water waves.

The young barbarian, changing direction in mid-air, held his heavy spear to strike the fish's tail, but was still thrown dozens of meters away by the terrifying force, unable to injure the strange fish at all.

The fish's body was so large that it created a mountain-like wave when it charged through the water.

Chen Xun, seeing the complete body of the strange fish half-submerged in the water, was amazed. The fish's head was four to five meters wide, its black scales like armor, and its body over ten meters long. It was hard to imagine such a huge and fierce fish hiding in the Wild Horse Creek.

Chen Xun was undaunted, his body emitting a dark divine aura, and his barbarian煞气 (barbarian aura) gathering in his hands. He drew an arrow, locked onto the fish's eyes with his spiritual sense, and waited for the fish to attack, ready to shoot the iron arrow.

The giant fish charged through the waves, and as it entered within a hundred meters, its huge mouth suddenly opened, and a massive, sharp water arrow shot through the air.

The water arrow was as powerful as a mountain, piercing through the air with a fierce whistle.

The water arrow, formed from the icy river, contained immense power, as hard as steel, with sharp edges that glinted with a cold light, giving it an unstoppable momentum. It seemed that anything in its path would be shattered into pieces!

Chen Xun, without hesitation, released the arrow with a thunderous twang, shattering the mountain-like water arrow into countless waves. He kicked the fish's head, which was hidden behind the waves, and leaped into the air.

In mid-air, Chen Xun's body was steady, and he continuously drew and shot arrows, all three striking the thick lips of the strange fish, before calmly stepping onto the ice and ashore.

At this moment, he felt a dull pain in his right leg, which had kicked the fish's skull. Chen Xun hadn't expected the fish's skull to be so hard. A kick that could break an iron pillar had failed to injure the fish at all. If he had fallen into the water, he would not have been a match for the strange fish.

The strange fish, knowing Chen Xun was a tough opponent, immediately left him alone and focused on eating the fallen people.

Although Chen Xun wanted to save more people, he didn't want to risk his own life, so he stayed on the shore, shooting arrows to keep the fish at bay.

The young barbarian and two other mid-stage barbarian warriors, though not highly cultivated, were incredibly brave.

To save one more fallen tribesman, they knew they couldn't win, yet they still held their spears and charged close to the fish, either using floating ice or stepping on the fish's back, fighting to the death to buy time for more people to escape ashore.

Fortunately, after practicing the Dragon Binding Technique, Chen Xun's archery skills were profound. He constantly locked onto the fish's eyes with his spiritual sense, preventing the fish from fully focusing on the young barbarian and the two mid-stage warriors.

Although the young barbarian and the two mid-stage warriors were in constant danger, they ultimately did not die in the fish's belly. When about forty to fifty tribesmen had climbed ashore, they took the opportunity to jump ashore and stop fighting the fish.

The strange fish, seeing no one left in the water to eat, dived away with its injuries, and Chen Xun and the others could do nothing to stop it.

The vast river surface was soon filled with floating ice, restoring calm.

The surrounding fish swarmed to the broken ice to breathe, their scales flashing in the ice cracks. Only the blood-stained river and ice proved that a life-and-death battle had just taken place in the last few breaths.

The three young barbarians, upon reaching the shore, spat out large mouthfuls of blood and collapsed, unable to stand. The shocked tribesmen ran over, taking out medicinal pills to give them.

Although the young barbarian had reached the sixth level of the barbarian warrior stage, where he had tempered his muscles and strength, he and the two mid-stage warriors were far from a match for the strange fish. Without using their full strength, they could not threaten the fish at all, and when they did, the backlash was immense. It was clear that their internal organs had been severely damaged in the short, intense battle.

"Thank you for your help. If you need anything in the future, come to the Black Mountain Tribe, and I, Gu Jianfeng, will not refuse," the young barbarian said, catching his breath and struggling to stand with the help of his tribesmen.

"It was nothing, don't worry about it," Chen Xun smiled.

He noticed that Gu Jianfeng and the others wore a string of beast teeth around their necks, guessing they were from the Black Mountain Tribe.

During his journey in the Lake Marsh Wilderness, Chen Xun saw how vulnerable and insignificant the barbarians were in the face of violent natural forces and fierce beasts, making him realize that the hatred between tribes was truly insignificant.

In just a few breaths, ten members of the Black Mountain Tribe had been eaten by the fish, but the other Black Mountain tribesmen did not show deep sorrow. If they could save someone, they would risk their lives to do so; if they couldn't, it was the fate and awareness of the barbarians for thousands of years.

Living in this wilderness, everyone understood the value of life.

Therefore, when it came to battle, they could fight to the death without fear.

After his intense training in the Lake Marsh Wilderness, Chen Xun had become more detached about many things.

Chen Xun knew that Gu Jianfeng was the son of the Black Mountain Tribe's chief, Gu Hu. He had only heard of his name before but had never met him. He didn't expect that at around sixteen years old, Gu Jianfeng had already reached the peak of the sixth level of the barbarian warrior stage.

If not for his months of intense training in the north, he might not have been able to defeat him.

Besides Gu Jianfeng, the other two mid-stage barbarian warriors were also severely injured. One, after taking a spirit pill, managed to sit up and meditate to stabilize his injuries.

The other, after taking a pill, continued to spit out large mouthfuls of blood, with pieces of internal organs mixed in, indicating that his organs had been shattered in the battle, and he was on the brink of death.

Gu Jianfeng was also at a loss.

The tribe lacked spirit pills. To save him, the tribesmen had given him two Blood Gathering Spirit Pills, while the other two only received one each.

With no spirit pills left, Gu Jianfeng could only cut open the backs of a few large fish, squeeze out some life essence, and feed it to the injured, while calling for the tribesmen to carry them back to the village.

"Wait," Chen Xun took out a small bronze bottle from his chest, which contained only a little remaining Essence-Gathering Ointment, and handed it to Gu Jianfeng, saying, "If you carry them back to Black Mountain Village, they might not survive."

Gu Jianfeng opened the bottle, and the bronze bottle immediately emitted a spiritual aura, stronger than the Blood Gathering Spirit Pills of the Black Mountain Tribe.

In the Northern Mountains of Python Tooth Ridge, the most lacking were spirit pills.

The Black Mountain Tribe, with over five thousand members, could only produce about a hundred Blood Gathering Spirit Pills a year, which were distributed among the twenty or so barbarian warriors who had awakened their barbarian souls, giving each about four or five pills.

They dared not use them lightly unless it was to save their lives, but even then, how many could they use?

Although there was only a little Essence-Gathering Ointment left in the bronze bottle, it was equivalent to five or six Blood Gathering Spirit Pills, making it a significant wealth in the Northern Mountains of Python Tooth Ridge.

Saving people with a small effort was one thing, but giving away spirit pills was a great act of righteousness.

After this harsh winter, saving a mid-stage barbarian warrior who had awakened his barbarian soul was even more significant to the tribe than saving an ordinary tribesman.

Chen Xun didn't care about Gu Jianfeng using the Essence-Gathering Ointment to save people. He noticed that the young leopard in his arms had slept through the entire ordeal. He picked up an iron arrow that had fallen and stuck in the ice, put it in his quiver, and waited for Gu Jianfeng to feed the Essence-Gathering Ointment to the injured warrior before taking back the bronze bottle.

To ensure the spiritual aura did not dissipate, the container for the pills was very important.

Chen Xun only had four such bronze bottles, which came with a bronze medicine furnace, and he valued them more than the Essence-Gathering Ointment.

The Essence-Gathering Ointment, equivalent to five or six Blood Gathering Spirit Pills, finally helped the injured warrior recover and stabilize his injuries. The improved Essence-Gathering Pills, enhanced by Su Tang, had even stronger effects in replenishing blood and qi and healing wounds. The warrior knew the deep gratitude he owed to the young man before him.

Barbarians did not kneel easily. The warrior, unable to continue refining the medicine, saw Chen Xun about to leave and immediately knelt on the snow, bowing in gratitude: "Gu Yuan wants to ask the name of his savior. Even in the next life, I will serve you as a bull or a horse!"

"Next life?" Chen Xun thought that in this world, there might indeed be reincarnation. He looked at Gu Yuan and smiled, "If there is a battle between Black Mountain and Python Tooth in the future, try not to participate. As for other things, forget about it."

Chen Xun didn't think he had the ability to resolve the decades of hatred between Python Tooth and Black Mountain. He picked up another iron arrow from the ice and put it in his quiver, then turned and headed back to Python Tooth Ridge...

"Python Tooth!" Gu Jianfeng and the others, looking in the direction Chen Xun had disappeared, were shocked. Sitting in the snow, they couldn't believe that the one who saved them was a member of the Python Tooth Tribe, who had been in conflict with Black Mountain for years over hunting grounds.

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