Chapter 7

(Seeking recommendations and favorites!)

Deep within the tribe, there was an old stone house where a ninety-eight-year-old man named Shigong lived. Shigong was originally a warrior in the Bloodstone Tribe's combat corps, but after growing old and failing to advance, his blood energy weakened, and he retired from the combat corps to gather herbs in the mountains and treat the injured members of the tribe.

Xiaoyi was the one Shigong had rescued from the mountains several miles behind the tribe. Over these fifteen days, Xiaoyi was able to endure the pain and walk smoothly, largely thanks to Shigong's herbal medicine. Although his body had not fully recovered, Xiaoyi knew that his constitution was much better than before.

However, over these days, Xiaoyi had also heard Shigong say that his constitution was too weak, with blood energy even slightly inferior to that of an old man. If he were to practice, it would be difficult to make any progress. Reaching the Blood Refinement stage, where one could open a single heavenly meridian, would be a miracle.

With great effort, Xiaoyi pushed open the stone door, which weighed over a hundred pounds, and a layer of fine sweat appeared on his nose. This was the physical condition of humans in the era of advanced technology. The physical constitution of these ancient ancestors was incredibly strong.

"Back."

Inside the stone house, a slightly hunched figure was organizing green stone jars. Seeing Xiaoyi enter, he pounded the medicine mortar a couple of times, turned around, and handed a green stone jar to Xiaoyi, saying indifferently, "Drink all the medicine inside."

Shigong's tone was harsh, but Xiaoyi did not mind; the old man was always like this, treating everyone the same. Looking at the black medicine in the stone jar, Xiaoyi felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Over these ten days, he had been drinking this every day, which was extremely bitter but could relax his muscles and ligaments, slightly reducing his pain.

Without holding his breath, Xiaoyi drank the medicine in large gulps. Seeing Xiaoyi's actions, the old man's dry face relaxed slightly, but then returned to normal. He said, "The chief has not agreed. You are not a member of our Bloodstone Tribe, and our combat techniques, even third-rate ones, cannot be taught to you. Even if you want to join our Bloodstone Tribe, you must hunt for the tribe for a year before you can take the examination. Given your constitution, this is a dead end."

Xiaoyi originally wanted to use cultivation to resolve the foreign energy flow in his body, but it seemed that the Bloodstone Tribe was unwilling to teach him cultivation methods. Without a word, Xiaoyi just looked at Shigong and finally knelt down, respectfully bowing three times. For someone who had died once, dignity was the most important.

Shigong sighed, reached out to help Xiaoyi up, and said, "Foolish child, you would surely die in the ancient forest alone. Shigong can see that you are not an ordinary person. You have a past, and from your eyes, Shigong can see your resolve to die. Perhaps the chief should not have doubts, but do not blame him. Our Bloodstone Tribe has nearly ten thousand members, living in this vast forest, surrounded by other tribes. There are too many things to consider. Now, Shigong has one more choice for you, but this path..."

The old man hesitated slightly, then took out a greenish-black animal skin from his chest and said, "This is the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique*, a first-rate combat technique. I obtained it by chance during a battle with another tribe in my early years. Unfortunately, it only has the Blood Refinement section, and the cultivation is extremely difficult, with very high requirements. It is almost impossible to open all 108 heavenly meridians and nurture a heavenly soldier, but those who succeed can possess the strength of a barbarian elephant."

Holding the animal skin, Xiaoyi looked at the ancient text on it, with its ancient and rugged strokes. This text was very old, and Xiaoyi was sure that such text did not exist in the future. However, for some reason, he understood all the words at first glance, as if an unknown force was transmitting information to his mind.

"Cultivation has three stages: Blood Refinement, Bone Tempering, and Soul Fusion. In the Blood Refinement stage, one refines the essence of blood, strengthens blood energy, and opens 108 heavenly meridians in the human body, forming a heavenly qi sea and nurturing 108 heavenly soldiers," Shigong explained. "To resist the great clans of the hundred realms, the ancestors of the human race created combat techniques, divided into third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate combat techniques. It is said that above combat techniques is the Law, the method of using soldiers and controlling power. Once understood, the human body's potential will be fully integrated. Our Bloodstone Tribe's main combat technique is a quasi-first-rate combat technique, the *Heavenly Fire Ignition*."

"In the five great lands, there are wild beasts that roam the earth, capable of moving mountains and rivers, swallowing clouds and spitting mist. The strong ones can form a star in their forehead, and a one-star beast can match a human in the Blood Refinement stage..."

Shigong's voice continued for two hours, and only then did Xiaoyi have a basic understanding of the entire human world and the difficulty of cultivation. Perhaps everyone could enter the cultivation path, but achieving something was extremely difficult. Otherwise, among the tens of thousands of members and two thousand warriors in the entire Bloodstone Tribe, only the chief would be in the Bone Tempering stage.

"Alright, rest now. I'll go organize some herbs."

The stone door slowly closed. The night in the Bloodstone Tribe was peaceful and serene. Through the stone window, one could see the vast sky, with the moon appearing very close to the earth. Even inside the stone house, Xiaoyi could feel the ancient aura of this land.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Several Bloodstone Tribe members, wearing green animal skin armor, holding dark wooden bows or gripping green bone swords and gray iron spears, passed by the window. Their blood energy was thick, and their eyes were sharp, shining brightly in the darkness, even brighter than the moonlight.

These were the warriors of the Bloodstone Tribe. Shigong said that each tribe had combat corps. The Bloodstone Tribe had two thousand-man combat corps. Each ten people formed a squad led by a squad leader, ten squads formed a team led by a hundred-man leader, and a thousand people formed a combat corps led by a thousand-man leader. Each warrior in the tribe was at least a strong person who had opened ten heavenly meridians, so the entire Bloodstone Tribe could only gather two thousand such warriors. Shigong also mentioned that there were ten-thousand-man combat corps, but they were not seen within ten thousand miles. Within a thousand miles, there was only their Bloodstone Tribe. The human world was vast, and small tribes like theirs often fought alone.

Taking a deep breath, Xiaoyi cleared his mind. Shigong's medicine was very effective, temporarily suppressing the pain in his body, but it was only temporary. If he could not cure it, it would be a permanent burden.

Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, he spread the greenish-black animal skin on his knees. The *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique* was a first-rate combat technique, even surpassing the Bloodstone Tribe's main combat technique, *Heavenly Fire Ignition*. However, it only had the Blood Refinement section. After reading through the entire animal skin, Xiaoyi's eyes narrowed. Shigong was right; the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique* was extremely demanding. In the Blood Refinement stage, one needed to absorb blood energy to strengthen the body's blood and qi, open heavenly meridians, and form combat qi. The amount of blood energy needed to open one heavenly meridian for an ordinary person would be ten times that for someone practicing the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique*. Even the strongest constitution could not make up for this tenfold difference.

Of course, once the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique* was cultivated, it was very powerful, granting the strength of a barbarian elephant. A barbarian elephant was a type of wild beast, and its strength was unknown, but according to Shigong, even a one-star wild beast could rival the two thousand-man leaders in the tribe, and only the chief could hunt it.

After a moment, Xiaoyi memorized all the texts and incantations on the animal skin. In addition to the Blood Refinement section of the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique*, it also included the first three moves of the *Barbarian Elephant Spear Technique*. However, without opening the heavenly meridians and forming combat qi, the spear technique was only a form and could not display its power.

Taking a deep breath, Xiaoyi began to focus on a picture in the center of the animal skin. It was a barbarian elephant, similar to the elephants of the future but more robust, with thick legs like four pillars, tusks like two swords, and a thick layer of scales covering its body. The picture of the barbarian elephant was very realistic, with the green scales shining brightly, becoming increasingly vivid as Xiaoyi focused on it.

The first step of the *Barbarian Elephant Great Technique* was to visualize this picture of the barbarian elephant, stimulating one's own blood energy, sensing the 108 heavenly meridians in the body, and beginning to open the first heavenly meridian. Shigong had said that those with a strong constitution could open more than one heavenly meridian on their first attempt, with the stronger the constitution, the more meridians opened. The weaker the constitution, the more blood energy needed to open even the first heavenly meridian.

Xiaoyi had heard of this before. For example, Shilei, one of the best among the young generation in the Bloodstone Tribe, had a superior constitution. On his first attempt, he sat in seclusion for four days and opened four heavenly meridians using his own blood energy. After two years of cultivation, he had already opened eleven heavenly meridians, surpassing the minimum requirement to join the combat corps. He would become a human warrior once he reached adulthood. The current strongest person in the Bloodstone Tribe, Chief Shizhixuan, had opened six heavenly meridians on his first attempt, shocking everyone. He later made rapid progress and broke through to the Bone Tempering stage.

Focusing on the picture of the barbarian elephant, Xiaoyi gradually visualized a robust barbarian elephant in his mind. Since it was his first time, the image was not clear. As time passed, Xiaoyi's gaze swept over every part of the picture, and after two hours, a fully green-scaled, robust barbarian elephant was finally imprinted in his mind.

In that instant, the barbarian elephant in Xiaoyi's mind seemed to come to life. It roared to the sky, its trunk raised high, and its green scales shimmered. Ancient and majestic energy spread out. With this energy, Xiaoyi vaguely saw the inside of his body, a world of blood, with 108 heavenly meridians connecting his limbs and filling his entire body. In addition, Xiaoyi saw a faint golden energy flowing through his flesh and muscles, a powerful energy that permeated every inch of his body, subtly emitting an ancient and noble aura.

"Indeed, it's them!" Xiaoyi suddenly opened his eyes, a faint green light flashing. "Now I know that the energy in my body is actually the essence of the dragon egg. It's too powerful, and although I don't know why I survived back then, it's still beyond my ability to refine and absorb. I can only wait until my cultivation is strong enough to refine it slowly, but I don't know when that will be."

Taking a deep breath, Xiaoyi's eyes flashed with determination. "No matter what, as long as there is hope, since I didn't die, I will see what this world is like. I won't just listen to those four people's one-sided words. Since I can come here, I can also go back. There must be a path at my feet." (Seeking recommendations and favorites!)

---

{Piaotian Literature}