Heaven’s Shadow

The ordinary-looking old man frowns as a displeased look appears on his face. He replies plainly, “Based on the fact that he brought 3 Blood Soul Crystal here, will that suffice?”

The skinny elder’s face remains cold. It seems like he doesn’t fear Elder Yun Shou Yang in the least. Just when he is about to open his mouth to say something, he hears the fat elder on the other side resolving the dispute, “Alright, the fact that this little lad is able to bring the Blood Soul Crystals that would be helpful to for the activation of the God Curse here means that the skills he cultivates in complements with the Fallen God Curse. Since opportunities are free for all to take, not to mention that his participation won’t reap you anything less, skinny one, don’t complain anymore.”

The old man humphs and shuts his eyes, refusing to speak. Yun Shou Yang directs a slight smile towards the fat elder and the fat elder replies with another one

Yun Shou Yang beckons Hei Lang over. Hei Lang walks over and kneels at a position slightly behind elder Yun Shou Yang. Then, he retrieves a mysterious black dagger and places it on the floor.

There is a bright red crystal that had the texture of agate and amber on sight glued on the tip of the dagger.

Yun Shou Yang’s gaze lingers on this small red crystal before looking at Hei Lang. His eyes are filled with warmth as he nods his head towards him.

Hei Lang continues to silently sit behind him with a lowered head, waiting patiently. It is just that when he was scanning the surroundings in front of him, he finds that not too far away, in a group of wild grass, a small stalk of red acacia flower has bloomed beautifully.

He glimpses at the flower before looking away.

……

This dark night seems exceptionally long. Even time seems to have slowed its footsteps. The endless darkness wraps itself around this valley and after an unknown period of time, the four people around the bonfire raises their head simultaneously.

In the deep darkness at the distance, from a nameless location, fear-inspiring drum sounds could suddenly be heard.

The flames blazing right before them suddenly quaver violently. It goes into a frenzy, producing countless sparks! If the flames were alive, then it would be roaring furiously in this instant, or perhaps panicking in fear, shivering uncontrollably on the spot…

The sound of a heavy footstep echoes of the depths of the valley. The next one sounds a lot closer than the previous one. In a few steps, it has already tread a long distance and is in the vicinity of the flames now.

The vague sound of the drums never stopped and it seems to become more and more agitated, making the heart of those hearing it beat faster.

A short moment later, a huge figure slowly appears from the darkness.

The flames suddenly dims. That is the bow of every single speck of fire, as though showing their respect to the person coming. The human figure seems to casually wave its hand and the flames start to burn brightly again. This time, it gushes into the sky, expanding several folds in an instant, illuminating the surroundings by a 30 meter radius.

Hei Lang lifts his head and and peers at the slowly approaching human figure.

The one who came is a very advanced old man. But, he isn’t like the normal human cultivator that is commonly seen in the divine center continent. He is at least half times taller than normal men and furthermore, this is when his body is stooped forward. He looks a little exhausted.

The old man is carrying an incomparably heavy thick wooden stick in his hands. Carved on the wooden stick is a bright-red picture of the flames. Two sharp fangs extend from the corners of his mouth. Unknown whether it is due the passing of time, the sharp fangs have taken on a duller shade from its previous snow-white appearance. There are many green-black pictures carved on his face. A large portion of them have something to do with flames and looks exceptionally frightening.

Hei Lang’s eyes narrow and a term flashes through his mind: Barbarian!

※※※

Barbarians live in the northern borders of the divine center continent, a massive ‘Land of Confusion’ separating the both lands. The bizarre foreign races who live apart from the humans, in the long river of history, despite the absence of deep-seated grudges between the two races, they didn’t get along harmoniously.

Just like how the advanced-looking Barbarian, upon walking towards the wooden token, when his gaze sweeps by the picture of a giant tree on it, an obvious look of disdain flashes across his eyes.

At the same moment, seven abnormally tall and majestic figures reappear behind the old Barbarian, they are all well-built Barbarian Warriors without a single exception. Every single one of them are like a small hill, their bulging muscles seem to contain boundless strength. Even if it is a battle of strength, normal monsters probably aren’t their opponent.

Just that, these seven incomparably powerful Barbarian Warriors look towards the old Barbarian with a deep respect. After seeing the old man casually gesturing with his hands, they stop in the darkness.

Hei Lang’s gaze falls on the old Barbarian again, thinking in his mind that it is rumored that there has always a shaman in Barbarian tribes and they serve as their supreme leader, could it be the old man in front of him?

At this moment, the three elders, who were expressionless this whole time, looks towards the old Barbarian. After a short moment, Yun Shou Yang nods towards him and says, “I’ve long heard of the grand name of the ‘Fire Shaman’. Now that we’ve met, you indeed possess unparalleled magic powers and your control over the Fire Spirit Power is exceptionally acute. My respect.”

That old man laughs, his voice hoarse and peculiarly deep, similar to the sound from a broken wind box, making one’s hair stand on their ends. He says, “In the eyes of you human cultivators, aren’t we all uncivilized barbarians, so where would your respect originate from?”

Yun Shou Yang smiles faintly and replies, “We are from the Three Realm Divine Cult and we believe in the equality of the three realms. We do not have the leisure to distinguish such meaningless things.”

The old Barbarian laughs slightly, not saying a word.

Yun Shou Yang continues, “Have you brought the thing?”

The old Barbarians reaches his giant hands into his embrace and after fumbling for a moment, he retrieves a necklace. There are many ornaments of white bones hanging on it. Of it, the largest white bone has a small hole in it and instead, a small object radiating a mysterious glow is stuffed into it. It is sharp on the both ends but convex in the center. It has the texture of wood from outer appearance and is green in color, making it seem like a seed from some tree. Looking from afar, there is nothing particular about it. Just that, an aura of overwhelming vitality is emitting from this ‘seed’.

When this object is revealed, the faces of three elders of the Three Realm Divine Cult finally moves. Standing up together, their gazes are fixed on this set of white bones, especially on that ‘seed’.

After a short moment, the three or them look at each other and nods together. It seems like there is no mistake.

The fat elder looks the most agitated of them all. His hands squeeze into fists as an anxious and excited look appears on his fear. He says, “Since everything is ready, let’s begin.”