“Faster, faster, faster!”
Down the Black Hawk Ridge, Lu Li was desperately rushing. It was getting darker and darker, and unless he could pull the coffin up the ridge, he would not be paid.
Lu Li had already rushed for more than half a day pulling a coffin weighing more than 3300 pounds. His muscles were sore and aching, and his legs were shaking, making the way up the ridge all the more strenuous.
The Black Hawk Ridge was quite high. The mountain trail spiraled up for about a mile. It was not steep but still very difficult to go uphill. On top of that, there was snow covering the road. One careless move and he would fall, and the Ancient Coffin would slide down. If the coffin fell over, not only would Lu Li not get paid, he would also be fined heavily!
“Come on!”
Like a roaring beast, Lu Li shouted in a deep voice. His brawny muscles tightened as his eyes became all watery with sweat, which blurred his eyesight. Nevertheless, he carried on step by step steadily.
“I can’t stop now!”
Lu Li wanted to give up many times. His legs felt heavy, as though there were sandbags tied to them. However, the thought of the Body Refinement Pellet kept him pressing on, moving towards the top of the ridge.
“Swoosh~”
Suddenly, Lu Li’s legs slipped, and the huge Ancient Coffin started to slide. He paled in fright. Should the coffin fall over, he dare not think about the consequences.
“Hoy!”
He shouted as he wrapped the iron chains several circles around his hand and his fingers; he grabbed onto the chains in a dead grip. He arched forward, and his knees struck firmly into the snow, trying to mitigate the tremendous impact brought about by the sliding Ancient Coffin.
After being dragged for about six to nine feet, Lu Li finally managed to stabilize his body, and the coffin stopped sliding. However, his knees and hands had swollen up because of the rubbing against the ground. There was even blood oozing from his wounds.
“Whew, whew!”
After making sure that everything was fine, Lu Li breathed heavily. Even though he was wounded, the most fortunate thing was that the coffin did not fall over. Otherwise, he would get nothing out of the day’s work.
After resting for a bit, he started moving forward. He finally made it to the top of the ridge before sunset. Seeing the dozen Ancient Coffins glowing, Lu Li sighed with relief.
…
The top of the ridge was quite spacious. The two sides of the ridge rose up, so the ridge looked like a hawk spreading its wings, soaring. That was why it was named the Black Hawk Ridge.
The ridge was a burying field of some tribe. The Liu Family had occupied it by force. The Liu Family was the Overlord of the Wu Ling County. Every tribe and family within several hundred square miles of Wu Ling County had to obey the Liu Family. For them, forcefully occupying a ridge was nothing major.
There were a number of people on the top of the ridge. There were Silver Wolf Escorts, building formations artisans, and some elders who had finished their Coffin Carrying, and were awaiting their payment.
“Such a young Coffin Carrier?”
A beautiful maiden in white fox-fur robe was sitting on a Silver Wolf. She was just about 16 years of age. With a silver whip in her hand, she had an awe-inspiring and elegant appearance.
She was a bit stunned to see Lu Li. Why would he come to pull the coffins at such a young age? Lu Li was half-naked, young and handsome. He had strong muscles all over his body. He looked quite pleasant, especially the wild, untamed feeling; it was quite inviting to girls.
“Yes, Lady Yi!”
The escort leader next to her, Liu Wu, replied, “It was very hard to find Coffin Carriers. Even though Lu Li is not a warrior, but he was born with supernatural strength. And since he was willing to do this, I just made the decision by myself.”
“Ok.”
Lady Yi stopped looking at Lu Li. To her, those who could not even cultivate the Xuan Energy were doomed to be losers and only deserved the meanest of jobs, such as Coffin Carrying.
Lu Li pulled the coffin to the designated location. He took a brief rest, and then took out a black cotton-padded jacket from the jute bag on his back and put it on.
It was not that he was not afraid of the biting coldness, but it was just that he needed to carry the coffin using his shoulders, which would wear out the jacket easily. Every piece of cloth in it was sewn laboriously by his sister. He valued the jacket too much to wear it out.
After a while, several other Coffin Carriers came. Lu Li counted them; there were 17 Coffin Carriers in total including him. All other carriers were old warriors, at least in their 50s. It could be seen that Coffin Carrying was not welcomed by the young people in the Northern Desert.
“Ok, come and receive your payment.”
Escort Leader Liu Wu jumped off from the Silver Wolf, and then he walked and stood in front of the Coffin Carriers. Looking at an old man, he asked, “Two-hundred Golden Leaves, Mysterious Deity Pellet, Body Refinement Pellet, or First Rank Human Grade Xuan Artifact, which one is your choice?”
That elderly man said in a determined manner, “Mysterious Deity Pellet!”
Liu Wu took out two jade boxes out of the pocket inside his clothes and threw them towards the old man. This man carried two coffins today. He was a warrior, even though he only managed to enter the Xuan Wu Realm, which was the lowest realm, but he was still much stronger than Lu Li.
“How about you?”
Liu Wu looked towards another old man. That old man also answered with assertion, “Sir, I also want two Mysterious Deity Pellets.”
Liu Wu was not surprised that they all wanted the Mysterious Deity Pellet.
These old men were in either the middle or late stages of the Xuan Wu Realm. They clearly wanted to make a breakthrough to the next Realm with the help of the Mysterious Deity Pellet. If they managed to breakthrough and step into the Shen Hai Realm, not only would they have a longer life, they would also gain an enormous boost in strength.
“Lu Li, how about you?” Liu Wu asked. It was Lu Li’s turn. Lu Li said affirmatively, “I want the Body Refinement Pellet.”
“The Body Refinement Pellet?”
Liu Wu frowned. The other old men next to Lu Li shook their heads. Liu Wu thought for a bit in silence and said, “Lu Li, the Body Refinement Pellet could only refine your body and increase your strength, but you need to understand that only brute force will be of no use. To be a warrior, the Xuan Energy is the essence. How about I give you some Golden Leaves and you can go and live better?”
“Thank you, sir. But I only want the Body Refinement Pellet,” Lu Li said firmly.
Liu Wu said no more. He took out a yellow jade box and gave it to Lu Li. Lu Li opened the box and found a pellet of yellowish brown color, giving out an aroma. Smile was written all over his face.
“Idiot…”
On seeing the enthusiasm in Lu Li’s eyes, Lady Yi gave out a mocking smile. To her, Lu Li knew nothing about cultivation.
The Xuan Wu Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Soul Pond Realm, Fate Wheel Realm, Eternal Realm, Noble Lord Realm, and Human Sovereign Realm!
This was the path of Xuan Energy cultivation followed by the warriors of the Northern Desert. Every time they ascend to the next Realm, their strength would increase by leaps and bounds. With sufficient strength, they could split mountains and level cities; they could even decimate the entire heaven and earth with just a wave of an arm.
After cultivating, a warrior could gain great strength, soar into the skies, and could even gain endless wealth and glory. They could become the Master of a city, a Realm, or could even become the Sovereign of all beings.
That being said, the Xuan Energy is the foundation for everything. Without it, they could not even breakthrough into the Xuan Wu Realm, and as for the realms above, they were just illusions.
Lu Li was in his 14s or 15s, so why would he need Body Refinement Pellet? He could cultivate strength of more than eleven thousand pounds, but so what? Even warriors at the peak of the Xuan Wu Realm could destroy him in an instant, let alone warriors at the Shen Hai Realm!
“Ok!”
Everyone received their payment quickly. Liu Wu waved his hands, and said, “Go back and rest. If you still want to do this, go to Cutting Blade Ridge tomorrow.”
The night fell. All of these Coffin Carriers needed a break. After they heard Liu Wu, they left the ridge and went down the hill.
Lu Li felt sore all over his body and his legs were heavy. However, he wanted to return to his tribe as soon as possible. Therefore, he ran like hell and disappeared from the Black Hawk Ridge quickly.
…
Lu Li lived in the Di Long tribe, a bit more than nine miles to the south of the Black Hawk Ridge. He sprinted towards his tribe with the jade box in hand. After running for two hours, he finally made it to the tribe.
Even though he was utterly exhausted, he did not take any rest. He knew that outside the tribe, his sister would be waiting for him to come back home.
As expected!
Near the fence surrounding the tribe, Lu Li saw a delicate white figure. Lu Li’s heart ached seeing the figure, which was almost turned into a snowwoman. He shouted from a distance, “Sis, I am back!”
The figure moved, revealing a girl 18 or 19 years old, wearing a cape. Despite her pale face, she was astonishingly beautiful. She was much more stunning than the Lady of the Liu Family.
However, she was carrying a walking stick in her left hand. It seemed her leg was unwell. Hearing Lu Li’s voice, she smiled. It was like a snow lotus in full bloom, breathtakingly beautiful.
“Sis, I told you not to wait for me.”
Lu Li strode forward, wrapping his sister’s cold hands in his, and said in a blaming voice, “You are not strong enough. What would I do if you feel sick?”
The young lady smiled again. Looking at Lu Li fondly, she said softly, “I was worried about you. Now let’s go back. I will cook your favorite venison steaks!”
“Yes!”
Lu Li said with a grin as he assisted the young lady to walk towards the tribe. The girl was on her walking stick, limping. It was obvious that her one leg was shorter than the other.
Why was she a cripple even though she was blessed with stunning beauty? Why was Lu Li born with supernatural strength but could not cultivate the Xuan Energy? It seemed like the Creator was not fond of this pair of siblings.
The snowstorm was too heavy and the weather was too frosty. The people in the tribe went back inside their stone houses early. Lu Li and his sister went across more than half of the tribe and saw no soul in sight.
The two went inside a small stone house in the east corner. It was dilapidated and dingy, only having three rooms. Lu Li helped his sister to enter the middle room. There was a dim oil lamp lit, and the charcoal fire was burning quite strongly—producing crackling sounds—so it was warm inside.
“Sis, sit down.”
Lu Li helped his sister sit down and poured her a cup of warm water. After that, he sat down and started to wolf down his food. It was not a big meal—only one vegetable and one meat dish. However, there was a plateful of rice, so there was no shortage of food.
Lu Ling seemed to have already eaten. She sat there, watching Lu Li engorging. She took off her cloak, causing her black hair to cascade down. There was always a light smile on her stunningly beautiful face. She looked like a fairy from a painting under the light of the candle.
Lu Li was really famished after consuming too much strength today. He finished all the rice and dishes off and stood up with satisfaction.
“Sis, this is the Body Refinement Pellet.”
He took the box out of his inside pocket and handed it over to Lu Ling. Lu Ling took it over, examined it for a while, and then she nodded and said, “This is indeed the Body Refinement Pellet. You should be able to gain 440 to 550 pounds of strength after you consume it. You can take it later today, so that you won’t feel tired when you carry coffin tomorrow.”
“Sis!”
Lu Li frowned and asked in a deep voice, “Are you so sure that after I gain strength of more than 11,000 pounds, I can awaken my Bloodline? In all of Wu Ling County, there should be no more than 30 Bloodline Warriors.”
Lu Li had heard some stories about the Bloodline Warriors. There were some folklores in the Northern Deserts. It was said that inside everyone, there was a bit bloodline passed down from the deities in the ancient times. There was a special ritual, which could awaken a Warrior’s bloodline, and such people would become the Bloodline Warriors with miraculous Bloodline Skills.
The Family Patriarch of the Liu Family, the Overlord of the Wu Ling County, was a Bloodline Warrior, and of the fourth rank no less. He possessed the Bloodline Skill “Roaring Flame”. It was because he was a Bloodline Warrior that the Liu Family could become the Overlord of the Wu Ling County.
However, it was not easy to awaken a Bloodline. It was good enough that one out of 100,000 people could do this. Over several decades, of the millions of people in the Wu Ling County, only several dozens of them could awaken a Bloodline of over the Second Rank.
Therefore, Lu Li had some serious doubts about him awakening a Bloodline. He could not even cultivate Xuan Energy, so how could he awaken his Bloodline? If it were not Lu Ling who spoke about it, he would have never believed it.
“Yes, you will!”
Lu Ling firmly nodded and said, “Even 100,000 people, or a million people could not awaken their Bloodline, you will! Trust me.”
Lu Ling had said this before. Lu Li hesitated for a moment, and with a frown, he seriously asked, “Why? Sis, can you tell me why?”
“No!”
Lu Ling shook her head and said, “It is not good for you to know some stuff now. After you awaken your Bloodline, I will tell you. All you need to remember is that, after you have gained strength of more than 11,000 pounds, you will definitely awaken your Bloodline, and a very adamant at that. And… then you will be able to cultivate Xuan Energy.”
“What?”
Lu Li’s body shook in surprise. There was doubt written all over his face.
Ever since he was a kid, he had tried to cultivate many times, but he could not cultivate even a little bit Xuan Energy. How could Lu Ling say with such firmness that he could cultivate Xuan Energy after awakening his Bloodline?
“Don’t ask any more questions. Just believe me.”
Lu Ling stood up and walked towards her room on her walking stick. When she was close to the door, she turned around and said, “After you take the Body Refinement Pellet, you need to go to bed early. You need to carry coffin tomorrow. Also, the Body Refinement Pellet might give you a hard time. Once it is over, it will be fine.”
Lu Ling left with her walking stick. However, Lu Li stood next to the fire, still in shock brought about by Lu Ling’s words.
The Xuan Energy!
After awakening his Bloodline, he could cultivate Xuan Energy! He could enter the Xuan Wu Realm, open the door of Wu Dao [1], and become a real Warrior!
Everyone on the Northern Desert wanted to become a Warrior. Who would not want to possess strength that everyone would be envious of? Who would not want to stand out and have endless glory and wealth?
“Let me first consume the Body Refinement Pellet!”
Lu Li hurriedly went out and returned to his own room. He even had no time to take a shower. He just took out the Body Refinement Pellet and swallowed it down. He drank some clean water and sat on the floor, waiting anxiously.
Lu Ling said it would be difficult when cultivating the Body Refinement Pellet. Lu Li thought to himself that his body was bound to have some strange reaction after taking a mysterious pellet that could give hundreds of pounds of strength.
“Hot~”
As expected, Lu Li quickly felt something in his body. A stream of warmth spread from his throat to his entire body; although his body was warm, it was strangely comfortable.
“Eh?”
After a moment, Lu Li found something was wrong. His body was getting hotter and hotter; it was as if he was thrown into boiling water, and his skin started to turn red from heat.
“Endure it!”
Lu Li persisted while clenching his teeth. He hunkered on the floor, grabbed a wooden stick in one hand, and covered his mouth with another. Lu Ling’s room was next to his, and Lu Li did not want to make her worry about him.
“Oh~Oh!”
Time passed, and after the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Lu Li no longer felt like he was in hot water, but in a furnace! It was too hot to stand it any longer.
He covered his mouth and grabbed onto the stick with all the strength he could muster. The stiff mahogany stick was bent out of shape because of his tight grip, with his fingers latched onto it.
Drip, drip!
Drips of sweat converged on his forehead and started to run down like a river. Lu Li’s clothes were all soaked, his veins were about to burst out, and his entire face went out of shape.
“Crack!”
After the time it took for three incense sticks to burn, the mahogany stick finally gave out and crumbled. Lu Li felt his body temperature going down, and he opened his mouth and breathed heavily.
Another two incense stick burning time later, his body temperature went back to normal. Lu Li felt like he was about to collapse. He tended to nothing else; went to bed, and instantly fell into deep sleep.
“Oh…”
After Lu Li had deeply fallen into sleep, there came a light sigh from outside the window.
Lu Ling was standing outside the window. Her body was covered in snow. Obviously, she had been standing there for quite some time. She looked into the window, and a light smile climbed onto her face. She limped towards her room on her walking stick.
What Lu Ling did not know was that…
After a while, the plain animal tooth pendant on Lu Li’s neck suddenly lit up, giving out a feeble white glow, twinkling like a firefly in the night sky.
Lu Li had fallen into sleep. He did not have the faintest idea that the animal tooth pendant, which he was wearing for dozens of years, could light up.
…
Before dawn the next day, Lu Li woke up. He would wake up at this time every day, so it had become his bio-clock.
The animal tooth pendant that glowed for half the night, had already gone back to its original state, plain and yellow, like an ordinary beast tusk.
“God, so smelly!”
He smelled something stinky like rotten fish. He got up quickly, and found that he was covered in dark filth, and even his beds and quilts were covered in it.
“What…”
He stood up with confusion in his eyes. He was deep in thought for a while, and he suddenly punched out his fist. There was a light swooping sound accompanying his fist. His eyes lit up in an instant.
“I seem to have gained a lot of strength. The Body Refinement Pellet works! This black filth, could they be the impurities expelled from my body? The pellet refined my flesh and blood?”
Lu Li thought for a while, and then he said in excitement with his fist waving, “Let me go to the hill! I can find out how much strength I have gained, after testing it out.”
Sparing no time to clean out his beds, Lu Li left his room in a hurry. He jumped out of the backyard rather easily, and hurried towards the hills at the back of the stone houses.
After sprinting for a couple of miles, Lu Li arrived at a gigantic boulder. After looking around and making sure that nobody was around, he pulled the boulder up and ran like hell in the woods with the rock above his head.
The gigantic boulder had a diameter of more than three feet, and a weight of more than 2,000 pounds, but Lu Li felt like he was carrying a piece of paper. He ran about madly, holding the boulder high above his head, with the speed of wind, like a human-sized beast.
After running wildly in the forest for about three miles, Lu Li arrived at a valley. There was a pond inside. A waterfall was cascading down from up the pond like the Milky River hanging upside down; it was quite a scene.
“Boom!”
Lu Li threw the boulder to the side of the pond. He breathed heavily, and shouted in excitement, “550 pounds of strength! I gained 550 pounds of strength! The Body Refinement Pellet works. Hahaha, the day when I gain 11,000 pounds of strength is just around the corner!”
…
[1] Martial Path = Wu Dao
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