Volcanic Age

Shrouded by the dense trees of the forest was an ancient temple covered completely in moss. It was old, but the passage of time had failed to affect its immense majesty.

"To think the Diancang Sect was defeated so easily…"

Two weeks ago, they decided to do some exploration while waiting for the Tang Family and the Plum Blossom Order Sword in the southernmost village of Yunnan.

At first, there weren't really any issues. Since time immemorial, people had been paying for guides to lead them between Yunnan and the Southern Jungles. There was no need to worry about getting lost, and they didn't have to struggle in vain.

They arrived at a suitable place to set up camp, and once the surroundings were clean, they immediately set up camp.

Everything was good so far, but something eventually went wrong—they were attacked by the cannibalistic tribe.

They were familiar with the major tribes of the Southern Jungles, and they had prepared against them in their own ways, but that was exactly their problem—the Diancang Sect had become too confident.

The cannibalistic tribe was stronger than they thought. The martial arts, poison arts, and heretical arts that couldn't be found in the Central Plains were just too overwhelming for them to handle.

In the end, the Diancang Sect considered to be the greatest in actual combat within the Nine Sects and One Gang—no, in the Righteous Faction's murim, couldn't handle the attack.

Fifty disciples were chosen to search for the Divine Physician, and ten of them died, while the remaining forty were captured alive.

"Let us go! Do you not know who we are?!"

"How dare you cowards use Qi Dispersion Poison!"

Upon coming to their senses, they found themselves behind iron bars. They tried to circulate their cultivation bases, but they couldn't gather qi due to the effects of the Qi Dispersion Poison.

Is this the end?

They were aware of the cannibalistic tribe's habits. As their name suggested, they were cannibals. They'd mutter an incantation in an unknown language to perform a ritual before rushing in and tearing through the flesh of their victims.

The disciples of the Diancang Sect turned pale at the thought of that, but they couldn't do anything but wait for their demise.

***

Zhou Xuchuan was moving around busily for any traces of the cannibalistic tribe, and he was trying his best to hide his presence while moving around.

Meanwhile, the search party was behind him.

Oh, no one noticed Little Ghost.

Zhou Xuchuan had been wondering how he'd explain things if they somehow noticed her, but it turned out that there was no need to do that at all. Even Tang Hui and Tang Lian—two Transcendent Realm experts—couldn't sense her.

Clearly, there was a reason Little Ghost was considered a Phantom.

Little Ghost was already a perfect assassin of the Valley of Phantoms, but she had grown slightly while following Zhou Xuchuan. Zhou Xuchuan would also spar with her whenever he was bored, so her growth was inevitable.

"Earlier, I noticed that you know an awful lot about the cannibalistic tribe. Why is that?" Tang Hui asked, sounding curious.

"I read them in a book about the Southern Jungles."

"That sounds great."

The search party members' faces brightened at Zhou Xuchuan's words.

Humans were always afraid of the unknown, but Zhou Xuchuan's words meant that they were no longer dealing with the unknown.

"Then, can you tell us what to keep in mind?" Tang Lian asked with a smile.

"As you saw earlier, their poison needles are quite strong. Moreover, they treat the terrain of the Southern Jungles as if it were the backyard of their homes, making things even more difficult for us."

"We noticed that, too. They were really annoying."

The Tang Family's specialty was hidden weapons, so they were in the worst possible environment. The terrain was blocking their every move, making them essentially useless.

"However, they're still not that easy to defeat in close combat. The tribesmen are masters of combat. Look at this," Zhou Xuchuan said. He took out a knife that he had taken from one of the tribesmen and displayed it to everyone.

"A machete?"

It was too short to be called a saber but too long to be called a dagger.

It was medium-length, and its blade was slightly curved.

"In the Southern Jungles, this is called a Jungle Blade."

It was a tool used for cutting down trees and weeds. The blade was thick and strong, so it wouldn't budge even when cutting through the thickest of thickets.

It was made to cleave through trees and vines, so it was highly destructive. Of course, some tribes in the Southern Jungles liked to use it to cleave through people.

Thus, slashing moves using the Jungle Blade were later studied and were eventually developed into techniques.

"Unless you're confident in close combat, gather in at least groups of three and gang up on one tribesman."

"Do we really have to use three people to take on one?" Tang Lian asked, frowning. It stung to see that the Heaven's Greatest Tang Family had to act so cautiously against just one tribesman.

"Don't forget that we're in the Southern Jungles rather than in the Central Plains. Your men won't be able to adapt to the climate here soon, so they won't be able to show their true strength. You should also keep in mind that this is their domain."

In order to not hurt their pride, Zhou Xuchuan made sure to blame it on the environment. To be honest, there was a reason he decided to blame the environment instead of the Tang Family members.

Ugh, the Tang Family brats are really annoying, Zhou Xuchuan remarked inwardly.

Tang Hui had the worst personality among them, but the members of the branch families generally had the same personality as each other. In other words, they were all incredibly proud.

They were also narrow-minded—so narrow-minded that if they developed a grudge against someone, they'd never let it go. That grudge would even be passed down to their children.

With that in mind, Zhou Xuchuan decided to please them somehow so that no trouble would arise.

Tang Hui alone was exhausting to handle.

"Why do I feel like someone just cursed at me?" Tang Hui asked, glancing at Zhou Xuchuan with a sharp gaze.

"It must be the humidity. It's so humid here that one's mood is easily ruined," Zhou Xuchuan replied, lying without batting an eyelid.

Zhou Xuchuan continued on his task. About an hour later, just as Zhou Xuchuan's breathing became ragged from the exertion, the sound of drums echoed from behind the distant bushes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of drums echoed throughout the entire forest.

They became louder and louder as Zhou Xuchuan approached. Soon, the noises sounded like they were right next to his ears.

From that point on, Zhou Xuchuan slowed down. He stuck as close to the ground as possible and crawled so as not to make a sound. To avoid getting caught, he told the search party to stop behind the bushes.

Zhou Xuchuan then used the Divine Phantom Art and went past the bushes.

Found them! Zhou Xuchuan smiled faintly. A massive temple built in the middle of the forest was right behind the bushes. There are a lot of them.

It seemed that he had somehow stumbled upon their base. The number of tribesmen was roughly two hundred—an impressive number. The security was tight, as they were performing some kind of ritual.

The tribesmen covered in patterns were everywhere with Jungle Blades and spears in hand.

Where are they?

Zhou Xuchuan looked for the Diancang Sect members, but he couldn't find them anywhere.

Still, he didn't lose hope. He was at the rear of the temple, after all. He couldn't see the entrance, so he believed that the hostages were near the main gate, which was on the other side.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

A commotion echoed from beyond the temple while Zhou Xuchuan was busy looking around.

Is that the one who ran away?

It seemed like the bait that had guided him here had decided to inform the tribesmen of what was going on. However, it wasn't like he planned on wasting time here. Here, even the Tang Family can fight to their heart's content.

They were in the middle of a large forest, but they were at the base of the cannibalistic tribe, so there were no trees or bushes in the way, making their lives significantly easier.

If he could fight without worrying about the Tang Family, it'd be great.

That was why there was nothing bad about the sight before him.

Good. We'll move out just like this. Zhou Xuchuan stepped back with Little Ghost by his side. The search party members were about twenty zhang away from him; he moved there quickly and explained the outline of the operation.

Then, they moved out afterward.

Twenty-seven… Zhou Xuchuan thought.

The warriors who had fallen after getting hit by the poison needles earlier were hidden under a tree in the nearby bushes. Three were missing, so there were twenty-seven warriors remaining.

If Zhou Xuchuan were included, there would be twenty-eight.

It was annoying to protect them all while fighting against the over two hundred cannibalistic tribesmen, but Zhou Xuchuan had no other choice.

Zhou Xuchuan's plan was to move to the other side of the temple, rescue the Diancang Sect members, and join the others immediately afterward.

Thud.

He lobbed a small stone in front of the bush where they were hiding. Two cannibalistic tribesmen in the middle of their patrol heard the noise and walked toward where it had come from.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Perhaps because the tribesmen were on patrol, but they were moving cautiously.

One stood at the helm with a large Jungle Blade in hand to prepare for an ambush, while the other was at the rear with a bamboo tube in his mouth, ready to shoot poison needles.

A tense air hung above the search party. When the tension thickened to the point of becoming palpable, the tribesmen finally came right up to their noses.

Just as the tribesman at the helm was about to poke the bushes with the Jungle Blade…

Swish!

The bushes parted, and a dagger popped out.

It moved so fast that it was impossible to react in time.

"Ugh!" the tribesman with a bamboo tube in his mouth groaned. There was a dagger stuck in their neck. Blood was gushing out of the wound, and he collapsed to the ground without being able to do anything.

"...!"

The tribesman at the helm was startled. He quickly realized that they were under attack, so he moved to sound the alarm, but…

Swish!

Zhou Xuchuan jumped out of the bushes. He grabbed the guard's forehead and chin before twisting them at once.

Crack.

It was an instant kill.

"You move like an assassin, not a Daoist," Tang Hui remarked.

Swoosh!

Tang Hui pulled the thin thread attached to her wrist. The dagger stuck in the tribesman's neck returned to her sleeve. It was a hidden weapon called the Flying Knife. It had a limited range, but it could be retrieved from afar and was generally a flexible weapon.

"The gangho is a dangerous place, after all? Shouldn't we all learn one stealth move or two?" Zhou Xuchuan replied, nonchalantly smirking at Tang Hui's question.

Tang Hui squinted her eyes and looked at him as if he were suspicious.

"Now, let's go." Zhou Xuchuan grabbed the Jungle Blade from the tribesman whose neck he had twisted in one swift motion. The weapon felt pleasantly heavy in his palm.

"Enemy! Food! Enemy!"

Unfortunately, there were more than just one or two guards. When the group walked a bit further in, the tribesmen who had been waiting for them came out right away.

They broke in from the northwest of the temple. The guards up ahead and on the side spotted the group as well.

"Looks like even you brutes can talk," Tang Lian muttered in surprise. Their pronunciation made it a bit hard to understand, but they were clearly speaking the language of the Central Plains.

"We're not managing it anymore, but we absorbed this territory when they lost to the Central Plains, so of course, they do speak our language."

If they were in the southern part of the Southern Jungles, things would be different. However, they were in the northern part of the Southern Jungles, which was near the Central Plains, so it wasn't strange for this tribe to speak the language of the Central Plains.

"Whew!" Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath. Then, he swung his right arm coolly.

Swoosh!

The Jungle Blade flew out of his hand. It spun beautifully in the air and struck the head of a tribesman in front of him.

"...!" the cannibalistic tribesmen exclaimed.

Zhou Xuchuan drew his sword hanging at his waist and shouted, "Search party from the Central Plains! We've come to rescue you!"

"AYAAAAAAA!"

However, his voice was drowned out by the roar of the cannibalistic tribesmen.

"AYAAAAAAA!"

At first, only one tribesman was roaring, but another one roared, and then another until roars could be heard in all directions. Enemies appeared one after another amidst the roars; they were all coming from all directions, too.

It seemed that Zhou Xuchuan and the others had caused a commotion great enough to attract the attention of the tribesmen busy performing a ritual in front of the temple.

"They aren't going to come with us at full force, are they?" Yuan Dashi broke out into a cold sweat when he saw the sheer number of enemies. He knew that there were many of them, but he was still surprised by their numbers.

"We're the best in the family, yes, but didn't Great Hero Zhou tell you not to underestimate the power of the Southern Jungles?"

Tang Lian also swallowed his words, putting aside his high pride.

"If they push through from there—"

"Don't worry," Zhou Xuchuan said, walking forward as if he were taking a leisurely stroll. Zhou Xuchuan's eyes narrowed, and a murderous light glimmered from his fierce eyes. "I can make a breakthrough over there."

Zhou Xuchuan's confidence was so absurd that it dumbfounded Tang Hui.

However, no one here could deny his words.

Some of them even nodded, seemingly convinced by his words.

Tang Hui chuckled coldly at their reactions.

"That's right. One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Hero of the Righteous Faction, and the direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sect—the Plum Blossom Order Sword is here, so there's no need for us to be afraid.

"Oh, oh, dear, isn't that great? I think the Tang Family's warriors should just leave everything to Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan. No, why don't we all just move to the Mount Hua Sect?"

"..."

The faces of the Tang Family warriors darkened. Right now, they had to worry about putting food on their table rather than the cannibalistic tribe before them.