Chapter 686 - 367: King of Mountains
The Barbarian Race invasion, initially swift and triumphant, left every tribe in its path as captives, a sight too tragic to behold. But now, they were ambushed by forces led by the Great Snow Mountain, suffering heavy losses instantaneously, with their main strength annihilated by thirty percent.
In a short time, the Snowfield Barbarian Race suffered a significant loss in power, completely enraging the Barbarian King.
As the ruler of the Snowfield Barbarian Race, the Barbarian King is the strongest warrior of the Barbarians, covered in divine patterns of totems, claimed to be a warrior bestowed by heaven, with a powerful physique that even a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator cannot gain any advantage over.
Several Barbarian Kings directly led their tribe armies and engaged the Great Snow Mountain Alliance forces.
During that great battle, the Great Snow Mountain’s elite was fully deployed, sending forth four Venerables alongside cultivators from other sects to besiege the five Snowfield Barbarian Kings.
The Barbarian Race is born as warriors, able to pass down their legacy from the Ancient Era to the present, reigning supreme, naturally possessing unique strengths.
Their bloodline totems are incomparably strong, able to summon the most powerful Heroic Spirits. Although the Barbarian Race does not cultivate Qi Magical Power methods, their inherent physique and Power of Totems already enable them to hold their ground within the Profound Celestial Cultivation Realm’s Ten Thousand Races.
Moreover, this large-scale invasion by the Barbarian Race was long prepared, arriving with a deep foundation.
The five great Barbarian Kings joined forces to summon five formidable totemic Heroic Spirits, embodying the spirits to directly confront the powerful cultivators of the Snowfield Alliance, without falling behind in the slightest.
After a battle, both sides were nearly evenly matched, incurring mutual damage.
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators’ attacks were cataclysmic, causing heaven and earth to quake, flattening several mountain peaks.
There were even Core Formation Stage Cultivators who perished in the chaos, yet even so, no clear superiority was established.
The battles among the high echelons were at full throttle, while the fights between the lower-level cultivators and ordinary Barbarians were all the more brutal.
This extensive battle resulted in severe casualties for both sides.
Just among the Snow Mountain Cultivators, losses below Core Formation amounted to roughly ten percent, with some weaker forces participating wiped out entirely from top to bottom, making it exceedingly tragic.
Due to this battle alone, the Great Snow Mountain was forced to scale back its attack intensity, while the Barbarian Race temporarily retreated to lick their wounds.
Yet comparatively, though the Snowfield Barbarians also faced immense losses, their casualty numbers were undoubtedly higher than those of the Human Race cultivators.
However, unlike the human cultivators, the Barbarian Race is innately a battle race, raised amidst slaughter from birth, using war to sustain war.
In this regard, they are, conversely, more robust in stamina than human forces.
Aside from minor skirmishes, both sides paused momentarily, lurking for a while.
But this does not signify the beginning of peace.
Instead, it is the decisive final confrontation.
After half a month of recuperation, the Great Snow Mountain mobilized once again, directly initiating a total mobilization, aiming to decisively break through the Snowfield Barbarian Race’s fresh troops, to completely push this formidable race back to the northern Barbaric Wilderness.
To strike out a peace lasting three hundred years for the entire Snowfield Wild Land.
The opposite Snowfield Barbarian Race was equally unyielding, under the leadership of the five great Barbarian Kings, their Barbarian army was deployed, engaging in a fierce standoff at the northern border.
...
In the sky, wind and clouds changed dramatically.
Powerful auras turned into tempestuous winds, mingling and intertwining, forming an imposing momentum of dragon-tiger roars, as black clouds pressed down on the city, evoking a sense of doomsday destruction.
Six Venerables of the Great Snow Mountain, led by Venerable Red Sun, stood on the void, their eyes like lightning staring at the five tall, transformed into raging forms, ten-foot-tall Barbarian Kings opposite them.
The Nascent Soul Stage aura surged wildly, sweeping the vast wind and snow around, instantly shattering it into a misty haze.
The five great Barbarian Kings stood with bodies as hard as millennia-old rocks, their upper bodies bare, with beast-skin skirts wrapped around their lower bodies, allowing the piercing cold wind to lash their skin, instead stirring an overwhelming power of Qi Blood.
That terrifying Qi Blood Power, like boiling lava, melted the snow before it even came within three hundred feet of their bodies into scalding hot water.
Their bodies were also covered with mysterious turquoise patterns, depicting scenes akin to strange sacrificial God and Demon rituals.
The five Barbarian Kings’ eyes were filled with blood-red, utterly bloodthirsty, despite lacking Qi Cultivation Power methods, behind them surged halos of turquoise, red, white, blue, and black.
Between visibility and obscurity, it seemed to form five gigantic black holes, with powerful Demon Fiends appearing to emerge from behind them, exuding majestic manifestations.
A black tiger, a flood dragon, a golden-winged roc that obscured the sky, and two humanoid Demon Fiends.
At this moment, interweaving with their own Qi Blood Power, a terrifying force akin to Demon Power, yet more ancient and primitive, erupted—this is the Power of Totems.
It is the Barbarian Race’s ultimate weapon against Human Race Cultivators. Even with the combined efforts of the six Great Snow Mountain Venerables, it is truly insurmountable against the strongest defenses of these Barbarian Kings.
As the Heroic Spirits and Barbarian Kings’ flesh and blood merge, it enhances Innate Inspiration and unleashes the potential of their bodies. Although they become weak afterward, on the battlefield, they are nearly invincible, regarded as the ultimate war weapon.
Moreover, when deployed, five enormous and terrifying instruments of war strike at once. Even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators feel helpless in the face of such a scenario.
Hatred and anger filled both sides, fueled by an unending blood feud that is impossible to resolve.
These five great Barbarian Kings, in particular, have long been old adversaries of the Great Snow Mountain Lineage, mortal enemies. Under their guidance, the northern Barbarian Race invades every few years, plundering wealth and resources, leaving behind much blood of Snowfield Wild Land civilians and Great Snow Mountain Cultivators.
In the recent centennial war, two of the once Eight Great Venerables fell at the hands of the Barbarian Kings.
Meeting again now, their eyes were red with hatred.
"Iron Wolf Barbarian King, if you surrender now, there is still a chance for survival. However, if you persist in your obstinacy, there will be only one outcome for you or your tribe."
Venerable Red Sun hovered in mid-air, enveloped by a massive red sun, emitting a strong sulfurous aura like a volcano eruption.
That immense and profound Magical Power unmistakably proved this elder to be a seasoned cultivator, even among Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
"You human little brats say the same pointless words every time—it’s just a waste of time!"
When the Iron Wolf Barbarian King spoke, his voice was like deep thunder, echoing continuously in the space.
"Our Night Wolf Division, Water Dragon Division, Mountain Tiger Division, Snow Eagle Division, Wind Stone Division, five great tribes acting together, listening to a few words from you hoping to make me withdraw, is nothing but a pipe dream."
It was evident that this Iron Wolf Barbarian King was very familiar with human civilization, matching the Venerables in every way, retorting: "Now that our Barbarian God has descended, led by the King of Mountains, we shall flatten this Snowfield Wild Land. Such fertile soil—how could it be exclusively enjoyed by you puny humans?!"
The voice infused with immense Qi Blood Power resonated in the air, forming a terrifying wail like the rumble of thunder, directly shaking people’s souls.
Many Cultivators with somewhat lower cultivation felt as if their hearts were struck heavily with a bone hammer. With the laughter wildly intensifying, their heartbeats grew stronger, nearly to the point of explosion.
Many lowered their heads, clutched their chests, forcing themselves not to make a sound, yet still felt unbearable discomfort.
If this rampant laughter continued endlessly, many might not endure it, their Qi and blood backflowing, and their hearts about to explode.
At this moment, Venerable Celestial Water in the sky saw this scene, snorted coldly, and a blizzard descended in torrents, instantly suppressing that powerful laughter, finally ceasing.
Venerable Red Sun’s eyes burst with blood-red light, resembling two blood-colored suns descending. Torrential heat waves surged, and his icy gaze shot like sharp blades toward the Barbarian King.
If looks could kill, the five great Barbarian Kings would already be riddled with thousands of wounds.
"Enough with the verbal disputes!"
At this moment, Stone Axe Barbarian King among the five Barbarian Kings coldly spoke.
"The northern Barbarian Race and your Human Race Great Snow Mountain Lineage Cultivators have waged war for ten thousand years, and ultimately, it’s all about who has the stronger fists."
"Since you Great Snow Mountain Cultivators are also here, we invite the King of Mountains to descend and crush you all in one go. This Snowfield Wild Land is our Barbarian Race’s dwelling place. The extremely harsh northern lands have long been tiresome for my tribe members..."
Right then, they no longer paid attention to Venerable Red Sun and others, but respectfully shouted loudly towards the void above.
"We invite the King of Mountains to descend!"
In an instant, all the Barbarians cut their palms, letting the blood flow, mixing with the blood of the five Barbarian Kings, dripping onto the ground.
A bizarre phenomenon occurred; the blood seemed to be crushed by an invisible force, transforming into a pervasive blood mist, surging into the sky.
Immediately, a massive vortex formed in the sky, continuously expanding, getting larger and larger, growing increasingly violent, like a black hole seemingly about to swallow the entire earth.
Even Venerable Red Sun and other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were forced back by such terrifyingly immense aura, compelled to retreat three thousand meters, landing on the ground one by one, looking up in horror at the terrifying scene.
At that moment, from the center of the violent black hole, a massive arm that seemed to be made of stone stretched out from the earth to the sky.
The void trembled, and a violent wind swept forth.
Those five extended fingers measured eight or nine meters each, every finger like a huge stone pillar, with peculiar blood-colored patterns covering the palm and arm. Just one arm was like the divine pillar supporting the main hall on the Divine Hall.
Then, another hand slowly extended, and both hands grabbed the edge of the great black hole, pulling it open with all their might.