Chapter 130: Alone

With a dull thud, Ji Xia fell to his knees once more, tears streaming down his square, rugged face.

The sound of his forehead striking the ground repeated like a drumbeat. Ji Xia kowtowed frantically before the hundred or so glowing artifacts, bowing repeatedly while chanting names: "Father, elder brother, younger brother, grandfathers, ancestors... Oh, woe is me! Ji Xia is useless, Ji Xia is truly useless!"

Ji Hao looked at those artifacts. A profound and intimate connection of blood pulsed from them, stirring the blood within his own veins and causing his heart to hammer against his ribs. As a surge of heat flooded his body, Ji Hao instinctively opened his mouth and let out a long, resonant cry.

Having cultivated the Nine-Character Mantra Pill Scripture, Ji Hao possessed a vast and enduring store of inner energy, quite distinct from the explosive but short-lived power of the Great Magi. His long cry sounded like the roar of a dragon ascending to the heavens, wave upon wave, turn after turn. Just when it seemed his breath must surely fail, his voice would climb even higher, stirring up ripples across the surface of the Black Dragon Pool.

The Water Ape, the Black Flood Dragon, and the countless clansmen of the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe stared at Ji Hao as if they had seen a ghost. How could a mere mortal possess such endless breath? He had been howling into the sky for nearly a quarter of an hour without a single pause!

Zhurong Tonggong watched Ji Hao with a satisfied nod. His favor for the boy grew, strengthening his resolve to bolster the Fire Crow tribe—for thousands of years ago, the Golden Crow tribe had been a renowned and powerful force in the Southern Wasteland forests, only declining in recent times.

Ji Hao’s cry came to an abrupt end. He looked at the artifacts and pulled Ji Xia to his feet. "Father, are these artifacts all from our kin?"

Ji Xia nodded repeatedly. He drew a deep breath, roared at the sky like a crazed ape, and pounded his chest with heavy blows. The sound of his fists hitting his chest echoed like war drums, carrying far into the distance.

Amidst a low rumble, sparks of fire erupted from Ji Xia’s limbs, followed by the illumination of dozens of his magi-apertures. Then, the apertures across his chest and abdomen—which had previously been crippled—began to glow one by one, spewing out blinding flames.

Among the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribesmen, several tall, gaunt men gasped in shock. "He has recovered? How is that possible? His apertures were clearly shattered by us! We even used our ancestor’s venom; how could he possibly have healed?"

With a thunderous shout, Ji Xia raised his hands. More than a hundred magi-apertures across his body blazed with light, sending waves of magnificent fire-energy sweeping outward like a hurricane. Ji Hao had to crouch low and brace his feet against the ground to avoid being swept away by the gale.

"Old ape, let us fight!" Ji Xia roared. "These are the ancestral treasures of our clan! Countless kin died in battle, and these relics fell into your hands! Today, the Fire Crow... no, the Golden Crow tribe will reclaim all the heritage of our ancestors!"

Ji Hao slowly straightened his back, raised his hands, and unleashed a torrent of fire from his own body.

Though less domineering and fierce than the flames erupting from Ji Xia, Ji Hao’s fire was wilder and purer—like the rising morning sun, imbued with an unstoppable, vibrant vitality.

The aura radiating from those artifacts, the very aura that quickened the blood in his body, proved these were indeed the legacy of his kin. They were the treasures nurtured for countless ages by generations of Magi Emperors, Magi Kings, and Great Magi, all fed with their own life-blood.

These artifacts shared a blood bond with Ji Hao; once returned to his hands, they would instantly unleash devastating power.

In the Southern Wasteland, every single heirloom was hard-won. These hundred artifacts represented the painstaking labor of generations of Fire Crow ancestors, who had gathered rare materials and forged them with their own heart's blood to create weapons linked to their lineage.

During the wars against the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe, one powerful ancestor after another had fallen, and their heirlooms had been seized. Each loss weakened the Fire Crow tribe further, until only Ji Xia and Ji Hao remained of their branch, and they had been left with nothing.

Seeing Ji Hao and Ji Xia in this state, the Water Ape and the Black Flood Dragon sneered.

The Water Ape turned to Zhurong Tonggong and said with a smug grin, "Prince Zhurong, shall we set the wager as I proposed? If the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe wins, we ask for nothing more—the Prince simply withdraws his troops, and the territories of both tribes remain as they are."

Zhurong Tonggong nodded and said coldly, "And if the Fire Crow tribe wins, the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe shall surrender all their territories, crawl back to the lands directly controlled by the Water Ape tribe, and not step foot outside for a hundred years... Furthermore, they must hand over one hundred thousand of their elite clansmen as blood sacrifices!"

The Water Ape’s body twitched, and he raged, "The Prince demands even more? One hundred thousand clansmen as sacrifices? That is too excessive!"

Zhurong Tonggong waved his hand dismissively. "Look at these ancestral treasures. How many of the Golden Crow tribe have you slaughtered? If you do not agree, this matter will not be settled by a mere hundred thousand lives!"

*Whoosh!*

The lava giant standing beside Ji Hao raised its massive battle-axe.

*Whoosh-ha!*

Fifty thousand Zhurong Divine Soldiers drew their weapons in unison. The thousand heavy war chariots that had landed on the ground spewed forth clouds of fire, pulled by their unicorn fire-steeds as they surged into the sky, forming a perfect arrow formation for a swift assault.

"Very well!" The Water Ape nodded immediately. "If the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe is defeated, they will retreat to the Water Ape territory, stay there for a hundred years, and provide one hundred thousand elite clansmen for the Golden Crow tribe’s blood sacrifice. I swear this by the names of my own ancestors. It is settled."

Rubbing his palms together, the Water Ape chuckled, "And what of the Golden Crow tribe’s warriors for the death match? The children of the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe are at most fifteen years old, and there are three thousand of them. Where are the three thousand youths of the Golden Crow tribe?"

Ji Xia and Ji Zhu exchanged a look. Ji Zhu grunted, "Wait a moment, we shall summon our children! Three thousand? To fight to the death? When have the sons of the Golden Crow ever feared a bunch of stinking snakes like you?"

Ji Xia laughed with heroic arrogance, "In a head-on battle, when have you stinking snakes of the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe ever won?"

The Water Ape let out a mocking cackle, and the Black Flood Dragon held its head high in pride.

Suddenly, Ji Hao stepped forward, laughing aloud, "A death match, is it? Why would we need three thousand? Old ape, old black snake—I, Ji Hao, will fight them all by myself! Do you, the Blackwater Mysterious Snake tribe, dare to accept?"

Ji Hao’s voice rang out like rolling thunder, carrying across the expanse. Ji Xia and Ji Zhu were stunned into silence, a faint smile appearing on their faces.

Zhurong Tonggong slapped his hands together and roared with laughter, "Good! Ji Hao, if you win, I shall gift you two divine fire snakes to serve as your mounts!"

*Whoosh-ha!*

The fifty thousand Zhurong Divine Soldiers cheered in unison, beating their weapons against their breastplates, creating a sound that shook the heavens.