Chapter Thirty-Three: Savage

"Argh~ Ow~!" The plump bear immersed its entire body in the icy stream, slapped the water's surface hard with its paw, and sent a five-foot-long, scale-less, snow-white, fat fish hurtling into the air. Opening its slobbering maw wide, the bear swallowed the fish whole in a single gulp, then let out several delighted howls.

Within the valley, some of the mining slaves continued constructing wooden huts sufficient for everyone to inhabit, while others, under the supervision of Fire Raven warriors, were grinding stones and fashioning crude tools.

Ji Hao stood atop the nearly finished wall at the mouth of the valley, his brow furrowed as he gazed at the lifeless mining slaves.

“That bastard Ji Shu! Not leaving any food for his people is one thing, but with prey abundant in the forest, we can still fill our bellies. No iron tools? Fine, we can always improvise mining implements. But these mining slaves—aren’t they just too poor in quality?”

In the southern wilds, mining was inherently perilous and backbreaking; even robust men became cripples after two or three years in the depths. Yet the mining slaves in Cold Stream Valley were hardly stalwart—half were missing limbs, and the rest were either elderly or children unable to walk steadily.

Such slaves would perish en masse after a few rolls in the mines. Where had Ji Shu found so many unfit wretches?

Ji Hao sighed, then called loudly toward Ji Ying, who was overseeing the workers, “Uncle Ji Ying, have pity on these children. Let them forage for wild fruits—they're too frail for heavy labor.”

Ji Ying, gripping a leather whip, lashed the ground fiercely. He glared at the pitiful, twig-hugging, emaciated children, so weak they barely had a couple of ounces of flesh on their bones, and roared in frustration, “Damn that Ji Shu! If I ever get the chance, I'll give him a sound beating!”

“You useless brats, get out of the way! Someone, take them to the grove in the rear valley—I remember there’s a patch of wild fruit there. Let them eat their fill, then gather all the fruit and bring it back.”

Ji Hao shook his head and turned toward the dense forest nearby. At dawn, Ji Xia had led a host of warriors into the woods to hunt; feeding thousands was no easy task. They’d need to hunt hundreds of large beasts to sate so many mouths.

A few mining slaves approached, breathing heavily, each shouldering a boulder taller than their own bodies, stacking them into the protective wall. Naked, without even a leaf to cover themselves, their skin bore the markings of water crocodile tattoos—these were tribesmen of the Blood Crocodile clan, a vassal of the Blackwater Serpent tribe.

The Fire Raven and Blackwater Serpent tribes had been at war for years, capturing each other's clansmen and dependents as slaves. Seeing Blood Crocodile people here was hardly unusual. Ji Hao scanned the slaves with his spiritual power and found none had even reached the second level of the Sorcerer realm.

“Oooh~ Oooh oooh~ Oooh ho~!”

Suddenly, strange howls echoed from the forest ahead; the grasses and trees shook violently. Shadows flitted past, and, with piercing whistles, several javelins shot out from the woods.

The sound of bodies being pierced rang out again and again—several mining slaves were skewered, the long javelins pinning them to the wall.

Ji Hao’s hair stood on end, and just as he screamed “Enemy!” a brawny man, his body covered in dense black hair and clad only in a beast skin around his waist, rushed out of the forest wielding a wooden club. In a few strides he was upon Ji Hao.

The club was as long as Ji Hao was tall, and thicker than his thigh, its glossy surface mottled with dried bloodstains. The brute’s frame was only slightly shorter than Ji Xia’s, but his shoulders were half a foot broader. Like a human gorilla, the man swung his club with a mighty roar, aiming a crushing blow at Ji Hao.

Ji Hao snatched up the long spear leaning nearby and met the club with a loud shout.

The enemy had come too swiftly for sorcery, magic, or any skillful technique. Only raw brute strength could meet the oncoming assault.

The brute’s black hair bristled, a swirl of black energy rolling behind him, vaguely revealing a tiger's head with crimson eyes in silent rage. The club whipped up a foul wind, and a surge of blood essence erupted from its surface, coalescing into a tiger’s claw that struck down along with the club.

Blood essence manifesting into form—this man was a formidable adept of the Lesser Sorcerer realm. Ordinary warriors at the peak of the Sorcerer realm possessed no more than two hundred thousand catties of force; but once one entered the Lesser Sorcerer realm, the weakest gained at least three hundred thousand catties, and, with awakened bloodline powers and innate abilities, a full-force blow was more than twice as strong as a Sorcerer at peak.

Ji Hao, caught off guard, mustered only sixty percent of his strength; his wooden spear traced an arc to meet the club.

The brute stared at Ji Hao in astonishment. Behind Ji Hao flickered only a faint glow of fire, with no extraordinary signs—this meant Ji Hao was just beginning to tap into his bloodline power, not yet fully awakened; at most, he was at the twelfth layer of the Sorcerer realm!

“Die... delicious human flesh!” the brute mumbled, arms swelling as he poured in all his strength.

Behind, Ji Ying let out a sharp, piercing cry, “Savages! Damn cannibal brutes! Defend, defend! Kill them all! Damn it, Ji Hao, fall back!”

The wooden spear and club collided fiercely—a thunderous crash, both weapons shattered. Ji Hao’s arms trembled slightly; the force from the brute’s club was not as overwhelming as he’d expected, even less than the pressure Ji Wu had exerted during their bout!

The brute’s hands split open at the tiger’s mouth, muscles torn and blood spurting. He gazed at Ji Hao in disbelief, his body tossed like a leaf in the wind, flying back over twenty yards before crashing to the ground.

“Kill!” Ji Hao was both startled and elated.

Though he had deliberately suppressed his strength, with only the eleventh layer of the Sorcerer realm, his raw power—using merely sixty percent—had completely overpowered a strong foe of the Lesser Sorcerer realm!

The Seamless Heaven Supplement technique was truly miraculous; that drop of dragon blood had forged his perfect body template, and Ji Xia and Qing Fu’s Great Sorcerer blood was indeed wondrous!

Righteous fury surged in his chest. Ji Hao seized the stone axes from two nearby Fire Raven warriors and strode forward to join the fray.

Dozens of savages charged, roaring, and Ji Hao swung his axes, conjuring a whirlwind of green as he plunged into their midst. The sounds of splitting and crashing resounded as dozens of warriors at the fifth or sixth layer of the Sorcerer realm were hacked to pieces, flesh and blood flying everywhere!

“Kill!” Ji Hao’s eyes glowed red, murderous intent soaring, as he charged straight into the mass of savages pouring from the woods.

His twin axes swept like a storm, leaving corpses strewn in his wake; in the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred savages fell to Ji Hao’s blades.

Suddenly, an enraged roar erupted from the forest—a nearly three-meter-tall savage, plump and robust like a ball of meat, barreled out, his chest and belly glowing with three clusters of blood energy. He was a Great Sorcerer, having opened three sorcerer holes!

The savage Great Sorcerer grabbed a clansman nearby and hurled him with force; the man shrieked, becoming a black streak as he hurtled toward Ji Hao.

Even several yards away, the terrible force pressed Ji Hao’s breath short, his chest aching with pain.