Chapter 1 Su Ming

  The mountain is a green mountain.

  A vast and unbroken mountain range stretches out like a dragon's spine, sprawling across the vast land, with numerous grasses and trees within, and the sounds of birds and beasts echoing incessantly.

  From a distance, the protruding parts of the mountain range formed five peaks, like a person's five fingers raised to grab towards the sky. On one of the mountain peaks, in the middle section, on a large stone that was recessed inward, there was a young man leaning against the shade, with a woven basket placed beside him, filled with some medicinal herbs, emitting bursts of fragrance that wafted around.

  The young man had a clear brow and bright eyes, but his body was slender, looking slightly weak. He wore a small deerskin shirt sewn from animal hides, with a circle of white moon-shaped beast bones hanging around his neck. His hair was somewhat disheveled, tied up carelessly with a grass rope.

  He sat there, holding a volume of more than ten pieces of animal skin stuck together, reading with relish and shaking his head.

  "The Barbarian has an ancestor, who created heaven and earth, leaving behind a legacy that lasts to this day... Those who possess the Barbarian's power are called Barbarian warriors, capable of flying through the skies and moving mountains and seas... With the Barbarian's mark, one can reach for the sun, moon, and stars..." The young man sighed as he read on.

  "No barbarian body, how can I become a barbarian... Barbarian warrior... Barbarian warrior... Su Ming, you can only pick some herbs and become an ordinary doctor in the tribe, wanting to become a Xiu Barbarian warrior is still far away." The young man self-deprecatingly put down the beast skin scroll in his hand, staring at the distant sky and earth, and fell into a daze.

  He had read this animal skin scroll countless times, and it was almost memorized.

  "The sky seems round, the earth seems square, like boundless, as if endless......" Su Ming murmured to himself, his mind imagining the world in that book scroll. Unbeknownst to him, the sky gradually darkened, and far away at the horizon, a dark cloud seemed to be lurking.

  The mountain wind brought a gust of seawater, falling on the many grasses and leaves on the mountain, making a rustling sound.

  At the moment he saw the dark clouds on the horizon, Su Ming suddenly felt a surge of energy.

  "Ah Gong's calculation was indeed accurate, today there really is a Wulon jellyfish!" Su Ming's eyes shone brightly as he quickly stood up, stuffed the animal skin scroll into his bosom, grabbed the woven basket on his side and slung it over his back, his body swaying slightly as he nimbly grasped the nearby grass rope and began to climb towards the mountain top.

  From a distance, this young man's frail body burst out with extremely tenacious strength, like an ape, jumping up several times, and climbed out more than ten feet away.

  Dark clouds fill the sky, rolling in with a rumbling sound that seems to reverberate through the mountains. The clouds connect heaven and earth, a vast expanse of blackness that is drawing ever closer.

  Su Ming climbed even faster, and in the instant that the dark clouds spread out, he had already reached a position about dozens of zhang away from the summit. There was a large, protruding strange rock there, which seemed to have been formed naturally, with a hollow interior and countless fist-sized holes. The overall appearance of this strange rock was like the head of a giant python coiled around the mountain peak.

  Under that strange rock, there are cone-shaped objects like tiger teeth, which look shocking and very strange. Because they protrude from the mountain body, they are almost suspended in mid-air, making it difficult to climb over unless one can fly through the air.

  Su Ming's left hand grasped the rope, his right hand took out a small bottle from behind his back and placed it in his mouth, biting on it. He slowly moved his body in the opposite direction of the strange rock, moving several zhangs, causing the rope in his left hand to tilt as well. His five fingers clasped onto the mountain wall, his body tightly attached, he lifted his head to gaze at the dark clouds in the sky, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light, motionless.

  Moments later, dark clouds covered the sky, and thunderous roars burst forth, shaking the eardrums. In the midst of this turmoil, gusts howled and whipped through the mountain range as if they were about to uproot it. Su Ming's five fingers, clutching the cliff wall, had turned white, but he didn't budge an inch. His eyes, gazing up at the sky, revealed unyielding determination.

  The fierce wind grew stronger, blowing through the mountains and forests, sounding like the roar of a giant beast. It swept up countless withered branches and leaves on the mountain, sending them flying wildly across the sky.

  Even some large pieces of withered wood and small animals were also rolled up, spinning and thrown far away, and the mournful cries they made were also hidden in the sound of the wind.

  In this strong wind, Su Ming persisted for not long, the entire sky had been completely covered by dark clouds, thunder rumbled below, bean-sized raindrops poured down, and the whole world at this moment seemed to have become a world shrouded in a water curtain.

  The rain poured down, getting heavier and heavier, Su Ming still clutched the rope soaked by the rain, stuck to the mountain wall, letting the rain soak through his entire body, yet he remained motionless, staring at a rock below that resembled a python's head, with a protruding rock like a beast's fang.

  It's also unknown how long the past has been, that rain is still increasing, the sky and earth are all misty with rain, and the rocky peak of the wild tooth that Su Ming stared at, slowly flowed out black under the washing of the rain.

  The black liquid merged with the rainwater, forming a stream that flowed downwards.

  Su Ming watched the scene, his eyes gleaming with joy, but he remained still until the black liquid that had been oozing out gradually thinned and finally transformed into a golden color in an instant. Su Ming's eyes locked onto it, without any hesitation, he suddenly released his right hand which was gripping the mountain rock, and as his body slid down, his right hand immediately took the small bottle from beside his mouth.

  He had been holding onto the rope with his left hand, which was already tilted, and now as he released his right hand, his whole body swung out like a pendulum, rushing towards the protruding fang-like rock at an extremely fast speed.

  Because the rope was inclined at a very large angle before, and he grasped it in a very accurate position, at this moment, almost in the blink of an eye, Su Ming had already arrived beside the precipitous rock with his left hand holding the rope and his right hand holding the small earthen bottle. In the nearest instant, he quickly placed it under the precipitous rock, and after the rope rebounded to its limit and paused for a moment, he filled more than half of the bottle with golden **.

  But just then, a sharp whistling sound suddenly rose, and about four or five black centipedes, as thick as an arm and half a meter long, emerged from the many fist-sized holes on the strange rock, rushing towards Su Ming who was hovering in mid-air.

  Su Ming didn't show any surprise, and almost at the moment those centipedes appeared, he immediately loosened his left hand that was grasping the rope, and his body quickly fell down to avoid their attack.

  "Little Red!" Su Ming's entire body was rapidly falling in mid-air, the fierce wind like a knife made his body instantly stiff, although he dodged those centipedes, but now if he fell down, he would immediately become minced meat.

  But he didn't panic, and a red shadow suddenly appeared from the side of the cliff, grabbing a rope and rushing towards Su Ming's falling body. In an instant, it was close, and with one swift motion, it grabbed hold of Su Ming. The red shadow was a small red monkey, its eyes gleaming with agility as it bared its teeth.

  One person and one monkey fell onto the cliff wall with the rope, which was where Su Ming used to read books. Then, Su Ming's eyes showed tension and he immediately put away the small earthenware bottle he had been holding all along.

  "Xiao Hong, we have to run fast, I grabbed too much Wonton soup this time! Hey, what's that thing in your hand?" Su Ming said, and saw a small piece of dark stuff clutched in the little monkey's paw.

  The little monkey immediately became vigilant, its paws behind its back, and let out a few shrill cries. Su Ming saw that time was pressing, and without saying another word, he quickly took a few steps forward, his body leaping down, grabbing onto the ropes, and together with the little monkey, they sped rapidly downwards.

  Behind them, a shrill cry rose to the sky, and saw several black centipedes chasing quickly along the rock wall, like multiple black lines falling, pursuing relentlessly.

  That little red monkey kept baring its teeth, continuously screeching at Su Ming beside it. The red shadow flashed back and forth, occasionally turning its head to look at the centipedes chasing from behind, fear and anger in its eyes.

  "It's not the first time you've run away like this, those black dragons don't dare to come down the mountain, so stop pretending, old rules, these black dragon scales will give you a small share." Su Ming quickly escaped, but his words were lazy and drawling. As soon as he spoke, the little monkey immediately smiled with joy, obviously everything before was just an act.

  This man and the monkey were extremely familiar with this mountain range, and for some reason, those centipedes seemed to be afraid of directly rushing through some places in the mountain, but instead went around them. As a result, Su Ming and the little monkey's escape speed was not as fast as that of the centipedes, but they would occasionally jump down directly, often grabbing onto a rope, and after several times, they descended from the mountain peak and disappeared into the dense forest.

  Those centipedes didn't dare to come down the mountain after all. They let out a long, mournful cry and then reluctantly climbed back up to the mountaintop.

  The dark clouds came quickly and left just as hastily, after several hours, the mountain range returned to normal, those dark clouds rolled away, extending far into the distance.

  At the edge of the jungle, Su Ming and Xiao Hou walked out. At this moment, the sky had gradually darkened, and a faint firelight could be seen on the distant horizon, which was exactly where Su Ming's tribe was located.

  "You've already drunk half of what I gave you, do you still want more?" Walking out of the woods, Su Ming's whole body was drenched, but he didn't mind, instead he looked at the little monkey that had been following him with a hint of a smile.

  This little monkey is extremely intelligent. He was discovered unintentionally when he entered the mountain three years ago. They had some conflicts with each other, but eventually became good friends.

  The little monkey blinked, scratched its face, and showed a hint of struggle and hesitation, but soon it handed over the piece of black debris it had just grasped to Su Ming, letting out several shrill cries to express its intention to exchange for the Wulou Dan.

  "Alright, here's some more, but I don't want this broken stone, you keep it." Su Ming smiled and took out the small earthenware bottle from his basket, handing it to the little monkey.

  The little monkey hastily grabbed it, took a sip, and showed a look of intoxication on its face. Its body swayed a few more times before letting out a belch, and then threw the black stone fragment and the small bottle to Su Ming. After staggering for a few flashes, it disappeared into the thicket.

  Su Ming looked at the remaining half of the earthenware jar, smiled slightly, and put it back into the woven basket behind him. He then began to examine the black stone fragment.