Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

This clearly was another ingenious use of totemic power; the totem now seemed to become a protective dharma treasure that, using Lie's fresh blood as energy, started to operate. Find exclusive stories on empire

This also somewhat resembled an array; perhaps the totemic patterns could be understood as something of the same category as formation patterns.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As Chu Zheng calmly pondered the totem, the Ming Sculpture suddenly began its dive, swooping straight toward the ground.

Above the earth, dust clouds filled the sky, herds of savage beasts were roaring, their cries piercing like thunder.

This group of savage beasts belonged to the same species, adorned with dazzling tricolored long feathers, relying on their sturdy limbs to crawl, resembling lizards, and within their short and broad blood-filled mouths, interlocking sharp teeth crisscrossed.

"After we catch this group of tricolor land fish, let's head back to the tribe."

With a low shout from Lie, he threw out a blood-colored divine bead, suspended it in midair, and like the backbone of a dragon, a divine light shone, and a dark fog traveled down his sturdy arm, meandering until it reached the back of his hand in a blink of an eye.

The next instant, a pitch-black claw reached out, swelling rapidly with the wind, spanning more than a thousand zhang like the ancient peaks of Divine Mountain, crashing straight down.

Boom!

A gap was smashed into the herd, bones and flesh splattered everywhere, and blood mist sprayed into the air, directly absorbed by the blood-colored divine bead, without wasting a trace.

The others also made their moves one after another, scattering and encircling the entire herd, striking and retreating with each hit, beginning to gradually consume them.

Seeing this, Chu Zheng quickly realized that Lie and his companions were out on a hunt and had only decided to change their plans upon encountering him.

The coordination among these people was extremely smooth, without the slightest hint of stagnation, indicating they had likely been acting together for a long time.

In just an hour, the beast herd composed of over ten thousand savage beasts was slaughtered to near extinction, with blood flowing for miles.

Lie and his companions did not bother to collect the corpses and remnant bones or the flesh, simply using the blood-colored divine bead to absorb the blood qi.

The husks with blood qi drawn out, lost their luster, and had been drained of all essence.

The Ming Sculpture let out an excited cry, hovering in the sky, absorbing the deadly miasma that was gradually emanating from the field, and its pitch-black feathers became even more lustrous.

The speed of the group cleaning up the battlefield was astonishing. After just half an hour, there was no longer the smell of blood in the air, leaving only dry bones on the ground.

After confirming that nothing had been overlooked, Lie led his group on their way back.

...

...

After three days and nights of travel, Chu Zheng finally saw a tribe before his eyes.

It was midday, and smoke from cooking fires was already curling up inside the tribe.

Chu Zheng glanced over and saw that at the end of the tribe, counting the houses made from green stones, it could not have been more than a few thousand inhabitants.

Chu Zheng, being held by Lie, was taken into a green stone grand hall.

The hall had a peculiar smell, with numerous shelves that held beast skins, beast bones that were being processed, and some herbs that had been gathered.

There was only one person in the hall, an old woman with white hair, hunched over and leaning on a cane, dressed in a wide beast skin robe.

The robe was sewn with many pockets filled with various small items whose purposes weren't clear.

"Witch."

Lie approached the old woman, knelt on one knee to pay his respects, held Chu Zheng in both hands, and presented him to the old woman, explaining:

"This boy is called Zheng Chu; we found him while hunting, he was attacked by a savage beast, and only he survived."

"Zheng Chu?"

The old woman murmured, not yet noticing the totem on Chu Zheng's back, randomly grabbed a piece of beast skin, and wrapped up Chu Zheng who had been bare-bottomed all along:

"Since you have saved him, it is fate. Let's keep him then. The tribe lacks fresh blood, maybe it could add another totem selection for the tribe."

"Understood, Witch. Then I will take him home to nurture."

Lie immediately nodded in agreement, as this was indeed his intention. He picked up Chu Zheng and was about to walk outside the hall when the voice of the Witch sounded from behind:

"In a few days, send Ying to continue her penance with me. I can't hold on much longer. We need a new person to take over the Witch's responsibilities. It's all for the sake of the tribe, someone has to make sacrifices eventually."

At her words, Lie's footsteps faltered, and after a long pause, he nodded:

"Alright."

...

...

This Tribe was named 'Wangshan,' simply because not far from the Tribe's settlement was a Divine Mountain.

The original Wangshan Tribe had thrived and propagated descendants with the help of the Spiritual Spring within the Divine Mountain and various kinds of fruits.

Chu Zheng followed Lie on the way home. Everyone they met along the way was dressed in beast skins, without any vestment robes or woven attire.

Before the assurance of survival, no one was willing to spend time on their appearance.

Soon, Chu Zheng arrived at Lie's home, a humble green brick house that was not particularly tall or spacious.

"Ying."

Lie called out loudly.

Creak—

A soft sound followed as the door opened, and from inside ran out a girl of only about seven or eight years old, also clad in coarse beast skin, who embraced Lie's legs with a face full of joy:

"Father!"

Lie gave a faint smile, his eyes slightly dimmed.

Ying soon noticed Chu Zheng and couldn't help but feel surprised, "Whose child is this?"

Lie let go of Chu Zheng and said gently, "His name is Zheng Chu. From today onwards, he will be your brother."

"Brother? Ying has a brother now?"

The smile on Ying's face deepened, and she couldn't help but raise her hand to pinch Chu Zheng's face, "Call me sister."

Chu Zheng fell silent; upon contact, he noticed something peculiar—Ying's body was extremely frail, no different from that of ordinary mortal children, with hardly any strength at all.

This meant that Ying's body did not bear a totem, which might have something to do with the witch they had encountered earlier.

Lie casually handed Chu Zheng over to Ying, proceeding directly into the courtyard, where he took off his shirt to wash himself with water.

Chu Zheng's gaze was immediately drawn to Lie.

Upon the broad back was an etching of a Mythical Beast Chu Zheng did not recognize, with a single horn on its head, somewhat resembling a Flood Dragon, but its body was scaleless, lustrous like an eel, with only one claw, and holding a vermilion pearl in its mouth.

[Lie (Fifth Order): Borne with a Beast Spirit, long-term consumption of beast blood, body harbors Blood Fiend.]

Perhaps it was because information about totems was scarce, that even with the Spiritual Eye, the information he could gather in a short time was limited.

However, the words 'Beast Spirit' did spark some thoughts in him.

Before Chu Zheng could take a closer look, Ying, unable to wait, hurriedly pulled Chu Zheng inside and started looking for beast skins in the house, meanwhile sizing Chu Zheng up to find him fitting clothing.

In the house was a copper mirror half the height of a man. Using this mirror, Chu Zheng was finally able to clearly see the appearance of the totem on his back.

At first glance, it somewhat resembled a Qilin but lacked the antlers, and the beast's pupils were blood-red.

Chu Zheng tried to communicate with the totem, and quickly, the totem responded, a strange light flashing in the pupils, and the scales trembled as if about to come to life.

His Qi Strength surged all over, and the speed at which he absorbed Spiritual Energy also increased significantly.

However, the exertion lasted only for a few breaths before Chu Zheng had to stop, sweating profusely and deficient in essence within his body, desperately needing replenishment.

Obviously, his strength was not yet sufficient to activate his body's totem like Lie could.

...

...

In the blink of an eye, Chu Zheng had been in the Wangshan Tribe for over two months.

He had been cultivating the Eternal Calamity Treasure Record, not far from the Hundred Days Spiritual Transformation, and his Qi Strength grew stronger by the day.

Moreover, during this period, he had finally gained some understanding of the totems.

Within the Dongyuan Realm, totems were divided into four levels. First Class totems were mostly held by the large Tribes, and among the many totems of Wangshan Tribe, the best ranked only as Third Class.

Totems were sentient. Plants and monsters, mountains and stones, lakes and seas—all could serve as totems, and the differences in their power levels could be immense.

Most Tribes' totems were of the lowest kind. Even facing low-level Savage Beasts, they were barely hanging on, constantly at risk of annihilation, relying heavily on a multitude of plants and fruits rather than hunting for sustenance.

Regarding the totem on his own back, Chu Zheng had asked Lie a few times but hadn't received a precise answer. However, it should at least belong to a Second Class existence, higher than Lie's, or rather, higher than that of Wangshan Tribe.