Chapter 31 - Awaken
Ji Hao felt utterly powerless.
He saw a simple and crudely built cave, with tens of torches placed on the wall. He also saw a primitive altar that was carved out of a single piece of stone.
A huge three-legged Gold Fire Crow totem was painted on the wall with the blood of an unknown beast mixed with mineral pigments. Under the firelight, the Gold Crow’s eyes were shining with a magical light, and looked down at Ji Hao.
Ji Hao could sense the wild and ancient vibe this cave was emitting; he felt as if he was wrapped in an intangible atmosphere; he could hear countless voices whispering in his ears.
“My dear ancestors! I, Ji Xia, am giving my blood to my child, in order to increase his power and strength, and wish him a better future. My dear ancestors, please bless my child. Please make him stronger than me; make him the best warrior in the Southern Wasteland! I want him to regain the glory of the Gold Fire Crow and restore the status of our clan!”
Ji Xia was praying loudly. He put Ji Hao on the altar, and looked down at him. His eyes were full of love. He grinned, then pulled out a bone knife, and quickly cut his own wrist with it.
Qing Fu had been sitting beside Ji Xia. At this moment, she stood up and started to recite an ancient spell. She looked pale and weak. Accompanying her voice, a strange humming noise was coming from the air.
Blood was dripping from Ji Xia’s wrist. These drops of blood weren’t falling directly onto the altar, but were instead floating above Ji Hao. Every drop of blood was slowly wriggling and changing its shape under Qing Fu’s control. In the end, these drops of blood gathered and formed a head-sized Gold Fire Crow that emitted great heat and an intense light.
Qing Fu then cut her own wrist as well, and directed her blood into the Gold Fire Crow.
“My dear ancestors, gods, and ghosts! I, Qing Fu, beg you to be compassionate to us. Please bless my son with health, safety, and happiness.”
After her blood had melted into the blood-formed crow, countless spell-symbols started to emerge from the blood-formed crow. Qing Fu’s face became even paler.
The newborn Ji Hao was lying on the altar, while gazing at his parents stunned.
The blood-formed crow slowly descended from the air, and merged into Ji Hao’s body.
...
Followed by a thundering bang, a gust of cold wind broke into the cave, with countless black ice-knives wrapped within it.
A couple of badly mutilated human bodies were thrown into the cave by the sharp wind. These were the guards of the Fire Crow Clan’s Ancestral Temple. Their muscular bodies were almost torn to pieces by the ice-knives, and the shock had been frozen onto their simple and honest faces.
Qing Fu and Ji Xia jerked their heads around, and saw a bucket thick, hundred feet long, one-horned black serpent wriggling into the cave while it was spurting the cold air with its venom, out of its huge mouth. The serpent saw Ji Hao, who was lying on the altar, and its huge tail then heavily whipped towards Ji Hao.
Ji Xia had just given more than half of his blood to Ji Hao, which reduced his power greatly. Once he saw this serpent, he let out a growl; two streams of flames then darted out from both of his arms. A dragon scale shield, and a mulberry-wood spear appeared within the flames. The shield blocked the serpent’s tail, which was only inches away from Ji Hao’s tiny body; at the same time, the spear pierced the serpent’s head with a lightning speed.
“Who are you?! How dare you have invade into our Holy Land?!” Ji Xia shouted out. His voice showed a trace of confusion. “How did you get in? This is our Ancestral Temple! This is the Fire Crow Clan’s Holy Land!”
While Ji Xia was shouting at the serpent, the serpent’s body exploded into a cloud of black smoke. A black figure emerged from that smoke and waved its hands towards Ji Xia. The next second, over twenty black ice-knives darted out from that smoke and punctured all of the Magus Acupoints, which had been glowing brightly on Ji Xia’s chest. Blood spurted out from his wounds, and splashed all over Ji Hao’s body.
Qing Fu let out a scream, and pulled three black long needles from her coiled hair, which she then threw towards that black figure.
The three black needles pierced the figure’s body; it let out a howl, opened its mouth and breathed out a wisp of cold air. The cold air suddenly transformed into three thumb-thick ice-knives, and then went through the three Magus Acupoints on Qing Fu’s chest.
...
Beside a blazing bonfire, the little Ji Hao was curiously staring at Ji Kui with his bright, watery eyes. Ji Kui was wearing a bone armlet and a leather cloak.
“Those damn stinking snakes! I curse their souls to burn in the fire of the Gold Crow’s and never be set free...Oh, look at our little one, such a talented Maguspriest. His spiritual power is already as strong as that of an ordinary Maguspriest, even though he is only a newborn...Such a lovely creature...They had almost killed you!”
Ji Kui then bit his own finger and drew a set of complicated spell symbols on Ji Hao’s body with his blood.
“Xia, you didn’t finish your blessing ceremony. You and Qing Fu’s blood has missed the perfect moment to merge with our little one’s body. I can only seal your blood inside his body with my magic spell. This magic seal will gradually disappear after his physical strength has reached the Junior Level, after which your blood will be absorbed by his body.”
“Don’t worry, nothing can ruin his talent...My magic seal might affect him during his warrior training, but he still will be a powerful Maguspriest. Such a powerful soul, such a talented Maguspriest...”
…
Ji Hao groaned, then opened his eyes. He saw the black roof of a cave and also felt a soft fur beneath his body. There was a bitter taste remaining in his mouth, which was so familiar. That was the medicine made by Qing Fu.
The fat bear put its head near Ji Hao’s face and gave a large grin when it realized that Ji Hao had awaken.
“Hey, fatty. Where’s Amma?” Ji Hao looked at the slobber that hung at the corners of bear’s mouth and asked. He then pushed the bear’s head aside.
The internal heat inside his body had been resealed. He sensed that the Senior Magi’s blood from his parents was floating above the multicoloured flame in his Dantian; the flame was working hard to transform the Senior Magi’s blood into beams of multicoloured lights, which his body could absorb.
Ji Hao felt an inexhaustible power from his body. He looked at the cave wall next to him, then chopped it with his hand.
His hand made a deep cut into the rock wall. He felt as if he was cutting a piece of tofu with a sharp knife.
His strength didn’t seem to have made significant improvement, but his had become sturdier. There was still ninety percent of Senior Magi’s blood that hadn’t been released yet; as for the blood that had already been released, more than half of it was waiting to be transformed by the multicoloured flame.
“Senior Magi’s blood, so powerful!” Ji Hao leaped up from the ground, and waved his fists.
He looked around, then walked out of the cave. He saw a stream that flowed rapidly towards the East; a beautiful and broad valley was quietly lying under the starlight.
Thousands of slaves, baring their bodies, were singing a work song, while being busy lumbering with sweat pouring down their backs.
A haughty voice came from not far away.
“Ji Xia, you’re no longer the leader! You’re just like us now! What makes you think you could talk to us like that?”