Free Web NovelChapter 221: Chapter 220: The Ancestors Grant No Protection
There is no free-flowing Spirit Charm in the Northern Boundary. To date, all the Spirit Charm Jiang Qiu had absorbed came from the Soul Ice Dao Lotus left by the Primordial Ascendant in the North Snow Tower. While it was a considerable amount, it was not infinite.
When he had clashed with [Wind], releasing his Spear Intent had also consumed a portion of his Spirit Charm. He had used some then, and now, slaughtering his way into the West Ice Tribe, he was consuming it constantly.
Of course, killing these insects with a casual wave of his hand didn’t require much Spirit Charm. Even the Spirit Charm consumed to slice through a thousand-meter-tall iceberg was barely comparable to releasing his Spear Intent a few times during the battle with [Wind].
On the contrary, during these massacres, his control over Spirit Charm grew more meticulous, and the power belonging to his Dao Forging Jade Sinews was undergoing a more thorough Refinement.
[Dao Forging Jade Sinews (Soul Ice Dao Lotus)]
[Description: The foundation of the Great Dao. Guided by the Cyan Simurgh Technique, it leads to the far side of the Dao. Its first signs are now emerging.]
In the Northern Boundary, there didn’t seem to be many categories of Spirit Charm, nor could one judge potential based on its type. As for his bloodline, he already had a Tier Two Human Bloodline, far superior to the Warriors of the West Ice Tribe. It was impossible for anyone in the entire Northern Boundary Human Clan to have a purer bloodline than him now.
SWISH—
As the thought passed, another shadow of his spear flashed by. Dozens of fleeing West Ice Tribe members in the distance exploded into a shower of flesh and blood, staining the road red.
The North Snow Lance, having already shot past, was about to continue hunting down the West Ice Tribe members who had fled further. Suddenly, a humming ripple spread through the air. The North Snow Lance felt an unprecedented opposing force and, after piercing an invisible barrier of cold air, flew back into Jiang Qiu’s hand with a WHAP.
His eyes narrowed, and he halted. In the distance, at the pass leading to West Ice Valley, a group of Warriors who had just escaped the Death Gate had collapsed. Gasping for breath, they scrambled to the side as an old man in a white robe walked out onto the main road. Wolf teeth hung on his forehead and across his chest.
The surviving West Ice Tribe Warriors gathered around him. The tribe’s core members at the Steel Bone Realm also stood subserviently behind him. The eyes of the weaker clansmen lit up, as if they were witnessing the descent of a True God, as if they were looking upon the Northern Boundary Mountain that held up the sky.
’This guy must be the High Priest of the West Ice Tribe.’
His aura was steadily rising, like a freshly lit candle dropped into an oil field. It seemed as if all the Spirit Charm hidden beneath the West Ice Tribe was converging on him, a thousand rivers flowing into the sea.
"[Hill], you want to destroy our West Ice Tribe all by yourself? That’s rather arrogant of you."
The High Priest spoke in a deep voice, the corner of his eye catching the destroyed houses and the corpses littering the ground all along Jiang Qiu’s path. A murderous glint flickered in his gaze.
The Ice Staff he gripped in his right hand struck the ground before the pass. Though he stood alone, it was as if ten thousand men could not break through.
Yet, while Jiang Qiu was but one man, the High Priest had tens of thousands of his people behind him!
"Arrogant?" Jiang Qiu retorted. He gave his spear a casual twirl and chuckled. "I am the Chosen One of North Snow."
The Chosen One descends from the heavens, possessing Talent that surpasses the Northern Boundary. Barring any accidents, they are destined to become the strongest. Even a Priest who can wield Ancestral Power is merely burning through their life for a fleeting moment of glory.
The comparison is between their Peak periods. The Chosen One accepts the ancestral inheritance and grows into their own strongest state. The Priest sacrifices their life to use Ancestral Power, forcibly elevating themselves to their strongest state.
It was uncertain who was superior.
Instantly, the tip of the North Snow Lance flicked upward, rising like a silver crescent moon. The tyrannical and sharp Spear Intent kicked up the Ice and Snow on the ground. A sudden Gale drew in the vast white Snow from between heaven and earth, forming a crescent-shaped vertical torrent of air that swept toward the pass.
With this single flick, Spirit Charm condensed the Ice and Snow, growing larger and larger like a rolling snowball. The surging waves of power pulled at the Snow on the mountains on both sides, and a faint tremor could be heard, as if an avalanche was imminent.
Faced with this seemingly casual strike, the eyes of the West Ice Tribe members trembled. For a moment, they forgot to breathe, as if all the air had been swept away. They stared dumbly at the wave of Spear Intent that had already swelled to a hundred feet high!
"This is the power of your North Snow Tribe’s ancestral inheritance?"
The High Priest’s white hair flew back wildly. His face twitched into a ferocious expression, and his eyes, forced into a squint, revealed a trace of shock.
He looked up at the wave of Spear Intent that reached him in the blink of an eye. All the potential within him was activated. The Secret Technique he had long prepared began to operate, and his ancestor’s Spirit Charm was mobilized along with it!
The four ancestors of the Northern Boundary Human Clan each possessed world-shaking abilities. Although the Primordial Ascendant was considered the foremost among them, was the Kun Jiu Ascendant, who left his inheritance to the West Ice Tribe, truly inferior?
They simply had different strengths!
"Ice Realm!"
Following the High Priest’s cry, the blue light on his Ice Staff blossomed, shining upon the world like a brilliant sun. The ground began to shake!
RUMBLE—
An Ice Wall erupted from the ground, stretching for several hundred meters. It rose right in front of the pass, protecting all the clansmen cowering behind him and squarely meeting Jiang Qiu’s wave of Spear Intent.
BUZZZZZ—
The Spear Intent did not dissipate upon hitting the Ice Wall. Instead, it was locked in a stalemate, creating ripples that grew stronger and stronger. The compressed currents of cold wind spilled over the sides, gathering into a massive storm that sent the ordinary clansmen at the pass tumbling and rolling, thrown off their feet.
GRIND—
The High Priest’s body began to lean back. He bit down on his chattering teeth, his heels sliding across the ground. The wind forced his eyelids open, and terror pricked him like a needle. "How... How can he be this strong!"
He was desperately pouring out the Spirit Charm left by his ancestor and using the Secret Technique his ancestor had passed down, yet he still couldn’t easily block a casual strike from Jiang Qiu?
’And this is just me defending!’
At this realization, the High Priest’s Soul felt as if it had been pierced by Thunder. A passage passed down through generations of Priests instantly flashed through his mind: "A Chosen One may come from any of the myriad realms, but one who can obtain the ancestral inheritance of the North Sea Palace most likely comes from the true Ancestral Realm."
"They may possess a bloodline closest to the ancestors. After undergoing their transformation, they are destined to wield a bloodline pressure that surpasses all the clans of the Northern Boundary."
"Furthermore, the process of the ancestral inheritance is a process of selecting an heir. Perhaps the ancestors have been watching the Northern Boundary all along. Whoever obtains an ancestor’s inheritance has gained that ancestor’s initial approval..."
The Ancestral Power was fading.
CRACK—
What shattered was not just the Ice Realm Wall that was nearly a thousand feet high, but also the High Priest’s state of mind, which he had cultivated for several thousand years. The sound was like fine porcelain shattering in an instant.
A crack appeared on the massive Ice Wall. The remaining wave of Spear Intent charged through like an ice dragon, carrying with it a sky full of shattered Ice and Snow.
At that moment, the High Priest’s body stiffened. His limbs felt withered, as if he were on the verge of death.
And what he faced was a colossal storm capable of splitting an iceberg.
"Ancestor Kun Jiu, why won’t you protect us..."
His final whisper mingled with the dim light brewing in his turbid eyes. In an instant, the world plunged into darkness, and his five senses scattered like ashes in a gale.
