Chapter 61: The Great Sacrifice (4)

Ye Xi's pain tolerance was exceptionally high. In his past life, he suffered from heart attacks in silence to avoid worrying his family, enduring each agonizing episode without a sound.

The palm-sized ferocious beast core in his right hand gradually melted and entered his heart.

The pain intensified, feeling as though a hot iron was searing his heart.

Screams of agony rang in his ears.

The other four warriors were already rolling on the ground, howling in pain.

Ye Xi's knees buckled, and he half-knelt in the mud, his complexion deathly pale. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he nearly crushed his teeth, yet stubbornly refused to cry out in pain.

The chieftain and the others in the crowd showed faces of sympathy.

In their hearts, Ye Xi was different—frail, only thirteen years old, a disciple of the witch, and someone who had made significant contributions to the tribe.

Seeing Ye Xi now, veins popping from his pain yet stubbornly silent, everyone felt a pang of distress.

Ye Xi's body spasmed slightly, and he began to drift in and out of consciousness. He knelt on the ground, his black hair plastered against his pale cheeks by the rain, his left hand clawing into the mud, dirt embedding under his fingernails.

At that moment, the witch, under the anxious gaze of the crowd, finally waved his bone staff and directed a stream of white flame towards Ye Xi.

The white flame flowed like water into the bodies of the five people.

The other five reserve warriors were enveloped by the white flame for a while before it was absorbed into their bodies.

But when the white flame flowed towards Ye Xi, it was instantly devoured, like dry cracked earth greedily swallowing rainwater.

The witch's eyebrows twitched slightly as he watched Ye Xi and chanted the spells more urgently and intensely.

The portion of white flame allocated to Ye Xi thickened from the thickness of a thumb to that of a water hose.

Ye Xi felt a warm current enter his body, gently enveloping his heart and significantly easing his pain.

Ye Xi's brows slightly relaxed.

He felt as though he had entered a mysterious state, half-dreamlike, causing him to forget everything around him and immerse himself in this sensation.

As time passed, the other four reserve members transformed into warriors.

Only Ye Xi remained kneeling on the ground with his eyes closed, white flame continuously flowing into him.

With his eyes closed, Ye Xi couldn't see the dense mist rising from his body, even more so than the five warriors combined.

The newly transformed warriors closest to him even felt their skin burn from the mist and instinctively stepped back.

The mist spread out, enveloping every tribe member involved in the sacrifice, slowly diffusing in all directions towards the jungle.

After a while, there was still no sign of Ye Xi transforming successfully.

"It's taking so long to transform; it's unbelievable," someone finally whispered among the crowd.

"I heard that Ye Xi got an unknown beast core. It must be powerful to have him transform for such a long time."

"...Are we finally going to have a third-level warrior in our tribe?"

At this, everyone's hearts pounded with excitement, and their eyes sparkled with fervor.

A third-level warrior! Was their Tu Shan tribe really about to have a third-level warrior?!

The witch continued to chant and hold the bone staff, directing the white flame into Ye Xi's body.

As time dragged on, even the witch's eyes showed a look of shock.

He knew that Ye Xi was using a barbaric beast core, which meant his transformation would take longer than others, but now the time spent had far exceeded his expectations.

What level of beast core was this... or was there something special about it?

The mist entered the forest, covering the creatures within.

On Little Tu Shan, the small exotics tied securely to trees noticed a thick fog rising from below and curiously tried to look closer, but the vines pulling them back prevented them from seeing the spectacle. They angrily scratched at the ground with their claws.

Jiao Jiao, coiled around a tree, looked down the mountain with emotionless crimson eyes. It hissed twice at the scene below, then lazily leaned back against the tree.

Nearby, Xiao Hua had grown significantly larger, with flower diameters reaching two meters.

Suddenly, a pterosaur landed near it. Xiao Hua's heart split open into a gaping mouth, bent its head down, and swiftly swallowed it, crunching loudly.

...

About fifteen minutes later, Ye Xi slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the ground.

He had finally transformed into a warrior.

Regaining consciousness, Ye Xi felt full of strength, as if a simple gesture could split the earth or collapse mountains.

He looked down at his left chest.

There, a fiery red

flame mark, like a birthmark, was firmly situated over his heart.

As Ye Xi awoke, the mist gradually dispersed.

He noticed that everyone was standing far away from him, all looking at him with intense eyes, including the five newly awakened reserve warriors.

He felt somewhat baffled.

He had no idea how long he had been unconscious.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Why did the drum sounds seem so feeble?

Ye Xi looked towards the drumming warriors at the back and saw that they were grinding their teeth, their drumming actions becoming weak, like marathon runners in the last few hundred meters, completely exhausted.

Ye Xi's gaze then shifted to the witch, only to see him also excitedly looking at Ye Xi, his hand holding the bone staff trembling slightly.

Ye Xi was startled; the witch he remembered was always calm and composed, unflappable even if the sky were falling. Yet now, he was so agitated that his hands were shaking.

What had happened?

The witch closed his eyes, exhaled deeply, and began chanting again towards the southwest sky.

Drawn by an unknown force, Ye Xi also looked towards that part of the sky.

Now a warrior, Ye Xi felt an inexplicable pull to that patch of sky, as if something there was calling to his newfound power.

But the heavy rain continued, and the thick clouds overhead made it impossible to see anything at the end of the sky.

About twenty breaths later, the witch stopped chanting and raised his bone staff high towards that direction.

Perhaps it was a trick of the eye, but Ye Xi thought he saw a faint beam of light descend from that part of the sky onto the witch's bone staff, and the next moment, the mark on the witch's forehead shone brightly.

At the same time, the white flame in the fire surged up to three or four meters high and then exploded outwards, breaking into many small flames that fell from the sky.

Ye Xi looked up at the white flames mixing with the rain, falling down.

Some of the flames fell to the ground and burned for a while before disappearing; others fell on people and were instantly absorbed into their bodies.

All the tribespeople stretched out their arms, hoping to catch more of the white flames.

Ye Xi felt five or six warm tufts of cloud touch his skin and gently burrow into his body, a magical sensation.

(End of Chapter)