Seeing that Lu Chen wasn't following, the barbarians turned into a panic. They quickly looked back and what they saw scared the shit out of them.
"Damn it, why is he out there?"
"We're screwed. This is the genius that Master Wuzu wanted us to take care of. What should we do, should we go save him?"
…
They were extremely panicked.
But they couldn't be blamed for their reactions. Under the faint light, they could clearly see the young talent who was patrolling with them just moments ago now walking out of the totem pillar's protection.
The humans' air of flesh and blood and the smell of their souls were tonics to the Evils. Humans could only keep themselves safe from the Evils by staying within the totem pillar's protection.
No matter what they've heard during the patrols, even if it was a call for help, no patrollers should leave outside of the totem pillar's protection. The chieftain and Wu had been telling them this over and over again.
Yet, Ah'Chen walked out of the totem pillar's protection. This meant that he could be assaulted by the Evils any second now.
No, it wasn't any second anymore, there were already Evils that had picked up Lu Chen's intense Vigor and rushed at him.
The first to make a move was the human-head fireball from before. It was filled with the lust to consume a human's Vigor and soul but was afraid of the totem pillar's aura. Thus, it was just lurking around the border, hopping like a ball of ghost fire.
Then, right when it picked up the air of fresh meat that had just walked out of the totem pillar's protection, it dashed forward like a flash of lightning at Lu Chen.
Seeing it happening before their eyes, the two barbarians on the back dismissed their plan to save Lu Chen.
"He is finished. When the fireball enters his body, he'd die right on the spot."
The human-head fireball was a type of Evil long known by the village. Although it was a ball of burning fire, it wasn't even warm at all but incredibly cold.
When the commoners get too close to it, their Vigor would be siphoned away and their bodies would turn weak. If the time was longer, they would eventually fall ill.
But what was more important is that it could travel through human bodies like a phantom. Once it entered a human's body, it would incinerate its victim's essence and sucked them dry.
Because they knew exactly how dangerous the human-head fireball was, they knew Lu Chen couldn't be saved anymore.
However, just when they thought Lu Chen was dead for sure, what happened next was completely out of their expectations.
Just as the human-head fireball was about to reach Lu Chen, he raised his longsword abruptly and stabbed to the front.
The cane-like "metal sword" went through the human-head fireball in the center.
Chi—
In the bright red firelight, the human-head fireball splintered away like a burst of fireworks.
"He killed a human-head fireball outside of the totem pillar's protection. How strong."
The barbarians were shocked the moment they saw Lu Chen extinguishing the human-head fireball.
It was true that barbarian Vigor could defeat the Evils. But usually, it was only achievable by expending a huge amount of it. Yet, Lu Chen did it with only a little blood on the sword. Of course that would put a shock on their faces.
But in reality, it was only sensible to happen this way.
Even though he was also a Barbarian Blood Warrior, Lu Chen was not an ordinary Barbarian Blood Warrior. He had the Barbarian King's Bloodline in him, the Vigor in his blood was ten times stronger than his peers. Which was why he was able to kill the human-head fireball so easily.
However, after he killed it, Lu Chen didn't let his guard down but continued to stay vigilant to his surroundings.
I've killed the White Wander Roaming Spirit before. Back then, the system rewarded me with 200 Mastery Points. But now, even after I've crushed the human-head fireball, the system has no response. This means it's not dead yet.
Knowing the truth himself, how could Lu Chen possibly let his guard down?
Soon, Lu Chen noticed that the fire sparks from the exploded fireball didn't disappear but started to gather in one place.
Lu Chen's eyes turned cold immediately.
It sure wasn't easy to deal with.
As he thought, Lu Chen didn't hesitate to make another move. He raised the metal sword high up and slammed down heftily toward the ball of fire.
Krong—
A loud rumble could be heard as Lu Chen crushed the human-head fireball again.
This time, after the fireball splintered into tiny sparks of fire, they didn't gather in one place anymore but instead, a majority of them flowed toward Lu Chen, trying to attach themselves to his body.
The tiny bits of fire sparks gathered around Lu Chen and he felt it as well as they got closer to him.
The burning fire didn't bring any warmth but was incredibly cold instead.
If it's the commoners that had come in contact with it, they would inevitably fall ill.
It'd be even worse if it has successfully rekindled inside of their bodies. By then, their blood and flesh, essence and Vigor, will all be siphoned by the human-head fireball to strengthen its power.
Evil, truly evil.
But… if this is all you've got, then it's useless against me!
Lu Chen's heart throbbed heavily like a roaring engine in action as it pumped his blood vigorously through his veins.
The vigorous flow of blood heated up Lu Chen's body, turning his skin red.
As his Vigor was activated, the cold fire sparks were vaporized by Lu Chen's Vigor before they could get any closer to him.
However, even though a majority of the fire sparks were taken down by Lu Chen, there were still some that had successfully gathered back together on the side.
The human-head fireball that had rekindled this time was much smaller in size and was afraid of him. The moment it came back alive, it quickly hopped to the side and fled.
But just how could Lu Chen possibly sit by and let it run?
He took a few steps forward and caught up to the human-head fireball. He swung the metal sword in his hand and crushed it once more.
After killing it the third time, it finally couldn't gather back in one piece anymore. Instead, all of the remaining fire sparks rushed toward Lu Chen.
Naturally, they couldn't even get close to Lu Chen before they were all extinguished by his intense Vigor.
But Lu Chen wasn't happy at all about his victory.
Especially when the system message sounded in his ears, his face turned even darker.
[System Message: Host has killed a Broken Soul and has earned 50 Mastery Points.]
Broken Soul? 50 Mastery Points? I remember even the White Wander Roaming Spirit was worth 200 Mastery Points. Yet the fireball I just killed isn't even up to the levels of the lowest grade White Wander Roaming Spirit.
Even when it was just an ungraded Broken Soul, it was able to revive itself three times and cost him part of his Vigor to kill. If it wasn't because his Vigor was extraordinarily strong, it could even rekindle in him.
The battle helped Lu Chen gain a clearer view of how dangerous this world was.
Just when Lu Chen was bothered by the predicaments in this world, the other two barbarians finally came back to their senses. They quickly called for Lu Chen and dragged him back into the totem pillar's protection.
It was then they felt the fear and proceeded to lecture Lu Chen.
"Damn it, why did you go out? If the fire rekindled in you, you'd fall ill or even die!"
"Don't be so impulsive anymore."
…
Lu Chen didn't talk back to their lectures. He understood that they were only doing this for his own good.
In the end, the barbarians also didn't lecture him too much. After all, the battle had just proven Lu Chen's capabilities to them.
Even though Lu Chen's physical attack was almost ineffective against the human-head fireball, it wasn't able to get close enough to Lu Chen to harm him either. This alone was enough to gain him the respect of the barbarians.
After all, the biggest fear of the ordinary barbarians was to allow the Evils to enter their bodies.
When that happened, everything within them would get sucked dry by the Evils.
In the battle, Lu Chen showcased his Vigor that was so immense that the ordinary Evils couldn't even come close to him.
To the barbarians that usually fought with pure brute strength, the intensity of one's Vigor was the best representation of one's power.