My Arts Evolve When Perfected

[Absorbing the essence of the Water of Origin]

Jiang Qiu swallowed the bowl of Water of Origin. An endless stream of blood began to well up from his heart, as if a hot spring had just burst forth within his chest.

This warm current of blood flowed into every corner of his body, awakening an ancient Talent Power.

[Human Race Bloodline]

[Tier One Luminous Blood: 21/100]

The Rare Snow Pattern Deer Milk he had digested three days prior had advanced his Luminous Blood by a full 12 points, nearly doubling the purity he had accumulated before.

And now, after drinking the Water of Origin, this progress was still increasing.

[Tier One Luminous Blood: 22/100]

[Tier One Luminous Blood: 23/100]

[Tier One Luminous Blood: 24/100]

[...]

Most of the children present were one year old. Having been born for only a year, no matter how well-nourished they were in the womb, their Luminous Blood purity couldn’t be very high. They were a far cry from Jiang Qiu, whose absorption was exceptionally effective.

However, the pressure was much greater when compared to the three- and four-year-old children.

They had all trained with the Hunting Team, seen more action, had more brushes with death, and thus had more of their potential unlocked.

To estimate using the panel’s data, their starting values were likely around 20. Some, who appeared physically stronger and were brimming with vitality, might even reach 25.

The higher the Luminous Blood progress, the harder it was to advance. It wasn’t a simple numerical increase, but a refinement of purity. Every 10 points marked a new threshold. After passing 20, Jiang Qiu had clearly felt his progress slow down. However, the effect of the Water of Origin was astonishing, forcefully providing an ample supply of blood.

Bead-sized drops of sweat broke out on Jiang Qiu’s forehead and neck, one after another. His back grew damp with a heat that the wind couldn’t dissipate.

He clenched his fists, the muscles in his arms tightening to further concentrate the effects of the Water of Origin.

THUD!

A child in the last row collapsed, his face beet red. His vision blurred and swam; nothing looked clear.

The Elder Witch Priest immediately waved over, signaling for the adults waiting on the sidelines to carry the child away. After a proper recovery, he could take part in the tribe’s Artisan affairs.

Watching the child being carried away, his arms flailing wildly, the onlookers let out a series of sighs. The lame old man shook his head as well. "His constitution is too poor. It’s only been a moment since he drank the Water of Origin, and he’s already out."

"Is his Talent that bad?"

[Flower] asked with curiosity.

"Heh. He’s better than most children who didn’t even get to participate in this bloodline test. His potential just isn’t as high as the others who are still holding on," the lame old man’s wrinkles seemed to deepen, his eyelids heavy with sorrow. "If our tribe were as prosperous as it was a thousand years ago, we could claim the vast hunting grounds nearby as our Realm and provide him with a decent environment for Cultivation."

"But it’s a shame. Ever since the last Chosen One, [Food], left for the Northern Boundary Peak, the tribe has fared worse and worse. Even the Ice and Snow Ridge, where we’ve hunted for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, was stolen from us by the West Ice Tribe."

"Now they even dare to brazenly steal the kills from our Hunting Team. Despicable! Absolutely despicable!"

As he grew agitated, the lame old man sputtered and choked, his frail body swaying on his cane.

[Flower] had also heard her father speak of this. The robbed Hunting Team was the one led by Uncle [Xiong]. At the time, they had managed to get their hands on an exceptionally precious Rare Snow Patterned Deer, but in the end, it was snatched away by the West Ice Tribe. They even took the adult male Snow Patterned Deer that had already been hunted.

If Uncle [Xiong] hadn’t later gone out alone to hunt a Snow Patterned Deer and share the meat, the injured Warriors might have all returned empty-handed.

But [Flower] didn’t understand. ’Why can the West Ice Tribe just steal our tribe’s things? Shouldn’t a kill belong to whoever hunted it first?’

’Father said the West Ice Tribe allied with several smaller tribes and the Demon Race, gradually occupying the best hunting Realms. Every few generations, a superior bloodline emerges among them, and they grow stronger and stronger.’

’Meanwhile, the North Snow Tribe’s population has been declining through repeated clashes with the Demon Race, and the birth of superior bloodlines has become increasingly scarce.’

’Perhaps it’s because the West Ice Tribe has more and more superior bloodlines, raising more and more Warriors, that they dare to so brazenly steal the North Snow Tribe’s kills...’

THUD, THUD, THUD...

One by one, the children in the back rows collapsed, each thud like a small hammer striking a low note in the heart of every onlooker. The murmur of their discussions was gradually drowned out by the wind, the light in their eyes slowly dimming.

On the Altar sat an incense burner. White smoke drifted slowly upward, seeming to draw out the sorrow pent up in the onlookers’ hearts.

"The Witch Fragrance isn’t even a third of the way burned, and more than twenty from the back rows have already collapsed. The results of this year’s bloodline test are twice as poor as the last."

The lame old man muttered to himself, his right hand gripping the cane trembling slightly, like a spasming chicken’s claw.

The crowd fell silent, their eyes fixed on the unfolding scene.

As he directed one able-bodied man after another to carry off the children who could no longer endure, the Elder Witch Priest’s gaze grew increasingly cloudy. He glanced at the stick of Witch Fragrance burning before him and sighed to himself.

Those who could last until the incense had burned one-third of the way down were considered qualified to be trained as Warriors. Their bloodlines were pure, suitable for tempering the body and awakening the power of their ancestors.

But now, more than half the children in the last two rows had collapsed, and even the first four rows had thinned out. Barely a hundred children were left standing.

Just as the incense reached the one-third mark, THUD, another group of children collapsed. Steam rose from their sweaty foreheads, their cheeks as red as a monkey’s backside.

In that brief moment, another fifty or sixty children fell. They, too, could barely be considered qualified to become Warriors, but their aptitude was fated to be unremarkable.

Sigh...

The Elder Witch Priest looked exhausted. The skin on his face was slack, and his hands, hanging by his thighs, were covered in loose, wrinkled folds.

Subconsciously, his gaze shifted to the middle of the second row. A child with a frame clearly a great deal smaller than those in the front row caught his eye.

The child was only a year old. Standing among the front two rows, he looked like a scrawny little monkey that had stumbled into a troop of young gorillas. He didn’t appear particularly strong, but his small frame remained standing firm.

’It looks like he can hold on for a while longer.’

A faint glimmer of starlight reflected in the Elder Witch Priest’s eyes, vanishing in an instant.

’When [Xiong] brought [Hill] back, I went to see the boy at the first opportunity. Unfortunately, my eyes failed to see anything extraordinary about him at the time.’

’But I could sense that [Hill] possessed a disposition that children his age, or even those two or three years older, lacked. He was calm and confident, with aspirations higher than Polaris itself. He wasn’t preoccupied with trivial matters; his eyes held the drive to reach for the Northern Boundary Peak.’

’This feeling grew even clearer when I taught [Hill] later on, but he never showed any extraordinary aptitude in terms of his bloodline.’

’I hope this bloodline test will be the start of him proving his identity as a Chosen One...’