Volcanic Age

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two thousand troops stomped their feet to the sound of the drums. The Allied Forces advanced forward slowly, and their movements shook the ground.

"Halt!" Jie Da raised his left hand to halt the troops. After confirming that the soldiers had stopped, he turned his gaze to Tang Hui. "Young Lady, I'll leave it to you."

Tang Hui nodded and walked toward the river.

The Tang Family warriors followed quickly behind her.

The current was so strong that it seemed capable of sweeping away just about anyone as soon as they stepped foot into the river.

A gourd the size of a palm was dropped into the waters.

Splash.

After the first guord, the other Tang Family warriors threw their gourds into the waters. Sometime later, something surfaced from the depths of the river.

It was a moth larva.

They were covered in sharp thorns and were big with sizable bellies. They had a dark hue, and there was more than just one of them. They numbered in the hundreds—no, thousands. There were so many of them that the river seemed to have changed colors as soon as they appeared.

Some of them crawled up the river, and Tang Hui promptly stomped on them, bursting them open. Blood gushed out of the crushed grub, but its blood didn't melt the damp ground or anything.

However, they'd surely wreak havoc in a human body if they somehow made it inside someone.

"It was a good thing I sent scouts." Yuan Cai sighed in relief.

If one were to go to war, it was imperative to conduct a preliminary survey. He decided to send scouts a while ago and discovered that the river was full of poisonous insects.

Thus, he asked the Tang Family to take care of those poisonous insects.

"Charge!" Ye Li pointed his ruler's baton straight ahead.

The troops started moving once again.

***

"Your famed insects died without being able to put up a fight. Ah, what should we do now? Hahaha!" The Au Co Chief laughed boisterously as if she was trying to ensure that those behind her would hear her.

A young man appeared between the trees behind her. The young man was neither handsome nor ugly, but he exuded a gloomy aura befitting the Chief of the Poison Insect Tribe.

"Hmph." The Insect King chewed his lips in dissatisfaction. "The Sichuan Tang Family?"

There was a saying about how masters would recognize each other at a glance, and it had proven true, as the Insect King immediately recognized the Tang Family.

The Tang Family wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to the Southern Jungles, but they knew quite a bit about the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.

The same held true for the Poison Insect Tribe; they weren't that knowledgeable when it came to the Central Plains, but they knew quite a bit about the Poisonblood Valley and the Tang Family.

The Poison Insect Tribe was a tribe devoted to poisons, so it was not strange for them to learn about poisons endemic in far-off places.

"That's just a trick." The Insect King snorted. His pride when it came to his poisons was so high it could pierce the heavens. Even if his foe was famous for poisons in the Central Plains, he'd still look down on them and think of them as nothing but an ant compared to the Poison Insect Tribe.

"Come. I'll use you as food for the bugs," the Insect King muttered, and an eerie smile tugged at his lips.

***

The Qinghua Allied Forces finally managed to cross the river. The current was strong, but it wasn't strong enough to hold them back. These people would never dare to step foot onto the cursed land out of fear, but perhaps due to the fact that they were in the middle of war, they seemed to have forgotten their fear.

They focused solely on the movements of the Au Co Tribe and the Poison Insect Tribe before them.

The major tribes refused to face the Allied Forces even though the latter had already crossed the river. They stood firm, holding their ground. It wasn't because they were afraid or arrogant.

The Poison Insect Tribe's power was from the poison within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Thus, it was better for them to stay within the forest.

The Au Co Tribe could move freely, but their connection with the Poison Insect Tribe made them decide to remain unmoving like the latter.

ROAR!

The Allied Forces' roar reverberated throughout the forest. Their roars were so loud that the trees within the forest quaked as soon as the roars swept across them. Upon crossing the river, the Allied Forces moved quickly and jumped into the enemy camp despite being soaked to the bone.

"HA!"

"DIEEEE!"

They screamed with an intense will to fight. A deluge of killing intent swept out of them as a fierce battle between the two sides began.

Clang, clang, clang!

The Allied Forces' Jungle Blades and the Au Co Tribe's Jungle Blades collided, producing sharp metallic noises. What started as one or two screeches of metal soon grew to over a thousand, and the blades cried loudly as if in resonance.

"Aaargh!"

"Ugh!"

"My arm!"

The metallic clashes were short-lived, as they were quickly drowned out by the screams of the soldiers. This was war, and it had finally begun.

The Qinghua Allied Forces were feeling confident due to their recent great victory, but they were by no means complacent.

The major tribes had been consistently defeating them for a long time, so they dared not underestimate the power of the major tribes. They raised their guards up high, wary about the cards that the major tribes had up their sleeves amidst what could be their greatest crisis.

The Qinghua Allied Forces had double the men, but they put all of their strength into their legs and stretched their nerves taut as they approached the battle with a serious attitude.

Despite that, they couldn't make quick work of the major tribes.

They were suffocatingly strong.

The Au Co Tribe's strength was particularly terrifying.

"AAAARRRGH!"

"It burns!"

"My body, my body!"

Their drenched lower body dried much earlier than expected, but it wasn't because of the fierce battle. It was all due to the Au Co Tribe. The inheritors of Au Co's blood had a special ability, and their regenerative power was so high that it made them appear immortal.

The Au Co Tribe's numbers were small, and they had a penchant for avoiding getting involved in external matters, so only a few people had seen the Au Co Tribe's true abilities.

The rare sighting was the reason people couldn't completely believe the rumors about the Au Co Tribe. Today, however, the soldiers could finally see the true nature of the Au Co Tribe's rumored power.

Heat Qi (熱氣)!

The true nature of fire was heat. The members of the Au Co Tribe could control heat itself, burning anyone daring to make contact with them. Upon getting injured by their blades, one's flesh would melt as if one had been cut by a red-hot iron from a smithy, and some even immediately caught fire.

"Hohoho!" The Au Co Chief laughed, raising her chin. "Mere humans dare to challenge the descendants of Au Co! How foolish! Know your place, humans!"

Woosh!

The fierce heat of the Southern Jungles became a blazing hell. There was truly a reason they called themselves descendants of the Incarnation of Fire. The Au Co Tribe had the ability to back up their claims.

"Are they really descendants of a god?"

"Can we even win this?!"

"Aaaargh! Water! Please, water!"

Some soldiers turned around and jumped into the river as if they had lost their minds due to the intense pain. Some of those who had decided to jump into the river were swept away by the current, disappearing into the depths.

Each member of the Au Co Tribe truly lived up to their title "One Who Can Combat A Hundred." Clearly, there was a reason they became one of the major tribes of the Southern Jungles despite their small number of three hundred.

"A-argh…" Voices filled with fear flowed out of the Allied Forces, and their morale dropped visibly. Those of the Southern Jungles were easily influenced by superstitions and legends, possibly due to their well-versed sorcery.

Upon recalling that their enemies were descendants of a god, their hostility disappeared, and they began to feel afraid. Their biggest issue was that they couldn't even attack properly, as they'd be exposed to intense heat just by getting close to their enemies.

They tried their best to attack from a safe distance using their spears, but the Au Co Tribe were so fast that they'd evade all attacks and counter with their heat, leaving the Allied Forces helpless.

The soldiers felt powerless, as they couldn't do anything at all.

"Ha… this shit is just…"

The Central Plains search party was also bewildered by the strange power.

The Diancang Sect had experienced many battles, but this was their first time encountering something as bizarre as the Au Co Tribe's power. They had no idea how to deal with the Au Co Tribe's strange ability.

They weren't getting destroyed one-sidedly like the soldiers of the Allied Forces, but they were still struggling.

"Hohoho!" The Au Co Tribe's pride began to grow, but their pride was short-lived.

In the midst of the chaos and fear, one person stood sane.

"What the hell? Aren't they similar to those brats from the Demon Cult?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered calmly.

"Tang Family! Diancang Sect! Don't panic!" Zhou Xuchuan exclaimed. They were in an urgent predicament, so he chose to speak calmly, shouting, "Think about the Raging Fire Blood Demon from the Demon Cult!"

"Ah!"

The people from the Southern Jungles were confused, but those from the Central Plains exclaimed upon recalling something.

There were people in the Central Plains—more precisely, there were people from the Demon Cult of Xinjiang with similar power to those of the Au Co Tribe.

Two years ago, the Burning Murder Squadron (燒殺隊) joined the Seven Swords War as the main force of the Demonic Path.

The Demon Head, also known as the Raging Fire Blood Demon and one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, led the group of cultivators who had attained mastery over a demonic art that allowed them to spit flames.

They were notorious, so the method of dealing with them became widespread.

With that in mind, the next course of action became easy.

"They can only release heat from one direction!!!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted at the top of his lungs to ensure that the Allied Forces would hear him. "Attack in groups of at least three or four!"

He provided no further explanation, but everyone understood him. Their enemy could only release heat in one direction. In other words, any other direction would become an opening.

In short, one just needed to be bait and keep the tribesman busy, while the others would gang up on the tribesman from the remaining directions.

"…!" The Au Co Tribe Chief's face stiffened.

"They're not that difficult to handle as long you're not afraid of the heat! The enemy aren't descendants of a god! They're just barbarians!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted.

"Shut his mouth!" the Au Co Tribe Chief roared, glaring at Zhou Xuchuan as if her eyes could kill.

Swoosh!

Eight tribesmen of the Au Co Tribe promptly charged at Zhou Xuchuan in response to their chief's orders. The Au Co Tribe's prowess wasn't just due to their ability to control heat. Their physical abilities were outstanding as well, and they were just as fast as the Beast Tribe.

The eight tribesmen seemed intent on not letting Zhou Xuchuan escape as they encircled him in an instant.

Zhou Xuchuan's eyes narrowed, and he relied completely on his senses. He had no eyes behind him, but he could sense the movements of the Au Co Tribe warriors.

He could feel them gradually closing in on him, and he could sense the movement of the Jungle Blade in their hands.

Swoosh!

The eight Jungle Blades burned red as if they were on fire. An extreme heat radiated from them. Zhou Xuchuan could feel the air itself heating up. The heat wasn't coming from the sun up above. It wasn't getting closer to him, and the climate of the jungle remained unchanging as well.

The heat was coming from eight directions. Zhou Xuchuan could feel their determination to ensure that there weren't going to be any openings that he could exploit. This could also be considered a joint formation.

I knew it…

The heat was moving straight ahead; it wasn't moving to the side but straight ahead. To compensate for this weakness, the tribesmen joined hands and chose to surround him.

To make things even more terrifying, the heat gathered in one place and covered the skies above Zhou Xuchuan. Now, Zhou Xuchuan couldn't just jump to avoid the heat.

The extreme heat seemed capable of melting just about anyone would force him back to the ground if he were to take to the skies, but…

"Hmm. How warm." Zhou Xuchuan smiled warmly without breaking a sweat. The smile tugging at his lips was the embodiment of the word "comfortable."

"...?"

The eight, who had been spewing heat forward and creating a tornado of heat, paused, and their faces distorted into expressions of incredulity. Regardless of a warrior's strength, said warrior would surely be reduced to ashes by this tornado of extreme heat.

That was supposed to happen, but Zhou Xuhcuan wasn't even breaking out into a sweat. In fact, he was even smiling as if he was feeling great.

"Sorry, but I have Extreme Temperature Immunity," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.

Extreme Temperature Immunity meant immunity to both the heat and the cold, so the heat wasn't really doing much against him. If the Au Co Tribe's heat were something bizarre like the High Priest's flames or an extreme heat qi, Zhou Xuchuan would be affected.

However, heat of this level was never going to affect him.

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword in a circle before the eight warriors could even react.

Swish!

A wisp of qi flowed out from his sword. The sword qi cut through the heat and destroyed it cleanly.

"W-what…?"

The warriors famous within the tribe were flustered. The eight tribesmen hurriedly brought up their Jungle Blades to defend themselves.

Crack, crack, crack!

"Argh!"

Their enemy somehow managed to counter their heat, but it was all because the enemy before them was truly their worst enemy.

The fatal mistake they had committed was getting too close to react to Zhou Xuchuan's movement. To make matters worse, they were so close to each other that they couldn't see an opening to avoid Zhou Xuchuan's attack.

Zhou Xuchuan wouldn't miss that opportunity. He struck at the crowd, killing the eight warriors with a single slash.

"Let's finish this quickly and not waste any time."

Zhou Xuchuan made a beeline for the Au Co Tribe Chief.

It seemed the Au Co Tribe had encountered its Heavenly Match.[1]

1. The title technically reads the Au Co Tribes natural predator, but I wanted it to be a little ambiguous so that you wouldn't get spoiled by this. The word natural predator literally translates to Heavenly/Heaven Sent Enemy/Match. ☜