Chapter 42: A Strong’s Presence

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

System, level up Barbarian Blood Warrior.

[System Message: Host used 200 Mastery Points and leveled up Barbarian Blood Warrior to Level 2.]

[System Message: Barbarian Blood Warrior leveled up to Level 2. Strength +1.]

[System Message: Barbarian King’s Bloodline has enhanced the Barbarian Blood Warrior class. Constitution +1, Vigor +1.]

Lu Chen’s mouth twitched when he received the system message.

Not only does it gives enhancement when entering the next cultivation stage, but it also enhances me during the normal level-ups. This bloodline is way too beneficial to the Barbarian Blood Warriors. No wonder it’s a bloodline type Gold-grade skill.

Wait, it’s not just because it’s a Gold-grade skill, but it’s also because of the high compatibility between it and the Barbarian Blood Warriors.

In the culture of barbarians, only the strongest warrior amongst them could be crowned as a “King”. Hence, it was only natural for him who has the Barbarian King’s Bloodline to improve so much in the levelings as a Barbarian Blood Warrior.

At the end of the day, only 209 Mastery Points were left from all the Mastery Points he earned in the hard-fought battles.

However, his increase in prowess was also significant.

[Career Development System]

[Host: Lu Chen]

[Age: 15]

[Level: 17 (Lvl 5 Swordsman + Lvl 2 Barbarian Blood Warrior + Lvl 10 Commoner)]

[Class: Lvl 5 Swordsman / Lvl 2 Barbarian Blood Warrior]

[Mastery Points: 209]

[Skills: Bull’s Strength (Bronze), Intuition E (Bronze), Boiling Blood (Bronze), Master Swordsmanship (Silver), Critical Strike (Silver), Conqueror’s Haki (Gold), Barbarian King’s Bloodline (Gold)]

Lu Chen has a total of 3 Bronze, 2 Silver, and 2 Gold skills.

Other than his skills, there were also details on his attributes.

After the level ups, his attributes were now:

[Strength +31, Agility +12, Constitution +45, Vigor +26]

[Aura +10, Willpower +20, Dominance +10, Perception +5]

[Fury +10, Sharpness +3, Longsword Mastery +20, Basic Swordsmanship +20]

Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction with his attributes.

Good, I am strong enough to handle the dangers around the village, but that’s also all I can do for now. I am still too weak to travel far from the village and can only hunt close around.

Lu Chen wasn’t occupied by his achievements. Although he has gotten stronger, the dangers in this world were much bigger than him.

I mustn’t let my guard now. I still have to become stronger.

He bent down to carry the Fire Bull on his shoulder and made his way back to the village.

His journey back was fine until suddenly, a chill freshened up Lu Chen’s mind and he abruptly stopped to look to the side.

However, Lu Chen saw nothing when he looked over.

He frowned and thought. Then, he opened his mouth and inhaled deeply.

With all his might, Lu Chen breathed in the air for half a minute and filled his stomach. Then, he let out a battle cry at the top of his lungs.

“Get lost!!!”

The shout was like a thunderclap. The air quivered like waves, the earth quaked, the leaves fell from the trees, and Lu Chen saw the danger that he was alerted about.

It was a dried branch on a tree. It was blown into the air and suddenly, it started moving in mid-air.

A chill filled Lu Chen’s heart when he saw the dried branch.

Black Wattle Snake, master of disguise, deadly venomous, and incredible in speed. It guarantees death with just a bite.

Lu Chen raised his guard immediately when he saw the Battle Wattle Snake.

But soon, he realized that it didn’t plan to stay and fight. Instead, it quickly left after Lu Chen was alerted about its presence.

Lu Chen didn’t dare to leave his guard down until he made sure the chill in his mind has faded.

He heaved a breath of relief and was feeling excited.

Intuition is just like the sixth sense. I can sense the incoming dangers.

Seems like I can be bolder tonight.

I’ll be able to inspect the surroundings with the Intuition for hidden dangers before leaving from safety.

Although Intuition would not directly increase Lu Chen’s prowess, it was incredibly useful to aid Lu Chen in avoiding dangers and increase his survivability.

A skill like this was definitely much more important than a couple of other offensive skills.

Hence, Lu Chen was happily heading back to the village.

As he was strong and high in stamina, he still managed to get back within an hour while carrying a bull on his shoulder.

However, the moment he returned, he realized that the barbarians started following behind him. At the same time, they were chattering amongst themselves.

“The red skin, it’s no normal beast, is it?”

“It’s the Fire Bull! Its skin is no ordinary. I once saw it myself from far. When it was in fury, its skin flare in flames!”

“I’ve heard it too before from my old man. The Fire Bull has its big territory in the west mountain. Once, they tried to hunt it, but its skin is too thick for our weapons to penetrate. So they stopped in fear that the hunt will cost too many lives.”

The one who spoke was a hunter. Which his words have gained Lu Chen’s agreements. One shall not underestimate the Fire Bull just because Lu Chen took it down so easily. It only appeared easy because Lu Chen was stronger.

In reality, the Fire Bull was also very strong.

Its skin was impenetrable by the ordinary weapons, its strength was beyond the barbarians, and not to mention that it could release fire from its body. These added up to make it just like an unstoppable burning fire tank that could charge into anything it liked.

At least a dozen barbarians would have to die to defeat the Fire Bull. Hence, the village didn’t get rid of it even when they knew about its existence. After all, the adult barbarians were valuable assets to the village, their lives couldn’t be given up easily.

Because they knew exactly how strong was the Fire Bull, the villagers were more shook to see it killed. At the same time, they couldn’t help but respect Lu Chen more and admire his prowess.

“No wonder he is the talent Master Wuzu valued so much. He is strong.”

“That’s a whole Fire Bull to himself. The amount of meat it has. How long will he have to take to finish it?”

“On top of that, I’ve heard that the barbaric beasts have more nutrients than ordinary beasts. A small piece of its meat is equivalent to that of an ordinary beast’s limb. Furthermore, it’s easier to become a Barbarian Blood Warrior consuming the Babaric Beast’s meat.”

“Barbarian Blood Warrior! I want some of it!”

…

Just like that, a crowd of barbarians followed Lu Chen on the back. Among them, some looked up to Lu Chen’s prowess and some were envious of him to be able to find so many foods.

Although the crowd was big, no one dared to walk up to talk to him. When Lu Chen returned to his house, they didn’t follow in and stood outside to look.

This was the prestige for being strong in the culture of the barbarians.

When Lu Chen returned, Xiao Wei was already waiting for him by the doors.

When she saw the barbaric beast on Lu Chen’s shoulder and the reactions of the crowd behind him, Xiao Wei prided on Lu Chen’s achievements.

All of you can only watch from the outside, but I’m the one living in Ah’Chen’s household.

Furthermore, Ah’Chen is very generous. I won’t have to worry about starving anymore with him.

For two days straight, Lu Chen has brought food back to the house. This helped eased Xiao Wei’s worries a little more.

But soon, when the happy Xiao Wei saw the barbarian girls looking up to Lu Chen in admiration behind him, she grew anxious again.

While she was in her thoughts, Lu Chen said from the side, “Help me clean up the Fire Bull.”

After he said, he brought her back inside and get readied to clean up the Fire Bull.

Xiao Wei quickly recollects her troubling thoughts and said, “Coming right up.”

Don’t overthink, just do what you are supposed to. Furthermore, the master seemed to be more interested in petite girls.

Lu Chen was unaware of Xiao Wei’s thoughts. Right now, all his attention was on the Fire Bull.

Even after its death, its skin is still tough and there’s still warmth in it. If I make a set of clothes with it, it can provide me warmth in the cold night and also add to my defenses.

Its blood and meat have to properly stored too.

Furthermore, I have to give some to Master Wuzu, the chieftain, and Uncle Da Zhuang.

Although he usually appeared to only care about his own welfare, Lu Chen was actually very grateful to those that have given him care in the village.

Hence, Lu Chen wouldn’t keep the whole Fire Bull to himself and was planning to give some of it out.

Of course, Lu Chen wasn’t an all-pleaser, he would only give it to those that have helped and taken care of him.

As for the others, they could keep on watching from the corner.

Just when Lu Chen threw the Fire Bull onto the chopping table and was ready to dissect it, the doors were knocked.

He opened the doors and saw that it was Master Wuzu.

When Master Wuzu saw the Fire Bull in the courtyard, he was as shocked as the villagers, but on top of it, he was feeling even more helpless.

He opened his mouth to say something but ended up not saying anything in the end. This time, Wuzu has given up on lecturing Lu Chen about the dangers of going out alone.

Instead, he asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Master Wuzu, you’ve come at the right time. I’m about to deliver you some of its meat.”

“Nevermind the meat. But you can give me the bones.”

“The bones? Master Wuzu, the meat is easier to eat!”

“Eat, eat, eat, all you know is to eat. The bones are not cooked to be eaten, I need them as ingredients for the herbal soup.”

Lu Chen immediately thought of the bones he saw in the herbal soup cooked by Master Wuzu. So it seems like the bones were the barbaric beasts’ bones.

Thus, Lu Chen didn’t decline the request.

“Understood, Master Wuzu, I’ll pick the bones out for you right now.”

Seeing the huge Fire Bull in the courtyard and the number of bones it has, Master Wuzu couldn’t help but feel happy.

“Haha, it’s good news to the boys in the village. The Fire Bull’s bones will last us a long time.”

As he said, Master Wuzu also looked at Lu Chen and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll have the major share of it.”

“Thank you, Master Wuzu.”

Lu Chen was not surprised to know that he would be given the major share of the herbal soup. After all, Master Wuzu has been taking care of him ever since he has shown his potential.

Even before Lu Chen contributed to the village, he was already given a huge chunk of meat and supplied with a huge bowl of herbal soup daily.

Not to mention now that Lu Chen has taken down the Fire Bull all on his own.

Thus, Lu Chen believed Master Wuzu would definitely give him most of the herbal soup. So he wouldn’t mind sharing the rest to the other talents.

After all, it takes time and techniques to prepare the herbal soup. Furthermore, it also required some other ingredients that have to be collected by the rest of the village. Taking that into consideration, Lu Chen was willing to also let others enjoy the herbal soup.

On the other hand, Master Wuzu also heaved a breath of relief when he found out that Lu Chen didn’t mind it as he was afraid that Lu Chen might not be willing to share.

At the same time, Master Wuzu couldn’t help but be happy when he looked at Lu Chen and the Fire Bull, It sure is easier for the village to grow when there is a strong expert among us!

The strong experts could shelter the villages from dangers. One doesn’t have to reiterate the importance of the experts in ensuring the survival of the villages.

Other than sheltering the village, the experts would also benefit the villages in many ways.

For example, although Lu Chen would enjoy the most benefits from hunting the Fire Bull, the rest of its parts would still benefit the villagers greatly.

This would help the talents build their prowess and contribute better to the village in the future. Thus, having an expert in the village was often the start of a village’s rise to the top.

Which was exactly why the barbarians looked up to the strong so much.