PBSE 10

Chapter 10: Awakening

December 24, 2014 — Author: Wei Yi Yong Heng 

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
A few dull thuds echoed, mingling with the cries of the children thrown into the great cauldron. Then, the heavy lid slammed shut.

The sounds faded. Everyone fell silent, staring at the red-hot cauldron with a mix of tension and anticipation.

Inside was the blood of a two-star ancient beast. The chosen children were all those in the tribe with potential to open their “spiritual apertures.” No one felt resentment — after all, these children were the tribe’s future warriors, destined to fight and seize for the tribe. Their strength would become the tribe’s strength.

The Great Elder, Qin Tianli, watched as the last cauldron lid was sealed. His expression was complicated; presiding over such a ritual took a heavy toll on him.

The other elders were already collapsed from exhaustion, but none complained — they were forging the tribe’s future.

Among the crowd, Qin Yu looked toward the final cauldron with a hint of envy. He didn’t like Qin Mo, yet he felt no jealousy. What the chief did was natural; if it had been his own son, he would’ve done the same.

Still, he doubted whether Qin Mo could truly awaken. Born with a white “waste” bloodline outside the nine-star hierarchy, even the Blood Condensation Pill hadn’t opened his spiritual aperture. Could the blood of a two-star Barbarian Bear really succeed where pills had failed?

Qin Tianli’s gaze too was full of doubt.

Inside the Cauldron

Qin Mo felt as if his entire body was on fire — his blood literally boiling. Yet he didn’t die; the runes etched within the cauldron shielded him.

Streams of crimson energy seeped into his body through his pores, flooding into his meridians, battering him from within.

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
As the beastly blood surged through him, it was as if a Barbarian Bear was roaring inside his body. The violent force grew stronger and stronger.

The pain was beyond description, tearing at his very soul. Qin Mo’s face twisted in agony, but he did not utter a sound. This was his last chance. If he failed to awaken this time, he would not only fail himself — he would also fail that man.

Clinging to that thought, he resisted the pull of unconsciousness, his eyes bloodshot as he endured.

The Barbarian Bear was no ordinary creature — a two-star ancient beast with intelligence equal to a human’s. Even its blood carried a fierce, unyielding will.

It wanted to kill this puny human trying to absorb its essence. After all, even an ancient beast had its pride.

“Accept your fate! You won’t kill me — you’ll become my stepping stone to power!” Qin Mo roared through clenched teeth.

The bear’s will grew more violent, thrashing inside his body, but the cauldron’s heat gradually refined the blood, forcing it to submit.

He lost track of how many times the beast’s will attacked. Qin Mo felt his body on the verge of tearing apart.

Then — suddenly — he could see his meridians. Just as he had during his failed attempt with the Blood Condensation Pill. Only now, his blood wasn’t red — it was white, pure and spotless.

Under the cauldron’s refining flames, streaks of red began to seep into the white — the Barbarian Bear’s blood fusing with his own.

He felt the beast’s memories surge into him — the life of a fierce creature in the Blackstone Mountains, slaughtering weaker beasts, yet hunted in turn by stronger ones.

Qin Mo realized these weren’t hallucinations — they were the bear’s memories. If he let them consume him, he’d lose his humanity forever, becoming a humanoid beast.

But the memories were too strong, too tempting. For a moment, he wanted to give in — to stop being weak, to become a powerful beast trampling all before him.

“No! I am not a beast! I am a man — a man who stands tall beneath heaven!” Qin Mo shouted, his consciousness blazing.

His two lifetimes of willpower repelled the invading memories.

The white blood in his veins turned fully scarlet. Excitement surged through him — once all the white was gone, he would no longer be a worthless outcast. He would be of the Crimson Bloodline, ranked seventh among the nine — equal to Qin Yu himself.

As time passed, all the white vanished. His entire being pulsed with red. Qin Mo knew he had succeeded — he had fused with the Barbarian Bear’s blood!

But then — something went wrong.

In one of his main meridians, a single spot of white reappeared. Qin Mo’s heart dropped.

More white spots followed, spreading rapidly. He tried to resist, but it was useless. The red receded faster than it had spread.

Within moments, all the red was gone — his blood now a pale white, tinged faintly with pink.

Defeated and numb, Qin Mo could barely register the pain. He had failed again.

Yet suddenly — countless sparkling points of light appeared around him, strange and beautiful, filling him with a new sense of hope.

Then, to his astonishment, the spiritual aperture that had once opened and closed — opened again, silently drinking in the cauldron’s remaining medicinal power and those mysterious white lights.

He hadn’t successfully merged the bloodline… but he had opened his spiritual aperture once more. Qin Mo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He watched anxiously, afraid it would close again — but time passed, and it only grew wider and more stable. Relief washed over him.

Outside the Cauldron

Three hours had passed. The tribespeople waited anxiously for the results.

When the lids were lifted, the children leapt out one by one, full of vitality. The crowd cheered. Each child radiated new strength — still weak compared to the tribe’s warriors, but full of potential. Soon, they would surpass their elders.

Among them, the chubby boy had changed the most. Even before, he was considered a prodigy among the children, with the strength of two hundred jin.

Now, grinning with excitement, he lifted a three-hundred-jin stone block, shocking everyone.

“Hahaha! Excellent! As expected of my son — a tiger father begets no dog son!” roared his father, Li Hai, laughter booming through the crowd.

But the boy wasn’t done. With a proud grin, he hoisted a five-hundred-jin stone.

“Five hundred jin — the limit for one who has just opened their aperture!” Even Li Hai was astonished.

Before the boy could boast, his father grabbed him in a bear hug, covering his face with whiskery kisses. The crowd burst out laughing — even the usually stern Tribal Chief Qin Lin smiled with satisfaction.

Then, suddenly — the lid of the final cauldron opened on its own. Every gaze turned toward it.

Qin Mo emerged, his body radiating a fierce, masculine energy. The people stared, full of anticipation.

“Go to the Heaven-Earth Stone,” Qin Lin ordered, clenching his fists.

Qin Mo said nothing. He knew what his father wanted. After a moment’s hesitation, he stepped before the glowing stone.

Taking a deep breath, he placed his palm against its surface.

Buzz!

The stone trembled — then burst forth in a brilliant flash of light.

Qin Mo froze. So did everyone else.

Because the light shining from the Heaven-Earth Stone was scarlet — even brighter than the crimson glow once shown by the tribe’s former prodigy, Qin Yu.