Volcanic Age

"Stop him!"

"Who dares to try to stop us?!"

A dozen or so Au Co Tribe warriors blocked his path.

Zhou Xuchuan's eyes moved left and right.

Twelve.

They were all at least First Class warriors, and most of them were even Peak Realm experts.

Their movements were fast, but they weren't so fast that he couldn't keep up with them. Compared to his usual sparring partner, Little Ghost, they were so slow that it made him yawn. Zhou Xuchuan flew right through them.

Swoosh!

The Au Co Tribe's heat inundated his face. An ordinary person's skin would flush red before such heat, but Zhou Xuchuan was not ordinary. He flew through the hot air emitted simultaneously by a dozen or so people and struck down the warriors rushing toward him with his sword.

Screams burst out. Needless to say, they were the screams of the Au Co Tribe members.

What the hell is going on?

Just how the hell is he not being affected by the heat?

Thanks to the blood they had inherited from their ancestors, the Au Co Tribe had obtained the ability to emit heat, and there were no exceptions among them. It was exactly due to this powerful ability that they became one of the major tribes.

To think that their prided ability would one day become useless in a fight…

"Heup!" Zhou Xuchuan moved quickly, leaving behind an afterimage. He flicked his hands, and the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom unfolded. Six people fell at once, and blood splattered everywhere.

The rest fell easily as well, unable to withstand the attack.

Just as I expected, their defenses are weak.

The Au Co Tribe's fighting style was extremely focused on attacking. Since they were capable of releasing heat that prevented anyone from approaching them, they assumed that there was no need for them to worry about defense, so their martial arts eventually became offense-centric.

Unfortunately, their heat—their only defense—wasn't working against Zhou Xuchuan, so they appeared to be accepting Zhou Xuchuan's attacks with arms spread wide open.

The tribesmen couldn't even properly block attacks from opponents in the same realm as them without their heat, so how were they supposed to block the attacks of a master?

The sword of Mount Hua would flash, and warriors of the Au Co Tribe would scream before falling lifelessly to the ground.

In no time, Zhou Xuchuan dealt with more than twenty of them.

In addition, they were considered the elites of the Au Co Tribe.

"Get out of the way!" the Matriarch of the Au Co Tribe exclaimed. She was forced off her heavy throne[/ref]Literally, her heavy butt. It's a euphemism that's been repeated throughout this novel about how people in power are harder to move.[/ref] to finally make a move.

Despite the fierce battle, her beauty stood out, especially her red hair that was cut short. It was a rare sight even in the Central Plains. The Matriarch's eyes were a reddish brown, and they seemed to be ablaze as if filled with fire.

Her eyebrows were raised, making her appear fierce and strong. She appeared to be in her late twenties to early thirties, and she had a voluptuous figure that was both sensual and seductive.

Perhaps it was due to the topography, but the twilight in the sky was narrow, casting a dark shadow over the battlefield. Despite that, her tanned skin and chiseled abs remained clearly visible for everyone to see.

"You useless things!" the Matriarch shouted.

The warriors guarding her lowered their heads and retreated.

"You're a martial artist from the Central Plains? Your sword skills are passable. Good. Tell me your name."

"Zhou Xuchuan," Zhou Xuchuan replied. This was the first time he had ever exchanged names with his opponent since his arrival in the Southern Jungles.

"I will remember this name. Be proud. I'll show you grace and erect a monument for you. Moreover, I'll grant you the honor of hearing the name of this queen. My name is Au Yeu[1] (嫗妖)."

"Sure, sure," Zhou Xuchuan replied casually, and he ran forward as if he couldn't hear Au Yeu's words. Of course, he never really had any intentions of chatting leisurely with Au Yeu.

"How insolent!" Au Yeu snarled, and she raised her Jungle Blade.

Woosh!

Her blade shone red, and flames burst out of its edge, enveloping the Jungle Blade in the blink of an eye. Her heat was extraordinary, and the fact that she could create a flame visible to the naked eye was even more impressive.

Clang!

Zhou Xuchuan's sword and Au Yeu's curved saber collided.

The sound of metal clashing against metal reverberated, and the impact transformed into a powerful shockwave that swept across the battlefield.

"Argh!" The warriors nearby grimaced. The shockwave was so strong that it left their dantians throbbing.

Is that supposed to be saber aura?

Zhou Xuchuan wet his lips with his tongue, and there was a slight tension in his eyes. He thought that her blade was wrapped in flames, but upon closer inspection, he saw a red qi around the blade.

The Chief of a major tribe was the strongest in the tribe, so it wasn't strange that she could use saber aura.

"Ha!" Au Yeu roared and spat heat—no, flames. The "flames" on the blade grew bigger.

As expected. She must be a Harmony Realm Master at the very least.

Zhou Xuchuan's forehead was covered with beads of sweat. The heat was so intense that it surpassed the limit of his Extreme Temperature Immunity. The weeds on the ground beneath him were already burning from the heat.

Swish!

However, he had no time to leisurely look at the weeds.

Au Yeu's blade, wrapped in flames, fell back and drew a vertical line forward.

Unlike the writhing flames, her blade drew a straight and steady line. The attack was incredibly powerful and fast, and each movement was relevant; there wasn't a single wasted movement at all.

Black Buffalo of the Beast Tribe was also a Harmony Realm expert capable of wielding aura, but he was more like a beast, focusing only on strength.

Au Yeu was clearly different from him, as she could use techniques that the beastman couldn't use.

Clang!

The sword of the Central Plains and the blade of the Southern Jungles clashed, spitting out flames. Moreover, it wasn't any small spark, either. The flames were the flames of the Au Co Tribe.

Au Yeu swung her sword with a fierce momentum that resembled flames. The battle was so intense that Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether Au Yeu even had enough time to breathe or not.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against metal continued, and the metallic noises soon pierced Zhou Xuchuan's eardrums.

Au Yeu's blade seemed like it was everywhere.

Instead of charging forward, Zhou Xuchuan focused on blocking Au Yeu's flashy and fierce attacks. If this were a spar rather than a fight to the death, one would think that the reason Zhou Xuchuan was blocking was that he had no choice but to defend himself.

However, Au Yeu's expression wasn't very great.

Instead of avoiding my attacks, he's actually taking them all?

It would be a mistake to assume that Au Yeu's attacks were technique-centric rather than strength-centric because she was a woman. The truth was that her strength was unimaginable.

Even if one were to search the entirety of the Southern Jungles, it would be impossible to find someone capable of withstanding her blade except for Black Buffalo. Thus, it wasn't strange for her to feel surprised.

"Fine, let's see if you can take this, too!" Au Yeu's majestic voice burst out like thunder. "Haaaaa—!"

A purple vein popped out from the hand gripping the hilt of her blade. The flames around it overflowed in an instant and burst out. The "flames" extended, going beyond the blades' reach.

The heat that was gushing out of the blade grew incomparably large and hotter.

"Incredible!" Zhou Xuchuan flew to the side with a look of surprise. Thanks to the Hundred Divine Transformations, changing stances had become as natural as flowing water for him.

His movements were so quick that the fire resembling the tongue of a demon couldn't reach him.

"Y-you dodged it?!" Au Yeu exclaimed in bewilderment for the first time since the fight started. Until now, Zhou Xuchuan had never evaded nor had even pretended to evade. Thus, Au Yeu delivered her strongest attack, expecting Zhou Xuchuan to abandon any attempts at evasion.

But what was this?

Where had that stubbornness gone? In an instant, Zhou Xuchuan changed stances and dodged the attack.

"How dare you insult this queen?!" Au Yeu's face distorted like an evil spirit.

"…?" Zhou Xuchuan looked bewildered. He looked like he was asking what the hell Au Yeu was talking about.

"Haven't you been taking every blow without dodging?!"

"Huh?"

"As an expression of respect for your courage, I went all out with that attack just now, so why did you not block it?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Xuchuan snorted and walked closer to Au Yeu as he retorted, "Aren't you supposed to dodge anything that is dangerous?!"

"I won't forgive you for disrespecting this queen!"

The best defense was offense.

Moreover, the word "defense" did not exist in Au Yeu's dictionary. Before Zhou Xuchuan could launch an attack, Au Yeu made her move; she was one step ahead of Zhou Xuchuan.

A diagonal line split the air from the upper right to the lower left. In addition to splitting the air into two, the attack had set even the air itself ablaze as well.

"Heup!" Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath and froze. He exerted strength, and his tendons bulged as a result. His pulse quickened as well. One step—no, ten steps forward. In an instant, he became weightless as he dug into Au Yeu's embrace.

"Ah!" Au Yeu gasped in surprise as her breathing was caught in her chest. Damn it!

The members of the Au Co Tribe were fearless, and their fearless nature was reflected in their fighting style. Their fearlessness was due to their special ability to emit heat.

They'd always face their opponents head-on; they'd dig their heels into the ground and charge at their opponents with their heat up ahead of them. The enemy would realize the danger and retreat, but that was just their first move.

Their first attacks were always preemptive strikes—a bait for the second strike.

They knew their opponents would avoid the heat by retreating, so their second strike would calculate said distance according to how their opponents' movements, and they'd deliver the killing blow with the second attack.

This attack pattern was usually effective. However, it was useless against Zhou Xuchuan, who was immune to their special ability due to his Extreme Temperature Immunity.

The Au Co Tribe's second attack was useless, as Zhou Xuchuan would block their attacks rather than dodge them by retreating.

Without any defensive techniques to speak of, the Au Co Tribe members could easily be bested by interrupting their flow of attacks.

As a master, Au Yeu was strong enough to continue her onslaught despite the interruption, but she wasn't strong enough to deal damage to Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan actually noticed that point while they were exchanging blows, so he ignored Au Yeu's bait.

Normally, one wouldn't be able to ignore Au Yeu's heat—a Harmony Realm master, but Zhou Xuchuan was different. He was Au Yeu's direct counter; their compatibility was abhorrent.

Things would be different if the only difference were in realms, but Au Yeu lost when it came to compatibility.

The second attack was useful against opponents in the distance, but Zhou Xuchuan decided to dive into her arms and attack. Unfortunately, Au Yeu was already in the middle of her attack pattern, so there was no way she could defend herself in time.

Swish!

A spine-chilling, eerie noise echoed as Zhou Xuchuan's treasure-grade sword, Tai'e, thrust forward in a manner that even the Diancang Sect would admire.

Squelch!

"Ugh…!" Au Yeu groaned. Her hand holding her curved blade lost strength, and the flames on its blade dimmed considerably. Her reddish brown pupils reflected Zhou Xuchuan's sword, and it was sticking out of her right chest.

"How dare… how dare you?!" Au Yeu squeezed these words out of her throat as her fierce eyes blazed in fury. She raised her slender fingers and grabbed Zhou Xuchuan's sword.

Blood flowed out as the sword dug into her palm, but she could not care less and grabbed it as strongly as she could to ensure that it wouldn't budge even an inch.

"Insect King!"

"Hahahahahaha!" An unpleasant peal of laughter erupted from the rear. "I never thought I'd hear the Chief of the Au Co Tribe asking for help!"

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Chewing noises pervaded the air, and the chewing noises were coming from hundreds—no, perhaps thousands of insects moving as a group across the skies.

The competitive Au Yeu made a deal with the Insect King before the fight. Au Yeu said that she wanted to fight the one who had defeated both the High Priest of the Cannibal Tribe and Black Buffalo of the Beast Tribe.

She asked the Insect King not to interfere in the middle of the fight.

The Insect King had told her to do as she pleased, but he didn't want to witness the fall of the major tribes, so he'd intervene if things became dangerous.

Au Yeu had boasted that things would never become dangerous, but clearly, her boasting had been upended, as the situation had betrayed her expectations.

"Don't forget this debt, Chief of the Au Co!"

"Grah!" Au Yeu's face turned red with humiliation.

Insects—the limbs of the Insect King—crawled out from the bushes. The swarm of black insects moved quickly, engulfing Zhou Xuchuan from his feet up to his head in the proverbial blink of an eye.

"You two… you really don't match up well with me, do you?" The swarm of insects covering Zhou Xuchuan's face retreated to the side, revealing one of his eyes. For some reason, the pupil of his eye was pale green.

"Have you ever heard of the Thousand Poisons Immunity?"

1. A strange name. It can mean many things. Seductress, Hag-like Monster, Beautiful Woman. It's a combination of the Au character from Au Co and the Vietnamese word Yeu, or 妖 in Chinese/Korean, which can mean abnormal/bizarre, demon, seductress, and bewitchingly beautiful. ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

Something I forgot to mention is that I'm trying to keep the spellings of names region-consistent. So, as you may have noticed, I've kept Vietnamese spellings for most of what's related to the Southern Jungles.

It felt weird translating it into Chinese pinyin when it's clearly meant to be Viet spellings.

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