Standing at the door of the Prayer Room, Lei Kuang heard the sounds from within.
It was the prayer of the great warrior Shun Liang.
"Great Barbarian God, You are the supreme of the Barbarians, You are the source of strength, You are the crown of glory."
"You are the guardian deity of the Barbarians, You are the Emperor of Cold, You are the releaser of misfortune, You are the totem of warriors!"
"You reign at the Peak of Cold Ice, under Your icy gaze, all things revere, and the frost submits. With the majesty of ice and frost, You protect Your children, and under Your unparalleled strength, the Barbarians are as fierce and unyielding as wolves."
"You wield the Axe of Misfortune, weaving fate with endless wisdom, tearing through danger with resolute hands, guiding the Barbarians through boundless suffering, standing tall."
"Your mercy shines like the stars, under Your grace, our souls are purified, pure and spotless like children."
"O Barbarian God, my Heavenly Father, my supreme master, I humbly pray, calling for Your forgiveness and guidance!"
"I was once lost in the swamp of ignorance, my soul tightly entangled by the vines of darkness, and You witnessed my past, knowing the blemishes and sins deep within my heart."
"Your greatness surpasses my sins, Your mercy far exceeds my waywardness."
"I request You to pave a Redemption Road, allow me to embark on this journey, cleanse the sins of the past, and embrace a pure future."
"Let me remain unwavering on the path of redemption, glorifying Your name, until my soul is purified, resonating with Your Divinity!"
Lei Kuang patiently waited until Shun Liang’s long prayer ended, then gently knocked on the door.
There was a sound of movement inside the room, and soon the door opened, revealing Shun Liang.
He was an elder, age had diminished his muscles, but the posture of a warrior remained upright.
He was bare-chested, with a grayish leather skirt around his waist, and his feet were bare, revealing numerous scars on his body.
The scars varied in size, irregularly distributed across his body.
Seeing these scars, Lei Kuang’s eyes immediately filled with envy and admiration. This was the honor of a warrior!
Yet on Shun Liang’s back, there were iron-like branches embedded. There were a dozen branches, and the wounds they caused oozed slight blood with Shun Liang’s movements.
"Great warrior Shun Liang, please forgive my intrusion. You saved my life, yet before expressing my gratitude, I have to seek your help once more." Lei Kuang bowed his head, showing an expression of shame.
Shun Liang slightly shook his head, his voice deep but gentle: "I am no longer the great warrior of the Barbarians, I am merely a sinner."
"Furthermore, I am not your savior."
"I only embarked on the path of redemption, shortly after embedding the twelfth guilt branch, I heard your cry."
"This is the great Barbarian God guiding me; it is His gift of the Redemption Road."
"And now, not long after my prayer, you have come of your own accord. This is also the arrangement of the God, and the redemption road that I will walk next!"
"So, it is I who should be grateful to you."
"Please tell me, what exactly is the matter?"
Lei Kuang’s throat moved, almost uttering "Does the Barbarian God really exist?"
But he swallowed these words, his face filled with greater shame, and only spoke of his current predicament.
"I see." Shun Liang placed a hand over his heart, bowing and praising the deity’s name, "My path of redemption is here."
"I will take action, participate in the duel, challenging the wielder of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding]."
"Ah?" Lei Kuang was startled.
Shun Liang said, "You are uncertain about the true capabilities of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding]. Your predicament lies in how to seek reinforcements from the Ice Sculpture Kingdom."
"When I demonstrate the power of the Barbarians, I believe the Ice Sculpture Royal Family will take your request more seriously."
"This nation’s dueling culture is strong; it is time to showcase our tribe’s strength."
...
The military official approached Bao Ligen: "There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Bao Ligen: "The good news?"
The military official said: "The data from our last duel is out, and it’s quite impressive."
Bao Ligen was delighted: "Does that mean I can challenge that guy Long Fu?"
The military official shook his head: "Not yet; an unexpected event has occurred."
"Someone is challenging you."
Bao Ligen’s face fell, anger rising: "Who?!"
The military official said: "The former great warrior of the Barbarians—Shun Liang."
Bao Ligen’s expression froze, incredulous: "A great warrior? A Holy Domain Level expert is challenging me?"
The military official shook his head: "Shun Liang was once a great warrior, but now he is just a fallen sinner, reduced to Golden Level."
"However, you must not underestimate him."
"If he dares to challenge you after you’ve showcased the superior performance of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding], he must be confident."
"This is a State Guest stepping forward. Thus, we must respond!"
"If you want to deal with Long Fu, it will have to wait."
"Humph!" Bao Ligen had no choice but to grit his teeth and nod.
...
At the largest dueling field in the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital, the Dragon-man youth came to watch the match once again.
This time, it’s a Barbarian sinner—Chun Liang, publicly challenging the controller of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding]—Bao Ligen!
As soon as both parties appeared on the scene, it sparked heated discussions throughout the venue.
Bao Ligen was fully equipped, while Chun Liang bore the Sin Branches on his back, with empty hands and no equipment. The contrast between the two was stark.
The audience’s attention was drawn to the Black Iron-like Sin Branches behind Chun Liang.
"He really is a sinner!"
"Forcibly inserting branches into their bodies, Barbarians sure are crazy."
"Hiss... That looks painful."
"It’s not just physical pain. The negative impact of the Sin Branches covers the entire body, increasing an immense burden. Meanwhile, it brings mental depression. Despite Chun Liang’s expressionless face, with every action he takes, intense pain bursts from his body and mind, piercing and excruciating!"
"He’s bearing a dozen Sin Branches; what crime did he commit to endure such inhuman torture?"
The audience speculated with fascination, intensely curious.
But information on Chun Liang was limited, and after much investigation, it was found that he was once a great Barbarian warrior. He was previously at Holy Domain, now downgraded to Golden Level.
Bao Ligen, with a serious expression, began to actively attack.
Chun Liang primarily focused on evasion.
Bao Ligen used combat skills and two attack components of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding], with an increasing density of attacks.
Chun Liang stood barefoot on the ground, his movements simple and unpretentious, without any extravagance.
The vast majority of attacks were evaded by him, giving the impression of ease.
"Evasion intuition!" Bao Ligen realized internally.
Barbarian warriors lived on the Frost Continent, enduring harsh ice tests. Some battle-hardened, gifted Barbarian warriors could rely on natural honing to train their spirit and will, thereby mastering this evasive ability.
Barbarians with evasion intuition faced sieges fearlessly, able to dodge complex dense attacks in a very short time, relying solely on intuition without needing to think.
Just like now, as Chun Liang demonstrated.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge, let’s see how long you can keep dodging?" Initially very wary, Bao Ligen felt humiliated upon finding that Chun Liang was only dodging without any offensive posture, and in his anger, his attacks became more wild.
He relied on the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding] for defense while consuming his own fighting energy continuously, unleashing combat skills, many of which covered wide areas one after another, gradually engulfing Chun Liang.
Boom, boom, boom...
Huge clouds of smoke gradually spread, shrouding the battlefield.
An astonishing aura suddenly arose within the smoke, blowing the surrounding smoke clear, making the battlefield distinct.
Once the smoke completely dispersed, Chun Liang stood unfalteringly.
His whole body was surrounded by Golden Fighting Spirit.
Some of these energies appeared linear, weaving into the shape of a Mammoth; others gathered into chunks, resembling armor covering the Mammoth’s surface. Yet, others twirled in spirals, twisting into long Mammoth tusks.
Chun Liang’s body hovered, about a meter above the ground, positioned within the fighting energy Mammoth.
Form—Mammoth!
The crowd gasped.
"What is this thing?"
"I’ve never seen such a special combat skill before."
"A form, this is a form! It’s a fighter’s technique that surpasses [force]!"
The Dragon-man youth instinctively sat upright.
He had been rushing these days, learning the form [War General] from Long Meng.
It was difficult; he could never learn it.
His extraordinary warrior talent finally faced a severe challenge.
"Unexpectedly, this Barbarian Chun Liang could use [Form]!" The Dragon-man youth focused intently, as this was an excellent learning opportunity.
"What kind of weird thing is this?" Bao Ligen snorted coldly and continued to attack.
However, many combat skills hit the Mammoth Form and were almost all blocked.
The Dragon-man youth was alerted, immediately analyzing: "The Mammoth Form contains Defensive Fighting Skills of Ice Armor!"
The fighting energy Mammoth lowered its head, lifted its spiral long tusk.
In the next moment, it sprang forward, so fast that a residual image formed in the naked eye!
Bao Ligen thought for a moment, activated a defense component, first forming a spherical shield, then condensed into a single-arm ice shield.
However, the moment the Mammoth Tusk collided with the sphere, it suddenly grew larger and thicker, becoming sharp as a blade.
After slight obstruction, the Mammoth Tooth Blade pierced through the light sphere shield smoothly, then struck the ice shield.
Bao Ligen’s battle experience was very rich, his heart jumped, he hurriedly half-kneeled on the ground, raising the ice shield over his head at an angle.
This move saved him.
The Mammoth Tooth Blade’s impact force mostly deflected, but the thick tusks exhibited a sharp side during the fierce friction with the shield surface.
Bao Ligen pulled away in time, directly discarded the ice shield.
A short second of friction almost cut the ice shield into two.
The Dragon-man youth’s eyes lit up: "The Mammoth Tusk’s form change is clearly a combat skill. But the tusks are not sharp, yet have a cutting effect. This is imbued with [Cutting Force]!"