Chapter 161: Nuo
Chapter 161: Nuo
The dawn of the new era held profound significance for the Dream Realm, second only to the Chaotic Opening Era when Zuo Meng first awakened—the age of Old Turtle and the others. That earlier time marked Zuo Meng’s rise from primordial ignorance to become the Creator, representing the beginning. This new era symbolized the world’s ascension and maturation.
When governing the lower realms, Zuo Meng had established rules for the Six Halls small world, shaping it into a Martial Arts domain overseen by the Heavenly Court. Any strong individuals from this small world who achieved Shatter the Void would be guided by the Immortal Realm’s administrators into the Dream Realm.
For the upper world of the Dream Realm, Zuo Meng imposed no rigid structures, allowing it to evolve naturally. This freedom granted its inhabitants greater potential and abundant resources. The spiritual energy here was ten times denser than in the Six Halls small world, with certain rare locations boasting concentrations a hundredfold higher.
“This fulfills my promise to you. Go.”
Zuo Meng reached into the fabric of the previous era and extracted a spirit, casting it into the Great World’s cycle of Rebirth. As the sole arbiter of reincarnation in a world without inherent reincarnation, he alone held this power.
The spirit hovered briefly, swayed, then vanished into the earth—its destination and time of rebirth unknown.
This was Jie Ming’s spirit.
During their cosmic game, Zuo Meng had vowed to grant Jie Ming new life. True to his word as Creator, he not only reincarnated Jie Ming but also bestowed upon him a thread of destiny. This gift might one day elevate Jie Ming to the pinnacle of the Dream Realm as a true immortal wielding partial authority—a concept Zuo Meng had adapted from the Origin World. Now matured into a Great World, the Dream Realm could sustain such beings.
“You too shall go.”
After brief contemplation, Zuo Meng released several other spirits connected to him through past bonds. These received only Rebirth, no special fortune. Their future paths would depend solely on their own efforts.
His tasks completed, Zuo Meng stepped into the Dream Realm disguised as an ordinary hunter, silently observing the land’s transformations.
The You Qiong tribe’s retribution came swiftly.
Having stolen their bloodline training methods, Nuo fled into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Enraged, the tribe chief ordered his bloodline warriors to hunt the fugitive across dozens of peaks. But Nuo—born of these wilds—melted into the terrain like fish in water, evading capture completely.
“These wildmen remain faithless jackals!”
The tribe’s wrath fell upon all wildmen, including those who’d guarded young lady Xi alongside Nuo. Their tendons severed, the punished were left to die slowly in the mountains—harsh proof of wildmen’s worthlessness in tribal eyes. Even Xi could only watch helplessly.
As their former captors disappeared, the abandoned wildmen cursed not their chief but Nuo, whose actions had doomed them.
“Nuo!!”
Their final cries of hatred echoed through stone valleys, leaving only bleached bones behind.
Meanwhile, the culprit hid in a remote hollow for three months, memorizing every detail of the stolen bloodline training methods before burning the animal hide record.
“Blood Transference.”
Emerging from his cave, Nuo hunted a beast for sustenance. After eating, he squinted at the midday sun, then trudged deeper into uncharted mountains.
Though the You Qiong tribe claimed dominion over the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, their control resembled a flag planted in endless wilderness—nominal at best. Even lifelong wildmen couldn’t fathom the range’s true breadth.
“This way.”
Nuo now understood why his former homeland had been seized: it grew rare blue Grass Girl plants vital to bloodline cultivation. Unable to return, he sought another patch remembered from hunting trips.
“Nearly there.”
A distinctive square boulder confirmed his path.
Nuo imagined the chief’s fury and his fellow wildmen’s suffering but felt no remorse. To escape perpetual servitude justified any cost. Any guilt toward those punished faded quickly—their bonds had been as shallow as quarreling monkeys in shared trees.
To tribespeople, wildmen were barely human. This contempt explained why the Da Feng young lord scorned them.
“Here.”
Nuo reached a valley housing a kinship group—a dozen wildmen bound by blood rather than tribe. Most such groups in the mountains lacked even language, communicating through grunts. Nuo’s literacy came from Xi’s teachings during his time with the Da Feng tribe—knowledge enabling him to decipher the stolen methods.
Halting at the valley’s edge, Nuo hurled stones at the dwelling’s entrance three times—the wildman’s protocol to avoid deadly territorial clashes.
“Who comes?”