The Quest for Immortality

After drawing the totem, the Barbarian Tribe elder lit candles on the offering platform.

The origin of these candles’ oil was unknown, made from some Monster Beasts, and when they burned, they gave off a pale green flame and emitted a pungent odor.

Once the candles were burning, the Barbarian Tribe elder pulled his grandson alongside him, kneeling within the blood-red totem before the offering platform.

The elder began to recite a prayer.

The child respectfully knelt there.

The forest-green candles continued to burn.

The candle smoke became heavier.

After an unknown length of time, the blood totem on the ground began to twist, and the blood-colored Demon Monster within the totem seemed to come to life.

Both the Barbarian Tribe elder and the child, having inhaled too much candle smoke, felt dizzy, caught between waking and dreaming, even falling into hallucinations.

It was as if a deep voice was calling out to them.

This voice was ancient and authoritative, not allowing any rebellion.

Their Divine Souls unknowingly left their bodies. Upon reopening their eyes, they discovered the cave in front of them was no longer the same cave.

The stone walls had disappeared, replaced by a door.

A Bronze door with an iron lock, the interlocking fangs at the embedded sections appeared both sinister and majestic.

The child looked a bit frightened.

But the Barbarian Tribe elder seemed to have been there before; he touched his grandson’s forehead, speaking hoarsely:

”Don’t be afraid, come with me to meet the Barbarian God.”

The child timidly nodded.

The Barbarian Tribe elder then bowed before the Bronze door, sincerely reciting: ”Please forgive me, Barbarian God, your believer comes to pay homage.”

Upon completion, the elder continued to kneel, waiting until a response seemed to come from the unseen, as if his audience had been granted.

The iron lock at the door opened as well.

Only then did the elder rise, respectfully pushing open the Bronze door, glancing back at his grandson, and sighed:

”Let’s go.”

The child nodded.

The Barbarian Tribe elder took his grandson’s hand, entering through the Bronze door.

Beyond the Bronze door was a passageway made of bluestone.

This passage existed not in reality but only in a fantasy realm.

The Barbarian Tribe elder, holding his grandson’s hand, walked along this passage with apprehension, unsure how long they walked, until they finally entered a great hall.

The grand hall was entirely forged from bluestone.

In the center was placed an offering table.

Above stood a bizarre stone statue.

The Barbarian Tribe elder didn’t dare to lift his head to look at the statue’s appearance; instead, he trembled as he spoke to his grandson:

”You... lie down on the table.”

”Hmm.” The child obediently lay on the offering table.

The Barbarian Tribe elder carefully tied his grandson’s hands and feet with rope.

His grandson did not resist either.

After tying him up, he said, ”Grandpa, am I going to die?”

The Barbarian Tribe elder trembled all over, his eyes slightly reddening, yet still saying hoarsely, ”Why would you say such a thing at your young age...?”

The child’s gaze was desolate as he said:

”Ada, Ali, that Zhen’er, and even Koda... they all went to serve the Barbarian God but never came back. Am I also going to...?”

The Barbarian Tribe elder, suppressing his pain, asked, ”You... you don’t want to go to serve the Barbarian God?”

But the child shook his head, ”I will go to serve the Barbarian God.”

His voice was somewhat melancholic, ”There is nobody left to play with me, and I’m hungry every day. My father is also missing, not knowing whether he’ll return. Living is meaningless to me; it’s just that...”

The child looked at the Barbarian Tribe elder, ”If I leave, only you will be left alone, grandpa. You must take good care of yourself.”

The old farmer’s cloudy eyes were full of tears.

He nodded gently and spoke comfortingly, ”Don’t worry, the Barbarian God will bless us. The Barbarian God will take care of you too. You take a nap; when you wake up, everything will be over.”

”Hmm...”

The child lay on the offering table, gently responding, and then, unexplainably, felt a lack of spirit, slowly closing his eyes.

The Barbarian Tribe elder looked at his only grandson with a heart full of pain, yet still resolutely kneeling on the ground, silently praying:

”Believer sincerely and fearfully pleads, asking the Barbarian Lord to grant our tribe favorable weather.”

”Plead with the Barbarian Lord to let my tribesmen have food to eat.”

”Shelter my tribesmen to have clothes against the cold.”

”Bless my tribesmen to escape disasters.”

”Protect my tribe so that the warriors going to battle may return safely...”

...

After sincerely praying, the Barbarian Tribe elder then clenched his teeth and said:

”We humbly invite... the Barbarian God to enjoy... our tribe’s offering.”

After saying this, the Barbarian Tribe elder lowered his head heavily to the ground, like a devout statue, motionless.

Who knows how long passed, in the dead silence of the Stone Palace, came the sound of Mountain Stone cracking.

Stone chips rained down, and the stone statue in the center of the grand hall slowly started to move, shedding its rocky facade, revealing a tall and strong body clad in golden divine robes, with cyan-red hues swirling around.

This was the true form of the Barbarian God that the Barbarian Tribe elder’s clan worshiped.

The Barbarian God revealed its true form.

The elder’s heart grew even heavier, not daring to make a single sound.

The dark-cyan Barbarian God stepped to the child’s side on the offering table.

The fresh scent of the offering made it drool slightly at the mouth, but it did not rush to ”feast”, instead, it turned its head to look at the tribe elder, its voice cold and sharp:

”Your faith is no longer sincere.”

The Barbarian Tribe elder slowly stood up.

His left hand clasped a flag, and his right hand grasped a Sacrificial Knife, his clouded eyes revealing both fear of the deity and sharp killing intent.

The Barbarian God gave a cold smile: ”I was puzzled why I felt inexplicable anxiety today. So, it turns out you—this lowly old slave—have harbored disloyalty, contemplating offense against the deity?”

With solemn expression, the elder involuntarily tightened his grip around the Sacrificial Knife.