Chapter 272: The Tribe

Standing five zhang away from the middle-aged man, Zhang Nuo sensed a biting murderous intent in his eyes. This made Zhang Nuo's heart tremble slightly; why would the other party show such an expression the moment they met? Could it be that they had some past grievance?

After pondering it repeatedly for a moment, Zhang Nuo was absolutely certain that he had never seen this person before! His figure came to an abrupt halt, not daring to walk forward any further, and he carefully watched the middle-aged man who was struggling against a demon beast.

"Hi!"

A low roar came from the middle-aged man's mouth, and then he saw the man leap several zhang high into the air. The Ghost Head Blade in his hand expanded wildly, transforming into a blade shadow about two zhang long, splitting the demon beast in two.

"Spirit Power fluctuation?"

The moment the middle-aged man struck, Zhang Nuo felt the Spirit Power fluctuation coming from his Ghost Head Blade. He hadn't expected that there was still a tiny bit of Spirit Power inside this person's body, though it looked like he had reached the end of his rope after swinging that blade!

Ignoring Zhang Nuo, the middle-aged man took the Demon Core from the demon beast's corpse, then glanced at him with contempt and turned to leave the place.

"Fellow Daoist, please stay!"

Seeing that the other party was about to leave, Zhang Nuo immediately ran up. The middle-aged man was slightly stunned, threw the Ghost Head Blade and the Demon Core into his Storage Bag, and then stood still, staring at the youth running toward him.

When Zhang Nuo arrived in front of the middle-aged man, the man couldn't help but feel a sense of misery, though he couldn't explain why. The youth before him exuded a strange aura, and on his honest and simple face, there was a faint sense of deathly aura permeating.

"Fellow Daoist, may I ask where this place is?"

With a smile on his face, Zhang Nuo put on a harmless appearance, yet the middle-aged man remained on guard!

"You don't know where this is? Then how did you get in?"

His tone was blunt. The big man looked up at the sky above his head, then looked at Zhang Nuo and said. The faint light of the torch in his hand flickered between the two, making the surrounding atmosphere feel very tense.

"I was sucked in by the Mi Hai Vortex!"

Although the other party was very rude, Zhang Nuo dared not get angry and could only suppress his temper as he spoke.

"So it's another unlucky bastard!"

With a cold laugh, the middle-aged man seemed to be gloating, and then he continued:

"For the sake of us both being human cultivators, I'll take you back to the Tribe!"

Upon hearing the word "Tribe," Zhang Nuo's mouth hung open in shock. What kind of place was this? How could a force like a tribe exist?

The middle-aged man offered no further explanation and turned around to walk into the distance. Seeing that he relied entirely on walking, Zhang Nuo guessed that this person must be a cultivator who relied on Spirit Power. Now, at the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex, the Spiritual Qi was thin, not enough for him to control a flight light.

Not immediately revealing that he could control a flight light, Zhang Nuo followed straight behind. After walking for nearly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the big man still didn't make a sound, just kept his head down and walked. Finally unable to hold back, Zhang Nuo spoke up.

"My name is Zhang Nuo. May I ask for your honorable name, Fellow Daoist?"

"My compound surname is Diwu, and my given name is Yufu!"

"Diwu Yufu!"

Hearing the middle-aged man introduce himself, Zhang Nuo felt a bit surprised; it was the first time he had heard such a strange name.

"May I ask, Fellow Daoist Diwu, what kind of place is the Tribe you mentioned?"

"Hmph! It's just a small group formed by a bunch of cultivators who were sucked into the Mi Hai Vortex and didn't die. Living here is truly worse than death!"

After briefly explaining the formation of the Tribe, Diwu Yufu, who seemed to hate life in the Tribe, continued:

"Once you're in the Tribe, you must obey the Leader's arrangements! Otherwise, you won't have a good time!"

At this point, Diwu Yufu suddenly turned around and asked in a low voice:

"Do you still have Spiritual Qi in your body?"

Seeing his manner, as if he were very afraid of others knowing, Zhang Nuo shook his head suspiciously. Seeing this, Diwu Yufu sighed lightly and continued walking forward.

After about two hours, the two finally arrived at the entrance of a Zhai. This Zhai covered nearly a hundred zhang and was built by piling up many large stones. The gate was also extremely crude, woven from things that looked like vines.

On the ramparts of the Zhai, a few weak flames flickered. At this time, Diwu Yufu shouted toward the inside of the Zhai:

"It's me! Diwu is back, open the gate quickly!"

Following this shout, many footsteps came from inside the Zhai, and then the gate was opened. Diwu Yufu led Zhang Nuo inside.

As soon as they entered, they saw several cultivators wearing animal skins staring straight at Zhang Nuo. At this time, an old man of about seventy years old asked.

"I say, where did you get this guy? He wouldn't be as unlucky as us, getting sucked in by the Mi Hai Vortex, would he?"

"Wu Lao, you guessed right. This kid was just sucked in, so I brought him directly to the Zhai."

Diwu Yufu said, pointing at Zhang Nuo behind him.

"Alas, we are all fellow sufferers at the ends of the earth!"

The old man called Wu Lao looked very dejected and let out a long sigh.

"The harvest this time out was not bad; I obtained a third-grade Demon Core. I'm going to hand it to the Leader now, and also take this newcomer to see the Leader!"

Zhang Nuo used his Divine Sense to scan the people around him. These people had no trace of Spirit Power fluctuation on them, just like mortals. It seemed that having been trapped here for many years, the cultivation in their bodies had long since gone to waste.

Following behind Diwu Yufu, the two walked through the Zhai. They saw many Stone Houses built here, and many male and female cultivators walked on the street. When they discovered Zhang Nuo, this new face, they all shook their heads with bitter smiles, as if pitying him!

A moment later, the two finally arrived in front of a larger Stone House. In front of the Stone House, there were two guards on duty; it seemed the person here was extremely important!

"Please trouble yourself to report that Diwu is back!"

Facing these two guards, Diwu Yufu was very respectful and dared not be the least bit presumptuous!

"Got it, wait a moment!"

One of the guards glanced at Diwu Yufu with disdain, then walked into the Stone House very reluctantly! Zhang Nuo's thoughts shifted slightly; he hadn't expected that in such a small Zhai, a mere Leader would have such airs that one needed to be announced to see him.

Before long, the guard walked out from inside and said in a very unkind tone:

"Go in!"

Giving a light response, Diwu Yufu led Zhang Nuo into the Stone House. They saw a man of about fifty years old sitting on the main seat of the Stone House, with a half-length beard on his chin, a sallow complexion, but eyes shooting out sharp light! It seemed he was the so-called Leader!

Standing beside the sallow-faced man was a female cultivator of about twenty years old. This woman was quite pretty, but there was a hint of seductiveness between her brows that made one feel disgusted at first sight.

"Greetings, Leader!"

Diwu Yufu bowed deeply to the man on the main seat and said.

"En! How was the harvest today!"

The sallow-faced man raised his eyelids very lazily, and then his voice came out slowly.

"Obtained a third-grade Demon Core!"

As he spoke, Diwu Yufu took that Demon Core out from his Storage Bag and handed it forward with both hands; at this moment, the enchanting woman standing beside the green-faced man moved with light steps, walked up close to Diwu Yufu, extended two jade fingers to pinch it, took the Demon Core, and then slowly returned to the green-faced man's side.

Taking the Demon Core from the woman's hand, the green-faced man looked at it, and a trace of a smile finally appeared on his calm face!

"Not bad! I will record a great merit for you! Hmm? Who is the person behind you?"

Only at this moment did the green-faced man notice Zhang Nuo, his expression suddenly sinking as he asked with great displeasure.

"Oh, he is a cultivator who was recently swept in by the Mi Hai Vortex; I brought him to see the Leader!"

Hearing this, the green-faced man sized Zhang Nuo up a few times, his eyeballs rolling around as he said:

"Since he has come, let him be used by me; you take him down first, teach him some of the rules here, and starting tomorrow, assign him tasks as well!"

"Yes!"

Diwu Yufu gave a response, then led Zhang Nuo out of the Stone House! From the moment Zhang Nuo met the so-called Leader, the other party had not spoken a single word to him.

Just after walking out of the Stone House, Diwu Yufu let out a long breath, and with his expression slightly softening, he said to Zhang Nuo:

"You will stay with me for now today; tomorrow, find the Elder in charge to assign you a room!"

Zhang Nuo had too many questions in his heart, so he answered softly and followed behind Diwu Yufu, walking toward their living quarters.

Diwu Yufu's living quarters was a very small Stone House, inside which only a table and a bed were placed; on top of the table sat a dilapidated oil lamp, which looked like it had been there for some years.

Lighting the oil lamp, the inside of the Stone House immediately brightened; Zhang Nuo had not spoken the whole time, because along the way here, he had seen many cultivators, both men and women, old and young, but these people all shared one common trait: there were no Spirit Power fluctuations on their bodies!

"If you want to ask something, ask quickly! I am very tired today and want to rest early!"

Diwu Yufu sat on the bed, gazed at Zhang Nuo, and said indifferently.

Seeing this, Zhang Nuo did not stand on ceremony and directly asked the question he was most concerned about in his heart.

"Why does that Leader in the Zhai make you so afraid?"

"Hmph! If you had witnessed his power, you wouldn't ask me that! You know that Spiritual Qi is scarce at the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex, so for us cultivators, even if our cultivation is heaven-defying, we can only stare helplessly once we arrive here, unable to use any of our cultivation. As for the Leader, before he entered this place, he was a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, and he was also a Body Refining practitioner! Even without Spiritual Qi replenishment, his formidable physical body is still the strongest in the entire Zhai!"

Zhang Nuo gasped, never having expected that even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator would end up in such a plight after being swept into the Mi Hai Vortex!