My classmates chose martial arts and fantasy, but I chose the prehistoric world.

Meng Chuan struggled to sit up straight, circulated the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique, mobilized the remaining magical power in his dantian, and combined it with his abundant qi and blood to slowly repair the injury to his chest and suppress the disordered qi in his body.

At the same time, the Hunyuan Golden Cauldron flew out from between his eyebrows, hovering above his head, casting a clear light to help stabilize his soul and purify the mixed evil energy and demonic poison left by the lizard monster that had invaded his body.

However, his injuries were far too severe.

The bloody mess on his chest was the result of the explosion of the Xuanwu scales and the backlash from the murderous aura, which not only damaged his bones and muscles but also subtly harmed his heart meridian.

Every heartbeat brings excruciating, tearing pain.

The weakness caused by the depletion of essence and blood further blurred consciousness.

Just as he was about to crush the first bone fragment given to him by Houtu and ask her for help—

boom!!

Outside the hall, a deafening roar suddenly erupted without warning!

What followed was the lizard monster's furious roar, and the dull thud of something heavy slamming into the ground!

"Who?! Who are you—ah!!"

The screams abruptly stopped.

Then came an unsettling, deathly silence.

With his last bit of strength, Meng Chuan looked up at the hole he had smashed open.

A series of footsteps!

Heavy and orderly, it made a rustling sound as it stepped on the gravel and sand, heading straight for the stone hall.

Meng Chuan's heart tightened, and he subconsciously clenched his fist, but he didn't even have the strength to lift his arm.

The next moment, the dim light cast from outside the hole was completely blocked by several tall and burly figures.

The light outlined their distinct silhouettes; all of them were over ten feet tall, with broad shoulders, thick backs, and bulging muscles, exuding a primal and ferocious sense of power.

They were dressed in simple animal skins, their bare skin bronze and covered with hideous scars.

The leader was the tallest, almost reaching the dilapidated dome of the stone hall.

He held a bone hammer the size of a door panel, covered with sharp spikes. The hammerhead was stained with dark green, viscous blood that was hissing and corroding bone—the blood of the lizard monster from before.

The group of people standing outside the hole blocked out the light and created a suffocating sense of oppression.

But at that moment, the bone fragment in Meng Chuan's chest became scalding hot!

They are the Witch Clan!

The clear sensations transmitted through the Houtu bone fragments, along with the more rugged and violent fluctuations of qi and blood emanating from these individuals—which shared the same origin as Houtu but were far more intense and violent—allowed Meng Chuan to instantly identify their identities.

"It's inside."

The tall, imposing shaman spoke, his voice like muffled thunder.

He looked down at the bone hammer in his hand, then at Meng Chuan, who was slumped on the ground inside the hole, covered in blood, and frowned.

"Still alive?"

A slightly shorter member of the Wu tribe with a vertical scar on his face peeked over and said, "His breathing is very weak; he's seriously injured."

"A token from the Goddess Houtu."

The third member of the Wu tribe, wielding a stone axe, pointed to the bone fragment in Meng Chuan's arms—there, the bone fragment was emitting a unique fluctuation that only members of the Wu tribe could sense.

The tall shaman nodded, stepped forward, and bowed as he entered through the hole.

The interior of the stone hall was rather low for him, so he had to stoop to enter.

He walked up to Meng Chuan, squatted down, stared at Meng Chuan for two seconds with his copper bell-like eyes, and then looked at the dimly lit Hunyuan Golden Cauldron hanging above his head.

"A primordial spiritual treasure?"

He raised an eyebrow, but there was no greed in his eyes, only a hint of surprise. "No wonder you were able to hold on until now."

He reached out, his hand thick and rough, covered in calluses, and grabbed Meng Chuan's wrist.

Meng Chuan instinctively tried to break free, but was unable to move.

A surge of intense, violent, yet balanced and peaceful vital energy flowed into Meng Chuan's body through his wrist!

Wherever this force passed, Meng Chuan's nearly depleted blood and qi were like parched land receiving rain, spontaneously becoming active and growing!

The gruesome wound on his chest was accompanied by a noticeably faster rate of flesh and blood writhing.

What shocked Meng Chuan even more was that this energy of blood and qi seemed to have a certain resonance with the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique he cultivated!

"Huh?" The tall witch's eyes showed even greater surprise. "Your technique... is quite interesting."

He released his grip and said to the two people behind him, "He's badly injured, but he won't die. Take him back."

The scarred witch stepped forward, grinning and revealing a set of white teeth: "Kid, you're in luck. We were patrolling nearby when we were drawn here by the commotion of your fight with that lizard demon, and that's how we sensed the fluctuations of Lord Houtu's token."

After saying that, he reached out and helped Meng Chuan up. His movements were not gentle, but he carefully avoided the wound on Meng Chuan's chest.

Another axe-wielding sorcerer walked to the edge of the hole and glanced outside: "What should we do with the lizard demon's corpse? It was a mid-stage Xuanxian demon; its inner core and scales are still somewhat useful."

The middle stage of Xuanxian?

Meng Chuan was startled again; no wonder he was so powerful!

"Take them with you."

The tall witch said, taking one last look at the dilapidated stone hall. His gaze swept across the interior, finding nothing unusual, before turning around and saying, "Let's go back."

Meng Chuan was half-supported and half-carried out of the stone hall by the scarred witch.

Outside the hall, the sunlight was blinding.

Within the basin, the dense malevolent energy seemed to have thinned somewhat.

Not far in front of the stone hall, a huge crater was smashed into the ground. At the bottom of the crater was a pool of dark green flesh and broken scales that were difficult to discern in shape, as well as a bone hook broken into several pieces.

The lizard monster, a mid-stage Xuanxian cultivator, was actually blasted to death with a single blow!

Meng Chuan's gaze fell on the bone hammer in the tall witch's hand, and he felt a chill in his heart!

Is this the strength of the Witch Clan?

Pure power, ultimate ferocity!

The tall, powerful sorcerer noticed his gaze and brandished the bone hammer in his hand: "That monster is only good at ambushes and poison... It's utterly helpless in a direct confrontation!"

He spoke casually, as if the bone hammer in his hand was just a fly swatter, and he had merely swatted a fly to death with a casual flick of his wrist.

The scarred witch placed Meng Chuan on the back of a ferocious mount that had been waiting nearby, resembling a giant tiger but covered in scales and bone spikes. He then mounted the mount himself and sat behind Meng Chuan, supporting him firmly.

"Hold on tight, kid. We're taking you back to our tribe's camp nearby."

As the scarred witch spoke, he patted his mount's neck.

The giant tiger mount let out a low roar, and with all four legs exerting force, it leaped forward!

The tall witch clan and the axe-wielding witch clan also leaped onto their mounts, and the three giant beasts transformed into three afterimages, speeding towards Buzhou Mountain.

The wind whistled past my ears, and the scenery on both sides rushed past.

Meng Chuan lay on the back of his mount, waves of chest pain and weakness washing over him, his vision growing increasingly blurry.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he only had time to see the towering mountain shadows stretching to the sky and the outline of a rugged and ancient building constructed of huge stones and trees beneath them.

Witch tribe... tribe...

The thought flashed through my mind, and then everything went black before my eyes, and I was completely plunged into darkness.