Darkness, thick as ink, was impossible to disperse, and Zhu Bufan found himself feeling as if he was stuck in a quagmire, unable to extricate himself.

A sliver of light pierced through the impenetrable darkness. Upon seeing this light, Zhu Bufan struggled desperately towards it like a moth to a flame. As he drew closer, the rare light grew stronger, until finally, a white brilliance obscured Zhu Bufan's vision.

"Have you awakened?" Struggling to open his eyes, Zhu Bufan heard an ancient voice asking him. After adjusting to the light around him, Zhu Bufan looked up at the person speaking to him, and immediately, he broke into a cold sweat in fright.

At this moment, Zhu Bufan found himself in a wooden hut completely constructed of wood, and the person who had just spoken to him had skin all over his body that was dark green. His deep-set eye sockets had no eyeballs, only two dots of firelight, and his silver-gray hair was tied into braids.

The person's emaciated figure and a face full of wrinkles made it seem as if the old man was too weak to even stand up. His equally silver-gray long beard was also braided and hung over his chest, and on the chest of the old man, there was a blue tattoo-like pattern resembling a medicine gourd.

"Are you... from the Medicine Clan?" Seeing the old man's eerie appearance, Zhu Bufan swallowed and asked in a hoarse voice. By this time, Zhu Bufan had realized that his entire body, except for his head which could barely move and his mouth which could speak, had lost all sensation, and he was struggling so much that he could not turn his head to fully understand what had happened to him.

"Medicine Clan, is it? So that's what people call our clan nowadays..." The old man's deep-set eyes gazed out of the window as he continued in a weathered tone: "Perhaps people nowadays really do refer to us as the 'Medicine Clan,' but in fact, we prefer the ancient name you used to call us by, the Shennong Clan."

"Shennong? The Jiuli Clan?" Hearing the old man claim to be from the Shennong Clan, Zhu Bufan's mind flashed back to what Emperor Yan had told him about the Jiuli Clan.

"It seems you're aware of the existence of our Jiuli Clan, hehe, very good, very good." Glancing at Zhu Bufan, a mysterious glow passed through the old man's deep-set eyes, sending a chill down Zhu Bufan's spine.

"Where are my companions? Where exactly are they? Weren't there five of us together?" After looking around and not finding any trace of Huo Ling and the others, Zhu Bufan shouted loudly at the old man.

"Hehe, don't worry, they are all fine. Instead, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself first? It's about time, shouldn't you be feeling sensations in your body now?" With a chuckle, Zhu Bufan saw the old man pull out a colorfully striped poisonous snake from the cloth bag on his waist, bite off its head and begin to chew. The snake's body, from which the head had been bitten off, flopped about as strands of black blood trickled down from the old man's mouth corners, eerily and ominously.

However, before Zhu Bufan could feel nauseous from such a feeding scene, he began to feel sensation in his originally numb body, but it was intense pain! A soul-piercing agony so unbearable that most people couldn't withstand even a second of it!

"Ah!!!"

As the sensations returned, Zhu Bufan could now lower and turn his head to see his current condition. Turning his head, Zhu Bufan immediately let out an angry roar, as his body was covered with countless bites from poisonous insects, tightly packed with strands of black blood oozing from the wounds.

Several silver-glowing long needles entered Zhu Bufan's field of vision, gently trembling as Zhu Bufan slightly moved; from the feeling, Zhu Bufan knew his entire back, or rather his whole spine, was filled with these needles, sending continuous throbbing pain, forcing Zhu Bufan to turn his head and glare fiercely at the old man.

"What exactly do you want? I have no grudges with you! Why do you do this! If you're going to kill, give me a quick death, not this despicable torture!!" Thinking that Huo Ling and the others might have been treated similarly, Zhu Bufan was instantly furious, his eyes swiftly clouded with blood.

"Very good, very good! Truly a person of superior bloodline, rest assured, you are the only one receiving this treatment. Moreover, it's a crucial time now, so it's better if you stay calm." Seeing that Zhu Bufan, after recognizing his condition, did not beg for mercy but looked like he wanted to kill him, the old man laughed and then took out a palm-sized, furry poisonous spider and began to chew it. After swallowing the spider, he came over to Zhu Bufan and blew a puff of purple mist towards him.

A gust of pungent, fishy odor assailed Zhu Bufan's nostrils, plunging his consciousness into a state of confusion. Just before losing consciousness, Zhu Bufan thought, 'How long has it been since this girl brushed her teeth?'

Waking up once again from utter darkness, Zhu Bufan had no idea how many days had passed. Just awakened, he still felt completely weak. Looking around, he realized he was still in the same wooden cabin as last time. However, this time, he found himself placed inside a wooden barrel, with only his head exposed. The barrel was filled with a thick, purple paste-like liquid churning around, occasionally bringing up dead bodies of spiders, centipedes, and other poisonous insects, causing goosebumps to surge on Zhu Bufan.

"Oh, you woke up earlier than I expected. Not bad," the old man, meditating in the cabin, opened his deep-set, hollow eyes and spoke as he looked toward Zhu Bufan.

"Old man, you've tormented me enough. Now do you want to stew and eat me as well? Could you just kill me quickly? Isn't it just a swift cut? Why torture me like this?" Looking around at the rising corpses of the poisonous insects, Zhu Bufan finally managed a bitter smile, clueless about how he ended up in this situation, not even knowing how to begin regretting.

"Stew and eat? Heh heh, my boy, do you know how many precious things are in that poison water soaking you? Just the deadly poisonous insects alone number thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and sixty-two. Even this old man wouldn't dare to try them casually, how to eat it? Heh heh."

"Old man! Don't go too far! By the way, where is my weapon? Where is Emperor Yan's War Spear?" Suddenly, Zhu Bufan shouted loudly at the old man. Knowing Emperor Yan's character, if he had been captured, Emperor Yan would surely come to his rescue, but if there was still no news from Emperor Yan, then something must have happened to him.

"Heh heh, your weapon has been much quieter than you. From the day you arrived, this old man has placed it in the Poison Pond. Don't worry, when the time comes, you'll naturally see it."

"Son of a bitch, old man! If you've got the guts, let me out and we'll have a proper fight. What do you mean by this? One moment with needles, another moment stewing me with poison water, are you going to turn me into a salted fish with salt next time?" Each awakening brought such infuriating sights; Zhu Bufan had already lost his patience and began shouting at the old man, who seemed unaffected by Zhu Bufan's roar, merely calmly chewing on a centipede as thick as a palm. As Zhu Bufan cursed, he couldn't resist the growing drowsiness and gradually fell into a deep sleep.

The third time he woke up because he smelled a strong medicinal scent. Opening his eyes, Zhu Bufan first saw that he was soaked in a barrel of dark green, thick medicinal juice, with only his head exposed, similar to before. The churning medicinal juice occasionally revealed a glimpse of the herbs inside.

"Red Blood Purple Dragon Vine, Yougu Grass, Guling Blood Essence... Good, all deadly enough to kill without paying the price. He threw them all in at once." After recognizing a few herbs, Zhu Bufan simply closed his eyes again. He hasn't died up to this point, which means he won't die. Moreover, the visuals this time were much less disturbing than the sight of poisonous insects.

"Boy, not cursing this time when you woke up?" With a mysterious smile on his lips, the old man asked Zhu Bufan.

"To neither live nor die as you please. It's all up to you now. Since we have no personal grudges, please make it quick when you decide to kill me." After giving the old man a sidelong glance, Zhu Bufan closed his eyes again. The old man remained silent, just quietly smiling before entering into meditation again. Observing the old man's behaviors over the past few days, Zhu Bufan suddenly felt that this old man didn't seem intent on harming him.

Not knowing how long the 'medicinal herb bath' of deadly ingredients lasted, when Zhu Bufan opened his eyes for the fourth time, the first thing he saw was the wooden ceiling. At this moment, Zhu Bufan was lying on soft and comfortable animal skins.

Struggling to sit up, Zhu Bufan found that his entire body was wrapped in white cloth strips, resembling bandages. All his possessions like the Storage Ring had already been taken away. When he tried to mobilize his Primordial Qi, he discovered the Qi Vortex was empty, realizing he could not muster any Qi. Suddenly, his heart chilled, and he felt as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss of despair. After striving for so long, he had reverted to being an ordinary person. Such a blow could drive a person mad.

Looking over his body, with everything taken away, the wooden door creaked open. A man with a pale green complexion entered and, seeing Zhu Bufan awake, slightly paused before saying, "Sir, the Shaman wants to see you."

"The Shaman?" Somewhat dazed, Zhu Bufan associated the term with the old man with braided beard he had seen several times before. Carrying a belly full of fury and gnashing hatred, Zhu Bufan dragged his weary body out of the wooden cabin.

Just stepping out of the cabin, Zhu Bufan discovered that this place resembled the Thunder Tribe and other tribal settings, all forming a tribal way of living, with large and small wooden houses making up a scenic view.

Following the robust man from the Shennong Clan, Zhu Bufan quickly arrived at the largest wooden house in the tribe. The man stopped there, turned around and said, "The Shaman is waiting inside. Go in."

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