Two days later, just as Stone Village was holding the children's baptism, teams of powerful figures came rushing toward the mountains. They were going to enter the range. There were tribes riding silver unicorn horses, scions of lords standing on huge beast bones as they flew low along the ground, and domineering figures seated on jiao bodies, crossing the sky.
"Ah, Grandpa, look! This village's guardian spirit is so strange. Why is it an old willow tree charred by lightning? It only has one tender branch left."
A Snow Feather was five or six meters long, flowing with pure white radiance, extremely holy. An old man stood on it, along with two youths and two pretty little girls, beautiful as elves, their eyes bright and full of life.
"What a strange guardian spirit. It still isn't dead even like this, with only one tender shoot left. It must be extraordinary. After being struck by lightning, it nurtured a supreme new life force. It must be a rare supreme treasure. No one fight me for it, that willow branch is mine!" A five- or six-year-old child was still more than ten meters above the ground when he leaped down from the jiao.
"What village is this? How could it have such a guardian spirit?" Among another clan's people, a youth stared in shock at the pitch-black old Willow Tree.
"There's something odd about it. It suffered a great calamity and was reborn amid destruction. Its only tender shoot must be a supreme treasure!" someone else said.
"You all want to fight me for it? Go ahead and try. Let's see who the number one genius really is!" the child who had jumped down from the jiao sneered.
"Fine, then let's have a duel. This time, we'll bet treasures. Don't take anything