Shi Yi's Challenge?

"Shi Hao, what kind of route did you lead us down?!"

Stone Script wrapped around Shi Jue's hands as he grabbed Shi Hao by the neck and shook him relentlessly, his expression on the verge of collapse.

Seeing Shi Hao's carefree grin, Shi Jue immediately got angry. "Tell me, how many times has this been already?!"

Shi Hao had won their earlier game of rock-paper-scissors, so he had been put in charge of leading them through the Great Wilderness, spanning more than three hundred thousand li.

The result was that the road had not gone smoothly at all; it had only become harder and harder. Just now, Shi Hao had led Qing Feng and him into what he claimed was a cave for exploration, and then everything went dark.

That cave had been the gaping mouth of a giant python. Fortunately, Shi Jue had circulated Bone Script over his entire body, forming a suit of armor that blocked the digestive fluid. Otherwise, he would have emerged naked. Shi Hao and Qing Feng's beast-hide clothes, meanwhile, were tattered and covered in scraps of flesh and blood.

"I thought there was treasure inside. Who knew that python had disguised itself so well?" Shi Hao spread his hands.

"Good grief, try acting normal. Otherwise, before we even leave the Great Wilderness, we'll end up as Fierce Beast dung!" Shi Jue felt exhausted.

"Fine, I'll go tame a Fierce Beast!"

After saying that, Shi Hao dashed into the mountain forest, leaving Shi Jue and Shi Qingfeng staring blankly where they stood. Before long, sounds of fighting came from within the woods.

"Little Qing Feng, is it especially fun following Shi Hao around?" Shi Jue asked with a smile.

"It's not bad. Following big brother is pretty thrilling."

Thinking of everything he had experienced since Shi Hao had taken him away, Shi Qingfeng revealed an awkward yet polite smile.

"Guys, get up here! This bird I caught is big enough." Shi Hao emerged from the forest, dragging a Fierce Bird whose head was covered in lumps.

"Shi Hao, can this thing still fly?" Shi Jue asked skeptically.

"It can. I only knocked it unconscious. Its body's perfectly fine."

With no other choice, the three of them could only ride this Fierce Bird, since all the other Fierce Beasts had been frightened away.

It could fly, but it swayed and staggered as though it were drunk. Shi Qingfeng's face turned pale, and his heart pounded. It won't fall halfway through the journey, will it?

Fortunately, there was no real danger. The Fierce Bird flew for several days before it finally could not fly any farther, and only then did the three of them let it go.

Over the next half year, the three of them suffered greatly. Fierce Beasts appeared from time to time. While crossing mountains, they encountered giant ants several meters tall, whose mandibles could easily crush hard rocks. Passing through forests, they ran into brightly colored spiders around ten meters long that could spit highly poisonous silk. While crossing rivers, dozens of crocodiles more than ten meters long attacked them, while vicious electric eels shocked the three of them half to death.

Still, they had obtained some precious Spiritual Medicine, ores, and Fierce Beast Treasure Blood. These were immensely useful to people like them, who had possessed nothing at all.

"We're finally out!"

After passing through the last ten-thousand-li forest, the three finally saw a road marked by people and carriage wheels. They burst into tears of joy.

They had finally crossed that deadly Great Wilderness and reached the borderlands of Stone Country.

"Three Heavenly Passages. I'm still far behind you, Shi Hao!" A third azure Heavenly Passage appeared to the left of Shi Jue's body, drawing in the Spiritual Essence of heaven and earth. It transformed into gushing azure "magma" that flowed steadily before entering Shi Jue's body.

Over the past half year, the injuries he had suffered in the era of Shrouding the Heavens had completely healed, allowing him to successfully open his third Heavenly Passage.

Shi Hao, meanwhile, already had six Heavenly Passages and could open his seventh at any time.

"What are you in such a hurry for? At worst, I'll look after you in the future, brother. What's the big deal?" Shi Hao patted his chest and vowed confidently.

Shi Jue believed Shi Hao truly could do it, but Shi Hao might not necessarily have the leisure to look after him in the future.

"Don't say that too soon. Maybe I'll become stronger than you someday, and then I'll be the one looking after you."

Shi Qingfeng did not join in. He merely smiled without saying anything. His two brothers bickered every so often, and he had already grown used to this atmosphere.

"Shi Jue, how much longer before you can enter the Void God Realm?" As they passed through a city, they sensed the aura of the Void God Realm within. Shi Hao immediately recalled having been expelled. For someone as heaven-defying and divinely martial as him, it was a humiliation he could not forget.

"Another three or four months, probably. Only a little over half a year has passed. What, are you thinking of destroying another monument?"

"No. I just want to know what information there is in the Void God Realm now." Shi Hao shook his head.

"Qing Feng, go take a look. Find Bird Lord, the one with a bird on his shoulder. Crystal Wall Grandfather will be with him. Tell them you're the friend of the most... Yin, then ask around for some news." Shi Hao had almost said his own title, but he truly could not bring himself to say it, so he could only use Shi Jue's title instead.

"Okay." Shi Qingfeng nodded.

Shi Jue did not mind Shi Hao using his title. Qing Feng would find out soon enough anyway; what was the difference if it was a little later?

"Wait. While you're at it, shout loudly that Yin is at Heaven Mending Pavilion. Anyone whose head is itching can come over. Don't be afraid of being attacked—Bird Lord and the others will protect you."

"Got it." Shi Qingfeng sat down cross-legged on the spot and focused his mind. Shi Hao and Shi Jue stood guard for him, preventing anyone else from disturbing him.

Near dusk, Shi Qingfeng's consciousness returned from the Void God Realm to his body, and he opened his eyes.

"How was it? What did you hear?" Shi Hao asked impatiently.

"Big brother, I didn't expect your and Brother Jue's reputations to be so famous. The moment I spoke, a huge crowd quickly gathered around."

"Bad reputations, right?" Shi Jue said with a smile.

"Uh... indeed. Things like being hated by gods and men, Big Black Hand... being expelled... almost everyone knew about it," Shi Qingfeng said quietly.

Shi Hao's face immediately darkened. It was not the records themselves that bothered him, but the matter of being expelled. Even now, he still could not let it go. If he could enter, he would have robbed all those people who had laughed the hardest.

"And Brother Jue, I said what you told me too. A few people said they wanted to meet you. One was called Shi Yi. He said he wanted to see big brother and also spar with you, Brother Jue." Shi Qingfeng told them all the news he had heard.

"Big brother, I wonder whether that bone of mine works well!" Upon hearing that name, a smile appeared on Shi Hao's pretty little face.

He did not hold any particularly deep hatred toward Shi Yi. Otherwise, it would affect his state of mind and hinder his cultivation. He only knew that a battle between him and Shi Yi was inevitable, one that would settle the karmic grievance of the bone being taken.

"I think Shi Yi has more or less guessed your identity. This time should only be a test. He's currently around the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm and hasn't reached the Extreme Realm yet, so he can't beat you." Shi Yi had proposed a spar, but Shi Jue had no interest at all—unless Shi Yi was willing to fight in the Void God Realm.