Sharing the Pain?

Hu Niu did not know that it was not merely a matter of her being unable to understand. Once she stepped out the door, she would even forget this conversation between Shi Yi and the Willow Deity.

Some things brought no benefit from knowing too much. Even though she was still young, it was the same. Some matters were simply never meant for her to know.

Everyone had their own destiny.

And each person carried a different weight in fate.

Some people exhausted themselves day after day, yet could never stir up any waves.

Others could turn the entire world upside down because of a single thought.

This was the result of different people holding different proportions of fate's weight within the world. Shi Yi was someone whose fate carried great weight.

His every casual action would change far too many things.

Favored by heaven and earth, blessed by fortune.

Indeed.

A steadfast Dao heart was the staircase to success, but if one's luck was too poor, one might very well die a humiliating death after stepping barefoot on some venomous insect.

There were many hardworking people in this world.

But there were not many lucky ones.

For a person to succeed, a steadfast Dao heart was merely the foundation.

To achieve success, one's own luck was equally indispensable.

Compared to a steadfast Dao heart, something one could see and grasp, luck was an intangible existence, impossible to seek and impossible to find.

Great achievers could not do without great fortune and great effort. Shi Yi's luck was fairly good for now, but without great effort, he still could not become someone remarkable.

So-called great effort was one's Dao heart, something that could be shaped after birth. But luck... bluntly speaking, if one did not have that fate, then one simply did not have it.

Defy the heavens and change one's fate?

Little did they know, that too was part of fate.

From beginning to end, no one had escaped fate.

Because those capable of changing their own fate usually had no need to change it at all, while those incapable of changing fate naturally could not change their fate.

The next day.

Early in the morning, as the sun rose.

The men, women, old, and young of Stone Village got up eagerly to begin a new day. However, they unexpectedly discovered that many Prehistoric Ferocious Beasts and Desolate Variants had died outside Stone Village.

Looking up.

The towering Willow Tree at the center of Stone Village had branches glowing with a faint jade-green light.

Clearly.

Many Prehistoric Ferocious Beasts and Desolate Variants had tried to charge into Stone Village last night, seeking to seize the Ancient Descendant's true blood and flesh. In the end, they had all died outside the village.

"All of Stone Village thanks the Willow Deity for protecting Stone Village!"

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng took the lead. From the elderly to three-year-old children, everyone in Stone Village knelt down. Only the sleep-loving Shi Yi remained inside, sleeping soundly.

He was too tired.

Because his Cavern Heaven could continuously draw in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth from the outside world, his body was not tired. It was mainly mental exhaustion.

During these past few months of training outside, he had never had a chance to sleep at night. It had been a very, very long time since he had slept so sweetly.

Last night.

After eating her fill, Hu Niu had fallen asleep on Shi Yi's bed. There was no need for propriety; from Aunt Hu, her own mother, to everyone in Stone Village, they all wished Shi Yi and Hu Niu would develop some special relationship.

Unfortunately.

Leaving aside the fact that Shi Yi had not reached that age yet and was willing but unable—he had to be at least ten—there was also the Willow Deity nearby. He could not possibly act recklessly.

After staying up with the Willow Deity until midnight, Shi Yi had fallen asleep beside Hu Niu. The Willow Deity silently watched them for several minutes before her humanoid Law Body gradually vanished.

Small as he was, he had quite the nerve!

At this moment.

Faced with the worship of all Stone Village's villagers, the Willow Deity's soul consciousness stirred slightly, but she gave no response. As the village's sacrificial spirit, protecting Stone Village was simply her duty.

The people of Stone Village had long grown accustomed to receiving no response. After kneeling respectfully for three minutes, they rose one after another.

"Hurry, everyone get moving! Before the sun reaches its highest point, drag all those dead ferocious beasts into Stone Village. With this batch of meat, Stone Village will not need to worry about food for the next few years."

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng urgently directed the young, strong men of Stone Village, telling them to go out and drag all the dead ferocious beasts outside the village inside.

As long as they were brought into Stone Village, those dead ferocious beasts belonged to Stone Village. Just like the Ancient Descendant's true blood and remains—once they entered Stone Village, they belonged to Stone Village.

And so.

The young, strong men of Stone Village remained busy until noon. When the sun hung high overhead, they finally dragged all the dead ferocious beasts around Stone Village into the village.

What they did not know was that these dead ferocious beasts were only one-tenth of those that had died last night. The other nine-tenths had been carried away by other ferocious beasts before dawn.

Yet even this one-tenth amounted to over a hundred ferocious beasts. The smallest stood two meters tall, while the largest reached a hundred meters. This meat would be more than enough to feed Stone Village for several years.

"Go home now and bring your children here. Prepare them for their baptism. The sooner they are immersed in Ancient Descendant true blood, the sooner they can grow stronger."

After settling the food issue for the coming years, Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng began arranging the baptism.

A group of boys and girls from Stone Village, including Hu Niu, would undergo an Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism today. These youths would be Stone Village's hope for the future.

All these years.

How could the people of Stone Village not have wanted to develop their village and turn it into a Tribal Clan of the Great Wilderness? But merely surviving in the Great Wilderness had already exhausted all their strength.

Yet after Shi Yi arrived, although it had only been three years, Stone Village had undergone earth-shaking changes in that time. They had finally seen hope.

As long as Stone Village's next generation grew up, they would surely be able to establish themselves in the Great Wilderness. Even if Shi Yi left in the future, Stone Village would not lose its backbone.

An hour passed.

In the open space at the center of Stone Village, eight Great Bronze Cauldrons had been heated until they glowed red. Inside was scalding Ancient Descendant true blood, radiating a soul-stirring pressure.

It looked terrifying, but there was actually not much Ancient Descendant true blood inside. Not everyone was Shi Hao or Shi Yi; their tolerance was extremely limited.

Basically, each bronze cauldron contained no more than half a spoonful of Ancient Descendant true blood. That was the limit. Any more, and these boys and girls of Stone Village would not be able to endure it.

Bang! The sound of something heavy falling into water.

A Stone Village boy was tossed in by his parents, landing in the first bronze cauldron. The scalding Ancient Descendant true blood instantly surged into his mouth and nose.

The very next second.

The boy leaped up from the heat, letting out a heart-rending scream.

"Aaaah!!!"

The boys and girls of Stone Village watching nearby immediately turned green, wishing they could run away at once. But the moment they moved, the adults held them down firmly.

"It looks so painful. I don't want a medicinal bath. Last time, it felt like being cut by knives, my skin and flesh splitting apart. This time they even added Ancient Descendant true blood. Won't it hurt us to death?"

"Dad, let go! I don't want to be boiled alive! Mom, save me! Save Pi Houzi!"

"Yi Ge'er, don't just stand there watching the show! Your brother is in trouble. Are you helping or not?"

"Help? Tell me, how do you want me to help?"

"Yi Ge'er, you and I are brothers. Let's go in together and help your brother share the pain of the Ancient Descendant true blood."

"Share the pain? Can't help you. I can't suffer even a bit."

Shi Yi sat beneath the willow tree with a blade of grass between his teeth, one leg crossed over the other, watching with great relish as these boys and girls underwent the agonizing Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism.

Seeing others suffer the same way, he felt completely refreshed despite having only recently woken up.

Though this behavior was somewhat schadenfreude, wasn't that simply human nature?

He remembered.

Half an hour earlier.

Aunt Hu had burst through the door and grabbed Hu Niu, waking him from his sleep. Only then had he learned that the boys and girls of Stone Village would undergo their baptism today.

He just did not know why Aunt Hu, upon seeing Hu Niu fully dressed, had a strange dimness enter her once-bright eyes, as though her carefully laid plans had fallen through.

But she really ought to think about it. Shi Yi was only nine this year!

Even if he wanted to, he could do nothing.

"You little brats truly don't know how lucky you are! This is an Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism. It can make your tendons, bones, and muscles comparable to the ferocious beasts outside."

"Exactly. If we had undergone an Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism when we were young, we would have expanded Stone Village several times over long ago instead of still staying in the Vast Mountain Range."

"Now that you have Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptisms, you will definitely break through to the Blood Moving Realm in the future and become Celestial Passage Realm experts, experts like your Yi Ge'er."

"Pain? You're afraid of pain now, but when you grow up and can't defeat ferocious beasts, when they're eating you, will you still be afraid of pain then?"

The adults continuously scolded their own children, recounting the hardships of their youth. Perhaps that was simply a common flaw among parents.

They loved complaining.