Child, Don't Be Sad!

More than half a day passed.

Shi Yi, who had been suspended in midair by slender willow branches all along, was finally released from the glowing green branches.

During that time,

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng had led a large group of people in kneeling, pleading, and offering tributes before Shi Yi, the one who had offended the sacrificial spirit, was finally let down.

In truth,

if not for Shi Yi being only six years old, the Willow Deity would have long since annihilated both his body and soul.

So what if he was a Double Pupil User?

It had seen far too many geniuses. Those who truly grew up to achieve greatness were few and far between.

Moreover, someone as undisciplined as Shi Yi would be of little use even if he matured.

That was right.

Undisciplined. Although the Willow Deity had now weakened to the extreme and no longer possessed its former glory, it could still see through Shi Yi's character at a glance.

Undisciplined, lazy, and unable to endure hardship.

The only virtue he possessed from head to toe

was probably self-awareness.

The facts proved

that the Willow Tree was an excellent judge of people.

"Old Clan Leader, thank you for pleading on my behalf. My name is Shi Yi. Once I return to Martial King Manor, I will certainly offer you a generous gift," Shi Yi said sincerely to Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng.

He did not want any ties to the people of Stone Village, nor did he want to follow the same path as his little brother Shi Hao.

It was too lonely, too desolate, too heartbreaking.

Perfection achieved alone was not true perfection.

"Child, you must be confused about why you came to Stone Village and want an explanation. I understand that you wish to return home, but the Great Wilderness spans hundreds of thousands of li. How will you get back?" Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng persuaded him.

Just as Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng was speaking,

a terrifyingly enormous crocodile happened to arrive outside Stone Village. Its body stretched over a hundred meters, radiating the dreadful aura of an Ancient Descendant. Its cold, brutal gaze swept across Stone Village, but after noticing the charred willow tree at the village center, it seemed to see something terrifying and hurriedly left the vicinity.

"Hundreds of thousands of li..." Shi Yi fell silent.

Before this,

while he was still at Martial King Manor, he had constantly undergone medicinal baths and had not begun formal cultivation. Only half a month ago, after receiving a True Blood Baptism from a Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beast, could he officially begin his path of cultivation.

Although Shi Yi had long memorized many cultivation methods, he was currently only in the Blood Moving Realm, tempering his body. After completing the baptism, his physical strength had barely risen from ninety thousand jin to around a hundred thousand jin.

Shi Yi was not Shi Hao.

Nor could he become Shi Hao.

Shi Hao always liked defeating the strong while weak, overcoming opponents more powerful than himself.

Shi Yi, on the other hand, only liked bullying the weak with strength and crushing enemies with absolute power.

It sounded as though Shi Yi was shameless, far inferior to Shi Hao.

But that was reality. The strong were meant to bully the weak.

At the same time, Shi Yi was very cautious. The Great Wilderness was incomparably dangerous, with Ancient Descendants emerging endlessly. He did not want to gamble with his life, especially since he had just offended the Willow Deity.

And even if he had not offended it, Shi Yi did not want to gamble on another's goodwill. He was not Shi Hao. What if the Willow Deity was willing to simply watch him die?

"Child, you have already completed the baptism and can begin cultivating properly. Once your cultivation succeeds, it will not be too late to find a way home," Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng persuaded.

What was a baptism?

A baptism was a process every cultivator in this world had to undergo before beginning formal cultivation. Medicinal baths tempered the body, and upon reaching a certain age, one could undergo a True Blood Baptism to lay the foundation for cultivation.

Only after undergoing a baptism could one formally cultivate.

Ordinary cultivators from family forces could at most use the true blood of Prehistoric Ferocious Beasts or Desolate Variants for baptism. Disciples of better major factions could use the true blood of Ancient Descendants, while the best option was naturally the true blood of Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts.

Shi Hao was now three years old. If his grandfather Shi Zhongtian did not successfully return from the Battlefield of Hundred Clans before Shi Hao turned seven, he could only undergo a baptism with the true blood of an Ancient Descendant, because cultivation would be delayed after the age of seven.

Do not underestimate the true blood of Ancient Descendants. If not for several Shi Clan Old Ancestors in Martial King Manor being Human Supremes and Venerable Realm experts, this true blood would not have been nearly so easy to obtain.

"Cultivation... Old Clan Leader, I really came here alone. Didn't you see some terrifying white-haired Old Man bring me here?" Shi Yi asked unwillingly.

He truly did not want to stay in Stone Village and suffer hardship. He only wanted to return to Martial King Manor and be a Noble Scion.

In Martial King Manor, he was Royalty Descendant, backed by the Stone Kingdom's imperial family. Behind his mother stood the Rain Clan, and Rain King was also a Venerable Realm expert who even had ties to deities of the Upper Realm. Behind his father stood Demon Spirit Lake, while his master was also a Venerable Realm expert.

This was the standard setup for a spoiled young master. He could even tease Maid A Man every day, yet fate always tormented people. He had not revealed the Supreme Bone within Shi Hao, and had even deliberately helped conceal it, yet he had been exiled to this remote Stone Village.

Why?

Shi Yi truly wanted to ask: why exactly?

He simply could not endure even a little hardship. Who had he offended?

"About that..."

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng hesitated, unsure whether he should tell Shi Yi that two Old Men with terrifying auras had been standing guard outside Stone Village all this time.

"Old Clan Leader, don't tell him. If you tell him, you can only return the true blood of the Ancient Descendant we gave you."

"Yi'er is far too lazy. All he does every day is eat, drink, and play. He complains about pain during every medicinal bath. You do not want him to become a spoiled young master, do you?"

Two aged voices rang out in Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng's mind, causing the words about to leave his mouth to become hesitant. After all, if used properly, the true blood of an Ancient Descendant could allow Stone Village to produce a powerful expert.

"Do not let Shi Yi leave. Find a way to keep him here. He possesses Double Pupils and is a natural-born sage. If his opportunities are suitable, he can lead Stone Village to truly establish itself in the Great Wilderness. Then you will no longer have to constantly worry about food."

Another voice, impossible to distinguish as male or female, rang out in Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng's mind. If the two aged voices had merely made the Old Clan Leader hesitate,

then this genderless transmission made Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng make up his mind.

This child absolutely could not leave!!!

"Old Clan Leader, you've been saying 'about that' for half a day now. What exactly is it?" Shi Yi pressed.

"About that, I did not see anyone. When you appeared outside the village, there was only a bronze cauldron," Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng said against his conscience.

"You really didn't see anyone?" Shi Yi was still unwilling to give up.

"I truly did not see anyone." Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng shook his head.

"I really..."

Shi Yi covered his face. He had suspected that Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng was lying to him, but even if he was, someone must have ordered him to do so. But what if he was not lying?

I was really abandoned.

Had Martial King Manor already discovered the Supreme Bone inside Shi Hao and decided that the Supreme Bone was more suitable for cultivation, abandoning me, the Double Pupil User, in the Great Wilderness to fend for myself?

Whether the Great Wilderness was truly wild or not, Shi Yi did not know. But he was genuinely panicking!

"Eighth Grandfather, I'm Yi'er! Didn't you say you liked Yi'er the most?"

"Ninth Grandfather, have you forgotten? I even learned Treasure Techniques from you last year!"

"Eleventh Grandfather, I know you prefer little brother Shi Hao, but I'm your grandson too. Though not by blood, only your adopted grandson, you didn't have to screw over your grandson like this!"

"Thirteenth Grandfather, I swear I can endure hardship now, and I will not tease Sister A Man anymore. If you hear me, please be kind enough to take me back from here."

At the end of his rope.

There was no response.

Shi Yi shouted toward the outside of the village for quite a while. Aside from drawing the attention of some passing Prehistoric Ferocious Beasts, Desolate Variants, and Ancient Descendants, he drew no one's attention at all.

"Fifteenth Grandfather, if you can hear me, hurry back from the Battlefield of Hundred Clans. Those four Old Things are inhuman. They just threw me into the Great Wilderness, which is full of Ancient Descendants."

Those words

meant Shi Yi had completely broken down. After receiving no response even after cursing furiously, he finally accepted the reality that he had been abandoned.

At that moment,

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng carefully took a piece of bone from his robes. The bone was lustrous white, like a palm-sized piece of fine mutton-fat jade, indescribably crystalline, white, and translucent.

Although this bone was not large, it was densely covered with countless symbols. Faintly, as though from within the symbols, came the chanting of All Heavens Gods-Devils, shaking one's blood and vitality into turmoil.

"Child, don't be sad! Stone Village has nothing good, but I have a piece of bone here. The symbols upon it are so profound that a single glance is enough to make one cough blood."

"No one in Stone Village dares look at it, fearing severe injury. But we truly have nothing else to offer, so only this remains. If you choose to study it, you must be careful!"

Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng ultimately felt deeply guilty. He had deceived Shi Yi for that true blood of an Ancient Descendant, so he decided to compensate Shi Yi with this strange bone fragment he had acquired years ago.

"Isn't this just a Runic Bone Fragment?"

Shi Yi muttered. His Double Pupils brightened, and the four words Original True Understanding appeared within his eyes.