Slay the Wicked Servant! Ascend the Sky-Mending Pavilion!

"Old Thing! Why are you so slow at doing your job?"

"And you, you crippled Little Bastard, stop playing dead! If today's firewood isn't split, no one eats!"

Several servants in fine clothes, their faces full of arrogance, surrounded a ragged old man and a frail, emaciated child.

The old man had white hair and a face full of wrinkles, his back hunched beyond recognition.

He knelt on the ground, shielding the child in his arms, letting a rain of lashes fall on his withered spine.

The child, even smaller and thinner than Little Shi Hao, was sallow and sickly, with a leg that seemed disabled. He trembled in the old man's arms, his wide eyes filled with terror.

"Stop!"

The old man's voice was hoarse as he begged pitifully.

"Qingfeng is still young, and he's sick... Please, don't hit him anymore..."

"Sick? Better if he dies!"

The lead servant sneered, his whip slashing down viciously.

"Orders from above are clear—just leave him breathing. This Little Bastard's alive only to waste food!"

"Crack!"

The whip landed, splitting skin and flesh.

The old man shuddered in pain but gritted his teeth in silence, only hugging the child tighter.

"Stop!"

A childish roar, brimming with overwhelming fury, suddenly exploded.

Seeing this, Little Shi Hao's eyes instantly turned red.

Though he didn't know the old man and child, he could feel the old man's protection over the boy—just like the clan chief protected him.

"You bunch of bullies!"

Like an enraged little lion, Little Shi Hao charged forward.

"Where'd this wild kid come from?"

The servants froze for a moment, then saw a fist rapidly closing in.

"Bang!"

The servant wielding the whip was sent flying over ten meters, crashing into a wall with a caved-in chest. He didn't even manage a scream before passing out cold.

The remaining servants were stunned.

What... what kind of freakishly strong kid was this?

"Still want to fight?"

Little Shi Hao stood in front of the old man and child, his small frame erupting with astonishing presence, faint Cave Heaven images flickering behind him.

"A... a cultivator?!"

The remaining servants' faces drained of color as they turned to flee.

"Did I say you could leave?"

An icy voice, like Death's whisper, rang in their ears.

Ye Xuan had appeared at the courtyard entrance, unknown when.

His white robes were spotless, utterly out of place in this filthy yard.

But the chill in his eyes froze the very air around him.

Seeing Ye Xuan, the servants felt as if they were facing a demon from hell.

"Sp... spare us, sir! We're from the Yu Clan..."

One of them tried to invoke their backing.

"Yu Clan?"

A mocking smirk curled at the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth.

"The Yu Clan is exactly who I kill."

Before his words faded.

Ye Xuan simply raised a hand and gently clenched it in the air.

"Crack."

Several crisp sounds rang out at once.

The fleeing servants' heads twisted as if wrung by an invisible hand, and they collapsed limply to the ground.

Dead in an instant.

For lackeys who bullied others, Ye Xuan never held back his killing intent.

The courtyard fell silent once more.

The old man lifted his head with trembling effort, his murky eyes filled with disbelief.

He looked at Little Shi Hao standing before him, then at the white-clad youth at the doorway, like a deity descended.

"You... you are..."

The old man's voice shook.

He could feel it—flowing through this pair, one big and one small, was bloodline aura of the same origin as his own.

Especially the little one.

Those brows, those eyes, that expression... the spitting image of that child from years ago.

"Are you... Hao'er?"

Tears streamed from the old man's eyes.

Little Shi Hao turned around and looked at this aged man on the brink of death. Though his memories were hazy, the kinship thicker than water made his nose sting.

"Great-grandfather..."

He called out the title instinctively.

"Yes! Yes! It's Hao'er! It really is Hao'er!"

The old man tried to stand in his excitement, but his body was too frail and badly injured. The moment he moved, he coughed violently, black blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Elder, don't move."

Ye Xuan walked over.

He looked at the old man's body, nearly spent like an oil lamp running dry, and a flicker of pity crossed his eyes.

This elder had endured torment here, guarding Shi Hao's substitute, Shi Qingfeng.

Such loyalty and righteousness deserved respect.

Ye Xuan opened his palm.

A droplet of water, shimmering with three-colored divine light, floated above his hand.

Three Lights Divine Water.

"Open your mouth."

Ye Xuan said softly.

The old man instinctively parted his lips.

The divine water entered his throat.

Boom!

A surge of vitality, too vast to describe, exploded within the old man's body.

His withered blood and qi, like a dry riverbed meeting a flood, instantly swelled to fullness.

His wounds healed at a visible rate, and even the hidden ailments of years were swept clean.

His once graying hair began to turn black.

The wrinkles on his face slowly smoothed out.

"This... this is..."

The old man was too shocked to speak.

He could feel it—not only were his injuries healed, but even his cultivation showed signs of a breakthrough.

This was nothing short of a legendary divine medicine!

"I just gave you a little tonic."

Ye Xuan smiled, offering no further explanation.

He turned his gaze to the child still huddled in the old man's arms.

Shi Qingfeng.

The child who had suffered in Shi Hao's place.

Right now, he looked at Ye Xuan and Little Shi Hao with timid eyes, a mix of envy and inferiority in his gaze.

"Qingfeng."

Ye Xuan reached out and patted his head.

"The hard days are over."

"From now on, you're with us."

"No one will dare bully you again."

Shi Qingfeng stared blankly at Ye Xuan, feeling the warmth on his head, and tears fell in drops.

After cleaning up the mess, Ye Xuan didn't linger long in the ancestral land.

This place was, after all, a den of trouble, with the Yu Clan's eyes everywhere.

Although he wasn't afraid, there was no need to waste time here.

"Let's go. To the Sky-Mending Pavilion."

Ye Xuan summoned the Azure Sky Roc.

When the old man saw that Array Forming Realm Fierce Bird, he nearly dropped to his knees again.

"A mount at the Array Forming Realm?!"

The old man's gaze toward Ye Xuan shifted completely.

He had originally thought Ye Xuan was merely a guardian for Shi Hao, or perhaps a genius from some great sect.

But now it seemed this youth's strength was likely even more terrifying than the current Stone Emperor!

And a figure like this was actually Big Brother to Hao'er?

Truly heaven's blessing for the Stone Clan!

Several days later.

A towering, spirit-laden mountain came into view.

The peak pierced the clouds, and amid the swirling mist, pavilions and towers could be faintly seen, with immortal cranes dancing.

At the mountain's base, a sea of people stretched out.

Genius youths from every clan, accompanied by their families, surged toward the mountain gate like a river of fish.

Today was the day the Sky-Mending Pavilion recruited disciples.

As a renowned ancient sect in the lower realm, the Sky-Mending Pavilion's entry examination was extremely strict.

Countless people fought tooth and nail for just one spot as an outer disciple.

"So many people!"

Little Shi Hao lay on the bird's back, staring down at the dense crowd below, rubbing his hands in excitement.

"Now I can really cut loose!"

Ye Xuan stood atop the Azure Sky Roc's head, robes fluttering, expression calm.