Washing

In the days that followed, Shi Hao and Shi Lin made rapid progress. Every inch of their flesh glimmered like crystal, as if ancient gods sat within them, one after another. The runes transformed and rearranged, completely changing the state of their bodies.

After half a month of cultivation, Shi Hao and Shi Lin could already fuse Bone Text into their flesh. Their bodies shone with a clear, spotless radiance. When they used their precious techniques, they no longer depleted themselves; instead, they began tempering the wondrous energies of heaven and earth, drawing divine essence into their bodies to make them light and strong, their spirits full.

The patriarch decided to use the Suanni Precious Body, the precious horn of the Li Fire Bull Demon, and the Demon Ape's arm to give the two boys a baptism. He would seal them in the cauldron with the true blood of Primordial Remnants and Treasure Bone, then boil them together.

Naturally, the other children wouldn't be left out. The Suanni was so enormous that its blood essence was more than enough for every child to receive this rare and wondrous blessing.

The evening sun hung high in the western sky, its crimson rays illuminating the entire Great Wilderness and falling across Shi Lin and Shi Hao.

The two sat cross-legged in meditation atop a pair of boulders. Misty light swirled around them, making them seem like immortals descended into the mortal world, sacred beyond compare.

"Phew!" Shi Lin lowered his hands onto his knees. He opened his eyes, and his blue pupils gradually returned to brown.

Shi Hao also stopped cultivating.

"My Emperor Suanni Precious Technique has improved again!" Shi Lin clenched his fists in excitement.

"Yeah, I can feel myself getting stronger too!" Shi Hao said happily.

Shi Yunfeng walked over at an unhurried pace.

"You still have a long road ahead of you. You're in the 'Blood Moving' realm now; it's nowhere near the time for you to continue the path on your own. Among the truly strongest members of the human race, some eventually develop sacred bones and their own primal imprints, along with a primal precious technique that belongs to them alone!"

"That's something to look forward to!" Little One clenched his small fists, his big eyes shining.

Shi Yunfeng said, "The ancient ancestors already walked a long way down this path, and there's still a long road ahead. Once you're strong enough, you can leave this Great Wilderness and have a look around. There are some things I can't teach you. They're all out there in the wider world."

"Oh, right. Tomorrow, we'll give all you children a baptism! After that, the road of cultivation will stretch even farther before you!"

"All right, Grandfather Patriarch!" Shi Lin and Shi Hao replied in unison...

Black Flood Dragon Wood was hard and heavy, much like refined iron. Its trunk resembled a Chi Dragon, twisting and powerful, and was jet black; even its leaves looked like ink jade. It was a rare kind of wood, tough and heavy, suitable for making weapons. It had another unusual quality, too: once lit, it burned fiercely. Even a piece no bigger than a palm could cook two pots of meat. It was the finest fuel for smelting ore and forging weapons.

"Hey, give way!"

In an open space in Stone Village, Shi Linhu and a group of sturdy men swung their great axes, chopping firewood with all their strength. Ordinary people couldn't cut Black Flood Dragon Wood at all.

The sound of cracking wood rang out now and then, occasionally punctuated by a metallic clang and a spray of sparks. The wood was simply too hard.

To prepare for Little One's baptism, the village had made every kind of preparation: old medicines, venomous insects, spring water, and an ancient cauldron. Even the wood for boiling the true blood had been chosen with care—the finest Black Flood Dragon Wood.

Little One was bathing on a large slab of jade. The villagers repeatedly rinsed him with sweet mountain spring water, preparing to seal his purest flesh inside the cauldron.

Everyone was solemn, and Little One was serious as well. He said nothing, quietly making his preparations.

The Suanni had already been carried over. Its body was golden from head to toe, gleaming brilliantly, its fur shining like golden silk. It looked even more splendid beneath the morning glow, sparkling with light.

The scarlet bull horn, several meters long, lay nearby. It was translucent as red agate, shimmering with crimson radiance. Like the Suanni, it was a Primordial Remnant, and contained the most precious, spiritually potent true blood of the Li Fire Bull.

The Demon Ape's arm was about as long as an adult's—not especially huge—but it radiated a monstrous aura of ferocity. It contained true blood from primordial times and was exceedingly rare and precious.

A large black cauldron radiated an ancient aura. The sun, moon, mountains, and rivers were engraved upon it, along with birds, beasts, fish, and insects, as well as a scene of ancient ancestors performing a sacrifice. It looked unfathomably mysterious. By now, it had been filled with plenty of water. Black Flood Dragon Wood burned beneath it, and the water soon boiled. They were using the fiercest fire to simmer the most potent precious medicine.

The patriarch stood solemnly before the cauldron and personally tossed in one ancient herb after another. Each was a treasure that had matured for many years. With the Great Wilderness at their doorstep, medicinal herbs were hardly in short supply.

It wasn't long before the boiling water filled with all kinds of medicinal aromas, so fragrant they refreshed the mind, and its color changed.

Then Shi Yunfeng brought over dozens of pottery jars. He opened them one by one, carefully. The moment he opened the first jar, a large purple centipede shot out with a hiss. It was more than half a meter long and terrifying to behold.

With a sharp clap, runes flashed between the patriarch's fingers. He held a small purple-gold hammer and tapped it lightly, cracking the Purple Centipede's head before tossing it into the boiling water.

Next, they opened a pottery jar wrapped in thick iron. Silver light flashed as a Pangolin sprang out. It was only a foot long, with a shining silver-white body. Its head was cracked with a tap and it was thrown into the boiling water. After struggling violently, it finally fell silent, becoming one of the auxiliary ingredients.

Dozens of pottery jars were opened. There were strange little beasts and venomous insects, all unusual—such as a golden snake as long as chopsticks and a flying silver spider.

The water in the cauldron immediately turned every color of the rainbow, and all kinds of strange odors drifted out.

The children's faces turned green on the spot. It was truly horrifying: so many venomous insects packed together with all those ancient herbs, mixed into one pot. No matter how they looked at it, it gave them an ominous feeling. Fortunately, the cauldron had been prepared for Little One, not for them.

As the water continued boiling, less and less remained in the cauldron. By the end, it was almost dry. The herbs and strange insects had all boiled down into a paste. These were the auxiliary ingredients, meant to ease Little One's pain and help him refine the true blood.

"Dismember the Suanni! Prepare to pour its precious blood into the cauldron!" Shi Yunfeng shouted.

The Suanni's body looked as though it had been cast from gold, blazing with dazzling light like a burning flame. Even in death, it still exuded an awe-inspiring might. Its fur was incredibly tough. Ordinary iron axes couldn't cut it at all; they only sent sparks flying with a clang, like a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.

Fortunately, when the old Suanni's lifespan had run its course, it had fought one last battle and then tried to destroy itself. Though it had failed, its entire body had cracked, and streaks of blood showed through its golden divine radiance.

Following those cracks, the villagers swung their cleaned great axes and struggled to chop it open.

Everyone was stunned. With a single sweep of their arms, Shi Linhu and Shi Feijiao could muster five or six thousand jin of divine strength, making them exceptionally strong and rare even in these wild forests. Yet now they were panting and drenched in sweat just from chopping along the cracks in the flesh.

That showed just how tough the Suanni Precious Body was—beyond anything people could imagine!

Once it had been completely cut open, several elders personally extracted its precious blood. The true blood even contained some golden liquid, so dazzling it hurt the eyes.

That was what made it so precious: the divine power of the Primordial Remnant Suanni. The small amount of golden blood hidden within its veins was priceless, enough to make even great tribes covet it!

Though the Suanni was dead, its blood had clotted without solidifying, making it easy to handle. They used silver vessels to collect the true blood. Huge, gleaming silver jars soon covered the ground, and in the end, every one of them was full.

The old patriarch personally took action as well. He wielded a jade knife covered in runes, sending out hundreds and thousands of rays of light as he cut out the most precious heart. It was as large as a washbasin, pale gold from head to toe, and contained an incomparable divine power. As they lifted it, sheets of golden light rained down.

The old patriarch didn't dare delay. He put this supreme treasure of a heart directly into the large black cauldron, afraid that the Suanni's divine essence would be wasted. At the same time, he shouted, "Pour in the precious blood!"

Several sturdy men carried over the enormous silver vessels and poured their contents into the Black Cauldron with a gurgle, replacing the spring water with precious blood and mixing it with the medicinal paste and other ingredients.

The Black Flood Dragon Wood blazed beneath the cauldron. The flames made the ancestral vessel roar, and the various prehistoric beasts carved on its walls seemed ready to come alive, as if their roars echoed from within. In the cauldron, the pale-golden liquid boiled. The supreme treasure of a heart blazed so brightly that sheets of golden light erupted from it, making the entire cauldron shine. The liquid inside turned to golden radiance, and an exceptionally rich fragrance wafted out.

This was the Primordial Remnant Suanni—its body was a supreme treasure!

"Keep it boiling and simmer it into a great medicine. Little One, get ready—you'll be entering the cauldron soon," the patriarch, Shi Yunfeng, said solemnly.

"Understood!" Shi Hao answered loudly.

"Shi Lin, you're going in too!"

"All right!" Shi Lin replied.

The fierce flames simmered the great medicine. The fire burned hot and the fragrance grew rich. The liquid in the cauldron was pale gold, and now and then the roars of Primordial Remnants rang out, shaking the soul.

Faintly, a golden Suanni could be seen taking shape. Its might was terrifying; it swallowed the sun and moon, making even the stars tremble!

Everyone was horrified and drew in sharp breaths. Many couldn't help trembling.

"This is a fragment of the imprint left in the pale-golden precious blood by the primordial Suanni Ancestor. It became the source of divine power for the Remnant before us," one of the clan elders sighed after steadying himself.

That wasn't all. The clansmen drew out several tendons and put them into the cauldron. They also extracted a good deal of pale-golden divine marrow from the Treasure Bone and added it to the Black Cauldron, making the great medicine even more radiant and fragrant.

"Little One, get into the cauldron quickly! Shi Lin too—you can begin your baptism now."

"Grandfather Patriarch, I've been ready for ages!"

After his bath, Little One's body was crystalline, runes flashing across him. He looked lovely and adorable. He leaped into the boiling cauldron, and the brilliant golden liquid immediately swallowed him.

Shi Lin followed him in.

"Seal the cauldron!" Shi Yunfeng shouted. The villagers brought over the huge, pitch-black lid, and several people worked together to cover it, sealing it tightly.

The other children were all dizzy with fright, their faces pale. They'd sealed the lid tight just like that. Could anyone endure water that hot? And how would they breathe?

The old patriarch glanced at them and said, "Once you've refined Bone Text into every inch of your flesh and turned it into rays of light—Divine Radiance—you won't need to worry about things like that. You'll be able to draw on the divine essence between heaven and earth to nourish yourselves. By then, you'll be able to enter water and fire, and even going without breathing for a long time won't matter."

The precious horn, shimmering with crimson radiance, and the Demon Ape King's arm were also thrown in. Shi Yunfeng had initially worried Little One might not be able to withstand it; after all, he was still so young. But with Shi Lin in there too, he no longer feared for him. If Shi Hao couldn't endure it, Shi Lin could absorb it instead.