"Little White, jump!" Little One shouted. There was no time to worry about anything else. A black river blocked their way beneath the giant mountain; only by diving in might they have a chance of escaping disaster.
The Unicorn hesitated. In its eyes, the river was no more reassuring than the Primordial Remnant. It made its heart tremble just as much. But in the end, it gritted its teeth and leaped down.
Little One snatched the Five-Colored Egg from Furball, wrapped an arm around the Unicorn's neck, and poured the remaining juice into its mouth. Then they plunged into the river with a splash.
The moment they hit the water, the Unicorn's blood nearly froze. The cold was unbearable. The water hadn't turned to ice, but it held a mysterious power that seemed capable of freezing a person to pieces.
Little One felt as if needles were stabbing his whole body. The cold pierced his bones and seemed to seep into his very soul. It was agonizing.
Even the golden Furball bared its teeth, flailing its little claws and kicking its tiny feet. It was clearly suffering too.
In the sky, the Primordial Remnant swooped down. Shi Lin unleashed Indestructible Golden Light and summoned the Purple Emperor Immortal Eagle, sending the Five-Colored Divine Bird flying.
The Five-Colored Divine Bird was furious. A puny human had stolen its egg and ambushed it. That was unforgivable.
But Shi Lin's attack made the Five-Colored Divine Bird feel afraid—a fear that came from its bloodline.
When it saw the Purple Emperor Immortal Eagle, the Five-Colored Divine Bird nearly fell to its knees. The suppression of its bloodline was overwhelming!
"Now, let's have a proper fight!" Shi Lin said with a grin.
Underwater, the Unicorn struggled. It was in terrible pain, and its blood was on the verge of stopping. Thankfully, it had drunk the last of the Five-Colored Bird's egg juice. The liquid had turned into glowing clouds of radiance within it, keeping it from freezing to death on the spot. They didn't surface. Enduring the agony, they let the black river carry them downstream, hoping to evade the slaughter.
Not being able to breathe wasn't a problem. When Little One had once been sealed inside the medicine cauldron and broken through with Suanni blood, he had been cut off from the outside world. Divine Radiance circulated within his body, replenishing what he needed.
Above the river, the Primordial Remnant let out a long cry. Its feathers were bright and vivid, as if ablaze. It beat its wings, shaking the nearby mountains until they cracked.
Shi Lin had completely enraged it.
It raised its head and cried out, its eyes blazing with ferocity. Then it beat its wings and flew at Shi Lin, bringing a rain of flaming rocks wherever it passed.
Its beak struck Shi Lin, but the golden light blocked the blow completely. Even so, the fierce bird's charge packed quite a punch—and Shi Lin was in midair, with nothing to brace himself against.
Seeing this, the fierce bird darted away, intent on finding another way to attack.
Golden light blazed all over Shi Lin. A flash of runes appeared behind him, and a gigantic Suanni emerged. The Suanni roared at the sky, carrying the Tribulation of the Nine Heavens as it pursued the Five-Colored Divine Bird.
The Five-Colored Divine Bird cried out. Though the aura of the Emperor Suanni intimidated it, it was unwilling to back down. A gleam gathered around its curved-blade-red beak, and the runes grew ever brighter. It was preparing to attack.
A mysterious power was building, gathering at its beak. The light there grew more dazzling, terrifying the birds and beasts in the mountains. They trembled before fleeing in every direction.
The Emperor Suanni roared, unleashing the Tribulation of the Nine Heavens. Its violent aura surged skyward like a flood.
The Five-Colored Divine Bird dodged again and again, but its body was simply too long. Its dazzling form was blasted black and charred.
The Five-Colored Divine Bird cried out, its voice hoarse. It was furious, but weak, and its opponent was simply too hard to deal with. There was nothing it could do.
Its eyes blazed with ferocity. As the ruler of this place, when had it ever been in such a sorry state? Today, a mere human had bullied it like this. Unforgivable!
The Five-Colored Divine Bird was ready to fight to the death. It set its whole body ablaze, and the charred blackness vanished in an instant. Dazzling flames clung to every part of it.
Like a fire god descending into the world, the Five-Colored Divine Bird charged at Shi Lin.
"This ends now!" Shi Lin shouted.
He raised both hands, runes flowing across them. A Suanni appeared behind him, and an immortal eagle wreathed in immortal energy hovered above his head.
Indestructible Golden Light blazed around Shi Lin. He formed a seal with both hands and shouted:
"Gather!"
The Suanni roared away, bearing the Tribulation of the Nine Heavens. The Purple Emperor Immortal Eagle swept forth amid drifting immortal energy. Bathed in Indestructible Golden Light, the two spun around each other, gradually merging into a beam of interwoven purple and blue light.
The beam shot toward the Primordial Remnant. The Five-Colored Divine Bird let out a terrible cry as dazzling light filled the sky.
The Five-Colored Divine Bird plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"That takes care of it." Shi Lin dusted off his hands.
"That bird was really hard to deal with. If I hadn't suddenly had a breakthrough, it would've been hard to say how things might have turned out!"
"Right, I need to meet up with Little One and the others!" Shi Lin flew toward the Taiyin River.
Shi Lin and the Five-Colored Divine Bird had fought with such force that heaven and earth seemed to split apart. Their battle had lasted more than half a day.
More than half a day later, water splashed as Little One surfaced. His whole body was purple. He opened his mouth and spat out a shower of ice chips.
Furball shrieked and sprang out of the water, landing on his head. It wrapped its arms around itself, hopping and bouncing as it cried nonstop. It had been frozen stiff too.
Little One swam to the bank, dragging the stiff Unicorn behind him. At last, he carried it onto the grass. The moment he set it down, the nearby rocks and plants were coated in ice.
Strangely enough, there had been no ice on the water, yet the moment they reached the bank, everything froze like this. The chill was astonishing.
The Unicorn had suffered grievous injuries and had nearly been frozen to pieces. If Little One hadn't used every bit of his Divine Radiance to nourish its body, it would have died in the river. There was no way it could have survived otherwise.
Even so, its injuries were severe. Without a precious medicine, it might not make it through this ordeal.
"Furball, you little wastrel, you troublemaker! Hurry up and squeeze out a drop of blood to save it!" Little One said angrily.
Furball shook the water from its golden fur, shuddered, and rolled its eyes as hard as it could.
After a while, Little One finally recovered. He had nearly frozen too. His body was no weaker than that of a young Primordial Ferocious Beast, yet this river had almost frozen him solid.
In the end, the wastrel and troublemaker Furball reluctantly squeezed out a drop of golden blood and brought the Unicorn back to life.
Just then, Shi Lin caught up with them.
"Are you all right? Looks like you got frozen pretty badly." Seeing the sorry state of Little One and the others, Shi Lin couldn't help laughing.
"We're fine. We're not dead yet," Little One said.
"Brother Lin, did you beat that fierce bird?"
"Mm." Shi Lin nodded.
"Brother Lin, you really are amazing! When will I be that strong too?"
"Before long, you'll be able to do it too." Shi Lin came over to Little One and reassured him.
How could he look down on the future leader of their trio?
"All right, let's hurry. I just saw a group of people rushing this way. They might be hostile."
"Okay, let's go!"
Shi Lin called over White Cloud, who was hiding not far away, and they sped off.
Beside the black river, a group of people stopped and stared at the mountain peak destroyed by the Primordial Remnant, stunned. In the old woman's hand was a small piece of eggshell. Furball had bitten through it and tossed the shard onto the road.
"What kind of creature would eat the egg of a descendant of an ancient divine bird? This... what a wastrel! I'd eat it alive if I could!" a young man fumed.
They had never imagined that after pursuing them all this way, they would discover such an outcome. It was shocking.
"The creature that stole the egg jumped into the Taiyin River. I wonder if it survived," a middle-aged man sighed.
This river was famous. Legend had it that there had once been ten Taiyin Stars in the heavens. During a primordial battle, nine were struck down. One of them was refined, then fell into this river, turning it into a place where life could not survive.
After that, the group followed the traces of the battle and found the Five-Colored Divine Bird's corpse. They could only stare in shock.
"Th-this... what kind of mighty expert was that?"
Over the next few days, Little One became a wild child again. He had to kill fierce birds and beasts as he made his way through the mountains. He was covered in blood, and his animal-hide clothes were tattered. They didn't travel quickly, since the Unicorn still hadn't recovered and their journey had been delayed.
Two more days passed, and the Unicorn was finally almost healed. Not only that, it had gained greatly. After swallowing some of the Five-Colored Bird's egg juice and drinking a drop of golden Zhu Yan blood, it had become even more majestic. The runes inside its body gradually solidified, showing signs of imprinting themselves onto its bones.
"Chirp, chirp..." Furball sounded the alarm. It sensed something in an instant, and its golden fur even changed to grayish white, losing its luster. Its big eyes also lost their spark and no longer seemed so bright.
Little One was astonished. Furball was actually playing dumb, making itself look like this. At the same time, he sensed the presence of more than a dozen people closing in from all directions.
Shi Lin wasn't there at the moment.
At the head of the group was a woman in white, with long hair falling over her shoulders. Her skin was as white and delicate as mutton-fat jade, gleaming with a crystalline sheen. She had an oval face, long lashes, eyes as clear as crystal, scarlet lips, and neat teeth as white as pearls.
Seeing a group of people suddenly appear in the Great Wilderness, Little One was naturally startled, and he looked their way.
The group was even more astonished. The person in front of them looked like a child, no matter how they saw it. How could someone so young be alone in the Great Wilderness? It was almost inconceivable!
"Little brother, are you here by yourself?" The woman in the lead smiled brightly. Her big, limpid eyes seemed to speak, her red lips gleamed, and her pearly teeth flashed, making the men present feel their hearts tremble.
"Hello, big sister. I came with my big brother." Little One smiled shyly. His face was filthy, and his tattered animal-hide clothes were covered in beast blood, but his bright eyes still gave him an air of innocence and simplicity.
The others nodded. They didn't believe a child could travel alone through such a terrifying wilderness. Unless an adult was accompanying him nearby, that was the only explanation that made sense.
Little One's eyes were bright, and his animal-hide clothes were ragged. He looked so shy and simple that everyone smiled.
"Aww, little brother, are you shy? You're so cute." The woman in the lead chuckled. Her gaze rippled, her lashes fluttered, and her lovely face gleamed like polished white jade, shimmering with captivating radiance.
Little One scratched his head and gave a silly grin, saying nothing more. Beside him, Furball looked even more foolish, like a young beast that had yet to develop its intelligence. It lay listlessly on his shoulder.
"Child, you really are impressive. You're covered in blood. You must have killed quite a few fierce birds and beasts, haven't you?" the old woman said. Silver runes flickered in her eyes, and an unfathomable light shone from them, making people shiver.
"Yes. The mountains are dangerous, and the beasts are fierce. I could only strike back when they attacked me." Little One nodded earnestly.
"Little brother, have you been separated from your big brother for many days? Otherwise, how did your animal-hide clothes get so ragged?" The woman in the lead smiled faintly. The light in her eyes was dreamlike and illusory, so beautiful it made people's hearts tremble. Even those around her looked affected.
"Mm. My big brother brought me here to train. He said this was a serious trial, and that I had to rely on myself for everything. He wouldn't help unless my life was in danger." Little One was "quite frank," as if he couldn't keep anything to himself.
The group grew wary. To set out alone with a child and take him on a long journey through the Great Wilderness, subjecting him to brutal training—that looked like the style of an expert.
The old woman's pupils were silver, runes turning within them like the sun and moon rising and setting. Her aura was powerful. She nodded. Some outstanding children of the feudal lords did have formidable experts accompanying them on trials. But it was rare to see one travel through a terrifying wilderness like this, leaving a child to fight fierce birds and beasts alone.
A middle-aged man nodded and said, "In recent years, a few extraordinary children have appeared across this vast land. Without their elders accompanying them, they crossed hundreds of thousands of miles of wilderness, fought all kinds of fierce birds and beasts, and successfully made it back to their clans alive."
Clearly, none of these people were simple. Although Little One seemed plain and innocent, they hadn't fully believed him. Every one of them was shrewd.
Before you continue