Robbery

"Eh, you're looking at these records? They're all about extraordinary figures. Anyone whose name was carved on this stele was powerful enough to shake an entire region at the very least," Uncle Hammer said as he came over.

"That's right. My record's on there, too." Little One puffed out his little chest, looking utterly proud.

Uncle Hammer had forgotten about that. At Little One's words, he looked as if he'd swallowed a dead rat and fell completely silent.

"Your record is nothing compared to theirs. You took a shortcut and wrecked the Void God Realm's passageway. They earned theirs through real battles."

"Grandpa Essence Jade, what are you saying? You don't want to trade for the Treasure Bone anymore?" Little One shot him a sidelong glance.

"Trade? Of course I do! I was saying you're a born supreme being. Come on, child, let's hurry up and make the exchange." Grandpa Essence Jade's gray-white beard bristled as he broke into a broad smile.

"Let me study it until I understand it." Little One turned his back on him.

Grandpa Essence Jade's smile froze. If I wait until you understand it, that'll take decades. Will I even live to see that day? And you little brat, my name isn't Essence Jade!

Lord Bird was studying the stele, too. "Hmm, you've seen this record, right? Shi Yi really is extraordinary. They say he's a born supreme being."

"He killed nine Beast Kings in a single battle. That record is enough to scare anyone to death." The girl Cailuan stuck out her tongue.

"A born supreme being?" Little One's gaze drifted. It was as if he'd heard some voices from long ago, and a few scenes had hazily surfaced before his eyes.

A beautiful little girl stood with tears in her eyes, speaking again and again to a child on a sickbed. The child was frail and tiny, his eyes dim and lifeless. She tried to call his memories back, weeping as she urged him, "You're a true born supreme being. I'm Aman..."

"Shi Yi's name has long shaken this land. Who hasn't heard of him? He's a peerless prodigy, unmatched from ancient times to the present. How many can compare?" Uncle Hammer nodded.

"Uncle Hammer, go find me ten Beast Kings. I'll break his record outright," Little One said.

"What? You foolish child, are you being reckless again?" Uncle Hammer was badly startled.

Lord Bird shook his head. Beast Kings in the Initial Ground weren't so easy to find; they all kept to themselves. Nine of them gathering to attack Shi Yi was an exception, a miracle. In a sense, it also proved the Double Pupil's supreme strength.

"Don't do anything foolish. Be careful you don't get yourself killed. If you die here, you'll have to spend months recovering in the real world. The price is too high. Records set by people like that aren't something we can break. They're destined to last for thousands, even tens of thousands of years," Grandpa Essence Jade said.

"Was he really that heaven-defying?" Little One had always been casual, without a trace of solemnity or seriousness.

"Of course. I've heard he's already entered the higher-level Heavenly Caves and Blessed Lands. He's searching for a Pixiu cub and a Taowu descendant, planning to battle those supreme beings!" Grandpa Essence Jade said gravely.

At those words, everyone's expressions turned serious. In those higher-level regions lived all kinds of powerful Primordial Remnants. There might even be cubs of pure-blooded ferocious beasts.

Any human expert who dared challenge such creatures was destined to leave their name in history. They would certainly enter the Hundred Clans Battlefield in the future, fight for supremacy, and secure benefits for humanity.

"You have to understand: he dares to face a Pixiu cub and fight a Yazi descendant. How terrifying must his strength be? Even the older generation is shaken!"

Everyone present sighed. Some were born divine, others holy. They were destined to illuminate this land, and no one could stop their rise.

"Then let him fight the Pixiu and battle the Yazi. After that, I'll go defeat him?" Little One said offhandedly, unconcerned.

The others had still been sighing, lost in the moment, but at his words they felt as if someone had smacked them with a shoehorn. Why did this Skinny Kid ruin the mood every time he opened his mouth? Several of them were furious.

"Hey, Shi Yi didn't set just one record. That last one was too dangerous. Look at this one: he leaped straight to the top of a mountain using nothing but his physical strength, without using Bone Text at all." Uncle Hammer pointed at the stele and looked down. Sure enough, there was another record.

"So powerful! He took one step and soared straight into the sky, landing on a mountaintop. Just how terrifying must that burst of strength have been?!" Cailuan's face was full of astonishment. She found it unbelievable.

"It's chilling. That kind of explosive power is terrifying," Lord Bird exclaimed.

This was enough to reveal something of Shi Yi's strength. His battle prowess was unmatched, and the records he'd set were so impressive that they made people shrink back in awe.

"Uncle Hammer, Lord Bird, Grandpa Essence Jade, go look for that mountain. Find it, and I'll take one step and break his record," Little One said.

"There's no curing this child." They couldn't help finding him both exasperating and amusing. Suddenly, several people approached together. The man at their head flashed a set of snowy-white teeth and said, "Little brother, could we have a word over there?"

"Don't agree. They're here to cause you trouble. They're definitely after the Treasure Bone in your hands!" Lord Bird warned him quietly.

To their surprise, Little One's eyes lit up like a bandit's when he saw the group. He agreed at once, then zipped over, looking almost eager to throw himself at them.

Grandpa Essence Jade, Uncle Hammer, and the others all stared, dumbfounded.

"Little brother, we heard you wrecked the Void God Realm's passageway and obtained a Treasure Bone. Could you let us have a look?" the young man leading the group asked with a smile.

"Sure!" Little One smiled warmly and handed over the Treasure Bone.

How can this child be so foolish? Uncle Hammer, Grandpa Essence Jade, and the others nearly popped their eyes out. He was far too easy to trick!

"Don't worry," Shi Lin sent them a message.

They nodded, then looked around in confusion.

"Who sent that message?"

They hadn't realized Shi Lin had been the one to send it.

The people nearby immediately erupted. If they'd known it would be this easy, why bother cooking up a scheme? They didn't even need to contact the experts in their clan. They could've just tricked the Treasure Bone right out of him.

This was too easy. Everyone regretted not coming sooner. The child was far too foolish.

"Mm, this is a fine item." The man at the head nodded. He held the Treasure Bone and examined it closely. "Here, ten Essence Coins. We'll buy this Rune Bone." As he spoke, he tossed down a few crystal-clear, block-shaped objects and turned to leave.

"I'm not selling it," Little One said, shaking his head.

But the man paid him no heed. He didn't even pause, striding off as if he were about to leave. The people beside him glanced back and sneered, their eyes full of mockery. Even they hadn't expected this to be so easy.

"I said I'm not selling it. Didn't you hear me?!" Little One's voice rose, and his expression grew serious.

"Little brother, that's not how it works. The item's already in our hands, and you agreed to sell it," the people opposite him said with a laugh, as if daring him to do anything about it.

"So you're going to rob me by force?" Little One hurried after them.

The group's expressions turned cold. Without a word, they attacked. They didn't dare be careless, since Little One had set a record.

Of course, they weren't too afraid of him, either. That so-called record was nothing to be proud of. No one had worked on that particular challenge before, so Little One's record was largely inflated.

Whoosh!

A sheet of Bone Text flew toward him like fireworks bursting open, enveloping Little One. These men struck to kill, intent on eliminating him before anything else.

Boom!

Little One moved even faster. He sidestepped dozens of meters, then shook both hands. Two divine moons appeared and collided, merging into a huge golden grinding disc that rolled forward.

The Bone Text shattered completely. The group was sent flying on the spot, and Little One rushed through them and snatched back the Treasure Bone.

Clang! Clang!

Red light streaked across the sky, accompanied by a terrifying din. Eighteen crimson rays flew toward them, letting out a wailing sound as clouds of rosy light swirled around them. Their aura was astonishing, carrying the murderous menace of a prehistoric beast that chilled the soul.

"A treasure!"

"What an incredibly powerful treasure!"

The crowd cried out in alarm and looked closely. They were eighteen red feathers, each more than ten meters long. Flying toward them like this, they resembled eighteen blood-red spears, their murderous aura astonishing.

There was no need to guess: these were the treasure feathers of a strange ferocious bird. Now they shot toward Little One from every direction, covering the sky and leaving him nowhere to retreat, intent on killing him outright.

The people who'd been knocked flying sneered. The experts from their clan had arrived. Such a supreme treasure could only be wielded by an important figure.

Little One's eyes shone brightly. Bone Text intertwined in his hands as he charged forward and met one of the red feathers head-on. A dazzling burst of light exploded, crimson radiance filled the sky, and lightning-like patterns spread everywhere.

The aura was terrifying. Those watching were swept off their feet, and many cried out in pain.

"What a powerful treasure! It must belong to a renowned great clan. Otherwise, how could an ordinary person have something like that?!"

Everyone looked grave. A great clan had made its move, trying to seize the child's Treasure Bone. It made them tense and drew everyone's attention.

Bone Text grew even denser between Little One's hands, burning like flames as he collided with the second red feather. This time the impact shook heaven and earth; the resulting shock waves were incredibly violent.

The red feather spewed crimson light like an erupting volcano. Scarlet radiance rolled through the sky like molten lava, filling the heavens. Its heat made the onlookers shudder. This treasure was indeed rare, and its power was immense.

An ordinary person would have been reduced to ashes in a single encounter. And the other side had eighteen such red feathers. How could anyone fight them? A superpower must be behind this attack.

What shocked everyone even more was that the child had actually blocked them. He was clashing with the treasure head-on. Metallic clangs rang out, shaking the land in every direction.

The people who'd tried to steal Little One's Treasure Bone and been sent flying sneered. The clan's experts had arrived. No matter how powerful this child was, he couldn't turn the heavens upside down.

Suddenly, their cruelty and indifference froze on their faces. Little One appeared, and a Rune Bone chain shot out, lifting them into the air in a string. He used them as human shields to block the treasure.

Whoosh!

The red feathers pierced through. Flames blazed into the sky, and four or five men were skewered, then instantly turned to ash. They died on the spot.

The survivors were scared out of their wits. Little One stopped using them to block the red feathers and simply tossed them aside.

The crimson light flashed again. The eighteen divine feathers reappeared and flew toward them all at once, like eighteen spears of war gods. Their scarlet radiance was like blood, staining the horizon red.

Clang! Clang!

A thread of lightning appeared over Little One's body, winding around his arms. He struck the red feathers flying toward him. They collided violently, and he charged forward.

"Ah..."

Screams rose behind him. The men Little One had tossed to the ground were all pierced by the red feathers and reduced to ashes. Every last one of them was dead.

The onlookers shuddered. They were being silenced! This was the handiwork of a great clan. They didn't want their identity exposed, so they'd wiped everyone out.

Little One's eyes were icy. He shouted, "Open!"

Golden Bone Text covered his arms. He moved his hands, and a huge golden grinding disc appeared in front of him, turning slowly. It was like two golden mountains grinding against each other, producing a terrifying sound.

Clang!

The red feather slammed into it with a violent tremor. The grinding disc remained intact and kept turning, trying to crush the treasure.

Everyone drew in a sharp breath. This child's treasure art was astonishing. He could actually fight against such powerful red feathers. It was chilling.

Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere as the golden grinding disc struck the red feathers. The violent collisions unleashed terrifying waves like a raging sea.

"I remember now. I saw this treasure in a higher-level Heavenly Cave and Blessed Land. It's Young Master Chiyun's weapon," someone suddenly said.

It was clear that the speaker had come down from a higher-level Heavenly Cave and returned to the Initial Ground. Otherwise, they couldn't have known this.

"What? No way! Young Master Chiyun is a famous young expert in the Void God Realm. Did he come here himself?" many people cried out.

This showed just how terrifying Young Master Chiyun was. So many people feared him.

"This treasure has a remarkable origin. It's most likely the feathers of a Primordial Remnant. They could be used as a clan's supreme treasure. The feathers have a life force of their own, which is why they can manifest in the Void God Realm," someone explained.

Little One couldn't care less. This was the Initial Ground. No matter who came, they'd be suppressed to the Blood-Moving Realm. He feared no one.

Boom!

The golden grinding disc swelled until it nearly covered the entire sky, blocking the red feathers outside. For the moment, they couldn't fall, and they couldn't hurt him at all.

With a resounding thud, Little One stomped hard on the ground with both feet, then shot a hundred meters forward. In an instant, he landed in front of a man and said, "You thought hiding here would keep me from finding you?"

Bang!

He struck forward with one palm. The sound was like thunder. His physical strength alone, at its extreme, was enough to astonish the world. With the power of Bone Text added to it, the blow was even more fearsome. His palm landed, shattering the youth's Bone Text.

Pfft!

The man coughed up a mouthful of blood and was sent flying. The bones on one side of his body snapped inside him with a series of sharp cracks, leaving him limp as a rag.

"So strong! He sent the owner of those red feathers flying with a single slap!"

"Even someone with such a powerful treasure couldn't withstand him!"

"Wait, that isn't Young Master Chiyun. That's his younger brother. I've seen him before."

The instant Chi Feng hit the ground, the eighteen divine feathers lost their luster. They rapidly shrank and drifted toward the ground.

Little One dashed past and caught them all in his hands. They turned out to be a crimson treasure fan—the treasure's true form. The youth had been unable to activate it, so he'd used the feathers separately.

"Stop!" someone shouted.

A group appeared not far away. Several middle-aged men led them, their dignified auras making it clear they'd held positions of power for a long time.

The onlookers were all shocked. Why had a group like this come out? They were clearly important figures from a great clan. Was the bone in the child's hands truly extraordinary?

"That Treasure Bone must be incredibly valuable. It was used to construct the Void God Realm's passageway, after all!"

"Exactly. That's why it drew the attention of such a powerful clan!"

People quickly guessed the truth.

"Let go! Give us back the treasure fan!" the group shouted. The eyes of the men at the front opened and closed, Bone Text flowing within them. They were terrifyingly powerful.

"You think you can tell me to let go? Get down, and accept being robbed like good little dogs!" Little One said without the slightest hesitation. In the Initial Ground, even a clan patriarch or a regional lord could only use the strength of the Blood-Moving Realm.

Buzz!

He pulled out a red feather and gave it a wave. It immediately grew to ten meters long and swept straight at them.

Bang!

The men at the front held positions of great importance, but they bore the brunt of the attack. Two were sent flying outright, while the others staggered backward.

With a swish, Little One swung the red feather again and smacked the two men to the ground. Then he dashed over at top speed and planted his foot on them.

Everyone was stunned. Their eyes nearly popped out. This might be an important figure from a great clan, and yet he'd been stomped to the ground. It was bound to be explosive news, enough to shake the world in every direction.

"Seize him!" the middle-aged man at the head ordered. He opened his mouth and spat out a swath of blue light. It resembled flames or lightning, crackling and spreading out in a vast sheet as it bore down on Little One, meant to neutralize the power of the crimson treasure fan in his hands. To everyone's shock, the child shrank the eighteen divine feathers until they were no more than palm-length and tucked them into his clothes. Then he picked up the two men beneath his feet and used them as weapons, swinging them at the crowd.

"Careful!" The group was afraid to act freely, wary of hitting their own men.

This brat was far too vicious. He swung the two great figures around like windmills, their momentum whistling as he struck east, then west, then north, then south. He changed directions unpredictably, and swung them with astonishing ease.

"I'm going to kill him!"

"Ugh!"

The other man also spat up a mouthful of blood and passed out. Better to see nothing and think of nothing. Little One could do whatever he liked with them, using them as weapons.

"Forget all that. If they're really injured, they can spend a few months recovering in the real world," the three middle-aged men at the head of the group said. All of them unleashed terrifying auras.

"Attack!"

The group charged forward. Treasure arts shone, Bone Text intertwined, and the place turned into a sea of rosy light, swallowed up in its radiance.

Pfft!

A bolt of lightning struck the arm of the great figure in Little One's left hand, severing it. Blood poured everywhere, and the man was jolted awake by the pain. He roared again and again.

"Clan elder, we didn't do it on purpose. Please forgive us!" The group was nervous and couldn't bring themselves to attack freely.

Little One ignored everything and launched a full-scale assault, sweeping across the battlefield. The bodies of the two men in his hands were extraordinarily strong and tough. He used them to batter the group until they were in disarray. Broken limbs and severed arms flew through the air, and blood poured everywhere.

Once a battle turned into a fight to the death, bloodshed was inevitable. Before long, a heap of people lay on the ground—all trophies of Little One's victory. He tossed the severed arms and those who could no longer move into a pile.

The two men in his hands were down to half their bodies. They cried out in agony. If he kept swinging them around, they'd die, too, so in the end he tossed them onto the pile as well.

The place looked like a mound of corpses. They were all still alive, but blood streamed from them, pooling into a small river. The sight was so horrifying that it made people want to vomit.

Fortunately, this was the Void God Realm. With a long enough recovery, they could heal. Otherwise, this slaughter would have been too horrific. The many experts of a great clan would have been crippled, an astonishing loss.

"Damn the Initial Ground! We can only use the strength of the Blood-Moving Realm here," one of the great figures grumbled. At the same time, he was deeply shaken. The child opposite him was also in the Blood-Moving Realm, yet he'd fought their whole group alone. What kind of might was that? If word got out, hardly anyone would believe it!

But so many people had witnessed it firsthand that there was no denying the truth. Everyone stared, dumbfounded. They'd completely misjudged the child. This foolish-looking brat was far too powerful. He couldn't be provoked.

It wasn't long before only three great figures remained across from him. All were covered in wounds and stained with blood.

What kind of people were they? With a single shout, they could stir the wind and clouds and shake the land in every direction. Yet today, in the Initial Ground, they couldn't even defeat a child. If word got out, people would laugh themselves to death.

Everyone was horrified. In a way, this proved that if they were all in the Blood-Moving Realm, not one of the great clan's people could match the child. What did this mean? A new star had risen—a prodigy of heaven's choosing!

"Little friend, you've gone too far. You've wounded countless people from my clan. Do you really want to keep going?" one middle-aged man asked helplessly. Should he ask his clan for reinforcements, then? Should they mobilize the entire clan to fight this child?

"These hundred-odd people are all down. Only you three are left. Come over and lie down, too!" Little One flashed his little white teeth. In their eyes, he looked just like a little demon.

With a rumble, no matter how their Bone Text filled the sky or how terrifying their auras were, they were still in the Blood-Moving Realm. Little One darted and charged among them, with the air of someone nearly invincible.

Bang!

He struck with one palm. Light flashed, piercing a middle-aged man through the back. Blood gushed from the front and back of his body, and he toppled straight into the heap.

Then Little One charged forward and kicked apart the Bone Text filling the sky around another man. He swept a leg across the man's knees. A cracking sound rang out as the man's leg bones broke. He grunted and fell into the heap as well.

The last man tried to escape, rushing into the distance. A red feather flashed in Little One's hand. One divine plume shot into the air, growing to more than ten meters long. With a pfft, it instantly reduced one of the man's legs to ashes, and he fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the entire force of this giant clan had been wiped out and taken prisoner.

"Hey, wait. There's still one missing." Little One controlled Crimson Feather, which whirred as it swooped down and slapped a youth hiding in the distance to the ground. The youth spat blood, and Little One seized him.

"Thanks! What's your name? I heard you're Young Master Chiyun's younger brother. You're the only one who gave me a treasure; the rest of them are all so poor," Little One said.

"Urgh!"

The youth spat out a mouthful of blood. Wounded and furious, he fainted.

Everyone was dumbstruck. The scene before them was spectacular: a mountain of flesh, piled up from over a hundred experts. Every member of the giant clan's force who had come here had been captured.

Little One walked forward, his big eyes shining. He said something that filled the group with grief and indignation: "A pile of spoils is better than one or two people, right? Who wants to go deliver a message? Bring your clan's treasured art in exchange for the captives."

"You, then. Go report to your clan. Tell them I like treasures best, and I like treasured arts too. I'd be happy to sit down and talk with them." Little One pointed to a young man and sent him to deliver the message.

"Urgh!"

The group spat blood, seething with rage.

Little One sat on a large blue-gray rock, chin propped in his hands as he watched them to keep them from escaping. His big eyes gleamed like a bandit's as he looked at them as though they were a pile of treasures, wearing the look of a little miser. In the distance, all the spectators were sweating, at a loss for words. This child really was something else. Not long ago, many had thought he was muddleheaded and knew nothing. Now everyone rolled their eyes. What a con artist, a robber, a little devil!