Snow Eagle Territory

Longshan Calendar, 9616. Winter.

Anyang Province, Qinghe Prefecture, within the borders of Yishui County.

A boy of about eight or nine, with rosy lips and pearly teeth, wore a finely tailored white fur coat and carried a spear quiver on his back. He darted nimbly through the woods, a short spear with a black wooden shaft in his right hand as he chased a wild deer fleeing in panic. The surrounding leaves shook, sending snow pattering down.

"Now!"

The boy leaped forward and suddenly raised his short spear high. His body tilted back slightly, the strength in his waist and abdomen flowing into his right arm as he whipped it forward!

Whoosh!

The short spear flew from his hand, grazing some leaves as it crossed more than thirty meters. It just skimmed the edge of the deer's back before sinking deep into the snow, leaving only a thin streak of blood behind. The deer ran even harder, plunging into the depths of the woods. It was about to get away.

Suddenly, something whistled through the air—a stone.

The stone became a streak of light as it shot through the woods. It flew more than a hundred meters before slamming through the trunk of a tree and striking the deer right in the head. Even the deer's hard skull couldn't stop it. The animal stumbled onward on sheer momentum for another dozen meters before crashing to the ground, sending countless flakes of snow tumbling from the trees around it.

"Father." The boy turned to look into the distance, his expression helpless. "Don't step in. I almost hit it."

"If I hadn't stepped in, that deer would've gotten away. You're still not accurate enough with your short spear while running at full speed. Do five hundred extra throws tonight when we get back." A deep voice carried from afar as two figures walked toward them side by side.

One was a sturdy, middle-aged man with black hair and black eyes, a weapon case strapped to his back. The other was even taller and more powerfully built, standing over two meters tall, with arms thicker than an ordinary man's thighs. Yet he had the head of a lion—the body of a man, the head of a lion! A wild mane of yellow hair hung around him. He was unmistakably a rare beastman, a Lion-Man. He, too, carried a weapon case on his back.

"Tong San, my son's pretty impressive, isn't he? He's only eight, but he already has the strength of an average grown man," the middle-aged man said with a laugh.

"Yeah, Xue Ying's got potential. He'll definitely surpass you one day," the burly Lion-Man teased.

"Of course he'll be better than me. When I was eight, I was dirt poor and running around with the village kids, clueless about everything. I didn't get the chance to cultivate Battle Qi until I joined the army!" The middle-aged man sighed. "As his father, I can't give my son the best conditions, but whatever I can give him, I'll give with all my heart. I'll raise him well."

"Dong Bo, you went from a commoner to a Heaven-Rank Knight, and even bought a fief to become a noble. That's already impressive," the burly Lion-Man said with a smile.

This middle-aged man was none other than the baron Dongbo Lie, lord of more than a hundred miles of land in the surrounding area!

A baron was the lowest noble rank in the Xia Clan's Longshan Empire. When the Empire was first founded, noble titles were granted sparingly. But by now, more than nine thousand years had passed since its founding, and this behemoth of an empire had begun to decay. Even the sale of low-ranking titles was officially permitted.

Dongbo Lie and his wife had decided to buy a noble title and a fief after having a child. They had even named the fief Snow Eagle Territory—the same name as their son, a clear sign of how much they loved him.

Of course, it was only a small fief within Yishui County.

"I didn't cultivate Battle Qi until I was twenty, but my son's different. He's only eight, and I figure he'll be able to cultivate Battle Qi by the time he's around ten. Haha, he'll definitely be far stronger than me." Dongbo Lie looked at the boy, his eyes full of a father's affection and hopes for his son.

"Judging by his strength, around ten sounds about right," the burly Lion-Man agreed.

They had seen and experienced a great deal, so their judgment was naturally sound.

"Father, you were so far away. You threw a stone and it punched right through a tree this thick?" The boy stood beside the tree and wrapped his arms around it, but couldn't quite encircle it. A huge hole had been blasted through its trunk. "It's such a thick tree. If I chopped it down little by little, it'd take forever."

"Now you know how impressive a Heaven-Rank Knight is," the Lion-Man said. Dongbo Lie gave a pleased smile beside him. Fathers always liked to show off a little in front of their sons.

"Is he as strong as a Deity?" the boy said, deliberately pouting.

"A Deity?"

Dongbo Lie and the Lion-Man, Tong San, were speechless.

The founder of the Longshan Empire, Great Emperor Longshan, was a powerful Deity. Almost every subject in this world knew that. Dongbo Lie was a fierce warrior in the army, but compared to a Deity? There was no comparison.

"Looks like five hundred extra throws tonight still isn't enough. Hmm, make it a thousand," Dongbo Lie said, clicking his tongue.

"Father!" The boy's eyes widened. "You, you..."

"Think you can sass me? Remember, if you argue with your father, you're the one who'll lose. All right, let's head back." Dongbo Lie said.

The burly Lion-Man, Tong San, took a black flute from around his neck and blew a low note. The sound carried through the woods.

Soon, twenty soldiers in armor hurried over from the distance.

"Take the game back," Dongbo Lie ordered.

"Yes, my lord," the soldiers replied respectfully.

Dongbo Lie and the burly Lion-Man led the boy, Xue Ying, to the top of the mountain. There, they found a large number of horses and nearly a hundred soldiers. A huge white blanket had been spread across a wide clearing in the snow. A mysterious, transcendent woman in purple robes sat on it, with an adorable two- or three-year-old child toddling unsteadily beside her. The soldiers gazed at the woman in purple with awe.

That was because she was a powerful mage!

"Shi Tou, look who's here," the woman in purple said with a smile. The toddler immediately turned to look. The moment he saw them, his eyes lit up.

"Big brother, hold me! Big brother, hold me!" The child wiggled his bottom and ran toward him.

The woman in purple watched with a smile.

"Shi Tou." Xue Ying immediately went forward and crouched down. His little brother, Qing Shi, flung himself into his arms. "Big brother, hold me! Big brother, hold me!"

Xue Ying picked up his little brother and kissed him.

"Shi Tou, I hunted a wild deer today. Look!" Xue Ying pointed at the deer being carried by the soldiers behind them.

"Night deer? Night deer?" His little brother Qing Shi stared with round, dark eyes, making sounds that were hard to understand.

His little brother, Dongbo Qingshi, was only two. He was trying hard to talk, but he still couldn't speak clearly or understand much.

"It's a wild deer, one of the animals that live in the hills behind our home," Xue Ying explained.

"Xue Ying, let me take your little brother." The woman in purple rose and came over.

"Yes, Mother." Xue Ying passed his little brother to her.

"I brought some sweet osmanthus pastries. They're still warm, and they're in the basket. Go on, eat up," the woman in purple said.

"Pastries?" Xue Ying's eyes lit up. His mouth watered at once, and he felt as if he were about to drool. He immediately dashed over.

"I want some too! I want some too!" Little brother Qing Shi squirmed in their mother's arms. Mention food, and he was the most enthusiastic of all. At mealtimes, though, he was usually the least cooperative.

"Of course there's some for you, you little glutton." The woman in purple looked at Dongbo Lie and the Lion-Man, Tong San, who had just come over. "You two hurry over, too. I brought you something to eat as well."

"Haha... Not only is our mistress skilled in magic, she's a wonderful cook, too," the burly Lion-Man said.

When the Lion-Man was young, he had been a slave. He had become the woman in purple's servant and followed her ever since. Though many years had passed and they had come to feel like family, he still insisted on calling her "mistress."

After eating his fill, Xue Ying looked into the distance. Since they had camped on the mountaintop, he could see more mountains and many fields stretching out before him. As far as the eye could see, it was all his family's territory. His parents had given up their adventuring life and bought a noble title and a vast fief after he was born. They had named the entire fief Snow Eagle Territory!

Dongbo Xueying stretched and smiled happily.

He had a father and mother who loved him, an adorable little brother, and many kind people living in their territory.

Dongbo Xueying was truly happy with his life...

The only thing that gave him a bit of a headache was how grueling his father's training was.

"A thousand extra throws, on top of the thousand I already have to do... And then there's the spear techniques, and..." Dongbo Xueying's little face crumpled like a bitter melon.

******

Night fell, and a crescent moon hung in the sky.

The wind howled.

"Rumble~~~"

Thousands of meters above the ground, an enormous bird, like a patch of dark cloud, flew at high speed.

The gigantic bird had a wingspan of over twenty meters and four wings. It flew at nearly the speed of sound. It was an extremely ferocious magical beast known as a Four-Winged Vulture. Two figures sat cross-legged on its back: a man in silver armor and a gray-robed man holding a dark purple wooden staff.

"How far are we?" the gray-robed man asked.

"Master, we've entered Yishui County. We should reach Snow Eagle Territory in half an hour." The silver-armored man looked down, his gaze cold as he clearly made out the landmarks below.

"In half an hour, I'll be able to see my sister." The gray-robed man's voice was complicated. "She's really good at hiding. She managed to stay out of our family's reach for a full fifteen years..."

The Four-Winged Vulture flew through the darkness, straight toward Snow Eagle Territory!

Tomato's new book is officially out!

Phew, it's time to start a whole new world. Don't forget to bookmark it and leave a recommendation~~~

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