The hunting team's bountiful haul had stirred the entire village. Almost every household was sending people out, ceaselessly processing the mountain of vicious-beast carcasses piled up at the village entrance.
"The Old Suanni's brow bone can be made into a Suanni Treasure Mirror, the Devil Ape's pair of wings can be made into Demon Wings, and the Separated Fire Bull Demon's horns can be made into Bull Demon Twin Blades."
"And if we add the Beast Tooth Bracelet made from the teeth of Bei Village's old Sacrificial Spirit, our village will have four powerful treasures..."
A white-haired clan elder with a ruddy complexion circled the three Ancient Relics' Treasure Bodies in excitement, his eyes practically glowing.
He was the only person in the village who knew how to forge treasures.
The clan elders gathered together to discuss how best to use the three precious Ancient Relics' Treasure Bodies. Their special parts could be made into treasures, their true blood could be combined with ancient recipes to cleanse the children's bodies, and their flesh, rich in divine energy, could be turned into precious medicines...
"Little fellow, how has your body tempering been going?"
Just then, Willow Deity called Shi Hao over.
"One arm can lift a hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Both arms... Well, I'm not sure. Three hundred thousand pounds, maybe more?"
Shi Hao scratched his head and answered uncertainly.
"When True Hous, Golden Winged Rocs, and other Heavenly-Rank Ancient Vicious Beasts temper their young, they require them to lift only a hundred thousand pounds of divine iron with both arms. Not bad. You've already reached the limit of the Blood Moving Realm. You've achieved perfection."
Willow Deity fell silent for a moment, then replied with a smile.
"Does that mean I can cultivate the method Willow Deity mentioned now?"
Little Shi's eyes lit up when he heard that. He had finally been waiting for this day.
"Of course. But since you've brought back three Ancient Relics, you might as well use their true blood to give your body a thorough cleansing first. The results will be even better."
"I'd originally planned to grant you an ancient recipe from the primeval era, one used to lay the foundation for the young of Heavenly-Rank Ancient Vicious Beasts, for your body cleansing. But I see that the village's few inherited foundation-building recipes are hardly any weaker, so there's no need."
The charred willow tree swayed gently, and soft breezes wafted toward them.
Stone Village might have seemed so run-down, but its foundations were extraordinary.
The Shi Clan had once held five ancient recipes, covering foundation-building, cleansing, and alchemy.
In the primeval era, the Stone Clan Holy Emperor had left the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land and founded an Ancient Kingdom in the Desolate Region.
To ensure the inheritance would never die out, the far-sighted Stone Clan Holy Emperor had deliberately severed the connection between the Stone Kingdom and the Ancestral Land. One would flourish in the open, the other in secret, each developing independently and leaving the other undisturbed.
At first, the Stone Kingdom and the Ancestral Land both held the same five ancient recipes. But through the changes of history, the Stone Kingdom lost the most precious one: the pill recipe for refining the Lesser Nirvana Pill.
The Lesser Nirvana Pill was a powerful ancient pill that could help top Array Formation Kings undergo Nirvana once more, then break through to the Venerable Realm.
The Venerable Realm was the level reached by Ancient Kingdom Human Emperors and the founding patriarchs of great sects alike.
Yet the five ancient recipes of the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land had remained firmly in the village's hands. It was Little Shi, who had left the Ancestral Land, who brought the method for refining the Lesser Nirvana Pill back to the Stone Kingdom.
Now, as for the ancestral artifacts passed down through the generations...
The Stone Kingdom's imperial treasury held four divine artifacts and one true divine artifact, while Stone Village had three true divine artifacts: an arm bone, an animal hide, and an Ancient Tripod. Stone Village came out ahead.
In terms of foundations, Stone Village—the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land—completely outclassed the Stone Kingdom.
The supposed decline of the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land was merely a surface appearance. It had not lost a single part of its true ancient heritage; its inheritance was more intact than that of the Ancient Kingdom beyond.
As long as a true prodigy emerged, he could lead the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land to rapid revival. Little Shi, who would later emerge from Stone Village, was proof of that.
The Shi Clan had two branches: the Stone Kingdom and the Ancestral Land.
The two supreme divine arts passed down by the Stone Kingdom were the Suanni and the Bian, while the true divine artifacts inherited by the Ancestral Land were the Suanni arm bone and the Bian hide.
One couldn't help but wonder whether the Stone Clan Holy Emperor—that man who had emerged from the Great Wilderness—had once hunted down two True God-level Ancient Vicious Beasts, taken their bones to make ancestral artifacts, and studied their arts to create the inherited divine arts. What an unrivaled savage.
Besides, although the Shi Clan's Ancestral Land had lost its inherited divine arts, it had gained the Azure Roc and Suanni divine arts in their place. It was hardly any weaker than the other branch.
After all, whether it was an ancient clan, a great sect, or an Ancient Kingdom, under ordinary circumstances they inherited only one supreme divine art, supplemented by a few minor abilities, and could still dominate a region.
Two such arts already meant a deep foundation.
"Body cleansing? I understand, Willow Deity."
Shi Hao nodded and withdrew as instructed.
Night draped the land, with a few stars scattered across the sky.
To celebrate the harvest, the villagers gathered around piles of bonfires, singing and dancing.
They drank and ate meat by the mouthful, the children gleefully chasing and playing, while the elders sat nearby, watching it all with warm smiles.
Joy filled every corner of the village, a gentle warmth settling over everything.
Meanwhile, the clan elders who had mastered the Bone Text inheritance quietly began to bustle about.
The thousand-pound Bronze Tripod, the five-thousand-pound Black Gold Tripod, the eight-thousand-pound Hou-Patterned Cauldron, and the ten-thousand-pound Black Ancient Tripod were all brought out from the corners.
Of them, the Black Ancient Tripod looked the most extraordinary. Mountains and rivers, the sun and moon, flowers and birds, insects and fish were engraved across its pitch-black body. There were even images of ancient people emerging from the Great Wilderness, overcoming hardships to forge a glorious legacy.
"Little One, the village plans to use today's harvest to give you children a thorough medicinal-bath cleansing."
"Beyond the Great Wilderness, the powerful ancient clans cleanse and lay the foundations of their children when they turn five, ten, and fifteen, hoping to establish the strongest possible foundation so they can reach the pinnacle in the future."
"You're five this year. The timing for your cleansing couldn't be better."
Shi Hao had been watching the clan elders' movements without blinking. The village chief, Shi Yunfeng, stroked his head as he spoke.
Shi Hao nodded lightly.
However, Shi Yunfeng had clearly misunderstood something. He spoke with some guilt. "Grandpa knows your talent is no worse than that of the legendary Heavenly-Rank Ancient Vicious Beasts' young, but this is all the village can do for you."
"We rummaged through every chest and cabinet to find a few worn-out ancient recipes and several medicine cauldrons that can barely still be used. I know these things can't possibly nourish and transform your divine aptitude to the fullest. I hope you won't blame Grandpa and the village."
After hearing him out, Shi Hao lowered his head, his expression indescribably strange.
An ancient recipe on par with those used to lay the foundations of Heavenly-Rank Ancient Vicious Beasts' young, a medicine cauldron ranked as a true divine artifact, and the complete Treasure Bodies of three supreme Ancient Relics—even the son of an Ancient Kingdom Human Emperor had never received treatment like this.
The treatment was already so terrifying, and the village chief was still asking him not to blame the village.
Willow Deity above, what kind of thing was that to say?!!
Well, should he tell the village chief the truth?
Forget it, forget it. Grandpa was a late-stage Cave Heaven Realm cultivator, but he was old all the same. Better to wait until the time was right.
"Grandpa, it's all right. This is already very good."
Thinking that, Shi Hao shook his head as if nothing were wrong.
"Ah, what a good child..."
Shi Yunfeng's eyes grew damp when he heard that. He patted Little Shi's shoulder firmly.
For updates, the new book is currently on a steady schedule of two chapters a day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Before you continue