Three Battles, Three Defeats

Chapter 14: Three Battles, Three Defeats

"Beat them up? Easy. Dad says I've gotten a lot stronger lately, and I was just looking for someone to spar with."

Dazhuang, Ermeng, and the others didn't stand on ceremony, jumping out with laughs and cheers.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

As the three took a step forward, rolling blood energy surged like wolf-smoke, sounding like thunder, with faint, rich divine radiance blooming within.

Blood Moving Realm—all three were cultivators of the Blood Moving Realm!

"They? How could they possibly..."

Zishan Shou, who had been about to voice his doubts, paused. He swallowed the rest of his words without changing his expression and beckoned to those behind him: "Kun'er, you go."

"Mingyuan, you go too and play with our friends from Stone Village."

The Thunder Marquis's fourth son, Lei Yunkun, pushed his younger brother forward to fight.

"Enough talk, attack together!"

Lei Mingyuan, Zishan Kun, and Jiao Peng—three young geniuses who enjoyed quite a reputation in these lands—exchanged glances and actually charged forward in unison.

The eldest, Lei Mingyuan, flashed forward and threw a punch, sending countless black lightning bolts whistling through the air with fierce, overbearing power.

Refusing to be outdone, Zishan Kun manifested a great purple sun that streaked outward, scorching and formidable.

"Nameless brats, I lost to Little Shi, but surely I can handle the likes of you? Everyone, get down!"

The most arrogant of them, Jiao Peng, gave a grim laugh. As he swung his arm, a gray, primordial vicious flood dragon tore through the void and arrived with astonishing momentum.

"Heh, I don't know about your skills, but your temper is certainly something."

Dazhuang, who had never feared anything in his life, didn't believe in such nonsense and leaped to meet Lei Mingyuan.

"RUMBLE!"

With a light flick of his finger, a dazzling golden lightning bolt struck from thin air, shattering the other's lightning light like dry wood.

"What? You actually possess a powerful lightning-path precious technique?"

Lei Mingyuan was startled at first, but he countered by manifesting even stronger lightning, within which a purple thunderbird flickered in and out of existence.

But before it could fully form, it was crushed by a Golden Beast claw that tore through the air, sending Lei Mingyuan flying back with a heavy thud.

"Shi Meng is here!"

Ermeng trotted over with a "turtle-step" he'd learned from who knows where. It looked ridiculous, but the moment he struck, he unleashed a Sacred Silver Moon of extreme speed.

It sliced through the scorching purple sun and flew right past Zishan Kun's scalp, scaring the boy so badly he broke into a cold sweat.

Pihou—his name suited him well. He was incredibly mischievous and the least diligent in practicing precious techniques, so he naturally only had a rough grasp of the two great village-protecting techniques.

However, he had the most tricks up his sleeve.

Facing the roaring phantom of the primordial vicious flood dragon, Pihou didn't panic; he summoned a pair of Demon Ape Wings to soar into the air, then unleashed the Bull Demon Twin Blades to cleave the phantom apart.

Demon Ape Wings! Bull Demon Twin Blades!

"That is... a precious artifact?"

Jiao Peng's momentum faltered, and he instinctively tried to counterattack.

Too bad that a moment later, the crimson blades were already resting against his neck.

"Correct."

The little guy, Pihou—also known as Shi Zhonghou—retracted his Demon Ape Wings and answered with a smile.

In the blink of an eye, all three matches were decided!

"..."

For a moment, the scene was deathly silent.

"Alright, you three, stop showing off. They're just a few nobodies; defeating them is nothing to brag about."

A dismissive voice rang out abruptly.

"Cough, this is our first time showing our faces to the outside world, after all~"

Pihou and the others smacked their lips, still wanting more, but they obediently listened to Little Shi and released their opponents before retreating.

"I haven't even settled the score with you for secretly using the village's precious artifacts."

Little Shi glared at Pihou, scaring the boy into shrinking back into the crowd.

The members of the various great clans looked at the Stone Village children with strange expressions.

Lei Mingyuan, Zishan Kun, and Jiao Peng were not the "nobodies" Little Shi claimed them to be; they were the top talents of their respective tribes' younger generations.

Yet, against the three from Stone Village, they had suffered three defeats in three battles.

And this was while that youth, suspected to be supreme, hadn't even made a move.

The image of Stone Village as a super-hidden, transcendent family began to quietly take root in the hearts of the various clans, making them increasingly wary.

Yet, the reaction of the five great tribes was somewhat strange.

"Is that the Suanni Precious Technique and the Green Peng Precious Technique?!!"

Zishan Shou, Lei Yunkun, and the others, all men of vast experience, shuddered in unison. They exchanged subconscious glances and murmured in one voice.

Although the Thunder Clan had millions of descendants, they were merely a branch that had migrated from a super-clan known as the "Thunder Department," and the lightning-based precious techniques they wielded were not particularly profound.

The Fierce Flood Dragon Precious Technique of Luofu Marsh originated from an ancestor who had been fortunate enough to observe the form of an archaic fierce flood dragon from afar, accidentally obtaining a portion of its legacy; it, too, was an incomplete art.

The Purple Qi Secret Technique of the Zishan Tribe was obtained when a chieftain from several hundred years ago fell into a mountain cave by sheer coincidence...

In short, the inherited precious techniques of these few tribes all possessed flaws of varying degrees due to various reasons; they could not be called perfect.

But, right now.

Ancestors above, two complete, supreme precious techniques had appeared here in one go—even the ancient foundations of archaic clans or great sects would be no more impressive than this.

"If we could bring these two supreme precious techniques back to our tribes, wouldn't our clans be able to completely dominate this boundless land!!"

The expressions of Zishan Shou and the others shifted rapidly, their eyes filled with greed and burning intensity.

However, that mysterious Sacrificial Spirit of unknown background was troublesome; they would still need to test it.

"Little brother Shi Hao, although this was a normal sparring match, the people of your village were perhaps a bit too ruthless; Peng'er seems to have suffered very serious internal injuries."

Thinking of this, Jiao Cang, unable to suppress the greed in his heart, could not help but speak up.

"Oh, so now you not only intend to welch on the three jars of true beast blood you owe, but you're also trying to shift the blame? What exactly are you testing?"

"Answer me, and perhaps I can tell you the truth directly."

Shi Hao's bright, clear eyes swept over, seemingly piercing through Jiao Cang's clumsy schemes at a glance, causing the latter to shift his gaze away in guilt.

"Hehe, little brother Shi Hao is joking; I was just..."

Embarrassed to be put on the spot in public by a five or six-year-old child, Jiao Cang felt secretly ashamed and annoyed, forcing out a few unnatural laughs.

"No choice then. Debts must be repaid; it is only right and proper."

Little Shi interrupted Jiao Cang, who was about to speak again, with an expressionless face. He turned and cupped his hands toward the interior of the village: "Grandpa Chieftain, someone wants to welch on Stone Village's debt. What should we do?"

"What else is there to do? Naturally, we beat the hell out of them!"

An aged roar rang out like rolling thunder, vibrating the heads of the many experts until they buzzed and causing the Scale Horses to stir in agitation.

The sound of rhythmic footsteps approached. From the depths of the ancient village, a group of white-haired but nimble-footed elders arrived, each brandishing a treasure tool radiating divine light.

At their head was an old man with black hair, dressed in a simple hemp robe.

His eyes were like lightning, and his aura was astonishing, causing everyone to lower their heads in succession. His sturdy frame and the rhythmic heaving of his chest made him look like an angry old lion patrolling his territory.

Shi Yunfeng, an expert at the middle stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm, has arrived!