17. Chapter 17: Pressure, Compensation

"Had I not returned in time, you would have attacked the village, slaughtered the women, children, and able-bodied men, and plundered our ancestral precious techniques. You all deserve to die; there is no shame in killing you."

The Azure Heaven Roc let out a cold, displeased huff, its gaze icy.

These damned humans had nearly caused it to fail the mission entrusted by the Spirit, a sin for which dying a hundred times would not be enough.

Hearing this, the four clan chiefs all wore unnatural expressions.

Why had the four of them remained hidden in the shadows, delaying their own intervention?

It was because the precious techniques were too tempting; they had intended for their clansmen to lead the charge, and if the situation proved impossible, the four supreme chiefs would then step in to clean up the mess.

Who could have guessed that this pathetic village was playing the game of acting like a pig to eat the tiger!

"But why did you have to lay a hand on my Peng'er? He was only six years old..."

The Lord of Luofu Marsh's eyes were bloodshot, still unable to emerge from the grief of losing his son.

"In that case, how about I send you down to keep him company?!"

A fierce killing intent surged within the Azure Heaven Roc's deep, avian eyes. Its talons, seemingly forged from steel, struck out with the speed of thunder, heading straight for the man.

It intended to establish its dominance!

"Roar! I'll fight you to the death!"

Locked in the crosshairs of the attack, the Lord of Luofu Marsh had nowhere to run. Driven by shock and rage, he slammed his right fist into his chest, and a vicious, ancient flood dragon tore its way out from his spine—the remnant soul of the Ancient Fierce Flood Dragon he had nurtured with his own essence blood for years.

"Roar!"

The Ancient Fierce Flood Dragon, overflowing with killing intent, let out a furious roar. Its body rapidly expanded to over two hundred feet in length, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged forward.

"Bang!"

However, the next moment, the beastly talons descended. The remnant soul of the Ancient Fierce Flood Dragon did not even last a second before it, along with the Lord of Luofu Marsh, was crushed into a bloody mist.

On the other side.

The moment the Azure Heaven Roc struck, the remaining three clan chiefs reacted with extreme intensity.

The Purple Mountain Marquis let out a roar, and rolling purple energy poured out like an ocean, rapidly forming a towering giant of purple mist that shielded him within.

Thunder rumbled. Behind the Thunder Marquis, whose body was traced with lightning patterns, a massive phantom of a thunder-bird began to take shape.

The Golden Wolf Clan Chief, an imposing and dignified old man, took an object from his robes. It erupted with blinding light, shining upon the world like a dazzling golden sun.

It was a gleaming golden bone dagger.

Before the Golden Wolf Tribe had migrated, they had paid annual tribute to a supreme ancient kingdom.

The clan chief at the time had performed such extraordinary feats of war for that kingdom that the Human Emperor had bestowed upon him a powerful treasure crafted from the shed tooth of the kingdom's own Spirit, possessing terrifying might.

The Wolf Tooth Dagger, the primary ancestral artifact of the Golden Wolf Tribe!

"Roar!"

Under the immense pressure, the Golden Divine Wolf looked to the heavens and roared.

It was molting; the fur on its back split open and peeled away, falling to the ground. From within, a slightly smaller, yet far more brilliant and divine Golden Divine Wolf stepped out.

The old skin left on the ground expanded, rapidly transforming into a divine wolf identical in appearance to the Golden Divine Wolf, baring its teeth and guarding against the attack from the sky.

The moment it shed its old skin, the Golden Divine Wolf's cultivation surged from the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm to the half-step Inscription Realm, surpassing even the Purple Mountain Marquis.

As it turned out, the Golden Divine Wolf had already undergone a rebirth once before, shedding a layer of old skin.

Within the Golden Wolf Tribe, this great secret was known only to the Golden Wolf Clan Chief. It had been biding its time, intending to reveal its strength only after truly stepping into the Inscription Realm.

It was worthy of the title of the number one Spirit within a radius of fifty thousand miles.

It was just a pity that the current situation left the wolf no choice but to reveal itself prematurely.

Even though the three clan chiefs and the Golden Divine Wolf reacted so violently, they dared not initiate an attack. Instead, they felt a secret joy at the miserable death of the Lord of Luofu Marsh.

The attack did not seem to be aimed at them, after all?

Better a dead comrade than a dead self—how wonderful!

"Under an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent."

Having crushed the Lord of Luofu Marsh with a single claw, the Azure Heaven Roc did not continue its assault. Instead, it murmured softly and retrieved the dragon bone that had burst forth, handing it to Little Shi on its back.

That ancient dragon bone was suspected to contain the precious techniques of the Luofu Marsh's fierce flood dragon.

"Sir, we are willing to compensate your village for its losses. Can we let this matter rest?"

The three clan chiefs exchanged glances and spoke tentatively.

No matter the cost, they had to escape first, then find a way to take the surviving members of their tribes and flee.

"Actually, if I just kill you all, I can still get what I want."

These words broke the clan chiefs into a cold sweat, but the Azure Heaven Roc changed its tone, handing the choice to the figure on its back: "Enough. Little one, I will leave the rest to you to handle."

With that, the Azure Heaven Roc descended, carrying Shi Hao on its back.

"It is not impossible for the village to let this matter go, but you must hand over the ancestral precious techniques of your respective tribes."

Shi Hao leaped to the ground, thought for a moment, and added, "Oh, right, the Golden Wolf Tribe doesn't have to hand over their precious technique, but the dagger treasure in the Clan Chief's hand and that Divine Wolf Pelt must be surrendered."

The Wolf Tooth Dagger was the Golden Wolf Tribe's primary ancestral artifact.

As for the Divine Wolf Pelt, as long as one wore it, the wearer could not only transform into a Golden Divine Wolf but also briefly possess the formidable combat power of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

"This..."

Upon hearing this, the Golden Wolf Clan Chief gripped the Wolf Tooth Dagger tightly, his heart bleeding incessantly.

However, the Golden Divine Wolf, being a beast, had long since been terrified out of its wits by the adult Primordial Remnant, the Azure Heaven Roc. Hearing the demand, it offered up its own pelt without hesitation and turned to flee.

"Lord Spirit! Lord Spirit!"

The stunned Golden Wolf Clan Chief opened his mouth in despair, resigned himself to his fate, threw the Wolf Tooth Dagger away with a heavy heart, and then hurried to catch up with the ancient sacrificial spirit his tribe had worshipped for countless years.

"Sigh! Just hand them over!"

Seeing that the situation was lost and unable to hold their ground alone, the Purple Mountain Marquis and the Thunder Marquis sighed in unison, forced to painfully surrender their respective inherited precious techniques.

One piece of ancient animal hide and one dull, lusterless animal bone were presented, inscribed with the Purple Mountain Tribe's Purple Qi Secret Technique and the Thunder Department's Thunderbird Precious Technique, respectively.

The Thunderbird was a bloodline descendant of the ancient thunder beast, the Thunder Sky Sparrow.

Having finished all this, the two clan chiefs hurriedly moved to gather the remaining experts of their tribes, turned, and fled deep into the mountain forest, not even daring to retrieve the flying treasures or the large number of exotic mounts left behind by their tribesmen.

The remaining men from the twenty or thirty large clans dared not linger any longer, terrified of being stripped of another layer of wealth by "Shi the Skin-Flayer," and quickly fled in unison.

"Mutated Scaled Horse, Black Panther, Moon Rhino, Feathered Tiger, Unicorn... Hehe, the village is going to make a fortune this time! Especially the Unicorn—that's a divine steed capable of traveling ten thousand miles a day and evolving into a Primordial Pegasus."

The Stone Village tribesmen didn't mind at all; they rushed out of the village in high spirits, leading back the various exotic mounts left behind by the major tribes, not to mention the various treasures that could not be left behind.

"Senior, please wait a moment."

The trio from Cloud Heaven Palace—one elder and two youths—had just prepared to step onto their snowy white Snow Feather and sneak away, but they didn't expect a familiar voice to call out from behind them.

"Uh, little brother Shi Hao, my Cloud Heaven Palace has never held any malice toward your village."

The Cloud Heaven Palace elder's body suddenly stiffened. He turned around tremblingly, his face twisted in a mournful expression as he spoke.