Mountain Treasure Reappears

"I know. Little Shi only wanted to warn you, senior. With the Mountain Treasure appearing this time, supreme beings are fighting for it. Even our village is powerless to intervene, so I hope the Cloud Clan will also refrain from getting involved."

Shi Hao glanced at the elder from Cloud Heaven Palace, who looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy, and said with a chuckle.

The Cloud Clan, who founded Cloud Heaven Palace, had a background far deeper than the shallow Purple Mountain or Thunder tribes; their lineage originated from the Upper Realm.

In the three thousand provinces of the Upper Realm, the Cloud Clan occupied an entire province alone, known as Cloud Province. They were an immortal orthodoxy that shook the region, and in terms of foundation, they were not much weaker than the Celestial Clan that occupied Heaven Province.

The Upper Realm was chaotic, so building a good relationship in advance was for the best.

Thinking of this, Little Shi beamed a smile at the twin sisters from Cloud Heaven Palace, but it only terrified the two beauties, leaving the former feeling quite depressed.

"Supreme beings are clashing? Could it be..."

The elder of Cloud Heaven Palace felt a jolt in his heart. His expression grew increasingly grave, and he dared not say another word, only cupping his hands in a bow. "Many thanks for your kind words, Little Brother Shi Hao. This old man shall take his leave now."

With that, he activated his snowy white feathers and fled toward the horizon at the speed of light.

"Grandpa Chief, another bountiful harvest."

Shi Hao withdrew his gaze and handed the ancient artifacts presented by the various clan leaders to Shi Yunfeng.

"A harvest is good indeed. The village can add three more powerful precious techniques, plus two formidable precious artifacts. The children will become even stronger."

Shi Yunfeng accepted the artifacts with a joyful laugh, stroking them incessantly as if he couldn't bear to put them down.

Under the leadership of Shi Linhu and Shi Feijiao, the clansmen quickly cleaned up the battlefield outside the village, not leaving a single piece of loot behind.

"Deep in the Great Wilderness, the standoff between those powerful beings fighting for the Mountain Treasure is coming to an end. I fear that in a few days, they will erupt into an all-out war and clash in earnest."

"The village should try to store as much food as possible over these next few days. Three days from now, I will completely seal the village to keep us away from this disaster. Azure Heaven Roc, your family should help as well."

Just as the clansmen were returning to the village, the Willow Deity at the village entrance suddenly spoke.

"Fighting for the Mountain Treasure? A war between supreme beings?"

The old chief was startled by these words and immediately began whispering with the other village elders about how to urgently stockpile as much food as possible, along with other contingency plans.

"Willow Deity, are you going to use your great divine powers to move the village away from here?"

Once the clansmen had dispersed, Shi Hao, who had stayed behind in secret, asked.

He remembered that in the original story, the Willow Deity had moved the village to a hidden paradise one hundred thousand miles away and sealed it for a year.

"No, I will simply activate a divine array to conceal the village. While I do not wish to clash with those powerful beings, they are not yet capable of harming me."

"Furthermore, a high-level divine corpse is buried beneath Stone Village. I still need to absorb the divinity and nutrients from it to recover my strength, and I do not wish to stir up trouble for that reason."

The Willow Deity replied.

Shi Hao was curious. "A high-level divine corpse? What rank of deity is it?"

"Likely a Heavenly God. Once I recover a bit more strength, I will hand this Heavenly God corpse over to you all to bolster the village's power."

The Willow Deity said nonchalantly.

A Heavenly God, the supreme being among the three tiers of deities, could regrow severed limbs, and a single drop of their divine blood could collapse mountain ranges. Their divine might could suppress all lower realms; they were truly God Kings, the kings among gods.

"A fallen Heavenly God?"

Shi Hao's eyes lit up, and he was filled with excitement.

Even after the Willow Deity drained most of its divinity, a Heavenly God's corpse would still possess endless divine power. It might even be enough to forge several powerful Venerables for the village.

But then again, why was a Heavenly God's corpse buried beneath the ancestral grounds of the Stone Clan?

Could it be the work of that Stone Clan Holy Emperor who walked out of the Stone Clan's ancestral grounds?

Thinking of it this way, the Stone Clan Holy Emperor must be at least a top-tier Heavenly God.

"Go now, and help your clansmen prepare to seal the village."

The Willow Deity whispered, and Shi Hao turned to leave, lost in thought.

Three days later.

"BOOM!"

A heaven-shaking roar suddenly erupted from deep within the mountain range. Instantly, ten thousand rays of light surged, and a crystal-clear object the size of a palm floated in the center of a pillar of light.

The Mountain Treasure had appeared!

"ROAR! The Mountain Treasure is mine!"

Amidst the thick mist, a primordial vicious beast that stood between heaven and earth struggled to its feet. Killing Intent overflowed from its body, its beastly frame towering into the clouds, and its pair of emerald eyes were embedded in the sky like two lakes.

"Qiongqi, you are not worthy!"

A primordial demonic bird hidden in the clouds let out a cold snort and swung its cloud-draping wings, striking down with ferocity. Its blood-red eyes were as evil as two blood moons hanging high in the nine heavens, and its body, which blotted out the sun and sky, was gradually revealed.

"RUMBLE!"

On the other side, the mountains shook, the earth tore apart, and the beasts fled.

A small crimson bird looked up to the sky and shrieked, its crimson heavenly fire burning away half the world.

Suddenly, a massive, furry golden claw swung the Heaven-Reaching Demon Staff downward, shattering the heavens and the earth; it was a golden creature with three heads and six arms making its move.

With this, the four supreme creatures launched an all-out war!

The shocking upheaval deep within the mountain range immediately threw the entire Stone Village into a state of high tension.

"The Mountain Treasure has reappeared, and supreme creatures are fighting over it!"

"The great battle from two years ago is finally going to reach a conclusion today!"

"We thank the Sacrificial Spirit; the village has made all necessary preparations."

Gazing at the Great Wilderness, where the sky had changed in an instant, several white-haired clan elders knelt in heartfelt submission beneath the charred willow tree at the village entrance.

I wonder when I will be able to step into the same realm as those four supreme creatures!

An adult Azure Heaven Roc spread its pair of massive, emerald-like wings, shielding its three shivering chicks beneath them, its gaze solemn as it looked toward the horizon.

Qiongqi, Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, Zhu Yan, and Vermilion Bird—four Venerable-level pure-blooded creatures are locked in battle. I really want to lure them all back to serve as guardian beasts for the village. If that happened, the title of the First Ancestral Land of the Stone Clan would truly be well-deserved.

In the village, Shi Hao thought to himself, secretly drooling.

"The great battle has begun. Seal the village!"

The charred willow tree swayed slightly, gently waving its tender green branches to release boundless light. A dense, rosy glow enveloped the entire ancient village, causing it to vanish from this world in an instant.

"Hm, that is..."

The supreme creature, hidden within the twilight mist, seemed to sense something and cast its emerald-green gaze downward, but the massive, ferocious bird spanning the sky refused to let up, launching a fierce assault with earth-shaking momentum.

This caused the former to fly into a rage, forcing it to fight back in frustration.

The great battle between the four supreme creatures lasted for over two full months before it finally came to a halt.

During this time, in order to conceal the news of the Mountain Treasure's emergence, Qiongqi and the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow commanded the beasts of the mountains to mobilize. Led by over a dozen adult archaic remnants, they bloodied a hundred thousand li of the Great Wilderness, razing one giant city after another.

Even with Zhu Yan and the Vermilion Bird intervening to stop them, the destruction could not be averted.

The Purple Mountain Clan, the Thunder Clan, the Golden Wolf Tribe, the Luofu Marsh... these super-clans with millions of subjects were one after another wiped out by the shocking beast tide, with only the deep-rooted Cloud Clan managing to escape unscathed.

On this day, a sky full of green radiance erupted, and Stone Village, which had been sealed for over two months, finally reappeared at its original site.

At the village entrance, the charred willow tree remained as it was.