"You stupid bird. You don't even know my name. How could you remember me?"
Shi Hao muttered disdainfully, then bowed to Willow Deity. "Willow Deity, I'm planning to go out for a walk and see the Great Wilderness within a hundred thousand li."
"Qiongqi and the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow sent down more than a dozen Ancient Relics to vent their displeasure, unleashing a beast tide that swept across a hundred thousand li. There may be no life left in the surrounding lands."
"Going out to take a look is fine. This vast stretch of land has become a dead zone, making it perfect for Stone Village to grow stronger. No one will come snooping or bothering us anymore."
Willow Deity spoke softly, and Shi Hao agreed.
A moment later, an Ancient Demonic Bird carried Little Stone into the sky.
They flew for several whole days, covering tens of thousands of li.
With the Azure Heaven Roc leading the way, Shi Hao saw one blood-soaked giant city after another, one conquered super-tribe after another. Mountains had been flattened, the earth split apart, and the sky stained red.
For thousands of li, the land lay barren. Not a single trace of human life remained.
"Little fellow, do you still want to keep flying?"
High above the Nine Heavens, the Azure Heaven Roc beat its wings without pause, puzzled.
"Keep flying."
The person on its back answered without hesitation. The Azure Heaven Roc had no choice but to press on, flying several thousand li farther north.
At last, they descended to the bottom of a dried-up lake.
There, a golden creature with three heads and six arms lay motionless in the mud, eyes closed. Its fur was golden, its feet red as charcoal, and a small golden dragon horn protruded from its head.
"Looks like an ape, with red feet and a white head. It's definitely the Ancient Ferocious Beast Zhu Yan."
Shi Hao's eyes lit up, and he leaped down from the Azure Heaven Roc's back.
"Three Heads and Six Arms? A divine ability innate to the Zhu Yan clan? Could this be one of the four pure-blooded creatures from before?"
The Azure Heaven Roc also recognized the golden creature.
The Ancient Ferocious Beast Zhu Yan was every bit as terrifying as the Ancient Demonic Bird Azure Heaven Roc. Its appearance foretold chaos sweeping across an entire region.
Carefully, Shi Hao lifted Zhu Yan. Beneath it lay a sparkling, six-sided cubic bone, glimmering faintly in the mud.
"The Mountain Treasure? I never thought Zhu Yan would be the ultimate victor in the battle of the strongest!"
The Azure Heaven Roc's eyes shifted as it recalled the sparkling holy object that had shot into the sky that day.
"No. We're the ultimate victors. Hurry, let's get back to the village!"
Shi Hao chuckled under his breath, quickly hauling the Mountain Treasure and the unconscious Zhu Yan onto the Azure Heaven Roc's back. Then they turned into a streak of azure light and tore through the air.
Half a quarter of an hour later.
A gloomy-looking, middle-aged man in black appeared out of nowhere, radiating wickedness.
He stood in the middle of the lakebed and closed his eyes to search the area, but found nothing.
"The Mountain Treasure's last trace was clearly here. Damn it! Who was it? Who snatched my Mountain Treasure away?!"
As his furious roar rang out, the shadow of a towering black Ancient Demonic Bird flickered behind him. Its two eyes, crimson as blood moons, blazed with boundless savagery.
Beneath the charred willow tree at the village entrance.
"Willow Deity, that Vermilion Bird was the Fire Kingdom's Sacrificial Spirit. We couldn't keep it here, so we had to let it go. Look, I've brought back another Zhu Yan, badly wounded and close to death. It doesn't have an Ancient Kingdom to shelter it, or countless millions of people to protect it."
"If we save it, the village will finally have another guardian divine beast, won't it? This is a pure-blooded Venerable-level creature. Even the Primordial Divine Mountain is no better."
Shi Hao had never forgotten his plan to find an adult Ancient Ferocious Beast to guard the village, so that the First Ancestral Land of the Stone Clan would live up to its name.
In just a few days, he had brought back two Ancient Ferocious Beasts, both gravely wounded and near death.
Even Willow Deity, who had witnessed countless ancient eras, couldn't help but marvel that Little Shi was blessed with immense fortune. She replied calmly, "Healing it won't be difficult. The difficult part is keeping it in the village. Zhu Yan is a divine beast of wisdom and discernment, not some fool."
"Please cast your spell, Willow Deity. Leave everything else to me."
Little Shi patted his chest confidently.
Like the Chaos Demon Ape, Zhu Yan belonged to the Primordial Divine Ape lineage.
The Eight-Nine Profound Art was an ancient heavenly art passed down through the Primordial Divine Ape lineage for countless ages. It was a supreme treasure of the Dao that all its divine beast descendants dreamed of obtaining.
At the moment, Little Shi didn't have this heavenly art, but the Lord of the Forbidden Zone did. He could go ask for it when the chance came.
With that dangling in front of Zhu Yan, there was no way it wouldn't take the bait.
"Very well."
Willow Deity didn't ask for the details and simply cast her spell.
A tender green willow branch drooped, and a drop of crystalline Golden Divine Liquid fell straight onto Zhu Yan's crown. A boundless radiance of golden light burst forth at once.
The ancient essence of the heavens and earth surged wildly toward this place.
"Buzz! Boom!"
As the boundless light faded, the towering phantom of a golden divine ape rose in the center of Stone Village, its head piercing the clouds, able to pluck the Sun and Moon from the sky.
Its enormous golden body stood like a mountain range. It held a Heaven-Reaching Demon Staff, its eyes flashing like lightning as it gazed down upon all living beings, like an enraged war god clad in golden armor, awe-inspiring even in silence.
"That is... a supreme being has descended!"
"An ape-like form, red feet, a white head—it's the Ancient Ferocious Beast Zhu Yan!"
"Could it be the Sacrificial Spirit who caught a guardian divine beast for the village?!"
The astonishing commotion at the village entrance immediately brought the entire village running.
When they saw it beside the charred willow tree, the clanspeople quickly relaxed. They even began discussing whether Willow Deity had captured Zhu Yan after it lost a battle.
"Roar!"
Having just fully awakened, Zhu Yan let out an embarrassed growl at their words. It hurriedly withdrew its towering Law of Heaven and Earth and appeared in its true form.
"Honored Sacrificial Spirit, thank you for saving me."
The golden monkey Zhu Yan had become bowed respectfully beneath the willow tree.
"It's nothing. I acted at the request of this little stone. If you need anything, speak to him."
Willow Deity pointed at Shi Hao with a tender green willow branch, then fell silent.
"Little fellow, thank you for bringing me back. I have something I'd like to ask you. When you rescued me, did you happen to find..."
Zhu Yan cupped its hands toward Shi Hao, fidgeting anxiously.
"You mean, did I find the Mountain Treasure?"
Shi Hao picked up the rest of its sentence with a smile.
"Yes, yes, the Mountain Treasure! I fought Qiongqi, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, and those other bastards for months. In the end, I, Zhu Yan, came out on top and managed to seize it."
At the mention of that, Zhu Yan nodded proudly.
"I did find it."
Before Zhu Yan could smile, Little Shi's next words came floating over. "But from this moment on, it's mine."
Zhu Yan was about to threaten him, but then remembered that a mysterious and unfathomable Sacrificial Spirit stood beside them. It could only protest aggrievedly:
"That was my spoils of war. Please return it to me. I'll repay you handsomely afterward. I could even give you one of my clan's precious arts."
"No. The Mountain Treasure belonged to no one. Whoever gets their hands on it owns it."
Shi Hao shook his head with a perfectly straight face.
He wasn't a fool. First, he'd use the Eight-Nine Profound Art to keep Zhu Yan in Stone Village. After that, wouldn't he be free to pick from all its precious arts and learn whatever he wanted?
Before you continue