"Human, give me back my child!!"
This adult Ancient Relic could not yet speak human language, but it could already communicate with Little Shi through divine sense. Its words were laced with threats.
"No. I stole the egg fair and square. What gives you the right to make me return it?"
Shi Hao gritted his teeth. The scarlet Vermilion Bird wings on his back blazed wildly, faintly coalescing into the phantom of an Ancient Vermilion Bird. It spread its Cloud-Drooping Wings to shield him.
When a precious technique was cultivated to its utmost limits, it could even let its wielder become the source of divinity and transform into an Ancient Fiend.
But Little Shi had only practiced the Vermilion Bird Precious Technique for a short time. He had yet to master it completely, and could not wield it as perfectly as the Green Peng Precious Technique or the Suanni Precious Technique.
"Looking for death!"
The descendant of the Ancient Divine Bird, the Peacock God King, was utterly enraged. Its terrifying screech rang out, and an endless divine radiance crashed down like waves pounding the shore. It pierced the Ancient Vermilion Bird phantom and slammed into Little Shi's back.
"Urgh!"
Caught off guard, Shi Hao stumbled and nearly plunged headfirst to the ground. In his haste, he could only scramble to conjure another pair of Vermilion Bird wings.
"Scruffy peacock, just because the tiger hasn't shown its might, you think I'm a sick cat?"
Shi Hao's gaze turned icy. He forcibly swallowed the blood in his throat as divine radiance surged around him. His nine Grotto-Heavens appeared one after another, arranged in a ring above his head.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Sword qi roared. Nine silver, metal-like blades of Sword Grass appeared around him. As they slowly revolved, an astonishing intent to slice and rend spread through the air.
"That is..."
The Five-Colored Peacock had been about to press its advantage, but its heart suddenly tightened. It stared fixedly at the nine constantly rotating blades of grass, its spiritual senses jolting in alarm.
Despite being a mighty demon in the Inscription Realm, it felt as though death itself were closing in.
"Grass Sword Art, cut it down!!"
As his roar rang out, surging essence blazed fiercely, traded for a single sword strike raised to its utmost sublimation.
Silver sword qi swept across the sky, like the Milky Way plunging down from the Nine Heavens. It pulverized all things, cleaved through every obstacle, and pierced through everything.
The Five-Colored Peacock was, after all, an Ancient Relic that carried the bloodline of the Peacock God King. At this critical moment, it did not hesitate to sacrifice its own bloodline, summoning an Ancestral Emperor Imprint to protect itself.
"Roar!"
The phantom of an Ancient Divine Bird blotted out the sky and sun as it strode across the River of Time, coming to its aid from a distant battlefield in the ancient past. War drums thundered, and its battle intent soared into the heavens.
Yet this sword strike was peerlessly domineering, sharp to the extreme.
"Pfft!"
The phantom of the Ancient Divine Bird, which had occupied most of the sky like a dark cloud, was torn apart in an instant. The astonishing sword intent continued downward, and amid a shrill cry, it forcibly sheared off one of the Ancient Relic's wings. Crimson blood poured freely.
"Rumble!"
The Five-Colored Peacock, struck without warning, crashed helplessly to the ground. A violent shock wave surged wildly in every direction.
"Damn it, the cost of unleashing the Grass Sword Art at full power is just too great!"
At the same time, pale-faced Shi Hao didn't look back. With a flicker, he transformed directly into a pureblood Golden Winged Roc and fled into the distance.
The Five-Colored Peacock was a mighty demon in the late Inscription Realm. It was only a little weaker than the Azure Heaven Roc, which was on the verge of transforming into an Array Formation King.
Even after being caught off guard and losing a wing to the Grass Sword Art, it was still far beyond what Shi Hao could provoke at the Cave Heaven Realm.
If Little Shi thought he could take the chance to kill it, he'd be taught a lesson in no time.
The sensible thing was to grab the Five-Colored Precious Egg and run for the hills.
Little Shi unleashed the Golden Winged Roc Precious Technique at full force, ripping through the air at lightning speed. In an instant, he vanished into the boundless ancient forest.
On the other side of the mountain range, a group of more than a dozen warriors in fitted clothes stared into the distance, dumbstruck.
At their head stood an exceptionally graceful woman, about sixteen years old. She wore white, her figure was lithe, and her bearing was strikingly pure.
"He's fighting a descendant of the Ancient Divine Bird, the Peacock King. Though he's at a disadvantage, he can still withdraw at ease. Who... who exactly is he?"
The speaker was a silver-eyed old woman with a head of white hair. She looked vigorous, and mysterious Bone Text flickered now and then in her eyes. She was a cultivator in the late Spirit Transformation Realm.
"Nine Grotto-Heavens, mastery of the Vermilion Bird Precious Technique and Golden Winged Roc Precious Technique, and another peerless sword art. Even the children of princes and marquises are unworthy of him. He must be either a descendant of the Human Emperor or the direct heir of an ancient clan—a peerless genius of his generation."
A middle-aged warrior standing with one hand on his saber answered in a daze.
"Now this is the kind of disciple Heaven Mending Pavilion should recruit: a king among his peers, looking down on all others. I'm giving him the eighth Heaven Mending Token. I'll recruit him into the pavilion."
The white-clad woman, with skin as smooth as jade, had her cherry-red lips shaped into an "o" as well. Only after a long while did she slowly emerge from her unconcealed shock.
Heaven Mending Pavilion was an ancient sacred land on a par with Deer Chasing Academy and God King Hall.
"But, Miss You Yu, the Rain Clan of the Stone Kingdom also wants the final token, to pave the way for a powerful young marquis in their clan."
"The Rain Clan is one of the great marquis families of the Ancient Kingdom, and they're also the maternal clan of that ancient Double Pupil bearer. Shouldn't we..."
Among the many attendants, a young man trailed off.
"Hmph, how foolish. Never mind that he's merely the son of an elder from Rain King Mansion—even if he were the Rain Prince's heir, how could he compare to this genius, destined to rise?"
Before the current generation's senior sister of Heaven Mending Pavilion could respond, the silver-eyed old woman had already rebuked him.
"Grandmother, enough of that. Let's go. We have to catch up with him."
The white-clad beauty named Xia Youyu swayed her slender waist. Like a mermaid, she darted away in a few quick bounds, leaving a faint, delicate fragrance in her wake.
The attendants exchanged glances, then could only use their movement techniques and hurry after her.
Several dozen miles away, in another area.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Shi Hao sat cross-legged in a grassy clearing, cautiously tapping the Five-Colored Precious Egg in his arms. It rang out like metal striking metal.
"Tsk, this Five-Colored Precious Egg is pretty hard, but it still won't stump me."
As he spoke, Little Shi took a glittering golden Wolf Tooth Dagger from his Grotto-Heaven. It was the first Ancestral Artifact of the Golden Wolf Tribe, bestowed upon them by the Golden Wolf Ancient Kingdom.
After opening a Grotto-Heaven, a cultivator could place their own precious artifacts inside to nourish them.
"Crack!"
Golden light flashed. Five-colored radiance rippled across the eggshell as vast life essence poured out, accompanied by a faint, intoxicating fragrance.
At last, the Wolf Tooth Dagger broke a large hole in the Five-Colored Precious Egg. Its crystalline, jade-like egg liquid wobbled gently inside, gleaming like emerald.
"Whew, what a rich aura of life~"
Shi Hao merely took a light sniff, and already felt a little tipsy. Without another word, he raised the Five-Colored Precious Egg to his mouth and gulped down the crystalline liquid.
When the last drop was gone, his belly bulged slightly. Vast as an ocean, the life essence rapidly coursed through his limbs and bones, scorching his body like true fire.
"Heaven-Swallowing Secret Technique, devour!"
Shi Hao burped contentedly. Then, in his mind, he quickly pictured the Ancient Demonic Bird, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, feeding. He turned his body into a towering black demonic furnace, shaking it violently to digest the abundant divine energy racing wildly within him.
Before you continue