Little Shi had climbed to the mountaintop, but he didn't rush out. Instead, he hid behind a rock face and cautiously watched for a while.
Only after he was sure the adult Green-Scaled Eagle had gone out to hunt did he approach.
The moment he touched one of the enormous eggs, his forearm went numb and tingly, and he instinctively snatched his hand back.
The Green-Scaled Eagle had an incomplete imprint of an Ancient Demonic Bird within it. Even in its egg, the power to protect itself was innate.
"Heh heh, this won't stump me."
At a thought from Shi Hao, runes flowed across his arms, making them as sturdy as cast metal. When he touched the egg again, nothing happened.
Seeing that the Bone Text he had practiced for two years worked, Little Shi was overjoyed. He swiftly packed all three enormous eggs into his animal-hide bag, grabbed it, and raced down the mountain.
With each leap, he covered several meters, leaving a series of afterimages among the trees.
The village was already in sight. Shi Hao, who had been on edge the whole way, couldn't help smiling with satisfaction. The journey had been smooth and uneventful.
"Caw!"
Just as he relaxed, an exceptionally shrill cry rang out.
A huge, ferocious Demonic Bird beat its broad wings at full speed and swooped menacingly toward Shi Hao.
The vicious bird was more than ten zhang long, its body a deep green. Its feathers were as rugged as cast iron, and its pair of icy eagle eyes fixed on Shi Hao below—and on the animal-hide bag on his back.
Who else could it be but the adult female Green-Scaled Eagle, a mighty beast on par with someone in the Spirit Transformation Realm?
"I'm done for. That vicious bird actually made it back in time."
Shi Hao looked up instinctively, his scalp prickling. He immediately sped toward the village in the distance.
Facing a maddened vicious bird in the Spirit Transformation Realm, a tiny cultivator like him in the Blood Moving Realm wouldn't even make a mouthful. And he hadn't yet learned a single precious art.
The tremendous commotion outside had already alerted the entire village.
The quick-reacting villagers immediately sounded the bronze gong. Dozens of strong young men grabbed their weapons and hurried to gather at the village entrance.
In the Great Wilderness, where danger lurked everywhere, anyone who couldn't stay alert would have long since perished beneath the rampage of vicious beasts.
"Whew, I'm finally safe~"
When Shi Hao crossed the charred willow tree at the village entrance, he finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The adult Green-Scaled Eagle swooped down from the sky and wanted to charge into the village, but it was deeply wary of the mysterious willow tree standing proudly at the entrance. It could only land on a boulder a hundred meters outside the village and glare at Shi Hao.
"Little One, did you go raid the Green-Scaled Eagle's nest?"
At the village entrance, the children, who had no idea what fear was, immediately swarmed around him, chattering excitedly as they asked questions.
"Mm. I brought back all three eggs safe and sound."
Shi Hao took the animal-hide bag off his back, revealing the three enormous eggs inside.
"Well done, Little One! You're such a rascal—you turned around and sold us out. You wouldn't let us steal vicious-bird eggs, but then you went and did it all by yourself!"
Pihou, who had never been afraid of stirring up trouble, shouted with a gleeful grin.
"Little One, you've caused a huge disaster. That mother Green-Scaled Eagle is guarding the village entrance now. No one can come or go, and the village's food won't last long."
A burly man wearing an animal-hide skirt and nothing above the waist, his bronze-colored skin exposed, shoved aside Pihou, who was eager to watch the commotion, and spoke gravely.
Shi Linhu, captain of the village hunting team and the strongest man of Stone Village's second generation.
"Lin Hu, what's done is done. Don't waste time complaining. You and Fei Jiao, go fetch the Ancestral Artifact. The rest of us will work together to drive it away."
The crowd suddenly parted, and an elderly figure hurried over.
The old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, had arrived.
"Yes, Village Chief!"
Shi Linhu exchanged a glance with another man, then turned and left without hesitation.
"Whoosh!"
Just as Shi Linhu and the other man turned to go, the mysterious willow tree at the village entrance, silent for decades, suddenly moved.
Its sole Tender Green Willow Branch swept over the three enormous eggs. At once, the three Green-Scaled Eagle eggs blazed with light, like three little suns scattering their radiance.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
The Green-Scaled Eagle, still circling outside the village, panicked. It desperately wanted to know what this strange Sacrificial Spirit had done to its three children.
"Whoosh!"
But before the adult Green-Scaled Eagle, its eyes bloodshot, could react, the Tender Green Willow Branch that had brushed over the eggs turned again and pierced through the Void.
"Caw!..."
The Green-Scaled Eagle was already in the Spirit Transformation Realm, but it only had time to let out a hurried cry of anguish before the Tender Green Willow Branch, like a divine chain, looped around it.
Then a sea of green light swept over it, wrapping it completely.
This dazzling succession of strange events left everyone in Stone Village staring, utterly dumbfounded.
"The Sacrificial Spirit! The Sacrificial Spirit of our Stone Village has finally manifested!"
An old man with white hair shouted in delight, tears streaming down his face.
He remembered how, decades ago, when he was still a young child, the Heaven-Reaching Willow Tree had fallen from a sea of thunder and taken root in the village.
The village's original Sacrificial Spirit, the Strange Stone, had left of its own accord and vanished without a trace.
This Sacrificial Spirit had silently protected the village all along, but this was the first time it had ever revealed its divine power. Could this mean that its strength was recovering?
"Bow to the Sacrificial Spirit!"
The old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, reacted quickly. He immediately led the villagers present to drop to their knees and call out the Sacrificial Spirit's name—Willow Deity.
As a result, Shi Hao, who hadn't yet knelt, stood out at once as the only person still on his feet, conspicuous as could be.
"All right, bowing to my future master early isn't anything to be ashamed of. Besides, my master is an unparalleled Immortal King, a Supreme Giant..."
Shi Hao blinked his big eyes innocently, then knelt with the utmost sincerity.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
As the villagers of Stone Village bowed to the Sacrificial Spirit, a crisp sound rang out. The three Green-Scaled Eagle eggs, which had blazed with dazzling light, cracked open.
Three fluffy little creatures broke through their shells one after another. They poked out their small green heads and curiously peered at the outside world.
"Azure Heaven Rocs! These are Azure Heaven Rocs, Ancient Demonic Birds and close kin of the Golden Winged Roc. They're terrifying beings on par with the pure-blooded creatures atop the Primordial Divine Mountain..."
The old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, instinctively looked up, staring blankly at the scene.
Having once ventured out into the Great Wilderness and seen much of the world, he recognized the true identity of the three little creatures at a glance. His lips pressed together, his aged face filled with shock and bewilderment.
"They aren't pure-blooded Ancient Relics. At best, they inherited some of the Azure Heaven Roc's true blood. Still, they have the potential to evolve into pure-blooded creatures someday, so calling them Azure Heaven Rocs isn't wrong."
Just then, an ethereal voice replied, sounding at once male and female, old and young.
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