"The Great Wilderness was overrun with foreign beasts, and human clans had always been weak. Bei Village and our Stone Village were both human clans of the Great Wilderness. We should have supported one another. Why did they provoke us without warning this time?"
One of the elders was quite puzzled.
After all, Stone Village and Bei Village had always kept to their own sides for decades.
"I don't know. Maybe their population suddenly surged, or maybe it was for some other reason."
Shi Linhu shook his head, then continued, "Oh, right. There's a new face over in Bei Village, a kid named Bei Feng. His archery is incredibly accurate. He's only fourteen or fifteen, yet he's already on the verge of entering the Blood Moving Realm. He caused me quite a bit of trouble."
"Perhaps Bei Village thinks that having a talented youth means their village can rise along with him, so they've started entertaining thoughts they shouldn't."
As he spoke, a trace of scorn appeared on the rough-hewn man's face.
He was just a kid of fourteen or fifteen who hadn't even broken through to the Blood Moving Realm. How dare he call himself a genius? What did that make their village's Little Shi Hao?
Though the other clansmen said nothing aloud, their expressions were exactly the same.
Seeing this, the old chief, Shi Yunfeng, couldn't help but smile in surprise. A surge of grand ambition welled up in his heart. When had their village grown to such heights?
But his face remained composed as he instructed them, "Our Stone Village isn't afraid of trouble. Whatever Bei Liqing is plotting, if they dare provoke us again, we'll hit them right back."
Bei Liqing was the chief of Bei Village, and about the same age as Shi Yunfeng.
"Yes, Chief!"
The eight-foot-tall, burly man accepted the order with a thunderous voice.
The news that the hunting party had been ambushed naturally couldn't be kept from Shi Hao.
Little Shi knew the real reason Bei Village had provoked them: the village's Sacrificial Spirit. The old Bei was on the verge of a breakthrough and urgently needed to absorb the true blood of a large number of fierce beasts. That was why the people of Bei Village had been forced to take the risk and enter Stone Village's hunting grounds.
Little Shi naturally had no good feelings toward Bei Village, which would cause his clansmen trouble time and again in the future. He resolved to uproot it completely.
So when the village hunting party prepared to enter the mountains again, Shi Hao volunteered to go with them.
Shi Hao was currently the most powerful clansman in the village, so Shi Linhu readily agreed.
The nearly eighty people in the party were all strong and sturdy, and they moved quickly. In less than half an hour, they had entered the truly dangerous region.
"Whoosh!"
The hunting party had only just entered a forest thick with towering ancient trees when the sharp whistle of something slicing through the air rang out. A streak of icy light shot toward them at breathtaking speed.
"How dare you! People from Bei Village, you actually dare come back!"
Furious, Shi Linhu roared and drew the heavy sword from his back, ready to strike, but he was too far away to reach in time.
"Move!"
At the critical moment, Shi Hao shoved aside a young clansman beside him who looked frozen with terror. Runes lit up along his right arm, and the whole limb darkened like cast bronze.
"Whoosh!"
Shi Hao caught the frigid iron arrow in his bare hand. Without a second thought, he hurled it back along its path like lightning. A muffled grunt sounded, and a figure in the dense forest collapsed.
He was a handsome youth holding a longbow, around fourteen or fifteen years old. A thick iron arrow was buried deep in his brow, and his face was smeared with blood. He was as dead as dead could be.
His eyes were wide, filled with terror and unwillingness, as he stared blankly at the sky. It seemed that even in death, he couldn't understand how an ambush he'd been certain would succeed had ended like this.
Bei Feng, a rising star of Bei Village, a divine archer.
This "young genius," who should have caused Little Shi quite a bit of trouble, had barely made his debut before dying to his own arrow.
Well, they did say you peaked the moment you made your debut.
"Bei Feng! Bei Feng!"
Bei Feng's death shook the attackers badly.
More than a hundred figures surged out of the depths of the forest, yet they only dared linger near their clansman's corpse, not daring to take a single step forward.
"That Stone Village brat has a heart of stone! It was just a friendly contest, yet he killed without mercy. When he grows up, he'll surely become a menace."
After crouching to examine Bei Feng's gruesome state, the leader of Bei Village's hunting party, a man around thirty, spoke through his barely contained fury.
Shi Hao watched the man's performance with an impassive expression.
A Sacred Silver Moon slowly appeared behind him. Upon it stood a mysterious ancient palace and an ancient divine tree, while an Ancient Demonic Bird soared above them, the three complementing one another.
Soft divine radiance spilled over him, making him seem like a youthful Heavenly Deity, sacred and imposing, impossible to look at directly.
"Finished? Then die."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the disc shot out like a brilliant moon falling from the Nine Heavens, heading straight for Bei Shan.
Fast—faster than anything!
"Is that a treasure?!"
Bei Shan's heart sank, and he instinctively raised his sword to block.
"Pfft!"
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. The Sacred Silver Moon sliced through the bronze sword like it was tofu, then flashed across his neck.
"No, that's a... precious... technique..."
Bei Shan's face twisted as he stammered out the words. Then he crashed to the ground, blood gushing like a spring and bubbling into the forest floor.
In the blink of an eye, two skilled clansmen had died one after the other.
The gruesome sight completely terrified the Bei Village ambushers. They all retreated in unison, staring in horror at Little Shi, who had struck.
W-was this really a child of only four or five?!
"Haha, Little One, nicely done!"
Shi Linhu came to his senses and burst out laughing. His fan-sized hand patted Little Shi hard on the shoulder, then he looked at the visitors with disdain. "You cowards from Bei Village, who only know how to sneak attack—what else have you got? Bring it all out!"
"You... Your Stone Village actually has two warriors in the Blood Moving Realm, and one of them is so young. We truly can't afford to let you live."
Supported by several young men from Bei Village, an old man with a sinister expression came trembling forward, glaring venomously at the hunting party.
Bei Liqing, the old chief of Bei Village, was a remarkably cunning hunter.
"Old Bei Liqing, I'd advise you to lead your people in surrender sooner rather than later, so you don't add to the casualties. After all, we men of the Great Wilderness only recognize fists, not words."
As he spoke, Shi Linhu deliberately glanced around.
The Stone Village clansmen burst into laughter, their mockery plain as day.
"You..."
Bei Liqing, enraged, was about to retort when he caught sight of another Sacred Silver Moon slowly rising behind Little Shi. His head instinctively ducked.
"Hmph, do you really think you've already won?"
Bei Liqing gritted his teeth and took a Crystal Bracelet from his robes.
The bracelet seemed to be made from the shed teeth of some powerful creature. Its forty-two teeth were snow-white and translucent, and it was the supreme treasure of Bei Village.
Before the operation, the Bei Village Spirit had specifically bestowed it upon him.
"Oh? A treasure bestowed by the Bei Village Spirit?"
Shi Linhu tightened his grip on the Black Iron Heavy Sword, and for the first time, a hint of gravity appeared on his face.
Before you continue