The Great Wilderness, Stone Village.
When the first rays of dawn spilled golden light across this ancient land, the people of Stone Village had already woken from their sleep.
Even Qian Renxue, the young lady of Spirit Hall, had gotten up early.
After a night's rest and the nourishment of yesterday's divine feast, she felt refreshed, with more vitality than she had ever known coursing through her body.
Her Soul Power Level hadn't changed, but she could clearly feel that with every breath, she seemed to resonate with the world around her.
"Phew..."
After straightening her clothes, Qian Renxue quickly headed for the open ground at the village entrance.
The village chief had promised yesterday that she could sit in on their cultivation methods today. She had to seize this rare opportunity!
But when she reached the village entrance, the scene before her left her rooted to the spot.
"Hah! Hah!"
"Hey!"
A group of children were warming up before their morning lesson.
Pi Hou, who was only four or five years old, was tossing a millstone weighing a thousand jin as casually as a beanbag. Every time it came down, it stirred up a gust of wind.
Er Meng was even more outrageous. He was doing squats with a massive stone carving of some unknown ferocious beast on his back. The ground trembled three times with every squat.
But what left Qian Renxue most breathless was Little One, standing in the very middle.
"Yiya!"
The adorable three-year-old was holding a bronze cauldron weighing tens of thousands of jin aloft with one hand!
The cauldron was many times larger than his body, yet in Little One's hand, it looked as light as a feather. He held it up with effortless ease.
Most astonishing of all, as he lifted the cauldron, he sprinted across the clearing so fast that he left afterimages!
"Gulp."
"This... this is just a warm-up?"
Qian Renxue couldn't help swallowing, feeling as though her jaw was about to fall off.
The sight made her think of the geniuses in Spirit Hall.
One by one, they'd been coddled and pampered, complaining of exhaustion at the slightest sweat. Compared with these wild children from the Great Wilderness, they were hothouse flowers, ready to shatter at a touch!
At that moment, the people of the Douluo Plane watching through the Sky Screen fell silent as well.
They'd heard before that the three-year-old cutie could lift 108,000 jin with one arm, but they'd never seen it with their own eyes.
Now that they'd witnessed the astonishing sight firsthand, they still felt their scalps tingle with shock.
"All right, that's enough. Stop."
Fortunately, the warm-up finally came to an end not long after.
The old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, walked over with his hands behind his back. Seeing him, the children immediately set down the heavy objects they'd been holding.
A series of thunderous crashes rang out, and clouds of dust billowed into the air.
"Today, we'll be learning how to use Bone Text, and how to circulate blood and qi through Beast Blood Baptism to strengthen our bodies."
The old village chief sat cross-legged on a large blue-gray stone. Facing the dawn, he took a deep breath and explained in a booming voice:
"All things under heaven possess a spiritual nature."
"Primordial Fierce Beasts are especially blessed. They're born with the ability to communicate with the laws of the world. Bone Text is the manifestation of that ability."
The old village chief paused, then continued:
"Humans may be weak by nature, but by studying the Bone Text of Ferocious Beasts, we can inscribe it into our flesh and blood, and thus borrow the power of heaven and earth!"
Qian Renxue sat cross-legged nearby, listening in rapt attention.
This cultivation theory, which went straight to the source, was countless times more profound than Yu Xiaogang's so-called Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul!
"Grandpa Village Chief..."
Suddenly, Qian Renxue raised her hand and asked hesitantly:
"I feel like there's a warm current inside me. Is that blood and qi?"
The old village chief looked at her and nodded in approval:
"Of course."
"Yesterday, you ate the meat of a Two-Headed Fire Rhino and drank Monkey Wine. And with the blessing of Lord Willow Deity, the blood and qi within you have already awakened."
"We're giving the children Beast Blood Baptism today. You can join them."
"B-Baptism?" Qian Renxue repeated, bewildered.
Half an hour later.
When several burly men carried a few enormous Black Cauldrons into the village square, Qian Renxue finally understood what baptism meant.
Roaring flames burned beneath the cauldrons, and the water inside had already come to a boil. All sorts of unknown poisonous insects and herbs floated on the surface, and jar after jar of the true blood of Ferocious Beasts—so terrifying it made her heart quail—had been poured in.
"Glug, glug..."
The dark-red medicinal liquid churned, filling the air with a pungent mix of blood and herbs. Just one sniff made her body feel feverish and her skin prickle with pain.
"Th-this is going to boil people alive!" The sight left Qian Renxue's face deathly pale, and she couldn't help retreating several steps.
"Heh heh, Miss Qian, don't be afraid."
Shi Linhu gave an honest grin and pointed to a slightly smaller wooden tub nearby.
"The village chief said you're a girl, with delicate skin. You couldn't withstand such strong medicine."
"So this tub was prepared just for you. It's been diluted many times over, and we've added quite a few Spirit Grasses that nourish your complexion."
"Little One, you're strong. Help Miss Qian carry the tub indoors. The village chief said she's a grown young lady, unlike you little bare-bottomed boys. You can bathe anywhere, but she can't."
"All right!"
Little Shi Hao agreed, then bounced over and lifted the wooden tub—which weighed several hundred jin—with one hand. Carrying it as casually as a kettle, he trotted off to take it inside for Qian Renxue.
Watching the small figure, Qian Renxue felt a wave of warmth rise in her heart.
This village might have been a little "brutal," but they were genuinely good to her.
But just as everyone in the village was busy preparing for the baptism—
"Hum!"
The charred Willow Tree at the village entrance, which had been silent all this time, suddenly trembled without warning.
In the next instant, its verdant branch shone with a gentle radiance, enveloping all of Stone Village in a sacred light.
At the same time, a gentle voice sounded in the ears of every villager:
"An honored guest is coming."
"Do not be discourteous."
Then Willow Deity's voice reached Little Shi Hao alone as he helped carry things:
"Hao'er, come see me as soon as the baptism is over."
At the same time, elsewhere, in the Douluo Plane.
Spirit Hall.
"Good! Wonderful!"
Watching the steaming medicinal bath on the Sky Screen, Bibi Dong trembled with excitement:
"This is a true stroke of fortune!"
"Even diluted, the true blood of those Ferocious Beasts contains immeasurable energy!"
"And on top of that, all those unknown Spirit Grasses and poisonous insects..."
"I can't even imagine what it would be like to soak in that!"
Ghost Douluo, standing nearby, looked on with envy and resentment:
"If the young mistress can make it through this, her physical strength will undergo a qualitative leap!"
"She might even become a God King in one step!"
Even Grand Worship Qian Daoliu was moved to tears at the sight. He bowed to the Sky Screen again and again:
"May our ancestors bless us! Xue'er, you must make us proud!"
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