Lone Mountain Town

Lone Mountain Town was not a large town. Located on the outskirts of the Primeval Mountain Range, it had a population of over two thousand and lay more than a hundred li from Stone Village. This world's territories were boundless, its forests vast and endless, filled with prehistoric beasts and venomous insects. Human settlements were scattered among the primitive mountain ranges, each isolated from the others, making communication with the outside world exceedingly difficult.

Though it was a town, whether it was Stone Village, Bei Village, or elsewhere, no one came even once in half a year or a year. The mountain roads spanning over a hundred li were blocked by ancient forests, home to fierce birds, venomous insects, and savage beasts. They were extremely dangerous.

In truth, it was like this everywhere. This was the common state of affairs. Even Stone Village and Bei Village, separated by merely several dozen li, might not encounter each other's people for months.

Yet today, outside Lone Mountain Town, people shouted and horses neighed. A group of armored cavalry came galloping through, their iron armor gleaming. They had crossed endless mountain ranges, passed through the territories of all manner of savage creatures, and arrived here safely.

The several dozen riders all rode scaled horses, while the few surrounded at the center sat atop mutated scaled horses with single horns, snow-white bodies, and shimmering silver scales. They looked extraordinarily valiant.

At their head was a middle-aged man with loose black hair. Threads of golden radiance bloomed in his eyes, and even his pupils had nearly turned pale gold. When he looked toward the town, two golden beams shot from his eyes, terrifying beyond measure.

On the other single-horned horses sat two youths, a young girl, a boy, and two little girls. They all looked clever and quick-witted, handsome and adorable.

The people of Lone Mountain Town were suspicious and alarmed. Outsiders rarely came in ordinary times, yet over the past few days, wave after wave had arrived. More than a dozen groups from great clans had come, all of them unimaginably powerful.

And judging by the situation, even more people would come. Every vacant courtyard in town had been filled, while some groups had lodged in the homes of local residents.

This group had barely entered when another arrived, with an even more astonishing presence. A flood dragon led the way. More than twenty meters long, its scales gleamed brilliantly, and a pair of enormous wings sprouted from its body. It swept through the sky, casting a vast shadow over the ground. A middle-aged man sat atop it with three children—one five or six, one eight or nine, and one eleven or twelve. All of them had outstanding features.

While still more than ten meters above the ground, the three children jumped down. The wind howled around them. Seeing this, the middle-aged man shouted, "Slow down! Don't be so hasty!"

"It's fine!" cried the youngest child. Two beams of light shot from his eyes. Like the fledgling of a golden-winged Roc, he spiraled down and landed with a thud, carrying an extremely sharp and fierce aura.

Everyone in town felt their hearts pound at the sight. He was only five or six years old, yet he gave off such a ferocious presence. He could leap into the air more than ten meters high and could absolutely tear apart fierce birds and gigantic beasts with his bare hands.

"This town is called Lone Mountain. Could its sacrificial spirit be a mountain?" the eleven- or twelve-year-old child muttered.

At the entrance to the town stood a stone stele engraved with three large characters: Lone Mountain.

"Look, it really is a spiritual stone mountain. It must have long been worshipped by the townspeople and offered countless savage beast sacrifices. Perhaps rare, strange true blood has been bred within it. Third Uncle, kill this sacrificial spirit. When we return, I'll use its blood to temper my body. It will surely be of great benefit!" The youngest child was only five or six, but his bearing was overwhelming and his gaze intimidating. He spoke like a savage beast.

The people of the town all changed color upon hearing this. Killing their sacrificial spirit was no different from destroying the town itself.

Fortunately, the middle-aged man did not do so. He rebuked him, "Jiao Peng, if you dare spout such nonsense again, I'll send you straight back!"

"It's not as if I haven't killed one before. Back then, I bathed in a sacrificial spirit's blood, and it had marvelous effects." The youngest child was named Jiao Peng.

"Shut up!" The middle-aged man's eyes shone brightly like two bolts of lightning. He glared at him and said, "Sacrificial spirits of mountain and stone cannot be touched. Otherwise, we might provoke a mountain god."

"What a bore. We can't enter the depths of the mountains to seek mountain treasures, and we can't capture sacrificial spirits either. What are we doing in this barren place?" Jiao Peng grumbled.

"What bold spirit for such a little one."

Laughter came from afar. Outside the town, within the primeval forest, a thick and long beast bone, six or seven meters in length and belonging to some unknown savage creature, came speeding over a foot above the ground. It emitted a lustrous white glow, its densely packed runes flickering.

Several figures stood atop it. At the forefront was an old man clad in feathered robes and wearing a golden crown. Wisps of purple energy flowed from his body, enveloping him in a hazy veil and giving him an indescribable majesty.

At his side stood a young man in his twenties, heroic and imposing, as well as two teenage girls beautiful enough to have stepped out of a painting, and two very young boys with bright, lively eyes.

After they approached, the group stepped down from the beast bone. With a flash of light, the enormous six- or seven-meter bone rapidly shrank into something palm-sized, smooth and crystalline, and fell into the old man's hand.

Clearly, this was an exceedingly precious treasure that could fly close to the ground and shrink the earth into inches.

"So it is a senior of the Purple Mountain Clan. A pleasure to meet you!" said the middle-aged man riding the flood dragon.

The old man was Purple Mountain Marquis's paternal uncle. Smiling, he said, "Luofu Great Marsh truly is remarkable, to have produced such a little fellow. He is not yet six, is he? Yet he is already this powerful. In ten years, he will surely become famous throughout this land!"

"If you praise him any more, his tail will be sticking straight up," said the middle-aged man from Luofu Great Marsh, shaking his head.

"Old man of the Purple Mountain Clan, how about I fight one of your grandchildren?" said five- or six-year-old Jiao Peng. Light blazed in his eyes as he looked at the two children opposite him with open provocation.

Purple light suddenly flared in one child's eyes. Like a dormant Suanni, his aura surged with sudden force!

Clearly, the two clans were not as harmonious as the adults made them appear. Otherwise, the children would not have shown such hostility. The moment they met, they wanted to fight.

"What an interesting little fellow. Do you truly wish to spar? Very well, this old man will add a prize. I have a jar of exceedingly rare true blood from a savage beast. Whoever wins shall have it." The old man smiled, then looked toward the middle-aged man.

"Hm, in that case, I cannot fail to offer something as well. I have a jar of rare blood from a mutated fierce bird," said the middle-aged man from Luofu Great Marsh.

"Heh, a duel? My Thunder Clan likes this sort of thing best. How could we possibly be left out?" Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Within the primeval forest, an ancient beast hide covered in flickering runes floated three feet above the ground. It was several meters long and carried an ancient, weathered aura, as though a prehistoric remnant beast had come back to life, making people tremble.

The beast hide carried several people: a young man in his twenties, an old servant, and several children ranging from five or six to their teens, boys and girls alike.

Black lightning flickered around their bodies. Even from far away, one could hear the rumbling, which shook the mountains violently.

"I also have precious blood to stake as a wager." The young man was extremely burly. He quietly said to a tiger-headed little boy beside him and a delicate, lovely little girl, "Mingyuan, Yaya, the two of you go up and suppress Purple Mountain Marquis's two most beloved young children!"

With a flash of light, the beast hide turned palm-sized and fell into the young man's hand. They had already landed on the ground.

"They are all geniuses. Who exactly is the strongest? Our generation has fought for many years; let the younger generation spar as well." Others in the town spoke up and hurried over.

"Of course, there must be wagers. If it isn't blood from a prehistoric remnant beast, don't bother bringing it out!" someone else said. This made everyone suck in a cold breath. The stakes were far too astonishing!

Lone Mountain Town was far from peaceful that day. All the original townspeople felt their hearts pound. So many powerful figures had arrived these past days, leaving them deeply uneasy.

"Indeed. Let the children aged ten or younger settle who stands above the rest. Let us see who is the greatest genius!"

While the winds and clouds gathered over Lone Mountain Town, Stone Village a hundred li away was tranquil and harmonious. The villagers were all happy and delighted, because something significant was about to happen.

Little Shi Hao had completed his cultivation in only half a month. He had fused Bone Script into his flesh and blood, his entire body shining translucent and flawless. When he used precious techniques, they no longer depleted his own body. Instead, he had begun to refine the natural blessings of heaven and earth, drawing divine essence into his body and making him light and healthy, full of vigor.

The clan chief decided to use the Suanni's precious body, the precious horn of the Li-Fire Bull Demon, and the arm of the Demon Ape to baptize him. They would be sealed together in a cauldron with true blood from prehistoric remnant beasts, precious bones, and other materials, then boiled and refined.

Naturally, the other children would not be left out. The Suanni was so enormous, and its vital blood was abundant enough that all the children would receive a rare and great blessing.

The clan chief wore a solemn expression as he asked, "Child, are you prepared? The baptism should properly be performed at five years old. We are doing it early now, and you are still too young. I fear you may not be able to endure it."

"Clan Chief Grandpa, I'm not afraid. I'll definitely hold on until the end."

"Very well. I'll have them carry over the golden Suanni, the Li-Fire precious horn, and the Demon Ape King's arm. We will perform it today!" Shi Yunfeng made the decision with great gravity.

"Clan Chief Grandpa, if the baptism succeeds, will my strength improve?" Little Dot blinked his big eyes and asked curiously.

"There will be surprises. You will not be weaker than the geniuses of those great clans. If you truly face them, then even though you are young, I believe you will display something extraordinary," said the old clan chief seriously.

Although he had watched little Shi Hao grow up, he had been shocked time and time again. The little fellow's performance was astonishing, enough to make one suspect that he was a humanoid cub of a prehistoric savage beast.