A Terrifying Village

Jiao Peng, the child who had jumped down from the flood dragon, came from Luofu Great Marsh. Though small, he was sharp and domineering. With a cold sneer, he said, "I'm taking this willow branch. If you don't accept that, come and try me!" One of Purple Mountain Marquis's young sons was very handsome. He remained composed and spoke unhurriedly. "Jiao Peng, don't spout such wild boasts. Even if you have some skill, don't be too arrogant. Be careful you don't die in this bitter wasteland." His name was Zi Shan Kun. From the moment he and Jiao Peng met, they had been at odds. On top of that, their clans were not on good terms, so they had always been locked in a clash of needle against wheat stalk.

"Then let's fight—a duel to the death. Do you dare?" Jiao Peng's tone was fiercely aggressive, cold lightning flashing from his eyes. He was as sharp as a hatchling of an ancient Golden Peng.

"What are you making such a fuss about? All of you, quiet down!" On the other side, a slightly older child had lightning glimmering in his eyes, while black mist swirled above his head. He swept them with a cold glance. He came from a marquisate and was Thunder Marquis's young son, named Lei Mingyuan. He had originally intended to deal with Zi Shan Kun, Purple Mountain Marquis's most favored child, but Jiao Peng's overbearing arrogance had infuriated him.

At those words, Jiao Peng and Zi Shan Kun both raised their brows. Both were geniuses, usually proud and self-assured; neither had ever bowed his head to anyone.

"Lei Mingyuan, are you courting death?!" Though Jiao Peng was young, his presence was imposing. He took one step forward, and the ground boomed as though some colossal creature had moved.

"Shut up!" Zi Shan Kun also barked directly. They had an old grudge against the Thunder Clan and had never been amicable upon meeting. Though things had eased somewhat in recent years, their covert struggles had never ceased.

"Let one battle decide the victor!" Lei Mingyuan shouted. He sprang into the air, covering more than twenty meters in a single leap as he crossed the sky, head first and feet behind. He struck his palm toward Zi Shan Kun. In the end, he still meant to carry out the orders of his father and brothers.

The wind from his fist was black and crackled as lightning intertwined within it. In the end, it transformed into a dense curtain of black electric radiance that came pouring down.

He was only a child, yet he possessed such a divine ability. A strange rune appeared in his palm—the essence of lightning, an unpassed secret of his clan and a rare precious technique!

Buzz!

Purple qi filled the air. Zi Shan Kun raised his right hand to block, runes flashing in his palm as they erupted with blazing light, forming a purple sun that flew forward.

This too was a terrifying precious technique, a clan-suppressing art unique to the Purple Mountain lineage. Once cultivated to its pinnacle, its might could shake heaven and earth and jolt the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers.

The two collided. Black lightning and purple radiance erupted, exploding into runes that imprinted themselves across the sky in sheets, a startling sight.

"Who says you're the top genius? Don't forget about me!" Jiao Peng suddenly attacked.

His palm force was astonishing. A rune flashed in his left palm, and a flood dragon rushed out, formed entirely from patterns of light. This was not some flood dragon of impure bloodline, but an imprint fragment of a true ancient Fierce Flood Dragon, carrying a terrifying aura.

The ancestors of Luofu Great Marsh had once seen an ancient Fierce Flood Dragon and accidentally obtained its inheritance, gaining the Flood Dragon Clan's supreme precious technique. Though their descendants could no longer fully display this divine ability, it was still extraordinarily formidable.

The flood dragon bared its fangs and brandished its claws, its entire body grayish brown and steeped in ancient desolation. It seemed to have awakened from the ancient era and crossed time and space to join the battle!

This precious technique was extremely powerful, attacking both Zi Shan Kun and Lei Mingyuan at once. Though Jiao Peng was small, he was exceptionally wild, intending to fight two against one and prove that he alone possessed heaven-bestowed talent.

"Courting death!" Lei Mingyuan coldly rebuked. Black lightning surged forth as all ten of his fingers spread, shooting out ten streaks of dark radiance. The electric glow intensified, and with a clear cry, a purple ferocious bird emerged amid the lightning. Its savage might was astonishing as it swooped down.

Zi Shan Kun also struck. Purple qi billowed as a sun flew out, within which a Fire Qilin was gestating. It unleashed terrifying violet flames as it leaped up, incomparably vicious.

Just like that, the three children descended into a chaotic battle, attacking one another and drawing everyone's attention.

Though they were young, every one of them was powerful. Their elders secretly nodded in approval, while also marveling at the offspring of their rivals.

"How boring. We can't really kill anyone with that bunch of old men here—we can't even cut loose." Nearby, one of the watching children curled his lip. "Exactly. True heaven-bestowed geniuses are born on the great battlefields where the major clans clash. What do these little fights count for?" another child chimed in.

"What did you say? We can fight to the death here too!" The three children in the midst of battle flew into a rage, expanding the battlefield and dragging those two children into it as well.

It became a chaotic melee. Though they were young, they were all astonishingly outstanding, displaying immensely terrifying talent that left the spectators shocked.

Inside Stone Village, a group of mischievous children had been playing. Startled by the commotion in the mountains, they ran to the village entrance. The sight of so many people in the forest gave them a fright, and all their attention was drawn over.

"How did so many people show up?"

They saw Jiao Peng and the others fighting and secretly clicked their tongues. Seeing how skillfully they wielded the power of Bone Script made the children envious. Soon, however, their attention shifted again. They spotted the mutated scaled horse—the unicorn. Its scales gleamed with silver light, and the single horn atop its head was crystalline and lustrous. It was magnificent beyond compare.

"I heard Uncle Lin Hu say that this kind of mountain beast runs incredibly fast. It can travel ten thousand li in a day. The last time they saw one in the Great Wilderness, they chased it for several days without even touching a single hair," Shi Big Strong said.

How keen were the senses of the experts in the mountains? Naturally, they heard him, and all froze at his words. In their understanding, this was merely a backward mountain village, one that could not possibly have any experts. Yet these children's words startled them. A unicorn was no ordinary savage beast. If it truly went berserk, it fully deserved the word "fierce"; its strength was formidable. A few mountain villagers had dared to chase it?

How could they know that Shi Linhu and the others had begged the Village Chief for two ancestral artifacts before daring to pursue it all the way? A unicorn could travel ten thousand li a day—an irresistible temptation for men of the Great Wilderness.

"Look, there's even a flood dragon circling in the sky! It's over twenty meters long and as thick as a water vat. It even has feathered wings. A ferocious beast that powerful... must be delicious, right?"

"Er Meng, you glutton, is that thing for eating? It's for refining medicine! Even if it isn't a pure-blooded ancient descendant, its blood is still precious," Little Monkey retorted.

Outside the village, the group of experts turned to stone, somewhat dazed. Such a powerful flood dragon was meant to be eaten? Used for refining medicine? What kind of village was this?

"That flood dragon does look delicious, but its meat definitely can't be as fragrant as Suanni meat. It isn't an ancient descendant, so its true blood absolutely can't compare," another snot-nosed child added.

Over the past few days, they had eaten Suanni meat and been baptized in true blood. Their standards had soared beyond measure. They thought they were speaking quietly, but the powerful group still heard them.

Whether it was the Purple Mountain Clan, the Thunder Clan, or the Flood Dragon Clan from Luofu Great Marsh, everyone felt their minds going haywire. Had they heard wrong?

What was the origin of this village? They ate Suanni meat at the drop of a hat, and now they were looking down on this powerful flying flood dragon? This was an exceptionally terrifying ferocious beast; even ordinary experts were far from its match.

"You wild brats, what nonsense are you spouting?!" Jiao Peng, still in battle, flew into a rage. His gaze turned icy as he shot out two terrifying beams of light toward the village entrance.

"His eyes are so bright. They give me the chills. Why do I feel like his presence is about the same as that sacrificial spirit we killed last time—the Fierce Bei?" Er Meng muttered. He thought he was speaking softly, but the people in the forest still heard him.

What? They had killed a sacrificial spirit? The group of experts shuddered again, nearly turning to stone. Even they were reluctant to provoke sacrificial spirits, and when the people of Luofu Great Marsh killed one, they were extremely cautious.

That was because those creatures might have terrifying ancient deities behind them. They had merely come out alone to undergo nirvana among humanity, hoping to walk the path of the ancient gods.

"What a pity. We didn't get to eat that sacrificial spirit. It turned straight into ashes," Little Monkey said regretfully.

The group stood there dumbfounded. What a terrifying village this was! Why did everything feel so wrong? They were completely at a loss.

"I'm furious! Are you wild brats trying to get yourselves killed?!" Jiao Peng roared. They had actually ignored him.

"Wow, so fierce!"

"Huh, can that idiot hear us talking about him?" Little Monkey wondered. They were so far away!

A light, melodious giggle rang out. The two little girls standing on the Snow Feather in midair bent forward and backward with laughter. Though dressed differently, they looked identical, their skin snowy white and their beauty otherworldly. Their large eyes darted about, lively and clear.

"This is so interesting. Are they naturally slow-witted, or are they doing it on purpose?"

"They're definitely doing it on purpose. They're about to anger that Jiao Peng to death."

The two girls continued giggling. Though still young, they were clearly the makings of peerless beauties. Their eyes sparkled, their lashes were long, and they were identical, crystal-clear and adorable.

The elders of several clans, including the Lei family and the Purple Mountain family, stepped forward and made the children stop fighting. They wanted to see what exactly was going on with this strange village. Could it truly be a terrifying hidden clan left behind from ancient times?

"You wild brats, you dare mock me!"

After the fighting stopped, Jiao Peng shook both arms and leaped up like a ferocious bird. He covered more than twenty meters in one bound and charged swiftly toward the village entrance, intending to attack the children.

Little Dot ran out of a stone house at the village entrance. He was rosy-cheeked and lovely. "Oh! Why have so many people come?"

"Hey, Little Dot, are you still secretly drinking milk? When are you going to wean yourself?" The older children teased him, having spotted the milk stains at the corner of his mouth.

"No, no, you saw wrong!" Little Dot hurriedly wiped his mouth and refused to admit it even if beaten to death. He hid the hand with milk stains behind his back, his large black eyes rolling about.

"What an adorable little child." The two little girls on the Snow Feather were utterly astonished. Seeing Little Dot, who looked like a porcelain doll and was so endearingly guileless, they began to giggle.

At that moment, Jiao Peng arrived. He raised his palm and struck forward, the wind howling. The blow contained several thousand jin of force—terrifying beyond belief!

"Oh! Big brother, what are you doing?" Little Dot's eyes widened as he realized something was wrong. Jiao Peng's strength was far too great, and he was actually striking at Er Meng and Little Monkey.

He rushed forward, and his aura changed in an instant. His soft, pale little hand stretched out, somehow producing the sound of wind and thunder as it collided with Jiao Peng's palm.

Boom!

Sand and stones flew as the earth shook and mountains swayed. Little Dot stood motionless, while Jiao Peng's entire body jolted as if struck by lightning. He staggered backward, and every step he took split a terrifying crack across the ground. He swayed as he retreated again and again for more than ten meters, nearly toppling headfirst onto the ground.

"Wow, what an amazing little child!" The two little girls' eyes shone. They jumped down from the Snow Feather and ran over, wanting to pinch and knead Little Dot's cheeks.

The little fellow shyly stepped back. His bright eyes blinked as he looked at Jiao Peng. "Big brother, it's not right for you to act like this."

There were still traces of milk at the corner of his mouth that he had not wiped clean. His large eyes, like black gemstones, gleamed brightly. Combined with his earnest expression, he made the pair of elf-like little girls adore him even more, and they wanted to tease him.

Behind them, the group of experts had turned to stone. This was a freaking child still drinking milk, yet he had sent the famed genius Jiao Peng flying with a single slap? What the hell!

What kind of terrifying village was this? Everyone stood there blankly, unable to speak.