Omen

The Willow Tree was too powerful, beyond everyone's imagination. A green vortex reached straight to the heavens, tearing apart everything in its path. Even such an enormous purple giant was ground away, directly reduced to dust. From the death of Luofu Great Marsh's master, to Thunder Marquis being hung up, to the destruction of the golden wolfskin treasure, to the collapse of the giant Purple Mountain Marquis had transformed into—it had all happened in an instant.

"Ahwooo..."

Throughout it all, the divine wolf reacted with astonishing speed. The moment Luofu Great Marsh's master was killed, it moved. It leaped up, turned, and fled, leaving behind a trail of golden afterimages.

Wolves were cunning by nature. It had keenly sensed that something was wrong. Its golden body smashed through rocky hills and tore down forests as it pushed its speed to the limit, charging into the dense woods.

In fact, when that golden wolfskin had displayed its might and launched its attack, it had already turned into a golden beam and begun fleeing through the Primordial Mountain Range.

Known as the foremost sacrificial spirit within a radius of fifty thousand li, its instincts and spiritual senses were extraordinarily powerful. It no longer possessed its former imposing aura. All it felt was terror, and it did not dare pause for even a moment.

Although the old man of the Golden Wolf Tribe was powerful and ruled over vast territory, he was ultimately no match for the divine wolf. His reaction was a little slower. Once he came to his senses, he too hurriedly fled.

"Fire the arrows!"

At the same time, he gave the order for the tribe's experts to intercept them and buy him time. In an instant, ten thousand arrows were loosed together. The sound of them tearing through the air rang without end as dense iron arrows flew toward Stone Village.

Yet it was completely useless. The green vortex spread outward and twisted all the arrows into itself. One iron arrow after another snapped inch by inch, then exploded. The sight stunned everyone. A chill ran from their heads to their feet. Such a scene was too terrifying. The Willow Tree was simply heaven-shaking—how could they possibly fight it?

"Woooo..."

The tornado howled like an ancient fiendish beast roaring, shaking the mountain range. The chief of the Golden Wolf Tribe gave a cry as his body flew backward against his will, dragged toward the eye of the storm.

"No!" he screamed in horror. If he was pulled in, he would surely die. No matter how great his abilities, he could not withstand the Willow Tree's attack.

"Whoosh!"

A streak of golden light shot upward, its fluctuations surging like ocean tides, immensely astonishing. Its brilliance was even more heart-quaking, like a strand of golden sunlight exploding as it cleaved toward the tornado.

"An ancestral artifact!"

"The chief brought the ancestral artifact!"

The Golden Wolf Tribe cried out in alarm, then grew excited, hoping it would break apart the tornado and wound that Willow Tree.

However, just as their excitement began to rise, everything changed. The golden beam, upon meeting the green vortex, broke free of the Golden Wolf chief's control. Its radiance dimmed, and it fled away.

"Ah..."

The Golden Wolf Tribe's leader cried out. His body fractured inch by inch, blood mist rising as he became a pulp of flesh and blood within the tornado, vanishing from existence.

Everyone's hair stood on end, wave after wave of terror washing over them.

"Smack!"

The ancestral artifact that had escaped fell before the people of the Golden Wolf Tribe. It was a dagger one foot long, golden light flowing across its entire body. Its runes had dimmed after encountering the green vortex, but it had managed to break free in the end.

Looking closely, one could see that it had been polished from a golden beast fang, containing a mysterious and intimidating power. The Golden Wolf Tribe's experts trembled. An elder shakily picked it up, his heart bleeding. He had never expected that even it could not block the Willow Tree.

This was not a tooth shed by the tribe's sacrificial spirit. It came from an ancient kingdom.

Back before the Golden Wolf Tribe had migrated, they had paid tribute to an ancient kingdom year after year. Their ancestors had rendered peerless service there and had been bestowed a treasure—the Wolf Fang Dagger.

At that time, the Golden Wolf Tribe had been immensely powerful, glorious beyond compare. Only later did it gradually decline. After countless years, one branch migrated here and formed the tribe of today.

This treasure had thus fallen into the hands of their branch.

The Wolf Fang Dagger was a tooth shed by a sacrificial spirit of that ancient kingdom. Though its innate divine essence had been extracted by the kingdom, even so,

after it was made into a treasure, its power was still unimaginable. Yet now it could not withstand the Willow Tree and had fled back with its radiance dimmed. "Purple Mountain Marquis has escaped too!"

Only then did people discover that Purple Mountain Marquis, hailed as the strongest expert within fifty thousand li, had long since turned into a streak of purple sunlight that skimmed along the ground and shot into the Primordial Mountain Range.

He had fled at the same time as that golden wolf, leaving behind a treasure that emitted rosy light and condensed into a human form to die in his place.

After all, there was only one willow branch. Having swept through all directions, when it came to pursue them, it only had time to pierce through that treasure and absorb its divine essence. It did not chase the strongest expert. The sky-reaching tornado shrank and swiftly vanished, and peace returned to the area. The attacks of the four great experts had all been shattered, filling the gathered heroes with profound fear!

The four great clans fell silent. They had come in full force, yet only one of the four clan chiefs had escaped. The others had either been killed or hung up. That slap across their faces rang loud and clear.

They had believed themselves to rule this land, invincible to all. Whenever they traveled, they commanded every tribe. When they came here, they had even declared that they would flatten Stone Village. Yet this was the outcome.

Looking back now, their arrogance and their extermination campaign had become a joke. Before this terrifying Willow Tree, they amounted to nothing at all.

The experts of the four clans were shocked, afraid, terrified, and enraged, their emotions tangled together. Their chiefs had been slain. Such humiliation left them fearful and furious, their fists clenched tight.

"My father cannot die for nothing. We must demand an explanation!" a sturdy youth from the Golden Wolf Tribe roared. His eyes were like a wolf's, flashing with savage light.

"Young chief, quell your anger. We simply cannot contend with that demonic willow. No matter how many people we send, they will die. Even the chief has fallen."

"The Wolf Fang Dagger fell here, yet the demonic willow did not pursue it. I infer that it can only extend a little over one li and cannot reach farther than that." The youth spoke coldly, his eyes shifting as he prepared to make arrangements.

At his words, everyone froze.

"Bang!"

At that moment, Thunder Marquis, hanging from the Willow Tree, finally exhausted his essence, energy, and spirit. He could no longer summon lightning. His entire body dried up, and he fell to the ground like a broken teapot, shattering into four pieces.

"Ah..."

Many in the Thunder Clan howled long and hard, shocked, enraged, and grief-stricken. Thunder Marquis's descendants had red eyes as they prepared to fight to the death, determined to launch a great battle at any cost.

"My Luofu Great Marsh will not retreat either. Since it has difficulty attacking this place, we will set fire to Stone Village from afar and carry out a bloody slaughter!" someone from the Flood Dragon Clan shouted. Their chief had died here; the enmity was too great.

Only those of Purple Mountain's line made no statement, because Purple Mountain Marquis had escaped.

"Fall back. Launch probing attacks!"

The forces of Luofu Great Marsh, the Golden Wolf Tribe, and the Thunder Clan retreated five li away. They left some people where they were, drew enormous bows, and fired flaming arrows at Stone Village.

These were all archers with astonishing arm strength. Their aim was steady and true, and every arrow was concentrated on Stone Village.

Sure enough, with enough distance between them, the willow branches did not attack. Only a hazy halo enveloped the entire village. Every arrow shattered, unable to shoot inside.

A great fire rose outside the village, blazing fiercely, yet it could not spread into the village.

"It's not working." Everyone sighed, while also growing somewhat afraid.

"Besiege this place! The people of this village will not be able to enter or leave, nor can they hunt. Sooner or later, they will starve to death!" the young chief of the Golden Wolf Tribe snarled viciously.

"Young chief, we should retreat. Otherwise, disaster will befall the entire tribe," someone urged.

In truth, the experts of all four clans were fearful. Most of them wished they could flee at once and had no desire to remain here even a moment longer. But the chief's descendants, clan uncles, and other figures in power had reddened eyes and lost all reason, insisting on revenge.

"My Luofu Great Marsh will never retreat! We must avenge my elder brother. Besiege this place and starve those mountain folk to death!" the younger brother of Luofu Great Marsh's master roared.

The Flood Dragon Clan members were deeply afraid and unwilling. Some stepped forward in opposition.

"Knowing full well that we will die, you still want us to fight. We cannot do that. He was your elder brother, so you may seek revenge. We do not wish to throw away our lives for nothing!"

"What did you say? The chief has just died, and rather than seek revenge, you want to flee? Are you still the fine sons of Luofu Great Marsh?"

In an instant, Luofu Great Marsh nearly erupted into chaos, descending into internal conflict before anything else.

The same happened in the Thunder Clan and the Golden Wolf Tribe. No one wanted to throw away their lives. All of them wanted to get far away from that eerie Willow Tree.

In the end, some fled, while others obeyed orders and besieged Stone Village, preparing to cut off their food supply.

"Roar..."

That golden divine wolf rushed back. It went straight to the young chief of the Golden Wolf Tribe, slapped him flying with one paw, then bit down on the treasure—the Wolf Fang Dagger. It turned and ran, becoming a golden beam that vanished in the blink of an eye.

Everyone stared blankly, then cried out in alarm.

"Young chief, retreat quickly! This is an ominous sign! The sacrificial spirit has abandoned us, and it even seized our tribe's ancestral artifact!" an elder screamed in terror.

Not only their tribe, but even the people of Luofu Great Marsh and the Thunder Clan were horrified, all beginning to think of retreat. As for Purple Mountain's people, they had already begun fleeing. Not a single person remained, clearly having received Purple Mountain Marquis's orders not to continue the fight.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, that willow branch moved again. This time, its radiance flared brilliantly, more dazzling than before. In an instant, it stretched to four or five li long and swept with tremendous force. Rocky hills were sheared apart, their peaks sliding down with thunderous rumbles, while forests were flattened.

The young chief of the Golden Wolf Tribe screamed as his head flew into the air. Then many in his clan who had insisted on fighting here were cut in two at the waist, their bodies falling in heaps as blood splashed everywhere.

Afterward, Luofu Great Marsh, the Flood Dragon Clan, and the others suffered the same fate. Many figures in power were killed. As the willow branch swept past, one fine head after another flew up, bringing great sprays of blood with them.

Before dying, these people were terrified beyond measure and filled with regret. The Willow Tree was not incapable of extending this far; it simply had not deigned to bother with them before.

"Pfft," "pfft"...

After cutting down the key figures, the Willow Tree did not launch a wholesale slaughter. It merely attacked those scaled horses, strange beasts, and the like. The willow branch pierced mount after mount in succession, and a whole string of them was skewered upon its crystalline branch.

In the end, several hundred mounts, including scaled horses, unicorns, Moon Rhinoceroses, and more, were all impaled on the willow branch and dragged back to Stone Village. This time, it did not absorb their life essence. It simply flung them down onto the streets.

"Run!"

The experts of the four clans fled for their lives in terror, not daring to linger any longer.

The people of Stone Village watched in a daze. The Willow Tree was simply too powerful.

After a long while, Shi Linhu and the others came back to their senses, hearts aching as they said, "Those are unicorns! They can travel ten thousand li in a day. They are rare and precious steeds."

"There are several feathered tigers here too. They are rare strange beasts!" an elder exclaimed.

The villagers revered the Willow Tree beyond measure and worshiped it from the bottom of their hearts. It had protected Stone Village. Every one of them called it the Willow God, praying here with utmost devotion.

Suddenly, a divine thought rang out. "This is food. Make ample preparations. A great calamity is coming."

"Who was that?" Everyone was startled.

"It was the sacrificial spirit. Our Willow God, who protects us, spoke." Little Dot's eyes widened, bright light flickering within them as he stared in astonishment at the charred Willow Tree.