Seeing Shi Ziling and his wife break through the Martial King Manor's seal and send tremors through the Imperial Capital, the ancestors were shocked and furious.
If outsiders learned what had happened in the Martial King Manor, there was no imagining the blow its reputation would suffer.
Shi Yi would inevitably be branded "cruel" and "vicious," which would be deeply detrimental to his future path.
Worse still, the Martial King Manor would be reviled by all under heaven for shielding Shi Yi's branch... How could they let such a scandal get out?
At that thought, the four ancestors did not hesitate. They drew upon a portion of the Martial King Manor's hidden reserves and sealed the place once more.
Although powerful figures from outside had already arrived, none dared enter rashly without the Martial King Manor's permission.
Inside the manor, the ancestors knew they could not drag this out any longer. If it caught the attention of kings and nobles and prompted them to inquire in person, they would no longer be able to cover it up.
"Ziling, since you insist on remaining blind to reason, do not blame us for striking hard."
As those words fell, the ancestors stopped holding back. They unleashed one terrifying treasure after another, along with beast bones covered in runes. These were Ancestral Artifacts passed down by the Martial King Manor's elders through the ages, and when used in conjunction with the Magic Array, their power was immense.
After a fierce exchange, Shi Ziling and his wife were at a disadvantage, but showed no sign of defeat. Instead, relying on the fiery courage of youth, they fought the four old men until both sides were wounded.
Boom!
Following a tremendous crash, both sides were sent flying backward.
The ancestors' formerly ruddy faces were now as pale as paper, and every one of them had sustained serious injuries.
Shi Ziling was hardly any better off. His tall, powerful frame swayed, and scarlet blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Qin Yining had also suffered considerable injuries while protecting Shi Hao in her arms, and her dress was stained with blood.
"Ziling, stop. Things have already come to this. If you keep fighting and cross the Martial King Manor's bottom line, even I will not be able to protect you.
"Even if you will not think of anyone else, think of Hao'er. Right now, he needs saving, and no one but the two of you can save him." A voice sounded beside Shi Ziling's ear. It belonged to the ancestor who favored his branch.
Hearing this, he looked at Shi Hao, who lay fast asleep in Qin Yining's arms, and sighed softly. He knew it was time to end this. Continuing the fight would bring no good outcome, nor would it secure the justice he sought. It would only delay Shi Hao's rescue.
Qin Yining felt the same way.
After that, husband and wife no longer insisted on killing Shi Yi and reclaiming the Supreme Bone that should have belonged to Shi Hao. That was already impossible.
The ancestors did not want to keep fighting either. They only wanted to settle the matter quickly before anything unexpected happened. To that end, they took a step back and promised that if Shi Hao survived and regained his vitality, they would return the Supreme Bone.
Although Shi Ziling and his wife knew this was most likely a stopgap measure rather than a genuine promise, they could only accept it.
"Your hands are stained with the blood of many clansmen, and Yi'er's birth mother also died at your hands. She was a member of the Rain Clan, and her father holds an extraordinary position. With her dying like this, the Rain Clan will not let the matter rest.
"How about this? For now, the two of you should go to the Western Frontier and stay in the Second Ancestral Land, where our Stone Kingdom began its resurgence. Let Hao'er recover there." An ancestor spoke with a sigh.
Shi Ziling said nothing and merely nodded in silence. He believed that, with the ancestors' promise to return the bone in place, Shi Yi's branch and the Rain Clan would surely try every means possible to kill Shi Hao and render that promise void.
For them, the Martial King Manor was no longer a suitable place to stay. Going to the distant Western Frontier was just as well.
"Leave now. Word of the disturbance here has already spread," another ancestor said.
Shi Ziling and his wife had nothing left worth lingering over anyway. Without another word, they immediately departed, carrying the weak, barely conscious Shi Hao.
Before leaving, Shi Ziling glanced at Shi Yi. With the help of numerous clan elders, the latter had already stabilized the Supreme Bone in his chest. Divine light enveloped his entire body, making him look like a Primordial God reborn.
One Shi Clan elder after another stood around Shi Yi with worry written across their faces, like stars gathered around the moon. By comparison, Shi Hao's circumstances seemed rather bleak. No one spared him so much as a thought.
At this sight, hatred surfaced in Shi Ziling's eyes. His own son was a born supreme and should have received this same treatment, but now everything had been ruined.
Shi Yi sensed that gaze, fierce enough to devour him. His eyes shifted slightly, meeting Shi Ziling's.
Shi Hao's birth father truly deserved his reputation as an exceptional talent of the Imperial Capital. Even a single look carried such oppressive force that Shi Yi could scarcely breathe.
Still, he was not afraid. His own talent far surpassed the other man's, and in just a few years, he would catch up and overtake him. What was there to fear?
Amid that silent exchange of gazes, Shi Ziling and his wife carried Shi Hao away and left the Martial King Manor.
The turmoil thus subsided, and the people gathered outside the Martial King Manor were dispersed. Although they were deeply curious about the shock waves from the battle within, faced with the manor's airtight secrecy, they could do nothing but let the matter drop.
Within the Rain Clan, the removal of Shi Hao's bone was no secret. More than one person knew about it, though that knowledge was confined to the upper ranks.
News that Shi Yi's birth mother had been impaled to death in the battle, that Shi Yi had been injured, and that the Martial King Manor's ancestors had agreed with Shi Ziling and his wife to return the bone also reached the Rain Clan's upper ranks.
Soon, a series of plans targeting Shi Ziling and his wife took shape. Several powerful figures set out, intending to strike while the iron was hot and ambush the couple before their injuries healed, ensuring that their family of three never reached the Western Frontier.
Although Shi Yi had not witnessed what happened in the Rain Clan, he had anticipated it long ago.
He remained calm about it. After all, he was now merely a child not yet four years old, and many things lay beyond his control.
Growing stronger was Shi Yi's only goal. In this Gods and Demons World, only supreme martial might could allow him to control his own destiny.
The battle in the Martial King Manor was over. The clansmen dispersed, and many Shi Clan craftsmen streamed in to repair the damage within the manor. An ancestor personally ordered the clansmen to keep their lips sealed about everything that had happened in the battle. No one was permitted to reveal anything, nor were they allowed to mention the removal of Shi Hao's bone.
The born supreme was already a thing of the past. Now, Shi Yi, with his Double Pupils and Supreme Bone, was the Martial King Manor's future. Anything detrimental to him had to be eradicated.
Shi Yi was also surrounded by ancestors and clan elders. Every one of them worried about his injuries and offered help in their own way. Viewed from afar, they looked like stars gathered around the moon.
For Shi Yi, who had always been subjected to special treatment in his previous life, this was an unprecedented experience.
Yet he remained exceptionally calm and did not let the feeling of wearing a halo go to his head.
He knew perfectly well that all the glory he possessed at this moment rested upon his Double Pupils and Supreme Bone. If he lost those two pillars of support now, the people surrounding him would scatter like birds and beasts in an instant, casting him aside like a worn-out shoe.
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