Oath

"Great-grandfather, how are your injuries?" Shi Yi opened his eyes and asked.

Warmth stirred in Shi Yuan's heart at his words. He answered with a smile, "Nothing to worry about. As long as you're all right, Yi'er, the sky over the Martial King Manor won't collapse."

Shi Yi did not respond to that. Instead, he asked why Shi Yuan had come.

"Your mother is being buried today. As her son, you should attend. Not only will our Martial King Manor be there, but the Rain Clan will also send people. They're your mother's family, and they're no ordinary clan. You should grow closer to them," Shi Yuan answered.

Shi Yi nodded thoughtfully.

Then he rose from the meditation cushion and followed Shi Yuan out of the courtyard.

On the way, Shi Yuan told Shi Yi to ask directly for whatever he needed, without any reservations. All the Martial King Manor's resources would be channeled toward him.

Shi Yi nodded. He had never intended to stand on ceremony anyway. He would not pass up anything that could strengthen him.

The journey was short, and the old man and the boy soon reached the Martial King Manor's burial grounds.

Experts guarded this place year-round. With its enormous stone gates and towering walls, it was practically a city. As they arrived, an aura unique to ancient tombs washed over them, inevitably calling death to mind.

Quite a few people had already gathered inside, some from Shi Yi's branch and others from the other branches. Of the entire Martial King Manor, only the branch that sided with Shi Hao had sent no one. The manor's leaders did not force the issue.

After all, digging out the bone was inherently disgraceful and violated the Shi Clan's ancestral teachings. They had protected the perpetrators for no reason other than Shi Yi's astonishing talent.

Besides the people from the Martial King Manor, many members of the Rain Clan had come as well. Leading them was Shi Yi's maternal great-grandfather, his mother's grandfather-Yu Ya. This elder held a lofty position in the Rain Clan and carried considerable authority; he could essentially speak for the clan.

He spotted Shi Yuan and Shi Yi from afar. Immediately breaking off his conversation, he led the Rain Clan members toward Shi Yi, his face wreathed in smiles.

After exchanging nods and greetings with Shi Yuan, Yu Ya approached Shi Yi, who had already offered the bow of a junior and addressed him as "Great-grandfather."

"Time passes so quickly. The last time I saw Yi'er, he had only just learned to walk. In the blink of an eye, he's grown this much," Yu Ya said with a sigh.

Then he told Shi Yi not to stand on ceremony, to consider the Rain Clan his own home, and to visit often.

Naturally, Shi Yi agreed.

Before long, Shi Yi's mother was laid to rest. Members of both clans wore sorrowful expressions as they watched the coffin lowered and covered with yellow earth.

"What a pity Zi Teng isn't here. He joined a force comparable to an ancient divine mountain and couldn't get away. Otherwise, with his abilities, how could Shi Ziling have been allowed to run rampant?" Yu Ya said, his gaze icy.

Although he knew the Martial King Manor was suspected of having offered up his granddaughter for Shi Ziling to take revenge and vent his fury upon, he could only suppress his anger for the sake of harmony between the two clans.

After all, Shi Yi now possessed both double pupils and the Supreme Bone. His future accomplishments knew no bounds. He might well rule this ancient nation, or even reign over the Desolate Region. With talent like that, the Rain Clan naturally wanted to draw close to him, so they could not afford to fall out with the Martial King Manor.

"Indeed. If Zi Teng had been there, everything would have been different," Shi Yuan said, understanding his intent and following his lead.

The atmosphere eased, and both sides once again turned their attention to Shi Yi. Praise and exclamations of wonder swept toward him like a tide that blotted out the sky.

Shi Yi was utterly immune to such scenes. His expression remained calm and his bearing steady, putting even some of the adults to shame.

Ignoring the praise, he simply gazed at the gravestone ahead and sighed inwardly.

To cruelly dig out her nephew's bone so that her son could become invincible throughout heaven and earth was wrong, no matter how one looked at it. As a transmigrator, Shi Yi had long since reached that verdict deep in his heart.

Still, in this life, he had ultimately inherited "Shi Yi's" karmic burden. He silently swore an oath: he would shoulder the undefeated name of the double pupils and ascend, step by step, to the highest peak on the path of the Great Dao. When that time came, even the dead could return to life.

After the funeral ended, the Rain Clan members departed. Before leaving, Shi Yi's maternal great-grandfather Yu Ya repeatedly urged him to visit the Rain Clan whenever he had time. Shi Yi nodded in agreement, and Shi Yuan and the others raised no objections. Nothing could be better than using Shi Yi as a bond to deepen the relationship between the Martial King Manor and the Rain Clan.

Once the crowd dispersed, Shi Yuan led Shi Yi to a treasury in the Martial King Manor that held cultivation resources, personally taking him to select what he needed.

This was not the Martial King Manor's only treasury. There were several others of equal size. After all, its lord was a king who ruled over hundreds of millions of li of territory.

Nor was this merely Shi Yuan's personal decision. The Martial King Manor's leaders had already made their plans. They would spare no effort in nurturing Shi Yi, even if it meant draining their treasuries dry.

"Yi'er, there's no need to rush into establishing your foundation. Ancient texts record that if you temper your body with the true blood of an ancient vicious beast during the Blood Transformation stage, you can surely forge an invincible foundation. That would greatly benefit your future.

"That was precisely why Shi Zhongtian risked shooting down a pure-blooded Pixiu on the Hundred Clans Battlefield. He wanted to use its blood to establish his grandson's foundation.

"Our Martial King Manor has no such thing, but your father has a chance of obtaining it. We've already sent people there to try to make contact with that ancient clan. We should have results before long. Until then, make your preparations."

As he spoke, Shi Yuan led Shi Yi into the treasury.

It had to be said that a king's treasury was truly magnificent. The interior was vast, with precious artifacts, beast rune bones, precious medicines, spirit fruits, materials, and all manner of rarities neatly arranged by category.

The moment he entered, Shi Yi saw an abundance of spiritual energy ahead, with radiant treasure-light soaring skyward. Divine light gleamed in his eyes as he swept his gaze over the dazzling array of precious medicines. There were also unusual treasures whose surfaces faintly revealed mysterious runes, containing extraordinary laws of the Great Dao.

"These are dragon blood fruits. Eating them strengthens a cultivator's blood and qi. Legend has it that their parent plant was watered with dragon blood. Of course, it couldn't have been true dragon blood-flood dragon blood at most," Shi Yuan explained, pointing to several spirit fruits that resembled agate.

"That is cloud spirit wood. Applying the sap within its trunk to the eyelids cools a cultivator's eyes, soothes the whole body, and invigorates the spirit. It's said that prolonged use can refine a pair of spirit eyes, granting vision far beyond that of ordinary people.

"But it's extremely rare. Even across hundreds of millions of li of territory, it's hard to find more than a few pieces. It should benefit your double pupils," Shi Yuan added, pointing to a plump section of trunk.

The two continued onward, and the precious medicines Shi Yuan introduced grew increasingly valuable.

In the end, Shi Yi selected some cultivation resources himself, including precious medicines and ancient pills. Shi Yuan also chose a portion of resources for him based on his current condition.

Afterward, Shi Yi returned to his courtyard.