Medicinal Bath

These were the benefits that talent and strength brought. When you stood proud above the clouds, the whole world smiled at you and offered its goodwill.

But when you fell from the clouds into the depths of a valley, the whole world would bare its fangs and claws at you.

Shi Yi understood this truth deeply. His expression remained unchanged as he responded to each greeting, giving the beings who greeted him a slight nod and a glance of acknowledgment.

Though he was only four, he did not seem like a child at all. Every movement carried a tremendous majesty, as though a god were walking among mortals.

"Is little brother Yi really only four? Why do I feel my soul trembling when I face him?" a Martial King Manor disciple just over ten murmured to himself.

The others felt the same. Before Shi Yi, crowned with countless halos, not a single young disciple could help feeling ashamed of their own inadequacy. By comparison, Shi Yi was the bright moon in the heavens, while they were merely fireflies on the ground, existing only to set off the invincibility of this bearer of Double Pupils.

The "stars" in "a host of stars surrounding the moon" ought to refer to those supreme prodigies. They were not yet qualified.

Before long, the two reached their destination, the medicinal bath area prepared specifically for Martial King Manor disciples. Even before they entered, a rich medicinal scent rushed into their faces.

Shi Yi was not the only one coming for a medicinal bath that day. Many children had been brought by their elders and placed in Medicine Cauldrons to be refined over roaring fires. Young, piercing screams rang out from time to time.

Shi Yi was a disciple whom Martial King Manor spared no effort to nurture, the future leader of the younger generation. Naturally, he would not take his medicinal bath alongside ordinary disciples.

Led by Shi Yuan, they reached the deepest part of the medicinal bath area.

A courtyard that had long stood sealed was now open. More than one old man stood inside. They were not clan elders but ancestors, senior even to Shi Yuan.

"Yi, you're here."

An old man who sat motionless in meditation opened his eyes, his aura terrifying. He stood at the peak of the Inscription Realm, not far from becoming a King Marquis. His strength was immense, and he had not appeared in many years.

Even when Shi Ziling and his wife had wreaked havoc in Martial King Manor, he had not emerged. The Four Great Ancestors who had acted then were all his juniors.

"Shi Yi pays his respects to the ancestor."

Shi Yi offered the salute of a junior. His Double Pupils glowed faintly in the dim courtyard, mysterious and profound. Even surrounded by ancestors, he remained perfectly composed, possessing an indescribable bearing.

Several ancestors nodded inwardly, approving of Shi Yi's conduct.

In fact, during the battle at Martial King Manor, Shi Yi had already displayed the heaven-defying power of his Double Pupils. He had seen through the weaknesses in Shi Ziling's Treasure Technique and even linked his aura with Shi Li's, imbuing Shi Li with the power of his Double Pupils.

Although it had ultimately lost its effectiveness because the gap in cultivation was too great, it was enough to set their imaginations racing.

When Shi Yuan told the ancestors of Shi Yi's achievements, all the old men were visibly moved. Their gazes converged on Shi Yi as though he were a peerless treasure. They realized they had still underestimated the Double Pupils. This supreme gift was even more terrifying than they had imagined. Shi Yi's future would stretch across a sea of stars.

"Truly worthy of being called a Primordial God, an Innate Saint," one ancestor sighed in admiration.

"And now, we must add Innate Supreme to that," an ancestor who favored Shi Yi added.

At once, the atmosphere in the courtyard froze. The words "Innate Supreme" were far too sensitive.

Martial King Manor had originally possessed two supreme prodigies, one an Innate Saint and the other an Innate Supreme. In the end, the Innate Supreme had fallen, dying young.

To spare Shi Yi any embarrassment, several ancestors spoke up, changing the subject and breaking the heavy atmosphere.

Then they began preparing Shi Yi's medicinal bath.

A towering ancient cauldron stood in the center of the courtyard, cast from some unknown material. Numerous designs were engraved upon it: flowers, birds, insects, fish, mountains, great rivers, and more. It was extraordinary.

"This cauldron came from the renowned Medicine Capital. In his day, the Martial King took medicinal baths in this very cauldron, forging a profound foundation in the Dao," one old man said, revealing the Medicine Cauldron's origins.

Next, the old men took out one precious medicinal ingredient after another, all prepared in strict accordance with the Medicinal Bath Formula held by Martial King Manor.

There were ancient Precious Medicines brimming with spiritual energy, rarely seen in the outside world; venomous insects and other poisonous creatures, black and foul-smelling yet indispensable as principal ingredients; precious blood, translucent and gleaming like agate; and even unidentified powders, said to have been ground from the bones of powerful ferocious beasts and to possess wondrous effects.

"This formula ranks among the very best in all the King Marquis estates of the Stone Kingdom. This medicinal bath can be called the most perfect in Martial King Manor's history. Every ingredient matches what the formula specifies, without a single substitute.

"However, legend has it that even more potent formulas exist in our Stone Kingdom's true ancestral land. Unfortunately, the location of the First Ancestral Land has been lost, making it very difficult to find." The ancestor seated before the Medicine Cauldron sighed, regretting that they could not provide Shi Yi with the finest medicinal bath of all.

Shi Yi naturally knew what he meant.

Shi Hao's astonishing progress and swift rise had owed not only to his own unparalleled talent. The Medicine Cauldron in Stone Village and those few formulas had also played an indispensable role, helping him enormously in unseen ways.

The map to the Stone Kingdom's First Ancestral Land had already fallen into Shi Ziling's hands. Shi Yi could not possibly force the ancestor who had delivered it to make another copy and hand it over.

For now, the medicinal bath Martial King Manor had prepared for him was already of exceptional quality. It would suffice.

The ancestors sighed over it as well, then lifted the cauldron's lid and let Shi Yi enter.

Inside the Medicine Cauldron, things were anything but calm. All sorts of venomous insects and snakes were still alive, darting through it incessantly. Some were even devouring one another or gulping down the Precious Medicines and precious blood within.

The moment Shi Yi stepped into the Medicine Cauldron, these venomous insects and poisonous creatures fixed on him. They were instinctively drawn to his flesh and blood. With Double Pupils and the Supreme Bone within him, his flesh and blood themselves could be considered a kind of Precious Medicine.

Shi Yi did not activate his Double Pupils or Supreme Bone to drive them away. Instead, he let the poisonous creatures crawl all over him. Before he entered the Medicine Cauldron, the ancestors had told him that, if he could endure it, it was best to let these creatures do as they pleased. This would allow their medicinal properties to blend in more thoroughly and improve the bath's effects.

Thus, Shi Yi endured the heart-gnawing agony of myriad poisons, all to make the medicinal bath more effective.

After a stretch of unbearable torment, heat finally rose from the bottom of the great cauldron. The ancestors had begun, sending forth blazing dao fire to heat the Medicine Cauldron.

The medicinal bath finally began. Shi Yi could feel the poisonous creatures biting every part of his body gradually succumb, dropping off one after another and dissolving into the medicinal broth. From time to time, a poisonous creature burst, each pop sending black, foul-smelling fluid spraying in all directions.