Willow Deity continued, "Naturally, your big sister won't drink your wine for nothing. You should have entered the Cave Heaven Realm by now, right?"
Shi Teng nodded. "Yes, I just cultivated my first cave heaven!"
"Mm, the timing is perfect. I have an unsurpassed primordial divine ability here-the Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability. I obtained it long ago after slaying the Five Emperors of the demonic path.
"Every one of those five Demon Emperors was a titan of the ages. Put any one of them in any plane, and he could overturn rivers and seas.
"Each of the Five Emperors possessed a great divine ability, hence the name Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability.
"They say that once you cultivate five cave heavens and merge these five great divine abilities into them, you can cultivate the demonic path's strongest defense, the Five Emperors Canopy Umbrella. It can ward off all manner of damage and make you invincible in the Cave Heaven Realm!"
Shi Teng blinked. Beautiful women, cultivation arts, treasures-he loved them all.
"Don't just talk without doing anything! Where's the cultivation art?"
A faint smile appeared on Willow Deity's lips. "You've landed another bargain, brat. One bottle of fine wine in exchange for an entire set of my unsurpassed primordial divine abilities.
"Any one of the five arts within the Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability can unleash boundless might!
"They can be called the ultimate divine abilities of the Heaven and Earth Five Elements. Once mastered, they can reverse the five elements and grant supreme power to create worlds.
"The Azure Emperor Wood Sovereign Art kindles vitality;
"the Scarlet Emperor Fire Emperor Qi transforms all fire qi;
"the White Emperor Gold Sovereign Slash excels in razor-sharp power and the speed of an instant kill;
"the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist emphasizes surging grandeur, lasting endurance, and dense, unyielding resilience;
"the Yellow Emperor Earth Sovereign Way can assimilate all earth essence."
A crystalline green light sank into Shi Teng's brow, and five vast powers flooded his body.
They were none other than the five elemental powers of the Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability.
Shi Teng sat cross-legged and began absorbing the Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability.
It truly deserved to be called an unsurpassed primordial divine ability. Even after exploring it for a long time, Shi Teng had only just reached the threshold of the Azure Emperor Wood Sovereign Art. In essence, he needed countless rare wood-element treasures to fill it.
Put simply, he had to find things of the wood element and then eat them!
Shi Teng raised his head and looked at Willow Deity before him. This one looked pretty good!
But he could only entertain the thought.
Before Shi Teng could gather his wits, Willow Deity's low voice reached him. "Brat, trouble has come for you!"
Shi Teng's eyes widened slightly. What trouble? I haven't caused any trouble!
Rumble!
The entire Stone Village shook. Fire filled the sky and surrounded the village, though it did not harm the surrounding vegetation.
A figure a hundred zhang tall loomed over Stone Village.
He looked like a heavenly god descending from the skies.
Terror spread across the villagers' faces, and they prostrated themselves on the ground.
Shi Teng narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is that thing?"
Willow Deity said softly, "That's the trouble you caused. But it's only a spirit body, and he bears no ill intent!"
Shi Teng sprang up and reached the sky above Stone Village in a few leaps.
Looking straight at the enormous phantom before him, he called out, "Who are you, and what brings you here?"
Scarlet flames burned around the middle-aged man as he said in a low voice, "Seeing as you are all ordinary people, hand over Huo Ling'er, and I will spare your lives!"
Huo Ling'er?
This fellow was already so old, yet he still wanted to be an old ox grazing on tender grass?
Shi Teng cleared his throat twice and raised his voice. "Hmph, dream on! I brought Huo Ling'er back to be my younger brother's wife. How could I hand her over to you? Besides, you're already so old. You two aren't a good match!"
The middle-aged man's brows twitched, and a fierce light shot from his eyes. "Hmm! You're courting death!"
An enormous palm blotted out the sky as it slammed toward Shi Teng.
Shi Teng narrowed his eyes and leaped upward, immediately meeting it with the Xingtian Axe in his hand.
Rip!
Shi Teng actually cleaved the enormous palm apart with a single swing. Scarlet flames burned along the wound, which then slowly healed.
The Fire Emperor raised his right hand to inspect it, shock appearing on his face.
To think this brat possessed a divine artifact left behind from ancient times, even if it was somewhat damaged!
A faint smile appeared on the Fire Emperor's lips. "To think a tiny village would have a youth in the Cave Heaven Realm!"
He swept his right hand forward, reaching straight for the Xingtian Axe in Shi Teng's grasp.
This time, Shi Teng could clearly feel that its power had increased dozens of times over. He could barely even breathe.
With tremendous difficulty, he raised the Xingtian Axe in his hand.
Yet the Fire Emperor snatched it away in one grab.
Shi Teng had no power to resist whatsoever. Though his opponent was only a spirit body, he was already unimaginably powerful.
Having seized the Xingtian Axe, the Fire Emperor looked pleased. His enormous right hand had only just withdrawn.
A jade-green branch shot into the air and swept lightly across the sky, severing the Fire Emperor's right hand outright.
The Xingtian Axe fell from the sky.
Shi Teng leaped up and caught the Xingtian Axe with one hand.
Delight appeared on his face. "Big Sister Willow Deity, you finally made a move! I thought all you knew how to do was eat my food and drink my wine!"
The Fire Emperor was only a spirit body, and his severed right hand instantly grew back.
Only then did his gaze settle on the charred lightning-struck wood at the village entrance, and a flash of shock crossed his brow.
He had been wondering just moments earlier: ferocious beasts roamed everywhere nearby.
How had this little village survived here? So a powerful being had been protecting it all along.
The Fire Emperor bowed slightly to Willow Deity and said respectfully, "I did not know you were here, Senior. Please forgive me for disturbing you!"
Shi Teng fanned the flames from the side. "What good is asking forgiveness? You were just trying to steal my axe! Big Sister Willow Deity, destroy his spirit body!"
Willow Deity cleared her throat twice. "How dare you be so rude to your younger brother's future father-in-law? Do you still want to find your brother a wife?"
Father-in-law?
Shi Teng's brows twitched. He paused, then suddenly understood.
"Oh, Your Majesty the Fire Emperor! Sorry, sorry! No wonder you're covered in fire!"
"Sorry for offending you just now. Why don't you come down for a drink?"
The Fire Emperor said grimly, "Brat, out of respect for Senior, I will forgive your insolence. Now hand over my daughter!
"If she has suffered the slightest harm, I certainly won't let you off!"
Shi Teng wore an apologetic smile. "Rest assured, Fire Emperor. Huo Ling'er is so adorable. Who would bully her?
"Besides, she's the one who bullies other people. How could anyone bully her?"
The Fire Emperor nodded meaningfully. That was true. He naturally understood Huo Ling'er's temperament, and she carried countless treasures.
Even someone at the peak of the Cave Heaven Realm could do nothing to her!
"Where is Ling'er now?"
"She's sleeping inside the house. I'll carry her out for you right away!"
"Sleeping? Brat, you're courting death! She's only fourteen!" Fierce light blazed from the Fire Emperor's eyes, and overwhelming pressure enveloped all of Stone Village, making it difficult for Shi Teng to breathe.
Knowing that the Fire Emperor had surely misunderstood, Shi Teng hurriedly explained, "I meant sleeping! She's fine. She only took a sip of wine and passed out drunk. She'll be fine after some sleep!"
"Wine?"
Only then did the Fire Emperor rein in his aura and sniff lightly.
"No wonder I caught such a rich, mellow scent of wine just now.
"Brat, you actually have wine here?"
Shock appeared on the Fire Emperor's face.
Shi Teng's brows twitched. It seemed powerful people all loved drinking.
"Standing up there in the air must be tiring. Why don't you come down for a couple of drinks, Fire Emperor?"
Willow Deity immediately became displeased. "Well, well! You actually lied to me, brat!"
Shi Teng rubbed the back of his head. "Naturally, I had to stash a little of the good stuff away. If we drank it all, what would we drink later?
"This really is the last bottle. Drink it slowly!"
The Fire Emperor Spirit Body descended from the sky. Looking at the Moutai in Shi Teng's hand, he could not help licking his lips.
Shi Teng opened the bottle and poured each of them a cup.
The Fire Emperor lifted his cup and sniffed lightly. "How I've missed this feeling. Back when I broke through to the peak of the Venerable Realm, I once had the good fortune to tear open the void and descend into the Xuanhuang Realm. The wine there tasted just like this.
"Though I only drank it once, I've missed it ever since!
"I tried brewing this kind of wine in the Desolate Region, but I could never capture the same feeling!"
With that, he took a small sip, his face filling with enjoyment.
Shi Teng hugged the wine bottle, utterly bewildered. Was it really that amazing?
Before you continue