Shi Teng led Shi Hao aside with an arm around him, stroked his head, and asked gently, "Did I hurt you when I beat you just now?"
Shi Hao shook his head lightly. "No. I actually felt excited. I want to fight even more now!"
Shi Teng looked at Shi Hao. Though he was only five, a trace of resolve had already begun to show between his brows.
"Don't blame me for hitting too hard. You still have a long road ahead, and I can't always stay by your side.
"All I can do is help you grow stronger, so you'll have a little more capital to beat your opponents senseless on the road ahead!"
Shi Hao's brow relaxed. "Oh, I understand. The books you gave me said it.
"Youth has its own wild pride, scorning Kunlun, laughing at Lüliang.
"A sword honed for years reveals its edge today.
"Tempered in raging fire for two hundred more days,
"It becomes Moye, its keen blade cleaving diamond.
"A fledgling eagle, feathers full, takes its first soaring flight,
"Draped in thunder, defying the blazing sun.
"Let wild winds be its song, fearing neither ice nor snow nor bitter frost.
"It would climb the blue heavens to clasp the sun and moon,
"And pour out the Eastern Sea to wash the boundless world."
Shi Teng narrowed his eyes slightly, utterly bewildered. Before leaving last time, he had casually tossed Shi Hao a few books he had never even read himself.
He had never imagined the little fellow would memorize them all.
This child can be taught!
Shi Teng glanced around, then stirred his mind slightly, took a Treasure Bone from inside his robe, and secretly handed it to Shi Hao.
"Little One, you've learned a few precious techniques, but those are all low-level ones that hardly amount to much. What I'm giving you this time is the Suanni Precious Technique. It's enough to kill an opponent at your level in an instant!
"Practice it in secret. Don't let that fellow find out. I traded several bottles of wine with him for this!"
As he spoke, Shi Teng deliberately shot Suanni a glare.
Suanni seemed to sense that someone was talking about him and immediately turned his gaze toward Shi Teng.
Startled, Shi Teng hurriedly looked away.
Shi Hao also glanced at Suanni and asked curiously, "Brother, what is that creature? He looks much stronger than the Fire Qilin!"
"Ahem!"
"They're not even in the same league. That fellow is the Ancient Pure-Blood Fierce Beast Suanni, a mighty being of the Array Formation Realm. He could slaughter us with a sneeze.
"So until you're strong enough, don't ever provoke him.
"I tricked him into coming back to guard Stone Village!"
Shi Hao nodded, filled with respect for Suanni.
Shi Hao accepted the Suanni Precious Technique that Shi Teng had given him, then continued, "Brother, why do the other children have a daddy and mommy, but we don't? Did Daddy and Mommy abandon us?
"Or are we wild children who popped out of a rock, like the books say?"
Shi Teng's eyes trembled slightly. For a moment, he did not know what to say. What was bound to come had finally come.
Though Little One was still young, it was time to tell him. Perhaps this would kindle his fighting spirit as well.
Shi Teng stroked Shi Hao's head again. "Little One, no matter when or where, you must remember that Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, and I all love you more than anything!
"They would never abandon us!"
"All the other children have parents. Why has Little One only had his brother since he was little?" Shi Hao muttered, pouting.
After all, he was still only a child!
Shi Teng's brows knitted tightly, and his voice grew low. "Our father's name is Shi Ziling, and our mother's name is Qin Yining. We also have a grandfather who loves us dearly. He's called the Great Demon God!"
At Shi Teng's words, delight appeared on Shi Hao's face. "Then why haven't they come to find us?"
Shi Teng stroked Shi Hao's head, resolve showing in his eyes. "You must remember everything I'm about to tell you!"
"We are descendants of the Stone Kingdom's imperial clan. You were born with a Supreme Bone. Anyone who possesses this bone is destined to become a Supreme of the human race, with an extraordinary fate.
"Our grandfather's name is Shi Zhongtian. He is the Fifteenth Master of the Stone Kingdom's Martial King Manor. Because he's so powerful, everyone calls him the Great Demon God.
"He is a human whose strength is almost terrifying.
"He has a burly build, graying hair that's a tangled mess, and a beard to match. Who knows how many years it's been since he last groomed them.
"To find treasure blood from the ancient divine beast Pixiu to temper your body, Grandpa went alone to the Hundred Clans Battlefield and didn't return for years.
"Our father, Shi Ziling, was also an outstanding genius of his generation in the Martial King Manor. When Grandpa failed to return for years, Father entered the Hundred Clans Battlefield with Mother to search for him, leaving you in the care of our older clansman Shi Yi's family.
"But Shi Yi's mother forcibly stripped you of your Supreme Bone and implanted it in Shi Yi, leaving you gravely ill and on the verge of death.
"When Father and Mother learned that your Supreme Bone had been stolen, they rushed back through the night.
"Wielding the Golden Battle Spear, Father fought the Martial King Manor and defeated all its venerable elders. But four ancestors and Shi Yi joined forces to suppress him, beating him until he vomited blood.
"Our family of four was banished to the Second Ancestral Land. Using a map of the First Ancestral Land given to us by the Fourth Ancestor, we found Stone Village and had no choice but to entrust the two of us to Grandpa Old Chief.
"They went to the Hundred Broken Mountains on their own to find spirit medicine that could heal your body!"
Supreme Bone?
As Shi Hao listened to Shi Teng, confusion stirred in his heart.
After all, how could a few words possibly explain everything that had happened back then?
Just then, an emerald-green branch wrapped around them both.
"Shi Hao, I once told you that when you became as strong as Shi Teng, I would give you a gift!"
"This is my gift to you!"
The Willow Deity's emerald branch stirred slightly, and the brothers found themselves in another, illusory world.
"Auntie, no! Please let Hao'er go! It hurts so much!"
"Hao'er, your father will make them repay this debt in blood!"
"Where were you when my son was suffering? You dug out his bone and ruined his body. For every bone you broke in my son, you will repay him with a hundred!"
"If seeking justice for my son means becoming a demon, then today I will fall and become one!"
"Give my son justice!"
Within the illusory space, every scene unfolded: Shi Hao having his Supreme Bone dug out as a child, and his father returning to wage battle against the Stone King's manor.
Though Shi Teng had read the Perfect World novel and watched its animated adaptation, even he could not keep his eyes from growing moist at that moment.
Shi Hao had not cried when he saw his own Supreme Bone being dug out, but then he saw his father avenge him and battle the Stone King's manor.
He saw the four ancestors of the Stone King's manor join forces to suppress his father and beat him to the ground.
Crystal-clear tears spilled from Shi Hao's eyes.
His fists clenched, and his gaze grew ever more resolute.
He had always thought his parents did not love him. He had never imagined they had endured so much suffering for his sake.
Shi Teng stroked Shi Hao's head and said firmly, "Hao'er, don't cry. Rest assured, one day, I, Shi Teng, will make them repay the pain of having your bone dug out and the harm they did to our parents, principal and interest!"
Shi Hao wiped the tears from his eyes and said, his voice still trembling with sobs, "Brother, I'll work hard at cultivating. I'll avenge my stolen bone myself. I'll find Shi Yi and make him repay his debt in blood!
"Can you help bring Daddy and Mommy back? Hao'er's body is fine now. They don't need to find spirit medicine for me anymore. Hao'er misses them so much!"
Hearing Shi Hao's words, Shi Teng felt his own eyes sting.
"Don't worry. I'll bring Father, Mother, and Grandpa back. Our family will be reunited!
"I want these heavens to be unable to veil my eyes, this earth to be unable to bury my heart, and all living beings to understand my will!
"Anyone who bullies me, humiliates me, or harms my family-I, Shi Teng, will repay them a hundredfold!
"If gods stand in my way, I'll slay gods. If demons stand in my way, I'll slay demons!"
Seeing the towering fighting spirit blazing from Shi Teng's eyes, both the Willow Deity and Shi Hao were shaken.
The Willow Deity nodded slightly, regarding Shi Teng with even greater respect. To possess such conviction at so young an age was truly rare and precious!
Shi Hao also silently swore to himself, I must become stronger too. Only by becoming stronger can I protect the people around me.
Shi Hao then spoke. "Sister Willow Deity, the village chief said you're Stone Village's guardian deity, and Brother says you're very powerful too. Do you have any way to help me grow stronger quickly?"
Before you continue