The tremors deep in the Great Wilderness grew ever more frequent.
"That's a Primordial Remnant crying out in grief."
Shi Yunfeng stood at the village entrance, his walking stick planted deep in the earth. "That old Suanni probably won't last another two days."
The Hunting Team, who had been doing their morning exercises, instantly fell silent. A Suanni was a legendary dragon descendant, a treasure from head to toe. Even a single drop of its blood could drive the fierce beasts of the Great Wilderness mad. Its death would unleash an earth-shaking storm of blood-and a windfall of staggering wealth.
"Chief! Take me!"
Ermeng hurled the Thousand-Jin Stone Lock in his hands to the ground, smashing out a large crater. The boy had eaten plenty of the high-grade spirit food Shi Hou had made lately and had shot up in height. His arm muscles bulged as though someone had stuffed rocks beneath his skin.
"Me too!" Dazhuang refused to be outdone and punched the large bluestone beside him.
There was no glow of bone text, only pure physical strength.
With a crack, a fissure split the hard bluestone.
"We can fight! Those Bei Village losers from last time-I could take three of them now!" Snot Boy sniffled, his eyes gleaming green with eagerness.
Shi Linhu and Shi Feijiao exchanged a glance, shock flickering in their eyes. These little brats were growing at a truly frightening pace. In the past, lifting a hundred-jin rock at their age would have been impressive. Now every one of them was like a fierce beast cub in human form.
"Nonsense."
Shi Yunfeng did not look at the shattered stone on the ground. He merely uttered that single word in a flat voice.
"That's an Asura Battlefield where ten thousand beasts fight for supremacy, not a brawl at the village gate. Without treasure arts to protect you, brute strength alone won't help. If the shock waves from a real fierce beast hit you, there won't even be scraps left."
Ermeng still wanted to argue.
Shi Shoushan walked over, set his large hand on the boy's shoulder, and applied a little pressure.
Ermeng's face flushed crimson, his legs trembling. He was pinned so firmly that he could not move.
"Convinced?" Shi Shoushan released him and snorted. "When you can conceal your presence in the Great Wilderness without me noticing, then we can talk about taking you into the mountains."
The children wilted.
Shi Yunfeng's gaze shifted to Shi Hao, who had been gulping down milk nearby, and Shi Hou, who was wiping dust off his black pot.
"Little One is coming."
The old chief paused, then looked at Shi Hou, whose skin was black enough to gleam. "Skinny Monkey, you're coming too."
"Why does Skinny Monkey get to go?" Ermeng protested. "He hasn't even trained in bone text!"
"Because he can tank hits, and because he can heal," Shi Feijiao added dryly from the side. "Most importantly, if we get hurt, this boy can pull us back as long as we're still breathing. Can you do that?"
Ermeng shut his mouth.
The party assembled.
Stone Village sent out all its elite fighters this time, yet the core lineup was decidedly strange.
Amid a group of men brimming with murderous intent were a delicate, doll-like Little One and a... mobile black stove.
Shi Hou carried the enormous black pot on his back, with the equally pitch-black Kang perched on his shoulder. One boy, one pig, one pot-all perfectly matched in color. Their blackness was so deep that they did not even reflect the sunlight.
"Move out."
The party plunged into the dense forest.
Shi Hou walked in the middle of the group with steady strides.
He rubbed the back of his hand, which was harder than iron. Rather than doing the killing himself, he might as well leave that opportunity to Shi Hao.
"Not like I want to be some swaggering, invincible protagonist anyway." Shi Hou glanced at Shi Hao, who was darting through the forest ahead like an agile monkey. "Keep this boy healed up and let him deal the damage. All I need to do is clean up the battlefield, collect the corpses, and while I'm at it..."
He patted the black pot on his back.
"Be a proper supplier."
"Roar!"
A gust of foul-smelling wind suddenly burst from the bushes to one side.
It was a two-headed Fire Rhinoceros, its body wreathed in scarlet flames and as large as a small house. Its horn was aimed straight at Shi Linhu's lower back.
"Watch out!" Alarmed, Shi Linhu raised his Broadsword to block.
"I've got it!"
A fierce shout rang out in a childish voice.
Shi Hao's tiny figure streaked through the air, leaving an afterimage. Instead of dodging, he charged straight at the Fire Rhinoceros.
Hum!
A blue-green crescent moon lit up in his palm.
It was the Green-Scaled Eagle's treasure art.
But compared with the original, this blue-green moon was more solid, its edge so sharp that it sliced tiny black lines through the air itself.
"Sever!"
His little hand swept down.
There was no earth-shaking crash, only an extremely faint hiss.
The charging Fire Rhinoceros suddenly split in two down the middle. The cut was smooth as a mirror, even its bones neatly severed. Its flames instantly went out, and momentum kept the huge corpse sliding forward as its innards spilled across the ground.
Everyone fell deathly silent.
Shi Shoushan's raised Broken Sword froze in midair.
Shi Feijiao's mouth fell open so wide that his jaw nearly dislocated.
This was a peak second-tier fierce beast, with thick hide and tough flesh. Even working together, they would have needed a long, drawn-out fight to bring it down.
And now a four-year-old milk-drinking toddler had killed it in one move?
"That was... way too fast." Shi Linhu swallowed, watching Shi Hao squat on the ground and wipe his hands, his expression complicated.
There was pride, but also the melancholy of the Yangtze's waves behind driving onward those ahead.
"Don't just stand there. Get it while it's hot."
Shi Hou's voice broke the silence.
He walked over in a few strides, utterly unconcerned about the mess, and grabbed one of the Fire Rhinoceros's horns with one hand.
"Store."
He willed it with a thought.
The two enormous halves of the corpse vanished instantly. Even the blood on the ground was sucked away without a trace.
Shi Hou extended his awareness into the space inside the pot.
The Fire Rhinoceros floated quietly in the gray mist, without the slightest sign of decay. Most importantly-his blood qi value had not budged.
"Just as I thought."
Shi Hou grinned from ear to ear.
As long as something was dead, storing it cost no blood qi, regardless of how high its tier was. It could even stay fresh forever.
This was no pot. It was clearly a super-refrigerator with unlimited capacity.
"Come on, come on! There's more up ahead!"
Shi Hou was fired up, his eyes brighter than Kang's as he urged everyone onward.
The rest of the journey turned into a bizarre spring outing.
A fierce beast attacked.
Shi Hao: unleashed a treasure art, killed it in one move.
The adults: shouted "Holy shit!" without getting a chance to act.
Shi Hou: rushed over, waved a hand, and made the corpse disappear.
Their coordination was seamless, flowing like drifting clouds and running water.
Whether venomous pythons hidden in the trees or pangolins lurking underground, all of them became stock in Shi Hou's pot.
"I never would've dared dream of days like this before." Shi Shoushan hung his weapon back at his waist and actually took out a piece of jerky to chew. "So we're just here to keep the crown prince company while he studies?"
"And keep the cook company while he stocks up." Shi Feijiao pointed at Shi Hou, who was humming a tune with the pot on his back.
The deeper they went, the more signs of people they found.
The oppressive atmosphere in the air also grew increasingly heavy.
Ahead lay an open stretch of the Rocky Forest.
Several groups were facing off.
The moment Stone Village's party appeared, several hostile gazes swept toward them.
"Well, well. Aren't these the barbarians from Stone Village?"
A mocking voice rang out.
On a huge boulder to the left stood a group dressed in wolf pelts. Their leader was a one-eyed, middle-aged man, rolling two iron balls in his hand as he stared viciously at Shi Shoushan.
The chief of Bei Village.
Behind him stood Bei Feng, his limbs wrapped in thick white bandages and his face swollen like a pig's head. The instant he saw Shi Hou and Shi Hao appear, the youth shuddered violently, his eyes filled with venomous hatred and fear.
"So this is the milk-drinking brat who crippled Feng?"
The one-eyed man narrowed his eye. His gaze swept over Shi Hao before finally settling on Shi Hou's... pot.
"And that lump of charcoal."
Shi Hou ignored him.
He looked to the right.
There stood a group dressed in purple beast hides, each radiating a fierce presence, with faint arcs of electricity flickering over their skin.
The Thunder Clan.
A powerful clan from deep in the Great Wilderness, skilled in the Thunder Dao Treasure Art.
At that moment, the Thunder Clan members were not looking at the people of Stone Village. Instead, they stared fixedly at the black pig on Shi Hou's shoulder.
"Oink?"
Kang seemed to sense something and sneezed, spraying a small burst of blue sparks from his nostrils.
"That's..."
The eyes of the old man leading the Thunder Clan suddenly lit up. Even the Thunder Staff in his hand trembled.
"A born mutant, thunder spirit qi... This pig is top-grade even among Primordial Remnants!"
The old man greedily licked his lips. Ignoring the circumstances entirely, he raised a hand and pointed straight at Shi Hou.
"You, boy."
"Leave the pig on your shoulder, and I'll guarantee that your Stone Village people make it out alive this time."
Shi Hou stopped.
He slowly lowered the enormous black pot, dropping it onto the ground with a thud.
Then he reached up, took Kang off his shoulder, and cradled the pig in his arms. In passing, he pulled a fresh, juicy carrot from the pot and stuffed it into the pig's mouth.
"You want the pig?"
Shi Hou raised his head, revealing a set of eerily white teeth against his black face.
"Trade the Suanni's corpse for him."
Before you continue