Boom-!
The tremendous crash shook two leaves loose from the willow at the village entrance.
The enormous black pot slammed squarely into the golden ball of lightning like a wall. There were no fancy techniques, only sheer hardness and strength.
Golden light shattered, and lightning burst into countless tiny arcs across the sky, as dazzling as fireworks.
Amid that shower of light, a small figure flew backward, tracing a decidedly inelegant parabola through the air before landing with a thump precisely in a huge haystack in the distance.
"Skinny Monkey! You hit him too hard!"
Shi Linhu let out a startled cry, dropped the wolf bone, and ran toward the haystack.
Shi Hou drew back the black pot, casually twirled it, and slung it onto his back again.
He shook his slightly numb wrist, from which wisps of blue smoke were rising, but there was not so much as a red mark on his pitch-black skin.
"Too hard, my ass."
Shi Hou curled his lip. "That kid's hide is thicker than mine now. That smack just loosened up his bones."
Before he had finished speaking, a rustling came from the haystack.
"Cough, cough... Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Shi Hao spat the dry grass out of his mouth and crawled out with a messy crown of hay clinging to his head.
The red glow around his body had faded, and the searing heat that had made him seem ready to burst into flames had dissipated, replaced by a soft, jade-like luster.
The restless bloodshot streaks in his large eyes were gone. His eyes were now clear and bright, with two tiny runes faintly revolving in their depths.
"That feels better!"
Shi Hao stretched, and every joint in his body crackled like beans popping in a pan. He rubbed his belly, burped, and exhaled a puff of white smoke tinged with rosy light.
"Skinny Monkey, that meatball really packed a punch. Next time, I want to carry a pot too. Smacking people with a pot feels great."
Halfway there, Shi Linhu slipped and nearly fell flat on his face like a dog diving into its dinner.
Of these two children, one dared to swing and the other dared to take the blow. Neither was remotely normal.
By then, the villagers sitting cross-legged on the ground as though they had all been "poisoned" began stirring one after another.
Shi Feijiao was the first to awaken.
The burly man abruptly opened his eyes, sending two foot-long beams of brilliant light shooting from them. He instinctively clenched his fists, and the muscles on his arms instantly bulged like rocks, his veins writhing like coiling dragons.
"Roar!"
Shi Feijiao could not help throwing back his head and letting out a long howl. The rolling sound waves made the roof tiles on the surrounding stone houses hum.
"I broke through! The bottleneck that trapped me for three years-I broke through!" Shi Feijiao's face flushed with excitement. He sprang straight off the ground, leaping five or six meters high. "Late-stage Blood Moving Realm! I feel like I could tear that Dragon-Horned Elephant apart with my bare hands!"
The other members of the Hunting Team awakened in quick succession.
Every one of them surged with tremendously vigorous blood energy. Those with stronger foundations even had a faint radiance of runes flowing across their skin. That pot of Sacrificial Spirit broth had not merely replenished their depleted reserves; it had opened a door within their bodies to a higher level.
"A miracle! This is truly a miracle!"
Shi Shoushan felt the arm that had still ached faintly before. Now it felt as though he had been given an entirely new one, brimming with explosive strength. He looked toward Shi Hou, who was squatting on the ground teasing Black Pig, with an utterly complicated expression.
Was this really their Skinny Monkey, who did nothing but eat?
"Everyone awake?"
The old clan chief, Shi Yunfeng, was the last to awaken.
The old man's complexion had undergone an earth-shaking transformation. Most of his graying hair had actually turned black, and his abundant blood energy had smoothed away many of the wrinkles on his face. He looked years younger.
He gently tapped his walking stick against the ground, his eyes moist as he looked at the clansmen filling the courtyard, each bursting with life like dragons and tigers.
"What a tremendous blessing..."
Shi Yunfeng sighed in wonder. "With this strength, as long as we have time, how could Stone Village fail to flourish?"
"Enough getting sentimental, Chief."
Shi Hou's voice rang out at an inopportune moment. He pointed at the black pot, which still held a shallow layer of black residue at the bottom. "This stuff will solidify once it cools. If we don't deal with it now, it'll only be good for plastering walls."
It was the residue of the Sacrificial Spirit broth. Although everyone had consumed most of its essence, what remained still contained terrifying energy.
"Give it to Big Yellow?" Ermeng scratched his head and pointed toward Big Yellow Dog, who lay in the distance, not daring to approach.
"Big Yellow can't eat this."
Shi Hou shook his head. "It's not just meat. It also contains Old Vulture's cultivation. Big Yellow would drop dead on the spot after eating it."
His gaze wandered before finally settling on the large boulder nearby.
Green-Scaled Eagle was curled up there.
Although her earlier injuries had not been fatal, taking Old Vulture's blow head-on to protect Shi Hao had damaged her vitality. Now her golden eyes stared at the black pot with both longing and fear.
She was a fierce beast. Her instincts told her that what remained in the pot could transform her completely, right down to her bones.
"Want some?" Shi Hou picked up the black pot and walked over to Green-Scaled Eagle.
Green-Scaled Eagle immediately lowered her proud head and gave a submissive whimper.
"Since you've joined us, you can't look too shabby."
Shi Hou gripped the rim of the pot with one hand and poured the ink-black paste onto the stone slab in front of Green-Scaled Eagle.
"Eat it. Don't disgrace us."
Unable to restrain herself any longer, Green-Scaled Eagle opened her beak and sucked every bit of the black paste into her belly.
The next second.
Screee-!
An incredibly shrill cry, tinged even with pain, pierced the clouds.
Green-Scaled Eagle's enormous body convulsed violently. Her hard green scales began falling off in great patches, exposing the bloody flesh beneath. The blood had barely flowed out before the intense heat erupting inside her instantly evaporated it into a bloody mist.
"Skinny Monkey! Did you give Auntie something bad?!" Shi Hao panicked and rushed over to check on her.
"Stay back."
Shi Yunfeng stopped Shi Hao, his eyes blazing. "Her blood is being renewed! This is atavism!"
Within the bloody mist, new scales were growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
They were no longer their original green.
Instead, they were a bluish purple with a cold metallic sheen. Intricate patterns had naturally formed on every scale-primordial runes bestowed by the laws of heaven and earth. Her wingspan grew broader, the tuft of feathers atop her head turned a regal gold, and her talons became as cold and menacing as black gold.
A truly terrifying pressure, belonging to a Primordial Remnant, spread from her body.
Some time later.
The transformed Green-Scaled Eagle rose to her feet. She was a size larger than before, her gaze cold and imperious. As she looked around, she carried something of the dead Suanni's imposing might.
She walked up to Shi Hou, lowered her head, and affectionately rubbed against his shoulder.
Screech-
Her sharp new scales scraped against Shi Hou's black skin, sending sparks flying with an ear-piercing grating sound.
Shi Hou did not budge. He simply swung his hand back and slapped her on the head.
"All right, stop showing off just because you've got a new outfit."
He glanced at the village full of "monsters."
"No slacking off over the next few days."
Shi Hou tossed the Stone Knife in his hand.
"The appetizer's finished."
"Get your stomachs ready. The Suanni feast starts in three days."
Before you continue