Everyone gathered around had long since gone green-eyed with hunger. Ermeng's father nearly crushed the chipped bowl in his hand, drool trailing half a foot from his mouth.
"Nobody move!"
Shi Hou slammed his big stone ladle against the rim of the pot. The sharp clang startled several men who had been about to stick their heads inside.
"What's the rush? Trying to scald yourselves to death?"
Shi Hou stood on the stove platform, his bare upper body sharply defined with muscle. Sweat slid down his dark skin, making him look as though he had been cast from iron.
He scooped up the first ladleful of soup.
The broth was thick and golden, like melted amber, with miniature phantom images of a Suanni roaring within it.
"This first bowl goes to the Willow Deity."
Holding the priceless bowl of Runes Treasure Soup, Shi Hou looked past the crowd toward the charred willow at the village entrance.
Everyone fell silent at once.
They all understood.
Without the Willow Deity, the Sacrificial Spirit Old Vulture alone could have wiped out Stone Village, never mind the divine might of that single willow branch shattering the Golden Wolf Grotto-Heaven that day.
Bowl in hand, Shi Hou strode over to the willow.
Though it was only a charred stump with a single green willow branch swaying in the wind, Shi Hou's expression was more solemn than ever.
"Willow Deity, this soup packs quite a kick."
Shi Hou grinned. "Suanni bones, plus the heart's blood of that dead monkey and mad bull. I see you've sprouted new buds lately, but you're still frail. This bowl is a powerful tonic. Let it moisten your roots."
With that, he held the bowl respectfully in both hands and slowly poured the golden broth over the willow's charred roots.
Sizzle!
The broth vanished the instant it touched the soil, as though soaked up by a sponge.
Hum!
The entire willow suddenly shuddered.
A faint golden glow seeped through the cracks in its charred, dried bark.
Then, beside its sole tender green branch, the bark split, and a tiny pale-yellow bud pushed its way out!
Small though the bud was, an extremely faint yet unmistakably real aura of lightning curled around it.
"It... it sprouted!"
Shi Yunfeng was so excited that he threw aside his cane and dropped to his knees with a thud. "The Willow Deity has manifested! The Willow Deity is reviving!"
It was only a tiny bud, but it represented life-and meant that Stone Village's guardian deity was growing stronger!
The willow branch swayed gently, as though nodding in thanks, or urging Shi Hou to hurry back and feed his clansmen, who were crying out like hungry nestlings.
"All right, as long as you're satisfied."
Shi Hou straightened, turned toward the crowd that had long since run out of patience, and swept his hand through the air.
"Let the feast begin!"
Before his words had faded, a tiny figure shot over to the pot with a whoosh.
Shi Hou wasted no time either, ladling out a full jar.
"Drink! Don't waste it. Not a single drop left!"
Shi Hao hugged the jar and tipped his head back for a huge gulp.
Gulp.
The little fellow's expression changed the instant the soup went down.
"Mmph!"
Shi Hao went rigid, his tender skin turning bright red. Beneath it, streaks of golden current could be seen racing wildly through his blood vessels.
"Hold it in!"
Shi Linfeng bellowed, "Those are runes! Comprehend them as the Dao!"
Shi Hao clenched his teeth, his cheeks bulging, and stubbornly refused to make a sound.
The phantom behind him changed.
The Suanni phantom, previously blurry and little more than an outline, seemed to have been infused with a soul at that moment.
Boom!
The phantom solidified!
Golden scales emerged one by one, its majestic mane whipped wildly in the wind, and eyes formed from lightning snapped open. The terrifying pressure of a primordial remnant erupted with a thunderous surge.
Crack!
The bluestone slab beneath Shi Hao's feet was pulverized by that aura.
"Burp~"
Shi Hao let out a long breath of stale air laced with electric sparks. The pain in his eyes faded, replaced by utter excitement.
He felt as though even his bones were now covered in those winding symbols.
He did not have to think deliberately about it. With a mere thought, he could conjure thunder pulp in his palm.
"So powerful!"
Shi Hao clenched his fist, making the air crack in his palm. "Skinny Monkey, I think I could punch that big red bull to death now!"
"You only dare say that because it's already dead."
Shi Hou rolled his eyes at him, then turned to the others. "What are you standing around for? Drink!"
Shi Yunfeng, Shi Linhu, Shi Feijiao...
Everyone in the village, young and old, received a bowl.
With that, Stone Village's nest was thoroughly stirred into an uproar.
"Aaaah! Hot, hot, hot! My guts are going to burn through!"
"Good heavens, it feels like ants are biting inside my bones!"
"This stuff is too strong! I can't take it! I need to bash myself against a rock!"
The square became a wild dance of demons.
After drinking the soup, those thick-skinned, burly men glowed gold from head to toe, like human lightbulbs.
As the runes entered their bodies, specks of primordial runes began appearing on the bones of men who had previously relied on brute strength alone to move boulders. This was the sign that they had truly crossed the threshold into cultivation.
Shi Feijiao in particular already had a strong foundation. After one bowl of soup, his whole body swelled a size larger, and golden markings resembling a Suanni's coat faintly surfaced on his skin.
"That feels amazing!"
Shi Feijiao threw back his head and roared, then punched the thousand-jin boulder beside him.
There were no fancy moves, only physical strength mixed with a trace of lightning force.
Bang!
The boulder burst like a watermelon, sending shards flying.
"I... I have runes now?" Shi Feijiao stared at his fist, grinning foolishly like a three-hundred-jin child. "I can shoot electricity too?"
Though the arc was as tiny as static electricity, this was a qualitative leap!
Watching the "glowing people" scurrying all over the courtyard, Shi Hou nodded in satisfaction.
That sealed it.
As long as they had time to digest it, the combat strength of Stone Village's people would surely let them sweep through the outskirts of this stretch of the Great Wilderness.
He looked down at the bottom of the pot.
Only a little remained.
Beside him, Kang had long since begun grunting impatiently, its forehooves hooked over the pot's rim and its enormous ears flapping noisily. Its tiny bean-sized eyes all but said, "Give this pig a sip."
"You'll get your share."
Shi Hou poured all the remaining broth into the black pig's mouth.
"Oink!"
After drinking it, Kang's black bristles stood on end. Two smoke rings, blue tinged with gold, puffed from its nostrils. Then it toppled stiffly to the ground, kicked out all four legs, and twitched in bliss.
Shi Hou paid it no further attention.
He turned, his gaze settling on the two mountain-like corpses nearby.
The Demon Ape. The Li Fire Bull Demon.
Though these two primordial remnants had lost their heart's blood, all their precious meat remained.
Now that was the real main course.
But not now.
The villagers were so overnourished that they were nearly having nosebleeds. If they ate this too, their bodies would surely burst and they would die.
"I'll marinate them for now."
At Shi Hou's thought, the large black pot on his back hummed and released a suction force, drawing the two enormous corpses back inside.
By the time he finished, the night had deepened.
The clamorous Stone Village gradually quieted as everyone found somewhere to refine the violent power of the runes inside their bodies.
Shi Hou sat on a rooftop, feeling the one million two hundred thousand jin of blood-and-qi strength within him rise and fall with his breathing.
Though he had not triggered hundredfold return this time, watching the people around him grow stronger felt surprisingly good too.
"Skinny Monkey..."
A wistful call came from beside him.
Shi Hou turned his head and nearly fell off the roof.
Shi Hao was crouched beside him, his eyes shining like searchlights in the darkness as he stared fixedly at Shi Hou. A suspicious glistening trace still hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? What mischief are you up to now?" Shi Hou asked irritably.
Shi Hao stuck out his little tongue and licked his lips, then pointed at the black pot on Shi Hou's back, his voice full of anticipation:
"When are we eating that monkey's brains? I heard they're savory. Can I dip them in beast milk?"
Before you continue