Medicinal Bath Baptism

The mountain forest fell silent, leaving only a scene of devastation.

All the fierce beasts and vicious birds had either been torn apart on the spot or fled without looking back, leaving Shi Zhao to reap the windfall.

A Black-Gold Short Knife appeared in her hand. She cut open the flesh of the old Suanni's head, revealing a symbol on its forehead bone. Intricate and profound, it gleamed brilliantly and shifted without cease.

"It really left behind a Primitive Runes Treasure Bone?" Shi Zhao glanced at Little Shi beside her. All she could do was marvel that when luck came knocking, no one could stop it.

Before dying, every Primordial Remnant would try every possible means to erase the inherited imprint of its race, ensuring it never fell into another race's hands.

Yet this old Suanni had brought its astounding wisdom to bear before death, feigning its demise before battling its two great enemies to the bitter end. In the end, it had lacked the strength to destroy the treasure bone bearing its imprint.

Little Shi took the Suanni treasure bone and hugged it tightly to his chest, brimming with excitement.

"Once we get back, we'll first baptize you with the Suanni's true blood. Then you can study the Suanni Precious Technique. Once you've mastered it, your big sister will teach you the complete Suanni Method."

As Shi Zhao spoke, she continued wielding her knife, extracting the remaining true blood and heart from the old Suanni's body and sealing them together inside the Silver Cauldron to keep their essence from dissipating.

"Big Sister, these too!" Little Shi came huffing and puffing over with the Demon Ape King's severed arm and the Li Fire Bull Demon's horn in his arms.

A Man was equally quick and deft. Carrying Shi Zhao's little pouch, she swept the battlefield clean, packing away every fierce beast and vicious bird carcass and nearly filling this imitation Little Heaven-and-Earth Bag to the brim.

The wind howled as the Green-Scaled Eagle beat its iron wings vigorously among the clouds. Clearly, it was extremely excited too, wishing it could bring the three of them back to Stone Village at once.

Boom-!

Suddenly, deep in the heart of the Great Wilderness, towering flames erupted with unparalleled intensity. A bird's cry shook heaven and earth, splitting the sky.

The crimson flames blazed so fiercely that the heavens collapsed. A Little Red Bird streaked across the sky, its divine might astonishing.

Rumble!

The next moment, a massive golden claw reached down from the thick clouds. Blotting out the sky, it grasped at the crimson bird with incomparable force.

The Little Red Bird swiftly darted aside and evaded it. The enormous, furry golden claw crushed an entire mountain ridge in its grip, sending shattered rocks hurtling through the sky in a scene of utter terror.

"Ah! It's the Little Red Bird I saw before!" Little Shi said in astonishment, his eyes widening.

The Green-Scaled Eagle, however, trembled with fear and could barely maintain its flight.

Fortunately, they had already left the mountain range and were not far from Stone Village. It hastily descended, skimming over the treetops and ground.

Shi Zhao's eyes shone as she kept gazing into the depths of the Great Wilderness.

She knew there would be only one chance. Even if she could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, becoming the fisherman who reaped the final profit was still far too dangerous.

After all, those were a whole group of Venerable Level beings.

A Man stared, dumbstruck, a chill climbing her spine. She clung tightly to her young mistress's hand. After spending so much time together day and night, how could she fail to guess a thing or two?

"Young Mistress, you..."

Shi Zhao covered her mouth with a hand. Glancing at Little Shi from the corner of her eye, she shook her head.

Soon, they returned to Stone Village, and the depths of the mountain range gradually quieted as well.

Yet the fiery clouds still lingered high above. The horizon remained crimson, as though stained with a layer of bloody light, seemingly foretelling something.

"Children, you're back!" Clan Chief Shi Yunfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

He had already thought it dangerous for these children to compete for the Suanni's remains. He had never expected them to encounter upheaval in the depths of the Great Wilderness as well, where those incomparably terrifying beings were still clashing.

It had given the old man quite a fright. He had spent the whole time praying before the Sacrificial Spirit for their safe return.

Fortunately, the deepest reaches of the mountain range grew peaceful afterward. Shi Zhao took out the fierce beasts and vicious birds she had collected, leaving the villagers utterly stunned.

The entire village soon bustled with activity again.

"First, extract the fierce beasts' true blood to give the children their medicinal bath baptisms," the old clan chief instructed the villagers.

As before, they first presented offerings to the village's Sacrificial Spirit. Unfortunately, the Willow Deity remained aloof.

For this baptism, the old clan chief entrusted all the preparations to Shi Zhao. With complete faith in her, he also handed over all five Ancient Alchemy Recipes passed down to them.

Shi Zhao had studied medicinal principles before and soon mastered the recipes.

"They say this is the Shi Clan Ancestral Land. Some of the old objects passed down to us might have extraordinary origins, but we can't identify them. Let Little Zhao visit every household. It would be wonderful if she could find something useful," a clan elder said.

The villagers unanimously agreed. Shi Zhao's interest was piqued too, and after making a round of every household, she truly came away with a considerable haul.

Apart from the village's ancient cauldrons, she found another two or three objects of exceptional value. One was a weapon; the other two were a dark red block of wood someone had used to prop up a bed leg and a pitch-black lump of iron.

The former was blood dragon wood. Already a treasure tree in its own right, it had also been steeped in dragon blood and contained its essence. It was a precious piece of divine wood worth a fortune.

The latter was the body of a divine insect called the Black-Gold Insect. It could be used in medicine and was something one could only encounter by chance, never seek out. A living adult possessed divine-level combat strength.

Compared with these two treasures, the Suanni's true blood seemed rather inferior. Unless it came from a pure-blooded Suanni, using it alongside them was practically a waste.

Nevertheless, Shi Zhao took some as supplementary ingredients. Combining them with some of her own accumulated stores and the other medicinal ingredients supplied by the villagers, she brewed a cauldron of rare, precious medicine.

Naturally, she used the village's Black Cauldron, whose origins were astonishing. Besides concealing the middle volume of the Primitive True Understanding, it was itself an exceedingly rare ancient Medicine Cauldron.

She wielded her short knife, chopping the black flood dragon wood gathered by the villagers into firewood.

This was an unusual wood, hard and heavy, with pitch-black trunks shaped like Chi Dragons. It could be made into weapons, and once lit, it burned with tremendous intensity.

Little Shi was bathing on a large slab of jade. The villagers continually rinsed his body with sweet mountain spring water, intending to seal the purest possible flesh within the cauldron.

"What are you being shy about? Your big sister saw everything when you were born." Shi Zhao reached out, picked him up, and tossed him into the Black Cauldron.

The Black Cauldron exuded an ancient aura. Its surface bore insects, fish, birds, and beasts, the sun and moon, mountains and rivers, as well as scenes of ancient ancestors performing sacrifices. It looked mysterious and unfathomable.

She simply did not know whether this cauldron and the five recipes had been passed down through the Shi Clan since ancient times, or whether the Supreme Hall had left them behind and the Shi Clan had acquired them.

She poured the Suanni's true blood into the cauldron, then added its heart, sinews, bones, and divine marrow. All the true blood extracted from the Demon Ape King's arm and the Li Fire Bull Demon's horn went in as well. Finally, she sealed the lid, leaving little Shi Hao to undergo tempering and baptism.

"Can Little One withstand

this?" The old clan chief was a little worried. He had not expected her to put all the potent ingredients straight in.

"Don't worry. This child is even more extraordinary than you imagine." Shi Zhao smiled.

Only after three full days and nights did the medicinal bath baptism end. Little Shi Hao had undergone an unimaginable transformation.

During this time, Shi Zhao had not been idle either. She helped the other children undergo medicinal bath baptisms as well, and they all benefited greatly.

The price was that the little pouch of private stores she had accumulated over the years was almost empty. Only a few pots, bowls, ladles, and seasonings remained inside.

Self-sacrifice and selfless devotion were the order of the day!

"Ah! Big Sister, hurry and give me my clothes!"

After the medicinal bath, Little Shi shed a layer of charred old skin, revealing a small, fair, translucent body with precious light flowing all over it.

Surrounded by people staring at him, he quickly found it unbearable. His little face flushed red as he snatched his clothes from Shi Zhao and hurriedly pulled them on, making everyone roar with laughter.

"Child, let us see what changes have taken place in your body," a clan elder said. Then many people strode over, reaching out their large hands to feel him all over.

Someone even flicked his little birdie!

Shi Zhao stood a short distance away, watching the scene with laughter in her eyes.

How wonderful it would be if they could always remain this happy. Unfortunately, happy times were always fleeting. The future was destined to bring endless calamities, filled with blood and tears...