"Hehe, the beast milk's still warm."
Little Shi ran back to the rear of the village, happily cradling a large earthenware jar.
The battle was over, and the beast milk was still warm.
Shi Zhao brought back the carcasses of several hundred mounts, and the village immediately bustled with activity.
The Willow Deity had issued a warning, and the villagers dared not let it blow past their ears like idle wind. Deeply unsettled, they prepared in earnest. Even the children helped, readying themselves for the great calamity to come.
Purple Mountain, the Thunder Clan, Luofu Marsh, and the Golden Wolf Tribe had mobilized their forces and marched here in strength, only to flee for their lives in utter disgrace.
Meanwhile, the deepest reaches of the Primeval Mountains were anything but peaceful.
Wisps of mist rose, obscuring the mountain scenery as though everything lay within primordial chaos. The roars and cries of savage beasts and ferocious birds suddenly ceased, leaving a deathlike silence.
A king among Primordial Remnants appeared. Its terrifying aura seemed to shake heaven and earth, making countless mountains and ravines tremble. Beasts and birds alike prostrated themselves, kowtowing in terror.
It towered between heaven and earth, its height impossible to measure, reaching into the clouds. Its eerie green eyes resembled two lakes embedded in the sky, each several miles across. The sight was staggering!
"This sacred object is mine." Its voice was low, yet it exploded like thunder, shaking the mountains as though they would collapse.
Thud!
The answer came in the form of an enormous iron staff, as thick as a pillar supporting heaven, sweeping toward it.
The colossal figure thrust out a huge claw that blotted out the sky, large enough to cover several mountain ridges, and collided with the iron staff above the clouds.
Clang!
A terrifying aura instantly swept through the nine layers of heaven. Light erupted in every color as mighty Precious Techniques burst forth, engulfing heaven and earth.
Hiss, hiss...
A Little Red Bird appeared in the sky, scattering one precious bone of a Primordial Remnant after another. More than a dozen bones blazed with radiant light, spreading across the vast, wild Vast Mountains to anchor the mountains and rivers and keep the battle's shock waves from destroying the Great Wilderness.
"Hmph, a woman's softheartedness!" the colossal figure said coldly.
Thud! Zhu Yan said nothing, simply bringing the iron staff down for another strike.
"You and that little bird have already wounded each other. Retreat is your only choice." Qiongqi's eerie green eyes were glacial as it spoke, its killing intent laid bare.
Elsewhere, flames suddenly surged into the heavens. The Little Red Bird, the Vermilion Bird, had also plunged into fierce combat with another terrifying bird, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow.
Four terrifying creatures at the Venerable Level were locked in a deadly struggle. Even powerful Ancient Species such as the Demon Ape and the Li Fire Bull Demon hid far away, trembling.
On the outskirts of the Great Wilderness, members of the various groups who had yet to leave completely were horrified. Even they could feel the disturbance deep within the mountains.
Looking back, they saw divine light pierce the sky and the mountains shake. The sight was so terrifying that many dropped to their knees with a thud.
Some remembered that their tribes had actually intended to search for the Mountain Treasure. They truly must have been tired of living! Fortunately, they had withdrawn in the end rather than courting death.
Run!
That was the only thought in everyone's mind.
The people of Purple Mountain, the Thunder Clan, Luofu Marsh, the Golden Wolf Tribe, and the other groups trembled all the more. A single mountain village had already left their halberds broken and buried in the sand. With those beings lurking in the deepest mountains as well, this accursed place was no place for people. They hurried away faster than they ever had in their lives.
Boom!!
Suddenly, an earth-shaking sound erupted from the heart of the Vast Mountains.
Deep in the mountains, Shi Zhao had just retrieved the carcass of the old wolf Sacrificial Spirit. Still toying with a foot-long wolf-fang dagger, she raised her head and looked toward the depths of the range.
Immortal light soared into the sky there, and auspicious energy surged. It was as though the world had returned to the time before heaven was first cleaved open, as though a supreme treasure of primordial chaos had emerged, rising and falling as it shook the entire Great Wilderness.
"The Mountain Treasure has appeared." She drew a deep breath, her expression utterly resolute.
No matter what, I have to get the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art and the Grass Character Sword Art!
This was one of the greatest treasures in the Eight Regions of the lower realm. Obtaining it would bring endless benefits; no one could remain unmoved.
Even in the Three Thousand Provinces of the Upper Realm, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, or even the Foreign Realm and the Immortal Domain, news of it would draw immortals and undying beings into the struggle. Its value was immeasurable.
In Stone Village, the willow stood tall, its tender branches swaying. Though the villagers felt waves of dread, their very souls did not tremble as those of the people outside did. Clearly, they were being sheltered.
"Ah, Big Sister still hasn't come back!" Little Shi was beside himself with worry.
A long cry rang out from the sky. A fierce bird appeared, its body densely covered in green scales, its wings shining with silver light.
It was the Green-Scaled Eagle. After devouring Suanni's flesh and blood, it had undergone a transformation, and its strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. A girl in colorful clothes leaped from its back, carrying the wolf's carcass.
"Big Sister!" Little Shi hurried forward and clutched the hem of her clothes.
Shi Zhao reached out and stroked his head, sighing inwardly. The child was far too perceptive. She had merely changed into a set of treasured clothes, yet he had already sensed something.
The battle was brutal. From deep within the mountains, beast roars like tidal waves and astonishing bird cries rang out from time to time, sweeping through the nine heavens and striking terror into the soul.
The fierce battle lasted several days without pause, and still it continued.
Everyone knew that this part of the Great Wilderness was about to descend into utter chaos. They simply did not know how it would end, and all hoped the turmoil would cease soon.
Deep within the Vast Mountains, a translucent, pure-white bone hurtled back and forth among the four great creatures. Their fierce battle raged without end, and every so often they thrust out enormous claws to seize the Mountain Treasure.
Boom!
The Mountain Treasure pierced through the runes densely spread among the mountains and rivers. Those dozen-odd precious bones could no longer seal this stretch of heaven and earth; they could barely serve their purpose anymore.
"This sacred object carries enormous consequences. The fewer who know of it, the better," Qiongqi said in an eerie voice.
"Then kill them all. Start with the humans. I loathe them most. Slaughter every loose-tongued race and creature on this land." The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow seethed with shocking malice.
"All creatures shall obey my command. Trample this land flat!"
"Go. Sweep away everything that stands in your path!"
The savage beast and the ferocious bird both issued their orders, their eerie green and blood-red eyes cold and terrifying.
Across the Great Wilderness, enormous beasts roared and birds of prey cried out. None of the savage beasts and ferocious birds dared disobey. They charged forth, forming a terrifying beast tide.
Savage beasts bared their fangs and brandished their claws across every mountain and plain, surging past like a flood. In mere moments, seven or eight villages on the outskirts of the mountain range were razed.
Seeing that disaster was imminent, some villages' Sacrificial Spirits not only abandoned their lands and fled at once, but eventually even merged into the beast tide, becoming part of it.
It was a tragedy. Not only small villages, but even great tribes were overrun. The people had nowhere to flee and no strength to resist, leaving behind shattered walls and vast swathes of blood.
Across the Great Wilderness unfolded a scene like the end of the world, under the Demon Ape
and the Li Fire Bull Demon, along with more than a dozen other powerful Primordial Remnants. Led by them, the beast tide washed every direction in blood and charged toward the ends of the land.
That day, savage beasts flooded the land, and blood flowed in rivers.
Countless tribes were wiped out, living beings were plunged into misery, and calamity swept through the entire Great Wilderness.
"With such a thirst for slaughter, aren't you afraid that retribution will find you one day?" The Little Red Bird tried to stop them. As the Fire Kingdom's Sacrificial Spirit, it sheltered a region and naturally could not bear to watch this.
"You've gone too far! Slaughtering so savagely, washing the land in blood-aren't you afraid of violating heaven's harmony?" Zhu Yan, iron staff in hand, also shouted its challenge.
Had they not held back some of the savage beasts and ferocious birds, the calamity would only have been more terrifying.
Before you continue