At dawn, he went out to train beneath the morning glow.
Only when the sun sank below the horizon did Shi Hao return to the village, covered in wounds. His entire body was black and blue, so bruised that the sight made people's hearts ache.
He had never suffered such injuries in his previous training. When the villagers saw him, they all opposed such dangerous trials.
But Shi Zhao rejected their objections sternly, her expression cold.
"It's all right. I have to work hard and become stronger. I also have to break through the ultimate physical limit that a Heaven-Tier Primordial Ferocious Beast can reach!"
Shi Hao stood before his sister, his gaze resolute as he explained to the clansmen.
In the Black Cauldron beside them, Shi Zhao had already finished brewing the ancient formula passed down by the Willow Deity. With one hand gripping Furball by the scruff of his neck, she eyed him sidelong.
The Zhu Yan shrieked. Finally, he covered his eyes with one paw, steeled himself to bite through the other, and reluctantly let a golden drop of blood fall into the cauldron.
With a boom, the black walls of the cauldron shone. Its contents boiled and rumbled, waves of sacrificial sound rang out, and engraved images emerged one after another, mysterious beyond measure.
Shi Zhao's eyes gleamed. Seeing crystalline liquid seep from the inner walls of the Black Cauldron, giving off a fragrance like sweet dew, she nodded.
With these rare medicinal roots nourishing the brew, the effects of this cauldron of Treasure Medicine were truly astonishing, no less potent than if they had gathered every ingredient in the original ancient formula. Only something like this could support Little Shi's training.
Not everyone could draw on starlight power and Heaven and Earth essence to cleanse themselves in the Blood Moving Realm as she did, much less undergo a mutation of the primordial spirit that could nourish the flesh in turn.
She was special, and Little Shi was special too, of course.
But they were different after all, and the paths they had to walk were different as well.
Shi Hao drank the golden medicinal liquid. At once, his back stopped aching and his legs stopped hurting. Boundless strength filled his body, and he wished he could go out and train for another few hours.
The village children benefited as well, but their bodies were ordinary. They could not bear even half a small bowl, so most of the medicine ended up in Shi Hao's stomach.
And so Shi Hao trained bitterly day after day, continually tempering his body and growing ever stronger.
Shi Zhao naturally did not slack off either. She kept the Primitive True Understanding with her as she studied it. Although her cultivation had not advanced, and she was still suppressing it rather than breaking through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, she had comprehended much and gained new insights. She wanted to reshape her cave heavens.
"My accomplishments in the Blood Moving Realm are already extremely high, so there's no need to tinker with anything there for now. But I haven't reached the ultimate limit of the Cave Heaven Realm. Having only the primordial spirit cave heaven isn't enough. I have to make another breakthrough!"
She murmured to herself, found another spirit medicine in the Great Wilderness, and tucked it into her pouch.
"The Willow Deity has already fallen asleep. Once they awaken, their strength will certainly increase greatly, and I can ask for their protection... but that won't happen for another six months or a year. I can't just sit around waiting, much less become dependent on them. In the end, I have to forge my own path."
Beyond that, she felt that one of the recipes in the Stone Village Ancestral Alchemy Formula had extraordinary effects in the Cave Heaven Realm. If she could gather its ingredients, it would certainly be of tremendous use to her.
Unfortunately, more than a hundred spirit medicines were far too difficult to find in the Lower Realm. Besides all those precious medicines, it also required minerals, medicinal insects, and other ingredients. One person alone would struggle to gather them all.
"Perhaps I could go ask the Human Emperor for a little largesse?" Shi Zhao's thoughts wandered, and she suddenly remembered the Stone Kingdom's Human Emperor, elusive as a divine dragon whose head appeared but whose tail remained unseen, and inexplicably concerned about her.
He had even given her a Divine Artifact. Anyone who did not know better might have thought she was his illegitimate daughter.
Come to think of it, the Stone Kingdom Imperial Family had only lost its most important ancient alchemy recipe, the one that helped cultivators break through to the Venerable level.
But this recipe for the Cave Heaven Realm was not missing. There might well be enough ingredients for a batch or two in the Imperial Palace.
After all, this was an Ancient Kingdom, with billions of miles of territory and untold years of accumulated wealth. There was no reason it could not gather them.
The more Shi Zhao thought about it, the more tempted she became, and her eyes brightened.
Reining in her restless heart, she shook her head. Since she had thought of the Human Emperor, she naturally could not help remembering the Imperial Capital, and the old man in the Martial King Manor who had treated her so well.
And... another proud little brother who refused to admit his feelings.
The girl narrowed her eyes slightly, a flicker passing through them.
"A Man, Qingfeng, I'm going back to the Stone Kingdom. I might return to the Imperial Capital too. Would you rather stay here or come with me?" she asked after returning home.
"Wherever you go, Miss, I'll go!" A Man said with a cheerful grin.
"I... I'll do whatever Sister Zhao says." Qingfeng chose to trust her without reservation.
Shi Zhao could not help pressing a hand to her forehead. She had known she would get no real answer out of them, yet warmth filled her heart. Being trusted unconditionally like this really did feel wonderful.
"Come back to the Stone Kingdom with me first. We'll visit the old gentlemen in the Second Ancestral Land, then decide what to do next." After some thought, she made her decision.
At those words, Qingfeng trembled slightly. He was happy living in Stone Village and had made a group of friends, but he could never forget those old men.
Several years had passed, however. Were they still in good health?
He dared not dwell on it and prayed silently in his heart.
After saying their farewells, the three left Stone Village beneath Shi Hao's reluctant gaze. They crossed mountains and ridges, entered the Stone Kingdom Frontier, and headed straight for the Second Ancestral Land.
At noon that day, they finally arrived.
The sun blazed brightly, bathing everything in ample sunlight, yet the dilapidated estate seemed all the more steeped in the gloom of decline.
"Grandfather!" With tears in his eyes, Qingfeng rushed inside.
There was not a trace of human bustle in the vast estate, only deserted, dilapidated buildings. As he ran, he stirred a cold breeze, and some of the old windows creaked.
He knew this place all too well. Soon, he reached a fairly spacious courtyard and pushed open a maplewood door whose paint had long since peeled away.
Inside, on an ancient bed, lay a white-haired old man. His eyes were dim, bereft of the brilliance they had possessed in the years when he had commanded the winds and clouds.
"Child, is that you, child?" The old man's eyes flew open. His previously dim gaze suddenly blazed with an arresting radiance as he asked in a trembling voice.
"It's me, Qingfeng, Shi Qingfeng! I've come back to see you!" Qingfeng's eyes were red. Wiping away his tears, he knelt before the old man's bed and grasped his hands, which were as thin and dry as kindling. His voice choked with sobs.
Outside, Shi Zhao sighed softly. Sometimes, she truly could not bear these partings in life and death.
Fortunately, this old gentleman's lamp had not yet burned dry of oil. He still had some time left.
"Miss, is this another reason you wanted to return?" A Man asked softly.
"It's one of the reasons. We couldn't let Qingfeng come back to find nothing but a few desolate graves. He's already softhearted. If that happened, he might never recover for the rest of his life."
Shi Zhao shook her head and stepped inside as well.
She spoke with the old man and took out various Treasure Medicines to restore his health, ease his discomfort, and give him a little more time to live.
"Girl, don't waste Treasure Medicine and effort on these old bones. My old companions have all gone, and I don't have many days left either. Seeing you again before I die is enough to satisfy me. I can leave this world with a smile," the old man said.
"That won't do. You haven't met my younger brother yet. His grandfather is your own brother. Surely you have to meet him?"
A faint smile appeared on Shi Zhao's face. She blinked and added, "Besides, you still have to watch us stir up the winds and clouds. You can't just leave us behind."
"All right, all right, all right!" The old man laughed and stopped insisting.
Before you continue