Xiao Tian felt utterly numb. He had thought his talent was all his own, but in the end, it was still all down to that damned Innate Talent Panel.
A single Da Wa Panel had opened two special acupoints for him.
And both were Heavenly Grottos inside his body, not outside it.
Boom!
To hell with going numb. Keep the momentum going-open more for me!
This blast truly left Xiao Tian numb. An acupoint had opened in his brain, in an unknown region, somewhere no normal person could possibly unlock-the "forbidden zone of God," the "gate of evolution." Now, this place, which Xiao Tian called the Void Acupoint, had opened.
The instant it opened, Xiao Tian seemed to merge with the surrounding void. Vast amounts of spatial power were swallowed up and drawn inside, where black vital essence surged and roiled, embodying the elusive void.
From this moment onward, Xiao Tian would be a darling of the Dao of space. Even if he had never transmigrated into this world, he would still have possessed spatial superpowers.
That was not all. Immediately afterward, another acupoint opened in his brain. Within its Heavenly Grotto, sky-blue vital essence boiled and flowed in bubbling streams. This one was also connected to space, allowing his body to turn intangible, adjust its spatial dimension, and merge into the void of different parallel planes, so that ordinary attacks in this world could not harm him in the slightest.
Xiao Tian called it the Sky Acupoint.
So these two acupoints represented the Sixth Calabash Brother's talents?
Just like that!
Xiao Tian opened four Heavenly Grottos in one go: red, gold, black, and blue.
He was only eight, yet he had to endure pressure like this. He wanted to keep a low profile, but clearly that was impossible. He could feel willow branches sweeping back and forth over his body.
He desperately wanted to say, "Go away," but he "didn't dare."
The Willow Deity was a supreme titan among Immortal Kings, peerless in grace, with strength that reached the heavens.
Known as the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit, with power that touched the mysteries of creation and combat prowess that shook the ages, the Willow Deity had once stormed into the Foreign Realm alone, charging in and out nine times and slaughtering until its Immortal Kings trembled at the mere mention of that name.
He had never expected fusing with the talents of the Sixth Brother, the Blue Calabash Brother, to take so long this time. This was his first time spending so long in seclusion.
Little Solitary Mountain Town was isolated from the world, with little contact beyond its borders. Usually, outsiders were rarely seen even over a year or two, but on this day, many arrived.
Half a year earlier, Xiao Feng had settled down in town with peace of mind. He had watched the enormous commotion in the forest from afar, worried that something might happen to Xiao Tian. But after learning that Xiao Tian had gotten involved with some villagers and even ridden a Green-Scaled Eagle, he felt considerably reassured.
Later, Xiao Tian had reached the village he had seen in his dreams, just as he had wished. That was where his destined opportunity lay, so Xiao Feng had relaxed.
This part of the Great Wilderness was dangerous. Recently, terrifying Primordial Remnants had been fighting. He had also heard of something called the "Mountain Treasure." Apparently, the fighting had begun two years earlier. After two peaceful years, he had assumed it was settled.
Yet recently, the fighting had resumed. It seemed the Mountain Treasure still had not been found.
Xiao Tian had warned Xiao Feng not to go near it, because in his dreams, the Fierce Beasts fighting over the Mountain Treasure had unleashed might even more terrifying than his grandfather, Marquis Ling Tian.
Naturally, Marquis Ling Tian had unleashed his might to let his grandson experience the majesty of the strong and broaden his horizons.
But after truly feeling that might from afar, Xiao Feng felt that his old man could not even defeat the Suanni, the Li Fire Demon Bull, or the Demon Ape, let alone those monsters fighting over the Mountain Treasure. Their combat strength was practically at the legendary Venerable level.
From a hundred thousand li away, he had seen two monsters battling, crimson flames staining the firmament and enormous golden claws blotting out the sky and sun.
This place was too dangerous. He lived in constant fear, mainly for his precious son, and wished he could immediately sling the boy over his shoulder and flee.
Today, shouts and neighing horses rang out beyond Little Solitary Mountain Town, while iron armor gleamed. Xiao Feng was certain these outsiders had come because the Mountain Treasure had drawn them here.
"That's already the seventeenth group."
Xiao Shan had already adapted to local customs. Dressed in coarse cloth, he hid by the entrance to their little courtyard as he spoke.
"Marquis Zishan, Luofu Marsh... That youngster from Luofu Marsh is decent, but far too arrogant. The moment he arrived, he wanted to kill Little Solitary Mountain Town's Sacrificial Spirit. He was practically asking for trouble. Luckily, he had elders nearby to keep him in line."
Xiao Yuan, dressed the same way and looking no different from a local of Little Solitary Mountain Town, spoke up as well.
"With temperaments like that, those youngsters fall far short of the young master. Truly a bunch of rotten fish and spoiled shrimp. When the tiger's away, the monkey crowns himself king."
Xiao Shan said.
"That little rascal is only six. He's already pretty good."
Xiao Feng was squatting beside them in the same posture as he spoke.
His precious son, Xiao Tian, was already eight. Compared with him, these youngsters were just little brothers.
At their age, his son could have pinned a youngster like that flat using only twenty percent of his strength.
Meanwhile, in Stone Village, after studying Xiao Tian for a while, the Willow Deity began personally overseeing little Shi Hao's baptism. Perhaps the Willow Deity had gained some insights and wanted to test them on Shi Hao.
Stone Village's great black cauldron was incredibly mysterious. Xiao Tian studied it for a while but could make nothing of it. His cultivation was still too low.
During this process, he also discovered the Suanni's Treasure Bone.
Before entering seclusion, Xiao Tian had sealed all the corpses in ice.
Now Shi Hao was four and could undergo his baptism.
Naturally, Xiao Tian took the Suanni's Treasure Bone to study. The villagers had accepted him too and were not afraid he would carry it off. Xiao Tian had been awake for three days, and during the preparations, he had directly taught Shi Hao his own Luan Bird Treasure Art.
Because the Luan Bird Treasure Art resembled the Green-Scaled Eagle lineage's Treasure Art that Shi Hao had learned, Xiao Tian felt it was similar to the Azure Sky Peng's Treasure Art.
The Azure Sky Peng was unquestionably a Primordial Remnant, just like the Suanni, the Luan Bird, and the others.
Over the next few days, a golden sun took shape within Xiao Tian's Heavenly Grotto. Inside it was the Suanni Precious Technique, called Ball Lightning.
Five days later, a golden sun rose behind Xiao Tian, with a Suanni roaring within it. With a boom, it blasted a small hill in the distance out of existence.
"Mm, not bad. This training trip has earned the clan a Treasure Art worthy of serving as its guardian treasure. I'll make it the old man's fifty-fourth birthday present."
Despite the Xiao Clan's accumulation of thousands of years, it had only two Treasure Arts of this caliber: the Sacrificial Spirit Treasure Art and the Luan Bird Treasure Art, Xiao Tian mused aloud.
It was time to leave. Staying any longer would serve no purpose.
He could not keep interfering with little Shi Hao's growth.
Ding-dong!
Just then, the system notification sounded in a way only Xiao Tian could hear.
"Congratulations, host. A new check-in location has been refreshed." "Please check in at the Void God Realm on this day one year from now."
Xiao Tian pondered this check-in location thoughtfully. He felt there had to be a deeper meaning behind the system's arrangement.
What fun could there be in the Void God Realm? Unbidden, Xiao Tian inexplicably thought of Shi Yi.
Shi Yi would be nine next year. In other words, he would very likely enter the Cave Heaven Realm then. Xiao Tian might meet that foolish boy in the Void God Realm-the one who possessed Double Pupils yet had stolen Shi Hao's Supreme Bone.
The ceiling for Double Pupils was clearly higher than for a Supreme Bone, yet you just had to stick a Supreme Bone into yourself and shackle your own potential.
No matter how powerful a Supreme Bone was, it would at most earn a judgment like, "My son Wang Teng has the makings of a Great Emperor."
But Double Pupils were so rare that one could already say, "My son Shi Yi has the makings of a True Immortal."
Double Pupils were already a path to invincibility. Why borrow another's bone?
Alas!
The boy had been ruined by his own mother.
Of course, his mother had died too. Shortsighted and vicious-hearted, she had brought about her own death and left her son suffering for a lifetime.
On one hand, he had wronged his younger cousin Shi Hao. On the other, a single careless remark in childhood had led his mother to dig out his cousin's Supreme Bone and transplant it into him.
Shi Yi was immensely conceited. Because Shi Hao's father, Shi Ziling, had killed his mother, he and Shi Hao had also been as incompatible as fire and water in the early days.
After dying once, he had probably figured out many things. From the ancient woman with Double Pupils, he learned that their innate talent was stronger than the Supreme Bone. In truth, he had spun a cocoon around himself. His mother had not only possessed a scorpion's venomous heart, but had also been a foolish, ignorant woman.
He bore some responsibility too. He had seen the Supreme Bone inside Shi Hao with his Double Pupils and told his mother, leading to the tragedy that followed. Perhaps Shi Yi himself had been the fool.
In the original storyline, only when Shi Hao was battling three Quasi-Immortal Emperors and his blood essence was nearly exhausted did Shi Yi stop Qin Hao from sacrificing himself to replenish Shi Hao's blood essence, and sacrifice himself instead.
As he died, he said he was repaying all karmic debts.
His life had been too exhausting. Perhaps every time he remembered that his own mother had indirectly died by his hand, he suffered unbearable anguish!
However vicious his mother had been, at least she had loved Shi Yi.
"Big brother, let's compete in pure physical strength."
Little Shi Hao had arrived, having just finished his transformation. Compared with his eight thousand jin in the original storyline, he now possessed ten thousand jin of pure physical strength. The little fellow was only four, so a slightly swollen head was inevitable.
How could Xiao Tian let little Shi Hao get carried away? He had to come down hard and tell the little fellow, "Your big brother will always be your big brother."
Then Xiao Tian extended his devilish hand and pressed down on Little One's head. No matter how he flailed and struggled, it was useless.
Four-year-old little Shi Hao stood a full meter and fifteen centimeters tall.
But Xiao Tian, now eight, stood a meter and fifty centimeters tall. How could he let this little fellow run wild in front of him?
Xiao Tian was now wearing clean hemp clothes too, made for him by one of Stone Village's aunties.
"Little One, even if I went back four years, to when I was five, I already had twenty thousand jin of strength then. You're a long way off. You need to work harder. Outside, there are young talents stronger than you by the handful."
Xiao Tian spun this tale to Shi Hao, hoping to squeeze out his potential. Perhaps Shi Hao could become a little stronger, or mature half a year or a year faster.
"All right. Next, your big brother will teach you bone inscriptions for three days, then I'll be leaving too. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I'm a Cave Heaven Realm expert now."
With a gentle push from Xiao Tian, Shi Hao landed on his backside on the ground. His little face was flushed bright red, and he was utterly exhausted.
Then Shi Hao really did come to him for guidance, and what he brought was actually the Original True Explanation. Xiao Tian's head swelled just looking at it. He could not understand it. He had only boasted that morning, and by afternoon, reality had slapped him in the face.
"Ahem. This sort of lousy bone that gives people a headache just looking at it-you can study it yourself. I'd better teach you the Suanni Precious Technique instead."
Xiao Tian casually tossed the Original True Explanation back to Shi Hao. With an idle point of his finger, a thumb-sized golden sun flew out and pierced straight through a boulder weighing tens of thousands of jin in the distance.
(End of chapter)
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