The other old men had long since left, leaving only Xiao Feng, who was also staring at his son in astonishment.
He was a burly man standing nearly six feet three, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist. His face was square, and he kept grinning foolishly as he paced back and forth, never taking his eyes off Xiao Tian.
"Feng, come here. Why are you standing so far away?"
Duan Zhiyao rolled her eyes at her husband as she spoke.
"All right, all right. I just feel so clumsy. I don't know my own strength, and I'm afraid I'll hurt Tian."
Xiao Feng tiptoed over, his tiger-like eyes brimming with affection as he gazed at Xiao Tian.
"Relax, nothing will happen. Here, hold him.
"You're bound to be gentler than those old men who don't know their own strength."
Duan Zhiyao sounded a little indignant.
"Xiao Tian, little Tian, grow up quickly."
Joy filled Duan Zhiyao's beautiful, slightly pale face. She gently stroked Xiao Tian's little head before handing him to Xiao Feng.
Xiao Feng fumbled in a panic. Those two enormous, fan-sized hands could easily have kept Xiao Tian safe, yet he was sweating buckets, his whole body suddenly uncoordinated.
"Willow Deity?"
Hearing that familiar name in the system notification, Xiao Tian froze this time, forgetting even to nurse.
Then he was shifted into Xiao Feng's hands. Seeing that large face lean toward him, he instinctively kicked out, and the recoil sent his tiny body flying.
But a crimson glow enveloped him, and he lightly leaped into Duan Zhiyao's arms.
"What..."
Xiao Feng had been terrified just now, afraid Xiao Tian would fall. He had never expected the little fellow to be as nimble as the offspring of an ancient pure-blooded fierce beast.
"Don't tell anyone. Tian has extraordinary gifts and remarkable bones, a talent found in one among ten thousand, but our Xiao Clan is still too weak.
"You may tell your father, Marquis Ling Tian, and no one else."
Duan Zhiyao hurriedly gathered the little fellow into her arms and carefully checked him over. Only after confirming Xiao Tian was unharmed did she glare at Xiao Feng and speak.
Time flew, and four years passed.
The hottest news in the Stone Kingdom, which ruled the endless territories of this part of the Great Wilderness, was that a born sage with double pupils had appeared in the Martial King Manor. He had been born roughly three months after Xiao Tian.
For a time, the Martial King Manor's prestige blazed like the sun at its zenith. It represented the Shi Clan, and in such troubled times, only the strong were qualified to become the Human Emperor. The birth of Shi Yi, a double-pupiled child, meant he might become the Stone Kingdom's future Human Emperor.
None of this had anything to do with Xiao Tian, however. What concerned him more was that, this very year, a little one had nearly died after someone dug out his Supreme Bone.
Shi Hao!
That born supreme, the Little One whose Supreme Bone had been dug out by his cousin Shi Yi's mother-a brazen, deranged woman-and transplanted into her son, nearly killing him.
The Desolate Heaven Emperor who had suffered from childhood and fought his entire life, whose own son, younger brother, and cousin Shi Yi had ultimately sacrificed themselves for him.
The Desolate Heaven Emperor who stood alone in judgment over all eternity.
Of course, Xiao Tian had also learned who he was: the youth who met Shi Hao at the Heaven Mending Pavilion in the original plot, got clubbed over the head by him twice, and was dubbed the "promising young prodigy" for the towering bumps on his head.
Now, however, he truly deserved those words. They were no longer a joke.
While the emergence of a double-pupiled child in the Martial King Manor drew the attention of countless factions, Xiao Tian grew up quietly and safely.
The Xiao Clan was also a great clan with a population exceeding a hundred million. Naturally, it had its own set of cultivation methods to help its children build their foundations as they grew.
But Xiao Tian had been blessed from birth with the template of Da Wa, the eldest of the Calabash Brothers. As he grew, mysterious bone text naturally appeared within his bloodline and bones, making him seem like the offspring of a Primordial Fierce Beast, or like a First Generation, as they were called in the Upper Realm.
The first stage of this world's cultivation system was the blood moving realm. This realm required nourishment through food and medicine to temper and transform the blood, refine bone text, and mobilize the entire body's blood essence until it surged like rolling thunder. This kindled divine radiance within the blood, seizing the wonders of heaven and earth to nourish the flesh and continually transform it until it reached the limits of the human body.
Legend had it that the greatest strength attainable was the ultimate limit of one hundred thousand jin.
This ultimate limit of one hundred thousand jin applied not merely to humans, but to beings of every other race as well.
Whether one was the offspring of an ancient pure-blooded fierce beast or the child of a supreme being made no difference.
It seemed to be a shackle imposed by the Great Dao of heaven and earth.
Xiao Tian was now four years old and already possessed eighty thousand jin of tremendous strength. He had also discovered that the closer his physical strength approached one hundred thousand jin, the stronger that restraint became. It was as though invisible shackles bound his body, forcing him to break free little by little.
He did not have Shi Hao's good fortune of building his foundation with the Original True Explanation, but Xiao Tian had opportunities of his own. All the bone text he learned merged into his body, becoming part of Da Wa's innate divine abilities.
Da Wa of the Calabash Brothers' divine abilities: Size at Will, Innate Divine Strength.
To Xiao Tian, these suited him best, and what suited him best was the best of all.
Of course, this did not mean he could not cultivate other precious techniques. Rather, they were incorporated, not devoured and reduced to nothing, like the few hundred Chinese characters an elementary school student learned finding their place within a vast Chinese dictionary.
His father served as Xiao Tian's guardian on the cultivation path, under the personal instructions of his grandfather, Marquis Ling Tian. Xiao Feng was a spirit transformation realm expert. As long as they did not deliberately provoke powerful fierce beasts, he was more than capable of fulfilling that role.
As for Xiao Tian's mother, she was pregnant again, already seven months along.
Xiao Tian had no objection whatsoever to gaining a younger brother or sister.
He was currently watching his prey, a Dragon-Horned Elephant. Its elephantine body was blue-green and as tough as bronze, difficult to pierce even with an iron spear. Its pair of antlers was as sharp as drilling blades and could easily smash boulders to pieces.
With his father guarding him, Xiao Tian could fight freely without hiding anything. Over these years, he had long since accepted the father he had in this world.
In truth, he might have had a father in his previous life, but he had never met him. His mother had raised him, and after he got into university, she had found true love too. That was a good thing. Xiao Tian rarely disturbed her life, only occasionally making a video call or phoning to let her know he was safe.
He had also worked to support his studies during summer vacations. Sensible from childhood, he could endure any hardship, and he studied architecture at a university of science and technology.
After finding work, he had dated a few women, but perhaps the right fate had not arrived, and they had broken up.
His greatest dream had been to buy a home in the city where he worked. Then the great COVID calamity struck. Others were, at worst, Pleasant Sheep or Lazy Sheep after testing positive; he became Dead Sheep outright.
"Roar!"
The Dragon-Horned Elephant let out a cry like an elephant's trumpet from his previous life, only louder and more piercing. Its body, twice the size of an ordinary adult elephant, charged straight at him.
Its entire body was covered in overlapping fish scales resembling those of an alligator gar. Every movement of its muscles shifted the scales across its hide, even producing the clang of metal striking metal.
Its four limbs were thick and powerful, like concrete pillars, wrapped in layers of folded skin resembling car tires.
Every footfall struck the ground with a booming crash, making the surrounding trees tremble.
Xiao Tian leaped lightly, sending his small body straight toward the Dragon-Horned Elephant. Just as they were about to collide, crimson flames of light enveloped him, and he rapidly shrank to the size of a flea.
The Dragon-Horned Elephant's ferocious charge was like firing a cannon at a mosquito, inflicting no real damage.
Yet Xiao Tian's tiny body contained tremendous strength. He tore straight through the fierce wind stirred up by its charge and leaped onto its neck.
The next instant, Xiao Tian's body rapidly expanded amid the crimson, flame-like glow, turning him into a little giant even larger than the Dragon-Horned Elephant. As he straddled its neck, he looked like an adult riding a newborn lamb.
One punch!
Empowered by his innate divine ability, Xiao Tian brought his millstone-sized fist crashing down. The Dragon-Horned Elephant's head was driven straight into the earth. The surrounding ground shuddered faintly, and cracks spread across it.
Xiao Tian seized its two dragon horns and twisted hard. With a crack, the Dragon-Horned Elephant's neck gave a brittle snap under the unbearable force, turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
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Alligator gars are not native to China. They are an invasive alien species and extremely harmful.
(End of chapter)
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