The only pity was that the Xiao Clan was too weak and had no truly top-tier precious techniques. Otherwise, it would not have sent its talented youngsters to study at the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
Still, there was no hurry. Once he grew older, he could collect them himself.
Four-year-old Xiao Tian had jet-black hair, each strand clean and strong, falling to his shoulders. His large eyes were dark, bright, and full of life. Fair-skinned and adorable, he had dimples when he smiled; when he did not, he looked cool and serious, like a little adult.
But at that moment, Xiao Tian shed a layer of skin from his entire body. The skin beneath resembled divine jade, shimmering with lustrous light. He truly looked as radiant and graceful as jade.
The more Marquis Ling Tian looked at his grandson, the more he adored him. "According to the Bone Scripture, the baptism at five years old is crucial to a child. With Tian'er's terrifying talent, if we have enough sacred medicines, true blood, and other wondrous natural treasures to help him lay his foundation, he could very well attain the legendary strength of a hundred thousand jin."
"Xiao Feng, remember not to blab when you go out, and drink less. Tian'er can be a genius in other people's eyes, but just tell them he can lift a thousand-jin cauldron.
"It's fine if he learns bone text and precious techniques a little faster, but his fleshly body power must be kept secret."
In the end, Marquis Ling Tian sternly warned his son, Xiao Feng.
As for Xiao Tian, he needed no warning. He had already done very well. He could lift a thousand-jin cauldron at two, yet he had never gone around telling everyone.
At three, he could already lift a ten-thousand-jin cauldron.
By four, his fleshly body power had advanced by leaps and bounds.
To Xiao Tian, he was still young, and quietly developing his strength mattered most. He only needed to show a little strength and beat the children his age into submission. That was enough.
After all, he was the Xiao Clan's genius and its future. That could not change, since it affected the allocation of cultivation resources.
Beyond that, he only wanted to wait quietly for his meeting with Little One, Shi Hao.
He also needed to go check in with the Willow Deity at Stone Village.
What would the check-in reward be?
Would it be the abilities of the Calabash Brothers, or some other reward?
If Xiao Tian remembered correctly, in a few more years, around the time Little One, Shi Hao, was four, a group of people would find Stone Village. Among them was a clan called the Purple Mountain Clan.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed.
After a year of preparation and paying a considerable price, Marquis Ling Tian finally gathered enough natural treasures for Xiao Tian's transformation.
A hundred thousand jin of strength!
This transformation came as naturally as water flowing into a completed channel, as though it had always been meant to happen.
All of Xiao Tian's internal organs shone with crystalline divine light. Pale golden light coated every inch of his flesh, inside and out, with a film as thin as a cicada's wing. Even his limbs, bones, and the flesh surrounding them were translucent, making him resemble a luminous pearl. His entire body underwent a baptism, with runes flickering and merging into his flesh and blood, becoming divine radiance until the two were indistinguishable.
Divine radiance was imprinted within every inch of his flesh. These extraordinary manifestations, condensed from bone text, looked like tiny points of light, each resembling a deity. They were expressions of divine runes, as though every aperture in his body had been opened, allowing him to endlessly draw in the wonders of heaven and earth.
Xiao Tian knew that a hundred thousand jin was not the true limit. Right now, he needed both hands together to lift that weight. In the future, he wanted to lift a hundred thousand jin with a single arm.
Besides, Shi Hao set the benchmark at the utmost limit of the Blood Moving Realm: a hundred and eight thousand jin with a single shake of his arm. Xiao Tian still needed to keep working.
That day, Xiao Tian sought out Marquis Ling Tian and told him he had dreamed of a village and the Purple Mountain Clan, both connected to an opportunity awaiting him.
Once Xiao Tian attained a hundred thousand jin of strength, he became an entirely different presence, even though he was only five years old.
Marquis Ling Tian naturally knew of Marquis Zishan. The Stone Kingdom ruled a boundless territory, with both King-Sealing and Marquis-Sealing experts under its command. However, Marquis-Sealing experts were not found everywhere; their numbers were limited.
The territory ruled by Marquis Zishan lay on the Stone Kingdom's western frontier.
After a round of argument and discussion with the old man, Marquis Ling Tian agreed to let Xiao Tian set out for Marquis Zishan's territory to gain experience after he turned seven.
That was already the best possible outcome. He was simply too young.
Fortunately, he had played his trump card: if the old man refused, he would sneak off there himself.
That frightened Marquis Ling Tian. Xiao Tian's talent was too terrifying. He could easily shrink to something smaller than a flea and escape the Xiao Clan.
Rather than let him sneak away, it was better to agree. By then, when Xiao Tian was a little older, perhaps he would abandon the idea.
Still, Marquis Ling Tian took Xiao Tian's claim that he had dreamed of an opportunity in that direction to heart.
That boy Xiao Feng would soon break through to the Inscription Realm within the next few months. When the time came, he could personally escort Xiao Tian to the western frontier.
Two years later!
By now, Xiao Tian had accumulated his strength to the utmost in the Blood Moving Realm: a hundred and nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.
At six, he had already been able to lift a hundred thousand jin with a single arm.
Now, at seven, he had long since reached a hundred and nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin with a single lift of his arm.
He wanted to visit Stone Village and ask the Willow Deity whether he could break the ultimate shackles of the Blood Moving Realm, raising his fleshly body power to a hundred and ten thousand jin, or even beyond.
Otherwise, with everything he had accumulated, he could easily break through to the Cave Heaven Realm.
Xiao Tian slipped away quietly for this journey. There was now a two-year-old little sister at home who usually followed him everywhere like a little shadow, keeping even the fearless Xiao Tian perfectly obedient.
There were only four people in Xiao Tian's party: Xiao Tian, his father Xiao Feng, and two attendants, both Spirit Transformation Realm experts.
The Xiao Clan had done all it could to provide such an escort. After all, Marquis Ling Tian himself was only in the Inscription Realm.
All four rode flood-dragon-blood horses. Xiao Tian's mount in particular was four meters long and two and a half meters tall at the shoulder. Along with its hair, it had fine blue-green scales covering its skin and a single jade-green horn. It looked like a savage beast from the primordial wilderness.
This was a flood-dragon-blood horse king comparable to a Cave Heaven Realm expert, far stronger than the other three horses with their black scales.
Riding their flood-dragon-blood horses, the four could easily travel ten thousand li a day.
The two Spirit Transformation Realm guards had begun scouting their route two years earlier and had already traveled it twice.
Even so, it took more than half a year to reach the territory ruled by Marquis Zishan, covering over a million li. Allowing for the time spent resting along the way, Xiao Tian was already quite satisfied.
Throughout the journey, he kept a low profile and behaved obediently, unwilling to invite complications. Even when what he saw and heard fascinated him, he restrained himself and did not wander off.
Nothing mattered more than meeting Little One, Shi Hao, and the Willow Deity.
Even after arriving in Marquis Zishan's territory, he still did not know where Stone Village was, so he had to wait patiently.
It was certain that the Purple Mountain Clan had visited Stone Village in the original story.
When the time came, he could let things take their course and simply go along with them.
It was still early. He remembered the original story describing Little One, Shi Hao, as four years old that year.
Little One was clearly only three now, which was perfect. Xiao Tian could spend some time gaining experience.
During that time, he could also try to break the shackles at the utmost limit of the Blood Moving Realm. In principle, as long as he was strong enough, any rule or restriction could be broken.
The contract signing is being prepared; the notification has already arrived.
(End of chapter)
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