A Qilin Child Beneath the Qilin Stone!

"I'll go first!"

Seeing everyone gather around, Mucus flicked away his snot and raised his hand.

Li Kai gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

Mucus stepped forward, walking straight past the hundred-jin and thousand-jin Qilin Stones at the front.

He stopped before a Qilin Stone about as big as he was.

Under everyone's gaze, he spread his feet, bent down, and wrapped his arms around it.

"Hah!"

"Up you go!"

With his roar, the Qilin Stone, weighing a full five thousand jin, began to tremble.

Amid the crowd's exclamations, he struggled to lift it, his legs shaking, but managed it all the same.

"Amazing! Well done, Mucus!"

"I never thought this baptism would work so well. Wasn't he only able to lift a thousand jin last time? His strength has shot up so much!"

"He only came out a little earlier than Er Ya, after all. An improvement like this isn't surprising."

"..."

Mucus scratched his head sheepishly and ran back into the crowd, his face flushed.

"Tch!"

"It's just a five-thousand-jin Qilin Stone. I can do that too."

Refusing to fall behind, Er Ya stepped out and headed straight for the stone Mucus had lifted.

She lifted it with ease and even shot Mucus a challenging look.

Mucus had still been brimming with excitement, but after watching Er Ya easily lift the five-thousand-jin boulder,

then lift a seven-thousand-jin Qilin Stone, his face fell at once.

Watching their quiet rivalry from the side, Li Dao couldn't help finding it amusing.

Still, he was very pleased with their progress.

Though they couldn't compare to those prodigies, they were already outstanding.

Just as he had expected, everyone aside from those two was somewhat weaker, with most managing around two thousand jin.

Once they had finished testing themselves, everyone's eyes settled on him.

Li Dao wasted no time and walked straight toward a Qilin Stone in the farthest corner.

Everyone's eyes lit up at the sight.

"That's the hundred-thousand-jin Qilin Stone, isn't it? It's been sitting there all this time, and no one has ever moved it an inch. Can little Dao do it?"

"Hard to say. A hundred-thousand-jin Qilin Stone isn't so easy to lift."

"Little Dao is so strong. Wouldn't this be a mere splash of water to him?"

"If you can't lift it, don't force yourself. Safety comes first!"

"..."

Li Dao's choice immediately set everyone talking, though most were eager to see what would happen, while a few warned him to be careful.

Looking at the Qilin Stone towering over him, golden light flickered in Li Dao's eyes.

He set a fair-skinned arm against it, clearly feeling the markings left by tremors in the earth's veins.

He drove strength through his feet, bringing his waist and stance into perfect alignment as both feet sank deep into the ground.

Everyone watching from the side felt the change in him, that oppressive aura more terrifying than a ferocious beast's.

Their faces froze. Had the Village Chief not raised a hand to block it, they might have been injured.

Yet this only deepened the anticipation in their eyes.

Li Dao did not disappoint. As everyone stood wooden as stunned chickens, he moved the hundred-thousand-jin Qilin Stone with a single hand.

The crowd exclaimed that he possessed innate divine strength, that a Heavenly God had descended to earth, and more.

Li Dao had also measured his strength. Now, after the baptism,

a single sweep of his arm carried a full hundred and thirteen thousand jin of force.

He was very satisfied. This baptism had taken him straight beyond this body's limits.

The villagers, who had been watching with such enthusiasm, learned Li Dao's final result,

and sank into deathly silence.

To them, it was simply too staggering.

None of them could have imagined that such a small body concealed such tremendous strength.

"He doesn't fall short of those Primordial Remnants famed for brute strength at all, does he?"

"I think so too! How is he a six-year-old child? He's clearly a ferocious beast in human form!"

"Whew-give me a moment. This is too frightening!"

"..."

Everyone chimed in, and a burning fervor appeared in their eyes as they looked at Li Dao.

This was a true Qilin Child!

After hearing the result, the Village Chief stroked his beard, his eyes full of admiration.

He soon stepped forward and dismissed everyone.

Though the villagers were delighted, they did not keep crowding around. They still had plenty to do, after all.

Such as processing the carcasses of the ferocious beasts Li Dao had hunted the night before.

"Come along, little Dao."

Li Dao did not ask where they were going and simply followed behind him.

Before long, they reached an enormous tree in the southeastern corner of Golden Feather Village, its canopy covering a quarter of the village.

Li Dao understood. They had come to see the Sacrificial Spirit.

He raised his head and saw an enormous nest in the towering tree.

This was where Golden Feather Village's Sacrificial Spirit, the Golden Feather Eagle, lived.

"Grandpa Village Chief? Why have we come to see the Sacrificial Spirit?"

The Village Chief did not beat around the bush. Looking intently at Li Dao, he said:

"The revered Sacrificial Spirit is currently in secluded cultivation and has entrusted me with a message."

"The message was that, since a Qilin Child has emerged in Golden Feather Village, you are to be given the Golden Feather Eagle Precious Technique as encouragement."

With that, the Village Chief took a piece of bone from inside his robe, translucent as white jade.

Li Dao accepted it reverently. Inscribed upon it was the Treasure Art and divine ability of the Golden Feather Eagle clan.

He was delighted. He had just been worrying that his means of fighting enemies were somewhat limited.

He hadn't expected the Treasure Art to come knocking so soon.

The two bowed once more toward the Sacrificial Spirit's dwelling, then slowly walked back into the village.

On the way, the Village Chief asked Li Dao what he planned to do next.

Li Kai's heart was clear as a mirror. He knew Li Dao would not remain in the village for long.

Without much hesitation, Li Dao said to the Village Chief:

"Grandpa Village Chief, I've decided to venture into the Great Wilderness on my own!"

"Although I've reached a height in the Blood Moving Realm that few can attain, I still feel that I haven't achieved perfection."

"I always feel as though something is missing. I'm planning to travel through the Great Wilderness

and see whether I can find an answer."

Li Dao was not deliberately looking for an excuse. This was simply the truth.

Although a single sweep of his arm had reached a hundred and ten thousand jin of force, he had a vague premonition that something was still missing from his physical cultivation.

And it was the most important thing of all, which gradually strengthened his resolve to venture into the Great Wilderness.

Li Kai, walking beside him, was not surprised that he wanted to leave. After hearing that he wished to explore his path of cultivation, he had even less reason to stop him.

Yet though he had long expected it, when the day finally arrived, his heart still swelled with emotion.

He remembered when Li Dao had been nothing more than a tender little child. In the blink of an eye, time had flown, and he had grown into this young lad.

He was reluctant to part with him, but more than anything, he felt gratified.

"Then we'll do as you wish."

"You're already a little grown-up. You must take your future into your own hands."

"But if you grow weary out there, come home. Everyone and I will be waiting for you."