The Stand-In

The two continued toward the Second Ancestral Land when the whole earth suddenly began to shake. Both were startled. Could some great Fierce Beast be nearby?

"Holy shit! What's happening? Is this an earthquake?"

Jun Moxiao cried out in surprise. He had never experienced an earthquake before, yet here he was, encountering one in another world.

Shi Hao shouted in alarm, "Xiaoxiao, look over there! How terrifying!"

Jun Moxiao looked toward the distance where Shi Hao was pointing. An enormous claw that blotted out the sky and sun thrust out of the ground, as though it would tear the heavens apart. A turtle as huge as a mountain emerged, then quickly burrowed underground again.

Jun Moxiao knew this was the Puppet Turtle carrying the Supreme Hall's inheritance. But its aura was terrifying, and it also contained a powerful killing formation. The turtle seemed to be at the Supreme Realm.

"Good thing we're far enough away. That terrifying aura alone makes it hard to breathe."

To be honest, this was the first time Jun Moxiao had encountered such a terrifying monster since coming to this world. Even from so far away, its aura had nearly left him breathless.

Shi Hao said, "What cultivation level do you think that giant turtle has? I've never seen such a powerful Fierce Beast."

Jun Moxiao said, "I think it should be at the Supreme Realm. Let's ask Willow Deity about the details when we get back to Stone Village. She should know."

Shi Hao's mouth fell open. After a long moment, he said, "The Supreme Realm? My heavens! I usually think I'm pretty powerful, but in front of something that terrifying, we're nothing but trash."

"It's only the Supreme Realm. We'll reach it someday, even surpass it. Don't forget, you reached a strength of 130,000 jin in the Blood Moving Realm. You're even more terrifying than a Fierce Beast cub. The Supreme Realm isn't worth a damn!"

Jun Moxiao had told Shi Hao about all the major realms below the Supreme Realm, letting him learn about each one ahead of time.

After several months of traveling tens of thousands of li across the Great Wilderness, the two finally reached the Shi Clan's Second Ancestral Land.

The Second Ancestral Land was a run-down mountain village with a few old houses. Their ancient architectural style bore deep traces of history.

Jun Moxiao looked at the buildings. Why do these look like the courtyard houses back on our Blue Planet?

In a room inside one of the houses, an old man lay dying on a bed. He said to a boy of about five, "Hao'er, your great-grandfather can't protect you anymore. You're only being used as a stand-in for another Hao'er. Ah! What a bitter fate! I hope you can escape!"

The old man gazed at his great-grandson with despair in his eyes, then closed them.

Seeing that his great-grandfather had died, the little boy cried out loudly, "Great-grandfather...!"

Shi Hao and Jun Moxiao quietly slipped into the old house and heard voices inside. "What rotten luck. The Rain King Mansion sent us to this godforsaken place where even birds won't shit, just to watch some little kid. I'm bored to death. And he's a cripple, too. If you ask me, we should just kill him. When we get back, we can say a Fierce Beast ate him."

"Don't act rashly. This is an assignment from the Rain King Mansion."

"He's lost his Supreme Bone, and he's lame! What threat could he pose to Shi Yi? Shi Yi has both Double Pupils and the Supreme Bone. He's destined to be invincible."

One of them thought of a plan and voiced it. "How about we lure a Fierce Beast here? The beast we brought last time crippled the brat's leg. That old man inside probably only has a few days left anyway."

Just then, the two Rain Clan men heard crying from the room, drawing their attention.

"That old man has probably breathed his last. Let's go in and finish off the brat."

Listening to their conversation outside the door, Shi Hao's fury surged to the heavens. He shouted, "You beasts! I'll send you to hell!"

He charged straight in and unleashed a Treasure Technique, killing them both instantly. Shi Hao's strength was no longer what it had been in the original story, where he had only reached the pinnacle of the Blood Moving Mirror. Now, with five Cave Heavens, he instantly blasted the two Rain Clan lackeys to bits.

Shi Hao entered the room and saw that the old man on the bed had already stopped breathing. A little boy was crying beside him.

It truly was a miserable sight.

"What's your name?"

Shi Hao asked the child with reddened eyes. The little boy was terribly thin and frail, his eyes filled with terror.

Frightened by the strangers' arrival, the little boy said cautiously, "My name is Shi Hao."

Shi Hao took his hand and said guiltily, "I'm sorry! You suffered in my place. I'm the real Shi Hao. Come with me! I'll take you away from here."

Jun Moxiao reminded Shi Hao, "Shi Hao, let's deal with things here first. We killed members of the Rain Clan. Sooner or later, they'll come after us."

"Let's bury Great-grandfather! Then we'll burn this place down. There isn't a single decent person in the Martial King Manor."

The two buried the old man's body and erected a gravestone. Shi Hao then set a fire, burning down the Second Ancestral Land.

To be honest, at that moment, Shi Hao utterly hated the people of the Martial King Manor.

The poor little boy had no name of his own, so Shi Hao let him choose one. He no longer needed to be anyone's stand-in.

The poor child thought for a while, then gave himself the name Shi Qingfeng.

Afterward, the two took poor little Shi Qingfeng back toward Stone Village. Shi Qingfeng's leg was crippled, and he knew only a tiny bit about cultivation. Since he had been meant to draw fire away from Shi Hao, his great-grandfather had hardly taught him to cultivate, nor had he dared to. Besides, the old man already had one foot in the grave and had no way to find precious medicine to cleanse Shi Qingfeng's body.

Once the little boy had chosen his name, Shi Hao told him not to worry and to simply be himself.

He introduced Jun Moxiao to Shi Qingfeng. "Qingfeng, this is my good brother, Jun Moxiao. We grew up together. You can call him Big Brother. He's only a little older than you, but he's really powerful. Even I can't beat him."

Jun Moxiao said to Shi Qingfeng, "Hello, Qingfeng. With us around, no one will be able to bully you anymore. We're going back to Stone Village. I'm sure you'll like it. Once we get there, we'll have Willow Deity heal your leg, and then you can cultivate with us. You'll become just as powerful as us someday, and then you can beat up everyone who bullied you."

Shi Qingfeng truly was pitiful at this point. He feared strangers and spoke timidly. Years of being bullied by wicked people had probably wounded him inside, leaving him terribly afraid of unfamiliar faces.

Shi Hao killed a Fierce Beast, then roasted it for them to eat. Meanwhile, he began teaching Shi Qingfeng to cultivate.

Jun Moxiao checked the system.

Checked in with Shi Qingfeng. Seal unlocked. Cultivation restored to eight Cave Heavens. Obtained the Vermilion Bird Precious Technique. Heavenly Dao Eye unlocked. (Note: the Heavenly Dao Eye can see through all illusions and suppress the Heavenly Dao. Until the host reaches the Immortal King level, he must not recklessly use the Heavenly Dao Eye to suppress the Heavenly Dao, or he will suffer a backlash.)

Jun Moxiao: Meng Die! The Heavenly Dao Eye is that powerful? Can it trounce Double Pupils?

Meng Die: "Of course! It can suppress the Heavenly Dao! Right now, Master, you can only use its ability to distinguish illusion from reality. You cannot use its power to suppress the Heavenly Dao. Remember that, or Perfect World's big boss will find out, and the plot will spiral out of control."

Jun Moxiao: Has the big boss detected me yet?

Meng Die: "No! This system has concealed you. Even if your strength breaks through this world's rules, the Heavenly Dao won't discover you. Once your strength returns to its peak, you can suppress the Heavenly Dao and rewrite its rules."

Jun Moxiao: I don't want to rewrite the Heavenly Dao's rules. Perfect World belongs to Shi Hao. I'm an outsider, so I'll create another world instead.

Jun Moxiao checked his overall status:

Name: Jun Moxiao

Sex: male

Current world: Perfect World

Strength: unsealing in progress, eight Cave Heavens cultivation

Primary cultivation method: Chaos Art

Divine abilities: Summon Future Self, Heavenly Dao Eye

Lifebound supreme treasures: Creation Green Lotus, Damage-Reflecting Divine Armor

Treasure Techniques and cultivation methods: True Dragon Treasure Technique, Phoenix Treasure Art, Kun Peng Treasure Technique, Qilin Treasure Technique, Golden Roc Treasure Technique, Vermilion Bird Treasure Technique, Suanni Treasure Technique, Green-Scaled Eagle Treasure Technique, Vermilion Bird Four Strikes, Phoenix Nirvana Method, Willow Deity Method, Pacifying Chaos Art, and others

Weapon: one Heavenly God Weapon kitchen knife

Items: four Ginseng Fruits, Spring of Life, true dragon precious blood, Heavenly Horned Ant precious blood, "Three Thousand Ways of Formation"

(Strength assessment: you are now a piece of trash with a little strength.)

Jun Moxiao: Meng Die! Do you really have to judge me like that?

System: "Master, accept reality!"

Jun Moxiao examined Shi Qingfeng's injured leg with the Heavenly Dao Eye and discovered that only a tendon had snapped. With the Spring of Life he now possessed, he could heal it.

Jun Moxiao said to Shi Qingfeng, "Qingfeng, let me look at your injured leg. Maybe I can heal you right now."

Shi Hao said, "Xiaoxiao, can you really do it?"

"I can. Just watch me work a miracle!"

Jun Moxiao took out a bottle of the Spring of Life and first had Shi Qingfeng take a sip. Then he joined the severed tendon in his leg, poured the Spring of Life over it, and circulated the Willow Deity Method, letting the Spring of Life repair Shi Qingfeng's injury.

After a while, Jun Moxiao detected that Shi Qingfeng's tendon had healed. He quickly said, "Qingfeng! Stand up and take a couple of steps."

Shi Qingfeng cautiously stood and slowly took two steps. Feeling that his leg was better, he happily hopped twice and shouted excitedly, "Big Brother, I can walk! I can jump, too!"

Shi Hao said happily, "Xiaoxiao! You're amazing. Where did you get such miraculous medicine?"

Jun Moxiao pulled out a bottle and tossed it to Shi Hao. "Drink it. It might help your Supreme Bone a little. Willow Deity gave this to me to recover when I was injured before. Once we get back to Stone Village, give Grandpa Chief some. It should make him at least ten years younger."

He could just pin everything on Willow Deity anyway.

Shi Hao immediately drank it, then sat down to refine it. Before long, his sixth Cave Heaven opened.

Watching this, Shi Qingfeng exclaimed, "Big Brother is amazing!"

Shi Hao shouted, "Hahaha, I'm a genius! Xiaoxiao, how many Cave Heavens have you opened?"

Jun Moxiao said, "I slept for half a year at Willow Deity's place. When I woke up, I had three Cave Heavens. I broke through in my sleep. Later, I opened a few more, and now I have eight. I don't usually fight, so you never saw them. Oh! Right, when you get back, you can learn the Qilin Treasure Technique and Phoenix Treasure Art from Willow Deity. I learned them before, too, but once you learn those two Treasure Techniques, don't use them lightly."

Shi Hao's mouth fell open as he exclaimed, "You're incredible! You can even break through while sleeping. Qilin and phoenixes are ancient divine beasts!"

Jun Moxiao said, "Wrong. They're among the primordial ten fiends. That's why you have to keep it secret. If those great sects find out you have Treasure Techniques of the ten fiends, they'll hunt you every day. That's why I don't use my Treasure Techniques lightly. Once we're strong enough, we'll beat up every one who comes."

Shi Hao was already a crafty sneak who understood the art of lying low. He even used an alias for his name.

After the three had eaten and drunk their fill, they continued back toward Stone Village.