"There used to be, but ever since my grandfather's generation, after we lost the precious technique we'd worked so hard to obtain, no one has reached that realm."
Shi Yunshan spoke with complete honesty, telling Di Yi the truth. A village could rise in a single moment, but it could fall just as quickly.
"What about outside the Great Wilderness?" Di Yi asked.
He knew about precious techniques. This was common knowledge: they were powerful means of attack as well as methods of cultivation, divine abilities and legacies that the great tribes treasured and kept secret.
"Outside the Great Wilderness? There must be people who can enter that realm, but probably not many," Shi Yunshan said. "Generally speaking, a tribe of over ten thousand would be fortunate to produce even one. The requirements for entering that realm are extremely demanding."
"One in ten thousand?" Di Yi nodded. Although he still couldn't make a precise comparison to determine his own limits, he at least had a basis for comparison.
"More than that. Entering that realm and truly attaining it are completely different things. I think it might take at least a hundred thousand people to produce one such person," Shi Yunshan explained, adding further detail.
"A match for a hundred thousand men?" Di Yi asked, refining his understanding.
"If you disregard external factors, such as stamina, being a match for a hundred thousand men would be nothing. Even surrounded by giant beasts, they could charge straight through as though no one stood in their way. They could rival a primordial remnant," Shi Yunshan added. Clearly, he had once yearned for that realm and had learned something about it.
"I see..." Di Yi nodded, gaining a preliminary sense of his own limits.
Yet even with that preliminary sense, he was still viewing flowers through a fog. Nothing he could use for comparison was concrete; he had only broadly quantified figures.
In other words, take that enormous mountain cat from earlier as an example. Shi Yunfeng would have been no match for it one-on-one, but if Stone Village's hunting party attacked together, it would have been prey they could take with near certainty.
A mountain cat clearly stronger than any individual in Stone Village's hunting party could nevertheless be surrounded and hunted by a group weaker than itself. This crude demonstration of one plus one being greater than three gave him much to ponder.
By the same reasoning, the true limits of someone who could match ten thousand or a hundred thousand men might fall below those broadly quantified figures. Exactly how far below, however, was impossible to tell.
Of course, the opposite was also possible: those limits might exceed the broadly quantified figures. Exactly how far above was equally impossible to tell.
Regardless, Di Yi could be certain that, at least in this part of the Great Wilderness, he was invincible. His limits were high enough for him to look down upon everything here.
After all, judging by Shi Yunshan's words, even savage beasts stronger than giant beasts couldn't withstand a single exchange with him. Such a feat already put him on par with the primordial remnants of the Great Wilderness.
"Roar!"
Just as Di Yi was pondering this, an earth-shaking roar suddenly rang out through the Great Wilderness. It sent the air surging and shook the mountains and countless ravines, dislodging masses of loose rock and unleashing torrents of stone.
"That cry... is it that big fellow?!" Shi Yunshan looked toward the source of the sound. It came from the very place they had chosen to skirt earlier-the territory of a terrifying primordial remnant.
"That roar sounds furious. What happened over there?" The hunters dealt with giant beasts and savage beasts in the mountains year-round, so they could naturally distinguish what different roars meant.
"Could the people from Fei Village have run into that big fellow?" someone speculated.
"Impossible. That big fellow is a primordial remnant, immensely powerful and the king of this area. Even if the people of Fei Village had lost their minds, they wouldn't attack it." Someone shook his head, dismissing the guess. "Besides, that big fellow's roar is full of anger. With their strength, could the people of Fei Village even scratch it?"
"Roar!"
Before Stone Village's hunters could work out what was happening,
the big fellow's roar rang out again. At the same time, wind and clouds converged in that direction, and a terrifying radiance rose. "It's even using its precious technique! Could another primordial remnant be picking a fight with that big fellow?" Shi Yunshan's eyelid twitched as he sensed danger.
Primordial remnants were powerful, far surpassing giant beasts and savage beasts, not merely because of their physical strength, but also because of these innate divine abilities of their kind.
According to the tales passed down by the elders, the human race had first managed to survive and flourish upon this boundless land because it had happened to discover these innate gifts possessed by primordial remnants.
Then, over a long stretch of time, humans had studied these creatures and applied what they learned to themselves, unraveling the mysteries of runes and precious bones and deriving precious techniques. From there, they had risen to prominence.
It was therefore easy to imagine just how powerful a primordial remnant capable of using a precious technique would be. In his view, only another primordial remnant would dare challenge such a creature.
Of course, there might have been another possibility, but Shi Yunfeng felt it was unlikely.
Boom!
The mountain forest erupted into chaos. Earth-shaking bellows came from that direction, rocks hurtled through the air, dust billowed skyward, and golden light burst forth.
"That cry... it's Carved Bear!" The hunters recognized the source of that bellow. Its way of vocalizing was highly distinctive, unique to Carved Bear.
"How did those two end up fighting?" Shi Yunshan frowned. Primordial remnants in the Great Wilderness rarely quarreled or fought. After all, one wrong move could leave both sides badly wounded, handing other primordial remnants an easy advantage.
Could it be because of what happened on that rainy night?
"Captain, with two powerful beasts fighting, do you think we might have a chance..." One man began thinking like a gambler.
This was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years. Their strength might not be enough to secure a primordial remnant's corpse, but even gathering a few severed limbs torn off during the battle amid the chaos would be an excellent haul.
"Don't act rashly. A battle between primordial remnants is not something we can get involved in. They can destroy an entire mountain in a single move. Even the shock waves could take our lives." A gleam shone in Shi Yunshan's eyes too, but in the end he shook his head. A battle on that level was not something they could approach.
"A battle between primordial remnants..." Di Yi looked toward the commotion, deeply tempted.
"Honored guest, a clash between primordial remnants causes too much commotion. It may well attract others. Even if you come from outside the Great Wilderness and possess great strength, it's still far too dangerous. Please don't act impulsively," Shi Yunshan urged, looking at Di Yi.
"It's fine." Di Yi indicated that there was no need to worry.
"Then please take care." Seeing that Di Yi was determined to go, Shi Yunshan could no longer press him. He could only offer his well wishes and hope everything would turn out safely.
"You too." Di Yi nodded. "Let's part ways here, then. See you in Stone Village tonight."
"See you in Stone Village tonight." Shi Yunshan nodded as well, then left with the hunting party, striving to catch enough prey before the effects of the battle reached this area.
At the same time, Di Yi departed too. Once he was far enough from the hunting party, he took a single step and leaped high into the sky, bounding among the mountains and countless ravines toward the place where the primordial remnants were fighting.
Before you continue