Rat Second Forges a Lineage with His Own Body!
White banners fluttered wildly in the wind at Wind Gap Valley. The rats, mimicking Human Race Lord Rat. Clear Wind swept across the land, causing the yellow maple leaves to sway in the wind.
Parting is sad, but it will eventually come to an end.
The rats of today have no time for sorrow; they have new peaks to climb, to truly stand tall on this land.
Sacrifice and oblivion will be the defining characteristics of this era.
Several months later.
The second treasure-hunting mouse was leisurely basking in the sun, lying on a sunny blue stone on the cliff face.
He was younger than the Lord Rat, but he was already very old; all the fur on his back had fallen out, revealing his wrinkled skin.
Grayish-white tumors grew all over his body.
Shu Changfeng climbed up the bluestone along the vines and placed a hundred-year-old spiritual ginseng in front of Rat Second, hoping to prolong the old man's lifespan.
"Second Ancestor, have something to eat." Changfeng obediently prostrated himself on the ground.
The Rat Second didn't even look at the ginseng. His withered lips moved slightly, and he Qi Dao, "Take it away. I'm too weak to take such a tonic. Eating this stuff will only hasten my death."
Changfeng dared not move, only bowing its head.
"With the eldest brother gone, my old bones have finally reached the end of their life."
The second rat struggled to prop himself up on his forelegs and looked towards the distant, mist-shrouded Purple Firmament Peak: "Back then, the Lord Rat gathered ten thousand rats and recruited rat demons from all sides, and I joined his ranks early on."
"Back then, the Lord Rat was the clan leader, whom we called the eldest. He was the smartest and most charismatic, while the third brother was the most ruthless."
"But I am the most useless. Apart from possessing some treasure-hunting ability to find spiritual herbs and treasures, I have accomplished nothing."
"His bloodline is mediocre, he's not good at fighting, and his cultivation is slow."
Changfeng chimed in, "The Second Ancestor's treasure-hunting skills are unmatched in the clan. Our clan's current strength is largely due to the Second Ancestor's contributions."
"Alright, stop flattering me. You're nowhere near as good as your father."
The second brother chuckled, his throat tightening as he coughed up a few drops of black blood. He wiped the blood away with his claws and slowly climbed down the bluestone.
"So be it, we're all going to die eventually."
"Help me to Boulder Peak, I wish to pay my respects to Ancestor Shi Pan."
Changfeng was slightly taken aback. Boulder Peak was the Daoist temple of Ancestor Shi Pan, and even birds dared not approach it normally. The Second Ancestor actually wanted to pay a visit to Ancestor Shi Pan?
Although he had doubts, he dared not disobey and obediently carried the Rat Second on his back, heading towards the depths of the Northern Mountain Range.
At the Boulder Peak, the black rocks are as hard as iron.
The Shi Pan revealed its true form, ten zhang tall, and was lying on the mountaintop, breathing in and out earthy energy, sorting out the spiritual energy of the earth's veins within a radius of a hundred li.
At that moment, he noticed the movement, and with a slight lift of his eyelids, he caught sight of the hairless rat on the back of the Shu Changfeng.
"Waiter, are you dying too?"
The Shi Pan opened its mouth, the sound causing the surrounding rocks to tumble and fall.
The Rat Second rolled off Changfeng's back, not caring about any rules, and lay sprawled on the black rock, panting.
"Ancestor, you're quite the figure now! At the Golden Core stage, even your voice is so imposing, it makes the mountains and rocks tremble."
The second son grinned, a hint of envy in his eyes.
Shi Pan smiled and asked, "Your lifespan is almost over. Instead of enjoying your remaining years and having more litters of rats, why are you coming to me?"
The Rat Second stopped laughing, struggled to turn over, and then crawled to his knees.
"Please, Ancestor, do me a favor and refine me."
Upon hearing this, Shu Changfeng trembled in fright and took several steps back.
Even Shi Pan's pupils trembled upon hearing this.
"Are you trying to kill yourself?" Shi Pan asked.
"My lifespan is coming to an end; whether I live or die is no longer up to me."
The Rat Second stared directly at the giant bear with Golden Core: "I've never amounted to anything in my life. The only valuable thing I have is this bloodline, and a tiny bit of treasure-hunting ability."
"Before the Lord Rat died, he told me to help the clan grow stronger, but I don't have that ability. So, I can only give back to the clan with this very skin I have."
"Rather than let my body rot in a few days, I'd rather pull off a big heist before I die."
He raised his paw and pointed to an unnamed low hill on the side of Wind Gap Valley.
"I hope that the Ancestor can use the Earth Dao techniques to refine my bones and blood, peeling away the layers, and merging them into the Spirit Vein of that mountain."
"From now on, any rat born on that mountain will absorb some of my Spiritual Qi, and their treasure-hunting talent will surely be enhanced."
Upon hearing this, Shi Pan fell silent.
A mountain breeze blew by, swirling up a few withered leaves; all was silent.
"I won't do this."
Shi Pan flatly refused. "If the Ancestor asks about this when he comes out of seclusion, I won't be able to explain myself. You can just wait to die peacefully, and I'll make you a good coffin."
Seeing this, the Rat Second got anxious, jumped up, pointed at the Shi Pan's nose, and cursed:
"You blockhead! What the Ancestor wanted was a useful clan, not a bunch of useless bastards who only know how to kowtow! Lord Rat sacrificed his life for the clan, and Third Brother suffered for many years in Di Province."
"They dedicated their lives to it, so why can't I die with some value?"
He cursed so fiercely that he couldn't catch his breath and fell straight backward.
Seeing this, Shu Changfeng quickly stepped forward to help him up.
Looking at the dying mouse, Shi Pan's mind raced with images, and in the end, he could only sigh softly.
Demon Race are inherently cheap; if they want to rise above others, risking their lives is the only way.
"Have you thought it through?" Shi Pan asked.
The Rat Second pushed away the Shu Changfeng, lay down on the ground, and kowtowed three times forcefully.
"We beg Ancestor Shi to grant our request!"
Shi Pan closed his eyes helplessly, raised his bear paw, and a surge of true energy, as powerful as Shan Yue, continuously gathered in his palm.
Without any unnecessary words, he directly struck the nameless hill.
Mud and rocks tumbled, and the mountainside split open into a bottomless ravine.
Shi Pan waved his hand again, and the earth energy transformed into a three-legged round cauldron, which hung in mid-air. There was no fire inside the cauldron, only extreme pressure and the true fire of the Earth Dao.
The second brother looked at the cauldron and smiled. He then turned to look at Changfeng.
"Kid, keep an eye on the house."
"I am leaving!"
After saying that, the Rat Second leaped into the cauldron.
The clay cauldron was closed.
The Shi Pan activated its spiritual power, and a yellowish-brown halo rippled outwards in concentric circles.
No screams came from inside the cauldron. Under the great power of the Earth Dao, the decaying body of the Rat Second was directly crushed into a pool of golden-red blood, which then turned into wisps of blood essence.
Shi Pan brandished his claws.
As the clay cauldron overturned, the golden-red bloodline essence transformed into a fine rain, gently falling upon the nameless hill.
The soil absorbed the blood rain, and the originally gray rocks began to glow with a faint, iridescent light!
The flow of Spiritual Qi in the mountains was forcibly altered, creating a connection with the bloodline of the Rat Second.
Shu Changfeng knelt on the ground, silent, burying his head in the soil, and did not get up for a long time.
Several days later.
Beside the Wind Gap Valley, at the foot of that nameless mountain, Shu Changfeng erected a ten-zhang-high stone tablet with three large characters inscribed on it: Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain).
All the rat demons with treasure-hunting talent were relocated to this mountain.
They absorbed the Spiritual Qi energy and precious light of the mountains day and night, and their treasure-hunting instincts became increasingly acute, thus establishing the Treasure-Seeking Line.
The wind in the Cloud Sword Mountain Range is still blowing.
The Rat Second didn't even leave behind a bone, but he lived on forever in this mountain, using his own bloodline to pave a new lineage for the Rat Race!
Some things and sacrifices must be paved by those who came before...
If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?
If the clan perishes, where will its descendants go?
Ultimately, there are those who will do it; those who sacrifice personal gain for the greater good have a heart as heavy as Mount Tai!