Outside Stone Village.
"Damn it, Old Thirteenth, Yi'er was sent away by that strange Offering Spirit in Stone Village using a bizarre spatial power."
A white-haired old man, annoyed, scratched his beard. Thin in build, he paced back and forth nervously, like a dry bamboo pole bouncing around.
"Yi'er is the future of the Martial King Manor, and also the future lord of the Desolate. He cannot be lost. We must go find Yi'er quickly."
Similarly white-haired, this old man, however, was quite round, with a large belly, like a Maitreya Buddha, forming a stark contrast with the skinny bamboo pole old man beside him.
Logically speaking.
As Human Supremes, top combatants in the Lower Realm, and Venerable Realm experts, their physiques shouldn't have such a huge disparity. Their bodies should be well-proportioned.
The reason for this was mainly due to the cultivation techniques they practiced. The characteristics of their techniques shaped them into completely different individuals, resulting in one thin and one fat physique.
In Stone Country.
Their reputation was not as great as Old Fifteenth, who was Shi Hao's biological grandfather, Shi Zhongtian. The title of Great Demon King commanded respect even from the Human Emperor of Stone Country.
As Old Ninth and Old Thirteenth of the Martial King Manor, although they were both Human Supremes and Venerable Realm experts, the two of them combined couldn't defeat Shi Zhongtian alone.
But before Shi Zhongtian obtained the title of Great Demon King.
They actually had a less noticeable title.
Fat Venerable, Skinny Venerable.
"How do we find him? That Willow Tree Offering Spirit in Stone Village is a god. Including Yi'er, everyone in Stone Village respectfully calls it Willow Deity. You know that Offering Spirits who dare to call themselves gods are all extraordinary beings. Moreover, we have no idea where Yi'er is right now."
Old Thirteenth patted his round belly, feeling a sense of powerlessness, wanting to do something but realizing he couldn't do anything.
He was one of the current five Old Ancestors of the Martial King Manor, known as the Fat Venerable. With strength that could uproot mountains and an overwhelming aura, he possessed innate divine power and could lift a thousand-meter-high mountain weighing hundreds of millions of tons with a single hand.
"How can there be a god... this level of Offering Spirit in the First Ancestral Land!"
Old Ninth also calmed down after hearing the word "god." His body, thin as a bamboo pole, seemed to lose its support and collapsed onto the dusty ground.
He was one of the current five Old Ancestors of the Martial King Manor, known as the Skinny Venerable. He could devour mountains and rivers, and no matter how much he ate, he would never be full or gain weight, a true monster.
Old Ninth and Old Thirteenth's worries were not unfounded.
The word "god" was not something anyone dared to use casually.
Because it represented omnipotence and supreme authority!
In ancient times, the early inhabitants had beliefs.
They were very particular about sacrifices, believing that gods definitely existed and could be summoned at critical moments to protect them. It was for this reason that Offering Spirits were born.
In fact.
After later generations gained a deeper understanding, what those tribes worshipped were actually extremely powerful creatures, such as the True Hou, the Kirin, and the Pi Xiu with the purest bloodline, all of which were Pure-Blooded Lifeforms, or Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts.
In that distant past, the ancient inhabitants worshipped these Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts, offering sacrifices and showing reverence to them, and indeed, they had received protection.
But as the human race grew stronger, one ancient country after another emerged, and the human race, being naturally rebellious, naturally exposed their ambitions.
To become stronger, the human race began to hunt Ancient Descendants, and even Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beast cubs, using their true blood to baptize their descendants.
Because of this reason.
Most Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts and Ancient Descendants directly fell out with the human race. Some Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts, whose young had been hunted by humans, even began retaliatory slaughter against humanity, often devouring tens of millions of people at a time.
But these Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts were not true gods. The human race living in the Great Wilderness discovered true gods – the immortal great sects and long-lived orthodoxies that passed down their lineages from the Upper Realm. The gods behind them were the true gods.
Immortality Mountain, Heavenly God Mountain, Ancient God Mountain, Mending Heaven Pavilion, Intercepting Heaven Pavilion... Human ancestors were fortunate enough to witness the gods behind these immortal great sects and long-lived orthodoxies make a move.
These gods...
Possessed terrifying power that could change Heaven and Earth.
Therefore, in the eyes of Old Ninth and Old Thirteenth.
Any being that dared to call itself a god must possess incredibly heaven-defying strength, capable of destroying several ancient kingdoms with a raise of their hand.
The power and divine might of gods were unimaginable, something that mere mortals like them could not possibly contend with.
A Human Supreme was ultimately just a Human Supreme, and mortals were just mortals, forever incomparable to divine beings.
Stone Village called this withered, broken, completely charred, and nearly dead willow tree the Willow Deity, and it itself seemed to not fundamentally object to this title.
The Offering Spirit itself not objecting to being called a god, in a sense, already explained something. Anyone with a functioning brain understood what this meant.
Since the ancient human race had already fallen out with the Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts, many of the beings serving as Offering Spirits for the human race now were related to the Upper Realm, meaning they were related to gods.
As descendants of Upper Realm divine beings, these Offering Spirits were particularly wary of such titles.
Without igniting their divine fire, they would never dare to be arrogant and call themselves gods. The hierarchy was extremely strict.
The fact that this dying willow tree dared to not object to this title indicated its terrifying strength. It had likely already defied Heaven long ago and no longer cared about these rules.
Therefore, it was possible that this willow tree in Stone Village was an ancient divine being, now in its twilight years, not quite dead but with not many days left to live, who specifically came down from the Upper Realm to the Lower Realm to retire.
This was the conjecture of Old Ninth and Old Thirteenth.
But they dared not say it openly.
"No need to worry about Shi Yi. As a fledgling, he must learn to fly on his own. He cannot always live under your wings. In a month at most, or half a month at least, he will return."
A divine sense transmission, whose gender was indistinguishable, suddenly sounded in the minds of Old Ninth and Old Thirteenth without any warning, scaring them so much that they immediately knelt down before the Stone Village willow tree.
"We respectfully obey the Divine Decree!"
Great Wilderness, deep within the vast mountain range.
"It seems it wasn't a complete loss. The Willow Deity is truly beautiful!"
Shi Yi rubbed his chin, his eyes darting around. He deeply etched the fleeting glimpse of the Willow Deity's Dharma Body into his soul, lest he forget her as time passed.
It wasn't that he was being like this for no reason.
He himself wasn't very interested in fighting and killing. If it weren't for the fact that in this world, without great strength, one was just an ant, he might not even endure the hardship of his usual medicinal baths and body tempering.
But now.
Shi Yi had the motivation to endure hardship. After seeing the Willow Deity's true appearance, merely clinging to the Willow Deity's thigh was no longer enough for him. He wanted to carry her home and make her his wife.
This goal seemed a bit difficult... But no matter what, Shi Yi finally had a goal to strive for. His original idea of lying flat and enjoying life gradually disappeared.
Just as Shi Yi's gaze grew increasingly resolute, an untimely prehistoric ferocious beast crept up behind him. It was a ten-meter-tall striped giant tiger.
"Roar!" A tiger's roar sounded.
Before the roar stopped, a ferocious, gaping maw lunged at Shi Yi. This striped giant tiger had sensed the unusual fragrance emanating from Shi Yi's flesh and blood.
It knew that if it ate Shi Yi, it might be able to advance to a prehistoric variant, and it wasn't impossible to even awaken the faint ancient descendant bloodline within its body.
In the Great Wilderness, prehistoric ferocious beasts, prehistoric variants, ancient descendants, and pure-blooded ferocious beasts had distinct ranks. The latter, even as cubs, could utterly annihilate the former.
Unfortunately.
This prehistoric ferocious beast was thinking too much. Because Shi Yi usually didn't kill much, it underestimated him, thinking he was an easy target to bully.
In reality, when he was in the Blood Moving Realm, from the day he completed his baptism, a single swing of his arm could lift 108,000 jin, comparable to the cubs of the strongest pure-blooded ferocious beasts.
Now, three years later, he had entered the Celestial Passage Realm. Although his cultivation speed wasn't very fast, he had opened six grotto-heavens, far beyond what it could provoke.
As expected.
After Shi Yi sensed the ten-meter-tall striped giant tiger appearing behind him, he released the seal on his aura, instantly transforming from a Blood Moving Realm cultivator to a Celestial Passage Realm cultivator.
"Rumble." Heaven and Earth shook.
Six thick, solid grotto-heavens, like volcanic craters, emerged from behind him, frantically devouring the divine essence of Heaven and Earth, transforming into a bloody torrent that poured into Shi Yi's body.
The grotto-heaven was not only a realm but also a method of cultivation.
A grotto-heaven could absorb the essence of Heaven and Earth, thereby deriving the true meaning of runes, understanding the order of this world, and the changes in rules, as if recreating a small world.
This was the Celestial Passage Realm, opening an immortal passage, or a pure land, or even a world, within or outside the human body, to provide energy and nourishment for the body.
As long as a grotto-heaven was successfully opened, it meant connecting with the great world outside, the great cosmos outside, and being able to refine the divine marrow of Heaven and Earth from the boundless void.
While greatly enhancing the power of various precious techniques, the continuous, unending flow of the divine marrow of Heaven and Earth into the human body could forever maintain vigorous vitality.
As long as one didn't engage in overly brutal battles, it was difficult to exhaust one's physical strength.
There was no such thing as fatigue in the body; it always remained in its peak state.
At the same time.
The grotto-heaven one opened was also a portable space where various treasures could be stored. Currently, the rune bone fragment that recorded the Original True Understanding was placed by Shi Yi within his grotto-heaven space.
"Self-service barbecue? Brother Tiger, you're too kind."
Shi Yi quickly turned around, avoiding the striped giant tiger's bite with lightning speed. It wasn't that he was afraid of being bitten, but mainly that he disliked the striped giant tiger's saliva.
Shi Yi lightly leaped, landing on the head of the ten-meter-tall striped giant tiger. Before it could react, a flick of his finger landed on the striped giant tiger's skull.
"Crack!" The sound of a skull shattering.
With a thud.
The striped giant tiger's massive ten-meter-tall body fell down. Its large tiger eyes still held the fear and confusion from before death.
The fear was, How did Shi Yi suddenly become so powerful? His aura had clearly been so weak before.
The confusion was, It didn't know how it died, only that there was a crisp sound from its head, and then it lost consciousness.
"The head doesn't taste good, too bloody. The internal organs in the belly are hard to deal with. The hind leg meat is too tough. Today, we'll just fill our stomachs with the front legs."
Shi Yi muttered to himself as he nimbly pulled out a complete set of pots, bowls, and utensils from his grotto-heaven, along with various seasonings and even enough firewood for burning.
Before long, he took out a sharp stone knife and, using the skinning and deboning method he learned from the Stone Village hunting team, completely cut off the two front legs.
"More cumin, less chili. Sigh, I've finally become like my younger brother. I wonder how he's doing in the Martial King Manor after three years!"
The two five-meter-long, skinned tiger front legs sizzled with oil as they roasted, their aroma spreading for hundreds of miles and attracting countless prehistoric ferocious beasts.
However, upon seeing the six dazzling grotto-heavens behind Shi Yi, these prehistoric ferocious beasts only dared to watch from afar, not daring to approach him at all.
What if this brutal human wasn't full and decided to make them his next meal?
….
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