Chapter 52 - Self Improvement

Shi Hao saw a vague image, yet he did not feel any warmth from it, only coldness. Although the image was inarticulate, it still made his heart ache. He tried his best to see the ending, but a fog rolled over and he could no longer see anything.

At that time, he was still too young, and it was impossible to have retained any clear memories from back then. It was only a memory carved deeply into his subconscious mind, and it only appeared when he was truly emotional.

“Child, don’t cry. Everybody within this village is your close relative, this is your family.” Shi Yunfeng used his rough hands to wipe away the tears on his little face.

“Little guy, don’t cry. We are all your brothers. Don’t think unhappy thoughts,” shouted the group of children as they gathered around him.

Little Shi Hao wiped away his tears and said, “Grandpa, continue talking.”

“Nothing much happened afterwards. Your parents did not say much more.” Shi Yunfeng explained what happened during the past.

That couple took care of Shi Hao within Stone Village for a couple of months, and after making sure that he would survive, they left. At that time, the feeble Shi Hao was a year and few months old, yet he looked like a child who was only half a year old.

“They don’t want me anymore…” Tears dripped from little Shi Hao once again as his big eyes began to tear up again.

“No!” Shi Yunfeng shook his head and said, “They didn’t want to, but they had to leave. They wanted to permanently stabilize your condition, so they went out to search for the holy medicine.”

Pi Hou scratched his head and quietly said, “That time, I was still young, but I still have some memories. That uncle was very heroic, but he carried a sickly expression. However that auntie was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

“My impression was comparatively deeper. The little guy lost his parents when he was half a year old, and they disappeared around that time.” Shi Dazhuang nodded.

Although a few years had passed, the couple were sad and reluctant to depart. The old chief still remembered clearly and said, “You were their only child. If they said anything, they would die. They couldn’t bear to see you continue on so feebly.”

Little Shi Hao’s tears endlessly dripped out of his eyes. He called out, “Father, mother, where are you?”

The chief told him everything that happened that year, and the little guy’s heart lightened up a lot. The couple that arrived that year was extremely powerful, but they didn’t mention much about the ancient country they came from, because they weren’t clear about many of the things.

The couple went to find the holy medicine, and naturally, they had to tread into the most dangerous ancient lands. They had to travel to the Divine Archaic Mountain, and there was a high chance that a True Hou was guarding it. If they actually found one, many Archaic Descendants would be attracted to it, causing them to fight over it.

“Willow Deity, can you help me see clearly what is in my subconscious mind?” When he was alone, little Shi Hao quietly said this in front of the tree, and he was extremely hopeful.

“I am about to sink into deep hibernation. Wait until you grow up a bit when your blood essence becomes more powerful, maybe a year or two later.” What was extremely astonishing was that the willow tree actually responded.

“Alright!” The little guy widened his eyes. He was filled with hope as he clenched his little fists. He was no longer heartbroken, and he needed to figure out what his body’s condition was like back then, as well understand where his parents went. These were his clear goals.

The villagers found that this place was very suitable for living. There weren’t many beasts that were too vile and vicious, and the forests in the distance had many prey. Although many vicious birds and fierce beasts lived there, they weren’t that tough to deal with.

Within the lake lived all the types of fish one could think of. The Dragon Whiskered Fish, in particular, could create truly precious medicine, and the villagers couldn’t help but laugh in amazement. In the old days, even the Purple Mountain Clan, Lightning Clan and the Golden Wolf Tribe could not enjoy such precious strength boosting fish luxuriously like they did on a daily basis.

“We should go to the outer world to find out exactly what kind of place this is. We need to see just how far away this place is from that boundless mountain range as well as exactly what happened to our original living area,” Shi Linghu said.

“Uncle, let me go. I’ll follow aunt Green Scaled Eagle for a careful look.”

In the envious eyes of a group of children, the little guy climbed onto the back of the Green Scaled Eagle. With a flap of its wings, wind whistled and they skyrocketed into the clouds.

Vicious birds were extremely sensitive of their directions. It spiraled in the air and very quickly found a direction to fly towards. Like a streak of silver lightning, its speed was extremely fast.

“Ya. What happened? How did these mountains collapse?” Little Shi Hao was shocked. After flying out for several hundred li, he discovered the strange events that occurred on the great earth.

The earth cracked, and death filled the air. Mountains and rivers had completely collapsed, and they were no longer fit to sustain life.

Following deeper, he saw broken walls and ruins. Huge cities were destroyed one after another, becoming ruins. Blood stained everything, however no skeletons were found.

After a few thousand li, they did not discover a single trace of humanity, only blood. Many huge tribes were destroyed, and these boundless territories transformed into a graveyard.

“There’s a giant footprint!”

They were high up in the clouds as they gazed down towards the great earth, yet he could clearly see that there was a huge footprint. It left its mark on a mountain range, and smashed apart many mountain peaks.

The little guy trembled at the thought of how huge that creature must have been.

After flying a bit further, a few deep dark holes appeared on the ground. They were incredibly huge, but after careful observation, they could see that they were actually claw prints dug out by a vicious bird’s claws.

“This vicious bird…” Little Shi Hao was dazed.

The Green Scaled Eagle only trembled within the depth of its soul, and it had a feeling of reverence towards the supreme creature. They were both birds, but the gap in power was extremely large.

Travelling a bit farther, scarlet land covered a thousand li of the desolate land. Entire mountains had been melted and burned flat.

“Could this be the result of what Little Red was forced to do?” The little guy muttered to himself.

The Green Scaled Eagle was very intelligent, and it spiraled for a long time above this battlefield. It understood the details of the battle between the supreme creatures, and it gained many insights. Moreover, the scars of the battle were left by bird creatures, so it was very beneficial for it.

“Aunt Green, after Zi Yun, Da Peng and the others learn to fly, I’ll accompany them here to have them comprehend this as well,” the little guy said.

The Green Scaled Eagle responded with a long cry to show its appreciation for the little guy’s intelligence and benevolence.

Travelling a bit further, the endless mountain range collapsed. Many of them were swept flat by various creatures. This was an extremely terrifying scene of over a thousand broken lofty peaks.

After half a day’s time, they traveled quite a distance along their route. The Green Scaled Eagle turned back to avoid any accidents, as the remains of a battle could be hiding some huge unexpected dangers.

They returned when the sun set. They travelled for a long distance and the Green Scaled Eagle flew for an entire day. Although it was the descendant of the Archaic Devil Bird, it was still a bit exhausted.

“Aoooo… Aunt Green Scaled Eagle returned!” clamored a group of children.

“Child, what did you find out? What is this place? How far is it from the boundless mountain range?” asked Shi Feijiao. A huge group of people including a few village elders surrounded him. All the villagers were very concerned about this matter.

“I know how far this is from our original place. I think it would be at least 50000 li. The entire earth was beaten up and the mountain collapsed…”

The little guy explained everything he had seen along the way, and everyone who was present was overwhelmed with shock.

“It was a calamity… No wonder the Willow Deity brought our Stone Village away!” The chief sighed. He knew that if it were not for the willow tree, Stone Village would be razed to the ground, and not a single person would remain. The bitter scenery of the great earth completely explained everything.

During the following month, the little guy would head out with the Green Scaled Eagle sometimes. They sometimes disappeared for many days, and they finally understood the entire situation.

“Grandpa chief, over a thousand li of the boundless mountain range were completely broken. I can’t even find our original home.” The little guy brought some news that stunned everyone.

A circumference of 100000 li, and not a single trace of life remained. Even those fierce beasts and omnipresent vicious birds disappeared without a trace. Perhaps they were also devoured by those supreme creatures.

100000 li of territory became a graveyard without a single form of life remaining; they were all exterminated!

“What a disaster. The Lightning Clan, Purple Mountain, Great Floating Pool, Golden Wolf Tribe were all huge tribes. Their aristocratic lands contained over ten million people. How could they just disappear?” A few village elders couldn’t help but sigh.

Although they were once enemies and disheartening things happened between them, in face of such a calamity, those grudges didn’t mean much. All those huge tribes put together had hundreds of millions of people, yet they all died. This was a loss that terrified the heavens!

“Get stronger!”

“We need to get stronger. Only then, can we protect our home!”

A group of children shouted out. This kind of tragedy shook them to the core, but it also evoked their inner fighting spirit. All of them shouted out that they wanted to become stronger.

“Right, we need to start now and earnestly cultivate the Bone Text. Recently, a circumference of one hundred thousand li became barren. Perhaps we can make it our own country,” a few older children stated.

“Their dreams aren’t small, but it’s too difficult. The reason those ancient countries were able to pass on their inheritance until now was due to their ancient deities still being alive, as well as the fact that they were rather powerful themselves. Any random family from those ancient countries could exterminate clans like the Golden Wolf Tribe or the Great Floating Pool. From the ancient era until now, the everlasting ancient countries were simply incomprehensible in power.” The chief sighed.

“Don’t fear, we have the Willow Deity. When we’re older, we will all be stronger. The little guy right now is a genius comparable to an Archaic True Hou, how can it be that we can’t make a large country in the future?” The group of children were unconvinced, and they all clenched their fists.

“Good, I’ll wait for you guys to create your own brilliant country. According to the words of the elders, during the ancient era, our tribe was extremely powerful. We had an ancient deity once that was on par with a genuine Archaic Descendant. I hope as well that you guys can one day restore us to our former glory, and make our so called ancestral land able to shake the entire earth!” said Shi Yunfeng as he patted the heads of this group of children as encouragement. For a boy to strive for self-improvement, they needed a big dream.

During the following month, the children of Stone Village were all vigorously striving to improve themselves. They bitterly studied the Bone Text and trained their blood essence. Every one of them was as strong as a vicious beast.

This living area was rich with resources. Apart from the Dragon Whiskered Fish, the villagers also discovered Dragon Tendon Snakes. Although it was an extremely vicious snake, they were still able to hunt it. Its tendons could be used as an extremely precious medicine that upon consumption, one could significantly improve their physique.

Not only were the children growing up really fast, even the adults gained incredible benefits. They were strong up to the point that they could never exhaust their energy.

Time past by quickly and in an instant, a year went by. If one were to use his original age, then the little guy was a bit past five years old, but in reality, if the “lost” time of several months counted, he was six years old.

“I am six years old now and I can lift a thirty thousand jin rock now. Willow Deity, when will you wake up?”

The little guy lightly spoke in front of the large willow tree. He grew a lot taller, and his eyes were flashing with intelligence. He grew even prettier and appeared even more handsome now.

Jiu jiu….

Bird cries echoed in the sky. Zi Yun, Da Peng and Xiao Qing did not grow very fast. Their bodies were about four meters long now. However, they could already spread their wings into the skies and break into the clouds extremely quickly.

“Hold on, I’m coming to help you guys study the battlefield!” Shi Hao waved his hand and then fiercely stamped his feet on the ground before jumping into the sky and stably landing on Zi Yun’s back.

Wu wu…

A violent wind whistled past and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the horizon towards that lifeless earth in the distance.

These were collapsed valleys, cracked earths and toppled mountains; it was an incredibly desolate and quiet atmosphere.

“This time, we should change our direction towards the west.” After they entered the battlefield, Shi Hao pointed towards a collapsed mountain in the west.

The sound of wind whistled past as they travelled quickly. Soon after, they arrived in this toppled mountain range, and they carefully looked for the remnants of the battle.

Jiu jiu… Xiao Qing cried out and rushed towards a huge depression in the ground. Its stripes shined brightly because after eating the Suan Ni meat, he transformed along with Da Peng.

“Yi, it’s not a depression, this is a huge lake. Only that during that world-shaking battle, it dried up.” The little Shi Hao was amazed.

Suddenly, Zi Yun also cried out and indicated that there was life below.

Da Peng, who had dim golden rays of light flowing about it, dove down a huge distance and spiraled about the dried lake.

“What kind of creature is that?” The little guy was astonished.

At the bottom of the dried up lake, there was a creature who laid inside. Its entire body was covered in soil and it remained motionless. It seemed like it had been gathering dust for many years. If not for its shining eyes, it would have truly made people doubt whether or not it was alive.

“Ya, it’s a monkey who is only a foot long. It… why does it have three heads and six arms?!” Shi Hao was amazed.