“Uncle!”
A group of people crowded around, bowing to Shi Ziling. Da Zhuang, Er Meng, and the others had met him before.
“Auntie!”
Similarly, they also greeted Qin Yining with respect.
The couple had visited Stone Village before. Back then, when Shi Hao was critically injured and recuperating here, they had stayed for a long time.
“Haha, brother, sister-in-law, you’ve arrived!”
The villagers of Stone Village were warm and welcoming. Shi Lin Hu, Shi Fei Jiao, and others stepped forward, while the younger ones transformed into well-behaved children, earnestly calling them “Grandpa” and “Grandma.”
The couple was delighted, greeting everyone warmly. However, Qin Yining’s expression was complicated—she was being called “Grandma”? It hadn’t been that many years; she still felt young!
Perhaps all women were like this, whether beautiful or ordinary—they despised the passage of time, loathed aging. Time was their greatest enemy.
“Hey, isn’t that…?” Er Meng glanced at Yun Xi.
As the group approached, they naturally noticed the stunning girl with flowing violet hair. Her beauty was undeniable—renowned as the most beautiful maiden of the Celestial Clan, her skin like jade, eyes like autumn water, and her slender, graceful figure was peerless.
“The chubby girl from back then!” Little Rascal blurted out without thinking but quickly covered his mouth.
Years ago, Shi Hao had brought Yun Xi here, as well as Huo Ling’er. The villagers remembered them vividly—both girls were dazzling, unlike the children raised in the wilderness.
The village beauty, Hu Niu, also stepped forward, standing nearby. Her aura was completely different from Yun Xi’s—Hu Niu was fierce, like a beautiful female leopard, while Yun Xi was a celestial beauty.
Though the villagers’ aesthetic standards were heavily skewed toward strength, even they could appreciate Yun Xi’s delicate charm, which was more captivating than Hu Niu’s ruggedness.
“Sister-in-law!”
Da Zhuang, Er Meng, Little Rascal, and the others greeted Yun Xi in unison, their identical address instantly turning her face crimson.
Though she had arrived with serene grace, this kind of reception was entirely unexpected—so direct and blunt.
“I’m not…” she whispered in protest, her fair cheeks flushing, even her delicate earlobes turning pink.
Seeing this, Shi Hao felt a strange stirring in his heart, recalling old memories. When he first met Yun Xi, they had fought fiercely.
In the end, he had resorted to dirty tricks, wrestling her to the ground and biting her delicate earlobe. The recklessness of youth—those old memories made him chuckle.
“Hey, so she’s not your wife yet?” Da Zhuang nudged him and whispered.
“Listen, Little Rascal, Hu Niu waited for you for years. If you still haven’t married, she might regret marrying early,” Er Meng said.
Sure enough, Hu Niu’s sharp gaze landed on them!
“Ahaha, this is my wife. You can call her Yun Xi, or ‘sister-in-law’ if you prefer,” Shi Hao quickly pulled Yun Xi closer under Hu Niu’s piercing stare.
Yun Xi’s face flushed as she scolded softly, “What nonsense are you spouting?”
But she didn’t struggle too much—whether out of her original intention to care for Shi Hao in the lower realm or to save his face now, she didn’t resist much.
“So she really is your wife?” Hu Niu finally spoke, her gaze still sharp.
This girl had grown up—tall and strong, capable of overpowering most grown men. She was one of Stone Village’s top fighters.
“Of course, no doubt about it!” Shi Hao wrapped an arm around Yun Xi’s shoulders.
He was secretly sweating.
“She’s not strong at all, not beautiful enough. Her legs are long but too thin, her arms too delicate—no explosive power. Her face is too pale, not a healthy complexion,” Hu Niu critiqued.
Yun Xi nearly developed a black line on her forehead—what kind of standard was this?
“Yeah, she’s not as fit as you. I’m reluctantly accepting her, just making do,” Shi Hao said, feeling the urge to flee.
Yun Xi was utterly speechless!
“Hahaha, let’s go, back to the village! It’s rare to have so many people together—let’s celebrate properly. Such good kids,” Shi Lin Hu called out to everyone.
The old chief and others waited at the village entrance. Shi Ziling and his family hurried forward, bowing deeply to the chief with genuine gratitude. Without Shi Yun Feng, there would be no Shi Hao today.
“Uncle, that lion of yours looks impressive—covered in golden fur, smooth as silk. Is this beast for eating, or like that big black turtle, for riding?” a village youth asked.
“Looks delicious,” Er Meng’s youngest son, about four or five years old, added innocently.
Beside them, the Golden Lion’s veins bulged on its forehead. If not for Shi Hao’s watchful gaze, it would have opened its maw to show these brats who was eating whom!
Clearly, the Stone Village bloodline was full of foodies—otherwise, Shi Hao wouldn’t have been like this since childhood. It was hereditary!
Shi Hao laughed heartily. “Haha, let’s keep this lion for now. If it misbehaves, I’ll roast it for you all to eat.”
“Yay!” The children cheered, already looking forward to lion meat.
The Golden Lion was fuming. A mighty Fearless Lion, a ruler in the foreign realm, had come to a tiny village in the lower world only to be eyed as food!
“Uncle, can we ride it for a spin? See if it’s faster than Little White the Unicorn,” a child asked hopefully.
“Sure!” Shi Hao nodded, then warned the Golden Lion not to act up.
A crowd of children swarmed around. Since learning this was Shi Hao’s mount, they were curious to see how powerful the beast tamed by their “invincible little uncle” really was.
Clearly, the Golden Lion was furious. In its rage, radiant light surged around it, lifting all the children and dashing off like lightning across the sky.
Only a few sat on its back; the rest were wrapped in strands of light, trailing behind as it streaked through the air.
“So fast—is this safe?” The adults were stunned.
“No problem!” Shi Hao waved it off.
As the evening glow bathed the village, all sorts of wild delicacies were prepared. People gathered, chatting and preparing to feast.
Shi Hao had brought back too many treasures—unfortunately, many were beyond the villagers’ capacity to consume.
For instance, the flesh of the beasts he’d brought back belonged to supreme experts at the Dunyi level, containing terrifying divine essence. Few in the lower realm could handle it.
But nothing would go to waste. The old chief prepared several large cauldrons, having Shi Hao ignite Dao flames to refine the meat into broth, diluted for the children to strengthen their bodies.
“Chief, no need to ration. I have too many divine beasts in stock—enough for everyone, not just the kids,” Shi Hao said.
He personally assisted some villagers, ensuring they could handle the potent essence without harm.
Most could only drink the diluted broth.
The game hunted by the villagers from the wilderness was far milder, allowing them to feast and drink to their hearts’ content—a lively scene.
“Neigh—!”
A horse’s cry, carrying a dragon’s resonance, sounded as a snow-white Heavenly Horse nuzzled Shi Hao, begging for wine. It was Little White, the leader of the unicorns.
At seven, Shi Hao had ridden it out of Stone Village, traversing the wilderness to reach the Stone Kingdom.
Since receiving the Willow Deity’s blessing, this unicorn had transformed—its coat gleaming white, mane long like a silver waterfall, and all its scales shed and regrown, now resembling dragon scales!
Its wings were powerful, stirring gale-force winds with each flap.
No matter how Shi Hao looked at it, this creature seemed more like a Heavenly Horse than a unicorn—identical to those used by the crippled immortal of the Immortal Palace to pull his chariot!
In truth, those “Heavenly Horses” weren’t real. Shi Hao later learned they were reconstructed from skeletal remains by the crippled immortal’s great magic.
In this mortal world, true Heavenly Horses were nearly extinct—only in the Immortal Domain could they still be found!
In the distance, thunder rumbled as golden light surged like an ocean. The Golden Lion returned, galloping across the sky.
The villagers were awestruck, finally realizing just how terrifying this lion was—far beyond the divine level.
As the Golden Lion descended, the children tumbled to the ground like dumplings, some nearly vomiting from dizziness.
“Too… fast!”
“In just a moment, we circled the entire Stone Kingdom, even seeing Uncle Qing Feng’s palace!” a pale-faced child gasped, nearly spitting bile.
The Golden Lion’s speed had been too much for them—their legs were still weak, faces drained of color.
“Child, what is this lion…?” an elder asked.
“A race that can dominate and reign—a great scourge in the borderlands,” Shi Hao began, recounting tales of the upper realm.
Starting with the Golden Lion, he shared his adventures over the years.
Instantly, everyone was captivated—tense yet eager, for Shi Hao’s journey had been fraught with peril and hardship.
Some teenage girls in the village wept upon hearing of his struggles.
But Shi Hao glossed over his suffering, focusing instead on the amusing anecdotes.
“Ah, the upper realm has not just sacred herbs but divine ones—even longevity medicines! Such things are nearly unheard of here,” the villagers sighed wistfully.
“Well, I’ve brought plenty of treasures. Behold—divine herbs!” Shi Hao produced one with a flourish, filling the village with fragrance.
“Ah, it’s a vine—just the roots left.”
“This is a divine herb?”
Everyone was both curious and shocked.
“Indeed. I am the Void Heaven Divine Vine,” the herb spoke. Divine herbs possessed intelligence and could communicate. Shi Hao had retrieved it from the ancient ruins during the Three Thousand Provinces’ genius competition.
“And more!” Shi Hao chuckled, pulling out several more divine herbs. Before returning, he had gone to great lengths to collect them.
The Immortal Academy gifted one, the Sacred Academy another, and he had gathered the rest during his explorations of ancient battlefields.
The villagers were dumbfounded. These were divine herbs! Merely inhaling their scent could prolong life, let alone the unimaginable benefits for cultivation.
For the children and villagers at their level, these were priceless treasures. Just a few herbs could transform Stone Village into a land of great fortune!
And Shi Hao wasn’t done—he still had more!
“Here’s something else—Celestial God Trees! These can produce Celestial Gods directly. I dug up two.”
Shi Hao grinned.
The villagers were stunned, frozen in joy. Such heaven-defying treasures existed?
“But our land lacks spiritual energy. A single divine herb could drain the essence of the entire wilderness—how will they survive?” the old chief worried.
“I’ve brought a special soil—Ten Thousand Things Earth. Even Burial Kings covet it. It’s perfect for nurturing divine herbs. We’ll place it in the village,” Shi Hao assured.
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