The morning in Stone Village was breathtakingly beautiful. The rising sun cast golden rays, speckling the village with a dazzling glow, while spiritual energy swirled in the air, painting everything in radiant hues. At the village entrance, lush green grass stretched like a soft carpet, and a flock of colorful little luan birds foraged by the lakeside, their reflections shimmering in the crystal-clear, gem-like waters. Nearby, various divine birds and auspicious beasts roamed freely. With the Willow God residing in Stone Village, breathing in the essence of heaven and earth, and the Silver Peach Sacred Tree radiating its holy silver light, it naturally attracted countless spiritual creatures. None of these posed any danger, while the larger, ferocious beasts dared not approach, revering the Willow God as a celestial deity.
“What a lovely day,” Shi Hao murmured, rubbing his sleepy eyes and stretching lazily. He had slept soundly through the night, free from the constant vigilance required in the outside world. Soon, the village came alive with activity—chimneys puffing smoke, the aroma of roasted meat wafting from every household.
“Uncle Shi Hao, what are you eating?” A little rascal soon came running, circling him with wide, gleaming eyes, drooling shamelessly. Shi Hao chuckled and tore off a piece of glistening roasted flood dragon meat, tempering its potent essence with his Engravement Realm cultivation to prevent the child from suffering any adverse effects.
“So delicious! At home, my mom never lets me eat it raw—she says it has to be refined into medicine first, or it’ll overwhelm me,” the child said happily, licking his fingers clean before giving Shi Hao a pitiful, expectant look.
“You really can’t handle too much of this. I had to refine it before giving it to you. Always listen to your parents, understand?” Shi Hao advised.
“Got it!” The child nodded, his bright eyes already fixed on the other roasted meats.
Shi Hao laughed. He and the village chief lived near the entrance, and the aroma of their morning feast had drawn a crowd of children.
“Uncle! Little Uncle! I want some too!” The youngest son of Da Zhuang came running, barely three years old, panting but sturdy and adorable.
“Me too! Me too!” A scrawny toddler wobbled over, his large eyes gleaming mischievously—this was Pi Hou’s child, barely two.
The morning was lively as Shi Hao attracted nearly every child in the village, refining the excess divine essence in the meat so they could safely enjoy the delicacy.
“What a waste!” Some adults winced at the sight.
“Not at all,” Shi Hao reassured them. “I used the excess energy to temper their bones and muscles. It’s beneficial.”
Unsurprisingly, he became the most popular figure among the children that day, trailed by a giggling mob wherever he went.
“Uncle Shi Hao, take us bird-nesting! I heard the village’s guardian birds—Da Peng, Xiao Qing, and Zi Yun—were all stolen from nests when you were kids. Is that true?”
The question made Shi Hao scratch his nose awkwardly, while Da Zhuang, Er Meng, and Hu Zi—now fathers themselves—flushed red with embarrassment.
“Kids these days don’t know anything! Stop making things up!” Da Zhuang scolded.
“But it’s true! You guys were so wild back then—always climbing trees, raiding nests, and running off into the wilderness. Why won’t you let us do the same now?” one little troublemaker retorted.
“Nonsense! We were just as well-behaved as your Uncle Hao, never leaving the village or causing trouble!” Pi Hou argued, his face burning.
“Pfft!” The children scoffed in unison.
“We all know Uncle Hao was the naughtiest! He chased after Old Yellow when he was barely one, pulling its tail so much it went bald!” A child pointed at a large yellow dog nearby, its tail still patchy after all these years. The dog bared its teeth at Shi Hao, clearly still holding a grudge.
“Stupid mutt, still holding a grudge after all these years? After all the flood dragon meat I fed you and the marrow cleansing I did for you?” Shi Hao grumbled, his face reddening.
Of course, his “old face” was only relative to these toddlers. He truly felt the passage of time—once the village’s little rascal, he was now an uncle, surrounded by a new generation of milk-drinking mischief-makers.
“Uncle, let’s go bird-nesting!”
“Uncle Hao, let’s find Old Yellow a mate!”
“Uncle, I know where that five-colored sparrow you used to chase nests! It’s behind the village—I’ll take you there!”
The children chattered excitedly, bursting with energy after breakfast. Shi Hao raised a hand and declared, “Fine! Today, Uncle will take you bird-nesting and hunting for beast cubs!”
“Woo-hoo! We’re going into the mountains!” The children whooped with joy, scampering around like a pack of little bandits.
“The sun’s out—perfect for an adventure. Let’s go!” Shi Hao waved. “Any of you still nursing, go home and drink up now. No milk breaks once we’re out!”
The children burst into laughter, and even Pi Hou and Er Meng snickered. True enough, three or four toddlers wiped their noses and dashed home, yelling, “Mom! I’m hungry! Feed me!”
The entire village erupted in laughter, elders and adults alike.
“Xiao Hao, you’re supposed to be preparing for your battle in the Void God Realm in three days. You shouldn’t be fooling around with them,” Da Zhuang reminded.
“Big Brother, you should be meditating and strategizing. Don’t waste time,” Qing Feng fretted.
“Relax. Facing the enemy with a natural, carefree state is the best preparation. No need to stress,” Shi Hao dismissed with a wave.
Once the toddlers returned, wiping milk from their mouths, Shi Hao raised his hand. “Let’s move out!”
And so, the entire village’s children followed him, their unofficial leader, much to the amusement of the elders.
“Should we… relive our childhood and tag along?” Pi Hou, Hu Zi, and others muttered.
In the end, they trailed behind, somewhat sheepishly.
“Uncle Hao, let’s go behind the village! The five-colored sparrow nests there. It’s so sneaky—you never caught it as a kid, and neither have we!” the children clamored.
Shi Hao nodded, his childhood rivalry with the elusive bird resurfacing. That tiny, palm-sized sparrow had outwitted him time and again, leaving him exhausted and frustrated.
“Uncle Hao, weren’t you mad? I heard you once chased it all day without eating, then collapsed in the street crying!” a toddler piped up.
“Buzz off,” Shi Hao flicked the child’s forehead lightly, making the others laugh.
“This was one of the few times Uncle Hao ever failed. Don’t bring it up,” an older kid teased, clearly enjoying the embarrassment.
Shi Hao rubbed his nose. That sparrow had been unnaturally clever, almost as if it had cultivated into a spirit. Even after the Willow God relocated Stone Village across a hundred thousand miles, the bird had followed, never aging, never losing its infuriating charm.
“Yeah, it’s so annoying! It always taunts us, but we can never catch it!” a child complained.
“Here it is!” A little boy pointed to an ancient jujube tree as thick as a millstone, its dense foliage hiding a nest the size of a human head.
“Strange, it’s not here today.”
“Yesterday it was darting around, teasing us! Did it know Uncle Hao was back for revenge and ran away? That thing’s definitely a spirit!”
Shi Hao leaped up to inspect the nest and gritted his teeth. “That wasteful little bird! Its nest is lined with spirit herb leaves—how shameless!”
The children gasped, and even Da Zhuang and the others were stunned.
“It did steal a leaf or two from the village’s herbs before, but it stopped after that. Never caused trouble,” Er Meng said.
“This thing might really be a spirit. Some of these herbs I’ve never even seen—where did it get them?” Shi Hao muttered, realizing he’d been outsmarted by a bird all along.
But no matter how he searched, the five-colored sparrow was nowhere to be found.
“Forget it. Let’s head into the mountains!” Shi Hao declared.
The children charged forth like a tiny army, racing across the hills. Thankfully, Shi Hao kept watch, or they’d have gotten lost immediately.
“A nest! A huge one!”
“That’s the Mountain-Crushing Eagle’s nest! Climb up and grab the eggs!”
The children scrambled up the peak, where an enormous nest held several pitch-black eggs as large as millstones.
“Too big to carry!”
“Let’s leave them. This eagle isn’t that strong anyway. Let’s get Uncle Hao to take us to a phoenix nest instead!”
Their ambitions were high—knowing Shi Hao’s generation had once raided a mutated Azure-Scaled Eagle’s nest, bringing back powerful demon birds like Zi Yun and Da Peng, they wanted the same.
“A flood dragon! Quick, catch it!”
A child crawled into a bucket-sized hole, tugging at a tail. The others rushed to help, pulling out a winged serpent that spat venom.
Shi Hao facepalmed. These kids were fearless, grabbing anything that moved.
They ventured deeper into the mountains, Shi Hao carrying a medicine basket with two toddlers inside, one in his arms, and another perched on his shoulder—otherwise, they’d never keep up.
“A purple marten! Wow, such a powerful beast!”
A sleek, tiger-sized marten, glowing like carved amethyst, glared at them before reluctantly retreating under Shi Hao’s gaze.
“It’s so fierce! Look at all the beast bones near its den!”
“Hey, there are cubs! Newborns, still blind!”
The children lunged forward, but Shi Hao stopped them. “If you take the cubs, the mother will go mad.”
“Oh… That’d be cruel. She’d be so sad,” a toddler murmured.
Shi Hao smiled. “But we can take this one.”
He pointed to a frail cub, barely clinging to life. After feeding it a sip of monkey wine, the little marten perked up, its three eyes—one still unopened on its forehead—marking it as a rare variant.
The children adored it, and Shi Hao knew it would grow into a useful guardian for the village.
Now at the peak of the Engravement Realm, Shi Hao fearlessly led them deeper into the wilderness.
A pungent scent of blood led them to two massive beasts lying dead—a mutated scaled leopard and a golden lightning hound, a famed ancient descendant.
“The wilds are brutal. Even these powerful descendants killed each other.”
“Search the area. Find out why they fought.”
Soon, they discovered the lightning hound’s den, where four golden-furred cubs peered out timidly.
“Lightning hound cubs! Four of them! Now Old Yellow will have friends!”
Years ago, Shi Hao would’ve hesitated near such a nest. Now, he simply said, “Take them all. They’ll grow into strong village guardians.”
The children cheered, while Pi Hou and the others eyed the cubs enviously.
They didn’t find the leopard’s den but scared off a towering black bear, which fled after a brief scuffle.
“Uncle Monkey, Snot-Nose, Uncle Hu Zi—you guys aren’t as good as us!” the children teased.
“Let’s keep going!”
By sunset, each child carried a prize—huge eggs or rare cubs—grinning like conquerors.
Meanwhile, on another mountain peak, the Dual-Pupiled One stood alone, gazing down at the vast wilderness beneath him.
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