“小 One, we’re leaving now. We’ll come back to see you another day.”
Under the night sky, a snow-white feather, five to six meters long, radiated a pure and holy glow. Standing on it were several figures, including two elfin-looking sisters who waved their delicate little hands. They looked identical, with fair skin and bright eyes, bidding farewell to the direction of Stone Village.
The snow-white feather, shimmering and floating three feet above the ground, carried them swiftly through the forest. They were the last group to leave and the only ones who left unscathed.
“Goodbye, big sisters! Don’t forget to bring some sweet beast milk next time, like from the Snow Frost Leopard or the Icefield Elephant,” the little one called out loudly.
Laughter erupted from Stone Village, as a group of children started teasing: “Still drinking milk at four years old, chasing after the little Sparrow Hoo Hoo.”
With the major crisis over, the mood in Stone Village lightened, and everyone burst into laughter. The little one, with bright eyes and a flushed face, quietly explained, “I just wanted to see what Snow Frost Leopard milk looks like. I heard it’s very special. Don’t laugh—I really didn’t want to drink it.”
“Ha ha ha!”
Shi Fei Jiao and the others came forward, ruffling his hair and pinching his apple-like cheeks, finding it quite amusing.
The village quieted down. The villagers’ expressions grew serious and solemn as they brought out various offerings for the sacrificial rites. Everyone stood in front of the willow tree, earnestly performing the rituals. Each person prayed with great devotion, faintly resonating with the heavens and earth, creating a strange, mystical energy.
Everyone was taken aback, especially the few elders who had heard that ancient ancestors created various mysterious forces during sacrifices.
Unexpectedly, their sincere worship today also manifested such a scene and mysterious power, though very faint. The ancestral black medicinal cauldron in Stone Village trembled slightly, with the depictions of the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, and ancient ancestors becoming clearer, and weak light flowing.
The only regret was that they didn’t know how to harness this mysterious power.
“The power of the sacrificial rites is indeed extraordinary. What kind of force would be produced if the entire nation performed a sacrificial rite to the heavens?” The elders thought, their minds tightening with concern.
The ceremony lasted quite a while before it concluded.
Night had fallen, and the sky was dark. The mountain peaks stood tall and majestic, with various roars echoing through the primal mountain range, startling the soul.
In the darkness of the mountains, there was only one place of tranquility. From afar, a blackened willow tree stood out, with a green tender branch emitting a hazy glow, enveloping the entire Stone Village, isolating it from the outside world in a state of peace and serenity, making it the only sanctuary within the vast mountains.
The Thunder Clan, Purple Mountain Family, Luo Fu Great Marsh, and Golden Wolf Tribe all hurried through the night, not pausing even when passing through Little Lonely Mountain Town. They were deeply shaken, the willow tree’s mysteriousness filling them with great fear.
At this moment, they only wanted to return quickly, to leave the bewitched primal mountains and avoid further mishaps.
The scale horses moved rapidly, especially the mutated unicorns among them, with their silver-white scales shining brightly and their single horn on their heads. They could travel ten thousand miles a day.
The Golden Wolf Tribe was forty thousand miles from the vast mountains. Besides necessary rest, they raced forward, with those riding unicorns returning to their dwelling place on the fourth day.
At the horizon’s end, buildings stood in clusters, and the center of the tribe featured a large golden tent with an embroidered golden wolf’s head, majestic and fierce.
“Thud!”
Upon arriving at the tent, several people on the unicorns fell off. One middle-aged man with a broken arm turned pale and fainted.
“Batu, what happened to you?”
A tall elder with a golden wolf’s head embroidered on his tent emerged. With eyes that flickered with golden light, he grabbed the middle-aged man with the broken arm, and a golden symbol appeared in his palm. Radiant light shot out and entered the man’s body.
“Ah!”
The injured middle-aged man awoke from what seemed like a nightmare, shouting, “Clan Leader, you must avenge me!”
“Speak, what happened?”
“We entered a strange village and discovered the treasured bones of the Snow Lion.”
“A willow tree struck by lightning, and you had no ability to resist. Many people were severed or killed,” the elder of the Golden Wolf Tribe expressed his shock upon hearing the details.
He could sense that the sacrificial spirit was very powerful, far beyond what a mere mountain village should have, comparable even to the sacrificial spirits of their population of nearly ten million.
“Clan Leader, there are descendants of ancient demonic birds there and also the Snow Lion’s treasured symbol. It cannot be missed,” others urged, trying to persuade the leader to take action.
After a long contemplation, the tall and imposing elder, whose pupils had turned faint gold, nodded. Two bolts of golden lightning shot from his eyes as he said, “With such a powerful sacrificial spirit, I must see it for myself. To be safe, I’ll summon the Divine Wolf to accompany me.”
Everyone’s hearts trembled with surprise, and then showed joy. If the leader were to summon the strongest sacrificial spirit, they would be less fearful. The golden being was so terrifying that everyone in the tribe held it in great awe.
“Woo woo!”
Soon, a golden whirlwind appeared on the plain, rushing in at great speed.
Similar events were happening in other major clans.
A vast lake, blue as the sea and boundless. After Jiao Cang and others returned, they reported truthfully at a sacred island, which immediately led to a furious roar, as if an ancient ferocious dragon had emerged, shaking the waters and sending white waves soaring into the sky.
In another lord’s domain, with no boundaries and a population of tens of millions, immense cities were built one after another, bustling and prosperous.
In the central ancient city, grand and solemn, the black walls glinted with a metallic sheen, stretching endlessly like a magnificent steel wall on the horizon, imposing and overwhelming.
“A powerful sacrificial spirit,” a commanding voice resonated in the central palace of the capital.
A purple sun bathed the entire palace in dazzling light. A supreme being sat above, obscured in appearance, with purple flames and an oceanic aura, making it impossible for the powerful beings in the palace to lift their heads or dare to look up.
On this day, all the major clans within a fifty thousand-mile radius were shaken, learning of the formidable sacrificial spirit in the vast mountains—a willow tree struck by lightning causing a huge uproar.
The mountain treasures in the Great Wasteland, the Snow Lion’s treasured bones from Stone Village, and this mysterious sacrificial spirit stirred the hearts of the powerful. The strongest from all clans were unable to sit still.
“It has been many years since we moved. Let’s go and see what secrets lie there.”
A few days later, Little Lonely Mountain Town was no longer peaceful. Someone saw the leader of a major tribe personally arriving in the area, surprising those who had come for the mountain treasure.
“Crack!”
Lightning intertwined, and the leader of the Thunder Clan stood on a mountain cliff, surrounded by immense lightning that broke off the lower half of the cliff, creating a terrifying spectacle.
“So strange. Ordinary people cannot discern it, but the more powerful individuals gaze upon it, the more they feel a sense of dread. This willow tree is not ordinary,” the leader of the Thunder Clan did not act rashly. His voice rumbled like thunder, shaking the surrounding trees and sending ancient beasts fleeing.
Two hours later, a great river that flowed through the primal forest roared with misty spray. A deep, resonant roar sounded, as if a fierce dragon had emerged, and clouds and mist surged violently. A figure shot up from the tumult.
In the haze, the figure was blurred, but his eyes shone brightly like two lanterns, piercing through the mist and casting an awe-inspiring glow. From a great distance, he looked down at Stone Village and murmured, “Is this the sacrificial spirit that has slain many of our clan’s experts?”
Two days later, a golden whirlwind swept through the primal forest, frightening many fierce birds and beasts into a hasty retreat, rendering the mountain area instantly silent.
A tall and imposing elder stood on a high ground, gazing at Stone Village. He muttered to himself, “Struck by lightning and reborn from destruction, this willow tree must be extraordinary.”
Next to him was a golden divine wolf, not very large—only about one and a half meters long—much smaller compared to some of the blue wolves in the forest. However, it emanated a terrifying aura, its fur shimmering with golden light, its eyes golden, and its symbols hidden and menacing.
They had arrived quickly, being the strongest of their clan, and were now lingering outside Stone Village, preparing to stir up a significant upheaval.
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