At night, the medicinal cauldron glowed and rumbled, emitting a series of sacrificial sounds. Various divine birds and exotic beasts appeared on the cauldron, vividly alive, as if trying to break through the walls of the cauldron.
Mao Qiu looked worried, covering its big eyes with one small paw, reluctantly biting the other paw until it bled, letting two drops of golden blood fall into the cauldron.
It then howled in distress as if it had lost a limb, jumping back onto Xiao Budian's shoulder, covering one eye and peeking out.
The crowd couldn't help but laugh. This small, golden ball of fur was lively and full of character, amusing everyone.
The cauldron's glow became even more mysterious as it began to refine the precious medicine, emitting a rich fragrance, with radiant light and auspicious colors, appearing both splendid and enigmatic.
"Qingfeng, don't be nervous. Reconnecting the tendons will definitely succeed. With these precious medicines, it will ensure your tendons and bones regenerate," Xiao Budian reassured.
The process was painful. Qingfeng's scarred foot was reopened, and blood flowed freely. He cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face, but he didn't struggle. Xiao Budian applied the precious medicine to him.
"The tendons are aligned correctly. Applying this rare medicine will surely allow for regeneration. Rest assured," the clan leader comforted.
The entire batch of medicine was reserved for Qingfeng. Some was applied to his foot, and he took the rest over several days. His foot itched as the tendons and bones began to regenerate and reconnect.
"It's truly remarkable, the blood of Zhu Yan," an elder marveled.
Within just a few days, Qingfeng's damaged tendons and bones were reconnecting, and with some more time for recovery, he would be fully healed.
The crowd looked at Mao Qiu with curious eyes.
It immediately howled again, rolling on Xiao Budian's shoulder, eventually extending its tiny paws and shaking them vigorously, as if to say, "Don’t ask me to do this again. I’ll never do it again, no matter what."
In addition to the precious medicines, Xiao Budian treated him daily with symbols. After half a month, Qingfeng had recovered, his tendons and bones healing rapidly.
"The precious medicine is truly effective, with divine properties. It healed so quickly," the crowd marveled. Little did they know, the original true solution Xiao Budian practiced also played a significant role.
In the following days, a small figure began to appear by the lake, practicing with the other children. People were surprised to find that, despite his somewhat thin body, he also understood the basics of bones. Although not as profound as Xiao Budian's, it was still quite strong. As the elder of the clan put it, he was a genius, previously held back only by his body.
After a period of rest, Qingfeng gradually recovered, his pale face gaining color and becoming rosy. He began running around with the children of Shicun, his physical strength fully restored.
In the following days, Xiao Budian went out early and returned late, staying in the deep mountains to study the original true solution. He frequently fought fierce beasts to test his understanding of what he had learned.
The next realm was called "Cave Heaven," which was crucial for cultivators. The deeper one accumulated in the Blood Transformation realm, the more terrifying the outbreak in this realm.
Xiao Budian continued to accumulate, hoping to break through in this realm with astonishing results.
In the evening, the sunset bled red, coloring half the sky. Fiery clouds swirled, adorned with golden edges, and even Shicun seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mysterious glow.
Er Meng was shouting loudly, attracting the attention of the villagers. He was riding on a unicorn, galloping wildly. The speed was so fast that his face had turned slightly pale, and he dared not dismount.
"It’s not the Little White that Xiao Budian tamed, but another unicorn. Er Meng has really gained some skills; he actually managed to tame a precious steed," the adults exclaimed, even though they hadn’t achieved it themselves.
Hearing this, Er Meng almost cried. On the glittering unicorn, with a trembling voice, he said, "I was feeding it some small white fruit. It came over, wanting to eat it, and wasn’t afraid of me. I got a little impulsive and rode on it, and then it went wild."
The villagers burst into laughter.
Recently, Little White had returned to the herd, and its visits to the village were no longer restricted. Villagers occasionally fed it berries and other treats. This made the unicorn herd much less wary, with one or two coming over to graze and drink.
As Xiao Budian had predicted, gradually, this herd of unicorns would accept the villagers and eventually become rideable steeds.
"Er Meng, keep at it. Since it hasn’t attacked you, it means it is relatively friendly. Don’t fall off and embarrass yourself. Hold on," Stone Linhu shouted.
Thus, the unicorn circled the lake for dozens of laps. It showed no signs of fatigue, but Er Meng was on the verge of vomiting, as if riding on clouds.
Eventually, the unicorn stopped, stood up on its hind legs, threw Er Meng to the ground, and then trotted back to the herd.
"What a great sign! This unicorn is clearly playing with the children. It will integrate into Shicun soon," Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng said with a smile.
As for the group of big men, they were breathing heavily, wishing they could immediately have a precious steed themselves.
Indeed, in the following days, the unicorn relaxed even more, growing increasingly affectionate with the children, allowing them to ride on its back and carry them around the lake.
This made the young men both envious and jealous, but they could do nothing about it. Their large size made it difficult for them to gain the unicorn's trust, which remained quite high.
The elders were all smiles, seeing their expectations come to fruition. Shicun was recovering and growing stronger, and perhaps one day would truly rekindle the ancient glory.
The villagers were reassured. Since Xiao Budian had managed to traverse the vast wilderness of three hundred thousand miles, having him around meant there was unlikely to be any danger nearby.
"Let’s go!" Er Meng shouted, taking the lead and rushing out.
“Slow down, wait for me!” Snotty fell behind, wiping his nose and chasing after them. Even he had earned the trust of a unicorn, leaving the other large kids without mounts speechless.
A dozen unicorns galloped away with silver hooves, like divine arrows leaving trails of silver light as they disappeared into the mountains.
“Xiao Budian, let’s have a race,” Pi Hou began to show off again.
“Your unicorns can’t keep up with Little White,” Xiao Budian said. Little White was the strongest unicorn he had chosen. After consuming the Five-Colored Peacock Egg and drinking Zhu Yan's blood, it had become even stronger, with silver light flowing throughout its body, making it exceptionally majestic.
The unicorns ran incredibly fast, and the children screamed as they sped several hundred miles away. Indeed, Little White was far ahead, waiting at the front.
“Let’s go hunting; it’s time to show off,” Huzi suggested.
“Whoosh,” “Whoosh”
Iron arrows flew through the mountains, startling a cacophony of beast roars. Moments later, the children were fleeing in disarray on their unicorns because they had encountered a giant beast they couldn’t handle.
Even Xiao Budian, riding Little White, was fleeing frantically as a spiked beast emerged from behind. It was black all over, covered in bone spikes, with a menacing glow and incredibly sharp.
This spiked beast had a dragon-like head, a body similar to a hedgehog, and a crocodile’s tail. It was enormous, about seventy to eighty meters long, and could breathe fire that melted an entire mountain peak, sending magma flowing.
The children's faces turned green, and they galloped away, no longer daring to show off.
Xiao Budian lagged behind to take care of Snotty and the others. Fortunately, the spiked beast wasn’t very fast, and they soon managed to shake it off.
“Oh my, that was terrifying. When I left the village riding a unicorn, I thought I had become a great hero. Now it seems I’m just a little bear who needs more training,” Snotty said.
After fleeing for over a hundred miles, they finally stopped, gasping for breath, looking traumatized.
“Xiao Budian, you’re amazing. Crossing such a terrifying mountain range alone is truly terrifying,” the children said.
They had only gone a few hundred miles before encountering such a colossal beast. If they had been a moment slower, they would have been devoured and left with no place to be buried.
“It’s nothing. When my older brother protected me, he once saw a beast as large as a giant mountain. With one swipe of its claw, it crushed a mountain peak,” Qingfeng said.
The children gasped in awe.
“I need to practice harder and perfect my skills to become a great master sooner,” Pi Hou vowed.
Da Zhuang, Er Meng, Huzi, and Snotty all nodded. The brief scare made them realize the importance of strength and the need for diligence and hard work.
“Where are we? It must be six or seven hundred miles from the village. Hey, there’s smoke over there,” Er Meng pointed ahead.
Huzi rolled his eyes and said, “Your smoke is so thick and dense that you can see it even through a mountain. That’s a fire. Let’s go take a look.”
A dozen unicorns raced like a silver whirlwind up the mountain, peering through ancient tree branches, and were immediately shocked by what they saw below.
It was a village with over two hundred households. Every building was burning, with flames reaching the sky and thick black smoke billowing.
There were no cries for help from the village, only flames and smoke, creating a dead atmosphere.
“Look over there,” Da Zhuang pointed into the distance.
On the horizon, a huge figure was retreating, accompanied by people riding fierce beasts, holding bloody blades, retreating with a palpable aura of hostility.
“What kind of people are they? They’ve destroyed this village,” Da Zhuang and the others were astonished, feeling a chill.
Xiao Budian remained silent, staring at the massive figure. It was a fierce beast surrounded by a group of people, seemingly revered. He thought it resembled a sacrificial spirit.
When the fierce beast and its entourage vanished, the children looked at each other in shock.
“Let’s go down and take a look.”
They rode their unicorns down to the village. As they approached, they were greeted by a stinging smell of blood. What they saw was too horrific to endure.
Bodies lay in pools of blood: elderly with their heads severed and discarded by the roadside, and infants in swaddles, slain along with their mothers.
“How could they be so ruthless, not sparing even the elderly and children?”
The children, witnessing the grim scene, were horrified and enraged. How could people be so inhumane, killing the defenseless elderly and children? What was their purpose?
Some children’s eyes reddened, and they couldn’t help but cry.
“What kind of people are these, and why would they do such things?”
The fire continued to rage, consuming all the buildings. In the east of the village, there had been a fierce resistance by a group of strong men, but they had been dismembered and killed brutally, their weapons broken.
“Ah, the village’s sacrificial spirit has been killed,” one child exclaimed in shock.
In the center of the village was an altar with a giant beast resembling a lion but with eight legs and black horns on its head. It lay bloodied next to the altar, half its body eaten, with its primal bones missing.
“That fierce beast that left earlier must have eaten half of it,” the children shuddered, horrified that a sacrificial spirit had become food.
The village was engulfed in flames, and even the streets were scorched hot. The unicorns were uncomfortable and unwilling to stay.
Suddenly, a faint groan was heard. An elderly man, his belly slit open with blood and intestines spilled everywhere, was still alive.
“Old man!”
The children dismounted from their unicorns and rushed to check his wounds, realizing with a sinking feeling that such severe injuries were fatal.
“I hate them. Those people are so cruel they didn’t even spare infants. They slaughtered everyone in our village,” the old man cried.
Nearby, a few children had been thrown to their deaths, a sight too brutal to bear.
“Who are they, and why are they doing this?” Huzi asked.
“A group of marauding bandits. They came once before, demanding black gold. When the deadline passed and we couldn’t pay, they massacred the village, and even our sacrificial spirit was killed,” the old man explained through tears. At his advanced age, his white hair was matted with blood and tears, evoking sympathy and anger.
“Wuwu, I hate them,” the old man’s light faded as he spoke his last words, his face streaked with tears and blood, and he became still.
In the end, the children left. Looking back, the flames had died down, and the entire village had turned into a wasteland, blackened and destroyed.
Their spirits were heavy. They had lost the desire to hunt and quickly returned to Shicun to inform the adults of the grim news.
“Could it be that those people are a threat to us now?” The clan leader coughed, hand on his chest, recalling the past when he had gone out with his brothers, only to return alone.
“Grandpa clan leader, who are they, and what are they after?” Xiao Budian asked.
“They are a terrifying group searching for a supreme divine treasure,” the old man sighed, his face filled with worry as he gazed at the distant land.
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