Stone Village, Amidst a Gentle Spring Breeze
The days that followed were peaceful, with flowers blooming under the warm sun.
Lin Fan split his time between occasionally teaching Stone Village's children cultivation and venturing into the scarred battlefield to search for the Mountain Treasure's trail.
"Never thought a Spirit Transformation cultivator like me would end up preaching the Dao," Lin Fan mused, gazing at the children seated before him, some even older than he was.
"Fan Gege, you're amazing! You explain things way better than Grandpa Village Chief," Little Dot praised, his gains the most evident among the group. Many other children still looked bewildered.
"Milk Hao, you're not bad yourself. Your comprehension rivals mine back in the day," Lin Fan said with a grin. He loved teaching bright students like Little Dot—quick to grasp, no need for endless repetition.
Unlike some kids who needed ten explanations and still didn't get it, Lin Fan now understood why his teachers had favored the top students in his youth.
"Really?!" Little Dot's face lit up, as if he'd tasted honey.
Lin Fan nodded, continuing, "Back when I was four, I began studying cultivation. In a single day, I mastered bone runes. A year later, I reached the Extreme Blood Transformation Realm. Another year, I surpassed it—one arm swinging with 120,000 jin of pure physical strength…"
The children below listened raptly, their faces glowing with admiration, eyes full of awe.
Even Shi Yunfeng and the elders were stunned. 120,000 jin from one arm in the Blood Transformation Realm? That's fiercer than an ancient ferocious beast cub!
It was hard to fathom such a refined-looking boy harboring such immense power in his small frame.
"I'll be like Fan Gege and surpass the limit in the Blood Transformation Realm!" Little Dot muttered, setting a secret goal.
Nearby, Yue Chan rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the figure on the boulder, basking in his crowd of young admirers.
She barely resisted storming up, grabbing his collar, and shouting, Do you even remember what we came here for?
"This guy's antics are always so baffling," Yue Chan sighed, pressing a hand to her luminous forehead, her mind buzzing.
They'd been in the Great Wilderness for nearly a month, scampering through mountains like wild monkeys.
After reaching nine Heavenly Passages, Yue Chan was meant to return to the Heaven Mending Pavilion for a baptism to aid her in opening a tenth. But Lin Fan had stopped her, promising a better baptism, which was why she stayed.
"Young friend, our village is small, with little to offer in return. But please, take this bone to study—it might be of use," Shi Yunfeng said.
He carefully drew a bone from his robe, white as jade, crystalline and translucent, like a palm-sized piece of fine mutton-fat jade.
Though small, it was etched with dense, intricate symbols, faintly resonating with the chants of gods and demons.
Shi Yunfeng handled it with reverence, wary of drawing too much attention.
Lin Fan took the rune bone, his eyes widening. "Isn't this the upper volume of the Primal True Solution?"
"You recognize it, young friend?" Shi Yunfeng asked, startled, glancing at the willow at the village's edge.
Decades ago, on a stormy night, this bone had arrived in Stone Village alongside Liu Shen. Shi Yunfeng had cherished it as a treasure ever since.
Only now, hearing Lin Fan name it, did he understand the symbols' significance.
Lin Fan produced a bone of his own. Though the material differed, the inscribed symbols were identical, unmistakable.
Shi Yunfeng's jaw dropped. "You have one too?!"
"To be honest, where I'm from, these are as common as dirt," Lin Fan said casually.
"???"
Shi Yunfeng was dumbfounded. The treasure he'd guarded so dearly was commonplace elsewhere? That's… absurd.
"Ahem, Grandpa Village Chief, don't think it's worthless. Yours is an original, still highly valuable for cultivators," Lin Fan clarified, aware of its true worth.
Shi Yunfeng's plummeting heart lifted slightly. At least it's not just table-leg padding.
_
In the days that followed, Lin Fan continued exploring the western battlefield, leaving at dawn and returning at dusk atop the five-colored luan bird.
But the bird grew reluctant, preferring to linger under Liu Shen's willow, cultivating in stillness.
"Fine. Once I find what I'm after, you can stay in Stone Village—no need to follow me anymore," Lin Fan told it.
"Chirp chirp!"
The luan bird trilled happily, thrilled with the deal. Cultivating under the willow had begun purifying its bloodline. Given time, it might evolve into a pure-blood ferocious beast, its strength soaring.
Unbeknownst to it, this was the very opportunity Lin Fan had promised.
"Fan Gege, let me help you search. More hands, more power!" Little Dot's voice piped up from behind, riding a cyan avian resembling the Qing Tian Peng clan.
This was a variant demonic bird, a Green-Scaled Eagle, tied to Stone Village through a deep bond. It and its three offspring often cultivated under Liu Shen's willow.
"Alright!" Lin Fan nodded, welcoming the help. Milk Hao's a child of destiny—his luck might make this search twice as effective.
Days of searching yielded nothing, but Lin Fan remained undeterred. The Great Wilderness was vast; it would just take time.
He also ventured deeper, hunting powerful legacy beasts for food, donating surplus treasure blood to Stone Village.
"Grandpa Village Chief, uncles, are you preparing a baptism for the children?" Lin Fan asked.
The villagers were bustling, readying several ancient cauldrons. They added aged herbs, venomous insects, and true blood, simmering them in a grand, imposing process.
One black cauldron caught Lin Fan's eye, engraved with mountains, rivers, sun, moon, birds, beasts, fish, and scenes of ancient tribes worshipping. It exuded an enigmatic aura.
"This cauldron…" Yue Chan's eyes widened. Her keen insight recognized its extraordinary nature, rivaling or surpassing the Heaven Mending Pavilion's medicinal cauldrons.
"Thanks to you, young friend, the legacy beast blood you've brought back has given us enough for the children's baptism," Shi Yunfeng said, a touch embarrassed, feeling they'd taken advantage of Lin Fan's generosity.
Lin Fan waved it off. Legacy beast blood was useless to him; his baptisms always used the finest materials, never in short supply.
"Grandpa Village Chief, can we join the baptism too?" he asked, his eyes glinting with mischief.
Shi Yunfeng blinked, then agreed warmly. "Of course! I just worried our humble baptism might not meet your standards."
"No problem. You provide the recipe, I'll supply the spiritual herbs," Lin Fan said grandly. From his Qiankun Bag, he poured out a heap of radiant herbs, shimmering in five colors, wreathed in mist, brimming with potent essence.
Instantly, Stone Village's ambient spiritual energy surged, white mist swirling as the air thickened with vitality. A single whiff opened pores and invigorated the senses.
"This…" The villagers froze, dumbstruck. They'd never seen such a bounty of spiritual herbs, their jaws practically hitting the ground.
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