Chapter 10 – Ancestral Artifact
This was an ancient item condensed from the precious remains of ancient and powerful vicious beasts. The bone texts grasped by humans were precisely developed from these rare and precious bones, and it was the root of their mysterious power.
The arm of the vicious beast fused with Shi Linhu’s arm, causing a bright light to be emitted.
As a result, his power increased sharply. His body that was previously two meters tall unexpectedly grew to three meters. He became a lot stronger, and strands of lightning-like light curled up around his entire body with astonishing vigor.
The Green Scaled Eagle roared. Even though it was somewhat intimidated by the aura released by the beast bone, it was still unwilling to give up. Brilliant radiance gathered at its curved blade-like black beak, and the symbol became more and more powerful; it was getting ready to attack.
A mysterious power was currently accumulating at the bird’s beak. It became more and more resplendent, causing all the other birds and animals within the great mountain to shake with fear.
“Feijiao, you come as well!” Chief Shi Yunfeng ordered another strong male villager to use the second ancestral artifact.
Shi Feijiao possessed exceptional strength. He threw down the big wolf-tooth club and began to operate a mysterious power. His chest immediately lit up with bone text, as if stars were sparkling one after another. An old and bloodstained beast hide was retrieved from his bosom and fiercely pressed against his chest.
Hong!
A ferocious aura began to diffuse in all directions, startling all living creatures within the forest. It was as if an ancient archaic descendant had appeared, startling even the Green Scaled Eagle in the sky. Its descent was once again halted, and nervousness could be seen within its cold eyes.
Shi Feijiao’s chest flickered with light. The old piece of ancient beast hide fused with his chest, becoming a part of his skin. It released a powerful vitality and dazzling radiance. Ultimately, a mysterious symbol emerged.
A beast head was faintly discernable, as if it was trying to break free from that symbol.
Another face seemed to have appeared on Shi Feijiao’s chest. With the ancient beast hide merging with his flesh, the text slowly started to take shape, and the terrifying figure of a vicious beast appeared.
A boundless pressure engulfed the entire mountain forest, making many people tremble!
This was precisely the Stone Village’s other ancestral artifact, a piece of ancient beast hide. It wasn’t clear which era this beast hide was from, but it was still evidently shed from the body of an ancient vicious beast. It could condense a rare and powerful symbol.
The bone texts that mankind possessed were mostly copied from the precious bones of vicious beasts. However, this didn’t mean that all vicious beasts embedded their mysterious powers into their bones. There were still a few that embedded them on their skin, and some some even in their heart.
The light around Shi Feiiao’s body grew more and more radiant, as if a great flame was jumping about. His entire body was resplendent, and from his chest, a thunderous roar sounded. The entire forest was shaken, causing rocks to tumble everywhere.
This wasn’t some bone text that humans copied and then tried to develop and reproduce, but rather the most primordial type of power. It originated from the original bones and skin, and as a result, it was shockingly powerful.
An ordinary village or tribe would never have something like this, let alone the ability to use two ancestral artifacts. It was clear that there was a time when Stone Village was quite extraordinary.
Shi Linghu and Shi Feijiao stood shoulder to shoulder and looked towards the sky at the vicious bird. They then released the power of the ancestral artifacts, sending a heaven defying stream of energy towards the heavens.
The bushes and brambles nearby were all blown away in front of their eyes.
The cold eyes of the Green Scaled Eagle were bewildered. It dared not approach any closer and seemed to be frozen in fear. Both parties faced each other, and there was a short period of serenity.
“Ao, the village head arrived, uncle Linghu came to save us!” A few children poked their head out from within the deep cave and began to cheer.
“Let’s go, village chief and the uncles have come to take us home.”
Within the stone cave, children came running out like a swarm of bees towards the adults. Even now, Shi Lingu and Shi Feijao relied on the ancestral artifacts to provide support as the children and adults quickly reunited.
“Children, nothing bad happened, right?” A bunch of adults came rushing out. They held their children and spun them around as they inspected them for injuries.
“It’s nothing, we’re all fine, and there are only a few scratches on some of us,” the children responded.
“It’s good that nothing happened.” The nervous adults finally calmed down. They immediately began to spank their kids’ bottoms.
“Oww!! It hurts!! Why are you hurting us? Weren’t you worried about us? Why are you guys changing so fast?” The children screamed.
A robust adult began to speak. “This is this and that is that. Since you all aren’t hurt, then there must be punishment. You brats didn’t even grow any hair yet and you dare to provoke a demonic bird. If I don’t spank your butts rotten, then I can’t be considered a parent!”
The hostile Green Scaled Eagle was in mid-air as it revealed a hint of ominous aura. However, it never dove down, and rather vigilantly stayed in midair without immediately taking action.
Village chief Shi Yunfeng shouted, “Let’s hurry up and leave. Linghu and Feijiao’s understanding of the bone text isn’t too profound, so they can’t use the ancestral artifacts to their full effect. Let’s take advantage of the current situation to return.” He was nursing a hidden illness himself and was unsuitable for battle.
The children were all found, and nothing bad happened to any of them; this was the best news for the villagers. The group of people raised their large clubs and enormous bows in vigilance as they returned to the village with the children in the middle.
“Wow! Uncle Linghu you’re so awesome, all these years Grandpa Chief always experimented on you guys and unexpectedly produced such wonderful results. You’re all geniuses. ”
“It’s true! And also, Uncle Feijiao, what kind of weapon are you using? Why haven’t we seen this before? Is it because you have to understand the bone text to be able to use it? Uncle, you guys are so great and powerful.”
On the path of retreat, the kids ignored the vicious bird in midair. They took advantage of this situation to flatter the adults, hoping to avoid further reprimanding after returning home.
“Less smooth-talking. When we get back, you all are getting a good beating!” Pihou’s father’s eyes widened.
The Green Scaled Eagle followed them the entire way back until it saw the old willow tree near the village. It didn’t dare continue further and could only circle about in midair while crying out angrily.
Everyone finally released a sigh of relief. They were feeling an incredible pressure while being followed by the tyrannical descendant, because if even the slightest mishap occurred, many people would have lost their lives.
“This time, we had to use the ancestral artifacts. I hope that this does not result in any complications,” the village chief said.
“Relax, village chief. Who can even travel through this treacherous mountain region? No one could have seen anything,” Shi Linghu said.
“Hopefully, it is as you say. The items we inherited from our ancestors had been gathering dust for a long time. It would be great if no unforeseeable incidents happened as a result of this,” Shi Yunfeng said lightly.
The anticipated bloodbath did not occur, and they safely returned to the village. The devil bird’s descendant was still in mid-air, crying out with sounds that could split rocks.
Once they all returned to the village, a wave of commotion broke out. All of the woman rushed over to embrace their children. The news they received not too long ago left them absolutely terrified. Meanwhile, the men immediately searched for wooden plants to beat up these ‘rascals’.
“Little brat, who taught you to stir up trouble? Stand still!”
“Dad stop hitting me! I know I was wrong!”
The group of children began to frantically run away. In the end, they all escaped to the village chief’s courtyard, begging him to stop their fathers’ punishments.
After arriving at the chief’s courtyard, the group of children were all angry with envy. The little guy didn’t receive any punishment at all. Instead, they discovered that he was holding up a small bowl of milk and drinking out of it with a small wooden spoon.
“Wa, little guy, you’re drinking milk again. You’re already three and a half now,” a bigger kid said.
Yiya! The little guy was incredibly embarrassed as he held his little bowl. He hid it away from the eyes of the bigger kids with his delicate white hands. His face was flushed red and his eyelashes were trembling as he said, “You’re just seeing things. I’m… actually… drinking water.”
“Haha!” The group of children erupted into laughter.
“We’re all being beaten up, so how come you have milk to drink?” Pi Hou asked.
“It’s because I told Grandpa Chief a story that he thought was good, so he didn’t blame me at all.” The little guy’s big eyes slowly shifted.
“What story?‘
“The story of little red.”
“Who’s little red?”
“Little red is the the baby scarlet sparrow I told you guys about.” The little guy was clearly unhappy.
The group of kids rolled their eyes. “There’s no way village chief believes that. The Vermilion Bird was a myth even during the archaic era, so how can there possibly be one right now, let alone be chased by you?!”
“Hmm, two years ago, some strange mountain treasure appeared within the mountain abyss. It drew in many powerful archaic descendants, resulting in an unimaginably great battle. A scarlet flame swept through the heavens, and for ten days, heavenly flames could vaguely be seen all the way from the village.” The village chief walked over and spoke.
“It is clear that there was a flame beast within the mountain depths, but it isn’t likely to be the mythical divine bird. That seems a bit too unrealistic.” At this time, Shi Linghu and the others arrived as well.
“The battle two years ago was truly horrifying… We still don’t even know what kind of vicious birds or giant beasts appeared. There was a time when I even saw a towering humanoid creature that carried a black rod in the middle of the night. It crossed over several mountain ridges with a single step! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to clearly make out its face.” Shi Feijiao sighed. “It is still frightening to think about even now.”
With the adults’ arrival, the children’s faces immediately became ugly, because they were going to be disciplined. They were chased all the way to the village chief.
“Village chief, we brought out the Greens Scaled Eagle’s eggs. In the future, we could raise archaic demonic bird’s descendants that will be just as strong as guardian spirits. They can help protect our village!”
“Exactly! In the future, our Stone Village will have flying battle birds! These are three of the archaic demonic bird’s eggs we are talking about!”
The kids were all trying to show off as much as possible in hopes of receiving forgiveness.
“Do you all know how much meat is needed just to feed a vicious bird for a single day? Food has always been scarce for us, so where would we find the extra food to raise three huge monsters?”
“Ah!” The children all furrowed their brows and scrunched up their faces.
“Furthermore, do you all think that this matter has concluded? Take a look outside the village.” One of the village’s elders sighed and spoke.
The children stepped on a tall platform and peered outside the village. They were immediately startled. The terrifying Green Scaled Eagle had perched on top of an enormous rock, glaring at the village with its icy cold eyes. Its green scales shone brilliantly as it guarded the outskirts of the village without any intent of leaving.
“Vicious birds like this one are the most vengeful. After stealing its eggs, how could it let such a thing go? In the future, it will be difficult for our village to even leave the village to hunt.” Shi Feijiao became worried.
The children’s faces fell ashen. They knew that they had provoked a great disaster.
“Yiya, let’s just return the eggs. I feel bad that the Green Scaled Eagle is being separated from its children.” The little guy blinked his large eyes and spoke in a soft voice.
“This eagle is incredibly terrifying. If we don’t return its eggs, it might harass us endlessly, leaving the village in a constant state of unrest. Even though we have the ancestral artifacts, it will be truly difficult to defeat it. After all, no one here can display the true might of the precious artifacts.”
The villagers decided to try and send the eggs outside. They would find another method if this failed.
The three water basin sized jade-colored eggs were sparkling and translucent. Stripes and spots decorated their surfaces, and beautiful lights were flowing about them. The mysterious force of symbols swirled about densely as divine splendor floated about.
Before everyone even took more than a few steps from the courtyard, beside the altar neighboring the village chief’s house, the old charred-black willow tree suddenly moved. It only possessed a single branch, but green multicolored light swirled about it. It descended like a lustrous divine chain to gently stroke one of the eggs. It immediately erupted with brilliance!