38: Chapter 38 The Birth of the Ji Family

The Yuhua Divine Dynasty, in order to refine the illusory immortal-becoming cauldron, had captured an unknown number of children with special Physiques over hundreds of years, sacrificing countless lives.

Those children, who should have had their own lives, became sacrifices to ambition.

If it weren't for meeting Master back then, he, a Holy Body, might have long ago become a wandering soul within the cauldron.

Now, Emperor Yuhua had been severely wounded by him and was in secluded meditation; it was time for the reckoning.

"Who goes there? How dare you trespass into the Imperial Capital of the Divine Dynasty!"

Below, several figures soared into the sky, all Elders of the Sendai Realm, and among them was even a Dao-Cutting King. Sensing Xiao Shitou's unconcealed aura, they were both shocked and enraged.

Xiao Shitou didn't even spare them a glance; he simply raised his hand and pressed down lightly.

"Boom—!!!"

An invisible but vast power, like a sea of stars, descended. Those Elders didn't even have time to scream before they exploded into blood mist, their forms and spirits completely annihilated.

"Enemy attack—!!!"

Alarm bells rang continuously within the Imperial Capital as the grand Formation rose. Countless Cultivators took to the air, raining down Magic Treasures and Divine Abilities upon the figure in the sky.

Xiao Shitou remained expressionless.

He simply took a step forward, treading upon the light shield of the Imperial Capital's grand Formation.

"Crack—"

The grand Formation, capable of withstanding the attacks of a Saint, shattered like an eggshell. The aftershocks spread, causing swaths of palaces below to collapse as dust billowed into the sky.

"Form the array! Invoke the Ancestral Weapon!" an older Cultivator roared.

A phantom of the yuhua divine map manifested in the air, permeated with Imperial Might—though only a replica, its power was still staggering.

Xiao Shitou finally moved.

He raised his right hand, clenched his fingers into a fist, and then—toward the center of the Imperial Capital—he threw a punch.

There were no flashy Moves, no earth-shattering roars.

Only a pure, ultimate Fist Intent that condensed all the power of a Great Completion Holy Body, descending like a collapsing heavenly pillar.

"Rumble—!!!"

Wherever the Fist Intent passed, everything turned to dust. Palaces, Formations, Cultivators, the phantom of the Ancestral Weapon... everything blocking its path was annihilated under this single punch.

The entire center of the Imperial Capital was blasted into a bottomless crater, its edges as smooth as a mirror.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The surviving Cultivators slumped to the ground, staring at the god-like, demon-like figure in the sky, lacking even the courage to flee.

Xiao Shitou's Divine Thought swept across the entire Divine Dynasty, locking onto every Cultivator above the Dragon Transformation Realm—most of these were high-ranking members of the Divine Dynasty, their hands stained with the blood of the innocent.

He held his fingers together like a blade and made a light horizontal slash through the void.

"Swish—"

Invisible Saber Intent crossed space, accurately sweeping across the neck of every target.

Head after head rolled away as Primordial Spirits were extinguished one by one.

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the upper echelon of the Yuhua Divine Dynasty was wiped clean.

Only then did Xiao Shitou descend, entering the Divine Dynasty's treasury. He didn't even look at the mountain-like piles of resources, divine materials, and ancient books; with a wave of his sleeve, he took them all into his internal Small World.

What he couldn't take, he didn't destroy, leaving it for those destined to find it later.

Having finished all this, he turned and left, without saying a single word from beginning to end.

He left behind only ruins and countless low-level Cultivators and Mortals slumped on the ground, having survived the calamity.

They didn't know what had happened; they only knew that the Yuhua Divine Dynasty, which once stood high above and suffocated all living beings, was finished.

Leaving the Central State, Xiao Shitou did not stop.

Concealing his aura, he quietly patrolled the outskirts of the various Forbidden Zones of Life.

In the Ancient Mine of Primordial Beginning, the black mist was stagnant, as if the fall of the ten Supremes had caused the remaining existences to go into total hibernation.

The God Ruins, Immortal Mausoleum, Reincarnation Sea, Heaven, Burial Heaven Island... all were silent, without the slightest unusual movement.

Those Supremes seemed truly frightened by the successive deaths of Supremes following the "fall of Emperor Jiaoheng"; they each shrank back, even their Divine Thoughts completely withdrawn.

Xiao Shitou completed his patrol, confirming that there would be no movements from the Forbidden Zones in the short term, and then returned to the Undying Mountain.

The Formation patterns of the human emperor banner quietly opened a crack to let him in.

The interior of the Undying Mountain was no longer the gloomy and eerie place of the past. Under Chu Tianjiao's transformation, the core area had become a peaceful and serene Small World with mountains, water, pavilions, and Spiritual Qi as thick as mist.

Xiao Shitou arrived before an unremarkable thatched hut deep within.

The hut was shrouded in layers of Chaos Formation patterns. A figure could be faintly seen sitting cross-legged inside, surrounded by flowing Dao rhymes that were sometimes as vast as the creation of heaven and earth, and sometimes as mundane as the smoke and fire of the Mortal World.

It was indeed Chu Tianjiao in secluded meditation.

Xiao Shitou did not disturb him, but simply sat on a nearby stone bench, quietly standing guard.

Time flowed quietly in this isolated Small World.

In the years that followed, Xiao Shitou followed the agreement and went out once a year to the Ji Family in Qingyan Town.

He concealed his form and secretly observed the Ji Family Disciples who were practicing the Hunyuan Heavenly Scripture.

In the first year, most of those chosen "useless body" Disciples had just opened their Sea of Bitterness; their progress was slow, but their Foundation was exceptionally solid.

In the fifth year, someone broke through to the Life Spring Realm, and their Cultivation speed began to increase steadily, requiring far fewer resources than Geniuses of the same level.

In the tenth year, among the first batch of practitioners, someone actually erected a Divine Bridge and stepped onto the Other Shore, shocking the entire Ji Family—one must know, these people were originally judged to have "no hope of reaching the Dao Palace in this lifetime"!

Xiao Shitou silently recorded everything.

He found that for those practicing the Hunyuan Heavenly Scripture, although progress was slow in the early stages, every step was as steady as a rock, with no Bottlenecks or hidden dangers. Moreover, their utilization of resources was extremely high; with the same amount of Spiritual Qi, they could refine more Origin.

What surprised him even more was that these people's Heart-Nature was generally calm and resilient, and their Dao Heart was pure—perhaps it was precisely because their talent was mediocre that they lacked the arrogance of Geniuses and could better settle down to polish their Foundation.

Twenty years, thirty years, forty years...

Fifty years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Xiao Shitou came to the Ji Family once again.

In the quiet room, Ji Yunshan and Ji Yunhai reported respectfully: "Master, there are now over three hundred people in the clan practicing the Hunyuan Heavenly Scripture. Among them, over a hundred have entered the Dao Palace Realm, thirty-seven are in the Four Poles Realm, and... nine are in the Dragon Transformation Realm!"

Nine in the Dragon Transformation Realm!

One must remember that fifty years ago, these people were just "useless bodies"!

A flash of gratification appeared in Xiao Shitou's eyes. Master's deduction was correct; the Hunyuan Heavenly Scripture indeed opened a feasible path of Cultivation for Mortals.

"And..." Ji Yunshan said excitedly, "among those nine in the Dragon Transformation Realm, two have already touched the threshold of Sendai and will likely break through within ten years!"

Xiao Shitou nodded and took out a new Jade Slip.

"This is the Sendai Chapter of the Hunyuan Heavenly Scripture." He handed it to Ji Yunshan. "You two may practice it, or teach it to those few who are about to break through."

The two took it with trembling hands.

"Remember," Xiao Shitou's tone suddenly became serious, "I taught you this Cultivation Technique and gave you the void mirror not for you to bully the weak or bring calamity to the world."

His gaze was like lightning as it swept over the two: "I want you to take the protection of all living beings as your responsibility. If anyone from the Ji Family relies on this power to do evil in the future... I will personally step in to clean house."

His voice was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable killing intent.

Ji Yunshan and Ji Yunhai both shuddered and hurriedly knelt to swear: "This Disciple swears by his Dao Heart! If any future descendant of the Ji Family relies on their power to do evil, this Disciple will slay them before Master even needs to act!"

"Good." Xiao Shitou's expression softened slightly. "I hope you remember your words today. Master... also hopes that you can produce a junior who can truly shoulder the responsibility of protecting all living beings."

With that, he turned and left, without looking back.

The Ji brothers knelt for a long time, only rising slowly after his aura had dissipated.

The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with both longing for the future and a heavy sense of responsibility.

While Xiao Shitou was setting up his plans and teaching in the Big Dipper and observing the effects of the Emperor's Scripture.

Deep within the Ancient Starry Sky Road, a battle that had shaken the entire ancient road had just come to an end.

"Boom—!!!"

In the center of the Star Domain, the aftershocks slowly dissipated, revealing a slender figure wearing a silver mask.