Ji Hao felt utterly powerless.
He saw a simple and crude cave, with tens of torches placed on the wall. He also saw a primitive altar that was carved out of a whole piece of stone.
A huge Three-Legged Gold Crow totem was painted on the wall with unknown beast blood mixed with mineral pigments. Under the firelight, the Gold Crow's eyes were shining with a magical light, looking down at Ji Hao.
Ji Hao sensed the wild and ancient vibe of this cave; he felt like he was wrapped by an intangible atmosphere; and he heard countless voices were whispering in his ears.
"My dear ancestors. I, Ji Xia, am giving my blood to my child, to increase his power and strength, to wish him a better future. My dear ancestors, please bless my child. Please make him stronger than me; make him the best warrior in the Southern Wasteland! I want him to regain the glory of the Gold Crow and to retrieve the status of our clan!"
Ji Xia was praying loudly. He put Ji Hao on the altar, looking down at him. His eyes were full of affection. He grinned then pulled out a bone knife and quickly cut his own wrist with it.
Qing Fu was sitting beside Ji Xia. She had now stood up and started to recite an ancient spell. She looked pale and weak. Along with her voice, a strange humming noise came from the air.
Ji Xia's blood was dropping from his wrist. Those blood drops hadn't fallen onto the altar directly; instead, they were floating above Ji Hao. Every drop of blood was slowly wriggling and changing shape under Qing Fu's control. At last, those drops of blood gathered into a head-sized Gold Crow with great heat and intense light.
Qing Fu then cut her own wrist as well, send her blood into the Gold Fire Crow.
"My dear ancestors, gods and ghosts. I, Qing Fu, am begging your pity. Please bless my son with health, safety and happiness."
After her blood melted into the blood-crow, countless spell-symbols started to emerge from the blood-crow. Qing Fu's face became even more pale.
The newborn Ji Hao was lying on the altar, gazing at his parents stunningly.
The blood-crow slowly descended from the air, merging into Ji Hao's body.
............
Followed by a thunderous bang, a gust of cold wind broke into the cave with countless black ice-knives wrapped in it.
A couple of badly mutilated human bodies were thrown into the cave by the sharp wind. Those were the guards of the Fire Crow Clan Mother Temple. Their muscular bodies were almost torn to pieces by the ice-knives and shocked expressions were frozen on their simple and honest faces.
Qing Fu and Ji Xia turned their heads around. They saw a bucket thick, a hundred-foot-long and one-horned black serpent wriggled into the cave while it was releasing cold air and venom out of its huge mouth. The serpent saw Ji Hao, who was lying on the altar; its gigantic tail then heavily smashed towards Ji Hao.
Ji Xia had just given more than half of his blood to Ji Hao, which largely reduced his power. Once he saw that serpent, he let out a growl; two streams of flames then rushed out from both of his arms. A dragon scale shield and a mulberry-wood spear appeared in the flame. The shield blocked the serpent's tail that was only inches away from Ji Hao's tiny body; at the same time, the spear pierced the serpent's head at a lightning speed.
"Who are you! How dare you have invaded our Holy Land!" Ji Xia shouted out. His voice showed a trace of confusion. "How did you get in? This is our Mother Temple! This is the Fire Crow Clan's Holy Land!"
While Ji Xia was shouting at the serpent, the serpent's body exploded into a cloud of black smoke. A black figure emerged from that smoke and waved its hands toward Ji Xia. In the next second, over twenty black ice-knives darted out from that smoke and punctured all of the Magus Acupoints which were glowing brightly on Ji Xia's chest. Blood spurted out from his wounds, splashing all over Ji Hao's body.
Qing Fu let out a scream, then pulled three black, long needles from her coiled hair and threw them towards that black figure.
The three black needles pierced the figure's body; it let out a howl, opened its mouth and breathed out a wisp of cold air. The cold air suddenly transformed into three thumb-thick ice-knives then went through the three Magus Acupoints on Qing Fu's chest.
............
Beside a blazing bonfire, the little Ji Hao was staring at Ji Kui curiously with his bright, watery eyes. Ji Kui was wearing a bone armlet and a leather cloak.
"Those damn stinky snacks! I curse their souls to be burnt by the Gold Crow fire and never be set free... Oh, look at our little one, such a talented Maguspriest. His spiritual power is already as strong as an ordinary Maguspriest even though he's only a newborn... Such a lovely creature... They've almost killed you!"
Ji Kui then bit his own finger and drew a set of complicated spell symbols on Ji Hao's body with his blood.
"Xia, You haven't finished your blessing ceremony. Your and Qing Fu's blood has missed the perfect moment to merge with our little one's body. I could only seal your blood inside his body with my magic spell. This magic seal will gradually disappear after his physical strength goes near the Junior Level, and your blood will be slowly absorbed by his body after that."
"Don't worry, nothing could ruin his talent... My magic seal might affect his warrior practice, but he'll still be a powerful Maguspriest. Such a powerful soul, such a talented Maguspriest..."
............
Ji Hao groaned, then opened his eyes. He saw a black cave ceiling; he also felt the soft fur beneath his body. There was a bitter taste that remained in his mouth, which was so familiar. That was the medicine made by Qing Fu.
The fat bear put its head near Ji Hao's face and gave a large grin when it realised that Ji Hao had woken up.
"Hey, fatty. Where's Amma?" Ji Hao looked at the slobber that hung at the bear's mouth corners and asked. He then pushed the bear's head aside.
The internal heat inside his body was resealed. He sensed that the Senior Magi blood from his parents was floating above the multicoloured flame in his Dantian; and the flame was working hard to transform the Senior Magi blood into beams of multicoloured lights, then was absorbed by his body.
Ji Hao felt an inexhaustible power from his body. He looked at the cave wall next to him, then chopped it with his hand.
His hand deeply cut into the rock wall. He felt like that he was cutting a piece of tofu with a sharp knife.
His strength hadn't seemed to have significantly improved; however, his body had become much more solid. There was still ninety percent of Senior Magi Blood which hadn't been released yet; as for the released Senior Magi Blood, more than half of it was waiting for it to be transformed by the multicoloured flame.
"Senior Magi Blood, so powerful!" Ji Hao leaped up from the ground and waved his fists.
He looked around, then walked out of the cave. He saw a brook that was rapidly flowing towards the East; a beautiful and broad valley was quietly lying under the starlight.
Thousands of slaves moved their bodies while singing a work song, busily lumbering with sweat streaming down their backs.
A haughty voice came from not far away.
"Ji Xia, you're no longer the leader! You're just like us now! What makes you think you could talk to us like that?"
