Imminent Danger

However, despite the pain, Shi Hao's mind started to wonder - if he tempered his body next to the willow tree, he might not have felt such pain - and the thought kept repeating in his head. He could not get rid of it, so much so that he wanted to quickly run to the willow tree.

Ye Yun did not know that Shi Hao could sense the former's influence when the latter cultivated. But Shi Hao was the future Desolate Heavenly Emperor after all, so how could he not be able to sense, though unknowingly, the effects of Ye Yun's presence and cultivation?

Ye Yun suddenly realized that his roots had extended another thirty feet deeper into the soil.

And the system's notification beeped.

[Beep beep. Dear host, you have arrived at a new location. Do you wish to check in?]

"Is that so? Finally, there's no need to stay by the willow tree."Ye Yun could not help but get excited and quickly replied to the system.

"Check me in!"

[You have successfully checked in today. The location is thirty feet under the willow tree. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward, Earth Essence Energy x1]

[The Earth Essence Energy can increase the host's growth state. Do you wish to use it?]

'What? The check-in location is thirty feet under the willow tree's roots? So it seems that I could 'move' vertically,' Ye Yun thought to himself.

"Use it."

Why would he keep such a tool that could promote his growth? He had to use it quickly. Wouldn't it be just a matter of time before he transformed into human form?

[The host has used Earth Essence Energy. Status change in progress. The host is now in the Advanced Energy Storage phase of Growth. The host is about to step into the Meridian Transformation phase of Growth.]

'What? Why does Growth have so many phases? How many phases of Growth do I have to go through? How has it not ended yet?' Ye Yun thought to himself.

And here he was thinking that the Advanced Energy Storage phase of Growth was the last step before he could move on to the next stage.

Still, the reward that he had obtained today was quite suitable for his plans to grow rapidly.

Since he now knew that he could check in at different locations based on the four directions his roots could grow in, he had found another way to obtain more rewards besides triggering missions. 

And spreading his roots in directions seemed easier than trying to trigger missions.

With that, Ye Yun no longer paid any attention to the system and instead redirected his attention to the children who were undergoing body tempering in the village.

The child closest to him was Shi Hao.

The people in the village had arranged for him to use Suan Ni's blood essence to temper his body and Shi Hao's face was turning as red as a tomato. The veins on his forehead were bulging and his face was covered in a cold sweat that flowed down his cheeks continuously before dripping into the bucket.

His lips were pale as he clenched his teeth tightly. He had bit down so hard that his lips started to bleed as he silently endured the pain of body tempering.

He was only a four-year-old child, but his willpower was astonishing. He was even better at this than an adult.

Ye Yun watched Shi Hao carefully and could not help but sigh. If this was Earth, a child of his size would be wailing for his family.

Shi Hao reminded Ye Yun of himself - an orphan with no mother or father.

The main difference between them was that Shi Hao was brought up by the villagers, surrounded by people who knew and cared for him. Shi Hao, on the other hand, grew up in an orphanage with only fellow orphans for companions.

Ye Yun started to really favor Shi Hao.

Ye Yun also observed the other children. They were wailing in pain and their parents' hearts clenched with anxiety. But Ye Yun simply sniggered at these children who usually ran around with smiles on their faces.

'Hah, serves you right for always disturbing my peace, you little brats.'

While the other children had their parents to watch over them, Shi Hao had had the village chief, besides Ye Yun.

Stone Village continued its daily proceedings peacefully, unaware of the approaching threat.

——

Back during the battle at the mountain forest lake involving Suan Ni, Stone Village was able to return with spoils while Wolf Village fled empty-handed in embarrassment.

Their guardian spirit had also been killed.

But what made them most angry was that they had fled in fear of being slaughtered by the terrifying sword Qi, only to find out that the sword Qi had left the moment it was done with Suan Ni.

It was Wolf Village's loss in every way.

If they hadn't acted so rashly, they could have taken their share of the spoils.

Wolf Village was determined to get back what they felt belonged to them, even if they had to use their ancestral artifact.

They had previously underestimated Stone Village, thinking that they were very poor and did not have any magical treasures, only to regretfully find out that Stone Village had a trump card up their sleeves.

Just like the people of Stone Village who could not sleep after returning from the battle, those of Wolf Village couldn't sleep either. However, the latter's sleepless night was due to completely different reasons. The residents of Wolf Village were planning a way to retrieve the spoils they had lost to Stone Village.

The village chief of Wolf Village gathered his people at his house in the middle of the night, and they began to discuss.

"Village Chief, let's cut the small talk. Can't we use our ancestral artifact to attack the people of Stone Village? We all know that we are stronger than them. They only have a few cultivators, and the rest are basically old and weak. I'll take the lead and take care of them," said one of the black-skinned men. He patted his chest and let out a grunt. His voice was crisp and clear, filled with endless killing intent.

"Are you out of your mind? Stone Village has a guardian spirit protecting them. How are you going to get past that to attack them? You won't be able to get close to their borders before their guardian spirit takes you out." The person beside him rolled his eyes.

This latter person only saw the first one who spoke as a simple-minded four-limbed fool.

"If only our guardian spirit hadn't been slaughtered, we could have taken them out easily," said a young man.

The young man's delicate and pretty face started to change into a rather terrifying look. He was the cultivation prodigy of Wolf Village who had originally planned to kill the Stone Village's guardian spirit.

"That's not entirely true either. The guardian spirit of the Stone Village might appear to be a simple willow tree. However, no one has seen its true abilities. Moreover, despite their weakness, Stone Village has been living peacefully without any form of disturbance from the outside world since the willow tree's appearance. Based on this, we have reason to believe that their guardian spirit is quite capable," said the Wolf Village's chief calmly.

"It's just a tree. It can't move. What could it possibly do to anyone?"

The cultivation prodigy of Wolf Village finally thought of an idea. "I don't think we alone would be able to successfully retrieve the spoils from Stone Village. However, what if we make public that Stone Village is hiding many magical treasures? Won't the others then take the cue to act against Stone Village?"