"Yi'er, don't be afraid. Mother is here."
As his mother called out to him, Shi Yi had no choice but to resign himself.
He pinched his nose, covered his mouth, closed his eyes, and, bracing himself, jumped in.
Splash.
Shi Yi felt as if he had plunged into boiling magma. An indescribable pain surged through every part of his body, as though his flesh was being torn to pieces.
This all-encompassing agony was beyond words—far worse than any medicinal bath he had endured.
He truly couldn't endure such torment. His body and mind didn't belong to this world, and he lacked the kind of unyielding will that people here possessed. He was just an ordinary person from an ordinary world.
Moreover—
Shi Yi wasn't like some transmigrator who arrived mid-life, devoured the original soul, and seized the body to be reborn.
Shi Yi had been conscious since he was in the womb. From birth until now, that was how he lived.
If anything made him different, it was that he had used Shi Hao's birth mother, now his own, to create a vessel suitable for his soul.
As long as Shi Yi kept silent, no one—no matter how far back they traced time—could find any evidence that he was a transmigrator. To the world, he was a native-born person.
However—
Just recently, when he was six years old, fragments of memories suddenly emerged in his mind. Or rather, they were unlocked—long-sealed memories hidden deep within his soul.
These were memories from his past life, which had traveled with his soul through countless realms to this familiar yet strange world after a nuclear blast struck him in his previous world.
Simply put—
He was Shi Yi. Shi Yi was him.
Both his body and soul were truly his.
"So much pain... It hurts too much..."
The scattered thoughts drifting through Shi Yi's mind only momentarily suppressed the excruciating pain surging through his body.
Very soon—
He had no time to think about anything else. The lingering grudges within the ferocious beast's true blood began to take shape, resembling the beasts in life, and invaded his sea of consciousness.
Within the deep blue sea of his soul, Shi Yi sat cross-legged with eyes shut in the center, surrounded by manifestations of pure-blooded ferocious beasts brimming with hostility, ready to tear his soul apart.
Their violent, cruel aura and savage eyes—
These grudges, transformed into beasts, were born from the fiercest hatred in their final moments. To absorb the true blood of such creatures, one needed considerable strength—mere courage wouldn't suffice.
At the same time—
In a quiet, refined room within the Martial King's Residence, several elderly men with snow-white hair sat together.
"Old Thirteen, do you think Yi'er… can handle the grudges in the beast's true blood?"
"Of course he can. Yi'er is the reincarnation of an ancient sage, born with the legendary Dual-Pupils. How could the grudges of beast blood possibly threaten someone with Dual-Pupils?"
"Old Thirteen, let me warn you—what you gave Hao'er was from a mutated beast. What you're using on Yi'er is from a pure-blooded one. Do I need to explain the difference? Mutated beasts are mongrels. They can't compare to pure-bloods. The grudges in the true blood of pure-blooded beasts are far stronger."
"So what if it's a pure-blooded beast? Can it possibly overpower someone with Dual-Pupils?"
"This isn't about comparison. Yi'er is still a child—he's only six. Using the blood of a pure-blooded beast—have you considered whether his body can even withstand it? Also, this blood is all that's left in the Martial King's Residence. Couldn't you have left at least a little for Hao'er?"
"Hao'er's talent is mediocre. How can he compare to Yi'er? Yi'er is the hope of the Martial King's Residence. All resources must be devoted to him."
As the elders of the Shi Clan argued, another elderly man with white hair appeared.
He was the Martial King of the Residence—a rare expert at the "Venerable" level.
He was a peer of the current Stone Emperor and once a contender for the title of Human Emperor of the Stone Kingdom. Though he ultimately lost, his valor was well-known, earning him the title of Martial King. He shared the nation's resources and the willpower of the Stone Kingdom's people alongside the Stone Emperor.
"It's fine. If anything goes wrong, I'll step in. Yi'er is the hope of our Martial King's Residence—I won't just sit by and watch something happen to him," the Martial King said calmly, stroking his white beard.
"Since Old Eight has spoken, I have no more objections." An elder of the Shi Clan nodded in satisfaction—he had been waiting for this assurance.
His surname was Shi, and he was ninth-ranked by seniority within the Martial King's Residence. Though he had just spoken in favor of Shi Hao, it was out of concern—concern that Shi Yi might not be able to bear the powerful grudge within the true blood.
It's worth noting—
This "ninth-ranked" wasn't a reference to strength, but seniority. Strength and seniority didn't necessarily align.
Within the Martial King's Residence, the elder generation consisted of fifteen brothers—not all from the same mother, but all shared the same father.
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Of the fifteen brothers, only Old Eight, Old Nine, Old Eleven, Old Thirteen, and the youngest, Old Fifteen, were still alive.
The others either died young or were killed by ferocious beasts.
Now, with their hair white and lifespans nearing the end, their greatest concern was the Martial King's Residence's future. Shi Yi was the one they placed their hopes on.
"It's been three years… Where did Old Fifteen disappear to?" Old Thirteen suddenly asked.
He was referring to Shi Hao's grandfather, Shi Zhongtian—also known as the Great Demon God. His strength even surpassed the Martial King himself.
"Old Fifteen is stubborn and refuses to admit defeat. Upon learning that Yi'er had Dual-Pupils while his grandson Shi Hao didn't, he stubbornly ventured alone into the bloody battlefield of the Hundred Clans. He wanted to win a great opportunity for his grandson by hunting down a pure-blooded beast cub and retrieving its blood for Shi Hao's baptism," Old Nine explained.
"You all aren't blameless either. Hao'er is our descendant, too. If you hadn't allocated all the pure-blooded beast blood to Yi'er, would Old Fifteen have taken such a risk?" Old Eleven huffed coldly.
Unlike Old Eight, Old Nine, and Old Thirteen—who favored Shi Yi—Old Eleven was closest to Old Fifteen and naturally leaned toward Shi Hao.
"This was my decision," Old Eight, the Martial King, said calmly. "If you must blame someone, blame me."
"There's no point blaming you now. Old Fifteen is already gone. I just hope he returns safely. If Hao'er doesn't get pure-blooded beast blood, we'll figure something else out," Old Eleven said with a dissatisfied click of the tongue.
"No need to worry too much. Shi Ziling and his wife have gone looking for Old Fifteen. Once they find him, we'll discuss it with the Stone Emperor and borrow a portion of pure-blooded beast blood for Hao'er's baptism," Old Nine said, trying to mediate.
Once Shi Yi's baptism was complete, they could step in for Shi Hao out of respect for Old Fifteen.
Of course—
The condition was that it must not conflict with Shi Yi.
After all, the Dual-Pupils bearer was the true future of the Martial King's Residence.
"Old Eleven, you need to relax a little. Ziling and Zitong are cousins, and Hao'er calls Yi'er 'big brother.' We're all one family," Old Thirteen also tried to console him.
As he said—
Shi Ziling and Shi Zitong's families got along well. Otherwise, Shi Ziling wouldn't have entrusted his three-year-old son Shi Hao to them.
…
(End of Chapter)