In the Vast Wilderness, Cangmang Mountain Range
The encounter between Shi Yi and the white-haired elder—the suanni—was but a fleeting moment. The creature bore no intent to harm Shi Yi, nor did it offer aid. Shi Yi had been cast out by Liu Shen for training, and without her permission, no person or beast in the boundless Great Wilderness would help him return to Stone Village.
The suanni, having no desire to mooch more of Shi Yi's barbecue, sat and chatted briefly before dragging its dying body away. It wasn't tired of the food—some things, some experiences, are most beautiful the first time. To preserve that initial wonder, it chose to savor and depart.
For the next month, Shi Yi wandered the endless Great Wilderness alone, searching for a way out or a path back to Stone Village. But the Great Wilderness spanned billions of miles, and he found neither. Old Patriarch Shi Yunfeng had once told him he could walk tens of thousands of miles—a feat already at the limit of possibility. In truth, the Great Wilderness stretched far beyond billions of miles. Without direction, escaping on foot was impossible.
At least, not for someone in the Heavenly Passage Realm.
Shi Yi was lost, increasingly unable to discern his bearings.
They say when a person is pushed to the brink, they unleash extraordinary strength. Over that month, Shi Yi clashed with ferocious beasts time and again, his blood staining across the Great Wilderness.
Of course, those tens of thousands of miles walked were but a fraction of the Great Wilderness—less than a hundred-thousandth of its true expanse. Shi Yi was like a grain of sand adrift in an ocean, struggling to survive.
Whether by design or fate, the beasts he fought were always slightly stronger than him—challenging, but not so overwhelming as to kill him in a single blow. As long as Shi Yi pushed himself to his limits, he emerged victorious, the beasts falling one by one.
Through these trials of blood and fire, Shi Yi's once frivolous and lazy demeanor gradually gave way to steadiness and reliability. A trustworthy aura began to emanate from him.
___
Five Million Miles from Stone Village, in a Dry Mountain Cave
Crackle! The sound of burning flames filled the air.
Shi Yi sat before a bonfire, clad in a long beast-hide robe, his heart heavy with uncertainty about the future. He had once believed he could live a comfortable life as a noble scion, free from strife.
Yet, fate had other plans.
The elders of Martial King Manor refused to let a double-pupiled prodigy—a born saint—settle for mediocrity. They sent him to Stone Village. Liu Shen, too, refused to let him linger there, casting him out to temper himself. It was as if everyone was telling him he couldn't be ordinary.
This sense of destiny was stifling, and it grated on him. But Shi Yi lacked the strength to defy it. He suspected that even muttering a complaint about Liu Shen under his breath would summon her wrath—a willow branch lashing out from the void to whip him.
Unable to fight back or speak out, he could only swallow his frustration.
Thankfully, Shi Yi's mental resilience had grown. His heart wasn't yet ironclad, but it was a stubborn stone, not easily shattered.
"Mother, it's been three years since I left home. Do you miss your Yi'er?" Shi Yi murmured, stirring an iron pot over the fire with a spatula. Inside simmered a goose—a wild variant with vibrant, seven-colored feathers.
Known as a Seven-Color Goose, it was only slightly inferior to the Eight-Treasure Chicken, another wild variant. Capturing it had been no small feat, requiring immense effort before Shi Yi could slaughter, clean, and stew it.
The flavor? Beyond question. With his peerless culinary skills, Shi Yi could make a name for himself even without cultivation, never sinking to the level of a mere ant. The true power of the double pupils lay not in their destructive force or ability to pierce illusions, but in their unparalleled capacity for learning and creation—the reason double-pupiled individuals were called born saints.
A double-pupiled prodigy needed no external crutches. Clinging to extraneous aids—more bones, more paths—would only drag them into the mundane. Only by achieving enlightenment through the cycle of life and death, shedding reliance on foreign objects, could they unlock their true potential. Otherwise, they'd be anchored in place, chained by their dependencies.
___
Stone Kingdom, Martial King Manor, Rear Courtyard
As Shi Yi thought of his mother, two figures returned to Martial King Manor—a husband and wife. The moment they arrived, they sought out Shi Hao.
"Hao'er!" A woman in a vibrant red robe caught sight of six-year-old Shi Hao and burst into tears. Not tears of sorrow, but of joy at their long-awaited reunion.
"Mom?" Shi Hao turned at her voice, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. The woman in red seemed to match the figure from his memories.
"Hao'er, it's me. Don't you recognize your mother?" she said, her voice trembling.
Three years ago, just before Shi Yi's baptism, this woman—Shi Hao's mother, Qin Yining, and Shi Yi's aunt—had left Shi Hao in the care of Shi Yi's mother. She and her husband, Shi Ziling, had departed Martial King Manor to search for Shi Hao's grandfather, Shi Zhongtian. Now, they had finally returned.
"Mother!" Shi Hao cried, rushing to her.
At six, Shi Hao lived a privileged life in Martial King Manor, unlike Shi Yi's rugged existence. Dressed in fine silks, his chubby face and bright eyes spoke of a comfortable life, far from the cave-dwelling hardship of his older cousin.
"Hao'er, seeing you so well brings me such joy. My little Hao'er, you've grown so plump in three years—I hardly recognize you!" Qin Yining gently embraced him, her fair hands caressing his face, as if measuring how much he'd changed in her absence.
"Mother, Aunt has been very kind to me. But ever since Brother Yi disappeared three years ago, she's been so sad when she's alone," Shi Hao said, nestling in her arms. Though Shi Yi's mother had treated him well, she couldn't replace the warmth of his own mother. Like Shi Yi, he deeply missed her.
"Yi'er… missing too?" Qin Yining's brows furrowed.
Is there something wrong with this family? Her husband's grandfather, Shi Zhongtian, had vanished, and after three years, they'd finally found a lead. Now, another key figure in Martial King Manor was gone. She knew Shi Yi, born with double pupils, was the future of the manor—an irreplaceable prodigy.
This complicated matters. She and Shi Ziling had planned to enlist the aid of the manor's Venerable Realm elders, but with them preoccupied searching for Shi Yi, help was unlikely.
___
Elsewhere in Martial King Manor
"Ziling, what did you say? You have news of Old Fifteen?" A white-haired elder shot to his feet, his gaze locking onto Shi Ziling, who knelt before him.
"Yes, Eighth Uncle. Father successfully hunted a pureblood pixiu cub in the Hundred Clans Battlefield, obtaining its true blood. But as he left, he was spotted by the cub's adult guardian," Shi Ziling explained. "The adult pixiu is immensely powerful, and Father was gravely wounded in the battlefield. He's no match for it and is still being pursued. I beg you, uncles, to lend your aid."
With those words, Shi Ziling bowed deeply, his forehead touching the ground.
The only ones who could save his father now were the elders seated before him.
_
If you want to support me and read advanced 100+ chapters and also other stories: patreon.com/Caluem