Perfection: I have a Tree of Ten Thousand Paths

Qi Shi'an and A Jin hid at the bottom of the river for most of the day before they felt safe enough to surface; Shi Hao also poked his little head out.

They were frozen so badly their bodies turned purple, their breath was icy, and the water droplets on their bodies turned into ice crystals and fell to the ground.

Even though they had ingested the divine elixir beforehand, their physical bodies were almost frozen and cracked.

Qi Shi'an believed that his physical body was comparable to that of an ancient ferocious beast, yet he almost died in this river.

Fortunately, he had the divine liquid from the Myriad Dao Tree, otherwise he would have surely died. Immediately, he condensed two more drops of the divine liquid to heal his injuries.

At this moment, beside the black river, a group of people stood there, looking at the mountains destroyed by the ancient remnants and the forests burned to ashes.

They were lost in thought for a moment, and in the old woman's hand, there was still a small piece of eggshell.

"What kind of creature is this? How could it possibly eat the egg of a descendant of an ancient divine bird? What a spendthrift!"

A young man was furious.

"The creature that stole the eggs jumped into the Taiyin River; I wonder if it will survive," a middle-aged man sighed.

Legend has it that this river was formed from one of the nine stars that were cut down from the sky during the ancient war, and fell here after being refined. It is a place where all life is extinct.

"Judging from the situation here, it seems there is more than one ancient remnant species. We also heard two bird calls just now."

"It seems there was another group of people who were being chased by another ancient remnant species and eventually jumped into the Taiyin River as well."

The woman in white at the head of the group had a slight smile on her lips.

"Could it be that another ancient remnant species also lost an egg?"

A middle-aged man's hope was rekindled; he lost one hope, but gained another.

"Follow them downstream!"

The group rushed to the lower reaches of the Taiyin River again, hoping to find the creature.

"Cough cough, Maoqiu, you good-for-nothing, you troublemaker, hurry up and get a drop of blood to save Xiaobai!" Shi Hao said angrily.

The fluffy ball reluctantly squeezed out a drop of golden blood, which brought the unicorn back to life.

"roar!"

After refining the divine liquid, A Jin recovered and shook off the remaining ice shards on his body, staring intently at the man and the two beasts.

Shi Hao then remembered that there was a person and a beast that had come out of the water with him. The person was quite handsome and about the same age as him.

He knew how cold the river was, but he never expected that this person could survive, and that the person's aura was comparable to his own!

Qi Shi'an was also sizing up Shi Hao, thinking to himself, "This is the future Desolate Emperor? He's so short, but his aura is no less than mine."

"roar!"

A Jin roared at Shi Hao, the little guy, but Shi Hao wasn't scared. Instead, he stared at the golden unicorn bear in front of him, drooling uncontrollably.

"Ah Jin, don't do this."

Qi Shi'an stroked A Jin, feeling admiration for Shi Hao. Such courage at such a young age, truly worthy of the title "Huang".

But could you please stop drooling?

"My name is Qi Shi'an. What's your name?"

Qi Shi'an asked a question, pretending to be serious.

"Shi Hao is already seven years old."

Little Shi Hao finally came to his senses and wiped the corner of his mouth.

"I come from the Cuifeng Mountains, which are nearly a million miles away, and I am almost seven years old."

Qi Shi'an stood tall and proud. His strength was now comparable to Shi Hao's, both having surpassed the extreme realm.

"A million miles away?! So your mount is also a species from the Emerald Peak Mountains? It looks delicious. Its true blood must be very strong."

Shi Hao's eyes widened in shock; he had never eaten any creature from outside before.

"roar!"

When Ah Jin heard that this little brat dared to humiliate it, it would have rushed up to teach the little brat a lesson if Qi Shi'an hadn't stopped it.

"Um...this is my pet beast, don't even think about eating it."

Qi Shi'an couldn't help but sigh. As expected of Huang, he only ate beast forms, maintaining his gluttonous nature as always, even though he also loved to eat.

"But you're the same age as me and you dare to travel a million miles alone to the Great Wilderness. Aren't you afraid your parents will worry?" Little Shi Hao asked innocently.

"My parents were killed by my family and other clans when I was three years old, which is why I am living alone."

Qi Shi'an spoke of his parents' deaths with some relief, but the hatred in his eyes for the Qi and Kun tribes would not dissipate.

"So you're like me, growing up without your parents. It seems we're quite destined for each other. Why don't you come with me?"

Shi Hao rarely encountered a friend who shared his plight, so he extended an invitation to travel with him.

Qi Shi'an thought for a while and then agreed, since he was going to the Kingdom of Shi anyway.

Shi Hao grew up in the Cangmang Mountains, which are closest to the Great Wilderness, so he is definitely more familiar with the Great Wilderness than Shi Hao is.

He also wondered if he might have the chance to witness the original true explanation, even though he had the Tree of Ten Thousand Paths and did not need the original true explanation.

However, the original runes on it still intrigued him, as they might allow the runes of the Myriad Paths Tree to undergo another transformation.

In the following days, Qi Shi'an and Shi Hao traveled together through the wilderness, traversing the mountains. When they encountered ferocious beasts, they joined forces to kill them, skin them, and stew their meat.

Shi Hao felt that he had finally found a like-minded friend.

"Squeak..."

The furball instantly sensed something and issued a warning. Its fur turned grayish-white, losing its golden luster, and its large eyes also lost their sparkle.

"roar!"

Akin was poised to attack at any moment, and it had just sensed that more than a dozen people were surrounding them from all sides.

Qi Shi'an could roughly guess who the visitor was, but he was afraid that the timeline had been altered and that it wasn't someone from the Butian Pavilion who had come.

The leader was a woman in white, with flowing hair, snow-white and delicate skin like mutton fat jade, crystal-clear eyes, and bright red lips. She was so beautiful that one would want to kneel down at her feet.

Shi Hao was somewhat surprised; how could a group of people suddenly appear in this desolate wilderness?

Qi Shi'an carefully examined the woman. She was indeed beautiful, but unfortunately, he had transmigrated to this world, and women were like painted skeletons. For him, only the Great Dao was eternal!

The group was even more astonished. No matter how they looked at it, the two humans opposite them were children. How could such small children appear in this wilderness? It was quite puzzling.

"Are the two little brothers walking together?"

Xia Youyu, who was in the lead, laughed. Her big, bright eyes seemed to speak volumes, making the men present tremble.

"Hello, sister. We came with Grandpa."

Little Shi Hao smiled shyly. Although his clothes were tattered, his innocent and bright eyes made everyone feel his purity and simplicity.

Qi Shi'an chuckled to himself; Shi Hao was truly adept at using this kind of borrowed power to intimidate others.

However, no one thought there was anything wrong with it. If there were no adults with them, how could they be so bold as to let two children walk in the dangerous wilderness?

Therefore, they concluded that the powerful figure was nearby!

"Hehe, the little brother can actually be shy, how cute."

Xia Youyu chuckled softly, her eyebrows trembling, her pretty face fair and radiant, captivating all who beheld her.

Little Shi Hao scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. The fur ball on his shoulder looked silly, like an unintelligent little animal, completely devoid of spirit.

Runes flickered in the old woman's eyes as she scanned Shi Hao and Qi Shi'an, finally fixing her gaze on A Jin. A Jin trembled under her intense stare.

Qi Shi'an noticed that Ah Jin was acting strangely; it was trembling with fear. So he stroked its fur to comfort it and said, "Grandma, isn't it inappropriate to stare at my pet like that?"

"Hehe, I just felt that your mount was rather unusual, so I thought I'd take a closer look."

The old woman spoke in a gentle, enigmatic way: "Judging from the bloodstains on you two, you must have killed quite a few ferocious birds and beasts."

"Yes, it's dangerous in these mountains. They're all very fierce, and we can only fight back passively." Little Shi Hao nodded very seriously.

"Little brothers, have you been separated from your grandfather for many days? Otherwise, how could your animal skin clothes be so tattered?"

Xia Youyu smiled faintly, her eyes gleaming with a precious light that was both dreamlike and exquisitely beautiful.

"Yes, Grandpa brought the two of us here for training. He said it's a tough journey, and we have to rely on each other for everything. He won't take care of us unless our lives are in danger."

Little Shi Hao was very frank, as if he couldn't keep anything to himself.

Fortunately, when Qi Shi'an was roaming the wilderness, he had no clothes to change into and could only make do with wearing animal skins to cover his body; otherwise, his fine clothes might have been exposed.

The group felt a chill run down their spines. Just as they had expected, only a master would have the confidence to take children on such a long journey through the wilderness and embark on such a brutal training trip.

Runes were circulating in the old woman's silver pupils, and her aura was powerful, which Qi Shi'an noticed.

The old woman wanted to see through them, but he remained calm. No one could see through the Myriad Trees within his body unless he revealed them.

The old woman nodded secretly at Xia Youyu. These methods were indeed in line with the behavior of a master. Most of the outstanding sons of feudal lords had gone through this process.

However, it is extremely rare to see two children fighting against ferocious birds and beasts like this.

"Little brother, you two couldn't have traveled together across tens of thousands of miles of the Great Wilderness without any adults to protect you, could you?" Xia Youyu said with a soft laugh.

"Of course not. Traveling tens of thousands of miles across the Great Wilderness, how could I have lived such a carefree life without the help of an adult?"

Qi Shi'an then interjected, his tone forceful, implying that they were not some kind of prodigy, and that if they were pressed further, the "master" behind them would become impatient.

The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment. The personality of this child riding the bear was the opposite of that of the little one; one was innocent, and the other was tough.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. How could so many powerful figures appear in the same era? And even if they did, how could they easily encounter each other?

The old woman and Xia Youyu, however, fell into deep thought. The adults behind them might be watching their every move.

"Miss, let this old woman test their quality."

After the old woman transmitted her thoughts to Xia Youyu, she suddenly made her move.

She tapped the ground lightly with her cane, and the earth instantly cracked open, revealing a giant made of stone charging towards the two of them.

The old woman suddenly attacked, but Qi Shi'an didn't sense any killing intent. He made a judgment in his mind: "Interesting, it seems she wants to test us."

Shi Hao was secretly startled by the sudden punch, but he reacted quickly, and his aura was clearly different from before.

His figure moved like a crane spreading its wings, and with a 'bang', the stone man was blasted back.

"I never expected this child to be so strong. He has such astonishing strength with just a flick of his arm."

Xia Youyu watched the battle from the sidelines, and she saw the power of Shi Hao's attack very clearly.

Before the old woman could even react in surprise, Qi Shi'an launched his attack. He leaped off A Jin and rushed to the old woman's side at lightning speed. Runes flashed on his right arm, condensing into a blurry beast head.

The old woman was secretly surprised, but her eyes revealed satisfaction. She did not dodge the punch Qi Shi'an threw, but instead used her cane to block it.

With a loud "boom," the old woman was knocked back two steps, and the stone figure beside her was also smashed to pieces by Shi Hao's punch.

The old woman made her move in less than ten seconds, and the two of them moved in one smooth motion. In the blink of an eye, the two children easily thwarted her attack.

The group was taken aback. What was the old woman's status in the Butian Pavilion?

They were actually driven back by two children; they had never seen anything like it before.

"Sister, why did you let the elders around you hurt us?"

The little one's voice was childish, and he looked very puzzled.

Qi Shi'an shook his hand casually, then gritted his teeth and said, "That's really tough, it hurts my hand."

Both of them stared intently at the people behind Xia Youyu, showing no fear or apprehension whatsoever.

Not far away, several young men all had strange expressions.

The old woman smiled gently and said, "Children, we mean you no harm. If we wanted to kill you, why would we have said so much to you two?"

"These two little brothers are really something else."

Xia Youyu was genuinely surprised that her trip to the Great Wilderness had led her to discover two children with astonishing talent.

If they can recruit them, the Heaven-Mending Pavilion might gain some confidence.

If these two grow up, they will surely become the backbone of the Heaven-Mending Pavilion in the future!