"Hmph! Overestimating your own abilities. If the Jiang family knew Lord Hei's methods, they wouldn't be so obstinate. Since Lord Hei has entrusted this matter to us, we shall naturally do our utmost. I heard Jiang Boya has a grandson whom he treasures dearly. Heh heh heh... Go, find a way to get that child into our hands. When that time comes, hmph hmph, the Jiang family will grovel at our feet like dogs..."
In the Jiang family estate, a woman whose beauty rivaled that of an immortal was nestled in her lover's arms. Gazing up at his chiseled face, she was filled with deep anxiety. "Tian-ge, this time they are coming for Chen'er."
The man's brows were tightly knitted, his gaze fixed on a pitch-black planet in the starry sky. After a long moment, he turned his head to look at the beauty in his arms, his eyes turning infinitely tender. "Don't worry, there won't be a next time. Tell your Blood Qilin clan to take precautions to protect the juniors of the clan. The Guiying Sect knows no humanity."
With that, the man cast a lingering, reluctant glance at the sleeping baby in the beauty's arms, and sighed inwardly...
On the Xuanhuang Continent, the strong are supreme.
When the saints do not appear, who can vie for supremacy?
Daqing Mountain sits at the southernmost tip of the Xuanhuang Continent, stretching outward for hundreds of miles, with no one knowing where its end leads. At the foot of the mountain, two small wooden houses gradually awoke from the morning mist. The fresh air, mingled with the occasional call of birds, quietly descended, herouncing the arrival of a new day.
*Slap!* A crisp smacking sound came from inside the house. "Grandpa! You hit my bottom again! I'm already fourteen years old."
"Fine, I won't hit you anymore. Get up quickly and go do your morning exercise. Make the food before I get back, or I won't teach you how to hunt."
"Hmph! Threatening me again."
As they spoke, the door opened and an old man in a green robe walked out, a rich smile on his face. He was very content with this kind of life.
"In another two years, I'll find a wife for Xiaofeng, and then I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet, haha!" With a laugh, he headed up the mountain...
The youth called Xiaofeng was named Jiang Feng. At this moment, he was standing in front of a large tree covered in fallen leaves, staring blankly at his right fist. "Lately, the strength in my right arm has been getting stronger and stronger. When Grandpa comes back, I must ask him properly. Could I be the descendant of some Demon Beast?"
At dusk, smoke curled lazily from the rooftops. Jiang Feng sat quietly on a giant boulder, cupping his chin in his hands, staring intently at the path leading up the mountain.
*It's March now, everything is reviving, the wild hares on the mountain should be coming out too. Catching one and roasting it would be the most delicious thing ever,* Jiang Feng thought, nearly drooling at the idea.
Before long, an old man's figure flashed onto the mountain path. "Grandpa is finally back! We can eat!" Jiang Feng leaped down from the boulder joyfully and hurried to meet him.
However, he did not notice that closely tailing behind his grandfather were a dozen or so gray wolves. Seeing Jiang Feng running toward him from afar, his grandfather shouted anxiously, "Xiaofeng! Hide quickly!"
Jiang Feng was stunned for a moment. Only then did he spot the pack of wolves behind his grandfather, and his little face instantly turned pale with fright. But seeing that his grandfather was in grave danger, in his panic he snatched up a wooden club from the roadside and rushed rapidly toward his grandfather.
Right at that moment, a cyan wolf that was noticeably much larger than the rest of the pack leaped out from behind the wolves. Opening its jaws, with a *bang*, a wind blade slashed across his grandfather's back. His grandfather was instantly sent hurtling forward several yards, crashing down right in front of Jiang Feng as a mouthful of dark blood spurted violently from his lips.
"Xiaofeng, run!" his grandfather cried out in despair.
Jiang Feng did not reply, instead stepping swiftly in front of his grandfather, his trembling hands gripping the wooden club with all his might as he stared fiercely at the wolf pack with murderous eyes.
The wolves advanced slowly toward Jiang Feng, pairs of wolf eyes gleaming with a chilling green light.
*Awooo!* The Big Cyan Wolf raised its head and let out a long howl. The pack dug their front paws into the ground and suddenly sprang high into the air, lunging at Jiang Feng. The old man's heart shattered with terror, and he closed his eyes in despair.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Just as the grandfather and grandson were about to be devoured by the wolves, the pack suddenly collided with an invisible barrier of light, bouncing backward and flying off in all directions.
The old man opened his eyes in pleasant surprise. A... barrier?!
The Big Cyan Wolf slowly walked up to the barrier, sniffed it with its nose, tilted its head as if pondering for a moment, and then let out a howl, leading the pack away at high speed.
Seeing the wolves disappear, Jiang Feng hurried forward to check on his grandfather's injuries. At this moment, the old man's body was almost entirely shrouded in gray vapor, his face had taken on a dark cyan hue, and black blood continuously spilled from the corners of his mouth. "Grandpa! What's wrong with you?" Jiang Feng was clearly terrified by his grandfather's appearance, crying out as he asked.
The old man raised his hand and affectionately stroked Jiang Feng's face. "Child, listen to Grandpa first... In the box under Grandpa's bed, there is a jade pendant that was hung around your neck when I first found you... This might be the only clue to your origins. But Grandpa still hopes that you... will just be an ordinary person and live a simple life... Grandpa won't be able to watch you grow up... After I die, go to Qingshi Town... find Manager Liu at the Baicao Pharmacy... He will arrange everything for you."
The old man gazed up at the sky, his eyes beginning to lose focus. "I, Liu Yuankun, wandered the world for a lifetime, and today... I can finally... come... to keep you company." With those words, he closed his eyes forever.
"Grandpa!!" Jiang Feng lunged over his grandfather's body, weeping bitterly as if he had lost his most precious possession, his consciousness blurring in waves.
"Xiaofeng, get up, don't be lazy, the sun is already high in the sky."
"Xiaofeng, guess what Grandpa caught today? Haha, I'll make your favorite roasted wild hare in a while."
"Xiaofeng, hold your horse stance properly. When you grow up, Grandpa will take you hunting."
Scene after scene of his grandfather's life flashed through Jiang Feng's mind like light and shadow. The person in this world who loved him most had actually left him just like that. Fate was playing such a cruel trick on him, turning him into an orphan yet again.
Jiang Feng trembled all over, looking like a madman possessed. He sprang to his feet, glaring fiercely at the vast sky. "Why! Why are you so unfair to me! Why must you take away my only grandfather? Give Grandpa back to me!" But the only response he received was the distant howling of wolves.
"It's all your fault, you thousand-times-damned demonic wolves!" Jiang Feng dropped heavily to his knees. "I swear, if I do not avenge this, I, Jiang Feng, will bleed to death."
Accompanied by his roar, rays of red light began to emanate from Jiang Feng's entire body. The red light grew increasingly intense, and the blood throughout his body began to boil, his blood vessels protruding from his skin like writhing little snakes.
Above Jiang Feng, the illusory projection of a Blood Qilin gradually manifested. The projection bared its fangs and brandished its claws, roaring toward the heavens.
Yet before the projection could solidify, all the strange phenomena popped like a pierced bubble, vanishing without a trace.
Jiang Feng knelt prostrate on the ground, gasping for breath as beads of sweat dripped from his face, while a layer of illusory scales on his right arm flickered in and out of view...