Chapter 3

Amidst the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Ji Hao stood atop the fire crow, looking down below.

With a sharp cry, the fire crow folded its wings and darted through a narrow gap between two steep mountains. Ahead, the scenery suddenly opened up, revealing a valley over a hundred miles long and thirty miles wide at its widest point, surrounded by mountains.

The towering mountain to the side was Jinwu Ridge, the sacred land of the Fire Crow Tribe. The fire crows that nested in the giant green mulberry trees on Jinwu Ridge, according to legend, shared the bloodline of the ancient sacred three-legged golden crow, making them the most powerful war beasts of the Fire Crow Tribe.

At the end of the valley, a vast mulberry forest stretched for several miles. Countless nests were built among the branches, and large flocks of fire crows, about two feet in length, circled the forest in silence.

When Ji Hao rode the giant crow to the mulberry forest, all the circling fire crows landed on the trees, silently staring at Ji Hao and the giant crow. They slowly spread their wings, pressing their chests against the branches as if prostrating themselves, paying homage to the giant crow in their unique way.

Ji Hao nimbly jumped off the giant crow, whistled, and the giant crow flapped its wings, transforming into a streak of fire that shot into the sky. After circling for a while, it flew toward the summit of Jinwu Ridge.

The countless small fire crows, with their bright red eyes, all focused on Ji Hao. The mulberry forest was filled with an eerie, solemn atmosphere.

Waving to the countless small fire crows, Ji Hao followed a narrow path through the mulberry forest, which was only about three feet wide. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the forest, which appeared to be only a few miles wide from a distance, suddenly seemed vast and deep. Ji Hao ran along the path for about half an hour, leaving a trail of afterimages, and had covered nearly fifty miles when he reached two towering green mulberry trees, each with a trunk thick enough to be embraced by a hundred people, which were invisible from outside the forest.

The two green mulberry trees were about fifty feet apart, with dozens of massive branches intertwined to form an archway emitting a faint glow. Ji Hao walked through the archway, and a wave of heat enveloped him. A vast forest stretched out before him.

At the edge of the forest, a huge arched wooden house was built from logs as thick as several people. On top of the house, a wooden pillar about a hundred feet thick and several hundred feet tall supported a platform a hundred feet wide, on which the skeleton of a golden fire crow with a wingspan of about a hundred feet stood proudly.

Although only a skeleton, the fire crow's bones exuded an overwhelmingly powerful aura, vast and endless, like an ocean enveloping the entire forest. At first glance, the skeleton seemed to be a blazing sun floating dozens of feet above the ground.

What was surprising was that the fire crow's skeleton had three leg bones, indicating it was the remains of a three-legged giant crow.

Ji Hao gazed at the skeleton, which still radiated immense pride and indomitable fighting spirit even in death. He bowed deeply three times and murmured a silent prayer.

Slowing his pace, Ji Hao walked lightly to the huge wooden house and quietly approached the six-foot-high wooden door, peering inside through the crack.

The interior of the wooden house was extremely spacious, large enough to accommodate a thousand people. The floor was paved with thick stone slabs, and in the center was a two-foot-wide fire pit where a large bonfire burned, roasting a giant beast that had been cleaned and skinned. The meat was already charred and dripping with oil, filling the house with a rich aroma.

Dozens of large earthenware jars lined the edge of the fire pit, ready for anyone to take. Occasionally, a withered old man or a tall, muscular man would grab a jar and pour strong liquor into a stone bowl.

Around the fire pit, dozens of thin old men and an equal number of muscular men sat, all with stern faces, eating large pieces of meat and drinking from large bowls. The only sounds in the house were the slicing of meat with stone knives and the pouring of liquor into stone bowls, along with the crackling of the bonfire.

By the time Ji Hao arrived, the giant beast being roasted had already been mostly eaten. In less than a quarter of an hour, the beast was reduced to bones, which were chopped up and the marrow scooped out and eaten by the men. All the liquor in the jars was consumed, not a drop left.

Suddenly, a man over three meters tall, with long hair tied into a thick braid, narrow snake-like eyes, and an aura of overwhelming menace, grabbed a jar and smashed it on the ground, shattering both the jar and the stone slab beneath it.

The loud noise broke the deathly silence in the house.

"Full and drunk, let's get to the serious business!" The man slowly stood up, his massive body radiating heat, making the house seem smaller.

"Ji Xia, you are no longer the strongest warrior of our generation! Look at your emaciated body. Since your witch cave was breached ten years ago, you are no longer a great shaman; you are just an ordinary tribesman!"

The man pointed at a large man sitting by the fire, facing the door, and roared, "What right do you have to be the leader of the Fire Crow Tribe's warriors? What right do you have to command the guardian warriors? What right do you have to preside over our sacred land?"

The man being questioned slowly stood up. His frame was extremely robust, even taller than the man who challenged him. However, his muscular body was now gaunt, his skin tightly adhering to his bones, making him look like a skeleton that could be blown over by the wind.

Ji Xia, Ji Hao's biological father, was once the strongest warrior of the Fire Crow Tribe!

But when Ji Hao was born, they were ambushed at the ancestral temple on Jinwu Ridge. Ji Xia fought fiercely to protect Ji Hao and his wife, sustaining severe injuries from the Black Water Black Snake Tribe's attack. Over the years, Ji Xia's body had withered, and many believed he had lost his former strength.

Ji Hao clenched his fists, his mind flashing with images of Ji Xia's fierce battle to protect him. Ji Xia's massive body had blocked the enemy's despicable ambush and wild attacks, stubbornly protecting his young life.

Ji Hao still remembered clearly how Ji Xia's blood, hot and scalding, had splattered on him.

Narrowing his eyes, Ji Hao gave a deep look at the muscular man who had stood up to challenge him.

Standing steadily, Ji Xia smiled warmly, "So, Brother Ji Hong, what do you suggest?"

In the crowd, a young man, much shorter than the muscular men around him and with a somewhat youthful face, suddenly jumped out, pointing at Ji Xia and shouting, "Old waste! What else? You should take your disaster-bringing wife from the Qingyi Tribe and that little bastard and get out of here. Let my father become the leader of the Fire Crow Tribe's warriors and preside over our sacred land!"

The young man raised his head arrogantly and shouted, "The ancestral ceremony is in a few days, and all the leaders of the Fire Crow Tribe's clans will come to the sacred land. In front of so many tribesmen, you should leave on your own!"

"Old waste"? Disaster-bringing wife?

Ji Hao laughed loudly, his anger surging. Without regard for the solemnity of the wooden house, where the Fire Crow Tribe discussed important matters, he kicked open the heavy door.

The two doors slammed against the walls with a loud crash, and Ji Hao strode into the house.

"Little bastard, who are you calling?" Ji Hao shouted, forming a hand seal and spitting out a ball of fire from the bonfire, which enveloped the young man.

The flames roared, and the young man's hair and eyebrows instantly turned to smoke.

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