Prologue
"Red Lotus Falling God, Red Lotus Falling God... what does this even mean?" Liang Bo muttered to himself, "Sigh, forget it, let's save the person first."
Liang Bo let out a gentle sigh and walked towards the bamboo basket. Inside the basket was a hungry infant. As Liang Bo looked at the child, he couldn't help but gasp; the infant's skin was like warm jade, with a straight nose and square mouth, exuding an air of refined elegance and depth, clearly destined to be an extraordinary talent in the future. However, what was alarming was that the infant's entire body was marked by purple veins, with blackened lips, and his long brows tightly closed, breathing as faint as a wisp of smoke, seemingly on the verge of death. Despite this, the child still emanated a faint, almost imperceptible aura of malevolence. Liang Bo was taken aback, and he thought to himself: "Could that aura, reminiscent of an ancient ferocious beast and akin to a bloodthirsty divine weapon, be emanating from this infant? Is this what my master spoke of... ?"
Haha, I am just going to the mountains to gather some herbs and pick up some firewood along the way. It's not hard work, not hard work at all. I am quite strong, and I see that your foolish son has no problem getting married! This elderly man, known as Elder Liang, laughed heartily. It is evident that he is highly respected by the villagers in the community
If you like it, then you can raise it. Xiaohua likes to eat big fish. When the fish grows bigger than you, we can let Xiaohua eat it, alright? Liang Bo felt a surge of emotion in his heart
Will it be today? At this moment, although Liang Bo's face was calm, a ripple of emotion stirred within him, and no one knew what he was referring to
Since fate has been sealed, there is no avoiding it today. Liang Bo let out a light sigh and swiftly moved towards the source of the malevolent energy.
Suddenly, more than twenty miles ahead of Liang Bo, an indescribable and unmatched malevolent aura surged towards him like a long-sheathed divine weapon yearning for blood. Liang Bo felt as if a thunderclap had struck his mind, and his body was crushed down as if by a colossal mountain descending from the heavens, causing his internal organs to explode in an instant. Liang Bo's vision darkened, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
Mr. Liang advanced slowly in the biting cold wind, as snowflakes and grains of hail the size of rice mixed in the snow whistled past, all evaporated by a surge of vital energy just a centimeter from his body. From a distance, he appeared to be enveloped in a mist, which was quite eerie
Meow... The kitten squinted its eyes and gently called out, seemingly very understanding of human emotions
In this extremely harsh natural environment, an elderly man, who appears to be in his seventies, can be faintly seen on the frozen surface of a river covered with a thick layer of ice. A large bundle of firewood is tied on the ice, and the old man sits atop the pile of firewood, using an axe to carve a small hole in the ice. Holding a fishing rod, which he perhaps made himself, he is fishing. After a long while, the old man slowly stands up, rubs his aching back, and sighs, saying, "It seems there will be no catch today either, Xiaohua, I will have to trouble you again." After muttering to himself for a few moments, the old man hoists the firewood onto his back, tucks the axe behind his waist, and slowly walks on the way home.
After listening, Liang Bo burst into laughter and affectionately picked up the little one: "Genmiao, do you like this little fish?"
Mr. Liang couldn't help but laugh again, gently pinching the chubby little face of the seedling: "Alright, quickly put the little fish back into the pond, otherwise the little fish won't grow as big as the house."
An ancient pine tree, a bamboo basket
The seedling nodded slightly: "I like it, I dig up little earthworms for it to eat every day"
In this extremely barren land, which even bandits and horse thieves disdain to visit, the village is indeed peaceful, tranquil, and characterized by simple folk customs. The villagers rely on the mountains for their livelihood and on the water for sustenance, living in harmony with the world around them.
After about half an hour, the old man arrived at the entrance of a village. The village had roughly twenty dilapidated huts scattered about, constructed from stones, wood, and hay. This was one of the few small villages in this vast northern region, and the residents referred to it as Kaoshandun. The village had approximately one hundred inhabitants. In the evening, the villagers were busy preparing dinner; the men were butchering the game they had just hunted from the mountains, while the women were washing vegetables and scolding their children to come home. This remote little village, despite its isolation, was filled with a certain liveliness.
Mr. Liang picked up the bamboo basket and gently touched the child's left hand at the Hegu acupoint, the Fengfu acupoint at the back of the head, and the Zhiyang acupoint along the spine. He looked up at the sky, shook his head, and sighed: "It is already the hour of Shen. This child’s meridians are completely blocked, and within him, there are tiny bolts of lightning invisible to the naked eye that are incessantly devouring his internal organs. This method does not seem to involve any medicine, but rather is caused by someone with extremely high cultivation. It appears he will not survive until midnight. What is the origin of this child? Who possesses such unfathomable cultivation? Why would someone of such caliber allow this innocent child to suffer such pain? Alas, I will first take the child home and use all my knowledge to see if I can help him through this calamity. Perhaps this child is the key to unlocking the calamity in my destiny."
Hello, Mr. Liang, you are back? Oh dear, why did you go chop wood all by yourself again? I told you, when your firewood runs out, just let us know, and we can send those lazy men from our family to chop it. It saves them from idling around during the day and then bothering us women at night with their excess energy. With all these children being born one after another, how are we supposed to raise them? Haha. You should just stay comfortably in your own house; the health of the entire village, young and old, relies on you!
After a long time, Liang Bo slowly regained consciousness, laboriously opening his eyes. The sky had already turned a bit dim. At this moment, Liang Bo felt a lingering fear: "I never expected that I had reached the Soul Movement stage, yet I am so helpless in the face of this inexplicable malevolent aura. What kind of person or thing in this world possesses such great power?" Liang Bo shook his head, struggling to stand up. His pupils suddenly dilated as he saw in the snow ahead a character written with sword energy: the character "Zhu"! Although the character was not large, it contained a soul-stirring killing intent that was irresistible. Struggling to stand up, his pupils suddenly dilated again as he saw in the snow ahead a character written with sword energy: the character "Zhu"! Although the character was not large, it contained a soul-stirring killing intent that was irresistible. However, Liang Bo knew that the killing intent within the character "Zhu" was not brought about by the same person or thing that had just confronted him with the malevolent aura.
Well, goodbye, Uncle Liang! The root sprouted and ran home happily
Genmiao was taken aback for a moment, then nodded seriously: "Alright! I will raise the fish to be bigger than my house! When the time comes, I will host a feast and invite everyone in the village to come to my house to eat the big fish! Let’s see if those older brothers dare to bully my little pipe anymore! Hmph!"
The setting sun hangs in the sky, and the cold wind howls like a piercing cone. Beneath the gloomy sky, this seems to be a land unknown to outsiders. A faint mist of snow permeates the dead silence of the air, and the vast expanse of snow on the ground stretches endlessly. Looking into the distance, it is impossible to distinguish between the sky and the earth.
In a dilapidated thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain, Liang Bo picked up the infant from the bamboo basket. At this moment, blood droplets were slowly seeping from the infant's pale gray skin, indicating extreme weakness. As he removed the red hemp cloth wrapped around the infant, Liang Bo suddenly noticed a tattoo spiraling around the infant's left ankle to calf. The tattoo was not large, yet it was quite eye-catching. He lowered his head to examine the tattoo, which was surprisingly exquisite, featuring four dark red and four silver-blue six-clawed dragons intertwined with each other. The eight dragons were vividly lifelike, with even the countless tiny golden scales on each dragon's back clearly visible, exuding an aura that demanded reverence. If there was one flaw, it was the expression in the dragons' eyes; the sixteen dragon eyes were gray, resembling a solitary old man who had entered his twilight years, yet whose ambitions remained unfulfilled, appearing murky and hollow. However, what astonished him even more was that these eight interwoven dragons, upon closer inspection, actually formed four characters: "Hong Lian Luo Shen".
"Liang Bo, Liang Bo!" A small boy with a round face and only a small tuft of hair on his head ran towards Liang Bo, holding a fish that was even smaller than his delicate little hand. He said in a sweet voice, "Liang Bo, the little fish you caught for me last month! Look, I have raised it this big, and it is so lively! I spent half a day catching it in my family's pond. Here, Xiao Hua loves to eat fish and always wanders around the edge of my pond. I told Xiao Hua, 'Be good, when the fish grows up, I will catch it for you to eat.'" This boy, Gen Miao, is currently the youngest child in the village, not yet three years old. He calls the other children in the village 'brother' and 'sister,' so he considers the little cat from Liang Bo's family, Xiao Hua, as his sister, not knowing that the little cat is actually a year older than him.
Mr. Liang stared silently at the heavy snow outside the door, slightly furrowing his brow. He went back inside to fetch a bamboo hat, then stepped out of the house without looking back, heading towards the mountains. If any attentive villagers were to see this, they would surely be startled, for along Mr. Liang's path, there were not a single footprint in the nearly half-meter thick snow on the ground
Day after day, as usual, Liang Bo took his machete, hemp rope, fishing rod, and a small bag of dry rations and set out. If it were outside the mountains, it would already be early summer at this time. However, according to custom, although the snow in these mountains never melts, it should not be like today, with no warning at all. The large snowflakes, like goose feathers, seemed to be incited by the fierce wind, resembling sharp flying knives, sweeping down recklessly upon all things in the world, as if they intended to devour the entire earth. Even the strong men in the village had no intention of going out to hunt today. The large snowflakes, like goose feathers, seemed to be incited by the fierce wind, resembling sharp flying knives, sweeping down recklessly upon all things in the world, as if they intended to devour the entire earth. Even the strong men in the village had no intention of going out to hunt today.
Uncle Liang's small thatched cottage is located to the north of the village. As soon as one steps through the door, a small, multicolored cat darts out, rubbing against Uncle Liang's calf incessantly, displaying extreme affection. Uncle Liang sits on the edge of the bed, picks up the kitten, and places it on his lap, gently stroking the kitten's neck: "Little Flower, I am sorry, but today you will have to catch mice to eat by yourself again."
Mr. Liang placed the infant he was holding into a seemingly ordinary wooden basin filled with a light green liquid. He stroked his beard and said: "All the meridians have ruptured, and there still remains a lingering thunderous energy roaming and devouring the body. For an ordinary person, not to mention the rupture of the meridians, even this thunderous energy would generally not allow one to survive beyond three breaths. Even for me, it would undoubtedly lead to death within half an hour. This child has managed to endure for over ten hours; could this still be the extraordinary meridians and bones that a mortal can possess? I should be able to use this Returning Essence Dew to dispel the thunderous energy within, allowing the child to escape danger for the time being. As for the meridians, I wonder if the Golden Essence Five Body Pill can help him reshape his body. This child is truly remarkable; when I used the Sacred Ape Heavenly Transformation Eye to observe his root bones, I found that all his bones were dark red, yet it did not seem like he was afflicted by any strange poison; it must be innate. Everything I have learned in my life seems to ... well, I have stayed in this mountain long enough; it is time to return to my sect. I hope that my master can provide an answer, an answer regarding myself and that child.