Chapter 224: The Divine Willow

In the village of Shi, the single branch of the Divine Willow lightly brushed the fierce bird's egg, and instantly, myriad rays of radiant light burst forth, a thousand auspicious hues shimmered, and halos pulsed as if the egg had been divinely transformed.

On the eggshell, spots glowed like tiny suns, emitting intense light; a vigorous vitality surged forth, and around these spots, intricate veins emerged—like dragons and snakes rising together, as if a divine phoenix danced amid flames.

With just a single light brush, the egg underwent a tremendous mutation, gaining countless intricate patterns, dazzling and radiant with divine radiance.

Both the villagers and the fierce birds outside were stunned into silence.

"The vitality of this egg has increased manyfold compared to before—it must have triggered a reversal to ancestral form. If hatched, it will far surpass the Azure-Scaled Eagle!"

The elder chief, Shi Yunfeng, spoke in astonishment.

Outside the village, the fierce bird, forged as if from molten iron, trembled, its eyes shooting forth twin beams of lightning-like light—it seemed unable to believe what it saw.

It longed to rush into the village for a closer look, but upon seeing the ancient willow tree, instinctive fear held it back; it could not approach, instead crying out frantically from afar.

That willow branch, emerald and dripping with life, gently brushed the egg, then slowly withdrew—no further movement followed; clearly, it had merely moved at random.

"What should we do now? Should we keep this egg or not?"

The villagers were all aflame with excitement—such a miraculous egg, if given away so easily, seemed far too precious to lose.

"You may send it out first—I doubt it will accept it. For it, this is still a stroke of fortune."

Fang Yu spoke, his spiritual sense sweeping over the egg, seeing it clearly—originally three eggs, but after the Divine Willow's casual enhancement, they had become two entirely different categories.

With a single movement, the Divine Willow's power reached such heights—it directly triggered ancestral reversal in that egg, awakening ancient inherited runes. Truly formidable.

Now, all that remains is to wait for the egg to hatch—when the fledgling emerges, it will surely carry the legacy of bygone ages.

"Very well, we'll follow Young Master Fang's advice—send it out."

In the village of Shi, all ultimately decided to send out the three eggs. Yet, as Fang Yu had predicted, the Azure-Scaled Eagle let out continuous piercing cries, its voice splitting the heavens, shaking the great trees across the land, sending leaves swirling wildly.

Its fierce glare had long since faded, replaced by shock and joy; with a single beat of its wings, a mighty wind roared, pushing all three eggs into the village, rolling them toward the Divine Willow.

"It truly doesn't want them—does it mean to entrust its offspring to our ancestral spirit?"

"How could it be so intelligent? Is this still a fierce bird?"

"Don't forget—it's a fierce bird whose body has condensed mysterious runes, possessing arcane power. Its wisdom is no less than that of humans."

"So now we must hatch all three eggs?"

"Hatch them well—if they grow fond of us, our village of Shi will gain three mighty raptors!"

Some in the village rejoiced; seeing this outcome, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning weapons into jade and silk was truly a good thing.

"Place them in my ding—let me take a look."

Fang Yu placed the three eggs inside the Five Hells Wang Ding, waiting patiently for them to hatch.

In these few days, he continued cultivating the Heavenly Wood Great Art—one of the Eight Great Divine Arts of the Yuhua Sect, named "Heaven" and "Wood," naturally possessing great power. Though inferior to the Azure Emperor's Wood Sovereignty Art, which commands all wood in the world, absorbing the wood qi within hundreds of li and transforming it into dense Heavenly Wood Daoist Gang Qi posed no difficulty.

The entire village of Shi was nourished by this thick wood qi; everyone felt their bodies growing stronger.

Even the Divine Willow, having stretched out one branch, was nourished by this Heavenly Wood Daoist Gang Qi, as if another bud were about to sprout.

And the three eggs, bathed in abundant Xu Yuan Qi, soon cracked open.

From the two ordinary eggs rolled out two small creatures, their entire bodies shimmering with blue scales.

The third egg was extraordinary: as it cracked, waves of radiant light burst forth, followed by a cry—and the hard shell shattered entirely, where divine radiance blazed brilliantly.

A fledgling emerged, its body flowing with violet scales, shimmering with radiant light, like a burning flame.

From birth, this fledgling brimmed with spirit, its entire body covered in brilliant violet scales, its large, watery eyes seeming to speak—anyone who saw it knew this was no ordinary spiritual bird.

"The eldest is Dapeng, the second is Xiaoqing, the third is Ziyun."

Some children rushed over, naming the three fledglings.

Indeed, all three Azure-Scaled Eagles were highly spirited, astonishingly divine—they understood everything said to them, though they could not speak human language.

Especially the third, Ziyun, who was most spirited and powerful; soon after hatching, it awakened many powers, flew out, and slew several tigers and wolves, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

"Little one has grown—the runes within its body have finally fully formed. Now I gain another divine art."

Fang Yu watched Ziyun, the third, joyfully flying around him, his spiritual sense examining this adorable little creature.

Ziyun was an ancestral-reversed fierce bird, its body housing a powerful rune—a pattern born of primordial bone, unique to this species.

The more powerful the ancient race, the more strictly such runes were forbidden to spread—otherwise, the entire clan would mobilize to hunt them down. But these three fledglings were raised by Fang Yu, whose surroundings teemed with life energy, making them deeply fond of him.

Fang Yu's gaze shifted; he pointed a finger, and a mass of Daoist Gang Qi coalesced into an intricate rune, which transformed into a brilliant crescent moon.

The crescent moon flew out, hissing as it sliced through a small hill thirty zhang tall; the silver moon spun in place, and with a crack, the hill split cleanly in two.

The cut was smooth; with a boom, the upper half of the hill collapsed to the ground, rocks and earth exploding outward, dust and mist swirling.

Everyone in the village stared in stunned awe—a crescent moon had appeared and severed such a hill outright. It was profoundly shocking.

Some could see clearly: this was not Fang Yu's own power, but the fledgling's own rune.

This rune—anyone in the village of Shi could cultivate it!

"Such a powerful rune! This violet fledgling truly inherited part of the ancient demonic bird's imprint, and it has reappeared. If our village's children can uncover the secrets of these primordial runes, how powerful will our children become?"

Elder Chief Shi Yunfeng was overjoyed.

"This rune is incomplete—the true legacy includes not only the crescent moon, but also a cassia tree and a palace."

Fang Yu's spiritual sense flowed again; the rune shifted continuously, finally forming three images.

A crescent moon, a cassia tree, and a palace.

These three images coalesced into a grand array, naturally drawing in the essence of sun and moon.

Fang Yu opened his mouth and swallowed the entire array into his body.

Instantly, his strength increased by hundreds of Xuan Huang Li Ma.

"I've gained a great divine art—even if only learned, once perfected, it could add tens of thousands of strength."

Fang Yu was delighted.