Chapter Thirty-Six: Metamorphosis

  As early as half a month ago, in a courtyard of the Zhou family in Qingcang City

  A tall and middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a white outfit.

  Sitting in front of him was a man, handsome and extraordinary, with a majestic aura between his eyebrows, his eyes shining with a faint light, his skin white and delicate, the ring on his hand sparkling, wearing magnificent clothes. He looked quite young, but this person was actually the head of the Zhou family!

  "Didn't the Lai family send troops to Shishan Town?" the handsome man said.

  "No, it seems that the Li family doesn't care about Shishan Town at all? If those people from the Medicine City are driven out and occupy our Qingcang City, then they will be one step closer to us!" The tall man said solemnly, so a big war is inevitable.

  "What about the city master?" The handsome man pondered.

  "The lord of the castle is not in Qingcang Castle, it seems that something big has been summoned above!" The tall and robust man shook his head, indeed it's a troublesome autumn now.

  "Uh-huh, the Li family and those people from Medicine City have been trading closely over the years, it's normal that they wouldn't send troops." The handsome young man nodded.

  "Hmph, I suppose the Lethal Family has extorted quite a few elixirs from these people in Medicine City."

  The handsome young man was silent for a moment before suddenly saying: "Alright, you go to Shishan Town and support the Wang family in their siege against the Song family!"

  "Yes!" The tall man was somewhat surprised, the clan leader was so proactive.

  "Right, if you meet that little guy you mentioned, after this matter is over, have him bring it to Qingcang City." The handsome man's eyes suddenly filled with curiosity.

  "Haha, big brother, you can't help but be curious too?! Instead of saying I'm going to support the Wang family, it's more like repaying a favor to someone. Wang Shi should be a member of the Wang family!" The tall man wasn't stupid and quickly understood the handsome man's thoughts.

  "You've recommended him so highly, he shouldn't be too bad. Besides, he did save those children, our hope, the Zhou family isn't a heartless clan," said the handsome man.

  "Right, what are those kids up to again? The family baptism is almost here, and they still haven't adjusted their bodies to the best?! The handsome man was also very frustrated with those children."

  "Haha, big brother, I think they're all pretty good."

  "Don't spoil them too much." The handsome man said with a shake of his head.

  ……………

  The northwest side of Shishan Town

  "Child, is this how you're going to give up on yourself?!"

  That voice was very old and had a sigh.

  Wang Shi and the others all looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a frail figure slowly walking over, with long white whiskers, white hair, thin and gaunt, but with a spirited appearance.

  "Who are you?!" Wang Ling asked cautiously, but a strange feeling flowed out in his heart.

  The old man wore light blue clothes and smiled: "Young man, doesn't Grandpa recognize you anymore?!"

  "Grandpa!?" These two words suddenly exploded in Wang Ling's mind. Grandpa? Everyone was shocked.

  "Impossible! Our grandfather passed away ten years ago!" Wang Shuxian hummed.

  "Haha, dead girl, ten years without seeing each other, and you don't even recognize this old man?!" The old man said with some anger.

  "Are you really our grandfather?!" Wang Ling asked with some doubt, but his heart was somewhat certain, and in his vague impression, he indeed had some resemblance to this old man! He couldn't help but feel excited.

  The old man nodded.

  "Grandpa!" Everyone put aside their guard and jumped up to surround him, with Wang Shuxian even going so far as to pull on the old man's whiskers.

  "Cough cough, you few young whippersnappers, I'm just an old man with aching bones, are you trying to tear me apart!" The old man scolded with a hint of laughter.

  ………

  Wang Shi's eyes were dull and dim.

  "Is it self-destruction?" Wang Shi said with a sneer.

  "Child, would you like to hear about my experiences?" The old man walked over and said with a smile.

  "What happened?" Wang Shi asked.

  "I lost my father at the age of five and my mother at eleven, so I was often ridiculed and my cultivation was very lowly. I also cried in pain, felt despair, and had times when I wanted to kill myself, but I never did." The old man sighed.

  "Why?" A ripple flashed through Wang Shi's eyes.

  "I once saw a sentence in a book: Birth, death and parting are all inevitable, everything will eventually die, but why hasn't the world been destroyed? Because new life is constantly replacing the old. In other words, your life is a continuation of your parents', you carry the hopes of this family on your shoulders! How can you just die?" The old man spoke with deep emotion.

  "Am I the continuation of life? The hope of a family?" A glimmer of light flashed across Wang Shi's eyes.

  "Wang Shi, you must remember that there are many unfortunate people in this world, not just you. Many of them can walk out of their pain and face reality positively, so why can't you?!"

  "Kid, you gotta know that living in this world, you'll never be alone. You gotta do things to make more people aware of your existence! So, you gotta boost your strength and become a strong one!"

  "Pain is often not something you walk out of, but rather something you struggle with yourself. Why don't you open up your heart and mind? Pain is only temporary, you're still so young, and there's a long road ahead of you that won't be smooth sailing. This is just the beginning, you need to learn to bear it!"

  A sentence of profound words, deeply engraved in Wang Shi's mind, Wang Shi's eyes gradually regained their luster, the wounds on his body slowly stopped bleeding, the spiritual power inside him gradually stirred, and the functions of his body became agile.

  He closed his eyes, and every word the old man had said, even every single character, appeared in his mind, swirling around that fire lotus, which gradually lit up, with flames leaping up from time to time. The deep blue point at the center was pulsating like a heart, expanding and growing stronger at a speed visible to the naked eye!

  "I understand." After a long time, Wang Shi opened his eyes, and his gaze became profound. His tone returned to its previous state, but it became steady, firm, and slightly indifferent.

  "Let's take a look." The old man nodded in approval.

  "I will not die, nor do I want to die. I must become stronger!" Every word was powerful and left no room for doubt!

  Suddenly in his mind, the fire lotus really burned like a blaze, several long flames rose into the sky and then fell, crashing onto the stone map.

  Heh-heh

  That flame merged into the stone picture in an instant, and suddenly it was like molten lava flowing at the lower right corner of the stone picture - the scene there became even clearer, every line as if burning away impurities, revealing the most true face!

  That corner's territory is also constantly expanding, this is a transformation! Wang Shi is transforming, Shi Tu is also transforming!

  "What is this?!" Wang Shi exclaimed in shock.

  The content on the stone picture has changed again, and the lower right corner seems to be burning, all of which are fire red, with a deep red color in the middle and relatively lighter colors on both sides.

  "This seems to be a bird?" Wang Shi looked at it for half a day, with wings on both sides and the main body in the middle. The more Wang Shi looked at it, the more it seemed like one. He also remembered the bird calls when the fire lotus was first formed, and the more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

  "But what bird is it?" Wang Shi had never thought of.

  The firebird was very blurry, with its head and tail indistinguishable, but it was huge. The fire lotus was rooted on its back, as if absorbing its energy. The deep blue dot in the center of the fire lotus changed incredibly, originally the size of a sesame seed, now several times larger! Although it had only grown to the size of a soybean, it was still far from being fully grown, but this change was truly astonishing! This made Wang Shi's senses even more acute, his eyes even deeper, and in the range of his soul power, everything became slow and unbearable.