Chapter 5 – Lifting the Cauldron
As time unknowingly flowed by, two years had pa.s.sed in a flash. The little guy was now already three and a half years old and had his own name — s.h.i.+ Hao.
When he was only one and a half, he could only run along behind the others, and now that he was three and a half years old, his physique became astonis.h.i.+ng. He was always running around together with the other big kids.
At this moment, a piece of the previously empty area of land in Stone Village was currently filled with people. It was so packed that it seemed as if not even water would trickle through, and everyone within the village was watching the youth practice martial arts.
The group of children had extremely st.u.r.dy muscles, and the upper halves of their bodies were naked. With sweat flying in all directions, they were all working hard. Some of them could unexpectedly lift up maces that weighed more than a hundred jin. They waved them around, making huhu sounds in the wind.
The ages ranged from six or seven to twelve or thirteen, and all of them looked like small fierce beasts from within the mountain forest. They were extraordinarily strong, and their bodies were astonis.h.i.+ngly strong and rugged.
“Quickly come and look, that is my family’s baby. He’s only six years old, but he can lift up a limestone weighing over a hundred jin and use it as a s.h.i.+eld. How many people can compare to him? In the future, he will definitely become an amazing hero in the wastelands!”
“My family’s baby is the powerful one. Can’t you all see that he is using the rhinoceros tendon bow that only adults can use? In the future, he’ll definitely be able to kill fierce beasts with a single shot and even defeat creatures like mature Pi Xius.”
Although the villagers were all rather down-to-earth, when they gathered together, they still loved to brag about their children’s strength. The robust adults’ large hands waved around as they compared their children. All of them were smiling in delight.
None of the women within the village could hide their smiles. This group of children really were quite outstanding. All of them had the vitality of a dragon and the ferocity of a tiger. With such strength, the future of Stone Village would surely be great due to this generation.
“Moo…”
A fat cow howled, and the sound shook the village.
“Quickly come and look! Er Meng is only eight years old, yet he actually flipped over a fat cow, impressive!”
Within the large area was a black fat cow, and its entire body looked like it was covered in black silk fabric. It released a m.u.f.fled thunder-like roar, and just before it was about to go crazy, it was stubbornly knocked down by a child, triggering gasps of admiration.
“Our efforts were not wasted. The elders gave them the true blood from fierce beasts every few days, allowing their bones and bodies to be refined. It seems that the results were quite effective.”
“The children are all quite strong. In the future, there might actually be quite a few people who can venture out and kill those great desolate species within the mountain range abyss.”
With a loud dong sound, an extremely skinny child tossed out a grindstone plate, and it flew out roughly ten meters.
“Aiyou, hey, the eight or nine year old frail Pi Hou is actually this strong! You really can’t judge one by their appearance.”
“That’s for sure. I named him s.h.i.+ Zhonghou, and in the future, he will leave the great mountains to earn himself a great reputation. He will be bestowed the t.i.tle of king in front of a large and prosperous race.”
The grown men were all bragging towards each other. They all thought that their own children were the most outstanding.
Honglong!
The ground began to shake, and a shroud of smoke and dust began to rise. Everyone’s eyes were attracted towards that direction, and to their astonishment, someone was trying to lift up the enormous cauldron!
In the center of that empty s.p.a.ce was an ancient cauldron that was over a thousand jin in weight. The cauldron was engraved with designs of terrestrial beasts and birds of the air, overflowing with an ancient feeling. The walls of the cauldron were extremely thick, possessing an intense and heavy aura. The legs of the cauldron were always being lifted, so they were quite glossy as if they were mirrors. Images of the Vermilion Bird were branded on one of them.
“Little s.h.i.+jiao, you almost sprained your back just now, yet you only managed to lift it a bit off the ground. Right now you are still too young. Even in four years you would not be able to lift this.” Some of the older adults made fun of him good-naturedly.
The thousand jin copper cauldron was not something that one could casually mess around with. Carelessly lifting it could easily result in an injury. Normally, no child was able to raise it, and so they were not allowed near it. It was simply too heavy.
“Let me try!”
An extremely robust lad appearing to be around twelve or thirteen walked forward. One hand was on the cauldron’s ear, while the other one was on its leg. He grabbed it with ferocious strength, and the large cauldron began to shake a bit before leaving the ground. However, it immediately fell back towards the ground with a hong sound, creating a cloud of dust.
It was an obvious failure, but fortunately, the child wasn’t hurt.
“Me too!”
Another child walked up to the front, and he was the one that previously knocked over that fat cow. His name was s.h.i.+ Meng, and within his family he was number two. His nickname was Er Meng, and he actually possessed a rather thick and st.u.r.dy figure. He was only eight and a half years old.
With a weng sound, the copper cauldron left the floor and was gradually lifted up into the air, causing everyone to be shocked and startled. This was still a child, yet he could actually lift it to such a degree! It was extremely shocking.
Hong!
Unfortunately, he was not able to lift it above his head, and his two arms were already shaking. He released it with a honglong sound, and a large pit remained where the cauldron stood. Granules of earth flew everywhere.
After seeing so many people give it a go, all of the other kids were eager to give it a try as well. In this way, each kid walked up and tried to move the cauldron, but in the end, not a single person succeeded.
A big child with thick eyebrows and big eyes named s.h.i.+ Dazhuang walked forward. After taking in a huge breath, he used his strength to grab one of the cauldron’s handles and one of its legs. He exerted all of his strength, and only then did it get successfully get lifted above his head.
Although his arms were slightly shaking and both of his legs were staggering a bit, he finally succeeded, causing all the adults to exclaim in astonishment. This was because this child was merely nine years old! He was definitely blessed with extraordinary strength!
“Dazhuang performed really well! In the future he will definitely be incredible!”
“This is only a nine-year old baby. Being able to lift roughly a thousand jin’s worth of weight, there aren’t many people of his age who are comparable to him. In the future, he will inevitably be one of this region’s most powerful individuals!”
The adults were naturally not stingy with their praises. They showered Er Meng with endless encouragement. This was because he almost succeeded as well, and his strength was astonis.h.i.+ng.
Several elders were smiling as well. The amount of effort they put in over these last few years was not wasted. The true blood of fierce beasts was often used to forge and discipline these children’s bodies. Now that these results were visible, in the future, Stone Village will have many ferocious individuals.
“Little guy, why are you poking your head around? Do you want to give it a try as well?” Some of the adults teased.
Within the crowd, there was a small child curiously looking around, and that was precisely the little guy. Now, he had finally received the name s.h.i.+ Hao. His figure was still extremely small, and he had to tiptoe while pus.h.i.+ng into the crowd to see the big kids lift the cauldron.
“That’s right. Everyone says that little Hao has so much divine strength that it is astonis.h.i.+ng. Although his age is a bit young, he should come and try it as well. Don’t lift up the cauldron first, come and grab this stone lock.”
One of the adults raised their head and said, “My kid claims that little haohao is not any weaker than the other children. I’ve never believed this, so now is a good chance to prove me wrong. Little guy, go and give it a try.”
s.h.i.+ Hao was now three and a half. His jet-black hair fell down to his shoulders, and his big eyes were black, brilliant, and extremely lively. He was white and clean, pretty and cute.
The little guy looked toward the several elders who had smiling expressions on their faces. s.h.i.+ Yunfeng said, “Go, I also want to see how much strength you possess right now.”
“Ya, hey!” s.h.i.+ Hao was still extremely small, and the sounds he made while using his strength were naturally soft and immature. However, he effortlessly lifted the big stone roller.
“Truly unordinary!” The others all nodded their heads.
Afterwards, he also lifted up a stone grindstone plate and suddenly threw it. With a sou sound, the heavy stone tool looked like it was a common piece of rock was casually tossed aside, flying for over sixty or seventy meters.
With a hong sound, the grindstone plate smashed into the ground and produced a huge ditch, causing sand to fly in every direction. The dust rose everywhere, and the ground violently trembled.
Everyone stared blankly and were left speechless.
Following that, the little guy suddenly ran towards that black fat cow, and quickly used his strength to grab one of its horns. It directly fell onto the ground.
Although his strength was used with skill, his strength was still extraordinary. Accompanied with the sound of gasping, the villagers all felt that they were watching a small vicious beast show off its power. This was truly a shocking sight.
You have to understand that the current little s.h.i.+ Hao was still really young, and that he was the shortest inside the village. No matter how you looked at it, he still looked like a small baby, and it was hard to a.s.sociate his body with his immense strength.
Under the shocked expressions, s.h.i.+ Hao walked towards the large cauldron and tried to stand up as tall as he could. It was impossible for him to grab the cauldron’s handles, and so he directly crouched down his little body to prop up the base of the cauldron. Soon after, he abruptly used his strength, and with a honglong sound, the large copper cauldron was lifted up above his head.
Everyone there was stupefied and could not believe what they were seeing. A three and half year old child could actually lift up the thousand jin copper cauldron! This was simply too ridiculous.
What in the world is this? This is like a child of the legendary Golden-Winged Peng, almost like a pure-blooded Pi Xiu Emperor’s child! Little s.h.i.+ Hao might be comparable to a real young ancient fierce beast!