Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

The Golden Lion of the Sunlight Tribe had brought a vast army to annihilate the Fusang Tribe, only to find the place empty. Naturally, he wasn’t about to give up so easily.

The so-called ’Water Mirror’ was a palm-sized mirror. After hearing the Golden Lion’s command, ripples like water waves spread across its surface.

A moment later, a scene of the Fusang Tribe appeared on the mirror’s surface.

But unlike the currently deserted Fusang Tribe, the one in the mirror was not only populated, but bustling with people.

The Water Mirror was one of the ultimate treasures bestowed upon the Golden Lion by the Celestial Realm. It could trace past events by tracking the distorted temporal fluctuations at a location.

And now, the Water Mirror had just activated its ability.

The image in the mirror shifted continuously until finally, time rewound to the moment of the Fusang Tribe’s evacuation.

When they discovered that the Fusang Tribe hadn’t evacuated as a single group, but had instead scattered into tens of thousands of small squads, the expressions on the Golden Lion and the others turned grim.

The heavens had ordered them to completely wipe the Fusang Tribe from the face of the earth, which naturally included all its members.

But now, the people had scattered in all directions. Although they could give chase, who could guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that every last one would be eliminated?

After a moment of thought, the Golden Lion composed himself and announced, “Notify the Guardian Gods of the surrounding territories. Anyone who captures a member of the Fusang Tribe can bring their head to the Sunlight Tribe to claim a reward!”

After giving the order, the Golden Lion looked at the largest group fleeing in the Water Mirror’s image. Among them were the Fusang Tribe’s Guardian God and chieftain—the ones he had to kill with his own hands.

Without hesitation, the army began to pursue them, following the direction of Li Chang’an’s escape.

With the Water Mirror to guide them, they could quickly catch up even if their targets fled to the ends of the earth.

…

The news that the Sunlight Tribe had put a bounty on the entire Fusang Tribe, with rewards even for the heads of common members, caused an uproar as it spread through the major territories.

When the Sunlight Tribe first moved against the Fusang Tribe, the other tribes had assumed it was merely a matter of revenge. They figured the Sunlight Tribe, as the patrons of the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe, were simply lashing out in anger after their subordinate was wiped out.

But now, hearing that the Golden Lion intended to exterminate the entire Fusang Tribe, even going so far as to offer a hefty bounty, many people immediately realized something was wrong.

After all, if it were simply about avenging a subordinate, the Sunlight Tribe had no reason to be so ruthless. It was even less likely they would pay out of their own pocket to have commoners killed.

Commoners who had lost the protection of their tribe already had a slim chance of survival. They would either die during their migration or be assimilated into another tribe.

In any case, leaving them to fend for themselves was the most logical course of action.

There was simply no value in hunting them down or putting a bounty on them.

Therefore, there had to be some other, unknown reason why the Sunlight Tribe was willing to pay such a high price to see the Fusang Tribe utterly annihilated.

What could that reason be?

Although none of the surrounding tribes asked, their minds were all churning with speculation.

Soon, a rumor began to spread: the reason the Sunlight Tribe was going to such great lengths was that the Fusang Tribe’s Guardian God possessed an incredibly precious treasure.

This treasure could raise a tribe’s Level and greatly enhance the power of its Human Race members.

As soon as this news got out, the minds of many chieftains and even Guardian Gods began to race with new ideas—anything the Sunlight Tribe would rather kill the innocent than let slip away had to be a treasure. If they could intercept it, perhaps they too could quickly grow powerful.

Driven by the thought of “risk it for the biscuit,” instead of immediately turning over captured Fusang Tribe members to the Sunlight Tribe, they began to secretly interrogate them on their own.

However, they had no idea what they were in for. The results of the interrogations were a shock.

No matter who asked, the members of the Fusang Tribe would hand over the *Revised Martial Arts Manual* compiled by Li Chang’an. They told their captors that by practicing the methods in this book, humans could also attain Extraordinary Power, enough to contend with heaven and earth.

At first, the various tribes were skeptical.

That changed when someone witnessed a member of the Divine Shadow Guard repel a Guardian God of the Transformation Realm with a single punch. Only then did the various tribes believe it was true.

At this point, the chieftains and Guardian Gods of the various tribes finally, belatedly, realized what was going on.

This damn so-called *Revised Martial Arts Manual* was a freaking trap!

The Fusang Tribe was being hunted relentlessly by the Golden Lion from a thousand miles away precisely because they practiced the Martial Dao. But now, they too possessed the *Revised Martial Arts Manual*. Should they learn from it or not?

If they learned it, wouldn’t they become accomplices of the Fusang Tribe?

If they didn’t, it seemed the only other path was to hand it over to the Sunlight Tribe.

The problem was, even if they handed it over, would that suspicious and tyrannical Golden Lion spare them?

Taking it a step further, even if the Golden Lion showed mercy and let them go, would the Divine Spirits behind him do the same?

Everything was an unknown.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. Any tribe with half a brain knew what awaited them.

A reckoning would surely come. The enemy would treat anyone associated with this Secret Manual the same way they treated the commoners of the Fusang Tribe: they would rather kill the innocent than let a single person slip by.

Thus, in that instant, every tribe that had obtained the *Revised Martial Arts Manual* was suddenly wearing a mask of agony.